23.

><>2nd person POV<><

::: Previously: After a successful escape from Notch's castle, both you and Carter managed to ride away for the far and mystical ingredient which is supposed to be the only way one could save the high ranking immortal. On your way there, however, you came across a follower: the gentleman from before, who attempted to stalk you in order to get on Notch's good side. Thanks to an unfortunate series of events for him, mostly having to do with your bow, the man fell limp. Still alive, but making you two stop and set up camp.. awaiting his returning conscience. :::

With a groan, the dark-redheaded man sits up, a hand to his shoulder as the other is too hurt to even move.

"Mornin." You say plainly, allowing him to process the world around him as he looks around. You have no ropes tied to him, for you have learned that it is exceptionally harder making someone listen to you when they are worried about their own skin. Behind you, Carter is already packing everything back onto the horses. The man squints at the painful sunlight, noticing it is far past morning. Finally, he realizes you two are the exact same ones he had been following nearly all day yesterday.

"Wuh!?" He yelps, falling off the log onto his back, clenching his jaw tightens in pain as his sensitive shoulder shoots painful volts throughout his senses. You stare in awe of this moment, so used to being and being around those who have lived through much worse, but also remembering when you had a similar reaction to pain as Cody.

"Hurry to your feet, son. Either you are traveling with us, or walking the whole way back.. Keep in mind, we don't intend on hurting you. In fact, I like your idea of the Immortals signing agreements of peace with the hu- ..Us... With a few minor tweaks, it should benefit both sides equally." You say to the man as he shuffles to his feet. The man just gives you a quick look of confusion, for more reasons than one. Gosh! You can't let old wording leave your mouth! Maybe being around someone who finally understood was a bad idea!

"Son?. Listen, I may not know exactly who you two are, but I know you can't be my parents." The man cracked a smile, making his way off the ground.

"Sorry." You were quick to apologize bluntly, hoping that he would just ignore the rest. By the time the man is up off the ground, Carter has already finished packing what little had been laying about. The man seems to think greatly about walking back, but turns to you with a new question every time he looks as if he's going to step away. They are all questions about 1, your identity. 2, your mission. And 3, those changes you would make to that little pact he came up with. You don't fully answer most of them, preferring to only stay on the topic of your mission, but a few other small things slip out, most of which thankfully go un noticed by the man. "..Sooo, are you going to come with us.. or not?" You finally ask him. "Oh, yeah. Might want to punch down a few trees and craft a sword on your way. It'll most likely be a few days before you reach Notch's castle again." You ask once on your horse. A very mild smirk rises on your face as you watch him thinking about his soon to be aching fists, and the dreadful nights that would follow.

"Umm, I think.. I'll tag along. -Just until we reach another town o- or something. -B- but! I still need to know why you are so against Notch. Especially enough to poison him!" The man still looks against you, despite your detailed explanation about your plan earlier. Of course.. it does make sense. He was probably one raised to believe that Notch was simply misunderstood or something. Your hand tightens around the reigns of your horse. Your horse senses your tension and snorts out deeply... He doesn't understand why.. and he never truly will as long as he lives.

"...He... He isn't.. the same man you were raised to believe he is.." You say quietly, but enough for him to hear. Your eyes alone tell him a whole nother story of pain, loss, treachery.. torture.

"Huh.?" The man questioned your face.

"...Because Notch is no better than Herobrine himself.. trust me." ...You were there when they teamed up to take down a common foe...

><><><><><><

Hour, after hour.. after hour, you three travel. The man has to share an uncomfortable saddle with Carter, while you stay ahead of the two, placing the right words into your head, hoping the end result sounds good. You also scribble those words down in the old journal of yours which is once again in your posession, making sure that not even the chirping birds can see. It is hard to hide the trembling emotion that consumes you as you write, your jaw solid, holding itself in place so it won't rattle against your top teeth as you write... Words which you hope will never have to be read.

"Whew.. Thank Null! Look! I think there's a village just over there! Mind dropping me off?" The bandaged man takes your attention away quickly from your finished work, pointing at some light grey smoke rising above the trees. You nod to Carter, and he follows as you veer off the natural path you have been following, until you three find yourselves on a man-made path. Within a few minutes you three ride into a very small, but cozy, village under the watchful eye of the looming mountains over yonder.

"Should we stop here for the night?" Carter asks. You nod tiredly, since it is already nearly night. Sleeping somewhere other than the floor sounds nice. After a very short search, you find someone who houses guests in the bottom story of their small cottage; and for an agreeable price, everyone is welcomed into the small building, housing four beds. Next up, you all take a moment to relax and recover from the long ride as well as that whole poisoning Notch thing. The man, who you still don't know the name of, meanwhile goes to get a small check-up on his injured shoulder. A smart move for him.

The sun has finally set. The man had come back with news that he had also negotiated with a villager to bring him back to Notch's kingdom the next day. Carter has fallen fast asleep, his tired form laying on his bed diagonally with his feet dangling off the side. The unnamed man currently sleeps as well.. You...? You can't go to sleep. You hold the page from your journal you had recently torn out after writing on, as you lean against the outside of the house you are staying in, old memories you had forced yourself to forget returning. Your entire form trembles.

Blades. Knives. Digging deep. Deep enough to kill. Deep enough to bleed. No rest. No escape. Chains. Such.. such painful chains. Ones that dig- dig deep. Digging like the blades. Whispers. Nothing but whispers. No one speaks to you. Left in the dark. Left alone. No one there to save you. Hidden. Hidden like a gem. Hidden like a weapon. Hidden like a secret. No one speaks of you. He. His voice cold, dark; merciless. His words shattering glass. His mind-boggling commands:.. to kill. He never cared for you. He, speaks to you. He asks about you. He questions you. He threatens you. He wants to know. He wants to know who you are. He wants to know what you are. He asks, and you don't answer. You can't answer. You LITERALLY CANNOT answer! You do not know. And you never knew. You have no answer... The fear. The fear is so strong. It rips through your mind like the chains that tear at your wrists. You tremble. You wish you can cry... But.. you can't.

The darkening around your vision makes you realize you haven't taken in a breath for quite some time. You gasp once out of it, panting afterwards. Your face feels pale. It probably is. Desperately, your eyes search for something calming to look upon, only finding the edge of the dark forest, shining stars, and moon high in the sky. You look up at the moon, but a melding memory quickly snaps them away. You can't.. You can't go through with this. You just can't! Trembling, you fall to your knees. No no no no.. Memories. Memories the moon only added to. A darkness engulfs you as your hart fills with pain it had forced down centuries ago. The darkness feels as if it is only attempting to comfort you, but it does nothing. Your mind only fogs, trying to kick out all those memories. But one just spurs on another, and another. Like a domino effect, you remember nearly everything.

Whispering... That is enough to take your mind off of everything, and the darkness and fog in your mind alike clears, allowing you to look over at the quiet sources of sound. You can't pick out much, but your head really takes care when you hear his name in the mix.

"..You sure.? I- I mean.. It is just a rumor." Your ears focus in on the two dark figures speaking in hushed tones.

"-They all start as just rumors! I'm not taking any chances this time. I say we leave this eastern territory entirely, and get the heck out of here before he even shows his face in Afterwood!" The other whispered harshly.

"You mean?-"

"-Yes. That is what the rumors are saying. They believe he is headed for Afterwood this time.."

"Those poor people.-"

"-Those poor us! Now come on! We better leave for Raven's Creek before that city is even touched, or who knows what?! His attacks are getting worse each time! He might not even stop there!" The conversation ended with the more urgent man grabbing and tugging the slightly younger man's wrist towards the only stables in the village. Other than their voices, you can see no way to identify them. But, that isn't important. What is important is the news they just shared. Your hand absent mindedly clutches the small piece of paper you held loosely. You can't let this happen. Not again!.. You need a new plan.

What will you do?.. Pain. Pain. You know what you need to do. You can't allow Carter to follow you this time... You can't allow him to suffer anything even remotely similar to what you have suffered. And the further he is away from him, the further away he is from that same pain. Your jaw chatters, as you unfold that same piece of paper. On the back, you add something new using that same old feather-pen you remember replacing many times before. You write down one, last, message.

"Don't go to Afterwood. Defend the antidote." After that, you delicately drew what he should be looking for, with some arrows pointing to it. The drawing is of an elaborate looking flower, with an odd ammount of petals and an even odder thin, wirey stem to go along with it.

The last thing you do before leaving is slipping the piece of paper into your friend's shoe. Friend. Yes. You rather like that title: someone you can trust. Someone who understand you.. Someone who must be protected at all costs... And so.. You leave, having absolutely no idea what exactly you are heading into. But.. you are sick of waiting. Sick to the core, of being too afraid.

'Better watch out, Herobrine.. I'm coming for you.'