I was woken from my short slumber when something as hard as a stick hit the back of my head. Quickly, my eyes shot open, eyeing several pears of feet before me. Most went shoe-less, and those who did wouldn't have them for long by the shabby looks of them. But most importantly, they weren't even normal feet at all. Several were green, and the stench leaking from their unhealing wounds reminded me of death. Several other feet, like the one that had kicked me, were bones held together purely out of luck.. or was it some sort of magic?... But that is beside the point. In short, they were monsters; a gang of skeletons and zombies to be speciffic.

     I rushed to my feet and ignored my limbs as the aching swelled. I had completely forgotten this downside of falling asleep: there was no way to look-out for danger. Wait- ...Where was Sam?!  Still in a daze from waking up so quickly, I spun in a circle in search of that mutt. There he was, tied to a far away tree, growling at the mob surrounding me, fangs showing.

     "What?! What do you want?!" I lashed-out at the crowd, igniting some fire in my hands.

     "What kind of question is that?! I mean, how stupid do you think we are? We know you lead those humans to the Nether! I knew it, all along, that someday you would slip up; reveal yourself as a traitor!" A skeleton stepped forward to speak, arms flailing with every word he shouted.

     "Wait.." My fire dyed down a little. "No-no! I didn't lead them to the fortress, I promise! I speciffically left that portal open so they would fall into the lava and die, but somehow they made it!"

     The same skeleton cut in. "-Oh suuuure, blaming it all on some massive scheme are we?! Oh please, we all saw what you did! You didn't even go after those guys who placed the TNT! Instead, you went after Null, who was clearly nothing but a distraction!"

     "I- I swear I... hhhh, fine... that last part was true.. I...wasn't in the right mind..... But that doesn't make me a traitor!" My shoulders finally slumped, but by voice stayed firm with the truth.

     "And how exactly do you plan on proving your point? Because," A forced chuckle was shaken from the skeleton's skull as he loosened his joints, leaning slightly to get a better look of my face. "Because I don't see anything to help your case here! Th- the base! The fortress is gone! There honestly isn't much to go off of when literally nothing is left! You destroyed it all by going after those humans, who you could have just chased away and let us pick off! Sorry, but, I don't see any way you could possibly manipulate us into trusting you now! Not with the stunt you pulled off back there!..."

     "..."

     "Exactly... You have no proof you are really on our side, because you were never on our side.. Your Excellency." Sarcasm was clearly what had ended that statement, made by a snobbish looking zombie.

     I dipped my dead in defeat. With a deep sigh, I realized there was no way to convince those who had once been my followers that I was not what they thought I was. "Hhh, alright, have it your way... Let me leave, and I won't enter the Nether ever again. You guys won't have to worry about me ever again."

     "Huh, I'm sorry, but that isn't how this works. We know what you've been doing. It may just seem like you are aimlessly wandering around out here, but we've been tracking your movements, and it looks like you're collecting an army or something. We even saw one of the smaller bases you visited, and it was pretty well hidden...just like the rest." Wait, was he talking about Steve's old house being a base? If so, that would be quite the pitiful place to house soldiers! "We know you are preparing an army, so, we came to grab you before you could even start!" On the skeleton's command, I was grabbed by a cluster of other mobs. So many gand were wrapped around my arms they felt as if they were wrapped up in chains.

     "Release me!" I shouted. Sam began barking at the mob of mobs around me. "I an not making an army and I am willing to stay out of the Nether! Do you not realize how big of an offer that is?!"

     "Like any of that matters, because we know you're lying!" The skeleton spouted. Enraged, I clamped my fists. At least they had their chance.

     Dark red flames burst from all around my body, scorching all those who were holding me, except for that one zombie piglin holding one of my legs, but he was easy to shake off. All the rest were dead or dying as I stood taller.

     "Don't move!" That same skeleton as before ordered. When I turned ro face him, I saw he was standing only a few feet from the trembling Sam, who was cowering away from the burning corpses laying around me. With his bow and aarow already loaded and pulled back, aiming direcrly at Sam's head, it certainly did look like the skeleton had the upper hand here.

     I smirked. "What? You think a worthless mutt is going to keep me from-" I froze the moment the skeleton lifted two fingers from the string holding the aarow. I could feel my face lose its color as my eyes widened. What kind of a reaction was that?! A sign of weakness, for a dog? Did I really care whether Sam lived or died?! Without even fully processing my own movements I took a step back.

     The skeleton smiled, "Wow, can't believe that actually worked." Which made my blood boil.

     "Sam has done nothing to deserve this. Let him go.." I growled.

     "Oh, so the animal has a name? Cute. Unfortunately, I can't. Now, get on your knees!" The demand was so harsh, it pained me to even consider following.

     With blazing eyes and a scowl showing my sharp teeth, "I'm not doing tha-"

     "Get down, NOW!" Another finger was lifted from the bow string, and my anger was immediately budged by my own beating heart. My knees plunged into the grass, my pride ripped from my soul. Meekly, I looked down at the ground, refusing to lift an eye. I refused to see any of the possibly prideful gazes down on me. But still, I could hear a smirk. "...Good." My anger so badly wanted to r erupt from me in the form of fire, but it was compressed, withheld so tightly I felt I might burst if this mockery continued. "Okay, everyone, prepare to take him with us." I could hear skeleton horses drawn out of the brush behind me, and then I could hear the clinging of metal. It wasn't all that surprising that they wanted to chain me up, but still, it was a rather terrifying thought. What if I ended up right back where I started? I kept my eyes on Sam, watching the dog closely as the monsters prepared themselves behind. He stared back into my eyes, obviously terrified, but also accepting of the circumstances, somehow. I could almost see Steve's own soul in those eyes of his, even appearing blue for a moment.. internally. I still knew, though, that the dog wasn't actually him... Maybe I just wished it was.

     Half of me just wanted to kill Sam, get it over with, so I wouldn't be held here on my knees by this invisible force one might call sympathy. I fought myself from it, though, for I knew I couldn't make it through even my every day life here, alone in the forest. As much as I hated to admit it to myself, him simply existing was what had helped me, maybe even saved me, in those dark times before... No wonder he reminded me so much of my brother.

Dvvvvvvvvv't!

     An aarow sprung out, planting itself deep into the skull of the one holding Sam hostage. My eyes widened as the now dead mob lost his hold of the bow string. I leapt up to save him, but I was too slow to reach the falling body in time. Luckily, the aarow missed Sam's ear by a few hairs, but it still startled the ghasts out of me! Suddenly, I realized I was free. With a smile, I turned around to face all the monsters behind me, who stood staring at me in shock. I lit my hands on fire. They began to pick up their things and run. But they had seen me at my lowest point... I would not let them live to tell the tale of how they almost defeated me. No such story would ever be released out into the world...

><>??? POV<><

     The dog barking is what drew me in. It seemed the monsters had stopped somewhere, and were now terrorizing a small group of people or something. As I ran in closer, fire sprung up with many shouts, but why was it so dark compared to the usual orange fire? That doesn't matter. I had to help whoever was being ambushed, if they were still alive when I got there, that is.

     When I finally reached the hoard of monsters, I saw several burnt corpses laying limp on the floor. I could only hope those weren't more innocent lives I again failed to save. Oh wait- there was still one left. A little further off was a tall, built man who had fallen to his knees. In front of him was a skeleton holding the large tan and black dog I had heard earlier hostage with his bow and aarow at the ready. Why, though, was the man so paralyzed by this? Heh, must have been quite the dog lover.

     Not interested in the distant words being spoken back and forth between the two, I took aim for the skeleton's head, aaaand-

Dvvvvvvvv't!

     Pierced right through his thick skull, instantly killing him. I pat myself on the back for that one. It wasn't often that I actually hit my target. Next, I pulled out my sword to take down the rest of 'em, until...

     That tall, built man who had been on the floor just moments before, turned around with such a wicked face, I almost pulled out my bow to aim for his head instead. I was quick to scold myself for such an instinctual motive. Afterall, he could have just had one heck of a day, and was finally fed up with it. Those eyes, though.. I had never seen anything quite like them before. But then, the dude lit his hands on fire. What the actual frick! This dude was giving me some really bad Herobrine vibes. I would just have to save those thoughts for later, though, because that (man?) and his dog were not going to save themselves!

><>Herobrine's POV<><

     Lashing out at the crowd, flames going wild, I didn't even notice a new face appearing in the mix.

     "Look out!" A voice shouted, sounding like a man several years younger than me. Whoever said that pushed my head down just in time for an aarow to fly right over it. In the corner of my eye I saw whoever shot that being chased down by Sam. But the man who had pushed me was still right behind me. I spun around, grabbing the arm of his that held his weapon, which was his left, and held it out away from him so he wouldn't stab me with it. "Hey, hey! We're on the same team here!" He shouted. The young one's wrist was much thinner than I expected. His dusty grey cloak hid all his form but some ebony hands and face, as well as two dully glowing red eyes.

     "When did you show up?" I asked him sternly.

     "I was the one who shot the skeleton! Now just let go of me already!" I did as he pleaded. I would be needing all the help I could get here, anyways. The man then resumed his fighting, and so did I. After just one to two minutes, not a single monster remained. I stood there among the dead forms, pleased with myself. I could sense such emotions show in through a crazed smile as I panted in recovery. It had been so long since I got to fight like that! Reminded me of back before this whole forest thing, when I was actually a formidable foe. But now, with my leg still in its brace and several cuts still healing, I had fallen out of practice, and could only take them all down with some help. 

     "Are you alright, sir? Did any of your family members run off into the woods?" The hooded one behind me asked. I chaned my smile to a frown right away, knowing he would find that a bit off. 

     "No. It was just me and Sam, the dog." I answered, straightening myself and turning to face him. He was maybe half a foot shorter than me, but besides that didn't look the terribly disadvantaged type at fighting. Still amused me that the only part of him I could really see were his red eyes. He must have had a little experience in cloaking magic or something, like those dark spells they used to use in the ring to make the fights a little more flashy. 

     "Oh? So it really is just you and the dog?" He asked. 

     "Yep." I said, placing my hands on my hips to appear more confident. That was something normal humen did a lot, right? The one I was facing crossed his arms as he scanned the woods for the mutt in question. I joined him upon realizing what he was doing. "Saaam!" I called out into the forest. But there was silence. Oh no... I cupped my hands around my mouth the next time, shouting even louder, "SAAAAAM!!" Not even a bark. My weight shifted. I remembered seeing him running after that skeleton before, but I hadn't seen him since. Hastily, I began striding into the forest where I had seen him run off. For some reason the robed one began running after me. I lit my fist on fire again and held it out at the young man this time. He jumped back, obviously shocked. 

     "What the heck, dude?!" 

     "Stay here." I said bluntly. "I may return, depending on whether or not I might need you again." 

     "Uhhhhhh, okay? I guess I'll go ahead and get rid of the evidence here. So..is this a good bye, then?" In case the answer was a yes, the stranger stuck out his hand to me. I had no idea what he was doing, but I likely wouldn't have cared even if I did. I spun on my heel, and began walking away. "Well, good bye then!...What a jerk.." 

     Eh. I had been called much worse things before.