~In the Dream Bubble~

~Equius' POV~

"Daddy!" the android calls as I pull the human from the river. "Why isn't he breathing? DADDY!"

I try to ignore the panicking android as I lay the blonde on the rocky riverbank. He's starting to turn a little blue as I start chest compressions. Twenty compressions, two breaths, repeat. After a few tries, he starts coughing. I roll him over onto his side as he coughs up the water that had snuck into his lungs.

"You're okay," I assure him, rubbing circles between his shoulders in an attempt to calm him. "You're okay, just breathe." I look over my shoulder to the android struggling to hold onto the rock in the middle of the river. I close my eyes and focus my telekinesis on him, lifting him off the rock and setting him down on the dry land close by.

"Dirk?" Dave calls from beside Karkat at the cave's exit a few yards away. He comes running over when he sees the state we're both in, soaked and breathless. "Bro, what the hell happened?!" Dirk opens his mouth to answer but can only manage to cough more. "Equius, what happened?!" Dave demands as he pulls his brother into his arms.

I motion to the android, Hal, crying and shivering a few feet away. "He was trying to save him, and the current pinned him to the bottom of the river." I turn back to Dave. "That river was designed to test my strength. He's lucky this is one of the weaker branches. This could have ended a lot worse than it did."

When I receive an understanding nod from Dave, I stand and make my way over to where Karkat's waiting by the exit into the main part of the dream bubble. He looks about as annoyed as he does worried. "Do I want to know what the fuck is going on?"

"Dave's brother almost drowned." His worry wins its fight against his annoyance as he stares at me in wide eyed fear. "He's okay. Have you talked to Kankri?"

The look of pure annoyance returns as Karkat turns and walks away, motioning for everyone to follow. He leads us through the maze of rope bridges of Terezi's old treehive. We follow him down a flight of stairs to a place that looks like Prospit where everyone else is waiting for us. Someone has set up a few mats in the middle of a courtyard where Kankri and a man that looks unnervingly similar to Eridan are sparring. The two are so in sync with each other that it looks more like a performance than a fight. Every punch blocked; every kick dodged. I just stop and watch in awe until Kankri is able to land a few quick jabs. Caught off guard, his sparring partner is left wide open for Kankri to sweep his legs out from under him and pin him to the mat with a foot on his chest, holding him down.

"That's Cronus," Mituna says as he walks past me. He looks more than a little satisfied to see Cronus on his back, pinned to the sparring mat. "If it were up to me, he'd always be on his back."

Kankri, having obviously not realized that we've arrived, moves to retrieve a red towel from a nearby railing. As he wipes the sweat from the back of his neck, Cronus rises from the mat and sneaks up behind him. Kankri squeaks in surprise when Cronus wraps his arms around his waist. He laughs a little when he turns around in the aquarius' arms and kisses him softly.

"Hey, asshole!" Karkat shouts as he marches past me towards the entangled two. "You wanted to test Signless. Well, he's here! Stop making out and get on with the fucking test!"

"I'm not too sure I'm comfortable with this," Signless informs as he joins the small crowd gathered.

Kankri, having untangled himself from Cronus, makes his way over to us and says, "I mean no offense, but you don't have a choice in the matter. You may not be in any immediate danger here, like you were on Alternia, but you're still in quite a bit of danger. You need to learn how to effectively defend yourself against enemies that are much more powerful than an enraged highblood. We're up against Lord English and, believe me, you're ill-equipped to handle that." He's about to say more when Karkat, already more frustrated than I've ever seen him, growls threateningly at him.

Before a fight breaks out, a human, Jade if memory serves me, moves in between the too. "I'm too tired to deal with you two right now."

~Signless' POV~

"No fighting or I'll send you both to separate dream bubbles!" the human girl shouts, a bright green energy sparking around her outstretched hands. I don't think I've ever been this scared of someone who looks so innocent. She turns her attention to me and smiles. The energy disappears as she reaches a hand out for me to shake. "Hi, I'm Jade Harley, Witch of Space. I keep these two from crossing lines that can never be uncrossed."

"She's our auspistice," Kankri and Karkat say in unison, still glaring at each other.

"And you two shouldn't be in a situation where you need an auspistice in the first place. You're related for crying out loud!"

"Different timelines," the once again speak in unison.

"Also, humans call it a mediator, but whatever." She turns her attention back to me. "You must be Signless." I only nod. "Oh, I'm sorry. I must seem a bit scary with the whole half dog thing going on." She smiles again before growling at something behind me.

I glance over my shoulder when I hear Disciple hiss at Jade. "Really, Disciple? Are you actually hissing?"

My moirail pouts as she hugs my arm. "But she's a barkbeast and she's there."

I laugh a little at her behavior, "You're not actually a meowbeast, you know."

"A girl can dream, can't she," she retorts, playfully slapping my arm, before she makes her way over to the other two Leos gathered off to the side, painting on a wall. She chooses a few paints and starts working on a picture.

I turn my attention back to Jade. "Sorry about her," I apologize, finally shaking Jade's hand. She seems like a nice enough girl.

"Pleasantries aside," Kankri speaks. "You really do need to learn how to fight." He looks around as if he's searching for some unseen danger. "Preferably before Samael returns."

"Why does that name sound familiar?"

"I-it was my master's name," Psii informs. He looks a bit pale when I look over to where he had been talking with Mituna. "I c-can't be h-here."

I move closer to him and snake my arms around his waist. "You're okay, Psii," I quietly assure him as I rest my head on his shoulder. I can feel his heart racing so much faster than should be physically possible. "Hey, Psii, can you look at me?" He nods and hesitantly ceases his search of the area to look down at me. "You're safe. You know that right? Nobody's going to hurt you." He looks away from me, a look of guilt in his eyes and I know in an instant that he doesn't believe me.

Before I can think of a way to reassure my mate of his safety, a phone chimes. "If it's any consolation, Rufioh has confirmed that it's my Samael roaming this bubble," Kankri states with a shaky voice, "not yours." He hands Cronus his phone before retuning to the mat. "Signless, if you don't mind, let's not drag this out any longer than necessary, please."

I nod hesitantly before turning my attention back to Psii for a moment. "I promise you, my love, you're safe here," I whisper before leaning up and kissing him quickly. With a small sigh, I move to meet Kankri on the mat.

~Dirk's POV~

I silently watch the interaction between the trolls from the warmth of my brother's arms as we sit on the stairs. He had carried me from the riverbank after I almost fell over when I tried to stand on my own. Why did I jump into that river? That was such a stupid move. I know that this is a dream and that none of it is real, but I had to save Hal.

Hal.

Where's Hal?

My eyes go wide as I look around for him. Not seeing him, I stand up. Or, at least, I try to. Dave holds me closer, preventing me from leaving his protective hold. He holds me tighter the more I try to escape him.

"Bro, you almost drowned," Dave says. "Stay down and rest, please. I don't wanna have to restrain you."

I look up to him, asking, "W-where's H-h-hal?" I can't even talk without stuttering, I'm so cold.

"You mean that little android you jumped in the river for?" I nod. He looks over to where the Arquius look alike is wrapping a large towel around Hal. "He's over there. Equius is trying to dry him off. You know it was a stupid move, jumping in the river like that."

"I-I know."

"You were lucky Equius was able to get to you."

"I know."

"If it were just you, you would have died."

I snuggle closer to Dave, tears starting to form in my eyes upon realizing how much I scared him. "I'm s-sorry," I stutter.

His arms tighten around me as he presses a small kiss to the top of my head. "Don't be sorry, learn. Next time wait for help. Don't do something that could get you killed. I don't wanna watch you die again." I nod, silently promising to not do anything stupid. "You scared that android of yours, too."

My attention shifts from Dave back to Hal and Equius. A smile tugs at my lips as I watch Hal show off his favorite toy. Where the old bunny had appeared from, I have no clue. Equius smiles before snapping his fingers and making a white horse plush appear in his hands. I guess that's his favorite toy from when he was a kid. The entire interaction is adorable, and definitely not what I'd expect from half of my sprite. Maybe the part of Arquius that creeps me out is the part he got from my auto responder. The part he got from me.

My cheeks heat with a light blush when Equius smiles over to me. I smile back, trying to seem cool. I'm about to call to them when the sound of something heavy hitting a mat drags everyone's attention to the sparring area.

~Kankri's POV~

After calming his matesprit, Signless meets me on the mat. He looks more than a little uncomfortable with the idea of violence but determined to get this over with as quickly as possible. "Do you know how to fight?" I ask.

He shrugs. "Dolorosa taught me how to defend myself when I was little. Beyond that, no, I don't know how to fight," he explains.

"Well at least you're not starting with nothing," I say.

We start slow, a few jabs from me to learn his reaction time. Two hits land, but all others are either dodged or blocked. He seems to be studying me as well. Smart on his part. Then the tables turn so fast my head spins. He catches my left wrist and pulls me towards him. When I'm close enough, he shoves my right shoulder, spinning me around. My arm is twisted painfully behind my back as his other arm comes up around my neck.

This is where I freeze. Images of all the times my former guardian had me in this exact position flash across my mind.

Signless kicks my legs out from under me and drags me down onto the mat, removing his arm from my neck. He pins me with both of my arms twisted behind me and his knee pressed to the middle of my back.

The night Cronus and Mituna walked in on what Samael did to me flashes through my mind, and I panic.

"OFF!" I snap. The second he's off of me, I run to Cronus at the side of the mat.

"I'm sorry," Signless apologizes. "Are you okay? I didn't mean to hurt you."

Knowing that I go nonverbal when I'm like this, Cronus explains, "He's not hurt, just scared. Choke holds and being pinned like that can trigger his PTSD. It just depends on the person. He's usually fine with Karkat so we figured he'd be fine with you, too. I guess not."

I flinch at the gentle hand on my shoulder, hiding my face in Cronus' chest. "I'm really sorry for scaring you," Signless says. I only nod. "If you don't mind my asking, what did Samael do to you?"

My voice abandons me as I try to answer my alternate, so I tap Cronus' chest twice, signaling him to answer for me. "It would be easier to tell you what that monster didn't do to him," he explains, venom in his tone. "Samael was every kind of abusive you could come up with. If it hurt, he did it. He attacked Kankri physically and mentally every day of his life until Mituna and I caught him."

"He broke Kankri's ribs, I broke his door," Mituna blurts from a few yards away. Signless' eyes go wide, anger and worry flashing in his expression. Before he can say anything, though, the monster himself storms over. Him and a man that I've only ever seen in visions of Signless' final days on Alternia.