Who are you if you've never seen another face like yours? Where do you belong if you don't know where your home is? What do you call yourself when others call you 'freak'? Set in a world where animals and humans can sometimes share their thoughts, this story traces the early life of Skrimsli, the tiger sea captain who stole readers' hearts in 'The Song that Sings Us'. He and his friends, Owl and Kal, must first escape the clutches of tyrannical circus owner Kobret Majak and his twin assassin-acrobats, then stop a war and save an ancient forest! Skrimsli and his friends are helped by desert princess the Palatine and her eagle, a chihuahua who thinks she's a wolf, a horse with heart of gold and the crew of a very unusual ship.