Sera had no idea what happened. One second, she was facing down her mother, ready to fight and die. The next, she was being pulled through some red vortex and into a completely different location.

On top of that, she blacked out as soon as she passed through. She didn't know why. Maybe the strain of using her powers had gotten to her. Maybe the trip wasn't as pleasant as it seemed. Maybe someone whopped her over the head with a frying pan.

Nevertheless, the end results were the same.

She passed in and out of consciousness for the longest time. She did know that she was comfortable, though. The huntress was shacked up in a big comfy bed with soft pillows and thick blankets. One time when she was awake, she was being spoon fed some sort of food. Oatmeal, maybe? Another time, a cool rag was being pressed to her brow.

Thankfully, she had no dreams when she was asleep. Well, except for one, but it was so odd that it couldn't have been real.

She had stood in a giant room with twelve large chairs arranged against the wall in a 'U'.

The same man who'd 'visited' her in her cell sat in the center of them. Except he was giant, easily twenty feet tall. A man who looked just like him sat to his left, except he had sea green eyes and held a large trident that glowed with power in one hand.

The rest of them seemed to be bickering. A muscular man with close-cropped hair was pointing a sword at a woman with dark wavy hair and startling gray eyes. She radiated intelligence, and despite the angry man with a sword, she was rather calm.

The lead guy who'd visited Sera was looking her directly in the eyes, as if he knew she were there. The man with the trident looked where he was staring, and his eyes widened. The man in the center mouthed one word, 'Go.'

Sera sat bolt upright in the bed. Sweat beaded her forehead and she was breathing heavily. After collecting her thoughts of what she'd just seen, she glanced around the room, to find that it wasn't really a room.

She appeared to be inside of a tent. An extremely nice tent, but a tent, nonetheless. She also noticed that no one else was in the room.

Sera groaned and clutched her head. She could feel her heartbeat pulsating in her brain.

Before the huntress could even attempt to stand, someone pushed aside a sheet that covered the doorway and stepped in.

Sera's breath hitched. At first, she thought it was Yang. She had the exact same face, figure, and hairstyle. Except she recognized this woman, and it was definitely not Yang. She had black hair, red eyes, and clothes to match those two colors.

Raven Branwen.

Sera jumped out of bed and got into a fighting stance. She didn't care if the world was spinning around her and that she felt like blacking out again, she had a bone to pick with this woman.

Raven regarded her with cold eyes. "I wouldn't."

"And why's that?" Sera scowled.

"You're naked."

Sera's face blanked and her eyes slowly glanced downward in horror. Thankfully, Raven was only half-right. She wasn't naked, but the only thing she had on were a pair of black shorts and a sports bra.

Sera sighed and relaxed her stance. "Don't do that."

Raven cracked a smile, "Sorry. Figured it'd distract you. It worked."

"Yeah, yeah." Sera grumbled. She looked around for her clothes, but none were there.

"I've got some you can wear," Raven offered. Sera shot a glare at her.

"Thanks, but I'd rather not accept anything from you."

Raven crossed her arms. "Aren't you wondering how you got here?"

"Yeah," Sera deadpanned. "It doesn't make sense. Qrow told me that you can only teleport to people you, like, 'create a link' with. You've got one for Tai, Yang, and Qrow."

Raven shrugged. "True. But when I knew you were going to go down with Cinder, I made one for you."

Sera hesitated, glancing down at her hands. Thankfully, her skin was its normal color. No paleness or black veins.

"Why?" Sera asked. Her voice cracked slightly, and she hoped that Raven hadn't noticed.

Raven smiled dryly. "Well, it wouldn't do to have my daughter's friend dying at the hands of Salem, now would it?"

Something clicked in Sera's head. "You did it to earn Yang's favor. You didn't care if I died or not."

The Branwen shrugged half-heartedly. "Partly. Plus, I know things. About you, for instance. Sera's expression must've been amusing, because Raven's smile widened. "Slayer of the Demon Minotaur? Amnesiac with a clouded past? Plus," Raven's expression turned serious. "Daughter of Salem."

"Yeah, well, that's old news," Sera shrugged. "But I hate her just as much as you do."

"And why should I believe that?"

"Because if you had the good sense to look before sticking your arm out of a portal, you'd have seen that I was fighting her when you yanked me out." Sera glared at her. Raven's expression relaxed.

"You're right. Just needed to see what you'd say."

"Why's that?" Sera asked, genuinely curious.

Raven smirked, "To see what kind of person you are. Personality, morals…flaws."

The amnesiac shrugged, "It won't take long for you to figure it out."

Then Raven surprised Sera. She laughed. "I'm sure it won't. Come on. Let's get you sorted out." The Branwen gestured behind her and left the room. Having no reason not to, Sera followed.

After the amnesiac changed into a pair of well-worn jeans and a clean white tank top (hey, it was better than the alternative. At first, Raven offered up an outfit that matched what she wore exactly. Her own clothes, no doubt), the two of them approached the front of the tent. Raven moved aside a wall of cloth, and sunlight streamed through the opening. They stepped out into a wide clearing, trees surrounding the perimeter. It was clear that they hadn't been there long. Boxes of equipment were overflowing, unpacked. The grass they stood on was pushed down from all the walking people had been doing on it, which seemed to be a lot. A group of men were putting up spiked trees with the branches removed, forming a giant wall around the circle of tents.

"Welcome to my neck of the woods," Raven told her.

Sera looked over at her with a quizzical expression. "Where are we?"

She shrugged in response. "Not far from Mistral. Had to relocate after Cinder found our old spot."

"And that's when you formed the pact with her to attack us," Sera guessed. Raven seemed to wince at the words.

"It was the only way to protect my family," she said, gesturing to the dozens of bandits around them.

"Protecting your family by attacking your family? Good job, seriously." Sera rolled her eyes.

"And why should I have anything to do with them? If they cared, they would've shown it before they left." Raven spat.

"They tried," Sera shot back, remembering countless things Qrow had told her about his family. "You pushed them away and ran. Ran from your family, your home, your responsibilities—"

"You don't know what it's like," Raven shot back, looking at her own hands. "Having all this power, and people expecting you to save the world because you have a 'duty'."

Sera blinked. "I don't know what it's like? Well, maybe not as much as you, but I know enough. You seem to forget exactly how I got here." Sera waved her arms around her, gesturing at the camp.

Raven seemed to consider this. "You have a point."

"Yeah, I do!" Sera glared at her. "Do you even know how long your daughter has been looking for you? Do you even care?"

They were attracting attention now. Bandits around the two were walking over from what they were doing to spectate.

Raven looked around uncomfortably at her subordinates, then said to Sera in a low and icy tone, "As a matter of fact, I do know. And I do care—"

"If you cared, you wouldn't have hidden from her and kept running away. The world needs the Spring Maiden, you know."

More bandits joined their allies to watch the altercation. They were mesmerized. It was like watching two lightning storms standing off against each other. But the question was, which storm would overcome the other?

"What do you expect me to do? Come running to Ozpin's aid like a good student? No. I'm done doing that," Raven gritted her teeth. She looked so much like Yang, it was scary. But Sera was getting mad at the bandit leader. She had the audacity to try and play innocent, like she had no part in all of this? First, she fought with Cinder. Sure, she fought her in the Spring Maiden chamber in a weird magic sword duel, but she still fought Sera even then when she made the overly smart decision to jump into the middle of it. Second, she was the one who sent Sera into the abyss with Cinder. It may have been an accident and unintentional, but still. And now she was standing here, acting like she was completely justified.

"I expect you to be a decent person and help," Sera told her. But even saying it, she knew it was a dumb suggestion. Sera scoffed, "Who am I kidding? You're just going to run again with your precious family of low lives and thieves." Her eyes scanned the crowd. They didn't take kindly to being insulted, but the look in Sera's eyes was enough to make them stand down. At least for now.

"And for the record, Yang is nothing like you, and I'm glad she isn't. Maybe it wasn't entirely a bad idea for you to leave," Sera turned away from her. But something felt off. The air around her grew denser and filled with tension. She looked over her shoulder to see Raven, her eyes blazing with blue fire.

Uh-oh.

The Spring Maiden looked like she was about to call upon her freaky magic powers and dice Sera into pieces, but instead she took a deep breath, and the flames died down. "You're right."

Sera blinked. "I am? I mean… Of course, I am!" She tried to play it off, but the threat of fighting Raven scared her. She'd seen her fight Cinder, and the amnesiac was not eager to be her next victim.

"You can stay here, if you like. The tribe could use a warrior like you," Raven offered. Her voice sounded pained, but Sera couldn't figure out why she was offering this now, of all times.

Before Sera could respond, Raven turned and trudged back into her large tent. The crowd parted and allowed her to pass unopposed. Then all their eyes were back on Sera. She blinked a few times, then in the same voice she'd used on Salem's minions just before Raven rescued her, she told them, "What're you staring at? Get outta here!"

Some of the bandits yelped and rushed off, others managed to squeak, "Yes ma'am" and do the same.

When she was alone in the clearing, Sera sighed and ran her fingers through her white hair. "The hell am I supposed to do?"

. . .

Sera went back into Raven's tent. It's not exactly like she had anywhere else to go. The bandit leader still had her stuff.

The amnesiac pushed aside the "door" to see Raven sitting at a low table, Mistralian style. She held a ceramic cup of steaming tea with two hands, her black hair shining in the light.

"You're right," she said, not even bothering to look at her. "About it all. I regret not staying to watch Yang grow, but…I'm not built for that kind of life. Tai knew it, Qrow knows it, but look where it got me." She then gestured to the tent around her. "Being the very thing I swore to fight against."

"Your reasons aren't entirely unjustified," Sera managed, still standing at the entrance.

"No?"

"Well, don't get me wrong, you're still a bad mom."

"True."

"But I mean, like you said, being a mom just isn't you. I've known you for like, twenty minutes, and I can tell." Sera shoved her hands into her pockets.

"Yang wouldn't forgive me," Raven sipped her tea.

"Nor should she," Sera countered. "But you could at least try to be better. Leading a bunch of bandits? Come on."

"They're lost, and they've sought refuge in me. These bandits are the closest things I've had to family in years. Besides, they're not so bad once you get used to the smell."

Sera couldn't help but crack a smile. Maybe she and Yang were alike in some ways. "You should talk to her. It's the least you could do."

She set down her tea and stood, turning to face the young huntress. "Maybe you're right. But now isn't the time. It's too soon from…well, you know."

"Good point," Sera nodded. "By the way, totally would've kicked your butt in front of all your friends."

Raven smirked. "Yang has an interesting taste in companions."

"Yeah, well, not like I had any competition," Sera grinned. Raven scoffed and shook her head.

"What you did back in Haven was impressive, but I doubt those powers of yours can take on a Maiden that actually knows what she's doing."

Sera shuddered slightly. She had a point. Cinder was still basically new at this, and Raven had had years to play with her powers. But the amnesiac couldn't let her know that she got to her.

"In your dreams, old lady. Did you see what I was doing when you kidnapped me?" Sera smirked.

"Yes. You were about to be overwhelmed. Had I not interfered, you'd probably be locked up so tight you couldn't breathe right."

Sera sighed, "You're no fun."

Raven smiled warmly, which surprised Sera immensely. She figured Raven had two moods: bitch and mega bitch.

"Would you like some breakfast before being canonized?"

"Now that you mention it, I am kinda hungr—wait, what now?"

Raven smiled again, creeping Sera out even further. "Come, sit."

Sera sat at the low table, her legs crisscrossed while she waited for Raven to return. She didn't know what this "canonizing" this was, but it didn't sound promising.

Within a minute, the black-haired woman sat a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon in front of Sera. She was genuinely surprised that food like this could be made in a tent. Then again, you could make bacon and eggs over a campfire if you had just an iron skillet.

Sera didn't waste a breath. She didn't know how long she'd been asleep, but she was hungry. The bacon and eggs didn't stand a chance. In between bites, she looked warily at Raven, who was sitting across from her.

"Why'd you wait so long to pop in and get me?"

She seemed surprised by the question. "Honestly, I didn't know I wanted to get you until then."

"What made you decide?" Sera set down her fork.

Raven regarded her with curious eyes and sighed. "I thought…well, I thought you could be Vernal's replacement."

Sera nearly spewed eggs all over the table. Vernal was the short-haired chick that accompanied Raven to Mistral. Sera remembered seeing her body in the Vault. After regaining her composure, she stared coldly at the woman across from her. "What makes you think I'm going to stay here? I'm going to find Qrow and the others as soon as I'm ready."

"And where are they? Do you even know?" Raven shot back. Sera grinned at her, "Did you really think I forgot about your semblance so soon? You're going to take me to them."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because you've got nothing better to do, and no reason to hold me captive." Sera replied without hesitation.

"I could give you back to Salem," Raven threatened, her fist clenched.

"Yeah, that'll go swimmingly. 'Here's the girl I just stole from you. Oops. Hope there's no hard feelings'."

Raven sighed. "You're right. But I need a new right hand—"

So did your daughter, Sera thought, both amused and saddened. She really did hate her twisted sense of humor.

"—and I'd rather it be you."

"Why not get one of your already 'family members' to do it?" Sera wondered. Raven scoffed, "None of them are competent enough. To be honest, they're a bunch of idiots. But you—you could have a new life. Free from the hardships that come with accompanying Ozpin and Qrow. You could stay here, helping the tribe and making a name for yourself." Raven stared directly into her eyes.

Just for a microsecond, Sera was tempted. But instead, she sighed. "I'm not going to run from my responsibilities, like someone I know," She aimed that last part at Raven. "Besides, my friends probably miss having all my snark and sarcasm around."

"They think you're dead," Raven stated coolly. In response, Sera's mouth hung open and here eyes were wide.

"They what?!" She demanded.

"That fall should've killed you and Cinder. Yet here you are. And only one of them refused to believe you're dead." She sipped tea from a cup.

Yang? Maybe. It'd make sense. But then again, if only one of them doesn't believe it, then there's really one choice.

"Ruby," Sera guessed. Raven nodded. "They'd still be searching for you if she had her way."

"Where are they?"

"I don't know. I didn't stick around long after Yang took the relic from the vault." She sighed. Sera decided to keep her dreams about them to herself.

"So, what now?" Sera asked.

"Now? I don't know. If you're serious about leaving, then you can go whenever you like. I wouldn't leave right away, if I were you. At least not until you're at full strength."

Sera studied her for a moment. "You really won't take me to them with your semblance?"

Raven smiled as if she knew something that Sera didn't. "How would Qrow and Yang react to you staying with me for a while?"

"Not very well, likely," Sera responded.

"Exactly. No, you have to make your own way to find them," Raven stood and set her tea down.

"But I don't even know where they are!" Sera complained. The bandit leader shrugged. "Not my problem."

"I can see why they like you so much," Sera grumbled. If Raven heard her, she didn't show it.

"Come on. If you're going to stay here, you're going to prove your worth. Everyone has to make themselves useful while staying here." Raven made her way towards the tent entrance.

"Great," Sera sighed and stood. "Can't wait to see what being 'canonized' means."

. . .

Less than two minutes later, Sera was standing in the center of a hastily made circle of bandits ready to attack her. Sera glared at all of them, her stance poised to defend herself at a moment's notice.

Whenever she and Raven left the tent, the conversation went something like this:

Sera: "So, what's it meant to be 'canonized'?"

Raven then cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "We got a newbie!"

Immediately, everyone in the camp excitedly hurried over to surround the huntress while Raven smirked and leapt to the top of a lookout tower. She'd also donned her strange Grimm mask that she was so fond of.

The bandits' faces were a mix of excitement and nervousness. Many of them looked pretty tough, given their brutal faces scarred bodies. But some wavered whenever Sera turned her death stare in their direction.

She wished she'd had a weapon. It'd make being swarmed a little easier. The huntress had also gathered that being "canonized" meant being beat up by a bunch of smelly, gross bandits.

At first, she was rather calm and collected. But then she noticed some of the looks that they were giving her. A few guys and even girls in the crowd wolf whistled at while others cat called, saying some pretty inappropriate things. Sera wasn't surprised by the warm welcome, given this entire situation, but it still pissed her off.

Raven called from atop her tower, "If you are to survive within the tribe, you are to prove that you can join the tribe."

I don't even want to join the tribe, Sera thought, I just want to deck you in the nose and leave.

The bandits then began to unsheathe and ready some rather nasty looking weapons. Some were so incredibly basically designed that Sera had to stifle her laughter. She thought, I mean, a pistol with a blade taped to the hilt? Seriously?

"Don't I get a weapon?" Sera called up to Raven. She couldn't see it, but she was sure that Raven was grinning behind her mask.

"I'll take that as a 'no'," Sera grumbled.

The crowd began to close in slowly, and Sera backed away from them. It wouldn't do much good, since she was surrounded, but she went back far enough to bump into some large wooden barrels laying on their side with spigots attached to the ends.

In a desperate attempt, Sera grabbed a large wooden mug and held it aloft, "Can't we settle this over a pint?"

The bandits were unimpressed and continued to close in with eager grins on their ugly faces.

"No?" Sera asked. "Well, all right then!"

She then slammed the mug into the spigot on the nearest barrel, breaking it off and cracking the barrel open, but nothing happened. It was empty.

"Huh," Sera muttered. "Thought something cool would happen." Then she turned her attention back to the bandits. They were within spitting distance.

In a flash of sheer brilliance, she thought of the perfect catchphrase.

"Drinks are on me!" she chucked the mug at them and caught one unlucky guy with long blond hair and blue eyes in the nose. The huntress also spotted a gap in his teeth, as if one of them were punched out of his jaw. She hoped that the mug had caused it, but she knew better. He'd been missing a tooth long before she showed up with a wooden death mug.

Then every one of them rushed the huntress.

Sera was worried about the sheer number of them, but when she slammed her foot into the nearest person and sent them flying back and knocking over several others like bowling pins, she felt a little better about herself.

The first problem: as soon as she did that, black spots clouded her vision and she felt lightheaded.

The second problem: there were a lot of them for one unarmed girl to handle.

On reflex, Sera countered the kick that was coming her way and sent the guy flying. She considered breaking it, but she wasn't that mean. Plus, his aura probably would've prevented it.

The amnesiac quickly had to get into a sort of groove: kicking, blocking, dodging, punching, and redirecting their attacks so that they hit each other rather than her.

She felt like a total badass with how she was handling herself, but every now and again, she'd feel the dull pain of being hit in the limbs, chest, or back.

After slamming a girl in the gut with her elbow and rolling over her back after the bandit bent over, Sera snatched the rusty sword out of someone's hand and smacked a guy in the head. Upon impact, the sword snapped in two, but the guy still crumpled to the ground.

Their auras must've been extremely weak, or non-existent, because she was taking these bandits down about as easily as she would Beowolves.

One girl got brave. She smacked Sera in the back of the head with a leather-bound shield and laughed.

The huntress dropped the guy she was about to throw across the camp and turned to her. The girl's face paled, and in an instant, Sera snatched the shield out of her hands and bonked her over the head.

Despite their rude behavior and obvious bloodlust for no apparent reason, Sera tried to not hurt them too badly. Maybe she felt bad for them, or maybe—gods forbid—she was becoming a better person.

It didn't take too long to fight through the crowd. Within ten minutes, over two dozen groaning bodies lay on the ground with Sera standing in the center of them. She was breathing heavily, and her fists were clenched. It may have been her imagination, but she thought she saw the purple tattoos on her right shoulder glowing faintly. It stopped before she could take a closer look.

The sound of hands clapping came from above her. She looked up to see that it was Raven, but her mask was removed now.

"Bravo," She complimented. "I don't think anyone's taken down so many of my tribe so quickly."

"Yeah, well, maybe a little more combat training and less time looting and pillaging," Sera deadpanned as she gazed at the bandits getting to their feet. Raven hopped down from her watch tower with a smirk on her lips. Her Grimm mask was tucked under one arm.

"Well," she studied Sera's face critically. "That was fun."

Sera scowled. Her knuckles were white from clenching them so tightly. "Y'know, I should punch you in the jaw."

Raven allowed a small smile to show. Again, it struck Sera just how much this woman looked like Yang.

"Welcome to the family."

Sera's eyes narrowed. "So, then I can leave?"

Raven shrugged, "Gate's right there. But if you had half a brain, you'd stay until you're strong enough."

The amnesiac wanted to argue, but she knew this woman was right. Even now, she could feel herself giving out. It took all she had to stay on her feet. Had using her "true form" really taken that much out of her? Side note: she'd have to come up with a better name for it than that.

"Well," Sera tried not to look like she knew Raven was right. "I might stick around for a while longer."

Raven smirked and waved her hand, gesturing for the huntress to follow. They returned to the large lead tent and ducked inside. Seems like Raven would rather be isolated in her tent than be out with her "family."

The bandit leader sat on the floor by the same table as before, and Sera followed her example. She was glad to be off her feet.

Sera leaned forward onto the table for support, trying not to let it show that she was tired. It didn't seem to work.

Finally, Raven said, "Just who are you?"

The question took Sera by surprise. She didn't know what to say. Hell, she hardly knew the answer herself.

"What do you mean?"

Raven absently picked at a napkin. "I mean, who are you? You're the child of Salem. My question: why? What is the purpose? She isn't exactly one to just, well, you know."

Sera's face flushed and she averted her gaze to the tabletop. She was reminded of Salem's cold words in that cell. That her true "purpose" in life was supposedly to take over the world alongside her mother. All that stuff about old gods, plus her most recent dream about twelve being sitting around in a sort of council… it was too surreal. She didn't know what to make of it.

"I don't know," Sera answered.

"Don't know, or won't say?" Raven asked. She had a strangely calm tone to her voice.

"Both, really," Sera looked up to meet her crimson eyes.

Raven nodded like she understood. "Well, why don't you tell me what you do know?"

Sera's eyes narrowed as she studied the woman's face. "Why?"

"I want to help."

Sera snorted, "What for? You've done a fantastic job 'helping' everyone else."

The Spring Maiden lowered her gaze, and for a second, Sera felt bad about saying what she did.

"Believe it or not, I know what it's like to feel useless and alone after learning about having great power. Too much power. It's hard, but it's easier when someone's there to help you along."

She sounded truthful, bitter, and sad. Sera studied Raven's face even closer, searching for any hint that she was trying to deceive her. There were none.

With a sigh, Sera looked down at her hands, and tightened them into fists.

"Ever heard of the Greeks?"