This is my first ever Land Before Time fanfiction that I've been working on for a long time ever since my childhood days. I'd originally intended to write a dinosaur novel a few years ago, but after much work and getting nowhere, I decided it wasn't worth it and that fanfiction was the best way to go. Almost all the OCs in this story were once part of that story called Towards the Dawn. But seeing as how it would no longer work, I worked extra hard to ensure that these characters fit quite comfortably in the LBT world. They have the exact same background like in my original novel, but with a few differences to make them fit.

I hope you will enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed writing it! Let me know if there is anything that doesn't fit with my OCs and what I need to work on to make them more realistic. I'd really appreciate any criticism on them as I really want them to be relatable in some way to the audiences.

Enjoy!

Brothers Under the Bright Circle

Chapter 1

Welcome to the New World

Sky fire clapped violently in the dark night, illuminating the world below it. It was pretty far away to be a danger to anyone, but one could only hope that no one was struck by its terrifying fire. The approaching wind howled as it blew across the wasteland landscape, it would not be long before the sky water fell and drenched the dried world that was dying of thirst. Even its inhabitants knew with great relief that sky water meant water, something to desperately quench their dust-caked mouths and sore throats.

A female longnecked dinosaur raised her head to the dark clouded sky. She would not be seeing the stars tonight, but the approaching sky water would be a wonderful welcome for her one remaining hatchling. She looked back down, checking to make sure that the egg was safe. It was and she sighed with relief. She and her mother and father – the soon-to-be grandparents – had been quite unfortunate with the brood. Originally, she had laid at least four eggs in a single nest, but almost all of them had been taken by egg stealing predators. Were it not for the timely arrival of a lone male longneck, the last one would not have made it this far.

The soon-to-be mother turned her head toward the strange longneck who stood like a guardian nearby on a rocky outcrop. He hadn't moved since his joining of the herd, only saying a few words such as saying his name was Whiplash and that he'd been searching for a herd that would accept him. They had without question after he'd saved their last egg, and now he stood nearby at the edge of the lake, his head searching left and right for any signs of danger that would dare to harm the family that had adopted him.

She frowned thoughtfully, having never seen such a strange looking longneck like him before. He was quite large for his age, just barely ten cold times old, and yet still large enough to be intimidating at first glance. He had a long thin, whip-like tail that his parents had named him for and a long, thin neck. His skin was slightly paler than the raging storm clouds above them, and stoic, yet kind, yellow eyes hidden beneath high eyebrows were often sent her way to make sure everything was alright. To her surprise, he often kept turning his left cheek away until she saw a small thin scar on the side beneath his eye, it was as though he was deeply ashamed to even show it to them.

Whoever Whiplash was, and whatever his past was, and despite his strange appearance, the mother longneck felt that he could be trusted to look out for her family.

Taking her glance from the guardian and turning it to her single egg, she gave it an affectionate nuzzle with her snout. She could feel the tiny tremors of the new life inside, it would not be long before it would hatch and she would have her very first offspring to care for and nurture. The touching moment was short-lived when she remembered her mate, whom she recalled was out in search of a place where they could live peacefully. It had been four full Night Circles since she had last seen him and she feared the worst. An overwhelming sense of sadness crept into her heart and she wished that he was here. When the egg hatched, the family would have to move on and search for a new home themselves or risk starvation, and their son would never know the face of their father.

"Why are you down, my daughter? Shouldn't you be happy that the time is soon?"

She lifted her head and saw her aged father looking at her, half submerged in the water, and a mouthful of water green food. The sudden flash of the sky fire protruded his dark and pale grey skin, his wise violet eyes soft and calm despite the sudden noise that made her flinch.

"I am aware that this should be a wonderful time, father," the mother longneck replied, and she took a mouthful herself from his generous offer. She grimaced slightly at the dull taste, but it was better than nothing. She shouldn't turn her nose up at any offer of food, no matter how tasteless or foul it was. "But… I miss him… I miss him so much… I… I just wish he was here to see this…"

As the single tear fell down her cheek, a single drop of water splashed on her snout and she flinched with surprise. Her father turned his gaze upward, a thoughtful expression appearing. "I cannot say for certain that he has perished, my daughter," he said gently, "but he would be so proud to have had a hatchling. A clutch would have been something, yes, but a single one that survived such a world like this… they would be very special to the both of you."

She nodded in agreement, forever thankful for his encouragement. Her mate would have been thrilled if he witnessed this. She sighed softly as more sky water started to fall, falling faster and faster until the whole world was drenched to the bone. Around them, dinosaurs of many different kinds began to roar their happiness. The sky water had come at last.

But, to her surprise, there was another roar, but it was different, it was… not of joy, but of alarm!

It took her less than a second to realise what had just happened. Whiplash had uttered an alarming roar and she had been so caught up in her thoughts of her mate that she had taken her eyes off the egg. She turned just in time to witness an egg stealer making a grab for her egg! No! The creature snatched her egg in its sharp claws, gripping it tightly and making a dash for the grass, but it barely had a chance to even make away with its prize. A sudden crack and a whoosh of air breezed past the mother as an enormous thin tail cut through, flashing like the sky fire and catching the egg stealer in the chest. It screeched with pain, dropping the egg instantly, and flew through the air, smashing against a rock with a sickening crack.

Whiplash was upon it before it could get up again. Never had she seen such a longneck of his size move so swiftly. He raised a single foot and crushed the egg stealer without a second thought. Utter rage pierced his brow as he kept his foot upon it, putting as much weight as he could as though he was determined to send a message to it as its life ended: you were caught, and you will never harm another hatchling again.

But she had no time to comprehend the situation.

"The egg!" she cried frantically. She hurried over to the river where the egg stealer had dropped the egg, only to find no sign of it. She searched desperately, trying to find her only child. Terrible questions lingered at the back of her mind: What if it was smashed? What if a belly dragger found it? What if that egg stealer wasn't alone? All of these questions terrified her to no end, but a cry of relief turned her attention downstream.

"Over here!"

She trotted over to her mother, who had also been searching the moment the egg had disappeared from sight. She found her standing over a waterfall, it wasn't as high as she had thought, so it was possible that the egg had drifted this way and had fallen. She, her father, and Whiplash came up alongside her mother and looked down, tears of fear and distress welling up in her eyes, only to be washed away by the sky water. At first, she thought the egg hadn't survived, but she was proven wrong when she saw it at the bottom on a small island, cracked, but intact.

She carefully made her way down to the egg, grateful that it was still alive, but a small glimmer of uncertainty still plagued her mind. Was the hatchling dead inside? She nuzzled it, hoping to find some form of life.

Something wriggled against her nose and her eyes widened.

The baby was alive, and it was hatching!

"Mother, father, its coming!"

The two elders carefully made their way down a slope that seemed to bear their weight. Whiplash followed behind the two, just as careful as them because of his larger size. Together, the two grandparents stood alongside their daughter, ready to witness the birth of the next generation.

A tail poked out from the top of the egg, followed by the two back feet. The mother longneck giggled as she realised that the egg had been upside down for the poor thing. It must have got a wakeup call when it fell off the waterfall, much to her amusement. The rest of the eggshell fell away, revealing a lovely brown and grey male hatchling with innocent red eyes. Tears of relief and joy came to the mother and she bent her head down to examine her son… her son, her mate's son, her parents' grandson… Her very special son… her…

The hatchling's eyes rested upon her and blinked innocently up at her. She pressed her snout to him, but he flinched away, possibly expecting a threat as he curled up into a ball and hiding his face.

"He's really small," the soft voice of Whiplash commented with a hint of amusement. "I do not remember being that small." His expression changed to a faraway look, as though he was trying to remember something. He shook his head and turned to the mother as she carefully picked her son up by the skin on his back. "I'll… give you some space if you want," he offered respectfully, bowing his head.

The mother placed her hatchling on her back, his squeak of confusion causing her to chuckle. She turned to Whiplash as he moved away, and she shook her head. "No, stay, you saved my son's life, Whiplash. It's the least I can do for what you did. If you hadn't come, I would have lost him to egg stealers."

Whiplash tilted his head, unnoticeably showing the thin scar upon his cheek, as though he was considering her offer. He looked from her, to the grandparents, to the hatchling (who stared wide-eyed up at him), and then back at her. Finally, a small smile crossed his lips and his sullen expression changed to relief. His stance relaxed and he took a step forward, lowering his head until he was looking the hatchling right in the eye.

"Hello, little one," he said kindly, "I'm Whiplash, it's nice to finally meet you."

The mother looked up at her mother and father and they nuzzled her affectionately. Whiplash would make an excellent elder brother to the hatchling. Then, the grandmother's eyes turned to a frown. "What are you going to name him?" she asked her daughter.

She frowned. She hadn't really thought about it, then again, her parents did name her, and Whiplash also had a name. So it would only be fitting to name her son as well. The responsibility fell on her and her alone. Her mate was not here to witness this, but… if he was out there somewhere, still alive and possibly coming home, then she'd need to name her son something that he might know… should anything happen to her. Then, she remembered something that her mate had once said long ago when they first met.

"Littlefoot," she said out loud, "that is what I will call him."

A knowing glance came between the grandparents and they bent their necks to nuzzle their now sleeping grandson. "Welcome to the family, Littlefoot," Grandpa Longneck whispered.