Land Before Time belongs to Universal.
Rex and the Dracovol race, Crescent Valley, Yu, 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.
Chapter 2-
Large blue wings opened up, covering much of the sky. They were riddled with small tears and scars. The pair of wings belonged to Rex as he soared over the land. He barely flapped his wings, using the strong currents to carry him along. His hard eyes scowered the land, looking for familiar landmarks. It had been a long time since he had searched for the Great Valley, or what was left of it, and he had only told landmarks to guide him. But how difficult was it to spot the valley? There weren't too many valleys within a few hundred miles. The Great Valley would be recognized for its near perfect circle shape.
Something caught the corner of the dracovol's eye. A land structure, mountains so jagged and sharp and they stood taller than anything Rex had seen in his life. The structure stood much higher than the Desolate Valley's walls. Within them, Rex could see what mirrored the former Great Valley: lush green plants growing everywhere, forests population almost half the valley. But what really stood out was the waterfall. It ran into the valley from a cave that was shaped with an uncanny resemblance to a bonecrusher's head.
It didn't take long for the dracovol to know what this place was. Fortress Valley it was called. He knew it was populated by sharpteeth and plant-eaters, similar to Crescent Valley, but the similarities had stopped right there. While in Crescent Valley, thanks to the alimons, peace and harmony reign the valley despite the carnivores living there. But in Fortress Valley, everything was different. The plant-eaters are treated as slaves, and cannot exit the valley. Some are spared only to reproduce and continue to feed the sharpteeth.
All the exits to the valley were sealed off except for one tunnel, which was heavily guarded and booby-trapped. Only certain sharpteeth were permitted to learn how to avoid getting killed while entering and leaving Fortress Valley. There was of course flying out of the valley, but the leader of Fortress Valley, Loc, a crimson-colored carnotaurus, had found a way around this. Everytime a new plant-eating flyer came into the valley, whether it was born there or it flew in to rest, was immediately captured by the sharptooth flyers and their wings ripped to prevent them from flying away.
Rex was disgusted by this. The sharpteeth in Fortress Valley were no better than the Darkarians. In fact, before the disappearance of the evil alimons, they and the Fortress Valley sharpteeth had joined forces to irradicate the population of the Great Valley and Rock Ranger alimons. But despite all his hate for the jagged valley, something was preventing him from leaving. He continued to hover above, staring into the valley, uncaring if anyone saw him. There was someone in there he wanted to meet with, someone he hadn't seen in a long time.
"Yu..." Rex muttered under his breath. During the war, he had become friends with a green velociraptor with blue stripes named Yu. The fiesty raptor had some anger issues, and nearly attacked him when they first met. But after calming him down and then saving him when a Darkarian attacked from behind, the two became best friends. Yu had lost his father in the war, and became the new leader of his raptor pack. They vowed to get their revenge someday.
Rex recalled how Yu came up with the plan of infiltrating Fortress Valley. Since he had never participated in the war, there would be less suspicion and the chances of him getting accepted were higher. Yu would gain their trust, and learn their ways. Once he learned enough, he would escape the valley, locate his pack, and teach them everything he had learned at Fortress Valley. When they were ready, they would attack the leader of the evil sharpteeth and kill him, and avenge Yu's father's death.
That was how it was supposed to be, anyway. But that was a long time ago. Rex had not seen Yu since the day he left, and he knew how persuasive the Fortress Valley sharpteeth could be. It could be very well that Yu was brainwashed and joined their league. Or maybe they caught onto him and killed him before he had the chance to escape.
"No...it's just a delay." Rex had told himselff many times. But he had only his gut feeling to go by. The only way for him to confirm the status of Yu was by entering the valley himself. But if he did that...what if he was caught? He would surely be outnumbered greatly. Loc's army easily measured in the thousands, if he were to rally up all his allies anyway. Rex knew nothing of how many warriors were kept inside the valley and how many were sent to other locations.
The dracovol moved an inch towards the valley and stopped. He turned his head slowly in the direction he was headed, and then back at the jagged mountains of the dark valley below him. The message he recieved earlier told him to locate any Darkarians. Even if he finds just one, it's important. His mission was not to look into Fortress Valley and look for a friend he may not even know still exists. Staring at the valley for a few more minutes, the dracovol finally breaks eye contact and moves on.
"Was that who I think it was...?" A growly voice asked. A long snout lined with teeth, exposed as the lips curled back in apparent anger and contempt. A hand, with three long talons, tapped on a rock as the figure sat down, the tail in the air, swishing side to side. Almond-shaped eyes, colored like the blood of a kill, a black slit gleaming with hate, the other pure white and sightless, gazed up into the sky with gleaming hatred.
He stood on two long legs, muscles bulging in his legs as he moved them. A few deep scars covered his left flank, so deep that his muscle was exposed. Part of his muzzle was missing, exposing bone and part of the inside of his mouth. His skin was a swampy green color, stripes a dull yellow color lined his back. His teeth were yellow from him not taking care of them that well.
His killer claws, once long and sharp, were both shattered and almost completely useless. He could still use them to inflict some minor damage, but their uselfulness had dwindled down to almost nothing. "He has returned...?" The velociraptor growled softly, shifting his red gaze to a second raptor who stood before him. He had grown to trust this raptor as second in command, and trusted him with all his secrets.
The raptor was green as the grass at his feet, and was only a tad smaller than the swamp green raptor. Stripes as blue as water occupied his back and his almond-shaped eyes were a mix of blue and green, a perfect blend. He carried only one scar, which snaked across his left eye. His hand talons curved inward, toward his chest, as they rested in the air. The raptor looked up into the sky and watched the dracovol disappear. Unlike the first raptor, his killer claws were in perfect condition.
"We must inform Loc about this." The other raptor said, flexing his claws impatiently, wanting to strike something.
"Why?" The other said. Judging from his tone, he was far from interested in telling Loc anything. "It is just one dracovol. What harm could he possibly do?" His calm nature towards the presence of the dracovol suggested that he probably knew Rex, and knew his weaknesses and his strengths.
"Listen, we cannot afford mistakes!" The other snapped, his lizard lips peeling back even further until it looked like they would rip. The yellow teeth almost gleamed in the sunlight. "If we do not inform Loc right away, he'll..."
"Oh he'll what?" The green raptor snapped, his calm eyes now narrowing into slits. "You know, we don't always have to take orders from that self-absorbed horned sharptooth! How is he going to know we spotted the last dracovol?"
"Unless I happen to be behind you..." A dark voice said from behind the two raptors. As they both turned around, and saluted the sharptooth, they came face to face with the leader of Fortress Valley. Standing nearly twice as tall as the raptor, he was literally a giant among them. His skin was a red hue, his belly a ligher red that connected to his lower jaw and colored downward to the underside of his tail. His eyes were as yellow as the sun. Horns shot out from the sides of his head, and pointed inward slightly.
His large, thickly muscled legs moved his massive bulk forward, his short, nearly useless arms dangling at the sides, almost like a joke. His muzzle was short, almost beak shaped, but were as lethal as any sharptooth for they hid sharp teeth that were ready to rip away vulnerable flesh. As he spoke, his teeth were fully exposed. "So, I hear you two of spotted something of...interest."
"Loc, sir!" The swamp gray raptor felt uneasy in the presence of the dominant sharptooth of the valley. "My second-in-command and I...we both saw..I mean we spotted..." He stammered, his body shaking so much it was causing problems in his speach.
The red sharptooth lowered his head and leaned in close enough to nearly touch the nervous raptor nose to nose. "Tell me what, Igo?"
Igo gulped and found the courage to say, "We spotted the dracovol you warned us about..." He struggled to keep his cool as the crimson sharptooth's eyes were suddenly blazing with anger. "He was flying overhead, just a few minutes ago."
Loc growled in Igo's face, mouth parting slightly and causing the sickleclaw to cower in fear as the teeth came within centimeters of his vulnerable skin. The carnotaurus shifted his large head towards the green and blue raptor, eyes still holding the same anger. "Is this true, Yu?"
Yu stood unfazed by the sharptooth's anger. He straightened himself up dutifully and saluted Loc by lowering his head in respect. "Yes, Loc. Rex was here. Judging from the direction he flew, I suspect he is heading towards the Great Valley..." He looked up at Loc, a grin on his face. "Heh, or should I say..Desolate Valley?"
Loc narrowed his eyes even more. Something didn't seem to add up. He knew, just like everyone else, that there was not much of interest at the valley. Ever since the war devastated it, it had not much to offer to anyone willing to visit. What could the dracovol possibly want there? He wasn't going to find any of his own kind there. He was the last, that's for sure. There was hardly any food there worth while for a dracovol. There were no allies that were hidden in the valley's walls. There was nothing for the dracovol there. So why bother going?
"Why would he want to go there? Why, there's nothing there but destruction, and perhaps some animals but none of use to us." Loc said. "What could he possibly gain by entering Desolate Valley?"
"Perhaps it's to find the Darkarians?" Igo suggested, lifting a wavering claw in the air. "Maybe he wants revenge and..."
"Darkarians?!" Loc snapped, glaring into Igo's red eyes. "Don't be a fool, Igo! The Darkarians vanished years ago! They may have well been all killed!"
"Or were they?" Yu had turned to walk away. But he looked over his shoulder, seeing he caught Loc and Igo's attention. He smirked, and called over to them, "I know about the Darkarians. I know what they are capable of. I doubt they would disappear that easily." With that said, he disappeared, leaving Loc and Igo alone to talk and to think.
"So..here I am." Rex said, opening his wings completely to allow a slow descent to the ground. His feet touched the ground as he looked around, the valley walls completely surrounding him now. The dried up grass crackled as his feet touched it. He looked around. The place looked far worse than he remembered. He took a look around, noting the shattered walls, the destroyed vegetation, and the smell of death that clung to the air. He shook his head slowly. "I do not understand why the Darkarians would choose this, out of all places, as their hideout."
He picked up a blade of grass. Instead of its usual lively green color, it was now a yellowish color. It crumbled easily in his claws. "Not exactly paradise. Those fools wouldn't last that much longer here. No leaf-eater is stupid enough to live here, not after what happened." He took a few steps forward, reaching a fallen log that lay before him. The log had dead, dried up moss coating the top of it. The wood itself was rotten, and soft to the touch. He noticed a few bugs crawling along its top.
"Well I guess they could survive by eating bugs." Rex thought, folding his wings against his back as he began his search around the valley, looking for any trace of alimons. But before he could take a single step into his journey, a voice stopped him in his tracks.
"Well well well...look who has finally returned." A feminine voice called out. Rex's eyes narrowed angrily as the source of the voice emerged from her hiding place. Her dark blue eyes, with light blue irises, stared into his dark blue eyes with a mutual feeling. Her red talons dug into the ground as she walked slowly towards him. Her yellow skin, with brown along the top and red-violet along the bottom, it was how Rex recognized who this was, as if the voice wasn't enough. She also bore the unmistakable marking, an X on the shoulder.
Rex stood right where he was, his wings spread to allow him to fly away if he had to. "Axel...so the rumors were right..."
Axel chuckled, her shoulders shaking slightly with each laugh. "Well, dear Rex, what did you expect? Oh did you think that you would come here and hope that I wasn't here? That I was dead?" She asked sarcastically, not trying to hide the wide grin spreading across her muzzle.
The dracovol fell onto a four-legged position. His tail lifted high in the air, a sure sign of a challenge. "Why don't you fight me Axel? You know you want to..." He hissed softly. When Axel didn't move for a few moments, Rex said, "Oh are you afraid? You afraid I'll defeat you?"
Axel burst out laughing. "Oh like how you defeated that group of sharpteeth that entered the valley?" She said sarcastically. "Oh the great Rex, he's such a powerful warrior, and yet, in spite of all his skills, he couldn't save the Great Valley!" Her mocking voice stung Rex in his heart, and she grinned at this. "What? It's true."
"Oh you'll pay for that...I'll make you eat those words!" The dracovol lunged forward, claws outstretched and jaws wide open.
Axel smirked. "I thought you'd never say it." She lunged forward, preparing to meet his attack.