She rushed through the dark forest, panting, an unseen hunter chasing her. After her Gargoyle baby had wandered away—drifting into the gloaming sky after a coo and a nuzzle against her neck—Aqua had decided to try and venture into a part of the Realm which she hadn’t touched on yet. Her body had, as usual, recovered swiftly from the birthing, although her chest was tender and achey, still dribbling mother’s milk from time to time.

But stepping into this dark forest unprepared had been a mistake. She didn’t have the shield of a developing Heartless to protect her anymore, and there were things in the darkness that wanted her.

Some of the Heartless had been easy to cast aside with a swipe of her blade or a torrent of magic, but one night she had felt a rustle in the bushes and seen predatory amber eyes from the darkness.

And then the hunt was on.

As she bolted through the forest, branches whipping at her and pebbles scattering beneath her boots, she could hear the Heartless pursuing her. The thing was big—easily taller than her, from the sound of things, and it had no difficulty keeping up. She heard the crashing of earth as it rolled up behind her, and she turned and rocketed a lance of light in its direction. The spell lit the darkened woods like a comet, punching against the monster’s fur—for the first time, Aqua was able to see her adversary as more than just a yellow-eyed shape.

The creature was a hulking wolf of incredible size. Unlike the Dark Hide, which had been a shadowy creature in the vague shape of a canine, this Heartless seemed as close to a true wolf as Aqua would find in the Realm. It was enormous, its shoulder level with her head and its tail, large and floofy, nearly the size of her whole body. Its body was a tableau of off-white and midnight blue fur, with the darker color dominant; a manelike ruff sprouted from the base of its neck and the top of its back. The familiar symbol of the crossed heart was splayed across its shoulder.

The Heartless—which she would later dub a Werewolf—took the spell and stumbled, rolling over the ground with a low roar. Knowing she had bought herself some time, Aqua plunged ahead, eventually arriving in a low glade mostly undisturbed by rocks or logs. Ideal for a dragdown battle. She stood there, her keyblade levied against the darkness.

The Werewolf erupted out of the darkness, snarling, and the fight was on.

The creature lunged at her, its thick red-clawed paws ready to swipe. Relying on her old combat training, Aqua rolled underneath the outstretched swipes, unleashing a quick one-two-three flurry of strokes with her blade against its limbs. The Werewolf howled in frustration and then rose up on its hind legs. It brought them down to smash into Aqua, but she smirked. She was ready.

“Barrier!” she yelled, casting the spell as the Heartless brought its weight low. The shield spell absorbed the blow and then burst, sending the monster careening back with a thunderfall of light.

As it flopped on its side, struggling to get up, Aqua saw something that gave her pause. Between the creature’s legs was a thick, powerful red erection.

Was it… was it trying to breed her, rather than to steal her heart?

The thought changed things, but she still didn’t trust it, especially not with how aggressive it’d been acting. Leveling her keyblade, she kept the tip pointed in its direction.