Imagine a world consumed by war. With the nuclear bombs, pollution, and radiation we had burnt scars into our planet. Irreversible damage was done. Acid rain killed much of the plant life the bombs had missed. Smog choked the lungs of anything else left alive. Mother Nature held the Earth in her arms seeing up close the devastion we had caused.
Carrying her broken child in her arms Nature wept silently. The pain she felt was unbearable and as she cried her body shook ever so slightly. Her sorrow over her child had her full attention. She did not hear her husband approaching behind her. A slight gasp of surprise left her lips as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek.
"I told you humanity would be a virus to our child." He looked down on us with utter disdain. The beautiful child they had created was riddled with spilt blood and radiation from the human's wars. We had dropped bombs and poison on each other. Our nations leaders had lead us down the path of pollution with their greed. Famine, cancer, and low birth rates of even our wildlife was the result. All life was dying as was our planet.
"How do we save what we have made," his wife asked him. Father Time creased his brows and rubbed his beard while he pondered over this. Despite what they had done his wife still held out hope that people could change and breathe new life into their environment. The disciplinary action had to be fitting of the crime, but he knew Nature would not allow total death to all of humanity. "I will stop the flow of time. The plague of man will know eternal night and day. No longer will I grace them with the beauty of a sunrise or sunset."
Nature sighed deeply and nodded her head in agreement. The people had to be punished for what they did. No longer did they believe in the spirit of the Earth, and they were deaf to her voice in the wind. "For those who are kind to our child as well as all others I wish to bestow a gift."
Father Time looked at her completely shocked, "Why would you do that? The people deserve nothing but death for what they have done and you want to give them a gift!?!?"
Nature understood his anger, but her gift would only be given to those who nurtured Earth. "The ones who value the land, trees, the mountains, oceans, and seas will forever be tied to the Earth spiritually. Those who protect Earth's wildlife and vegetation will be gifted the ability to harness spirit. I will give them the power to fight those who seek to destroy. Humanity is a virus, but it is also it's own cure. I will make shifters. If an beast finds a human worthy it can choose to let the person be able to take its form. Only once will any one person be given this gift. They will forever be linked to the creature who chose them. I will whisper this into the ears of all of Earth's animals. May they soon find worthy people so that change be swift."
Time looked in her eyes and saw in them strength and determination. Only the strong can forgive crimes such as these. It is her strength and beauty that have always held him so captivated by his wife. "So be it. I hope you're dreams for humanity and our child come to fruitation. I will now stop our child's trip around the sun. Let there be rest now."
That is the day our planet stopped spinning on its axis around the sun. That is the day seasons ended and half of our world was plunged into darkness or neverending day. This became known as "The Event". As weeks went by many suicides began to happen. People were too afraid to face what they thought was an apocalypse. The wars stopped being fought. It seemed people had bigger things to worry about. Despite the cease fire chaos ensued.
Meanwhile, a wise older woman was setting up UV lamps in her greenhouse and watering her plants when she was visited by an owl. She never let herself be bothered with politics or the news for that matter. She and her late husband lived off grid for many years until cancer claimed his life. Tending her garden was her daily dose of heaven. The owl had been watching the woman since he had heard a voice in his dreams. He tilted his head to the side and decided to fly down near the entrance of the green house. He felt compelled to watch her, and he felt great pride in her. "Come to visit again my feathered friend? Even in this newfound darkness I can see you creeping around. Is it the garden mice who strike your fancy or do you just like to watch old women work?"
The owl lifted his head and listened to her. Despite not knowing the words she spoke he knew they were kind. Flapping his big white wings he flew up to the table she had been leaning on and gazed into her eyes. The woman seemed shocked but took her chances and reached out to stroke his feathers. As she had her hand upon him he let his spirit link to hers. To her bewilderment she became the first shifter.
She would lead so many others down a path to peace and recovery. The Event was just the beginning, not the end.