Lady Artz: Hey everyone and welcome back to Star of Hope! I am just cranking out these chapters. It's like I can't focus on anything else. Don't worry, I'll get back to my other stories eventually, but the muse seems to be stuck here for the time being.
Much love and over flowing gratitude to all those who have faved, followed, and reviewed this story along with all of my other ones as well. You guys rock!
Okay, now we are moving past the weirdness stage and into a more linear time line and if you haven't guessed it by now, Artz will be meeting Snow first. Reason being is that out all of them, Snow is the most likely to believe just about anything she says without question or hesitation. Also Artz is still very new to the Final Fantasy XIII universe and needs a chance to acclimate to her new surroundings. The NORA house is about the best place she can do it in.
Don't worry; she'll meet Lightning and all the others at some point or another. I think I actually have it in this order; Snow, Serah, Lightning, Sazh and Dajh, and then Nora and Hope. I have a lot smaller scenes designed to show how her friendships with them are progressing, so there might be a few time skips. Mainly because Nora and Hope live in Pallumpolum so they only visit Bodhum every once in a while and Sazh is a part time pilot and Dajh is being taken care of by his mother. I don't think Artz actually meets Dajh's mother, not unless I can find some more information about her.
Anyways, I don't own Final Fantasy XIII or Final Fantasy XIII-2 or anything else I make references to.
Now on with the show!
Chapter Two: Monster Hunt
The leader of NORA was currently in his bedroom, getting ready for the day. It had been about a week since he had dreamed about Artz and he had still yet to find her. He spent every day and well into the night, searching the quiet seaside town for the missing red head. He had even enlisted the other members of NORA to help him find her, but still no luck.
He slid on his boots, shaking his head a bit. He was dog tired and hadn't had a proper night sleep since before his dream about the ginger haired woman. He rubbed his eyes, trying to get the sleep out, before sliding his hand down his face in exhausted fashion. He took a deep breath and forced himself to stand. He wouldn't stop looking. He would find her. He grabbed his silver coat and put it on. He then grabbed his bandana and tied it over his blonde hair.
Deep in his gut, he had a feeling that today would be the day…the day that he would find Artz. He needed to be on the top of his game. He wouldn't let the red head down. She needed him to be there for her; to protect her, to help her, and to teach her about the new world she was now in.
He walked out of his room, full of determination and resolve, but he didn't get very far because Lebreau was standing in front of him with her arms crossed and her foot tapping lightly on the floor. She did not look too happy and it seemed to be all directed towards him.
"What?" He asked nonchalantly.
"It's been a week, Snow. One whole week! When was the last time you actually slept more than three hours?" She snapped extremely cross.
"I have to find her, Lebreau. She's counting on me to be there for her." He replied softly but firmly.
"You're no good to her if you're dead on your feet! What happens when you find her and you guys are attacked by some monster? You'll be too exhausted to protect her!" She yelled trying to get some sense into his dense skull.
"I know, but she's all on her own, Lebreau. She knows next to nothing about our world. I've got to find her and at least bring her here where she can be safe." He replied firm in his resolve.
Lebreau sighed softly as she dropped her arms to her sides.
"We're worried about you, Snow. We just don't want you to get hurt." She stated quietly, her eyes revealing just how worried she was.
"Just one more day, Lebreau. Let me search just one more day and then tonight, I will get full night's sleep, I promise." He pleaded his tone just shy of begging.
She gave him a stern look and he had to hold back a gulp. Lebreau could be scary when she wanted to be.
"Fine, but only one more day and then I'm lacing your food with a sedative to knock your stubborn butt out. Are we clear?" She replied her tone super sweet and a creepy smile on her lips.
"Yes ma'am." Snow quipped quickly, just a tiny bit intimidated by the only female member of NORA.
Lebreau stepped aside and allowed him to pass. He didn't get more than five steps before the other three members of NORA rushed in panting for breath. They looked like they had just run a mile uphill.
"What's up, guys?" He asked wondering what was going on.
"Storm's rolling in." Yuj started trying to catch his breath.
"And a pack of pumas are following the storm front into town." Gadot continued taking a deep breath.
"Do we know what kind? We need to know what we're fighting against." Snow asked immediately taking charge of the situation.
"The people who saw them said they looked purple and silver, so I say they're the luminous puma variety." Maqui answered half hunched over from trying to regain control of his breathing.
"They usually don't come into town. I wonder what provoked them." Lebreau piped up from behind the counter, a deep frown on her face.
"Don't know, but we need to take care of them before they hurt someone." Snow replied heading towards the door and noticing the dark clouds in the sky, heavy with rain, "And we need to do it before the skies decide that we would all look better as drowned rats."
"We're with you, boss." Gadot stated having caught his breath and was ready for a fight.
"Alright, Gadot take the east side of where the sightings occurred. You'll be in charge of forcing them back into the forest. Yuj, Maqui, you two will be on corral duty, making certain they don't wander off anywhere but where we want them. I'll take point and head in for a frontal assault, driving them to you. Lebreau, stay here and coordinate with us, pass along any information you hear from the customers and any further reports on these things' movements." Snow ordered.
"I thought you didn't do plans, oh fearless leader." Lebreau commented a small smile on her face.
"I'd like to get this over with quickly. I have other things to do than chasing down a pack of cats." He replied slightly annoyed.
"Duty calls, boss." Yuj piped up, earning a slight glare from Snow.
"Don't worry, boss. We'll take care of this real fast and then we can go and find Artz." Maqui placated trying to calm their sleep deprived leader.
"Let's move out!" Snow ordered running through the door without another word.
The others exchanged glances, all worried about their leader, before taking off after him and going to their designated locations.
The blonde leader of NORA ran down one alley after another, looking for the pack of luminous pumas. His clothes were beginning to stick to him from the constant downpour of rain. It hadn't five minutes after they left that the rain started to fall. Now it was like a deluge. He could barely see what was a foot in front of him and the rain was like a deafening roar, drowning out all other sounds. These were not the best conditions for a monster hunt.
He kept going, searching every road and ever alley. He had to find these critters and send them packing back to their normal hunting ground so he could refocus his efforts on finding the still missing crimson haired woman from his dream. He didn't want to waste this day because of a pack of cats. He had to find her, he needed to find her. All he could think about was how she was alone in a world that was different from her own. She was lost and probably scared out of her mind.
His mind came to an abrupt halt when he was tackled to the ground by the very critter he had spent the entire morning looking for. It growled and prepared to bite his head. The weight on his chest suddenly vanished when someone tackled the puma, allowing him to get up. He tried to see who it was but the rain had reduced his visibility to zero.
He saw vague shapes not too far away and it looked like whoever had saved him was fighting the luminous puma. He or she was doing very well because they landed a solid hit to the puma's head. It let out a pained shriek and over the deluge, Snow heard the pounding of paws heading their way.
Crap, that meant that the rest of the pack was coming to help their injured pack mate. The NORA leader was once again yanked out of his thoughts when someone grabbed his hand and dragged him down another alley. The pair broke into a run and the sound of the approaching pack slowly faded away into nothingness, meaning that they had lost them...for now. Snow was then pulled into a small alcove with an overhang, blocking the constant downpour.
He turned to look at the person who had saved his life and his eyes widen in shock. There, standing before him, was none other than the woman he had been searching for the last week. She was wearing a long sleeved black shirt, dark blue jeans, a crimson leather jacket, and black combat boots. She was completely soaked and her clothes were plastered to her hourglass figure. Her dark red hair was still in the braid she had in the dream, her dripping bangs framing her face. Her liquid sapphire eyes were bright and almost seemed to glow in the darkened alcove.
"You okay?" She asked trying to catch her breath from their recent mad dash away from the pumas.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Thanks for the save, Artz." He answered smiling.
"How did you know my name?" She asked very confused.
"I had a dream about you. It was a week ago. You were talking to some figure surrounded by mist." He answered honestly.
"That was Etro or at least a manifestation of her and it's been a week? I only just got done talking to her like twenty minutes ago." She replied.
"I guess that's why I couldn't find you. Time must have passed differently in…what did you call it?" He started.
"The Void Beyond, a shadow of Valhalla. It's like a space between time periods and I guess it serves as a crossroad between dimensions as well." Artz elaborated.
"I'm just glad you're here." Snow replied smiling.
"Why?" The ginger asked slightly amused.
"Lebreau was threatening to spike my food with a sedative if I didn't get a proper night sleep tonight. I've been searching for you nonstop since I had that dream. I was worried about you." The NORA leader confessed.
The red head walked over to him and slapped him upside the head.
"Ow. What was that for?" He complained rubbing his head.
The five foot ten inches tall dimensional traveler had quite a bit of strength in her hands, because that actually hurt.
"For being an idiot! I know enough about this world that I would have found the NORA house on my own! I would have sought you out first!" She scolded a rather cross expression on her face.
"Really? Why would you come and find me first?" He asked genuinely curious.
"Because out of everyone that I know in this world, you are the one who would most likely believe me and my outlandish story. The one who would help me become a part of this world. The one who would keep me safe from PSICOM and the Sanctum. The one person I could trust with the vast knowledge in my head." She answered honestly, meaning every word.
He stared at her, a little in awe and feeling just a tiny bit stupid about his actions the past week. If he hadn't focused so much on trying to find her than they wouldn't be in this mess right now. A thought occurred to him.
"The pumas, you're the reason why their outside their normal hunting ground, aren't you?" He asked seeking confirmation for his ridiculous theory.
"I'm afraid so. I landed in the forest just outside of Bodhum, right smack dab in the middle of their territory. They have been chasing me ever since." Artz answered honestly.
"Maybe we can use that…lead them back to their hunting ground." He postulated trying to think of a plan.
"Snow, stop trying to make a plan." She stated making his eyes snap to hers, "In the words of your future self, heroes don't need plans."
Snow let out a quiet chuckle. That was more like him, but he was too damn tired to really be his usual self. He leaned against the wall and eventually slid to the ground, his eyes feeling incredibly heavy. The red head knelt down next to him, sitting on her legs, her eyes dancing with worry.
"Sorry, just need a break. Pretty tired." He replied blinking his eye lids a few times, trying to stay awake.
"Take a nap. We won't be going anywhere with this." She responded gesturing to the still heavy downpour.
"You'll be alright?" He asked not wanting to let her down.
"I'll be just fine. Now sleep." She answered smiling softly at him.
He let his eyes drift close and within moments, he fell asleep.
Snow awoke to the feeling of the sun on his face. He opened his eyes and saw that the rain had stopped and it was only partly cloudy.
"Looks like the rain has stopped. We should head out." He stated.
When he didn't get a response, he looked over to where he had last seen Artz, but she wasn't there. His head whipped around looking for her but she was nowhere to be seen. He quickly rose to his feet and staggered out of the alcove, looking up and down the alley in a panic.
"Artz!" He yelled his voice echoing through the empty alley.
A horrible thought occurred to him. What if it was just a dream? He had been so sleep deprived that it could have been a hallucination. He looked down at his hand, remembering how she grabbed his hand as they ran from the pack of pumas. He balled his hand into a fist as his jaw clenched. No, Artz was real. She had been there with him. She had saved him and he was going to find her again.
He reached into his pocket for the walkie talkie that all members of NORA had to keep in contact, but he discovered nothing. He checked his other pockets but the communicator was gone. Did Artz take it? Was that why she left? To help his friends with the pumas? He set of into a run, heading towards where the others had been set up to corral the pack.
About five minutes later, he was nearing the forest that bordered the outskirts of town. He heard gunfire and knew that his friends were still fighting the pack of pumas.
"Artz!" Maqui shouted.
"Look out!" Yuj yelled.
"Get out of the way!" Gadot bellowed.
Snow cleared the buildings and saw Artz backed up against a group of trees, three luminous pumas barreling right at her. There was nowhere for her to run. She was trapped. The NORA leader doubled his speed and managed to get in between her and the pumas. His fists went flying and he knocked all of them away.
"You want her? You'll have to go through me!" Snow yelled getting into a fighting stance.
"Snow." Artz breathed her tone full of relief.
"Boss!" The three males members of NORA shouted in joy.
They quickly joined their leader, guns pointing at the luminous pumas. The large cat like monsters stalked the perimeter the NORA members had created, eyeing the woman that was their intended target. After what seemed like an eternity, the pack began to inch away. They raced off into the forest.
"Oh man, that was close." Maqui stated in relief, lowering his gun.
"Impeccable timing, boss." Yuj piped up.
"Heroes usually show up at the last minute, ya know." Artz commented straightening up, a smile on her face.
Snow turned around and faced her.
"What the hell were you thinking? Taking off on your own like that?" He demanded.
"Cut her some slack, Snow. She didn't have a choice." Gadot interjected before things could get ugly.
"What do you mean?" The NORA leader asked confused, glancing at him.
"The pack was coming right at you two, so Artz took your walkie talkie and lured the pack away from you." Maqui explained quickly.
"She saved your life, boss." Yuj commented softly.
"She used the communicator to coordinate with us and led the pack right to us." Gadot chimed in.
The blonde haired man looked back over at the dimensional traveler, who was holding up his walkie talkie like it was a peace offering. He sighed heavily before taking it and putting it back in his pocket.
"You're forgiven." He stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
It was completely worth waking up in a panic earlier to see the brilliant smile that lit up her entire face now and made her eyes sparkle with joy. She lunged at him and wrapped her arms around his middle, hugging him tightly. His face softened as he returned the hug. He couldn't be angry with her. She was just trying to help others like he did. She didn't know it, but she was a hero too.
Lady Artz: That's it for Chapter Two: Monster Hunt! This chapter was so awesome and when I started typing up Snow's charging in and being a hero thing, his theme started playing on my Xbox's music player. Talk about perfect timing! It was so totally epic! *takes a few calming breaths* Okay, I'm good.
Anyways, leave tons and tons of reviews and be on the lookout for Chapter Three: NORA House! Stay tuned!