Chapter Nine

9 – Brief Encounters

“I can’t believe I haven’t gotten the chance to berate you sooner,” Mer said as the five of them settled into the plush coach. He had claimed one window seat, with Kiih claiming the one on the far end of the bench, and Ro had settled between them. “Seriously, a real live Worldwalker and you just failed to mention it to me until after she’d left! I’m hurt, really I am.”
Read more »

Art Post One

I’ve been really focused on writing lately, so I haven’t had the drive to do anything visual (for some reason I can write OR draw, rarely am I able to split my attention between the two). So, in the hopes of keeping your interest and showing you a little bit of what’s been going on in my head for a little over ten years, I give you some highlights from my deviantArt account, at least the things that don’t involve too many spoilers. ;)

I’ll start off with something that dates back to around 1999-ish: the very first picture I ever drew of Yuri for this story. It’s from shortly before I started actually putting pen to paper on the very first version of the story (back when it was still a blatant anime rip-off, instead of just a kind-of anime rip-off). She and the story have both changed a lot since then, but it’s always good to remember one’s roots.

Next up is a sketch I did quite recently which involves Kiih and his current hair style. It’s not much, but it at least shows you sort of what I was thinking and hopefully gives you a little insight into why in the world he’s so cranky in chapter eight. >.>; The other face in the sketch is someone I don’t particularly want to name, but you guys will meet this person this week.

And speaking of sketches, here is a little sketchy portrait of Reese. I struggled with her character a lot over the course of the story, but she’s one of my favorites right now. I just love her to bits and wish she could get more screen time. Ah well.

Anyway, over on the extras page, there are several wallpapers, the first of which features this pin-up image of Yuri I did a while ago. Granted, this is a sort of speculative image, because Yuri is supposed to appear much older in it (and she totally doesn’t have any tattoos– yet), but I’m still really fond of it and can’t help showing it off.

And while on the subject of pin-ups I’ve drawn of Yuri, we have these two images that were both done relatively recently. The first image is the first in what is intended to be a series of cute lingerie pin-ups that, once I finish them, are intended to be viewed as a set. No particular reason for it other than I just felt like drawing Yuri in cute undies. The second is something that I did when I finally started coming out of an artistic funk. At the time, my hard drive (with all my work on it) had been eaten by a virus, and the chances of getting it back were slim-to-none, so I was pretty depressed and basically lost my will to create anything. Incidentally, this is also my avatar pretty much everywhere I go these days. >.>

There’s a whole bunch of other stuff in my dA gallery/scrapbook, but a lot of it involves things that are a bit on the spoiler-ific side. I hope that this art post has been at least marginally entertaining, and hopefully sometime soon I’ll have some fresh sketches to bring to the table between story posts. :)

Chapter Eight

8 – A Visit

Len greeted her with a grin, having changed into a pair of black slacks and a blue shirt to match the one Yuri wore. He had also donned all of the jewelry he’d taken from the dresser, which seemed to include multiple earrings, a couple of discrete silver rings on each hand, and at least one necklace that had been tucked into his shirt. “I’m glad that it fits,” he said. “Are you ready to go?”
Read more »

Chapter Five

5 – Spires

She hadn’t known exactly what she’d expected when the spindly towers in the distance became less distant, but she knew that she hadn’t quite believed Len’s description of the heart of the city practically being carved from the bedrock. At first, it seemed she had been right: the first few layers of the city seemed like a cross between an idyllic Victorian suburb (or what she imagined one might look like) and some sort of bland architectural style that wouldn’t have seemed too out of place back home. As near as Yuri could tell, the streets were all cobblestone or brick, extremely well taken care of, and apparently laid out in a sort of spiraling pattern like a nautilus shell.
Read more »

Chapter Four

4 – A Brief History

Len made a short detour behind the counter, preparing two more cups of tea and a plate with four more delightful pastries before leading Yuri gently to the patio in front of the Sunset Cafe. Through some seemingly miraculous equilibristic feat, he managed to balance both cups (on saucers), a small pitcher of cream, a tiny pot of honey, and the plate while opening the door, then pulling out two chairs. Yuri graciously planted herself in one of the chairs, and Len sat across from her, laying out the tea and pastries in a cheerful spread. He then cocked his hips to one side as he fished around in his pocket and produced a battered silver case and a bedraggled box of matches. “You do not mind, do you?”
Read more »