Serpent's Pass, Arcum Iris

Serpent's Pass (Continued)

Rocks in the Serpent's Pass were moulded into strange shapes by eons of erosion. Who would've thought wind and grains of sand could do so much?

The bottom of the canyon was covered with a thick layer of fine dust and overgrown in some places with strange, glowing plants. We made our way through the canyon, marvelling at the majestic landforms.

We explored the canyon until we lost track of time. But before long, the sky began to darken. We decided that it was about time to seek out what we came here to find.

Serpent's Pass

"Oof ...!"

Somewhere in a dimly-lit canyon, two felines struggled onto their feet and dusted themselves off.

(Where do you think we are, Luka?) 

"I am not sure, Skimble, but this place looks a little familiar."

"The Force that Be must've teleported us much further away this time. But hey, what's over there? Let's go and take a look!"

And so, Skimble and I began our exploration in the Serpent's Pass.

Over the ridge

*Huff puff*

"Dash, Skimble, dash !! We'll make it in before the Powers that Be teleport us out!"

*Roar!*

"I see it, Skimble I see it ! Do y-"

*swoosh*

"Oof!"

I felt a whirl of air around me, and before I knew it, I was falling through the air, and landed on Skimble's fluffy flanks.

"Dang ... we got transported out again ..."

Sneak view

"Hey, Skimble ... do you see what I see ? What's that in the distant?"

Parched Land

Skimble and I travelled all night across the desert, and then a day. Slowly, the terrain became increasingly rugged as we got closer to the edge. Civilisation was far behind us, and I couldn't help but notice the peaceful silence in the air - not the silence of a dead place, but one brimming with quiet anticipation and possibilities. One starts to notice the feelling of hot breeze against the skin, see in detail the water-colour streaks in the winkled rocks and intricate lines on the bone-dry gnarled trees. Was the sun ever this bright, and sky ever this brilliant blue?

The edge of the world may seem desolated, but there were so much details to be observed if you would only stop to look. 

"Look at this harsh but beautiful land, Skimble! This is the edge of the world as we know it! I guess we are lucky that we live in a time when the Gods are still trying to build more of this world. There's so much to look forward to."

Skimble: *Soft purr*

Southern Lights

I woke up to a warm evening breeze, draped on the rooftop gable. I must've fallen asleep for a long time. As I sat up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, I caught sight of a display of slowly shifting, jewel-toned lights in the south.

 Suddenly, I remembered the times I spent hiding in ambush on the roof long ago, when I was but a young grasshopper. I often stared at that strange light from the rooftop and wondered what that faraway place was.

Later, I learnt that the lights shone over the sealed land of the Wildborns, which the Powers that Be had not granted access to.

Just then, an idea struck me ... what if Skimble and I managed to get onto the bare rocky ridge that separated our land and theirs - maybe we could peek in and see something beautiful and exciting? The thought of this gave me an adrenaline rush.

"Skimble ... Skimble !"

Skimble woke, and lifting his massive head off his paws, looked up at me from the ground with quizzical eyes. He stood up as I jumped on my feet and tumbled off the roof.

"Growl?"

"Let's go, we're heading to Wildborn land!"

Change of Deed

"Finny, your housing tax period is ending. Would you like me to extend it for you?"

I watched as the post-owl flutter away with a soft swish of wings. Before long, the reply came.

"Nah. Take the housing deed and certify the house to your name."

I did as I was told. A few days later, the name on the old Arcum Iris townhouse plaque became mine instead of Finny's. I wrote back to let her know that everything went well.

"Finny, we can upgrade houses now. Can I upgrade the house?"

Time passed, and the reply came.

"Yeah. It's yours now."

I had gotten used to life without Finny around. But when I read those simple words, I felt sad somehow. So I climbed onto the roof, and stood where I used to hide and wait for her to come home.

Always a Higher Peak

I climbed the highest rock I saw, and the next one, and the next.

Before I knew it, I was on a mountaintop, breaking through the morning mist.

But when I turned and looked into the sun, there was always a higher peak in the distance.

A New Cape

Does this make me look tough ?

Do A Barrel Roll

10/10 would try again :3

Throwback: Sanddeep Festival (Part 1)

The Blue Salt merchants organised a festival in Sanddeep, and our family decided to visit before the summer turned to autumn.

"Look at the water! It's so clear!"

"Are you sure you want to eat all those fried chicken, Luka?"

"...Maybe it's time to change out of these armor and into swimsuits?"

"The sun is too damn bright!" *chugs beer*

"It's rare to see you do something non-violent, Finny!"

"Shush, I'm doing it just for the rewards!"

Good Morning Hellswamp

Fly

Sam the Blighter

It's been a long time since I last posted. Today, I'd like to tell you a story about a friend of mine who had been there since almost the beginning, but I hadn't written about.

This is Sam, our guild's weaponry crafting, blighter and businessman extraordinaire. He was also one of the first few people to extend a helping hand to us when we first joined Freedom Orient.

Sam is a hulk of a firran who looks incredibly serious and fierce, but he has a hidden mischievous streak. In that mischievous streak, however, there is also a streak of seriousness. Sam is like a samurai that can never be fathomed. Like a true samurai, Sam has the ability to talk to cats, even crazy shy ones. He is also incredibly strong, and wields one of the rarest blade in Haranya, a hand-crafted legendary Ayanad sword of Life that can give life as easily as it takes it away. However, I had hardly seen Sam draw his weapon, nor had I seen him lose his cool. If he broke a great weapon trying to regrade it, he would just walk off and go to sleep. Perhaps under his disguise, he is also a great master of Zen?

I had gone on so many interesting journeys and adventures that involved Sam, but today, I'd like to tell you this one story about a time when he secretly helped me.

---

One day, a long time ago, I was sitting on the steps of Ynyestere town, looking and feeling rather battered. Finny, who had been trying to teach me how to fight, was watching from the side as I challenged the many duel seekers in town. I could feel her eyes burning a hole through the back of my helmet, my hair, and into my head, annoyance rising as I missed my combo and lost another duel for what felt like the thousandth time.

"Same mistake again! What were you doing!?"

"S-sorry ... I'll try again ..."

As I sat defeated, rubbing my throbbing bruised head, a large tall shadow rolled over me from behind, waking me from a brief wallow in self-pity. I looked up to the sight of Sam towering above me.

"Hello, Sam."

"Hello, Luka." Sam replied cheerfully. "She's really strict with you, isn't she?"

"I'm feeling rather beat." I stated feebly. From Sam's bemused expression, I guess I must've looked the part ! 

In the cobblestone square, Finny challenged the person who had defeated me. She pounced on him viciously, and proceeded to beat him to a pulp in front of us ... perhaps to show me how it should be done? I had a dreadful feeling she would do it to me when we get home, to ensure that the lesson was well learnt.

"Is it just me? Maybe I'm really bad at this after all..." I sighed.

Sam took a look at the fighter, who was surely becoming as battered as I was, then took a look at me. Quietly, he unbuckled his sword and passed it to me stealthily. Curious, I took the sword and unsheathed it a crack, and my eyes widened at the glowing blade. It was Sam's hand-crafted Epherium sword, imbued with fiery power and glowing with enchantment.

"N-no ... I can't use this !!" I said, quickly sheathing the sword and made to return it.

"It's ok. Try it." Sam insisted, with a glint of mischief in his eyes.

"O-okay.."

I took the sword hesitantly and stood up, feeling a little apprehensive, as if I as going to do something I shouldn't. I looked around, trying to convince myself that it was alright, since many people have much better armor and weapons anyway. I walked up to the square for another duel, but before I could challenge anyone, Finny stepped in front of me.

"Show me what you've learnt from the fight just now."

I felt a horror rising in me. I can't use this on my own Shifu ! I turned to Sam, but he was pretending to be obliviously looking at something else. 

The duel began. 

Finny leapt into the air, draw her blade and move into a possibly highly painful move. The terrifying airborne outline approached, as though in slow motion. I drew the sword, and for a brief moment Finny's eyes widened slightly at the sight of the glowing red blade. 

*CLASH!*

Our blades met. Somehow, I managed to parry her opening move. I could feel the sword's power in my hand. Finny took a glance at my new weapon, and quickly moved into her next attack. If she was surprised, she no longer showed any hints of it. The next attack that I parried mercilessly shook me to the shoulder sockets. Finny wasn't just strong because she had good weapons, she was strong because she was good at fighting. The sword might have made up for my slower reaction and lack of experience, but I still had to work to keep up.

What followed was a fierce, explosive battle of blades, and I wondered how I survived. Somehow, I managed to pull off the attacks that was taught to me. The glowing blade made my attacks more powerful, and my parries more precise. I landed a heavy hit on Finny, but my feelings of guilt was rapidly cut short by her counter attack. After a stormy exchange of blows, Finny stepped back. The duel was over, and I wasn't half as battered as before. 

---

"Thanks, Sam." I said sheepishly as I quietly returned the sword later. 

"No problem." Sam replied, "It's not you. Sometimes, we just need to level the playing field." He winked. "I'm really starved. Wanna go for a steak?"

Up on the Mountain (Again)

This peak was even higher than the one we climbed before, and there weren't any farms here!

Cathedral

I held my breath for as long as I could, and just at the last moment, I took out a vial of Dahuta's Breath potion and gulped it down. I sat at the bottom for a long time, listening to the soft sounds of the sea.

I'm driving by the place we met

for the ninety-seventh time

Throwback - First Serpentis

Out of these nine who took me to Serpentis, only three are still around ...

So near yet so far

"I'm so bored." she said. "I robbed someone the other day. Some idiot who tried killing me once."

"Are you going to be a pirate?"

"I don't know."

I hardly get to see her now. She was still the same Finny I knew, violent, a little bad tempered but kind of caring somewhere deep down, and the first one to talk to me without freaking out after I blew up and ran away from the family. But somehow, even though she was right beside me, sometimes I felt like I was talking to someone far away.

"I'm so tired of all this. I can hardly gear up, I'm losing out to people, and I've been sick of the way things are since Freedom Orient broke up. I really want to leave this place."

I thought of Finny's shiny leather armor pieces, and glanced at the two gleaming weapons hanging from her waist, but I kept quiet because those weren't important.

"But Finny, if you go, I'll be so sad."

"What for? Go find someone else to play with."

"You talk like Jeon did when he left." I didn't know what to say anymore. I knew there was no stopping her. It was like you were going to lose a fight, but you hit that guy anyway.

Finny turned around as I swung my fist towards her. It missed.

We went at each other until she beat me up thoroughly. Then we sat on the grass and talked, like we always did.

"Anyway, just because I'm leaving doesn't mean you can't come along. Besides, you know exactly how you can find me. I'm going to think things over. Look after the house until I have everything sorted out."

"I'm going now. See you later." climbing onto her flying sloth, Finny flew away in a burst of light and disappeared into the distance.

I sighed, and, sitting down in the grass, slowly tried to rub my bruises out.

Sad Cat

"I got mad. I blew up and ran away from home."

"What happened? Come, tell me everything."

Throwback: Halcyona

Let's go!

Roadblocked

"Stop right there!"

Last week, I delivered a load of specialty packs a long way from Windscour to be sold at Cernord, only to come across a queue of haulers stuck at the back gate of town. The merchants looked fllustered and angry. 

"... not these crooks again!"

A person wearing a horse-head mask had parked his hauler across the bridge, preventing merchants from entering. Some merchants muttered angrily, having travelled a long way just to be blocked by some crooks. Some turned around and left, while the rest tried to bargain and buy their way through, or simply decided to wait and hope he would go away. The bridge wasn't wide, and noone wanted to risk getting their hauler stuck, or worse, crashed into the river.  

"I'm the leader of the band of bandits called Tractor Team Six. This bridge belongs to us now. If you want to go into town to sell your wares, pay up and I'll allow you to pass."

"Oh."

I had driven enough times with Finny to know when one can push his luck with narrow spaces and vehicles. Noticing a gap just wide enough to squeeze through, I stepped on the gas and drove around Mr Horse-head's vehicle, with half my hauler leaning dangerously over the edge of the bridge. Before he knew what was happening, I had gone around him and entered the city. The weight of the packs was just enough to ensure that the hauler didn't tumble off. It was scary, but I knew it could be done.

"... wait, what the heck?"

"I'm sorry, but your blocking skill is kind of bad. Good bye!"

---

After spending a day in town, I went back to the gate. To my surprise, the strange man with the horse-head mask was still there. He had gotten off his vehicle to take a break. I made a dash for it and jumped onto his vehicle.

"Hey, Mr Horse! Did you know you can make a hauler fly?"

I floored the acclerator. The hauler bounced over the edge of the bridge, and took to the sky.

Sunset Duel

"Ha! Same mistake again!"

Maybe one day 
I will be 
Where I was 

Little Talks

Well tell her that I miss our little talks

Throwback: Kroloal Cradle

My new family and I decided to go to the Kroloal Cradle dungeon for an outing.

Kroloal Cradle is a very large dungeon... filled with twisted paths, grosteque and venomous creatures, toxic pools willed with skeletons, and inter-linked caves with cracks, from which foul gases and flames spew. We fought our way in for a long, long time, and we delved deeper and deeper underground. Who knew such a place exist beneath the peaceful Rookbourne Basin?

It was my first time in the dungeon, so we were too busy fighting and dodging tongues of angry flames. I didn't manage to capture much of our action until we were near the end!

I had to take a picture when Vel caught fire. She's a healer, so I figured she'd be alright.

"AAH! I'm on fire!!!"
"Now that's a bigger guy than any of those minions we defeated along the way!"

"Another strange toxic puddle ..."

"How many of these weird pools does this dungeon owner keep?"

"This is the most monotonous dungeon interior I've visited... like grayscale, but in red."

We walked down a long, treacherous flight of stairs, laced with poisonous spikes.

"Watch your steps!" Elf, the steward of our new family, cautioned us caringly.

"Look! Is that the guy we're supposed to defeat?"

"... I think so!"

"Let's go."

"WAIT! Let's take a picture before we go! Say Cheese! Vel, stop running about!"

"Lovely! This is shall be our new family portrait!"

Mountain Sound

Alone we travelled 
with nothing but a shadow
Through the woods we ran
Deep into the mountain sound

Fireflies

To ten million fireflies 

I'm weird 'cause I hate goodbyes 

I got misty eyes as they said farewell

But I'll know where several are 

If my dreams get real bizarre 

'Cause I saved a few and I keep them in a jar

Wish You Were Here

Gone with the wind

"Shifu.. where are you going?"

"I am going to be away. Here's the key to the house. Feel free to use my lands and farms."

"But ..."

"Help me pay the taxes too, please?"

"...Ok, I will."

"Thanks Luka. See you."

... she's going away again ...

Orphel

You know sometimes you make a friend, and one day you think back on how you met, and the times you shared, and realised how special that friendship was? Well, Orphel was one of such friends I met.

Rookbourne Basin is one of my favorite places in Haranya. But for some time after Jeon left, I made a living running quests by myself in Rookbourne, always feeling a little down ...

... until one fateful day.

I was making my way down from the mountain. The blue dusk slowly descended, and a chilly mountain wind began to blow, but I had yet to complete my errands for the day. Rubbing my hands together, I walked briskly with my head down, eager to return to town before it was completely dark. Skimble followed quietly, as if we were of one mind.

We came to a narrow bridge connecting two sides of a ravine, and were about to cross it without a second thought when we noticed a well-dressed Haranyan lady on the opposide side. Startled, we quickly retraced our steps to let her across, but to our amusement, she did the very same thing at the same time. 

"Hello!" I said, "Please, after you, m'lady."

"No, no! You must be tired from all that fighting. After you!"

The lady took out her flute and played a lively little ditty, as if to encourage. Skimble and I finally crossed the bridge first, to her insistence.

"Hiya, Firran swords lady! Where're you headed?" She greeted us when we got to her side. If there was any gloominess in my heart, her warm greeting dispatched of it quickly. 

"Hello! I'm Luka and I am off to run some errands for the mountain people. How about you?"

"I'm Orphel! I was supposed to meet my friends, but they aren't in town yet, so I am just walking about killing time. I dare say I am a decent healer and song bard, I'm sure I'll be of some help. I'll go with you!"

As if knowing that I'd be more than glad to have an additional companion, Lady Orphel hopped onto Skimble's back. Bringing her flute to her lips again, she started playing a light-hearted tune. Our mood lifted, and we felt refreshed and light as a feather, as though we could run twice as fast. Upon Skimble's back, we galloped away like the wind, with no fear or worry about the coming twilight. 

From that day on, Orphel and I became fast friends, and we went on to fight, explore, and befriend many others together. Like a sister, she taught me many things, and listened to me when I shared my thoughts. Despite her well-dressed appearance, she was an incredibly spunky, indomitable healer and song bard who wouldn't refuse a good fight!

Thinking back, I had never once thought or felt like I needed to ask if it wouldn't be dangerous for her to be wandering alone in the mountains that evening. I guess somehow, I could already sense how strong she was, even though she didn't carry a sword like I did!

Over the months, I've gone on plenty of adventures with Orphel. Here are some memories that er collected :D

----------

"Hey Orphel, I'm going to Karkasse Ridgelands to get my final quest armor. Would you like to come along?"

"I already have something better, but I'll go with you anyway!"

"Waaaa Luka, you look awesome!"

Even though she already had equipments far better than quest ones, she went with me and got a set too.

And of course, you gotta dance a little when you get new armor. 

----------

Orphel introduced me to two of her friends. Elyrion and Mintrovat. Elyrion was quieter, and Mintrovat was totally chipper. The two of them would banter with each other, and it was always hilarious to listen to them. Till now, I kept in touch Orphel, but I don't know where Ely and Min has gone. I miss them very much! It was with them that I discovered my love for dangerous gliding! 

"Can we really get to that cliff from here?"

"Yes! Just follow Ely, he's a pro!"

We made it to the other side, and discovered an abundant fruit orchard.

----------

"Luka, do you know what the Rookbourne falls are?"

"No, but I want to find out!"

"Come with us today and you'll find out!"

"Alright, two to a rowboat, let's go!"

As we approached the waterfall, I began to wonder if I had made a bad life choice.

----------

We went to Growlgate Isle together, and stole pirate uniforms from the pirate barrels. 

"We are pirates now! Let's go sailing and terrorise the seas!"

"Actually, our own armours feel a lot better..."

----------

Orphel also showed me how to do trade runs from Rookbourne to Falcorth through the rocky mountains. It took us a long time!

----------

We explored Auroria together, too!

Here we rode her reindeer through the mountains of Exeloch ...

And we found our way to the burning forest! 

Since it is not every day that you get to stand in the middle of a perpetually burning forest, you gotta strike a pose and take a good photo, right?

----------

 Orphel's family run a business, so she has plenty of opportunities to hone her people skills. She would often share her insights and experience with me. She always stood up for me, and would always look for me to make sure I wasn't alone. Once, when she found me sad and frustrated after a harsh training and some sharp words from Finny, she had even gone to look for Finny by herself to "have a word".

After spending several months together, Orphel had to return to her homeland to help with her family's business.

Before she left, she took me to one last place - The Misty Well in Hasla. On our way, we met a few meddling elves, which we dispatched off quickly by joining forces. She was an excellent healer and kept me alive throughout the fight!

We finally made it to the well. We sat side by side, and had a good talk together. I told her about things that made me happy, and things that made me sad.

Because I was often impulsive and hot-headed, she reminded me to be cautious about putting too much emotion into things. And if others got upset, we mustn't be influenced by negative emotions and get upset along the way, but instead keep a cool head and resolve matters.

"Remember, Luka, ladies must be strong, but gentle at the same time." 

----------

Recently, I received a rare letter from her. She seemed to be doing well, and we had a quick catch-up before both of us had to go on our separate ways.

Orphel is far away now, accomplishing plenty of things. But no matter what, she will always have a special place in my heart.