A rewrite of the first Land Before Time movie using my heavy world-building, *somewhat* more accurate dinosaurs, magic, and fae-people. I know people don't care for humans in LBT fanfics, but I've had so much fun building this in my head, and the connections I've made to all the canon characters and OCs stops me from having as much fun writing it as a non-LBT fanfic/original story. So, here I am, back writing Land Before Time fanfiction once more.
Prologue: When the Land Began to Die
No one understood why the Whispering crystalborn — the ones with strange glowing wing-like markings on their backs, who spoke with voices beyond the realm — called the new age the Era of the Dying Lands. No one understood, even as the trees didn't grow as plentiful as the year before, or the rain didn't fall as heavy as a decade ago. It wasn't until over two hundred years passed before its meaning was revealed.
The land was dying.
And nothing could be done about it.
All they could do was pray that they could find an oasis.
A large creature grazed on the lush grasses at the edge of a forest, not a worry to be had. She was covered in dark-fern-green scales, darker tiger stripes adorned her back, and her underside was a soft, lighter green. Stiff, pale-fern green quills lined her tail and lower back. Her head sported a large, round frill while two long horns jutted just above her beige eyes, and another, shorter horn adorned her nose just above her boney beak. The softer insides of her frill were cinnabar, the dull color typical for a female.
She was an earthborn, part of the menagerie of scaled and feathered beasts, big and small, that walked the land. Specifically, she was a frillhead — earthborn with head frills and horns. And a frillhead as big as she, with such a spectacular display of frill and horns, was called a hornface. Her impressive set of brow horns finished her labeling as a hornbrow threehorn.
Her full title: Earthborn, Frillhead, Hornface, Hornbrow, Threehorn. But many knew her kind as threehorns or just hornfaces.
Even though the cow was large, that did not mean she was safe. She was still young, not quite fully grown, and had wandered away from the protection of her herd. Adolescents, across every creature of land, air, and sea, tended to possess the rebellious stupidity of puberty. The hornface cow, Leafquill, had it worse than most.
Leafquill lifted her head, a clump of grass hanging from her beaked jaws as she lazily chewed. She gazed back at her herd in the distance among the open plains. Numerous shades of grey bodies made up the hornfaces with a few dull colors speckled here and there, herself included. After all, she was the daughter of the herd patron, sporting a mix of her mother's richer green scales and her father's dark grey.
She huffed and stepped forward to snip a succulent magenta blossom from the ground. Sweet on her tongue, Leafquill closed her eyes as she savored the treat and the surrounding silence. It had been a pain to deal with her father's stern gaze on her back for the past few moon cycles. She couldn't help that she had met a very handsome bull and had performed some rather… intimate actions with him. And she couldn't help that she fell gravid, and the egg hatched into the cutest calf she had ever seen. Still, her family thought she was too young to care for a calf. After all, she was only sixteen years old. But she felt ready. Well, for the most part. Leafquill wished she could slip away from the herd with her friends like they did before she laid Duststomp's egg. She fondly remembered when she and some of the other young cows would mingle with other herds, flirt with all the cute bulls, and listen to the latest gossip. She also missed having more peaceful times like this. Still, she was confident she was an exceptional mother to her little Duststomp.
Sadly, the calf's father, Bisterback, had refused to join Leafquill's herd. Or maybe her father hadn't accepted him. Either way, Bisterback's yellow-brown hide wasn't visible among the hornfaces of the Herd of Looming Shadows. He would visit occasionally, and Leafquill and he would have their moments, but it wasn't the same if he had been among her herd.
The sweet taste of the flower gone from her mouth, Leafquill raised her head to the leaves of the trees whose shade she stood in. A sharp smell greeted her nares, like too many crushed medicinal herbs. The pale-fern quills along her lower back prickled with warning as a strange tingling sensation ran through her scales.
Panic flooded her.
Magic. Crystalborn.
Leafquill faltered—a sharp pain sliced through the side of her neck. A bellow escaped her as she stumbled to the ground. Hot blood streamed down the side of her neck. Beige eyes wide with fear and pain, she hauled her large body to her feet. Breathing through gritted teeth, she lurched forward, calling for her herd.
Another sharp pain stabbed her flank. Then her hindquarters. An arrow whizzed past her beak, nearly forcing her to stop. The trees behind her rustled with the movement of the terrible creatures attacking her with sharpened sticks. Their soft, scaleless skin flashed between leaves while their big, round eyes watched with the intensity of a predator. Long forelimbs pulled back wood and twine, and the wind howled through their hair as if commanding them to stop.
The hornface stumbled to a stop and lowered her horned head. Leafquill could hear the bellows of her herd behind her as she faced the terrible creatures in the trees. She could hear her herd screaming for her to run, to get away from the trees where the creatures were safe from their horns, but whatever coated their weapons was taking effect. Warm blood dripped from her scales onto the ground, but the searing spots of pain where the arrows were still lodged in her flesh were fading. Her toes tingled with numbness, and her vision blurred as she brandished her horns.
Hornfaces did not give up.
Leafquill stepped forward, and her world spun. A leg gave way beneath her body. Her shoulder hit the ground with a heavy thud. Through the ringing in her ears, she could hear her father screaming her name as the world kept spinning. The sharp smell of magic invaded her nares as a shrill whistle filled the warm air. The last thing she saw before darkness engulfed her vision was the strange soft, round face of a crystalborn, long fingers reaching for her, flickering with the glow of green magic.
Graceful Leaf pressed a hand to the warm scales of the dying earthborn. She silently thanked the large beast for her life and the meal she would provide the woman's tribe. As a crystalborn, it was sometimes hard hunting creatures whom she could understand every spoken word. Then again, crystalborn weren't much different from the large carnivorous earthborn. It was just that the carnivores couldn't naturally understand their prey. Though, many picked up on other languages by constantly needing to hunt other creatures. Crystalborn, on the other hand, understood and spoke every sentient creature's language the moment they learned their first words. The pointed-eared people were connected to magic, after all.
It was a constant moral dilemma among some crystalborn. In contrast, others saw it as black and white — they either survived just on vegetation or cared little for creatures that weren't their own kind, willingly dining on flesh. It just happened that the Tribe of Stabbing Thorns was somewhere in the middle. Either way, the cow was dead, and a celebration would be had. Her life would be thanked and blessed as her flesh filled the bellies of the tribe. Meat was a delicacy among many people, and often in the realm, one life had to be given for another to survive.
Graceful Leaf stood, flicking her fingers upwards. Glowing jade-green magic danced off her fingers. Roots from the trees behind her burst from the ground and wrapped around the cow, dragging her into the forest.
The woman smiled as she turned and watched the body disappear among the thick trunks of the trees. She was proud to be a Warper crystalborn — a crystalborn who could manipulate something that already existed. She and most of her tribe were Plant Warper crystalborn. They could control the massive root systems of trees or tear leaves off branches and cause a terrible whirlwind. But Plant Weavers could also help blossoms bloom, and seeds sprout. They could manipulate it as they saw fit as long as it was an existing plant.
She grasped her right elbow, thumbing over the glowing jade-green marking. It looked like a small vine had wrapped itself around her elbow. Every crystalborn was born with a glowing mark that was the color of their magic. Each race had a distinct style of magic birthmark, and each birthmark varied between individuals. Warpers like Graceful Leaf had small but detailed markings that represented what they could manipulate and could be anywhere on their bodies. Among some of Graceful Leaf's hunting troop were a man with a palm-sized tree on his back, a leaf on someone's heel, a pair of branches on a woman's right ribcage, and a small flower on a teenaged boy's forehead. All the markings varied in shades of yellows, greens, and browns. But markings could come in any color, no matter what the Warper manipulated. Even so, certain shades were more common than others in certain tribes.
Graceful Leaf still smiled as she watched the cow's body move deeper and deeper into the forest. The hunt had been successful. Even after a few mishaps, they procured a great prize. It was a great first hunt for her eldest daughter. For a moment, Graceful Leaf had feared everything would have gone wrong after the cow was shot with her daughter's arrow, but it seemed everything would be fine now. She would soon enjoy a meal with her husband, their two daughters, and the rest of the tribe.
As Graceful Leaf followed the carcass into the forest, she seemed to have forgotten something. She had been too caught up in her thoughts and terror and excitement of the hunt. The relief that had flooded her when the cow was brought down drowned the more important thoughts — which herd the cow belonged to and whom the cow was to the herd.
The earth quaked as a massive creature charged toward the small hunting troop. Graceful Leaf couldn't even turn around or run to the safety of the trees. A horn burst through her chest, skewering Graceful Leaf through the middle. Her body slid forward on the great herbivore's head like a fish on a lance, leaving his horn a brilliant shade of red. The rest of the crystalborn stood within the safety of the trees, staring back at the three-horned face. Rage-filled dusky-peridot eyes burned through them as burnt-grey scaled flanks heaved for breath.
Then the screams started. Bellows of rage and shrieks of terror filled the peaceful morning air.
The crystalborn scattered into the trees like rats found at a new clutch of eggs. But the Herd of Looming Shadows' patron could only bellow in rage as his daughter's body was dragged away from him. The trees were too thick to barge through, and the crystalborn were too swift among the trees. Their vile magic forced tree roots and vines to wrap around his daughter's body as they dragged her across the forest floor. Each bump tore fern-green scales from her body and spilled more blood. They were destroying her as they dragged her to their tribe, where they would devour every piece of her and use her scales, bones, horns, and anything else for their perverted rituals.
And there was nothing he could do about it.
Leaping through the trees, following the corpse, all was quiet among the crystalborn hunting troop. No one spoke until the bull's screams could no longer be heard.
"Did you know whom you attacked, Jade Blossom?" a quiet enraged voice asked a mere fifteen-year-old girl.
The girl stayed quiet. Her jaw clenched as silent tears spilled from her jade-green eyes. The image of Graceful Leaf, her mother, impaled on the grey-scaled hornface's horn repeatedly replayed in her head. This was her first hunt, and it was supposed to go great. Her mother was supposed to lead them to the prey, and Jade Blossom would be the first to shoot and take down the creature. Then they would bring it back, and the entire tribe would celebrate and enjoy the meal. She would return with her mother to enjoy the celebration with her father and two-year-old sister, Amber Sky. No lives were supposed to be lost, especially not —
"Jade Blossom!"
The girl jerked from her thoughts. Her tear-stained face turned to the darker-haired man, her eyes wild and breathing erratic. His words registered, and her mouth worked to find her own words. "I-I… no. I just thought… the cow was a perfect target. She was just… there… away from the herd."
"So you thought you were shooting a random cow?" The man reiterated, teeth gritted and shadowed-verdant eyes filled with anger.
"Yes!" Jade Blossom shouted. "She was away from the herd. We needed the food, and it was an easy shot! I didn't think my mom would get killed today! Stop trying to lecture me, Black Thorn! She's dead, and I can't do anything about it!" A panicked sob shuddered from her chest as she pulled at her caramel hair, a few shades lighter than her mother's dark-caramel hair.
"Your mother is dead because you didn't know who that cow was! I told Graceful Leaf it was too soon to let you hunt, but she insisted you were ready. Your skills with a bow and arrow might be great, but you have difficulty paying attention and retaining anything we say." Black Thorn crouched before Jade Blossom. His lips peeled back in a snarl. "You should have known that those hornfaces were the Herd of Looming Shadows, and if you had listened while we trailed them, you would have known every family member of the leader. You just killed the patron's daughter." He pointed at the corpse, which stopped moving with the rest of the troop.
Everyone stood in awkward, somber silence as Black Thorn grabbed Jade Blossom's chin, forcing the girl to look him in the eyes. "This cow was Leafquill. She was the daughter of Shadowheart, patron of the Herd of Looming Shadows. When she called for help, her father came running. He would kill anyone near his daughter to save her." He gripped her chin tighter, wisps of dark green, almost black magic, curling off his fingers. "And that person should have been you. You were the stupid girl who thought shooting the cow with a poisoned arrow was a good idea."
He shoved her away and approached the carcass. "If this had been a random herd member, everyone may have returned in one piece. But now your mother is dead, and we can't even bring her body back for a funeral rite because that bull's bound to have crushed her into a bloody pulp by now."
Black Thorn turned away, fist clenching and unclenching as he tried to rein in his anger. Another man slowly reached for him, about to lay a hand on Black Thorn's shoulder to calm him, but Jade Blossom's voice struck the silence.
"Then why did the rest of the group shoot her too if I was such an idiot to take the first shot?"
Before the other man could grab Black Thorn's shoulder, he approached Jade Blossom again. Once more, he crouched in front of her and pulled an arrow from the quiver strapped to his back. Without breaking eye contact, he tapped the pointed stone head of the arrow. "Poison. The moment your arrow sliced through the cow's flesh, she would die. We couldn't waste our only chance for meat for another moon cycle, so we had no choice. And guess what? We got lots of meat, and Graceful Leaf is dead." He smiled, voice dripping with sarcasm as he slipped the arrow back into his quiver and stood straight.
Black Thorn raised a hand to the sky, shadowed-fern-green magic dancing around his hand. New tree roots and vines gathered around the carcass and began dragging it forward once more. Each root and vine was replaced by another when it reached too far from its source and either returned to the ground or snapped off and fell away. A destructive trail of roots and vines followed their path as Black Thorn's powerful magic raged through the surrounding plants.
The rest of the hunting troop followed slowly, leaving Jade Blossom to stare at their backs, tears rolling down her cheeks. She only moved when the sixteen-year-old boy with a glowing mark of a flowering lilac on his forehead approached her. Without words, he took her arm and guided her through the forest behind the rest of the troop.
But Black Thorn had one last thing to say. He turned over his shoulder, dark eyes narrowing at the pair of teenagers. "Why'd your mother have to choose your father as her life-mate? Graceful Leaf and I were in love until he came along. If she had married me, she might still be alive rather than killed by her daughter's stupid mistakes."
Jade Blossom squeezed her eyes shut, tears spilling as sob after sob rattled her shoulders. The boy said nothing, rubbing her shoulders as they returned to the tribe.
The realm was so unlike our own. Earthborn, the dinosaurs, roamed the land. Skyborn, the pterosaurs, ruled the skies. Waterborn, the marine reptiles, controlled the waters. Other strange and unusual creatures like the shadowborn and fireborn lived amid them. Sprinkled among all living creatures were the crystalborn, a human-like race with pointed ears and magic at their fingertips.
Numerous shapes, colors, and sizes among the sentient creatures filled the realm. Each with its unique name, culture, and way of life. From the head frills and horns of the frillhead hornface earthborn to the long, horizon-sweeping necks of the whiptail ridgeback longneck earthborn or the fang-filled jaws of the many, many clawhand earthborn. Or the long-tailed skyborn Astrapi or the various crested short-tailed skyborn Akron. Even among the crystalborn, each possessed a unique style of magic and a unique glowing birthmark.
Many crystalborn lived among the earthborn who roamed the land. Some traveled with the most peaceful lumbering plant-eating giants. Others enjoyed the company of herbivores who sported horns, boney armor, or the much smaller kinds that darted to and fro. Then, there were crystalborn who lived among the earthborn who devoured flesh or those of a more mixed diet. And some crystalborn didn't live with earthborn, walking only among other crystalborn. And still, some took to the skies with the largest skyborn or swam with the waterborn.
Over the passing years, the land had been changing. It was barely noticeable at first. Deserts became wetter, and rainforests turned colder. The weather changed, but most residents seemed unbothered. They either moved or dealt with it and continued their lives, making minor, sometimes unnoticed, changes.
However, in the last few years, the region had taken a change for the worst. The torrential rains came later until they stopped altogether. Without the rains, the rivers and lakes dried up. The plants perished without water. The herbivores had no food without foliage, so they either died or moved away, and the carnivores followed. It wouldn't be long before those who remained would take the long and tiresome journey to the few paradises that still thrived within the region.
Supposedly, magic was to be blamed for the change in the land. See, the crystalborn were the only creatures of the realm to wield magic, but that didn't mean they were the only source. Strange magical crystals of various colors littered the realm with wonderful blessings and terrifying curses. It was said that one of the many types of Shards had caused a wondrous paradise to spring forth, but, as a result, the surrounding land began to die.
Soon enough, the story of a rather special group of earthborn, crystalborn, and a skyborn would unfold. But first, they had to be welcomed into the world.
