(author's note: I'm breaking this up into a bunch of shorter chapters, because it was easier for me to organize the ideas that way.)
Nestled in the valley of the Northern Mountains, a small village sat peacefully. The remote location was very much intentional, as the village's elders wanted nothing more than to be as far away from the southerly Twilight City as possible.
Away, that is, from the Zoids Battle Commission.
The town was little more than a sprinkling of some houses in the grasslands that filled the valley. They weren't exactly mud huts, but they were fairly simple compared to modern standards. There was a fire pit, for cooking on, and other utility areas. One of the Elders had a television in his house, to keep tabs on the outside world... sometimes.
It was night time, which meant it was time to tell the children a story. The Elders told the children in Tareffson all sorts of stories, ranging from fairy tales to actual events. This time, they told the kids that the event was true.
"Tareffson was once a prosperous city, you know," Elder Graven started, "It was packed full of people, and buildings, and all sorts of different things."
Elder Mathieu looked at his younger counterpart and couldn't help but laugh. Graven wasn't all that old, like his title would suggest. Graven's father recently passed away, leaving the title to his son.
The children loved Graven, and enjoyed it when he told the stories. Mathieu had a particular distaste for them, so he had no trouble letting Graven grant the children's wish. Mathieu was much older than Graven, and actually had a hard time talking properly.
"But..." Graven continued, "It wasn't all fun and games. There was war. Lots of fighting. Tareffson was one of many cities on this planet that fought wars in big machines shaped like animals. It was these animals, the Bringers of Destruction, that eventually led to the downfall of all the cities, including Tareffson."
The children looked at Graven intently, fixated on his words. One child had a particular interest, but not the one the Elders hoped for. The child looked down at the ground through eyes colored like pale slate, wearing a thoughtful expression.
I wonder what they were like... the boy thought to himself. This was Vykk Eurkos. He was known in the town as a curious child. Vykk had taken apart and reassembled most of the town's few mechanical devices. Or, he tried to put them back together at least. His curiosity led him to wonder about the Bringers of Destruction often. He wanted to see one... to see what the big deal was.
After a while, the children all went to bed in their respective houses. Vykk sat up, like he did every night, thinking about the Bringers of Destruction.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Vykk! Time to get up! Your friends are here!" Vykk was already awake when he heard his mom calling. Rushing out of his room and through the small houses main room, he shouted a quick goodbye to his mom, and ran out to meet his friends. Vykk was of a fairly average height, standing a little taller than some of his friends, and a little shorter than just as many. He was fairly thin, since he spent most of his time outside. There wasn't much else to do in Tareffson after all.
"Why do you always sleep so late?" one of his friends asked, mock-scolding the boy. Vykk looked over and saw Mai, a less-frequent addition to the group. She had long, violet hair and eyes that matched. Vykk thought she was pretty, but never actually said anything.
"Because!" Vykk retorted, not really caring to think of anything else. Without another discernable word, the group left the town, heading out to do more exploring of the area.