Glen liked the overworld.
She knew she shouldn't, of course. It wasn't *her* world, but she liked it all the same. She liked the feeling of the cool breeze against her face; the warmth of the sun, a far cry from the searing heat of the lava or the crackling, vaguely acrid heat of burning netherrack. She liked the feeling of the grass between her hooves, soft and gentle - and the water, so much water! In the nether, the most they had was what could be held in small, contained bottles, enchanted to survive where all water turned to steam in an instant.
But in the overworld?
In the overworld, it was abundant; rivers and streams, lakes and oceans, even the channels of water the villagers used for their crops - once, she'd even felt it falling from the sky itself, and the feeling of it across her skin was like nothing she'd ever felt before. She'd remembered the feeling of it turning to steam when they stepped back through the portal, whisps of white that were gone all too soon, leaving her feeling a strange sense of loss. She spent a lot more time in the water after that - though never too deep.
It had started innocuously enough - she'd been raiding with the overworlder, and when the blazes overwhelmed them, they'd built a portal of obsidian, lighting it up and creating a shimmering purple gateway that they'd both stumbled through, fire still licking at her heels as they emerged among villagers.
They'd been scared at first - but soon came to understand she meant them no harm, not that they were worth harming in the first place. That had been her first taste - that field of shimmering gold, flowers with their faces turned toward the sun, petals woven from the last lingering rays in the sky, as beautiful as any ingot.
She went back for more, obviously.
At first, with the overworlder - but then by herself, even going so far as to make her own portals. She'd gather things - flowers, saplings, food, bringing them back to show the others. It was too much, she knew; she was showing them a world they couldn't know, that she *shouldn't* know, and the rotting on her hand was proof enough of that.
And then came that fateful day.
That sound that split the skies; a roar, sending a chill down her spine as the skies turned black, as...*something* loomed into view above the quiet village she'd come to know. Something ancient. Something *wrong.*
This wasn't her world, and yet her body moved before she did, drawing a sword and grabbing a trident that the overworlder had left behind - charging the *monster* with a roar, head held high in defiance of whatever it was. The overworlder would be here soon, she knew; but those precious minutes she could buy would be the difference between the survival of this village and it's fields of gold.
It fell, eventually. Crumbling away, leaving a mote of sparkling stardust in it's wake, the skies clearing into that late-afternoon glow - one that told her everything she needed to know. They tried, of course - tried to push her to the portal, but even if she'd made it through, she would have died of her injuries on the other side. She knew. They knew; but after she'd done so much for them, what else could they do? What else could they do but try, fruitlessly, pointlessly, to save her?
Instead, she sat, heavy and with purpose - turning her gaze toward the ocean, watching as that beautiful, shining sphere slowly began to descend, and she remembered; one of the villagers had spoken to her about it, not too long ago, about a time they called the 'golden hour'. Right before the sun descended, they said, it cast a light across the land that made it seem like the whole world became that which her people loved the most.
As her gaze turned toward the sun, she saw it; that beautiful, fleeting moment, as the whole world turned to beautiful, shining gold. She looked down at her hands, and in that moment, gone were the wounds, the rot, the blood - in that one beautiful, wonderful moment, she was golden too.
Glen smiled.
And then she was gone.
Something something present for @brightgoat because I love their art and their Minecraft world so much and I knew I had to write something.
