Chapter Text
Dream sprints through the forest, chest heaving, trying not to pay attention to the giant footsteps approaching or the sound of trees snapping in half behind him as he just tries to focus on running as fast as he possibly can. The ravine’s up ahead; once he reaches it, he should be able to climb down faster than the giant hunters can follow. They might not even be able to fit.
He can hear George spitting out curses behind him, clearly having trouble forcing his way through the forest. Dream’s too exhausted to shout taunts back at the giant and instead does his best to concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other.
Get to the ravine. Finish your portal. Hide in the Nether. Get to the ravine. Finish your portal. Hide-
The second he steps out from underneath the trees he skids to a stop, feet digging into the soft dirt as he barely avoids the hand that swipes at him from above. Sapnap lets out a furious growl and makes another grab for him, this time managing to knock Dream over before the human slices the giant’s palm open with his sword.
“You fuck- Dream!” Sapnap roars, jerking back, eyes practically glowing with rage. “Don’t you fucking dare scurry off again.”
Dream tries to scramble back, flinching away when the giant easily uses a foot to block his path. He’s practically choking on each breath as he gasps for air, fighting the urge to take his mask off so he can breathe better.
He’s going to die.
These giants…they’ve been chasing him for a while and at first it was fun. At first it was like a game, a game that Dream had started by stealing from them and stabbing their hands when they tried to grab him. He always knew what would happen if they caught him, but the risk seemed to be worth the reward.
He never thought they’d be this determined to hunt him down, even after he’d long since given up on stealing from them. He never thought he’d actually get caught.
“C'mon, Dream, fight me,” Sapnap blurts out, showing off his teeth-–his fangs–-as he stares down at Dream. “Quit running and fight!”
“Leave me alone!” Dream stumbles away; Sapnap just shifts his weight, blocking Dream’s escape route with his foot again. “Please!”
“You’re the one who started this.” Sapnap sinks into a crouch, reaching for Dream, caging Dream in with his hands when the panicked human tries to get away. “You’re the one who attacked us first. C'mon, do it again. Stop running from me and actually fight!”
“Let me go,” Dream begs, holding his weapon up defensively, trying to slowly move to the side. “I’m done stealing. Just- please, leave me alone.”
The giant squints at him for a long time, looking a bit confused. Dream blinks, faltering, also confused because he isn’t sure why the giant has suddenly stopped.
“So…we win?” Sapnap eventually asks, frowning slightly. “You- you’re surrendering? Really? Not even going to try and fight me one last time?”
Dream frantically shakes his head. “I’m done, I’m done, just let me go.”
He flinches away when Sapnap slowly starts to reach for him again; the giant pauses, still studying him intently enough to make his skin crawl. He feels like Sapnap’s able to see his true fear through his mask even though he’s trying to square his shoulders and appear brave.
“…hold on,” Sapnap mutters, glancing to the side for a second as George’s footsteps get closer. Dream takes this chance to start creeping towards the ravine. “I’m starting to think there might’ve been a mis-”
The second the giant starts to turn towards him, Dream takes his chance and sprints for the ravine.
Sapnap shouts for him to stop but Dream tunes him out, feet pounding against the ground as he runs towards his last chance of escape. He nearly topples over the edge when he reaches it, digging his heels into the dirt and waving his arms just in time to keep from losing his balance. It’s a long, terrifying drop but he can see the pool of water at the bottom.
It’s small. Way too small for him to normally risk jumping down. But Sapnap’s right behind him so he takes the leap before he can second-guess himself.
He hardly falls three blocks before his bag catches on something and the strap goes taut, nearly knocking the wind out of his lungs as he dangles precariously over the ravine. He kicks his legs wildly, reaching back as he tries to figure out what happened to his bag.
Then suddenly he’s being lifted up and he realizes exactly what caught him.
“No!” Dream shrieks, thrashing as he uselessly tugs on the strap of his bag. “No, no, please-”
“Careful!” Sapnap growls, lifting Dream up until he’s hanging in front of the giant’s face. “You wouldn’t survive a fall like that.”
Dream can’t tell if it’s a warning or a threat but he bristles anyway. He’s survived against these giants for weeks and it pisses him off to know that they still underestimate him. “Just- just fuck off and let me go before I stab you again!”
He then tenses up, half-expecting Sapnap to drop him, but the giant just sighs and starts to stand up. “Not gonna happen, Dream, we need to-”
Dream pulls his sword out, slicing through the air; Sapnap twitches, clearly expecting for the sword to dig into his skin, but the giant isn’t the target. Instead, the blade slices cleanly through the straps of the pack holding Dream in the air.
Sapnap curses, fingertips brushing against Dream once he begins to fall, and Dream sinks the blade into the giant’s skin. Then he tumbles, his shoulder smacking against the wall of the ravine as he desperately tries to aim for the small pool of water at the bottom.
For one horrifying moment he’s certain that he’s going to miss, but at the last second he just barely manages to splash into the water. It still hurts, knocking the wind out of him as he thrashes and comes back up to the surface.
He can hear both of the giants shouting, and a glance up shows that they’re trying to figure out how to get down to him. The ravine is too small for them to climb down but he sees Sapnap pull out his pickaxe to carve out the walls and knows that he doesn’t have time to waste.
He’s forced to abandon his pack and his sword because he isn’t sure where they are and he can’t spend the time to search for them. Instead, he limps deeper into the ravine, hoping that there will be a cave system he can hide in before they catch up and kill him.