Disclaimer: I do not own The Land Before Time or any of its characters.
Chapter One: A Curious Star
Millions of years ago the land was lush and full of life. There were grand, misty forests, and shallow seas full of islands covering the surface. Different kinds of animals flourished within these environments. Among the largest were dinosaurs. There were many kinds of dinosaurs. Many ate plant life in the misty lands while some fed upon plant-eating dinosaurs. Then there were the dinosaurs, in between, eating both leaf and meat, not picky about the contents of their next meal.
It was a wonderful time with little change. The animals were flourishing. Many were in the process of hatching another generation. One such couple was an old pair of longnecks. They were only able to bring one egg into the world due to their advancing age. They made sure to pour all their love into raising her.
Throughout her childhood, she met many friends and traveled long distances within her homeland. She quickly found out making friends among the other herds was difficult, if not outright impossible. The herds rarely associated with each other and kept to themselves. One such failed encounter was with a threehorn. He was slightly older than her. Bigger too. He made sure no signs of friendship were possible with his rough demeanor.
"Threehorns never play with longnecks," growled the older threehorn.
"Why not?," she curiously asked.
The older threehorn didn't have an answer. Instead, he turned around to kick a bunch of dirt and dust into the young longneck's face. She was quite distraught that someone would treat her that way. Her parents gave her some comfort after the threehorn stomped away with an attitude.
As she grew from a child into a young adult, she met with more of her kind, eventually meeting up with a male longneck who she couldn't keep her eyes off of. He was about her age and was attempting to push down a large tree to show off. Quite a few longnecks were watching. He wasn't strong enough to pull it off and instead made a fool of himself when it snapped back into his face. The young female longneck thought it was cute and walked up to introduce herself.
"That was something," she replied.
"Are you here to make fun of me too?" he replied, quite embarrassed about his failed feat.
In the background, a gaggle of young female longnecks run off as they giggle at his antics.
"Oh no. I thought it was quite cute," she giggled.
The young longneck blushes as he stands up, trying to appear tall.
"I'm Littlefoot," he said while standing confidently.
"Littlefoot?" she asked.
She giggles at the name, considering his feet aren't so little by this stage of life. He notices and blushes out of embarrassment.
"I..I mean, it's what my folks call me," he quickly corrected. "My real name is Bron."
She giggles again and nudges up quite close as they take a walk into the early evening. As time passes, they're seen together more often. Her parents notice and approve of their budding friendship, potentially reminiscing of their own first meeting.
Sometime later, a new star appears in the night sky. It grows with intensity for months until it's able to be seen even during the late evening hours, as the sun sets. The dinosaur herds take notice. As spring approaches they view the growing new star as a good omen. As a bringer of light and as a sign of a prosperous spring, many couples among the herds have their courtship under it. Some have their very first. Bron and Littlefoot's mother dance around under the glow of the star in the late evening. In the background, Cera's father and Tria do the same. Citing the beauty of the star as the other stars and planets slowly shine into view.
The new star also brought strange new visitors who talk of a pristine valley surrounded by tall mountains far in the west. They try to tell other herds directly that it's a place where everyone gets along and is devoid of sharpteeth but are laughed off. Even Cera's father has to butt in and make himself heard about the absurdity of such a claim. Many individuals who cross paths with these newcomers witness weird mannerisms. One nosy clubtail reported a pair engaging in a strange dance with weighted vines. It was passed off as a rain dance due to storms passing through after the twirling. The other herds start to call the weird newcomers with strange stories and rituals, rainbowfaces. All due to the multicolored face they exhibit. Even so, the rainbowfaces have slightly succeeded in creating a new story about a mythical land in a deep valley far into the western horizon. It has stuck in the minds of those who listened. Every iteration builds upon the previous until it has reached just about everyone in a short period of time.
Another newcomer has also arrived. A vicious sharptooth. He followed the new star into the southeast in search of new hunting grounds. Through the few days of his first arrival, The Sharptooth successfully chases off any competing sharpteeth within a large area. He intends to dominate the area and keep all the resources to himself. Secondarily he hopes it lulls his prey into a false sense of security. One quiet evening, he observes in silence behind the treeline as the herds start up their early spring courtships to usher in a new generation of eggs. The Sharptooth thinks to himself how they don't have much longer until the peace is broken with the screams of the innocent. The rampage starts tonight.
The first victim is spotted in the distance. It's one of the longnecks on the fringes of the herd, Littlefoot's mother. The Sharptooth waits patiently until she's alone long enough for an ambush. She wanders away from the group for a quick snack before sleeping for the night. The Sharptooth lunges from out of the cover of the dark forest, mouth wide open with dagger-like teeth, aiming for her neck.
Then suddenly a brilliant flash brightens up the southeast horizon. It captures the attention of everyone. They all look to the southeast for the few minutes it lingers. Even The Sharptooth stops his attack to stare into the southeast horizon as the light fades away. As the others stare at the horizon, the rainbowfaces know it's time to hunker down. They start to run around as the intense auroras start. Littlefoot's mother realizes there's a massive sharptooth still staring her down as the sky dances with color.
"Mom! Dad! Bron!" she yells in a panic. "Somebody! A sharptooth is after me!"
The Sharptooth is annoyed that the flash interrupted his kill. Littlefoot's mother whips her attacker in the face with the tip of her tail. A loud, thunderous crack is heard. Bron and her parents attempt to block The Sharptooth in as they arrive. He decides to flee before the longnecks succeed in a sharptooth beat-down. The element of surprise has been lost. A large welt slowly appears under his right eye from the tail whip. He tries to rub the welt, but his arms are too short to do much good.
He saunters off into a canyon as the wind starts to dramatically pick up. He snaps at a few rainbowfaces running around in the night, looking for shelter, as they anticipate what's to come. Bron decides to stick around just in case The Sharptooth comes back. Her parents also stick close by just in case The Sharptooth decides to return for a midnight snack.
"Maybe I should stay with you tonight," Bron said.
"Yes, please stay," Littlefoot's mother pleaded. "There's an eerie feeling in the air and I wouldn't mind the company."
They settle in to watch the auroras until a cloud of dust and debris begins to obscure it. The strong breeze causes the trees to sway as if a storm is approaching. Strange lightning dances in the distance.
The rainbowfaces are making more of a commotion than they realize while running along their evacuation routes. It annoys Cera's father as the pitter-patter of their feet on the bare ground keeps him from sleeping. The panicked murmurs also don't help with the noise issue.
"What do you think you're doing so late at night?!" Cera's father growls.
The outburst scares the group of rainbowfaces.
"Our apologies, sir," a rainbowface quickly says. "We're just on our way to sleep ourselves."
"Well, does it need to include all the noise!" he growls, growing more agitated.
They quickly disappear as Cera's father shifts around into a better resting position, afraid he was going to charge after them with those massive horns. The outburst carries downwind and wakes up the longneck herd leader and a few in her vicinity, including Littlefoot's mom, grandparents and Bron.
"You're the one being loud!" a longneck yells out. It's the leader of the longneck herd.
"I wouldn't be loud if the rainbowfaces weren't acting like the annoying creatures they are!" he yells back.
"Sure, blame the smaller creatures while you snore like a sharptooth grinding their teeth on a tree every. single. night!" the longneck leader yells, trying to be louder than the threehorn.
"Well, nobody says you need to sleep next to my herd!" Cera's father replies, also trying to sound louder than the longneck herd leader.
The threehorn herd leader hears this screaming match in the distance and has enough of the commotion.
"Oh, would you two shut up before I come over there and stab the both of you!" she screams out.
As the yelling match continues, Bron notices the rainbowfaces running into a nearby canyon. They look panicked. He follows them into the canyon thinking it'll be a quick peek. Littlefoot's mother doesn't notice since she's dozing off. With one misstep, Bron accidentally slides into a hidden cave entrance as his head is turned the other way. It's darker than outside, so he can't see much. Ahead, in the cave, he spots a flash of color from a rainbowface. As Bron continues squeezing through the cavern, his eyes eventually adjust to the darkness. A slight blue glow is noticed up ahead. Bron slides along the wall, feeling the ground ahead, to make sure there aren't any more sudden drops.
While Bron is getting himself lost underground, the air outside of the cave starts to heat up to uncomfortable levels. Small fireballs, glowing like embers, fall from the sky like rain. They fly through leaves, leaving perfectly singed holes behind. These singed leaves flare up as more debris rains down. A curtain of hot fine sand comes down upon the whole area. It burns everything it touches, including exposed skin. The ground starts to violently shake as the debris cloud falls. The herds all wake up and panic as their bodies feel like they're on fire. They run around and trample whoever is in the way. The wildfires exploding into existence causes panic to spread. Landslides from the worldwide earthquake bury those too close to the cliffs. Screams of fear and pain ring out and echo off the nearby rock and canyon structures. Littlefoot's mother and grandparents meet up as they escape into a nearby canyon for shelter, their heads down to avoid the debris and smoke invading their nostrils. Bron is nowhere to be seen. Nearby, Cera's father is calling out for Tria in the chaos.
"Tria! Tria, where are you!" Cera's father desperately yells out.
"I'm over here, Topsy! This heat is so unbearable!" Tria replies as she coughs in the debris choked air.
Tria can be heard but can't be seen. The panicking herd keeps her from view. Cera's father is being pushed further along by his own herd. They refuse to change direction since they're trying to escape the blistering heat. The canyon has an overhang and they're trying to take shelter under it.
"I can't see you!" Cera's father yells out again. "Where are you!"
Tria could no longer be heard. Cera's father is forced to run along with the other threehorns to prevent himself from being trampled under the feet of his own kin.
In a cave high above the chaos, Pterano and his sister are watching the situation below them in horror as it plays out. They'd just arrived earlier in the day to take a quick break before continuing their worldly travels.
"I can't believe this is happening," Pterano gasps. "Did...did that flash in the distance cause all of this?"
His sister doesn't pay attention to his ramblings as she watches a few large dinosaurs attempt to flee. It doesn't do any good since they're on fire.
"Those poor creatures," she whispers in fear.
Pterano notices the distress on his sister's face and attempts to console her.
"At least we're relatively safe in this cave, sis."
They notice the debris curtain starts to infiltrate their shelter as they huddle together. The pair are forced to eventually back away from the entrance to escape the extreme heat, finding its way in. Petrie's mother notices the cave extends further than they realized.
"Pterano, look," Petrie's mother says while waving to the back of the cavern. "This cave drops into a deeper section."
Pterano peeks his head in to take a quick look.
"There seems to be a long tunnel under here," Pterano curiously said.
"Well, we traveled this far from home. We might as well explore a cave while we still can," Petrie's mother mumbled.
They drop into the deeper sections of the cave. It's noticeably cooler and damper compared to the outside world. There's a slight blue glow along the rock walls. Pterano picks at it and notices it still glows even while attached to his finger. Out of curiosity, he licks it. It grosses out his sister. She sticks her tongue out in disgust. Pterano also notices a patch of glowing mushrooms on the wall. He reaches out to also have a sample of the glowing fungi.
"Don't you even dare," she warns. "It's bad enough you licked the walls!"
Pterano sheepishly grins.
"Well, I didn't lick the walls. I licked my finger after touching them."
"Close enough," she said.
With nothing else to lose, they follow the glowing tunnels. Petrie's mom slaps Pterano with her wing whenever he attempts to sneak a forbidden snack.
On the other side of the cave system, Bron is still following the trail of the rainbowface he saw earlier. He's unaware of the horrors happening on the outside, other than the massive earthquake that passes through the area. He has to stop in order to regain his footing. A few small rocks tumble down from the shaking. A few pebbles bounce off the top of Bron's head. The narrow cave tunnel quickly opens up into an underground wonderland. He's amazed at all of the plant life growing all over. He's even more amazed that he can stand up all the way without hitting the roof. There's a stream trickling through with a small pond in the center, pooling up from a natural rock dam. The walls and ceiling are covered in glowing slime and fungi.
"All this time traveling through the area and I never knew this place existed?" Bron wonders aloud.
A rainbowface speaks up after hearing Bron talk to himself.
"This sunken grotto is our home. We kept it hidden so it wouldn't be overrun by the others. Now the secret is out…," the rainbowface blurts out in a dejected tone.
"Oh, sorry. I don't think anybody else followed me," Bron replies. "Your secret is safe with me."
"Regardless, it doesn't matter," the rainbowface sighed. "We'll be forced to share it with whoever else stumbles upon this place."
The ground violently shakes some more. A few rocks fall in the tunnel Bron just exited. Bron gazes at the ceiling with worry.
"What about the earthshakes?"
"Don't pay any mind to them. We're fine here," the rainbowface said with confidence.
Outside, chaos ensues. Those stuck in the canyon system back into the walls to avoid the last of the hot falling debris. They also dodge boulders that loosened up from the earthquakes rippling through the area. They threaten to cave in the dinosaurs' only shelter more than a few times. The destructive forces last through most of the night. It's a long night for everyone involved. Not everyone makes it out. The next morning's light shines more of a reality on how many perished from wildfires and landslides. The survivors eventually wander out of the sheltering areas to see the rest of the devastation. There's almost nothing left to eat. A few plants barely managed to escape the fires in little enclaves. The water is full of dust and debris that fell through the night, creating an undrinkable muddy mess. Desperate from thirst, a few individuals attempt to dig deeper to find any water to soothe their dry mouths. The separate herds eat what they can in the enclaves before leaving in search of a bigger food source.
The Sharptooth slowly peeks out from his hiding spot. He sustained minor burns all over his back. Nothing as serious as the herds have, though. He notices many are fatally burned. A few hobble around with a noticeable limp. The air smells like burnt flesh as he sniffs around. Out of frustration from the failed attack on Littlefoot's mother, he rushes out to attack the stragglers. Many flee in time, while a few unlucky individuals feel teeth sinking into their limbs. The Sharptooth drags them away from the safety of the herds. Rain starts to fall as he feasts on their struggling bodies.
Author Notes: I fully intend this story to take place before the original movie and tried to keep the same tone throughout the story. It was originally written to be a fan comic, but since drawing a few hundred pages takes a lot of time and effort, I decided to turn the dialogue into the acceptable form to upload here. It still might happen, who knows, but I have other projects in the works that have more priority. I do plan on drawing scenes and character spot illustrations from this story, though! Despite the darker tone, there's still a bunch of fun scenes included. I can't wait to show you all in the coming months.
Also today is The Land Before Time anniversary. The timing around planning and starting this story ended up to be quite a coincidence.