It should be noted that this story does take place at the same time that A Sharptooth's Heart does, but changes were made: Rex was born BEFORE Littlefoot and therefore is an adult in this story. Littlefoot and his friends reside in Crescent Valley, not the Great Valley. And Rex and Littlefoot have NEVER met.
Land Before Time belongs to Universal.
Rex and the Dracovol race, Crescent Valley, and Donovan belong to Sora W.T.K.
Stone, Tree-star, and the Rock Rangers belong to EbonyPatriot.
Story idea inspired by Sora's friend.
Everything else belongs to me.
Anyway on with the prolouge-
Light...or is it light...something is illuminating the sky. Dark puffs of smoke..no clouds, they part as the light shines through, bathing a cold rocky surface in pale yellowness. As it touches, the dark shadows part from what appeared to be a deep crater surrounded by mountains so tall and treacherous. The middle was illuminated, to reveal a series of smaller craters, cracks in the earth, what appeared to be singed foliage, but they could just be dying and appeared to be black. A huge pile of giant boulders decorated a corner of the valley, a huge whole was there, large enough for anyone to come in. If one looked closely enough, they could, once in a while, see few signs of life, a lizard wandering around the dry floor, a pterosaur uneasily passing overhead.
The valley used to be filled with signs of life everywhere. Green grass and tall trees were everywhere, fresh water came from a waterfall, making it a hospitable place to live. But it all changed...and many thought it was so drastic so quickly. A cataclysm and a war purged the valley of life, many fleeing to find other homes to live in, most dying in the process, killed by the carnivores who took advantage of this feast. Flyers preyed upon by other flyers, while the ground walkers were unfortunate victims of the big sharpteeth, experienced in tackling large prey in groups. The land became a bloodbath, the rocks permanently stained in the blood of the victims.
Those who survived long wish to return the valley back to the way it was before: a safe haven from carnivores. But it seemed hopeless. With the huge whole in the wall and the bloodshed, the survivors could not convince anymore dinosaurs to live in the valley. So thus it was abandoned, and for years it remained that way. As the years went on, the plants in the valley began to die off as if the very ground they sprouted from was poisonous. An earthquake split the valley's center in too, leaving a huge canyon right in the middle that seemed to be bottomless.
Few lifeforms returned, but only the smallest and most adaptable. The scurrying mammals fed on the few seeds and roots that were left behind, and they were preyed upon by small lizards. Insects returned to lay their eggs in the remains of the small vertabrates. A few gliders looking for a bite to eat would come over to eat the small maggots that ate away at the insides of the dead carcasses. Then would come sharpbeaks, looking to prey on the gliders through means of aerial teamwork and ambush. Finally came the scavengers, reptilian flyers with sharpteeth looking for an easy meal.
Though this ecosystem is a far cry from how it used to be. Almost predator-free almost all the time, plants everywhere, herbivores dominating the land, huge variety of creatures living together around what used to be an enclosed circle of tall mountains. And it had an extra layer of protection as well. Hidden inside the mountainous walls were a single pack of alimons called the Rock Rangers. Alimons were large predatory dinosaurs shaped to look like longnecks. Formidable fighters and killers, they would defend the valley against intruders. The Alimons had allies, human-like dinosaurs known as dracovols. Just as formidable as the alimons, the dracovols were the aerial combat fighters for the Rock Rangers.
But no one would suspect that a similar alliance would help bring about their downfall. The Darkarians were another pack of alimons. Ruthless, heartless, vicious, they were the exact opposite of their good-natured counterparts. They long plotted a take over the valley, make it their own. The valley was theirs, after all, so why shouldn't they rule over it with iron claws? The Darkarians were helped by their own pack of dracovols, strictly meat-eaters who hated the omnivorous dracovols that allied with Stone, leader of the Rock Rangers. Rorra, leader of the Darkarians, led a full-scale war against the Rock Rangers, and their battle field was the valley itself.
The battle scared away many of the valley's inhabitants, and most of the potential new inhabitants as well. Some innocent lives were lost as the alimons and dracovols fought each other, locked in deadly combat, blood being shed everywhere. Dead bodies fell from both the sky and the land, littering the valley with rotting corpses, which attracted many scavengers. The Rock Rangers were winning, but then the war took a deadly turn when a massive meteor smashed into the side of the valley, creating a huge whole and resulting in that pile of rocks you would see there today.
For the Darkarians, the meteor was a godsend because now they were backed up by many sharpteeth who came to the valley looking for a meal. Unable to cope with the overwhelming numbers, the Rock Rangers fled, and the valley was taken over by the Darkarians. But not long after, the valley became barren, free of meat, and the Darkarians started to have some regrets about what they've done. They soon left, abandoning their leadership of the valley. Or that is what rumor states anyway. According to another rumor, the Darkarians are hiding most of the time in their caves, sometimes resorting to cannibalism to stay alive. Other rumors state the Rock Rangers are all dead, but this was debunked after confirmed sightings of alimons living in Crescent valley, a valley similar to this one, the Great Valley as it was once called. Now many just call it the Desolate Valley.
The war also came with another price: ever since the war ended and the Darkarians won, no one has seen or heard from any known live dracovol..save for one. A strong warrior, his name was Rex. He carried battle scars on him, across his eye, across his chest, and on his arms and legs. Wings were a bit torn but he could still fly. His long feathers, once smooth, were torn and ripped through years in battles. His experience hardened him, and it was hard to get close to him. He truly believes he is the last of his kind. Although he blames alimons for his species' apparent demise, he still had a strong bond and love for the Rock Rangers, the alimons who raised him since his family was killed when he was young. He left the pack to live with his father for a while, but after the war, he returned to the Rock Rangers and continued to live with them.
Now residing in Crescent Valley, Rex had latched onto a ledge, an outcrop tall enough for him to see the entire valley. Ever since the Great Valley was destroyed, many of its future residents were redirected here. Although it lacked the safety of the Great Valley, it was a nice subsitute, and peace and harmony reigned for as long as the Rock Rangers moved here. No longer in secracy, everyone here knew of the alimons and Rex, the last dracovol.
As Rex scanned the horizon, he couldn't help but watch the playful kids, bounding everywhere as if life were a playground for them. The dracovol scowled angrily. What fools they were. They were lucky enough to not know or remember the Great Valley war that made life hell for many animals in and nearby, the same war that nearly claimed his species. At times, the dracovol would feel jealous of the kids carefree ways, jealous of their obliviousness to the Darkarians who might still be at large.
But one kid caught the adult dracovol's attention. A young kid named Littlefoot. From afar, Rex would watch the young longneck as he played with his friends. Littlefoot was supposed to live in the Great Valley, but before he had even arrived their with his friends, they had met up with a flyer who told him the valley was destroyed and redirected them to another valley, Crescent Valley. Of all the kids, Rex felt more pain for this one, especially after learning about the boy's sad history of losing his mother to a sharptooth attack and not knowing where his father was. And when Littlefoot travelled alone, Rex felt a sense of kinship between them, because it was as though Littlefoot was the last of his kind.
"E-Excuse me sir..." A nervous voice behind him snapped him out of his thoughts. Growling softly, the dracovol turned around, a scowl on his face. His eyes were met with a pair of alimon eyes. Standing before him was a medium sized alimon with a nervous look on his muzzle. He was almost solid black in color but yellow streaks decorated his side. His red eyes, each with a sliver of light blue, stared at Rex in fear as the alimon's light blue claws tensed once in a while, as if ready to bolt. "I do apologize for interrupting you...but the leader wants to speak with you."
A long, grumpy sigh exited the dracovol's snout. This wouldn't be the first time he was interrupted while he was in one of his observation moods. He regarded the shivering alimon with a pair of dark blue eyes. The blue-green dracovol with a sky blue belly moved forward, causing the alimon to take a few steps back. "Tell your leader..." he growled, but sighed and spoke softer, "...I'll be with him in a moment..."
The alimon bowed his head respectfully. "Thank you, sir, I'll go tell him." Rex watched as the dark-skinned alimon ran back down the mountain to inform the pack leader, Stone. Rex rarely held admiration for someone else, and Stone was an exception to that. During the war, Stone's left leg was ripped off in a fight against a large sharptooth. Through long painful process, Stone's left leg healed, and the protruding bone was carved into a sharp point, useful as a weapon. Stone's athletics were still sharp, and uneffected by a missing leg. This helped him keep his leadership status among the surviving members of the original Rock Rangers. To show his respect towards Stone and his endurance, Rex himself had fixed Stone a primitive artificial limb, which was a cane made of diamond which he had melted together with lava.
When it had cooled and lengthened into a cane-shape, Stone could slip it over his sharp bone and it would fit like a glove, and it allowed him to run easier while he wasn't in combat. His skillfullness in the arts and crafts made Rex a very valuable member of the pack. At this moment, Rex ponders what the leader could want with him today. Ever since they came to Crescent Valley, there were scarcely any real threats, and the Darkarians hadn't been seen since the end of the Great Valley War. Getting up from his perch and taking one last look at Littlefoot, Rex made his way down the mountain and went over to a meadow where he could see Stone, sitting down, his legs crossed, his mate, Tree-star, sitting next to him.
"Greetings, Rex." Stone said, not getting up. "I am glad you decided to join us."
"I was called here." Rex said as he sat down indian-style close to the gray-colored alpha. "Why have you called me here?" The adult dracovol inquired, folding his arms and narrowing his eyes almost suspiciously.
"I was just wondering...are you familiar with the Darkarian rumors?" Stone asked. This earned him a look of shock from the usually hardened and callous dracovol. "I'll take that as a yes, of course. We are all familiar to what the farwalkers tell us, that they see a dark pack of alimons still looming around the remains of the Great Valley...or Desolate Valley as it is known nowadays."
Rex raised an eyebrow. "And...you want me to go investigate? See if the rumors are true?"
"Well..I know it might sound silly..but..." Stone stopped as he felt a nudge from behind. He looked over to see his good friend, Donovan, approaching. "Perhaps you should explain, my good friend." Stone smiled.
"We want to confirm if this Darkarian rumor is to be considered a threat or just a hoax, Rex." Donovan said in his cool voice. "If there are still Darkarians, they could find us and deal us the same harsh blow as they did back in the Great Valley if we are unprepared. We must find out if the rumors are true or not."
"And why should I go? Why can't one of you go?" Rex asked, feeling a bit of anger burning inside. Why did they ask him to go? They're all perfectly able to go themselves. The Desolate Valley wasn't THAT far away. They probably wanted him to go because he was a flyer. But why choose him? There were plenty of other fish in the sea. Send another flyer! They'd do the job just as quickly as he could. "And why can't you send one of the flyers here?"
"We would be glad to...but..." Stone said. "Well I don't think they'd be up for the job, and it's not like we could convince them to go to such a barren land, possibly still overrun by sharpteeth and Darkarians."
"Sorry, but I have to pass on that. Why should I bother with something that may not even be true? It's not of my concerns." The dracovol turned and began to walk away.
As he walked away, he heard Donovan shout back to him. "I think you might be interested in going if you knew something!"
Sighing, Rex looked behind him. "Okay, you have caught my attention. What is it?"
"The Darkarian rumoured to be spotted was Axel!" Donovan said, hoping this would change the dracovol's mind.
Rex's eyes narrowed darkly, and his lips curled back to reveal sharp, serrated teeth. "Axel..." He growled. He knew her all to well. "The one who killed my mother..." He could recall it like it was yesterday, and since that day, he had vowed revenge. Spreading his wings, he said, "All right..I'll go." And with that, he took off into the sky, and headed for Desolate Valley.