Disclaimer: Wheel of Time belongs to Robert Jordan. 
Publishing rights are held by Tor Books.  Ranma 1/2
belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.  Publishing rights in the
United States are held by Viz and Kitty Films.

Author�s notes: Well, I did say I�d do at least a
prologue for this.  If I decide to continue it is a
different story.  Much of the prologue will be
flashback scene, well except the opening. Wheel of
Time is a fun series to cross Ranma with.  If anyone
wants to continue this if I decide to drop it, contact
me first, but I�ll probably say yeah.  In any case,
without further ado, I present to you:

-----------------------------------------
Two Halves, One Power
By Peter Gallagher (Ellf)
-----------------------------------------
Prologue: The Awakening of the Great Serpent

A burst of Power rose from the ruin city that was
Shadar Logoth.  Shadow�s Waiting, the foul place was
aptly named.  The foolish leaders of the city when it
was Aridhol did unspeakable things that invited the
dark wind that now haunted the city.  Mashadar laid
waste to the citizens save one, and that one was
corrupted by its power.  A wonderful choice of
location for the Dragon Reborn to attempt to cleanse
saidin from.  The taint would be removed this day.

Linked with Nynaeve and holding the key to the Choedan
Kal, Rand al�Thor fought a valiant battle while
channeling.   The battle was mostly mental and
directing the flows of the power.  Over the course of
several hours, Rand used more of the One Power than
anyone could have hoped to in a lifetime.  He tried
everything he could think of to eliminate the taint. 
Constantly he poured the Power, both saidar and
saidin, at the taint, but nothing seemed to faze it.

*******************************************

In the middle of the Great Blight lay a cave.  A few
miles south of the former location of the Eye sat this
cave.  West of the Mountains of Dhoom and north of the
border to Shienar.  Like the Eye of the World, this
cave was never in the same place twice.  However,
unlike the Eye, none could find it.  What was in this
cave?  Something far more important than a pool of
untainted saidin.

The inside of the cave was, as most caves are, dank,
dark, and a wee bit wet.  However, further in the back
of the cave stood something precious.  Avendesora, the
Tree of Life grew, protecting all who rested in its
shade.  Or was it Avendesora?  Was this not the tree
that stood at Rhuidean? No... It was different... it
was... older...    Lying beneath its branches with
eyes closed was a figure encased in red ice, or was it
blue ice?  Or green ice?  Purple?  The ice seemed to
change colors so rapidly, almost as rapidly as the
figure inside it changed appearances.  At first, one
would see a raven-haired young man dressed in a red
silken shirt and black pants of a similar material. 
His hair done up in a braided pigtail.  Barely a
millisecond later, a figure, different yet the same,
would be seen.  A buxom flame-haired beauty clad in
the same clothing, but would fit in the clothes
differently.

Suddenly... the ice began to crack as a dark cloud
formed within the ice, appearing only when the figure
was male.  Thin cracks began to spread, covering the
surface of the ice that encased the person.  The
figure seemed to change forms very rapidly now,
leaving an afterimage of each form overlapping the
other.  Fractures continued to form on the ice, and
now a visible multihued aura could be seen.

The cracks began to overlap, causing the ice to form
into fragments, fragments that were blown away piece
by icy piece.  Away from the figure each piece ripped
through the air like a hot knife in butter.  

Suddenly the figure stopped shifting, remaining in
male form.  The dark cloud that surrounded him, darker
than night, blacker than black, was exposed to the
Light and began to dissipate.  

*****************************************************************

Rand collapsed to the ground of what used to be Shadar
Logoth.  The fat man ter�angreal that he had used to
access the male Choedan Kal lay next to him.  Nynaeve
al�Meara also lay unconscious next to him.  Her long
braid ran across her shoulder and down the side of her
dress.  Sitting next to her was the female equivalent
of the ter�angreal that Rand had used, but unlike his
this one was melted, divided in half, and it could
scarcely be called a ter�angreal anymore.  Access keys
is what they were called, used to access the most
powerful sa�angreal from anywhere in the world.  After
all, if one were to be near them while they were
channeling, they were likely to be burnt up from the
Power flowing there.

When used together, by a linked man and woman, one can
do anything with the Power.  Black coat wearing
gentlemen and dress wearing women with ageless faces
approached the pair.  The men were Rand�s Ashaman, his
defenders, male channelers trained at the Black Tower,
doomed to go mad because of their channeling, but the
feat accomplished today should have changed that.  The
women there were Aes Sedai, female channelers from
Salidar, the Rebel Tower, but some were from the White
Tower, under Elaida. 

Cadsuane Sedai examined the pair.  Nynaeve unconscious
was to be expected, she was used as the conduit for
the largest amount of Power ever channeled by any
member of the White Tower.  It was because of her
strength and stubbornness alone that she had not
burned herself out during this process as the Choedan
Kal had none of the protection that many sa�angreal
and angreal had.  This alone was a miracle.

�It�s clean,� said one of the Ashaman, Jahar, his name
was. He was sitting on the ground with his head in the
lap of one of the Aes Sedai there.  �It�s clean.�

************************************************

Inside the cave, the boy�s eyes opened.  He looked
around, trying to get his bearings.  Okay.  One, he
was in a cave.  Two, he felt at peace.  Three, there
was a tree behind him, grown well in the cave.  Four,
no one else was around.  

�Damn, where�d they all go?  Didn�t Saffron want to
finish the fight?�

The pigtailed boy, obviously Ranma Saotome, tried to
remember what happened before.

He was standing on the ground, looking directly at the
Phoenix Prince.  Ranma knew that if he tried harder,
he could beat him.  Especially with the help of the
Gekkaja.  All he had to do was wait for Saffron�s next
attack, and then the heat of it would clash with the
spiral of ice that he had dug into the ground with the
ice staff, and convection would do the rest.

�Digging your own grave, mortal?� Saffron had asked,
�No need to strain yourself, there will be nothing
left but ashes!�  Once again the Phoenix God tore off
one of his wings and began to do his attack, but this
time Ranma would be ready.

�Oh yeah, bring it on, punk!� Even then Ranma wasn�t
taking the fight completely seriously.  He learned
differently as the flames descended towards him like a
comet. Thrusting his fist up while standing in the
center of the spiral triggered his special move. 
�HIRYUU SHOUTEN HA!� Screamed the pigtailed martial
artist.  Hot and cold air combined to form a spiral
convection current, the Rising Dragon Ascension�s
tornado.  Saffron was surrounded by winds, and Ranma
let himself get sucked up by it.

Ranma smirked, that was a good decision he made.  Sure
the winds were no trouble for Saffron, but at least it
got him close enough to hit the bastard.  It was when
Saffron had gotten the Kinjakan back that caused the
problem.  The clashing energies of the staffs had
caused the tornado to wander... straight towards
Kenseizan.

�Saotome! You and your woman will die this day!�

Ranma smirked as he held onto the Gekkaja.  �I think
not, bird brain!  Eat this!� Ranma formed a ball of
blue ki in his hand and touched it with the Gekkaja. 
A swirling of ice could be seen around the ball. 
�Mouko Takabisha Revised: Attack of the Ice Tiger!� 
The pigtailed martial artist thrust his hand towards
the phoenix and the ball grew and flew at him. 
Unfortunately, Saffron protected himself by launching
another fireball, engulfing the meager ki blast, and
it struck the ground.  Looking around, Ranma saw bits
and pieces of rubble flying up from the ground.

�A pitiful attack... Landling, are you getting tired? 
Don�t worry; it will all be over soon!�

The tornado of the Hiryuu Shoten Ha passed over the
taps of Jusendo, and both heads were pulled off.  They
flew up into the tornado like the creatures that they
were designed after.  Ironically, the Phoenix Tap
slammed into Saffron, sending him flying towards the
pools of Jusenkyo.   As he fell, more and more rubble
came from Jusendo to fall on top of the unconscious
Phoenix Prince.

Ranma watched as Saffron flew off, and smiled. 
Finally the fight was over.  But then, why was the
Hiryuu Shoten Ha still going?  With all the rock out
of the way of the waters of Jusendo, the tornado was
now sucking up the magical water like a straw.  The
water swirled around Ranma, before the pigtailed
martial artist began to sink.  He fell, throwing the
Akane doll out towards where Ryoga and Mousse were,
and the water turned her back to normal.  He smiled,
and the last thing he remembered was striking the
water.

�Ryoga, Mousse, Shampoo, Akane, Ucchan... I wish I
could do more.�

The Gekkaja struck the water at that instant, and
Ranma�s memories cut off.

Ranma shook his head, at least Akane was alright.  He
managed to save her.  He managed to save them all. 
Ryoga and Mousse managed to pull through in the end
after all.  Looking around, he noticed that he was not
far from the cave�s exit.  As reluctant as he was to
leave the shade of the tree, he knew he had to.

�Duty...�

There�s a saying in the Borderlands.  Death is lighter
than a feather, duty heavier than a mountain.  Ranma�s
version of that was drilled into him by Genma since
birth.  The life of a martial artist is fraught with
peril.  �Are you a martial artist, boy?� he would ask.
 Chibi-Ranma would answer, �Uh huh.� �And what is the
code of the martial artist?�  �Ta protect the weak!� 
Ranma smiled at that bittersweet memory.  That was
shortly before he had met Ukyo, but it was one of the
most prominent memories he had of that time.

The pigtailed boy stood and began to slowly walk out
of the cave.  Lying at the entrance to the cave were
five things.  One was an umbrella, apparently made of
bamboo, another was a baker�s peel made out of the
finest steel with a green dragon spiraling down the
handle of it, the third was a pair of bonboori, the
fourth, a mallet, and the fifth was an engraving.  It
read: �In memory of Ranma Saotome, an amazing martial
artist, and a selfless friend.  We are sorry for the
way we treated you, and thank you for your gift.
1980-1996.�

Ranma had a tear form in his eye as he read the
engraving, but that was before he noticed the dust on
it.  Millennia of dust had formed upon it, but yet it
had not disappeared.  How Ranma knew it was millennia
of dust was beyond him, regardless he did know, and he
knew that meant that his friends were...  Ranma didn�t
want to think along those lines.   Everyone he knew
was dead and gone, but he had been given a second
chance at life.  Ranma wouldn�t screw it up.  Picking
up the baker�s peel, he noticed that there was a
bandoleer attached to it.  He put it around his body
and hung the peel on his back.  He hefted the
umbrella, yep, it was Ryoga�s alright.  The weight
felt natural in his hands, and it felt... right.  He
placed it next to the baker�s peel on his back.  The
bonboori he hung at his sides, and he hid the mallet
in subspace.  Ranma Saotome was ready for anything
now.

Stepping out of the cave, Ranma noticed a feeling
of... wrongness that surrounded the area.  He stared
at the barren wasteland that filled his vision.  The
Byankala Range wasn�t like this.  More proof that his
friends... Ranma killed that thought immediately.  The
first objective would be to find civilization.

�Let�s see, damn... this place is making me feel
sick... Which way?  Well, down first of course.�

Ranma scaled down the mountain quicker than a cheetah
at top speed.  He didn�t want to be near that cave
anymore. It reminded him too much.  Spinning around,
he extended his senses to find a direction in which to
go.  South seemed to be a safe bet, the feeling seemed
to get weaker towards that direction.  

So Ranma set off at a speed that would make Olympic
runners look like turtles.  He slowed down a bit as he
realized how fast he was going.  Ranma noticed smoke
in the distance.  The pigtailed lad smirked, maybe he
was going to be lucky and find people already.  The
ominous sound of thunder could be heard overhead as
Ranma took off towards the smoke.

**********************************************
(End of Prologue)

Author�s Notes:
Argh! Writer�s block!  Wanted to be more descriptive
but couldn�t think of how! At least not without giving
the story away!  Anyways, the story chapters
themselves will be much longer.  This story will be
getting the backburner to �1/2 an Age�, and �To be a
Tomboy�, but it will be worked on.  Prologues...  most
of my stories have them, hmm...  I thought about
writing this one differently, but that would pretty
much give everything away if I wrote it the other way.
 Well, you can drop me a line about any of my fics at
ellfangor8@gmail.com. C&C is good, flames are bad. 
Saffron could tell you all about that.



		
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