Over the River and Through the Woods (Adventures!AU Book 2)

Ch. 13 ~Birth of an Alpha~

A chapter purely for the sake of worldbuilding! But relevant worldbuilding.
Plus some lovely HunterxShadow shenanigans because comedy.

Also, this is gonna be the last chapter for roughly a month or more until exams are done. I seem to have reached peak exhaustion to the point I've actually been sick for the last 5 days due to stress. Oop.
Not because of this story, but *gestures* everything else. College mainly. It's killing me. So I'm taking a break until college ends.
At least from full chapters. But fear not! I'll probably post some drafts and such on tumblr occasionally. And I also plan to do a small revisit to Off to a Great Start and Enigma then put them both into a PDF file. I'll also revisit the first 13 chapters of Over the River and Through the Woods since I fear the quality dropped a bit. No major plot changes, though. Just tweaking the basics.
I ALSO may be posting a few snippets from my Umbara story "Shadow in the Dark" because fuck Krell's muppet-reject looking headass. May also post a peak at Echo's rescue "Fallen Not Forgotten" because fuck them jukebox wannabes on wheels and EVERYTHING they stand for.

Last thing! I actually posted a face reveal on tumblr, under the tag Shadow Speaks! Go check it out if you'd like!
See y'all in a month or so! <3

Content Warning: Talk of blood extraction (because Tech is still at that) and species biology.

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"Let's see," I mused as we started down into the valley. "Where do I start?"

"Perhaps it would be wise to start at the beginning with who created your species?" Tech asked, sticking close to my side.

Reasonable enough place. "Psycho named Sheldon Stienfrank. Standard power hungry maniac," I snorted, jumping down onto a rock. "Ok, let me get my storytellin' voice."

And let's see if I can remember my Birth of an Alpha story.

"Long ago," I began dramatically. "Keluisa was a vast land full of danger. The strong preyed upon the weak, instinct replacing law and reason. Power was a constant source of conflict, as everyone wanted to control the resources. Death stalked the land and brothers turned against each other with even the slightest temptation of power."

"Nice story voice," Hunter commented.

"Thanks, Sarge, now shush."

He raised his hands in surrender.

"So, Kelusia was basically a complete and utter free for all. Men fought against each other while the other creatures basically let them have at it, hoping they'd maybe kill each other off."

"What other species do you mean? Tech asked, hopping down beside me on the rock. "Were they magic like you?"

I slipped off the rock to another down the trail before hopping back on the trail. "It varied. You had species that weren't naturally magic, then some that were. One key species I should mention is the Elementals. They, unsurprisingly, could wield the different Elements."

"Are they where you get your power from?"

"Gettin' there, Techie." Working my way over some roots, I continued over my shoulder, "Unlike most stories, where a theoretical knight comes in with shining theoretical armor, the man who changed the planet, Sheldon himself, had power and control in mind when he did the unthinkable."

"What did he do?"

"Let her talk," Crosshair muttered.

Well, he's definitely trying to repair what damage he caused. I'll give that to you, Twiggs. "So, just background for informational purposes, the species in Stone's Throw Star System were created by highly powerful mystical bein's called Grey Greys, also known as the Creators."