With a Lion I Share This Lonely View

"Skimble?"

*growl?*

"... Sometimes, when people leave and things end, I wonder if the space they leave behind will ever be filled."

"It's almost like reading a wonderful story, but not wanting to finish it, because you hope that it would never end, because you would miss the heroes and heroines, and you feel like you don't want to have to leave the world behind. You don't want things to change, but they do."

*...* (Jump on my back and let me take you somewhere!) *tosses mane*

"Where are you taking me, Skimble?"

Roar! *Charges*

--

"Wow, it has been ages since I last came up here... Look ! The sun is rising over the Falcorth rocks!"

*Purr* (Everything is gonna be ok, Luka.) *Licks*

"Thanks, Skimble."

Empty Chairs and Empty Tables

Where my friends will sing no more

Throwback - New Year's Eve

It was the last day of the year, and we decided to head to Freedich for a trade run, and to look for some trouble so that we could end the year with a bang!

How I met my shifu - Part 3: Impossibru !!!

Yuletide came, bringing along with it a slurry of white snow and grey slush. I made a trip back to my mountain hometown in Falcorth, and couldn't wait to meet Vel and Finny again. I wasn't away for too long, but little did I know that a surprise was in store for me that would turn my world upside-down.

---

Luka's Version


"Hello! I'm back!" I shouted as I hopped off the carriage, but only a stranger awaited me - a stern looking but pretty Haranyan woman with flame-red hair and violet eyes.

"Hello, Luka."

"Hello ... do I know you? Hey, isn't that ... Why are you wearing my shifu's armor .. and using his weapon?! Has something happened? Did you do something to him!"

"... No, I'm your shifu."

What?! IMPOSSIBLE!

I took a step back. How could this be? This is not true!!

"Let's duel and we will find out!" Taking a stance I knew too well, the archer drew her bowstring and fired a whizzing arrow at me with deadly accuracy. Within twenty seconds, I was overpowered and kneeling on the ground, vanquished. Then came the evil laugh: "Mwahahaha!" 

It was him alright. I wanted to deny it, but I knew it to be true. My shifu has become a woman. The reality came upon me, like the ground when a glider gave way on a flight out of Tigerspine Mountains. I tried to stand up, clutching at anything for support.

"No ... NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

A flock of birds took flight at the sudden cry as a Firran sank into the grass and spiralled into despair.


--


Finny's Version


"shifu .. is it really you?"

"... yes."

"How is it that you've become a woman?"

"What's wrong with being a woman?" ._.

"Nothing, just asking."

"They're better looking than guys, so I got a sex change."

"Oh."

"Come, let's duel."

"Ok."

Move a little bit closer

"Skimble, Skimble,"

*Growl* ?

"Can we move a little bit closer to the edge??"

*growl* .... *edges forward*

"Skimble, Skimble,"

*Growl* ... ?

"Can we move a LITTLE more closer to the edge???"

*growl* ... *inches forward*

"Skimble, Skimble!"

*growl* .... ???

"Can we go EVEN closer to the edge?"

(No! Any further and we'll fall off !!) *ROAR* *Shakes mane*

"Whoa !!"

Throwback: Skypirate's Perch, revisited

"Hey, Luka~"

"Hey Vel?"

"Why don't you show me the view from the Sky Pirate's Perch?"

"Sure, let's go!"

Master of Aggrevation

This is my guildmate, Loong, sitting on the bonnet of a car during Grimghast Rift. His name probably meant "Dragon" in his native language. 

Loong has an insatiable bloodlust for fighting, and often took me along when he went to ambush Nuians. Sometimes I also followed him when he went to hunt for Luscas in the sea, and he had always been wiling to split the loots with me, even though the amount of help I provided felt kind of small, and the damage I dealt was nowhere as much as what he could do.

I enjoyed tagging along and often did so, and it wasn't until much later that I realised how much he was hated amongst his enemies - not just for the repeated merciless assaults he would carry out on them, but also for his ability to push his opponents' buttons and infuriate them. 

I had never witnessed it myself, but he also had a reputation of being able to colourfully swear, insult, and detailed the flaws of his enemies' families, and sometimes even THEIR extended families.

Even though he has a bad rep amongst many people for being rude, what many people don't know is that Loong is actually a very loyal friend and comrade. If a guild-mate or a friend is in trouble, he would be one of the first to jump into action and fight teeth-and-nail to protect his guild-mates and friends. 

Also, he wears a cute shirt.

So... I guess we should try not to judge people based on the one side that you know of them!

How I met my Shifu (continued)

"Vel."

"Yes~?"

"Fight me. I want to see how much damage I can do."

Finny loves to fight (and win!). Often, I watched as he duke it out with Vel in practice duels. I would always be amazed at how he could dart just out of reach from his opponents, firing whizzing arrows across a field with lightning speed, with not a strand of gravity-defying hair out of place.

I wanted to be good at fighting, too! So one evening, I decided to pop the question.

"Finny .. how do you manage to fight so well?"

Finny gave me a quizzical look. "... just fight, I guess?"

"Could you teach me how to do it?"

"Sure." 

Lesson started immediately.

"Alright. You should know the basic combo for a blighter. First you use this attack to shackle... then this one to trip... followed by this. Try it."

"Ok!"

"Good. But you need to be faster. If it was a real fight, you'd have been defeated already. And don't just stand there, run around and confuse your opponent."

"Yes shifu!"

And thus begins ... my roller-coaster journey into the world of dueling!

Throwback: Hasla rift boss

My first Hasla boss fight with Freedom Orient !