"I need some nether warts and soul sand, can you get that?"

I look over at the man, who called me here saying he has a job for me. Generally I wouldn't trust someone so easily, but I've been short on resources. Apparently he's supplier for alchemists or something, he has good stuff. 

I nod, "That'll be ten iron bars."

"Deal." We shake hands and the man grins. "Come back here tomorrow at this time and we'll make the trade."

"I'll be here." With that, I walk away. I have to at least look like the strong mercenary he thinks I am, or my reputation of being the resident go-getter is forever ruined. If people think I'm weak, they'll never hire me again.

But the Nether! I've never actually been to the Nether before. I've gone through many biomes and even under them, but not the Nether. I don't even know where a Nether portal is, and it's not like I have the obsidian to make a portal myself.

Yet I really need that iron, badly. Both my sword and my pick are almost busted. A mercenary isn't a mercenary without her sword. Not too mention that iron is a very common ingredient that is really handy to have.

So I need to find one, I'm not going to worry about surviving there if I can't even get there. There aren't any public ones because no one wants to go to a place purely made out of fire and lava and a bunch of other things that can kill you.

Who would have Nether portal then? Is there anyone who would? Only people who know they can survive there would even consider having one, so that would eliminate every place here in town.

Gabriel the Warrior... he can survive in the Nether and he has a temple right outside of town. I willing to bet that he has a portal in that temple. And that, might be difficult.

I start jogging over to temple; the faster I get there then the less time I have to think about it. I have to break into a temple that belongs to a member of the Order of the Stone. Perhaps since everyone thinks that's immorally wrong, Gabriel won't have too many securities in place.

And it's not like I'm going to steal stuff, I'm not a thief. Sure, I'm pretty good at sneaking around but that's for separate reasons. I know how hard it is to survive, I'm not going to intentionally make other people's lives worse.

Although I might have to snag a flint and steel if it's not lit. But it should be, there's no reason to unlit a portal. It does make that whispering sound constantly, but it's not that loud. I think.

Maybe I should double check my supplies before I just run in. Sword? Check. Pickaxe? Check. Some food? A little low, but check. I don't have any spare blocks or torches, but I can always collect some and I don't think I need to worry about lighting.

I slow down when I approach the temple, only to scold myself for being nervous and pick up my pace. If I stop now I'm never going to pluck up the courage to do it, and I need that ten iron. My sword and pick are going to break soon and I do not want to be left weaponless.

But Gabriel doesn't even have doors... I can literally just walk in. So I do. Thanks for making this easier Gabriel. There's now three hallways, one down, one to the left, and one to the right. Since the one down ends in obsidian, and Nether portals are made out of that stuff, I'll go down that one.

So Gabriel did install one security, a door. With a lever right next to it. Seriously? I would think Gabriel might be concerned that his treasures would be stolen, but I guess he assumes that everyone loves him enough that they would never imagine to do this.

Good thing I'm not like everyone then. I flick the lever and the room opens up. A long corridor think with nothing in it expect for a lit portal. That's.... kinda a waste of space. It's literally made out of obsidian. I would have much more stuff in here than just that.

But hey, I won't judge. This just makes it easier for me. Now I only have to worry about coming out of that portal. Alive. With the stuff. And I have to make sure I won't get caught being in Gabriel's temple without permission.

Taking a deep breath, I walk through the portal. A swirl of purple floods my sight and now the quiet whispers are a roar in my ears. In an instant, a wave of heat crashes down on me.

I stagger forward, already panting due to the extreme heat. I see why people don't come here just for fun, merely standing takes much more effort here.

A little heat isn't going to stop me though. I stand up correctly and pull out my sword, definitely don't want to be caught unaware here. This place isn't going to beat me. Nothing can.

It seems Gabriel's is at the end of a hallway and tunnel thing. I don't know much about nether wart and soul sand, but I think it grows in more open spaces. Or not, I'm not sure about anything here except there's a lot of things that will kill you.

I climb out of there area, immediately looking around the ground for my mission. However, my eyes freeze at the sight of the lava lakes. A sea glowing red and burn you alive if you were to fall into for a single second.

A white square pops up, growing larger by the moment. It breaks my trance and I get behind some cover. I peek out and gape at the monster! It's still coming out of the lava... what is that thing?

Finally the body is entirely out, the tentacles following. I know what this is... it's a... it's called a... ghast! Big, white, flying monsters that shoot fireballs. Great...

Darn, I don't have a bow on me. No way to fight that thing then, I'll just have to extra alert to those things. Even if a blast doesn't kill me, it could very easily knock me into the fire and lava that's all over this place.

Every moan a pigman makes, every time I hear a magma cream jumping around, and especially the faint cries of ghasts sets me more on edge. Which is particularly bad here in the Nether, I don't need my heart making me even hotter.

I continue to scour the land, trying to be as quick as possible without making my heart beat even faster. Sweat dribbles down my face and when I wipe it off I can feel my bandana completely drenched.

The reds and oranges suddenly blur together and spin around me. My legs tremble and I quickly collapse onto the ground. I eat one of my last carrots while taking deep breaths. I have to get out of here, I won't be able to survive much longer if I can't even see straight.

But right before I start walking back to the portal, I spot it. A field of soul sand invisible until I turned around. And past a stream of lava, nether warts.

Before I go over there though, I'm going to need some blocks to get over that lava. And while I'm mining the netherack, my pick breaks. I should have enough to get over, but I'm definitely going to need that iron now.

Still keeping an eye peeled for monster, I jog lightly over to the soul sand field. There's a magma cube not too far away, but I should be otta here before it poses a threat. Even then, they're like slimes right? It's not that dangerous.

I take a step on the soul sand and nearly fall down. Everything feels really heavy... and when was the last time I took a break? Gosh, it shouldn't be so hard to lift my feet up!

Trudging forward while cursing this stuff with every thought, I make it to the stream of lava. I place a block and climb on, immediately feeling better. Sighing in relief I build over the stream and to the nether warts directly. I want to stay off that stuff as much as possible.

This time, I brace myself before hopping onto the soul sand. It still sucks, but at least I kept my balance. I dig up five nether warts and five blocks of soul sand. That should be a fair trade, an iron for each item. It's that or nothing for him.

I clamber back onto the nether wart, smiling for the first since entering the Nether. I got the stuff and I'm still alive, now all I have to do is get back. All I have to do is survive back to the portal.

Sluggishly shuffling back off the field, my heart drops in my stomach as I see that the magma cube is blocking my path. If this accursed sand didn't slow me down so much, then this wouldn't have been a problem.

I pull out my sword and will my feet to move quicker. It's still painfully slow and exhausting, my clothes absolutely drenched at this point. But if I'm on this stuff when it attacks then I'm a goner.

Right as I get off of the stupid sand the magma cube jumps at me. I roll to the side but I'm not fast enough. The thing hits my side, sending me sprawling onto the hard netherack.

That was... much more painful than a smile's attack. I scamper back to my feet and dodge the next jump. I'm already weak from being in this heat for so long, another hit and there's little chance of me surviving.

The magma jumps again but this time I swing at it. To my horror, there isn't any knockback and it just falls. I backpedal quickly and have to swing at it again. I can't turn my back on it, but it'll be able to follow me for awhile until there's a space it can't fit into.

Another swing. It's becoming really hard to hold my sword up and the world is going a little fuzzy. If this keeps up then I'm going to die. As much as I would love to tough it out and kill this cube, I would much more perfer to live.

The magma jumps again, but falls apart into two smaller ones when I hit it. Just like a slime. Which means these two are much weaker than the large version. It's time to get some revenge.

With a cry of vengence I lunge at the closest one. This one does get knockbacked quite a distance. I quickly turn and slice through the one jumping at me. I run to it as it flies backwards, plunging my sword into the cube.

Three puny magma cubes burst out of that one. The ground sways beneath my feet and I struggle to keep my head raised. Clumsy and slow, I mange to swing at them without getting hit by one.

One of them even drops a magma cream! Those make a potion... I think, and I can sell it for more goods. Although I don't know its worth... it's really hard to remember these small little things when my head is pounding. Once I drink an entire lake, I should feel good enough to think properly again.

Something slams into my back and I collide against the netherack. How could I have forgotten about the other magma cube! Black swarms my vision as I stagger to my feet. Just in time to see the cube jump at me again.

I sluggishly raise my sword to attack, the thing sure feels a lot heavier here than it did a few moments ago. Thankfully, my sword made contact and the cube spilt apart into four and drops a magma cream. And unthankfully, my sword spilt apart into two.

I quickly snatch the cream, surprised that I had the coordination to grab it, and stumble away. I wouldn't call it running. More like struggling to keep my balance while moving as quickly as possible forward.

My heart thuds dully in my chest, and I don't recall if that's a bad thing or not. I'm more concerned with remember the way out. And when did everything become really dry all of a sudden? I thought I was soaked in sweat.

My stomach does twists and flips while my throat somehow cools down immensely. I shrug it off and keep shambling forward until chest folds over my stomach, that carrot forcing its way out.

Still, I simply wipe my mouth and keep going. I hope I remember the way back, everything is kinda fuzzy in my mind... kinda like outside my mind too.

Everything looks really similar, blurs of red and dark red and then some darker red. Every once and a while, there be a blob of pink... but I get this sense I should avoid those things.

Am I out of shape? I feel really out of shape. My legs have never been so hard to move before and some muscles quiver just trying to hold me up. Perhaps when I get back I have to go through some training exercises again. I'll have to make new ones though, I don't remember the old ones.

I stumble onto a cliff looking over a huge lava lake... not sure what to do next. I don't remember where the path was. I didn't build a bridge over the lake, did I? No, I would be too lazy to take it down.

A big white thingy floats over to me. I wonder how it can fly when it has its eyes closed like that? I'm about to ask when it sudden opens its eyes and mouth with a horrible screech.

I lose my balance and flail backwards, falling into some hole when a big boom goes off. I flop onto the ground and hold my head. It feels even worse than when an enderman slammed a block onto my head once.

But then I hear it, a very faint whisper. It almost sounds cool compared to this hot hot place. Moving my very heavy and sluggish legs, I stand up and shuffle forward a bit before falling down again.

I sigh and look up, the blur of black and purple standing out between the reds and oranges. I push at the ground and crawl with my arms, slowly getting closer to it. One block at a time, I make my way over there. No matter how exhausting and slow it might be.

Once I'm there, I thrust my hand through it. It disappears, but cold air hits it. I send my other hand through, the blissful cold washing over it. My legs push and mange to get my head through.

Once I break through the flood of purple and roar of whispers, I take a deep glorious cool breath... in through the nose.... out through the mouth. I scramble forward until my legs can also bask in this sweet coldness.

The cold... it's really relaxing. I never noticed until now, but it's oddly comforting. It wouldn't hurt to take a break, I deserve it after all the hard work I've done. Plus my limbs are so heavy I don't think I can move them if I wanted to.

Looking at the fuzzy world hurts my eyes, they deserve a break too. I'll just close my eyes, wait for myself to recover and be on my merry way. No one will mind... hardly anyone actually goes to the Nether. Just a few moments to rest my eyes...

...

...

...

The ground is hard, this is not my bed. My eyes burst open as I spring to my feet. Black... all black and a nether portal? This room is made out of obsidian! And has nether portal! Where am I?

My memories flash in front of me, giving me the answer. I went to the Nether to do a deal. I became exhausted, but pushed past that to get the nether warts and soul sand I just found. I fought a magma cube, but had to run away because I was too weak.

The rest is a blur, fuzzy thoughts of pain and confusion and exhaustion. I must've fallen asleep once I got out of there, I'm literally right next to the portal.

The portal... that belongs to Gabriel. Man, I am so lucky that he didn't need to go to the Nether for whatever reason last night. Hopefully now I can just slip out and no one will ever know that I broke into Gabriel's temple.

I start to sneak back out, trying to get my desert mouth at least slightly wet. I walk right out of the door, and continue up the steps. Can this even be considered breaking in? I literally just walked right in and walked right out.

Yet the moment I set my foot out the door, I realize that my prediction was wrong.

"Hey!" I turn to look at well dressed man, clearly not happy to see me. "I've been respectively waiting here for hours to meet Gabriel and you just barge into his house!"

I huff in exasperation and roll my eyes, this must be the reason why Gabriel doesn't install securities. He literally has free security guards.

"Dude, I don't time for this. If your wondering, I didn't steal anything, I didn't mess with anything, and I didn't even see Gabriel. So I'm leaving now."

Generally, people will just sputter at me as I walk away. Not this guy, he clutches onto my arm and stops me. I pull my arm, but I'm still extremely weak, my muscles dried and worn out. Plus he even tightens his grip, this guy has the worst mixed of pride and egoism. Maybe he's Aiden's father?

I wipe around and scowl at him. "Let me repeat: I don't have time for this. Let go."

He returns the scowl, fury written into every wrinkle. "No way, you're a criminal. I'm not allowing you to get away."

"Are you deaf!? I just told you I did nothing! Besides this is a temple. By definition, it's a public building."

"But you don't go into Gabriel's temple without permission."

I evulate my chances of successfully punching him. On the one hand, it would feel so good. But considering my position, I'll wait until I have a clean shot to knee him balls too. Then he wouldn't stand a chance against my punch.

Lowering my voice, I growl at him. "You better let go."

His disgusting fingers tighten. "Or what?"

"Or you'll never have kids." My hands curls into a fist, and too bad I'm not hydrated enough to spit in his face.

He doesn't see common sense and also gets ready for a fight. I just stare at his maniac eyes, waiting for my chance to strike. I might be weak, but I'm willing to bet he isn't a fighter. I'll bust him up a bit and then fix myself up for the deal.

"Whoa, what's the commotion here?"

We both snap towards the new voice. Lukas smiles at me, tilting his head towards me. Looks like I have gained an ally.

"This girl broke into the temple!"

Lukas fegins shock. "You don't know her!? She's tough enough that Gabriel gives her jobs!"

The jerk instantly releases my arm, backing up quickly. "Why didn't you just say so! I'm terribly sorry miss! I'll, uhh... leave now. Yeah, I'll be going now."

We chuckle as we watch the guy scurry away. Lukas grins at me, but it slowly dies as he realizes the state I'm in. I probably smell terrible and my clothes must be filled with ash. Not too mention my current physical condition.

"No offense, but you look terrible. What were you doing in there?"

I shrug and start to walk to town. "Getting something."

"Hold up..." He jogs back to my side. "You didn't actually steal anything, did you?"

"Of course not," I sheepishly rub the back of my neck. Getting an intrigued look from the Ocelot.

"Let's just say I might have underestimated the Nether."

****

Hmmm... I have this sense it could've been better. But oh well, I still have another one to write.

And since I've seen a lot of oneshots about Jesse reacting to the Nether I wanted to do one about Petra, since she would do it alone.

Ok, and The Past uses the green eyed male Jesse. Just so you know.