They were in an abyss of endless darkness without knowing how long they've been falling or when they'll stop.
Alex had stopped screaming after his voice became hoarse from all the chaos, silently accepting his fate as long as he wakes up from this "dream".
Max, however, was vibing, enjoying the feeling of the wind in his fur. Then he spotted a speck of light in the distance below them, growing bigger as they drew closer, causing them to close their eyes at the brightness.
Suddenly, they found themselves falling from the sky.
Way up in the sky.
Alex stared at the mountainous ground below with a blank expression and sighed. Meanwhile Max stuck out his tongue, "Woah!!! This is awesome!"
Soon, they slowed down instead of speeding up as they approached the ground, rolling down a smooth grass-covered slope, stumbling a mountain as the earthly scent of grass and dirt filled their noses.
After landing in undignified positions, Max stood up, his stance unstable as he felt dizzy from the stumble, before he flopped onto his side with a giggle.
Alex laid on the ground with his limbs spread out as he stared at the clear blue sky, noting with his squinted eyes the slightly visible stars above. "What was on that cursed screen again?"
"Um... Collecting two items without getting caught??? Or something like that. I dunno," Max sat up, scratching his ear.
"Without getting caught? By what?"
"Do I look like a genius to you?" Max stared at him, pausing his grooming with his leg raised up.
They exchanged a glance.
"I shouldn't have asked?"
"Obviously, dumbass."
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A sudden sequence of thuds resembling footsteps shook the ground, followed by a gigantic thud rang across the area, lifting the duo of the ground while the cover their ringing ears before crashing back down hard.
".... Ouch," Alex groaned as he sat up, massaging his back.
"I think I landed on my tail," Max sat up, wagging his sore tail, "I know that I'm just a dog, a VERY handsome one at that, but that won't an Earthquake."
"No shit, Sherlock. It's that giant thing sleeping over there-*crack* Owww....."
"Oh good, a giant- Wait what?!"
SNOOOORE
They froze, then slowly climbed up the slope and saw a giant sleeping in the center of a valley surrounded by four mountains like a bed.
The giant was 60 meters with brown, cracked skin that looked like dried up mud as a mossy scent filled the air from his clothes. Its snores were a cross between a truck horn and a malfunctioning lawnmower but loud enough to burst an eardrum.
Alex covered Max's snout while his mouth was covered by the canine's tail as they stared at the sleeping giant in horror.
"That's a literal giant....."
"I know right?? Good thing it isn't the quest."
Suddenly, a familiar light caught their eyes and they saw a sword and shield were tied around its neck.
"You jinxed it."
"Relax, bro. The quest was to not get caught, and look that thing is asleep. And I've got a plan."
"And that is?"
"So this is what we're going to do. You get the cloak and belt thingy, then go and get the other thingies it's wearing like jewelry. While I stay here as lookout."
"Why should I go get them?"
"Because you're the only one with thumbs. Now go fetch."
Alex groaned quietly then went to pick up the black cloak and belt while grumbling. "Do you think that the cloak has a skill or something?"
"Put it on and find out."
He shrugged and draped it on his shoulders, covering his head with the hood, "I don't feel anything. Do I look any different or did I turn invisible?"
Max paused his scratching and squinted his eyes, "I wish you were invisible. You look like a pathetic version of those ugly cloak things that kiss people in that wizard movie you like so much."
"You could've said it in a nicer way."
"It is the nicer way. Now quit sulking and fetch."
Pouting, Alex secured the cloak and belt before sliding down the other side of the mountain to where the giant laid asleep, then carefully tiptoeing to its clothes, climbing the slightly slippery garment while Max watched.
SWOOSH
Max's ears twitched at the sound as a large shadow looked over him. His fur frizzed up as he gulped nervously, slowly turning his head with great resistance and saw a giant sparrow with a piece of clothe tied around its neck staring at him with a mix of playful curiosity and predatory hunger.
Max whimpered as he slowly backed away, then bolted the opposite direction.
SWISH
He didn't need to look to know that the bird was chasing him. "Alex! Hurry up!"
Alex had just successfully managed to climb to the giant's shoulder, about to slide to its nape, when Max's cries caused it to stir.
The sudden movement threw him off balance as he stepped on the cloak and stumbled.
He desperately reached for the moss as he was about to hit the ground, nearly failing to hold on as the moss slipped through his fingers, holding onto it with his dear life, clawing his way up with his nails digging into the garment.
Halfway through after stabilizing himself, Alex turned to scold Max, only to go silent upon seeing him being chased by a giant bird, then saluted before he continued climbing.
Soon, Alex finally arrived at the nape, he stared his nails covered in moss and sighed, then grabbed one of the daggers to cut the thick rope.
The light reflected off the blade, catching the sparrow's eyes just as it was about to take Max's in its beak.
The fallen dog saw that it was attracted to the light from the blade as Alex finally cut off the rope, and screamed silently, watching the bird fly towards the oblivious boy in horror.
Just as Alex was about to slide down to get the items, he heard the sound of wings flapping approaching him, then whimpered, debating on jumping of the giant, but did it anyway, ungracefully falling, just as the bird's talons gazed his hood.
Alex speed crawled to the items, reaching out to grab them just as the bird scooped him up along with the rope and plucked Max off the ground by his lower body.
"MY NUTS?! UNHAND ME HEATHEN!!"
"Max, be quiet before you wake the giant."
"But my descendants are at risk."
The bird dropped them on its nest just as the giant sat up before falling back asleep.
The duo back up, pressing themselves against the straw nest, trembling in fear while the bird just stared at them, deciding on whether to eat them or keep them.
Feeling like crying, Alex and Max took out the shield and sword from the rope, then jumped off the nest just as the sparrow lunged at them with its beak wide open.
Closing their eyes shut, embracing for impact, they held onto each other.
Click
Alex opened his eyes and saw that they were in a pile of foam in a wasteland filled with dried bones and the smell of decomposing flesh and industrial smoke filled the air.
The screen hovered above him as Max quivered next to him.
[Trial Two - Complete]
[You've successfully obtained the items without being caught:
-Sword of a knight
-Shield of a tanker]
Alex just stared blankly, "Cool. But how do we get back home?"
[Finish the quest and find the crystal]
"Are you serious?"
[*Rolls eyes*]
"You have eyes?"
[Trial Three: Enter the biggest building and take the two items without getting killed by robots]
Max sat up instantly, "Robots?!"
[Don't die~]
Suddenly, they found themselves in a apocalyptic city with dried blood on the destroyed burnt buildings.
"We're so doomed."
[Trial Quest: Survive The Forest
-Escape the forest in 24 hours
-Collect the ten items
-Stay alive
•Duration: 18 hours
•Reward: ???
•Failure: Erasure from existence]