We were all getting ready. Little Notch was in the kitchen, enchanting his armor. Sarah was in the kitchen, too, making a sword. Rainbowcreepers and I were both in the bedroom. Rainbowcreepers was practicing his sword swings, while I was putting on some diamond armor, hoping he wouldn't accidentally hit me. When we were both finished, we went to the kitchen.

"So, what's the plan?" I asked Daryl, who was enchanting his sword.

"I told you, I've got it all figured out." He said. "We're going to head over to a village that's not too far from this city. There's no way we can go to the Nether alone, so we're going to get some help. I can use a pass to break through the force-field, but we're still going to have to fight a lot of hostile mobs on the way to the village, so be careful."

I gulped.

"Wait, if you can use a pass to break through the force-field, why not just use a pass to break through the force-field and get us back to our city?" Rainbowcreepers asked.

"I would, but you would need multiple passes to get through so many cities. By the way, when we're traveling to the village, don't die."

"Why not?"

"So we don't die, genius." Sarah punched him.

"Well, that," Daryl continued. "But I just hope you guys haven't died too many times."

"Oh, right." Sarah replied. "We don't want to lose too many lives."

"Wait, what?" I asked. "Losing lives? I thought you could respawn whenever you died."

"Not exactly." Daryl told me. "This whole server is meant to represent real life. That means, you can't die however many times you want. You get lives. 11 lives, to be exact. Does anyone know how many lives they have?"

"7." Little Notch said.

"5." Sarah replied.

"5 or 6." Rainbowcreepers said.

"I think I have 3." I finally said.

Daryl gasped. "3? That doesn't sound too good."

"Why not?" I asked. "I should be able to fight some hostile mobs with 3 lives."

"Do you know what we're going to be doing?" Sarah told me. "Not only are we going to 'fight some hostile mobs', but we'll also be going to the Nether! Are you sure you'll be okay?"

When she mentioned the Nether, I stared at the floor. Was I going to be able to make it?

"Well, all we can do is hope. Come on, let's go." Daryl said, and we headed downstairs.

When we reached outside, it was the middle of the night. It looked cloudy, like it was going to rain.

"This is the direction we'll be going in to get to the village." Daryl pointed north of the building we were staying in.

"Okay." Sarah said. I could hear a hint of nervousness in her voice. "Let's go."

I got my sword out. Rainbowcreepers patted me on the back.

"It'll be okay, little guy." He laughed and treated me like a complete beginner. Rainbowcreepers was right for thinking I was nervous; I was. I didn't even know we had multiple lives, and now I was going to go across a field full of hostile mobs, and to the Nether with 3 lives. Once again, I gulped, and we started to head to the village.

I threw my sword at a creeper and it smashed into the ground. Daryl had used his pass to break through the force-field. We had just entered the huge field separating Daryl's city and the village, and things were already getting hectic. I took my sword out of the ground.

"Come on, let's go!" Sarah yelled. I started running, preparing for anything in my path. Four skeletons gained up on me as soon as I started running, and I swung my sword. Their bones fell to the ground. I picked a couple up and then I heard an explosion. Rainbowcreepers was on the ground when I turned around. A creeper had just blown up in front of him, and he was trying to get up.

I grabbed my friend, and we both tried to catch up to Sarah and Little Notch. Daryl was trying to catch up, too, but was still ahead of us. It felt like we were already in the Nether; it seemed as if the monsters were trying to gain up on just Rainbowcreepers and I. I swung my sword at another skeleton. Rainbowcreepers was trying to fight off a couple zombies; then I saw a creature behind us.

"Creeper!" I yelled. Rainbowcreepers turned around and shot an arrow at it. The creeper fell back, but was still ready to fight more than ever. We started running as fast as we could; I wasn't going to take my chance losing another life trying to fight off a creeper.

We eventually caught up to Daryl. Daryl looked worn out, just like Rainbowcreepers and I, but we all kept running after a quick apple and a piece of bread.

"How are you guys holding up?" Daryl asked, out of breath, but still running.

"Not too well." I said. "I've already lost half my health, and I think Rainbowcreepers has lost a little less than that.

"I have 6… and a half… hearts left." Rainbowcreepers said, out of breath. "Can't we stop?"

"There's no way!" Daryl yelled. "The monsters will kill us if we stop. We have to keep going!" Rainbowcreepers and I nodded, and we started running again. I swung my sword at several more skeletons, and Rainbowcreepers shot several more creepers.

Just as we were catching up, I saw a creeper to my right. I quickly turned and threw my sword at it, and the creeper hissed and fell to the ground. I felt happy about that until I saw my sword broken into pieces on the ground. My sword was gone.

"Uh, guys…" I tried to tell Daryl and Rainbowcreepers.

"There's no time!" Rainbowcreepers yelled. "Come on!" He grabbed me by the arm and started running towards a village we could see in the distance, dragging me along with him. At that point, all I could do was punch or kick any monsters that snuck up behind Rainbowcreepers, so I did, and after what seemed like hours, we reached the village.

I saw Sarah and Little Notch waiting by a lamppost in the village. They looked impatient, but I was too worn out to walk any faster.

"We're… here." Rainbowcreepers gasped, out of breath. He had run out of arrows, and I was about to warn him about a creeper sneaking up behind him, but he knocked it to the ground without even turning around.

"Nice timing." Sarah said. "We've been waiting here for a while."

"Well, Sarah, excuse me if we're not expert fighting champions like you guys." Rainbowcreepers said.

Sarah sighed. "Whatever."

"Daryl, what's the plan again?" Little Notch asked.

"I told you," Daryl replied. "We're here to get some help for the Nether. I know two people who can help us. They used to live in my city, but they moved because the place was getting old and run-down."

"Do you know their names?"

"Yes. Tommy and Bridgette. Unfortunately, though, I don't know which house they live in in this village."

"Well, then let's start looking for 'em." Sarah said, and we headed for the village houses.