The Land Before Time: Far Away Home

[Caustizer]

Part III:

The Dead Ravine was living up to its name as Eybron looked out over its arid splendour. Fresh cracks in the earth adorned the dirty and broken basin and boiling water was seeping up through them from the bowels of the earth.  Taking life from somewhere so lifeless was a pointless endeavour, but from his perspective it was appealing because this time it meant success, and that there was no one around to tell about it.

Eybron was tall and slender, even for a wingtail, and from the scars on his light grey wings to the cold depths of his eyes there was little room for kindness or comfort. Despite his appearance others of his kind thought he was a hero – a warrior of an old age who had made many sacrifices to get to his current status.  He did not intend to let them down.  His weapon hadn’t worked perfectly, yet it did show potential to cause devastating earthquakes which was far beyond its original purpose.

Having seen enough, Eybron rotated on his feet with his hands together behind his back in a confident and relishing gesture.  In front of him laid the most ancient shrine of the wingtails, the legendary Sonicron.  By appearance it was a large horn made of pure volcanic glass, but it was capable of a lot more things then just amplifying sound – as he learned today. It was created by Benzon, the greatest of the wingtails during a time called the “Age of Creation” when food was plentiful and the Great Circle shined down upon its children like no time before.  The most brilliant artists of that time were not content merely to waste their lives in this paradise so they spent their time creating works that would endure in their name for generations.  Of course being the shrine’s appointed keeper, Eybron had to drill this information into his head.  One thing astonished him though, and that was that in the over four centuries after being built they are still learning new things about it every season.

Eybron remembered when, almost fourteen seasons ago, he returned to the Feral Forest baring the Occular under his wing – the product of a quest given to him by the elders that cost him most of his youth and all of his innocence. He ventured into the Sharptooth Wastes, which was the realm of Tyron the most vicious sharptooth of his time. It nearly cost him his life but he succeeded and upon his return he was praised as a hero.  As a reward he was handed stewardship of the Sonicron, and forced to learn its history.

Long ago the Sonicron had been used for communication amongst the Feral Forest in the form of songs, messages, and occasionally warnings.  Other passing dinosaurs who had never seen anything like it believed that it could be heard by the dead, and often used it as a place to sing lament to the greatest of their fallen.

A malted brown wingtail glided down from the trees to join him on the cliffside, interrupting Eybron’s reverie. He did not even spare the newcomer a glance.

“What did you discover Barrau?” the grey wingtail asked of his lieutenant. In response Barrau bowed slightly.

“I have news about many things my lord,” he replied.

“About the Sonicron tests,” Eybron insisted coldly.

“Well,” said Barrau as he composed his reply, “of the five children we tested only two of them had the right pitch and tone of voice to resonate the horn.”

“Indeed,” sent Eybron as he turned once more to survey the damage inflicted upon the Dead Ravine.  He knew the sonic earthquakes had affected lands beyond too, but how far he could only guess.  If he didn’t have the responsibility to stay he would have gone out on his own to observe the impact of his latest experiment.  Apart from that it amazed him that sound could sunder the earth in such a manner – he wondered if it could kill as well.

“And what else?” continued Eybron.

“We have spotted unusual sharpteeth stalking the forests below us… they have not been seen around here before,” Barrau reported, “could they have something to do with Tyron?”

“His spies most likely,” Eybron scowled, “…What else?”

“The council is sending another of our kind after the Occular… after all this time they are finally ready to seek out the carrier,” Barrau commented.

Eybron felt a tinge of bitterness.  He had been enraged when he heard of the council’s decision to hand off such a priceless treasure to Sky, a nobody in the ranks of wingtail society.  The simple eyeglass it appeared to be it was also covered in blood, for when he stole it from Tyron the sharptooth retaliated by ordering the killing of every bird within his domain. He was lucky to escape alive, both from the sharpteeth and his fellow birds who wanted to give him up to save themselves. In the end, no birds flew in the Sharptooth wastes.  If the Occular had found it’s way back into Tyron’s claws after such a sacrifice was made to take it, he would find Sky and rip out his throat himself.

“What about the children my lord?” asked Barrau nervously.

“Send the others away… keep the two we need in the caves,” replied Eybron as he rubbed his chin in thought.

“But… what if they tell their parents and we are found out?” inquired the brown wingtail.

“Ensure they don’t.” added Eybron.  Barrau did not need to be told twice, and left immediately to carry out his master’s orders.

As the wingtail departed Eybron looked again at the Sonicron, the mightiest work of the creators.  Soon he would know its secrets… and then he would use it to smash the Tyrant Spire and bring the sharptooth’s empire to ruins.


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The Feral Forest was the ancient homeland of the Wingtails, and it was the most beautiful place a flyer could ever hope to live in. It shared more in common with a jungle as the giant canopy trees that were centuries old blocked out the elements and provided refuge for the locals who made their homes in them. When they weren’t fishing or sleeping the wingtails here flew from tree to tree unhindered by wind or rain.  They were a happy and content race, at least most of them were. The few who needed value in their lives still practised the arts of creation, in the forms of air dance, woodcarving, and for the most dedicated few glass-shaping.  Others simply enjoyed each others company and gathered to warm themselves in the sun or bask themselves in the cool air coming off the Abyss Lake.

Glide loved this place… but today he waited nervously on a branch while the others flew by and carried on with their lives without a care.  This angered him, because when they were out eating or flying or whatever he was stuck here waiting on the branches outside the elders’ tree shaking in his feathers. Usually a summon to see the elders meant that you were in trouble as they usually had more important matters to deal with.  Glide wondered what he could be in trouble for… he hadn’t done anything to anyone ever since he beat the snot out of that Sky rat for courting his sister under his nose. But Sky and him hadn’t seen each other face to face since he left a few seasons ago… what could the elders possibly want this time?

“The council will see you now,” announced a whitish green wingtail who briefly poked his head out of the net of leaves to address him.  Glide sneered at him, relieved that his public humiliation was over.

Glide entered the elders’ tree though the dense leaves into an expansive area in the middle of the tree. Many generations of work had hallowed out the branches of the ancient oak so the inside was leafless and open, to better suit the meeting ring that the elders formed every time they called a council.  There were six elders in the room and each one of them looked just as intimidating as the next.  Glide felt a knot forming in his throat, he didn’t like coming here last time and this time didn’t look to be any better.

“Make your way to the centre please,” instructed a female elder. Glide obeyed, and it took him to in front of a weathered stump where he knew the head of the council roosted.  Suspiciously it was empty today, and instead there sat upon it a peculiar clear blue object.  Glide had to resist the urge to pick it up.

“Good…” the female elder continued, “Tenebron if you will.”

A large and imposing male elder landed in front of him, with the stump between them. His wings were a dark grey and his eyes were cold and emotionless.

“Are you Glide, son of Allisan?” he asked.

“y-yes I am,” Glide replied. He was so nervous he was shaking. Tenebron leaned forward as he asked his next question.

“Do you have living family?”

“Only my sister,” Glide said submissively.  Surprisingly, the elder smiled back at his answer.  What was he being punished for?

“If I might ask, umm,” started Glide, “Why have I been summoned?”

Tenebron’s brief smile turned to an icy glare. Maybe he had gone too far.

“Are you familiar with the Occular, Glide?” asked the dark grey elder as he folded his wings behind his back.

“It is one of our most treasured relics,” added another male elder, who was much older then Tenebron.

Glide couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Ever since he came out of the eggshell the teachers had drilled it into his head that, next to the Sonicron, the Occular was the greatest wingtail creation in existence.

“My son Eybron was sent to retrieve it a generation ago from the sharpteeth, at which he succeeded,” contributed Tenebron with a hint of pride.

“Its current keeper has been gone too long… Sky failed to return from his quest after three cold times as we commanded!” the female elder said bitterly.

Glide’s tail twitched at the mention of Sky. The two of them had never really got along, and the incident with his sister didn’t help things much. The first time he had ever been before the elders was with Sky, when they forbid the two of them to ever come near each other again.  Glide had been happy to oblige, since Sky had also been banned from seeing Star, his sister.  After that he didn’t see much of him, as he was sent away on some quest for the elders. He guessed it didn’t go as they had planned.

“We have summoned you here because we want you to retrieve the Occular by any means necessary,” Tenebron said, hissing the last line.

“What about your previous provisions?” Glide asked.

“Consider them retracted, the relics of our race are far more valuable then your petty squabbles,” the female elder shot. Apparently the elders didn’t think twice on going back on their judgements.

“Do what you will with Sky, he has disobeyed us and hence his fate is no longer important. Bring us the Occular,” reiterated Tenebron.

This was immensely relieving to Glide. Sky was no match for him physically, so it would be easy to simply snap his neck and be done with it. One thing bothered him though about this new mission.

“How am I supposed to find him? It will be like to trying to find a fishbone in a rocky field,” Glide said sarcastically. Since he knew he wasn’t in trouble he didn’t have to act polite anymore.

“With this…” stated Tenebron as he motioned towards the small crystal object. He picked it up so Glide could see what it was, and it turned out to be a bluish glass bell. It was really shiny and he found his eyes hung on it lustfully.

“This is known as the Cordian and it was Benzon’s last creation before his death. You will guard this with your life,” insisted Tenebron.

Glide took the bell in his hand and looked at it from all sides, admiring its beauty. Apart from his sister the thing he loved most in the world was shiny objects. He had a collection of them, and it was what he did in his spare time. A galley of stones and shells of all different colours and shapes adorned his hallowed out home at the family tree. Unable to resist, he lightly pushed the bob and the Cordian emitted a loud, elegant chime.

“It emits a perfect sound… if you are close enough it will cause the Occular to ring, not only distracting Sky but also allowing you to find him and complete your task,” lectured Tenebron, “… And no you can’t keep it.”

Glide cursed as the dark grey wingtail saw into his thoughts and predicted his next question. Maybe if he brought back the Occular quick enough they would reward him… or he could just steal it, but that would be much harder.

“You will return in five cold times, or whenever you complete your quest. If you do not return you will be hunted… and share the same fate as the thief Sky.” Spat the elder female.

“Bring back the Occular and the Cordian in perfect condition,” insisted Tenebron before waving him away, “you are dismissed.”

Taking the elders’ leave Glide flew out of the tree and set on his way. Before he left though he would have to tell his sister where he was going, or else she would be worried.

…

Glide found Star teaching her class at the Cordial springs across the river from the Feral Forest, which is a system of hot wells that drained into the Abyss Lake. She gave him a slight nod as he landed on the ground behind the children, but otherwise continued her lecture.

“The Cordial Springs are an ancient place that has been here since our race began, and perhaps even earlier. The hot water and lava cracks here were used by our ancestors to make and forge glass,” Star taught, and the gathered young ones watched in awe as a nearby geyser erupted showering hot water all around.  One of the wingtails put up his hand.

“Yes Clive?” asked Star as she pointed to him to speak. Glide cleared his throat as a sign of impatience, so she added, “…quickly please.”

“How come this ëglass’ doesn’t melt like the hard water after the cold time?” the small green wingtail named Clive asked.

“Because glass is melted rock that has re-hardened once it became cool again. Cool for rock is a lot hotter than cool for water, so naturally it doesn’t break down even when the Great Circle shines on it,” Star answered, before continuing with her lecture, “the rock we will be looking for today is called lyestone and it will be black and shiny to your eyes. Find as many as you can and we will proceed to the next part of the lesson – now jump to it!”

The class dispersed as they flew about the springs with their task, leaving Star and Glide alone. She approached her brother, who as usual didn’t look too happy to be kept waiting.

“What is it Glide?” she asked.

“I will be leaving now… the elders have given me an important task. I’ll be away for a long time so don’t be concerned if I am away for many seasons,” Glide told her, and he turned to go. Star stopped him.

“What task?” she said as she pushed him for more information. He decided to tell her.

“I am to find and return the Occular,”

“And what about Sky?” his sister asked him desperately.

“They told me to do as I will… and I intend to make him suffer,” Glide responded coldly. Star grabbed him.

“I know what he did but please, please don’t kill him!” She begged.  Her brother sneered at her.

“What could you possibly see in him… it was only a matter of time before he hurt you!” Glide spat as he growled at her.

The sound of falling rocks nearby distracted the both of them, and brother and sister turned to see Clive standing right there, his mouth wide open. The falling rocks had been him dropping all the lyestones he had been carrying.  Star quickly escorted him away, while Glide just sneered at him. After the youngster was out of earshot, Star turned back to her brother.

“Promise me,” she insisted.  Glide respected her, so he relented.

“Alright… I promise I won’t kill him.” He said spitefully

Star was tortured inside.  Ever since Sky left there had been a knot in her stomach – and it was full of the things she never got the chance to say. The two of them had been friends since they hatched, and they both shared a passion for teaching and learning that eventually drew them together.  One night they agreed to watch the Great Circle go down together and as soon as it hit the horizon she had a moment of weakness – and kissed him.  Unfortunately Glide came and found them, and beat Sky within an inch of his life. She screamed for him to stop but it was only when another wingtail, someone she didn’t know named Eybron, pulled him off and ended the fight. A short trip to the elders later and she was never allowed to see Sky again. She never wanted it to happen that way.

“He had a reason for not coming back Glide – I know it.” Star told her brother, in hopes he might be able to tell how she felt.

“Either way I have a job to do… goodbye sister,” and Glide spread his wings to take off.

“Stay safe,” Star told him, and she licked the side of his face affectionately. Glide smiled as he flew off into the afternoon air for lands unknown.


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Littlefoot and Ali searched the forests of the Great Valley for hours, calling Sky’s name as they panned the trees for any sign of his blue feathers. Soon they discovered that they weren’t the only ones looking for Sky, as there were hunting parties of flyers sweeping the area at regular intervals to bring him to justice.  Fortunately nobody bothered Littlefoot and Ali because they assumed that the two longnecks were after him for the same reason.  Eventually they had to stop their search at dusk due to exhaustion.

“Oh this is hopeless we will never find Sky,” Ali whined, “maybe we should just go back and play with your friends.”

“Don’t give up Ali, he has to be around here somewhere,”

Littlefoot raised an eyebrow and looked around intensely at nearby things, including a tree, a rock formation, and a pile of logs. Seeing nothing, he turned to Ali with an idea.

“Is there anything about him that you know could help us find Sky, like his favourite food or favourite places?” Littlefoot inquired.

“I already told you… he just joined our herd before the last cold time and,” Ali raised her head as she thought of something, “he likes to watch the Great Circle set… he does it every night!”

“Hmm,” thought Littlefoot out loud, “If I wanted to see the Great Circle go down I would be… at the Great Wall!”

The two longnecks bolted into action and ran towards the cliffs that held the Great Wall, which was far beyond the search radius of the valley’s flyers. Littlefoot led the way as they crossed the river, skirted the bushes, and passed through the sheltering grass.  The Great Circle was dipping low in the sky when they reached the Great Wall, and a dark silhouette could clearly be seen against the glowing sun when they looked up. It was big enough to be a large flier… just like Sky!

“There he is Littlefoot!” cried Ali.

The two of them climbed the stones until they were both on level with Sky, but he didn’t even look at them.

“Sky it’s me… Ali.” Ali called out to him.  He turned, and both longnecks recoiled in shock. His chest and wings were rent and torn and a droplet of blood ran down from a gash in the side of his face. He looked almost ghostly. Ali couldn’t help it, and tears ran out of her eyes.

“Sky I’m so sorry… I didn’t mean to-” the longneck began, but Sky stopped her by lifting her chin with his hand until they were looking eye to eye.

“Chin up Ali, your friend wouldn’t want to see you like this.” Sky said as he smiled at her.

“But your face… your wings… they are…”

“Aye, I am injured.  It would appear I am unwelcome in yet another green place.” The blue wingtail lamented as he turned once more to the Great Valley, which was bathed in the red light of the setting sun.

“But Sky, me and Ali know you’re innocent. We’ve got to tell the others it wasn’t your fault,” Littlefoot asserted.

“Oh no,” Sky told the longneck as he furled his wings behind his back, “It is high time I returned… that I went back to my far away home.”

Ali sniffed and rubbed her face with her paw to wipe away the tears.  She had to find a way to make this up to Sky.

“Sky… I’m going with you.” Ali whispered.

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[Caustizer]

I have a nice map in my Carto-artwork thread of the world in "Far Away Home"

You can find it here:
http://z7.invisionfree.com/thegangoffive/i...?showtopic=6598

Caustizer.

[Caustizer]

The original post has been modified to include a picture of Sky, Star, and Glide that was made by Sky a while ago as the cover of his comic book.

Go to the first page to check it out.

[Sky]

Great chapter! ^_^

I kinda like the "kiss" part.   And that Sky looking the Sunset everytime... gives me alot of ideas for my own project (the one I mentioned earlier on your PM).

It's nice to hear something about the villians. Eybron is a really interesting character.
The story is getting really interesting now.  

Heh, I never thought of Star being a teacher.    I like the idea. ^^

[Caustizer]

Eybron is an interesting character... every villian is somebody's hero.

[Pangaea]

Congratulations! You’ve managed to completely turn around my perceptions of Sky. I’m feeling a lot more sympathetic to him now, not only in that he’s been ostracized by the Great Valley dinosaurs, but also the fact that almost everyone at his original home seems to be against him as well. Not to mention that he’s now going to be being hunted. Poor guy...

I also like the three-dimensionality (that’s a real word, right? ) of the antagonists. Actually, if you hadn’t indicated previously that this chapter would be about the villains, I don’t know if I would have immediately recognized any of them as such.

I found one sentence that might need a bit of revising:

The Cordial Springs are an ancient place that has been here since our race began, and perhaps even sooner.

Did you mean “perhaps even longer”? That would seem like it would make more sense.

Can’t wait for the next chapter.

[Caustizer]

Thank you for picking that up Pangaea I have changed that sentance.

[Caustizer]

Part IV:

“What are you thinking Ali?” Littlefoot asked in shock, “it’s too dangerous out there… not to mention your mom would be worried sick,”

“When has that ever stopped you!” Ali shot back, “I’m going and you can’t stop me Littlefoot… I have to make this up to Sky,”

“Think about what your doing Ali,” insisted Sky, “It will be a long and hard journey, even for a flyer like me. You don’t owe me this.”

“I’ve been part of a wandering heard since I hatched,” stated Ali, “I’m going with you whether you like it or not!”

Ali stomped her foot, declaring that her decision was final.  Littlefoot was surprised at how overly emotional she was acting – what was getting into her? She wasn’t like this when they first met a few seasons ago, even if she had grown slightly.

“Very well,” submitted Sky, and he stretched his wings to make ready for takeoff, “We must depart immediately. You will follow my directions to the letter I trust?”

Ali nodded her acceptance.

“Good, then we will–”

“Hold on,” interrupted Littlefoot, “If Ali’s going then I’m going too.”

“What are you doing?” gasped Ali.

“Coming along,” smiled Littlefoot politely, “you could use someone to keep you company.”

Ali’s face contorted in confusion, but Sky could see what was going on. It didn’t take his outstanding intellect to know he was courting her. It would seem that fate had put him in a stranglehold he couldn’t get out of, for if he took both these young longnecks with him their parents would come after them far beyond the valley walls. On the other hand he couldn’t stay or he would become the undeserving victim of their anger. He didn’t have a choice – he would have to take them both with him.

“Fine, both of you may come with me… but we had best get a good lead before your parents realize that you’re gone.”

Both Littlefoot and Ali agreed. Now both of the longnecks went along with his terms, Sky could carry on as he intended. The wingtail gave his wings an experimental flap to test the air as he readied himself for takeoff. Just then an important thought occurred to Littlefoot, so he had to bring it up.

“Umm… wait a minute Sky,” Littlefoot asked timidly.

“Yes Littlefoot?” The wingtail asked with a tinge of annoyance.

“Would you mind if we… you know… bring a few of my friends with us?”

…

Sky stood with his arms crossed on a tree branch out of sight and slightly above the ground. He couldn’t believe he let Littlefoot talk him into this.  If the longneck did not show such great potential, he probably would have refused the request. In truth he had actually wanted to bring both of his favourite younglings with him, but the more reasonable part of his mind told him that the journey would be a hard one for them.  It would be even harder though now that he insisted on bringing the rest of his friends.  If something were to happen to any of them, Sky did not want to have that on his conscience.

Below him the longneck conversed with his friends, telling them of Sky’s innocence and the marvellous adventure ahead of them.  He couldn’t help but admire Littlefoot’s courage and loyalty… it would appear that he had a friend of almost every type in the valley! Such a thing was unheard of where he came from, where they were encouraged from birth to avoid other species if possible.  Suddenly Littlefoot turned towards the tree and called him down.  Sky sighed; he guessed it was time to give this a try.

As Littlefoot and the entire gang, including Ali, Petrie, Ducky, Spike, Cera, Ruby and Chomper watched Sky swooped out of the tree and made his favourite entrance – a single airborne loop followed by a perfectly landing on his feet.  As the members of the gang gasped, even the ones he knew,  Sky touched his trick off with a slight bow.

“That was pretty good… it was, it was!” admired Ducky. Spike grunted his admiration too.

“Sky, this is Ducky and Spike,” introduced Littlefoot.

“A pleasure,” Sky replied to the two of them.

“Ooo… why are we hanging around this freak instead of turning him in? You heard what my dad said,” blurted Cera.

“And when has your dad actually been right?” asked Littlefoot as he grinned. The gang laughed.

“Mmph,” Cera grumbled as she turned her nose in the air. After so long she had learned that her father didn’t always have the best or most correct views, even if she loved and respected him.

“This is Cera… she’s a threehorn.” Littlefoot told Sky.

“I can tell,” Sky replied slyly, before moving onto the next one in the group, “and who might you be?”

“Hiyah, I’m Chomper,” the tiny sharptooth said as he beamed up at Sky.

“Don’t worry, he’s a friendly sharptooth,” added Ruby, but Sky ignored her. He glanced at Chomper’s teeth.

“I see you are one tooth short of a full set,” the wingtail remarked.

“Yeah,” replied Chomper as he felt the spot where the tooth no longer remained, “it came out during the earthshake. Ruby kept me from getting hurt though… so it was worth it.” He pointed to Ruby.

“Sky this is Ruby, she’s a fastrunner from the mysterious beyond,” introduced Littlefoot.

“Hi Sky,” said Ruby as she held out her hand politely.  Sky just ignored her again and turned back to Littlefoot.

“This is good of you to introduce me to all of your friends Littlefoot, but could we talk in private for a moment?”

As Sky and Littlefoot moved out of earshot Ruby looked at Chomper in bewilderment. The sharptooth just shrugged. Ruby assumed he just had more important things on his mind.

“What is it Sky,” asked Littlefoot.

“I appreciate your loyalty to your friends, but things are bad enough for me as it is,” the wingtail put one of his hands on the longneck’s shoulder, “if I take all of you with me, your parents will hunt us… hunt me… to the ends of the known world.”

“Don’t worry, we’ve been lots of places.  Our folks will just think we have gone exploring again,” Littlefoot said positively.

“Littlefoot…” Sky’s tone turned serious, “once we leave we won’t be coming back.”

The words resonated in Littlefoot’s eardrums – once they were gone they would never come back to the Great Valley.

“Come on Sky, Littlefoot, let’s go!” shouted Ali, and the rest of the gang looked like they were ready to leave as well.  Sky turned to them and addressed the gang as a whole.

“Listen to me young ones, the place we are going – my homeland – is very very far away. We will be crossing icy mountains, arid canyons, and misty lands far beyond anything you have ever imagined.”

“Pff…” snorted Cera, “been there, done that.”  Sky glanced at Littlefoot in surprise.

“Yeah we have been around a lot,” Littlefoot admitted shyly.  Sky smiled; maybe this wasn’t going to be as bad as he feared.

“Anyway… once we leave we will not be coming back,” Sky proclaimed, “If any of you are having second thoughts and wish to stay now is your last chance.”

“We behind you the whole way!” Petrie called out.

“This could be fun, who knows what cool places we will see!” agreed Chomper.

“And wherever Chomper goes, I go with him,” proclaimed Ruby.

“Then it’s settled… we’re all coming with you Sky,” said Littlefoot.

“Excellent,” replied Sky, and in the moment of enthusiasm he added, “Adventure awaits those who seek it.”

Taking Sky’s lead, the gang followed him into the night and into lands beyond.


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Sky led the gang the long way around the valley, mainly to avoid going through and being spotted.  If he got caught at this point they would probably have his head on a stick for attempting to take their children. Of course they all came along willingly, and he had warned them the dangers of doing so.

Eventually their route through the Mysterious Beyond took them around to the remains of Saurus Rock, and it was one of their most depressing stops. Littlefoot remembered when he stole a tooth from a live sharptooth to get rid of the bad luck in the valley – which was rumoured to happen whenever Saurus Rock had been damaged.  Now it had been completely flattened, with only a pile of molted stone marking its former resting place. Perhaps somewhere out there the Lone Dinosaur had met his end, and the earthquake was his death throe.  Littlefoot chose to avoid the thought altogether.

“I guess we’re in for it now eh Littlefoot?” Cera said sarcastically to her longneck friend, for she didn’t believe in something as dumb as bad luck. Luck was luck, and some rock certainly didn’t decide things like that.

“I think we have already suffered enough bad luck,” replied Littlefoot as he could see the giant fissure where the seismic wave had torn the valley apart. Fallen trees were everywhere this close to the epicentre, yet strangely areas outward from the crack seemed to suffer less damage.  Normal earthshakes didn’t do that.

It wasn’t long before the entire gang stopped to rest for the night.  The need for rest and feeding brought them to a stop in a nice forested clearing, just beyond the edges of the valley.

“Good night Ruby,” Chomper said as he yawned,

“Good night Chomper,” repeated Ruby, and she picked a large leaf from a nearby bush and put it on top of him to keep him warm.  As Chomper made himself comfortable she ruffled her feathers. The trail was dry and gritty and Ruby felt like she was filthy – maybe she could sneak a late night bath before going to sleep with the others.

“Hmm I wonder where Littlefoot and Sky got off too,” Ruby said to herself, and then she shrugged. They would probably be back, because Littlefoot looked just as tired as she did and it was getting late.  Ruby couldn’t help but yawn as she headed off towards the river, it was probably best to keep this quick.

…

“So you never really told me what a creator was,” Littlefoot inquired as him and Sky finished drinking from the water at the riverbank.  Sky wiped his mouth and looked intently into the water.  In a flash he withdrew the Occular and peered into the depths, searching for something.  A moment later he set down the ancient eyeglass and snapped at the water, pulling up a fish.  With a single crunch he snapped its neck.

“Sorry,” apologized Sky, as he set the dead fish down, and he added with a chuckle “Us birds have to eat too.”

“Yeah, it’s alright,” replied Littlefoot.

“Here,” Sky continued, “if you want to know what a creator is I will show you.”

The wingtail settled down onto his knees, and Littlefoot kneeled to see what he was doing.  He collected a handful of pebbles in his hand, and poured them into the soft sand.  The stones themselves were insignificant, but as Sky rearranged them into an odd shape Littlefoot began to wonder what exactly he was doing.

“There… done,” proclaimed Sky proudly.

“What is it?” Littlefoot asked.

“Come… take a look,” Sky pointed at his creation, and Littlefoot had to tilt his head to see it.  After a moment the image became clear.

“Hey… it’s a longneck like me,” Littlefoot stretched his neck for emphasis.  Sky nodded, and gathered the rocks together and placed them in front of the longneck.

“Now you try,” he insisted.

“Hmm,” Littlefoot stuck is tongue out the side of his mouth as he pushed around the rocks with his paws. Eventually he too came up with something, “there… done.”

Sky looked down at it and frowned.

“It’s Cera,” exclaimed Littlefoot, before lowering his head to the ground and looking back up at Sky in embarrassment, “when she’s angry.”

The formation of rocks looked like an evil face. The longneck had quite the imagination, and Sky couldn’t help but laugh at the creation, and he gave Littlefoot a pat on the back.

“Good work Littlefoot. You took a collection of ordinary things from nature and combined them in a way that formed a picture or expression in your mind. In a sense, you have become a creator.”

“Really?” asked Littlefoot excitedly.

“Of course… it’s the first step towards the ultimate realization,” Sky told him.

“What’s that?” inquired Littlefoot again. He could feel that his new friend was leading up to something important.

“That we have been born into this world for a reason, a reason that goes far beyond the food we eat, the children we have and the friends we make. And when you die, your skin may rot away and your bones may disappear into the sands of time, but that reason remains in the hearts and minds of the ones you love.” Sky finished on a serious and all encompassing note.

“But, what is that reason?” Littlefoot asked.  Sky was amazed again at how sharp he was – most dinosaurs did not understand or believe him when he said things this deep.

“That reason is knowledge,” Sky taught, and with a flick of his fingers he procured the Occular and held it up for Littlefoot to see, “…and how we choose to preserve it.”

“Wow,” Littlefoot said as the truth began to sink in. He remembered the death of his mother, and how heartbreaking and painful it was to him.  It hurt to think that now she was just a pile of bones somewhere in the Shattered Lands, passed by others who had no idea of the greatness that she was.  The only things he had left of her were his memories – and her knowledge.  If it wasn’t for that he would have never made it to the Great Valley.

“It may take some time to see fully,” admitted Sky, “and if we are fortunate we will have plenty of it. You had best get some rest tonight, for tomorrow we will enter the Land of the Mists and you will need all your wits about you.”

Littlefoot yawned and obeyed Sky’s words. It was a lot to think about – what the wingtail had told him – but he was too tired to think about it tonight. With a brushing of leaves the young longneck headed back into the woods towards the clearing where the others were sleeping.

…

With Littlefoot gone off to bed, Sky could finally enjoy his late night meal.  Wingtails were omnivores, but they preferred fish and other soft meats much more than green food.  One chomp and Sky had stripped the fillet right off the bones. It felt nice to finally get a chance to feed, since his last meal had been at the height of the Great Circle.

“That was pretty incredible, you know what you told Littlefoot when you were talking,” said Ruby as she slipped out of the bushes. She was still a little wet from her late night bath, but she had come back soon enough to hear the biggest part of what Sky’s speech.

“It’s nice to see that someone else likes water swimmers too… back in the valley my parents forbid me to catch any so I haven’t had one in a while,” Ruby sat down next to Sky and crossed her legs.  Sky did not answer.  He threw away the fish bone and glared at her.

“What, I didn’t scare you did I?” the fastrunner asked.  In response Sky simply spread his wings and took off, leaving her alone on the riverbank.

Ruby was bewildered. Had she done something to offend him? As the wingtail disappeared over the trees there was a part in her mind that said he didn’t like her not because of who she was, but because of what she was. She yawned as the late night circle hit its highest point – she was too tired to think about it now. It was best to ask Littlefoot in the morning.


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The night air was crisp and cold as Glide made his way across the Icy Mountains. He had never been this far from home before, but that didn’t scare him. Up in the air he was pretty safe, as there weren’t many flyers who would dare take on a fully grown wingtail… especially one of his size and build. One of his favourite things to do was to fight other wingtails for practise, but when he found that nobody could beat him he got bored of it and turned to collecting things. Maybe that was why the elders chose him to go after Sky, because they knew he had a grudge and that one on one he had the upper hand.

After a while Glide sighted a nice glade on the edge of the mountains, a nice place to stop to rest. Coming in for a landing he noticed that he wasn’t the only one who found it. The entire place was filled by a single wandering herd, composed of many different types of leaf eater.  Glide had never seen so many before in one place – it could be the cold wind coming of the mountains drove them to look for shelter, or they simply wandered here as part of an extended journey. Either way, it was possible Sky was around here somewhere amongst them… only one sure way to find out.

Glide took out the Cordian from inside of his wing. Whoever designed this thing certainly knew what they were doing, as it had a nice loop in it that allowed him to fasten it around an inside feather and remain there until he needed it.  With a small flick he touched the bob and a crisp, pure sound resonated into the night air.  While this occurred Glide listened intently for any returning sound – he didn’t know what.  Unfortunately the sound was broken by the incessant chattering and slurping of the mixed herd below him on the river. Pretty much all the dinosaurs in the glade had heard the sound, and now stared directly at him. It wasn’t pleasant.

“What are you looking at?” snarled Glide aggressively as he addressed the crowd that was rudely staring at him. Many of them realized their mistake and returned to what they were doing, leaving the black wingtail to his own again.

“I didn’t think so…” Glide said spitefully as he turned and looked out over yet more boring wilderness full of giant leaf eaters. The things were everywhere… there were Longnecks, Threehorns, Swimmers and many other types as well.  Their very presence here disgusted him. How could creatures that ate so much expect to survive?  One big drought or famine and they would all slowly die from starvation.  Glide hoped it would happen soon, so they wouldn’t be around keep interrupting him in his quest.  With a snort, he repositioned the Cordian within his wing and moved on to continue his search for Sky.


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“Up, up,” insisted Sky, “We must get moving before the Great Circle rises.”

“Aww… but it’s so early,” whined Littlefoot as he yawned and rolled over on his makeshift bed.  Being used to sleeping in soft sand in the Great Valley it was a rude awakening to have to bed on dirt again.  It was odd though… only in the past few weeks had he noticed how difficult it was to sleep anywhere but his own bed – what was happening to him?

“Get up! Get up!” yelled Sky as he flapped his wings vigorously to rise the gang from their slumber, “You leaf-eaters are wasting the day!”

Many of them had similar reactions to Littlefoot, and some like Spike didn’t even bother getting up at all. Eventually though they were all assembled and ready to leave, for the most part.  Ducky was still half asleep.

“Oh I was having a good sleep story… yep, yep, yep.” She complained as she held onto Spike’s tail to keep her on her feet.

“Petrie,” Cera said as she yawned and turned around to face the flyer lying face down on her back, “If you fall asleep I’m going to be right behind you,”

Petrie reluctantly took off into the air, and he looked like he was about ready to collapse.

The reason for the gang’s sleepiness was revealed when the group of them passed over the ridge and saw that the Great Circle was just beginning to rise above the horizon.

“Oh…” Littlefoot moaned as he turned to Ali, and she had her eyes half closed too.  In fact the only one of the bunch who had any sort of enthusiasm was Sky, who seemed as energetic as ever. He swooped from tree to tree, using his Occular to get a good look around.  After a few hours of this he suddenly flew on ahead, so far that the gang couldn’t see him.

“Come on Littlefoot, we have to catch up,” insisted Ali, behind the two longnecks was Ducky and Spike with Petrie flying above, and Cera with Ruby and Chomper bringing up the rear.  A familiar scent hit Ali’s nostrils as she followed Sky’s trail, until eventually she found the wingtail who had landed on the edge of a sheer cliff.  She recognized where they were almost immediately.

“It’s…it’s,” started Ali as she sniffed the air more intensely to take in the beautiful smell.

“The Land of the Mists,” finished Sky, and he withdrew the Occular to scout the expansive forest beneath them.  Panning from side to side he took in the land, but from the start it became apparent that something was missing.  He made a note to look into it more closely when they got down.  As Ali stood taking in her homeland, her smile turned to a concerned frown.  The others caught up to them.

“If this is the Land of the Mists… where’s all the mist?” asked Chomper.


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[Pangaea]

I have a bad feeling that the gang’s not going to see their families again for a long time...

I’m also, admittedly, a little disappointed that Guido’s not coming with them, but I guess a party of nine is a lot of characters for an author to write for. (Also, I wonder what happened to Guido and Syndra's eggs during the earthshake...)

While I’ve developed more sympathy for Sky since the last chapter, I don’t like his attitude towards Ruby. I suppose he must have some sort of reason for disliking fast runners, but still, he’s just being rude!

Of course, that’s nothing compared to Glide’s speciesism; sheesh! I’m disliking that guy more and more as the story goes on. (If you're trying to make your readers feel that way about him, you're doing a good job. )

Well, the good news is, it looks like Ali’s herd can finally go back to their old home.

My apologies if this review has been a little...gloomy. I’m enjoying the story greatly, but I’m finding its tone to be much darker than most of the LBT fanfics I’ve reviewed. (Nothing wrong with that; I’m just saying it. )

[Caustizer]

Rise of Storm Tide was my attempt to write a pure, light, and epic LBT story.

Far Away Home is much darker, though it is also a lot more developed then any of the stories I've written thus far. The main thing I went for was to give the reader a reason to hate the villians (all three of them lol) but to hate different ones more then others at different times. For reference the villians at this point are Glide, Eybron, and Tyron.

On all other points the answer is simple - "You don't know Sky".   (movie referrence).

Caustizer.

[Pangaea]

^ I didn't get the movie reference, but I understand what you mean.

I'm afraid that most of my recent reviews have constituted little more than my immediate personal reactions to the events of the chapters; I suppose that's not a whole lot of substance in terms of feedback. (Or maybe I'm just being paranoid because my reviews for this story aren't as long as the ones I left for "Rise of Storm Tide". )

I'd really rather not continue to be the only reviewer on this fanfic, so if anyone else is reading this, it would help me as well as Caustizer if you shared your opinions.

[Caustizer]

Sky PMed me his feedback on this week's chapter, so its nice to know I have two reviewers for this one instead of one.

I also have a few people following it on Fanfic.net which I didn't have with RoTS.

[Caustizer]

Part V:

“If this is the Land of the Mists… where’s all the mist?” asked Chomper

“I don’t know,” admitted Sky as he searched along the horizon and beyond with his eyeglass, “but I intend to find out.”

The trip down the cliffs was a smooth one as Sky did an excellent job finding a safe enough path for the gang to transgress. He also scouted ahead to make sure there were no immediate threats, such as sharpteeth or quicksand and whatnot. With the mists no longer there to conceal them, it paid to be careful.

“Say, how come you never did any of this for us?” asked Cera of Petrie.

“Me too scared of getting lost,” the flyer replied.

“Humph,” grumbled Cera, “that doesn’t seem to bother him.”

As the group of young adventurers crossed the land of the mists, Ali was amazed at how far she could see now.  She had grown up here, and recognized nearly all of it.  It was a joyous feeling – now that all the mist was gone her herd could come back!

“Hey Littlefoot now that it’s not so misty anymore… we can come home!” she proclaimed.

“I wouldn’t be so sure Ali, something doesn’t feel right about this,” Littlefoot replied.

“Right you are Littlefoot,” added Sky as he landed in front of the two longnecks. He held out his wing to halt their progress.

“What is it Sky?” Littlefoot asked.

Sky glanced about slowly and intensely, as if he knew something was out of place in the surrounding trees. It was dead silent. After a moment he waved them onward.

“It’s too… quiet,” Cera said with unease.

In Sky’s experience when things were really quiet it hinted that there was a predator stalking the woods, and that even the birds stopped singing to avoid giving themselves away.  In this case though there was something definitely off… not only was all the mist gone, but the entire valley was lifeless. He hadn’t even seen any insects since he got here, which could only mean one thing – poison.

“Aww… what’s that awful smell,” Chomper said as he covered up his nose.

“Whatever you smell Chomper, I can’t smell it,” Ruby said in a puzzled manner. Ducky sniffed the air too.

“I cannot smell it either, I can’t,” she said, and Spike tried sniffing too and made a gesture that he too couldn’t pick it up.

“Keep up, we must hurry,” insisted Sky.

Soon the gang came to a river, or what used to be one. The entire bed had dried up, leaving only scattered patches of mud. All around dead fish and other water dwelling creatures littered the muddy ground. Everyone was covering there noses now, even Sky.  The wingtail had smelt dead fish before, since in his homeland he lived right next to the lake, so he knew that this wasn’t that smell. It was something different.

“Ewe this is disgusting,” commented Cera.

“I don’t think we are coming back after all…” put out Ali as she started coughing even though her paw was covering her nose.

“Where did-id all the water go?” asked Ducky as she lightly pulled on Sky’s wing, hoping he knew the answer.  A grotesque bubbling sound reached his ears, and with a glance down steam the answer suddenly became clear.

Not a hundred metres from them a giant volcanic sinkhole gashed the earth taking up an area the size of a lake.  When the strange earthquake had violently passed through this area it had not only split the ground and knocked down trees, but it also caused a part of the valley to collapse that had lied for hundreds of years across a dormant natural gas deposit. Now that the vent was open not only had it sucked down the water, thus removing the mists, but it also released its devastatingly toxic burden into the lowest recesses of the valley causing mass suffocation and death. For now the gasses had subsided, but they could rise again at any moment.

“We have to go… now!” called out Sky in alarm.  Everyone took his lead and moved to obey, except for Cera.

“Oh no you don’t… I’m not going anywhere until you tell us what’s going on here,”

“Cera, we have to listen to him he knows what he’s doing,” Littlefoot insisted.

“What’s wrong with you Littlefoot… like it or not we have no idea who this flyer is and where he’s taking us, and I’m not listening to any more of his sudden ideas until I get some answers.” Cera stomped her foot in anger.

“Very well… you see what happened to all these creatures? If we don’t leave immediately it will happen to us, and happen to us very soon,” Sky told the threehorn.

“Like what… it’s not like we live in the water or anything,” Cera shot back. She thought it was because the water was gone.

“True… but nothing can live through this,” Sky said as a loud hissing sound reached the trio of dinosaurs, and he pointed behind him to its source. He had expected to use the sound as his warning, but little did he know that a cloud of sickly yellow sulphurous was heading right for them.

Littlefoot and Cera didn’t need to be warned again, it was like something out of their nightmares. They both screamed. Sky turned and saw it too.

“This way, hurry!” Sky called as he swooped over them. The longneck and the threehorn sprinted after him as fast as they could, ducking under branches and jumping over logs as they went. Cera looked behind her to see the leaves melting off the trees – it was utterly terrifying.

“To high ground… follow me up the cliffs!” hollered Sky over the roar of the gas cloud.  

They just made it. As Littlefoot and Cera crested the cliff the burst of gas finally ran out of momentum and began to collapse back into the hole from whence it came. Both of the young dinosaurs collapsed, breathing heavy. They had never ran so hard in their lives.

“That was close, far closer then it should have been,” commented Sky seriously as he watched the toxic cloud recede leaving nothing but dead husks of trees in its wake. They had been lucky.  Littlefoot glanced angrily at Cera.

“Okay so I was wrong about the death mist,” she admitted to Littlefoot, “but he should have told us before it was about to kill us.”

Above, the rest of the gang had made it out and were coming down to greet them.

“Oh Littlefoot, I’m so glad your safe,” called out Ali, and she nuzzled him. Littlefoot blushed, prompting Ali to step back in embarrassment.  She hadn’t meant to be that open about her feelings. Cera saw it and looked disgusted.

“That yellowy mist was scary, it was,” commented Ducky.

“It so fast we almost no outrun it,” added Petrie.

“Yeah, and that must’ve been what I smelt with my sniffer,” Chomper said as he pointed to his nose.

“I think that was just the dead water swimmers,” frowned Ruby.  Chomper wasn’t too sure, but it sounded reasonable. He would have thought smelling pre-killed food would be more appealing.

There was a small ring as Sky put away the Occular, and turned to address the gang. He spoke to Ali specifically.

“It would appear as though the Land of the Mists is now unliveable, I regret saying this but Ali your herd may never come home.” Sky donned a look of sincere sorrow as he passed the news to the young longneck.

“It’s okay… we’ve been wandering for a long time now it would’ve been hard for us to change,” she replied.  

Ali felt empty now that her home was gone, but there another feeling too and like a furled night flower it seemed to keep itself locked inside.  Sometimes when she looked at Littlefoot it started to bloom, but then withdrew just as suddenly as it came.  On top of that weird things were starting to happen to her, like she was changing and there was nothing that could be done about it. Where once the world had been so clear, it was turning into a Land of Mists.


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Sky led the gang up the steep rocky slope into yet another jungle-like forest that Ali had never been to before. She remembered vaguely her parents forbidding her to go there when she was a hatchling, so this was the farthest she had ever been in this direction in her whole life.  The same applied to the rest of the gang, excluding Sky, and all around there were sounds of small birds flying in amongst the trees and small animals making their way through the branches.  Some of them stopped to look at the strange group of dinosaurs passing through their lands, but most simply ignored them and carried on with their lives.

“They are here to escape the gas… which is why it’s more crowded then usual,” lectured Sky as he pushed his way through the dense underbrush. Littlefoot and Ali followed behind him.

“I wonder if Tickles is here,” Ducky said aloud, and Spike started to turn side to side and scan the trees – just in case.

At the rear of the group Chomper felt hunger gnawing at his stomach. He hadn’t eaten since they left the Great Valley and up till now he had kept silent about it, but it was proving quite overwhelming.  Ruby heard his tummy growling and decided to address it.

“Hungry Chomper?” she asked.

“You bet I am… I hate to say it but Cera’s tail is looking pretty good right about now,” Chomper looked longingly at the threehorn’s tail wagging back and forth in front of him.

Sometimes his natural sharptooth instincts were very hard to suppress, but luckily Ruby knew him enough to understand.  If he told any of the others how he felt, they might take it the wrong way and come back at him.

“We’ll find you something,” Ruby said positively as she looked around, but unfortunately there was nothing that a sharptooth would eat – and she couldn’t just kill an innocent little animal for him. It was a sensitive situation for the both of them.

“Why don’t you ask Sky if we can stop by a river so you can catch me a water swimmer?” Chomper asked, “I’m sure he won’t mind.”

“Oh I’m not sure Chomper,” said Ruby uncertainly as she looked at the ground, “I don’t think he likes me too much.”  Chomper’s grin turned into a look of concern.

“Why?” the sharptooth asked.

Cera had been listening casually, in case Chomper decided to come after her tail, and at Ruby’s comment she turned around to hear the answer.

“Well, he’s been ignoring me ever since we were introduced, and last night…” Ruby paused, unsure what to say, “… last night he stood me up.”

“He did WHAT!?!” yelled Cera.  It startled Chomper so much he actually jumped.  Ruby on the other hand wished she hadn’t yelled so loud, as now Ducky and Spike were listening too. She had hoped to keep it a secret.

“He…umm…” Ruby stammered, and mashed her hands together nervously, “I tried talking to him but instead of talking back he looked at me like I was…” Ruby was shaking - she didn’t like talking bad about other people but it was coming out anyway, “… a smelly spiketail.”  Spike looked offended.

“And your just going to take that?” demanded Cera.

Ruby just stood and looked at something else, wishing she was anywhere but here. She looked apologetically at Spike.

“If you’re not going to be mad then I’m going to be mad for you!” asserted Cera, and she stormed off towards the front of the line.

“Cera wait! Do not talk to him when you are mad, you will only make things worse,” called out Ducky. She knew from experience that acting when you’re mad wasn’t smart, especially since when it happened to her during the first cold time and her brother almost left because of it.  

Cera didn’t listen and kept right on going, barging past Littlefoot and Ali on her way up to the very front where Sky was busy scouting their path ahead from the air. From the start she had smelt a rat, and with all these bad things happening around them she was sure that this wingtail was to blame. Now that she had proof he’d done something wrong, it was time to wring some answers out of him.

“Get down here Sky, we need to talk!” the threehorn girl hollered into the trees, and sure enough he came on his own.  Doing his signature flip, Sky landed in front of her and bowed.

“How may I be of service?” he asked.  Cera found his whimsiness very annoying, on top of everything else.

“Why are you being so mean to Ruby, she’s only trying to be your friend,” Cera asked forcefully.  Sky looked a bit uncomfortable at the question. After a moment he composed himself.

“Understand, where I come from our kind and the jungle runners are bitter enemies.  They are thieves and murderers, sneaking into our nests at night and taking our unborn children. As for your friend… I’ve given her the benefit of the doubt, but I believe it may take some time.”  Sky ended with a slight glance towards Ruby, but it was quick and unreadable before he had turned back to Cera.

Sky didn’t believe in blind racism, but hating someone because of their race and hating someone because they were your enemy were two completely different things. He, along with all the other adults his age, had been taught to loathe the jungle runners since the day they hatched.  It was fair to ask for some time in the matter, at least by his thinking, because Ruby had yet to prove herself in his eyes.  For all he knew she could be plotting behind their back.

“Oh yeah well it didn’t take you too long to accept the ëfriendly sharptooth’ did it?” Cera argued, and her point was a good one, “I think you’re just being stuck up.”

“Cera,” Littlefoot interrupted, he had been surprised to learn that Sky had been rude to Ruby, but this conversation was going on too long to keep friends so he had to stop it, “remember how long it took the adults to accept Chomper when he came to the valley.”

“About one Great Circle rise when you and your grandparents started sticking up for him,” Cera parried, “but where are you now? Siding with your new friend instead of sticking up for your old ones.”

Cera had completely caught Littlefoot in a blank. He tried to come up with a response, but he couldn’t.  It was true – he should have stuck up for Ruby. He would never forget what it felt like when they lost her in the river – it made him realize just how vulnerable they were. Maybe this adventure wasn’t such a good idea after all.

“Now you apologise to Ruby or we’re not going anywhere,” Cera insisted of Sky.  Chomper looked unsure for a moment, but then chose a side.

“Yeah that’s pretty mean, you should say you’re sorry,” the sharptooth suggested. Ruby looked at him direly, as if she didn’t want him getting involved.  Sky on the other hand, looked troubled and uncomfortable. He slowly looked over at Ruby, who was pretty distressed about it. The wingtail sighed.

“I’m afraid I cannot.” Sky wasn’t about to apologize for something he wasn’t sorry for. Considering the things he’d seen the jungle runners do, it was perfectly reasonable in his mind to act as he did.

“Then I’m leaving!” snorted Cera, before turning to Littlefoot, “good luck with your new friend. The rest of us can get eaten by sharpteeth for all you care.”  And Cera left, charging through a nearby bush on her way.

“Cera wait!” Littlefoot called out, and he moved to go after her. Ruby stopped him.

“I’m thinking that I don’t think it’s a good idea you go, she may be mad at you but she’s not mad at me,” she said as he smiled at Littlefoot, “so I’ll go.”

“Okay, we’ll wait for you then,” agreed Littlefoot.

“Wait for me!” called out Chomper as he ran to catch up with Ruby as she skirted through the bushes. One thing that fast runners were good at – running fast.  When the three of them were out of earshot Ali took her chance to speak up.

“I can’t believe her… talking to Sky that way,” Ali fumed, “I’m glad you didn’t cave into that snotty little…”

“Ali,” Littlefoot asserted, “she might have a bit of a temper but she is still our friend. We have to stick together here, instead of tearing each other apart.”

Ali looked a bit ashamed, and decided not to talk about it anymore.

“I do not want to get eated by a sharptooth,” said Ducky to Spike, who nodded in response.

“Me neither… watching them fight make my head hurt,” added Petrie, who had landed on Spike’s back during the argument.  Suddenly they heard a loud growl from nearby.

“If you are hungry Spike, you should eat,” suggested Ducky.  But Spike wasn’t hungry.  He rocked his head back and forth and grunted to say so.

“If that wasn’t Spike, then who-” began Littlefoot, but he didn’t finish the sentence. Sky noticed that the entire woods had gone silent again – this couldn’t be good.

Two fast-biters jumped out of the brush, and one of them screeched and while the other licked his lips. The gang’s reaction was immediate.

“Sharptooth!” Ducky screamed. Ali panicked.

“Littlefoot what do we do?” she asked desperately.

“This way, all of you,” Sky called out, “I have a place we can hide but we have to run!”

A desperate chase ensued.


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“This way… it’s not far,” insisted Sky as he flew over the heads of the remaining members of the gang. He was leading them towards an old system of caverns he knew called the Icy Caves, which lied under the Icy Mountains.  These mountains were called this because they were so high up that snow always covered their top reaches.  He was hoping that the caves would be unoccupied, and the sharpteeth wouldn’t see them go in there. As it would turn out he was wrong on both accounts.

“I don’t think… I can run…. anymore,” puffed Ali as she breathed hard. They had been running for a while, and the two fast-biters weren’t giving up.  They were so fast they were snapping at Spike’s tail, and the only thing that was saving him for the moment was how the two sharpteeth were pushing each other out of the way to get the first bite.  Littlefoot got an idea.

“Ali, help me get a hard water ball ready,” he asked.

“What are you talking about?” she inquired, bewildered at the concept.  As Littlefoot pushed one together through the snow, Ali finally understood. Together they formed a huge snowball that they could roll down the hill at the sharpteeth. It was a trick they had used before.

“Incoming,” yelled out Littlefoot, and a terrified Spike dodged out of the way just in time. The snowball came down fast, but the fast-biters were faster and managed to dodge it too. They were momentarily distracted though as they landed in the snow and Spike made some ground while they got themselves back together.  The Spiketail clamoured his way up the snowy hill until he was on the same level as Littlefoot, Ali, Petrie, Ducky, and Sky and safe from the jaws of death.

…

The wingtail led them into a cave just ahead, and from the darkness inside it led very deeply into the mountain. He was sure they would be safe there.  The smaller gang veered through the half lit passageways inside the cave system, and eventually ended up in a large open space with a medium sized hole in the roof where a small beam of sun cast itself onto the floor. Through the middle the cave, a river ran through that was comparable in size to the one in the Great Valley.  They were all relieved to be stopping.

“I am glad we got away from those mean sharpteeth, I am,” said Ducky as she eyed the water with longing. It had been a long time since she had had a swim, and now that they were safe she would have the chance.

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Sky asserted, and just then the cursed shadow of the sharptooth duo appeared behind them on the cave wall. The wingtail bade them to be quiet with a finger to his mouth, and escorted them into a dark corned to hide. He took up watch himself on a high perched rock near the gap in the ceiling.

Thankfully the sharpteeth couldn’t smell them over the dust in the caves, and sniffed around confused at their new surroundings. Suddenly the Occular began to vibrate once more under Sky’s wing, and he cursed under his breath. The sharpteeth howled in pain as the sound reached their ears, and they rolled on the ground in an attempt to block it out. It was a good thing that sharpteeth ears were more sensitive then leaf-eater ones, as the gang covered their ears to block out the sound. Sky was afraid there might be another earthquake, but this time it didn’t come.

As the sound thankfully faded, the confused and deafened fast biters got up and glanced around in fear. Their instincts told them to leave this place, and they intended to do so as fast as possible.  A dark shadow passed over the hole in the roof, but nobody noticed.

“Okay I think we are safe,” Sky called down.  A set of hands wrapped themselves around his mouth, and gripped tightly. Sky began to choke in agony.

“I’ve been waiting a long time for this,” Glide hissed in his ear.  As the rest of the gang watched in horror Glide rammed Sky’s head against the side of the cavern, nearly knocking him out.  Ducky screamed.

Not far down the cave the two sharpteeth heard the sound and licked their lips in anticipation.  Their prey was here after all – it was feeding time.


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[Caustizer]

Since I think it would be horrendously cruel to end on this note... i'll have Part VI up for Sunday.  It's going to be shorter then the previous five parts but it's also going to wrap up the Act.


Please let me know what you think of the story!

[Pangaea]

Good to hear about the additional reviewers. (I got a little worried when it looked as if Sky had stopped reviewing.)

I had guessed that your explanation for Sky’s indifference towards Ruby would involve fast runners being egg thieves, but given to how much he trusts and favors Littlefoot, I still don’t think he’s giving Ruby (being a friend of Littlefoot’s) enough credit. (This is just another of my immediate emotional reactions, however; as feedback goes, it's neither positive nor negative. )

There was one part of this chapter I did have something of a problem with: Ali’s reaction to Cera’s yelling at Sky for his behavior towards Ruby, and subsequent declaration that she is leaving the group. What Ali said afterwards seemed remarkably out of character for her. I know Sky’s her friend, but her friendship with Cera goes back a lot longer, and as far as Cera’s outbursts go, she had fairly good reason for this one, so I would have expected Ali to be more understanding.

Oh, also, I hate to say it, but there’s a typographical error in this chapter:

“Ewe this is disgusting,” commented Cera.

That word should be spelled “Eew”.

Can’t wait for Sunday.

[Caustizer]

What I'm trying (keyword trying lol) to get across about Ali is that she has grown up quite a bit since they last adventured with her in Land Before Time IV. She made a brief visit in the cartoon series, and demonstrated her ability to abandon past friends in favour of new ones.

How Ali took to Sky is a story in itself, but she loves him as much as Littlefoot does because to her he is that "cool" adult figure that she doesn't have in her life. Most people can name an uncle or someone in their family they like hanging out with apart from their parents - and since Ali no longer has a father she has become attached to Sky.

So attached that when Cera assaults Sky over something so trivial as "being rude" she gets pretty mad about it, but does not express it outright until Cera is gone.

Something I'm trying to do as the story goes on (to preserve interest and to characterize the main characters) is to have a network of different relationships between gang members going on.  For instance, in the TV series Littlefoot and Ruby occupy more or less the same niche in the gang (voice of reason, positive, leaderlike qualities) so to keep them unique characters, I had Sky react to each of them very differently. If Sky liked both Ruby and Littlefoot, they wouldn't be as distinguishable as seperate characters.

I hope this explains things a bit, its a lot more then I usually like to reveal for fear of giving things away.  

Caustizer.

[Pangaea]

Okay. I suppose that makes sense. Most LBT fans just dislike Ali's change between movie IV and the TV series so much that they are reluctant to regard her second appearance as canon, and expect fanfiction versions of Ali to be based on her first appearance. (It would appear that I'm one of those fans. )

I also completely understand the need for diverse relationships between Sky and members of the gang. I just feel sorry for Ruby.

[Caustizer]

Part VI:

“Sky, Sky!” called out Ali desperately as the wingtail struggled to get free of Glide’s grip. The two of them were grappling on the top level of the cavern beyond sight of the gang, so they could only hope for the best. Bigger problems awaited them on their level.

“The Sharpteeth, they are coming back!” yelled Ducky. Littlefoot shushed her.

“Quiet Ducky, they don’t know where we are yet. If we keep our heads down, they might go right past.” Littlefoot risked a peak around the rock, only to see both fast-biters sitting there staring at him. They knew where they were alright.

“RUN!” hollered Littlefoot, and the group of them had to dodge a pair of snapping jaws. One of them went for Ali, but his leap fell short and he landed on his chest. The sharptooth glared up and her and snarled, revealing rows of pointed teeth. Ali screamed.

“Down here, we can lose them in the river,” declared Littlefoot and he jumped into the fast flowing water in the centre of the cave. Having just avoided death, Ali leaped in after him. Both were carried out of the cave.

“But Spike cannot swim, he can’t!” called out Ducky but the two longnecks were already gone.  Spike stepped back from the rapids, and the sharpteeth closed in for the kill.

“Jump Spike, jump!” cried Ducky, and she dove into the water. Her brother didn’t need to be told twice, and came in after her just as one of the fast-biters snapped where his tail had been.

…

“I always wondered what my sister saw in you,” taunted Glide as he held Sky by the throat against the wall. The blue wingtail was nearly choking. “But now I think I know… she saw how desperate and pathetic you were.”

Sky’s glare was a mixture of hate and indignity.

“But you’re lucky this time… I’m not here to kill you.” Glide said as he released Sky. The blue wingtail wheezed as he caught his breath.  Glide extended his hand.  “Give it to me and I’ll let you live.”

Sky removed the Occular from the inside of his wing, and held it up into the sunlight that illuminated this part of the cave. It shone so brightly, so beautifully that Glide couldn’t take his eyes off it. Such an object would be the head of his collection – he could just return home and tell the elders it had been lost, while keeping it for himself.  Sky recognized the lust in Glide’s expression, and decided to gibe him.

“You want it, go get it.”

And Sky flung it across the cavern like a prehistoric Frisbee.  Thankfully it was of sturdy construction, and as it clanked off the walls a shower of sparks were cast onto the floor.  The Occular rang as it rolled along the floor and came to rest at the feet of the two sharpteeth.

“I’ll be back for you,” hissed Glide as he took off away from the ledge to retrieve the eyeglass.

The two fast-biters looked at each other in amazement.  King Tyron had proclaimed a bounty on an object, an object described to be just like this one.  It was the same shape as the Great Circle, it was clear like the air, and it shone brightly when hit by the day’s light.  The bounty was position of honour next to the massive sharptooth, right at the shoulder were the best meat of the kill was.  This was far more important then a few scrawny children, for if they brought this back they would be set for life.  The smaller of the two fast-biters had barely picked it up in his claws when Glide was on him in a flurry of talons and feathers.

Sky composed himself as the horrible screeching and hissing of the fight between the sharpteeth and the black wingtail rang throughout of the cavern. He checked his throat to make sure it wasn’t bleeding, and then felt his head. There was a nasty bump on there, but nothing that time wouldn’t fix.  He noticed Petrie roosting on the other side of the cavern, shaking in fear.

“Petrie, get the Occular! Hurry before they notice you,” Sky asked desperately.

“But me so scared,” cried Petrie.

“Be brave Petrie, It’s now or never.”

The young flyer looked down at the chaos at the bottom of the cavern. It was horrible to watch as Glide, covered in blood from numerous bites, shattered one of the fast-biter’s jaws with a blow to his neck joint. Through all this, the Occular was lying undisturbed. Now was his chance - with a quick dive Petrie slipped down and grabbed the eyeglass with his talons.

“Me got it, me got it!” he announced. Unfortunately, Glide turned at him with a menacing glare.  It was not unlike the look a sharptooth gives his trapped prey.  Petrie’s courage suddenly vanished, and he started to panic in the air.

Sky caught him just in time, as Glide snapped at the small flyer with his deadly jaws. With a whoosh of air Sky’s foot connected with Glide’s nose, and the black wingtail was forced back onto the ground.

“Hang on Petrie, I think we’re in for a turbulent ride,” said Sky as he briefly looked down at the shivering flyer. Petrie didn’t have time to respond before the two of them plunged into the river, and were carried down into small exit hole.

“I’ll get you Sky!” cried Glide just before they were out of earshot.  

In his rage the black wingtail turned to the last remaining sharptooth, who was slightly smaller then he was.  Sharpteeth were in general not very smart, but they did know when to run, and with his partner dying and a mad-killer bird looking him in the eye this was one of those times. With a yelp of fear the fast-biter dashed out of the cave, leaving Glide alone with the remaining sharptooth.

As Glide approached him the fast-biter whined in pain, hoping for mercy.  Glide was mad, but in this case it simply wasn’t worth the effort.  Glide snuffed loudly and spat on him, before leaving the cave to lick his wounds.  


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“Ruby wait, wait!” called out Chomper as he chased the fast-runner into the woods. They were both chasing after Cera, but Ruby was a lot faster then he was. It was times like this that he wished he had longer legs.  Eventually he caught up to Ruby, who had stopped in a clearing.

“You run too fast for me,” Chomper laughed as he bent over to catch his breath.  He looked up at Ruby, who looked very concerned and had her hand over her mouth.

“What is it?” Chomper asked.  He found out when he too spied Cera sitting in the middle of the field in front of them, and she was crying.  Chomper echoed Ruby’s look, and kept silent.  After a minute Ruby finally decided to ask her what was wrong.

“Hey Cera, every moment your sad is a moment your not happy,” she said positively.

“Go away,” sobbed Cera, and she turned away from them.

“Cera, did we make you sad?” asked Chomper sincerely as he padded up and sat next to Cera.  She peered down at the tiny sharptooth, and decided to confide in him.

“It’s Littlefoot… I hate it when he does these things.”

“But what does he do?” asked Ruby in confusion.

“He’s our best friend one day… then next thing you know some scrawny longneck or stuck up bird comes along and he doesn’t have any time for us anymore.” Cera responded, and wiped the tears off her face. It was embarrassing for her to be like this.

“Thanks for being mad for me though Cera, even when I didn’t know I was mad myself,” thanked Ruby as she put a hand on Cera’s shoulder.

“Your welcome,” responded Cera politely.  She smiled as she saw both Chomper and Ruby sitting next to her, trying to make her feel better.  It was nice to have such good friends.

“But maybe your being too hard on Littlefoot, after all he didn’t really know how Sky was so bad to Ruby,” Chomper suggested.

“Maybe,” admitted Cera, “but sometimes he misses things, things that are so obvious I just want to yell it in his face. Like when he dragged us along with those yellow bellies when they could’ve taken care of themselves.”

Chomper and Ruby didn’t know what she was talking about – it must have happened before they came to the valley.  Cera moved on.

“And another time, he left us all in the valley just because of some stupid sleep story,” Cera complained, “When he does these things… it just makes me wanna scream!”

“That’s exactly what we wanted to hear,” came a cold voice from behind them.  

All three of them turned to see two large wingtails, one a navy blue and the other a heavy shade of green. Chomper growled, he could tell these were not good flyers.

“What do you want?” asked Cera insultingly.

“To hear you scream of course,” said the green wingtail, “we would be… honoured.”

“Cera, I don’t like this… we should go,” suggested Ruby.

“Please, stay and show us just how vocal you are,” asked the navy blue wingtail, “We happen to be experts in the field of… sound.”

“You wanna hear me scream I’d be happy too,” Cera said, and she turned and yelled back into the woods, “Littlefoot if you can hear me I’m not coming back!”

The two wingtails looked at each other, and came to a silent agreement.

“It would be best for you to come with us,” the green one said.

“I insist,” added the navy blue one.

“And what if I say no?” asked Cera, who was still mad.

“That would be… unwise.”

The two wingtails swooped forward and grabbed her by her front legs.  The burst of wind distracted Ruby and Chomper, who covered their faces and stepped back.

“Ruby, Chomper, help me!” cried Cera, but she was gone faster then they could even attempt to rescue her.

“Cera!” called out Chomper, but she was already over the trees and gone, “Cera…” he echoed sadly.

Carrying the threehorn in tow, Eybron’s sentinels made their way back to the Sonicron and the cave where they took the rest of the children they had kidnapped.  Soon she would join them to institute the greatest act of art the world had ever know, but to Ruby and Chomper Cera was gone.


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Prince Tyrus licked his lips to remove the excess blood he had got on them while he had been feeding.  The gold sharptooth stopped by a stream to take a drink, and admire his own reflection.  His father Tyron had often told him of how perfect he was, both in appearance and in his hunting skills, and had even given him a group of his own sharpteeth to do with as he saw fit. They were his guards and hunters, but they were also scavengers who pecked off his kills and left nothing for him to snack on later.  Tyrus had pondered killing them for a while, but what would a Prince be without a royal escort to bully any local predators into submission?  He wouldn’t be a Prince.

“My Prince,” bowed Redgar, the leader of this pack, “we have found one of the locals who believes he has something of interest to you.”

“Really? Does he know not to disturb me while I’m tending to myself, because apparently you do not.”

It was not an idle threat, and Redgar backed down in fear.  The fast-biter was strong and brave, but in the face of the son of the King of Sharpteeth he had to pay his respects,  not to mention know his limits. Tyrus was rumoured to be a cold killer just like his father when provoked.

“It was quite important; he claimed to have seen the object the King desires.”

Now that was important alright.  Sharpteeth generally valued nothing but the flesh of those they killed, and even then only as long as it remained in their stomachs, but the Occular was different.  The sharpteeth called it the Stone of Seeing, as was rumoured to correct even the worst of vision when one looked through it.  Tyron had been given it as tribute from the carnivorous birds for allowing them to feed on his blessings, and he used it to correct his near blindness by placing it in his left eye.

Tyrus had been told that when he was born, he killed and ate all of his brothers and sisters for food – an action that pleased his father. As a gift Tyron gave him the Occular so that when he was older he could see beyond the horizon too, and up until the day it was stolen he relished the possibility of having vision as keen as a bird’s.

…

Tyrus’ escort had formed a circle around the small fast-biter, and were bullying him as if he had been folly to attempt to come before the Prince of Sharpteeth.  They hit him, pushed him, and taunted him until he just lied on the ground in submission, wishing he was somewhere else.

“What’s the matter little-biter, you scared?” taunted a much larger fast-biter, “you’re a little cowardly runt who deserves to be put down like the rest of these leaf-lickers.”  

Another one of the group kicked him from behind, and the newcomer just whimpered.  Redgar entered the circle, and snarled for them to back off.  They obeyed.

“The Prince has arrived, to receive your message.” He told the little fast-biter, “and for the sake of your life I hope it is worth his time.”

The ground shook as Prince Tyrus entered the clearing and growled.  The circle backed up more, to make room for their master.  His red eyes glowed with a hum of an ancient instinct to kill his prey, but he stayed his wraith to hear what the messenger had come to say.

The little fast-biter stuttered and stammered in terror, unable to compose himself.  Tyrus was the scariest predator he had ever laid his eyes on; the rumours about him were true. It was a mistake to come here, a mistake that was about to cost him his life.

“What’s the matter… longneck got your tongue?” chided the larger fast-biter who was bullying him.  A slow rotation of Tyrus’ head in his direction shut him up real fast.  The little-biter suddenly found the words to speak.

“M-my Prince, I saw the object your father desires, in the caves.” He said timidly, as cold sweat began running down his scales, “it looked just like how it was described, it was the shape of the Great Circle, it was clear as the air, and it shone in its light… I swear it’s true!”

“Well know that wasn’t too hard now was it, worthless rat,” taunted the large fast-biter as he stepped forward and kicked the messenger down onto the ground.

“Indeed,” Prince Tyrus said, and it was that one word which resonated all his power and strength to everyone around, before he commanded, “you will take us to it.”

“Yes my Prince,” the little fast-biter replied, “but I can’t make the journey… I haven’t eaten in days.”  It had been a limb he was going out on, but now that he knew he was needed he didn’t need to be afraid of being killed anymore.  It was time to see if there really was a reward in this for him.

“You think your any different then the rest of us!” yelled the large fast-biter who had been tormenting him. It was the last mistake he would ever make.  In move more sudden then lightning Tyrus snapped the fast-biter up in his jaws and broke every bone in his body.  The bully screeched in pain, but in a few seconds the life simply left him.  Satisfied he had achieved his goal, Tyrus snorted and threw the corpse down in front of the messenger.

“Enjoy your meal,” the sharptooth offered, before motioning the rest to follow him.  They obeyed of course, for none of them wanted to die.

The insult that had been paid to Tyron and his family when the Occular had been stolen was like nothing ever to come before.  They had gotten revenge on the birds of course, tearing down their nests and killing them in their sleep, but it was not enough. The Occular needed to be returned to the royalty with which it belonged, and the thief made to suffer for his actions.  Prince Tyrus took this task upon himself, and as he smashed his way through the forest he snarled his intent to avenge his father’s dishonour.


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(End of Act I)

[Cancerian Tiger]

What the?!  They took Cera!  NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

That's it!  Lemme at 'em!  Ima whip out the frya' n' cook those geese, I mean, wingtails!  If those wingtails hurt her or anyone else, they outta be sharptooth bait <_<!

[Caustizer]

What the?!  They took Cera!  NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

That's it!  Lemme at 'em!  Ima whip out the frya' n' cook those geese, I mean, wingtails!  If those wingtails hurt her or anyone else, they outta be sharptooth bait <_<!

Lol there is a double irony in your statements... I won't spoil it now but you will see it as the story unfolds.