Koutre
There was a world war.
Only several thousand out of the nearly twelve billion there had been survived. All of Koutre was destroyed. The world was a barren mass of garbage. Weeds were the last of the plants to thrive, and an estimate of 300 animals were left.
Hundreds died in that first winter after the war. There was no shelter, no warmth, and never enough food. The snow that drifted down from the sky was usually acid, and deadly. Few cared about such luxuries as school, and learning. None played.
The years passed. They were filled with backbreaking work, and everything was forgotten, except the yearning to live.
In W.A.Y. 12 (War Aftermath Year 12) there sprouted a hope. A small Elven child, only 7 years old, found an animal, a cross between a fox and a bird. The animal was a baby, and fit into the Elves’ hand. It was starving. The child took it to the rock ledge under which he lived, and in secret, fed it the roaches that were supposed to be his meal. As the animal grew, it began to talk to the boy. Soon, it was no secret anymore. The childs’ caretaker ordered it to be sent away or eaten. The boy, foolish and careless at age 9, declined to send it away. The caretaker went outside, grabbed the animal, and killed it.
Or tried to.
As soon as the caretaker got in reach of the mangy thing, the boy called out, and the animal understood what was happening. The caretaker grabbed onto it, and heard a wizzing noise. A blink afterward, nothing was there, in her hands. The boy and the animal were gone. Gone! No poof, no flashing light, no spells...
A day later, the caretaker found both dead.
But she remembered how the strange creature had transported himself, and the boy.
She looked everywhere for these creatures. They were not hard to find, as almost all the mothers of the babies had been killed for meat and the babes were laying around helplessly.
She gathered together all of them that she found, and wondered what to do next. There were too many mouths for her to feed, and the babies were too energetic for her to take care of. She was getting old.
A solution hit her the next day. The planet Loklosa was going to be close to Koutre for a whole three months during the Mist Season, which started in a week, her time. If she could keep the animals alive till then... if she could gather a few spirited races...
Then, maybe, a new thriving civilization on Loklosa might begin.
The Fox-Birds (Also called Valilests)