Nightmare by Daniel K. English
Prereq: High Value Target
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"A nightmare?"
Weiss flinched before focusing on the shifting form of Blake in the darkness. Between the sisters' snoring and the time, Weiss didn't think she'd wake anyone. Then again, Blake was a faunus.
"I'm fine." Weiss's voice sounded like a whisper. I'm not scared I'm not scared. "Sorry for waking you."
"No problem," was the cool response.
Stupid White Fang and stupid nightmares and-
"Blake?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you know about the White Whale?"
There was a pause. Yang mumbled something in her sleep.
"Yes, I do," answered Blake.
Weiss curled up beneath her sheets. It was nearly summer yet she felt so cold in the darkness. Her nightmare. Her memory. Both haunted her like the ghost she saw. "The White Fang attacked during the presentation," she said. "I'm sure you know about it."
"Weiss, I-"
"Shut up and let me finish." Her words were harsher than she wanted them to be. Cold. She was shaking. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to relax. It didn't work. Still cold. "My father... he brought me along for the presentation. Me and my sister. While he gave the presentation, Winter and I were supposed to be in the waiting room inside the office building." The day played itself in her mind, like a video on her scroll. "My sister was being... difficult. I excused myself." She swallowed. Whether or not Blake was still listening, she didn't care. She couldn't stop herself from talking. Not now. "I went outside and onto the ship. I... wanted to get away. Run away. From everything. The ship would go to Mistral and I'd get off and disappear. I hated being there. And I hated myself for thinking about running away."
More snoring. Weiss could see Blake's eyes focused on her. "On the ship, I met one of my dad's employees. His name was Hamelin." The name sounded light when she said it. If she didn't know any better, it would have been affectionate. "He walked me through the ship. Talked to me. It was like he knew what I was thinking. He knew..."
Blake was silent when Weiss fought to retain her composure.
"He was stupid." Light blue eyes watered. "And then the White Fang attacked. The ship... on the ship, one of them boarded. He was like a monster. He... Hamelin... he killed Hamelin. And I was right there. I couldn't do anything. One moment it was Hamelin, and the next he was gone.
"Since then, I haven't... I can't." She trailed off, burying her face into her knees.
Blake finally spoke. "Weiss. Is that why... is Hamelin why you don't look at the feet of your bed?"
Through the hushed sniffling and sobbing, Blake heard her teammate answer.
"He's there. Watching me. Dying. Asking me why I didn't save him. I couldn't save him. I didn't know. I'm sorry, Hamelin." More sobs. Blake became aware of the silence in the room save the weeping heiress. No more snoring. She saw Ruby listening from her bed. The movements from the bed above Blake told her Yang was also listening in.
Weiss didn't seem to notice. "I'm sorry, Hamelin. Forgive me. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
xxxxx
FEEL THE MISERY TASTE THE MISERY
WAIT WHAT AM I DOING I SHOULD BE WORKING ON AFTOTH aaaaahhhhhh
