"You call that an attack?" Sera smiled as she dodged another one of Nora Valkyrie's hammer swings. It had been a week and a half since Sera received her new weapon and clothes, and she was only just now being able to use it in combat. Every one of her attempts to be in a sparring match against Grimm or her fellow students was either declined or given a "rain check". Every time she tried to volunteer to fight a Grimm in Professor Port's class, another student was faster to raise their hand. This irritated Sera to no end, but she was completely overjoyed when Nora challenged her to a duel.
Sera smirked as she prepared for Nora's next attack. The two were fighting in Professor Goodwitch's sparring room, with their entire class watching with wide eyes and large expectations.
The red head leapt towards her in a huge overhead swing. Sera quickly evaded the blow and swung her sword one-handed into Nora's side. Nora flew several feet to the left and landed on her feet with a broad smile on her lips.
"That was a good one!" Nora complimented as she readied her hammer. "You'll have to do a lot better than that, though!"
"Count on it!" Sera replied and hefted her mighty sword. She was a bit reluctant about the sword, but her above average strength allowed her to freely swing the weapon as if it weighed next to nothing.
Nora grinned and gripped her hammer tighter while Sera gripped her own weapon with both of her hands. The sword was as tall as she was, if not slightly shorter. It appeared massive, but Sera figured that the bigger it was, the harder it could swing.
The two girls ran towards each other and prepared to swing each of their weapons.
Nora smirked and raised her hammer while Sera prepared to swipe from her right. The two grew nearer and nearer, and with each step, the spectating students' breath hitched.
Sera decided she was close enough and swung her sword, its crimson blade gleaming. Nora brought her hammer down as hard as she could, hoping to hit Sera before she hit her. But Sera feinted! She redirected her sword's swing and dodged to the right, using her momentum to spin and bring the blade down on Nora's shoulder. Nora's eyes widened at the sudden pain, but thankfully her aura held out. The sheer weight of the sword caused the Valkyrie to slam onto the ground, faceplanting on the floor and creating a small crater from the force.
Sera landed on her feet and grinned, "I love this thing!" She twirled the claymore with one hand. "Now's a perfect time as any to test out that Dust function!"
Sera flipped the switch on her weapon's hilt, popping open a small slot just under the cross guard. She then reached into her pocket and pulled out the many different colored Dust shells.
"Eeny meeny miney... You!" Sera grinned and popped in a random vial of Dust. The blade of her weapon immediately began sparking with energy. As soon as Sera got into a fighting stance, Nora picked herself off of the ground with a determined glint in her eyes.
"Ready for more?" Sera asked, her voice cocky.
Nora eyed the sword in her hands and grinned. She said nothing, but instead jumped to her feet and rested her hammer on her shoulder, gesturing at Sera with one hand as if she were saying, "Well come at me."
In the seats beside the arena, Ruby's eyes widened.
"Does she not know about Nora's semblance?" She asked.
"Does she?" Yang asked, turning to her sister.
"Did we actually never tell her?" Weiss' eyes widened.
"Uh-oh..." Blake said, her eyes not leaving the stage.
Sera's eyes narrowed and she rushed Nora. The red head made no attempt to stop Sera or to defend herself. Instead, she just stood there with a smirk on her face.
Sera swung her sword, aiming to hit Nora in the side. Fast as lightning, Nora blocked the attack with the staff of her hammer. The Valkyrie smiled with a crazed expression on her face as electricity arced through her hammer and into her. When the electricity had no visible effect on Nora, Sera's eyes widened with worry and she jumped several feet back.
"What the...?" Sera stood in a defensive stance.
"Oh it's time to PARTY!" Nora grinned and tightened her grip on her weapon.
Sera said nothing as she scanned Nora's figure for any tell she could find. Nora leapt towards Sera at a rapid pace and swung her hammer downwards. It happened in the blink of an eye, and it took all Sera had to evade backwards.
"She's fast!" Sera thought to herself before she landed. Not wasting a beat, Sera rushed forward and swiped at Nora. Nora quickly dodged and managed to catch Sera in the side with her hammer.
Sera's eyes widened in pain as the hammer hit her in the gut, then she flew a dozen feet back and into the nearest wall. The impact created a shallow crater in the wall as Sera hit it spread-eagled. The amnesiac's sword sank hilt-deep into the wall to her left and everyone's eyes were glued to her, the entire room silent.
Nora smirked while Sera pulled herself from the wall and landed on her feet. She took a deep breath and glared at Nora. The Valkyrie's expression faltered at the fire in Sera's eyes.
Sera grabbed the hilt of her sword with one hand and effortlessly pulled it out of the wall, metal grinding against concrete. Nora lifted her hammer and narrowed her eyes. 'Her aura is growing...!' the red head thought to herself.
Sera raised her sword and rested it on her shoulder, her irises and purple tattoo on her right shoulder seeming to give off a faint glow as she smirked in the direction of Nora. Sera then raised her free hand and signed an extremely rude gesture at the Valkyrie. The entire classroom gasped except for Yang, who cackled loudly. Nora gritted her teeth and held her weapon tighter, but she too couldn't help but be amused by the amnesiac. Nora lunged at Sera, preparing to swing her hammer with just as much force as her previous blow.
However, the impending threat of being sent into a wall once again did not faze Sera in the slightest. She only stood in the same stance, her sword rested on her shoulder and a smirk on her face. With each millisecond, the red head drew closer and closer. The white-haired huntress analyzed every detail about the girl in front of her. The way the wind blew her hair, the exact speed at which she traveled, and the stance she would attack in.
Nora grinned and swung her hammer with all her might with the intention to send Sera through the wall instead of into it. Then at the last possible second, Sera's eyes focused, widening as she mentally yelled the word, 'Stop!'.
Before Nora's hammer could collide with Sera's ribs, the turquoise-eyed girl was frozen in midair, the hammer mere inches away from her. Sera breathed a sigh of relief and laughed, running her fingers through her own hair. 'Holy Dust it worked!" She then stepped aside and around to Nora's wide-open torso.
The amnesiac grinned and raised her sword, the fire in her eyes still raging. Sera gripped the hilt tighter and swung across Nora's torso once. Then twice. Then a third time, and a fourth. 'That should do it, I doubt her aura can take much more. Plus I can feel time about to return to normal.' Sera thought to herself as she sheathed her weapon. "Well, maybe I can do this!"
Sera then balled her fist and delivered a punch directly to Nora's cheek. Her head turned a few inches in the opposite direction of the blow and her cheek slightly rippled with at the impact. Sera smirked and turned to the frozen crowd, her eyes scanning the faces of her team. The white-haired huntress felt a mental twitch, then all movements resumed and the sounds of aura failing and something impacting against the floor could be heard. Just as time had resumed, Sera bowed deeply as if she had just finished a concert in front of a great audience.
After she raised her head to view her fellow students, she raised an eyebrow when she saw that their eyes were not on her, but gazing behind her. Sera turned around to find a battered Nora standing with her hand clutching her torso. Nora smiled with an excited light in her eyes while holding her hammer at her side.
"This ain't over yet, Snowball." Nora laughed dryly.
Sera grinned and put a hand on her hip, "Did Yang tell you that name?"
Nora smirked and raised her hammer, "I don't think there's anyone she hasn't told." Sera then turned her head and glared in her team's direction. "Uh-oh." Yang thought aloud, Sera's purple eyes boring into her. Sera then turned her attention to the large screen that indicated their aura levels, then back to the orange-haired hammer wielder in front of her.
'My aura's at 22 percent while hers is at 24. This is gonna be close...'
Sera smirked and rested her large sword on her shoulder, "How about we compare the raw power of our attack rushes?"
Nora raised an eyebrow, "Never thought I'd hear those words in my life." She muttered to herself. "Sure! Just don't get mad when I win." Nora taunted.
"You're gonna have to come to me." Sera shrugged and pressed the tip of her blade into the floor, leaning on it casually.
"Oh yeah? Why's that?" Nora smirked.
Sera's expression then turned to one of complete seriousness, eyeing the hammer wielder with intensity in her eyes. "Cause I can't kick your ass from way over here."
Nora's eyes narrowed and a small smile crept onto her face. The students watching the fight stared with jaws dropped at the amnesiac's comment. Glynda Goodwitch gritted her teeth and clenched her riding crop tightly. She could tolerate a lot of things, but Sera's profanities were testing the older huntress.
Nora rolled her shoulders with both hands gripping her hammer. "Alrighty, then." She said under her breath, then swung her hammer around in a flashy way until the head of the weapon rested on the ground and she held its handle with one hand while her other was in a mock salute.
Team JNPR's and RWBY's eyes widened. They knew what the Valkyrie was about to do. Sera smirked and continued to lean onto the pommel of her sword. Nora grinned widely and clicked the trigger on her weapon. The grenade launcher on the hammer blasted her towards the purple-eyed huntress at an astounding speed. The blast caused pink smoke to erupt from behind Nora, creating a trail as she flew forward, still holding her hand in a salute as the wind whipped her hair around.
Sera's eyes widened as Nora began to spin forward, gaining speed and momentum as she prepared to deliver her hardest blow yet. Sera barely had enough time to lift her weapon and block the attack. She easily could've used her semblance again, but she knew that if she did, she'd probably be in a temporary coma for at least two days.
Sera grunted as Nora's hammer collided with her sword, making the amnesiac slide backwards several feet from the force of the impact. Nora made an annoyed grunting sound as the two fought for control of the power struggle, each of them pushing forward with all their might to gain the upper hand. It actually looked like Nora was going to win it after nearly a minute, but Sera suddenly smirked. Nora's eyes widened at the unexpected action, then Sera clicked the switch on the hilt of her sword and frosty mist began to emit from the blade. Ice formed where the two weapons connected, working its way towards Nora's hands and the head of the hammer.
"When did you...?" Nora asked with a shocked expression as she let go of her hammer before the ice could reach her hands.
Sera grinned and pulled the two weapons apart, breaking the ice, then throwing Nora's hammer behind her so the red head couldn't reach it. "Don't watch the mouth, watch the hands." She told her as she raised her sword with both hands.
Nora quickly squeezed her eyes shut as Sera swung her weapon. Before the blade could reach Nora's side, a loud buzzer sounded, interrupting her swing and causing it to stop an inch from its mark.
"And that's the match. This match was a prime example of why you should analyze your opponent and stay aware of everything they do in a fight. Well done, you two." Glynda Goodwitch told them as she walked to the center of the arena stage.
Sera lowered her weapon and swung it with one hand before sheathing it in its strap.
Nora's expression was hard to read as she stared at the floor, her fists clenched. "That... Was..." she said, causing Sera and Goodwitch to look over at her, a twinge of concern on their faces.
"AWESOME! We HAVE to do that again sometime." Nora jumped into the air excitedly.
Sera blinked. "You're not mad?"
"Mad? That was the best fight I've had in ages! You might even be able to beat Pyrrha!" Nora grinned.
"Really now?" Sera smirked and held her chin with one hand. Over in the audience, embarrassment spread across Pyrrha's face at her teammate calling her out.
Professor Goodwitch turned to the students who watched the match. "Today won't be the day to find out, however. That's the last match of the day. I hope you all learned something from that performance, it might just help you in the tournament. That's all." She dismissed the class, and all the students rose from their seats to exit the large room.
Sera grinned at Nora beside her, then clapped her hand on the Valkyrie's shoulder. "C'mon Nora, we deserve some victory pancakes."
Nora gasped loudly. "I'm liking you more and more every day!" She wrapped an arm around Sera's shoulders and quickly led her towards the exit.
. . .
"I thought Weiss was going to pop a vein from the amount of stress and excitement you two caused us!" Ruby laughed from her seat beside Sera in the cafeteria.
"I was not!" Weiss retorted, her arms crossed.
"Yeah, right! She was even cheering the fight on!" Yang put in.
"Wait, she was?" Sera asked, a mouth full of freshly made pancakes, courtesy of Lie Ren.
"Yeah, she was! I thought she was gonna jump onto the stage herself." Ruby added.
"It was honestly a surprise." Blake smirked.
"Whatever!" Weiss sighed. "Can we just talk about that fight? I mean, that was Sera's first fight using her weapon. Imagine what she'll do in the tournament."
"Wow. Weiss sure is into Sera fighting now." Yang whistled.
Nora swallowed her mouth-full of pancakes and raised a finger, "She has a point. I am the one who fought her, and it felt like she could've ended the fight when she wanted."
Sera put a hand on Nora's shoulder. "Come on, guys. You're making it sound like I'm invincible or something. I may have looked calm during that fight, but inside I was panicking cause Nora honestly scares me a little. If I'd meant what I said with that whole 'comparing attack power' thing, I'd probably be in the infirmary."
"Your semblance could've helped with that. I'm surprised you hadn't used it more." Pyrrha noted.
Sera turned to her and pointed a fork at her. "That's the thing, though. If I'd used it again, I would've fallen over from exhaustion. After testing its limits for the past week, I've learned two things. One, I can only do it for a small amount of time, but it seems like that time can extend with enough practice. Two, once I do use it, it strains my body and exhausts me."
"Is that why you slept for nearly seventeen hours straight on Wednesday?" Blake asked. Sera nodded in response and shoveled more pancakes into her mouth.
"Mm-hmm." She responded.
From a nearby table, three students wearing Haven academy uniforms were listening in on the two teams' conversation.
"Now that is an interesting piece of information." Cinder said to her allies.
"Yeah, but we already knew her semblance." Mercury said with a mouth full of food.
"You idiot, they didn't even reveal her semblance in that conversation." Emerald rolled her eyes.
"True, but we didn't know she had limits. Or that her semblance could improve with practice." Cinder said, ignoring Emerald's remark.
"So what does that mean for us?" Mercury asked.
A small, cold smile crept onto Cinder's face. "It means we know of a weakness that we can exploit."
"Right. How are we gonna do that?" Mercury asked.
"All in good time, Mercury." Cinder responded.
. . .
"Sup, dudes!" A blonde boy with spiky hair, wearing an unbuttoned shirt, approached teams JNPR and RWBYS's table.
"Hey, Sun!" Ruby greeted.
Sera glanced at the newcomer. Her eyes slightly widened at the monkey tail behind him, but dismissed it.
"Sup, monkey man." Sera gave a two-finger salute. Sun's eyes narrowed at the girl with purple eyes.
"Who's the new gal?" He asked as he sat down next to Blake and Jaune.
"Don't mind Sera, she's just brash. Hey, how have you not met her yet? She's been on our team for like, two weeks." Ruby inquired.
Sun blinked. "On your team?"
"The better question is, where have you been for these last two weeks?" Blake asked.
"Oh! My team and I were assigned on a mission in Forever Fall forest. Something about increasing Grimm sightings? But there were hardly any for all of those two weeks." Sun replied.
"You're welcome!" Nora put in.
Sun ignored the hammer wielder and focused on Sera eating her pancakes. "So what's your story, Snowflake?"
Sera halted all movements as she looked up at the blonde Faunus.
"Well, Bananas, my story is that I have amnesia and have no idea who I am, so Ozpin put me on a team with these lovely ladies until I either retain my memory or the headmaster finds another team to put me on. Sound about right, guys?" Sera turned to her team.
"Spot on." Yang agreed.
Sera turned her attention back to the Faunus to find a bewildered expression on his face. "That's one helluva story, Miss uh...?"
"Sera. Ruby literally just said it." Sera responded.
"Right! I'm Sun. Been hanging with this crew for a while now. Pleased to meetcha!" Sun smiled and extended a hand to Sera. The amnesiac raised her eyebrow at the Faunus and took his hand, shaking it once. "So what have you guys been up to since last we met?" Sun asked as he turned his attention back to the others.
"Not much actually. Nora and Sera just had a fight in Goodwitch's class, so that was pretty intense." Blake poked her food with a fork.
"WHAT? And I missed that?!" Sun exclaimed suddenly.
"Yep." Sera gave a slight smirk.
"Gah! How'd it go?" Sun asked and rested his open palms on the tabletop.
"Well, let's just say, try not to piss Sera off." Yang grinned and clapped the purple-eyed huntress on the shoulder.
"Hey, it wasn't an easy win!" Nora butted in, her cheeks puffed out indignantly.
"Yeah, but she still won with more ease than most could." Weiss said dryly.
"Hmph!" Nora crossed her arms.
"I just feel bad for whoever she has to fight in the Vytal Festival." Pyrrha chuckled lightly. (Epic foreshadowing)
Sera only sat and rested her chin on her open palm, her elbow propped up on the table, as her friends complimented her combat prowess. She wasn't much for praise, but the compliments that her team and JNPR gave her only boosted her already above-average ego.
"She can't be that strong." Sun crossed his arms, hardly believing the girls as they retold the fight.
"Well she sure looked like it!" Jaune chuckled, looking at the monkey Faunus.
"Yeah right." Sun replied.
"Wanna find out?" Sera suddenly turned to the blonde, a grin on her face and confidence radiating from her. Sun blinked with a surprised look on his face. "Nah, I'll wait till the tournament. It'll be more fun that way!"
"Uh-huh." Sera chuckled and went back to her meal.
"Whatever, they're probably just exaggerating about you, anyway." Sun said with a playful smile on his face.
"Nuh-uh! That semblance of hers makes her hard to beat!" Ruby grinned. Sun raised an eyebrow. "Her semblance? Do tell."
"It allows her to sto- mmph!" Ruby said before Sera clamped her hand over the younger huntress's mouth tightly.
"Quiet, you dolt! He's our friend, but he's still a potential enemy in the tournament!" Weiss said curtly. Sun smirked and flicked his tail around behind him. The monkey Faunus then stood abruptly and looked at them. "Welp! I think it's about time I get back to my own team before Scarlet drives the others crazy with those weird bird noises he likes to make. See you guys later!" He said as he walked away from the lunch table.
"What an odd fellow." Sera said without taking her eyes from her plate.
"Yeah, but he's really cool. You should've seen him and Neptune when we fought Torchwick on the highway!" Ruby said, reminiscing the battle with a smile on her face.
"That was actually pretty fun." Weiss said.
"Right?" Yang grinned.
"You lost me." Sera blinked.
"We've told you about this. Not even that long ago." Blake said dryly, her amber eyes staring at the amnesiac.
"Huh. Whatevs." Sera replied, then shoved a fork full of Ren's pancakes into her mouth.
"You're impossible." Weiss sighed and rolled her eyes.
"And you're unbearable." Sera replied without hesitation.
"Wha-? You...!" Weiss's eyes narrowed.
Sera chuckled lightly and set her fork down. Team JNPR was hardly saying anything at all, only watching their friends banter back and forth, as if JNPR were watching a tennis match.
"If this goes on for much longer, they're gonna start a full-fledged fight." Ren said.
Jaune shuddered at the thought of another food fight. "We better skedaddle before anything like that happens." Without waiting, the four teammates stood and went to drop their plates off, all the while Sera and Weiss were arguing back and forth.
. . .
Later that evening...
"Alright, team! After being requested by Blake Belladonna, our favorite cat Faunus, I, your fearless leader, order that we participate in at least half an hour of meditation per day!" Ruby stood with her hands on her hips after team RWBYS returned to their dorm room.
"Uhh, what?" Yang asked.
"That's right! So we're all going to sit on the floor, crisscross applesauce, and sit in silence while we meditate. Team exercises!" Ruby confirmed. Blake gave a small smile upon hearing that Ruby had listened to her request. But that smile soon evaporated when she saw the look on her other teammates' faces as they glared in her direction.
. . .
After a ton of complaints, the five team members sat in a large circle with their eyes closed and hands resting on their laps. Blake, Ruby, and Weiss sat rather peacefully while Sera and Yang's eyes shifted uneasily while they were shut.
Weiss was the first to break the silence after nearly two minutes in. In a relaxed and quiet voice, she said, "Y'know, this is actually kind of nic-"
"BORED NOW!" Sera said loudly, her eyes opening quickly as she stood and stretched. "Man, that was killing me! I dunno how you guys could bear it."
"Sera! This is supposed to be a team-building exercise!" Ruby whined and looked up at the purple-eyed huntress.
"Yeah, but couldn't you have picked something a bit more...exciting? Silence may be golden, but dang!" Sera responded and bounced on her heels slightly.
"We hadn't even made it five minutes!" Weiss sighed.
"I kinda gotta agree with Sera on this one." Yang said.
Blake sighed and stood. Her amber eyes rested between Sera and Yang. "Sorry. I just thought we could use something a bit more relaxing to do. Meditating always helps me, so I thought it might help you four as well."
Sera's expression softened as she listened to her teammate speak. "No, I apologize for ruining it. I just can't sit still for that long, y'know? The whole meditation thing just isn't for me."
"Me either, but if it works for you guys, then keep on with it. Sera and I won't bother you." Yang said with an apologetic expression on her face.
"Thank you. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to get back to it. It actually kind of works!" Weiss crossed her arms.
"It's all right guys. What are you two gonna do in the meantime?" Ruby asked curiously.
"Oh, I'm sure we can think of something." Sera smirked and looked at her blonde teammate. Yang grinned and raised her fist, facing it towards Sera. The tattooed girl grinned in return and lightly bumped her own fist against Yang's. Blake gave a inaudible sigh of relief, happy that the two girls hadn't hated her activity, it just hadn't been for them. She was actually surprised that the normally hyperactive Ruby was sitting still long enough to participate.
"Don't wreck the school, you two." Ruby gave a small smile.
"Now Ruby Rose, who do you take your big sister for? Some sort of rebellious teen that doesn't care about property damage?" Yang furrowed her brow and looked at her sister.
"Yeah, it's not like we could blow up the school or anything like that." Sera grinned deviously.
. . .
Minutes later, in the grass of the main courtyard...
"You ready?" Sera asked with a smile on her face.
"Snowball, I was born ready." Yang grinned, holding a large stick she'd picked up as if she were going to swing it.
Sera grinned back excitedly. She hadn't even cared about Yang using her hated nickname, she was too eager to see how their irresponsible activity would play out. Sera then threw a red object as hard as she could at Yang. The blonde brawler's eyes narrowed, a look of determination on her face as she awaited her moment. Just as the object got within range, Yang swung the stick, hitting the fire Dust crystal as hard as she possibly could. The Dust exploded immediately in a red inferno and Sera's eyes went wide. But as soon as the smoke cleared, a grinning Yang stood, completely unharmed with a wild smile on her face.
"Must've used her aura to take the blast." Sera thought to herself.
"That was awesome! Throw another!" the blonde laughed. Sera smirked and fished out another crystal from the white silk bag she held in her hand. Upon leaving their dorm room, the amnesiac swiped the bag of Dust from Weiss's desk. With a broad grin, Sera pulled out a yellow Dust crystal that shone in the light.
"Here it comes~!" She yelled and chucked the thing in Yang's direction. Yang then swung just as hard as before once the crystal got in range, then erupted in a flash of yellow and a thunderclap. Sera shielded herself with her raised arms, but the smoke once again cleared to reveal a smiling Yang. But, this time something was different.
Sera immediately burst out laughing, falling onto her back in the grass and her legs swinging in the air. "What?" Yang asked and cocked her head sideways. Between breaths, Sera pointed at the blonde's head as she continued to figuratively die of laughter.
"What? It's not like I'm..." Yang's expression turned blank once her hands felt her head. As a result from the electricity blast, Yang's hair was comically poofed out and sticking up in all directions. The blonde's eyes gradually turned red as she realized what had transpired. "You goddamn..." Yang said with cold anger in her voice. Sera immediately recovered from her fit and stared at the blonde.
"BITCH!" She yelled and immediately ran towards Sera angrily.
"Uh-oh." Sera said as her eyes widened and she got to her feet. She began to run in the opposite direction of the angry brawler, the blonde's eyes glowing red and her hair aflame.
"GET BACK HERE!" Yang yelled as she chased Sera across the grass.
Sera sprinted like she never had before, actual fear running down her spine as she retreated from the blonde.
From the walkway nearest to them, Professor Ozpin sipped from his coffee mug as he watched the two girls. He had originally been going on his afternoon stroll through campus, but the sounds of Dust explosions drew him to the courtyard. His eyes twinkled with amusement while Sera ran from her friend, her arms positioned at a ninety-degree angle as she ran. It was an extremely odd way to run, but it didn't stop her from outrunning the very angry blonde.
Ozpin chuckled and took another sip from his coffee. After another few moments, the old headmaster brought up his Scroll-tablet and his eyes scanned over the images of various students. One of which, caught his attention. He brought up the image of a male student with short-cropped brown hair and a scar over his right eye. Said eye's pupil was gray as if he were blind in it. The boy wore a long red coat that reached his knees with an armored vest underneath. His bio said that he had prosthetic arms from his elbows down, and that his weapon was the arms. The information reminded Ozpin of another student with prosthetic legs by the name of Mercury Black. The student's name was listed as classified, which only piqued the headmaster's interest even further. Ozpin also read that the male was apparently a student from Atlas, so James Ironwood would know more about him. The only words listed when he clicked on his name were "Codename: Viper."