Aura's narration

I eventually reached my new home with Ki.

The Forbidden Valley

It was the most isolated place in all of Adabat, with no contact with the outside world for centuries.

Imagine a giant valley with three villages.

A river village that catches fish and makes trade with other Adabat villages.

A mountainside village that mines the rarest gems and stones in all the world.

And a large village with plenty of fields to make many wheat fields and raise livestock.

Above all of them is a monastery on top of Adabat's largest mountain.

This monastery is home to the legendary Fuji Clan.

They are tasked with guarding all three villages from invaders and criminals, to the point that any offense was a threat to them.

They have been around for many generations, dating earlier than even the first age of Mobians.

Some of the most sacred techniques in all of Mobius can only be trained here in the Forbidden Valley.

The monastery was about to become my new home.

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Normal POV

Kaiju Monastery

Aura walked with Ki up some stairs that seemed to go up the mountain forever.

Aura looked at him. "Why are we so high?"

Ki looked at him with a reassuring smile. "Your home for now is up here. It will get easy for you to get up here soon."

Aura could clearly see mist from where he was, as if he was entering into heaven.

When they reached the top, a tall and majestic building was there.

A blossom tree was also there to greet them, showing signs of it being there longer than the monastery.

Ki spreads his arm out at the place. "Welcome to your new home Aura."

He led him inside and into the training grounds.

There were multiple students training in there, but stopped when they saw Ki arrive.

Ki hit his walking stick on the ground to catch their attention. "I have a new guest to introduce all of you to."

He stepped aside to reveal Aura. "This is Aura. He will be living with us. Treat him as you would treat yourself."

They all bowed. "Yes sensei!"

Ki took Aura to his room for the time.

He slides it open and adjusts the bed there. "You will sleep here for now."

He then left, but not before turning to look at him. "When you are ready, you can train with everyone."

Ki left afterwards, leaving Aura to get into bed and try to sleep.

Unfortunately, it wasn't going to come without any interruptions.

Two of the kids that trained walked by Aura's room, only to stare at the blue wolf in the room.

They smirked mischievously at each other before walking in.

They checked the room for anything Ki left behind for him.

They found his stuffed animal and grabbed it.

Aura woke up and looked at them, before seeing they had his belongings.

Aura ran over and tried to grab it. "Give it back!"

One of the boys lifted it too high to reach. "Or what? Will you tell your mommy?"

Aura teared up when he said that. "Please, it's mine!"

The other boy laughed. "He thinks he can tell us what to do."

They tossed it back and forth, with Aura barely able to keep up with them.

Eventually, one of them pushed Aura to the floor and stood over him.

The other boy said. "You're just whinny and stupid little baby. A momma's boy."

Aura was about to breakdown on the floor, until someone spoke up.

"Leave the kid alone, Fergus!"

Aura looked and saw two other students at the door.

The one who spoke was a girl with red hair and black streaks, wearing a red belt.

The other was a boy with black hair and blonde streaks, wearing a belt similar to the girl's, but was a level up from her's.

Fergus just elbows his buddy playfully. "Oh look! The juniors are trying to boss us around."

The girl glared. "Leave. Him. Alone."

The boy who was with her smirked. "I'd back out now if I were you, this is the maddest she's ever gotten."

The other bully spoke up. "What are you going to do? Kick us in the shin?"

As they were laughing, the girl came and did one better than the dare.

She kicked him in the nuts.

As Fergus was on the floor and feeling the pain, his buddy tried to deliver a chop at them.

They dodged and the boy countered with a punch to the nose.

Both bullies recovered and went to attack again.

The girl slid past Fergus and delivered a roundhouse kick to his rear.

The boy just side stepped and tripped his buddy out of the room.

The bullies got up and glared. "Ok! You can keep your stupid doll!"

They ran off as Aura's saviors looked at him.

Aura was cowering in the corner, a quivering and whimpering mess at what Fergus had said.

The girl went over and got on her knees in front of him. "It's ok. They won't bother you anymore."

She handed him his stuffed animal, to which Aura gladly took.

The girl smiled at him. "My name is Tanya."

The boy spoke up. "My names Suzuki."

Aura nervously utters. "M-My name is Aura."

Suzuki grins. "Wait, were you born on the night the Northern Lights came down here for the first time? That's awesome!"

Tanya nods. "And the name fits too."

Suzuki puts a hand out to Aura. "Nice to meet you Aura. If you feel like training with us someday, I'd like to be your sparing partner and rival."

Tanya laughed. "Aura would probably knock you through the wall at the start of the fight."

Suzuki raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"

Tanya points to Aura's character drawn on him. "This has a symbol that belongs to an earlier generation of the guys who trained here."

Suzuki shrugs. "Which means?"

Tanya smirked. "His Dad may have been a valued student here that learned the most secret stuff ever."

Suzuki leaned against the wall. "Sorry, but the Dad doesn't always make you who you are. You got to earn your title."

Tanya nods. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

She then hugs Aura some. "Don't let those two bother you. If you stick with us, you'll be fine."

Aura nods and gave a small smile.

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Aura's narration

Ever since that day, I let myself embrace the world I was in.

I was scared at first to train, but then I got better soon.

I started out doing things like sweeping and cleaning around the monastery.

I asked Ki why I was doing this...

...and his response was that he watched something and decided to take inspiration from it.

Basically, he had trained me to block and dodge without me knowing.

Ki wasn't just a wise master, but also sometimes he was a little...

...impish I could say.

He was partially immortal, living as long as 2,000 years!

That was a lot to take in my head.

And being that old meant he had to keep himself entertained sometimes.

One of his favorite off days was April Fools Day, because he got to prank people with a good excuse.

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Normal POV

The Mountain Village (2 years later)

Ki was with Aura, hiding behind a wall as the miners came out.

When they went to get some water, they saw sweet and sour sauce pour out, which made them mistake it for blood.

They backed away as one of them jumped into another's arms.

The local chef ran up, wondering who was responsible for his sauce being stolen.

The River Village

Two fishermen were pulling their nets up after having a long day.

They suddenly see a fish larger than the rest.

When they peaked to look, a shark jumped out and scared them to death.

The shark opened up to reveal Ki chuckling at their responses.

The Grass Village

Ki gave a shepherd a neat necklace with an orange stone in it.

As he was enjoying it, the ground shook.

He looked and saw a stampede of rabbits running towards him.

He screamed as he ran from the chaos

Ki watches as he ran, knowing the stone was really a piece of a carrot.

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Aura's narration

I was never completely bored when I lived there.

Sure I had to train as hard as surviving in the wild, but I was never drained of my fulfillment.

But surprising to everyone, my favorite part wasn't the training or the pranking.

And it wasn't holidays, though there were rare ones that we did manage to celebrate.

My favorite memory was learning to meditate for the first time.

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Normal POV

Kaiju Monastery (under cherry blossom tree)

Ki was sitting under the tree, waiting for Aura to arrive.

Aura ran over and bowed to Ki. "I'm sorry that I came late."

Ki raises a hand. "Aura, this is not urgent. There is no need to feel late."

Aura nods. "Yes master. What do you need from me?"

Ki pats the ground near him. "I wanted to teach you how to meditate at the most peaceful spot. Please join me."

Aura sits down and crosses his legs like Ki did, eventually mimicking him in his pose.

Ki calmly tells him after breathing out. "Breathe in and out calmly. Relax your body."

Aura slows and quiets down his breathing while staying still.

Ki continued after that. "Clear your mind of all distractions. Focus on emptying it."

Aura tries to stop thinking about things around him.

After struggling for a bit, he managed to get his mind focused.

Aura could feel something he hadn't felt since his parents died: peace.

All stress and fear had stopped, as if they were washed off of him in a bath.

The environment around him had bonded with Aura, with the wolf feeling everything around him.

He could hear the river flowing, feel the mist and smell a sweet scent from where he was.

Ki tells him as they continued meditation. "This is what it is like to be free of your own chains. Everything in this world may not be your ally, but even they understand that the world needs to rest at some time. It does not matter who wins a fight, as long as there is balance in the world. Honor, peace and free will are the most powerful forces to ever side with all of reality."

Aura keeps these words to remember, still enjoying the feeling he was in.

Ki looked at him. "I want you to keep a promise for me someday. I will not say today, but you will learn of what I desire from you when the time comes."

Aura nods and answered. "Yes master."

Ki smiled and shook his head. "Enough of you calling me master. Whenever it is just me, you and someone you know, you can call me by my name."

Aura smiled and nodded before getting back to it.

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Aura's narration

Meditating was what managed to make my mind clear of everything that haunts me.

My nightmares seemed to end whenever I just stopped and felt the moment around me.

It was my favorite time of the day whenever I finished training.

But it wasn't just meditation that got rid of my nightmares.

There was something else that saved me from insanity.

Or should I say....

....someone.