Waarne Gharough flies along in an airship, with an expression of determination across his face.

No he had not purchased an airship of his own, but simply was given the favour of riding in one by a kindly fellow. Kindly, especially, after the 2 000 gold that was given to him to help 'convice' him to deliver Waarne to his requested destination.

The clouds break, and directly in the airships path floated the Masters floating fortress.

"We have arrived, pilot!" names were never a formailty to Waarne, especially on such short term relationships. "Now fly me in closer and I shall bid you farewell."

"Will do," replies the pilot in a very southernlike accent.

The airship honed in on the platform of land on which the fortress floated, and pulled up a mere six feet from it.

"Thank you friend, for your assistance. Have a safe flight home." And at that, Waarne leaped from the ship, landing on the land, a comfortable foot and a half from the edge.

However, the ground began to shake under his feet, and he could tell it was going to give way. It seemed as though he had landed on poorly supported spot of land. There was no time to react, before he was plummeting to his death.

A streak of brown and white feathers dart directly through Waarne's path, and Waarne's fall ceased. He was now soaring in a horizontal direction, clasped in the talons of an enormous eagle.

The eagle mounts itself on a stronger portion of the fortresses base, and releases Waarne from its grasp. A voice calls to him as a cloaked figure climbs down from the birds back.

"That was a close one stranger. You wouldn't have survived a fall from a height such as this." The cloaked man speaks, his forked tongue spitting out from his scaled beak every so often. "I didn't just save the life of a Master did I? If that was the case, I'm sure you could escort me to Anomaly?" The man asks hopefully.

"Perhaps I could, if I was indeed of The Masters. However, I am simply here in hopes of finding a specific someone," Waarne says with a tone of sadness in his voice. Clearly he had been searching for this person a long time.

"Well, we share that specific goal, my friend. May we travel together, so as not to get lost alone in such a place?"

"You, however, search for a being by the name of Anomaly, whilst I am searching for Cordienne Groulx, my brother."

"Hahah!" A look of surprise and happiness now shone across the cloaked man's face. "Perhaps we share much more in common than we know! I too search for a man by that name!"

"You know of him!? How!?"

"I trained him in the art of combat when he was a young boy, and I heard that now he has become a pupil of the great Anomaly, and a member of the Masters! See, The Masters are a very highly respected group of combatants and I wanted to congratulate him. I also thought it might be good to see Cordienne, finally developed into a full grown man. It's been quite a long time since he has left me."

"Well then, if Anomaly is his Master, then I suppose he will know where Cordienne is," says Waarne, now feeling much more confident, knowing he is so close to his brother.

"Precisely. And, by the way, my name is Drake Atakoh, it's a pleasure to meet the great Waarne Gharough."

"How do you know my name?" asks Waarne, almost worriedly.

"Your brother spoke very highly of you. It must have killed him to leave you those many years ago."

At that, they continued on, silently, into the fortress, leaving the eagle to do as he wished. Upon entering the front doors they were greeted by a strange feeling. It felt as though someone was watching them, very closely.

"Do not worry. Allow me to do the talking and there should be no problems." Drake whispers to Waarne in a very confident tone.

"ANOMALY! WE HUMBLY REQUEST ENTRANCE INTO THE FORTRESS! YOU MAY NOT KNOW OF ME, HOWEVER I KNOW VERY WELL OF YOU! SHOULD YOU DECIDE TO DISALLOW US TEMPORARY ENTRANCE, I SHALL REQUEST THAT YOU DUEL US, WITH ONE OTHER OF YOUR CHOICE, IN A TWO-ON-TWO ENTRY BATTLE INTO THE MASTERS, SO THAT WE MAY BE FREE TO WALK THE HALLS OF YOUR FORTRESS, AND FIND WHO IT IS WE ARE SEARCHING FOR!" Drake shouts into the foyer, his voice echoing off the walls of the building.

"What? Wouldn't you think to ask for my consent before throwing me into battle with someone, much less two people, powerful enough to be a member of The Masters!"

"Evidently not. But stop worrying yourself, you're a big boy, and I'll be fighting with you. Oh, and by the way, Anomaly is the MASTER of The Masters. Get ready to have some fun."

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Okay, so this is considered my attempt at asking you, Anomaly, for an entry battle between you and myself, for my characters Waarne and Drake. I will require that you battle me using Anomaly and one other so as to make things a little more interesting (2 on 2). I'll bet no one's ever tried something like this before, eh? Hahah, I hope you'll accept.