Beyond The End [Dream team x Reader]

Chapter 24

Dream's POV

The morning light hit the training area before any of us said a word.

It wasn't really a "training area" at first.

It was just a cleared patch of land behind the house where Sapnap kept insisting we stop breaking trees "too close to the food supply," and where Y/N had silently decided the ground needed to be flatter, more open, and less likely to get someone killed.

So now it was both.

Flattened dirt.

A few scattered logs for movement practice.

A small chest off to the side with spare tools and slightly battered armor pieces.

And a rule I didn't say out loud but everyone seemed to understand anyway:

Don't hold back unless someone is about to get hurt.

Y/N stood in the center already.

Full iron armor today.

Helmet slightly tilted like she'd put it on too fast.

Sword in hand.

Still.

Focused.

Watching me like she was waiting for something to start that only I knew the timing for.

Sapnap was off to the side sorting through a stack of arrows, humming to himself like we weren't about to spend the morning hitting each other with swords.

Which, honestly, was probably his coping mechanism.

I stepped forward.

"Same setup as yesterday," I said. "One-on-one rotations. Y/N first."

Sapnap immediately perked up.

"Ooh. Again? I want a rematch later."

"You lost last time," I reminded him.

"I was warming up."

"That was two hours."

"Exactly."

Y/N didn't react to any of it.

Just shifted her stance slightly.

Balanced.

Ready.

She'd gotten better.

Fast.

Too fast for someone who hadn't played this game before all of this started.

But that was the thing I kept noticing about her.

She didn't learn like a beginner.

She learned like someone who was remembering something she already knew.

I shook the thought away.

"Go," I said.

And she moved.

⸻

She came in sharp.

Not reckless anymore.

Not hesitant.

A clean swing aimed low, forcing me to step back immediately.

That alone was new.

A week ago she would've hesitated at the distance.

Now she was already adjusting mid-step, following through like she expected me to dodge.

I blocked.

Steel rang out.