Aura - Reploid Girl's Diary #2
Jan 10 12:02:21 2003

Aura plopped down on her stomach inside her little tent,
breathing out a rather-irritated sigh as she fidgeted momen-
tarily before fishing out a pen from her nearby rucksack with
the intention of recording what had happened over the last day.
The sun was high in the sky, as it were, but she felt exhausted;
LOTS of travelling had been done of the past twenty-four to thir-
ty hours, and her legs were indeed thankful for the rest period.
A cool breeze swirled around the canyon's end, where she had set
up camp this time around; in fact, it was the very reason for her
irritation.

Throwing the midnight hair out of her eyes for around the hun-
dredth time that day, she put forward her pen and began to write.

-*I have been BUSY! Over the last day or so, I went on an
'exploring binge,' and my feet don't seem to appreciate
it much, thats for sure. For the good side, I found a
whole LOT of new areas that I had no idea existed, nor
would I have found out about them had I not had help from
a few people, either, but I'll get to them in a minute.

First, there was this really loud factory that was quite
literally underneath the ground of a nearby city.
Fascinating as it was, I didn't like it much, though; I
heard lots of screaming going on down there, which kinda
gave the impression that it wasn't a friendly place.
I was glad to leave when I did.

Then, there was this other town, way up top in the mount-
ains somewhere; we passed lots of giant plants and insects
on the way there, too, but I didn't mess with them, 'cause
I didn't know if they were dangerous or not. Some things
are better left undisturbed, so I'd heard before.
Anyway, it was really windy up in the town called 'Manda-
la', which I didn't mind. There didn't seem to be too
many people there, either; just a lot of monks and sham-
mans. Oh, and this big cathedral-like place. It was
kind of intimidating, come to think about it.*-

She laid down her pen for the moment to let her hand rest from
the large amount of writing she had just done without hold.
Reaching once more into her pack, she brought out a splendid
mirror that she had acquired while walking along a beach one
afternoon. Gazing into it, she saw herself looking back at
her, of course. The violet eyes she saw seemed very thought-
ful, but also very tired, considering what she'd gone through
recently. Yawning at the replica in the mirror, she hesit-
antly replaced it in its bag, swivelling her attention back
to her writing, wondering for a moment if she would be able
to stay awake long enough to finish.

Resting her head on one of her arms, and taking up her pen
in the other hand, she continued.

-*I also remember that I got in trouble, too... the details
are a little fuzzy, and I don't even remember what it was
that actually got me, but I do remember the pain. Fire and
Rain, it was unlike anyting I've ever experienced... I seri-
ously thought that it was going to be it, right then and there.
But, it wasn't... someone came, and I couldn't see who or
what it was, mainly because I was sprawled out on the ground
from the last devastating blow, but within moments, I felt...
better! Much better, in fact. And when I finally managed
to pick myself up, they were nowhere to be found.

Aside from that, there were a few people I've joined ranks
with of late in order to travel a little more safely; it
definitely put a bit of an ease on my heart.

Let me think for a second...*-

All the thinking she could've done did her no good, that after-
noon. As another gust of wind picked up to sweep around the
canyon, she did not feel it; she had fallen asleep at her writ-
ing, pen still gripped loosely in her right hand.