A/N: Hello everyone, I hope you are enjoying your summer. Happy (super late) 4th of July as well, I actually planned to post this piece on the 4th but you know...life, what can you do? Anyways, that's enough out of me and I'll let you read to your heart's content. Howling Star II: The Search for a Storm begins now.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except my own. FFXIII-2 belongs to Square Enix.

Bold words: Lightning's narration.

Italic words: Thoughts

Prologue

That time was lost, yet time continued onward.

The faint ring of a bell chimed over the gloomy skies of Valhalla, its resonance bears no fragility that awaits the impeccable doom and a nonexistent future. The throne of the goddess Etro stood bare and naked as angel feathers fell from the skies to dance in the pure essence of the maker.

Divine Etro. Go peacefully to your rest. I will stand guard over your legacy. Lightning knelt silently in front of the throne, her soldier attire discarded to make room for the appearance of a knight in shiny armor. Placing a hand over her heart in a silent gesture of acknowledgment to Etro's wishes, she rose slowly and walked calmly out, her own feather accessory attached to her waist flowed freely behind her. The sound of her boots clopped gracefully against the granite floor as she leaned against the railing of the balcony, looking out over the city, the sound of a bell ringing reached her ears.

This endless realm is awash with sadness. Life and death lose all meaning under the rolling waves of chaos. Valhalla. The currents of time do not touch its shore. Lightning's eyes swept across the shores where the presence of a time and space barrier kept the waves at bay. In this world of lost moments, I begin my life anew.

Far out from the shore, a tall, slender, and muscular man with light bronze skin and purple eyes gently waded in waist deep into the water. He has long purple hair adorned with feathers and tribal beads, and he wears a long, purple and black headband. In his arms he cradled a young girl. Looking around for a bit, he gently lowered her into the water, watching the pale skin underneath the water's surface.

"This eternity–it was never your desire. Is that not so, Yeul?" The man spoke as the girl named Yeul dissolved away. Clenching his fist with anger he imagined the destruction of Cocoon, the cracking of the ice pillar and finally Valhalla. Lifting his arms over his head, he summoned his army of Pantopodas and other Rift Beasts before feasting his eyes on the tower. A bunch of wyverns rose into the skies, along with their fellow creatures that inhabited the vicinity.

"Warrior goddess." The man sneered as he drew his blade, the eye at the base opening up to unleashed a purple aura. "Now we cross swords." In response, Lightning drew her own blade, her eyes narrowed dangerously at the threat in front. All around, the creatures that joined and fought from the goddess clashed violently against the man's army of bugs.

"Lose yourself in battle, and rejoice!" Moving his arm in a wide arc, he sent a purple-colored slash that knocked back some of Lightning's army. Two replicas of the Shiva Sisters quickly flew down and bombarded the man with a freeze attack. Thinking they had the upper hand, they dove back for a finishing touch only to be blown away by the man's power. Grinning, he noticed Lightning on top of Odin's back with her blade drawn.

"Husk of the wandering comet...I summon thee!" Pointing his sword to the sky, he unraveled a monstrous power that upturned the earth. Odin whinnied with annoyance while Lightning looked at the falling meteors. It looked as though those bugs were disposable units. Clutching her teeth, she spurred Odin into a full gallop, jumping from rock to rock. One of the meteors collided where she was and her blade flew through the air, embedding itself into another rock. Using the underbelly of another rock for momentum, she jumped, gripped her blade and launched herself to where the man was.

"Caius Ballad!" She yelled, blocked his attack and sent it straight up. Caius's own attack shattered the meteor spell at once.

"Impressive." Caius said as Lightning landed in a crouch behind him.

"Save it." She snapped before they were at each other again, their blades created sparks that danced across their eyes. As the rock formation crumbled underneath their feet, they were forced to do some rock hopping.

"Let's end this." Caius caught Lightning's blade as she moved to stab him and pointed it to his heart which glowed in response.

"That glow...?!" Lightning backed up, narrowing her eyes.

"Cast your shadow over all." Caius's eyes started to glow as he chanted. "Wings of night!" A dark cloud shrouded his transformation and once it was done, he wasn't a human anymore. He became Chaos Bahamut and with a swipe of both his claws, he sent Lightning flying over Valhalla.

"Odin!" She calls for her mighty steed and he thunders over the sands, catching his master from free-falling. Together they managed to attack and defend against their flying foe, leading him back towards the heart of Valhalla. Using the steel beam structures to her advantage, Lightning somersaulted backwards and sliced the Bahamut across his back, who screeched angrily in response. Diving down behind the clouds, he appeared in front and attacked. Odin, who sensed the intention ahead of time managed to protect Lightning before he disappeared. Chaos Bahamut also disappeared and Caius himself appeared in front of Lightning. Snarling, both combatants flew at each other, their swords clashed violently.

"The goddess made a wise choice." Caius snarled, pushing a little against Lightning's blade. "Keeping up?"

"So you want to destroy everything?" Lightning asked after they broke apart, her voice sounded more like an accusation then a question.

"Oblivion is the fate of all things." Was the simple reply before they flew at each other once more. The impact of their attacks destroyed nearby steel beams and Caius used his dark magic to stop the broken pieces from falling, suspending them in a mid-air.

"I must thank you. In these final moments, I have met my finest opponent." He mused as Lightning came in with a sneak attack from behind. A barrage of punches, kicks and slashes, she managed to knock her enemy to the ground. The floating debris that were frozen in time were unfrozen and continued their descend, covering Caius's body from Lightning's eyes.

Looking down at the smoke, Lightning focused her attention on another matter. A bright light from the heavens shined down upon the tallest structure where the throne of Etro resides.

"Etro's gate?" Of course. The one from the vision. I know your name. Noel Kreiss. Lightning watched as a silhouette of a young man appeared, falling through the gate's opening. Opening his eyes, Noel glanced down before screaming as he plummeted towards Valhalla. Luckily Lightning caught him before he went splat.

"Where am I?" Noel asked as he held on tight. Both of them soared over Valhalla on Lightning's flying companion.

"Valhalla. You prayed for a miracle and that brought you here. Or am I wrong?"

"How did you know!?"

"From Valhalla, I can see everything."

"But, who are you?" Lightning looked at him before replying.

"Lightning." Before her passenger could reply, a screech grabbed their attention as Chaos Bahamut flew up to greet them, looking unscathed and angry.

That son of a bitch. Lightning inwardly groaned before she was thrown into battle against her enemy with Noel throwing in his own attacks. After what looks like a wild goose chase since Chaos Bahamut figured out their attack plans, Lightning was forced to do an emergency landing, jumping off of her ride with Noel in tow.

"How do we fight him?" Noel quickly wiped off the dust from his clothes as he asked the question.

"This is not your battle." Lightning responded after a pause. "There is something else I need you to do."

"What?"

"Bring my sister to me. Her name is Serah." Looking down, they noticed a shiny light that indicated a passage through the time line. "You'll need to use the portal. Your time-gazing friend should have told you how it works."

"That's a gate...? But, why me?"

"Because you're the only one who can." Lightning replied. "You crossed the Void and made it to Valhalla. You can find Serah, and together you can change the future."

"I can change the future?" Noel looked out, wondering if he was stuck in some fantasy dream.

"Yes." Lightning nodded before throwing up a small ball of magic.

"Kupopo~" A creature appeared and floated down in front of Noel. With a wave of his staff, he changed into a bow.

"A good luck charm. Give him to Serah." Lightning ordered as Noel looked at the weapon in surprise.

"You got it." Nodding his head in agreement, he slung the weapon over his back. "I'll track her down."

"Enjoying your little chat?" Caius found them, his eyes flashed with a murder intent.

"Get to the gate." Lightning placed herself in front of Noel, forbidding him from further actions against Caius. "I'm counting on you."

"Okay." Noel nodded before Lightning summoned Odin, using him as a power booster. The last thought she had as she used her shield to block Caius's attack was Serah. Something in the back of her mind throbbed faintly but she disregarded it as she was enveloped by a white light.

"Lightning..." Noel looked up at the sky before realizing that he might be in danger. "Gotta go." Taking a leap of faith, he reached out his hand and disappeared into the time gate and back into the time stream.

My hopes go with you, Noel Kreiss. Become an arrow through time, and speed your way to Serah. Be there for her..because I no longer can.

Planet Zoralth...

The lush environments that dot the exoskeleton of planet Zoralth offered the opportunity of life to the abundance of magnificent creatures and other life forms that are unlike any other. Deep within Lupin Meadow, the wolves were becoming restless, even in their anthro forms they knew something was off. A disgruntled old wolf hobbled to the water hole for a drink, his tongue lapping over the surface while his eyes darting around in weariness.

"Hey...Dad" Star's voice reached the old wolf's ears, causing him to stop drinking and turned to look at her as she walked over. Licking the droplets off his muzzle, he morphed into his human form and hugged his daughter. "Can I talk to you?" Her voice sounded hollow and Shadow knew deep down that this talk means business.

"If it's about how low the water is in this here pool, then yes lets talk." He sighed as he sat down, using a cane for support as his old joints slowly caught up to his age. He winced and rubbed his sides, angrily muttering "Curse this old age."

"It's not only about the water level, I just have this feeling radiating throughout the entire planet. It's quite hard to explain but I think something bad has happened on Cocoon."

"On Cocoon huh?" Shadow lifted his head to look at the sky above before speaking. "Have you heard the concept of time-traveling?"

"Dad, if you are referring to the time I was sent to Cocoon then yes I know. What does that have to do with the fact that there might be something evil looming over us?"

"What if something happened in Cocoon and in parallel Zoralth gets effected as well? For example, if there was a drought on Cocoon, we would see the sign of drought as well because we live in a parallel universe billions of miles away right? However I don't see any sign of a drought...there is another factor missing, the winds have stopped blowing and there aren't many clouds in the sky. I'm sure you must know what I mean."

"I think I do." Star sighed and looked up at the sapphire sky for a minute. Her mind flashed back to a certain strawberry-blonde haired soldier and she frowned a bit. Shadow, catching the scent of worry from his daughter looked at her.

"Thinking about that friend of yours? The one you dubbed Lightning?"

"You're still sharp even in old age. Yeah, it's her."

"She left a hard print on you, I'm glad your bond with her is stronger than others."

"...that's the problem. The nagging in the back of my mind is as faint as a baby's breathe. It's quite faint but still pulsing."

"Then you should prepare yourself for the worst child. The world we live in now...even the ones we deem alive will turn up as an illusion created by the shadows of our nature." Shadow grunted as he got up and started to hobble away with his cane as the other members trotted over to the water hole for a drink, dipping their heads in obedience to the leader. Nodding curtly to her fellow members, Star took off running to her favorite spot, a towering rock formation that faced outward towards the horizon. Climbing up to the top, she pulled her legs close to her chest as she watched the sky lazily with one eye open.

We haven't had any substantial rainfall in quite a few weeks even though food is abundant. Sooner or later, we will have to share the watering hole with other creatures but there isn't enough to go around. The signs are very clear to me...without the storm clouds, rain chances are slim and every living creature will begin to dehydrate till they are nothing but skin and bones. There is one thing that must be done...Star sighed before getting up, brushing the grass off of her pants.

The search for a storm has begun.

A/N: Done, I hoped you enjoyed it. A little long for a prologue huh? Lol I hope it'll suffice for the lack of timing on my end.