Part Two

I don't know how many days I have been walking since I left Jen-Chan's hut. I now have stumbled upon a big temple. I have run out of food and the dagger Jen-Chan had given me is old and rusty. It would be poison to the food I would hunt for. I also noticed, I haven't seen a river or lake for miles.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly I walked up to the temple gates. I then reached up to a rope and rang a bell. I stood outside the temple for some time before hearing the door open. A bald monk stood at the door. I quickly stood up and bowed to the monk. The monk had a smile and bowed in return.

"I mean no harm," I began. "I only come here for food, water and place to stay."

The monk, whom still had a smile spread across his face bowed again gesturing me to follow him. I followed him into a room with a huge Chinese symbol embossed into the floor. I didn't know what it said. I looked around and noticed silk clothes covering things. I continued to follow the monk to a red double doors at the end of the beautiful room. He stopped just outside the doors and gestured for me to wait. I did while he entered the red doors and I waited outside.

I found myself looking back to the Chinese symbol. I've seen it before, but I can't seem to remember what it means. The monk then stepped out of the red doors with a smile across his face. He then gestured for me to enter.

When I entered the room there were two red clothes hanging, the monk then closed the double doors leaving me alone. I then stepped through the clothes into a room full of windows, and the same symbol from the other room hanging from the wall, where a window wasn't placed. There was also a cloaked person sitting before the symbol with it's back facing me.

"Welcome," a voice came from the cloak, and elder voice, but not too old. "Welcome to the temple of the White-Mage Warriors."

I bowed, "I am pleased to be...here?" White-Mage Warriors, why does that sound familiar as well?

"What's your name?" The elder woman asked.

"I...was given the name Angel." I replied, I wanted to say my real name... if only I knew it.

My name somehow shocked the cloaked woman. Her head had snapped quickly to meet my eyes. She wasn't that old, probably in her 40's and is already growing grey hairs. She stood up and walked up before me.

"My name is, Mingi." She said before me bowing. "Where are you traveling from, my friend?"

"The oceans, just south of here." I replied, she is different from the other monk; she doesn't smile as much.

Mingi then smiled. "What reasons are you traveling for?"

"I'm in search of my past." Mingi's smile then faded. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"You know nothing of your past, Angel." She said sitting on a red silk pillow before a small table with Chinese dynasty tea set setting upon the table. She gestured for me to sit on the other silk pillow opposite of her. While she poured tea into two cups she continued. "Explain...why you know nothing of you past."

Mingi handed me one of the cups, accepting the cup I took a small sip. "I was found by a young man named Jen-Chan. He took care of me...but when I had awoken... I didn't know who I was or where I cm from. Jen-Chan had said he found me sprawled on a big rock just below a cliff. He thinks I may have fallen...that I should be dead. Now I'm in search for my past...I want to know who I am."

Mingi sat in such patients, waiting for me to finish. Finally, she released a sigh and took another sip of her tea. "You must have come from a sophisticated family."

"How would you know?" I asked confused.

"Look at the way you hold you cup." Mingi pointed out how I held it. "You hold it so delicately. So princess like. You must of been raised well." She took another sip of her tea.

I looked at how I held the cup. One hand under the cup and the other barely a hold of the cup. Mingi didn't hold hers like I did. A rough grip around the cup and didn't place a hand under the cup.

"You see what I mean?" Mingi then said.

"Yes..." I said studying the way I held the cup again. "Yes, I do." I then slowly took another sip of my tea.

"Do you fight?" Mingi asked.

"Yes, a little," I said nodding. "Jen-Chan taught me what he knew."

Mingi then stood up, leaving her cup at the table. "Come with me."

I put my cup down and followed Mingi back into the room with covered things. Mingi looked at me. "Have you not heard of us?" I shook my head in reply. Mingi nodded. "We are not as widely known as we are in Japan. Behind these clothes are paintings of the greatest warriors, friends, sorceress and so on to ever live." We walked up to a dragon patterned clothe. "But...once they die their paintings must be covered in honor of their peace. Most of these many paintings is a great one, only she disappeared. We believe she has placed a spell on ever mortal causing us to loss all memory of her existence, so we covered hers as well. The symbol of the floor...no one knows what it means. It's still a mystery."

Mingi draws back the dragon patterned clothe, revealing a sliding door. Sliding the door open, she lets bright sun from outside shine inwards. A long staircase leading down to a stoned circle where a man screams orders to his students to change stances. The fighting style was much different then the one Jen-Chan taught me.

"Have you never seen this style before?" Mingi asked removing her cloak, to show her beautifully sculpted body. For an old lady she had kept herself healthy. She then noticed what I was looking so shocked about. "Not bad for little old me, huh?" She joked with a smile.

Mingi wore a top that showed off her stomach as well as her back, no sleeves either, only her shirt had a collar that reached high up to her jaw line. She wore skin tight pants with a Chinese dragon on both sides of her pants. Mingi also wore boots that came up to her knees, made out of some kind of light metal. She also wore gloves that went almost up to her shoulders, wearing large armlets over the gloves.

While arranging the armlet around her fore arm she looked at me. "If your fighting isn't all that great, I will teach you some of our fighting styles." She then went into fighting stance. "We are the best fighters in Asia. I am the best of the best."

I felt unready for her fighting style, but never hurt to try anything once. I then went into my fighting stance. We studied each other for a while before Mingi made her first move. Throwing a kick at me I blocked. She suddenly threw a couple of punches at me. Blocking the punches. Her armlets and boots caused her punches and kicks to be more powerful. Without knowing where I had thought up the moves. Ducking on of her punches I used both my legs to sweep her legs apart causing her to do the splits. Then using my legs again still on the ground I gripped her neck between my legs. Not really trying to chock her at all.

"Okay...okay I give." She said in a some what chocked voice. I released my grip and we stood up. Mingi was rubbing her neck, "Where did you learn that move?"

"Uh...I don't know..." I said, Mingi looked at me confused. "I just thought up the move and did the move before I knew what happened."

"Well, that one of our...chock holds. And that split move that too is one of ours." Mingi stopped rubbing her neck. "Those aren't easy moves to learn. I didn't think you'd know those moves."

"I didn't either... I think this has something it do with my past as well." Mingi smiled and nodded.

We went back up the long case of stairs. Mingi left her cloak behind in the stoned circle that we fought in. We entered back into the main part of the temple. Mingi turned and faced me. "I will join along with you in your journey." She pushed on of the long strand of brownish strand out of her face.

Her body doesn't look older than 30 but the hair and the voice give it away. I nodded to Mingi. "I would be glade to have company on my journey."

Mingi was able to gather more things than I was able to get from Jen-Chan. She had better supplies than I did, but I still kept mine just incase. Mingi also brought plenty of money to last us enough for a lifetime.

"Wait, before we leave...I have to get one more thing." She went back into the double door room I first met her in. She walked to the right side of the room and ripped down a yin-yang clothe, revealing a cabinet with carved dragons in the wood, and dragon faces as handles. She pulled the cabinet open to show a beautiful sword with a huge ruby jewel. With a long handle, Mingi pulled the sword out of it's case. The blade was big and wide, it amazed me. Between the blade and the handle a H looking design held the ruby. "Beautiful isn't it?" Mingi admired the blade... "I don't remember where I got it from, but when I awoke from something I held it in my hand. With stains of blood which I think I fought with this sword." Mingi turned to my gaze. "Do you want a sword?"

I couldn't seem to speak. I only nodded. Almost the same thing I went through. The only difference is that she remembers her past, her child hood. Is there something about my past I shouldn't know about? Back in the main room we went through a different dragon patterned clothe, through the sliding door we appeared in a working place. Metal banging against metal. Workers carrying jugs on their backs.

Mingi lead me to where the swords were being made. I looked around and there were many different swords I could choose from. I finally choose one... a sword is a sword, it didn't matter which one I choose they all looked the same.

I turned to Mingi. "I guess I choose this one." Mingi only bowed. "Let's get started." I was given a strap to hold it around my waste. Mingi keeps hers on her back. We stepped outside the temple. "Which way to the nearest village?"

Mingi looked around for a bit, then pointed west, "The next village is that way, Takenchi." Our journey now continues to Takenchi.

Part Three