Fly, Phoenix, Fly - Herobrine x Reader

Chapter Seventeen - Cold Sand

Pray for me y'all I gotta survive 2 flights and a 4 hour layover today

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Herobrine knelt down in the sand, ignoring the way it sucked at his boots as he scrutinized the trail of footprints with Alex beside him. Several feet away, Y/N perched on a small bit of stone that poked out of the sand, thoroughly uncomfortable with the sensation of trying to stand in it.

"I can't tell what made these tracks," Herobrine finally said as he straightened up. "They don't seem to have been made by boots or hooves. I can only imagine that it must have been one of Sirben's skeletons."

"As I suspected," Y/N muttered, tucking her bare arms to her chest and suppressing a shudder. Beyond the chill of the valley, the thought of those beasts being nearby set her on edge like little else.

It had taken the trio about two hours to reach the tracks that Y/N had spotted from the air, a trek that was entirely uneventful. Y/N had noticed as soon as they entered the valley, however, that both of her companions were far more sure-footed in the sand than she was. Which, considering their lives, made sense.

"It isn't clear how long ago it passed through here," Herobrine stated, adjusting his stance and dusting off his hands. "The soulsand holds its shape for a long time. We should follow it." Y/N sighed quietly, but stepped off of the small platform, trailing behind them as he and Alex began to walk.

Y/N had been a soldier for nearly her entire life, which meant she was accustomed to all manner of terrain. She had fought through deserts, snowy tundra, and swamps, but none of those could compare to the sensation of walking through soulsand.

She could swear that the sand had a mind of its own, gripping at her feet with icy fingers and trying to drag her down below with each step. Though she kept her eyes on Herobrine, her attention was focused fully on staying upright, moving her feet with quick, jerky motions to keep from getting stuck.

Despite her best efforts, however, one of her feet sank just a bit lower than the other and she stumbled, crashing down onto her hands and knees in the sand.

"Ugh-" She immediately tried to push off, get herself back to her feet, but the soulsand had already claimed her hands as greedily as it had her boots. She flapped her wings, a small spike of panic going through her when she wasn't able to break free of the frigid hold.

"Hold on." And then a pair of strong hands were hauling her upright, setting her back on her feet.

Y/N's wings flared as she caught her balance, shooting Herobrine a grateful look as she did so. "Sorry," she apologized, looking ahead to where Alex had stopped to wait for them. I'm really not used to this terrain."

"It does take some getting used to," Herobrine told her. "Hold onto my arm." Y/N nodded, and she didn't miss the way Alex looked at them as she took his arm and they started to walk again.

They continued on for a couple of hours in this manner, Herobrine steadying her whenever the sand threatened to pull her down again. Y/N studied his feet as he walked, his broad, confident steps a sharp contrast to her own flighty ones. After they had traveled some miles she had begun to get the hang of it, but she didn't let go of Herobrine's arm. Just in case.

Eventually, the tracks led them out of the valley, and their company stopped as the trail disappeared between the stalks of crimson mushrooms.

"Of course they would be in there," Alex grumbled as they came to a stop. "What now?"

"I can still see the trail," Herobrine said. "But we'll have to be considerably more careful. The potential for an ambush will be much greater within the forest." Y/N nodded readily. She was just happy to get out of the valley.