Stranger Bird

In a tiny village at the end of the world, the young misfit Burdock is summoned to the service of a great and distant emperor. On his journey, the boy is awakened to his own gift, the talent for understanding the speech of animals, and he comes into contact with many who would use his abilities for their own ends. Yet after arduous travel, Burdock arrives at the capital and the emperor's palace, only to find that the land is held together by a dark secret. How Burdock navigates this secret marks his passage from the powerlessness of childhood to adult realization, to the knowledge that, of all creatures, only people can choose what they become.