Ello. Let's see if this scheduled publish thing works, shall we?

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RECAP

HEROBRINE'S POV

    No... no, please–

    One missed, and the other two coiled about my torso, leaving only my left arm free. These weapons had heavy weights that cracked mercilessly into my ribs, my arm. Stark fear allowed me to stagger upright, hardly even realizing I could no longer lift my right arm.

    I had to teleport, I couldn't risk capture!

    My eyes lifted to the sky, my view of the clouds blocked by descending pairs of great wings.

    Oh... perhaps that was how they found me.

    My wounds had begun to ache fiercely, though terror drove me to ignore it. I released a pulse of energy, calling myself into the pull of the void, trying to rip myself away–

    I teleported, slammed into a tree, and I was down.

    Everything blurred around me, my limbs... so heavy.

    Even my senses seemed to dull, muffle. My hearing came and went, fading in and out just as my sight. The only thing I could acutely sense was the horrid pain in my legs, my ribs, and arm, and the cold, harsh stone pressing into my cheek.

    Not yet... not yet.

    I'm not ready...

    Forms emerged above me, blocking my view of the clouds.

    Run.

END RECAP

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In Hunter's Hands

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HEROBRINE'S POV

     The cold was startlingly strong when I next woke.

     Usually... my body could withstand it, fight it off. Now... it was weak, and icy, numbing cold creeping over my skin, sinking into my bones.

     Warm breath left my lips, accompanied by a groan I could not hold back. Cold metal leeched still more heat where it rested against my arms, biting into my wrists and legs. The cold numbed... but it did not numb everything. Pain was the very next sensation my mind grasped... dull, throbbing aches all over. It confused me, the lack of sharp stinging from open wounds. Arguably, this pain was far worse, but I could do nothing about it.

     "....hear him?"

     "Yes.... Awake."

     I couldn't help but shift, inhaling harshly as the tiniest of movements were rewarded with horrible spikes of pain through one arm. It was... startling, how intense the sensation was. My very bones felt weak, as though my breaths could crack the ribs.

     What... what had they done to me?

     A hand landed on my shoulder, and I jerked. Once again, the aching throbbing took my breath away, shooting through my arm, and radiating from the cuts the hunter's blades had dealt me.

     "...robrine... Be still."

     Still, with this pain?? With a foreign touch on my shoulder??

     I growled lowly, finally finding the strength to squint my eyes open. It was an effort to even make my mind command my own limbs... every little thing required so much focus, it was draining.

     The face of a familiarly unfamiliar face greeted my sight. I frowned, forcing my eyes to open after blinking.

     It was... that Hunter. The leader of the band that had taken me down in the Fortress. But his face... it was different.

     I blinked again.

     His face... was whole. Healed.

     Claws of terror crept about my heart to squeeze. The Creator's work, surely... now the strange weapons, the appearance of Valkyries, and the strange weakness began to make more sense.

     Notch... had spared nothing but his own presence to take me down.

     The leader tilted his head, removing his hand from my shoulder, "How do you feel?"

     It took a moment to even process the words, so muddled was my mind. They only caused more confusion when I eventually understood.

     "W-why would you care, hunter."

     "Because we have been tasked to bring you back alive, and 'feeling well' is a large part of staying that way."

     The words were uttered casually, but their meaning was heavier than a mountain... And, like a mountain, they crushed my soul.

     Alive... He wanted me alive to play with and punish and... and reject.

     "I will n-never be well in your hands."

     A grunt answered my hissed response, and I couldn't stop a flinch when a Valkyrie with dark wings stepped around the hunter, coming into view.

     "He's coherent?"

     "Mostly. It seems like he's struggling to stay awake."

     "Mmm... I should give him another dose."

     "Shouldn't we save what we can?"

     "While wise, we certainly can't risk him breaking free, or even thinking of escape," the Valkyrie turned, one wing flicking snow from the dark feathers, "I'll fetch the potions."

     Potions... potions were responsible for this? my pathetic state? A mere bottle had been my downfall.

     The disgust seemed to have shown on my face, for the hunter's leader chuckled a bit. I shot him a glare, but it didn't wipe the small smile he wore. My influence of fear, it seemed, had been all but extinguished.

     "You're surprisingly normal-looking," the man shifted, leaning against a tree just beside the one I'd been propped up against, as I now realized.

     I scoffed in response.

     "Truly... when I first got a good look at you, I expected claws and huge fangs... Maybe a tail and a forked tongue."

     "I am not a serpent."

     "Indeed you're not. Nor are you a demon, hmm?"

     I just grimaced at him, hating when dizziness made my head spin.

     "Not a demon, not a creature of the Nether. Not a human sorcerer or a mage or some darkness from the void turned sentient."

     His rambling made me turn my head away, huffing softly. I was to put up with him as I was dragged back to that cursed–

     "You're the Son of Lord Notch."

     I almost choked, my eyes shooting open to glare daggers at the man. He wasn't smiling any longer, and I noticed his followers behind him were watching now... I hadn't even noticed their presence before.

     "I a-am nothing but wasted power to that god."

     "He does not see it that way. From the way he spoke of you... you seemed dear to him."

     I scoffed yet again, "You know nothing of my past."

     "They know everything, Herobrine," The dark-winged Valkyrie was back again, holding a bottle with sloshing, magenta liquid, "Lord Notch told them of what you did in the Aether, how you fled to the Overworld."

     The Valkyrie knelt beside me, even as my body strove to shrink from his presence. His hand slipped onto the nape of my neck, and I growled as it tilted my head back.

     "He spoke of how he loved you, how you came to be. He told them how he watched over his world from afar, aiding where he could after his connection was severed and repressed by your own power. He spoke of watching what you did to his creations, the humans he had made to rule and watch over this world."

     I twisted in his grasp, breaths becoming quick and shallow as I heard the cork of the bottle pop softly.

     "I watched him weep over you, mourn what you did," The Valkyrie's voice was a low hiss, "I saw him lament... but never blame. I saw him choose to give you mercy."

     The potion rose before me, and fingers tightened in my hair when I tried to turn my face away.

      "Drink."

     My will was nothing but ashes, and I couldn't resist when the glass rim touched my lips, and bitter liquid rushed into my throat.

     Then... the world became numb, and my body obeyed my will no more.

     Shuffling, the creak of a cork being pushed back, and the hand released my hair.

     "....obeyed you?"

     "The potion not only weakens the body... but the mind as well."

     My thoughts became too muddled to make out, and I sank into nothingness again.

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Pray for continued inspiration lol