Chaos Faction

• T W E N T Y T H R E E •

A/N: just for you Larissa ;)

The rest of the afternoon was spent happily enough. Rae and Sapnap had decided they needed to work on strengthening their control over their powers, and so Dream and George had volunteered to help them. It was fairly entertaining, as far as training sessions go, so much so that Brooke and Jord had gathered up the reeds they'd been using to weave into mats, and took them to the top of a flat rock not far from the entrance to the valley so they could watch while they worked.

"This isn't a spectator sport!" Sapnap protested, when he realised what they were doing.

"I think you'll find you're wrong," Jord grinned at him. "This is highly entertaining."

Sapnap picked up a handful of pebbles, and chucked them in the direction of the rock, but Brooke was quicker, and they bounced harmlessly of her shield. Rae turned to see what the commotion was, and laughed when she saw what was going on.

"Come on Sapnap, focus," she giggled, taking his hand, and pulling him away.

George and Dream had decided that fighting hand to hand would be the best way to help them learn, and it had become a game of who could push who into the lake first. It should have been a one sided battle - George was a healer, and Dream could never bring himself to use his power to full effect when play fighting with his friends. However, Rae and Sapnap were still learning how to connect their instinctual responses to their power, and when they both ended up in the lake for the third time in a row, even Rae was tired of it.

"My first thought is to fight with my fists," she complained. "It shouldn't be."

"That's because that's how you've been trained to react since you could walk," Dream told her. "It's a habit, but if you can break it, you'll speed up your reaction time, and you'll be a much better fighter."

"Come on," said George, clapping his hands. "Again."

Sapnap splashed him, throwing a glare in his direction, but reluctantly clambered out of the water once again.

"I hate this," he muttered. George chuckled at him.

"Come on, you'll get there."

This time, when they fought, both of them focussed on George, and were able to precipitate him into the lake, before Dream shoved both of them in after him.

"We got one!" Sapnap cheered, holding out a hand to high five Rae.

"Love that," she grinned.

She splashed George playfully, and Sapnap joined in, causing George to yell in protest. Suddenly, though, there was a shield covering him, and all the water they sent towards him was flinging back in their faces.

"What?!" Rae yelled. "That's not fair! Brooke!"

Brooke retracted her shield, and waved cheekily to the two of them.

"You're welcome!" she yelled back.

George blew her a kiss, before clambering out of the water, and setting up to fight once again. Jord turned to Brooke in excited surprise.

"Okay, what was that then!" She whisper-yelled. "You two were colder than ice this morning and now he just blew you a kiss! Please explain!"

"Calm down," the blonde waved her hands at Jord to hush her, although she herself was giggling at her friend's reaction. "We talked things over, and we're together now. I have a feeling big Dream had something to do with it, but George was just afraid of getting his heart broken if something were to happen to me."