Rookie landed in a heap at the bottom of the ravine. It was dark down here, but not as dark as it had been up there. Lava gave off warm light around her, and she realised how lucky she had been to not fall into the molten rock.

Something moved in the darkness. At first, she thought it was one of those horrible Void monsters, but she almost smiled when she realised it was just a zombie.

Her swords took its head.

Rookie moved further into the caves.

She was alone. She had tried to look past the thoughts and feelings that had been swirling around her head for the past week, but she couldn't.

Jeffery was dead.

Now that the words had actually formed, it didn't make it any easier. Rookie collapsed, curling up into a ball. She began to cry.

After… Well, Rookie didn't know exactly how long she had been lying there. She climbed to her feet, and ran into the caves.

She eventually made it to a glowing obsidian portal. The last active Nether portal in all of Minecraftia. She wasn't exactly sure how she'd known it would be here, or how she'd known that Herobrine hadn't closed it off, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was getting into the Nether.

Only then could she help her friends.

Rookie couldn't remember much about the days that followed the Void's invasion. She had fled from the battlefield, eventually making her way to the town, which she found in flames. Somehow she had located Jeffery, had escaped from the mobs of angry and frightened people, and had started her search for this Nether portal.

Then, while she was helping a small band of people she had known from the town, they took Jeffery, and hate him.

They were all dead now.

The Nether was just like it always was.

Hell.

Rookie watched as enormous cubes of magma slowly hopped pass. The cores of these monsters glowed softly, softly illuminating the nearby netherrack. They ignored her completely, and Rookie moved on.

Lava dripped from the ceiling of the cavern, and the same molten rock filled enormous lakes and oceans on the floor of the Nether. Rookie was already dripping in sweat, and she wasn't looking forward to the long trek she had ahead of her.

The only colour Rookie could see was red. She wasn't sure when she had passed out, or how long she had been passed out for. Groggily, Rookie pulled herself up, and she felt a burning sensation on her arm.

Her sleeve was on fire.

At first, she didn't care. The heat didn't really bother her, and the flames that leapt at her face didn't seem to be burning her.

Rookie shook her head, and the pain hit her like a brick wall. She tore off her sleeve and shoved it aside, and it went tumbling into a lake of lava.

"Ouch," she muttered, and she ripped off her jacket, wrapping it around her damaged arm. Shrugging off her drowsiness, Rookie set off again.

Once again Rookie found herself staring up at an enormous fortress made out of red brick, sitting in the middle of an ocean of lava. She noticed the tall, black skeletons stalking the battlements, and the enormous white monsters floating through the sky. Rookie wasn't sure whether she'd be able to get into the fortress without causing a scene, so she shrugged to herself.

Now was not the time for subtlety.

Riding on a ghast was fun. That was the only thing Rookie had learnt in the last few minutes, as she soared through the Nether on the back of one of those crying beasts. It spat a fireball, destroying the cavern's ceiling.

Arrows rained into the sky, but they missed. Rookie peered down on the skeletons, trying desperately to shoot her down. She laughed, and shoved her sword into the back of the ghast. It screeched in pain, and a dozen arrows thudded into its underside. The crying stopped, and it spiralled towards the ground.

The crash hurt Rookie. Not much, but enough. She clambered to her feet, her hands filling with energy. The wither skeletons glared at her, and she smiled.

"Come on then. Fight me." She stared at one in particular, and it drew its sword. Rookie smiled again.

The skeleton never saw it coming.

The energy gave off a light so brilliantly bright it blinded everything in its path. Rookie closed her eyes, sensing where her enemies were rather than seeing. To her left. Behind her. In front of her.

She opened her eyes. Dust surrounded her, and at first she thought she was safe.

How wrong she was.

The sound of blazes surrounded Rookie. Fireballs flew at her, and she ducked down, dodging out of the side. A sword lay beside her, and she swiped it up. Blocking a fireball, Rookie jumped at a blaze, cutting it in half. She jabbed one in the eye, and it spun away in pain.

The sword shattered. Energy filled her hands again, and Rookie let it loose at several blazes at once. Cutting through one more, she looked around. The blaze she had jabbed in the eye flew up from behind her, and a fireball it Rookie in the back. Her jacket protected her, and she spun around.

The last blaze was soon dead.

Then something knocked her over the back of the head, and she felt the world turn sideways, a soft thud sounding when she hit the ground.

Rookie awoke at the opening to an enormous hall. At the end, steps led up to a large throne, and sitting in the throne was a white eyed man with the aura of a god.

"Who is this one?" Herobrine snarled, and the wither skeleton that had hauled Rookie into the hall dropped her in fear. At a scowl, the skeleton hurriedly dragged Rookie to her feet and closer to the throne.

Rookie flicked her hair out of her face, and Herobrine's face lit up, but only a little. His scowl was gone, but replaced with something that was even worse. Contempt.

"Oh," Herobrine said, "It's you, creeper."

"My names Rookie," she hissed.

"Right. Like that matters," Herobrine frowned. "How did you get into the Nether?"

"I walked in. There's an open portal in the Overworld."

Herobrine scowled again, and closed his eyes. After a few seconds, he opened them again.

"It's closed."

"We need your help," Rookie said, getting straight to the point.

"We?" Herobrine asked.

"Everyone in the Overworld."

"And what do I owe to them?" Herobrine said, glaring at her.

"You owe us."

"No, I did owe you. Not anymore."

"You and I both know that a map isn't worth the entire Nether. And besides, you said you'd help us against the Void," Rookie smiled. "Now's your chance."

Herobrine continued to glare. Finally, he spoke.

"What do you want me to do?"

"You need to team up with Notch."

Rookie is alive. But is the pig?

No. It's not.

~ Dark