The Great Valley hadn't always been that amazing community between all sorts of species coexisting and working together in harmony. Long long ago, there was a time where the valley was quite different from how it was now. Granted, it was just as much of a paradise back then but it was every herd for itself. Each herd solved things their own way and stuck to themselves. Dinosaurs coexisted in relative peace that was founded on mutual ignorance. However, that was about to change when a dramatic catastrophy struck the Valley many many years ago...

*

Panicked screams filled the air as dinosaurs of all sort of kinds tried to flee. Roars filled with rage echoed across the valley. A sharptooth was raging in their beautiful valley but that wasn't the worst. It wasn't just any sharptooth but a particularly large and merciless one, killing any dinosaur that got too close. Panic and desperation spread through the whole valley, no herd daring to take on the humongous beast, everyone old and young running for their lives.

The sharptooth was raging without an end in sight and more and more fell to the restless fury. All hope seemed lost. Would they have to abandon their paradise now that the predator claimed it for itself?

Suddenly, a tall longneck rushed in, a stranger nobody had ever seen in these lands. He entered in a mad sprint, catching the beast off guard as he rammed it, skidding to a halt. What followed was an epic battle noone had ever seen anything like. Longneck and sharptooth preyed upon each other as they circled each other, exchanging occasional blows but they were absolutely evenly matched as opponents.

The battle raged on for hours, neither being able to land a critical hit, the longneck still unscathed, manifestation of his strength, vigor and skill. That wasn't until the predator suddenly saw an opening in the longneck's defense, rushing in, claws raised, striking its opponent all across face and neck, just barely missing the eye. Blood gushed out of the injury though that was hardly a scratch on such a humongous dinosaur. Momentarily, the brave longneck seemed to falter, the sharptooth losing his guard, believing to have achieved a victory here when he pushed the longneck to the ground. However, he had forgotten one tiny detail.

The longneck was an expert at using his tail to do the most impossible deeds. Like a snake, the flexible and strong tail laced up around its leg, tripping the sharptooth with a slight push towards the nearby cliff. The predator made an unfortunate landing which sent it closer and closer to the edge until, with a terrified roar, it fell down hundreds of meters to its doom.

Celebrations and cheers erupted among the onlookers but the longneck had disappeared as fast as it had entered the fight so recklessly.

For the days and weeks to come, this mysterious longneck who had bested the terrifying sharptooth was the main topic of talk, even dinosaurs of different kinds occasionally engaging in discussions. It seemed like life was slowly returning back to normal except for the selected few who had been unlucky to lose a loved one during the incident. However, that wasn’t quite true.

One day, when most dinosaurs were minding their own business without much of a thought as usual, suddenly an earthshake struck the valley. It was a tremendous earthshake, downing trees and displacing a lot of rock, causing widespread destruction, however, that wasn’t the full extent of the events that day. Just when the earthshake seemed to be over, suddenly, in a remote area of the valley closer to the outskirts, a crack opened up, hot, steaming rock shooting skywards. Soon, it reached several hundreds of meters in height and the shape of the rock was an exact copy of the brave longneck who had defended them so bravely.

Within moments, the news spread and by the time the Bright Circle prepared to set behind the horizon, almost every inhabitant of the legendary valley had gathered at the site. The appearance of this rock, clearly, was a sign, a message and a warning. Most residents understood.

When the Bright Circle rose the next day, it rose over a very different Great Valley. It rose over a Valley where herds started working together, standing up to themselves and thinking of themselves and their home before anything else, supporting each other and paying their respects to the brave longneck who had saved their beautiful home that day.

It was from this day on, that the Valley grew a reputation that spread to the edges of the Mysterious Beyond; it was from this day on that sharpteeth stopped invading the valley altogether for there was nothing to gain against a new, unified valley.

~~~~~~

This is my entry for the May prompt which I just spontaneously came up with It's short but I felt like that short retelling of the events we see in the sixth movie meets the prompt perfectly, doesn't it? 

Hope you like it 

The Legend of Sucky

On a warm evening in the Great Valley, a couple of dinosaur children had gathered at their favourite story-telling place. It was a little secluded from the rest of the valley, rocks surrounding a medium-sized area that was about wide enough to hold a family of longnecks but not much more than that. The ground was cracked at some places, heat causing the air to swirl above them as the hot interior of planet earth was exposed here. The red, fiery glow gave the stories they told each other a completely different touch and, moreover, it helped keeping them warm on colder days. Today, however, it was still very warm despite the fact that the Bright Circle had already left the Valley. Dawn was descending more and more over the children as one of them began to announce.

“Hi everybody, thanks for coming again!” Littlefoot exclaimed as he stood in front of everyone else, one of the bigger cracks separating them from his tall, longnecked form. In front of him, his friends Cera, Ducky, Petrie, Chomper and Ruby had gathered, Spike supposedly catching up with them soon as he was still having his dinner. Besides his usual bunch of friends, Cera’s cousins, Dinah and Dana, were gathered as well, looking eagerly at the longneck.

“Let’s hear another wonderful story tonight, shall we?” Littlefoot proclaimed happily as his gaze wandered through the group.

“Whose turn it is?” Petrie piped up from his perch on Cera’s hornfrill.

“Not mine, it was my turn last time!” Cera immediately fired back.

“Ducky, it’s Ducky’s turn!” Chomper remembered as his excitement rose; Ducky would always tell interesting stories after all quite unlike the ones Cera was often sharing with them.

“Ducky, have you prepared a story then?” Littlefoot questioned, his gaze wandering over to the swimmer.

“Of course I did, yep yep yep,” Ducky chuckled in response; she loved telling stories after all.

“What kind of story?” Dana piped up curiously.

“Yeah, is it a scary story, is it?” Dinah chimed in.

“You always cry during those,” Cera deadpanned but the twins chose to ignore her.

“It doesn’t matter what kind of story it is as long as it is a good story,” Ruby elaborated with a slight chuckle.

“Indeed, Ruby,” Littlefoot nodded in agreement. “Well, Ducky, the audience is all yours, let’s swap places.”

“Yep yep yep!” Ducky tweeted as she got up from her spot, hopping across the crack in the ground while Littlefoot took a seat next to Cera.

“Oh, before I begin, should we wait for Spiky, should we?”

“He probably knows the story as well, considering you probably heard it from your mother,” Littlefoot reasoned. “...so it should be fine to start.”

“It his business if he rather eat than hear story. Me wanna hear story right here right now,” Petrie argued, crossing his wings in front of him indignantly.

“Okay then, everybody listen please,” Ducky requested which put an end to the discussion Dinah and Dana were having among themselves about what kind of story it might be this time. “The story I will tell you is a bit of a sad one but I hope that it will teach you a lesson, yep yep yep. It is the story of Sucky the swimmer…the legendary swimmer child who sucked at everything she did…”


Many years ago:

“Go away, you suck!”

The swimmer child looked up at her perpetrator sadly. She was used to being pushed around yet it never ceased to hurt being turned down by the fellow children in her herd.

“I am Sucky because I suck suck suck…” With a sigh, she freed herself from the puddle of muddy water she had been dumped into and began to walk away from the bully as she was told, aiming for the nearby stream to wash the dirt off her skin which was a dull, grey-ish colour, quite as opposed to the green-ish, brown-ish or even yellow-ish hues most of the swimmers in her herd had. In a way, it reflected on most of her life so far...



“So let me get this straight… You are telling us a story about some weird swimmer?! Can I just go to sleep?”

“Cera, quit complaining. I didn’t want to hear your oh so glorious threehorn tale either,” Littlefoot retorted quickly. Even if the synopsis of Ducky’s story seemed a little dubious and boring, he was sure to be proven wrong eventually. As he had learned from his grandfather, many stories which didn’t start promising turned out to be the best ones.

“Fine whatever…” Cera sighed, resigning. Putting up a fight was not how she wanted to end the day either.

“Go on, Ducky, me still listen,” Petrie encouraged the swimmer, who was momentarily taken aback by the early interruption. Apparently, that did well as the kind-hearted swimmer raised her voice again.

“Saddened by the assault, Sucky walked away, reflecting on how she came to be…”



It all began even before her hatchday. Sucky’s egg had been a lonely one. Nobody knew who it belonged to; all they knew being that an egg had been laid into an abandoned nest. The more dutiful and caring members of her herd would occasionally tend to the egg but, with nobody really taking care, the egg had been cold for a long time.

Sucky had hatched regardless of the neglect, however it was much later - many weeks, after the other eggs that she finally saw the light of the Bright Circle first hand. Without a mother or a father to raise her, Sucky had spent her early childhood alone, only the deputies of the herd or the less selfish occasionally bringing her food and teaching her the bare necessities that a baby swimmer needed to be taught.

Both physical and mental neglect lead to a number of issues that essentially defined the kind of swimmer Sucky was destined to become - nothing but a failure.

To begin with, Sucky hadn’t been growing very well, always looking weakly and sick. Many illnesses would haunt her constantly, threatening her life several times. She also couldn’t walk the way normal swimmers did which earned her a lot of mocking not only from the children but from her elders as well. Many attempts at annihilating that tick of hers, whether using appeal or force, had failed horribly and, eventually, everyone came to the conclusion that it’d be hopeless. However, since nobody had the heart to send the poor child away, she continued to be tolerated despite the fact that she’d never be able to run from a predator fast enough.

“Ack!” Before the hapless swimmer knew what was happening, she fell flat on her face, having stumbled upon a vine on the ground. It was just another perk of being her that she fell… a lot. No day passed without injuring herself in one way or another, mostly because she stumbled upon her own feet during her weird walk cycle.

“I am Sucky because I suck suck suck.” Flinching as the pain truly began to hit, she struggled back to her feet, sighing. Back when she was younger she would often cry but, after one too many disappointments, she eventually learned that nobody would come to help either way.

Aside from her walking, her eye-sight was also badly affected. On top of her eyes not coordinating well, her field of vision was a lot smaller than that of a normal swimmer which many other children often made use of when sneaking up on her unbeknownst to Sucky.



The poor hadrosaur’s mind also hadn’t developed quite as well as to be expected from someone her age which resulted in her being labelled as a stupid no-brainer who couldn’t even understand the simplest of complex things.
 
Despite all the hardship life was constantly throwing at her, however, Sucky remained stubborn, surviving one close call after the next one until she had reached the age of eight. It was just on a normal day – terrible as usual, when things decided to go from worse to worst for not only her cursed self but for her own herd as well…
 
 
 
“Poor Sucky, she not having it easy…” Petrie commented absent-mindedly which drew in Ducky’s attention.
 
“Well, yeah. That is nothing compared to the bad luck streak we were once having. Do you all remember?”
 
“Not at all.”
 
“What happened?” Dinah and Dana, despite being very much involved in those past incidents, had been too young to recall any of the events but somewhere deep down they knew it must have involved them in some way or another.
 
“You silly airheads, don’t you remember falling off Saurus Rock?!” Cera complained with a half-hearted sigh.
 
“Oh, Grandpa Topsy tell us about it once, ëmember Dinah?”
 
“Uh-huh!”
 
“Either way,” Littlefoot made his slowly deepening voice known to everyone present. “What happened? I think you were about to get to an important part?”
 
“Yeah, you say it sad story so something bad bound to happen at some point…” Petrie added to Littlefoot’s point.
 
“Well, worse than the load of dung Sucky is always going through… oh geez…” Cera mumbled to herself but nobody except for the twins paid her any attention.
 
“Indeed, something terrible terrible happened to Sucky and her herd,” Ducky confirmed to settle the commotion in the listener’s ranks. In a mysterious tone, the swimmer carried on the tale.
 
“What I am about to tell you about really happened as you guys (Ducky pointed at Littlefoot, Cera and Petrie) can tell first hand, yep yep yep…”
 
 

It seemed like a perfectly normal to Sucky. After somehow ending up as the main target of a swarm of blood sucking insects, the poor swimmer sighed as she mindlessly drifted in the calm waters of the pond her herd was residing at for a few days to recover strength. Occasionally scratching parts of herself which, every so often, caused her to accidently submerge, Sucky spend the afternoon doing nothing in particular just as she always did. Nobody would mind her – maybe except for the bullies who were sometimes still picking on her, so she was simply bored and lonely as always, her eyes following the occasional cloud drifting past her.
 
It would have been a normal day indeed but suddenly Sucky noticed that something was off. Scratching her head, pondering what it might be (which obviously didn’t lead to any formidable results), the feeling suddenly turned into a nightmare of leaf and meateater alike…
 
“Earthshake!”
 
Before Sucky knew what was going on, the world was spinning and tumbling around her, the calm waters turning into a raging madness within the blink of an eye as the ground beneath her began to move hastily.
 
“E-earthshake?!” Sucky had been witness to a few smaller rumbles of the earth but they had been like a funny game of trying not to trip. This event, however, was a completely different level of madness. Panicking, constantly being submerged by the huge waves forming despite the small size of the pond, Sucky paddled with all her might, reaching the shore only moments before her strength left her completely.
 
“I am *pant* Sucky *pant* because I *pant* suck suck *pant* suck…” she managed to squeeze out her catchphrase, seemingly ignoring the imminent danger for a moment. Around her, chaos had befallen the herd, dinosaurs of all ages running in all possible directions at once but there was no escape. Sucky tried to get further away from the water pushing wave after wave against her hide but gaining her footing was simply impossible. The ground was moving up and down as if someone below her feet was shaking earth itself.
 
Suddenly, the intensity of the earthshake increased by another few magnitudes, the whole ground around Sucky liquefying and moving in waves like water, throwing the hapless swimmer back and forth. Sucky screamed at the top of her lungs as her very life was now on the line. As she screamed, the earth split in half a mere stone’s throw in front of her, quickly growing, further cracks appearing out of nowhere closer and closer to Sucky. In spite of the pain she was in and in spite of the still rocking ground, the swimmer somehow managed to get onto her feet, half crawling, half running and half falling away from the growing abyss. More and more land submerged behind her, her panicked screams growing louder and louder as she tried to scramble away. At this rate, she would be sucked into the collapsing land mass in no time!
 
Abruptly, without warning, the ground below her rocketed skywards, the hapless youngling clinging at the rock for her very life. Would this be her end?
 
 

“Sorry to interrupt Ducky, but…” It was Chomper who had decided to speak up just as the climax of the action was descending upon the listeners of Ducky’s story,
 
“What is it?” Ducky wondered, smiling at the little biter.
 
“If this happened during the infamous earthshake that split the land, it means Sucky probably wasn’t much older than you at the time!”
 
“Ducky, was she a member of your old herd?” Littlefoot interrogated, also curious to see if there was any connection between Sucky and his friend.
 
“Maybe she even know Sucky?” Petrie hypothesized, scratching his neck.
 
“I did not know her but Sucky was indeed a member of the herd. Mommy made sure that I never got anywhere around her though…” Ducky explained which earned her some excited squeals from the twins.
 
“Cool cool!” Dinah tweeted.
 
What happen to her then? She get any more lucky than us during earthshake?” Petrie asked, stepping forward.
 
“Well… let me tell you the rest of the tale, yep yep yep!”
 

 
Just when it seemed like the piece of rock would fall over into the abyss, the earthshake suddenly stopped. Sucky remained lying where she was, covered in countless bruises and bleeding cuts. Her whole body was exhausted to the limits and tiredness descended upon the child quicker than dawn upon the battered land that used to be a hospitable place. Before she knew it, Sucky had fallen asleep on the spot, not even tempted to move to a safer place, nightmares of falling rocks and splitting lands haunting her sleep.
 
When Sucky awoke at the first ray of the Bright Circle, it took her a moment to realize what had transpired the other day. The sudden shock of seeing the devastated area quickly wearing off, Sucky looked around herself from her vantage point as best as her eyes allowed her to. What she saw shocked the girl. Corpses littered the ground and everything was broken and crooked and, above all, she found herself dangerously close to the gaping hole in the landscape.
 
“Yikes!” she squeaked, quickly making her way down from the piece of land that got raised just before the earthshake ended. No living creature was to be seen, only corpses of swimmers and some other dinosaurs rotting away here and there. It was then that Sucky made a heartbreaking realization.
 
She was all alone.
 
Being all alone was something completely different than being an outcast among others. At least there were other dinosaurs to talk to, observe or just hang around them. At least they always lead her to food and water… at least they protected her. Now she was on her own, a kid with many disabilities trying to survive in the wilderness. Whether her herd abandoned her or whether she was the only survivor (what a change from her misfortune that would have been!) didn’t matter at this point. With slow, staggering steps, the child set foot on the cracked ground, no idea where to go or what to do, only knowing that she couldn’t stay where she was.
 
“I am Sucky because I suck suck suck…” Mumbling her catchphrase to herself, she began wandering away from the scene, away from the crack in the land and away from her old life.

Never to be seen again.



Some choked sobs could be heard from the corner the twins resided at as the swimmer concluded her tale.

"Poor poor Sucky!"

"So sad!"

"Oh, get a grip, will ya?" Cera sighed as she set sight upon the sobbing twins.

"Quite a tragic tale indeed," Littlefoot admitted, able to relate to the hapless swimmer's predicament as he had been there before in the past. A lone child with disabilities in the Beyond was likely a goner.

"Did anyone ever hear about her again?" Chomper wondered, Ruby looking at Ducky expectantly as well.

"No no no, I have not," Ducky admitted. "Many from that herd did not make it and my mommy and I got separated from the rest and each other as well..."

"Does this tale have any hidden lesson, a hidden lesson it has?" Ruby wondered since usually these tales had to be read metaphorically as well.

"I am not entirely sure," the swimmer replied honestly. "Sucky was simply cursed with bad luck but she never stopped trying... I guess?"

"Well, maybe she have lots of adventures like we did?" Petrie suggested .

"I'm sure she did," Littlefoot assured, smiling. Glancing over at the twins yawning soundly he added mirthfully. "Well, it's getting late so let's go back home, shall we?"

"Yeah," Cera grunted, shooting a glance over at the twins. "Just for the record, you're walking yourselves home, got that?"

The twins nodded somewhat drowsily which earned them a few chuckles from the assembled dinosaurs.

"Yep, yep, yep, I need to find Spiky anyway since he probably dozed-ed off while eating," Ducky pointed out, another round of chuckles going through the group.

"Geez, will he ever change?" Cera sighed, rolling her eyes.

"I could scare him to teach him a lesson," Chomper added with a toothy grin, however his excitement faded when Ruby reprimanded him.

"No, enough adventures for today because today is already over!"

"Well," Ducky spoke up in order to conclude the storytelling night. "We may not know what adventures Sucky may have had but I think it would be fun guessing, yes it would! But I think I need... to go now, yep yep... yep."

"Even Petrie tired," the flyer admitted, chuckling slightly when Ducky couldn't suppress yawning as she spoke.

"Let's discuss this tomorrow, let's all head for home now!" Littlefoot announced, to which none of his friends objected. After wishing each other a good night, they separated, going home. And legend says, some even dreamed about the adventures of Sucky the unlucky swimmer that night.

-----

well, what should I say...

I knew I would write about Sucky one day ever since it became a running gag on the discord server xD Quite naturally, this gives the story a touch of crackfic but believe me when I say that this is a serious story and not a crackfic

With this story, I wanted to get her backstory covered and it just so happened that, by embedding it into a story telling evening of our favourite dinosaurs, I could meet the March prompt as well  

So yes, this is not the last you've heart of Sucky

Please let me know what you think, I have no clue how it's going to be received (and I do realize the writing style may be lacking a bit here and there due to the strong focus on either narration or dialogue. Wrote most of this being tired and also proofread this being sleepy so bear with me )

The Final Adventure

Life in the Great Valley was truly great. Food and water more than you could ever drink or gobble up, a wall protecting the valley from sharpteeth and harsh weather, a (mostly) harmonious coexistence of many many species of dinosaurs. However, Grandpa Longneck couldn’t brighten up on the prospect of how peaceful their home truly was.

Not in times like these anyway.

On the bright side of things, their grandson was prospering in his years of youth - now a young teenage longneck about two thirds his height, growing and learning in an exceptional way. Grandpa was very proud of the grandson his daughter left him with and he certainly made their last years here in the valley an adventure through and through.

However that was an adventure about to find an unhappy end.

Grandpa sighed heavily as he feasted on a few treestars without any appetite whatsoever. Littlefoot hadn’t been around much in recent weeks, having taken on a few duties around the valley every now and then and starting some training with Bron who happened to be visiting with his herd at the time though they would leave very soon. And whenever he wasn’t busy he would just be hanging out with the usual bunch of friends, sometimes late into the night. Occasionally, they would just sleep together on their own wherever their games and explorations led them. Though, as Grandpa reflected, regarding the current situation, that was probably a good thing. It would make things so much easier if what he feared to happen would turn out to be reality.

Which it would, inevitably.

Oh Littlefoot…

He hadn’t noticed the signs and Grandpa still wasn’t sure if he should let him in on what was going on or not. Grandma and him had decided to label it as a sign of her high age that Grandma hadn’t been as agile as she used to be, staying at home and not getting up for days. He would bring her food and water each day but little did she eat of it. There were no immediate signs of sickness but both of them knew that the signs weren’t lying.

“Hey Longneck, what are you doing?!”

The old longneck had been so lost in thought that he didn’t notice Topps approaching him, giving him an awkward gawk as Grandpa seemed to be frozen in the midst of eating. He sighed heavily.

“Topps, old friend... “

“Something the matter, longneck? You look troubled,” Topps spoke as he surveyed his friend with concern. “Also, you’ve been absent from the recent meeting!”

“Time is slowly running out, my friend…” the old dinosaur mumbled cryptically, Topps taking a while before he caught the meaning of this.

“I told you long ago to step down and enjoy your last years peacefully, longneck, but you wouldn’t listen,” Topps retorted though there was no force behind his words, merely a slight tease if anything. The time they were considering themselves as opponents in the Rock Circle had long since passed and while their opinions still varied a lot, both had learned to listen to each other and keep disagreements civil if they occurred.

“Well, it indeed looks like it is my time to step down,” Grandpa replied, regret vibrating in his every word. “Grandma is unwell and I feel it is not her old bones that keep her down this time...”

“Haven’t you consulted the representative for sicknesses yet?” Topps wondered. In order to prevent the spread of diseases if they occurred and in order to keep the more common healing herbs and plant in stock for whenever they were needed, they had appointed a representative - Ducky’s mother, a while ago. If Grandma was feeling ill as the old longneck reported, surely he’d have told her?

“No, I haven’t. I have seen this sickness many times in my life. There is no cure. The signs are too obvious to ignore yet… yet I am trying to think - no, hoping that I am wrong…”

Topps’ concern grew by a few magnitudes as he saw his old pal, the most composed dinosaur he had gotten to know, who would keep his head even in the face of danger and despair when he had long since lost his cool, slowly decompose in front of him as tears streamed down his face.

“Is… are you sure about this?” Topps asked with a tactful voice like he rarely used it. “Also… d-do you know if it’s contagious? If it is, you... need to report it.”

“There is no worry about this aspect, Topps,” Grandpa reassured and explained as best as he could. “When a longneck gets too old, their heart… it is starting to fail.”

“Oh…” Topps had a blank expression. “And you-you believe it is…that her circle is about to end? Are you sure there’s not a thing you could do?!”

“The Circle of Life only runs so long, old friend,” the old longneck sighed. “I am grateful that it gives both of us the chance to prepare for the inevitable.”

“S… sorry about that…” Topps spoke as tactful as he could muster, regret evident in his expression. Despite all the misgiving he sometimes still had towards longnecks, they were a little bit like part of an extended family. “I-if you ever need me for anything, longneck, just consult me. That…” he sighed heavily. “It’s the least I can offer… and it goes for Tria as well.”

“Thank you for the offer, Topps, but, at this point, I do not think I am ever going to need your help again…” A single tear left the old dinosaur’s eyes as his gaze wandered to a point far in the distance, far beyond the walls of the valley.

“Wait, what do you mean?” Those gruff words slipped from his mind before he knew it. Just what was the old fool implying? Topps noticed his faraway gaze that didn’t seem as if he was still fully present in this world and he caught the implementation of it rather quickly to his horror and shock.

“Wait a second, longneck, you-you’re not going…”

“I am…” Grandpa replied with a sad, tearful smile.

“B-but that’s nonsense!” The outrage was clear in the elder threehorn’s voice but how could he understand?

“Topps, you have not lived nearly as long and you did not spent nearly as much time with your mate as I did,” Grandpa explained in a grave voice. “You see, our journey had always been the same and same it will stay for better… or for worse.”

“A-are you absolutely sure about this? What about your grandson?!” Topps inquired. It wasn’t in his nature to care much for other’s well-being but did the old longneck really think things through?

“He is currently unaware of Grandma’s true sickness,” Grandpa Longneck explained in a tired voice. “And, to be honest with you, old friend, I’d rather have him learn about it from someone else than me. He would not allow us to go on our final adventure so we tried to be secretive as of late. I’m sure you understand… Topps.”

“I see. So who shall be the unlucky dinosaur to teach him about it?” Topps anticipated the answer already but part of his mind was hoping the old fool would choose someone more tactful than him.

“Well… Topps, would you? It is all I could ask of you at this point…”

The threehorn shortly considered his options, however he didn’t really need to think about his decision, not really anyway.

“Go on your last adventure, longneck, and worry not. This place, the valley, our community, even me and my very own daughter… all wouldn’t be what and who they are today if it weren’t for you. I will never forget that you saved my foolhardy head and Cera as well. Littlefoot is in good hands and I’m sure he’ll soon be stepping up to be just as great a longneck as you and Grandma taught him to become.” A single tear left the old threehorn’s eye as he finished his emotional speech.

“That is one less weight for my old bones to carry around,” Grandpa responded gratefully, bowing slightly to the threehorn in mutual respect.

“Littlefoot will be sleeping over at Bron’s so your duty won’t be before tomorrow, Topps.”

“That’s good to know,” the threehorn spoke quietly to himself, shifting around uncomfortably for he knew what was coming now. “So… I guess it is farewell then?”

“Old friend, my best regards to you and your family, may the Bright Circle continue to shine bright upon us and our beautiful valley. It is now in your guidance. Prepare my grandson so the valley will have another great and passionate leader to look up to once your time has come…” A single sob escaped the usually well-composed elder. “Thanks… for everything, Topps…”

“May the Bright Circle shine bright upon you wherever... your journey will lead you…” Topps’ composure was also breaking at this point. With sad eyes, the old threehorn watched as Grandpa Longneck, formerly his greatest fiend and now his most loyal friend, slowly turned away, trotting back towards his nest to prepare for their departure. It was only when the old longneck had long since disappeared from view that Topps finally turned around to rejoin his family, his mind blank.

*

“Are you ready, dear?”

“As ready as you are.”

The Night Circle was just beginning to ascend onto the night sky, many small, sparkling lights decorating it with grace; they would be their guardians on this trek to their final destination.

The old female groaned and panted heavily as her mate helped her to her feet one last time, supporting her with his massive body for both knew that whenever this old body fell, it would be to never rise again. The journey to the outskirts of the valley would be very demanding but Grandma knew that a greater world was awaiting her. Soon, all suffering would be all over and her long life, full of misery, joy and everything inbetween, would eventually find its conclusion at his comforting side.



It took the two old longnecks several hours to get clear of the valley. Finally, as dawn slowly engulfed the lands, Grandma Longneck fell. They had reached the top of a mountain not far from the valley and it would only be moments before the Bright Circle would once again show itself to introduce another day.

“I always knew it would be undying love between us…” the old female whispered with the faintest of a smile as her eyes caught a last glimpse of her mate.

Grandpa Longneck nuzzled her just as loving as always and maybe a bit more than that.

“And I always knew that we would never be apart…”

As the first rays of the Bright Circle illuminated their faces, the old mates put their necks next to each other, watching this sunrise together. Grandma never knew when her eyes shut down for her eternal sleep and Grandpa never knew how long it’d be before sharpteeth would find them but one thing he did know; that they would meet again at the other side for this was just the beginning of a new circle of life. Wherever it’d be, he’d join her on their next adventure. With that knowledge on his mind, he finally allowed himself to sleep… eternally.

**********

Well, I'm not quite sure what to put into my author's note this time. I started writing this in late February but then took a break. It was only today that I finished the story in a 90 minute sitting. While I didn't follow my original concept today, I feel I was just in the right mood  - when the words are simply flowing and the good stylistic patterns just evolve without much of a thought whatsoever. I am not quite sure about the effect and wording of some paragraphs but I doubt I'd find much fault with it if I waited another three days so I just uploaded this as soon as it was done

The idea probably evolved in early February. I was brainstorming ideas while in the car on my way home from school and this was what I felt most inspired to write. The relationship of Grandpa and Grandma is something very special and it was a delight to shine some light on their undying love

The focus on the relationship between Topps and Grandpa seems to be taking the focus away from the main theme of this short story but, as I cut some of the planned scenes today, it just felt right to extend it a little. I hope that does not bother anyone. From a proffessional writer's perspective... probably not smart but it feels right and I love how it evolved so I guess it's fine?

Feel free to let me know what you think about this short story and feel even more free to correct me if you feel something's off.

Hey guys!

I saw this thing on DeviantArt and did it with my DeviantArt username. Basically, you pick a song foor every letter in your name and share it  

Here's mine
Here's mine from DeviantArt. Might do one for my GoF name as well

I think this is a fun way to share music with others

[link to discussion thread]

"Could they just stop fighting?! It's giving me a headache..."

With little amusement, the crested longneck watched how a couple of children argued over who was allowed to eat from the little food that was still left on the trees of the small oasis she had discovered the other day. How did she even get into this mess in the first place when all she wanted was being left alone trying to find her mother she never got to know... or her siblings for that matter if they were still alive?

It had all started a while back in the middle of a dead forest - just another victim of the drought that seemed to kill everything, dinosaur and plant alike, that it could get its grasp on. Lizzie couldn't remember when she'd last seen any Skywater falling but it must have been several cycles of the Night Circle, if not more...

Here in the forest, the girl resided. She was a yellow-ish colour which leaned more towards a brown-ish yellow towards her back. Lazily, she lay on the dry ground in the little shade that the barren tree trunks offered her, her features giving the outsider a weakly impression. The drought had killed most of the food, forcing her to go hungry most of the time. Accordingly, she was very thin and small for her age. A yawn slipped from her lips - like many nights before, she had not gotten any sleep at all, the increasing day light finally making her drowsy and tired.

Only at night she was truly alone with her thoughts, worries and grief. The Longneck would often dream of the time when everything was good, when she still had a family, before her dad changed to become a violent and heartless dinosaur, before her siblings started dying one after one... before the drought started when she was still a happy hatchling with brothers and sisters to play with... before her dad left her to die when she could not keep on walking... It was only through the efforts of a small herd of Longnecks that she was still alive though she was not to stay with them. So she kept on wandering around with no distinct destination, which led her to the dead forest eventually.

In her dreams, everything was good - it was the only time she could feel something akin to joy and happiness, although it was a fake feeling. She would also look into the sky with its many shining lights which seemed to spend some comfort at times but, just as often, she would quietly weep to herself, desperately hoping the nightmare would finally end. Life as an orphan was horrible. So horrible in fact that Lizzie had long since lost any appreciation for life. Whether she lived or not... it didn't really matter. How bad were the odds of her finding her lost family members? How were the odds of her father returning to his old self? He had left her behind like a pile of dung - unneccessary thing he had called her and just kept on walking without her as if there had never been any relationship between father and daughter... Would she even want to see him again? However...

"Mommy... I miss you so much!"

A single tear slipped through the young girl's crystal blue eyes, hitting the dry, dusty earth beneath her, evaporating in an instant. Truth be told, Lizzie had never even met her mother because she had left her excentric father before her hatchday, yet it was her deepest heart wish to find her at last. She would often dream about the reunion, giving her life a direction again, something she could grasp on to keep on existing. Right now though, she had nothing...

Somebody please find me, pleaaase!"

More tears fell rapidly as her mind completely drifted off into dark territory, heavy sobs shaking the miserable girl as she was remembering her siblings whom she missed so dearly. Of her 4 siblings, 2 were left behind the same way she was when they couldn't keep up anymore and one running away from her lunatic father. Chances were they all died except for her brother who was still with her father when she was left behind.

Even though the child was on the best path to cry herself into sleep at last, she desperately tried to stay awake. Only yesterday, the region had been struck by a terrible earthshake and Lizzie had learned that those usually didn't come alone. It had been scary enough when she had been woken up by the fierce quake the other day and she did not want to repeat the experience... her instincts still strong enough to keep her alive, apparently. What if there would be another wave of water pouring onto the land as had happened the previous day? She had been lucky to be residing at a safe distance to the source of the wave...

Eventually though, her crying came to a stop as she reluctantly drifted into her usual mid-morning nap...

Give that old turtle some captions, will you?

thx? Petrie for making these!

thx? Petrie for making and showing me these and allowing me to upload them

[not sure if the pic is particularly caption-worthy but it's pretty ]

Here's a random thought about LBT 14 that just... popped up in my mind...

How does Ducky's mother keep laying those eggs despite not having a mate we know of?

I mean, we see a swimmer in LBT 2 and 5 that "could" be Ducky's father but there never was a consensus of us fans about that. And LBT 14 is quite a bit after the events of LBT 5... I wonder what Ducky would think of her mother mating with other swimmers who don't stick around to raise their children (oh, where are her other 100 siblings in that movie btw? )

Yeah, probably more of a less serious thread but I thought it'd be fun to speculate as well as have fun trying to imagine the kind of talk that Ducky would be having with her mother (Mommy, where do the eggs come from?)  

The Traitor?[/u]

Prologue:

“Fuck, we’re surrounded!”

Fearfully, the group of seven stood in a loose circle in the middle of the Mysterious Beyond, dry plains with no vegetation as far as one could see, rocky ground with numerous cracks seaming through the dreary landscape. They were juveniles in their teenage years, each of them belonging to a different species of dinosaur yet they were connected by an unbreakable bond of friendship. Though, as Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, Spike, Chomper and Ruby saw themselves surrounded by a group of at least two dozen of fastbiters with fearful eyes, their bond was now threatened like never before.

“Oh no no no!” Ducky, instinctively, retreated towards the center of the circle they formed, being rather defenseless in her nature as a Swimmer.

“We're trapped!” Cera shouted in alert, trying to take her role as strongest fighter of the group, pointing her horns towards the nearest Fastbiter. They weren’t quite as impressive as her dad’s but, nonetheless, ready to kick ass if it was necessary.

“Me feel bad about this…” Petrie spoke fearfully from atop Littlefoot who had positioned himself in a protective manner, covering a whole flank while Spike took the other with Cera and Chomper taking the remaining two, Ducky and Ruby staying closer to the center. The Longneck was ready to send any fastbiters flying with his mighty tail if they dared to attack him and his friends.

“I wouldn’t feel nearly as surrounded if we weren’t…” Ruby mentioned quietly, swallowing hard as she saw herself confronted with the sheer amount of predators eyeing her and her friends maliciously. Despite being the only one almost fully grown, she’d hardly stand a chance in a fight against a Fastbiter since her kind was made for escaping rather than engaging in combat. Yet, escaping was an unlikely option right now.

“D-don’t panic, guys. We need to keep a cool head now,” Littlefoot exclaimed though he was far from sounding confident.

“That is easy to say but very hard to do, yes it is…” Ducky said in deep concern. Turning to Spike, she added. “Spiky, you need to remember the lessons we were taught about fighting, okay?”

Spike had not quite grown as tall as the others in relation to his kind’s size due to being born a little later than them but he had already grown his back plates and the spiked tail that gave his species their name and reputation. In terms of size, he had reached about half the size of an adult, while his friends had already reached up to three quarters of their maximum size. Chomper had yet to grow a lot but, already, he beat the Fastbiters in length and height while Ruby was almost considered an adult by now. They were certainly strong enough for combat by now and had been trained by their parents as well as by Chomper himself who would sometimes allow them to practice but the sheer number of their opponents was overwhelming – even too much for their parents to handle. What should they do?

“How did they manage to surround us like that?!” Chomper shouted in a panicky manner, baring his teeth and claws towards the fastbiters that were facing him, receiving lots of growls in return.

The group had been on a journey when the predators suddenly appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. Despite Petrie’s air surveillance, they had managed to sneak in on them and surround them easily. Littlefoot soon figured out how.

“Their colours match the colour of the ground here, damn it!” The Fastbiters had all a yellow-ish, brown-ish colour pattern. It was simply impossible to see them from above as they only contrasted with the blue sky above them.

“No wonder me no see them…” Petrie muttered quietly though there was no time to blame himself.

“We shouldn’t have relied on Petrie only!” Cera grunted, though, under the given circumstances, even the hotheaded Threehorn knew that Petrie was not to blame here. “Littlefoot, what do we do?!”

“They not attack us yet…” Petrie mentioned, keeping a close eye on the situation while also preparing to take flight from his perch on the Longneck if a fight broke loose.

“Why though…” Littlefoot thought aloud. Indeed, the Fastbiters merely stood in a circle of about 2 Longneck lengths around them, doing little more than glaring at them with hateful expressions.

As the others tried to keep an eye on their enemies, Ruby had her eyes on Chomper. Despite long since exceeding her in size and strength, Ruby still stuck to her mission given by Chomper’s parents to keep watch over the purple Sharptooth as best as she could. Chomper appeared to be unusually nervous even when considering the current unfavorable situation.

“Chomper, don’t worry, we will fight them all together, all together we will fight,” Ruby addressed the friendly Sharptooth, trying to find uplifting words.

“The hell I worry!” Chomper yelled to the surprise of everybody present. “I can hear them talking… we’ve been fooled! This is a trap!”

“But I thought…” Littlefoot was crudely interrupted by the friendly Sharptooth, however.

“This is all my fault!!!”

*****

EvilDucky reporting in with a new super evil story that just popped up in my mind a few hours ago when reading one of my old posts in one of the threads the Gentle Sharptooth bumped.

I guess that little intro is going to leave you a little clueless. Don't worry, I wrote it this way quite on purpose The next chapter should make things a lot less confusing.

And, in case you're wondering, this is a response to the serious of the two prompts.

Hope you enjoyed the read so far, I'll try to get the next chapter in asap.