Alright well hey there guys! This is what I consider to be my first REAL fanfic, thanks for taking a look. Please review! Even if it's just a silly comment or if you hate it I just need feedback. This story was inspired by that awesome cover pic of mine (which isn't shown in its entirety) that was drawn by the awesome reversealchemist over there at deviantart (seriously he's awesome). So if you think its awesome, tell me please. If you think its a big load of hraka and should be burned from this world and sent back to the pits of Inle from whence it came, TELL ME PLEASE.

Prologue

It was a horrid world to live in. That time of great destruction. Man, though still one of Frith's children, spoiled the earth of their forgotten ancestors and struck their neighbors with weapons sent straight from Inle.

The destruction of mankind affected the whole world, plant and animal alike. Though no one knows for certain how it happened, plagues of war, famine, and disease are good for a story. The Before is a time long ago, when man ruled the world with a clenched fist and animals trembled before his horrific, mechanical hand. Yet even after their destruction of the world, Frith felt a sadness at the loss of his world and once again blessed it with life.

He recreated the lendri, the homba, even the rabbit, which had given him plenty of trouble before, but most lovingly of all, he made man. He could not deny that man had caused great despair before, but Frith still loved all his children and would never deny them the gift of life.

When Frith gave all his children gifts to make them each special, man sent their leader, El-ahrairah, to retrieve theirs. Though cunning and knowledgeable of the land, his people were no match for the fiercest of the forest animals. Without the various skills of their ancestors, they found it hard to survive the extremes, and so El-ahrairah asked Frith to once again let his people live as they did before. Frith knew this would end in the same fashion as before and so came to a compromise, he gave El-ahrairah language and showed him where some of their ancestors' old civilizations could be found.

With all his newfound knowledge, El-ahrairah's warren flourished. Eventually he began to realize his people weren't the only ones in their wide world, and so he set off to spread his knowledge with his trusted Captain of Owsla, Rabscuttle and his mischievous psychic, Hufsa. Other warrens they met on their travels weren't as quick to learn the new ways, but most caught on. Yet there were still some that had customs too strange to change.

Though from the past, the humans that inhabited the Before time were far more advanced than us. Their clothes were made to last for years, so without use, they were more than enough for the people of Frith's world. The same goes for many of the other things they used. As El-ahrairah and his companions traveled, Frith asked them to destroy any weapons they might come upon to prevent the world from suffering the same fate as before, though some storytellers still speak of unfound warrens flowing with weapons of mass destruction.

When they died, their stories stayed alive along with their legacies and the warrens they helped. One warren they helped was Sandleford. The warren was small, just like the town it was built on. Like most others, they had found the tools man used but failed to understand what they were used for.

Sandleford was doomed a terrible fate, it was to be attacked by a vicious rival group of humans. It was for this reason, and many others, Frith blessed them with a special psychic. They would be saved, but only if they listened to him.

Whether or not they heed the warnings, another story will begin where, unfortunately, many lives must end.