• Aura was a happy, cheerful little girl who talked a lot and was always full of energy. She stayed this way until it happened, someone very close to Aura took her own life on Aura’s eighth birthday. That moment changed Aura’s life forever because it was at the moment that she finally realized what death was. She was no longer happy and began causing a lot of trouble and she was getting tired of listening to her parents fight all the time, so, she tried to take her own life. Aura was unsuccessful during her many attempts, she was hospitalized twice, suspended from school, and eventually forced to go to a special school that would help her with her problems. The school didn’t help at all, it wasn’t until she lost her father that she truly realized she needed to change. Aura forced herself to do better and was able to start her freshman year of high school in a public school. Today Aura is more mature, she carries with her a lot of experience and knowledge which she tries to use to help others. Aura laughs a lot and is much happier yet her smiles and laughs are still just masks to hide her true feelings. This teenager, although she has grown over the past ten year, she still carries many burdens. Her heart has an empty hole that can never be filled, she still feels more pain than anyone will ever know and sometimes she cries in her sleep, waking to find her cheeks drenched with tears. Aura is depressed, confused, and sad most of the time and often reverts back to thoughts of suicide. Although she does not give into them Aura longs for an eternal sleep that she can never wake from. She constantly feels trapped and alone, always fighting her inner demons, knowing the battle will never end. At school she puts on a happy face and makes it through each day laughing and joking around. However, when she gets home she lets the dogs out, wait’s a while then lets hem back in only so she can climb the stairs to her room.
    The room is messy with clothes piled everywhere, there is a lot of clutter by her computer and her bed is never made and it stays this way because she does not have the energy to clean any of it. You won’t find a mirror in her room because she can’t stand to look at herself, she hates that she is overweight and struggles to lose it. After she tosses her backpack aside she does the same thing she does everyday after school. Aura climbs into bed, puts her headphones on, and pulls the sheets over her head. She does this because she knows there is only one way to escape the hell that is her life. Her escape lies deep within her subconscious, deep within her dreams. In her dreams she does not have to worry about her weight and she can easily conquer her problems. If she is trapped she can easily break free, she can be anyone or anything she wants, she can even create a new life for herself. Many of the lives Aura dreams about are impossible and could never be real, but when she’s asleep or daydreaming these lives and worlds she creates, to her, they are very real and she would gladly choose them over her own life if it were possible. Unfortunately it’s not possible so she holds her dreams close to her seeking to draw whatever solace she can from her temporary sanctuary until it fades away. As Aura grows drowsy and her eyes grow heavy, reality becomes blurred and distorted as her own world becomes more solid and real.
    A seventeen year old girl stands high upon a cliff, she casts her glance outwards over a vast, deep valley filled with rivers, lakes, and hills, every inch of it covered in forests that are delicately shaded in the brilliant and vibrant colors of autumn. However the leaves will never fall from the trees the world seems timeless as if it were standing still. A final glimpse of the sun can be seen hidden behind the distant mountains as it sets and the moon rises giving the valley a cool, serene glow. The girl is not Aura the tormented high school girl, she is Hikari the kitsune (fox) demon. Hikari is a magnificent warrior of noble birth among her tribe, and is the keeper of light. The night air is warm as a gentle breeze caresses her cheek, she wears a headdress made of white kitsune fur and her face is painted with red symbols. Her entire wardrobe is made of white kitsune fur and her armor is forged from boar tusks. In her hand she carries a spear, her posture is proud and strong, he gaze, fiery and intense, full of focus. As the moon climbed higher into the sky Hikari turned, retreating into the forest behind her, A waterfall came into view after about and hour. Behind the waterfall was a cavern and deep inside was Hikari’s tribe. While her fellow demons slept she sat near the entrance keeping watch. The night is dark and silent, only faint whispers hang in the breeze. The forest is at rest yet Hikari is unusually restless. It took a while but the kitsune princess finally fell asleep.
    It is dawn but the sun has yet to present its self as Hikari prepares for her morning hunt. She walks quietly down the stone path when her bare feet meet the grass. Shortly after she leaves she is joined by two white kitsune, one on her left, the other on her right. The air around the mountain is moist and cool, the princess and her companions are enshrouded in thick clouds of fog, but even the fog won’t make them turn back. It isn’t long before Hikari picks up on the scent of her prey. She treads quietly and kneels near a huge boulder, her eyes strain as her victim comes into focus. Her prey, she finds, is a large black bear that would easily feed her tribe for a month. Just as she prepares to attack a giant red hand snatches up the bear. Hikari watched as her prey struggled helplessly and whatever had grabbed it bit off only half of it then tossed the rest back on the ground. Hikari was angered by this and so were her companions, they transformed into human figures just like Hikari and ran after the monster.
    “Ryu! Mizu!,” Hikari shouted after them as she tried to follow, but she lost their scent. After several hours of wandering around in the dense fog Hikari picked up the scent of blood. Following the scent she came to a clearing where she found Ryu and Mizu beaten And mangled. Her eyes widened as she ran over to them, Mizu was dead but Ryu was still barely alive. She held Ryu close to her and asked him what happened.
    “It was a giant red oni (ogre).,” Ryu told her. “He came from the western valley. I’m sorry Hikari, we shouldn’t have run off like that. I only hope you can forgive us.”
    “I do.,” she said to him as his life faded away in her arms. “I do forgive you… brother.”
    After Hikari buried her brothers she thought about what the oni had done. The anger filled up inside of her until she released a loud, frustrated scream. Her golden eyes turned red and a golden aura of energy escaped from her. She stopped screaming but her eyes remained red. Her breathing was heavy as she swore to take her revenge. Hikari ran as fast as lightning, heading towards her home with the sunlight against her back. She arrived just in time to find her family defending the tribe.
    “GET AWAY FROM THEM!,” she shouted at the top of her lungs. The oni glared at her and smiled, revealing his sharp yellow teeth as he began to advance towards her. Hikari, with a serious look upon her face, walked towards him with clenched fists, a glowing aura still surrounding her. The oni attempted to swing at her with his giant fist but she caught it. Her face grew angry and fierce as she summoned up her hidden powers. Rays of light emitted from her body causing the oni’s arm to slowly crystallize and shatter. He tried to pull away from her but even though he was ten times her size, try as he might, he could not break free from her grasp. The oni’s arm came of completely and smashed into the ground, then Hikari threw herself at him. She started biting and clawing at him, dismantling him piece by piece until all that remained was the shattered bits of his body which were blown away in the wind. Hikari became a hero but pain still ate away at her heart. Once every year she visits her brothers though being a warrior she does not cry, and with that, Hikari and the wilderness surrounding her fades into darkness as Aura opens her eyes. Aura knows that she herself is strong but she still wishes she could overcome obstacles as easily as Hikari can. Unfortunately she can’t because she does not have special powers and she is not a magnificent warrior whom everyone looks up to. No Aura is just Aura, a girl who struggles to survive in this modern world in her own way, Aura is me.