Part Three: Falls

Prologue: Failure

Ranma was bewildered to say the least when she found herself flung into the air by something that should, by all past knowledge and expectation, have done the exact reverse. It didn’t take long for the wind to stop, however, and she started to brace herself for the impact of landing again, when something even less expected – not that she was surprised by this point – happened.

A stream of water geysered up from the ground, soaking her. That was perhaps explainable, but the wave of dark light that accompanied the water was not. She was blinded for an instant from the combination.

Dark light… Once she – he now, from the chi-heated water – figured out what had happened he was levitating in midair, buoyed up by the force of the familiar energy pulsing out from the mountain in massive waves.

It only lasted a moment. He had a glimpse of the mountain breaking apart, practically dissolving, then the fuse that had been quickly burning this entire time was gone and the entire thing exploded, flinging Ranma away in a swirl of wind, water, dark light and stone. He was almost unconscious by the time he landed, and the force of the landing finished the job.

***

Before opening her eyes, Ryouga hoped – half-heartedly by this point, from her track record so far it was unlikely – that she was dead. It would certainly make things easier.

She was covered with a strange numbness, to the point where she couldn’t even tell if she had a body. The memory of pain lingered, though, and she could feel it in the back of her head like a fear – no, like a phobia, that would make her scream if the ignorance of its existence was wiped away.

But she had eyes to open, and opened them.

She couldn’t recognize what it was she saw. Heaven? It was certainly white enough. She closed her eyes again, because whatever it was, it hurt. Bright light stabbed through retinas that weren’t used to so much anymore, and she couldn’t imagine anyone’s vision of heaven leaving her in the same condition that she had been in before…

That was, in a great deal of pain. A great deal, but it was coming back slowly. Nerve by nerve, sensation was coming back, and most of the status reports weren’t good. Broken leg, likely. Bruises everywhere. A million cuts and worse, which would probably kill her from blood loss sooner rather than later. But even so, it seemed strange. She was alive, which was odd enough – and didn’t seem to be dying.

If anything, she was getting better. And just when she was confident that she actually was ready to be put on the cart this time…

“Hey, you’re awake.”

Ranma?!

***

~Mordain

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