31-Day MCSM One Shot Challenge - February Edition 2019

Ice Cold

I've decided that it's about time I actually start practicing to write first person... so bear with me while I go ahead and probably make a million mistakes in this one shot!
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I sigh, leaning back against the wall as I listen to Petra throwing strings of insults and curses at Ivor. There wasn't a day that he didn't get on her nerves, this has almost become normal by now.

"Should we, uh... break those two up?" Lukas asks me in a whisper.

"Nope." I reply matter of factly, raising an eyebrow. "Ivor can fight his own battles. He thought starting an argument with Petra was a good idea, he can suffer the consequences."

Lukas snorts slightly at my words, leaning back against the wall as well. I let out another sigh, running my fingers along the blade of my sword. A nervous habit that has been repeated so many times in the past few days, the damage on the fingertips of my gloves were starting to show.

"Ugh!" Petra turns away from Ivor, throwing her hands into the air. "Out of all the people I had to get stuck with!"

Ivor grumbles something under his breath in response, crossing his arms and glaring at the redhead.

"Are you two done?" I ask, my voice coming out a tad more harsh than I would have wanted it. "Standing around isn't doing us any good."

"Oh what's the point!" Petra wildly gestures down the hallway. "It's just repeat of the same cycle, over and over and over again!"

"Well we have to do something." Lukas holds up his journal in which he's be ticking off the portals. "There are only so many portals in this hallway, eventually we'll get the right one. Tedious or not, we have to try."

I silently give Lukas a nod of appreciation, not really feeling like pulling a motivational speech out of thin air. Petra rolls her eyes, but she doesn't argue with him.

"So which portal are we going through?" She asks, swinging back around to look down the hallway. "I vote for that greenish one to your right."

"That one?" Ivor shakes his head rapidly, gesturing to bright magenta portal instead. "No, no, no, I think this one instead!"

"Last time we let you choose a portal, it took us forever to get out of a void of ocean!" Petra exclaims in frustration. "I say the green one!"

"I don't know." Lukas scratches the back of his head, frowning. "The last green portal was filled with bats, maybe that's a sign we should stay away from that colour. Let's try the yellow one at the end there instead."

"Nearly half the portals are green, I doubt they all lead into a cave system full of bats." Petra responds with a roll of her eyes.

"Jesse!" I groan as Ivor turns to face me. "What do you think? The magenta one is clearly the best way to go, right?"

I feel all three pairs of eyes burning into me, waiting for me to make the call. I turn my head to look down the hallway, my eyes briefly moving over the portals my friends had been discussing. I was not about to pick sides, that's for sure.

"Let's give that one a go." I say, pointing to a light grey portal.

I only barely catch onto a grunt of frustration from Petra, while Lukas and Ivor remain silent as they inspect the portal as well.

"I mean, it's not giving me any weird vibes, so why not." I hear Lukas say.

I look back at my friends, giving them a nod of confirmation. The four of us step up to the portal together, exchanging glances, before walking in together. I shut my eyes tightly, bracing myself for the transition between realms. It's never been pleasant, a disorienting experience that left you nauseous and shaky on your feet. But after the amount of portals we've gone through, we've gotten quite used to it.