Piper

Sure you will, snookums! *headpat* And way to go, guuuuuuuys. :> Afraid I didn't get any screenshots though...

Just have Thayn smack 'em over the head with a big hammer!

You'd better be there next time! We've missed our purple lady.

OH HELL, how did she find her way here?! YOU GUYS WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO TELL HER ABOUT THE FORUMS! Now we're in for it. B|

Aw, congrats! Where were you in Florida and what beach? I'm from there and my husband proposed on St. Pete Beach at Pass-A-Grille. Except I totally knew he was going to do it beforehand. *sneaky* Wish you two all the best! Good luck with wedding planning... ahahaha.

I hear you there. D: I hope to see you back again soon!

This is kind of a follow-up to my previous art post. Piper (probably around age 16 here) sneaks into town once the lights go out. That's a lock pick in her hand, and I kind of imagine her to be preparing to peer around a wall in front of a building. Decided to play with perspective a little in this one, and now I'm glad I did so with just a quick pen drawing. I like the feel of it, I guess. I think she's cute here for some weird reason. Must be the ears. XD Materials: Pen and paper + Photoshop CS3.

I agree! Come baaaaaaaaaaaack, Calliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii~~~

Nah, I went to an arts magnet high school, but I'm mediocre compared to my former classmates. I hope to change that once I get the chance to do "real" art again with my painting class this fall. It's something I do for fun, for myself and sometimes for friends, but I'm a psychology major wanting a doctoral degree. So. No art school in my future. Thanks for the compliments, though, guys! However, I'd consider this to be one of my "laziest" pictures... haha. I may have an opportunity to illustrate animals (my favorite subjects) for a children's book though, which could prove to be fun. For instance, this: http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj306/b.../fishin_wip.jpg ...is a still-unfinished pic of Piper and her kitsune that she had for a while. I'm sure you can tell I'm more confident drawing the kitsune than her. Animals were all I drew as a kid. (And yeah I know his paw is "on top" of the post, I just didn't get to the point of erasing it.) I still have to darken up the shadows in some places and finish her right hand and the fishing pole...

Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose Nothin' don't mean nothin', hon, if it ain't free Just a quick doodle for all you silly people who miss Piper's ears and tail. Here's one of her as a teenager. She was homeless for a long time, as you can tell by her hobo-bag! The bandanna is a reference to the song I was listening to at the time, "Me and Bobby McGee" by Janis Joplin for those who wouldn't recognize the lyrics above. ("I pulled my harpoon out of my dirty red bandanna...") She's waiting for the lights to go out in town so she can go steal things, namely food. :V THAT SCOUNDREL. I got lazy at the end because my hand was hurting really badly from the weird way I hold my pencil. Oh well. I also find it necessary to add that she would cast incognito before going into town, so no, she wouldn't be recognizable by the ears/tail. And I gave her my biker gloves, because I can. XD

Piper awoke that morning before Thom, who still lay dozing beside her in their shared bed. She watched him for a moment and then, moving slowly so as not to disturb him, stood and quietly descended the polished wooden staircase. Rounding the corner into the kitchen, she filled a glass with water and drank until not a drop remained. The straight-figured young woman, still in her ivory pajamas, shuffled down more stairs into the living room, where she parted floor-length red curtains to let in the new-day sun. Retaining a loose grip on the curtains, she squinted through the separate rays of light that beamed from the windowpanes. With an air of relieved calm, she looked out over the shoreline of her property and, though the reflection off the water's surface stung her eyes, she smiled.

SinDee's right. And a lot of people do outgrow it in time; friends of mine have. I hope everything turns out for the best. :/

CALLI YOU PERV, GET OUDDA HERE

Told you I got screenshots! Truthfully, I only did so because it documents Laur in a dress. BAHAHAHAHAA Besides, everyone knows Piper looked snazzier anyway... in her manly green vest. YOU KNOW IT~~

Oi... that's rough. Diabetes runs in my family and Matt's as well... here's to hoping we don't get it too. D:

She doesn't! ...Quit being creepy >:E Hahaha.

And now for the finished product: SHUT UP PIPER YOU WINDBAG I'm generally pleased with the outcome. 8D

Thought I'd upload progress images of it since I'm bored and sick... Here are the inks, done in Photoshop CS3. The finished picture will be a good bit larger, and I fixed Lily's previously wonky hand.

FRIENNNDS~~~ An irritated Lily rolls up her sleeves in preparation to deck an oblivious Piper, who won't stfu. LILY YOU BIG JERK WE DO NOT PUNCH OUR FRIENDS THIS IS WHY NO ONE LIKES YOU BUT AHAHAHA YOU'RE DEAD ANYWAY LOSER Okay, so I drew this at like... 3 AM during a bout of sleep-deprivation and the onset of the flu. 8D Hopefully I can finish the bigger version in either Photoshop or Painter X, if I can figure out Painter well enough. Also yeah, Piper no longer has the ears or tail, as you can plainly see. :V She still has the creepy claws though. More on that later in the stories section. Piper's mine and Lily/Zora/JERKFACE belongs to Kodoz.

Piper warmed her hands above the small campfire, looking out over the nearby waterfall with tired eyes. This was the spot she had escaped to with Lily when she was first wounded by the strange toxin. One of the Trinsic healers was planning to poison her, and Piper came for her just in time. She helped her up onto Aodhfin's back before recalling to this isolated place. Now, after dark, she lay down on the cold grass and fished a pen and a worn journal out from her pack. Scooting closer to the radius of orange light around the fire, she opened to a blank page and began to write, pausing at times to reflect. She finally closed the journal, eyes heavy with exhaustion. The crackling fire and rushing waters below seemed to tempt her to rest until she could no longer fight it. The woman curled up nearly into a ball as Aodhfin padded over and lay beside her. Resting her head on the big dog's shoulder, she slipped away into sleep, still holding the small book in her hand.

A piercing, almost inhuman wail rang through the corridors of Exodus, startling all within its walls. It sounded more akin to the scream of a terrified beast than the cries of a young woman mourning a great loss. Piper could find no words to express exactly what she felt, and all she could do was scream. An empty, but somehow still-heavy ache in the innermost core of her guts made her feel like she might vomit as she rode Aodhfin through the dark hallways. Her body still surged with pain from the procedure she had undergone, and her vision was now clouded by tears of grief. The whole world looked out of focus and smudged, just like it did the first time she endured the procedure in the same dungeon as a child. She pulled Aodhfin to a halt and gazed around in confusion, trying to make sense of her blurry surroundings. When she recovered, she looked up to see the silhouette of an iron golem looming in the passage in front of her and held tightly to her staff, firing off a succession of offensive spells in its direction. The spells sparked and ricocheted off the golem, but it was not left unscathed. The mechanical creature creaked and groaned as it swayed from side to side, then tumbled to the ground with a loud clang. Springs, screws, and cogs fell loose and bounced away into the shadows as though fleeing. Piper urged Aodhfin forward and continued through the maze of hallways, a growing trail of robe-clad bodies and destroyed machinery left in her wake. Each act of destruction was a release - revenge for the past and venting frustration over the present. When a Controller spotted her from another room, she shot a fireball directly into his face and followed that with an energy bolt to the chest. The room glowed brightly as each spell shot out, then dimmed again when the energy dissipated into her staff. There was then only silence and the stench of burnt flesh and singed hair assailing her nose. She exhaled deeply, pausing for a moment before preparing to recall away to her home. The words of power were barely audible through her tired and raspy voice. "Kal Ort Por." No more dungeon - she was now home. The familiar duet of rhythmic waves and a calling songbird seemed more comforting than ever now. Swinging her leg over the saddle, Piper slid to the grass with a dull thud and winced in pain. She hobbled stiff-legged into her garden and slumped down onto one of the benches, overcome by a feeling of despair so hopeless it didn't even seem like she could force herself to stand again. With eyes red and swollen, she glanced down at some nearby lilies, and tears found her once more. She reached out with clawed fingers and gently plucked two of the flowers from the earth, clasping them to her chest for a long while. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dressed in black, the young woman approached the decapitated body with downcast eyes. None of it seemed real; she wondered how this could possibly be the woman she knew. Furious that her closest friend's desecrated remains were on public display, and unable to face the grotesque image a second time, she dropped her head and read the sign once again: ATTENTION BY DECREE OF THE ROYAL GUARD, AND AFTER MUCH VALOR IN THE FIELD, AND HARD SACRIFICES TAKEN, ZORA LILIANA, AKA LILY, AKA L, AKA Z HAS BEEN SLAIN. HER BODY LIES HERE AS TESTAMENT TO THAT FACT. Enraged and deeply hurt, Piper's eyes squinted shut, forcing tears to trickle out and down her cheeks. She carefully laid the two lilies atop the sign, tracing her friend's names with a finger before stepping back. "I miss you already," she cried softly. "I told you to get better..." Slouched and looking defeated, she reluctantly turned and staggered down the street, arms folded over her stomach. Her slender form grew less clear as she continued on. Blending with the background, her dark shroud merged with the shadows of dusk until nothing remained of her but the sound of boots shuffling slowly over sandstone.

(I should be able to help lead the ceremony. ICQ is being screwy for me, but I'll get with folks about it tomorrow.)

Nah, that happened last time because I was home alone all day. But this time Matt's coming too and my parents will be off work.

As I mentioned to a few of you, I'm going home to Florida over spring break. I'll be away from the 21st through the 30th, so obviously, no UO for me. Have fun, guys! IC stuff for while I'm away: Piper seems to have disappeared, and her cu sidhe Aodhfin is gone from the stables. A bizarre note was left for Thom at their house (Thom, I'll send you a PM with it), indicating she left voluntarily.