The next morning was hard to wake up to. Yaebi was surprised he got to sleep at all. With what happened last night, it was hard to steady his heartbeat. But more importantly, what was he going to tell Shelby? She seemed like a tough girl, but he didn't know how she would take the news. She must realize that she would be caught in the middle. That was a thought Yaebi could not bear. What if they had to move? That thought wasn't comfortable to think about either. Zambi was surely sending wave after wave of monsters across the land. One unforgettable characteristic of Zambi was that even though he did things begrudgingly, once he started something he was impossible to stop. It was hard for Yaebi to comprehend at first, but he knew his brother well. He had over time. But this was the time to toughen up and tell Shelby what was happening. It was for both their safety. That was the number one thought present in Yaebi's mind. The safety for Shelby was now dear to his heart. So he had no other choice but to approach the girl at the dinner table. She, however, seemed quite content to see Yaebi.

"Hey Yaebi!"

"Oh, hey Shelby"

Come on, he thought, you can do this. He started to stutter.

"Um, I need to tell you something."

"Well, ok, go ahead."

"Um, uh,"

Dammit, why was it so hard for him to talk? Thankfully Shelby was pretty patient. Though she gave the boy a look of concern. It was nice to know she cared.

"What is it?"

"Well, I don't know how else to say this without sounding weird," he continued, "but we're being hunted."

Shelby then gave him a look of confusion this time.

"Are you serious?"

"I know, it's crazy, but with what Cupa told me, and the enderman attack…"

"Wait, enderman? Cupa?" she interrupted.

It took some time but Yaebi was able to explain everything. Well, almost. It required telling his friend the long story of how he grew up with other humobs in a cave. This was very personal information, but he was willing to open up to Shelby. It was, in fact, for her safety anyways. He went off telling her about his good friends Cupa and Andr, details on how he lived. This was some important information however. He couldn't go on an entire monologue about his life story. He only hoped that after he was done explaining, that she wouldn't see him any differently. More importantly, would she believe him. The fact that humobs existed was hard to grasp. It was nonetheless stranger when it turned out that one of them threatened very lifestyle. After Yaebi was done explaining, Shelby looked him dead on. The look she gave him made him a little overjoyed: it was a look of trust.

"If what you say is true, then we must work fast," she responded.

That's a relief, he thought. He was glad she believed a lick of what he was saying. After finishing breakfast, the two went down to the basement. Yaebi was lucky he chose the right day to be neat. Usually stuff was left out, all over the floor.

"Why are we down here," he asked.

"Because," she replied, "I have something to show you."

Those last words made her produce a grin. She wandered over to one of the far corners of the room and proceeded to take down two blocks revealing a lever. That's strange, Yaebi thought. He'd thought he had already known everything about his room. Well apparently not. Once activated, two sets of rock on the wall shifted and were immediately spread apart. What Yaebi saw surprised him. The new opening revealed a room of approximately the same size. The walls, like that of the original, were made of stone. The room was devoid of anything, except for a frame of black rock. Filling the inside of the frame was a strange purple substance. Then Yaebi suddenly realized what he was looking at. This strange piece of work was none other than a portal.

"How come I never knew about this?"

"Can't have you getting into trouble."

"Good point."

The boy saw no reason to argue. What he had to do now was simple. Once they went through the portal, this new "world" would provide them with a new home. Well that's what Yaebi assumed. Without much hesitation he stepped through the purple light. What greeted him on the other side was anything but pleasant. It was hard to take in the first glimpse. After recovering, Yaebi took in his surroundings. This was the worst place of all. He'd seen crumbling mineshafts but this- this was hell. He was in total shock as Shelby came in afterwards. The view didn't seem to have the same effect on Shelby as it did on Yaebi. Dotting the landscape were skittish, yet muscular, humanoids with hog faces and rotten skin. In the distance he could see some sort of building made out of a dark material. Most of the landscape was covered by an ocean of boiling lava. And above that ocean were strange looking beasts that reminded Yaebi of large floating jellyfish.

"What is this place?!" Yaebi asked.

"Welcome to hell buddy," Shelby said completely unfazed, "Or as most call it, the Nether."

The Nether? He'd heard of this before. This place was just awful. Not only did the ash filled air burn, this place was nowhere near hospitable. She expected them to live in place like this. Yaebi would rather take his chances with Zambi's army than be here.

"You expect us to live here?" he asked frantically.

"Here? Hell no."

She pointed at one of the strange light sources on the ceiling.

"I planned ahead."

At first Yaebi was confused. What did she mean by, "Planned ahead". It didn't make much sense, but neither did Shelby's nature. Therefore, he didn't ask. Then it hit him like a block of brick. Whatever was up there was probably needed for what she had planned. That, however, was a problem. The strange material was high above the ground. Not only that, it didn't seem that there was any way to get to the light source. This was problematic.

"How do you suppose we get up there?" he asked.

Shelby tossed him two stacks of cobblestone.

"I'm right behind you," she said.

Yaebi ended up taking a long hike up a spiraling mountain that reached the top of the Nether. The netherrack (after Shelby gave him a brief description of the place) was immensely hot. After a few minutes he finally came to the same height as the glowstone. The strange rock was at least several meters away. And with that, he started to make a thin, yet stable, bridge out of the cobblestone he was provided with. Shelby however stayed right by the edge. After he was half way there, something started to bug him: Shelby wasn't coming along.

"Why aren't you doing this?" Yaebi yelled.

"Because the Ghasts won't attack you," she responded.

That's right. From what Shelby had told him, Ghasts could see over 100 blocks in front of themselves. They fired on sight, so they would've attacked Shelby. That, however, didn't apply to Yaebi. He was part mob. Therefore, other mobs didn't attack him. Well that was partly true. He could see why he was doing this instead of Shelby. It wasn't as if Shelby was trying to put his life in danger. Without further ado, Yaebi continued to build the bridge. Once he arrived at his destination, he noticed that the glowstone he was examining was sharp and crystal like. Despite this, Yaebi continued to pummel it. This must've been the roughest material Yaebi had ever encountered. Nevertheless, he continued to pound the rock to rubble. It was extremely painful. It was as if multiple shards of glass were piercing his skin. It stung a lot. But he couldn't quit. He couldn't let Zambi win. The pain was worth it. But after the first rock, he started to get used to the feeling of punching solid material. After a while, he was able to gather forty sets of glowstone dust. Everything was going great. That was until a ghast noticed him. Yaebi gulped in fear, as the ghast wasn't so content to see him. The creature started to fume in rage. It wasn't a pretty sight, really. The zombie boy figured he had gathered enough dust. He had no idea what they were going to use it for but that didn't matter right now. Right now, he was in serious danger. The ghast started to open its mouth, which was seeping with liquid fire. A few more meters, and Yaebi was screwed. Time to go, he thought. Yaebi darted across the bridge. If what Shelby said was true, that thing would set him ablaze. Shelby waited for him on the other side. The ghast started to fire projectiles towards the boy. The explosions helped propel him forward. After a long sequence of running he was finally able to lose the attention of the ghast. Maybe it's just territorial, he thought. After a few more seconds he finally thought he was safe. He was wrong. Before he could get to the other side, something attacked him. Something with a core hotter than the sun. A magma cube. It was a small one, but it was nonetheless vicious. The little monster attacked his face. Before Shelby was able to come to his assistance, Yaebi was already able to fling the creature over the side. He was soon finally able to get to the other side where a hopeful Shelby was waiting.

"So," she asked "How was it."

"It was hell," he said winking at her. That was a new thing. He never winked.

After journeying down the mountain side, they returned to the portal- in a reign of fire that is. Sounds weird, but Shelby managed to piss off a pigman and send a whole pack after them. They were luckily able to get through the portal just in time.

"Well, what do you think," Shelby said laughing.

"That," Yaebi responded, "was Hell."

That night the two started to create something unique. It was built in the same room as the portal and was approximately the same size. The two friends continued to talk while building. It was quite relaxing really. As Shelby fetched a bucket of water, Yaebi followed. Shelby started to tell the boy stories of Notch.

"When he created this world, it's said that Notch created a "dream world", a place for all to live in peace."

"Really," Yaebi said with fascination.

"Yes, but it's said that once created this world was created it was faulty. Notch became disappointed and cast it aside, continuing the world we live in today."

Was this where they were going to live? This dream world. Could it really be something of reality? Yaebi couldn't wait to find out.

"So is this where we're going?" He asked.

Shelby looked him in the eyes and shrugged. "I dunno, some guy told me once I built this I'd find another place."

What they built was the same height and width as the Nether portal. The sides consisted of glowstone, whereas the corners were filled with obsidian. Shelby then spilled the bucket all over the bottom of the creation. A split second afterwards, the frame was filled with a blue light. It turned out it was a portal. A portal to another world most likely.

"How come you believed me," Yaebi asked "you know about, being hunted."

"Because, I realized we were when I was attacked two nights ago," she answered, "I didn't tell you for some odd reason, but the monsters that attacked said 'all hail Zambi',"

Well that was convenient. Before they could step foot through the door, a crashing noise could be heard from upstairs. They're here, he thought. Skeletons and zombies could be seen from the staircase. It was perfect timing, as the two had already finished the portal.

"Where are they?"

"They must be downstairs."

The two friends looked at each other.

"Times up."

And with that they leapt into the portal, unsure of what to expect. It took some time, but what awaited them on the other side was just amazing. The two landed face plant into some grass that gave off a bluish tint. Yaebi took in his surroundings with utter amazement. Everywhere he looked, floating islands surrounded them. Even the ground they walked on was a floating island. Strange parthenons were also present. Even large flying whales grazed about. Yaebi was astonished. This would be their new home. They would start from scratch, building "from the ground up". And better, he would do it with Shelby.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"The Aether."

"Hallelujah," said Yaebi.

Hope you enjoyed guys. I am still working on more. But it would really be helpful to check out my other stories, especially the SCP foundation ones. Cya.