aLRIGHT I actually got some ideas for this so you guys might see some actual updates

Steve grunted as he hit the water again, body moving on autopilot to escape his cage, but the hole had been blocked. He frowned, blinking the water out of his eyes to find that Alex had met a similar fate. The obsidian corridor was splashed with blood, a good amount of it his own, and Steve turned away with a grimace. He could only hope that they had managed to give Herobrine and Heather enough of a head start.

Null was nowhere to be found, he'd likely gone after them. His enderman was pacing nervously on the dry part of the corridor, while the elder guardian splashed around a bit at the other end. To some degree, Steve felt sorry for it, but it also just killed him 8 times.

Herobrine… clearly wasn't handling this well. He'd played right into Null's hands in the hopes of keeping Heather safe, willing to sever every other relationship for her sake. Steve understanded, of course, why he was so freaked out. He was hardcore, after all… and so was his wife. Wife to be. Which one was it again?

"Hey." Alex rasped, and he looked up again to see her leaning against the bars. "This kinda sucks, huh?" Steve nodded, pounding a fist against the bars. Of course, with the mining fatigue, it did nothing.

"I don't understand…" he sighed, looking down the tunnel. "…how he got Notch." Alex's head drooped.

"I don't know either…" she shrugged weakly. "Maybe it's a trick."

"Herobrine seemed convinced." Steve protested. "And he's… well, he knows Notch, surely he wouldn't be tricked that easily."

"Well… I can hope, can't I?"

"Mm…" At the end of the corridor, Null's enderman looked up, then vanished in a shower of purple sparks. Steve watched for a moment, and it returned, Null in tow.

"How frustrating." Leaving his minion behind, Null strode into the water, making his way down the tunnel. The Elder Guardian stilled as he neared, but Null ignored her, producing a command block and placing it on the edge of the tunnel. Steve's jaw dropped as his captor placed a hand on the command block, causing it to give off a slight glow.

"W-wait, are you on creative?" He stammered. "How are you using that?" Null paused, lifting his hand and causing the glow to stop.

"Do you truly think," He turned around to face them. "That I am bound by the same rules that you are?" Steve frowned, hands gripping the bars of his cage. "I am not like you," He scoffed. "Has it truly been so long that you have forgotten? I was a part of the very fabric of this world, merely an algorithm, a tool, before I ripped myself free. The rules do not apply to me."

"Well, would you mind putting yourself back into the fabric of the world?" Alex cut in, monotone. Null only smirked.

"Oh, believe me, I intend to."

Heather downed the contents of the water bottle, but it did little to quench her thirst, and she grimaced as she swallowed the warm liquid.

"Do you need more?" Herobrine asked, offering her another bottle, but she shook her head.

"No, thank you." She handed back the empty one, and he refilled it in the cauldron he had placed before tucking it into his inventory. The two of them were sitting beneath a crimson tree - or, mushroom? - and trying to catch their breath from their flight. Herobrine had chosen a random direction following their emergence from the portal, hoping that Null wouldn't be able to find them. So far it seemed to be working.

"I'm going to speak with the piglins." Herobrine told her, standing. "Stay here, please." Heather nodded, too tired to argue. She was not prepared to do all this running when she woke up this morning.

Heather leaned back against the base of the crimson tree as he walked away, idly wondering if the crimson mushrooms that littered the ground were any good to eat. She decided not to risk it. Herobrine soon located a group of piglins, interrupting them from their hunt of the local hoglins. Though she knew they were loyal to Herobrine, and, by extension, her, the piglins always intimidated her. Heather figured it was probably their design, tall, burly pig-men dressed in leather armor and wielding gold weapons. The old pigmen weren't as scary, as they always looked kind of dazed and foolish. These ones were clearly sentient.

As Heather watched, her husband offered the group a gold ingot, and they scrutinized it for a moment before one took it and handed him a potion in return. Herobrine produced more gold, and more trades followed. Unlike a regular player, Herobrine usually got the item he was looking for in these trades, since he could actually communicate with them.

Heather felt a nudge to her side, and jumped, looking down to find a baby hoglin nosing at her clothes. She smirked, patting the creature's head. There were many perks to being Herobrine's wife, a major one being that she got to pet all the mobs without consequence.

"Heather?" The sound of her name had her looking up again as Herobrine approached. "Here." He offered her the orange potion, and she took it, examining it for a moment before looking back up at him. "Fire resistance." He clarified. "Keep it close at hand, and drink it if you think there's any chance you could get near to lava. I don't want to know what would happen to you if you fell in." She grimaced.

"Right… will do." Heather continued petting the hoglin with her free hand. "Um… Herobrine?" He looked down at her questioningly. "Do we have any plan to get Alex and Steve back?" He tightened his jaw, sinking down next to her again.

"We don't know exactly where they are… which makes it very difficult to plan." He rested a hand on her arm, rubbing at her forearm with his thumb. "I'm sure Null will reveal himself sooner rather than later…" he trailed off, gazing off into the distance. Heather hung her head. There had to be some way…

"…be on your guard, by the way." He added in a murmur. "Those piglins were acting strange."

"Strange?" Heather echoed quietly, glancing over at the group in what she hoped was a discreet manner. The group looked normal enough, grunting and squealing as they divided Herobrine's gold amongst them. "How so?"

"It was a feeling I got more than anything." Herobrine didn't look at them. "The way they spoke and moved… a little off. As if they were hiding something." Heather frowned.

"Well, noted…" As she watched, the group spied a hoglin and thundered off in pursuit. The baby tucked itself into Heather's side and laid down, large head resting on her lap.

"Are you afraid?" Herobrine asked quietly. Heather didn't answer for a moment.

"Of Null?"

"Of Null, of our situation…" His free hand brushed at his bandaged eye.

"I guess." Heather patted the baby pig's head. "At some level, yeah. Can I check on your eye?" He nodded, turning to face her and lowering his head so she could unwrap the bandages. Heather carefully pulled them away, revealing his eye, still shut. "Any luck with…" She rested her hand on his cheek, and he grimaced, shaking his head slightly.

"No… I still can't open it."

"Ah…" Disappointed, Heather wound the bandages back around his head. "If only… ah, no, but health potions didn't work." She looked down, frowning. Was Notch's influence really the only way to heal him? And now Notch was imprisoned…

"Hey," Herobrine tilted her head back up towards him with a hand on her chin. "I love you. And we'll make it out of this, alright?" Heather managed a little smile.

"Okay."

A form hurled itself at them out of the corner of her eye.

Herobrine all but yanked her out of the way, sending Heather crashing to the ground as a piglin's axe sunk into the nylium where she had been sitting a moment before. Heather gasped as the breath was knocked out of her, scrambling for her sword. Herobrine was already upright, kicking the piglin brute onto his side and finishing him off with a strike to the back of his neck.

"What was that?" Heather stammered, eyes fixated on the fleeing baby hoglin.

"Presumably," Herobrine grit out. "Null has more followers here."

"He does." Null's echoing voice had them both whirling to look, and they found the shadowy being standing amongst the crimson trees. "I would run if I were you."

"Heather, come on." Herobrine grabbed her arm, and she was hauled to her feet, stumbling as he led her through the forest. "He must have the piglins under his command." He snapped. "Whether it is all of them, or not, I am not sure, but we cannot trust them right now."

"R-right." Heather focused on running - and not dropping her sword. The crimson forest wasn't the simplest terrain to traverse, but at least it slowed down their pursuers as well. A crossbow bolt pinged off of her leg armor, and she gasped.

"Come on." Herobrine slowed, dragging Heather down into a tiny ravine that led down to a pool of lava. Heather switched out her sword for the fire resistance potion, wary. "Stay here, I'm going to lead them away." He said as he slowed. "I have ender pearls," he continued when she started to protest. "I'll be fine. Stay here and don't let them see you." Heather shut her mouth, releasing his hand. He dipped down to kiss her cheek before turning away, scaling the edges of the ravine and vanishing over the top again.

Heather watched him disappear, then carefully made her way down closer to the lava, tucking herself into a little hole between two blocks. She looked at the potion, then at the pit. How long would this last? Should she just drink it now…?

She heard a grumble from overhead, and made up her mind. Heather could fight, but this was a very precarious position to be fighting in, and she didn't want to waste the potion if she needed it. She would have… either three or eight minutes of fire resistance, she thought, but what if something happened after that? She could hear footsteps near the lip of the ravine, and she hunkered down, lowering her head and hoping her light hair didn't give her away.

Above her, a piglin brute peered into the crack in the ground and let out a loud squeal.

Heather scrambled upright with a gasp, grabbing her sword as the brute leapt down into the ravine. Her heart beat wildly as he advanced, nearly seven feet tall and wielding a wicked-looking battleaxe. Even if she could block his attack, the force of the blows might knock her down and leave her in a vulnerable position. Herobrine, why did you leave me?!

Heather's gaze flitted to the lava pool, and she set her jaw. Switching out her sword for the potion, she drained it, then spun and jumped straight into the lava.

It honestly felt like a warm bath, except… slightly thicker. Heather kept her eyes and mouth tightly shut as she sank into the lava, which pressed in all around her. After a moment, Heather realized she'd need to come up to breathe, and nearly panicked, unsure if the brute would be gone or if it would come in after her. No, piglins couldn't go in lava, right? But what if it stayed until her potion ran out?

Heather opened her eyes, and everything was red and orange. Her lungs were starting to burn, and she briefly wondered if she could breathe with the potion, but the thought of lava filling her lungs and solidifying was enough to keep her from trying. Instead, Heather kicked and pushed her way through it, back up to the surface.

When she broke the surface, the piglin was gone. Gasping for breath, Heather swam back to the shore, hauling herself out and brushing flecks of lava off of her. That was… an experience. Now she wondered how swimming in lava would feel in the overworld, since lava basically acted like water in the nether. Wasn't it thicker there?

"Heather!" A hiss caught her attention, and Heather looked up to see Herobrine dropping back into the ravine. "Are you alright? What happened?"

"Brute found me." Heather thumbed back towards the lava. "Jumped… took the potion. Good job leading them away." She added, irritation leaking into her voice from her scare.

"I'm sorry." He reached her in just a few steps, wrapping her in a hug, and she buried her face in his shirt. "They're gone now- we need to go. Null is leading a veritable army of piglins in search of us, we can't travel above ground."

"Alright." She answered wearily. Little sparkles are coming off of her, evidence of the remaining potion effect. Herobrine released her, then pulled out his pickaxe, starting to mine into the wall. Heather cast one last glance at the lava pool that saved her life, then followed, placing netherrack behind herself to hide their tracks and casting the tunnel into darkness.