AN: Hey, guys. Back again pretty quick this time, but that's only because this is SUPER short. I'm not even really considering it a full chapter. The stuff here was just felt a little awkward when I tried to put it in front of what I have planned for next chapter, so it's by itself here.
Also, This chapter hit more than 300 reviews! Thank you guys so much! I really enjoy getting feedback from you guys!
I don't really have much else to say here, except, enjoy this sort-of-chapter!
Chapter 20.5- Heartless lesson
"'The Heartless'?" Coco repeated after Aqua introduced the name to the class.
"What's that?" Velvet continued. "Some new kind of Grimm?"
Aqua could see how people keep reaching that conclusion the first time they're introduced to them. Once upon a time, she remembered even Qrow had asked that question when they first met. After, all, they did physically look very similar.
"They're similar, but they are not Grimm," she explained. "It's a very important distinction. Visually, you can tell when a creature is a Heartless and not a Grimm by looking at their eyes. A Heartless's eyes are bright yellow."
"Why bother with the distinction, though?" one of the CRDL boys, Sky she believed, asked. "Isn't being able to kill them all that matters?"
"It matters because the Heartless are able to bolster their ranks in ways the Grimm can't," she said, causing most of the class to look at her in confusion, her daughters excluded of course. "I can see I've lost some of you, so let me start from the beginning."
The projection of the Heartless vanished, to be replaced with a projection of a nondescript human figure.
"Every single person has a heart made up of two opposing forces: light and darkness. The Heartless are attracted to the Darkness. It's like the Grimm, except simply feeling negative emotions isn't enough." The projection of the person slowly started to be covered in a black fog.
"Darkness grows when you allow those feelings to fester. Just being angry, or sad, or afraid isn't enough to grow the Darkness in your Heart. However, if it grows into rage, hatred, jealousy, paranoia, despair, that will cause the Darkness in your Heart to grow and expand."
A projection of a Shadow Heartless approached the figure.
"If your Darkness grows enough, the Heartless will come looking for you. Here's the biggest difference between the Heartless and the Grimm. The Grimm only seek mindless destruction. The Heartless seek to steal the Hearts of the people they attack."
A pink light exited the human figure and floated towards the Heartless. The human faded from the projection, and was replaced with a second Heartless. She heard a few students gasp.
"When a Heartless attacks someone and steals their Heart, they create a new Heartless in the process. The stronger the person's Darkness, the more monstrous the Heartless they create."
"So, these creatures rip people's hearts out of their chests?" Dove asked.
"Not exactly. The Heart is the emotional core of a person. It is responsible for our emotions, it stores our memories, and it can be affected by our emotions as well. This is why it is so important to keep your egos in check and not let yourself be ruled by your emotions. Not only will you be bolstering the Heartless's ranks, but the stronger the Darkness, the stronger the Heartless." She sent a pointed look at Cardin, knowing that as things stand, he was the most likely person in this class to give in to his Darkness unless he drastically corrected his course.
Which brought her to the most important lesson about the Darkness. A new projection of a human figure appeared on the screen.
"However, being attacked by a Heartless is not the only way to become a Heartless yourself." The human projection was covered in a black fog, and when it faded, a Heartless was left in its wake. "If you allow your emotions to run amok, Darkness will fill your Heart. If you allow that Darkness to grow too strong, your Heart will be lost and you will become a Heartless without having to be attacked by one." A silence fell over the class.
"This is why it is so important to understand Heartless and not just treat them like Grimm. People don't become Grimm. But they can become Heartless. This is why keeping our Darkness under control is so important. And there's not a Heart out there that doesn't have any Darkness."
"…Every Heart has Darkness?" Weiss asked after a few seconds of silence.
"Yes. Every Heart. No exceptions."
"What is the difference between the Heart and Soul?"
Pyrrha asked.
"Good question. The Soul is what gives us life, provides us with our Auras, and grants us Semblances. As far as we know, it can't be corrupted, but the Heart can."
She changed the projection to another Shadow.
"Now, if there are no more questions, let's start talking about the different kinds of Heartless you might encounter. Today will be a general overview, but we'll go into more details about each kind of Heartless as the semester continues. This is the most common and weakest type, called a 'Shadow'." A short video played of the Shadow flattening itself down into the ground and rising back up. "Shadows can merge into the ground, and are invulnerable when they do. They are only vulnerable when they're above ground, but they can be defeated relatively easily. However, as everyone should have learned from Mister Winchester's fight, just because something is small and unassuming doesn't mean it can be taken lightly. Shadows always come in packs, and if they ever appear in a town, make sure you don't lose sight of any of them."
She changed the image on the projection, showing a Neoshadow.
"This one is called a 'Neoshadow'. It's basically a much stronger version of a regular Shadow. They have the same ability to merge into the ground as a regular Shadow, but they are much more dangerous. They appear in smaller groups than Shadows, but they are tough to defeat and are smarter than them, as well."
The projection changed again, this time showing an Invisible.
"This one is called an 'Invisible'. They are skilled swordsmen, and typically appear in small numbers. However, as Team JNPR can attest, they can be difficult to defeat even when working as a team."
This time, she projected a Darkside.
"This is the last Heartless we're going to talk about today. The Darkside. They are giant, and the only word of advice I have for you, is that if you encounter one, just run."
"Run?" Cardin repeated.
"Yes. None of you stand a chance against a single Darkside. The one that Teams RWBY and JNPR encountered during initiation was only able to be defeated because both teams worked together and I was present. But the last time I fought a Darkside on my own, it destroyed half a village before I could kill it." She looked down at the floor sadly. "It's my greatest failure as a Huntress. So yes, if you see one, don't attempt to fight it, or you'll only end up getting yourself killed."
She turned off the projection, freeing up the air above her head.
"Now, there are more types of Heartless out there to teach you about, but I thought I would just stick to the kinds that students encountered during initiation first. For your first homework assignment, I'm going to send you some footage of the Heartless in action, some of it captured during initiation. I want you to study the footage, and write me a summary of everything you can glean about how they fight and what their weaknesses are by watching them. They will be due in two weeks, and we will discuss you're findings as a class. As for next week, we will be doing practical exams in the Emerald Forest, so we will be meeting there instead of in this classroom. Of course, make sure to bring your weapons and your combat gear. Are there any more questions?"
"What kind of practical exam?" Coco asked.
"I won't tell you the specifics, but you will be doing team exercises so I can get a good idea of your initial levels of teamwork so I can keep an eye on your progress. If that's all, dismissed."
"So, Coco, what did you think of new professor?" Velvet asked.
"Easily a 9," Coco answered nonchalantly. There was no denying that Professor Branwen was beautiful, and far be it for Coco to let any beauty go unappreciated. And she had to ask her where she got that skirt. "I'll have to see her in her combat outfit."
"That's not what I meant," Velvet said, puffing out her cheeks cutely, causing Coco to chuckle.
"She seems pretty alright. I'm just curious to see what she can do on her own without those summons."
"Do you think it's odd that we're in a class with first-years?" Fox asked.
"Honestly, not really. Just gives us a chance to show these Freshies what real teamwork looks like. I can see their faces when they see us run circles around them and they don't know we're second-years," Coco said, a wide smile gracing her features.
"They'll find out eventually," Yatsu pointed out.
"And then we can switch to the older, more experienced role models for them. But until then, let's just have some fun."
Weiss was sitting by herself in the library, having given her team some excuse to leave them. She was sitting at an open computer, and was searching through Vale's Huntsmen registry for everything she could find on Aqua Branwen. Weiss just couldn't get the new professor out of her head, and she needed to know more. Her Semblance looked very similar to the Schnee Family's, but there's no way that was possible. No one else on Remnant had those glyphs, and she needed to get to the bottom of this.
She finally found the professor's name and pulled up her records.
Just who are you, Aqua Branwen?
AN: Like I said, super-short. It's really just the basic info dump on the students about some of the Heatless types, but really when I think about it, this could have easily fit into the end of last chapter. I just wasn't thinking ahead.
Now, that being said, this story will pretty much just feature Pureblood Heartless, since Remnant is in the Realm of Darkness and only Pureblooded ones seemed to show up from what we've seen of that Realm in the games. At least for now...
I also have something I want to talk about with you guys. I have gotten so many ideas for other stories that I want to see be written, but don't have the time or ability to do it myself. It's the reason why that Xenoblade 2 story I started has only one chapter. They are pretty much all RWBY stories, but I'm not sure how to help these stories happen. I'm thinking about issuing them as story challenges, but I'm not sure how to go about doing that. If you guys have any ideas of where I could post these story ideas or want to talk to me about what they are, let me know. Thanks!
And as always, thanks for watching, and I'll see you all next time!