The next few weeks went by relatively smoothly. Sera was regularly examined by Tai and Qrow to ensure that she was recovering and that all internal damage was healing. Cinder's sword had driven her clean through, and she had the stitches on her back to prove it. Fortunately, it missed her spinal cord, so there wasn't any real permanent damage. Qrow said she might feel the wound even after it was healed, however. She wasn't looking forward to that. On the plus side, she was able to have her stitches removed. Her body had finally closed the wound on its own, so now she just had to be careful of straining herself.

She would still wake up in the middle of the night because she'd moved a certain way to make her injury flare up. That wasn't too fun either. But thanks to some pain meds, it mostly didn't bother her too much throughout the day. The nightmares were what really stuck with her.

Almost every night, she flashed back to that day. The pain in her abdomen wasn't the only thing that made her wake up in a cold sweat. A few times, she woke up to find Ruby, Yang, or Qrow in the room with her. Qrow would be asleep in the chair in the corner of the room, while Yang or Ruby would be in bed with her. They were always across the mattress, to make sure they didn't accidentally hurt her healing injuries. She appreciated that they came to make sure she was okay when she was having those episodes, but they never brought it up in conversation. She appreciated that, too.

One day, she was feeling particularly energetic. She walked down the hall without having to limp or hold onto the wall for support. Not only that, she could walk further without having to rest. Her body was healing, and Sera absolutely couldn't wait to be able to train again. All those long days of doing nothing were eating at her—she had to move and get back to what she did best.

"Sera, good morning," Taiyang smiled warmly in the kitchen with an apron on. Ruby and Qrow were sitting at the table and apparently engaging in an intense eating contest to see who could down as many waffles as quickly as possible. Yang was probably still in her room, sulking.

"Good morning," she said back and took a seat. A plate with a tall stack of fluffy waffles was waiting for her with a side of bacon and a glass of orange juice. She'd prefer some People Like Grapes to drink, but Tai was quick to tell her that soda was inappropriate for breakfast. Nevertheless, she craved the sugary concoction.

"You seem like you're feeling better," Qrow noted.

She smirked and picked up a fork and knife. "You knew that little poke wasn't going to keep me down for that long, old man. You said it yourself."

He chuckled dryly. "Yeah, you have a point. You're actually healing faster than I expected, kid. Most people that take a sword to the gut don't get up and moving as fast as you did."

Sera shrugged and talked through a mouthful of waffle. "Maybe I'm just better than you, geezer."

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Tai chided, sitting in the last chair at the table.

Sera rolled her eyes, but she didn't mean anything by it. Taiyang has made it his personal mission to show her what having a dad is like, with all the good and the bad. Then again, she was pretty sure he was still just fanboying over the possibility that she was Kassandra Kallisto, legendary hero from hundreds of years ago. Sera was still unsure of that. It just didn't make any sense to her how she would still even be alive.

"So," Ruby said between bites, a bright gleam in her silver eyes. "When do you think you'll be ready to fight again?"

"Ruby," Tai said.

"What! She wants to get back to training as much as I want her to!"

Sera felt her abdomen and only slightly winced when her fingers brushed her injury. "Just a little while longer, I think. Then I'll be kicking your butt all over again."

Ruby groaned and mumbled into her waffles. "It was me that mostly kicked your butt."

"Maybe, but I sure did get really good when I was being trained by…" she trailed off, her voice dying at the memory of her sessions with Pyrrha.

"Hey," Qrow said, and she lifted her eyes. "When you're ready to, I'lltrain you, Snowball. Then you'll kick even more butt."

She smiled at that. "You mean you'll finally show me some tricks? It only took months of asking."

He smirked. "Hey, the only reason I didn't was because you weren't ready for this level of combat. But now, I think you might be."

Ruby looked over at him. "You trained me, though."

"Yeah, but that's because I was taking it easy on you," he ruffled her hair with a smirk on his face.

She crossed her arms and huffed. "Whatever."

Sera laughed at the younger girl and went back to her breakfast. She finished the waffles and downed the orange juice, then just talked with the others until they were finished too. She helped Taiyang clean up while Qrow and Ruby went to their usual habits, which consisted of playing some fighting game on the big TV in the living room.

She was in the middle of washing a plate in the sink while Tai was putting up cooking utensils when he turned to look at her.

"You know, I've been wondering. What are you gonna do after you're all healed? Combat training, of course, but like what's the goal?"

She faltered, then went back to scrubbing. Ruby had told her some plan about going to Mistral to finish their training, but they hadn't revealed it to the others yet. Apparently, she'd even sent Jaune a letter pitching the idea, and he, Nora, and Ren were all down for it.

"I dunno. I want to finish school and get my license, but there's no telling when that'll happen. For now, I just want to stick to the old plan—get stronger, so that another Fall of Beacon can never happen."

He chuckled lightly. "Quite a goal to reach. But if you keep at it, you might just attain it. I know that when I was at Beacon with Qrow, our only goal was to protect everyone. Of course, when Ozpin made Qrow and his sister his 'top agents,' things changed. It became about the Maidens, and defeating Salem. Of course, we still wanted to protect people, but now there was even more pressure on us. Sound about right?"

"…Yeah, pretty much," she finished the last of the plates. "I've been meaning to ask. What happened with Ruby and Yang's moms? I mean, I know about Ruby's. And I'm sorry for your loss. But what's up with Yang's? Not exactly mom of the year."

Tai took a deep breath and leaned onto the counter. "Raven is an… interesting person. She used to be a lot like Yang, but now, she's really gone downhill. It's not really my place to say, but just know that you're right—not really mom of the year material. She doesn't visit, barely keeps in touch, and hasn't seen Yang in I don't even remember how long. I hope you never meet her," he chuckled lightly. "But if you want to know about Summer, ask Ruby to take you on a walk. You'll see."

She blinked and dried her hands on a towel. "Okay. I've been wanting to check out the forest around here," she smiled.

"Just don't let Ruby go unarmed, yeah?" he laughed and put the last of the cooking supplies up.

Sera nodded and turned to leave, then stopped and looked back at him. "Hey, Mr. Xiao Long?"

"Please," he chuckled. "Just call me Tai. Saying 'mister' makes me feel old."

"Tai," she corrected. "I know I said it before, but thanks for everything."

"No problem, Sera. You're welcome in my home," he nodded.

"Is it because I'm supposedly Kassandra Kallisto?" she smirked.

"Maybe just a little," Tai laughed. "But no, it's not that."

Sera nodded, a small smile on her face. She turned and headed for the living room to find Qrow and Ruby still gaming. Ruby tossed her controller aside and crossed her arms.

"Not fair!" she huffed.

"I'm telling you, you have to stop just mashing buttons. It doesn't work against me," Qrow laughed and ruffled her hair.

Then Ruby saw Sera and her face lit up. "Sera! Do you want to play?"

"Uh, no thanks, Rubes. I'm not good at those fighting games. I was actually hoping you could come with me on a walk? I feel cooped up in this house."

"Oh, sure!" she shot to her feet. "Let me go get ready. The forest is awesome!" Then she took off, running up the stairs as fast as she could. Sera gave a friendly nod to Qrow, then followed her.

She changed into a set of old clothes. Her purple hoodie with her white coat, white pants, and usual boots. It didn't hurt too bad to put them on, but she was still careful. Finally, she took a deep breath and looked at herself in the mirror. Almost back to normal. Then she saw her silver Omega pendant necklace, and she slipped it over her head.

Sera grabbed her body holster out of habit and froze, looking at the leather straps and weapon holsters. With a moment of indecision, she slipped it over her shoulders and slid her double barrel into its holster and pocketed a handful of shells. Could never be too careful.

When she was ready, she went downstairs and found Ruby standing near the front door in her usual outfit with Crescent Rose clipped to her belt. "Ready?" She smiled.

"Ready," Sera said. Then they went outside and walked towards the forest. Ruby made sure to keep pace with Sera to not out-speed her.

Sera was really taken aback by how impressive the forestry was. Lush grass, large trees, dense foliage, and the sound of birds chirping up above. Sunlight filtered through the trees and warmed her face.

Ruby told her about how she and Yang used to play in the woods when they were little and pretend they were huntresses fighting Grimm. Clearly, they grew up to be what they wanted.

Sera was enjoying the outdoors and talking with Ruby, but she was starting to get tired. She thought she was well enough, but she was starting to walk slower and breathe harder.

"You okay?" Ruby raised an eyebrow.

"Fine," she said and kept going. "Hey, Ruby? I know this is kinda sudden, but what was your mom like?"

She faltered at that. She recovered quickly and smiled. "Just the best. Like, the greatest mom ever. I want to be just like her."

"I wish I knew what that was like," she chuckled and kicked a stray pinecone out of the path. "I don't know if I have any parents. But your dad sure is trying is best to be a surrogate father," she laughed.

"Oh, that's right… Amnesia," Ruby said. "I almost forgot about that."

Sera groaned at the pun and nudged Ruby with her elbow, making the younger girl laugh.

"Seriously," Ruby nudged her back. "I'm sorry you're going through that. It must really suck."

She shoved her hands into her pockets and shrugged. "Eh, after nearly a full school year of having it? I'm used to it. Besides, who cares now?"

"Huh," she said, swinging her arms as she walked. "You don't want to know who you were?"

"I'm kinda more worried about the future than the past now," Sera admitted. "Speaking of… when are the others planning on coming to go to Mistral?"

"Oh! I don't really know. I told them when we should go got a little closer to the beginning of the new school year, but I haven't heard back yet. It might be a little while?"

She shrugged again. "It's not like I'm going anywhere," Sera gestured to her abdomen.

"True," Ruby laughed quietly. "You got beat up, huh?"

"Hey!" she laughed. "Next time, I'm taking her down."

"If you say so," Ruby shrugged. "Come on, we're almost there."

She hurried down the path, and Sera followed her as fast as she could. After another few minutes of walking, they arrived at a cliffside that overlooked the island of Patch. The scenery was beautiful, but what really drew Sera's attention was the pale tombstone sat at the crest of the cliff. She saw a rose identical to the pendant on Ruby's cloak, with the name "Summer Rose" below it.

Ruby approached the tombstone with a solemn expression and fidgeted with the edge of her hood. She glanced at Sera and smiled, then returned her attention to the grave marker.

"Hey, Mom. I know I was just here a few days ago, but I wanted to introduce you to my friend. This is Sera, and she was on my team at Beacon. She was our fifth team member. Weird, right? Apparently, there was one too many students to put on a team of four, so she was added to both team RWBY and team JNPR! Sera has amnesia, she doesn't know who she is. But that didn't stop her from becoming one of my best friends in the whole school! She was at the Fall of Beacon, too. Some crazy woman named Cinder attacked Beacon Tower, and she fought her! Anyways… It's good to talk to you again, Mom. We miss you. Promise I'll visit again soon."

Then Ruby wiped her eyes and turned to Sera with a smile on her face. "They… They never found her body, but Dad had this put here. It was her favorite spot to just sit and think, and it's mine too."

Sera wasn't sure what to say. She stepped forward and stood beside Ruby, looking down at the tombstone. Under Summer's name, the gravestone read: "Thus Kindly I Scatter." She didn't know what it meant, but the phrase must've been important to her somehow. Sera knelt at the grave to pay her respects, and before she knew it, she started talking.

"Hello, Miss Rose. Like Ruby said, I'm Sera. Your daughters have been the greatest friends I've ever known, and I'm glad I met them. Even if their uncle is an obnoxious idiot," she chuckled lightly. "I saw a lot of bad things at the Fall of Beacon, but I promise that nothing like that will ever happen to Ruby or Yang. I'm going to protect them as best as I can, even if they say they can do that themselves. I got hurt, too. Pretty bad, actually. But nothing is going to stop me from fighting for those I care about. I have a feeling that you were the same way. We might be leaving soon, but just know that I'll do my best to make sure your daughters are okay."

She was about to get to her feet, but she faltered for a moment. She wasn't sure why, but something told her to do something more. Sera removed the necklace from her shoulders and inspected it closely, running her thumb over the Omega pendant. Then she hung it on the gravestone and got to her feet. "I promise," she murmured.

A warm breeze suddenly blew from in front of her, rusting her hair gently and carrying a few leaves with it as the wind went past her. She took that as a sign, although she wasn't sure why. Sera nodded and turned away from the cliffside with a warm smile on her face.

Ruby was staring at her with wide eyes. "Thank you," she said quietly.

Sera nodded at her confidently. "I meant every word."

"I believe you," she smiled. "Come on, I can tell that you're tired. Wanna head back and watch some Red vs. Blue?"

The amnesiac smiled. "You know me so well."

. . .

Hours later, Sera and Ruby had rewatched most of the popular web series. They agreed to stop after the Chorus Trilogy, because watching it past that wasn't really worth it. Even Qrow, who had said this show was stupid, had sat down to watch it for a while.

"Hey, isn't it weird that Church sounds like, exactly like your dad?" she tossed a handful of popcorn into her mouth.

"What? Pfft, no he doesn't," Ruby waved the comment away.

Sera shrugged. "Whatever you say."

They snacked and laughed at the silly shenanigans in the show. Eventually, Sera started to nod off. She couldn't help it. From the consumption of chips and chocolate chip cookies, she was ready to take a nap.

When she did eventually fall asleep, she was laying her head on the couch's armrest with her hood up. As far as she knew, Ruby was still munching cookies and watching TV.

Sera's mind did what it usually did when she slept: float through the endless fog in a black void. That is, until Salem decided to pay her a visit.

She was just absently wandering through the fog when her real body suddenly manifested. Sera was never sure why her body formed when Salem invaded her mind, but it was a nice change of pace to just existing as a formless conscious.

"Oh, great," she sighed and looked down at her own hands that had just appeared out of thin air. "What do you want now?"

Salem's presence washed over her with a mixture of amusement and indifference accompanying it. "Can I not just pay my dear double agent a visit?"

Sera scoffed. "Screw that, I'm not a double agent. If one of your lackeys try to use that stupid phrase on me again, I'll shove my Boomstick so far up their ass, the last thing they'll taste is the metal of its barrel."

"Always with the bravado," Salem leered. "Tell me, how did your last battle against my 'lackeys' go?"

"Well, I blasted a member of the Beach Boys off the tower, then was about to kick your new Maiden's ass when she pulled a cheap shot. Sound about right?"

"My dear, you have no clue how outmatched you are against my forces. You'll see, I promise you."

Sera groaned. "Seriously? You're gonna stick with the creepy ass statements? Why don't you, I dunno, mix it up a little? It might make me like you a little more, even though I already know that's not gonna happen. Weird ass witch," she muttered that last bit.

Like before, Salem's rage was obvious. The fog turned crimson as a heavy tension filled the air. Only this time, Sera didn't waver. She grinned and crossed her arms, waiting for whatever she might throw at her this time.

"By the way, I think I might know my true identity now. Kassandra Kallisto? A good friend of mine was nice enough to tell me all about her. I gotta know, how did you manage to pull that off? If it's real, I should be dead by now," she stated. Hopefully, she'd actually get some real answers.

Salem's presence wavered momentarily. "Is that so? I guess I should congratulate you, Kassandra. You've figured it out, and before I could reveal the big surprise. Very well, I'll indulge you. A gift, from me to you."

Sera faltered. "At least that wasn't some kind of ominous B.S."

Then she suddenly wasn't there anymore. The fog faded and the blackness of the void was replaced by a rich landscape of forestry, similar to the woods that she and Ruby explored.

She saw a girl and a tall man with a muscled body, and they both walked down a narrow dirt path through the woods. The girl had medium-length black hair and sapphire blue eyes, a confident smirk on her face. Sera recognized that smirk instantly—it was her own. She saw it every time she looked in a mirror. Black hair and blue eyes aside, that was definitely her same face.

The guy looked older, with dark hair, eyes, and olive skin. He wore bronze armor that was sculpted to look like a man's bare, muscled chest. His legs were exposed, apart from leather sandals and armored shin guards. He carried a long spear and a round, heavy-looking bronze shield. A short sword hung from his hip, and a bronze helmet with narrow eye slits and exposed face with a red plume on its top hung from his shoulders by a leather strip.

Other-Sera wore similar bronze armor over a long blue tunic and carried a sword and shield with a leather pack on her shoulders.

"How much further?" the girl asked.

"Not long," the man assured. "Just a few miles."

Other-Sera groaned. "Gods, we've been walking for hours."

"You're the one that wanted to trek across Anima to find some monster terrorizing a town. It's not my fault it's taking a while," he chuckled, adjusting how he held his shield.

"I'm going to rip that damned thing apart for making me walk this far," she grumbled.

The tall man laughed. "Keep it up and you're going to be the one who gets ripped apart, Kassandra."

Then Sera was suddenly pulled back from the forest and placed back in her foggy dreamscape. She doubled over and clutched her knees, her eyes wide and mind swimming from what she'd just seen.

"What… What was that?"

"A memory," Salem mused. "Refreshing, yes? That was a flashback from your past life. How does it feel to finally discover the truth?"

Sera looked up, her face sour. "Why did I have black hair and blue eyes?"

"I… What?" Salem asked, clearly confused.

"I mean, what happened to me to make me look different? Like did I just change out of nowhere, or—"

"Enough!" Salem said loudly, the dream shaking around Sera. "I've grown tired of this game. Our next meeting may not be so friendly."

"This was friendly?" Sera scoffed, and the void rumbled around her. Then Salem's presence withdrew abruptly, and she was alone.

"Gods, I hate that fucking woman…" she muttered.

. . .

She sat bolt upright on the couch and sighed heavily before falling onto her back and resting her hand on her face. Sera moved her hand up along her face, pushing her hair back and exhaling heavily. "Holy shit…"

"What was that?" Ruby mumbled and sat up, her hair a rat's nest. Apparently, she'd fallen asleep too, and Red vs. Blue was still playing on TV. A pair of super soldiers were facing off while intense rock music blasted through the speakers.

"N-Nothing, Ruby. Just go back to sleep," she said quietly.

"Alrighty then…" Ruby fell onto the couch and pulled her hood over her head while mumbling to herself.

Sera smirked and quietly got to her feet, then slipped upstairs as quickly as she could. She found Qrow's room and rapped on the door three times.

"…Yeah?" she heard a gruff voice say.

"Qrow," she said.

A few moments later, Qrow opened the door with bleary eyes and his hair messed up on one side. "What is it?" he mumbled, his eyes half-lidded. He wore gray pajamas and a tank top.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up," she said.

"Don't worry about it," he waved his hand and walked back into his room before sitting on the edge of the bed.. "Come in."

Sera stepped inside and stood awkwardly in the bedroom. Qrow uncorked his flask and looked at her expectantly.

"…Salem." She said with a sense of finality.

The huntsman's eyes widened, then he took a swig from his flask. "Okay, let's get to it. What'd she say?"

She recounted the conversation and vision from her past, before she came to Beacon. Qrow listened carefully, clinging on to each word—especially when she got to the flashback part. Once she was finished, he downed the rest of his flask and tossed it aside before wiping his face with both hands.

"Holy Brothers, kid…"

"I know," she rocked on her heels and fidgeted with her fingers. "It's a lot."

"That's putting it fucking lightly," he scoffed.

She flinched. She'd never heard Qrow curse like that, but she could understand why. Sera was just surprised.

Seeing her reaction, his eyes widened slightly and he got to his feet. "Sorry about that. It's just… Jeez, kid."

"Could she be lying? I mean, I feel like making up a little scene like that could be well within her power," she said.

"You're not wrong," he chuckled and picked up his flask, then sat it on his nightstand. "But I don't think she's making it up. Salem doesn't lie, as far as I know, which isn't much. No, she ain't lying. But damn… Tai was right."

Sera toyed with the edge of her coat. "…Yeah."

Qrow sighed and rested his elbows onto his knees. "Get some sleep, we'll talk more tomorrow."

She nodded and turned away, heading for the door.

"Snowball."

"Yeah?" she turned.

"You doing okay?"

"…Sure, Qrow. I'm okay."

He nodded. "Alright. Just checking. Don't be scared to talk to me or Tai… Keep all that from my nieces, yeah?"

"Of course," she said. "But… we should probably tell them at some point, right?"

Qrow waved the comment away. "Only if they need to know. Is that clear?"

"…Yeah," she sighed. "I just feel bad for not being able to tell them what's really going on. They both could tell I held something back when I told them what happened in Beacon, I just know it."

"I know, kid. Believe me. But it's best if they aren't told yet. It might do more harm than good. Don't worry, I'll get around to it when the time is right."

"If you say so…" she exhaled and turned away.

"Sera," he said, a little more urgently. When she faced him, his expression softened. "Don't worry too much, yeah? Everything will be okay."

"…Okay," she nodded. "Goodnight, Qrow."

He smirked. "Goodnight, Snowball."

She groaned at the nickname and slammed the door behind her before heading to her room. Sera stripped out of her combat gear and leaned her shotgun against the wall before falling into her bed and snuggling into the mattress.

Sera turned onto her back and stared up at the ceiling, finding herself too wired to sleep. "What the fuck am I?"

The next morning, she sat up with bleary eyes and stretched her arms widely. Sera didn't sleep the whole night. Partly because she was too busy thinking about what Salem had shown her, partly because she was afraid the witch would invade her mind again. Sera knew that if she wanted to, she could very likely "activate" her again. If she went crazy in Tai's house, she'd never forgive herself. And she had a feeling they wouldn't either.

Sera got out of bed and took a quick shower, trying to wash her sorrows away. Once she was out, the huntress put on a simple outfit of her purple hoodie and a pair of black jeans.

She stared at her reflection in the mirror, eyes searching her face like she was expecting her skin to turn white and her irises red. When they didn't, she sighed and left the bathroom.

Back on Beacon Tower, she'd fought Cinder in that transformed state and had her on the ropes. If she could somehow tap into that power and use it as her own…

Sera got onto her bed and sat cross-legged before resting her palms on her knees and closing her eyes. She breathed slowly and carefully, focusing only on the moment where she'd broken free of that strange mind control. She could see it. Cinder standing in front of her with her hand on Pyrrha, the smell of something burning, the feeling of the wind blowing her hair. Then it happened—she screamed as loud as she could, then that veil of violet aura swallowing her body while her form changed and morphed until she looked completely different.

She clung onto that feeling, digging deeper and deeper in an attempt to discover that power again. But… nothing happened. It felt like she'd hit a sudden barrier before she could tap into what she was seeking. Sera exhaled and allowed her eyes to blink open. She hated that she could never achieve what she wanted this way. First was trying to discover her semblance. Now, it's this weird transformation.

'Wait,' her eyes widened slightly. 'My semblance.'

Her mind went back to that moment while she was fighting Cinder, when it looked like everything around her had come to a standstill.

Someone knocked on her door lightly, and her eyes flew towards the noise.

"Come in," she said, and the door opened slightly. Qrow Branwen pushed it open and peeked inside.

"You doing okay, kid?"

"Yeah," she nodded slightly. "Just meditating. I was… trying to see if I could access that power I used on top of Beacon Tower."

He frowned slightly and stepped inside, then closed the door behind him. After shoving his hands into his pockets, he strolled to the window beside Sera's bed to look outside. "I'm not sure if that's the best idea. You might accidentally trigger whatever made you go crazy like that. So, maybe don't try that just yet, huh?"

"That's not going to happen again, ever," she said determinedly. "Besides, when I changed, I was in complete control. I think that if I can use it again, I could make it my own. It'd help out in a fight," she chuckled quietly. "There's also this—I think I might've started to unlock my semblance. I remember telling you and Ozpin about it on the train, but when I fought Cinder, it happened again. Only, I didn't feel exhausted afterwards. Maybe that transformed state strengthened it? I dunno, but… it was like everything around me had slowed down to a near complete stop. Cinder moved slowly, her fire barely even flickered. I think I—"

"Slowed down time," Qrow murmured. "If that's true, then that's one of the most powerful semblances I've ever heard of."

She thought about it for a moment. "I'm not sure if that's what I did. Something felt… off. If it happens again, I can know more, I think."

He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "I'll think on it and see if I can figure something out. Never mind it for now. How are you feeling?"

Sera looked down at herself and lifted her shirt until she could see the scar on her abdomen. When she'd woken up that morning, she hadn't hurt. She hadn't really thought about it, but she felt normal. Sera ran her finger along the scar, feeling nothing but the sensation of her own skin. She dropped her shirt and grinned at the huntsman.

"I feel good. Really good."

He smirked. "Good. Come on," Qrow walked towards the door with a rather pleased look on his face.

"Where are we going?" she raised an eyebrow.

Qrow stopped just outside of her room. "You're the one who wanted to get back to training, kid. Let's go."

Sera's eyes lit up and a smile spread across her face. She shot out of bed and started putting her boots on, then grabbed her body holster and ran out the door.

Minutes later, the two of them were facing each other from a dozen feet away just outside of Tai's house. They each held their swords at their sides, their eyes never leaving each other.

"You ready for this, kid?" he asked.

"Squaring off against a licensed huntsman? Oh, yeah. I've been waiting to kick your butt, old man," she rested Igneous Amethyst on her shoulder. She didn't care if she was still just in her hoodie and some casual pants, combat clothes weren't necessary for a sparring match.

Qrow scoffed. "We'll see, Snowball. You did just only just now get better, so maybe we take it a little easy—"

"Too much talk, fight now!" Sera rushed forward and swung Igni at Qrow. She smiled when the action didn't make her entire body erupt in pain.

He was quick to react, blocking her attack instantaneously. "Good," he chuckled. "You're still slow, though."

She frowned and dislodged her sword before swinging again, this time at his legs. Harbinger flashed in the sunlight and deflected her attack, then the huntsman smirked and went on the offensive.

Sera clenched her jaw and stepped back, just barely managing to block his attacks while he pressed her. 'I'm rusty,' she thought with distaste. Nevertheless, she wasn't going down easy.

She sidestepped a kick from Qrow and brought her sword up fast, managing to land a hit on his shoulder.

"Good!" he laughed and swung his sword at her. With a quick grin on her face, she parried the blow and thrusted the tip of her blade towards his chest. Qrow evaded it easily and smacked her with the flat of his sword, and she felt herself lose balance before falling to the ground with grunt.

"Ow," she muttered. She saw a hand appear over her, and she rolled her eyes before taking it. Qrow helped her to her feet and smirked.

"Not bad. Still shaking the rust off?"

"Something like that," she dusted herself off.

"You wanna keep going?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Duh," she scoffed. "I'm not a kid."

"Yes, you are," Qrow chuckled. "Wanna kick this up a notch?" He suddenly swung his sword, transforming it into a long scythe that he held at his side.

Sera smirked and sheathed her sword, then pulled Jupiter from its place behind her waist. The purple guitar elongated to its full size, then she clicked the button to transform it into an axe.

Qrow nodded, then ran at her. Sera raised her weapon and blocked the attack, her boots digging into the dirt. She dislodged their weapons and swung as hard as she could, but Qrow was quick to block it. They traded blows for a few more moments, then the huntsman swept his scythe in a wide arc, and Sera let her instincts take over. She flipped backwards like she's done many times before, but as soon as she left the ground, a flash of pain traveled through her body and she gasped at the burning sensation.

Sera hit the ground and fell onto her shoulder, clutching her abdomen firmly while her eyes fluttered. Burning flashes of agony washed over her and she groaned incoherently.

"Kid!" Qrow dropped his scythe and knelt down beside her, his face clearly frightened. "Sera, talk to me!"

After a moment, the pain receded until it was only a dull throbbing in her abdomen. "I'm okay…" she murmured and shakily picked herself off the ground, her arms threatening to give out.

"No, you're not," he said worriedly. "This is my fault. I shouldn't've let you fight so soon."

Once she was to her feet, Sera picked Jupiter off the ground and slung it over her shoulders. "I would've just made you do it anyway," she smirked. "But I guess I'm not ready yet." Her shoulders sagged.

Qrow smirked and sheathed his sword. "Yeah, you probably would've. C'mon, let's get you inside."

"Probably a good idea," she panted lightly.

The two of them walked back to the house, with Sera still holding her abdomen. It throbbed with dull pain as they neared the cabin.

"For the record, you did pretty well. For a pipsqueak."

Sera smirked and watched him pull open the sliding glass door. "And you seem to have lost a step, old man."

"Hey, don't start getting cocky just 'cause I held back against you. Wouldn't look good for a huntsman to be beating up on an injured kid, now would it?"

"Whatever you say," she chuckled quietly, but she knew he was right. She'd seen Qrow fight. In this little sparring match, he might've as well had one arm tied behind his back.

"At least you even lasted that long," he shrugged, then looked at her with a playful smirk. "Progress."

"Progress," she repeated. "Slow, slow progress."

"Better than none at all," he ruffled her hair. "Come on, I'll get Tai to make you some breakfast."

Sera smiled at that. She was absolutely starving.