It was obviously hard work rebuilding an entire village, but did it have to be so hot?! Everyone was sweltering in the heat, at least us guys could take our shirts off but the girls left Jaune, Ren and I for an hour just to go back to the mansion to get changed. An hour!

Most of the villagers had stayed at the mansion so only about fifteen of them actually came to help. The other huntsmen and huntresses had left earlier in the morning so we were pretty much on our own. At least the mansion staff brought food and drinks for us while we worked.

When the girls finally came back they were all wearing shorts, Ruby and Nora had stuck to t-shirts and the others were wearing tank tops. It was almost completely dark when we had only built the basic structures of the houses.

I was impressed with Blake, Yang and Ruby's freaky knowledge of construction, the villagers that were helping us provided guidance for the rest of us.

Everyone agreed that at the end of the day that the structures were too fragile to leave them in the village after a grimm attack alone so, a few people should stay and be sure no grimm or forest animals knocked them down. So, Nora, Yang and Winter stayed behind.

Back at the mansion I lay in my bed thinking of what had happened this morning. I was so busy today I didn't really have a chance to think about it.

My mind wandered to my friends out guarding the village. I wasn't tired at all when four o'clock rolled around so I hopped out of bed and woke up Ruby and Pyrrha to relive our friends so they could get some rest. I also managed to get us a ride to the village.

When we got there everything was intact and the girls looked like death so they were glad to see us. It was around five o'clock when the sun started to rise. It wasn't until six-thirty when everyone, save for Yang, Nora and Winter, started to arrive.

It was a long, boring job but there was more people today so we got at least a third of the houses done. At the end of the day we got a lot of handshakes and got told that the villagers had it from there so we didn't need to go back tomorrow.

"Well those last two days were boring." I said as we drove down the road.

"Yes," Pyrrha agreed, "But we did a good thing."

"Yeah," Jaune said, "Those people looked so happy."

"Yes, and they're moving back into the village tomorrow." explained Weiss.

We all smiled and got out of the car as we pulled into the driveway.

"Do you think the others are still sleeping?" Jaune asked.

"I wouldn't blame them," I replied, "Between the battle, working all day yesterday and being out all night, they deserve it."

"We all deserve it." Ruby said as we got to the hall where our rooms were.

We all nodded and dispersed to our separate rooms.

When I was in my room,I sat at the edge of the bed and took out my scroll. I scrolled through the house map and found a shooting range. So, I grabbed my gun and headed out.

I found some bullets in the range so I pressed a start button on the station and targets appeared from every direction. I shot off my gun and allowed myself to think.

Yesterday morning was still fresh in my mind as was the ball.

After the other morning with Yang, I didn't really feel like sleeping. I was afraid I would have that nightmare again. The whole episode wasn't anymore than a couple minutes but it still scared me none the less.

My dream had been so vivid. The only ones I saw being murdered was Yang and Weiss. Why was it them, why not make me watch all of them? The part that bothered me most was that it was me who killed them. I had been smiling when I stabbed Weiss and choked Yang. I scared myself. I had watched so many people slaughtered that night, which Yang had said probably triggered my dream.

However, the fact that I woke up trying to strangle Yang was just disturbing. Yang was physically strong enough to fight me off until I woke up, but if it had been anyone else... It was hard to think about. I don't even know how hard I was squeezing or how long I had her pinned.

After Yang and my dream, it was hard look at Weiss too. Her murder was the worst of all, emotionally scarring. It made me think back to the monster who brought me here in the first place. He had told me I would destroy this world, and everyone in it. The fact that I even had that power makes me wonder, could I actually do it? Would I?

My thoughts were interrupted when my magazine emptied and Blake walked in.

"Sup?" I greeted naturally.

"Did you stay up last night too?" She asked.

"Yeah." I said glancing at my feet.

"I know how you feel." she sympathized, "I went through the same thing my first battle."

"How old." I asked curiously

"Seven." she said.

"That's gotta be tough on a kid." I said.

"At least I went to sleep." she said, "I rather be awake to fight than be a body in someone else's nightmares."

"That was....Morbid." I said.

"The nightmares will fade." she assured me.

"It's not the nightmares I'm afraid of." I explained, gritting my teeth, "It's waking up."

"What do you mean?" she sounded concerned.

I tried to fight the tears. I didn't want to talk about it but it's the only way she'll stop pushing.

Tears filled my eyes, "I almost killed Yang!" I yelled, "I was so scared I reacted in my sleep."

Blake stood there in shock. I was fighting the tears, so in rage, I walked past Blake. Outside the door Ruby and Weiss were standing to the side with shocked looks on their faces.

I looked at them and quietly said, "Sorry" then I ran out of the house. The three girls called after me but I just kept running.

It felt good to run through the forest. All the emotions from the last year had came flooding back at the shooting range. I needed to get away.

I didn't really approve of it, but I really needed to run away. It helped me to clear my head. I sat at the top of a tree and just let the thoughts float away in the breeze. I closed my eyes and drifted to sleep as well.

I had the same dream and still couldn't look at Weiss, this time however, instead of lashing out, I punched myself in the jaw.

I woke up on the ground beneath the tree. My jaw ached from my punch and my back ached from falling out of the tree. I heard my friends calling me in the woods. I leaned against the tree and looked at the sky. If the sun hadn't have been on the opposite side, I would have thought it was sunrise.

I must have slept through the night and day. Yang is totally gonna kill me. I heard the voices getting closer but I didn't feel the need to call out to them.

Soon Yang and Weiss came into the small clearing where I was sitting. When they saw me they smiled and ran over. Yang slid on her knees to hug me while Weiss crouched beside me and called to the other to meet us back at the house.

Still hugging me, Yang spoke, "We've been looking for you all day."

"You ran out and left your gun." Weiss explained, "We were worried that..." She didn't finish nor did she need to.

Yang finally let go and kneeled in front of me, gripping my shoulders.

"Never run out like that again." she said, "And not for that long."

"I'm sorry." I said, "I was going to come back but I fell asleep."

Judging by the look on her face, Yang knew it wasn't a pleasant sleep. Then without any warning she and Weiss slugged me in the head.

"What was that for?" I wined.

Weiss turned, "Never make us worry about you like that again." she said coldly, then helped me to my feet.

"Is Ruby going to kill me?" I asked honestly.

Yang thought for a moment, "Nah. She understands, she was in my position when she was younger."

"Oh."

When we got back to the mansion Ruby almost knocked me over with a hug.

"Nice to see you too." I smiled.

We all soon broke for dinner and I sat as far away from Yang and Weiss as I could. I really couldn't talk to them right now. I also remained very quiet while we ate.

After dinner I went straight to my room and surprisingly fell asleep but was plagued with that horrible dream again.

When I woke up Yang was gripping my wrists, I had lashed out again. Luckily she was ready for it this time.

"Alex," she said, "You really need to talk this through."

She released me and I sat up, "How do you keep getting in here?" I asked.

"Through the window." She said, "You would sleep all day if we let you."

"Get dressed but then we need to talk." She said.

I got out my clothes then changed in the bathroom. When I came out Yang had pulled up a chair in front of my bed. I sat in front of Yang who then crossed her arms.

"Let's start with what happened to Weiss in your dream." she said

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You haven't been able to look at her since you first had your dream." She explained.

I hadn't really noticed but she's right, I've been trying to avoid her.

"Well?" she urged.

I told her about my dream leading up to the Weiss part, "Then I couldn't even look at the finished product."

Yang looked at the ground, "That's worse than mine, Ruby and dad were forced to jump off a cliff."

"That's horrible." I said.

"Yeah, I couldn't look at Ruby's end product either." She said, "It's why I'm so..."

"Over protective?" I offered.

"Yeah." she said

"How did you get over it?" I asked.

"I shut out the people I cared about." she said, "It didn't take me long to realize the mistake."

"What happened?"

"Ruby went out to play but she didn't come back." she explained, "Dad and I looked everywhere for her. We found her in a tree the next day."

"Why didn't she try to come home?" I asked.

"When we found her, she told dad she ran away because she thought I was mad at her." she answered, "I had almost strangled her one morning and avoided her after that."

"How old was she?" I asked.

"Three." she said sadly, "She would have died if it weren't for dad."

"I'm sorry I asked." I said.

"Don't be," She said, "You're lucky it was just me."

"So what's your point?" I asked, eager to let this go.

"It is a mistake to avoid us like you are. You will regret it later." she said sternly.

"But-" I started to argue but she stopped me.

"No!" she gripped my collar, "You need to let it go. The dream will stop when you stop letting it control you."

I had no words, she was right. I've had enough.

I got up and smiled, "Yeah, you're right." I headed for the door, turned my head and smiled at her, "Thanks sis." then headed for the dining room, Yang in tail.

When we got there, not everyone had shown up yet. It was only Weiss, Ruby, Jaune and Pyrrha at the table. I noticed Weiss was kind of down, then I realized just how right Yang was.

Weiss didn't so much as look at me when I sat next to her. I looked over at Yang who had noticed Weiss's attitude as well.

"Weiss?" I tried. She didn't even flinch, "Weiss I'm sorry."

"About what?" she said, "How you've been avoiding me for the last four days? Or how you ran out for almost twenty-four hours?"

All attention was on us, "Uh yeah." I looked around at the others staring and it made me uncomfortable.

"Then tell me why." she said.

I didn't want to start crying in front of my friends, "I can't."

"Tell me and I'll forgive you." she said.

"I really can't talk about it!" I yelled. I looked to Yang for help but she didn't know what to do.

"Then you can't be that sorry." She snapped.

"Weiss." Yang snapped at her.

I just got up and left the room. I felt I needed to punch something do I went to the gym and started to beat on a punching bag. Eventually I broke it and went to the balcony to cool off a bit.

I stood there for a long while until I heard footsteps behind me. I turned to see Weiss standing a few feet away.

"What do you want?" I asked

"Yang told me why you couldn't tell me." She said, "I'm sorry."

Her apology caught me off guard so I just stood there with a blank expression on my face.

"I'm sorry too." I said, "I shouldn't have avoided you in the first place."

"It's fine." she said, "But don't ignore me like that again," she took on a more irritated tone, "Got it?"

I smiled, "Got it ice queen."

Weiss looked irritated for another moment then gave a relaxed smile, "I bet Yang had eaten during this conversation but I haven't." she said, "Would you care to join me?"

"Sure." I smiled, and followed Weiss to the dining room.