Fall Into the Light
Prologue

By: Darken0ne

A young woman looked over the cliffs overlooking the border of a kingdom.  
Cavalyn was the name of this place she was overlooking; the chime of the 
summer swallows harped the peaceful tune that accompanied the place.  Cavalyn 
existed in a land known as RhyDin, a place often unknown to many people.  In 
this place both magic and sorcery co-existed ranging from a lowly cudgel as a 
weapon, to gigantic starships.  RhyDin was the crossroads of all realities, 
dimensions and times.  It was quite literally stuff that dreams are made of.
	The young woman cast her gaze downward to the cliff face.  Her long 
red hair swayed limply in the breeze.  Her light green eyes glisten in the 
sun's embrace, and a soft smile adorned her lips.  Quite literally, Cavalyn 
was the perfect place for her, with lush gardens and kinder people.  Of 
course, as any realm where magic rules, they had even deadlier foes.  Some of 
which seemed to pop up from nowhere.
	With a sigh the young woman hefted her pack which characterized her 
as a traveler.  She wore a light shirt that hung loosely from her shoulders 
and a pair of black pants that were also loose but tied at the ends, yet she 
wore no boots, and no ornament except a small band of gold upon her brow.
	A soft rustle in the bushes caught her attention, making her back up 
a few steps to retrieve her staff from the ground in one swift motion.  Her 
eyes began to pierce the shroud of foliage from about the creature, but could 
see nothing.  "This be too strange, by Falis this be not good."
	"Alex!" A call came from the other direction, definitely feminine.  
"Alexia, what aye doing out 'ere?" the stranger's voice was strained and 
horse.  Her breath was coming in gasps and sputters.
	Alexia saw the other woman in the corner of her eye.  "Go back to the 
castle Mama... it be too dangerous out here!" Alex's voice was as harp as 
needles, her eyes never wandering from the bush.  "Go!  I'll be alright." 
Alexia softened her voice and gave a soft smile to her mother.  "I've 
survived the wilds this long, have I not?"
	Alexia's mother took a step back with a nod, then took of slowly.  
Obviously the older woman didn't wish to meet up with any creature that would 
make her daughter weary.
	The read-headed woman took the time to sigh as she clasped her hands 
about her staff.  Slowly and sure of foot, she silently crept forward, staff 
always in a readied position.  When she finally met the bush, she used her 
staff to prod it, testing it for signs of life.
	In RhyDin, one could never tell of the dangers.  A tree could move 
upon it's own accord and squirrels could be trained to kill.  And, especially 
in Cavalyn's boarders, the necromancer known as Thomas had his minions about.
	Feeling that she could find no creature in the bush, she continues 
through the foliage.  Her movements kept the brush undisturbed as she kept at 
an ever quickened pace.
	All of the sudden she felt little weight upon her feet, and then the 
sensation of free fall.  She tried to use her staff to stop her decent by 
raising it above her head, but the strain of her encumbered body snapped the 
staff like a twig which allowed her to fall into the dark hole.
	With a thud, Alexia hit the bottom of the hole.  Groaning from the 
pain in the side she landed on, She slowly took in what her night vision 
could see.
	As her eyes adjusted to the cavern, she indeed found it to be a 
narrow passage of slick stone.  Neatly carved, probably by the dwarves that 
inhabited the mountainous area.  She squinted as she began to stand.  
"Interesting." She stated to herself, stepping towards an inscription she 
found upon the wall, interestingly enough it was in Chinese.
	She remembered back to her studies as a child.  China had been a 
country in the Earth world.  With RhyDin being so close to earth, some trade, 
though as little as it has come, goes through various portals from Earth.  
Much of which comes from China and Japan.  Through one of these trade 
missions, the people from earth taught the RhyDinians how to speak Japanese 
and Chinese.  Alexia picked this up quickly from many of the merchants that 
assemble in the realms.
	Alexia began to read the inscription upon the wall, it was simple 
enough they were two words, underneath each was an arrow.  One was the word 
"RhyDin" and the arrow pointed upward; the second was a mystery to the young 
woman.  "Jusenkyo" was the other word with its arrow that pointed down a 
long, dark passage.
	Sighing softly, Alexia debated the subject.  "I be always in search 
of an adventure, I might as well learn of this 'Jusenkyo'." After the words 
were said she began to move down the passage shown by the arrow.  As said 
before, the passage was dark, terribly so even for her elven sight.  It wound 
erratically, making its navigation almost impossible.  Along the walls were 
torch holders, long vacant and rusting.
	After what seemed like hours of endless journeying, the young woman 
came upon an open chamber.  With long used magics, each torch in the room lit 
with her presence, filling the area with unyielding light which made Alexia 
real back from the sudden intensity.  "Mine eyes can nae take too much of 
that.  Had these torches been brighter I might as well have been blind."
	Finally as her eyes adjusted to the lights she was able to take 
better record of the room.  It was vast in her opinion, or at least seemed 
so.  The wall before her took on an almost glassy look, making her unsure 
wither it mirrored her end of the chamber or if it truly went on as it 
suggested.  
"Curiouser and Curiouser." She whispered under her breath as she moved closer 
to the almost shimmering wall.  Reaching forward she motioned to feel the 
wall's smooth like appearance.  As her fingers touched the wall, a sudden 
feeling of nausea hit her like a ton of bricks.  Her world began to spin from 
existence as the unexpected surprise claimed her consciousness fading 
everything to black as a bright white light engulfed her body.  Then as 
quickly as the light came, it vanished along with Alexia.

She groggily awakened to the sound of chirping birds.  "Birds?" she thought 
as she let out an exhausted groan.  "I should be in a cave, nae a forest." 
Suddenly opening her eyes the light from an open window blinded her, making 
her retreat back into the covers.  "How long have I been asleep?  And why be 
I in this bed?"
Slowly, she began to climb out of bed, every muscle, tendon, ligament, and 
bone ached through the effort.  Lifting her head enough to see her 
surroundings she finds that she rested in a small cottage of one room.  
Through the sparse collection of items she concluded.  "A single man lives 
here, I will nae be here when he returns, I do nae know what he may do..."
She began to rummage about the room, finding her pack easily among the strewn 
about clothes.  "This man be worst than a pig tae live like this... I must 
have journeyed tae a primitive society.  Weird, I did nae think of earth tae 
be so primitive.  Most be all brains and no manners..." She slung her pack 
over her shoulder and headed quickly towards the door.  "At least it be easy 
enough tae find the way out..." then with a quick push of the door she was 
outside.
When she stepped out, the sounds of the world screamed to her.  The sounds of 
life making her head scream.  "So many creatures in one place, this must be a 
tranquil place, a druid's grove mayhap."  She began to wander off aimlessly, 
hoping to journey to a town for directions.  The portal could have taken her 
anywhere.  She had enough experience with portals that she knew they could 
lead anywhere at any time.
A sudden yell was all the warning she got before a gigantic panda pushed her 
to the ground.  The panda was followed closely by an angry looking girl with 
flaming red hair and looks not unlike Alexia's own.  "That may as well be 
mine counterpart in this world.  I be having a feeling we be meeting 
again..." brushing herself off she continued on her journey.  Following the 
redheaded girl would prove difficult, seeing that the girl was running in 
speed born of great emotion.  Be it fear or anger, she wasn't quite sure.
Continuing her forward movement, she soon found herself standing before a 
vast network of pools.  Each one containing one or two bamboo poles.  A smile 
began to cross Alexia's lips as she began to move towards the pools.  
"Finally some water, I be able tae drink and maybe have a bit of a relaxing 
dip!"  As she moved forward she did not notice the sign that was written 
clearly in both Japanese and Chinese:

"The Cursed Springs of Jusenkyo: Swim at your own risk."

End Prologue
_________________________________
Disclaimer:
	Ranma is not my creation nor is the Jusenkyo guide, Ryoga and all the 
rest of the cast of Ranma 1/2.  I did however create Alexia, so I would like 
someone to ask before using her in a fic.  You will be able to find this fic 
at http://members.tripod.com/Darken0ne/Fanfic.html when i get the chance to 
post it.  Any C&C please mail me.  Thank you for spending the time reading 
this fic, and see you all later.