To her relief, Sera's dreams were rather peaceful. No world-shattering flashbacks, no black abyss with Salem's voice taunting her. Instead, a different kind of memory of Kassandra's played in her head. At least, she thought it was a memory.
She was walking on the beach in a blue tunic like the one she'd seen Kassandra wearing in the other flashbacks. The sand was soft and warm between her toes. A breeze blew her hair gently, and a smile formed on her face. When she looked over, she saw the ocean's waves lapping at the beach and darkening the sand.
Something pulled at her hand and made her stop. Sera turned her head to see why someone was stopping her, and her eyes widened at who it was.
Weiss Schnee was standing behind her with a soft smile on her lips. She looked exactly the same as the last time she saw her, apart from the white beach dress and the fact that her hair was down. Her pale skin appeared to glow in contrast to the white sand of the beach.
This wasn't a memory, she realized. It was just a dream. Probably the first normal dream she's ever had since waking up in Forever Fall. And of course, it involved Weiss.
Sera felt her heart beat faster as butterflies formed in her stomach. Weiss smiled and interlaced their fingers, then pulled her along the beach. Sera had to remind herself how to walk to keep up. Her face burned tomato red as she followed Weiss along the oceanside.
"Well, are you coming back?" Weiss asked casually, looking over at Sera beside her.
"I'm trying," she said, her eyes roaming the ex-heiress's delicate features. Weiss's usual mischievous smirk was on her face, like she was about to insult her in an endearing way.
"Well, hurry up already," she laughed, squeezing Sera's hand gently.
"I'm stranded in the middle of a forest," Sera said. "I don't know when I'll see you all again, Weiss."
"And who's fault was that?" she raised her eyebrows.
"What?" she blinked.
Weiss rolled her eyes playfully and kicked the sand, sending it flying a few feet in front of her. "You didn't have to jump into that pit, you know. You didn't have to abandon us."
"I didn't abandon anyone," she said defensively. "I was protecting you. I couldn't..."
"What? Let what happened in Beacon happen to us? Let it go already, Sera. You're not helping anyone by clinging to the past. It's hurting your chances of having a better future. You can't live in fear of Salem, or of Cinder. You need to get it together and take the fight to them."
Sera stopped, and Weiss did too. The ex-heiress raised an eyebrow and stepped closer to her, looking up slightly to meet Sera's eyes.
"That's what I'm doing," Sera said. "I just need to find you and the others. Then we're going to tear them a new one. I don't care what Salem throws at me. Another Maiden, some big Grimm, or more psychos like Tyrian. Nothing is going to stop me," she said, growing more confident with every word.
A small smile tugged at the corners of Weiss's mouth. "Why?"
"Because..." she thought for a moment. "I need to save everyone. And stopping Salem is the only way to do that."
The ex-heiress placed her hand on Sera's cheek, and she stiffened at her touch. Her face felt hot and uncomfortable, and her stomach seemed to think doing barrel rolls was fun now.
"Why are we so important, though? Me, Ruby, Yang, Blake, and the others," she murmured.
"You're my family," Sera said without hesitation. "Family is worth dying for, and I'd die before anything happened to any of you. That's why I took Cinder to the bottom of the pit. What happened to Pyrrha and Cerulean can never happen to you."
Weiss smiled, her thumb lightly caressing her cheek. "To all of us, or me?"
"Both," she said, staring into Weiss's icy blue eyes that reflected the sunlight. They looked like glittering pools of the clearest water, and the sight made Sera's chest feel warm and fuzzy.
"Why?"
"Gods, you ask a lot of questions in a dream," Sera inhaled under her breath. "Because you're important to me. When I was brought to Beacon, I had nothing. Then I met all of you, and I knew what having a home was like. A family. Being there with you was the best time of my life, and to have that again, I'd give anything. But surviving The Fall, then seeing you again in Mistral..."
Weiss smiled lightly, her lips closed and eyes sparkling in the sun. "And?"
Sera gulped and put her hand on Weiss's, pulling it away from her cheek to interlace their fingers comfortably. "I realized how much I cared about you. I realized... how much I like you."
"At least you finally admitted it," Weiss giggled. "You moron. When you find her, you better tell her what you just said to me. Don't let this dream just be a dream."
"I will," she promised.
"You better," Weiss poked her in the chest. "She'll kill you if you don't."
Sera laughed, finding it weird that she was talking about her feelings for Weiss with a dream version of her. "I know. I promise."
"Good," Dream Weiss snickered. She draped her arms around Sera's neck and smiled up at her. Sera felt her heart hammer against her ribs harder, warmth spreading across her face like she'd fallen ill.
She saw Weiss lean towards her, and her stomach flip-flopped. Even if it was a dream, she was nervous as hell.
Weiss's face kept coming towards her, and she closed her eyes. The sound of the waves grew louder. The wind blew harder. Sera felt Weiss's breath on her lips, and...
She sat bolt upright in her bedroll, eyes wide and chest heaving. The sudden cold made her rub her arms and shiver. She wasn't at the beach with Weiss. That thought made her want to go back to sleep, just to be somewhere far away from the snowy forest.
Sera laughed and hung her head, resting against her palm. "Just a dream..."
If it hadn't been done before now, what she'd seen in her dream only solidified what she felt towards a certain Schnee heiress. Great. She was trying to save the world from Salem, and she had a schoolgirl crush.
"Nice dream?" Kassandra asked slyly.
"You saw it, didn't you?" Sera mumbled.
In front of her, Kassandra flickered into existence kneeling on the snow. A broad grin was plastered on her face and her eyes twinkled excitedly. She ruffled Sera's hair and laughed.
"It's okay, we've all been there. Everyone dreams about the person they like. But not every girl dreams about another girl, you know," she winked.
"Ugh," Sera put her face in her hands. "Great. My first real dream, and I get to share it with the past version of myself."
Kassandra shrugged and slapped her shoulder. "Like I said, we're in this together. Come on, time to get up."
"No..." Sera whined and fell onto her bedroll.
"Oh, good. You're up," a new voice said.
She looked over to see Dale kneeling by the fire with a wide cast iron pot sitting on the flames. With a piece of folded cloth, he lifted the lid and steam emanated from what was inside. He cracked a grin and covered the pot again.
"Biscuits're almost ready," he stood, removing his hat and sweeping his dark brown hair back.
"Biscuits?" she blinked, glancing at the pot. "When did you have time for that?"
Dale chuckled and hooked a thumb at his horse. The Palamino was tied to a tree and pawing at the snow, trying to uncover frozen grass. "Arion over there always has enough supplies to last. Makin' biscuits is easy enough, just takes a while. After Isaac woke me up for my watch, I decided to get breakfast goin' while you all were still asleep. That okay with you, Miss Huntress?"
Sera rolled her eyes and crawled out of her bedroll. She hunched down by the fire and warmed herself with its flames, trying to ignore the grumbling of her stomach from the smell of food. It was still a bit dark outside, but the sun was beginning to light up the area. It was dawn, she'd realized.
"Thank you," said, glancing at the tall man.
He dipped his head slightly in acknowledgement. "No problem. I was hungry, anyway," he chuckled, crossing his arms over his coat. "So, I suppose we're heading to Argus, then?"
She blinked, taken aback by the question. "You plan to come with us?"
"I don't see why not. Argus is a nice town, and I'm heading north anyway. Might as well accompany some huntsmen for the trip. Strength in numbers, eh?"
Sera pursed her lips. She wasn't sure how to feel about the offer.
"You don't trust me," he noted, exhaling through his nose.
"Should I?"
He gave a wry smile. "I'm not your enemy, kid. I don't know what you've been through to be that jumpy, but if I wanted to do anything, wouldn't it have been when the rest of you were asleep?"
She shifted onto her knee and wrapped her coat tightly around her. "I suppose so."
Dale smirked and kneeled by the fire. "I'm no huntsman, but everyone needs help every once and a while. I suppose my way of paying you all back for doin' what you do, is to help you get where you're goin'. That sound like an okay arrangement to you?"
"I guess," she said, hugging her knees to her chest. "Who are you, really? A traveler, sure. But with that gun belt, I'm assuming you can fight."
He laughed dryly and reached down to draw two revolvers from their holsters. The guns were simple, but elegant. Their barrels were long, about five and a half inches long with polished nickel surfaces. The swing-out cylinders looked like they held around nine shots each, and their grips were ivory in color. The revolvers looked old fashioned, like something she'd seen in a movie about gunslingers and outlaws back in Patch. Overall, rather impressive pieces of hardware.
"From a distance, yeah," he spun one of the guns on his finger and holstered it smoothly. "Not everyone has the benefit of using aura, but I do what I can."
Sera raised her eyebrows. "Are those things any good against something bigger than a Creep, though? No offense, but most Grimm need a little more than a pea shooter."
"I'm so glad you asked," he pulled a pair of shells from his coat pocket and held them out to her. They were rather large, compared to the rounds from Bela's pistol. One had a pointed red tip and the other was blunt, with a sort of primer at the end. "Dust-infused, good for penetrating the armor of just about anything. The other one is explosive, and boy does it pack a nasty punch."
Dale drew his revolvers again and lifted the one in his right hand, "One for precision shooting." He raised the gun in his left hand, "The other for making fireworks. Savvy?"
Sera smirked and handed the shells back to him. "Not bad. I'm kind of good with one of those myself, actually."
He holstered his guns and pocketed the ammunition. "Yeah? Good. My style of shooting is a bit of a lost art these days. You're not trying to sling that little automatic like it's one of these, are you?" he pointed at Bela's pistol tucked into Sera's coat.
"Huh?" she looked where he was pointing. "Oh. No, this is Bela's. When we went down with the train, I borrowed it to help fight the Lyndwyrm. I guess I just haven't given it back yet."
"Hm," he scratched his chin. "And your other weapon... is a guitar?"
Sera laughed. "Basically, yeah."
"Jeez. Huntsmen sure are strange when it comes to their tools."
"You have no idea," she sighed, remembering all the weird stuff she saw in the Vytal Tournament. Buzzsaw wrists? Really? What was that guy thinking?
"So," he cleared his throat. "How good're you at shooting?"
Sera shrugged with one shoulder. "Not bad, I think. Actually, handguns are pretty much the only thing I can use. Everything else is just... ugh. For the longest time, I couldn't even hit a target. Then I tried a pistol, and wham. Guess I haven't gotten many opportunities to practice, though. Had a shotgun, but those things don't really need to be aimed."
Dale's eyes twinkled humorously. "How's about we give your friends a lil' wake-up call?"
A mischievous smile spread across Sera's face. "What did you have in mind?"
Just a few moments later, Sera was standing near the campfire with one of Dale's revolvers in her hand. He'd set up a makeshift target by carving a bullseye into a tree about twenty feet away, then hurried back to her side to get out of the line of fire.
She was standing so that Neo was behind her to the right, and Isaac and Bela were to the left.
"Time to see what the big bad huntress is made of," Dale chuckled from beside her.
"Shut up," she laughed.
Sera raised the gun, appreciating the weight in her hand. It was perfectly balanced, unlike most other handguns she's held. She aimed with one arm, standing with her toes pointed away from the target and her upper body turned slightly at the hips in a comfortable stance.
"Off to a good start," Dale commented. "At least you got the pose down."
She silently accepted the compliment and gazed down the gun's barrel, lining it up with the distant tree. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled slowly, and squeezed the trigger.
The recoil made the barrel kick upwards, but Sera kept a firm grip and refused to let it jump out of her hand. A split second after she fired, she watched a portion of the tree splinter from the bullet's impact. She'd hit just below the center, and a little to the right.
Neo shot out of her bedroll with her parasol poised to strike, a wild, frightful look in her pink and brown eyes. When she saw that there was no danger, a look of irritation flashed across her face. Sera gave her an apologetic smile.
Isaac did something similar, shooting to his feet with his bow in his hands. "What the hell?" he sighed when he realized what had happened.
"Target practice," Dale smirked, taking his gun from Sera. "Not too bad, kid. A little off-target, though."
"Yeah, I-" she started.
Dale quickly hammer-fired a trio of rounds at the tree, and Sera watched each one hit the center of the target in a perfect triangle. Then he flashed a grin, spun his revolver, then reached around his back to fire a fourth shot. It hit in the center of his triangle, and splintered wood exploded from the target's center.
Sera crossed her arms. "Show-off."
He tipped his hat and smoothly holstered his gun. "Practice, miss."
Isaac notched an arrow and fired down the firing lane, his shot also hitting the center of the target.
"Boom," Isaac mimicked an explosion with one hand, and the tree immediately detonated from his arrow's explosive head.
The tree groaned and fell over, wood grinding against wood, and landed on the ground with a heavy thud.
Dale pursed his lips. "Show-off."
Isaac flashed a grin and put his bow away in its place on his back. "Can we leave now?"
Sera looked past him and at Bela, who was still in her coma-like state. She's been unconscious after taking a shot to the head when the train cars fell. Sera was hoping the loud noise might rouse her.
"We need to wake her up," she murmured.
Isaac glanced down at his friend and kneeled beside her, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"What did that to her? The Lyndwyrm?" Dale asked.
"No, she hit her head when we fell. Concussion," Sera answered.
A look of worry flashed across his face as he looked down at Bela. "That's not good. If she hasn't woken up yet..."
Isaac tensed. "What do you mean?"
He bent down and examined her face. She was still as catatonic as ever. Dale looked up at them, "May I try something? It may hurt her a little, but it should do the trick."
Sera met Isaac's eyes. She was his friend, so he got the final say.
"What do you think?" he asked her.
Great.
"If he says he can help, I say we let him. If a little pain is what it takes, I doubt she'll be too upset," she shrugged.
"Yeah..." he murmured. Isaac turned to Dale. "Go for it."
The gunslinger nodded and reached into his pocket, pulling out a pair of small yellow crystals. He tapped them together, and a tiny jolt of electricity connected their two peaks.
"Ohhh..." Sera said. "Shock her. Got it."
"Just a little jolt," Dale grinned. "Keep going?"
"Yeah," Isaac answered.
He nodded, clicked the crystals together with a bit more force, then brought the Dust to Bela's temples. Sera saw the electricity shoot into her skull and made an appropriate, "Ouch," sound.
Instantly, Bela's bright blue eyes shot open and she sat bolt upright, inhaling sharply. Dale jumped at the sudden movement, and Sera laughed at him.
"Bela!" Isaac exclaimed and kneeled beside her, grabbing her shoulders so she didn't run off.
She looked around wildly, like she didn't know where she was. Bela hugged herself and rubbed her sides, shivering from the cold.
"What the hell?" she muttered, looking at each of them. "Where the hell are we? Where's the train?"
"It broke," Sera said. Neo nudged her.
"What?" she exclaimed. "What do you mean 'broke'? I remember a crash, and..."
"And the train broke," Sera nodded.
Bela sighed and brought a hand to her temple. "What happened?"
For the next few minutes, they explained everything that's happened ever since the train. The Lyndwyrm, being found by Dale, then setting up camp. To Sera, it felt like years have passed thanks to Kassandra's memories. In reality, she'd left the Branwen camp only yesterday. That was a bit jarring.
"...And I borrowed this. Sorry," Sera held out Bela's pistol to her once she was finished with the story.
Bela blinked at her and took her weapon, inspecting it for damage. She shoved it into its holster and climbed to her feet, trying to hide a glare meant for Sera.
"Are you feeling okay?" Isaac asked. "You've been out for a while. Sera said you had a concussion."
The raven-haired huntress thought for a moment. She examined her arms and legs, frowning. "A little dizzy, but that's about it." She glanced at Neo. "Who're you again?"
Neo blinked uncertainly.
"Confusion," Dale noted. "Side effect."
"No, she's right," Isaac said. "This girl didn't look like this when we fought together. After the crash, she completely changed."
"It's her semblance," Sera explained. She nudged Neo with her elbow. "Come on, do the thing."
She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms sarcastically. Neo shimmered with pink light that obscured her form. She grew a few inches taller until the light disappeared, and she was an exact clone of Sera.
That was kind of jarring. Everything was an exact copy from her clothes down to her purple eyes. She saw her own long white hair reaching down past her shoulder blades. It was a rat's nest. Her face looked a little dirty, too. To be fair, she had been sleeping out in the open.
"Whoa," Dale said. "Neat trick."
Sera quickly fixed her hair as best as she could and shot a glare at Neo. "Not funny."
Neo smirked and raised her hand, bringing her index finger and thumb close together. A little funny.
She thrust her arm towards Neo and wrapped it around her neck, then used her fist to give her the meanest knuckle sandwich she's ever given. Neo squirmed and fought against her, but Sera's grip was like iron.
"Not so funny now, is it Pipsqueak?" she laughed while Neo futilely tried to kick and slap at her.
Pink light shimmered across Neo as she returned to her usual self, distressed and uncomfortable from what she was being put through. Sera released her, and the shorter girl shoved her away, an angry scowl on her face. She threw a punch at Sera, and the huntress blocked it with ease.
"All right, chill out," Sera laughed as Neo attempted to pummel her. When Neo didn't stop, she grabbed her wrists and spun her around, pinning her arms behind her back.
"Fiery, ain't she?" Dale chuckled dryly while he watched the two girls struggle. He lit a cigarette and flipped his lighter closed, then turned to Bela and Isaac. "You good to travel, kid?"
Bela nodded firmly, and Isaac clapped a hand to her shoulder. She promptly shook it off and gave him a warning look.
"Good," Dale scoffed. "Long ride ahead of us to the nearest settlement."
Sera stopped fighting with Neo and looked at him. "How long?"
He shrugged. "Day or two. Maybe more, depending on the weather."
She looked at the sky, still pinning Neo's arms behind her. It was as gray and dreary as ever. The clouds seemed calm, and there was no wind.
"Think it's gonna storm?" Isaac asked.
"It will," he kicked a flurry of snow onto what was left of the fire, and it went out with a dying hiss. "Blizzard, I think. Few hours, maybe. Not sure, though."
"It doesn't look like it's going to storm," Bela noted, looking up.
"Yes, it does. He's right. We should cover as much ground as we can and find shelter," Kassandra said.
Dale went to untie his horse, Arion, from the tree and climbed into the saddle. He guided Arion towards them and rested his arm on the saddle horn.
"I'll ride on ahead. Think there's an old cabin further north, but I ain't sure how far. When I find it, I'll double back to get you all. Think you can trust me enough to do that, Miss Huntress?"
Sera resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her new nickname. Seems like everywhere she went, someone was finding something new to call her.
"Yeah, I think I can manage that," she said, releasing Neo. The shorter girl slapped at her shoulder and tried to bite her arm, but with a little aura, it felt more like being tickled.
Dale smirked and took hold of Arion's reins. "Be back in a few. Just follow my trail. And no more concussions."
Sera glanced at Neo, considering the idea. She frowned in return.
"Try my best," she gave a half shrug.
He snorted and flicked the reins, and Arion went trudging into the snow heading north.
She glanced at the others and went to work collecting her things and stuffing them into her pack. Isaac rolled up his and Bela's bedrolls and grabbed his bow, slinging it over his shoulder. Bela simply checked her guns, and Neo rested her parasol on her shoulder.
"All right, let's go," Sera muttered, following Arion's trail. Neo followed closely behind her, with Bela and Isaac taking the rear.
"So, what? Are we following her now?" Bela asked in a hushed tone that could've been heard in Patch.
"Yeah. Got any better ideas?" Isaac asked.
"...No," she admitted.
"That's what I thought," he chuckled.
Sera glanced over her shoulder at them. "What're you two gonna do when we get there? Argus, I mean."
Isaac shifted his pack and kept walking. "Dunno. Probably get back into working security for people trying to travel."
"Because that worked so well the first time. Great idea, by the way," Bela said.
"Hey, so what if we hit a snag? Doesn't mean the next one will be like that," he said.
Always looking on the positive side, this guy, Sera thought.
"You guys could come with me," Sera offered. "Neo and I are going to Atlas when we find my friends."
Bela scoffed. "Atlas? You kidding? That place is a deathtrap."
"Says who? The kingdom is locked down," she said.
"Exactly. If General Ironwood's shutting down the whole country, he's either stupid or he's gone crazy. After Vale fell, everyone was looking to Atlas for help, and he turned his back."
Sera whistled. "Wow. Maybe I can talk some sense into him. James is probably just a little skittish since The Fall."
"You know him?" Isaac raised an eyebrow.
She shrugged. "You could say that. He and I run in some of the same circles," she chuckled to herself.
"Who are you?" Bela said, aghast.
Sera flashed a sly smile. "Just a girl trying to survive. Maybe avenge a friend or two."
"That's vague," she muttered.
She got an idea. Kassandra had said to ask Nora and Ren about it, but maybe these two knew something.
"Actually, I have a question—have either of you ever heard of The Black Dragon?"
"Black Dragon?" Isaac blinked. "Sounds familiar."
"It's a fairytale," Bela said. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Just wondering," she murmured, turning her eyes ahead of her.
They walked in silence for another twenty minutes before someone spoke again. She kept following Arion's footprints. Dale had gone out of view soon after he'd departed, and she had no clue where this supposed cabin was or when he'd be back. If there was a blizzard and they were caught out in the open, she wasn't sure they'd be able to survive it. Aura helped with staying warm, but it couldn't last forever.
"Really, who are you?" Bela asked. "From what that story earlier, you and the mute clearly know how to fight. Lyndwyrms usually level entire buildings before they're taken down. You know Ironwood on a first name basis, and you were there during The Fall. Who the hell are we lost in the woods with?"
"Just a huntress. In training," she said, unsure of what else to tell her. "Kind of a long story."
"It's not like we don't have time," Bela gestured to the trees around them.
She sighed and hung her head, then straightened herself out and kept walking. Bela wasn't going to just drop the subject, that much was obvious. To her annoyance, she explained how she'd woken up with amnesia and got found by a local huntsman, aka, Qrow. Then she was brought to Beacon, yada yada yada, and how she came to know Ironwood because of Ozpin.
Naturally, she left out, well, everything else. Anything that had to do with Salem and the Maidens. After skipping ahead to explain why she and the others had gone to Haven, she told the same white lie she'd said to Isaac—that they'd gone to talk with Lionheart about attending the next semester, then the White Fang attacked.
She didn't have an answer for why she and her friends were split up, though. The best she could come up with was that she'd stayed behind to try and help the Mistralian police figure out why the Fang had even attacked to begin with, and that she was supposed to meet them in Argus once she was done.
"You a detective, too?" Isaac joked.
"Wouldn't be the first time I helped bust a crime ring, honestly," she shrugged. Judging by the surprised looks on Isaac's and Bela's faces, she figured she should explain what had happened with Junior and the captured Faunus.
"Jeez," Bela muttered. "All that, and you're still in training?"
"Yep," she said, emphasizing the P. "Wild, huh? Maybe they'll give me my license early because of good behavior."
Neo smirked, like she thought that was funny.
"Got something to say, Tiny?" she raised an eyebrow.
She shook her head and gave a shrug, then signed, Left out the part where I kicked your butt."
"You did not!" she laughed, playfully shoving her. Neo smiled a little wider and kept walking.
Isaac chuckled at the two of them and folded his hands behind his head, elbows pointed to the sky. "So, how long you two know each other? You seem close."
"Pfft," Sera scoffed. "She and I used to try to kill each other. The first time we met was when my friends and I were busting a White Fang robbery our freshman year. She was helping them."
"What?" Bela asked, giving Neo a dangerous look.
The ice cream girl smiled awkwardly gave an exaggerated shrug like, What can ya do?"
Sera stepped over a fallen tree and landed waist-deep in snow. Neo jumped over her and helped her up, pulling her arm with all her strength to free her.
"It was a long time ago," Sera brushed powder off her legs. "A lot has changed. Right, Neo?"
Neo nodded eagerly and helped get snow off of her, and Sera gave a grateful smile.
"Still," Bela crossed her arms and eyed Neo warily. "Who says she doesn't still have ties to the Fang?"
"I do," Sera said, facing straight ahead as she kept walking through the snow.
"That answers that," Isaac murmured.
Neo turned her head and stuck her tongue out at Bela.
The silence that followed felt heavy, like some sort of tension now weighed over them.
"I don't think that one cares too much for Neo," Kassandra noted helpfully.
"I couldn't tell," Sera muttered under her breath.
Neo gave her a curious glance, and she shook it off.
"How 'bout some music? That always makes time go by faster," Sera offered, drawing Jupiter from behind her waist. The guitar expanded to its full size in her hands, its weight bringing a familiar comfort.
"Really?" Bela deadpanned.
"Aw, come on. Everyone loves music. Let me guess—you like grungy stuff." She played a scratchy riff.
Bela frowned.
"No? Something a little more hardcore?" Sera shifted her fingers on Jupiter's neck and strummed heavier and faster, and Bela rolled her eyes.
"Know any Achieve Men stuff? Like Blood Gulch Blues?" Isaac queried.
Sera raised her eyebrows, a bit surprised. "That boy band did the Red vs. Blue music?"
He shrugged. "They have their moments."
Sera took a second to process that. She strummed Jupiter's strings, playing by ear to imitate the intro song to one of her favorite shows/comics of all time. When she started doing it right, a grin spread across Isaac's face and he tapped his fingers against his bow to the beat.
The lyrics played in her head.
Roses are red, and violets are blue...
Sera winced. It reminded her of Ruby, and that led her to thinking of the others. Her mind went to her friends constantly. Then again, they were never far from her thoughts. She remembered when Ruby and Yang had first showed her the series. From the first episode, she was hooked. It was funny, but mostly she just enjoyed doing something so simple and enjoyable with her friends. More than ever, she missed them.
"Not long now," Kassandra said gently.
She flinched. "Jeez! I forgot you're there."
"Sorry," she chuckled. "I couldn't help listening in. It was a nice memory. I don't have many of those."
Sera frowned. It was a sad thought, that her past self hadn't had a very relaxing life. From what she'd seen, it was full of hurt and fighting. But there were also flashes of happiness.
"I hate to ask, because of the situation we're in, but would you mind thinking about your past more? It's... reassuring, in a way," Kassandra asked, her voice soft and hopeful.
She smiled lightly. Thinking back to the big food fight not long before the Vytal Tournament. Then she just let the memory play and listened to Kassandra laugh or comment on certain things. Then she thought of her "date" with Cerulean, then rescuing the Faunus from Junior Xiong. Her thoughts ran wild until she remembered the night of the Vytal Dance and her performance with Weiss, then she felt her face heat up. Before she could discard the image of Weiss singing into a microphone in the rocker-like clothes she gave her, Kassandra dug into the memory and watched it in its entirety.
"I've never seen the whole thing," she murmured.
Sera tried to force down her growing embarrassment. "Yeah, it was a fun night. Can we move on?"
"Gods, how much do you really like this girl?"
A startled squeal escaped her throat. Her entire body felt like it was going to melt into the snow. Neo gave her a sideways glance, and she forced herself to relax. But the more she tried to take her mind off of it, the more that images of Weiss's face popped into her head until she swore she felt steam coming off of her.
Fortunately for her, she saw a familiar horse coming their way. True to his word, Dale returned to get them. When he saw them, he made a barely audible clicking noise, and Arion trotted faster to meet them.
Shaking her head to clear away her previous thoughts, Sera and the others kept walking at a casual pace until they arrived in front of the gunslinger.
Dale motioned with his head behind him, his face passive and relaxed. "Found it. Old cabin, right up the trail."
Sera slung Jupiter across her back then laid her hand on Arion's flank and patted the horse. His skin twitched to her touch, and Arion turned his head to look at her with one honey-colored eye.
"How far?" she asked.
"Not very," Dale leaned forward and held his saddle horn with one hand. "Fifteen, twenty-minute walk?" He looked up. "Better hurry, though. I don't like th' look of that sky."
"Me either," Isaac mumbled.
Sera looked up, but it looked just as gray as ever. The clouds did seem a bit heavier, though.
"Whatever, let's just go," she decided, walking ahead through the snow with a sense of urgency. If they said a storm was coming, she wanted to be out of it. Preferably inside a building.
Dale shrugged and gently kicked Arion's side. With her taking the lead, the others followed behind. Neo hurried to catch up with her, and Sera could hear her tiny footsteps behind her.
I hate being a leader, she thought irritably, subtly signing to Neo so Dale couldn't see.
Who else is gonna do it? That cowboy? she smirked, hooking a thumb at the man in question. He quirked an eyebrow, but seemed unbothered.
Sera rolled her eyes, then signed, Why me?
Who else? she repeated, then jabbed a finger into Sera's chest.
The huntress sighed and kept walking.
Ω Ω Ω
Less than half an hour later, she spotted a low building in a circular clearing. A ring of dense trees surrounded the area. The roof was slanted and dark, with darker wooden planks making up the cabin's walls. There was a porch at the front, complete with a porch swing at the far side. Strong wind blew Sera's hair in every direction and made the swing bang against the cabin at an almost rhythmic pace. A small building laid to the right of the cabin, probably a toolshed.
From its ominous appearance and the weird chill going down her spine, everything about it made Sera's skin crawl.
It had started to snow during the journey to the cabin, and had only grown worse the closer they got. The snow was so dense and deep, it reached up to Sera's knees and made it nearly impossible to traverse. She held her arms in front of her to shield her face from the icy wind, but it helped very little. Her aura was practically running on fumes, and the sub-zero temperature was beginning to make her toes lose all feeling. The storm had covered up Arion's hoofprints, so it was a guessing game whether they were heading towards the cabin or their certain death.
"There it is!" Dale shouted over the wind, his scarf pulled up to his nose.
Sera nodded, but she had no idea if he even saw. A sudden gust of wind nearly blew her onto her side, but Neo caught her with some effort and the two of them trudged through the snow to reach the front door supporting each other's weight.
A thought occurred to her and she glanced back. What were they going to do about Arion? The horse couldn't stay out in this all night.
Seeming to read what she was thinking, Dale shouted, "There's a small stable in the back!"
Over the impending blizzard, Sera barely understood what he'd said. It'd sounded more like, "Thar all table in bag."
She raised her hand and gave a thumbs-up to avoid further communication issues, and they continued onward through the dark, creepy forest with snow raining onto them and chilly winds ripping through their clothes.
Then she saw something... weird. It looked like a footprint in the snow, just off the trail. But as soon as she'd seen it, the storm covered it up. She still caught the distinct shape of it, though. Unmistakably human-like, but with what looked like claws at the end.
She didn't have time to think about it further, though. The storm was coming in. Fast. After what felt like an eternity, they reached the porch. Dale dismounted Arion and took his reins. He pointed at Sera and the others, then at the cabin. Then he pointed at Arion and signed, Back.
She nodded and replied, Hurry.
He tipped his hat, then trudged through the snow, leading Arion to the stable he'd mentioned. She hurried up the steps and onto the porch with the others close behind, then tried the door.
Locked. Naturally.
Sera groaned, stepped back, then swiftly kicked the door beside its knob. It flew open and hit the wall from both her kick and a sharp gust of wind, and she hurried inside.
"Come on!" she shouted, holding the door open so the others could get in. Once Neo, Bela, and Isaac rushed inside, she fought the wind to close the door and hold it shut, panting heavily with her back pressed against it.
"Well, that sucked," Bela noted, brushing snow off of herself.
"No kidding," she panted.
They all glanced around, taking in the cabin's interior. Just like the outside, it looked old. The wooden plank floors creaked under their weight. The room was spacious, with an old couch and a few chairs sat to the right. Random bookshelves and even an old grandfather clock rested against the walls, complete with dust-covered books and random pages. A desk was pressed against the far wall, with a hallway beside it. What looked like a kitchen was just past the couch and chairs. If there was a kitchen, maybe there was food.
"A fireplace," Isaac exhaled happily.
Sure enough, a brick fireplace was near the couches. Sera smiled at the sight, genuine relief washing through her.
Everyone else was transfixed by the strange furniture and bookshelves, but what really drew Sera's attention was the trapdoor that was at the left side of the room just feet away from the front door.
She stared at it with a sense of curiosity. What the heck could be in the basement of an old cabin in the middle of nowhere? It seemed... creepy. But she couldn't figure out why. It was just a basement. If anything, there might be more food or supplies down there. Jarred preserves, canned food, who knows?
But something was off. It was like that single trapdoor held a sinister aura that was on par with any Grimm she'd ever faced, and it gave her the creeps.
Before she could wonder about it further, something shoved against the door she was holding shut.
"Ah!" she yelped.
Bela and Isaac jumped. Neo gave her a curious look.
After a second, she'd realized what had happened. She moved aside, bracing the door against her, and let wind blow it open so Dale could enter the cabin. He slipped inside and shut the door hard, visibly shaking from the cold.
"Gods!" he shivered, holding the door shut. "Damn near froze my hair off out there! What'd you do, break in?"
Sure enough, the ends of his hair, his mustache and goatee were frosted with ice. His nose burned red and face looked pale, like he'd suddenly caught the flu.
"Had to. It was locked," Sera said, rubbing her arms to warm herself.
He stifled a sigh. "Find somethin' to hold it shut. Don't need the damn thing flying open and letting the cold in."
"On it!" Isaac said, then pressed his shoulder against a nearby bookshelf.
Seeing what he was going for, Bela helped him push it towards the door. Keeping a firm hold on the door, Dale moved aside and watched them wedge the bookshelf against the door.
Once it was all said and done, Dale dusted his hands and took a deep breath, eyeing each of them.
"Well, hopefully this blizzard doesn't last long, or the five of us are goin' to be gettin' real comfortable."
"Wait, how long could it last?" Sera asked.
"Could be a few hours, could be a few days," Isaac admitted reluctantly. "Mistralian weather is kinda unpredictable, especially way up here."
"Longest I've seen was a week. Whole village got buried," Dale muttered, crossing his arms stiffly.
Sera's jaw dropped.
"I wouldn't worry about it, though," his mustache lifted into a smile. "This one don't seem like it'll be too bad. I hope."
That "I hope" was muttered under his breath.
Isaac clapped her on the shoulder. "We'll be back on the road in no time."
That time, it was Sera's turn to say "I hope" under her breath.
The five of them went to work to make the cabin a bit cozier. Candles were lit to provide light. Isaac and Bela found a few cans of microwavable spaghetti, of all things. Plus, some corn, beans, and a bag of old flour that "should still be good," according to Isaac. Neo found a bunch of blankets in a small closet, as well as spare clothes of varying colors and styles. Dale took on the duty of preparing food, but there was one problem—they couldn't find any firewood.
"We could always start breaking some of the furniture apart," Bela offered. "That chair looks like it'd burn good."
"You want to start destroying the place that we were fortunate enough to find? That's not really what a good house guest does," Isaac scoffed.
Bela glanced around the old, dusty cabin and gestured vaguely at its interior. "I don't think anyone's lived here for a while, dude."
"We're not tearing some random person's cabin apart," Sera stated. "There might be some firewood in the basement. Didja think of that, Miss Concussion?"
Bela frowned. She marched towards the bedrooms, presumably to lie down until they figured out how to start a fire. When Sera heard a door shut hard, she sighed and put a hand to her forehead.
"You good?" Isaac raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah," she wiped her eyes and held her face for a moment. "Just... ugh. I'll check the basement, then I think I'm gonna pass out."
He smirked and sat in the chair Bela wanted to destroy.
Dale looked up from where he kneeled by the fireplace. "Careful down there."
She lifted Jupiter and flashed a smile. "Think I'll be good, cowboy."
The corner of his mouth twitched, and he turned his eyes back to the empty fireplace.
Sera made her way to the trapdoor and took a deep breath, steeling herself for what may lay below. She bent down and lifted the door. A draft of musty air made her nose scrunch up. A set of old wooden stairs led downwards, but the only thing she could see at the bottom was the circle of dim light from the candles.
A sense of uneasiness rose within her. Ever since she'd seen the trapdoor, she could tell something was wrong with it. Whether it was paranoia or a freaky sixth sense for danger, she wasn't sure. What she really wanted to know that no one had asked yet was where the owner of the cabin was. Surely, this wasn't a spot for a vacation home. Unless the owner was a weirdo.
She stared at the bottom of the stairs, almost dreading going down there. It felt like at any moment, a Beowolf or something could pounce out of the darkness. She remembered the strange footprint she'd seen before the snow covered it up. Was something in the woods? Were they being stalked by some weirdo with clawed feet? She didn't know if it could be a Faunus or what, but it sure creeped her out. Then someone put a hand on her shoulder and she jumped.
Neo looked at her quizzically with her eyebrows scrunched together, a look of concern in her eyes.
"I'm okay," she said quietly. "Just a bad feeling."
She crossed her arms smugly, grabbed her parasol, then took the first few steps down. The mute looked up at Sera like, "See? Nothing to worry about."
Sera rolled her eyes and followed her, each step sending a chill down her spine. Once they reached the bottom, they were surrounded by darkness. Apart from the circle of light from above, she felt like she was in her old dreamscape—an empty abyss.
Neo started off confidently, but now, her hand tightened around the handle of her parasol. Before the creepy silence could send her back up the stairs, Sera looked up at the basement's door.
"Hey! There's a lighter in my bag, could someone toss it down here?"
Footsteps from above sent dust raining on top of them from the cracks between the floorboards, followed by the sounds of someone rifling through a bag. A few seconds later, Isaac's face appeared above. He flashed a grin and held up Sera's lighter with two fingers.
"Getting scared down there, ladies?"
"You wish," she scoffed. "We can't see anything!"
Isaac's smile widened and he tossed the lighter. Sera caught it with both hands and flipped it open. After a few tries, a tiny flame illuminated the darkness around them.
"Whoa," she murmured.
The place looked less like a basement and more like a torture dungeon. The wooden floors were cracked and revealed dirt underneath. The walls were covered in dust and grime, with a few aged wooden support beams holding up the cabin's main floor. They looked like they were about to splinter from how old they were. A few dusty shelves decorated the walls, but some were hanging down as if only a single nail was supporting them. And it was big and spacious, with a back room closed off by a heavy iron door that looked older than Kassandra Kallisto.
"I heard that," Kassandra grumbled.
"How old is this place?" she asked, shining her lighter this way and that.
Neo shrugged helplessly.
"Dunno. Be careful, though. We don't need the roof falling on top of us," Kassandra murmured warily.
Sera nodded in agreement and walked deeper into the dark basement. Well, she found the firewood. A bunch of it was piled against a wall. It was old, but it should burn just fine. Only a few pieces were rotten, fortunately. And there was more food on another shelf near the wood. Some of it even looked like Atlesian military MREs. It was more than they needed to make it to Argus.
She should've just grabbed an armful and headed back up, but Sera was a little too curious for her own good. She wanted to know what was behind that iron door.
The huntress tightened her jaw and walked towards it with a hesitant Neo behind her. When she was just in front of it, the strangest chill shot down her spine like a jolt of electricity. She shivered and unconsciously rubbed her arm to warm herself, then held the lighter closer to the door.
It had no knob, only a metal loop for a handle. Just as she went to reach for it, Neo grabbed her wrist and gave her a warning look.
"What? It's just a door," she said.
Neo rolled her eyes. Yeah, a creepy door in an already creepy basement. Let's just get what we need and go already.
"Baby,"Sera snickered. But she didn't blame her. This place made her skin crawl.
She crossed her arms stubbornly.
"Fine, go back upstairs if you want. I need to know what's in this place."
Sera reached for the door again, and this time Neo didn't stop her. She pulled it open with some effort, and a musty stench invaded her nostrils. Like, well, like an old locked room in a basement.
She stepped inside and immediately felt the temperature drop another twenty degrees. The air was humid and heavy, but the room was big. It had to reach further out than the cabin's walls. Long and wide, with similar wooden floors, walls, and a dirt ceiling.
That wasn't the weirdest thing. There was a wide, circular symbol on the floor that looked like red paint. At least she hoped it was paint. She didn't know what it meant, but it looked sinister. Strange symbols and patterns drew a very evil-looking logo. The walls were covered in scratches and smaller symbols, also in red. And in the center of the floor was a book.
The whole thing made her want to crawl under a rock and hide. It was like she'd walked into the den of The Black Dragon, and the thing had her in its sights.
Neo gaped at the interior of the room, just as shaken as Sera. She tightened her grip on her parasol and instinctively widened her stance, ready for anything that might pounce out at her. The symbols gave them both a feeling of unease, because it was familiar. It made Sera feel like she was in the presence of Grimm because that was exactly what it was like. Devoid of emotion, leaving behind an empty, sinister vibe that permeated the air.
"What... is this?" Kassandra asked.
"Whatever it is, I don't like it," Sera mumbled, staring at the strange book in the center of the room. She took a step towards it, and a strange feeling immediately washed over her. Like she'd walked over her own grave.
Another sensation emerged deep within her mind, like a finger of darkness slipping through the cracks in a wall. Her body stiffened at the feeling, a shuddered gasp escaping her lips as she neared the sinister book.
"I don't like this, Sera," Kassandra said urgently. "She's trying to get out."
Sera faltered, freezing on the spot. Sure enough, she could feel that presence stirring within her. The one that'd taken control of her body and killed Pyrrha Nikos.
"Stop her," she urged.
"I'm trying," she said. "I think this room is... amplifying her. How?"
"I don't know!"
Sera's breath hitched in her throat. Suddenly, she was overcome with rage. Pure, unfiltered rage that she hasn't experienced since that night in Beacon. She clenched her jaw and tightened her fists, trying to fight it off. Anger coursed through her like a raging river, until she was breathing hard and her muscles clenched as if she'd been stabbed all over again.
Neo put a hand on her shoulder worriedly, and Sera's head swiveled to look her in the eyes. Neo jolted and stepped back, withdrawing her hand.
Sera's eyes were glowing the angriest shade of crimson she'd ever seen. It was different from when she was in that transformed state she underwent to fight. This was almost evil.
"Can't...!" Kassandra grunted. Her voice was strained, like she was trying to lift the planet itself. Pure agony dominated her usual carefree and humorous voice. Then she screamed, and genuine terror filled Sera's entire being.
The tendril of darkness within her mind made some ground. When she closed her eyes, she could see a flaming red aura glowing brighter and lighting up the darkness around it. Then she saw the violet and sapphire auras that represented herself and Kassandra. Strands of crimson aura reached towards them, gradually becoming larger and more sinister the closer they got.
The first of the red aura plunged into Sera's violet aura. She clenched her jaw tighter until she thought her teeth were going to break. A deep, guttural groan ripped from her throat and she fell to her knees. Squeezing her eyes shut, the huntress hung her head and used every ounce of her willpower to force the sinister presence away. She watched glowing red aura flow into and intermix with her own.
Then it was gone.
Sera's eyes shot open, gasping sharply as her muscles relaxed and her limbs loosened. She felt... fine. The river of anger that had been raging within her suddenly dissipated like a candle had been snuffed out.
Neo was in front of her, shaking her shoulders vigorously. She looked worried, like Sera had been on the brink of death. In a way, she supposed she was. If she hadn't come back as herself, or even Kassandra, Neo was sworn to kill her. Both of them were glad it hadn't come to that.
What was that? Neo quickly signed, her hands flying through each gesture faster than Sera could comprehend.
Sera blinked, trying to get her thoughts straight. Her head felt... empty. Emptier than it had been since, well, since before Kassandra had emerged into her consciousness. She turned her mind inward, searching for any trace of her past self. But her head was fuzzy, unfocused. She couldn't think straight.
She looked down at her own hands and flexed her fingers. Yep, she was still in control. No evil personality trying to steal her body.
Neo tapped her on the head, and she looked up to meet her heterochromatic eyes. She still looked worried, but only slightly less so.
Sera blinked uncertainly and planted her boot, then rose to her full height.
"I think I'm o..." she trailed off, suddenly feeling lightheaded as soon as she was on her feet. Her vision darkened around the edges until all she saw was blackness. With the same momentum she'd used to stand, she fell forward and landed with a heavy thud.
Neo just stared at her. Even with no one around to comprehend her, she signed, What's your deal lately?