A/N: So this was an interesting write. I'm a low-key Ladybug mark but have had a hard time writing them since they are something of an angst magnet and that's not exactly my kind of writing. But I had to set that aside because it was not only a friend's birthday but it was the friend that got me into writing for RWBY. All in all, glad I wrote it. Comments and criticism welcome as always!

The darkness was her ally. The shadows, her shield. Impossible blackness, her true weapon. She was born into it and had learned to wield it with devastating effectiveness. Yet now… Now it was a traitor.

Perhaps she had betrayed it first. The joy in her life in arriving at Beacon… At meeting her teammates and, now, friends… It had buried the darkness deep down. Even if she knew that it was still there, it had felt distant, like an old acquaintance.

"Is that all I am to you now, Blake?" mocked a harsh voice from the impenetrable shadows. "Not even a friend?"

Even with her heightened senses, Blake was all but blind. She heard the footsteps of her tormentor and pathetic broken whimpers. She hated the sound, knowing that it was herself who was making it. She blinked furiously but not even an outline could be made out. The air was stale and unmoving. But the taste… It matched the awful smell of the place, making her want to wretch. It was blood.

"Lost your taste for it?" the voice continued, the sound making Blake's ears sting. It was booming loud, demanding attention and fear. "Did you forget what you stood for? Was my guidance so easily lost?"

Blake wanted to reply back, to spit bile at this faceless entity, to tell it to burn in the depths of whatever hell it crawled out of. But no words found their way to her lips. She couldn't even gather the moisture to spit at the ground. Even as she felt a desire born of her new friends, one in particular, she couldn't move her fingers, one in particular. Her arms felt like they had a thousand bricks tied to them, as she attempted to push herself up off her kneeling position. The freezing floor's deathly touch snaked its way through her stockings, the icy fangs making her pained whimpering begin anew as her knees bent once again.

"You're so weak," laughed the voice, as Blake felt a pair of fingers slide across her chin. The hand was gloved and the texture was soft and inviting. As it pulled up onto her lips, Blake clumsily attempted to bite down on her tormentor. As her mouth clamped shut, there was nothing between her teeth. However, there was something across her cheek as the sharp sound of the blow seemed to echo in the room she was in. "So weak you think others are too. But this is interesting, seeing you decide to fight instead of run away, forcing me to clean up after you like some sort of spoiled child.

"Why, you might even sound like this." The voice was shriller now and a familiar one Blake knew too well. "You might not be royalty like I am but you are fussy enough to make me look like a down-to-Remnant girl."

"You're… not her…" For all the venom in her voice, Blake found her body unresponsive, aside from her trembling attempts at exertion. "Stop…"

"Oh, c'mon, Blakey," spoke the voice, harnessing the sing-song voice of Blake's own partner. "Don't be like that. Not recognizing the voices of your own friends? That's cold, even for you."

"Shut up…"

"Blake…" The hushed voice sounded of genuine sadness. Disappointment. Despair. "Blake, we were supposed to be a team. Why did you run from us?"

"Stop!" Blake's eyes opened to look upon her tormentor. The rage came to an end the second she made out the features before her.

The outline of a young woman stood before her, clad in impossibly dark blacks and blindly bright whites. A pair of hateful golden eyes shone from a dark feline face. A sinister smirk grew on her tormentor's lips, but the eyes still radiated loathing. "What's the matter, Blake?" asked the voice, the one Blake knew better than any other. "Cat got your tongue?"

"Who—"

"—am I?" A cruel laugh rose from the being before her. "I am you. I am the shadows that keep you safe. I am the darkness that slays your foes. I am the only reason you matter. I am you… More than you are."

"N-No…" muttered Blake, searching for the strength to move. To escape from this room. To escape from whatever that monster before her was.

"You would deny me? After all I've done for you?" The foul shadow ran a hand through Blake's hair, softly. Then it closed the fist and hefted her off the ground, the sudden movement causing pain to shoot through Blake's head. "Look at me, Blake… Look at us! We have so much to do and you'd have us throw it all away… And for what?!"

The room was flooded with blinding light. Squinting, Blake saw three outlines behind her hateful captor. It took a moment but her eyes adjusted and her fears were confirmed. Each of her three teammates were tied a chair, their faces beaten bloody.

"We have goals, Blake! Or did you give up on them… On us!" The shadowy entity dropped Blake to the cold hard floor as they made their way over to the other captured girls.

"For the spoiled daughter of the slavedriver himself!" They grabbed Weiss's chin with one hand and traced the faded scar with a solitary finger.

Stepping back, the foul being moved over to a similarly unconscious Yang. "For an airheaded fool who thinks she knows what loss is!" They tapped Yang's forehead, while knocking on the wooden chair with their spare hand.

"And, most pathetic of all…" They stood behind the chair Ruby was tied to, slowly shaking their head. "…a child who still dreams of sugarplums and happy endings. I ask you, Blake…" They reached a hand behind their back and drew out a fearsome shadow, which glinted with malcontent. They placed the cold steel edge of Gambol Shroud to Ruby's soft white cheek. "If we were never given a chance at innocence… If no faunus is ever given a chance at innocence… Why should a simple human be entitled to it?"

"Don't…" Blake wanted to scream. To kill this monster in her skin. To do anything. But it was one thing to want, it was another to need. And she needed to save Ruby. Her limbs shook violently as she managed to get to her feet.

"Blake?" Ruby's voice sound sleepy and distant, as her bright silver eyes opened.

"What a shame." There was a soft sorrow in the shadow's voice. "And to think I was going to end this painlessly…"

"Get away…" Blake snarled, as she began stumbling towards the two.

"Blake!" Ruby's cry was a loud whisper, urgent but not panicked. "Blake!"

The world around Blake seemed to shake violently as she tried to charge forward. Ruby reached out a hand towards her and Blake did likewise.

"Blake!"

"Ruby!"

"Good night." The black steel drew a straight red line across Ruby's exposed neck. Blake tripped and fell right at her feet, feeling the warm steady flow fall down upon her head. The shaking intensified and the world became a blur.

"Blake!"

Golden eyes wide, Blake lay still in bed, save for her ragged breathing. The room seemed unnaturally cold yet her face felt hotter than the sun itself. The feeling of near frozen sweat coating her body made her feel a little sick. The shadow cast by Yang's top bunk sent a shiver down Blake's spine but already her breathing calmed as she slowly closed her eyes. Just a nightmare…

"Blake, are you okay?"

Eyes snapping open again, Blake found herself staring into the silvery pools of her team leader's concerned gaze. Ruby's face hung over Blake's own, soft white skin seeming to glow in the soft moonlight. Taking a moment to catch her breath, Blake nodded softly, hoping that the tears she felt in the corner of her eyes weren't visible. "I'm… fine."

"Are you sure?" While Ruby still looked concerned, Blake saw a hint of hurt in her eyes.

"It was just… a bad dream."

Ruby's gentle hand brushed through Blake's hair. The touch was cool and soothing against her heated sweaty forehead. There was complete silence in the room for a moment before Ruby's quiet voice broke it.

"Do… you want to talk about it?"

Blake almost said 'no'. The reflex was quick and eager to be put into place but Ruby just wanted to help. After everything that happened, after everyone she had pushed away, maybe it was time to let others in. "It was about my past."

Blake paused, expecting Ruby to interject but the normally energetic girl was silent. She merely kept brushing Blake's hair.

"I… There was darkness in there. A shadow. That demanded to be heard. I… The room was dark and I couldn't see. I was afraid. The shadow was cruel and wicked. It was going to k- hurt you. I couldn't stop it." New tears began to well up in Blake's eyes as the feeling Ruby's blood rolling down her back flooded her mind again. "I couldn't stop it…" Blake was cut off as her words turned to soft sobs.

"It's not real." The words were whispered softly, barely audible above the choking crying. "It was only a dream. Fantasy can only be real if we let it."

"B-But what if—"

"No 'what if's, Blake." Silence took over the room as the team leader continued to stroke the head of her friend. "It must've been so hard to get as far as you did. But you did it. And now you have us to depend on."

Ruby's hand stopped, as she cast her gaze upwards at the top bunk. "Yang had night terrors too. Back when Mom died, she had to look after me, almost by herself. Dad had a hard time coping so she had to look after me a lot and Dad too. But at night, it got to be too much. She cried and screamed.

"So I did what I could to help her. She loved reading to me so I'd always wake her up and have her read me a happy story. I'd cuddle in close afterwards and we'd fall asleep." Ruby paused and looked down again at Blake, a kind smile on her face. "Worked like a charm, every time."

Blake couldn't help but herself returning the expression, if having to turn her gaze away. "If… If it's okay then, could you keep me company for tonight then?"

Ruby nodded emphatically. "Of course! After all, there's nowhere I'd be safer than in your arms."

So as Blake put her arms around Ruby as she slipped into the bed, she felt calm. Sure, there would be darkness, both inside her and out. But Ruby was right, she had a team to help her. She had friends. And that was more than the darkness could ever give her.