Link to the summation of the plot: http://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?topic=16174.msg473378#msg473378

OOC: And so it finally begins!  I have left this initial post open-ended enough that I think it should allow people to write this dialogue organically (I have not specified what the disagreement is about or who started it), but if any part of my initial post is too restrictive just let me know and I can modify it to allow people more freedom.  I will also be color-coding my text from here on out to clarify which character it comes from.

------------

Thunder.

It is amazing how something so common as a distant rainstorm could encapsulate without words a drama which would take hours to tell.  Though the rain was certainly hours away its clouds had already blotted the Bright Circle out of the sky, covering the valley’s towering vistas in gloomy shadows.  Despite its unwelcome intrusion into the ongoing meeting the loud thunderclap had done one welcome thing: it had for a moment silenced the recriminations among the dinosaurs enough to allow Ruby to finally think about the situation rationally.

She looked between her friends as if examining strange new creatures, a cross between their joyous past selves and the cantankerous adults of the valley who seldom agreed with anything.  Standing proudly in front of them all, his neck now standing a bit taller than when Ruby had first entered the valley, Littlefoot stared down the threehorn with unveiled annoyance.  Cera, for her part, glared at the longneck with horns bared as if he and the others had just insulted her entire family line.

Behind Littlefoot stood three others who were not strangers to her, but that might as well have been based upon how they had changed over the last few seasons.  Ducky the little swimmer was no longer quite as little as she once was, though she could always rely upon her brother’s support when he was not busy devouring any plants in his vicinity.  But on this day both Spike and her flyer friend were off in their own little worlds.  Spike devouring a bush in the distance, utterly oblivious to the proceedings around him, and Petrie being who knows where.  The distance between the three friends only highlighted the growing divisions between them all.

And then there was Chomper who was still no doubt gathering buzzers for a breakfast that was soon turning into a lunch.  His difficulty in finding food during this lean season confirmed what would soon need to come to pass.  They could not delay it indefinitely.

I know that Chomper and I will need to leave our friends one day, but I had always thought they would remain friends!

But truth be told this had been building for awhile, much like the distant storm.  A growing list of grievances as each friend dealt with the struggles of life in their own unique way.  The friendships that had been forged by struggle were now fraying under the pressures of time.  And, like distant thunder, eventually something had to give.

The thunder roared.

Voting will begin for the fanfiction awards upon the conclusion of the two tie-breaker votes for the forum awards, which will be at midnight October 8, 2018.  At that time this topic will be opened for voting.  Voting will last from October 8 at midnight to November 30 at midnight.  However, to allow people to begin reading and preparing their reviews (there is an incredible total of 23 stories to go through this year), I will go ahead and list the stories that are available for review.

If you wish to vote in private, please send me a PM with your votes. Otherwise, please post your votes in this topic.

This is the voting section for the fanfiction awards only. All fanfictions that have been submitted by your fellow members for voting are listed below. Please only post on this topic to submit your vote, do not ask questions or have discussions here. For questions, please click here and comment on the rules.

You may vote on as many fanfictions as you'd like, but you must have read them first. Please show us in your review that you've truly read the fanfiction.

Please copy the following form to vote:

Name of fanfiction: NAME HERE
Rating: #/10
Review: REVIEW HERE

The following fanfictions have been submitted for you to vote on:

Name of fanfiction: Mender’s Tale
Short summary: Based upon a roleplay with Historian1912 and set in the Seven Hunters continuity. Mender has the reputation as being the best healer in the Mysterious Beyond, helping all who require it, but that was not always the case. Follow Mender as she recalls how a lowly fastbiter eventually found her place in life once she met a most unusual pack. This is Mender's Tale.
Link to fanfiction on the GoF: http://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?topic=15045.0
Author(s): Rhombus and Historian1912
Any other comment: - This is the sequel to the Seven Hunters and Songs of the Hunters.  If you do not read those two stories then not much in this story will make sense to you.

Name of fanfiction: First Impressions
Short summary: Continuation and prequel of sorts to Reunions, my latest one-shot. Also a response to the Gang of Five prompt challenge. Dalmar has a crush on a certain female threehorn. But can he tell her these feelings without being corrupted by the "bad influences" that she calls her friends?
Link to fanfiction on the GoF: http://z7.invisionfree.com/thegangoffive/i...showtopic=16185
Author(s): Rhombus
Any other comment: -

Name of fanfiction: Nahoda's Gratitude
Short summary: "Well it had been two days until a near-death experience. I must be getting better at this whole surviving thing!" Nahoda noted sarcastically. The fastrunner's decision to leave the Valley of the Rivers, made a few days prior, was now looking like the best course of action. It's just a shame he hadn't come to that conclusion before Chomper's father came on the scene...
Link to fanfiction on the GoF: http://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?topic=15848.0
Author(s): Rhombus
Any other comment: -

Name of fanfiction: Nahoda's Concern
Short summary: My response for the February 2018 Gang of Five prompt challenge which involves making a story involving undying love. Set in the Mender's Tale continuity. When Nahoda asked his mate a question that had been on his mind for awhile, he had no idea it would set into motion events involving vines, a tree, a horribly confused flyer, and a future awkward conversation with the in-laws.
Link to fanfiction on the GoF: http://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?topic=15939.0
Author(s): Rhombus
Any other comment: -

Name of fanfiction: The Curse of Speed
Short summary: Here is my relatively short entry for the March 2018 Land Before Time prompt challenge, which was to make a LBT legend. In this story we see a bit of Ruby's siblings and parents. After a brush with near-death, Arial is about to learn a very important lesson about the history of her people, and, along the way, about life itself.
Link to fanfiction on the GoF: http://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?topic=15967.0
Author(s): Rhombus
Any other comment: -

Name of fanfiction: The Land Before Time 1 - Novellization (gof thread name: TLBT fanfiction series)
Short summary: Novellization of the first Land Before Time. Taking on the movie we all love, adding details and depth as well as showing the movie in the order of scenes that was originally intended.
Link to fanfiction on the GoF: http://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?topic=15267.0
Author(s): Ducky123
Any other comment: In Progress

Name of fanfiction: Shorty's Dark Past 2.0
Short summary: I've revamped the original story a lot so I decided to upload it as a separate new story. Sleepstories are haunting Littlefoot, Ali, Shorty and all other longnecks. They embark on a journey that will lead everyone to a certain oasis far away. Based on LBT 10 but with the addition of Ali and Shorty, whose mysterious past is eventually going to catch up with him...
Link to fanfiction on the GoF: http://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?topic=16123.0
Author(s): Ducky123
Any other comment: In Progress

Name of fanfiction: (Legends and) Adventures of Sucky
Short summary: Sucky is the unluckiest swimmer ever. Hatched with several mistakes and despised by everyone, she is running into uncountable unlucky situations ranging from hilarious to painful and tragic. As narrated by our favourite seven dinosaurs.
Link to fanfiction on the GoF: http://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?topic=16023.0
Author(s): Ducky123
Any other comment: Completed! Legend of Sucky (link: http://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?topic=15971.0 )is a prequel you may want to consider as well as it tells the backstory of Sucky 

Name of fanfiction: Not Supposed To Be
Short summary: Love can be utterly cruel, especially when you can't be together with the one you love. Ducky and Petrie have developed strong romantical feelings for each other, however both of their lives are turned upside down when Petrie makes an important decision. Can their love prevail regardless of their differences or are they just not supposed to be?
Link to fanfiction on the GoF: http://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?topic=15827.0
Author(s): Ducky123
Any other comment: On Hiatus, likely to resume receiving updates before the voting period is finishing so maybe wait a little with this one.

Name of fanfiction: The Final Adventure
Short summary: When Grandma Longneck is about to die of old age, Grandpa Longneck joins her in her final adventure. This story is about what undying love means.
Link to fanfiction on the GoF: http://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?topic=15935.0
Author(s): Ducky123
Any other comment: Finished!

Name of fanfiction: Our Past and Our Future
Short summary: Adolescence is an awkward time of self discovery as well as physical growth. Chomper seems to experience the most because of his Sharptooth heritage. But when he and his friends meet an unlikely friend during one of their adventures, things might be turning out for the better. Series of Slice of Life Oneshots related to "Past and Future".
Link to fanfiction on the GoF: http://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?topic=16028.msg470500#msg470500
Author(s): LBTlover247
Any other comment:

Name of fanfiction: Five Stages of Grief
Short summary: Denial. Anger. Bargaining. Depression. Acceptance. Those were the feelings that young Ducky felt at the prospect of having to bid farewell to her adoptive brother. AU of The Big Freeze where Spike actively decides to join the spiketail herd instead of Ducky making the choice for him.
Link to fanfiction on the GoF: http://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?topic=16172.0
Author(s): OwlsCantRead
Any other comment: August GOF Fanfic Challenge prompt response.

Name of fanfiction: Our Safe Haven
Short summary: As the Night Circle rises high into the sky, a single Swimmer looks up to the stars above and ponders a curious question to herself: Are they truly free in the Great Valley after all?
Link to fanfiction on the GoF: http://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?topic=16134.0
Author(s): OwlsCantRead
Any other comment: -

Name of fanfiction: Scrambled Eggs
Short summary: Littlefoot finds himself forced to make a tough call when the gang encounters a sharptooth hatchling and debates on what to do with it. Little did he nor any of his friends suspect that his choice would come back and bite him in the tail when the valley finds itself under attack.
Link to fanfiction on the GoF: http://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?topic=16146.0
Author(s): OwlsCantRead
Any other comment: -

Name: "A Swim of Silence"
Summary: Ducky takes a silent swim through the river of the valley in remembrance of a once close friend.
Link: http://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?topic=16061.0
Author: DiddyKF1

Name: "A Swimmer's Sad Secret"
Summary: After a horrific nightmare that sees her revisit her worst memory, Ducky tells her friends the story of her long-lost friend.
Link: http://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?topic=16145.0
Author: DiddyKF1
Comment: A follow-up to "A Swim of Silence," that was requested by one of my FF.net followers.

Name of fanfiction: Life Went On
Short summary: When confronted with the loss of his mate, Bron's search for his son turns to desparation.
Link to fanfiction on the GoF: http://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?topic=15903
Author(s): DarkWolf91
Any other comment: None

Name of fanfiction: Too Dark to Find It
Short summary: Etta looks for answers in the aftermath of her sister's death.
Link to fanfiction on the GoF: http://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?topic=16068
Author(s): DarkWolf91
Any other comment: None

Name of fanfiction: Separate Ways
Short summary: An unfortunate misunderstanding sets forth a long chain of events, initiating a desperate search and finally leading to a conclusion no one had would have wanted to happen. What follows is an adventure that leads to many wondrous journeys and fearful nightmares that leave no one unchanged. Follow Ruby and Petrie as they struggle against all the odds to survive the Separate Ways.
Link to fanfiction on the GoF: http://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?topic=15514.0
Author(s): Sovereign
Any other comment: None

Name of fanfiction: The Perils of the Deep
Short summary: During their journey towards the Big Water, Mo tells Littlefoot a tale from his kind's distant past. When two swimmers try to help their herd escape the loss of their home, the duo will soon face a whole new and hostile world they have never known. Hearing their sad tale, the swimmer's fates prevent the longneck from ever looking at the bottomless waters the same way again.
Link to fanfiction on the GoF: http://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?topic=15957.0
Author(s): Sovereign
Any other comment: None

Name of fanfiction: A Quest Among the Frozen Sky Stars
Short summary: The height of the Cold Time is upon the Hanging Rock and a certain fast runner family is preparing for this joyful occasion. However, when one of them embarks on a small journey to show his appreciation to his family, things get complicated. It will take all his wit and the help of a mysterious stranger for Orchid to make his way back home through the cold winds of the season.
Link to fanfiction on the GoF: http://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?topic=15838.0
Author(s): Sovereign
Any other comment: None

Name of fanfiction: The Reluctant Goodbye
Short summary: After nearly losing their only child to a cowardly assault from Red Claw's minions, Chomper's parents have to make a difficult decision. In the face of this rising threat, their choice is clear but coping with this temporary parting of the ways will prove to be a somber challenge for the young sharptooth himself to accept…
Link to fanfiction on the GoF: http://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?topic=16142.0
Author(s): Sovereign
Any other comment: None

Name of fanfiction: The Flame in the Woods
Short summary: Two days after the Gang's arrival to the Valley, Littlefoot and Cera's nascent friendship is on the verge of falling apart following a backlash from their families. However, a chilling encounter in the still-strange Great Valley with the unknown brings the two friends together and reminding that there's things in the world none of them have known of until this dark evening.
Link to fanfiction on the GoF: http://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?topic=15745.0
Author(s): Sovereign
Any other comment: None

Happy birthday!  I hope that you two have an awesome day, and a great year ahead!

(Just an FYI: jassy, on the old forum it mentioned your birthday, but not on this forum for some reason.  You might need to re-input your birthday on your profile)

(fyi #2: I have combined the two topics as you both are having a star day on the same day)

The award voting continues, but we admins and mods wanted to take a moment to recognize those who help to keep this forum going.  As all of you know, the forum had to move to a self-supporting system when we decided to migrate away from TapaTalk.  As such we are entirely dependent on the generous financial support of fellow members on Patreon to keep the forum up and running.  And our members certainly rose to the occasion!  Between the support of our supporters ($3 and above monthly) and major supporters ($10 and above monthly) not only is this forum self-supported, but we now are building up the resources for potential future improvements.

From the bottoms of our hearts, we would like to thank each and every one of you who has supported the forum since its transition.  As a token of the forum’s gratitude, we invite this year’s Patreon supporters to choose any one of these banners in the following posts from your respective donation class.  With your continued support we have no doubt that the forum’s best days are yet to come! 

@Midnight @Sneak @The Lone Dragon @Hypno @Dr. Rex @chomperrules1993

The award voting of 2018 is already underway, but I wanted to take a moment to recognize those members who have been loyal members of the forum since joining in 2015.   This is for those members who joined back in 2015, have posted at least 100 times, and who remain active members of our community up through the current year.

The special banner for those of you who joined in 2015 and who are still around can be found attached to this post.  Feel free to save the file, upload it to the image-hosting service of your choice, and to place it in your signature.

The following members may add the Member of 2015 Award to their signatures if they wish to do so:

Midnight
Sneak
The Lone Dragon
Hypno
Dr. Rex
chomperrules1993

Congratulations to all of you, and thank you for your contributions which have made this forum the welcoming and interesting place that it is.    After a noticeable decline in new active members in 2013 and 2014, it seems that 2015 had no shortage of members who were willing and able to remain long-term members of the community.

In case you too joined back in 2015, have posted 100 times or more, and are still active but are not on the list, please send us a note and we'll correct the mistake as quickly as possible.

Also, fyi, we will also have a special post (and banners) for our Patreon supporters in the coming days. 

The rules of the 2018 award votes will be run essentially on the same rules as the last four years with those who are entitled to vote and to be voted for in the award ceremony need to have joined the GOF at least two months ago, must have posted at least a 100 times and must have been active within the last two months.


Here are the full rules:

The voting process officially opens on Saturday, September 1st. A voting thread will be opened by one of the admins.

Voting for the initial 5 categories will last for 1 month and will close at 12 (midnight) on 30 September 2018 (forum standard time)

We understand it is a wall of text, but we would like you to at least read through the rules once before you start voting so that you won't breach any rules.

♪♫♪ OFFICIAL RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR 2018 GANG OF FIVE MEMBERSHIP AWARDS ♪♫♪

1)  All selected GOF members listed are invited to participate in the GOF Awards. These candidates have been granted participation on clearing of the following conditions:

A. Have a post count of at least 100 posts
B. Have been active on the GOF within the past 2 months as of as of 8/12/2018
C. Have been a member of the GOF for at least 2 months as of as of 8/12/2018

The list of eligible candidates for this year's awards can be found below! If your name is not on that list, you are not eligible to receive an award in this year's nominations. If you find you fulfill the three criteria listed above and still are not on the list, please contact one of the admins about it. We do our very best, but mistakes are always possible.

- The Appreciated Member Award will also be included but nominations for this award will be conducted AFTER the main 5 categories have been finalized and the awards distributed. DO NOT reveal your nomination for the Appreciated Member Award alongside your votes for the initial 5 categories because it won't be counted.

2)   You are to offer one (1) nomination per category highlighting the nominee's GOF username in underline and/or bold to aid with the tallying process. We strongly advise all participants to vote in every category if possible.
Understandably there may be some areas you are not too sure on if you haven't been involved directly (e.g. the RPG section) or are genuinely unable to select one candidate but we urge you try to offer a nomination if you can.

3)   If you want to be entitled to win an award, you will have to vote for at least 4 out of 5 categories. In case you did not vote in at least 4 categories, you will not receive any awards you are entitled to. The awards will instead go to the member with the second highest amount of votes. If you are not interested in winning an award, but still wish to vote in several categories, you are allowed to do so.

4) If you skip 2 votes in the first 5 categories, you are obliged to vote in the Appreciated Member award in order to win an award yourself.

- The Appreciated Member Award voting will be held after the main 5 categories have been finalised and the awards distributed, since only members who didn't win any of these 5 categories can be voted for the Appreciated Member Award. DO NOT reveal your nomination for the Appreciated Member Award alongside your votes for the initial 5 categories because it won't be counted.

5) All nominations must be accompanied with a few lines or a brief statement as to why you feel your choice deserves the award. It doesn't have to be long, but it should at least help enforce your choice so that it can be counted as valid reasoning. Feel free to express credit to those member you felt were close contenders for an award if you wish. Nominations without explanatory comments will count as a skipped vote, so make sure to include them!

6) If you do not complete all your nominations in one post, please submit the remainder of your nominations in a separate post. Please do not edit/update previous posts, since this will confuse the one keeping record of the votes. We will constantly update your votes and will not go back to check older posts once votes are cast.

7) We discourage voting for yourself in any given category for the awards. if you genuinely feel that there are no other eligible candidates who deserve a specific award then you are permitted to vote for yourself in 1 category only. Voting for yourself more than once will count as skipped votes. In case a tie in number of votes comes up, the candidate who did not vote for themselves automatically wins the award.

8) The candidate who gets most votes for an award will be permitted to add one of the drafts of the award to his or her signature. The candidate with the second most votes can choose one of the drafts of the awards after the winner has chosen his and can call himself the runner up! Runner ups must have at least one third of the votes the winner had and cannot use the same banner as the winner. Runner ups do not have to state that their award is a runner up, they can be just as proud as the actual winners.

9) In case two members get an equal amount of votes and are both entitled to either the award or a runner up award there will be a tiebreaking vote. These will be held after the main voting and before the Appreciated Member award voting. This final tiebreaker will decide who wins the award.

And lastly, we would like to remind you all that the awards are here for fun. Any activity that could be considered ruining the fun will disqualify you from the awards and might even result in a harsher action if necessary. Here is a list of what we find unacceptable: We want all of you to have as much fun as possible and we can only assure that if you help along yourself.

Thanks for reading. If there are any other questions feel free to post them below

- The main categories for this year's Awards are as follows -
~Fanart Award
~Feedback Award
~Friendly Member Award
~Proactive Award
~Role Play Gamer Award

Good evening, everyone! Though it is still a work in progress, I have decided to post the first chapter of my response to the Gang of Five fanfiction prompt challenge. The prompt for June 2018 was quite different from previous months as for this month each author posted a prompt which was then randomized and given to each author. The particular prompt I am responding to is as follows:

"We've seen a lot of issues of culture and inheritance in LBT, but these things are not always received the same way by the next generation. Whether it's a title, territory, or simply their heritage, depict a character embracing or struggling with something they consider to be their birthright."

In response to this intriguing prompt I have decided to step WAY outside of my comfort zone and confront a subject that is hinted at in the television series but has (to my knowledge) yet to be examined in fanfiction thus far: Petrie's belief in the Bright Circle. I hope that I am able to do this subject justice and, as always, I look forward to your feedback. (:

~Rhombus

(PS: For fans of Mender's Tale I must apologize for the lack of updates lately. Working 60-70 hours a week has really reduced my ability to focus on creative pursuits. However, we should have the next chapter to Mender's Tale ready by 8/2/2018.)

Fanfiction link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13019231/1/The-Pursuit-of-Endless-Day

The Pursuit of Endless Day

Chapter 1: An idea is planted

“It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.”
~Marcus Aurelius

The Bright Circle peered over the horizon like a bashful lover, bathing the barren landscape in brilliant light as if it were as worthy as the most beautiful valley.  Against the collision of pinks and blues in the newborn dawn sky, the brown desolate rocks of the cliffs again made their appearance known, standing defiantly against the arrogant sky.  But the flyer would not pay the cliffs any heed.  He had only one target.

He hurled his body off of the cliff, quickly gaining altitude as his wings greeted the air.  He would either return to this place a flyer worthy of name or he would earn his name in death.

Petrie was anything if not stubborn.

---------

Two years prior:

“What are they doing, Momma?”

Petrie clicked his beak shut as his sister asked the same question that he had on his mind.  Seeing flyers coming and going into the valley was nothing terribly uncommon, as most of their kind were migratory.  But the sight that was before them now was something a bit different.

Just as had happened before another male landed on the top of the bluff, his chest puffed out against the wind in a defiant gesture  as he squinted his eyes against the rising Bright Circle’s dawning light.  Then, with a final deep breath, he launched himself into the air.

Volant nodded and said something that Petrie had never heard before.

“May your wings carry you safely.”

Petrie turned towards his mother curiously.  “Momma?”

The elder flyer shushed her children with a wave of her wing before turning towards one of the other females present.  “I’m sure he will be fine, Argent.”

The female nearly responded grimly.  “None of them return fine.  They either return flyers or they die as flyers.  The Bright Circle will decide, as it always does.”

Petrie watched with equal parts concern and confusion as his mother bowed her head slightly in a show of respect even as her eyes communicated shock.  If the other female had any opinion of his mother’s actions she did not show them as she flew off without fanfare.  It was as if whatever her son was about to do were the most normal thing in the world.

The children all stared at their mother questioningly.  Gone was the annoyance at being woken up too early.  In its place was uncertainty and more than a little fear.

“This is the Pursuit of Endless Day,” she began as if she were reciting something from memory, “It is one of the Old Ways for us flyers.  It is something that most of us have put aside.”

The siblings all looked at one another as Petrie and Valaria shared a look.  For once when Petrie asked a question it matched the sentiments of his siblings perfectly.  “This Old Way look like a scary way!  What… uh… is it?”

Volant took a deep breath.  All that Petrie knew was that whatever this was made his mother as uncomfortable as when she explained to them how hatchlings were made.

“This is kind of like the Great Day of the Flyers, children.  But it is something that we flyers do alone.  It is when some of us fly at the Bright Circle to let it decide if we are worthy or not.”

“Worthy to do what?” One of Petrie’s brothers asked.

Volant looked down at her children darkly.  “Worthy to live.”

Petrie did not resist as he and his siblings huddled together instinctively.  In fact he practically burrowed himself into the resulting pile of flyers.

Volant allowed her children a sad smile as she looked back in the direction where the flyers had taken off.  Now all that remained were a few flyers trying to work one another up to making the challenge.  Some followed the Old Ways, some did not, and some were undecided.

“In past times it was common for our kind of flyer to have all adults fly at the Bright Circle for seven days, only eating and drinking what can be grabbed in flight, and only stopping for sleep.”

Petrie’s head peeked out of the pile in shock.  Seven days?

“How they make it?  Petrie lucky to fly around valley and not be tired.”

“You have to glide, children.” She answered.

“Like Guido?” Valaria asked.

“Like Guido,” Volant confirmed,”The flyers who glide can have enough energy to make the journey, but those who fly with their strength do not last.  A flyer must use their inner strength to pass this challenge.  This is why only half who try the challenge live to talk about it.”

She turned back towards her children.  “And this is why I will not permit any of you children to perform this test.  Not while you are in the nest.”

The children nodded at this and mouthed affirmations as none of them were willing to pursue the challenge from their mother’s description of it. 

“Why people do it then?”

This question made Volant pause for a moment.

“The Pursuit of Endless Day is… was… a way to keep the Bright Circle happy.  It was a way to ensure that those who exist in its sky are worthy of being in it.  But once the lands and skies became so dangerous, most decided that the Bright Circle was already choosing the worthy.”

She rubbed her neck awkwardly, as if debating to say something.  “My mother allowed us to choose if we would do the pursuit.  I did not, but three of my brothers did.  Only one of them remained.”

Petrie’s mouth opened in an agape pose as his mother sighed and lowered her head.  Perhaps in that moment she knew that a decision had already been made.

---------

Petrie struggled to resist the urge to flap his wings as he struggled to gain altitude.  He had wisely gorged himself with food during the season in order to build up his muscles and fat for the appointed week, and he had feasted on the day before for the sake of his journey.  At best it would provide him with the extra reserves he would need.  At worst it would make for a fine last meal.

But this created the special problem of maintaining altitude when his weight-laden body seemed to long to return to the ground below.  Thank goodness the Bright Circle decided to hold this test during the hottest time of the Warm Season.

He carefully turned his head, being mindful to not lose too much altitude due to his loss of optimal flight posture, as he inspected the air around him.  In front of him was the long valley of the north, covered in lush vegetation which both served as an enticing reminder of what he was leaving and a sign that no thermal uplift would be found there.  To his right stood the high bluffs, periodically erupting with high mountains which would obstruct any prolonged flight.  To his left, meanwhile, was exactly what he was looking for. 

He turned his wings towards the left, aiming for the flat plateau of the north.  From here he could glide in the direction of the rising Bright Circle and hopefully find his target for the first day. 

Once more he would have to find the Night Flower.  And then it would be time to find the Big Water beyond.

His wings ached already.

---------

Two years prior:

“Are you insane, Petrie?”

“I do not want you to do it, oh no, no, no!”

In retrospect Petrie should have expected this reaction.  It was one thing to talk about having a feast to please the Bright Circle and quite another to mention a bunch of flyers flying until they drop.  In some cases literally.

“Well, um, Petrie not say he do it!” the small flyer defended as he raised a wing defensively, “Me just say it something that momma tell him about.”

He was more than a little surprised when the head of the body he was resting on came into his vision, occluding everything else.

Littlefoot was surprisingly scary when he titled his neck like that.

“We would have an easier time believing you, Petrie, if you hadn’t bragged about Pterano passing the test for half the morning.”

“As if something that idiot does is worth of imitating.”

That did it.  Before he knew what he was doing he was flying directly at Cera’s face.

“You take that back!  Uncle make mistakes, but he not idiot!”

Had he not been enraged at the moment he would have promptly thought better of his choice and gone back to the safety of his friend’s long neck.  However anger makes us do the silliest things sometimes.

As Cera blew in Petrie’s direction, causing him to tumbled end over end in the air, he could literally feel his ego deflate as soon as it arose.  In many ways him colliding into Spike’s flank was the logical result of the events of the day.

“Guys, do not fight!  We do not need that!” Ducky exclaimed as she walked in from of Petrie’s layed out body on the back of Spike’s thigh.  Then, almost as an afterthought, she helped him back to the ground.  It wasn’t until Spike licked him that he became vocal again.

“Urgh… me okay, but me just not know why this happen!  It good to be brave, but why Bright Circle have to choose?  Just not make egg in first place.”

Littlefoot nodded at Petrie’s logical deduction but unfortunately a certain threehorn spoke first.

“Maybe it’s just another stupid flyer thing.”

The longneck closed his eyes. “Well you give it a rest, Cera?  We all have our own ways and wisdoms, and Petrie said that some of his kind do not follow this wisdom.”

“And there is probably wisdom in not following that wisdom,” Ruby pointed out as she joined in the conversation, “I wonder if that is how flyers prevented there being too many flyers.”

“They could just ask for help from sharpteeth, I am sure they would be willing to deal with that problem.” Cera retorted.

“What’s eating you, Cera?” Chomper finally interrupted, offering the threehorn an annoyed expression, “It’s not like Petrie said he is going to do this.”

Petrie watched with barely restrained annoyance as Cera stood resolute against the collective glare of her friends.  Finally, after a sigh, she relented ever so slightly as she broke eye contact.

“Yes, but you-” she nodded at the flyer, “...are thinking about it, aren’t you?”

Petrie opened up his mouth to deny the accusation but her glare made him think better of it.  She had seen right through him.

“Petrie?” Ducky prompted.

He squirmed.  “Well… Petrie think about it a little.”

The reaction was as inevitable as it was overwhelming.

“Petrie!”

Petrie grew silent as he took to the air briefly and landed on Spike, considering his response.

“There is no reason to do something like this, Petrie.  You said that your mom doesn’t do the Old Ways, so you could do her ways instead,” Ruby noted.

“Yeah!  Her ways probably won’t get you eaten!” Chomper added excitedly before cringing a bit under Cera’s accusatory glare.

“Why do you even want to do this?” Littlefoot asked in amazement.

An oppressive silence held for several moments as Petrie lowered his head and tried to think.  Tried as he might he could not put his confused thoughts and motivations into words.

Surprisingly, from Petrie’s perspective, it was Cera who actually understood.

“You have nothing to prove, Petrie.  You are what you are.  Just be happy with that.”

Cera scraped her foot on the ground feigning disinterest before she again looked up at her friends.  What greeted her then was every single one of them staring at her in surprise with Ruby tilting her head at her as if she were some weird unknown specimen and not the arrogant threehorn that they all knew and loved.

“Hmph!  Enough of this Pursue the Bright Light nonsense!  Let’s play something before we get called to lunch!”

The gang did not hesitate to accept Cera’s escape route for what it was - an attempt to save face.  Within moments shouts of “pinecone” confirmed that a game had been set as each moved into their respective teams.  But despite the situation shifting from what had came before Petrie could not stop thinking about her friend’s words.

Did Cera see some of her kind in this ritual?  And, if so, why did that frighten her?

-------------

Petrie allowed himself to feel confident as his body sailed across the unseen air like a leaf speeding down a speedy river.  Now that he was faced with the plateaus of northern bluffs he could relax and allow his body to glide under the Bright Circle’s welcoming radiance.

A radiance that was quickly burning his back.

Forcing his eyes on the distant horizon, he ignored the discomfort to the best of his ability.  He had intentionally glided in the heat for the better part of a season to prepare himself for the big challenge.  It was now that the training was paying off.

Me need to find a Night Flower… and then me find watcher.  But me hope Petrie find cloud first!

But the sky was as blue as could be without a cloud in sight.  It was the first sign Petrie had that the Bright Circle was prepared to be a harsh judge.

-------------

Two years prior:

Cera poked her head out of the warm mud with a satisfied grunt as the annoyances of the day began to fade away.  Her nieces and nephews… her friends... her father’s usual stubborness… her friends… the fact that someone took her share of the sweet bubbles… her friends...

Okay, it was mainly her friends.

She grunted in annoyance as the little voice in her head interrupted again.  That one that forced her to give a crap about their silly problems.  The one that reminded her that threehorns were not always as awesome as they said they were.  The one that she made sure never spoke out loud.

Though it kind of did today.

“Hmph… Darn it Petrie!  Why did you beak-heads have to take a lesson from our stories?”

And there it was.  It was times like this that Cera was glad that she thought about such things in this place where no one could overhear.  The last thing she would want to do is explain something like this to Petrie, Ducky, or…

“Ah, so that’s what it was.”

Or, darn it, the flathead.

She tilted her head to look at the newcomer as the shadow from his massive neck appeared like one of the numerous trees around the mudhole.  The fact that he had managed to get this far without her noticing was a testament to just how distracted she truly was.  Though as the longneck proceeded to walk into her muddy abode her annoyance at her own absentmindedness turned into amusement at the farce she was seeing.  Littlefoot’s longneck physique towered over the mud even as the adolescent he was, with his belly not even reaching the level of the mud.

“Since when did this thing shrink on me?” Littlefoot asked with an amused tilt to his neck.

Cera rolled her eyes.  “I think it was about the time you got big enough to devour entire trees, Littlefoot.  The only way you could fit in here is…”

She never got the chance to finish as the mud in the mud pool gushed in all directions as the bulk of the longneck plopped down into its warm depths.  In the end she was completely covered in fresh mud.

“Ah… that’s better!”

He was rewarded with a retaliatory splash of mud, covering his arrogant flathead face in dark mud.  The laughter, when it came a few seconds later, was genuine from both of them.

Despite the levity, Cera decided to preempt the longneck’s question.

“I mean… I can see why the beak-faces have a Day of the Flyers, they have to fly… but why do they have something that gets a lot of them killed?” Cera half-spat, half-sighed, “I know why we threehorns have stuff like that - we have to be tough!  But he’s just a beak-face.”

Littlefoot gave her a smile.  “Worried he will take some of the glory?”

Cera noted that the longneck’s neck was surprisingly nimble as he dodged her resulting splash of mud in his direction.

“No, you flathead!  It’s, well, I mean he could die.”

The levity suddenly ended at those words as the two dinosaurs shared a look.  Despite the jokes and the usual banter, they both knew what the spiketail in the sleeping area was.

“He could,” Littlefoot nodded, “But then again either of us could of in our tests…”

Cera shook the mud off of her back to expose a scar, hmphing with pride as she did so.  “I was not aware that longneck’s had to fight to show they were tough enough to be an adult in the herd.”

She watched as the longneck offered her a slight smile before suddenly frowning.

“I had to climb up a steep hill to show that I was strong in the Big Longneck Test… and a fall could have broken my neck.  Okay, finding the hidden treestar in the second test was not the biggest risk… but my Dad suggesting that I had to find a way across the melted rocks was.”

Cera sputtered, “He did what?”

He nodded.  “The Big Longneck Test requires that longnecks show good judgement…”

Cera snorted. “So your dad failed then?”

Littlefoot continued as if she had not spoken, “So I had to come to the realization that it was foolish to try to get across the melted rock… which I did.  But what if I hadn’t?  Dad said that he was going to stop me before I tried… but what if he wasn’t quick enough?”

Cera grew silent as that horrible thought registered in her mind.

“I think this is where you make a comment about roasted longneck or something…”

He couldn’t dodge the mud this time.

“This isn’t funny!  You could have died!  And so could Petrie if he decides to do that stupid thing to make the stupid Sky Ball happy!”

“And you could have been hurt too,” Littlefoot noted softly, “We longnecks and threehorns have the most expected of us… so we have to be prepared.  I guess it is the same when flyers have to migrate from place to place.”

Cera nodded, sighing heavily.  “Well… Petrie is here.  So we will need to convince him to not do that stupid test when it is time.”

“And do you think we will be successful?”

Cera did not answer immediately as she arched her head upwards to meet the humid afternoon air.  In the distance and not safe from her gaze were the retreating forms of several flyers, undoubtedly going about their daily routine.  It was both a reminder of how carefree flyers could be in the valley and a warning for what Petrie could risk losing.  Despite her usual bravado her answer when whispered was as honest of an assessment as she had ever given.

“I don’t know.”

---------

Petrie struggled to keep himself level as the heat continued to bear down on his unprotected back.  Against the merciless glare of the Bright Circle there was no opening for escape or respite.  No cloud resided in the brilliant blue sky and no attempt at changing his position relative to the harsh afternoon daylight would work.  He had a schedule to keep.

As his right wing quivered he looked at it accustatorily.  You not fail Petrie now!  Me still have long way to go!

The wing appeared to heed Petrie’s harsh rebuke as it steadied, quickly leveling Petrie’s flight path.  However the incident confirmed something that the flyer would not admit aloud.  If he did not find some kind of shelter soon then he would be in dire straits.

He eyed the river below. 

Doing a brief dip in the river, only long enough to cool the wings and then to take off again, was an enticing option in the midday heat.  However it would take his wings at least several minutes to dry, and each minute lost was a chance for exhaustion to take its toll.  Using the energy needed to go down to the river would undo countless moments of advantage he had gained by merely letting the thermals do his work for him.

No.  Me not risk that.  Me not drink or rest until Land of Mists.

He allowed himself to look towards the distant horizon.  Just where the sky met the ground making distant vistas appear to reach for the blue void, he saw the first sight that gave him some measure of relief.  It was the slightest hint of haze.

Though he would not reach it until nightfall at his current speed, it was the first confirmation that he was on the right track.  He had found the Land of Mists.

---------

Two years prior:

“Oh yeah!  Well, I could make the trip in six days!”

Valaria watched as her brothers proceeded to outdo one another in their boasting.  The possibility of the Pursuit of Endless Day for self-promotion and the attraction of girl flyers appeared to be the only aspect of what they had witnessed that morning which interested them.

“Ha!  Yeah right, Grondo!  You would be one of the ones that never return.  You can’t fly yourself around the valley without getting winded.”

Grondo puffed out his chest in a display that would have made any adult laugh at the attempt.  “I will make it!  You’re just worried about competition.  It isn’t like any of you other losers are even going to try it.”

This made the four other males jump into the circle of agitated flyers.  Each of them shouting out their own laughable judgement of their abilities and how all of the others were losers.

Finally she had enough.

“Many of those who flew today will die.  Maybe you beak-brains should use your beaks to honor them instead of spreading spiketail dung about yourselves.”

Had she hoped to knock some sense into them then those hopes were dashed immediately as they greeted the new entrant into their circle with the same insults they were sharing amongst themselves.

Grondo smirked.  “Heh… it looks like sis wants to do the thing too.  She must think her looks won’t be enough when she goes looking for a strong male!”

Brasko fired back, seeing an opening.  “She’s probably is in it for the Bright Circle crap, just like Petrie.”

What happened next was a blur to the female as all of the banter around her disappeared into a haze of muffled voices and nonsensical sounds.  The only thing that focused in her vision against the darkness of the nest was her brother’s insufferably smug face.  By the time that she struck it with a firm swipe of her wing, all of the other siblings were scrambling to avoid her wrath.

“You guys can go get lost!”

Valaria gave her brothers an exaggerated swipe of her wing for emphasis as she proceeded to move to the edge of the bluff in preparation to take flight.  Sometimes their immaturity knew no bounds.  No one stopped her as she escaped the turmoil of the nest with a single burst of her wings.  Within moments she was within the realm of the clouds.

‘Sometimes my brothers can be so insufferably stupid!  I know that they feel fear and sadness, so why do they not get what some of the other flyers are going through right now?  Some mothers will be left without their children.’

It was when she noticed that she was looking down upon the clouds that she realized that she had lost herself in her rage and confusion.  Feeling somewhat embarrassed she curled her wings close to her body and proceeded to shed altitude.  The last thing that she needed was for her mother to think that she had flown out of the valley.  She assumed that her brother would keep the shame of being hit by a girl to himself, but fleeing the valley would earn her a grounding if it was suspected.  Within a few moments she had flown back through the clouds and the valley’s verdant utopia was again firmly in sight.

She sighed.  ‘At least Petrie wasn’t there to hear it this time.  I wonder if he is playing with his friends again today or…’

Wordlessly she shifted her wings so as to follow the usual thermals along the desolate bluffs to the highest part of the rock wall, the Spire.  The farthest that the little flyers were permitted to go and also the highest point of the valley itself.  The closest ground to the Bright Circle’s domain.

When the distant vista of the Spire came into view she smiled slightly at her intuition.  Against the impossibly tall slender spear of rock, rising into the sky like a thing tail, was a very out of place brown blemish.  As she approached closer she could clearly see the smallest hint of green leaves and a single stick.  It could only be Petrie.

---------

Petrie scrambled to get the leaves in something approaching order as the wind continued its assault on his efforts.  Ultimately, after losing three previous mouthfuls of leaves that he had deposited on the rock, he decided to place small rocks on them to slow their descent off of the rock.  Though he knew it was futile, perhaps they would stay long enough for him to say his piece to the magnificent orb in the sky.

He looked down at his handiwork.  Before his small feet stood four wrinkled treestars that he had acquired one at a time from the valley below, each being held in place by pebbles.  Beside them was the only object of value, his snuggling stick, though he knew it was only personally valuable to him.  In times like this he really hoped that his mother’s stories about this was true.  That the Bright Circle looked at effort and intent, and not mere deeds.

He cleared his throat awkwardly.  He had heard of people talking to the Bright Circle before.  In his mother’s stories it usually happened right before the climax of the story, before the flyer either had his happy ending or a tragic one.  A sign that the Bright Circle sometimes said ‘no’.  But one could not have an answer unless one asked.

He rubbed his head.  And then there was the matter of how to ask.  Sure, he had simply looked the the Bright Circle before and said stuff like it was another dinosaur or flyer, but this was different.  There were lives on the line, and he didn’t want his puny efforts to make it worse.  The Bright Circle was the Bright Circle, and he was merely a young flyer with much to learn.

He lowered his eyes in a mixture of sadness and uncertainty.  Well… his best efforts would have to do on this day.

“Um… hello, Bright Circle.  It’s me, Petrie!  Me know you already know that and can see me, but me want to talk with you if you have time.”

There was no obvious answer to his words as the Bright Circle appeared unmoved.  The winds did not deviate from their course, and the earth did not shake like in the stories.  It was almost like the Bright Circle was not inclined to answer him at all.

“Me never ask something like this of you before, but Petrie try his best…” he closed his beak as he thought of the words he had planned ever since the events of the morning, “The flyers who leave today are brave.  And they fly towards you to be accepted by you.  Me…” he cringed, “I know they not do that unless they love you.  Please give them a chance.  And, if there anything Petrie can do to help, let Petrie know.”

Not quite knowing what to do next, Petrie merely bowed his head and took a few steps back.  By the time he looked up again another wind gust had arrived, sending his four leaves and his stick falling to the ground below.  He barely resisted the urge to go after them.

‘Sometimes the Bright Circle takes away.”

“Petrie?”

The little flyer nearly went airborne as he flapped his wings in surprise.  By the time he landed Valaria had already raised her wings apologetically.

“I was not on the rock until you finished,” she clarified quickly, “I would not interfere with that.”

Petrie allowed himself to catch his breath as he quickly dropped the glare from his expression.  Raging at his sister for the Bright Circle’s decision would accomplish nothing.  If what the Bright Circle had said was true then things would not go well for some of the flyers.  The dropping of the leaves and his stick were obvious to him - they would have no food or shelter.

“The Bright Circle make its decision,” he said in a morose tone as if he were eulogizing the dead.  “It take snuggling stick and treestars, so no food or help for them.  Me… I don’t think many make it.”

For a moment it looked like his sister was going to say something, but then she clicked her beak shut with an audible sound.  Instead she moved closer to the edge of the bluff and looked down at where the snuggling stick had fallen moments before.

“Well, sometimes the Bright Circle says things that we might misinterpret.”

Petrie’s head shot back up, “What?”

Valaria gestured at the bluffs below.  “Your snuggle stick dropped, yes, but maybe that means that the Bright Circle thinks you are growing up?  You did say “I” for it and did all of this by yourself.” She walked over and placed a wing on his shoulder. “How long have you been setting this up, Petrie?”

Petrie rubbed his head. “Well, since pinecone game end before midday meal.”

Valaria covered her beak. “For that long?  Petrie, it is almost time to go back to the nest.  You have been doing this for nearly the entire day.”

Petrie shrugged.  “It for Bright Circle.  Me do it for another day if it want.  But Petrie not sure what it want really.”

--------

Valaria sighed, not exactly knowing what to say.  She didn’t want to contradict his views as she honestly had no idea the intentions of the Bright Circle, but she also did not want to leave her brother wallowing in despair for an outcome that might very well not happen. 

She finally decided on changing the subject.  “I wish that our brothers would talk to the Bright Circle more instead of talking about themselves.  You’re over here trying to help those flyers, and they are busy gabbing about how awesome they are and how the others are going to die when they try the ritual.”

She did not know what to expect from her brother really.  Anger?  Confusion?  Annoyance?  Those were all emotions that captured her perspective quite well.  When Petrie did speak, however, it made her stare at him open-beaked in shock.

“It because they afraid.  Me afraid too.”

Valaria started at him for several moments.  What?

Petrie shrugged.  “Brothers always talk big when they’re afraid.  Remember when they meet Chomper?  But Petrie… Petrie act more like scaredy egg.” He gestured down at the bluffs below before shuddering. “Clutch snuggling stick.  Talk to Bright Circle.”

“What you call acting like a Scaredy Egg I call acting like an adult,” Valaria soothed,  “At least you accept what happened?  They were just gabbing while I…”

‘While I did nothing but think sad thoughts.’

Petrie now seemed a bit lost in his own thoughts as he did not notice her self-recriminating pause.  That was when she looked at the barren rocks on the top of the Spire.  The treestars had fallen, but the pebbles Petrie had gathered remained.  As if they were waiting to hold something new.

‘Petrie thinks too much of little things, but perhaps I think too little of them.’

“Petrie, I am going to get some tree stars. Would you… um…”

Petrie looked up at her.

“...show me how to do this talking to the Bright Circle thing?  I don’t want to make a bad impression.”

--------

For the entirety of the long afternoon Petrie had longed for the coming of twilight and the end to his wing’s misery.  When it finally came though it merely allowed him to fully experience the ravages of the day.  Where once had been burning now was a dull throbbing.  Where once had been fatigue now was exhaustion.

And now the misty lasts below him had settled into the long shadows and mysterious fog that he remembered from his childhood.  Though at least now he was mostly safe if he stayed off of the ground and stayed in the trees.

Mostly safe.

Settling upon a vine covered tree, he allowed its already overburdened branches to sway under his weight.  Once his wings finally had a chance to stop he felt the fatigue truly set in.

He jerked himself upright to force himself to stay awake.  He had to stay awake long enough to see the Night Flower and give it to the watcher of this place… and then he could finally retire for the night.

“There are some over there; do you see them?”

Petrie jerked again, privately berating himself for nearly falling asleep again.  That was when he saw the person who had spoken to him.  It was an elderly flyer on the branch below.

Petrie looked around to try to see what the flyer was getting at.  It wasn’t until he shook his head that the flyer gestured towards a plant in his beak before he again sat it down.

“I used to live here back before the mists took the place.  Now it doesn’t see the Bright Circle’s love anymore, not much of it, anyway.”

“You’re the watcher for this place?” Petrie inquired, “Petrie thought the watcher for each place not help.  Only other testers help if they want.”

The elder flyer laughed heartily before his laughs were overtaken by a cough which lasted for several seconds.  Long enough for Petrie to grow concerned.

When the flyer looked back up, however, none of the mirth had left his features.  “I’m a tester, young one.  Never did this as a youngster, but since the coughing sickness already has me… I would rather go out big than coughing on a bluff, you know?”

Petrie opened his beak in shock at the words of the elder.  He had never heard of anyone except the young and strong making this journey, but he had heard of a final flight.  Not knowing what to do he bowed his head in respect.

“Ergh… don’t get all soppy on me now, kid.  You’re supposed to save that for after I drop dead.  Probably some time on day three if I had to guess.”

Petrie couldn’t help himself as he glided down to the old one’s branch. “How can you joke about that?”  Then, seeing the indicated flower that had fallen during the old flyer’s coughing fit, Petrie quickly flew down to retrieve it for him.

When he returned with the fallen plant, the old flyer had landed on Petrie’s branch and deposited a new plant on it.  “Decided I liked your branch better.”

All Petrie could do at this point was tilt his head at the antics of the, by his own admission, dying flyer.  A flyer who most certainly looked more rested and upbeat than himself.  Finally feeling defeated by the crazy antics of the other flyer and his own fatigue, he merely lowered his head respectfully, sadness and confusion obvious in his features.

“What’s your name, kid?”

Petrie looked up.  Had it been anyone else he would have protested the ‘kid’ label as he had grown into his own.  “Petrie, sir.”

“Well, my name ain’t ‘sir’; it’s Knacker.  But if there is one thing that I have learned in life it is that the Bright Circle helps those who help themselves… and others,” The elder looked at another tall tree in the distance which Petrie followed with his eyes, “You see that tree a ‘yonder?”

Petrie nodded.  “Petrie does.”

“It has several young ones from my flock.  Now I never really followed the Old Ways much myself, but old Andrea always was different.  She sent her entire clutch out here.  The more that I help with the petty stuff, finding flowers and special rocks, the more they can focus on not starvin’ or getting eaten by something else that’s starvin’.”

Petrie covered his face slightly, feigning dust in his now moist eyes. “That’s mighty kind of you.”

The old flyer shrugged his shoulders.  “You mind I ask something might big of you?”

Petrie nodded and forced his eyes to remain open.  He already owed this old flyer much.

“Keep an eye out after the third day.  The last stretch is when things get rough.”

Knacker smiled before nodding in the direction of the sky.

Petrie looked up just in time to see an older flyer with a red treestar in its beak.  It was the watcher for the Land of Mists.

He let out a warning call which made the flyer circle back and land on Petrie’s branch.  The large female almost dwarfed him in size as she lowered her head to get a good look at him.

“Ah, and we have the lone valley flyer this season.  Well met, young Petrie.  You found the Night Flowers before they even opened.  You familiar with this place?”

Petrie was a bit taken aback.  “Me be here as a kid once… but Knacker point out the flowers for me.”

The elder female looked up at the branch above as the long shadow of the male began to cast itself on the branches below.  She allowed him a soft smile, her eyes tinged with some measure of sadness.

“I can lead you to the rest of the flock, Knacker.  You went a bit off course.  They are on the tree over there.”

Knacker laughed before a cough interrupted his amusement.  “Nah, the Bright Circle led me to where I needed to go.”

“The Bright Circle is down.  It is nighttime,” she deadpanned.

Knacker shrugged.  “Silly me; it’s what I get for flying with my night blindness.  Lead the way, miss.”

Petrie opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out as the two flyers took off into the night.

“T’was a pleasure to meet you, Petrie!”

And just like that they were both gone.  A watcher to confirm his presence on this first setpoint of the journey, and an old flyer whose eyes had long-since faded in the darkness of night.  A flyer who truly could only see when the Bright Circle showed him the way.

Petrie looked down at his night flower plant as it lay beside his feet.  An obvious question plastered in his mind on what was already an exhausting day.  How could Knacker see him or the night flowers in this near-darkness?

The Bright Circle was not around to answer, having more sensibly gone to sleep at the usual time and allowing its lesser brother take watch over the skies.  As a result when the severed plant at his feet finally opened the petals of its now-dead flower, showering him and the tree in its eerie light.  The words of the elder flyer echoed within his mind.

“...the Bright Circle helps those who help themselves… and others.”

Welcome everyone to the new forum!  This has truly been a long and treacherous process for us admins as much in this process was not straightforward at all.  Thankfully for us a programmer, James Gryphon, who had helped convert the Fiver's Honeycomb forum and the Redwall fan forum was willing to give us a hand.  His tireless work are a big reason why the new forum is now available to us all.  Though the forum still has a few modifications and fixes to go (most notably with image hosting and quotes) the forum is ready for prime time.

The New Forum

The new forum has all of the data from the old forum, excepting only user signatures, PMs, and avatars, which will need to be manually re-added.  The old forum is still online at the moment at this link: http://s7.zetaboards.com/thegangoffive/index/ so feel free to transfer your data as appropriate. 

Though we originally wanted to go with phpBB 3.0, that proved to be a bridge too far for us, so eventually we decided to make the forum in SMF 2.0.  This is still a versatile and up-to-date code (2017 versus 2008 for Zetaboards) and it allows for security enhancements compared to Zetaboards.  New features will most likely be added as we go along and become more acquainted to the underlying code.

The new forum is also now hosted on a paid VPS located in Dallas, Texas.  Though this does cost a considerable amount of money it also grants us more freedom with our data.  In particular we hope to have image hosting turned on in the next few days, which will free us from having to use image-sharing sites in the future.  Additionally this new arrangement will allow us to make weekly backups of the forum in the future, which will secure our data in the event of calamity.  With your continued support this arrangement should keep the forum going strong for years to come.

Paying for the New Forum

As we now own our own server this means no more free hosting and no more ads - we are in charge!  That being said, as I have said, we are in charge, and now nobody is paying the piper for us, we have to do it.  Currently we're looking at $50 per month to keep our forum in the best category when it comes to the hosting that is required.  It sounds like a lot but it really isn't.

Look at it this way.  $5 a month is very little actually for one person to consider donating.  A standard meal at Mickey D's costs more than $5 these days.  If you not into fast food, replace it with any other vice you have.  I can almost guarantee any vice you have is more than $5, and you're probably enjoying those more than once a month to boot!  To keep a nice, friendly, healthy community going, isn't it worth giving up just a little bit per month?  If everyone chipped in, we'd be at that $50 without much hassle.

We are funding this through Patreon.  rhombus will be the account manager and funds go into a special PayPal business account for the forum which directly funds our hosting fees and the cost of future improvements.  Payments can be done through paypal if you choose.  Right now we set it at two levels: $3.00 and $10.00 but you can basically give whatever you want.  These levels will give you special badges to wear on the forum to show that you a proud contributor in keeping the forum online.  Again, everybody working together and contributing will get us our hosting.  Even $3.00 helps.  Let's do this together.  Together we survive.  Dividing and unwilling, this time we definitely will fall.

Here is the link to our support page: https://www.patreon.com/user/overview?u=5609318

Going Forward

Though we have double-checked things there still will be some issues with the new forum, just as their was initially after our switch to Zetaboards. With that in mind, if you come across any special issues then please do not hesitate to let us admins know in the Forum Issues section.  A special topic is set up there for conversion issues.  It may take a few days to get the forum into a polished state, but rest assured that it is now functional.  And, unlike the old Zetaboards forum which TapaTalk never fixed, this forum has a search feature that actually works.

Likewise, we will let you know when image hosting becomes possible on the forum.  We hope to have that ready in the next few days.

Conclusion

Finally, we would like to thank you all for the patience and support that you all have shown during this difficult time. While numerous Zetaboards forums are now being discontinued due to the TapaTalk conversion, this forum stuck together and took the difficult action of migrating to a new home.  Along the way we have received numerous helpful tips from members, and financial support to help us through this process. With such loyalty and dedication to this community, I have no doubts that this forum will look upon this move as the beginning of a new, more liberated future. Thank you all for your support!

~ Gang of Five Admin Team

The migration will begin on Sunday, May 27 at 10pm Central US Time.  The forum will be inaccessible for about 18 hours after that time.

We are migrating to a new home!  Please read the important announcement in the Announcement section.  If you have not received a PM with the new forum password then send us a PM.

http://s7.zetaboards.com/thegangoffive/topic/11075569/1/

We are currently running some new software on the forum for reasons which we will fully announce later - but it does relate to forum backup.  As part of this process you may receive a PM containing a new password.  Merely keep this in your records (I would save it to a document), depending on what happens you may or may not need to use this in the future.  We will give further updates before anything permanent happens.

There is a reason why we are being somewhat close to the vest about this at the moment.  You will understand why when we give a formal announcement in the next few days or weeks.