Authors Notes: Prologue is in third party, rest of story is in first person perspective.

Please give at least the first chapter a shot if you don't like the prologue :)

Thanks for reading.

-Emi In Randland: Prologue or How Emi Came to Randland -

The bell rang. Lunchtime was over and fifth period was about to begin.

She made her way to her English classroom, navigating her way amongst the river of students walking down the corridor. She was the second one into the classroom, taking a seat in the middle. Other students began to filter into the room, talking and laughing. Max sat down next to her and started to unpack his things. Max had been her best friend since they had both come to the school in year seven; her from interstate and him from America. They were both a bit odd when compared to their peers as they both enjoyed school, although for different reasons. Both were among the few who continued to take Japanese as an elective.

"Hey Emi-chan, did you see what Josh was doing to that year seven kid out near the oval?"

Josh was the son of the school principal. He and his friend John were spoiled brats, who thought that they owned the school. They picked on year seven kids, easy targets, and were generally disliked by the rest of the students in their year level. They had never really bothered Emi that much though, they mostly steered clear of each other, exactly how Emi liked it.

"No Max-Kun." Emi replied, "I spent most of lunch near the Hockey field talking to Sarah."

Before he could explain the latest gossip Miss Hodge, the English teacher came into the room.

"Quiet everyone." Miss Hodge said, her voice difficult to hear over the noise of a classroom full of rowdy teenagers. Somehow they did hear though and they soon stopped their chatter.

"You all have this period to work on your fantasy essay, I don't want to hear any talking, just the melodic scratching of pen on paper."

Emi rolled her eyes towards Max at the Teacher's usual weirdness and opened her folder and took a blue biro from her pencil case, a bulky wooden thing she had made in woodwork.

She tried to think of what to write on the black piece of lined A4 paper in front of her. She yawned and closed her eyes briefly.

The bell rang.

'The bell?' Emi thought, 'thats not right.'

"Okay class, make sure to do some more work on your essays at home before Wednesday." Miss Hodge instructed.

'I slept through the entire class?'

Confused Emi followed the actions of her classmates and made to close and pack away her folder. She stopped, stunned. The page was covered in writing.

She looked down at the paper and read the words written on it.

And it shall come to pass that what men made shall be shattered,

and the Shadow shall lie across the Pattern of the Age,

and the Dark One shall once more lay his hand upon the world of man.

Women shall weep and men quail as the Nations of the earth are rent like rotting cloth.

Neither shall anything stand or abide.

The Dragon shall be reborn to oppose the Shadow.

But the light cannot succeed unless one removed from the pattern ties.

When the Dragon reborn confronts the Shadow at the last battle,

and his blood stains the rocks of Shayol Ghul,

Light's survival cannot subsist without a Sacrifice.

"Emi-chan, are you coming?" Max asked, only his head visible through the classroom doorway, "We have History."

Emi blinked a couple of times.

"Yeah Max-Kun, I'm coming." she said as she packed up her folder, trying to put the words on the paper out of her mind.

History class effectively removed the mystery of the English assignment from her mind, keeping her busy trying to remember dates and events. Max filled her in on the latest about Josh and John.

The bell rang. History class was over and so was school for another day. All of the students rose, slamming their seats backwards into the tables or walls behind them in a mad rush to escape the prison of school.

Emi didn't depart with the same fanaticism displayed by most of her classmates, she was one of the few who actually preferred their time at school.

She put her pencil case back into her bag, then picked up her folder. From out of the folder slipped a piece of paper, gliding down onto the table in front of her. Her English assignment. She put her folder into her bag, eyes never leaving the piece of paper on the table lest it disappeared as mysteriously as it's words appeared. She tentatively reached out, touching the words on the paper, hoping that her touch could exorcise the words that her sight evidenced. Her fingers disabused her of that hope, the inky depressions confirmed.

'The Dark One will once more lay his hand upon the world of man?' she thought, 'Is this some sort of Revelations prophecy?'

She folded up the paper and put it into her pocket, shouldered her bag and began walking to her pick up point. Her step father wasn't there, but she liked to be there waiting 'just in case'. It was half an hour before his familiar white BMW pulled up and she got in.

She stared ahead as her Stepfather drove the familiar path towards home. He didn't speak to her and she didn't speak to him. The silence would be deafening, if it weren't for the fact that it was a tradition replayed every day after the first. Almost since the first moment, he had made it clear that he was there for her Mother and not for her. Since the moment her Mother met him, she had been forgotten, ignored. Picking her up from school was the only thing her step father did for her and that was only because it was on his way home after work. He wouldn't drive her to school though, he had to go a different way in the morning. At home, she got out of the car and carrying her bag she made her way inside. She passed her Mother on the way, she was dressed in an evening gown and putting on earrings as she hurried out to get into the car. Just like most days, Emi would be left to fend for herself as her Mother and Stepfather went out for dinner.

Emi walked through the house, dropping her bag into her room before making her way out into the backyard. She jumped up onto a bench next to the side fence and climbed over into the neighbour's yard. This too was a tradition for her. Her neighbours were ageing hippies; Sunshine Merryweather (Merryweather being her real surname, Sunshine having been changed by deed poll) and her "Life Partner" Bob (No surname). Climbing over the fence was required as her parents did not like her visiting those "No good, useless, drug fucked hippies" and the couple across the street dobbed her in last time she used their front door. Sunshine often shared their dinner with Emi and it was a testament to her Mother's neglect that she never questioned what Emi ate for dinner when nothing was ever missing from the pantry. While she missed meat, Sunshine's vegan cooking was nonetheless very nice and filling.

As Emi landed in the neighbour's yard she was immediately spotted by Sunshine who was standing in the kitchen, looking out the window and waving. Even though she was at least into her fifties she was the epitome of a sixties hippy. Her blonde (now slightly graying) hair was held back by a tie dyed headband, white daisy poking out over her left ear. She was wearing a homemade knitted shawl with a bright coloured wavy lined pattern. Emi waved back as she made her way to their backdoor, removing her shoes and letting herself in.

"So nice to see you Emi!" greeted Sunshine, "How was school today?"

"Hi Sunshine," she greeted and yelled out "Hi Bob!"

"School was… interesting."

Bob entered the kitchen and engulfed her in a hug. His beard scratched her neck and he smelt of marijuana, but held in his arms she actually felt 'safe'.

"How interesting?" he asked.

"I blacked out in English class."

"You get used to it." Bob replied, ever the stoner.

"When I woke up I found that I had written something while I'd been out."

"You get used to *that* too."

"What did you write, dear?" asked Sunshine, the care and worry written all over her face as she gave Bob a gentle and loving 'whap' on the back of his head.

Emi pulled the piece of paper from her pocket and passed it to Sunshine. Sunshine read it, Bob peeking over her shoulder, brow furrowed in worry and confusion. She passed the paper to Bob so that he could read it properly.

"It reminds me of those Nostradamus prophecies." Sunshine said, "He was a Russian mystic from hundreds of years ago. So many things that he wrote down came true."

"I don't know why, but every time I read the words there I get a funny feeling."

"Words can hold power, Emi." Sunshine said to her, "Put it out of your mind, and let in feelings of love."

"All you need is love." added Bob.

Sunshine convinced her to meditate on "love", and as hard as she tried, she could not remove the sense of dread that was enveloping her. When Sunshine asked if she felt better afterwards, Emi put on a brave face and a smile that reeked of fakeness and told her that she did.

They had a really nice Potato and cauliflower curry for dinner and Emi went back home over the fence before her parents were due home at eight.

Emi arrived at school early the next day. She was often early, taking the opportunity to be away from home. She walked across the empty school ground and up the side stairs towards her locker. As she reached the top of the stairs she came across John. John's father was a banker or investment broker or something equally as boring (and lucrative) and because of this John believed that he had a right to act however he liked around the school. It helped John, that his best friend and "right hand man", Josh was the son of the principal.

John was holding a young girl by her arm, Emi vaguely recognised her as being in year seven or eight. His grip was obviously tight, pain was evident on her face.

"You fucking slut." he growled at her.

Neither had seen her. She knew that she could just turn around and walk away, the neutrality in their relationship could continue.

The young girl said only one word, "Please", and Emi could her the pleading and fear in her voice. The tone of her voice struck something deep down inside Emi, something buried and hidden. Emi knew that she could not just leave, she could not abandon the girl to John.

"Let go of her." she said, in a surprisingly loud and clear voice. She didn't feel confident, she felt like she was shaking on the inside, outside too.

John did let go of her and she took the opportunity to run away, down the corridor.

John looked at the girl's retreating figure before he took a few steps towards Emi.

Emi saw him tense up, she almost knew what he was going to do before he did. His face was so flushed with anger, it was surprising that he didn't just explode. He brought his arm back, hand closed into a fist. In it came, all anger; frustration and hate, a wild but strong haymaker. As his fist got closer, Emi stepped to one side and pushed out at the incoming arm. She connected with John's arm and he overbalanced and almost fell onto his face, only last minute hands flung out desperately in front of him prevented it. He pushed himself back up and now, the face that was merely flushed had transformed into some sort of visage of anger. It was a caricature of anger, there was at once something more than anger and something otherworldly about his hate.

John tensed again and rushed towards her. Again Emi stepped to one side, John went past her towards the stairs. John sailed down the first few steps, before tripping himself up and began the slow and extremely painful descent to the bottom.

Emi looked on in shock. Blood, red blood, stained some of the concrete steps, a crumpled pile of clothes at the bottom looked nothing like a person. The body at the bottom of the steps wasn't moving, Emi froze up. She heard the rapid staccato of running coming from the corridor behind her.

"Oh my god!" someone said, and ran past her down the steps. Someone else grabbed her arm and pulled her away. It wasn't until she was almost facing the opposite direction that her locked on gaze was forced away from the stairs. She looked up at the face of Mr Jacobson, the school Principal.

"Go to my office, right now!" he thundered and Emi started walking down the corridor. A few meters away she looked back over her shoulder, but she could no longer see the bottom of the stairs; or the blood, so she kept on walking.

She walked into the school office and Glinda, the secretary looked at her questioningly, "Mr Jacobson told me to wait in his office."

Glinda nodded and went back to whatever she was doing.

Emi walked into the Principals office and sat herself down on the chair in front of his desk. Behind the desk was a poster with a picture of a man standing on a cliff. Underneath it said "Determination" and under that; "Climb as high as you can dream". The desk itself was very messy, similar to the rest of the office. Bookshelves were full of binders and large books.

She heard the school bell ring, signalling the beginning of classes for the day and she was still in the office when it rang again for the start of first period. Eventually Mr Jacobson returned to his office. He sat down at his desk and fixed Emi with a steady gaze.

"Do you realise how much trouble, you're in Amy?" He asked.

"My name's Emi Sir." she said, stressing the pronunciation.

His brows furrowed, "I think you're missing the point… Emi."

"Why would I be in trouble Sir?"

"John is in hospital with cracked ribs and broken bones. He almost died."

Emi could feel herself begin to shake, her fingers felt numb. She tried to rally her thoughts.

"But." she began, "He attacked me."

"That's not what he said." The principal replied.

Emi just knew that Mr Jacobson wouldn't take her word.

"You've got detention in room 335 for the rest of the day." He said, "Until we can figure out if you should be expelled."

Emi sat in shock. Expelled? For defending herself?

"What are you waiting for!?" Mr Jacobson almost shouted, "Get out of my sight."

Emi stared at the clock. Willing it to go faster, to skip a few minutes, but no matter how hard she tried it wouldn't co-operate.

She wished that the torture would end, but it wouldn't. Detention, it seemed, would remain the punishment that it was supposed to be. It was the fourth day of detention. Different teachers, different rooms. She was not to be expelled it seemed, but would have to stay in detention until she wrote a letter of apology to John. It was the fourth day, because she refused to apologise.

She frowned as she recalled the reason for her torture. Mister Henderson, her year level co-ordinator, was sitting at the desk at the front of the room.

He was correcting work. At the end of each assignment, or test, he would look up at her. Whether it was to make sure that she was still there, or it was to allow himself to silently curse her for a punishment that was just as much for him as it was for her, she wasn't sure. She was sure that he would rather be in the staff room, enjoying a cold beer with his co-workers, or at home with his family, or really; anywhere but still at the school.

"Don't go anywhere." he said, as he left the room.

He was in year ten and was picking on a young girl in year seven. He was calling her names and pushing her around. It wasn't her fault that he had to be taken to hospital. He threw the first punch. He charged towards her, unmindful of the stairs behind her. He fell down the stairs on his own. But because the boy's friends all claimed that she pushed him (that none of them were there was irrelevant). The letter from Mister Jacobson convinced her mother and stepfather of her guilt and nothing she said could change their minds.

She stared at the paper in front of her and the pen next to it. She was told that she had to write an apology to the boy. She would not apologise. There was nothing to apologise for. But she knew that if she didn't then she would have detention the next day, and the next, until she did.

"Still nothing?" asked Mister Henderson as he returned. Emi tried to glare at him as best she could, and took satisfaction in his surprise.

"You know, I don't get paid any extra for this." he stated, knowing that she didn't care, "Just write something and save both of us the hassle."

"Anything?" She asked.

"So long as it's an apology." He replied.

She thought for a moment, before deciding. She picked up the pen and began writing. Once finished she asked the teacher for an envelope, which he graciously provided. She sealed the envelope, addressing it to the young hooligan.

"Well, finally we can both go home." Mr Henderson said, "Now, we expect not to have any more trouble from you Emi."

On her way home Emi pondered the outcome of her situation, kicking herself for not thinking of the solution sooner. Oh, she apologised all right.

She apologies on his behalf for picking on that girl, for his stupidity in falling down the stairs. She apologised for his parents, who obviously didn't raise him properly. She apologised for his likely future of a lifetime in prison if he kept going like he was. Finally, she apologised to him for getting his arse handed to him by a "girl".

Yes, if it all worked, then it was the best possible outcome that she could hope for.

The streets were mostly empty as she walked out of the school. It was ten kilometres home, and her stepfather had refused to come and get her as further punishment.

About to slide open the back door, she was surprised to see a strangely dressed woman in the backyard. She had red hair, similar to Emi's and was wearing a light brown jacket and pants with a scarf of a similar colour wrapped around her head. The ensemble looked home made. She carried what looked to be a spear.

She shifted into a stance at Emi's movement but relaxed it as soon as she looked at Emi. A look of recognition seemed to dawn upon her.

Emi opened the door.

"Are you a friend of Sunshine's?" she asked the strange woman.

"I am Tanil, Far Dareis Mai of the Jaern Rift sept of the Codarra Aiel." the woman introduced herself, "Please, I have been sent to get you for your assistance is needed."

'Hippy commune?' Emi wondered.

"Get me?" Emi asked, "Is Sunshine okay?".

"Sun shine?" Tanil replied, shaking her head. "I do not understand. My journey has been long, but the Wise Ones instructed me of it's importance. If I do not return with you, then all of the Aiel will die."

"What Wise Ones, what Aiel?" Emi asked, ready to run to the phone to dial triple '0', "What are you talking about?"

The woman, Tanil, somehow sensed her fear and spoke a little less forcefully, "Please. The last thing I would do is think harm upon you."

Fed up, Emi threatened the woman, "I warn you! Get lost or I'll call the police!"

The woman seemed to get frustrated and upset, saying to herself, "I knew this would happen! Why did I have to be the one to find the Amulet? Why couldn't it have been Braen or Allander?"

Resigned, Tanil pleaded with Emi, "Please. We only have a short while before the door closes."

"What door?" Emi asked, confused.

"That door" the strange woman replied, pointing to the back wall of the house.

Emi stepped out of the back door and looked at the back wall of the house. She almost collapsed in shock when she saw not the bricks of the back wall but a rectangular picture of a forest. The picture seemed so real, there was no way that it could have been a photo or a projection because the branches of the trees were swaying and she could not see the bricks of the wall.

"Please." Tanil repeated, "We don't have much time."

Emi tried to weigh everything in her mind. A strange woman needed her help. The woman wants her to go through a strange door. A door, presumably to another world. The woman needed her help. She had no friends, her family didn't care about her. She was beginning to feel like Alice in Wonderland. 'There better be enough time to pack.' Emi thought, as she hurried inside.

"One sec!" she shouted behind her as she run up towards her room.

She quickly grabbed her schoolbag and shoved some clothes into it. Running downstairs she stopped by the pantry to fill the rest of it up with food.

Emi returned outside a minute later, her schoolbag over her shoulder.

Together, they walked through the door.

Everything blurred, then went black. Emi then found herself in the middle of a forest. She looked behind her and was surprised to see a large stone doorframe. It looked entirely out of place in the middle of what appeared to be a forest. Inside the frame was nothing, no home, no door. Tanil retrieved a small wooden amulet from a recess on the right hand side of the frame.

"I am afraid we must hurry, it is a long way from here to the Three-Fold Land." Tanil said, pointing to her left, "This way."

Emi hefted her pack and they began a slow jog through the forest, Emi admiring the quiet and peacefulness of her surroundings. She doubted that she would see a possum or kangaroo and wondered what sort of animals there were around her. She soon grew accustomed to jogging, getting into a rhythm.

Eventually they came to a small river and Tanil stopped dead in her tracks. The river wasn't too wide, or running very rapidly.

"I reckon I could swim that, but I'd get my backpack wet." Emi said as she walked to the river bank, trying to gauge it's depth.

"You could what?" Tanil asked.

"You know, swim." Emi replied, making swimming motions with her arms.

"You can do that?" Tanil asked incredulously.

"Of course I can." replied Emi, "What? You can't?"

"No." answered a shocked Tanil, "Up until I came into the wetlands, I had never seen so much water. There is nothing like this in the Three-Fold Land."

Emi was surprised, almost everyone it home knew how to swim. 'This Three-Fold Land must be a desert.' she thought.

"I suppose that it would be too much to ask for a bridge or something?" Emi asked herself as she sat down, going through her pack for the packet of Tim Tams she had pinched from the pantry.

"A bridge?" Tanil said, "I did use a bridge to cross over the river, but it was close to a town. I do not think that I would be able to protect you if we went near it."

"Protect me?" Emi asked, munching on a Tim Tam as she threw another to her new friend.

Tanil took a bite of the biscuit and apparently liked the taste, "I am Aiel and you look like one. The wetlanders would attack us on sight."

"There's no hope for it I suppose, if you can't swim." Emi replied, "Which way's the bridge?"

"I think," Tanil said, looking around her and finally pointing upstream, "It's that way."

Emi packed up the Tim Tams and followed Tanil, at a more sedate pace this time. Tanil was obviously wary of her surroundings, so Emi attempted to pay more attention herself. Eventually the forest thinned and a grassy plain was displayed before them. Together they followed a path, looked to be well worn down by cars (or carts?) that ran alongside the river. Both were surprised, when they came over the top of a hill, to see a group of armed men riding horses. All wore armor such as a knight would wear. Tanil was just as quick as the men. The shouts of "Filthy Aiel" reached them even as Tanil finished winding her head scarf around her mouth and jaw.

"Get behind the tree." she ordered Emi, pointing to a large tree next to the track.

Emi looked out from behind the tree as the men were about fifteen meters away and closing rapidly, swords drawn.

She could hardly watch as Tanil stabbed and dodged, spinning around like she was in some sort of well choreographed dance. Men fell off horses all around her. One armoured man broke off from the melee and began to ride towards Emi. Emi tried to keep the tree between them, but he swung his sword across his body. She heard a thunk as it embedded itself in the tree, but everything went black at the same time. She opened her eyes to find herself on the ground, something wet was in her eyes. She blinked, but it didn't clear. She heard the stamp of horses hooves and could see the blurry shape of the horse and man nearby. He seemed to be struggling to pull his sword from the tree.

Emi wiped her eyes with her sleeve and was shocked to see it come away crimson with her blood. She heard a fearful scream, "Nooooo!"

She looked up to see Tanil running towards her but a man on horseback came between them briefly. Then, there was just Tanil. Kneeling on the ground, headless. She heard a thud from behind her. She swung around to see the man had jumped down off his horse, he was swinging something towards her. There was a sharp flash of light and everything went black.