Glad you guys are liking it so far! It makes me feel good that people are interested. Here's the next chapter as a reward!

Brothers Under the Bright Circle

Chapter 2

The Changing Land

Five Years Later

The overbearing heat from the Bright Circle leered down upon the land, having shrivelled up the last of reachable green food that would sustain what remained of the herds that stuck close to home, hoping for a sign that the sky water would come again. They all knew what would happen if they stuck close, but they denied it in the hopes that they were right and someone was wrong. In the end, it led to their downfall while those that left in the hope of finding food and water would find something at least. To stay was to die, to move was to live and die later.

This, the small family of five longnecks knew, but it was still quite new to the youngest of the herd. Littlefoot, who had been so used to eating his fair share of food, was now starting to realise just how difficult life was. His mother wished that her son did not have to grow up under such hardships, but it was the best that she could do as the largest of their herd placed a pile of bark at his feet.

Littlefoot crinkled his face in disgust at the brown sticks, but he couldn't afford to complain when his mother, grandparents and his brother were just as hungry as he was. They were giving up every bit of food they could find to feed his still growing body. He could still recall how Whiplash had been just above his grandpa's height, but that had all changed in the past five cold times. Now he towered over them, making Littlefoot feel insignificantly small compared to him. All he knew was that Whiplash had been part of the family since the day he was born and he'd accepted him as a brotherly figure.

But what good was a family if they were all going to just starve by standing here and eating these disgusting sticks of bark?

His mother seemed to read his mind, because the moment she heard his growling stomach, she lifted her head and looked around them. All the trees were completely barren to the point their trunks no longer had any bark. They were dead and dying, stripped of any signs of life. It was a wasteland.

His grandma and grandpa looked up too while Whiplash just seemed to chew on a mouthful of bark. Perhaps it was out of boredom or perhaps it was out of a desire to keep his mind from whatever was lingering back there. Whatever the reason, his sullen eyes continued to stare to into a void that Littlefoot could not see at all.

"There's hardly anything left," Grandpa Longneck commented with a gravely sigh. "We can't keep eating like this. He needs something and so do we, especially at the rate that Whiplash is growing."

Whiplash paused in his thoughtful chewing and eyed the elderly male longneck. "You don't have to worry about me, Grandpa," he said calmly with a hint of a smile, "it's Littlefoot I'm more worried about."

"I understand your worries, Father," their mother said softly, eyeing her son carefully. "And you're right, we can't keep eating like this and Littlefoot needs to eat something that will make him strong. But…" she paused, and her eyes seemed to water up, "is he old enough and strong enough to make the journey?" Her voice became even more worried as she spoke. "And what of…?"

She couldn't bring herself to say anymore as she struggled so hard not to show her desperation for her mate. He had been gone for so long that she was beginning to lose hope that she would ever see him again. She felt something press itself into her cheek comfortingly and she caught the soft brown eyes of her mother.

"He will find us, my daughter," she whispered kindly, and her eyes shifted over to her grandson, who continued to pick at the dull tasting bark. "But until then, we can't say a word of this to Littlefoot. If I know your mate, and if he found what we left behind, he'll catch up with us. But right now our priority is to move now while our stomachs are full. You have seen this paradise in your sleep stories, now is the time for you to guide us home."

Whiplash nodded in agreement along with Grandpa Longneck. "She's right," he replied. "If the way you described to him is true, he will find us."

They had their goal in mind, now they just had to get to it, and it was best to move while they could. "You're right," she said, nodding firmly, "both of you are."

"Which way do we need to go?" Whiplash asked.

She looked up toward the sky, where the Bright Circle was hanging and beginning to set behind the far distant mountains. She nodded in the general direction, "That way." She started to make her way to the edge of the dead forest, her eyes squinting but focusing on the destination at hand.

Littlefoot looked up with a start when he felt something press against his back and he looked up to see Whiplash pushing him with his snout. "Where are we going?" he asked.

"To a place to call home," Whiplash chuckled as he nudged him again and Littlefoot swatted his nose with his tail, causing him to snort in bemusement. "It's called the Great Valley."

"The Great Valley?" Littlefoot asked as he trailed after his mother with Whiplash walking over him, and his grandmother and grandfather walking behind. "I've never heard of it."

"It's a place where we will be safe and have lots of green food and water to drink," Grandpa explained. "Your mother has had sleep stories of it, and we heard of it from herds we've seen in the past. However…"

"None of us have even seen it," Grandma finished.

Littlefoot blinked, confused by this discussion but he continued to follow his mother. "But isn't that just it?" he asked. "It's just a sleep story. How does she know it's really there?"

His mother suddenly stopped and he bumped against her leg with an 'oof'. She turned her neck and her soft brown eyes peered into his red ones, motherly and kind. "There's only so much I've seen with my eyes," she explained, "but there are others I've seen with my heart."

"But… I don't understand," he protested.

A soft giggle emitted from her throat and she pressed her snout to his chin. "Someday you will, my son," she whispered. "You will."

"Mother, what is that?"

She looked up at the sound of Whiplash's voice and saw him gazing at something up at the treetops. She followed his eyes and saw something that made her gasp with shock. High up in the trees, dripping with water and shining with a beautiful green… was a large leaf shaped like a star in the night sky. It had been a long time since she had seen anything of that colour and her heart seemed to leap into her throat and fill her eyes with tears. Here was something that she could give to her son, and perhaps give him something that he had never seen before in his life.

She reached up to try and grab it, but her neck was far too short, and she snorted with frustration. Here was something she hadn't seen in a long time and she could not reach it! She stomped a paw and tried again but fell short. Then, to her surprise, a shadow fell over her and she saw Whiplash easily grasp the delicate green food with his teeth and gently plucked it off its safe branch. He inclined his eyes downward and she nodded firmly. He knew what she wanted, and he lowered his head, letting go of the sweet star and dropped it in front of his little brother.

Littlefoot stepped back cautiously, not understanding what this strange thing was. It was shaped like a star and had acted like it had fallen from the night sky itself, shining with precious water. When it settled on a rock in front of him, he peered at it carefully, eying every detail he could notice.

"What is this?" he breathed. He had never seen such a lovely shade of colour like this before. It was both strange and beautiful at the same time, shimmering in the fading light.

"That, my son," said his mother, "is a tree star. It's green food."

"Green food," Littlefoot repeated, rolling the strange word off his tongue. He inched forward and licked it. He jumped back as if he had been stung by a buzzing stinger! Never had he tasted anything like it! It tasted so incredibly sweet and bitter all at once. Here was something he had never seen nor tasted before and it almost felt like it had awakened an inner desire to consume it.

He grabbed it with his forepaws and breathed in its scent deeply. He wanted to eat it so badly, but something seemed to be holding him back, as though he did not want to remove something so special. Maybe he could decide about that later. He picked the leaf up in his mouth and tossed it onto his back.

Whiplash raised an eyebrow and so did his Mother, Grandpa and Grandma. Was he not hungry? Children can be so strange. Shaking their heads, they proceeded onward, leaving the skeleton forest behind them and following the setting Bright Circle.

Then, as though he suddenly felt cold, Littlefoot looked up and noticed that Whiplash was no longer standing over him, but rather… behind Grandma. He glanced over his shoulder, only to see his brother looking over his shoulder. He frowned, puzzled by this strange behaviour.

And seeing as how Whiplash was not in hearing range, Littlefoot trotted ahead until he was beneath his mother. She glanced down, sensing he had something on his mind. She waited with motherly patience for him to gather his thoughts, but continued walking.

"Mother?" Littlefoot finally spoke. "Where did Whiplash come from? Why is he not like us?"

The questions almost caught her off guard but she quickly composed herself, having suspected that those questions were due for an answer, but not this soon. Very gently and keeping her voice low so that only Littlefoot could hear, she explained, "It's very difficult to answer, and I'm certain you have regarded Whiplash as your brother ever since you hatched."

His nod confirmed it.

She sighed. "Littlefoot, Whiplash is not related to you or me, nor your grandparents. He came to our herd a month before you hatched. He did nothing but stand watch over us, always keeping an eye out for those that would do us harm. Before he came, I had more eggs. You would have had siblings, but, as it was my first clutch, I was careless in protecting the nest and lost all but you. He hardly spoke and mostly kept to himself. He still does today, but he opens a little more when you're around and speaks more when you ask him questions or play with him. I'm surprised he started calling me his mother after you hatched, but you calling him 'brother' has brought something out of him."

She frowned as she regarded the Bright Circle, checking that they were still on course, then she continued.

"When he came to our nest, he hardly spoke more than a few words other than his name and looking for a herd to join. We, of course, gladly welcomed his company. From that point on, he kept any egg stealers coming near the nest. Were it not for him, you… would not be here today and we would not be having this conversation right now."

Littlefoot looked downward, his focus solely on the ground, but she knew… she knew that he was deeply thinking over the discussion. Littlefoot was a deep thinker, always letting things roll in his mind to try and understand. He was still so young, but the land around them had forced him and his family to consider things more carefully, but he was still a child.

Something blocked the light above him and he found himself overshadowed by a tall figure. He looked up, expecting his mother to be there, but instead a firm snout pushed him with enough strength to knock him off his feet easily but not to cause any harm. He fell on his side and glared up at Whiplash. The large, smirking longneck bent his head down and nudged him once more, but this time…

"Hey!" Littlefoot giggled when Whiplash's nose bumped a sensitive spot. "Quit it!"

He flicked his tail to prove a point, but it did nothing to deter Whiplash. He nudged him again and Littlefoot's giggling only worsened the situation, resulting in him rolling on his back and Whiplash continuing his 'assault' on his helpless brother.

Grandma and Grandpa smiled fondly as Whiplash poked Littlefoot a few more times in the stomach with his nose, laughing until his sides ached. Finally, Whiplash pulled back and Littlefoot was able to breathe in relief, but he glared up at him in annoyance. Whiplash knew that it was all a show and he winked at him. Littlefoot picked himself up and shook the dirt from his back, grumbling under his breath.

Suddenly, he was yanked up off the ground by his tail and he found himself dangling in mid-air, legs flailing frantically. "Whiplash!" he cried.

"Relax, little brother," Whiplash said gently between his teeth and he carefully dropped him on his back.

This time, Littlefoot glared even harder at him. "Don't do that!" he hissed, swatting a paw at Whiplash's nose, but it did little to affect the larger longneck.

But as he did this, he couldn't help but notice all the details on his face. His snout was longer, the nostrils in his forehead thinner, and his throat was seemingly thicker than he originally imagined. Not once had he remembered riding on his brother's back, and never had he seen such a strange yellow colour in his eyes. He spotted the tinges of green on the outer yellow. But that wasn't what drew him to Whiplash's youthful but hardened expression, it was the barely noticeable thin scar on his left cheek. It was the first time he had seen it and he couldn't help but wonder: what had Whiplash been through before he joined the herd?

A jolt of softness interrupted his stare and he realised that his tree star had been returned to his back.

His mother licked him gently on the head. Whiplash lowered his head slightly and she did the same, but to his unscarred side. "Come along," she ordered, but there was the unmistakeable hint of mirth in her tone.

With that said, the family resumed their walk for as long as the Bright Circle remained in the sky. Now that he was perched on something higher, Littlefoot finally took note of his new world. Just like in the barren forest, there was nothing but dirt, jagged rocks and an occasional ground crawler attempting to seek shelter before darkness approached. He wondered what sort of creatures came out at the time of the Great Night Circle because he hadn't seen anything but ground crawlers, bugs and a few flyers that ignored him when he tried to make conversation with them.

Growing bored and restless after so long, he tapped a paw on Whiplash's thick skin and he complied by lowering his neck. Leaning backward, he slid down his neck and onto the ground, landing with a soft thud and a kick of dust. He suddenly remembered as his tree star fell off his back and he quickly caught it in his mouth, afraid that he would get dirt on something so precious.

A gurgle emitted inside, and he groaned feverishly. Whiplash chuckled and shook his head.

Then again, Littlefoot hadn't eaten anything other than the dull tasting bark, and his tree star was looking really tempting right now. He sniffed it deeply, the beautiful aroma hitting his nostrils and making his mouth water. He prepared to take a nibble of it…

And then, he heard something.

It sounded like… something was laughing, and it sounded… like it was a girl, only it wasn't his mother or grandma's giggle, they wouldn't laugh at him like this. No, this one sounded… younger, around his age, maybe?

Glancing up, he spotted his mother, Whiplash, and his grandparents stopping to take a break from walking, snacking on the dull bark and dry grass. He flinched in disgust and stood up. He was going to investigate this strange sound. He hadn't even played with a longneck his age, and he had no friends. In fact, he hadn't even met anyone else outside his herd. He could go and make a friend and ask them if they wanted to travel with them to the Great Valley!

Feeling very pleased with himself, he left his tree star and tilted his head, listening to the continuing giggles of the girl. It was coming from the edge of the tree line through dense grass taller than himself.

Checking to make sure that no one had seen him move, he lowered himself to the ground and edged through the dry grass with a quiet rustle.

Only someone had seen him sneak away and he was determined to find out what he had seen.