book of one shots

[7] Blazed Over (ThnxCya)

WARNING FOR MILD BODY HORROR
James had done it as a joke, on impulse. He just wanted to see what it would taste like, honestly. He wasn't exactly thinking straight.
He had eaten blaze powder.
Yes, it was a bad idea, this he understood. But he just had to try. And it was kind of...spicy. Spicy, but it would pop and attack your mouth. It left a cooling aftertaste behind, though, so it was worth it. James liked it, though he wasn't about to admit it.
———
The craving hit James like a flash that one day, and before he knew it, he had eaten blaze powder again. He wasn't sure why he had eaten it again, but despite the fact he kind of liked the taste, blaze powder wasn't supposed to be edible, so he'd have to snap out of it soon.
———
Despite James's troubles, he was simply unable to stop himself from eating the blaze powder, it didn't even taste that much anymore, he was just brewing and suddenly it's gone. He'd been eating it for a few days at this point. It scared him, if he was getting that much into his system, could it end up having any physical effects? He had even done something worse, and eaten another bit of food from the Nether. (Warped Mushrooms, specifically...) These cravings only got worse and worse, and sooner or later, he started going off of normal, edible, food too. It was harder to swallow things without a weird texture, he virtually couldn't taste raw carrots or potatoes anymore. He'd have to eat things cooked, because if he ate something cold or raw, it wouldn't feel right.
He didn't notice his other sensory changes either.
He didn't realise it, but he found himself flying to places more. It was weird, everyone's houses were close, he just found himself enjoying flying in the air. He had gotten good at it too. He was never this good at flying before. Not one of his friends flew anywhere unless it was an incredibly long distance.
He didn't notice his lower arms gaining a grain-like texture to them.
He didn't feel his body temperature slowly rising above the normal.
———
James's state had gotten worse, and yet he didn't seem to notice. He headed out to the nether a lot more often than usual, and every time he did, it was comforting almost. He found himself putting one of his old t-shirts under his jumper, because he didn't feel warm enough despite the sun. He habitually stayed away from watery pools. He was barely able to eat vegetables without having to force himself to swallow.
He did notice how his forearms had started to turn a strange golden colour. He covered it up with his jumper. It wasn't too much to worry about, now was it?
James was keeping blaze rods and his flint and steel on him a lot more often than he was used to. He never had it in his inventory.
While Dan and Justin didn't notice, James's mannerisms began to change too. He was a lot more excited when setting things alight came into the picture, he stopped jumping into pools as often, slightly more passive-aggressive, just...overall changing.
Yet it wasn't enough for anyone to notice.
James didn't try, but if he had, he wouldn't have burned if he walked into fire, at least not instantly.
James couldn't feel the small buildup of smoke in his shoes.
James sometimes felt a bit off balance after he landed.
James didn't notice.
———
James's situation kept getting worse. Every time it rained, he ran straight inside and didn't come out. The yellow on his arms was becoming more prominent, and he sometimes gripped at it roughly and a bunch of powder came off onto his arms. It had spread over to his chest and he was just able to hide anything on his neck with his scarf. James started becoming more uncomfortable with the atmosphere in the area, and slightly more distant. Hell, he was even eating nether wart at this point, and he knew that had bad effects.
———
It was a routine trip to the nether, James was certain of that. He had simply flew gone over and gone through the portal, going through and...then he forgot what he was supposed to be doing. He decided to walk it off, maybe he'd remember.
What happened is that James walked way too far and ended up getting lost.
He desperately looked around for any sign of human life but couldn't find anyone, so he decided to take refuge in a nearby nether fortress.
He'd be fine, he was certain of it.
———
A bunch of changes started happening at once. James's blaze rods started floating by his side rather than remaining in his inventory, he was feeling incredibly hot and steamy and the ashy golden skin lesions had spread right down over his hands and neck, and they were working their way up onto his legs as well.
None of the mobs in the fortress came and attacked James, which was a relief for the stranded bplayer. He was repeatedly checking for signs of life, but no one came around to the fortress.
He was well and truly stuck.
———
James's 'human' food had run out, but he was okay with that. It tasted disgusting at that point anyways. He was content with eating the nether wart and blaze powder he had. Hell, he wasn't even hungry that often anymore.
He realised that he quite liked the nether, how homely it felt. It used to feel like a threatening place, but after who knows how long of being there, James realised that it was actually quite peaceful. He sometimes enjoyed watching the lava pools pulse. The look of lava was nice, and despite the fact he used to be terrified whenever he saw it, now he was totally calm in its presence. Streams fell to the floor (like the blood of his victims) amid the interweaving fortress and rocky netherrack. He believed there was a bastian nearby. He couldn't see it, really.
He didn't notice the fact that his vision was wavering, the fact that his green jumper was starting to fade out whenever he looked at it, he couldn't realise that his eyes were slowly becoming less wide ranged. He didn't notice the fact that the tips of his hands were darkening, and the fact that fire like cracks and marks were intertwined with his skin. He didn't notice the fact that his boots were slowly turning golden with the amount of blaze powder that fell off his chest and arms. He didn't notice the fact his hair was fraying at the ends, sometimes coming out in the form of ash.
———
He didn't realise he was thinking less and acting more. He did things as soon as he told himself to, not debating the semantics of some of these actions. He didn't really recall when, but he had taken off his jumper and thrown it into the lava, and with it most of his inventory. He didn't care. It felt freeing, almost. It had felt restricting, too bright. He preferred the darker colour of his shirt, and it wasn't hiding any part of his skin anymore. The straps were gone, and the only things James kept on him were his weapons and his blaze rods.
He could feel some of the blaze rods fusing to his back. It wasn't his problem, it wasn't painful. It felt quite relieving, almost. As if something was missing. He stood up straighter than he had in a long time.
He didn't notice the ash and smoke that surrounded him almost all the time now.
He didn't notice his voice slowly becoming raspy and crackling whenever he breathed. He couldn't feel his vocal chords rusting, shattering.
If he did, he wouldn't have cared.
———
James had started to lose sight of himself. He had been in the nether for who knows how long at this point, and he enjoyed it down there. He'd basically forgotten what the overworld looked like, what the overworld felt like, anything he did up there. After cutting off the bottom of his trousers and throwing them out, he had thrown out his weaponry too. It wasn't as if he used it anymore, and anyways, he was able to create fireballs.
(James hadn't always been able to do this, but he didn't know that.)
His eyes had started to shift colour too, the whites of his eyes turning yellow and his usually olive eyes turning brown. His vision had long since become used to the bright colours of the nether, and he was unable to see things far away from him.
He didn't have to eat, he wasn't hungry anymore.
(At least, not for food.)
His grasp on speaking English had faded away, leaving nothing for him to say, just sometimes the crackle of a sigh or a breath.
He didn't need to say anything anyways. Most would just fight him. He didn't care, he was fine with a fight.
———
James was gone. Whatever eating the blaze powder had done to him, it had slowly transformed his body and mindset to that of a blaze.
His memories were gone, and he didn't seem to be able to understand English anymore. It wasn't as if many spoke to him in that language.
He usually hung around the fences and the spawner (that he believed spawned him), waiting for something to happen.
A few (players) threats had come to (the) his fortress too. He made quick work of them.
The old James would have been horrified with the acts he was fine with now.
(Then again, the old James would have been horrified with what he had become anyways.)
(He didn't know or care how desperately his friends were looking for him. He didn't remember them anyways. If he saw them again, he'd attack them just as if they were any other player. All players were the same to him anyways. Just threats.)
But the old James was long gone, completely molded underneath the grasp of the nether, never to leave again.
~~~~
Hello everyone! I just posted about why I'm not updating TBBM at the moment, but to summarise, it's just lack of motivation. In other news, here's a little (somewhat angsty??) drabble about ThnxCya in an AU cause I have brain rot. The drawing wasn't for this fic specifically, but it's for the AU, so I slipped it in. Thanks for reading!
There was no strikethrough option....
- YanDan