(A/N: Here we are, chapter sixteen. Sixteen chapters (technically seventeen if you count the special), that's crazy, and we're not even out of the first season yet. We are almost done with this season though, just so you know. Only three or four more chapters and that's it, then we're moving on to the next season.
For those of you who are forgetful (like I am), this chapter is the parallel to "Quake, Rattle, and Roll". Out of the last couple of episodes I've done in the past month, this one is actually an episode that I don't mind. Is it my favorite? No. Is it the worst? No. I consider it to be more moderate in favoritism for me.
Okay, before I get too far off topic and ahead of myself, let's get started on the chapter. Please enjoy reading it and I'll try to make it very enjoyable.)
I~I~I-*U-v-x-v-U*-I~I~I
In the week since Gustav and Fanghook departed Dragon's Edge to go back to Berk, the riders had spent a bit of that time cleaning up the messes he made, as well as a couple of projects that were long overdue. With Dagur now aware that they had followed him to the outskirts of the archipelago, he would be searching for them and planning an attack on them and their island.
Hiccup and Astrid were working on a new telescope, Ruffnut and Tuffnut were constructing a new watchtower, Helene was keeping an eye on the health and sleep patterns of the Night Terrors with Ladok helping her out, Fishlegs was doing experiments with Meatlug's lava and the Dragon Eye, and Snotlout was cleaning up the burnt foliage from Gustav's visit. The dragons were helping out as much as they could, but much of what their riders were doing was done by hand for the most part.
Helene left Ladok and the Night Terrors for a couple of minutes to go to the clubhouse. She told him to keep an eye on how well the small dragons were sleeping, if they were showing signs of restlessness, which would indicate insomnia and that they were struggling to fall asleep and stay asleep.
He appreciated how dedicated she was to these dragons and their well-being. He figured this was probably because they reminded her of her former dragons, her Smothering Smokebreath, Smog, his mate, her Terrible Terror, Twirl, and their hybrid offspring, Smokey. He knew their story and how much she missed them, she hadn't been able to visit them in a while.
Ripwave landed on the deck outside of the clubhouse and her rider got down from her back. She went up to the door and opened it for her, dropping it and going inside of it herself when she did.
"Hey, Fishlegs," Helene began to ask, "can you-"
She had no time to react when she saw Fishlegs flying towards the door on Meatlug. Ripwave pushed her to the floor, saving her from a possible major injury. She growled as they flew out of the clubhouse and shot her electricity as the door was closing.
Helene stood up from the floor, looking at the area where Fishlegs had been. The floor was littered with puddles of lava, all a different color.
"Whoa, he's been busy," she commented.
She heard Ripwave warble and saw that she was looking up at the ceiling. She did the same and she couldn't believe what she was seeing, the ceiling was illuminated with projections from the Dragon Eye.
"Very busy," she added, her hands on her hips.
The door then opened again and, thinking it was Fishlegs, Ripwave growled again, her electricity sparking. She stopped and relaxed when she saw that it was only Ladok.
"Hey, is everything okay?" he questioned. "I just saw Fishlegs and Ripwave…" he didn't finish his sentence, he looked up at the ceiling and saw what Fishlegs had been working on. "Someone's been busy."
She smiled, a laugh threatened to escape her, "That he has."
Fishlegs and Meatlug came flying back into the clubhouse a minute later, followed by Hiccup a moment afterwards. Ripwave was still upset with him for almost harming her rider and wanted to electrocute him, without missing.
Just as her tendrils began to glow with a deadly spark, Helene held out a bundle of dragon nip to her nose. She smelled it and instantly started to relax once the herbal, slightly earthy scent was in her nostrils.
Fishlegs seemed unaware of the fatal disaster that almost happened, he was too eager to show Hiccup what he found. Hiccup, meanwhile, was trying to mentally keep up with him and his enthusiasm.
"Fishlegs?" he asked, trying to catch up to him.
"Careful where you step," Helene informed him while she was trying to keep her dragon calm.
He saw what she was talking about when he almost stepped in the colorful lava on the floor. He had to carefully step around the molten pools, he already had a prosthetic leg, he didn't need another one.
"Fishlegs, what's wrong?" he asked again after noticing the odd behavior for him.
"Wrong?" he repeated. He chuckled in an excitable manner, "Nothing's wrong… except that I may have just made the greatest discovery in the history of Berkian civilization!"
Hiccup's jaw dropped when he saw the images on the ceiling, "Oh, Fishlegs, is that-"
"Mm-hmm," he excitedly nodded. He pointed at the projections, "This is a Gronckle and here is the boulder surrounded by water and the dual mountain peaks."
The Dragon Eye was showing him a location he had been curious about for years. A place said to be where all of the Gronckles hailed from.
"Ooh! Dark Deep!" he squealed. "The ancestral home of all the Gronckles." He finally set Meatlug on the floor and dismounted her to go up to Hiccup and squeeze his shoulders, "It's real, Hiccup, and we finally found it."
'I almost got hit by Gronckle for this?' Helene thought sarcastically.
She was happy for Fishlegs, and always glad to hear about a new discovery, but there was so much that had to be done on Dragon's Edge. She needed to get back to the stables to check on the Night Terrors, make sure they were still asleep and that none were missing; a sleep deprived dragon could never defend itself adequately.
Ladok, meanwhile, was stunned and intrigued to find out about this island. He used to take care of many Gronckles and other Boulder Class dragons, it was his job to make sure they had enough rocks to eat and easy access to them.
One of his favorite dragons to look after was a Crimson Goregutter he named Moose, he was very playful and energetic, yet docile as well. He mused that Moose must have thought they were related because he used to play with elk antlers he found when he was young.
He had never heard of Dark Deep and asked, "Can you tell me what the significance of this island is, Fishlegs?"
"Dark Deep is an island that, up until now, we were never really sure existed," he explained. "It's not in the book of dragons anywhere. However, in Bork's papers, there is a mention of it, but only briefly and in context to a completely different species. I believe it's the-"
"Prickleboggle," Ladok chimed in.
Fishlegs looked at him in shock, "How did you-?"
"The Prickleboggle is a dragon that heals, but it's not much of a fighter. Because of that, it usually tries to become closely associated with bigger and stronger dragons. When that dragon gets hurt, the Prickleboggle heals it and it protects it in return," he explained. "If my memory is right, there's a Boulder Class dragon that it has a symbiotic relationship with, but I can't remember a name."
Helene saw where he was leading with this information, "And Dark Deep is a place that's, theoretically, swarmed with Boulder Class dragons."
"Exactly!" Fishlegs grinned. "If we were able to find Dark Deep, it could unlock so many secrets, not only of the Gronckles, but the entire Boulder Class of dragons. Do you understand how amazing this is, Hiccup?"
He could have laughed at his longtime friend's enthusiasm, which he understood, "Okay, I get it, Fishlegs."
"I've taken the liberty of charting a course based on these encryptions," he held up a map he made. "This island is so remote it's farther than we've ever flown before."
Ladok shrugged silently to himself, 'So you think.'
"I've ever seen Meatlug so excited!" The said Gronckle was vehemently swaying her bludgeon-like tail. "Just think, I'm gonna be the first Berkian to ever set foot on Dark Deep. What an honor!"
Hiccup chuckled, "Yes, I would say it is. But I think Toothless and I-" Ladok jabbed him in the side with his elbow. He corrected himself begrudgingly, "Toothless, Ladok, and I should go with you. Just in case you need help."
"Okay, you can come, too," he responded. "But I'm the first one to step foot, remember? You two can be the second and the third."
He smiled, "Okay, I promise."
"Well, then welcome aboard, guys! Come on, Meatlug," he climbed onto his dragon and eagerly flew out of the clubhouse, "we need to go pack!"
"And with that, I'm going back to the stables," Helene announced to no one in particular, mounting her dragon.
"I'll help you," Ladok climbed onto Ripwave with her. Hiccup gave him a look, "What? It's not like we're leaving now or even today. Besides, what makes you think we'll be gone the whole day?" His brother didn't respond and gave him the same look. He scoffed, "Are you kidding me? There is no way your ribs hurt that bad, Dad actually breaks them sometimes."
Helene reached back to him, "Are you done yet?"
He felt his snout heat slightly with embarrassment, but did not blame himself for it. "Talk to him," he replied as they flew out of the clubhouse, "he's in love with drama."
The next morning, the three of them were en route to Dark Deep. Before they left, the twins tried to show Hiccup that they had completed the watchtower they were tasked with building, but there was nothing to see. They were convinced that someone was stealing their finished project, which Hiccup had doubts about, but didn't dwell on it.
Fishlegs was singing an enthusiastic song as he flew ahead. Meatlug was so eager to see her ancestral home that she was flying faster than should be possible for a Gronckle.
"Dark Deep, at last I've found you
Dark Deep, the Gronckles surround you"
Hiccup laughed, "Fishlegs, I haven't seen you this excited since Snoggletog morning when we were seven."
Ladok had no idea what he was talking about, regarding the day he referred to. Granted, he knew very little about their childhoods or Berk's culture, but he was curious about it.
"What's Snoggletog?" he inquired.
His brother gave him a quick answer, "It's a holiday."
"I know, I was so excited, I couldn't even finish third breakfast," Fishlegs responded to Hiccup. "I hope I don't get too hungry."
'Third?' Ladok was astonished. 'Sun rise was just a couple of hours ago. How much can he eat in a couple of hours?'
"Dark Deep, here we come!" he exclaimed.
They flew over nothing but open ocean for a couple more hours before a large, rocky island began to come into view. It was barren and looked like the type of island that a Boulder Class dragon would enjoy to live on.
Fishlegs landed on the ground and began an enthusiastic cheer. "Oh, yeah! Oh, yeah! Fishlegs!" he giggled. "I can't believe I'm actually here." Meatlug grumbled. "Sorry, girl, we're here."
Hiccup and Ladok landed and looked around the land. For an island that was supposedly an ideal habitat for Boulder Class dragons, it seemed eerily barren.
Fishlegs and Meatlug started to run around and dance happily. He cheerfully sang as he collected rocks for her to eat.
"Dark Deep is your home
Where all the rock-eaters roam
Where Gronckles have fun
Eating rocks by the ton"
Then, his singing began to falter as he struggled to continue the song.
"And all the rocks are… rocky
With families of… rocks
And they're feeding their…"
He tried to come up with something else to add to his song, but couldn't. He cleared his throat, "I'll work on that last part."
"Hey, no, look, I love the song," Hiccup told him.
"Could use a little bit of work, but it's nice," Ladok added.
"It's just one thing: where are all the roaming Gronckles?" Hiccup questioned. "You think we could've landed on the wrong-"
"No," Fishlegs interrupted him before he could finish his question. He pointed out a couple of landmarks on the island, "That's Gravel Lake and that's definitely the dual peaks of Mount Grunt. Guys, this is Dark Deep, I'm sure of it."
"Right, right, and we agree with you," Hiccup replied, "but why does this island seem so empty?"
Fishlegs and Meatlug began to search the island for any sign of a dragon. Toothless sniffed the air, trying to detect any signs of active living on this island, but all he could smell were rocks and dirt.
He grunted and Ladok gave him a response, as if he knew what he was saying, "Yeah, I'm with you."
Meatlug went to a fissure and spotted a trio of Gronckles huddled together in the cavern the large crack created. She growled, which caught the attention of her rider.
He smiled when he saw the Gronckles, "Oh, look, Meatlug found some new friends. I told you there were Gronckles here."
Meatlug went into the cavern with a smile on her face to greet the Gronckles. As soon as they saw her, however, they all growled at her with clear hostility.
Fishlegs, Hiccup, and Ladok climbed down into the cavern, Toothless jumped down after them, they all took notice of the Gronckles and their strange behavior. Gronckles were normally very friendly dragons, unless they felt threatened.
"That's strange behavior for a Gronckle," Hiccup noted. "They're usually pretty friendly."
Suddenly, the entire cavern began to shake around them! The three Gronckles huddled back together and whined defenselessly. Ladok had little experience with earthquakes and lost his footing, falling to the ground while Hiccup and Fishlegs were still standing.
'That was worse than the caves last week,' he thought, rubbing his head with his palm as he stood up.
"That could be what's doing it. No one likes an earthquake," Fishlegs commented. Toothless growled and spread his wings offensively. "See?"
Toothless' eyes seemed focused on something within the tunnel, the Gronckles were also staring down it. Through the dust, they could see what looked like a large boulder rolling towards them!
"Runaway boulder!" he screamed.
Fishlegs jumped onto Meatlug and fled down the tunnel with the Gronckles. Hiccup and Ladok were on Toothless, who fired plasma blast after plasma blast at the boulder, trying to shatter it. Every time he did, the purple light from the defective attacks seemed to highlight what appeared to be spikes.
Hiccup didn't seem to notice it, but Ladok did, and thought he had seen something like it, but he was having trouble remembering a name. Nevertheless, he told his brother what he thought, "Hiccup, I don't think that's a boulder."
"Yeah," he responded, "I was," Toothless fired another plasma blast, "just thinking," another one was fired, "the same thing."
Toothless began to realize that his plasma blasts were not going to work and turned around to go after Fishlegs and Meatlug. Just as the rolling object was closing in on them, he made the decision to push them and the Gronckles into the cavern wall, allowing it to pass without hitting them.
"That was close," Fishlegs sighed.
Ladok looked down the tunnel and saw something that made his eyes wide, "Uh… Hiccup?"
"Not right now," he told him. "Hey, Fishlegs," he paused for a minute to swat his brother's hand away when he started to poke the back of his head, "that boulder-" He stopped his sentence due to Ladok poking him harder and more frequently. "Ladok!" he snapped, swatting his hand away again. "What in Thor's name could possibly be so urgent?!"
He snarled at the harshness of his voice and gripped his jaw in his hand, the tips of his claws were nearly digging into the skin of his face. He forced his head to look forward into the tunnel, showing him what he saw. What he saw was the object rolling back towards them!
He released his jaw and the only thing Hiccup could say was, "Oh, shit."
"Uh, Hiccup, when was the last time you saw a boulder move uphill?" Fishlegs nervously asked.
"Um, never?" he replied, also feeling very nervous.
"How is that possible?" he asked again, holding back the urge to shriek.
"That's because it's not a boulder at all," Ladok revealed. "Guys, this… is a dragon."
"Can you tell us anything? Like, a name?" his brother questioned. The tunnel shook again as it moved closer to them.
"Um…" he tried to recall anything he could remember, "...not at the moment."
"No time to find out!" Fishlegs cried.
It was getting closer to them, they had to get out of there. There was no way out and very little flying space, but there was enough room for gliding, which was their only option to avoid it.
Hiccup spotted a small opening and directed Fishlegs and the Gronckles to it, "Quick! Down here."
All of them fled into it, there was very little room, but it would be fine until they could get out. The trio of Gronckles tried to push themselves through a small gap, but it was far too small.
"It doesn't look like we can fly out, bud," Hiccup told Toothless.
Fishlegs went up to the mouth of the opening and peered out of it, the cavern looked empty, "It's okay, I think we lost it."
"Then, let's move out." He lowered his voice slightly, "Quietly."
They began to make it out of the opening, but never made it further than a couple of feet before Fishlegs gave them away. His stomach let out a long, loud growl, loud enough that the gods in Asgard could probably hear it.
Hiccup and Ladok glared at him, but he only smiled sheepishly, "What? That's what happens when you don't eat third breakfast."
There was a familiar rumbling down the tunnel, and very quickly they were once again faced with the rolling, spiked-dragon. This time, it stopped in its trail and unrolled itself to reveal the dragon's true form.
It was massive, with a body like that of a Rumblehorn and a large head with spikes in between its eyes. Its lower jaw was divided into two halves, almost making it appear as though it had mandibles. It also had two, disproportionately small wings on its back, which also appeared to have spikes.
"Uh, Hiccup?" Fishlegs began.
"I see it, Fishlegs," he replied. "Ladok, anything you want, or need, to say?"
"Yep," he responded. "I recognize this dragon, it's called the Catastrophic Quaken. It has the ability to roll itself into a ball and use its tail to crush boulders at will."
The newly identified dragon roared, its jaw separating into its two halves. It thrashed its tail, hitting the walls of the tunnel and causing rocks to fall onto them. The three Gronckles whimpered and Toothless and Meatlug protected their riders from the falling rocks.
"Impressive," Fishlegs grinned. "Definitely a Boulder Class."
"Fishlegs, admire it later, find a way out of here now," Hiccup affirmed.
Toothless shot a plasma blast at it, but it still had little effect on it. He then diverted its attention away from Fishlegs, Meatlug, and the Gronckles by climbing up the tunnel wall. The Catastrophic Quaken swung its tail upwards, creating a wider opening in the gap above.
"As long as it's rolled up in that ball, I think we're safe," Ladok claimed. Hiccup looked back at him. "What? I don't know everything."
"Fishlegs, get those Gronckles in the air," Hiccup told him.
The Gronckles all flew out as quickly as they could in a panic. Afterwards, Hiccup, Ladok, and Fishlegs flew out of the tunnel as well, followed by the Catastrophic Quaken. The spiked dragon allowed itself to roll into a ball while in the air and hit the ground, hard. The impact caused a shockwave that carried into the air and affected how they were flying.
"Okay, maybe we're not so safe after all," Ladok uttered.
"Nope," his brother replied. "Fishlegs, Meatlug, retreat."
"I thought you'd never ask," he responded.
The Catastrophic Quaken roared again as they flew away. Before leaving, Fishlegs decided to have the three Gronckles come with them. He wasn't going to have them on that island with such a dragon terrorizing them.
They took the Gronckles back to Dragon's Edge, they were happy to finally be away from the Catastrophic Quaken. That was when the riders discovered that these Gronckles were not the only ones. They followed the three that were brought back and discovered even more Gronckles, no doubt the ones that had been chased away from Dark Deep.
Since Hiccup doubted the twins in their capabilities with the watchtower they claimed to have built, he decided to put them in charge of the Gronckles. He did not have any hope that it would end very well.
Meatlug was depressed that her own kind was evicted from their ancestral home. Fishlegs felt his dragon's pain and wished there was something that could be done about it.
Snotlout offered his assistance, but he declined without a blink, knowing what he would likely make him do. He went to Hiccup about what they should do about Dark Deep, but he said he thought they should not interfere in the matter, that it was nature taking its course.
Reluctantly, he decided to take Snotlout's offer to go on the offensive with the Catastrophic Quaken. He and Meatlug trained hard, and sometimes those training exercises caught Snotlout in the crossfire. They hid what they were doing from Hiccup by pretending it was just their normal bickering.
Hiccup, however, was growing suspicious, he had seen Fishlegs and Snotlout together many times throughout the days, which was very unusual for them. One day, he decided to lie and wait for them in the forest, where he had seen them most of the time, and that was when he discovered what they were doing. Snotlout was training Fishlegs and Meatlug to fight back against the Catastrophic Quaken!
Needless to say, he was very shocked and disappointed by the route Fishlegs was taking. Fishlegs was kind and smart, using his brain more than his brawn, this training was turning him and Meatlug into Snotlout and Hookfang, and he didn't like that. He understood why he was taking such measures, he wanted the Gronckles of Dark Deep to have a home again, but how he planned to do it was not him at all.
He hoped that Fishlegs would take what he said to him to heart and decided against his plan to fight the spiked dragon. Unfortunately, hours later, when he went to talk to him, he found that Snotlout, Fishlegs, and their dragons were gone.
He got the others and their dragons together and they left for Dark Deep to find Fishlegs and Snotlout before something happened to them and their dragons. The Gronckles - Tuffnut Junior, Junior Tuffnut, and Junior Tuffnut Junior - had taken a liking to Ruffnut and Tuffnut and followed them to the island.
As they neared Dark Deep, they saw the first sign that they were on the right track. Snotlout and Hookfang flew past them in a panic, almost hitting them. They continued on to the island and Snotlout reluctantly joined them because Hookfang convinced him to.
They found Fishlegs and Meatlug facing off against the Catastrophic Quaken, quivering with fear and regret. Stormfly and Ripwave fired down on it to deter and distract it from them.
The spiked dragon flew up to confront them, giving a lingering glare to Hiccup, Toothless, and Ladok. It then flew downward, curling up again as it hit the ground, causing the same shockwave it had created previously. As a result of this, Fishlegs and Meatlug fell back into the tunnel.
Fishlegs stood up from the ground and discovered that the part of the tunnel they landed in was cut off from the rest of it by a wall of boulders. This was a cave, one just big enough to house the Catastrophic Quaken.
He picked up a stone, "The Quaken's cave. It looks like he lives here by himself. Meatlug, let's get out of here."
As soon as they stepped out of the cave, the Catastrophic Quaken, which was still rolled in a ball, appeared on top of a small hill. Gravity seemed to take control and it rolled down the hill that led down to its cave.
His first instinct was to run or fly away, but he thought against it. Instead, he took in a deep breath and bravely stood in place.
Astrid, Snotlout, Hiccup, and Ladok were above, flying in a circle formation, the sight below them dumbfounded them. What was Fishlegs planning?
"What is he doing?" Astrid asked, baffled.
"It looks like he's getting himself killed," Snotlout remarked.
"Fishlegs, get out of there!" Hiccup yelled.
Still, he didn't move at all, "No. We aren't going anywhere, right, girl?" He held his hands in front of himself and repeated, "I'm not backing down, I'm not backing down, I'm not backing down!"
The Catastrophic Quaken became airborne, unrolling itself. Fishlegs closed his eyes and shielded himself as it landed, preparing for it to crush him.
When the dragon hit the ground, he opened his eyes and saw Meatlug hovering in between himself and the Catastrophic Quaken, protecting him. He was astonished, "I'm not smushed."
Meatlug and the Catastrophic Quaken growled and grunted as they glared at each other. Eventually, its eyes softened and she became as astonished as her rider was. It huffed in her face and she nudged her face against its own in a display of friendship.
Fishlegs smiled, "It's working!"
Hiccup's jaw nearly dropped from the shock he felt, "It's working!"
At that moment, the twins arrived with the Gronckles in tow. They were disappointed to see how docile the Catastrophic Quaken had become.
"Hey! I thought everyone said that thing was tough," Tuffnut remarked. Ruffnut scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Doesn't look so tough to me."
Hiccup and Ladok landed next to Fishlegs, who was smiling at the progress of the Catastrophic Quaken and the Gronckles. The spiked dragon seemed happy that the smaller dragons were accepting it. He was glad that he was able to help not only one dragon, but the entire population of a whole island.
"Fishlegs, that was just about the craziest and bravest…" Hiccup began.
"But mostly craziest," Ladok interjected.
"...thing I have ever seen anyone do," he finished.
"You were right, Hiccup. Fighting dirty isn't me." He smiled as he glanced at the Catastrophic Quaken and the Gronckles, the larger dragon was using its tail to break large rocks into smaller ones for them. "That was me."
Hiccup couldn't hold back his own smile, "It sure was."
"The Quaken was just being defensive. It was scared and all by itself. It wasn't angry at all," he claimed.
Snotlout came up to him, smug and full of pride as he always was, "Oh! Fishlegs, that was awesome! Just like I taught you. No need to thank me. Success is its own reward."
Fishlegs decided to give him a taste of his own medicine by saying exactly what he had said to him the day he discovered Dark Deep, "Oh, really, Snotlout? Tell me more. Oh, yeah, that's right. I just remembered I don't care." Hiccup and Ladok laughed.
Snotlout thought he felt a tear come to his eye, "I taught him too well."
'Oh, I don't think you taught him anything,' Ladok mentally remarked.
I~I~I-*U-v-x-v-U*-I~I~I
(A/N: Oh, jeez, it did not turn out how I originally thought it would, but I'm happy with it. It actually ended up being better than I thought it would and I'm especially glad that it didn't take me an eternity.
For those of you who aren't familiar with the game "School of Dragons", in the "Battle for the Edge" expansion, there's a Prickleboggle that holds a mutual relationship with a Catastrophic Quaken. I decided to have the Prickleboggle mentioned in this chapter because it was never explained what dragon also lived on Dark Deep that was not a Boulder Class dragon, and the Prickleboggle was the only one that I'm aware of.
I won't say what I plan on doing for the next chapter because I haven't decided yet. I'll figure it out shortly and hopefully get it done quickly, but no promises.
I would continue, but I'm pretty tired right now after all of the writing I did, so I'm going to let you guys go. See you guys soon!)