Ducky stumbled through the dense tropical rainforest in a futile attempt to escape the imposing walls of green on every side but to no avail. The rainforest was an unfamiliar land to Ducky, many of the moist covered plants that surrounded her were completely new to her but that was not the real problem. It was the scorching heat that was roasting the poor Swimmer alive. Ducky continued to stumble through the rainforest but appeared to be getting nowhere.

"How did I get here?" thought Ducky, she only left her friends to get a drink and as she had started through the shrub on her way to the watering hole she suddenly found herself here, on the inside of a rainforest. Ducky called out for her friends and her mother in the hope that someone would find her and take her out of this scorching forest but nobody answered her calls. Ducky screamed out until she had no breath and the words died in her dry throat. Her skin felt like it was on fire and her lips were cracking up like the ground on the desert floor when it cracks up from the severe heat.

Ducky continued her journey through the rainforest but she was to busy buried in her own thoughts that she did not see the large tree root ahead of her.
TRIP!
"AHH!"
Ducky squealed loudly as she fell to the ground in a crumpled heap.
By now Ducky was too exhausted to move. She just lay on the ground, panting in exhaustion. She didn't even have the water left to produce any tears. "Water" thought Ducky desperately "need water". Ducky became more and more dizzy as an uncertain amount of time past with no relief to the searing head and unending thirst. She needed to find water to cool herself down and to quench her thirst.

Then somewhere in the Swimmers mind she remembered the types of plants she had been seeing and she also remembered experiencing this type of heat when they were taking Mo to the Big Water, they had nearly reached it when they started to feel this heat and see these plants. Back then she had been riding on Spike's back and as a result was not as tired as she was now. "Perhaps there is water ahead yep yep yep" thought Ducky "and maybe I will find my friends". This thought gave her hope and with what must have been an enormous effort she hoisted herself up onto her legs only to be overwhelmed by a wave of dizziness, she leaned against a tree until she recovered and resumed her journey through the rainforest.

After an uncounted time Ducky fell to the ground, utterly devoid of strength. It was at that moment that she gave up.
Ducky sobbed pitifully but no tears rolled down her cheeks.
"I am sorry Spike" thought Ducky mournfully, she would never see her beloved brother nor her dear friends and family again. "I am so sorry...I am......I am". The black veil of unconsciousness began to drift across her eyes.
SPLASH!
Ducky's eyes opened wide.
Then she heard it again, the sounds of splashing and laughter just a few metres ahead. Ducky looked up and a fresh wave of hope engulfed her.  
This unlocked a hidden stash of strength that she did not know she had and with a few more steps Ducky broke through the underbrush and came out of the rainforest to be greeted by a sight that filled her with joy. A large watering hole surrounded by rainforest and in the water were at least twenty young swimmers playing.

Ducky could hardly supress her joy but she was to tired to cheer, she just walked down to the waters edge and let herself fall in. It was a wonderful sensation to feel the cool water upon her parched body. Ducky surfaced and drank for a very long time until her thirst was quenched and it was at that point that one of the other young male Swimmers came up to her.
"Wow I have never seen anyone make it through that rainforest alive, you must be exhausted" said a dark green Swimmer.
Ducky nodded as she was still to tired to speak.
"I'm Swayer" said he said "and you must be Ducky"
Ducky looked up in surprise at Swayer when he called her by her name.
"Yes, we know who you are" said Swayer "your just like us, the best Swimmer in the herd".
Ducky somewhat flattered felt the blood run to her cheeks but she was still to tired to speak.
Swayer eyed her, looking closely at her features then he spoke in a calm voice " Never give up hope Ducky, it is the only reason why you survived the journey through the rainforest". He then gestured to the other Swimmers and said "None of us could have done that and hope is the only thing that will keep you alive during your Trail but your also going to have to trust yourself as well as your family and friends, they will always help you".
Ducky finally found her voice " What are you s-".
"Ducky, Ducky!" called a faint voice that grew louder.
"Ducky wake up!".

Ducky opened her eyes to find herself back in the nest at home with her mother giving her a gentle push "Wake up Ducky it's time to start training" said her mother quietly. Ducky looked around and realised that the rainforest and Swayer had all just been a dream.

                                                  *

Sura had woken up as the bright circle made it's first appearance above the protective mountains that surrounded the Great Valley. Sura turned to look at her young ones, there was seven of her children all sleeping together next to her warm bulk and past them near Sura's tail slept Spike who was snoring the loudest "As always" thought Sura and next to Spike slept Ducky who was shifting restlessly in her sleep. "I am sorry Spike" said Ducky in her sleep "I am so sorry...I am......I am".
"She must be having a sleep story" thought Sura turning to her daughter. "Ducky, Ducky!" she said quietly but Ducky was still asleep.
"Ducky wake up!" said Sura a bit more loudly, giving her daughter a soft push with the edge of her beak as she said it.
Ducky opened her eyes and sighed.
"It's time to start training" said Sura
Ducky opened her mouth and gave a long tired yawn, while her mother went to wake up the rest of her clutch mates.
Sura had sixteen children but only nine had slept with her and that included all of her first clutch younglings and Spike, all the rest of her children were sleeping with their father as they did not need to get up early to begin training like their older siblings.
Sura then proceeded to wake Spike, she gave him a firm push but when that didn't work so she said to her son "Breakfast is ready dear". That did it.
Spike quickly awoke when he was tempted with food but when he saw this was not the case he wondered over to a bush and started munching on some of it's leaves.
Ducky was feeling very tired as she ate her breakfast, her mind kept on playing back the strange dream that she had. "Never give up hope Ducky". Swayer's words kept on repeating themselves in her mind but she could not understand why he said them. She and her friends had been on many adventures and they had never really given up hope so why did Swayer tell her not to give up?

While Ducky pondered these thoughts her siblings were working themselves into an excited frenzy.

"What will the Trials be like?"

"What will mom teach us?"

"Do you think we will do well in the Trials?"

The questions continued until Sura called them "Come along dears we are going to the watering hole to begin your training". The excited Swimmers ran to their mother and Ducky climbed onto Spike's back then they all set off.
Upon arrival the young Swimmers asked "can we have a race? can we, can we? please..."
Sura chuckled at her children's antics. "Alright, you'll all race to the center of the watering hole and back".
Each of the young Swimmers took up there positions in the water and waited for the mother's signal, while Spike looked on from the bank.
"Ready......Set......GO!"

The children took off and began Swimming very quickly out toward the centre of the Lake.
Sura smiled. To the children this was just a playful game but instead they had actually begun their training for the Trials.
Ducky was Swimming at full speed by the time she reached the centre of the lake but she didn't want to slow down so she did a wide turn so she would not lose as much speed and began Swimming back. She was neck and neck with her brother Rapid when they were half way back to shore.
She was aware of nothing but her heart beating away at double it's normal speed, they were nearly at the shore and that's when Ducky put on a fierce burst of speed that propelled her ahead of her brother and back to the shore first.  
Ducky lay on the shore panting from the intense swim she had just undertaken. "Well done Ducky" said her mother "and well done to you as well Rapid you two were the fastest".
After the young Swimmers all had a break to catch their breath, their mother called them to attention.
"The Swimmer Trials" she said "test your abilities of speed like you did in that race but there are many other Trials that test your manoeuvrability, diving to depth, strength, intelligence and the ability to react quickly and correctly and each of these Trials are also contests so you must perform your best to do well. Which is why you will be trained in these abilities to give you the best chance at doing well in the Trials".
"Do you think we will do well?" asked Ducky
"I'm sure you all will" said her mother "Now can any of you tell me why Ducky and Speedy were the first to reach the shore?"
The children were caught off guard by their mother's question so no one was able to answer her.
"It was because they both did wide turns, which allowed them to conserve their speed better then if they did a sharp turn as the rest of you did" said Sura.
There was a chorus of "Oh" from her children as they all grasped the implications of their mother's statement.
"Now then" said Sura "Let's officially start your training".    


Here is the next chapter. Feel free to give feedback.

Chapter 2: An Informative Night

"Cera pass to me. I am open, open I am" called Ruby from down the field.
However Cera disregarded Ruby, she thought she could outmanoeuvre Littlefoot on her own but she turned out to be dreadfully wrong.
Littlefoot stuck out his left foot just as Cera tried to run past him and not only did he manage to get the seed, he also managed to trip Cera.
"Great" he thought "we will win now with Cera down".
Littlefoot steadily approached the boys gaol which nothing more then two sticks placed a short distance from each other. Both Ducky and Ruby stood in front of in order to stop littlefoot from scoring but they had forgotten Chomper and Petrie who stood on each end of the goal.
"Right" thought Littlefoot "I'll pass the seed to Chomper and he will kick the goal".
"Over to you Chomper" called Littlefoot and proceeded to pass the seed.
But just as he raised his tail he felt a heavy weight slam into his side. Littlefoot fell to the ground feeling a little dazed but then he saw what hit him.
Spike was running unopposed with the seed in his mouth toward the girls goal
"Where Spike come from?" stuttered Petrie in surprise.
"He has joined the game he has he has" laughed Ducky as her brother scored the winning goal of the match for the girls team.

"Oh well good game guys" said Chomper "but next Spike we will wait until you finished eating before we start playing"
Spike chuckled before giving a nod that he would not try anymore sneak attacks in the game.

The clearing turned a colourful orange as the sun began to set.
"Well a guess we'll call it a day" said Chomper in a tired voice.
"We'll meet here again tomorrow guy's" said Cera
There were nods of agreement from each of the friends and a chorus of "goodnight's" followed suit as they all left for their own respective nests.  

Ducky jumped on Spike's back as they left the clearing for home but they had hardly gone two steps outside the clearing before they bumped into their mother.
"Mama" Ducky said in surprise
Sura smiled at her two children "Hello you two" she said "that was quite a move you made back there Spike"
Spike opened his mouth in surprise had his mother watched the whole game?
Sura chuckled at Spike's reaction "Yes I saw the whole game Spike and that was a bit unfair the way you sneaked up on Littlefoot".
Spike grinned at his mother's comment.
"It was still a good move though yep yep yep" said Ducky from her place atop Spikes back.
"That it was" agreed her mother "but now it's time to go home, I have some important news to tell you".
"Really what news?" said Ducky who was now clearly exited at her mother's announcement.
"I'll tell you when we get home" replied Sura
"Oh" groaned Ducky but she was very excited over what her mother said and there was no doubt that she would hear all about it at home, so without further ado the trio of dinosaurs headed for home.
                                                       
                                                       *

Everyone of Sura's children spoke excitedly about what their mother's big announcement would be as the ate their dinner.

Maybe we are going on a journey?

Or maybe we are moving home again?

What do you think mom will say?

The quarries were endless until after they finished dinner when their mother called them. The excited children stood before their mother with tails wagging with excitement and anticipation.

"Children" said Sura and everyone became silent as she prepared to tell them the "important" news.
"Children in a few more seasons it will be the time of The Swimmer Trials".
All her children looked curiously at their mother each one asking the silent question "What is The Swimmer Trials?"
"The Swimmer Trials are a series of contests and challenges that many Swimmers must face before the Time of Great Growing" said Sura.
"These Trials" continued Sura's mate and father to her children: Ruphus "are designed to see if the Swimmer's have what it takes to survive and to see if they are suited for leadership and in addition all the Swimmer families compete to see who has the top Swimmers and each Swimmer is ranked according to their abilities".
"So we are all going to do these trials?" asked on of the boys  
"No Bold" said Sura "you and the rest of your clutch mates will not take the trials as you are to young only your older brothers and sisters from the first clutch shall take the Trials and Spike of course will also not be taking the Trials for obvious reasons".
"You are also going to begin training for the Trials tomorrow and we will continue that training until the big day" said Ruphus.
The young swimmers now looked very excited.
"But first" said Sura "you all need a good early night sleep."  
The young ones groaned as none of them felt like sleeping but both their parents were insistent on getting enough sleep for the next day and soon the sound of soft snores arouse from the Swimmers nest as everyone fell asleep to dream about tomorrow and the day of The Swimmer Trials.
     
                           
Well here is the next chapter of the story hope you like it and don't hesitate to give feedback.

The Swimmer Trials

Prologue: A peaceful day.

The bright circle blazed high in the late morning over The Great Valley.
In a clearing near the Secret Caverns seven young dinosaurs played. One was a brown Longneck by the name of Littlefoot and it was he who had possession of the pinecone at the start of there game of toss the seed.
Beside Littlefoot stood two over dinosaurs. Petrie, the small brown Flyer on his right and to his left stood a purple Sharptooth called Chomper, to many other leaf eaters the sight of Chomper so close to the children would be a cause for alarm but in the Great Valley this was considered normal for the small Sharptooth to hang around with his small group of friends.
Facing the three boy's was the girls team led by Cera the proud orange Threehorn and beside her stood the small light green Swimmer Ducky and the tall pink Fast Runner, Ruby.
Nearby the six friends stood a plumb green Spiketail called Spike who was Ducky's adopted brother and at the moment he could not be less interested in the game his friends were playing, he was focused on biting the leaves off the large bushes that stood on the edge of the clearing. All the dinosaurs in this clearing are known as The Gang of Seven.
Each of them where firm friends and they had all been on many dangerous adventures in the past from finding the Great Valley to outmanoeuvring Red Claw in the lands outside the valley known as The Mysterious Beyond.

"Alright are we all ready?" asked littlefoot to the gang who all nodded in anticipation for the kick off. Littlefoot raised his tail but stopped and looked around at his friends until he spotted Spike on the edge of the clearing. "Hey Ducky isn't Spike playing today?" he asked.
Ducky turned to look at Spike before responding "No no no he is eating now" said Ducky "He won't play till he finishes his breakfast yep yep yep".
"Well lets gets started then" said Cera impatiently "Spike will join us when he is ready"
Littlefoot nodded and raised his tail.
"WHACK"
The seed flew off indirection of the boy's goal and each team started running to get the seed before the other team scored.
The game was on.

At the edge of the clearing a lone adult Swimmer was watching the game intently. Her eyes on her young daughter Ducky.
Sura smiled as she watched the friends playing it reminded her of what being young was like. Of course she was reminded all the time by the rest of her children but watching The Gang really brought back memories.

Sura sighed and pushed aside her past to focus on the present, she had been  really restless in the past few day's ever since she realised that her children would participate in The Swimmer Trials in a few more seasons. "The Swimmer Trials are very similar in contrast to The Great Day of The Flyers" Sura reflected as it required the younglings to prove their abilities in a range of different challenges designed to test each of the abilities a Swimmer must know in order to survive. But the Trials were also a contest as all the Swimmers participating will be ranked according to there abilities and upon completion word of the Trials are taken to other Swimmer herds in The Mysterious Beyond. Swimmers who performed well usually ended up in good herds or in leadership positions. The Trials are always taken before the younglings reach The Time of Great Growing and Sura's oldest children were all ready to face the Trials.  

Sura had the brightest hope for all of her children to do well in The Swimmer Trials "Except Spike of course". Sura turned to look at her adopted son who was happily munching away on some green food. Sura knew that the time would come for Spike to leave and learn the way's of his own kind soon and she dreaded that day. She remembered all to well what had happened the first time Spike left with a migrating Spiketail herd during the first cold time that the Valley had seen snow. Spike having to leave was especially hard on Ducky who had followed him into The Mysterious Beyond alone. In the corner of Sura's mind she hoped that Ducky would be more understanding the next time this inevitable event occurred. But for now she just concentrated on how happy everyone was today, then a dark thought entered her mind which caused her to feel a cold shiver run up her spine "What if one of my babies is chosen"
Sura took a deep breath to calm herself. That thought had terrified her for the last few day's but her mind quickly pushed those dark thoughts away.

Sura resolved that she would not think of that today it was a pleasant day so she might as well enjoy it like her happy go-lucky daughter was just a few metres away, Sura smiled again as she watched the friends play it was a very pleasant day.    
                 


Well first chapter done and I hope you enjoyed it.
Any feedback and constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated

RAWR. Thanks for the warm welcome everyone
And ThunderClaw if your wondering I am the last of the Gold STAR-CLASS Dragons and I am better known as the Black and Gold Dragon of Legend.
What sort of Dragon are you?

Ducky's Mother: What have I told you about staying away from the older children when their having play fights    

Ducky:  

Oh No It's MR. Creosote

Monty Phython reference

Top 10 LBT characters:
10. The Rainbow faces
9. Grampa Longneck
8. Ducky's mother
7. Littlefoot's mother
6. Petrie
5. Spike
4. Ruby
3. Chomper
2. Cera
1. Littlefoot and Ducky

Hello to all  , The Lone Dragon has finally arrived. I've been a guest for the best part of a year and now I've finally joined up. I have always liked LBT ever since I was a kid and now I'm 18 and I still like it.

So Hello to everyone out there from The Lone Dragon.