Five Years Later

Hero did brilliant on his own. He jumped from village to village, leaving the second the search party arrives to town. It gave him time to build his strength and intelligence. He spoke fluently in all creature tongues. He adapted slowly to his ever changing surroundings. His body was able to take the heat of deserts, and the harsh cold of winter. He built enough strength to get out of sand pits and marsh lands, and knew how to navigate the tall trees of the jungle.

He learnt how to track scents and escape a forest, as well as fend for himself. He learnt how to sprint across meadows, to climb and scale rocky hills and mountains. He built himself a boat and sailed the oceans for a bit, and came across an island with red cows and giant mushrooms. He thought he was drugged or something, until an affectionate cow gave him a mushroom.

Derrek was always there, at the back of his mind lurking. He never gave in, and all Derrek could do was make Hero cut his hair again. Hero knew that he broke Noah's promise as he dragged his dagger across the golden strands. He kept telling himself that promises never mattered, and he continued on, with messy and short hair. It seemed like something would happen to his hair style if something tragic occurred in his life.

He scoffed to himself.

One day, he was in a village. He needed to get his weapons repaired, and he still kept the identity of Michael Dane. He was making his way towards the entrance, ready to leave, when he accidentally knocked into a burly man. Said man had a group of drunk friends behind him, and he shoved Hero back rudely. Hero did not do anything at first, and tried to get out of the situation. It was when the man lifted him up in the air by his collar and raised a fist.

His panic flashed an image of his father through his head and he did the thing he was trained for.

With practiced ease, he swung his powerful legs to kick at the man's groin. The man released him to tend to his crotch, but Hero was cornered by his drunk friends. They circled around him, ready to defend their friend, when Hero brought his hood down to be prepared to actually give them a worthy opponent. Big mistake on his part, when everyone stiffened. In his panic, the illusion charms fell and his eyes were back to white, and dark brown hair back to golden. There were fucking wanted posters of him on the wall, and everyone knew who he was. The chaos started when one of the men screamed.

"Herobrine!"

You're famous.

I wouldn't mind if you didn't give me that fucking name.

People love it.

Hero pulled away from his internal argument with Derrek. Guards had arrived to see what the commotion was about. They all stared at Hero in shock before they raced their rifles. Hero stood straight, raising both hands in the air in surrender. The drunks have already ran at this point. Slowly and cautiously, one of the guards stepped forward, holding his trembling rifle. Every time Hero blinked at him, he winced. Hero waited for the perfect moment as the soldier came into his punching range.

He looked down at the rifle. New model, could do him good.

He then moved quickly, lowering himself and launching himself up to headbutt the soldier. The soldier groaned and dropped his rifle as he fell back. Hero grabbed the rifle before it could touch the ground and winked at the remaining guards before he teleported himself out of the walls. The guards standing on duty caught sight of him and started firing. Some with rifles and others with bow and arrows. Hero just dashed across the plain, sometimes taking his rifle and shooting back to distract them. He felt an arrow sink into his shoulder blade as he mustered all his remaining strength to teleport himself further away.

He found himself in a whole new territory. A forest that looked and smelled unfamiliar. He limped with exhaustion and let out a whimper as he rolled his shoulder back, the arrow lodged in his back moving with it. He used his free hand to hold it still, and started to climb the nearest tree. He perched himself on a branch, as he panted heavily. He could feel his warm blood drip down his back, and he turned his head. He could see the feathery end of the arrow stick out, but he could not reach back to pull it out.

He ducked his head and let out a low hiss.

His ears picked up a hiss back, a response. He raised his head to sniff at the air. A scent, this person probably came from a cave. Multiple scents lingered on this one, so this person must have just returned from meeting a couple of friends. He curled into himself cautiously, cradling his injured shoulder. Any movement would move the arrow, and in turn, make it hurt even more.

He looked down to see a regular spider stare back at him.

He let out a smooth growl, warning her that he did not take kindly to strangers. He flared out his scent with a roll of his head, a dominant yet slightly feminine scent.

The spider sniffed cautiously, before she let out a low croon, she recognized him.

Hero stared, before he crawled back. He let out a short grunt, and soon the spider was up in front of him on the branch. She blinked her bright red eyes eagerly at him, and he just let out a huff. It was to tell her to get on with what she wanted to do.

She started to hiss, but Hero could catch a couple of squeaks. She was young. "Are you by any chance from the Southern clan?"

Hero's eyes widened. He turned to her and responded, "Why? Who are you?"

She let out a few happy growls and said, "Alpha told us to look out for your scent. You must be Alpha Hero, Alpha Noah's partner?"

Hero forced down his flinch at the mention of Noah. He just nodded, "Yes, why are you here? Are you from the same clan?"

She nodded.

"Then why are you so far from your clan?"

The spider cocked her head. "We've expanded, Alpha. The boundary's not far from here. We reach as far as to the North."

Hero let our a grunt of surprise. "You've covered almost the entirety of Minecraftia, then?"

The spider shook her slightly fuzzy head, "Nope. Just the whole underground. Alpha Helena started to form alliances with other smaller clans and we expanded from there. We're the biggest clan in Minecraftia."

She halted, and Hero could smell confusion. "They miss you a lot, alpha. My big brother's June, he said you used to play with him when he was a pup. Alpha Helena also makes us remember who you are and what Alpha Noah wanted."

Hero wanted to know badly. He decided to ask, "How's the grave? And Hugo?"

The spider purred and hissed, "The flowers grew, and Alpha's grave are filled with them. The tree where you and Alpha Helena carved bore fruits this season. We started to talk with the mermaids and sirens too. And Hugo, as in the creeper?"

Hero blinked, "Mermaids? Sirens? And yes, Hugo the creeper. How is he?"

The spider tucked in her legs to rest. She replied, "There's a pod of mermaids who live right outside Alpha Noah's grave. The sirens migrate but sometimes they visit. And Hugo's expecting a kit with his mate."

Hero whistled, impressed. "Hugo's scored himself a mate and a kit? Kudos to him."

The spider purred happily, "Alpha Helena too. His name's Fred and he's half human too! They had a litter last spring."

She went soft, "She named two of them after you and Alpha Noah."

Hero stared at her with a questioning look.

"Yeap! Pup Noah is a really rowdy pup, three moons ago, he got caught in a thorn bush. Pup Hero's the softer pup, but she's the oldest of the litter."

The white-eyed man laughed, "She?"

He was about to burst into another fit of laughter when a particular chuckle rolled his shoulder back. He snarled harshly at the sharp pain, and the spider was on her feet again. She crawled to Hero back, and hissed lowly as she looked at the arrow. Gently, she grabbed the end with her fangs and pulled.

Hero's nails dug into the bark as he bit down hard on his lip. His fangs pierced the skin, and he resorted to gasping instead. He licked up the blood from his lips, as he shakily looked back to see the spider with a bloody arrow in her mouth.

He gave her a grateful smile.

○

The wound healed quick and fine, just like all his other ones. Scars started littering his body uglily, so Hero covered them up with illusion charms every day. He was currently in a jungle, and had an ocelot resting in his lap. The wildcat had lurked around Hero when he was resting, and it had decided that Hero's lap looked like the perfect place to take a quick nap. It ran away to catch a fish, before it came back to give it to Hero as an offering before it settled on his lap.

Hero ate the fish cooked for once. He held it in his hands and summoned a bit of heat. His fingertips cooked the fish and he consumed it within minutes. He licked his fingers clean and was about to stroke the ocelot's fur. It jerked awake and stood straight. Its claws dug into Hero's thighs, and he tried asking it what was wrong before it scampered away.

Hero raised his head to see a man.

Fuck, not again.

Who is he?

How am I supposed to know?

Don't you know everything?

No?

Hero did not make a move to stand from his spot on the moss. He stared at the man, who also did not make a move. He had wild teal eyes, that sparkled too brightly. His hair was a dirty brown, and was matted a little bit at the ends. Hero grimaced at his nasty and snobby look. The man just grinned, and Hero thought he looked absolutely mad or high. Hero summoned a small dagger in his hands, hidden behind his thighs.

The man had started to pant, and sniff at the air heavily. He inhaled deeply, and it became repetitive and creepy. Hero raised a head until the man's raspy voice filled his ears.

"You're so powerful... So strong. Perfect meal."

Oh fuck.

What?

He's a leech, for the best of the both of us, you better run, Herobrine.

Stop that name. Also, what do you mean?

Less talking, more running, you idiot!

Hero noticed the twitch in the muscles of the man's calves. He anticipated the spring, and slid to the side just in time, whipping his dagger out. He swung too, cutting the man's bicep. The man let out an animalistic roar, and Hero stared at the turquoise blood leaking out of the gash he had made. Heeding Derrek's words for once, he turned and leaped. He grabbed for a vine and started to swing, leaping and using the branches and trunks to move himself through the air.

The man's odd smoke scent still followed, neither growing stronger nor weaker. Hero dared a glance backwards and gasped when he saw a large bat chasing after him. It had the man's beady teal eyes and it screeched wildly after Hero. The white-eyed man nearly slowed down when Derrek begged.

It's him! It's him! Keep fleeing, and teleport when you're far enough.

Hero reluctantly followed the orders, and once he looked back to see just a tiny body of black, he shut his eyes and teleported. He crashed blindly onto bush, landing on his shoulder badly. He winced as thorns dug into his healing wound, and got up wearily. He sees Derrek in front of him, actually looking panicked for once. He pulled a smirk, just to see the man grimace back. "So, who was that? An old friend? A one night stand who wanted more?"

Derrek made a disgusted expression before saying seriously, "No. Dude's not human. Like I said, he's a leech."

Hero inspected his shoulder as he muttered, "How?"

The other man looked around frantically before whispering, "He's a Alt-Uni Leech, short for Alternate Universe Leech, so he basically-"

"Alternate what?!"

Derrek frowned, "Don't interrupt me. He has enough power to generate a portal that takes him to alternate universes. Guess he picked this one. Basically, Alt-Uni Leeches don't have main forms, and they are able to sense the vitals of literally anything. They can tell everything from scent, sight and hearing."

Hero stiffened, "So he knows about my powers?"

"Not only that, he knows your name and your history. These things are absolutely invincible. From what I see, he's experienced which means he's even more so. They choose victims based on their tastes and then suck out everything they have from them. Soul, power, happiness, everything. It only happens when they kill their victim though. Some people call them Shifters, because they can change form into past victims. He probably killed a bat or something."

Hero gulped, "How do I stay away from him?"

Derrek stared at Hero, "Oh, you can't. He's got your scent and instincts down. He'll find you and take everything you have. They are feared in all multiverses, on my planet, they are a kill-on-sight entity."

The white-eyed man did a double take. "Your... Planet?"

Derrek straightened his bowtie, and ducked away, "Got to go, Herobrine."

"Will you just stop with that fucking name?"

○

If Hero's paranoia was bad, this was worse.

After the whole Shifter fiasco, Hero was on edge 24/7. He pushed himself to his powers' and strength's limit everyday to grow stronger. He had had enough of life's bullshit, and the last thing he wanted was a crazed creature with his powers. If Hero caused a massacre, who knows what this creature would do.

Regardless, Hero pushed his teleportation til he could teleport miles apart. It would drain quite a lot, but he would some energy left at least. He avoided using all of his energy and power on teleportation, and tried to explore his other attributes. He stayed at this forest area, that had a lake. There, he started to bend the elements, doing his best to guide them to do his bidding. He spent the first few days strengthening his water skill, but it never got as good as his air skill. He could cause tornados and typhoons with his main element, air. He was strong enough in water to breathe normally underwater. His discovery led him to converse with various marine creatures. He grew immune to the luresongs of sirens and mermaids.

He used his green surrounding to practice earth. It was the complete opposite of his main element, but he thinks he did alright. He practiced on flora, willing flowers to bloom early or wilt. Soon, he could bend trees to twist and turn into staircases or several other things. Finally, he reached the point where he could lift the ground up to create a stone wall around him with a pulling up gesture. He started to understand nature better, and spoke to forest creatures easily. He had nature on his side.

He then headed underground and found a secluded cave. He stayed in there, practicing his fire skills. He could summon fire balls, sure, but he needed to learn more. The stone floors turned black with ash as soon as he learnt how to summon and breathe fire. The latter was still extremely difficult. He adapted to the heat, even as his fingers had blisters from all the accidental burns. At one point, he had accidentally set himself on fire. He quickly summon wind and water over himself, but when he checked his body, he only suffered first degrees. He had developed a slight immunity to fire.

After learning the elements thoroughly, it seemed like they were sentient. Whenever he air-bends, he would feel at peace and cooled, no matter the surrounding. He could hear distant birds and wind blowing, even if there was no wind or animals around him. Air bending made him the most happy. When he water-bends, it was a different feeling. He heard waves splashing and mersongs, and it was addictive to listen to. He nearly fell asleep to a siren's lullaby when he water-bended. Water-bending was still difficult to control.

Earth-bending was not as wild as water. It was smooth, and Hero heard chirping of crickets and leaves swaying when he bended. It was as if nature was willing, and allowed him to guide her. It felt slightly euphoric, but not as much as air. Fire-bending was... Difficult. Hero had a hard time trying to tame the feral sentience that was fire. It was a blessing when he managed to control it.

In conclusion, Hero was brilliant at his powers just as he was brilliant weapon-wise.

○

Look, it was not Hero's fault.

Yeah, the harsh winds blowing everything that was not connected to the ground through the jungle was not his fault.

In Hero's humble opinion, that fucking slime cube started it.

Hero was minding his own business, having another lazy day with the ocelots of the jungle. He had made friends with a family of them, and they shared fish and chickens with him. He was taking care of their kits when a large slime bounced right up to his face and stared. It scared the kits back to their families and Hero just stared back at the slime. It spoke, but with a really odd slur, "So, you're white-eyes-man?"

Hero blinked. "I mean... Yeah?"

The slime then let out a bubbly laugh. "You look so puny and they told me to fear you!"

Hero did not even have a chance to speak and defend himself. "They said you defeated the vampire clan up South. But, look at you!"

The white-eyed man suddenly stood, and the slime looked up at him with its gleaming eyes. Hero was livid. On the outside, he just smiled sweetly and the slime was confused. Hero raised his hands and the slime followed. Slowly, Hero's eyes glowed and mist started pouring. The wind had picked up and Hero stared straight at the slime.

"The wind and sky are my fucking weapons."

○

What the hell?!

I can't just watch him degrade me.

Then ignore him!

Think that's too late for that.

Hero stared at the windy mess before him.

Yup.

I can't believe you. You need a drink or something.

I know just the place.