Hey all.

I've been gone a long time, but I believed that I needed the break to plan my next story and it has paid off.  This is Journey Into Blacksun, which features the children of the gang of five having their own adventure.  I can promise  that this story will be shorter then Far Away Home, given that I no longer have the drive I used to to produce long and epic stories.  I look forward to your reviews and comments, as well as your support in this new story.

Caustizer.



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Land Before Time: Journey Into Blacksun

Sequel to Rise of Storm Tide and Far Away Home

By: Caustizer


Prologue:

The children are going to be taught in a very unique setting today, or at least that’s what Sky told them at the end of the last class.  Unlike their typical place of learning by the glowing cracks, this location is far out of the way and well beyond the travelled paths that the gang tended to take during playtime each day.  It is so out of the way in fact that each of them had to get permission from their parents to go, and in some cases it wasn’t easy.  Cera wasn’t too keen on letting Wayne go so close to the edge of the valley, and neither was Petrie with his daughter Nincea so it took some convincing from Mr. Sky to make them see it was safe to let their kids go.

Unlike their parents in the past, the old gang kept their children on relatively short leashes, possibly because of all the danger that still remains for them in the valley at such a young age but probably because Petrie, Spike, Ducky, Cera, and Littlefoot all know what happened when they went on such dangerous adventures on a whim, and fear their offspring might be compelled to do the same if not carefully supervised.  A few of the ënew’ gang are privileged enough to go where they choose, and one of them is Cloud the Wingtail.

Cloud is a newcomer to the valley compared to the other children, having travelled all the way from the Feral Forest with his uncle Glide to spend some time with his father Sky.  Since Sky was banished from the Feral Forest a few years ago, and his mother Star is continuously busy teaching young wingtails back home, this arrangement works out the best for him to see both his parents.

It was only a season ago that Cloud had met his father, and the encounter had at first gone very awkwardly, but that’s another story.  What matters now is that the two of them are best friends, and when he is not teaching his dad spends lots of time with him explaining all about the world around them and doing father-son things.  What surprised Cloud the most during the first day that they had spent together was just how different his father is from the common perception of him in the Feral Forest.  He had been teased by other winglings pretty much from the day he hatched about all the bad things his dad had done, and if it wasn’t for his mother’s insistence he never would have came here to the Great Valley at all.  Looking back, he regretted thinking so negatively about a wingtail he had never met before.

“So I wonder why Mr. Sky is making us go so far just to listen to more of his stupid stories,” complains Landar the Fourwing, Guido and Syndra’s son, as he glides from one tree to another to keep up with the gang.

“I don’t think they’re stupid,” comments Kala the Spiketail, Spike and Thylo’s daughter.

“Me too,” adds Aura the Swimmer from Kala’s back, Ducky’s daughter.

Wayne the threehorn tilts his head to join the conversation.

“Well I wouldn’t go that far, but Mr. Sky’s stories are no where near as good as my Grandpa’s.”

The comment wasn’t met with much enthusiasm from the others.

“No offence,” offers Xavier the longneck, Littlefoot and Ali’s son, “but all Grandpa Threehorn talks about are the times he fought with sharpteeth.”

“Or told off somebody else,” adds Cloud from a nearby tree.

 Just as the wingtail speaks up, Landar lands next to him with a mischievous look on his face.

“Hey wingtail,” the Fourwing blurts, “I know what story Mr. Sky is going to tell us tonight… ëThe Legend of the Big Nose’ starring you.”

Wayne laughs, and Kala chuckles slightly before stopping herself.  Cloud looks offended, and looks down on Landar severely.

“I wouldn’t make fun of somebody higher then you on the food chain,” threatens Cloud, before faking like he is about to attack the Fourwing with his beak.

“Hey watch it,” cries Landar as he jumps off the branch and into the air as fast as he can, “I was just kidding… sheesh.”

Cloud had been bullied enough in the Feral Forest, so he isn’t about to take it anymore.  Uncle Glide had taught him how to defend himself, and despite all the trouble it got him in with his teachers it eventually made the other winglings stop.  Unfortunately though, it didn’t make him many friends.

“Hey guys,” calls out Nincea from behind them in the air.  She is flapping her wings vigorously to catch up with her friends.

“Sorry I’m late,” the flyer apologizes, “but daddy almost didn’t let me go… mommy had to talk some sense into him.”

Xavier nods with welcome.

“Glad you could make it Nincea,” states the blue longneck, “I know all our folks were worried a bit too.”

“Speak for yourself,” corrects Landar dismissively, “mine couldn’t care less where I go.”

“I wish it was that way for me,” adds Wayne, “my mom is always dragging me along with her wherever she goes… it’s nice to just get away once in a while.”

…

This type of conversation is a normal part of the daily routine of the young dinosaurs, and it continues for the next hour as the seven of them make their way up to Threehorn Peak. Surprisingly when they round the bend to reach the summit Mr. Sky is already there, staring out into the endless expanses of the Mysterious Beyond.  As Xavier, Wayne, Nincea, Kala, Aura and Landar try to make themselves comfortable in a semicircle Cloud lands next to his father.

“Hey dad, what are you looking for?” asks the young wingtail with curiously.

Sky turns to face his son with a homely smile, and wraps his arm around Cloud’s back, rustling the line of hair stretching down it.  Cloud returns the gesture.

“Nice to see you made it up safe and sound,” praises Mr. Sky, before turning to face the gathered children, “…all of you.”

At his father’s insistence, Cloud rejoins the semicircle of his friends.

“Today I have a different story then the ones you are used to, children,” begins Mr. Sky, “for it comes from my own childhood and I feel it is time I passed it on to all of you.”

The blue wingtail corrects his wings before continuing.

“There is a tale that has been passed on through wingtail kind for generations, one that describes our beginning and indeed the beginning of all dinosaur kind.  It starts in a place far beyond the horizon, a place that even I would hesitate to go…”

Mr. Sky raises his hands and measures the position of the bright circle against his current position.  In a moment, he determines the direction said place and points there with his finger.

“Beyond the Mysterious Beyond, beyond the crests of the Great Divide, and indeed beyond the Tyrant Spire itself lies the lush place where the earliest of species began… a place called Blacksun Crater.”

The reaction amongst the gathered youngsters is one of wonder and curiosity.  Nobody knows the Mysterious Beyond quite like Mr. Sky does, and with the possible exception of Landar they all enjoy his stories immensely.  Listening to his father weave another tale of distant lands and danger, Cloud hopes that someday he too will have his own great adventures.  

Little did he know that day would be coming a lot sooner then he ever expected.


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Hey all,

I understand my commitments to Far Away Home and Ruby In the Jungle once that is done, but during the past month and a half Sky hasn't been feeling that good so I decided to do a short story just for him, called Far Away Home: Another Day. This story isn't completely done either, but here are two of the three parts I had planned to do.

Land Before Time: Another Day
By: Caustizer

*Note to Readers: This is a non cannon Far Away Home story I felt like writing on the side. I hope you like it. Some of the material might actually make it into the real story at some point*

Part I:

Sky’s dream was interrupted by a small annoying burst of wind, followed by a familiar voice he could barely make out as he slipped back into consciousness. The blue wingtail slowly opened his eyes, and with a light squawk he yawned and stretched his wingtails. Blinking a few times, his eyes settled on the mottled bunch of feathers that rested on the branch in front of him.

“Come on dad, get up!” insisted Cloud impatiently and he flapped his wings again ,rustling Sky’s feathers.

Absently, the adult blue wingtail turned his head to peer at the horizon.

“…Is it circle rise already?” he moaned.

A single glance told him that it definitely wasn’t, as the sun had just begun to crest the forest on the other side of the Abyssal Lake. It was at least an hour, maybe more, before his usual wake up time. When he was younger Sky would have been up and about now for sure, along with the other adolescent wingtails hoping to get the best of the catch before the seniors took up all the space on the sunning rocks… but times had changed and now that there were no more evil sharpteeth attacking or wingtails hunting him down there was absolutely no reason to interrupt a perfectly good sleep. Besides, he was having a good dream.

“Dad…” groaned Cloud as his father shut his eyes and stuffed his beak under one of his wings.

“Why don’t you bother your mother instead?” suggested Sky sleepily.

Cloud looked over to where Star, his mom, was cooing softly in her sleep on another branch. He didn’t want to wake her up though not only because she was so nice to him all the time, but because he had a very special reason for pestering his father on this particular morning.

“You said we would go water swimmer catching today… ëbright and early’.”

The young dark blue wingtail used his unique talent to imitate his father’s voice on the last line, though there wasn’t much recognition or even a stirring from Sky at all unfortunately. Cloud hopped up and down once and growled in frustration.

Sky sighed, remembering that he had in fact promised his only son they would be going out fishing today… but the blue wingtail hadn’t intended to do it this early. Still half unconscious and unwilling to get up, the wingtail emitted a loud snoring sound to show he was going back to sleep.

“Hah,” snarled Glide, “I knew a lazy lair like you didn’t know how to be a proper father.”

Suddenly Sky snapped awake, ready to face down his brother in law again, only to find that the black wingtail wasn’t there at all. The father wingtail jerked his head around a few times sharply, making sure Glide wasn’t hiding somewhere about to get he spring on him. Cloud couldn’t help himself, and burst out laughing.

“Hehe, I tricked you,” chuckled the little wingtail, “…you’re not afraid of anything, except Uncle Glide.”

In a moment Sky clued in what had happened. His young son had impersonated his brother-in-law, and he had done it almost perfectly. Tucking away any annoyance he felt or indignation at being tricked he did the fatherly thing and rubbed Cloud’s head frill with his hand.

“Ah you rotten little bunch of feathers… you got me.”

Cloud curled away from his dad’s rustling hand, and corrected his feathers with a few streaks of his fingers. He was smiling back.

“Alright… I guess we are going now then…”

“Yay!” celebrated Cloud, before he quickly covered his mouth in a too late attempt to stop from waking up all the wingtails for a kilometre radius.

Taking the lead, Sky jumped up off the branch and took off into the air. His son swiftly followed, and soon the two wingtails were swooping higher and higher in the air. Once they found an updraft he moved to lecture his son on proper riding procedures only to find that not only was Cloud good at it, his son was rising faster then he was!

“Where did you learn to do that?” asked Sky with mild surprise as the two of them reached the peak of the invisible whirl.

“Uncle Glide taught me,” answered his dark blue son with glee.

“He did, did he?” commented Sky in return, before he ducked downwards into a shallow dive, “… when does he teach you these things?”

“Oh he does it every morning,” replied Cloud matter of factly, “he gets up so early he even wakes me up sometimes. Uncle Glide gets mad when I sleep in… he says it wastes valuable training time.”

“Training?” inquired Sky with a spark of concerned curiosity, “…but what about your classes every other day?”

“I do them both. It’s important that I do so I’m ready.”

“Ready for what?” asked Sky again, a little more concerned this time.

“…To survive on my own when the water swimmers go away and I have to fight the other wingtails! I can’t wait to get out there and show them who’s boss.”

Sky contorted his face with confusion, before finally understanding what was going on. His Uncle Glide was riding Cloud, training him to fight and steal and dominate just like the black wingtail did when he was younger. Giving his brother in law some credit, times were very hard back then especially without his parents and a young sister to take care of… but that was no excuse to step in and raise his nephew to be that way. It almost scared the blue wingtail to think of having a son turn out as stern and cold hearted as Glide did.

“It is certainly a good thing your getting into good shape,” commented Sky as his son flew circles around him with energy, “but keep in mind your Uncle didn’t have his loving parents to take care of him like you do.”

Cloud stopped circling and hovered right in front of him.

“But you’re never around… usually it’s just me and mom.”

The young wingtail meant no confrontation, but still the statement stung like a sharp barb in the wing. Sky had obligations else ware… more specifically back in the Great Valley as a teacher… but it hurt him to know that he couldn’t be here all the time for his son in the Feral Forest. The blue adult wingtail wished there was some way he could have the best of both worlds. Silently his son swooped down and around, gliding up to his father’s side as they both flew onwards towards the lake.

“I know,” he answered after a bit of time, “and I wish I could be… but when I’m not make sure you remember that while your Uncle has a good heart and we both love him, some of the things he says and does can be nasty and not always the best for you. Don’t feel like you have to do something he tells you to if it makes you uncomfortable.”

“Okay…” replied Cloud, though it sounded a bit like a groan of boredom.

“Now enough of this,” added Sky with enthusiasm as he curved down into a dive towards the surface of the lake, “let’s catch us some breakfast shall we?”

“Yay!” answered the dark blue wingtail with excitement as he followed his father downwards, “Last one to catch a brown one is a rotten runner egg!”


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This could probably be considered my first 'fan-art' for Future Wars that doesn't mean blocks of Text.

It is a Brontodon I made in woodshop!



His main responsibilities include holding my keys for me, ensuring I don't get attacked at night, and protecting the place when I'm not there.  To date, I haven't been robbed once (touch wood).



Caustizer

Please Note - If you look closely you can see other interesting things too.

Hey all,

Linkin Park, my favourite band, is releasing their fourth album in 4 days and I'm just curious if there is anyone else whom is looking forward to it as much as I am. Its been almost 4-5 years since their last one, so its highly anticipated.

Caustizer.

Hey all,

Malte mentioned he was interested in seeing what I had painted for my Warhammer 40k armies, so I have done a bit of (terrible) photography and in this thread is where I will show them off.

This here is part of my army of 'Space Marines' shown in a strangely 'I Spy' like setting.  

Hey All,

A couple of weeks ago I was admitted to the Starcraft II Beta to test it for bugs, imbalances etc.  As recognition for my feedback, Blizzard has given me an extra beta key to give to a friend.  Since you guys are probably my best online friends, I figured I would extend the offer to the public...

With a beta key, you will get to play the game for free months before it's released, keeping in mind it's still not entirely balanced.  Beta keys have been going for almost 50-100 dollars on Ebay, so naturally I'm going on a first come first serve basis here so nobody fights over it   .  Send me a PM or post here if you want it and I can forward the key email to you.

Caustizer

The Land Before Time: Far Away Home
By: Caustizer

Interviews:

Prologue:

The chamber inside the elders’ tree was silent as the wingtail they had beckoned for stepped in through the parted leaves that blocked the entrance.  The light of the sun shined brightly through the large circular gap in the canopy, illuminating the dark green wingtail that stepped into the beam.  He was unusually upright and stern, casting out an aura of experience and professionalism.  Clearly his throat briefly, he began to speak.

“Greetings gathered elders and thank you for your summons.  As you are aware, my name is Theanol but the other wingtails respectfully know me as ëThe Investigator’.  Mere seasons ago I was given the task of piecing together the events surrounding and following the Black Dawn by yourselves and I am here today to present my findings.”

There was a stirring of whispers, and after a few moments the dark green wingtail continued.

“In my travels I tracked down and spoke with the survivors of that event and subs sequentially were very close to all the happenings of that era.  I can only hope that in my work we as a species can benefit from this knowledge.”

He paused for effect.

“My first subject was an egg-stealer by the name of Gentry… I was able to find him during my brief visit to the Dawn Valley in the far south.  He seemed to be having some family troubles, but as I would learn that is not an uncommon thing for their kind…”

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Post your questions and they will be answered!  Except for plot related questions (ie. "Did *** die?" or "What happened in the Lush Valley?") I'll give the best answer i can.

The characters you can ask for the interviews are going to be:

Gentry
Sky
Glide
Star
Thylo

Make sure you specify whom you are asking so I know!

...

Recently in my first experiments using Windows Movie Maker I created a set of videos that featured only audiotracks I got off of Itunes.  It worked out great until I tried to upload them, at which point I got the message,

"File Format Invalid: The file you are uploading is not a valid video file."

And yet it is a .wma, which is one of their accepted file types... I tried lowering the bit rate to 62kbps but it didn't help at all.  Anyone who is experienced with this kind of thing have a suggestion to help?

Caustizer.

Hey all,

This is a fanfiction idea I've been trolling around with for a while now, and some days it worked while on others it didn't.  It takes great inspiration from Twilight Valley, with many of the OCs from that story featured in this alternate universe with Serris' permission.  If you are an LBT-purist a story or settling like this is not for you, but otherwise feel free to post your comments as me and others add tidbits to this thread.


...


The basic idea of this story is that there is a high tech war between the Leaf-eaters and the Sharpteeth who have each developed their own brand of civilization and technology.

The leaf-eater cities and states are enormous and well-defended, with all their food grown from specialized greenhouses to feed the masses.  Their military is conservative and careful, prioritizing safety and reliability over destructive potential.  If a certain weapon is deemed too brutal or inethical by the VDF, they won't use it.

The sharptooth states, collectively refered to as Claw, are absolute dictatorships were the upper classes dine well and the lower classes devour each other in the streets just to eat. Claw thrives on warfare, with every territory conquered full of new prey to consume.  Naturally, this brings the VDF and Claw into conflict on many many occasions.

Here is a bit of a blurb as to what this is all about:


...


Land Before Time: Future Wars

Introduction:

After over 200 million years, the dinosaurs stood unchallenged as the inheritors of the planet Earth.  An alien race watched bitterly from the void of space, and eventually determined that the time of the dinosaurs was finally to come to an end.  They intended to prepare the planet for the seeding of their own creation; a race that would eventually become known as humanity. The planet in its current state however was too hostile for their needs.  To this end they crafted a virus; a special combination of genomes designed to drastically reduce the size and might of the reptiles over generations.  It was released via capsule, and 150 years later it was determined to be a success.  98% of the planet’s reptilian inhabitants did not grow beyond their teenage size and some grew even less.  There was one side effect that the creators of the virus did not intend however – intelligence.

Brainpower doubled, tripled, quadrupled in the offspring of the infected dinosaurs, and what soon followed was the development of civilization, of science, and eventually of war.  

This scene is pretty awesome, as a giant worm breaks into the basement bunker of a few paranoid country folks in the movie Tremors.  These folks happen to be gun collectors, and have a entire wall of guns to combat it with!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y_6H617Fcs