This story is now being co-written with my fiancé. This chapter was the first part of our collaboration, but was mostly written by him.

FFXI and the character Zeid are owned by SquareEnix. Arlette and Kodie are owned by us, I guess. Any other characters
mentioned are also created by us unless otherwise noted.


Valkrum Dunes

The Young red headed warrior stood his ground though his nervousness began to show as the four goblins began to approach him. He held his shield and short sword, getting into his ready stance, but felt his efforts were probably futile. These goblins would be too much for him, even one of them would be hard for an inexperienced group.

The Valkrum Dunes separated the Adventurers from the failures. It was the cross way to get to all three major countries. Bastok, San'd Oria and even to Windurst (by taking the ferry boat from Selbina to Mhaura.) It was customary for any inexperienced adventurer to cross through the sandy dune beached area that was infested with Goblins, Ghosts and even Ghouls. Adventurers were always warned to always go in groups, never to go alone. Kodie was not given that warning this day.

The fifteen-year-old Warrior knew this could be his final day, but at least he would go out fighting. Though like most all young Hume kids, his dream was to be the greatest Adventurer of all time. But like most, his dream would seem to have ended at the dunes.

Two of the goblins had their knives ready the other two had crossbows. One fired a bolt at Kodie but he quickly blocked it with his wooden shield. Another goblin then attempted to strike him with his knife but Kodie managed to parry it with his sword and stab the goblin into the chest. For a moment he thought he could handle them, but then suddenly he felt a sharp pain on his right side. The young warrior looked down to see that the other goblin had stabbed him right above the waist, and blood quickly gushed from his side. Kodie screamed in pain and before he could attempt to strike that goblin, one of the others shot his other arm and he dropped his sword and crossbow bolt.

Kodie screamed, but it was a scream more of frustration than of pain.

He continued to scream as he dropped to his knees, another bolt hitting his leg, Kodie tried to crawl away but the goblins simply followed. Yhey knew he was done for, so they decided to play with the kid. They'd make him an example to other Adventurers that would dare try to cross through the dunes.

Kodie made his way to a rock and watched the three remaining goblins approach. He could hear them speak but could not understand them as they were speaking in their goblin language. He tried to get up, but due to the loss of so much blood he was becoming dizzy. He thought about his past, the years of being a young thief, to first becoming a warrior but it was all for naught. He simply watched as the goblin holding the large knife charged at him, getting ready to finish off the kid while the other two seemed to laugh.

Before the blade could meet with Kodie, a sudden lightning bolt struck the goblin, killing it instantly. Kodie flinched at the bright light, but once it settled he glanced over to see the now charred remains of the goblin. Kodie and the other two goblins looked over to see a large hulking being clad in dark armor, and carrying a large scythe. Kodie realized the being was a Galka, but had never seen that type of armor, that type of power.

The Galka made short work of the two goblins, taking them both out with his scythe. Kodie could barely watch though as his vision began to fade, and then it became dark as the Galka approached him.

Kodie's eyes darted open and he quickly sat up, but he found himself on a bed inside an old wooden shack. He looked down to his wounds to see that they were all bandaged. He was only in his undershorts since his leg needed to be patch up as well. The young warrior looked over as he heard a set of footsteps as an elder man entered the room.

"Oh finally you're awake, I thought you were sure to be dead…" The old man said with a gentle smile.

"Where…am I? What happened?" Kodie replied as he held his head, still feeling dizzy.

"You're in Selbina. Ah, still not quite recovered aren't you? Well you've been out for two days. If it wasn't for a white mage that came by here, you surely would have been lost to us."

Kodie looked out the window and spotted the ferry boat docking, it was the same boat he arrived in those two days ago before the incident. He then sat up and reached over to grab his pants and slip them on.

"The last thing I remembered was…a Galka in dark armor…" Kodie said as he buckled his pants and then reached over to slip his boots on. He tried to stand up and even though he was dizzy, and was finally able to stand up on his own.

"Oh that Galka who saved you was none other the Zeid. He brought you here after defeating those goblins."

"Zeid? I never saw anyone as powerful as him…" Kodie said as he sat back down on the bed, while the old man sat down at a chair across the room.

"That's because Zeid is a Dark Knight…they give themselves to the darkness in order to become more powerful. Zeid is considered to be one of the most powerful Dark Knights in Vana'diel. You were lucky to have him near by."

Kodie simply stared out in space for a moment. All he could think about was the final moments before he passed out. The way Zeid took out all three goblins with ease. Kodie was amazed; it was the type of power he always wanted. With abilities like that he could indeed be the greatest adventurer of all Vana'diel. Suddenly Kodie snapped back into reality, his focus now back to the old man.

"I have to continue on my supply run to the nearest outpost…but do you know where he could have gone?" Kodie asked.

The old man chuckled a little and then shook his head.

"You don't mean to tell me you're going to find him huh? Zeid doesn't take kindly to those who follow him, and you think someone would question where he would go?" The old man continued to laugh but finally his chuckling began to die down. "Well by the looks of things he was going the direction of the Konschtat Highlands. I would assume then he's going to Bastok."

Kodie smiled, that would be this young adventurer's next destination. His destiny would begin that day.


10 Years Later
Valkrum Dunes

"RUN! THERE'S MORE OF THEM!"

A Hume cried as himself, a Hume female, an Elvaan male and a Mithra were being chased by a group of four goblins. The new adventurers did still not learn lessons of earlier ones.

"We're not going to make it!" The Elvaan cried.

"YES WE ARE!" The Hume male said as he pointed to the entrance of Selbina. But that joy was ended shortly as two other goblins blocked the entrance and caused the group to stop. Within moments, they were surrounded by six goblins. The group began to unsheathe their weapons but the Mithra was quickly shot with an arrow to the shoulder. The Elvaan male quickly ran to her side while the two Humes stayed close with their weapons armed, though knowing it would be futile.

As one of the goblins approached them he was suddenly engulfed in fire. The other goblins jumped back and turned to hear what sounded like a "Wark". It was a Chocobo riding on the sand and on top was a red headed Hume clad in dark armor, holding a scythe with one hand. When Kodie was close enough to the goblins he jumped off the Chocobo and while in the air swiped down with his scythe able to take out two of the goblins, leaving three who were standing in shock, shaking nervously while holding their weapons.

Kodie turned to the three as he pointed his blade at them. He taunted the goblins with a smirk, knowing full well that no beast man appreciated being provoked in any way, and like clockwork the goblins charged at him. Kodie managed to kick one away while parrying the other goblin's knife attack and at the same time using his free hand to cast a stone spell crushing one of the goblins. In the meanwhile he spun around with quick speed to kill the parried Goblin with his scythe and now leaving the one goblin that he kicked to the ground, finally standing back up.

"I just killed five of your friends, you really think you can take me on your own?" He said with a cocky smirk, but then realized what the goblin was doing as it pulled out a bomb from its bag. Kodie knew its intent was to throw it at the group so he cast a Stun spell on the goblin, freezing it from doing anything with the exception of watching the bomb go off in its hand.

"You should have just run…" Kodie said as he strapped the scythe onto his back side and crouched down next to the injured Mithra.

"Her wounds aren't bad. But she needs rest. There is an old man that has a shack in Selbina that will take care of her."

The Elvaan nodded and lifted up the Mithra. The Hume female approached Kodie as he stood up himself. "Thank you so much…I guess it was dumb of us to go too far like that…I mean, what real adventurer wouldn't know a thing like that?"

Kodie had a whistle around a necklace that he lifted and blew into it. Another "Wark" could be heard as the Chocobo approached him. "You're not the first one that has made that mistake…and certainly won't be the last. Just be careful."

The Hume male had walked over and placed his hand on his female companion's shoulder. He smiled and nodded as he looked up at the Dark Knight as he hoisted himself onto the Chocobo. "We learned our lesson, thanks! But where are you heading now?"

Kodie looked down at the Hume. "Windurst…I got some business to take care of."