((Cross posted from RingsOfHonor. Original post dated: Jun 13th, 2006))

Kyle had invited her to go romping with him for a reason. Gin knew better than to think that he would venture into the woods on his father's land with her unless it was important for him to have her alone. They had been thick as thieves their entire lives and had dated for three years. No one saw it coming whenever the pair split up 11 months ago. Gin had transfered to Pennsylvania University clear across the country to escape the closeness she always felt about Kyle whenever she was at home.

Today he had asked her to go paintballing with him. She had agreed realizing that whenever Kyle asked her to go and do anything with just the two of them it meant he wanted advice.

Today he did not want advice.

As the two darted over the second hill in the series of rough landscape Gin's ankle weakened and she went tumbling down into the valley below. She was not hurt nor truly distracted by this fall. As Kyle rushed down the side of the hill he was bombarded by a colorful array of blue and green. The look on his face was priceless as he settled to the ground next to her.

"You okay, grace?"

Gin srunched up her face at him.

Looks like I'm doing better than you, sweetheart.

"Eooh....rough, princess."

Shut-up, Kyle. The ultimate conversation ender.

So, are you going to tell me what you wanted or not"

Kyle became visibly uncomfortable. Gin rolled her eyes at this display. She threw a light punch to his left arm.

Speak, prince charming. Ain't got all day.

What dulcent tones, princess. The glare he received in reponse prompted him to stop messing around and get down to business.

"Alright, fine. I asked you here today because I need to talk to you about something and I didn't want you to find out from anybody else."

Kyle....are you pregnant" A chesire-cat grin surfaced.

"You're not making this any easier, ya know."

Gin took note of the severity and decided to shut up.

"Look. I-uhm I met someone. I've been out doing my training on the cost and I ran into this girl who is studying in the same field. We've been going out for a little while and — "

Gin held up a hand.

Look, Kyle, you don't owe it to me to tell me this. I don't care if you've got a girlfriend.

"Gin, we're getting married." At this she flinched.

Sure am happy you took your time with it. Nice to know that you're not rushing into this.

Gin rose up from the grassy hole she had rolled into. She brushed off her paint-covered clothes. Was she mad" Probably. Was she jealous" little. Was she hurt' Yeah. It was the last thing that bothered her. Here they had broke up no more than a year ago and he moved on and wanted something so intense so fast.

As Gin Harker took hold of her paintball gun and stepped away she felt the world collapse around her. There was darkness and pressure and the most strange feeling of uncertainty. It was whenever she opened her eyes that she realized she was in a different place. Gone were the woods and the sky and the man who stood behind her. Gin now stood frightened in the midst of a city surrounded by tons of people going about their everyday activities.

What was this place"

Twenty minutes standing in line with only two people ahead of her. That being said the free twenty minutes had given her plenty of time to inspect the strange clothing of the guy in front of her as well as the bizarre clicking language of the guy in front of him.

Gin marveled as the woman at the front desk spoke into a strange little communicator that allowed her to speak whatever language she wanted. Not only was the woman speaking into a communicator but she also had red fur, ears, a tail, and a number of other strange attributes. Gin couldn't help thinking she looked like somebody Bugs Bunny might want to bang in his spare time. Someone sitting in a chair nearby chuckled and Gin quirked a brow. It was as the time passed and she found herself next in line that she had her first lesson in telepaths.

After she felt a door close in her mind she approached the counter with a smile. The fox-lady smiled back showing her pearly white, pointy teeth.

"Welcome to RhyDin, my dear. Mind telling me your name and country of origin?"

Gin paused to contemplate this question. She wasn't even aware there was life on other planets let alone a whole other dimension to be mucking about in.

Ginny Leilia Harker. That's G-I-N-N-Y. L-E-I-L-I-A. H-A-R-K-E-R. Gin gave a sigh of relief had having gotten it all out. I'm from the United States of America.

"Ah, yes." The fox-lady grinned. "Earth. We get quite a few teleports from there."

Gin actually took some relief in the fact that there were other people from her home planet located here.

"Well, I'll need to know what your human age is and what trade you were involved in back on Earth."

Gin frowned a bit at this query. She was hoping to have things explained first, but she understood that paperwork was apparently necessary on every planet.

I'm 21 years old. I was born December 7th in— Gin paused realizing that they might not use the same calendar system here. She decided to carry on with the rest of the interrogation. I was a student at the University of Pennsylvania studying to be an architect. I would have had only one semester left.

The female fox creature entered the information into her computer. Gin took the time to fidget.

"Alrighty, dear. Looks like out next Welcome Seminar is in about 45 minutes. Here is your identification tag."

Furry fingers passed over a little clip-on I.D. tag. Gin attached it to her shirt.

"There are free refreshments around the corner. Your I.D. tag will let the servers know which foods to give you. Other than that just make yourself at home here in the lobby until it's time for the seminar, okay?"

Gin nodded like any good bobble-head doll and walked over to grab some food before plopping down about three seats away from the telepath she had been chatting with earlier. Together the two tried to piece together this strange puzzle of their dislocation until the start of the seminar.

The tiny pixie seemed to have no issue in fluttering towards the microphone and resting on a little set of stairs beneath it. Panrialle had served as one of the spokesmen for the Rhydin Welcome Center for the better part of twelve years now and these seminars came with such ease that the pixie rarely became anxious anymore.Once everyone was settled the red-shirted welcome committee went to the task of strolling down the aisles to wait on the outside in case anyone was in need of assistance during the speech.

The tiny pixie cleared her throat before the microphone sent her shrill soprano voice booming through the room. "Ladies and Gentleman, creatures of all sorts....welcome to Rhydin. As the majority of you are undoubtedly a bit confused in your current state, we would like to take this opportunity to explain a bit of your situation." Iridescent wings fluttered for a moment as the pixie rose above the microphone to make sure everyone could see her. She hovered there in the air as she continued.

'Now, you all should be able to understand me as the environment should have settled into your system within the first hour of your arrival here. If there is anyone who cannot understand what I am saying, please raise your hand and a service assistant will come and help you." This message suddenly scrolled across the screen behind the speaker. Only three people raised there hands and these immigrants were then lead from the room to a side chamber.

"The language you are hearing is the common one here. It's standard RhyDinian and should be accessible to everyone once the Nexus has transported you here. A natural phenomenon." There were a few murmurs from the crowd as everyone started to take in the information.

"The energy force that likely transported you here without your consent is what we call The Nexus. It is a source of power that is often the cause of our displacement within this realm. The good people in the red shirts will be handing out an information packet at the conclusion of this speech and we will be available to answer any of your questions then." The pixie gave a pause to make sure everyone looked like they were doing alright. Noting a patron in the back who looked a bit disturbed, the pixie sent a telepathic message to a mint green-skinned woman on the sidelines. The assistant moved calmly to go and see if she could help.