Second Chances

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"I just got back from the village. No one recognizes him," a miner said, walking into the room. The cabin outside of the mines' entrance was where all the mining operation planning was held, but currently it was the center of an investigation. The child was still asleep, but he now was on a couch. He was completely oblivious of the intense search that was going on in that room as half a dozen miners tried to figure out where he came from. Steve was starting to worry about how long the child had been sleeping. Was he okay?

Thea huffed. She was basically the boss of all the miners, but she preferred the title Mining Operations Manager. "Well, that is the only village for miles. He has to be from that village." She crossed her arms.

"Is it possible he came from the Nether? There might be a portal somewhere, and he wandered underground from there," one of the miners suggested.

"What could a kid like him POSSIBLY be doing in the Nether?" Thea snapped.

Steve sighed. This could go on for a while. Since miners spend all their time trapped underground together, arguing was one of their favorite hobbies. Topics could be anything from the mundane, like which meat type was the best, to the absurd, like if birds are real, to the controversial, like if the current king was a good king. Nothing was off limits. Judging from the way this conversation was going, it would take hours and a lengthy, heated argument for the group to find a solution.

"Look, it's getting dark, and I want to get home before the mobs come out. How about we pick this up tomorrow morning before someone hurts someone else?" Steve suggested.

"Then what happens to the kid?" Thea asked.

"He could stay with me until we find his family."

"Can you do that? After..." the miner trailed off, since everyone knew what he meant.

Steve subconsciously ran his fingers across the ring on his left hand. "I'll be fine. It'll only be just for a few days, after all," he assured them.

...

Because of how light the kid was, it took no additional effort to walk home with him in Steve's arms. Steve's house was on the outskirts of town so he'd be closer to his job. It was a modest one-bedroom house furnished comfortably, but not excessively. Steve opened the door and walked over to his bed to set the child down on it. He hadn't stirred the entire walk home, and Steve was growing more and more concerned. He had to wake up eventually, right?

Well, while he waited, he might as well prepare dinner. He pulled out two pieces of raw beef and stuck them in a furnace. He lit the charcoal within. Steve glanced at the kid and worried. He would like steaks, right? Steve wasn't sure. It had been a long time since he had last been around children. A pang of sorrow rang through his heart, and he brushed the thought aside. Well, if the kid didn't like steak, then Steve could prepare something else. He had a lot of food.

A groan came from the bed, and Steve glanced behind him to see the child sit up and rub his eyes.

"Ah, good. You're awake. You were starting to give me a scare there, kid. My name is Steve. Don't worry, you're perfectly safe here."

The child looked up at him, and Steve froze when he saw his eyes.

No. No. That... that couldn't be possible.

"Where am I?" the child asked, growing more and more nervous the longer Steve gawked at him.

Steve ignored the question. He couldn't stop staring at the child's glowing white eyes. He knew those eyes, better than most did.

"Herobrine?" Steve whispered.