Good evening, everyone! Here is my relatively short entry for the March 2018 Land Before Time prompt challenge, which was to make a LBT legend. In this story we see a bit of Ruby's siblings (Arial, her sister; and Orchid, her brother) and parents (Pearl, her mother; and Detras, her father). After a brush with near-death, Arial is about to learn a very important lesson about the history of her people, and, along the way, about life itself.
Before I begin the story, however, I would just like to clarify that the song within should be understood to follow the same cadence as 'Ramund Hin Unge' by the band 'Tyr'. And, as always, I look forward to your thoughts and reviews! Especially as the fixation on the song within is a bit unconventional. (:
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The curse of speed
"The speed of the leader is the speed of the gang."
~Mary Kay Ash
"Ahhh! Momma!"
The bitter chill of the winter wind bore down upon the small omnivore as she again swerved to avoid her rapidly advancing adversary. For all of her life she had been taught to run from danger and had practiced races with her father and mother, and, though she would never admit it, her faster brother. But it was in this moment, with the predator's breath brushing against her feathered tail, that she wished that she was blessed with greater speed.
The fastbiters next bite nearly ripped through her pink tail.
I have to go faster!
Quickly scanning the terrain in front of her she quickly realized that she had only two options: she could either continue to try to outmaneuver this fiend on the ground or take her chances and rush into the bluffs. The ground would compliment her advantage in speed but the bluffs would compliment her advantage in agility. And since her adversary matched her in speed…
It was until she landed that she realized that she had leapt onto the lowest ledge up the rock walls of the ravine. Some unthinking part of her mind had made the choice for her. The snapping of teeth behind her tail confirmed in an instant that it had made the right call.
Her next movements were a flurry of precision as muscle memory did its job. The years of practice with her family in climbing and running finally proved themselves as the small pink bundle of feathers scaled the rocks, leaving the blue fastbiter roaring in frustration at the base of the rock wall. His meal had quite literally escaped through his hungry jaws.
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The welcoming darkness of the caverns around Hanging Rock was something that those who did not live there could not understand. Its darkness did not represent the unknown, as any resident of the rocks knew how to smell out the unseen in its depths. Instead it represented power. The power to escape unseen at the first sight of danger and, in most cases, to remain unseen by any danger. In short, it was the embodiment of home.
It was not until her father firmly shook her body that Arial realized that she was home. The sight in front of her was not a sleep story.
She was safe.
Her father's face looked down upon her with paternal concern. "It's alright, Arial. It was just a bad sleep story."
It took a moment for Arial to find her voice. "It wasn't a sleep story a few days ago."
Detras sighed. "No, no it was not. But there is something that my mother always told me: life is too short to run away from things we have already run away from."
"Grandpa sounds a lot like Ruby," Orchid's voice suddenly echoed in the cavern, confirming to Arial that she must have slept in.
"It runs in the family, dear," Pearl's kind voice gently chided, "And that is why you both got lessons on how to not repeat yourselves from an early age."
"And we always listened because otherwise you would tell us to listen," Arial joked with a smile which earned her a playful shove from her mother. The four fastrunners then exited the cavern as was the daily custom. Gathering food in the dawn was safer than waiting until the daylight. Then, as the hot Bright Circle bore down upon the land and sharpteeth haunted the ravines, the family could tell stories under the safety of their beloved caverns.
Arial did not realize that her father had a special tale ready for this day.
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A bit later:
"I got more fish than you, so I win again!"
Detras was careful to avoid a collision as an agitated Orchid rose in protest, his puffed out feathers appearing more comical than threatening.
"That last one doesn't count, sis! We both caught it at the same time!"
Arial did her best impression of a victorious strut as Pearl tried to stifle a laugh in the background, "But I was the one who ended up catching it!"
"Only because you pushed me in the water!" Orchid protested.
"Still counts!"
"No it doesn't!"
Detras could only shake his head at the antics of his children as he lounged on the cool rocks and cracked the slightest hint of a smile. It was true that his children could probably use a bit more combat practice, especially with the events of the last few years, he would rather that they not actually try to kill one another during the practice.
He knew that this was a problem that could be quickly remedied.
"Well, dear, it looks like our kids want to do more combat training… so I guess my story will have to wait for tomorrow."
As quickly as the enraged taunts had started, they ceased. In a matter of a few seconds the little fastrunners went from being beak-to-beak in anger to being seated in an almost idealized scene of familial harmony. It was only his mate rolling her eyes that broke the illusion. She already knew what was coming.
"We can listen to a story!"
"We can fight later! We were just... practicing."
Detras smiled at Arial. "You were practicing insults?"
"Well, you and momma tell us that practice makes perfect," Arial hesitantly explained herself. It was a lame explanation, but at the same time sufficient.
Kids would be kids.
"You know… both of you remind me of a certain legend we fastrunners have told as long as there have been fastrunners. The legend of the first fastrunners. The legend of Dipsido, the first fastrunner. The legend of how our kind was cursed with speed."
Arial tilted her head. "There was a first fastrunner? Didn't we always exist?"
Pearl laughed lightly. "No, sweetheart. Like all things we had a beginning. And like all beginnings they help determine where we end up."
Detras smiled. His mate was obviously seeing the same lesson that he was seeing. A lesson that both kids might as well learn right now. "And like all beginnings… it must begin when everyone is quiet and ready."
No sooner as his beak had closed both children grew quiet and still. Such silence on command was one of the first skills a fastrunner youngling learned from their parents, and neither of his children had forgotten it. Smiling at their display of obedience and eagerness to hear the story he did not keep them waiting for long.
"It began long, long ago... before we were fastrunners. Back in the days that our kind was as green as the leaves. It was then that Dipsido, the first of our kind, earned for all of us both our greatest curse and our greatest blessing."
♪♪ Young Dipsido walked through valleys unseen, his hide as bland as dead wood,
Waters blue and trees all green, the perfect hiding place for those up to no good,
Who could find young Dipsido,
Who could find him before he turned the valley all red?
Young Dipsido wandered through the nests, his steps as silent as whispers,
Grabbing eggs from the mothers in his midsts, their protests not receiving answers,
No egg was safe from Dipsido,
Soon the valley rang with the mourning of the dead.♪♪
♪♪ The young runner ran to his kin, the teamless many hungry for action,
And told them of his many exploits, their ears stood ready much to his satisfaction,
They took his ideas to heart,
And soon they all began to depart to the valley once more!
Now the screams of longnecks arose, along with that of threehorns and flyers,
No one could stop the hidden threat, which ran in the grass and mires,
No one could stop the horror,
The future looked bleak and dead! ♪♪
♪♪ It was now that a hero was sought, and none of the flat-teeth felt worthy,
For who could ask a favor of the morning light, who could walk into its glory,
Finally though a champion appeared,
A bright colored flyer with glory in his eyes.
Against the winds the massive flyer flew, against the protests of the currents,
His wings ached as if fires burned within, his eyes grew heavy against the burden,
But finally he felt his body stop moving,
The Bright Circle had captured him in its grasp! ♪♪
♪♪ Oh great light that shines from above, your loyal servants beg of you,
Remember our gifts made in love, remember that our worship is not knew,
Please do not forget us,
Please help us in our time of need!
The bright light dimmed for a moment, its powers at work upon the sky,
It was then that a massive beak appeared, from one who never would lie,
It was the mouth of the great star,
The star which flyers always follow! ♪♪
♪♪ I have heard your desperate plea, I have heard all of your cries,
The blood of your children lay on the ground, and no hope remains in your eyes,
I will strike a new balance,
I will undo the error that I made!
As the brave flyer closed his eyes, sacrificing his body for the ordeal,
Every runner upon the ground, stared at one another as if unreal,
They had all changed color,
They were now bright as day! ♪♪
♪♪ The multitudes under the sky, soon saw the runners upon the ground,
And with their eyes now finding hide, they proceeded to pound them all around,
No runner was now safe,
If something did not change then they were doomed!
Young Dipsido panicked at the scene, his children being cut down by the many,
He knew that he would now need to atone, or soon there would not be any,
He would have to sacrifice himself,
At least then his kin could remain! ♪♪
♪♪ Higher and higher the runner climbed, knowing that only his feet could carry him,
Before the great light which shone in the sky, the light which threatened to defeat him,
He would have to keep climbing,
The Bright Circle was far away!
It took many days and bloodied feet, before young Dipsido collapsed on the rocks,
For a time he thought he would not meet, the great Light and that all was lost,
But then a bright light appeared before him,
He had been granted an audience! ♪♪
♪♪ Oh Great Light I have made a mistake, and the mistake is all mine,
I have misused your gifts, I have taken more than was mine,
Now you have made it so we have color,
And now we cannot hide!
I will take whatever torment, that I must suffer to atone,
All that I ask is that under this firmament, is that I suffer alone,
Do not let my people suffer for me,
Please show them mercy! ♪♪
♪♪ Once more the Bright Circle dimmed, its light fading almost completely,
But its light did not then condemn, the runner though it could have discretly,
Instead Dipsido appeared on the ground,
A massive threehorn ready to strike!
Briefly thinking of standing still, thinking that this was his end,
Very quickly the runner lived up to his name, and ran as if to challenge the wind,
He was now a fastrunner,
Out of mercy he had been given speed ♪♪
♪♪ And so children of great speed, listen carefully to what I say,
Never take more than one needs, and remember what he learned that day,
We all have our place,
And pride cometh before the fall!
From the Bright Circle we have our curse, a color from which one cannot hide,
But from our legs come our gift, speed that even a fastbiter cannot defy,
Such is our place,
Now make sure this tale is known to all! ♪♪
As Detras’s voice fell silent both children did nothing to challenge the blanket of quiet that fell over the cave. They had both heard of Dipsido before, his legends were, well, legendary and numerous. But this tale was different. In this tale he had acted foolishly and had condemned them all to being bright colored and easy pickings for all other dinosaurs. A mistake that had nearly ended his people. But then he risked everything to make it right.
Arial’s voice was soft. “Does this mean Dipsido was a bad fastrunner? All of the other songs make him sound good and brave.”
Detras smiled. “He was both good and bad. Brave and foolish. We are all Dipsido’s children and we all show both his goodness and faults. We can be cruel monsters or kind helpers depending on which side of ourselves we decide to train. The question is: which of his traits do you want to show?”
Both children looked at one another before answering in unison. “Fast, brave, and fast!”
This was enough to make both parents erupt in good-natured laughter at their kids recitation of quasi-creed of their kind. It was good to be brave and fast, but when bravery failed it was time to make sure one was just fast.
“I am still mad at him! If I wasn’t so pink then maybe the sharptooth wouldn’t have seen me!” Arial noted as she placed her hands on her small hips in a display of disappointment at the legendary fastrunner that would have been brutal from an adult, but was comical in her youthful form.
“But if he hadn’t acted like an idiot then we wouldn’t be fast,” Orchid countered, “You might have been a snack then!”
Arial clicked her beak in annoyance. “Don’t call me a snack! You’re the one Mommy and Daddy named after something that we can actually eat!”
It was in that exact moments that the children began to chase one another around the cavern. It seemed that the time for ëchase practice’ had come once again. It was only when his mate began to nuzzle him as they watched the playful scene together that he spoke for them both.
“Heh, they are both children of Dipsido after all. Though I guess that we all are.”
