The Nether was hot.

Honestly, Dream didn't understand how Techno had spent the majority of his childhood in such an unforgiving place. Really, it explained his awful attitude.

His mother, as is she could tell what he was thinking, shot him a look, "Help me with this, Day," she said, motioning to the packs in her hand.

The mother and son, along with a small entourage, had arrived in the Nether via a portal. After passing through, a small group of piglins was waiting in the bastion that they arrived in to welcome them.

They all seemed... pretty normal. They spoke the common tongue, which was good because Dream still had no idea how to speak piglin. They also didn't really look like the monsters that Dream had been expecting.

If he really studied them, he could see little bits of Technoblade in each of their appearances. The floppy ears, for one, but also the pink fur. Dream had always thought one of Techno's most prominent features was his rose-y hair.

The trick to the fortress, the structure they'd be staying in for the rest of the year, was long and arduous, even with the striders the piglins had lent them.

At least George was there as a distraction from the hot weather. He'd always been quick to get his feathers ruffled.

But even annoying George got boring after a while.

"Here we are!" Puffy yelled eventually from a few yards ahead of them.

Dream jogged a little to catch up with his mother, "Oh wow," he said, peering down at the fortress below them.

Well, fortress wasn't exactly the word Dream would use to describe it.

Palace, more like.

The red and gold of the palace stood out beautifully against the soul sand landscape and the blueish haze in the air.

Dream took a second to just admire it.

"Pretty, isn't it?" his mom said, a reminiscent smile on her face.

"Yeah."

"Well, we'll have to take the long road down. Unless- George do you feel up for an MLG?"

George shook his head, eyes wide behind his goggles, "No, ma'am."

"Long way it is then."

//

Even inside, the fortress was beautiful.

Bits of gold were scattered everywhere and the piglins that roamed the halls were even wearing it.

Dream supposed he shouldn't be too surprised, Techno had always had a bit of obsession with gold. He'd caught him staring at Dream's hair more than once.

Their tour around the fortress was short and, soon after, Dream and his mother were lead to their rooms.

The few servants they'd brought with them split off, going to find housing the servants' quarters.

When he'd finished unpacking, he stepped out into the hallway, only to find Puffy waiting for him.

She looked him up and down, "No. Go change. The King is hosting a dinner tonight to celebrate our arrival, and you need to be on your best behavior. That includes dressing nicely."

Dream blanched. A dinner? Already?

"I'd suggest one of your white shirts and some gold jewelry. Piglins are very fond of gold."

"I'd noticed. I won't know anyone there, will I?"

"Highly unlikely. But I do believe that there will be a few boys your age there. Make sure to play nice, we're here to soothe things, not make them worse."

Dream nodded. He could do that. Maybe he could even befriend a few of them. Hopefully.

Dream didn't want to go an entire year in the Nether without a single friend.

//

The dinner was... interesting.

Well, no. The dinner was boring, like he'd expected it to be.

What happened after the dinner was interesting.

The guests were all escorted to a different room, meant for mingling and drinking. The stuff his mother was interested in.

This was where he got swarmed.

The kids who had been forced to sit through the dinner by their parents - most looked around his age or younger - mobbed him.

"Your hair!" one of them said, petting him like he was a dog, "Your hair is gold."

"Uhh," Dream said, awkwardly trying to maneuver himself out of the preteen's grasp.

"You're from the overworld, right?" one of the older boys asked, arms crossed and fluffy eyebrow raised.

Maybe he could just run.

Gods dammit, no he couldn't do that. Mom would be mad at him.

He'd have to stick it out, "Yeah."

"Heard your mom's a general. You any good?"

Dream grit his teeth as someone pulled on his hair, "Better than you."

The piglin he was talking to bit out a laugh, "You should join us, then. The other brutes and I are training tomorrow, you interested?"

Finally, something that actually sounded intriguing, "Sure what time?"

Another boy, not piglin but certainly not human, began herding the other kids away from Dream.

"Here." The piglin boy reached into his pocket and pulled out a golden watch filled with strange markings, "Your overworld time devices won't be much help down here, human. This one'll work though."

Dream studied the watch in his hand. The piglin pointed to a specific spot on the face of the device.

"Come meet us down in the sparring quarters when the hand reaches here. Got it?"

"Yeah, thanks."

The boy grunted, retracting his hands and moving to turn away.

"Wait!" Dream called, "Uh, what's your name?"

The piglin paused for a moment, looking off into the distance as if trying to remember, "The common tongue pronunciation is a little weird but it's Punz. It's actually pronounced- actually, you know what you don't even speak the language I'm not even gonna try. See you tomorrow."

And he was gone.

Dream wished he could leave.

He caught his mother's eye. She glared at him.

Yeah, he wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.

//

The training room in the fortress was outside, which was somehow the same but different all at once. Dream was used to sparring outdoors, of course, under the beating heat of the sun.

It was strange in the Nether. The sky may have been blue-ish in color, but there was a smokey haze in the air that made it difficult to see anything.

"Hey! Dream, right?" It was the boy from the night before. Not the piglin, but the other one. The boy who'd herded everyone else away from him.

"Yeah. Thanks for last night, dude."

The boy rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "No problem. I'm Sapnap, by the way."

The boy, Sapnap, was even more fascinating to look at up close. His eyes seemed to be constantly shifting between red and orange, creating a captivating amber-like effect. Beneath his eyes were small trails of the same color, as if his skin has cracked, revealing the bubbling lava beneath.

Sapnap must've noticed his stare, because he pointed to his face knowingly, "Magma cube and human hybrid. There aren't a lot of us around here, just me and my brother. Almost as unique as you, mister golden hair."

Dream tugged self consciously at his hair. It wasn't that big of a deal, was it? Sure, his hair had always been extra vibrant, but it wasn't super uncommon. In the Overworld at least.

Sapnap nudged Dream's arm. He was hot to the touch, "C'mon, man. Punz hates it when people are late - people other than him at least - so we'd better hurry up.

//

Sparring with knights in training - brutes, he'd been reminded more than once - was fun.

They were refreshing. His mother had been right, he'd fought with Techno so much that he'd been subconsciously matching his style to the other's. Good when fighting Techno, not good in actual combat.

And the piglins fought nothing like their half-human counterpart prince. They fought with axes, something Dream thought revolutionary, and relied on brute force rather than the quick precision Techno favored.

Definitely a challenge.

By the end of the session, Dream was exhausted, having blocked more powerful swings than he'd ever had in a lifetime.

Sapnap passed him a water bottle - he was the only one there who needed one - and sat down beside him, "Not bad, auree puer."

Dream made a face. He didn't want to have to deal with nicknames he didn't understand here, too, "What does that mean?"

Sapnap laughed, munching on what appeared to be a fire charge. Weird.

"Golden boy," Sapnap said, a teasing lilt to his voice.

Dream rolled his eyes but said nothing.

"Quid est? Humanum est praecipio post paululum sicut irrideri facetiis?"

"Ender, how much of that language do you know?"

Sapnap gave him a weird, look, "I'm fluent."

Dream returned the look, "Isn't it the piglin language, though?"

"Its the language of the Nether, not just piglins."

"Oh... that makes sense, I guess." Honestly, Dream didn't even really know why he'd assumed it was piglin-specific. Maybe because he'd only ever heard Techno speak it? Speaking of Technoblade...

"Do you think... I could learn it?" Dream asked, suddenly feeling shy.

"What? The Matris Lingua?"

"Yeah... that."

Sapnap shrugged, "I don't see why not?"

"Could you tech it to me?"

Sapnap grinned, "Sure!"