Chapter 3
Clawn stepped into the warpgate and suddenly everything went dark. Almost instantly after the darkness came, there was a blinding flash of white light and a sensation of falling, into an endless depth. And then, as suddenly as it had all started, the World came flooding back into view. The first thing Clawn noticed as he stepped away from the warpgate was the vastness of the place. The seemingly infinite plain stretched as far as the eye could see, underneath a cloudless sky that showed a slowly setting sun and two crescent moons, slivers of white in a sky of purple. Scattered here and there were boulders the size of small cars, their shadows stretched across the sea of grass.
"Wow, Locklear, what is this place." asked Clawn
Locklear stepped forward from the warpgate he had just come through. "That doesn't matter right now, just follow me." He sped off, leaping from boulder to boulder.
"Do you always have to be in such a hurry?" Clawn sighed in exasperation.
"I'm always in a hurry because you're always LATE!" Locklear hollared back to his friend.
"Yeah, well, um, that's not my fault, you see, there was this thing I had to do and..." Clawn searched for a comeback.
"Just forget it." said Locklear as he launched from yet another boulder.
They moved in relative silence after that. Until, slowly appearing on the horizen, a rock formation came into view. There were about forty or so large, rectangular boulders standing straight up in a circle. In the center of the circle, there was a single tree, it's leaves waxy and dark green, while its pure white flowers were in full bloom. As they drew nearer to the circle, a figure became visibe under the tree.
The man stood straight with long, black hair and a tattered, brown cloak covering all of his body save his head, arms, and lower legs. All of his visible body had light armor. His arms and shoulders seemed to gleam in the dwindling sunlight due to the quality of his armor. His shins were guarded with plates of metal that seemed to be integrated into his black clothing. On either of the man's wrists were footlong, retractable blades. The guy would've seemed like any other twinblade(if not a little bit mysterious) except that his eyes were grey and pupilless. Locklear finally stopped as he entered the ring of boulders and walked up to the man. Clawn followed, cautious of this strange man.
"Clawn, this is who I wanted you to meet. His name is Masa." Locklear explained as they walked towards the man.
"Why doesn't he have pupils?" asked Clawn.
"He doesn't like it when people know what he's thinking."
"Oh." Clawn replied, still a little confused, but satisfied for the time being.
When they reached Masa, he spoke. "Hello, Locklear. I assume this is Clawn?"
"Hey, Masa. Yeah, this is him."
"Nice to meet you, Clawn." Masa extended a hand.
Clawn took it in his own and shook it. "Nice to meet you too, Masa."
Locklear cleared his throat as he started to speak again. "I've brought us all together because I have a proposition for you. As you've probably heard, the new server, known as Eriald, is hosting a tournament that will take place in a week. A three man party is needed to enter, I thought we could team up and enter it. There's a prize for the victors, a rare item and 30,000 gp will be given to each member of the three man party." As he finished stating his idea, he looked at both Clawn and Masa. "Well, what do you think?"
"I think we should go for it!" shouted Clawn as a fire gleamed in his eyes at the promise of a rare (and most likely expensive) item.
"I think its not such a bad idea." Masa said, a slight smile crossing his face. "At least, the experience points would be good."
"It's decided then, we'll enter the tournament." said Locklear in a decisive tone. "Let's meet at the East Gate tomorrow at 5:30 for some training to see what works best for us."
"I'll be there." said Masa.
"Me too." Clawn added.
"Well, its late now, so I'll see you guys then. Good night." Locklear said as he logged out.
"Same here, see you tomorrow, Clawn." Masa's form disapeared from view as he too logged out.
After Locklear and Masa had left, Clawn checked his e-mail, and believe it or not, Locklear's map was there. 'That's weird' thought Clawn as he checked the map. 'This place isn't listed anywhere on the map, there's nothing but forests, swamps, and that plateau.' Clawn heard his alarm clock beep again. 'It really is late, better get off before I become an insomniac' thought Clawn as he closed his e-mail. 'I wonder what Masa will be like, I guess I'll find out tomorrow.' Clawn logged out.
End Chapter 3