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What is resentment?
A feeling, one might say, of displeasure. It's the bitter feeling of biting your tongue as your heart is covered with hatred. Irritation, anger, and every other feeling similar possible lies within resentment.
For Herobrine, resentment is a feeling that was all so familiar to him. He resented many things. One thing currently stands out to him the most.
And this was you.
You were not like the other adventurers he met before.
Others would cower and run, the sight of his eyes enough to spark fear in their hearts. He relishes this, using it to his extent. To him, fear was like a superpower he could use to anyone who would even dare lay a finger on him. Fear was within his control, and he used it to his advantage.
However, fear did not work on you.
As others ran from him, you took a step forward. You approached him whilst others raised their weapons at him. With their swords and axes, they offered a fight. You offered companionship, accompanied with a "hello" , and a bright smile.
He couldn't believe you.
The day you met was a day he wouldn't forget.
He stood at the altar in which he has been summoned, arms crossed, with an intimidating aura. He expects a fight, ready to take them on amd defeat them.
Yet you, awkwardly waved hello, and asked if he'd like dinner.
"...You want me to join you for dinner?"
He couldn't believe it. He, a powerful entity, strong enough to burn down an entire nation, has fought in many wars, has been summoned to eat mushroom soup with a random adventurer for dinner.
He could see he sweat dripping from your forehead, as you reflect on your words. It really does seem so bizarre. Your reasoning?
"I-I made a bit too much of soup tonight," You stuttered, glancing at Herobrine in front of you. Fiddling with your hands behind your back, you continued. "I didn't want to eat alone, so I, uh.."
"You summoned me," He starts, his face looking more confused (well at least he doesn't seem like he's angry! ... yet), "just because you didn't want to eat alone at dinner."
"Yes, exactly!"
"Why?"
You gulped, scared all of a sudden, the fear finally catching up to you. "It's a long story actually-"
"Lucky for you," he sighs. "It seems this would be a long story I'm interested in."
He steps down from the altar, arms crossed, standing closer in front of you, his white eyes seeming to be blindingly bright despite being several steps away.
"Ah," you sweat dropped again. "Well, I uhh- did it as a joke at first until I realized you were actually real...?" Your voice grew smaller as you said that last bit.
Herobrine on the other hand, has his eyebrows raised. The bit where you thought he wasn't real at first, he could understand. As a joke, however?
It almost amuses him.
You stand there, waiting for his response. The silence was so thick, you could slice it with a diamond sword.
Eventually, he gives his reply. With a shrug, he says, "sure."
"R-really??" You asked, the situation not turning out the way you expected.
"Do you want to have someone for dinner or not?"
"No! I mean, yes! I'd be happy to have you here!"
That was the beginning of the two of you, all starting with an invitation to dinner.
To be fair, the mushroom soup was good.
He has relayed this to you, as he sips on his soup. You smile, and his heart beats more furiously than it did before. He brushed it off, probably just nothing.
Surprisingly, you're able to have a nice conversation with each other. It was still rather awkward, (of course, that was expected), but perhaps this was the first dinner he enjoyed for the first time in years. He never would admit this to you, though.
Herobrine had asked you, "why haven't you invited someone else?"
"I can't have been your first option," he says. "Don't you have any friends?"
Chuckling nervously, you spun your spoon around your soup. "I don't really have anyone to talk to.." You mutter.
"Family?"
"Millions of miles away," You sip at your soup.
"What about gifting it to villagers?" He asks. "They love soup."
"There's no villages nearby here," You point out. "So, in the end you were kind of my only option."
He quietly hums, as the air grows silent again. His heart beats again, he's getting weirded out by it now.
In some sort of way, he's just like you.
The feeling of being alone almost always is familiar to him.
You clear your throat, before looking up to meet his eyes. "Hey," you say, he looks up.
"Thank you for having dinner with me," you say, as you smile at him and his chest tightens. "It's nice to have this kind of interaction with you!" Even if it wasn't what you expected, but you don't add that.
He stops for a moment, staring at you. Someone enjoying his presence, even thanking him?
Your presence isn't like a god asking for allies with his own war that he needs to fight, or a delusional worshipper who's begging to make them immortal just like him. It's.. calming. And he unexpectedly enjoys it. It feels real, genuine.
And it makes his heart scrunch up in an unfamiliar way that it bothers him.
It still lingers his mind when he leaves your place, and it still lingers even a week later. The Nether is covered in this burning heat, but he's grown used to the temperature after being down here for so long. And as he sits by a cliff, he wonders if there's a reason to his own feelings.
The way his heart acts and chest tightens when you speak, the way he's been thinking of you every so often now. And that smile you have...
He shakes his head, no.
There was something different about you, the way you weren't immediately as scared as the others. Nor the fact you didn't pick a fight, or have any other major requests aside from dinner.
It all.. Irritated him.
Wait, that's it! He thinks, it's all making sense now.
He's irritated by you. You have an unfamiliar aura that he's not used to, it's just not right!
In other words, with the way you act... it makes him resent it. Resent you.
He huffs out, finally able to figure out his feelings.
Well, he wonders, he shouldn't be lingering on this, it's not like he'll be seeing you again, right?
"Yeah," he mutters. "It's not like I'll run into them again."
And Herobrine was sure of it.
----
Your next meeting was several weeks after.
You were running low on supplies, deciding to go on a hunt for diamonds in a nearby cave. Carrying an iron sword and pickaxe with you, you mine by a nearby lava pool, singing your pickaxe. You hear a noise and turn your head anxiously.
"Probably cave noises," you thought, turning back to continue what you were doing. You hear a noise again, and a nearby groan. You take out your sword and swing, seeing a zombie lunge at you. It ends up roughly scratching your arm. You hiss in pain, slicing it with your sword as it ends up bleeding from their stomach. They groan in pain, as the blood flows out of them. They jump at you, one last time, as you expertly stab them in the forehead, and they fall to the ground.
Not going down without a fight, they drag themselves across the cave floor, grabbing your foot as you step back, not noticing how close you are to falling into the lava pool. Fear seizes your entire body as you feel yourself fall back into the lava, ready for the impact. This is it, this is how you die.
... But the impact never came.
You suddenly felt a hand tug at your arm forcefully, pulling you back as you fall forward to the ground, shaking from what had just happened. You put your hand on chest as you inhale and exhale, trying to calm yourself from what had just happened. Your heart still pounds as you sigh in relief, now realizing you had been saved by someone. You look up to thank him and are met with the familiar glow of his white eyes.
"You," you say in surprise. "You saved me!"
Herobrine glances at you, arms crossed. "You're lucky I caught you just in time," he stated. "If not, you would have been-"
"Dead." You finished his sentence for him, now brushing yourself of and standing up. "Thank you again."
"... You don't need to thank me all the time," In a way, he was being serious. Their kindness wasn't something he's used to, and he thinks it's his heart being resentful towards them.
Yet you assure that he does deserve the thanks.
"Would you like to come eat dinner with me again?" You ask, chatting with him like he's an old friend and not a vengeful entity. "I made mushroom soup again, and besides," they chuckle. "I owe you one."
Herobrine thinks if he should agree or not, besides, he hates you. And when you hate someone like this, you don't exactly join them for dinner a second time.
"Alright," even he couldn't believe that words leaving his own mouth. He doesn't understand himself.
But when he watches you smile, his chest tightens.
What's with him, or is it you? What is it about you that enchants him so? That makes him intrigued yet hates you at the same time?
In the end, Herobrine accompanied you back home, joining you once again for dinner.
-
You and Herobrine have been meeting more and more often now, dinners with mushroom soup were more common than it did before.
You've more or so, became someone Herobrine talked to daily, whether about old stories you have to tell, or random thoughts in your head.
And his resentment for you only grew stronger the more he had spent time with you.
There was a time where you both were gardening and doing chores around the house together, he was in charge of the garden, you were in charge of making dinner again.
~~~
"Hero!"
Herobrine turns around, his feet digging into the soil as he wipes the dirt of his cheek. In his hand, he holds a packet of sunflowers seeds, ready to be burrowed into the dirt. On the ground, a small patch of soil had been newly dug, along with a row of newly dirt covered holes. He hears your voice in this distance, deciding to walk over to your shared home.
You lean by the doorway, watching him walk up to you, before stepping forward and wiping his cheek with a towel.
"You've got dirt on your face," You say with a smile, wiping the soil away from his cheek. He blushes, his ears flushing a dark red as you finish wiping his face.
"I take it you've came to tell me something?"
"We can finish planting tomorrow, it's almost sundown." You notice the sun setting behind him, as you turn back to head inside. "Dinner's ready."
He nods, walking behind you as you both make your way inside.
---
The almost empty bowl of soup is set down as well as the finished plate of blueberry cheesecake sits beside it. The two had already finished their meal, now simply just hanging out in the kitchen.
"A lovely meal as always," he compliments your cooking, leaning behind on his chair. You chuckle, giving him a thanks.
"The only reason I cook here for us is because you have a tendency of burning kitchens down."
His brow furrows. "No I don't."
"Yes you do."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"You burnt the corner of the kitchen once when you tried to cook for me while I was sick."
"Ah," he raises his two hands in defeat. "Ok, you win."
They laugh together, whilst the sounds of the fire place blazing smoke against the chimney, and the crickets' chirping of the night.
"Sit with me by the fire," you say, after cleaning up the kitchen, taking a seat in front of the fireplace. You pat the seat beside him, flashing your smile. He eventually sits next to you, though there's still space that has yet to be occupied as you both turn to the fire.
"Do you know you have pretty eyes?"
Herobrine does a double-take, staring at you with a questioning look. "You're kidding."
"I'm not," you say. "Has nobody ever told you that?"
"..No," he admits. "Nobody did."
You look surprised as you sat up and moved closer. He tenses up at first, watching you. You held his cheek gently, "is this ok?" you ask.
He pauses for a moment, before nodding. You look at his eyes closer, staring at them with awe and curiosity. "I can't believe nobody has ever told you."
"Well," He starts. "To be fair, I am a vengeful entity."
Herobrine would be wrong to admit your touch didn't make his heart flutter, the resentment growing. You really aren't like the others. No one dared to treat him like this.
Nobody.. but you.
His eyes had always been something he hated, resentment lies in the eyes of a man who fought wars and ruled hell, yet he softens at the touch of an adventurer who could tell him the beauty they found within them and immediately become soft.
"So?" you responded back, it seems like you didn't care. "I still think your eyes are nice."
"Hmm," Herobrine hums. "How so?"
"For starters, it's like staring at the moon," you described, and as he looked into your eyes, he could see the twinkling light reflecting in them. "And the moon is beautiful, isn't it?"
He's taken aback. The moon, huh?
There are those quiet moments in his past, where he would walk into the overworld and stare at the moon at night. The nights were he prays for peace and is rewarded by the quiet dark and the glowing moon up ahead. The stars surrounding them as the whole world seems to stop time. It's quiet, peaceful.
It's beautiful.
And perhaps that moment was just like this one, for time seemed to stop for the both of you, his face in your hands, and now that he looks back on it, the stars in the nightsky that night were just like the lights in your eyes.
But he resents you, so he'll never admit it.
".. the sun."
"What?" You ask from his sudden response. Herobrine holds up his hand and gently caresses your cheek.
"The sun," he repeats again. "If my eyes remind you of the moon, then you're smile is like the sun."
And he sees you smile again, laughter bursting from your lips. He feels a warm tingly feeling run across his body, and he thinks it's resentment for hating your reaction.
"You're an odd one," he confesses over the sound of the crackling fire. You hum in amusement. "Am I now?" the question leaves your lips.
"You've always been," Herobrine says. "You're the first person to even act this way to me."
"Seriously?" You tilt your head in confusion. This is a man who's lived for hundreds and hundreds of years! Surely you couldn't have been the only one..
"I'm not joking." His statement is firm, yet his eyes hold this sadness that even you can't describe. "Why are you so.. kind?"
I hate how you do it, but he doesn't add that last bit. Because maybe it won't be his own heart aching when he does.
You ponder to yourself, staring at the fire.
"Because I know what it's like to be alone."
He looks at you. And you meet his gaze.
"From what you've told me so far, it's like you've never really had anyone to be close with before." You started your sentence, "And in a way, I might not be a superhuman or a god, but I know what it's like to have nobody."
You then pat his shoulder and give him a reassuring smile.
"That's why I plan on being by your side for as long as I can," you smile, and he thinks it's the most beautiful thing ever. "Because lonely people stick together."
And Herobrine hated you more than anything that night.
---
The brunette walks along a dirt covered road, holding a bowl of soup in one hand and a boquet of sunflowers in the other. You are still stuck in his mind, and no matter how he tries, he can't get rid of you.
His mind lingers as his heart aches again, back to the one certain day.
The day he was thinking about his hatred, his resentment for you. It was the day he took a walk to clear his head as thoughts of you run across his head.
He doesn't get it. Was this a different kind of a resentment? One that leads him to be interested in you, yet have this major feeling take hold of his heart and body whenever he talks to you. He's confused. What kind of hate is this?
Does he hate you at all?
He decided to ask an old acquaintance of his, heading over to a witch's hut to get more answers. He knocks on the door and it opens to a tall witch with white hair and piercing violet eyes. "Viola," he greets. "I have questions."
"And hello to you too, Herobrine." Viola opens the door further, letting him in. "And what do you need this time?"
"I've been," He tries to describe what's been going on currently. "Feeling this weird things."
"I'm a witch, not a doctor." Viola tells him as she flips through her book, seeming to be in the middle of creating a potion. "But you know what, go on."
He rolls his eyes before continuing. He explains that he's been feeling some sort of resentment, or hatred towards you ever since you first met. He tells of the way that his heart aches whenever you touch him gently, or that his smile makes his insides scrunch up in a weird way. And in all of this, Viola looks at him, in awe and amusement.
"Resent?" She shakes her head. "You resent this person? Herobrine, if anything you're in love."
...
Love?
He parrots back to the elder witch, who laughs at his dumbfounded expression.
"Did you seriously not know?" She chuckles, and in a way, it was like watching a child ask their mother something ridiculous, yet their mother finds them amusing. "You felt all those things because you love them deep down, it's not hatred."
"I.." he pauses. "I love them?"
"Yes. You do."
Herobrine is shocked at this, and his heart beats at the thought of you. And suddenly, it all made so much more sense.
You, he loved you! All this time!
Resentment was just a facade that love carried in order to not reveal itself yet, and it finally opened his eyes fully once Viola had explained it to him. And he had finally realized it.
And that day, Herobrine realized he was in love with you. You and your starry eyes and a smile like the sun.
Viola watches him go lovestruck, and it reminds her of younger self back then when she was young and chasing love by it's end. She opens her mouth to say something when they're interrupted by a faraway sound that carries throughout the forest, a sound that sends a shiver down their spines.
A pillager horn, there's a raid.
Viola tells this to Herobrine, who quickly gets up. "I need to go." He says, before running out the door. "Herobrine!" Viola watches him from the doorframe, seeing him disappear into the forest.
"Oh, stay safe.." she mutters. "I have a bad feeling."
-
Herobrine runs throughout the forest, rushing his way back to your house. Raids usually happen to villages, so why is he so worried?
No, there's this feeling in the back of his mind that won't stop bugging him. Something's happened.
As he runs toward your place, his mind is running, swarming with thoughts. Are you ok? Are you safe at home? Is there just a village nearby in danger?
No, it came from the way which your house was nearby.
Herobrine was not a religious man, he never bowed down to any other gods, but that day, he prayed as he ran through the forest. Prayers left his lips as he ran and ran, one foot after the other. He didn't care to who or what god he prays to, as long as they can answer his pleas.
He finally sees your chimney's smoke in the distance, and his heart calms for a moment, until he realizes that the smoke isn't supposed to be that thick, and the scent of burning fire shouldn't be this strong from where he's at.
The sight he sees makes his heart drop.
There lies the remains of what used to be your home, covered in smoke. He could see the inside, the fire spreading fast as everything catches on flames. He rushes inside and yells your name, not caring whether the fire catches on his clothes or that the smoke was getting too foggy. He needed to find you. He can't lose you.
Searching every room, he had realized you weren't here. He let out a sigh of relief, maybe you are safe.
But he still steps out, screaming your name as he searched around the place for where you could be.
There's arrows stuck to trees, other lodged into the ground as he follows a trail of footsteps that he hopes was yours. And again, he begs to whatever god, spirit, entity out there for them to hear him, to answer him, to give them the sign that you're alright.
You'll remake the house together, he thinks, you'll cook together and dance and eat mushroom soup and look for diamonds together.
"Because lonely people stick together!" Your voice runs through his head, and it makes his heart ache. "We'll stick together," he mutters to himself.
"I'm not leaving you alone."
He runs across different parts of the forest, looking for where you are, checking the arrows for a sign. He's desperate, he's scared, he wants to see you more than anything right now.
And he prays again, stopping by a tree,"lf anyone can hear me right now, please.
Lead me to them."
And as he turns to discover and look through the new area, his prayers have been answered.
In the worse way possible.
There lies your body, an arrow right near where your heart is placed. There are burnt marks littered around your skin, and your clothes had looked like a mess. There's blood on your forehead, and it disturbs Herobrine even more when he sees the grass beneath you covered in blood.
He rushes over you, screaming your name, as you weakly turn to him. He could see you try to smile, and it pains him to see you this way.
"Hi Hero," you said, trying to reach your arm towards him as he approached. He shushes you, cradling you closer. The wounds seem to be deep, yet he's afraid of pulling the arrows out for it could make your situation worse. He wipes the blood away from your cheek as he could feel tears crawl up in his eyes.
"What happened?" He whispers gently, brushing a hand through your hair. You chuckle nervously, and it makes him feel resentment again, but this time it's resenting the way you're in pain and that something terrible happened to you.
And he wasn't there to save you.
"I.. I heard a raid," you croaked out, your voice sounding weak. He feels your hands covered in drying blood hold his, and squeezes it tightly. "I made the mistake of not running away in time, and they burnt down the house, and took some things." You cough, as you could still feel the thick fog in your system. "I was dumb, and I tried to face them head on, but.." You smiled weakly. "Looks like I was wrong."
"It's ok," he tries to comfort you, pulling you closer. He's holding back tears, and even until then he doesn't wanna show you how vulnerable he really is. "You're gonna be ok."
".. Hero-"
"We're gonna get you help," he's trying to reassure you. "I have a friend, she can help, she has potions and spells-"
"Hero."
"And we'll rebuild the house!" He's not listening. "We'll make mushroom soup again, and then-"
"Hero."
You place your hand on his cheek as he looks at you, and suddenly he feels like his moonlit eyes can't contain all the tears he's been holding back.
"You don't need to," You mumble softly. "It's ok."
"What?" He questioned. "What do you mean?"
"I'm saying you don't have to, you could do it, but you're gonna be on your own."
Your starry eyes let out tears as Herobrine watches all the stars slowly burn out from your eyes.
"I'm dying, Hero."
"... No," he doesn't want to believe it. "No, you're gonna be ok."
"You don't have to lie to yourself, Herobrine." You say, still grasping his hand. "I'm sorry. I wanted to be with you for much longer-"
"It's not your fault," he says quickly. "It never was. I should've been there. I could have stopped this."
"If the fault is not mine," Your weak voice tells him. "Then it was never yours either."
He doesn't know what to say, and you've ran out of strength to continue on talking. So he just holds you tightly, and you lean into his touch.
The sun shines on both of your faces as Herobrine thinks to himself. He begs for more time, he wants more time. If only time stopped the same way it did the other night, when he thought he hated you more than anything. But it turns out he loved you with all his heart. If only time could stop again, or could rewind back to give you one more chance at living.
But this is all the time you had left, and it's running out fast.
He stares into your eyes, you still have that smile in your face, and stars in your eyes, but stars eventually fade and the sun will eventually die out, just like you. He decides to finally tell you, as he feels your heartbeat slowly start to fade.
"I love you."
And he means it. And what he thought was resentment was his affection for you this whole time. And you stop and grin at him, and he thought you were still as beautiful as the day you first met.
He waits patiently for your response, but there's no more strength for you to say anything. Instead, you hold his cheek the way you did the night you told him that his eyes were moonlit. And Herobrine realized that it is true, because the moon relies on the sunshine to light up, and he relies on your smile to give him the energy to move on everyday. And without the stars and the sun, the moon is nothing but an empty shell in the sky.
You, in your final moments, hold his hand tightly as he watches the smile never leave your lips. And in that moment, the final star in your eyes had burnt out.
And there, you died.
Some people say, that sometimes the smallest things can change what would happen in the future.
If I was there one minute earlier, would they have been alive? He thinks.
If I just hadn't left you that night, would you be beside me this morning?
...
How cruel of time to take you away from a man who wanted more.
"Herobrine!" He hears a voice of a familiar witch running across the forest, out of breath, Viola spots him sitting on the ground, cradling you in his arms.
"You... Oh.." She stops, looking at your now deceased body. She looks at him, her expression filled with sadness and pity for the man, who cradled the love of his life in his arms, the love who had passed away with a ghostly smile on their face.
She glances at Herobrine, watching his back shake slightly. He finally turns around after a while, his face all scrunched up in discomfort and pain.
"Viola?" He speaks, his voice crestfallen. "Can I cry now?"
She could see the tears welling up in his eyes, as she embraces him lightly.
"Of course, dear." She answered. "You can cry."
Letting the tears fall, he let's out an agonizing sob, crying as loud as he can, grief swallowing him whole. Your body's gone cold, but somewhere in his mind, he's still hoping that you're not gone yet. Tears fall down his eyes as the witch sits next to him, comforting the brunette, and he continues to sob.
Today was the day the moon lost it's shine, because it's sun was no longer there to give them their glow, and the stars no longer surround the sky around him. It's just him, alone once again.
----
Herobrine walks through the forest, the familiarity of the path makes him sigh in pain, but he marches through.
He sees the place of where you last smiled. He remembers still holding your hand before being buried in the ground. A grave stands on top of the soil, surrounded by a variety of different flowers in baskets, boquets, and more.
He places down the sunflower next to your grave, and greets you. He asks you about your day, and in his mind, he thinks your ghost is sitting on your grave, listening to him talk. He tells you about his own day.
"I've made mushroom soup," he starts, crossing his legs as he sat down. "I tried making it the way you did, but I can never top your recipe." He chuckles, remembering the fond memories of when you would cook together in the kitchen. "You always had the best mushroom soup, you know?"
It's silent. Except for a light breeze the flows right by, making nature turn and sway along the wind. He let's out a small smile, perhaps it's your way of answering his question. You'd still take pride in your soup being the better one than him, if only he could see you laugh as he admits this.
"Viola says hello," he speaks up again. "I wish you could have met her. She was my mentor way back when I was younger." He smiled. "She would have loved to meet you."
It was when another breeze flows again, when he realizes by the side of your gravestone lies a blooming sunflower, ready to grow. He examines in closer, lightly holding it.
Maybe you've been reincarnated into a sunflower, and it's a reminder of your smile as it grows beside the last place where you did so. It's still growing though, he realizes. But he lightly chuckles nonetheless.
"Looks like you're a sunflower now," he takes notice. "You have a never ending shine."
He stands back up, adjusting the cloak that hangs behind his back.
"I'll be leaving now," He says. "I promise I'm coming back tomorrow, maybe I'll nail your soup recipe by then."
The sunflower from early tilts slightly, and he takes it as a sign to return.
He waves goodbye and leaves, ready to meet you again tomorrow.
-
As years pass, and as all the flowers within your place of rest grew and surrounded you, growing into a sort of sanctuary. Many adventurers and travellers who come upon this place, called it "The Secret Garden."
It's in the care of a man who's eyes glow like the moon, his hands rough yet gentle as he tends to all the plants in the garden. He comes by daily, staying from the early hours of the morning, until the sun begins to set at night. Adventurers see the way he talks to the garden, the way its been treated with such care by him, as if he was taking care of an actual human being. They watched quietly as they pass by, seeing the gardener tend to it with it all the love he could ever give.
Yet, adventurers never mention about the second figure in the garden. It's a shadow that watches over the gardener as he tends to the garden. It's the laughter in the wind as it rustles against the trees in the forest. It's the twinkling light of the all the stars in the nightsky, as it shines brighter than it did before. With a warmth and loving presence one could describe being similar to the sun.
Many say it's a ghost, others say it's an angel, but only one man could tell you of a human being so kind and loving, it could make your heart ache.
As all the flowers in the garden grow, and all the trees sway in the wind, accompanied by the sweet aroma of mushroom soup, lies a promise that will never be forgotten.
Because lonely people stick together.
And you both won't ever leave each other's side.