The Land Before Time: The Old Days

(Set after my story A Land Before Time Legend. I heavily spoil that story in this one. Read it first, it's a one shot that provides lots of important backstory for this one. Also it shows the battle that is only mentioned in this)

*The Great Valley has fallen! It's been abandoned by the leaf eaters who have called it home for many thousands of cold times. Herds have been divided as they try to survive in the Mysterious Beyond. Vegetation is plentiful so food is no problem, what is a problem is what attacked the Great Valley in mass...the sharpteeth. Seeking their revenge after their loss in the great war three years before, the sharptooth known as the Pale Sharptooth led a vicious attack on the valley that ended with the death of the great longneck leader Zallien, who had, it seemed, won the war for the flatteeth. However, his death will be avenged. His nephew Zeerien has learned of his uncle's death and is returning to the Great Valley to find the one who killed his uncle, even if he must break every rule the longnecks live by. Including one that goes against all his instincts...he must trust a sharptooth.

Chapter 1

3600 Years Before Littlefoot's Birth

Millions of years ago, the Earth was like an alien planet. Covered in plants we have never seen, and ruled by towering, mighty animals. The dinosaurs. These awesome monsters roamed our world long before humans, for millions of years. Some had flatteeth and other shad sharpteeth. The flatteeth ate plants and the sharpteeth ate dinosaurs.

Yet there was a place for the leaf eaters to stay safely hidden from their predators, until it was taken from them in a brutal attack that shocked everyone both in and outside the valley. Hundreds of sharpteeth led by the Pale Sharptooth assaulted the valley, driving the leaf eaters out and scattering them in the Mysterious Beyond.

The Great Valley had been sacked. It was empty, and lifeless, bodies were rotting under the light of the Bright Circle. Insects fed on them, the sharpteeth did not, they left the valley after the sacking. The Pale Sharptooth brought down the valley in a brutal assault that shocked every far walker herd in the Mysterious Beyond. He'd had his revenge, he was satisfied. Mostly, at least temporarily he would still kill leaf eaters when finding them, hungry or not. He had to, he needed to, he needed his rage and his rage needed the violence.

"But you were wrong, you were deceived by your own arrogance." He'd said, now the leaf eaters would be forced to live where they couldn't hide from sharpteeth, where they couldn't hide from the great circle of life. The leaf eaters had watched him enter the valley, they assumed no force could challenge them. And what happened? They'd lost.

And he, the Pale Sharptooth, had killed Zallien. The longneck who had led the valley in the great war. After seven cold times he'd thought he'd led the valley to victory over the sharpteeth. The Pale Sharptooth then stepped in and waited for three years while building his strength. The attack had been truly vicious. The sacking of the Great Valley would never be forgotten and it would no doubt be many, many thousands of cold times before the flatteeth would dare go back. If they ever did.

Of course, the only thing Zeerien knew when he entered the valley, on the same path as the Pale Sharptooth, the same path that in several thousand years a longneck named Littlefoot would say goodbye to a day old sharptooth hatchling he'd named Chomper on, was that his uncle Zallien and Zallien's daughter had been among those killed in the battle , and Zeerien only saw the bodies and he only smelled the smell of death. Zeerien gagged, he shook his head and began searching the bodies.

He was no adult, only in his Time of the Great Growing. Green in color with a brown pattern on his tail and black patterns on his back and head. He'd not tangled with many sharpteeth, having been too young and too far away to fight in the great war. Zeerien's flank shuddered as a shiver, a sickly shiver, went up his back as he looked through the sweating, decaying, ripped open corpses around him. Many brave Great Valley dinosaurs who had fallen in the battle. In the fall.

Finally he could not take it anymore. Zeerien stumbled, gagged and vomited his pitiful lunch of a few tree stars, swamp sticks and some black berries right up onto the dismembered head of a threehorn. The eyes were still open, glassy, looking at the longneck almost reproachfully until the vomit covered them. Zeerien stumbled back and his back left foot went inside the ripped open side of the rotting corpse of a spiketail.

Zeerien half yelled and half yelped as he took a few steps away, rubbing his foot on the muddy ground to wipe the rotten flesh off. He took several deep, panicked breaths, feeling sick again.

Ready to cry, the longneck turned and saw them. The bodies of both Zallien and his adult daughter, laying near to each other, ripping open and rotting.

Almost in a trance, Zeerien approached. Swarms of bugs flew away as he walked up to the foul smelling corpses. With tears in his eyes, Zeerien nuzzled Zallien's face. This longneck had been almost a father to him….it wasn't fair! Why'd he have to die!

Crying, Zeerien sank to the floor, shouting to vent his pain. When he looked up, the Bright Circle was already below the mountains that surrounded the empty valley, the sky a brilliant golden yellow color.

Seeing the footprints of the sharptooth that no doubt killed Zallien, Zeerien, after saying a final goodbye to his uncle and cousin, began following. It was a start.

"I don't know who did this….but I'm going to find out who killed you uncle...and make them pay." The thought in Zeerien's head declared, "They will pay."

Not too far away from the Great Valley, a bluish purple colored sharptooth female, only in her Time of the Great Growing, opened her red eyes and yawned, her jaws wide, exposing her teeth. It all came rushing back and she sniffed, tears dripping from her eyes. The pain came back before even a thought of breakfast.

She was alone, her name Pureheart. She laid there and cried, remembering how it happened. Her father standing up to the Wrongdoer, as many sharpteeth who had not been in the battle now called him, and him ripping her father's stomach open. That was the morning after the sacking of the valley.

"Daddy...why?" Purebeart whimpered. The sharptooth stood up and shook herself, still crying. As she walked through the trees she thought she caught a glimpse of a sky puffy that looked like her father. But her vision then went to a series of deep claw gashes left in the side of a tree.

The Wrongdoer had no doubt left them. That, and a distant roar, spurred her into action.

"I'm coming for you." Pureheart whispered, "As soon as I find you." Pureheart was somewhat startled due to the darkness in her voice, but accepted its presence for now. She normally wouldn't be the type to go after revenge, she hadn't when her mother was killed, but her father's pride had been hurt before the end. And pride was something very important to sharpeeth. Pride was something a sharptooth needed to die with to be at peace, or so an old saying went. Her father hadn't gotten that. And neither would his killer.

After his death, she'd run away from the area around the Great Valley and now had a long journey to return. She started right away, not bothering to find food.

The Pale Sharptooth ignored the trees he was walking between. He was not hungry, but he was hunting. He was going to kill.

He roared. His prey was near. Threehorns...a small herd...maybe two families sticking together. They probably came from the Great Valley. He soon found them, in a field beyond the edge of the forest. With a roar, he charged.

"It's him!" A female threehorn, grey in color, cried, nudging a child no doubt only a few weeks old along. Three males stood their ground, forming a blockade as the two females tried to flee with the four children.

There was a multitude of roars and snarls and rips. When one of the mothers looked back, all the males were dead and a blood soaked sharptooth was charging them, teeth bared. The mother stooped, spun and rammed her hours into the sharptooth's stomach, puncturing deep. The sharptooth roared, grabbed her frill in his jaws and pulled back until he ripped it off. The threehorn screamed as sound that no dinosaur ever should and the sharptooth then bit down on her head and ripped until it came off. His attack on the other threehorn was just as merciless, fast and vicious. And finally, he stalked towards the frozen children….

He was walking away from the kills when two horned sharpteeth stepped out of the forest, both had been at the battle in the Great Valley and both were very vocal in their support for the Pale Sharptooth and his attack, "Will you not eat them?" One asked, "Great Leader." The Pale Sharptooth didn't look back, "They are yours, eat well." He said curtly and he kept walking.

The water flowed over the rocks, it was shallow and fish were stranded between the rocks, wriggling their way along to try and escape to deeper water. It made it very easy for Pureheart to get enough to fill her belly. The young tyrannosaurus didn't like fish but she ate anyway. One couldn't debate one's next move with an empty stomach.

Belly full, now she could think. She settled by the stream and contemplated her next move.

She needed to avenge her father...she would never be able to mourn with his unavengd death in her mind. She didn't know if she could kill his murderer, she wanted to, but she knew she could put honor and pride back into her father's name. Until then, she wouldn't allow herself to mourn. No, his pride and life were spat upon and Pureheart couldn't allow it. If she died trying, she'd have to try to make the Wrongdoer face justice by her claws and teeth. She'd decide to kill him or not while searching.

Not knowing where he was, she stood. She'd go to where she knew he had been and start there. The Great Valley. If she went quickly, she could probably get there before the Bright Circle set. With a plan in mind, she started on her journey.

And in the distance, she noticed a famous landmark that said she was near the valley alright. The great rock that looked like a longneck. During the war, the sharpteeth had tried to tear it down but they'd failed. Pureheart was sure it would stand strong even if every sharpteeth in the world tried to remove it. She was also sure it would stand for many upon many more thousands of cold times.

Zeerien didn't want to, but he'd been forced to sleep in the valley that night. He felt...dirty because of it. But at least he'd not have to worry about sharpteeth. He'd found an area without any bodies and slept like the dead all night.

Finally, as the Bright Circle rose above the mountains, bathing the lush valley in light, Zeerien stirred. It was almost ironic, waking in a beautiful, wet, green valley that seemed to welcome you when it was full of hundreds of bodies.

The young longneck stood and stretched, dew from the plants covering his feet. Despite himself, he went to a tree and began eating some tree stars from the branches. The Great Valley did live up to its legend of being a place of green that would always stay as such. Next, Zeerien went to a stream and took a drink of water. Only after swallowing a few mouthfuls did he notice, just downstream, the water flowing over it, the dead body of a swimmer, it's dead, bloated eyes open and looking at him. Startled, Zeerien took several steps back and nearly slipped.

Time to leave.

He left the way he came in, the last to leave, leaving behind a land of empty promises. Zeerien knew he'd never go back.

The footprints he'd been following had gone out the same way they'd gone in, but now he saw no sign of the foot tracks. That meant he'd have to find someone who saw the battle, be them a flattooth or...a sharptooth….

Zeerien heard a hooting from nearby and hoped it would be the flattooth he found first. Making his way through the surrounding woodland, he heard roars, howls and snarls. Flatteeth were scattered all around and sharpteeth were still thick in the area. Zeerien knew he'd have to be careful. Because he was going to stay in the area until he found someone who could tell him what happened, or someone who could help him find out.

"Why do you call me the Wrongdoer? The Deceiver? The Mistake-maker? I did want was needed, I brought down the valley! The attack could not have gone better. My plan worked more then perfectly. The Great Valley dinosaurs were caught completely unawares. And the longneck Zallien perished. Many sharpteeth now speak highly of me." The Pale Sharptooth growled. Four plated sharpteeth who had not been in the attack shook their heads, one with green eyes and black skin snarled, "No, only a minority speak highly of you. Many sharpteeth who were there even regret it, for they acted out of anger and bloodlust and now see their error. There was no honor, you only wished for death. You disregarded the great circle of life and now it will be out of balance!" It said, snarling.

"I corrected it, the leaf eaters, the ones who killed many of us, will now have no place to hide from us. We will not go hungry. And only those who were weak perished, those who would die anyway." The Pale Sharptooth snarled back. He regarded each plated sharptooth coolly, and he gave each one a gaze of hate and anger, of his blood lust. It had pleased him all sharpteeth knew him now...until he'd seen how many, many of them felt about his actions and the aftermath.

"No Wrongdoer, your mistakes will take generations to fix, like us their numbers were too reduced by the war, and not a few generations, but many, maybe thousands of them! Life will be hard for all. Sharpteeth and flatteeth will suffer. You are no hero among the masses of sharpteeth. Now go before we kill you and pray we do not see you again." Another of the plated sharpteeth snarled, this one green colored with orange plates and red eyes.

"I ended the war!" The Pale Sharptooth roared.

"It was a war that never should've happened. It was brought upon by another sharptooth just like you.. and just like him you will be a disgrace among the masses for eternity." A third plated sharptooth said, "And so will any sharptooth who wishes to be like you." With a roar of anger, the Pale Sharptooth turned and stalked off into the forest. The sharpeeth had held the Great Valley and all the dinosaurs there in their jaws and only needed to squeeze, or bite or puncture...yet they hadn't. And it seemed none would. There hadn't been enough sharpteeth at the battle, because of fools like those plated sharpteeth who could not see it. The Great Valley had been on its knees and the sharpteeth only needed to bite for it to die, to step on the skull and crush the brain into mush, yet it hadn't happened. A hurried evacuation had saved many of the flatteeth now scattered all over, in small herds, twos or threes, or even lone individuals. How could they also not see all he had done for his kind….his deathlike, ruined, white, scarred skin was a permanent reminder to all.

"Our time has come." He'd said during the sacking of the valley, yet the masses of sharpteeth were not acting upon it. They were not acting upon this opportunity they now had before them. And they also called the sharpteeth who served him pitiful, cowardly snakes who deserved to crawl on their bellies. The injustice, the nerve! It was those who didn't fight who deserved such a title and if he could, the Pale Sharptooth would throw them all to the giant swimming sharpteeth in the sea. They would now live easier because of him. No flattooth would now ever dare go back to the Great Valley, they had nowhere to hide and yet he was being called the Wrongdoer.

His rage took over and he smashed a tree, splitting it in half, as he passed.

Pureheart pulled herself over the mountain top, taking several deep breaths. That part of the journey was over now. Below was an empty, rocky valley she'd have to descend into and climb back out of. In the distance, she heard an ominous rumble. And she saw smoke rising into the sky, no doubt from the not too far away Mountains that Burn. Behind, far below, the distant shape of the rock that looked like a longneck was still visible.

With a tired sigh, the sharptooth climbed down. More rumbling came from the burning mountains and Pureheart was thankful not to be going that way. She climbed back out of the valley and headed off in the direction the Bright Circle would set, towards the Great Valley, it wasn't far now.

"I'll avenge you daddy. Your death will not go unpunished." She thought, breathing hard from the climb.

If there was no sign of the Pale Sharptooth in or around the valley, she'd just have to catch another sharptooth, maybe a frilled one, and demand his location.

After journeying a bit longer, she came to a pond. Above her was a tall rocky ledge and higher up a cave that might lead into the valley, which was just on the other side. She knew it.

After taking a drink from the water, scaring some turtles into the deeper area of the pond, Pureheart looked at how high up the cave was and shook her head. She could go around and find another way into the valley that was easier. She was over all the climbing.

A four legged sailback sharptooth crawled past, hissing, tongue flicking from between its teeth. Zeerien poked out from behind a tree and watched it go, not looking for a fight. At least not yet. He heard more roars as he began to again walk through the trees, almost aimlessly wandering along the outside of the Great Valley. He didn't really have a plan set in stone yet.

The trees ahead cleared and Zeerien stopped, eyes widening. In the clearing were bones, worn and numerous. Remains of hundreds of dinosaurs.

This was a battlefield from the great war, it had to be. Zeerien gulped, he swore the sharpteeth skeletons were still snarling. Out of respect for his fallen fellow flatteeth, he went around the battlefield. He saw the remains of longnecks, threehorns, spiketails, claw-hands, and even some flyers. What battle had this been? There seemed to be lots of longsnout sharpteeth skeletons, and less larger ones. The larger ones appeared to be Featherhead Sharpteeth, at least possibly due to the skull shape. He wondered if Zallien had been here when the battle was fought, it was possible, especially if this one had occurred later in the war.

Zeerien eventually got around the battlefield and turned away, leaving the silent bones behind and letting them keep their stories.

He felt tears trying to build up again but Zeerien forced them back, building a mental dam behind his eyes. Tears could come later, after his uncle and cousin were avenged.

Pureheart sighed as she left the rocky land behind, entering a damp forest, the air pleasantly changing with the change in scenery. She could smell sharpteeth and flatteeth, far fewer of them, all around but didn't hear anything. As she walked, she heard the squawking of a quilled sharptooth but she didn't see it.

Smelling water, Pureheart walked towards it. She found a small pool with a waterfall pouring into it and in that pool, looking right at Pureheart, was a terrified and frozen mother swimmer with fifteen children in her arms or in the water.

She locked eyes with Pureheart, they were sad and begging, "Please." The swimmer said, voice cracking from emotion, "Please don't hurt us….don't hurt my babies…" Pureheart didn't react, she just snorted then gently replied, "I won't. But you need to get them away from here or you will be caught." Before the mother swimmer could register what had just happened, Pureheart took a quick drink of water and walked back into the trees.

"I should've asked where the nearest entrance to the Great Valley was...oh well, they'll be gone by the time I walk back. I'll find it." She thought after a minute had passed. As she kept going, she found another victim. The mangled corpse of a fast runner. Pureheart sighed, shaking her head, "Your kind wasn't even involved in the war, why'd they attack you?" She asked, before moving on.

It was a large lake, with crystal clear water and waves sloshing in the sandy shore that greeted the Pale Sharptooth's eyes. The water felt cool on his feet and he took a drink, then stood and thought. He'd brought down the Great Valley! It had been sacked! It had fallen because of him! Yet his own kind were saying he did wrong! He righted the wrongs! He fixed the out of balance great circle of life! And yet they said he was wrong. He wasn't! No, he deserved more too. If only there was a way for him to rule over all sharpteeth in the world, from distant deserts to the sea. The sharpteeth as a race would've been disgraced forever if they lost the war!

He roared. And splashed. And roared. If they really thought he'd messed up the great circle of life so much...then he'd use that threat. He'd kill more flatteeth without mercy, and not stop until the sharpteeth stood beside him and he wasn't an island in a sea of injustice.

His rage was so great that by the time he stomped out of the water, and up the beach, the clear water had turned cloudy all around where he'd stood and several standed fish who had been splashed ashore by his stomps were hopelessly flipping around on the sandy shore. So close to an unreachable salvation. And out beyond, the giant lake which extended to the horizon remained unchanged, the blue untouched. Almost as if a tiny, insignificant, island had sunk under its gentle surface.

The Pale Sharptooth went away from the lake and rested in the forest, closing his eyes. Looking past his own rage to see something he could never have again. Before he was scarred, before he was angry, before the war. Over ten cold times before, he had a mate. He remembered her because he still loved her, even if he now knew emotions made him weaker. It was one he would sometimes allow to whisper, even if only for a moment.

When the war broke out he and her both found themselves in it together. Then she'd died in battle. Out of his love for her, he'd attacked the group of threehorns who'd done it and butchered them all. That's where his first scars came from.

And ever since, he'd fought so viciously in battle that eventually all his body became a massive scar from the number of wounds. It made him angrier still. He learned how to use that anger and rage. Finally, after the sharpteeth retreated to the sea, he took over and planned, for three years he prepared, he grew stronger, his kind grew stronger, and let his new found rage guide him still.

He then had better learned how to use his rage and anger to fight, instead of his emotions. That was how he planned the attack on the valley, that was why he'd won.

"Emotions made me weak….the rage made me strong." He growled.

And after all he'd done for his kind, they shunned him and those who followed him. The Pale Sharptooth thought of his mate and….no, there was still too much to do to think of her. No time to remember what parts of his own past he'd forgotten after years of rage wrecking his body.

No longer satisfied with his spot, he stood and walked out of the forest.

More hooting filled Zeerien's ears. He stooped, his longneck turned as he looked around his environment. Thick trees blocked his view from anything.

With a sudden hiss, something leapt at him and landed on his side, claws digging deep. The longneck bellowed in pain and looked, a frilled sharptooth had jumped on him and it was looking at him with wide predatory eyes. With a yell, the longneck half ran sideways and crushed the sharptooth flat against a giant tree. There was a crunch and Zeerien groaned, stepped back. The flattened sharptooth fell dead to the ground.

Another hiss made Zeerien look in front of him, a larger frilled sharptooth had stalked out of the trees. It had a scar on its side and was green in color, it's eyes too and they seemed to glow almost. Zeerien took a defensive stance as the frilled sharptooth began circling him, the tight confines of the trees limiting the movement of both dinosaurs.

The sharptooth charged with a roar, it's claws raised. As it jumped, Zeerien swung his tail and it stuck the sharptooth in the air, sending it flying. It shrieked as it flew into the trees and vanished from sight with a crash.

There was another roar and two fast biters charged from the trees behind Zeerien. The longneck swung his tail and sent one flying head first into a tree, the other ducked under his tail with a yelp. After seeing its companion, or mate possibly, crash skull first into a strong tree and fall, seemingly lifeless to the ground, the other fast biter snarled and snapped it's jaws. It was orange in color, with red claws, and yellow eyes. White and black patterns covered its body and the end of its tail was mangled, probably crushed or bit at some point. The tip was now just flat, stiff, scarred flesh that was a sickly, dead white. The fast biter jumped for Zeerien's neck and the longneck pulled up, letting the fast biter fly past below. It landed and jumped right up again, still roaring.

Zeerien cringed at the sound, knowing other sharpteeth would hear the battle cry and move in. The last thing Zeerien needed was to tangle with a horned sharptooth, or a sail back sharptooth. With a challenging bellow, Zeerien charged the fast biter. It jumped for his face but the longneck swung his head into the sharptooth. He struck it hard in the side and felt something snap. The fast biter dropped to the ground and didn't move, it only whimpered in pain. Zeerien could see it laying in an odd position and knew what happened...he'd snapped it's backbone. He wanted...oh he wanted...to just leave it there and let it slowly die but his nature was not to be cruel. He stepped forward and firmly put a foot on the dinosaur's head. After a moment, he stepped down and felt the skull crush.

Zeerien then turned to his right to leave and came face to face with a young, startled looking female sharptooth. A two clawed tyrannosaurus.