Finally I get to start on this story. I've been wanting to do this s tort for a long time. I originally planned to have this as my first fanfiction story and the first story in my Legend of Star Ghost series. But I had ideas along the way so it got moved back to the sequel of Annihilation.

I wrote the Prologue and Chapter 1 nearly three months ago but I had ideas for a couple of stories along the way. I got a little distracted. The idea for this story's been out of my head for a little while. Hopefully I still got the passion and determination for this story.

As a little heads up you might want to read my stories Legend of Star Ghost I: Annihilation and Origins of Star Ghost: Love and War. There's lot of information in this story that relates to those stories. Plus I think that they'd be a good read.

Another heads up, I'll be making several references to my previous stories from my Star Ghost series and the SF games, I've written in hints for you guys to turn to in case you get confused. I'll put the references in parenthesis and shorten the titles to make it easier. And I'll put in the chapters of my stories to turn to. So you won't be confused, Legend of Star Ghost I: Annihilation will be LSG and Origins of Star Ghost: Love and War will be Origins.

BTW, the first prologue was reviewed by Saluk Balisong. He retyped the first half of the prologue. I revised the second half. I think that he did a better job than me. Hopefully they won't be too different.

Prologue

Sunrise.

The dawn of a brand new day; a day filled with mystery and excitement for the dwellers of Sauria. Many are always excited for the sun to rise, especially those who are fond of witnessing the daily sunrise and sunsets. Unfortunately, a few souls seem to have a few issues with this beautiful scene only a movie can re-create.

And one of those souls is the Black Wolf Jonathan "Johnny" Storm, a well-known heavy sleeper among his family and friends. He normally wakes up earlier if it were any other day, but it was a weekend; his usual schedule for long sleeping hours. "Out of all the things I hate about the sun here is the way it shines so bright…" he thought to himself as he faced towards the bed, avoiding the rays of the bright star shining through the blinders. "Can't I at least have five more minutes of sleep?"

In his attempt to block the sun rays, he takes one of his pillows and covered his head with it, smiling as he finally blocked the light. But that would be short-lived when it made contact with his night-clothes, generating heat and made the thing an uncomfortable article of clothing.

Knowing all too well that shut-eye time was over, he removed the pillow over his head and opened his eyes, the first thing popping inside his mind is the fact that today was his special day; his birthday, 40th birthday to be precise.

A smile crept up his face, knowing full well about his wife's 'special' present for him on his day. "If waking up early is bad enough, at least I can get some action with dear-" his sentence cut short as he twisted to the side, only to find the other side of the bed neatly folded and fixed. "Fara...?"

Once again, he got another thing coming against his favor; first he was deprived of prolonged sleep and now this. "Okay... where in the world did she go?" he asked himself, trying not to allow this to make him upset.

After removing the blanket that covered most of his body, he sat on the side of the bed before looking out the window, index finger rubbing his right eyelid. In retrospect, he did encounter days like this, only it wasn't his birthday. This is the first time moment for him, and he didn't like it much at all. Reluctantly, he pushes himself up from the bed and extends his arms upward, stretching them and his upper muscular body. Accomplishing the small task, he proceeded to the mirror close to the door that leads to the bathroom. It was there when he saw a sticky note posted on the middle-left of the mirror; a note left behind by his wife.

With his left hand, he removed the note from the mirror and brought it up his face to read the note: "Sorry if I had to leave early, needed to get a few things ready for the party later. Hope you're not too upset about me not giving your 'special' gift. Don't worry, I'll make it up to you later when I come back-. Love you honey! -Fara"

"I guess that's reasonable enough" he commented before yawning, "At least she left a note for me..."

With a planned routine hardwired in his mind, he walked inside the bathroom; inside was a shower, a toilet, and a sink with a medical box above it. Of course, he stripped down his clothes and threw them in the hamper next to the sink as he entered the shower; the fogged glass slid side wards, obscuring the wolf's well-built figure. Soon-after, the sound of flowing water filled the small room as Johnny stood directly below the shower head; lukewarm water washing over his black fur-matted body, hands rubbing his face as he feels the clear liquid.

As he stood there while allowing water to run down over himself, the events earlier seem to... slip out of his mind; the refreshing liquid feels like it was washing away all the thoughts of his wake-up call. A hand grabbed a bottle of body wash and squeezed a good amount into his hand and rubbed both to spread the mix. He started to rub his fur-matted body, letting the slippery substance spread and allow him to work up a lather, making sure to get every spot. After completing said task, he took the shower head and rinsed the soapy substance off, letting off a pleasant scent in its wake.

Once all had been done, he grabbed the towel hanging in the rack and dried himself, remembering to wrap it over his waist when done. With multiple kids running around he can't be too careful. Johnny walked out of the bathroom and headed for the cabinet. When he opened the wooden container, he firmly decided on what to wear for this day: a white T-shirt under a light blue shirt and a pair of khaki-colored cargo pants.

"If I can't get some sleep or at least some fun with Fara, maybe a nice stroll around the community would do instead…" he sighed as he looked at himself in the mirror, eyes carefully scanning the reflection "Is this the life of a 40-year old wolf?" The thought ran through his mind while his hand took possession of the medium-caliber pistol on top of the desk to his left. Looking at the sleek semi-automatic weapon, he pulled back the slide until it locked into place before he pressed the slide release and closed again.

With everything in check, he secured his drop-leg holster in his right leg and placed the pistol in it. One final gaze towards the mirror and he turned back and left the room. Since his years of martial arts training and mercenary/spec ops experience have not left him, it was easy for him to walk around without making a sound, even though the floor was made of wood. After descending the stairs, the lights suddenly black out, surprising Johnny. "Great... now the lights gone dark..."

As he groaned in frustration, his ears perked up to the sound of footsteps and movement across the hall that led to the kitchen. In an act of reflex, he, despite unknowingly being loaded with an empty mag, pulled out the pistol from his holster and aimed through the sights; right hand over the left to maintain stability.

"Finally! Something that I actually love doing" he smirked. With slow steps, he carefully advanced towards the source of the sounds, aim unfaltering, finesse as graceful. When he made it to the end he looked inside the room...

"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHNNY!"

The lights suddenly sprung to life together with the sound of poppers, stunning Johnny for a few seconds as he steps back and accidentally dropping his pistol to the ground, the sound of fallen metal pinging. When the effects wore off, he could vividly see his whole family, best friends and a few selected guests that tagged along to celebrate.

"I told you guys not to surprise me." He said, voice mixed with amusement and annoyance while shaking his head.

"Says the man whose pistol is loaded with an empty magazine. We unloaded the magazine before you woke up." Krystal points out. "Of course, we love seeing your face after a surprise."

"Yeah, VERY funny." He then stares up with a finger touching the bottom of his muzzle "Oh yeah, shouldn't you be reaching 40 after a year or two?" he rebutted in a sarcastic tone while picking up the firearm laying on the ceramic floor. Deep down Johnny can't believe that he didn't realize that his magazine was unloaded. Apparently retirement's already starting to have its effects on him.

Sarcasm aside, everyone gave their own regards and congratulations to Johnny for reaching his 40th year intact, though not entirely unscathed. Without warning, Jennifer, Alisha, and Hunter jump on their father with excitement, generating recoil that almost knocked him down. With fatherly love, he pulls them close for a group hug as he sighs. "They've grown up so much..." was all that he thought as he cherished the moment.

Once that was done, Krystal pulled him up from the ground and wraps her arms around him, giving a light squeeze for her brother-in-law, though the emotional attachment are still there. Marcus was able to sneak in and hug his uncle by the waist. It feels kinda awkward but he has to give the young vulpine a chance. Fox on the other hand just stood there, arms crossed while shaking his head slowly, keeping the laughter to himself while watching the mother-and-son hug his friend. The last thing to finish this was to picture the moment and possibly share it...

"Alright, I think he's got enough." Fox finally says "Don't you guys think that's a little too much?"

"Make us!" his wife teases as she strengthens her grip. Unfortunately, an oversight occurred when Fox wrapped his arms around his wife and "ripped" her away from the black wolf. Her yelp as sweet as before, something Fox found interesting about her. Next was his son who, after witnessing his mother, capitulated and released his uncle.

"Happy birthday old man." Daniel says as he approaches his father. Johnny embraces his oldest son full-heartedly at first. But as Johnny looks at his oldest son he can't help but feel old. He remembers the good old days when he was the leader of the elite Star Ghost mercenary team and Daniel was just a small pit (puppy/kit hybrid) along for the ride. Now he's 18 and ready for whatever life throws at him. Daniel's grown up too fast too quickly.

"Don't forget about us John." Johnny hears a sexy, female voice calling behind him. He turns around and comes face to face with a beautiful fennec vixen cradling a little baby girl in her arms.

"How could I forget about my two favorite women?" Johnny calls sarcastically at the two vixens as he approaches them. "I was saving the best for last."

Johnny leans in close and kisses Fara gently and quickly on the lips. It's more a peck on the lips than a kiss. But both really enjoy the quick moment that their lips are intertwined. Even after fourteen years of marriage the sparks are still there and burning brighter than ever. The little, red sundress that Fara's wearing, along with the makeup and her hair tied completely untied and flowing all the way down her neck and shoulders, is helping the moment. Johnny's rarely ever seen Fara wear a dress, let alone make up. He can tell that she's gussied up for this occasion. It really brings out her figure. Johnny can't wait to get that sundress off and satisfy her every needs. His Wolf Sense is telling him that she wants it just as bad as he does.

Fara notices Johnny looking down and admiring their little girl in her arms. She brings April close to her face and whispers to her, "Daddy wants to see you April. What do you say to that?" April holds out her arms begging for her father to hold her.

Fara carefully hands April over to Johnny. Johnny watches as April rests her little head against his arm and chest. April squeals with excitement as Johnny bounces her in his arms. Any feeling he has of being old disappears when he looks at April. Seeing his four month old baby girl cradled in his arms makes him feel young again. Maybe being forty isn't that bad. He's doesn't feel that old anyway.

Fara watches Johnny bounce April in his arms. She is the only one who notices the tear rolling down the lupine's cheek. Fara knows that April is the only person, besides herself, that can make Johnny tear up. The reason why is unknown. Johnny has never been very good at revealing his emotions to anyone.

"So when I do get my birthday present?" Johnny whispers seductively to Fara.

"Oh don't worry you'll get it sometime today I promise." Fara smiles and lightly grabs the tip of Johnny's tail not caring who sees it. Daniel can't help but smile as he watches Hunter and Marcus make pretend gagging sounds.

An hour later

Fox notices Johnny's hears perk up like he's heard something. He knows from experience that Johnny's ears are highly tuned instruments. They never miss a thing. So when Johnny's ears go up Fox knows to pay attention. Fox turns his ears in to the same direction as Johnny's to listen but doesn't hear anything at first. He continues to listen until he hears an unfamiliar ship landing in the yard. "Sounds like a transport ship."

Fara jumps up when she sees the ship land in the yard. "There's your first birthday present Johnny. Follow me outside everybody."

Everyone reluctantly gets up remember how bad Fara is at giving gifts and follow her outside. Waiting for them is a transport ship from Corneria. Who it's carrying surprises everyone. A black wolf that looks almost exactly like Johnny, but with shorter hair and a few years older, carrying a cane walks down the ramp followed by Cerinian Cougar and five Wolf/Cougar hybrids. Johnny almost drops April when he sees the Wolf. "TRITON you came!"

"Of course I did," Triton towards Johnny as best he can, "You think I would miss my baby brother's birthday."

Hunter and Marcus, upon seeing Triton, run and hide behind their mothers terrified. They remember the memories they saw from the Saurian memory pool (Legend of Star Ghost I: Annihilation) and from what Fara told them in her story (Origins of Star Ghost: Love and War). To Hunter, even though he's known Triton his entire life, the fear of what he saw and heard Triton do in the past eliminates any feeling of trust he's hand in his uncle.

Johnny embraces the older lupine and the female Cougar with him like he hasn't seen them in years. "Thanks for coming brother. How have things been for you?"

"I've been better bro. This old leg of mine has been acting up a lot lately. Just walking up and down stairs has become a challenge (Origins Chapter 7)."

"Sorry about that brother. Next time I'll try not to cut so deep." Johnny jokes.

"Very funny Jonathan. Next time I'll try not to cut your chest open (Origins Chapter 7)."

"Thanks bro." Johnny turns to the Cougar. "Elizabeth, how you've been?"

"I'm doing pretty good but your brother and the kids . . ." The Cougar points towards the cougar/wolf hybrids behind them. ". . . Are driving me crazy."

Johnny can't help but laugh. "I'm not surprised, Triton here has been known to drive people crazy, especially those he loves."

"Tell me about it. I've been married this lunatic," Elizabeth jokes, "For nearly 15 years and have known him his entire life. So I know how crazy this guy can be." Johnny nearly drops April he laughs so hard.

"How your oldest rascal Shawn doing? Shouldn't he be here for his uncle's birthday?" Fara shouts jokingly.

"He's alive and well." Elizabeth shouts back. "He's earned quite a reputation in the Cornerian military. But he's leaving the military to do freelance work. The last time I saw him he talked about creating the next generation Star Ghost team."

"Really, that's pretty cool."

"Yeah it is. He wants to follow in his uncle and aunt's footsteps." Elizabeth answers. "Shawn also said to tell Daniel that if he wants to join the team he can. He just has to get some experience first."

"Thanks for the heads up Aunt Elizabeth. I'll join when I'm ready." Daniel shouts.

Fara looks back and finally notices Hunter and Marcus hiding behind her and Krystal. "What are ya'll doing back there? You both know your Uncle Triton."

"Yeah we know him. We know how evil he is. He tried to kill both of our fathers." Hunter shouts.

Triton hears Hunter comment. It cuts deeper than Johnny's sword did to his leg (Origins Chapter 7). "That was a long time ago little Hunter. You both know that I'm a good guy."

"Uh not so much Triton." Johnny butts in. "You see brother we've been telling them the story of our days as Star Ghost. We told them how we defeated the Crocodiles (LSG) and we told them about the Papetoon conflict (Origins)."

"Oh great, so now two of my nephews see me as some evil murderer. You gotta fix this brother." Triton angrily points at Johnny.

"Don't worry Triton, we can fix this real quick." Fara jumps in.

"And how do you propose we do that? It would take a long time to explain."

"There's an easier way to explain what happened than just telling them." Krystal answers. "We have memory pool here in the caves below. We can show them what happened."

"Alright, lead the way Krystal."

15 minutes later.

Triton stands amazed at the sight before him. "Wow, I didn't know that Lylat even had one of these. Reminds me of the ones we had on Cerinia."

"This is the only one in all of Lylat. This system is not as old or mystical as the Genesis System." Krystal explains.

"That doesn't surprise me. I think we need to show the kids the whole story, not just the part where I become good again." Triton recommends.

"Then you shouldn't be the one to get in the pool. You weren't there for the whole thing."

"True, I think that Johnny should be the one. He could probably tell the story better than anyone else here." Krystal recommends.

"Oh great," Johnny reluctantly takes off his shirt, it's his favorite shirt and he doesn't want to get it wet, and enters the pool. He looks down at April one last time before handing her over to her mother. Fara (cradling April), Daniel, Jennifer, Alisha, Hunter, Fox, Krystal, Marcus, Triton, Elizabeth, and their five children take a seat around the pool. Johnny concentrates on the specific memory and lets the memory flow through his body into the pool. Within moments the pool memory appears on the surface for all to see.

Well here we go. Finally I got this story started. I've been waiting for this for a long time now. I hope that you enjoy the story.

Please leave a review as any suggestions to improve the story are welcome. Just please leave more than a "good story" or "good chapter" review. I want to improve my writing and those reviews do not help me improve.