Here's part 2 if you guys want to read it.  C&C welcome!  I finished
typing everything earlier than expected so it's all coming in at once. 
2-5 in the next few e-mails.  Sorry for all the confusion!


			Running Blind [Part 2]
			         Training
			
	The training hall was almost empty except for the ten people left of the
Jukaih army.  Moriko and Ryuhi walked in and picked up the sparring
batons.  He looked at her doubtfully and took his stance.  They began
their normal training regimen and exchanged heavy blows, but Ryuhi was a
bit hesitant.  After twenty minutes, he finally spoke.
	"Is it really�you know?" he asked nervously, his face already a beet
red.
	"No, you idiot, I said that to save both our butts.  You think I�d ever
admit that in front of a guy officer?" Moriko jabbed with the staff and
pulled back.  "Why?  You afraid you�d hurt me or something?"
	"No, just�ah, hell, never mind," Ryuhi blocked and punched back.
	"You were, weren�t you?  Jeez, I may be a year younger than you, but
that doesn�t mean you�re any stronger," Moriko flipped back and threw the
rod at him.  He caught it and smiled.
	"I never meant to say anything about how weak you were," Ryuhi dropped
the stick and advanced.  
	"I�m not weak, just that you�re blind!" Moriko jabbed with the padded
baton and forced Ryuhi on his back.  She held the long pole against his
neck.  "Like you can do teleportation, for instance this morning, I can
do illusion magic.  Touch�."
	She held out her hand and laughed, "Come one, Ryu, we�ve been partners
for five years now.  I thought you might have me figured out by now."
	"No one could figure you out, Riko," he took her hand and pulled himself
up.
	"Yeah, I guess.  What would I do if anyone did?" she laughed and ran her
fingers through her short blue hair.  "Besides, if you of all people did,
I think we might have a national crisis there."
	"Oi, I�m not that bad, okay?" Ryu waved to another team as they passed
by and walked off.
	"Hey!  Wait up!" Moriko caught up to him and looked down.  "I didn�t
mean to-"
	"Forget about it," Ryu said simply and looked out through the high
windows of the gym.  "Do you even remember what the outside world looked
like?"
	"Out there?  I heard that-" 
	"Not heard, but remember�we�ve all lived inside this complex for so many
years, I�ve almost forgotten what the real world was like," Ryu�s eyes
were haunted as he spoke.
	"Ryuhi, stop it, you�re scaring me.  That world was left long ago, we
had to," Moriko caught his arm and stared up into his face.  "Ryuhi!  Are
you even listening to me?"
	"Huh?" he looked down at his partner.  "Sorry, just zoning again."
	She punched his arm and stalked off to her training chambers, "Just
don�t forget our lunch date, okay?"
	He nodded and left in the opposite direction.  
	"Seems they�re having a bit of trouble, doesn�t it, Sire?" Yurei Shiyume
turned to his master and smiled.  "Wouldn�t it be a shame if they lost
yet another team of witless warriors?"
	Hikaru Kurayami laughed and nodded, "It would be, wouldn�t it?  Perhaps
a little visit would work to help that poor situation�"
	The large iron door creaked open revealing a large computer room behind
it.  The short man who stepped through was very timid in front of his
employers.  
	"Excuse me, Sires, but we�re picking up another massive power output. 
Do you want us to monitor this one?" 
	Hikaru closed his eyes and smiled, "Yes, this one interests me even more
than the one before it.  Find out who this is."
	"Yes, Sir," the scientist retreated out of the room and closed the
blackened door.
	"Are you sure it�s wise to use our energies to track those two?" Yurei
looked out the windows at the desolate planet below.  He shook his head
as he remembered what the surface had been like before the wars.  "I
mean, we could just attack and finish them off.  Their forces are weak
and Jukaih would fall easily."
	"Now what�s the fun in just killing them?  Don�t you want to feel their
pain and anguish as we pick them off one by one?  Isn�t that what we�re
striving for?" Hikaru sat down on the large black chair that served as
his throne.  "Or has your black heart changed?"
	Yurei turned as his gray eyes flashed, "What gave you the indication
that black hearts can change?"
	"You�d be surprised, Yurei, you�d be surprised�" 
	Moriko sat in the empty room and concentrated on the ground below her. 
Since her name meant "forest child" she had strangely been given the
powers to manipulate the earth.  Ryuhi�s name meant "dragon fire" and he
had been given fire magic.  Every warrior at the center had their
specialty magic, but few did what she and Ryu had done.  They had gone to
the trouble of learning other magic; teleportation and illusion. 
Everything depended on the warriors� ability to fight well with what they
were given and training was essential.  
	"Ever changing life that is within me.  I call upon your heavenly powers
to enter this vessel and complete it.  Earth below and sky above, all is
yours and mine," she stood slowly, eyes closed, and chanted the spell. 
"Obey my will and become a part of me."
	She concentrated on the dirt and gravel, feeling with her mind each and
every particle of the soil.  Slowly she began to grasp it with her mind�s
hand.  The smell of fresh earth permeated the room and Moriko opened her
eyes.  Before her was a walkway of flowers and small trees.  She smiled
and picked up one of the dainty plants.
	"That isn�t what you were supposed to do, Moriko," the voice called over
the intercom.  "We need warriors, not gardeners."
	"Well, I�m bored!  I told you already I can�t reproduce what happened in
the field because I don�t know what happened!" she sat down unhappily and
threw the flower away.
	"You have to try, Moriko.  You�re the only one of the entire squad who
hasn�t grasped all of her powers.  Try again," the voice commanded.
	Moriko sighed and nodded, "Yes, Sir."
	She closed her eyes again and concentrated.  After a few minutes she
opened her eyes and sighed again, "It isn�t working, Sir."
	"We�ve been here for three hours, Officer Yoruhana, and you still can�t
attack?  You�ve been at this institute for twenty-one years, Moriko!! 
Get a hold of yourself!"
	"Sir, I can�t do this!" Moriko countered and watched the flowers wither
away.
	"You�ll try or you�re not leaving here!  Do you understand, Officer
Yoruhana?" the voice boomed over the speakers.  "Well?"
	Moriko nodded, "What do you want from me?"
	"I want to see if you can manipulate the earth like you did during the
wars ten years ago.  I haven�t seen anyone do anything like that since. 
Please try," a different man was now on the speaker and she could hear
Mr. Tsurumi in the background.
	"Yes, Sir," Moriko sat down and concentrated on the earth again.  A wave
of sadness hit her as she thought about the wars, all those lives lost
for what?  Then she closed her eyes and began to chant, "You who crossed
paths with the angel of death and brought upon the kiss of destruction. 
Now within this earth I command, hear my voice and obey."
	The men behind the one way mirror watched in amazement as the young
twenty-five year old girl opened her eyes, tears glistening in them.  A
hole appeared in the steel floor and a huge column of earth shot through
it, digging into the ceiling above it.  
	"Together we walk the path of death we have laid before us.  Join with
me and obey my will which is stronger than that of the souls you claim,"
Moriko slowly placed her hands forward and the column of dirt became a
wall that pushed itself down the hundred foot room towards the one way
mirror.  It swirled around itself reaching out to the open air hungrily
and eating each ounce of it as it went.  The men ducked and prepared for
impact, but nothing came.  Tsurumi peeked over the edge and stared up at
the hovering wall.  It just stayed there and Moriko was in front of it,
looking into the room.
	"How was that?" she sounded weary, beat. 
	"Uh�just fine, Officer, you may go," Tsurumi said in astonishment.  They
all stood and watched as Moriko turned and walked through the swirling
cloud.  The door opened and everything disappeared except the hole in the
floor.
	Ryuhi rounded the corner and waved to Moriko, "Hey, Riko!  How�d
practice-"
	Moriko Yoruhana walked out of the practice room and fell to her knees. 
Crimson blood was slowing dripping from the corner of her mouth.  Then
her eyes closed and she fell to the floor.
	"Moriko!!!" Ryuhi ran up and grabbed her, staring into her still face. 
He took out a handkerchief and wiped away the life giving liquid running
down her cheek. He looked around but no one was there.  "Medic!!!  Hey!! 
I need a medic here!!  Hang on, Riko, don�t leave us now�Medic!!!"
	Ryu�s words echoed off the metal walls, but received no reply.

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