Taylor woke up with a flutter of her eyes. At first, she was confused because she wasn't in her spacious room with her many paintings on her walls. Then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, whisking away the remaining dreams. She opened her eyes once more and sat up quietly, not wanting to wake up the still sleeping Zane. She rolled onto the balls of her feet and stood before walking to the side of the lake. Her shorts were dry against the branch she had hung them on yesterday. She pulled them on and picked up a stick. She looked back at Zane before facing away from him again.

She threw the stick a couple feet in front of her and raised her hand quickly. She squinted her eyes and held up her hand. The stick stopped in its tracks, highlighted by a blue aura. She smiled and willed the stick to the right. It moved, but so did everything within a small radius. At this, she frowned, and focused on the stick only. She tried again and it moved slowly at first, but then as she grew more confident, it moved to her slightest thoughts. Pretty soon, she was trying to see how far she could make this stick go. She made it in a pretty wide radius around her and then turned to pick up heavier things. First, a fist-sized rock which had very little difference than the stick. She then turned to a larger one, about the size of her head and lifted it with ease. She didn't want to go overboard so left it at that. She decided to take a break, noticing a small lack of energy. A small laugh escaped her lips and she smiled. After hanging up Zane's jacket, she sat at the water's edge, letting her legs drift in the water.

She stared out at the water, hypnotized by the ripple of the currents in the lake. Wait. Currents in a lake? She scanned the lake and couldn't find any source which could make currents. She shrugged it off, keeping the information tucked away. "I woke up earlier and um...practiced," She said and couldn't keep the goofy grin off her face. She lifted a hand. "Watch this," She said and looked back at the rock Zane had clung to the night before. Her hand began to glow and her eyes turned blue as small pebbles and rocks were lifted off of the small little rock island. She twisted her hand and they swirled around in the air before she let them fall. "I think I got the hang of it," She said and then looked at hiim.

 "Well, since I learned how to do something, it's time for you to now." She said and slipped off her clothes, revealing her swimsuit. A blue bikini top and bottom with hawaiian flowers decorating it. She dove into the water and swam to her left, toward the shallow end. She stood up and the water lapped at her chest. "We can practice here," She said, trying her best to get him in the water. She had a feeling him being able to swim would come in handy and may even save his life. She didn't want him to have any weaknesses that Lunar could use against him. She wondered if she was a weakness to him, but shook her head at the thought.

"Give it a rest, would ya." She said, her smile widening. Then she frowned. "And I know who's on this island. I just have a weird feeling in my gut that's saying you HAVE to learn how to swim. It could come in handy someday," She said, not wanting to weird him out.

She pushed off of the ground and lightly kicked her feet to keep her afloat. "Okay. Try doing this first. If you panic, just remember you can stand up if you need to," She said, still treading water.

"Handy or not, it's still terrifying." Zane said, imitating what she was doing. It was easy enough to do once he got over his panic. He didn't like swimming because he always felt like he was going to fall. It was a weird sensation. "I don't know why you like doing this so much, it's terrifying!" 

(( Brain-dead e_o )) 

((bum bum bum bum...Snow. lol, you can poof in now))

Maksis woke slowly. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, trying to chase away his sleep before he stood up and walked out of the cave. Sasori followed him and yawned as she padded next to him. "Shadow wishes to train with you today, but I suggest we scavenge the beach for more weapons," She said to him. "Come. Let's get Deomi and Ame so we won't travel alone," She said and Maksis climbed onto her back as she ran to Ame's cave. "Ame. Deomi. Let's go look for more weapons," She called into the cave.

Deomi groaned, "ten more minutes!" she complained, covering her face with her arm. Ame stood and picked up Deomi by the back of her shirt and dragged her, kicking and throwing a fir, out into the sunlight. Deomi glared at Ame visiously, but stood up anyway, running her fingers through her hair to untangle it. Then she climbed onto Ame's back and yawned sleepily.

"Good morning Sasori." Ame purred, "did you and Maksis sleep well?" she asked, slightly drowsy. Of course. Deomi's drowsyness was contagious.

(( And the brain-deadness continues >_< ))

Zane watched her for a few moments before atempting to mirror her movements. He did it well but after a few moments he panicked again and retreated back to the shallow part.

-----------

Yuri's eyes fluttered open as the sun peaked through the entrance to his den. He stood up and stretched, making a surprised noise when he realized something was blocking his tail from moving. He spun around. Allen was using his tail as a pillow. Yuri couldn't help but laugh and swatted lightly at Allen's nose to wake him up. Allen grumbled a bit and rolled over, releasing Yuri's tail. 

"Come on, sleepy-head," he purred, grabbing his partner's hood in his mouth. He dragged the boy outside much like a cat would do for her young, except he doubted any kit could make the racket Allen was making as he tried to get his way back into the warm den to sleep some more. 

Taylor waded back over to Zane. "There's nothing to panic about. You were doing fine...until you panicked," She said and kicked off again before dunking her head under. She opened her eyes and looked at the plant life. They weren't glowing a warm blue anymore. Instead, they were like the usual plant life back home.

--

Sasori dipped her head. "We did. I take it you and Deomi had a good night's rest. I thought we should go scavenge for more things on the beach from past shipwrecks," She said and yawned, suddenly feeling drowsy. Maksis yawned, too. "Deomi, could you wake up already," He said with a friendly grin.

((zombie. your brain-deadness is contagious >.> like deomi's moods lol))

(( lol, not my fault DX I've had one distraction after another today! It's hard for me to think lol ))

Zane frowned. He really, really didn't like these swimming lessons. He shook his head. He knew how to keep his head above water now so at least he wouldn't drown. Was there really any other reason to learn how to swim. He sighed, wishing the lessons to be over with all ready.

----

Yuri dragged the still-fighting Allen over to the group. "How goes it?" he asked through his mouthful of Allen's hood. He resisted the urge to yawn. He knew that if he did Allen would get loose and retreat back to the den. He spotted Vic slithering out from his den and flicked his tail in greeting. Vic nodded back. "Where's Zane?" the snake asked the group curiously. He hadn't dared enter his partner's mind again but he was still worried about him. 

Taylor sighed when she saw Zane's ex
pression. "We can stop for today. Although, I don't think I'll ever get you back in the water," She said and pulled herself out from the edge. She stood up and tried her best to wipe herself down before pulling on her shirt and shorts. They dampened up, but she knew a good hour in the sun and she would be fine. "Let's head back to camp," She said.

--

Maksis looked at Vic. "So, he still doesn't like you huh." Maks said. Sasori turned to answer Vic's question. "Do not worry, Vic," She said. "You will be able to tell if he's in danger. Let's fetch Shadow and go down to the beach," She said and padded toward Shadow's cave. He strolled out before she reached the entrance and greeted the rest of the group.

"I know where Taylor...and Zane are," He said with a small smile. "Let's fetch them and head down to the beach," He said and began to trot down the trail to where the lake was.