The Limits of Honor V-Redemption

From the diary of Eric Dulcimer:

"Things in my life have been taking an interesting turn of late, and to be blunt, I'm enjoying every waking moment of it. I never would have figured things would have shaped up in this fashion, with the recent events and all -I've found myself fearing for my life more times than should be healthy, and there have been times where I thought it would have been for my benefit to have stayed in Harlequin. Crazed bounty hunters and cross dressing mages aside, I have to admit that I'm actually finally enjoying life. I'm reminded of how Paris, Deeno, Vera, and myself would spend hours on end one of our circle's homes back in Harlequin, throwing dice at the table and 'role playing', so to speak, our lives if we were some great heroes, taking part of some epic adventure or saving some princess. I have yet to live up to the reputation of Elron the Mighty, but hey, I'm still young. Though I have my doubts in my abilities to wrestle a dragon to the ground, but hey, we all agreed that the system had flaws...

I never would have seen my recent bout of optimism approaching, considering all that's happened of late. With Mani being stuck in Shinkyo, Lily being held prisoner at the guildhouse, and Corina and Tina's sudden disappearance, I probably would have every right in the world to crawl up somewhere and moan 'woe is me', but having done that countless times in the past, I've found that it really doesn't solve much of anything except make me look stupid. I'm confident that Mani can handle things in Shinkyo, I'm actually allowed to visit Lily from time to time, and Cori...

Well, Cori's still a touchy subject.

Arg... where do I begin? Just the thought of that red haired goddess of a woman, with those beautiful violet eyes, and her slender, yet shapely legs... my goodness, from her head down to even her feet was a sort of cuteness I haven't seen much of. Corina was sexy and feisty, wrapped into one package that I probably would have died for -and as far as I could tell, could not stand me. I've given up trying to understand it. I would have done anything for her, worshipped the ground she walked on, and put up with a healthy dose of crap from her, yet she never felt the need to even cast me a second glance. Ah well, such is life. And who says life is fair? For some odd reason, I think I may be able to keep up with one of me and Mani's conversations on women now.

Which I really don't see where he gets his general bitterness from. From everything I've seen, Lily is a wonderful girl. I can only assume that he's still recovering from some experience in the past. During one of our conversations, I remember him saying that Lily is more than just his girlfriend -a 'spiritual nursemaid', I believe he called her. Mani doesn't talk about his past too much, so I can only assume what he's been through. We all have our rocky pasts to deal with -while I tend to keep to myself about such things, Mani seems to prefer speaking with a friend about his feelings. From our conversations, I get the impression that he tells me things that he feels he can't share with Lily from time to time. Though I usually don't have much to add to these conversations, I enjoy being an ear for the ninja.

Hmmm... it appears that I've strayed from my subject...

Anywho, I suppose things began to get interesting a few days after Mani had to leave town. I was on my way back from a brief visit to check on Lily, when I ran across... well, one of the desert natives..."

* * * * * * *

Giant scorpions, or 'Sand Crawlers' to the Brightsand natives, were a rare sight indeed. The sounds of civilization would usually run the creatures off without incident, who generally elected not to get involved with human kind. It's also a matter of opinion of who benefited most from such an arrangement -with our human arrogance, one might suggest that it would be the Sand Crawlers that avoided trouble, but in truth, it was quite the opposite. While shying away from a conflict, the suckers could fight like hell when cornered -when wounded, 'fight like hell' was immediately upgraded to 'kill like a son of a bitch'. Sand Crawlers and Brightsand humans had a good understanding, an understanding that if one avoided the other, then life for both parties would be much easier.

On occasion, there were minor incidents of contact. Stray Crawlers would sometimes come into town and scare a few locals, while the seldom buck-wild desert explorer would pick a fight with a wild one. These rare instances did not last very long usually -Brightsand's town guard was quite proficient at running a Crawler out of town, and the buck-wild explorers generally weren't alive long enough to make a habit out of harassing more of their kind. Incidents with the two forces were few and far in between, mostly on account of the fact that neither party liked the concept of dying.

And it was a good arrangement. When a Crawler came into town, it was quickly labeled as an 'accident', that the creature did not know what it was doing. The Crawler would be run off, and if it happened to be killed in the process, then so be it. They were stupid creatures that acted purely out of instinct -life was harsh, so if one died, the Brightsanders did not lose much sleep over it. A lack of remorse was to be expected from humans, as the Sand Crawlers were not capable of such emotions.

Or so most people think. Some would argue that the Crawlers, like the humans, were capable of emotion -of fearing, of hating, of curiosity. Such theories have only been entertained after a certain event within the Brightsand community occurred in recent times. A Sand Crawler managed to not only make its way into town, but for whatever reason, was unseen doing so by the town guard. The act of simply getting into town was bad enough, but many who witnessed the event all agreed that there was a certain degree of... cruelty... that the creature possessed. Not opting to flee like most creatures, the beast chose to attack just about anything that got in its way during its rampage through the streets of Brightsand -human, mystic, and chocobo alike all felt the sting, so to speak, of the creature's presence. Eyewitnesses later described the creature as being a 'malicious prick' of an animal, a further testament as to the possibility of the creature possessing more human characteristics than previously imagined.

Screaming people running in all manner of directions through the streets had the tendency to disorient even the most focused of individuals -Eric Dulcimer, however, was not the most focused of individuals, and consequently found himself to be more disoriented than most. After a few tense moments of wondering exactly what the heck was going on, he found that the crowd was thinning out some as he backed his way through. His ears were then assaulted by a sound that he could only describe as being 'not normal', and Eric was suddenly overcome by the sinking sensation that he should turn around. Upon doing so, Eric found that he was being forced to use every ounce of his newfound confidence and optimism in life to not only avoid screaming like a woman, but to keep his bladder from exploding.

To an individual that has never seen a Sand Crawler before, there aren't very many sights in Nu that can inspire such a feeling of freakish wonder and curiosity, laced with genuine terror. To see a scorpion inspires fear in most -to see one that is larger than yourself inspires obscene amounts of terror. The creature itself was a little lighter than the desert sands, a fact that probably helped it sneak into town. When the creature is standing just over six feet away, however, camouflage really isn't all that important. The creature's claws looked as if they were capable of causing much pain to an individual, but not nearly so much as the Sand Crawler's tail -curving up from the monstrosity's rear was its deadliest weapon, the stinger looking capable of impaling a man with minimal effort. A multitude of black, glassy eyes seemed to stare right into Eric's soul as the creature regarded him as if to wonder, 'Eric Dulcimer, what the hell are you doing here?'

"Mother of crap...," Eric heard himself whisper as he decided that sticking around probably wasn't the best of ideas. He took two steps back, and on the third was promptly tripped on his butt by a body on the ground he had not noticed before. From his brief stay in Brightsand, Eric's ability to identify uniforms had improved -he realized that he was staring at the bleeding form of a member of the Brightsand town guard. His sword lying just beyond his reach, the blood coming from a stab wound on his shoulder, and the guard's unnaturally pale face covered in sweat told his story well -this man had tangoed with the Crawler, and he wasn't dancing lead.

Eyewitness accounts of what happened next all differ from each other, as no one is truly sure what went on during the following moments of madness. They all agree on one fact however, the fact that the Sand Crawler leapt right at the unfortunate young man that had fallen down on the sand. Most people averted their eyes at this point, mainly because it was physically impossible for someone to have lived in Brightsand and to have not heard a story about what a Sand Crawler could do to a human being. There was an inhuman scream, and many silently prayed for the poor young man's soul -upon opening their eyes, however, they were greeted by the sight of the creature, its body slightly raised from the ground, and with a sword blade protruding from its back.

Eric wasn't exactly sure at the precise moment he grabbed the guard's sword (which he later assumed was after he screamed 'Mommy!', but before he started praying), but he was sure of one thing -there was a large, dead creature about two inches from his face, and it was bleeding all over him. With a supreme feat of strength, he managed to roll the creature off of him, and as a good measure to ensure its deadness, proceeded to stab at the beast's underbelly until he lost count around strike #77.

"As my memory serves, I spent the next couple of minutes in a sudden-induced state of unconsciousness. When I finally came to, I was greeted by the sight of several concerned looking Brightsand natives standing around me. Some of the men helped me to my feet -it took me a few seconds for my legs and brain to reestablish communication with each other, but once able to stand, I found that my ears were being assaulted by a strange sound. No, it wasn't the Sand Crawler returning to settle our unfinished business -it was a sound that I had heard before, true, but that didn't make it any less foreign.

It was applause. And praises. And even stranger, it was for me."

* * * * * * *

From the diary of Lily Albrook:

"Even with my enclosure within this guildhouse, I manage to pick up little tidbits of news every once in a while. While guild politics never truly concerned me, there was a story that caught my attention of a young man that apparently wrestled with a giant scorpion that had come into town. From the rumors I had gathered, he supposedly tackled the creature and fought with it for several minutes before running it through. I thought it was quite humorous when I heard that this mysterious young man was also supposed to be going around Brightsand wearing the creature's exoskeleton as armor -I never thought I would get to meet this mighty warrior, nor did I begin to imagine that it was none other than Eric.

My experiences with Mani's traveling comrade had been limited to our conversations in the guildhouse, and from what I had gathered from these meetings, Mr. Dulcimer was a sweet young man, but was no warrior by any stretch of the imagination. Perhaps I jumped to a hasty conclusion, because that next day I was graced by a visit of the man himself, and it looked as if the rumors were true.

When one of the guards came to my room to let me know that I had a visitor that evening, I couldn't help but notice that he looked slightly uneasy. I dismissed it, assuming that the poor man had merely gotten on that melon-head Milon's bad side along with the rest of the Guild. He gave my guest a wide berth as he led him inside, and I could have sworn that I even saw him bow slightly as to his presence. Curious, I stood to my feet and approached the door, instantly pausing as I saw a massive figure step inside. It took me but a moment to recognize him, but even after doing so, I had to look again. The door slowly closed behind him, and I found myself staring at what appeared to be Eric Dulcimer.

A light set of sandy armor covered his frame, which had a slightly organic appearance, but still a little bulky, which is what led to my earlier assessment of him being much larger than I last remembered. He smiled broadly at me as he always did, and I returned it, but I still could not help but stare in a mixture of disbelief tinged with pride for the young man. As per custom he asked if he could be seated, to which I quickly agreed. Our conversation began as always, with no mention of his strange armament until I actually raised the question myself. Eric smiled as he looked down at his suit and began to relay the tale to me. He explained that after the incident, several of the citizens offered to construct that armor for him -apparently Sandcrawler shell, when properly treated, could be crafted into a lightweight and fairly resistant brand of armor, and not wanting to be rude, he allowed them to do so. It had just been completed a matter of hours ago, and so he was walking around as instructed in order to help aid the fitting process. I don't think I've ever met someone as modest as him -he whole-heartily denies the rumors of him wrestling the creature, insisting that everything 'just happened by accident'. He hides his strength well -when I first met him, I never would have had him figured as a warrior (he jokes that he's been doing sets of push-ups and sit-ups daily with the hopes that Mani would teach him some of the skills of Shadow Ninjitsu someday, but not much else). After we finished speaking, he excused himself and quietly made his way back into the streets of Brightsand. He was very apologetic over the fact that he had forgotten to purchase an instrument for me (as he had promised to do during our last meeting to keep me from getting too bored), and promised that he would bring something next time. I told him that he really didn't have to, but he kept insisting. Eric's a really nice guy -I'm sure that somewhere down the line, he'll meet a nice young lady that appreciates him for who he is. He often told me stories of a girl named Corina that was traveling with he and Mani, and I get the distinct impression that he really liked her. I never got a chance to meet her due to her sudden disappearance, unfortunately, but I wouldn't have mind meeting the woman that had captivated this interesting young man so much.

I later heard that Milon was slightly fumed that Eric elected to come to come to the Guildhouse while wearing the armor, seeing as it might have attracted a lot attention to the house. Even so, rumor has it that even he didn't chose to have words with Mr. Dulcimer..."

* * * * * * *

From the diary of Millie Farenbough, a local Brightsand girl:

"...My friends at the Academy are going to be sooooooo jealous! I actually ran into him! I mean, I literally ran into him! HIM!! He was coming out of the inn he's been staying at, and I accidentally bumped into him! And he was soooooo nice to me after it happened! He looked right into my eyes, smiled, and said 'Excuse me, I should have been more careful'! Oh my god, he's got the most gorgeous brown eyes and perfect smile!! I thought I was going to pass out! I am NEVER going to wash this dress! For a man that wrestled a Sand Crawler to the ground and tore its heart out of from its chest with his bare hands, he is sooooo calm, and sooooo cute! Mariah will DIE when she hears I ran into Eric Dulcimer!! OH MY GOD!!!!! I've going to hang outside of his inn and hope I run into him again!! Maybe he'll ask me out next time!!!"

A scrap of paper found in Eric's room, shortly after Mani's departure, and right before Corina and Tina mysteriously vanished:

"...not sure as to what is going on, but I feel that we are not safe here. Strangely, I feel as if I am being watched by some... being. It's hard to describe, because it just doesn't seem natural. The only one I've really talked to about it is Tina, and she agrees. I don't know if Mani and Eric can feel it, but if they can't, I feel that my presence may be putting them in danger. Should things start to get weird on us, both me and Tina have decided that it would be best if we fled, leading this... being... as far away from the others as possible. Could this be because of the Body Stone? What kind of power have I let invade my body?"

On the other side, a hastily scribbled message:

"SAVE YOURSELVES.
FEAR THE WORST FOR US,
WE ARE LOST."