31-Day MCSM One Shot Challenge - February Edition 2019

Mistakes Were Made

"And Jesse, I know you can do this."

"So do I."

"We all do."

An anxious smile formed on Jesse's face as she cast her friends a grateful look for the support. Her heart was thudding rapidly inside her chest, sweat building up beneath the steal of her armour. She tried to show as little of her fear, masking it with a look of confidence.

"Thanks guys."

Pulling her gaze away from Axel, Olivia and Lukas, Jesse focused her gaze at the wither storm in front of her. She gulped thickly, realising that was it – she could finally end it all.

"NOW!"

Before anybody could react to Jesse's call, something leaped into the minecart with her.

"Reuben! This is no place for a-"

Then Axel pulled down on the lever and Jesse's minecart shot forward. She grasped the sides, her eyes widening as it flew up the ramp with her and Reuben, heading straight for the large hole in the wither storm. A scream erupted from Jesse as they were hurtled from the minecart, engulfed in darkness mere seconds later.

Jesse's shriek was cut off as her body collided with the ground, sending her rolling a good distant across the obsidian surface. She coughed as she tried to get her breath back, throbs radiating from her fresh bruises.

"We're inside." Jesse breathed once she managed to inhale a good gasp of air, grinning weakly. "One step closer."

Reuben grunted in agreement, nudging her arm with his snout in a way of encouraging her to get up. Taking a few more large breaths, Jesse rolled herself over, using that same momentum to push herself up. She looked around, her brown eyes wide and fearful as she took in the sights surrounding them.

The inside of the wither was like a cave interior carved from obsidian. A purple mist tinted the air, making everything off in the distance appear hazy. But the thing that really made Jesse's heartbeat accelerate, were the bodies littering the area.

All frozen in position, expressions locked in terror and eyes filled with fear. Mouths open in the last scream they had ever let out. A thick, slime-like purple substance glazed their bodies.

"Okay." Jesse let out a shaky breath. "This is... weird."

Reuben whimpered, cowering behind her legs. He pulled his stubby tail in between his legs, his entire little body shaking like a leaf. Jesse glanced down at him, her mouth beginning to open to say something reassuring.

She never got the chance, the ground beneath them all of a sudden beginning to quiver. Jesse yelped as she held out her arms for balance, the wither moving about in the air. It was no use as everything suddenly titled to the side, sending her flying across the obsidian surface.

Jesse shrieked as she collided straight into one of the walls, her reflexes just about quick enough for her arms to shoot up and cover her head. The wither fortunately stopped tilting, although it took a second for Jesse to make sense of which direction was which again.

She dizzily looked around, everything swaying around her. But even through the fuzziness of her vision, she could see the strong glow of the command block in the distance. Reuben let out an excited squeal, standing up with his front hooves on Jesse's knee. He looked in the direction of the command block and then at her, like he was encouraging her to approach it.

"Okay." Jesse said shakily, once more heaving herself up onto her shaking legs. "Let's do this thing."

Reuben snorted at Jesse's words, fearfully following behind her as she walked up to the command block. Having nobody around to put up an act for, Jesse's entire body was visibly trembling with fear. Both her hands gripped the helm of the diamond sword, it's blade quivering.