It's been many years since The Event changed everything. In the darkness a new industry has risen and it's CEO reigns supreme. Under him they burn through fossil fuels, and strip mine the land so they can power the UV factories.
Massive buildings produce these ultra violet lights, and ship them out to the territories who they have made trade arrangements with. The factories are tall enough to block out the stars and thick black smoke roll out of their chimneys all day everyday. No one ever sees the smoke but it can be smelled for miles away.
In the center of this industry is Violet City. It is so large it's lights can be seen from space as a magnificent purple glow. It's purple glow can be seen as far as the old woman's village known as Euphorian. The country here no longer exists. Everything west of Violet City is governed self sufficiently while to the east the old government has reformed into a new broken country called the United Domain. Violet City is a nation of its own. Everyone else are either the city's allies, or they are considered rogue communities. The government to the east even plays nice for fear of the CEO.
Violet City's name comes from the glow from the UV lights shining in all of their street lamps. UV glows outside of the shops. The purple light glows over the city's outer farm lands. The crops grow slow but the artificial sunlight helps the plants photosynthesize. Some of the lamps give off a white or blue hue but they blend into the purple hue.
The factories used to make these lights functions 24/7 with no stop. The workers constantly shovel in coal or burn fuel to keep the machines running. Half the city has been built along mine shafts where they had tore through the earth in search of metals to use in their machinery and batteries.
The pollution is so thick here that there are small machines on every street corner that suck in the thick air and let out a burst of fresh scent. Large vehicles are used to clean the streets of the city, but they just relocate the garbage elsewhere. The city spends millions of dollars each year just to mask how damaging their factories really are. It is not in the budget to actually reduce these issues or clean up from them.
If not for the sanitation machines the residents would no doubt all have lung disease or cancer. The air is artificial. The light is artificial. Even their meat is grown in labs and not fresh from natural livestock. They all live in their fake world consuming every natural resource available while their CEO profits off of all of their consumerism.
In the heart of the city huge skyscrapers glow in the night. UV and florescent lights shine through the windows of luxury offices and apartment buildings. These towers belong to the elite citizens of the city. Inside of these buildings are parks filled with grass, trees, and ponds. The ceilings are painted to mirror a sunny day. Fans hidden in the walls create the illusion of wind. Lights are used to simulate the suns natural golden glow. Even little critters like squirrels and birds live in these spaces. Play equipment is available for the offspring of the spoiled wealthy. Their children have not a care in the world meanwhile other children from poor families are being forced to work in the factories.
Tanning salons were once for cosmetic pleasure but are now vital commodity for each person wealthy enough to afford it. There are wellness shops on almost every block of the city with rows upon rows of tanning beds. Having luminous tanned skin is a symbol of status in Violet City.
Pale skin shows the world that you're in the lower class. The lack of the sun light has caused many poorer people to lack vitamin D. Supplements are hard to find and usually cost more than a weeks salary for one pill. Those who cannot buy these luxuries are often weak and brittle boned with pale thin skin. They look sickly as if the darkness was a disease eating away at their bodies. The city also does not waste its money on sanitation in the slums.
Unknown to the CEO a small village is nestled in the woods South of the City.. It is far enough away from the polluted area that the full moon gives them all the light they need. The air here is crisp and cleaner and somehow they are thriving.
The city shares this same full moon but the industry has blotted out the moons glow with thick smog. Here in the village the moon and fire lit torches brighten skinny paths worn into the ground over time by busy feet between each of the tiny homes. Here the sun's glow reflecting off of the moon has been enough to sustain and help life grow.
The village was once the original shifter's home. More people took interest in the area and built small homes here,away from the industrious cities. Some people preferred a quieter life of living off of the land naturally versus burning through Earth's limited resources. They became a close knit community.
No one in Violet City ever received the gift of spirit shifting. Even their homeless and lower class residents never got the gift. Their hearts grew cold with greed. The rich wanting to stay rich and the poor wanting to be rich. They didn't care about our world. The only love they know is the money in their pocket books. In the Village spirit links are quite common, and celebrated at each new link.
The great grandchildren of the first shifter were born and raised in this village that she helped build. They were taught by Adelaide herself. At well over 100 years old now Adelaide was a skilled mentor and a loving grandmother.
Kalysta would often ask her great grandmother stories about what it was like when the Earth still danced around the sun. "Nan, oh Nan please please tell me about Summer. What's was it like Nanna? What was Spring like?"
Known as the first spirit shifter, Adelaide, was known for her wisdom and for her tales of life prior to the event. She told her granddaughter about life before the event. When day would turn to night and then back to day, of the different seasons we would cycle through each year, and if her many travels. She would speak of a time before world wide war broke out, and how green the grass was and how blue the sky would be. She spoke of big fluffy white clouds or if dark grey skies with lightning tearing through the sky. These stories always held Kalysta captivated ever since she was a small child.
After being asked yet again for another take, Adelaide tilted her head and scrunched up her face in a silly way to make Kalysta laugh while she pretended to think really really hard. Kalysta watched her eagerly. Adelaide loosened her face and made an expression as an idea had suddenly hit her. She ceased being silly and said, "I remember that on a hot summer day you could feel the sun warming your skin. It's light would bathe you in heat. Sometimes it was too hot and sweat would bead up on your forehead and run down your face. Sometimes though, it was just right and I would lay outside in a swimsuit and soak up it's warmth until my skin was bronzed. People used to enjoy the sun and played sports or went swimming during the Summer."
"Spring came before Summer. It was a time when trees would come alive and bloom into blossoms and the leaves would be freshly green. Of course Nan's allergies would pick up because of the pollen. Before the time of the wars it was much more beautiful. War and pollution ruines some of the natural beauty and the darkness has taken a toll too. Fortunately since the event the wars have stopped, but pollution still exists. We still have a long way to go in restoring our world. Kalysta, I bet you will do great things to change this when you grow up."
With that Adelaide patted her granddaughter's head and went about busying herself with the housework. Kalysta's twin brother Kyrhen had listened to his sister and grandmother talking. He didn't care much about how things were before, or about healing anything. Kyrhen wanted to grow up and live in one of those tall skyscrapers in Violet City. He had put his faith in man made items and machines.
"The world will never be pretty again sis. Stop dreaming." Kyrhen never viewed the world as a living thing or saw it's beauty. He was selfish and only cared about things like his allowance or material objects.
Kylasta rolled her eyes at her twin. They constantly butted heads and he often let his friends bully her. Sometimes he would stand by while his friend David pushed her down. She really hated David. He had been relentless in his bullying of her. Once they reached the age 14 only then did she realize that he was being a jerk because he had a crush on her.
Fat chance of that ever happening. She thought he looked like he had been hit by a train, and then the train backed up and went over him again. He had a weird smell and his face was perfectly punchable.
To escape the world and her brother and his friend Kalysta would practice archery in the woods. Her step-father had taught her all he knew about hunting. He traveled around the dark lands for years before settling down with the twins mother.
Up north he once encountered a wolf. There he sat eating jerky and reading a book when a shadow passed along the outside of his tent. When he went outside to inspect his campsite he saw the biggest black wolf he had ever seen in his life. It's eyes were golden. He was both stunned and petrified, but the wolf approached him and nuzzled it's giant head up into Miller's hand. That when he felt the spirit link. Since then his wolf's instinct guided him to search for his pack, or in human terms a family. The big black wolf lives with their family. He is Kalysta's favorite furry brother.
Her parents have now been married for 11 years resulting in 5 more children. Miller and Kalysta have always had a very close relationship. To her it was his blood that ran through her veins. Kyrhen even resembled Miller in a way, but he was never interested in hiking or hunting like his twin.
Kalysta loved to be in the woods and grew to become one of the village's best hunters. Her time in the woods often fed many families. Or at least she did until her 19th year. Then something unexpected happened.