Beginning of Part 2

Three Months Later

Christiana successfully blocked the oncoming bokken and then parried it with the end of her practice naginata. Then she swung the long, spear-like weapon downwards. Suddenly she changed the trajectory of its short sword length simulated blade in a feint to attack her sensei's stomach and not her head. Her well-trained companion easily intercepted the thrust with her wooden katana and then deflected the blow with a flick of her wrist.

With speed that the girl did not think was possible, the weapons teacher closed the gap between them. The child had no choice but to jump backward repeatedly to keep her opponent far enough away to use her polearm. However, the instructor kept pushing forward until she felt her back hit the wall. The woman was now too close for her to handle her spear effectively. 'She's too fast!' the schoolgirl thought as she blocked her sparring partner's practice sword with the shaft of her weapon.

In a moment of inspiration, she shifted so that she was no longer pinned. Sidestepping to her right she was able to shift around and back up once more. Her elation only lasted for a few moments before her backside hit another wall.

'Ugh! She forced me into a corner!' she thought. The inexperienced youngster hadn't even noticed until it was too late. 'I should have dodged left!'

In desperation, she tried to sweep her opponent's feet out from under her. She used the butt end of the spear to attack the other female's shins. However, her more experienced counterpart easily avoided the blow. Then, since Christiana's closed-in position restricted the movement of her long naginata, the instructor was able to land the killing strike.

"Your head is now mine," the dark-haired woman declared theatrically. "You are definitely improving, but you still lack situational awareness. It will quickly cause you to lose in the tournament, and it would mean your death in actual battle."

"Yes, sensei," she replied with a deep bow, her breathing somewhat labored and sweat sparkling on her forehead. Martial arts were an incredible workout. Although she was in excellent shape, she often found herself out of breath and overheated by the end of her daily training sessions. Her teacher always seemed to push her to her limits every time they met.

"That will be all today," Saito-sensei announced. "You have done well. I'll happily report your progress with the naginata to your Mother. Naginatajutsu suits you."

She respectfully bowed to her instructor once again. "Thank you for the compliment," the girls said politely. Upon ending the bow, she quickly removed her protective equipment before putting both it and her polearm away. While she was barely passable in kendo, she had excelled in naginatajutsu from the moment she picked up the spear-like weapon. She could handle the Nipponese halberd much more easily than the lighter bokken.

'I think it comes down to the way you have to grip the shaft,' she mused as she headed towards the locker room. Whereas the hand placement of a wooden sword was close together the places that you held a spear were significantly farther apart. As a result, she felt like she had better control of the longer naginata.

"I also prefer this weapon over a bokken," she reflected as she hopped into the shower. 'Ahh that feels good,' she realized as the hot water cascaded over her sore muscles. Training always made her body ache.

'At least I didn't injure myself today,' she thought positively as she exited the stall and dried off. While she did not hurt herself every day, it was a fairly common occurrence. Ever since she had started taking practice seriously she had averaged an injury a week.

"Mrs. Saito is right. I need to pay more attention to my surroundings," she realized as she dressed. 'That's how I get injured a lot of the time.' She had been lucky today. If she had jumped backward just a little further, then she could have harmed herself when her back slammed into the wall. Or even worse, she could have hit her head when she collided with the surface. That would not have been pretty. 'It would hurt, too' she thought as she fastened her mask and exited the building.

Since she was leaving on time this evening, she could take the last shuttle van home. Because it was so late, there were only two other girls in the vehicle. 'I'm going to make it back for dinner,' she realized with a smile. She was looking forward to spending the night with Haruhi-nee and John-nii. Plus Amelia-neechan will probably show up too.

'Wow, it's already getting dark,' she noticed as the van slowly meandered its way through Simmon's Town. 'Winter is right around the corner.'

It was only a week before the Winter Longanocte and even though a-cent-a was still above the horizon it was low in the sky. Due to Cooper's World's position in its orbit a-cent-a was only visible after a-cent-b set. Otherwise, the glare of a-cent-b drowned out its much dimmer illumination. In just seven days the two suns would become perfectly aligned and a-cent-b would totally eclipse a-cent-a. During that period the longest night of the Year would occur, the 'Longanocte.'

On that one day of the Year, there was no Alterday. Instead, there were twelve hours of Mainday and an equal lengthed Night at the equator. For a world with two suns, this was a rarity. 'I guess it's like that constantly back on Old Earth' she idly realized. As she looked out the van's window, the automated street lamps came to life. Suddenly the dim sidewalks were lit by the orange-tinted artificial light.

'The dark can be truly scary,' she finally understood, her mind filled with Haruhi-nee's wild tales for the first time in months. 'It's only during Alterdays and Nights that they see the Strangers' she recalled with a shiver. 'I think that if I ever met one of those blood drinkers, I would just scream and run away.' While she knew that these people who didn't need masks could not possibly exist, she still felt apprehensive whenever she thought of them. It was almost like when there was something on the tip of her tongue. She somehow recognized that there was some truth in this legend and that creeped her out.

'At least the shuttle service will drop me off at the house's main 'lock and not at the end of the lane as with the bus.' She took comfort in this knowledge because she would not have to wait alone in the dark for someone to pick her up. The very thought of doing that upset her.

'When did I become so afraid of the darkness?' she wondered. The look in Miss Harrison's eyes when she was eating dinner with her suddenly and inexplicably flashed across her mind. 'Why would I think of her when I feel fear?' she pondered. 'She's my geneSister, for goodness' sake! I'm definitely not frightened of her.'

She spent the rest of the ride home trying to understand her conflicting thoughts about her close friend and companion.