After creating a list of different weapons that she'd like to try out, Kassandra gathered her things and made her way towards one of Beacon's many firing ranges/training rooms. She hasn't had the opportunity to visit one of the rooms that included a firing range, but she was feeling hopeful.
When she entered the room, the first thing she appreciated was that it didn't have too many people in it. The next thing was the vast expanse of weapons hanging on the wall. From what she could tell, the weapons didn't transform like the average huntsman's, which made sense. They were meant for practice, after all.
She'd planned on going by herself so she could have the privacy to do this alone, but a certain silver-eyed girl had gotten wind that she was going to a firing range, so naturally she had to come along. Sera didn't mind too much, though. At least it wasn't Weiss.
"This is so cool!" Ruby said excitedly. "Which one are you going to try first?"
"I haven't decided yet," she admitted. "I was kind of just going to pick at random."
"Pfft, that's stupid. You should just pick the coolest one you see," the team leader said while they walked up to the weapon racks. "Like this one!" Ruby picked up a giant war hammer with ease. Its head was easily two feet wide, and its handle was almost as long as Sera is tall. Ruby dropped the weapon in her hands, and the white-haired girl nearly fell over from the sheer weight of the hammer.
"I'm not sure if I can use this one, Rubes," she said, trying to hold it aloft.
"Why not?" Ruby frowned. "You're strong enough."
"Well, kind of," said Sera. "Just not really my style, is all."
"You could still try it," she told her. Sera looked to her left to see a few test dummies against the wall and shrugged. Walking over to the dummies, she gripped the hammer with two hands and gave it a test swing. The hammer collided with the dummy's chest and was sent flying across the room.
"Whoa!" Ruby exclaimed, evading the dummy that was heading straight for her. Sera raised an eyebrow, then hit another one in the legs and made the thing fall to the floor. Next, she tried for an overhead swing and obliterated a dummy's head. She sent it into its chest like something out of a cartoon. All she needed was a funny "bonk" sound effect.
Sera grinned at the hammer. "Okay, I take it back. This thing is kinda fun. What's next?"
"Hmm," Ruby put a finger to her chin. "Well, you're pretty good with your sword, so maybe try another kind of sword? Maybe one that's smaller, like Pyrrha's or Weiss's?"
"That's not a bad idea," she admitted. "Okay, let's see what we can find."
After they put the hammer back on the wall, Sera scanned for something she'd like. Finally, she found a small collection of swords, and the two girls went over to them. There were a dozen different types. She even saw a rapier kind of like Weiss's, but she didn't really care for using it. Then she saw a one-handed sword, probably meant to be used with a shield. With a hint of curiosity, she plucked the weapon off its hook and weighed it in her hand.
"A little lighter than I'm used to," she murmured. Even so, it felt kind of nice. The short sword's blade was razor sharp and double-edged. She gave it a few test swings before heading over to the dummies again. This time, Ruby grabbed a sword and a round shield off the wall before following her.
Sera got in her usual position, bending her knees and widening her stance so she'd have solid footing. She held the sword out, then lunged at the dummy. She swung the sword into its side, taken back by how light the weapon was compared to her own. She hit the dummy again and again, but something was missing. She could feel herself trying to get into a combat flow, but she just couldn't. She even mixed it up by throwing in a series of punches and kicks, along with using the sword. Not quite there, but a vast improvement to using the sword alone.
"Sera," Ruby said, and she turned just in time to see a round object fly at her. Sera caught it one-handed and inspected whatever had been thrown at her. A shield. "Try that," the younger girl said.
She shrugged and got into a defensive posture with the shield raised and sword held at ear-level. She bashed the dummy with her shield then jabbed at it before following up with an overhead swing, lopping off one of its arms. Then the other. Then she bashed it in its face before beheading it smoothly.
"Huh," she blinked. "I could get used to this."
"Are you sure that you haven't used other weapons before? Cause you're killing it so far," Ruby noted.
"Well, I haven't tried everything yet," she thought aloud. "Let's try a gun."
Ruby grinned. "Now you're speaking my language. I know just the kind for you to try." The shorter girl disappeared in a flurry of rose petals, flying over to the wall of weapons and snatching up several different firearms. Finally, she appeared in front of the gun range and set the guns down in a neat line.
Sera smirked and rolled her eyes before moseying over to examine what Ruby has chosen for her to try.
"Okay! I've got a nice little assortment of cool guns here, so take your pick!" she said excitedly.
"Hmm…" Sera scanned the guns. There was a standard Atlesian assault rifle, a scoped sniper rifle, a smaller submachine gun, an automatic shotgun, a pair of handguns, and an old-fashioned revolver. Not knowing what else to pick, she picked up the assault rifle. She generally knew her way around a gun, so she checked the magazine to see that it was full, then slammed it back into the rifle before pulling the bolt to cock it.
Bracing the weapon against her shoulder, the purple-eyed girl sighted in on the target at the end of the firing range. Her finger hesitated before slowly squeezing the trigger, and the gun went off. She waited for the target to fall over, but it didn't happen.
"Huh," Ruby said, looking through the scope of Crescent Rose to watch the target. "Maybe try again?"
Sera shrugged and scoped in again, holding the rifle as steady as she could before squeezing the trigger again. And again. And again. Then four more times. Still nothing.
"Wow," Ruby said, genuinely impressed. "You didn't hit it a single time. Not even once!"
"I know, Ruby," she groaned. "I guess I'm just a bad shot."
"It sure seems like it. What about your shotgun?" she asked.
"Well, with a shotgun, you don't really have to aim too hard, so…"
"Here, try this one. It's got a scope, so maybe you'll have an easier time," Ruby held the sniper rifle out to her. Shrugging rather dejectedly, Sera put the assault rifle down and took the sniper. She bolted the gun and pressed it to her shoulder, inhaling sharply while scoping in on the same target she'd been trying to hit. When she was convinced that she couldn't hold the gun any straighter, she exhaled and squeezed the trigger.
"Again?" Ruby asked.
"I, uh, think the sun got in my eye. Or something," she lied.
"We're in a closed room," Ruby smirked. "Try again?"
"Whatever," the amnesiac groaned and bolted the rifle again, expelling a spent casing. She repeated the process same process, then pulled the trigger. That time she got a little angry. "Fucking bullshit!" she cursed and threw the gun aside. An alarmed expression flashed across Ruby's face before she zipped over and caught the rifle before it could hit the ground.
"Language," Ruby said while setting the large gun onto the table in front of them.
"Ruby, I cuss like a Mistralian sailor. Everyone around here is gonna have to get used to that," she said before picking up one of the handguns. She angrily pulled the receiver back and aimed the gun two-handed down the target lane. She pulled the trigger until the magazine was empty, and no one was shocked to see that not a single round had hit the target. Sera gritted her teeth and slammed the gun down before pacing in front of the table and muttering angrily to herself.
"This one next?" Ruby held aloft the submachine gun with a cautious expression.
"In a minute, Ruby!" she held a finger up. Ruby nodded and lowered the gun. She knew that Sera wasn't mad at her, just mad at her own failure to hit a target. Once she seemed like she'd calmed down, the huntress marched back over and took the gun from Ruby. After doing the same routine with other guns and checking to see that they were ready, she aimed down its sights and fired in bursts, mentally counting the rounds until she reached the last quarter of the magazine. Then she fired the rest in full auto, just spraying the rounds at the target. Finally, the hammer clicked, signifying that she was empty. Ruby was scoped in on where Sera had been trying to shoot, but she didn't say a word. The amnesiac just calmly set the gun down and rested her palms on the tabletop before sighing heavily.
She tried firing the assault rifle again. Then the sniper, then the submachine gun once more before looping back to the assault rifle. She shot almost continuously for nearly fifteen minutes. Ruby had to keep fetching more ammo for her to miss with. By time she was finished, the two girls were standing in a mess of empty shells.
"I give up," she said. "Not a single hit."
"You could try the shotgun," Ruby offered.
"No point," she said. "I've already got a shotgun, so why test another?"
The silver-eyed girl thought for a few seconds until she picked up the final gun. "You haven't shot this one yet," she shrugged.
Sera almost shut her down, but she considered it for a moment. After multiple looks of indecision flashed across her face, she shrugged and took the gun from her. "Fine. What's one more way of disappointing myself?" She picked the gun up and immediately appreciated the weight of the weapon. It felt balanced in her hand, unlike the other ones. She popped the cylinder out and made sure it was loaded, then spun it to hear that satisfying clicking sound before popping it back in. She aimed the gun with one hand in a comfortable stance—her right foot forward, body turned slightly, and left arm hanging at her side. Then she pulled the trigger, and nothing happened.
"You have to cock it, silly," Ruby rolled her eyes. Sera blinked, then pulled the hammer back with her thumb. She aimed again, then slowly squeezed the trigger. The gun fired, and the target flew backwards.
"I hit it?" she said in disbelief. She blinked several times, staring at the fallen dummy. "I hit it! Holy shit!" she laughed.
"Whoa!" Ruby grinned broadly. "Try another one!"
"Okay, okay!" the white-haired girl giggled and aimed the revolver after pulling the hammer back. Exhaling slowly, she squeezed the trigger, and another target dummy fell over. "What!" she examined the revolver with glee.
"Wait," Ruby said. "Try shooting another gun again."
"Uh, okay," she said, not sure why Ruby would want her to. She set the revolver down, then picked up the assault rifle again. She slammed a fresh magazine in and pulled the bolt before taking aim. With her newfound confidence, the huntress squeezed the trigger and fired a three-round burst of bullets. And she hit nothing.
"Interesting," Ruby said. "It seems like you can only hit something with that old handgun. Try this one, but hold it like you were holding that revolver," she handed one of the newer handguns to her, grip out.
Piecing together what Ruby was saying, she took the gun from her and held it out the same way that she did the revolver. Her stance was comfortable. She didn't even bother closing one eye to aim—she was confident. Taking a moment to gather herself, she took a deep breath, then pulled the trigger.
A third target fell over, but somehow, she wasn't surprised.
"It's got to be in your stance," Ruby surmised.
'Maybe I used to use a handgun before?' she asked herself. 'Learn something new every day…'
"Yeah," Sera swallowed. "Gotta be."
"So?" she asked.
"So… What?"
"Why don't you get a weapon like that to use? I'm sure it'd help. It'd definitely give you a little more range," the younger girl said.
"That's not a terrible idea," she said. "I'll think about it."
Ruby nodded. "What now?"
"I dunno," she admitted, setting the handgun onto the table. "Maybe try some more stuff? No guns, though."
"I was hoping you'd say that," she grinned. The two of them hurried over to the wall and hung their borrowed weapons back up before browsing for more. Sera thought carefully before grabbing an armful of stuff. She lugged it all over to the training dummies and set the weapons down in a neat pile before trying to choose one to try first.
Her violet eyes darted back and forth, scanning the melee weapons. Finally, she picked up a poleax and ran her finger across its wooden shaft. With an excited glint in her eye, she held it with two hands and faced one of the dummies. She swung, plunging its razor-sharp blade into the dummy's neck. She grinned, already brainstorming ways to use this weapon.
Sera pulled the poleax back and spun it in her hands before smacking the dummy with its shaft, then twirled it around her neck with the flow she was getting into. With a grin, she performed an acrobatic flip and brought the head of the ax down before landing nimbly.
"Whoa," Ruby commented. "Nice one."
She twirled the poleax in her hand and flashed a grin. "'The most versatile weapon ever invented,'" she said while setting the weapon down. "I'll have to practice a bit more with that one. I kinda like it."
"What're you gonna do, carry an arsenal on you at all times?" Ruby asked.
"I'm already a walking arsenal, Rubes," she quipped. "But no, just testing the waters a little. Seeing what all I could use if I had to. As you saw, I'm a pretty terrible shot, so it's pretty nice to know what other stuff I'm good with. And so…" she picked up a wooden bow and quiver full of arrows. "Let's see how I can do with this."
Sera took a few steps back, not even bothering to go over to the range. Ruby immediately got behind her and out of the line of fire. The huntress notched the arrow and pulled the string back to her cheek with ease before closing one eye to aim. Then she let it fly… and the arrow shot off to the right and completely missed her target.
"Hm," she frowned before notching another arrow and took aim. She let it fly, and the arrow zipped around and did a loop-de-loop before impaling itself in the ceiling. "I quit," the huntress dropped the bow and marched back over to the pile of weapons.
Ruby appeared at her side and pretended like she was helping her look. "Yeahhh… Maybe stick with the sword and stuff."
"You think?" she said.
"Well, except for those handguns. You don't seem too bad with those," Ruby said honestly.
"Definitely need more practice, though," the amnesiac replied.
"I mean, yeah. But everyone needs to keep practicing," the younger girl said. "You're not going to just be an expert on your first try."
"I know," Sera sighed. "That'd be pretty nice, though."
"Right?" Ruby laughed. "So, what now?"
"I'm just gonna try them at random," she shrugged while she picked up a pair of one-handed axes.
Half an hour later, she was satisfied that she could handle herself with a decent variety of weaponry. Ruby even helped to spar with her to see how'd she do in a combat scenario. She didn't really see herself using any of them as part of her personal arsenal, but she'd definitely come back by to keep practicing, as well as with her own gear.
She walked out of the training room with her arms folded behind her head and a smile on her face. She was feeling pretty pleased with herself, even if she was a gods-awful shot.
"You're looking pretty smug," Ruby commented.
"I'm always smug, Ruby," she said.
"Even more smug than usual," she rolled her eyes. Sera ruffled her hair, and Ruby pushed her hand away before putting her dark locks back in place.
"Stop, you're worse than Yang," she groaned. The purple-eyed girl just smiled and kept walking. Ruby rolled her eyes and followed after her.
"Thanks for coming with me, by the way," she told her team leader. "I uh, appreciated it."
Ruby smiled and put a little more pep in her step. "No problem! It's always to do a little team building. Besides, we're all supposed to be friends, right? So, that means spending time and having fun with each other!"
"Right," Sera nodded and patted her on the shoulders. "What being a team is all about."
"What should we do now, though?" she asked. "It's only like three in the afternoon. Should we see if the others want to do anything?"
"Actually, I was going to go see Pyrrha. I need to talk to her about something."
"Oh," her shoulders fell slightly. She liked hanging out with Sera and didn't want their good time to end so soon. Because then that meant that she had to go back to their team and listen to Weiss. Then her usual perkiness returned, and she looked over to her teammate with curiosity. "Talk to her about what?"
"Something to do with training," Sera told her. "I'm going to see if she can help me a little."
"We could help you!" Ruby offered.
"Thanks, Rubes," she chuckled. "But I don't think you four could teach me to use that sword as well as Pyrrha could."
"…Yeah, you might have a point there," she said. They turned a corner and headed towards the dorms. Students from every kingdom filled the halls.
"Besides," the purple-eyed girl said over the noise of the hallway. "I'm going to need all of your help later."
Ruby perked up at that. "Like with what?" she asked excitedly.
"More training. Just personal training, though. Not like team training. Well, sort of, if you count the fact that it'll be one-on-one team training," she rambled.
"I think I get it," Ruby laughed. "All right, you do what you need to do for the sake of personal improvement. I'm going to go get a snack."
"Milk and cookies?" Sera asked.
Ruby grinned. "Milk and cookies."
The huntress laughed and gave a two-fingered salute before they parted ways. Ruby flashed a grin, then disappeared down the hall in a flurry of rose petals. Sera shook her head, then headed towards team JNPR's room.
. . .
The walk there was rather quiet, but she couldn't help but fee like someone was watching her. Every time she turned around, there was no one to be found, but she just knew that someone was there.
Beacon Academy was a maze, but finally, she was standing in front of her other team's door. Not even bothering to knock, she held her scroll in front of the lock, the door clicked open, and she walked in.
"Sera!" Nora said from her bunk. She removed her pink headphones and grinned before jumping to her feet. Jaune was reading a comic, Ren was meditating on a mat, and Pyrrha was sharpening her lance.
"What's up, team?" she smiled and closed the door behind her. "How's my favorite bunch of misfits?"
"You realize you're part of the misfits, right?" Jaune raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, I fully know that, Vomit Boy," she declared.
"…Ruby told you about that, huh?" he sighed.
Her smile only widened. "I've been told many things."
"So, how's it been?" Nora asked.
"Pretty good, actually," she shrugged. "Been training with Ruby all morning. Speaking of…" she glanced over at Pyrrha. "There's something I'd like to ask you about." Pyrrha only raised an eyebrow, clearly waiting for her to go on. Sera took a deep breath and put her hands on her hips. "If you would be okay with it, I'd like you to help me train to be a better fighter. More than just with a sword—to have the kind of instincts that you have."
"But you're already more than a capable fighter, Sera," she stood, setting her weapon down. "You don't need my help." A flash of self-loathing appeared on Jaune's face, but quickly disappeared.
"I do," she insisted. "I may be pretty decent, but I'm nowhere near where I'd like to be. I'm sloppy, for starters, and I'm not the only person who thinks so."
"Who said you were sloppy?" Nora quirked an eyebrow.
"Goodwitch."
"Ah," the hammer wielder said. "Well, she might have a point, then."
"Thanks, Nora," Sera rolled her eyes.
"Happy to help!"
"Well, then," the amnesiac turned to Pyrrha. "What do you say, Pyrr?
She thought for a moment before nodding. She was already doing a pretty good job training Jaune, and that was almost a pipe dream. How hard could it be to help Sera improve a little. "Of course," she smiled warmly.
"Awesome!" Sera grinned. Her plan was slowly coming together. "When can we start?"
The redhead traded glances with Jaune, then looked back to her. "Tonight."
"Sounds good," the amnesiac nodded. "But I won't go easy on ya."
"I'm sure you won't," Pyrrha said, amused. Sera nodded determinedly, then sat down on Nora's bunk.
"So, how have you all been? It's been a while since I've gotten the chance to be in here for a while," the white-haired girl leaned back.
"Yeah, like two weeks," Nora said.
"That long? Dang," she whistled. Then she saw the miffed expressions on the team's face, and she sat up straighter. "Right… Sorry for not being around as much as I should've."
"A little louder for those in the back," Jaune mumbled.
"You kind of have been neglecting your team," Ren added. "It may be true that you have to divert your attention between two groups of huntsmen, but that doesn't mean you should favor one over the other."
"I'm not—" she said before stopping herself. She took a deep breath and stood, wringing her hands. "I'm not favoring RWBY over you guys. I just… We got into some stuff, and I had to help them out. So, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to 'neglect' you guys."
She hadn't even realized that she'd been spending more time with RWBY than JNPR, and now she felt bad about it. Having to be confronted by them meant that they really were a little ticked about the whole thing. Now she'd just have to make it up to them.
"What kind of stuff?" Nora asked.
"Huh?" she blinked.
"The stuff that you and team RWBY got into. What was it?" Pyrrha repeated.
"Oh! Well, uh… it's kind of a long story," she scratched the back of her head. "With some slightly illegal activities."
"Slightly?" Jaune asked.
"We've got to hear this now!" Nora grinned. Sera just laughed and sat back down.
"Well, okay, then. But just know that none of this leaves this room, got it?" she pointed at each of them.
"Scout's honor," Nora held up three fingers. Then the rest of the team nodded, and Sera took a deep breath.
"All right," she said. "It all started with an epic game of rock-paper-scissors…"
. . .
"A freaking giant robot?" Nora asked with wide eyes once Sera was finished with her story. "You fought a robot, controlled by that Torchwick guy?"
"We all did," she nodded. "Kicked his butt good. And remember, it was all me that won that fight, and don't let anyone tell you different. And I totally kicked that Neo girl's butt again," Sera told the team.
"Right," Jaune smirked. "And where are Roman and this Neo at if you single-handedly won that fight?"
"I strategically allowed them to escape," she said determinedly.
"That doesn't make any sense," Nora stated.
"You don't make any sense!" Sera retorted.
"Hu—What?" Nora said, flabbergasted.
"Now that didn't make any sense," Ren noted.
"Don't you start," the white-haired girl said. "But I know."
"…You might be kinda weird, Sera," Nora said with an amused smile.
"True," the huntress shrugged. "But that's all of it. That's why I haven't been able to be around as much for you guys. Can you, uh… can you all forgive me for that?"
The four members of team JNPR glanced at each other with unsure looks before apparently deciding on something. Then Jaune cleared his throat.
"You gotta help us work on something, and be apart of it," the team leader said.
"Uh, okay," she said, shifting in place. "Help with what?"
"Something for the school dance coming up," Nora added.
"Dance?" the white-haired girl raised an eyebrow. "What dance?"