I have finally decided to begin posting my first fanfiction.  This is my first attempt at serious writing outside of an academic setting.  My prior attempts at creative writing were nothing more than ficlets of less than 1000 words and brief character pieces, both of which I was less than impressed with after I wrote them in High School.  Since this is my first attempt at this, I would greatly appreciate any constructive criticism that any of you may have.  I view this as a learning experience and I hope that I turn out to be a better writer after all is said and done.

With regards to the story itself, it is based upon the general premise of the "sudden change of species" roleplay, although the plot similarities will end there.  Without giving too much of the plot away, basically what happens is that a series of events occur that lead to the transformation of the gang into sharpteeth.  Due to the nature of the change, the adults do not realize their children's true fate.  The gang must now adapt to a lifestyle which is alien to them and eventually fulfill their destiny in order to save the Great Valley.  In the process, we will learn details about Chomper's, Ruby's, and Red Claw's histories and how they tie in to one another.  It will be a dark tale of death, despair, revenge, redemption, and acceptance.

I hope to post a chapter roughly every week, although this schedule may vary depending on my work schedule.  I should post a revised chapter on fanfiction.net about a week after I have posted it on the GOF, in order to allow me to take your feedback into account.

I would like to give a special thanks to Ducky123, whose initiative in starting a roleplay on the basis of this idea finally motivated me to start this fanfic.

I hope that you enjoy and remember that feedback is welcome and appreciated

Key:
Sounds
Thoughts
Dreams

Prologue

It is an indisputable fact that everyone changes throughout their lives.  An adult is not the same person that they were during their childhood years.  A veteran is not the same person that they were before they went off to war.  A butterfly is not the same as the larva it originated from.  It is only through our own continuity of experience that we can call ourselves the same person from day to day.  This begs the question: are there some events that can push the continuity of experience to its breaking point?  If such an event were to occur then who would we become?

With the nightly fall of the bright circle, darkness had descended upon the mysterious beyond.  Where vibrant green plants and translucent blue waters had greeted the sunlight only hours before, now only darkness and obscure shadows remained.  The sights of the land being obscured, and the calls of the inhabitants having gone silent, for the duration of the formidable night.  Only the calls of the buzzers and the light of the stars would greet the vigilant observer.

In this darkness, a pair of yellow eyes gazed at the beautifully desolate scene.  The eyes belonged to a male rainbowface, whose eyes hinted of unusual knowledge and careful observation.  He took in the sights and sounds that would have been lost to the inhabitants of the land in which he now found himself.  He observed that the winds have shifted to the north, ensuring that his scent would be safely directed to the bluffs directly behind him and not to the open lands to the south.  He observed that the stars are especially clear this night.  From this he could easily deduce that the wet season was about to end.  He even observed that the calls of the buzzers in the region are changing; indicating that the time of breeding for them was going to soon be at an end.

He was not observant enough, however, to notice the female rainbowface who was standing right behind him.

"Are you enjoying yourself, Chronos?"

Chronos gave a startled yelp and jumped in surprise.  "Why did you do that Logos?"  He asked indignantly, "I was making very careful observations, which you have interrupted!"

Logos walked out of the shadows and Chronos could see that she had a sarcastic smirk upon her face.  "Apparently not careful enough to see me standing right behind you."  She retorted, "Although I do suppose that your attention should be focused on the stars tonight."

Both of the rainbowfaces looked contemplatively at the night sky.

"Do you think that it will fall this time?"  Chronos asked, "The rock shower will occur soon and the legends say that the stone of fate would one day fall with the long travelling rocks."

"I don't suppose anyone knows." Logos replied, "But if it is to happen during this cycle then it should be occurring soon."

"...And we should be prepared." Chronos finished, "Because if the tales are true about the stone..."

"We will cross that juncture when we get to it.  If the tales of the stone are entirely true, then we have a much bigger problem than crackpot flyers and inquisitive children."  She affirmed, "If they are not true or if the stone does not fall, however, then this will be a concern of our replacements.  That is, unless you expect to be alive to see the next shower of these rocks in several hundred cycles."

"I definitely won't survive that long if you keep on surprising me like that." Chronos replied playfully, before frowning and taking on a more serious expression.  "I suppose that we can only hope that either we reach it first or that the ones who find it are wise beyond their years.  Otherwise the consequences will be dire."

Logos nodded and then stated: "It is my turn to take over watching the skies.  Go ahead and get some rest Chronos."  She then muttered to herself, "I have a feeling that we will both need it."

As the rainbowfaces switch roles in order to maintain the vigilant watch over the skies, the rest of the mysterious beyond rested peacefully in the all-encompassing blanket of darkness.

None of its inhabitants could imagine that the morrow would bring changes which would one day affect them all.

I absolutely love this program.  It is a spaceflight simulator for Windows, Mac, and Linux.  However, it is much more than that.  Not only does it allow you to build your own spacecraft, but it also allows you to pilot your creations.  It also packs quite the challenge in that you have to carefully plan your trajectory in order to enter a stable orbit, perform a deorbital burn, and to safely land.  It is still in alpha and will be for quite some time, but even so it is one of the most entertaining and educational games I have played in quite some time.

https://kerbalspaceprogram.com/

Has anyone else played this game?  If not and it sounds interesting to you, it does have a demo version which provides for the spaceflight and rocket-builder modes.

I was wondering if anyone else has played this rather simple, yet fun, game?  It has a rather simple interface where the player interacts with the environment using the mouse in a standard dungeon-crawl type game design.  In fact, the enemies do not even move from their placement in the randomly-generated dungeons, adding to the simplicity of the gameplay.  What sets the game apart, however, is the resource management aspect of the game.  In order to regain mana or health the player has to explore unexplored areas of the dungeon which, since the dungeon in finite, is in limited supply.  As a result, the player must carefully pick his battles, save up unexplored areas for eventual health and mana renewal, and conserve their magical items.  All in all, I find it to be a rather fun game that takes less than about 15 minutes to play for each dungeon.

It comes in a freeware version and a full version.  Both versions can be found here: http://www.desktopdungeons.net/

Being the nerd that I am, I am quite fond of the xkcd comic.  Today, in the what-if section of the website the Land Before Time sequels were given a shout-out.  The reference to the Land Before Time is towards the bottom of the answer provided at this link:

http://what-if.xkcd.com/65/

I was surprised not to see a topic on this amazing series of novels.  Although I am not a fan of the prequels written by his son, I find that the novels written by Frank Herbert contain some of the best representations of political intrigue, conspiracy, and the eternal conflict between the forces promoting progress and stagnation that I have ever read.  The first novel was certainly an eye-opener for me when I read it during my early teens.

Neither the 1984 film or the SyFy television miniseries did the source material justice, although they are both interesting works in their own right.  In fact, it was the surreal nature of the David Lynch film that inspired me to read the book in the first place.

I was wondering if anyone else was a fan of the novel or its various incarnations in film, television, or video games?

Hello everyone!  

I enjoyed the original Land Before Time film as a child and decided to google it when I was in a nostalgic mood about nine months ago.  The Gang of Five forum was one of the first search items and, out of curiosity, I decided to see what it had to offer.  After following this forum for the better part of a year, I have observed that it has a very friendly, diverse, and vibrant community - one that I would very much like to contribute to.  

I look forward to participating in this forum and getting to know all of you!