Blake couldn't sleep.

She heard the muffled muttering of Ruby Rose on the upper bunk across from her as she chattered on in her sleep. Below her were the abrasive snores of Yang Xiao Long, sprawled out onto her bed with all the grace of a brick.

On the lower bunk below Ruby lay the still form of Weiss Schnee, the only sound coming from her was a gentle breathing that Blake could only hear due to her enhanced hearing.

While the various noises from her teammates certainly contributed to her insomnia, something deeper was at work.

This was not an uncommon occurrence in Blake's life, insomnia. At least, recently anyway. Nightmares that she couldn't identify had begun to plague her sleep, and she had woken up screaming in a cold sweat multiple times, much to the concern of her partner and her friends.

They encouraged her to get help, but Blake was adamant that she could find a solution on her own. And she did, although it might not be the best of solutions.

She decided to not sleep. Over the past few days it was difficult, but it had transformed from an unwillingness to sleep to an inability. Even if she wanted to, Blake doubted she could fall asleep now.

And so she played memories through her head, in a waking dream where shadows danced in front of her eyes and recalled a memory. A memory from a few days past, before the insomnia had set in…

…

Team RWBY was having a day out in Vale today.

It was an unusual occurrence, but due to nearly a week and a half of hard studying and training for the year-end missions, the team had, almost, unanimously decided to take a break. Weiss's vote was not counted as the other three girls decided her reasons for not wanting a break were stupid, pointless, and just plain crazy.

Weiss had woken up grumpy that morning, as per usual, and was getting on all their nerves as they trudged down the streets, trying to block out what was essentially incessant white noise coming from a very unhappy heiress.

"I don't see why we had to come in so early! You know we have a test tomorrow, we should be studying!" Weiss was saying, crossing her arms and pouting.

"Weiss, we've been studying all week. Everybody wants a break at this point." Ruby said in an exasperated tone, as if she was explaining to a five-year-old that no, you cannot have another cookie.

Choosing to harrumph instead of responding, Weiss shut up for a while and marched in belligerent silence. Ruby was chattering with Yang about something that Blake couldn't make out, so the poor girl was left walking beside the grouchy heiress, who obviously much would rather be back in the dorm room with her nose buried in a pile of notes and a book.

This of course all came to a screeching halt when Blake spotted a fluffy white kitten mewling in an alleyway. It looked like a little puffball with its long white fur poking out everywhere, its tiny little tail waving incessantly. It had wide blue eyes as it mewled at the foursome.

"Mew?"

Team RWBY halted in their tracks and stared for a moment in total silence. The peace was quickly broken by Yang yelling out and starting what would soon lead to the highlight of the morning.

"Kitty!" she shouted in delight as she tore off after the kitten, who squeaked in surprise and darted off. "Come back here you little puffball!" she yelled as she began a pursuit of the kitten.

Ruby similarly had taken off after their wayward sister, with Blake standing there holding her arm out with her mouth slightly open as if she was going to say something. With a sigh, she shook her head and darted off after her friends, a smile on her face.

"Hey! Guys! Guys? What are you…oh for the love of Dust." Weiss said, hanging her head as she realized what conspired in about 30 seconds of chaos. With a torn look on her face, she thought hard for a few seconds, then sighed. "I guess it is kind of cute," she said as she calmly walked off in the general direction her teammates had torn off in.

…

Yang was in hot pursuit of the little white fluffball, who was far more quick and agile than expected. Multiple times she thought she had the little thing cornered only for it to dash between her legs, up a wall, or over what Yang thought was an impossible jump for such tiny legs.

She was, however, quite determined. Nothing outwitted Yang Xiao Long. Especially not a tiny kitten.

Blake trailed not far behind Yang, catching a faint fear-scent of the poor little cat. The Faunus was on a rescue mission, in an attempt to rescue the poor innocent kitten from the clutches of Yangzilla. She eventually broke off from trailing her partner and took a different path, attempting to cut off the kittens eventual escape route.

She eventually met up with Weiss, who was casually strolling down the alleyways taking careful measures to not step in anything unpleasant. It was quite difficult, hence her slow pace.

"Weiss?" Blake asked as she spotted the heiress balancing on one foot, trying to take a long step over a puddle.

"Ack!" Weiss yelled out as she slipped and landed with a splash in the dirty puddle. She growled and hauled herself up, her skirt sopping wet. Marching over to Blake, she placed a finger on her nose and snarled in her face. "Don't scare me like that! My skirt is ruined now!"

Blake was finding it hard not to laugh. Getting scolded by Weiss over simplistic things was something she found oddly endearing, although she knew it drove Ruby and Yang batty. "I sincerely apologize, mistress. I will be more careful next time." Blake said dryly, grinning.

Weiss huffed and nodded, grabbing Blake's hand and dragging her off. "Now let's go find that damn cat so we can go home."

…

Ruby was totally, hopelessly, completely lost.

"Why do all the alleyways have to look the saaame…" she whined as she looked around fruitlessly, trying to get her bearings. Yanking out her scroll, she frowned as she scanned it. Just her luck of course, to get caught in a blind spot. "Son of a Deathstalker," she muttered as she pocketed the scroll and looked around, trying to figure out how to go about backtracking.

"Mew"

All thoughts of backtracking fled Ruby's mind as the pitiful mewl of the kitten was heard coming from the pathway down to her left. She perked up immediately and darted in the general direction she heard it coming from.

"Mew!"

"I'm coming kitty!" Ruby cried out as she dashed towards the sound.

She came upon a t-juncture where two other alleys met at a point. In the centre sat a little white ball of floof, and Ruby grinned in triumph as she slowly approached.

…

Yang had lost her joy in participating in the Kitten Hunt, as the little bastard had now escaped her clutches about 25 times or so, and she was now merely participating out of sheer stubbornness.

She was trudging along with a scowl on her face when she heard a mewl. She instantly looked up and a sinister grin formed on her face. She ran off and eventually came to a spot where her alley met up with two others, and she saw Ruby sneaking up on the kitten that was innocently sitting on the convergence point.

Yang began running, which alerted her sister who also began running towards the kitten, who mewled in confusion as it tried to figure out what was happening.

…

Blake and Weiss were calmly walking down an alleyway when they saw their target panicking at the other end, as two familiar looking shadows descended upon it. Blake looked at Weiss who just sighed and shook her head.

Darting forward, Blake reached her hands out to scoop the kitten away from certain doom, but it dashed away at the last second and Blake hit the ground, and crumpled to a heap.

A loud crash was heard, followed by various grunts and yells as Ruby, Yang, and Blake all collided together in a hodge-podge of limbs. As apologies, concerns, and other such things were exchanged, the kitten picked itself up a few feet away from them and licked itself a few times.

The threesome turned their heads towards the kitten, who calmly approached Weiss and started rubbing up against her leg, purring.

"How come you get the kitty?" Ruby whined, pouting. "Grouchy people shouldn't get kitties."

Weiss wasn't quite sure what to do. What did you do with a kitten anyway? Were you supposed to pet it? Weiss hesitantly reached her hand down and rubbed the top of the kittens head, causing its purring to intensify.

"Awwww…." she cooed as she gently scooped the kitten up her her arms, holding it close to her chest. The kitten stretched up and headbutted her jaw, purring loud. "I think I'm going to name him Snowball."

Ruby's pout had evaporated as she picked herself up and darted over to Weiss's side, stroking the kittens head with her fingertip and cooing. Blake quickly followed suit, grinning at Weiss.

"Well this was certainly an eventful morning." she observed as she scratched behind Snowball's ears.

"I wonder what Zwei is going to think of this." Yang laughed as she stood up and groaned, holding her shoulder. "Oof. I landed funny."

Weiss grimaced as she shifted and felt the unpleasant sensation of her cold, wet skirt on her skin. "Can we head back so I can change?"

Blake sighed and looked at the two sisters, who nodded. "I suppose we can't exactly go to eat like this." she said, and with one last scratch behind Snowball's ears she started walking back. "Let's head home."

…

That very same cat was at this moment curled up next to Zwei, who had become fast friends with the little furball. A soft smile appeared on Blake's face as she recalled this memory, and her shoulders relaxed and her eyes drifted shut.

The enticing lull of a soft Dreamland beckoned her, but she knew that poison lay in those honeyed words and feelings. She jerked her eyes open and stared at the shadows dancing across the room, letting them show her what they will and soothe her mind until the dawn breaks.

And so she remained, lost in thought and wonder as she pondered on the nightmares once more. No detail jumped to the forefront of her mind, yet it prowled at the edges of her subconscious, like a black panther in a dark forest.

No detail, that is, but one. A scream. All the nightmares ended the same way, with a terrifying scream that chilled Blake to her core, sending a crawl down her neck and forming a pit in her stomach. Whose scream, she could not tell, although it was not hers.

That one she heard every morning as she awoke from the terrible dream.

Letting out a sigh, Blake absently stroked her delicate fingers along the seams of her blanket, observing the pattern, the colors, and the images they formed in her mind. Anything to distract her from the grim darkness of her nightmares, the black beast of her mind.

And so she remained, until the first rays of light cracked through the window, illuminating dark circles under her eyes and a gaunt look setting in on her cheeks. She made no movement, no sound, no action as she heard her scroll buzz.

When the noise became irritating, her arm slowly reached out and slid it towards her from its position on her bed, and she stared at the harsh light of the screen with glass eyes.

I wish to have a word with you, Miss Belladonna.

The message was from Ozpin. Blake sighed and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, taking care to not jostle it.

I better go see what this is all about. She thought, as she landed gently on the ground.