The Valley of Jusenkyo. To those that know it, a valley of cursed pools. A valley to be avoided at all costs. It is a valley hiding a secret know only to a rare few. Due to the confluence of rare magic, godly power, dragon blood, and unseen lines of power; it is also a weak point in the dimensional vale. Here spirits, demons, gods, and other extra dimensional beings could come and go provided they had the knowledge necessary to open the weakened vale. And sometimes beings could be pulled through the vale.
Saotome Genma was not what one would call a wise man. Though he had traveled a great deal in his time, he rarely attempted to learn about the places he visited. This lack of knowledge extended to Jusenkyo. All that Genma knew was pieced together from things he had heard from other travelers and fragments of martial art journals he found. He thought this was a legendary training ground. That is why he brought his son, Saotome Ranma, to this place. Upon first entering the valley they were met by a guide. "Welcome travelers, this the Valley of Jusenkyo." Genma spared the older Chinese man a glance. He immediately disregarded the man. He was clearly no fighter, and he could barely speak Japanese (conveniently forgetting that this man knew at least two languages, while Genma knew only one).
The fat martial artist tossed his bag down. "So, this is Jusenyko?" Ranma commented. He looked around. Perhaps one hundred pools with pole sticking out of them dotted the pools. "Doesn't look like much."
Genma snorted. This was a legendary training ground, clearly the secret to why was just hidden. He jumped to the nearest pole. "Let's go boy!"
Ranma sighed and dropped his bag. "Sure, why not?" He too jumped to a pole and squared off against his father.
The guide gasped. Balancing on the poles was an impressive feat. And if he had not lived his entire life near Jusendo he would have been greatly impressed. "Sirs!" He called. "Is dangerous to go near springs!"
"Dangerous?" Genma smiled. "Good!" He darted forward. His son met him in the air. The two fighters exchanged blows above the springs before landing on other poles.
"Please sirs! Stop!" The guide continued to call to them.
Once more father and son struck out against one another. This time, however, the son was victorious. A solid kick landing and knocking his father off balance and into a nearby pool. The boy lands and spins. "Ha!" He exclaims in triumph. Keeping his guard up he stares at the pool. After a second, "Yo, pops! We done already?" In response a figure explodes out of the pool and lands on a pole. "What the Hell!" Ranma yells. A panda. It's a panda.
"Oh no!" The guide exclaims. Ranma turns and finally takes notes of the man's words. "Customer fall into Shonmaoniichuan! Tragic story of Panda that drown in spring!"
"What!" Ranma yells at the man.
"Whoever fall in spring take form of Panda!" The exasperated man explains.
"I wasn't told about springs that could turn you into an animal!" Ranma screams at the guide. Sadly, for the boy, his attention is solely on the guide and not on his father. The panda mistakes his son's shock for laziness and strikes. Ranma never sees the strike coming. He flies back, out of control he hits a pole at full force knocking him out. Unconscious and bleeding, the boy hits a pool with a crash.
("Hmmm?")
The spring pulses.
("You are different. I can feel a great destiny coming from you.")
Bubbles begin coming from the spring.
("But you'll need a little nudge to get you there.")
The spring seems to be boiling as it begins to glow.
("Come. It's time we spoke.")
Light bursts from the spring causing the guide and the panda to shield their eyes. When next they look there is no pole, no water, and no Ranma.
Sometime Later
Drip…drip…drip…
The small droplets of water hitting his head finally wake the boy. With a groan he sits up. "Ow." He moves his hand to his head, but it is his sleeve that rubs his eyes. "Huh?" He looks at where his hand should be. Oddly it seems his shirt has grown. After a second he works his hand free of the sleeve. His eyes widen in shock. His shirt hasn't grown. He has shrunk. The boy jumps to his feet and stumbles in his pants. He falls back into a pool of water. "What the Hell happened?" He wonders as pushes himself up. The face that is staring back at him in the water is his own. But it is much younger than it should be. "What happened to me?"
"It seems that being pulled into this world had unforeseen issues," A voice says.
Ranma flips. He lands unsteadily, collects himself, and takes his stance. "Who are you!" He demands.
The voice belongs to an old man. He has long white hair, a long white beard, and is dressed in a red cloak. "I am Avatar Roku." He says with a smile.
"So wait a minute." The two had been walking for some time now. Roku explaining to the boy what had happened to him. And the boy becoming increasingly annoyed. "You felt my chi when I hit that spring. And decided to pull me into this," The boy motions around them. "Spirit World, because you felt 'a great destiny' around me?"
Roku nods. "Yes."
The boy sighs. "Can't you just send me back?"
Roku shakes his head. "Unfortunately, no I cannot. Now that you are here, you cannot leave until you fulfill your destiny."
"Great…what is my destiny?"
The Avatar shrugs his shoulders. "I'm not entirely sure."
"What!" The boy yells.
Roku smiles. "I know you are meant to play a large part in the war. Beyond that your destiny is shrouded from me."
"So now what?"
Roku smiles. "Now we ask a friend of mine for a favor."
Wan Shi Tong's Library
"And why should I allow this," The owl looks at the boy. "Human stay at my library?"
"Consider it a personal favor," Roku asks.
"Humph." The owl stares at the boy then back at Roku. "No. I don't need favors, I only need knowledge."
Roku smiles. "The boy comes from another world. Think about it Wan Shi Tong. You would be the first person to know about a completely different world."
The owl lowers his head in thought. "Another world you say?" He begins muttering. "Knowledge from another world that no one else has. I could become He Who Knows 20,000 Things." The bird raises his head. "Very well he may stay. I will inform my Knowledge Seekers to gather food for him."
"The foxes?" Ranma asks.
"Yes the foxes," The owl sighs.
"You're dropping me off at a library?" Ranma asks.
"It is the best place for you to learn about this world." Roku explains.
Ranma crosses his arms in a huff. "I need to train," He mutters.
Roku smiles. "This library has knowledge about all things, including fighting styles."
Ranma steals a glance at the dead avatar. "Really?"
Roku nods. "Including the chi-based fighting styles of bending."
"Bending?" Ranma turns his gaze to Roku. "What's that?"