IC: Amaranth Desire, Realizing a Physics Class Might Exist

…

So if you’d asked her a week ago, Amy would say that she didn’t understand Dust at all. The Fury didn’t use it anywhere in its construction, her Semblance was entirely independent of its usage--at least for now, she’d get back to that topic later--and she generally just figured it was some level of bull#### stacked on top of something resembling science.

Then she’d had to make the Crimson Angel armor.

Now, she still had next to no understanding of Dust theory, but she knew something about its application. It was akin to a car mechanic, she supposed, who didn’t know the physics behind the explosion of gasoline in an internal combustion engine, but nevertheless knew how to fix one.

Still, she’d rather know that theory. It’d probably help a lot. 

She’d been kinda out of it until Lauren had slammed her backpack into the chair next to her, still a little on the football game previous. Amy had changed out of her PE outfit back into the closest semblance of a uniform she had, her blazier over a somewhat tight-fitting t-shirt with the image of a divergent lens on it. Her lips opened, as if to speak--

[color=8882be]"[i]Yoooo, no way,[/i]"[/color] Lauren whistled, her voice a breathy whisper that carried to her assembled friends. [color=8882be]"No fucking shit. [i]Aaaaaaaaah.[/i] This little bitch helped me know I was [i]gay.[/i]"[/color]

There was no way she could follow that. Nor Teàrlag’s demonstration.

She raised her hand as a volunteer for the follow up, her eyes straight forward, on her teacher.

What?

It didn’t matter who had volunteered first. Not at all.



IC: Rowan Iderson

The first actual class day of Aura Control was always Rowan’s least favorite. Whether a fault in her understanding of Aura or as an inherent difficulty of the subject, she never really found that a traditional classroom was too… encouraging of her particular study of the craft. That was why she taught the majority of the class either outside or in the gym--that, and that getting students to focus on classroom learning in the final period of the day tended to be difficult at best. Still, demonstrations like the one she and Esther had performed a week ago were flashy but didn’t actually teach much, and a few days in the classroom tended to form the backbone of what would come after.

A few were generally all that were necessary. These were seniors--they tended to have the basics already down. The ex-soldier was already at the blackboard, a piece of chalk in hand as she wrote the date in the upper left corner, using a lazy but legible print. “Alright, everyone,” Rowan said, turning to face the classroom.” Most of you’ve been here long enough that you should know who I am--but given exactly how much of a class turnover we have, I s’pose I should introduce myself anyway. I’m Rowan Iderson, and this is Aura Control. If you’re in the wrong place, you should probably get to where you’re s’posed t’be.” 

She raised her eyebrows for a moment, appraising the class to see if anyone moved. She shrugged when no one did, her eyes glowing amber briefly as she flicked the piece of chalk upward with her thumb, flipping and spiraling before clattering to a perfect landing on the bottom sill of the blackboard.

“I don’t exaggerate when I say that this class’ll save your life more than nearly any other. Weapons fail. We’ve not documented all of the Grimm. No matter how much I love ‘em, tactics and maneuvering can become impossible or ineffective. At the end of the day, you’ll reach a point where all you’ve got to rely on is you. And in those situations, your Aura, your conditioning, and your intellect constitute everything you’ve got. Soul, body, and mind.”

A sigh left her lips, her thumbs sticking in the loops of her belt. “With that, Aura Control ultimately comes down to what you’re willing to put into it. We’ll have exams after a fashion, but this class is primarily a participation grade. I’d rather you actually learn how to protect yourself than to be able to write an essay on the origins of Aura theory. We work on an alternating schedule, with each classroom day setting up the following day’s applied exercises. I’ve already sent the syllabus to your scrolls, so with all that taken care of I’d like to get into the lesson for today, which is on methods for reducing Aura damage through psychological minimization of threats. Any questions, before I continue?”