.
The Final Battle: To Victory!
"C'mon, bud!"
The airborne duo swerved around the enormous tail, making their way farther up. They were coming up on its back.
"Alright, just like the Red Death. Got it?"
Toothless fully understood and began firing at the beast's wings.
Rapunzel and the rest of the allies saw the two disappear into the ashy clouds. The princess then looked over at Hachiman and held her hands up to her mouth like a megaphone.
"NOW!"
The Old God heard and found himself a roomy spot in the ocean that was just kilometers off the coast of the final volcano. He got into his stance and began bending the element of earth. The ground beneath the deep depths quaked with his movements. Gigantic masses of rock were emerging out of the waters. Four surrounding formations rose much taller than the giant. He was doing it. He was moving mountains!
Back in the sky, Toothless fired another shot. The black wings were beginning to tear. Air resistance helped their task.
"Almost there. Just a bit more before he notices us."
The tears they made began to widen as wind punched through. They evaded the falling stragglers and after a few more attacks, Haddock concluded that would suffice. He swiped his sword clean through a molten demon, and then positioned himself flat over his companion's back, gripping onto the steering handles.
"Alright. Let's ground 'em."
The beast bellowed as the dragon rider whooshed by its flaming mane.
The Night Fury prepared to unload.
"No! Save it."
Toothless held his fire breath, saving as much energy as he would need; the spines of his back aglow.
Kagutsuchi unleashed his flamethrower. The force of the blast blew away the dark clouds ahead, but the duo twirled clear. Hiccup's experience made him a far more graceful rider than Merida. He and Toothless had no trouble avoiding it's attacks. In fact, they made it look all too easy.
They continued soaring upward at great, accelerating speed. The flying titan could not keep up due to the growing tears in his wings.
"Almost there! C'mon, c'mon!"
Never had the Night Fury pushed himself far beyond his limits as he was so incredibly doing so right now. He kept cutting through the air at an exhilarating ascent.
Against gravity's force, Hiccup pulled himself up to seat himself on his dragon and looked over his shoulder. They were so high beyond the clouds that he could not even see the island nor the ocean anymore. But he did see the furious flames. The monstrous titan was preparing to unleash another fiery onslaught. They were far enough apart. The Viking Chief faced forth and finally declared against the thinning air.
"NOW!"
Toothless stopped and extended his wings. There was a split moment of stillness before the dragon dropped backward. Hiccup felt the familiar weightlessness before free fall, followed by his stomach sinking into him like never before.
Haddock's best friend brought his wings to his sides to dive fast through the air. His glowing mouth slowly pried open. Blue flames were streaking out of his corners, while red flames were brewing within the titan's.
"Hold it…hold it…"
They were speeding towards each other from opposite ends of the sky, soon to collide.
"FIRE!"
The neon blue fireball shot down through the air like lightning, illuminating the surrounding ash clouds. It flashed into the crimson titan's fiery jaws. The explosive combination combusted all around Kagutsuchi, dropping him back. The flesh of his scorched wings completely obliterated, causing him to plummet. But Toothless had mustered up enough energy for two strikes. The second blast was even larger and more powerful than the first. The thunderous explosion erupted right onto the beast's chest. The Night Fury then suddenly flapped out his wings to let the wind take him. They flew clear of the falling titan.
Down on land, the giant samurai stood next to his allies on the cliff-side. They looked above at the growing sound of a furious and pained roar. Then the Fire God pierced through the clouds. A being of that size and weight, falling from such a height, created a massive, earth-shaking BOOM when crashing to the surface; even Hachiman lost his footing. Towering waves of water rippled out all across the pacific. The titan had fallen right in the center of four colossal mountains.
The Winter Guardian flew through the misty mountain ranges until descending onto the haunting wasteland of a torn battlefield. Molten remains of slain demons and crystal corpses of fallen knights scattered throughout all the flames, spikes of ice, and bent structures of earth. Jack noticed none of it though. He was still lost within the confines of his mind, being more haunted by his very memories.
He wandered through all the destruction until he heard the sound of boots crunching down on gravel. Frost spun around, aiming his staff at the shrouded figure within the fog.
"Jack?"
He eased down after seeing that it was Elsa.
"Elsa!" He flew over to her. "My-my bad. You just caught me off guard."
"I'm so glad you're okay." She made her way over shattered ice. She then saw the look in his troubled eyes. "...are you okay?"
He said nothing, for he definitely did not wish to share what dark secret still lurked in his mind. He gazed up at his love. Dirt on her face, hair a bit out of place, but still ever so beautiful. Seeing her brought him joy, but at this moment it also filled his troubled soul with…guilt.
Worrying about him, she brought up her hand to his cheek. But Jack had already shot in with a tight hug, dropping his weapons to the ground. He felt the curve of her waist even beneath all her armor. He held her close. She was startled at first, but quickly held him in, gingerly. They shared one another's comforting cold.
She dug her hand into his silver locks, knowing how much he loved it. "Jack, please…what's wrong?"
"I…" he still refused to tell her, but he would not lie either. "Susano's dead." He buried his nose into her soft neck. Pleasant crackles of frost spread onto both their pale skin. "I didn't mean for it to happen."
"Oh Jack…" she wrapped her arms over his upper back. "It's alright…it needed to be done."
"I know, but…"
He set his hands onto her hips. She brought hers onto his saddened face.
"Shh…" looking him in the eyes. "What matters is that he cannot hurt anyone else ever again. Not like he did me, not like he did your friends, and not like he did you. And above all…you made it out, safe and sound."
"Yeah…" he lowered his gaze.
"Come here," she brought him in for another loving hug.
Jack accepted happily. He decided to shove his personal troubles aside and get his 'game face' back on.
"You're fine." She told him.
"No," pulling away with a smile, "you're fine." He said flirtatiously.
His girlfriend let out a soft giggle, "There he is."
He grinned and kicked up both his weapons. Tucking the sword into his back, Elsa quickly made an ice scabbard for him to sheath it into. "Thanks, Snowflake. And um," he thought about how lucky he was to be with her. "Thanks."
She kept smiling, "Whatever you need, whenever you need it. Even if it is just company. Least I could offer, seeing as you did save me and all."
"Right," he grinned. "You so totally owe me."
"Don't push it, Frost." She warned jokingly.
"Alright then," He chuckled. "Now we should probably go-"
They both stumbled as an enormous BOOM struck the earth. It was distant, but still powerful enough to have caught their attention. It had to have been the Fire God.
"…help our friends." Jack finished with deep concern.
"Yes." Elsa agreed with haste in her worried voice.
He pulled her in close by the waist and they took off into the air.
"We need to keep him there!" Rapunzel said determinedly.
As impossible as it was, the Fire God was actually beginning to stand after the catastrophic fall.
"Let's move!" Merida ordered.
The princesses climbed onto the giant hawk. Sandy then created a temporary sleigh for North to drive.
"Thank you, Sandy. Bunny?" He offered E. Aster a hand.
"Oh no way, mate. I am not doing this again." He absolutely refused to fly.
"Then allow me."
The booming voice of the giant samurai called his attention. The hare turned to see his massive hand cup down onto the ground.
After a startled look of freight, "Eh, how bad can it be?"
He hopped on and the giant scooped him up. Hachiman set the rabbit on his shoulder and off they went.
Cloudjumper came in. He was good to ride again. Valka nodded and hooked her staff onto one of his horns to swing herself on. The rest the Vikings of Berk joined her.
Hiccup and Toothless regrouped with them in the sky, and they all charged at the titan.
Kagutsuchi noticed the four mountains that towered around him. He snarled viciously at the familiar structures that surpassed him. He would not be imprisoned, not again.
He made his way out of the formations, but was immediately met with dragon blasts. The two flying reptiles spun out of the way of a retaliating flamethrower.
Sandman conjured two gargantuan, gold woolly mammoths that rammed into the titan's midsection. The monster was shoved back into the four mountains. He roared as the large tusks jammed into his sides, but soon did away with the animals with fierce swipes of his black claws. The mammoths dispersed into wisps of magical sand.
The two dragons then quickly jetted by, dive-bombing the beast.
Bunny tossed up several of his exploding eggs.
"Catch!"
Tooth whizzed overhead to snatch them.
"Got 'em!"
As the giant samurai bashed into the beast, she avoided their colliding arms and fists to fly in close. Within throwing range, she chucked all the eggs at the roaring monster's snout. They imploded into colorful smoke clouds.
Right after, Sandy's hawk soared across for Merida to land a few explosive arrows.
The beast scratched at his face, growing more and more irritated. His fire targeted the golden bird, but it glided out of the way. Hachiman then gripped its jaws shut with Bunnymund hollering from his shoulder.
"Woo! There yuh go, mate! Rough up that ugly mug of his!"
The giant ducked clear of another vaporizing flamethrower, and shot up! He landed a brutal uppercut that nearly snapped the beast's neck, sending it flying through air.
The Fire God was within the four corners again. His fall shook the very mountains. Hachiman immediately rose forth great, towering walls to block his escape, but Kagutsuchi was already up and breaking through.
"Rapunzel! You must do this now!"
Sandman brought the bird in. They hovered just behind the giant with a clear line of sight over his shoulder. Rapunzel stood up and lifted her hands. Her eyes opened in their glowing hue, but before she could begin…
The Fire God stomped his hefty paw to the ground, unleashing a seismic shock wave that boomed out! Cracks traveled up the mountains and the colossal walls blasted away, knocking Hachiman to the water. Bunny held on for dear life. Huge chunks of debris shot into the sky. One clipped the hawk's wing, sending it spiraling. Rapunzel flew off.
Merida desperately reached out for her.
"Punzie!"
But she was too far, already plummeting to the ocean. Until North rode in, catching her with an arm.
"You alright?"
She sat beside him on the sleigh of magical sand.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Thank you…we just…" She looked over at the titan stepping out of the four corners of the mountains yet again. "We need to just—UGH!" She grew frustrated.
Then a blue light shined down from the sky. All turned to gaze upon it, even the titan. The clouds had softened into a calm sapphire with jagged veins of ultramarine pulsating out. The Fire God snarled and was then rained down by glowing hunks of ice. The supernatural attack pushed him back into the mountains; every explosive white flash dazed him.
"Looked like you guys could use a hand!"
Flying in was none other than Jack, and Elsa riding in right beside him on a new fractal platform.
"And the lovebirds finally join us!" Rapunzel teased.
"Better late than never." The Queen smiled.
The powerful hailstorm kept the titan at bay, while everyone converged around Hachiman.
"Ye finished off the witch?" Merida asked the platinum-blonde.
Elsa nodded cold and decisively.
That news made the warrior maiden's day.
"And what of Susano?" the samurai master inquired.
Jack dropped into silence.
Elsa saw and quickly spoke for him. "He's been taken care of. It is done."
"Excellent." But he too saw the Guardian's eyes. "It was the only other way, Jack. You needn't blame yourself."
But no one present knew what he truly blamed himself for. All he could utter was a weak, "yeah…"
Then a strong hue of red ignited across all their faces. They looked over at the enraged titan. An enormous stream of his fire breath had pierced the sky. They all saw as it obliterated the very clouds causing the hailstorm. When finished, he locked his ferocious gaze back onto the allies. Smoke puffed out of his nostrils. The ice had hurt him more than any other attack thrown thus far, and it showed. This only made things worse though, for now…he was even angrier.
"Back to work!" Hiccup declared.
And they were off! The heroes all charged at the wrathful titan in unity, evading its blazing fire as they neared. It was truly an awe-inspiring sight to behold.
Frost kept close with Hachiman.
"Hey big guy, what about this?" He drew out the blade. "Will this slow him down?"
"I highly doubt it, but—"
"Worth a shot."
At great speed, Jack swooped in low over the surface of the ocean. He then stopped and swung the sword with all his strength. A massive tidal wave rose behind him. His friends got out of the way as the wave smacked onto the beast's torso.
After the immediate grunt, they all heard the hissing of steam as water evaporated off of the Fire God's burning hot flesh.
Jack was now high in the air above the titan. The tidal wave was only a distraction. With a great, big, and powerful battle cry, the Winter Guardian dropped. The blade was firmly held over his head, and he brought it down with such force, jamming it right into the beast's chest!
A mighty roar blasted out and an enmeshed explosion of aquatic-blue and fiery-red energy erupted out of the point of impact. But unfortunately, that was all.
Kagutsuchi's immense spirit energy completely overpowered the blade's. It overheated and then shattered within Jack's grasp, sending him flying back through the air. Only he was caught by a burning hold.
He heard his friends scream for him as he found himself in the palm of the monster's hand. It closed its fist. Jack felt the crimson walls closing in on him. His staff was on his back but he could not reach it, for the infernal grip was already crushing him. The Winter Guardian was actually sweating. The heat was too much. He groaned in agony. There was nothing he could do.
His lover on the other hand would allow none of this. She flew in on her spinning platform and unleashed her natural power. The beast's wrist was frozen over and it let out a deep shriek of pain. This was the closest it would know to the sensation of being burned. Its grip loosened and Frost plummeted, but Elsa surfed right on by and caught him.
"Jack, are you alright?" She quickly asked.
He set his feet on the fractal but still leaned on her, for he was lightheaded.
"I'm…I'm fine just—"
They heard the shattering of ice and looked up at the Fire God. Free of the aching freeze, he advanced to strike them down.
"Elsa!" He quickly pulled out his staff, but it would not be enough.
Before it was too late, the dragons whizzed by. Their combined assault captured the monster's attention, leading him to combat the rest of the allies.
The Queen looked upon the fast, fierce, and graceful creatures with fascination.
"Interesting…" An idea hit her. "Why didn't I think of that before?"
"Think of what?" Jack did not follow.
"Are you well enough to fly?"
"Um, yeah." He started floating in the air.
"Perfect."
She threw her hands out. Her flurries swirled about before her, turning into an orb of light. Something sizable was forming. Jack observed carefully, not knowing what she was creating. But then thin, crystal-wings cracked out of the twinkling light, and a shiny head curved out. The flurries blasted away as a beautiful but booming roar echoed through the sky. Before them hovered a magnificent winter dragon, just as magnificent as her stallions. Elsa had created life once again.
This white dragon of ice and snow was elegant with her long neck and long body and long tail that whipped around. Her four legs on the other hand were short and proportional to the rest of her body. Her eyes beamed a piercing bright-blue. Her head was a fine oval shape with a round snout. She bared no spikes, for she was as smooth as marble. The sharpest part of her were her tiny claws and lethal wings that spanned out wide. This winter creature was a wondrous sight of beauty that embodied Elsa's unique touch.
The Snow Queen hopped onto her back. Being a direct creation of her power and will, their bond was already in synchronized harmony. The fresh rider looked to her love.
"Fly with me." She told him with a purifying smile.
Jack grinned ever so proudly and they were off.
Mile long whips of gold cracked across the lion's face. The beast snapped at the Sandman, but he was already off on his majestic hawk. Then Hachiman came in with a devastating punch square to the beast's solid chest. Hiccup and his mother prepared to soar in next, but they heard a different growl approaching behind them.
Elsa rode in on her winter dragon.
"Wow," Valka admired.
Flying alongside them, they saw that the new dragon was larger than Toothless and Cloudjumper in size, mainly in length. But it also appeared to be much lighter in weight due to her more slender physique, and her speed proved so. Hiccup eyed how she swam through the air with such grace. The closest thing the chief could compare her movements to was that of a Chinese dragon.
Toothless, on the other hand, stared at her with awestruck eyes, almost as if it were love at first sight for him. Cloudjumper caught sight of his fellow black dragon gawking and simply rolled his eyes.
But the glistening creature did not pay any attention to them, for just like her master, her eyes were keenly focused on the titan before them. She pried open her mouth and a powerful energy beam of ice blasted out. The Fire God roared in pain as it was hit directly in the chest.
Elsa looked onto her fellow riders.
"Let us finish this."
Hiccup shared a quick glance with Jack. The Winter Guardian was just as amazed as everyone else, only he had a twinkle of immense adoration in his eyes. Haddock chuckled wholeheartedly and rode onward with his mother and the Snow Queen.
The golden hawk joined them in flight. With Elsa taking point, they kept the beast within the four mountains. Water it could tolerate, but this power of ice was unbearable.
The winter dragon kept the beams coming. Toothless and Cloudjumper zoomed by with their explosive fire blasts. Sandy unleashed his magic, with Merida landing a few excellent shots. And Jack dashed his way up all along the titan, inflicting just as much icy damage as Elsa with his staff. On the outskirts, Hachiman closed up the gaps between the mountains, leaving only one opening for the allies to continue their assault.
Of course the Fire God put up one hell of a fight, but the allies were swift and true. Though his vigor and endurance seemed limitless, the beast's own size was ultimately his greatest handicap; it made him slow. The heroes zipping all around him were too small to get a bead on. Not unlike the vast army of dragons he laid waste to or the giant he beat down. Trapped within the four corners of the enormous mountains and constantly being assaulted from all angles in spontaneous yet rhythmic sets, there was little the all-powerful god could do.
Rapunzel saw that they finally had the upper hand. "It's time." She told North.
"Right away, princess." He brought the sleigh around at high-speed, catching up with the hawk and avoiding fire along the way.
"Sandy! Now or never!"
The Golden Guardian pulled his majestic bird back. Flying side by side, Sandman carefully created a suitable cloud for Rapunzel to safely get on. Once onboard, Sandy lifted her high into the sky.
Merida marveled as the gold sparkles trailed through the air. She then felt herself moving away from the guardian. She looked down to see that he had separated her from the bird onto a sparkling cloud of her own. Only hers was much larger than Rapunzel's.
Sandy smiled and proceeded to fly his hawk throughout the warring skies, collecting the rest of the Four.
Merida stepped way as Toothless landed onto the golden cloud. Hiccup dismounted, standing to her right. She then turned left to meet Jack setting foot beside her. He gave her a wink, reassuring her that they indeed 'got this', as he would say. Then the dark clouds above began to part, light was shining through. They turned back to look up at Rapunzel.
Her hair was already glowing. From about half a kilometer away, she was at eye-level with the Fire God. She had her hands folded up to her mouth and eyes closed, concentrating deeply. The Sun appeared to be with the princess, for its light shined down on her. This caught the baffled beast's attention. But before he could make any move, Rapunzel opened her glowing eyes!
Flaring with the power of the Divine, Rapunzel slowly raised her tensed hands. She then swung them down hard! Rays of sunlight descended upon the four great mountains, filling them up with even greater power. The power needed to trap the beast once again, and this time…for good.
The Fire God tried to claw out of the four corners, but Elsa and Hachiman held him back.
Sandy then brought the rest of the Four in, positioning them between the crimson titan and the blonde princess, but at a lower level. They were about at height with the beast's chest. He also drew Rapunzel in closer by dozens of feet, but her best friends were still much closer to the monster than she was. When done, he soared off on his giant hawk with the rest of the Guardians in assisting Elsa and Hachiman.
Jack, Merida, Hiccup, and Toothless stood strong on the center of the golden cloud, directing their attention back at the titan.
"On Punzie's mark." Hiccup instructed. They all nodded.
Rapunzel shoved a hand out! The rays of sunlight over the great mountains merged into one immense, powerful beam of pure energy. The allies pulled away as it consumed the entirety of the four corners, including the beast within.
That should have been the end of it, or so they hoped. But throughout this entire battle, when had the Fire God ever made anything easy?
A roar blasted out, and a hand punched through the sunbeam. Its head followed. From the blinding light, the beast was seen from the waist up. The powerful force kept pulling him in, but he kept fighting it with all his might.
Jack noticed the titan's physical form begin to tear away into spiritual matter. The powerful light was sucking the Fire God in by his very essence just like the blade did Susano. Both works of the Sun Goddess.
Elsa and her white dragon unleashed everything they had, but Kagutsuchi was quick to respond with his flamethrower. The two streams of opposing elements collided, but a direct onslaught from the beast was far too much for the Snow Queen to fend off. In no time at all, the fire overpowered her ice and began pushing its way towards the struggling queen.
Jack tightened his grip on his staff, "C'mon, Punzie…" he muttered to himself.
Rapunzel's glowing hair began to float around her like the arms of an octopus, and a heavenly aura radiated off of her, like that of the sun. She was in perfect harmony with Amaterasu. The Goddess's unlimited energy kept shining down onto the princess. She raised her hands like a grand puppet master, and then…she pushed them out with a powerful yell! An unyielding beam of gold light shot out of her. It smacked down onto the beast's chest.
Elsa was saved as the titan groaned in agony. She swerved out of the way as Kagutsuchi was blasted further into the blinding light.
The solar beam was dissolving much more of his material form, filling the air with burning red embers.
Rapunzel had unleashed the full power of the sun, and was not letting up.
The rest of the Four awed at the energy beam of sunlight.
"Okay, now! Ready up!" Hiccup ordered.
The Night Fury's spines began to glow in their neon-blue hue, brewing a great fire within. The Archer loaded her last four explosive arrows onto her trusty bow, one for each of her dearest friends, and aimed them high into the sky. The Winter Guardian tensed his every muscle as he began to emanate a bright, frosty-blue aura of crackling energy off of his entire body.
Rapunzel ceased her attack. Though still glowing strong, she panted wearily. All that divine power running through her…it was too much for any mortal to bear; even one with a direct connection to the Sun. But the beast was still fighting back; it even stepped a decaying foot out of the merged rays. Through her blanking mind, she managed to hear her friends in need, in need of her.
"Punzie!" Hiccup called out from below, "We need one last push!"
Her face grew with a fearsome gaze of determination. She drew her hands away, and then struck them out once more! The coursing power of the sun bashed into the Fire God, violently knocking back him into the white light. Only his roaring lion head remained peering out.
The Princess's unyielding energy beam then thinned until diminishing to a complete stop. That was all Rapunzel could do, and it was more than enough. Her eyes closed as her glow faded. She dropped her tired arms low as she hunched forward, her weakened knees barely able to support her drained body.
The rest of the Four, on the other hand, were all winded up and ready to unload.
Hiccup saw the beast just barely beginning to rear out the rest of his body; there was not much left, hardly even a torso. "Let him have it." He declared sternly.
Toothless and Frost unleashed their special attacks of raw power. A rushing neon-blue fire beam and an array of electrifying, icy energy consumed the skies and blasted Kagutsuchi back into the light. But Merida held her firm grip, for her keen eye could still see a faint glimpse of the beast's head. She waited for it to peek out just a wee bit more and when it did, she released.
The four arrows cut through the air and imploded upon the titan's forehead with a loud BOOM! The Fire God whiplashed back into the blinding light with a weakening roar of defeat.
Rapunzel had held out for as long as she could. She saw that the beast was no more, bringing her a weary but happy little smile. She then collapsed onto her cloud with a weak, exhausted sigh. The ray shining down on her ascended back into the heavens.
The merged rays covering the four corners slowly did the same, revealing the great mountains. Their peaks burned red hot before calming to normal. Kagutsuchi's spiritual essence was now completely trapped within them. It was finally over.
Unleashing all the power he had really caused Jack to go weak and woozy. Merida quickly slid beneath his arm to help him stay on his feet.
"There, there. I got ye,"
"Thanks, I-I just need a moment."
Toothless, on the other end, just shook it off.
Hiccup petted his dragon and rested a proud hand on Frost's shoulder. "You guys did great. And Mer…"
She stared at him.
"Eh, not bad." He smiled.
She chuckled. "Ye lucky I ran out of arrows."
"So that's it?" Jack glanced at his friends, "We won?"
They all stared off at the glorious scene ahead. The four corners stood high and strong with the great volcano looming far beyond them in the distance. The shadows cast over it all began to peel away in every direction, for the light of day broke the dark clouds apart. The ocean waters twinkled beautifully as they reflected the sunshine. Everything was finally calm and peaceful once again. The good fight had ended. The war was won.
"Yup," Hiccup smiled blissfully at the heavens, thanking the all-father. "We won."
"Yeah! You bet we won, chief!" Snotlout's voice cheered out.
Cloudjumper flew in with the young riders of Berk on his back.
Jack chuckled softly, "Boy, these knuckleheads again." He said to Merida as he stood well enough on his own.
She grinned and looked up at the gang. "And wot exactly did you do?"
"Easy, guys." Hiccup couldn't help but smile over his two groups of friends.
"Hey! We brought in the cavalry." Snotlout boasted.
"Valka brought in the cavalry." Astrid corrected him.
"Oh…well but we did that one thing and uh you know, gave moral support." He crossed his beefy arms over his chest proudly.
"Riiiight," Merida said as she and Jack continued snickering and shaking their heads.
Valka joined in on the laughter as she hopped onto the gold cloud of magical sand. "Now, now, you all did very well. Brave warriors. All of you." She petted Toothless on the way to hug her son. "And oh, my dear Hiccup."
"Mom," He went happily into her embrace. "I'm sorry you all had to be a part of this. But I'm also glad you were by my side. I just…I never wanted this to reach Berk."
She looked him in the eyes. "Son, I know that as chief you feel a need to protect your people, but always remember that as your people we will follow you into battle. Wherever it may be. You've earned that." She looked at Jack and Merida, "You and your friends here don't have to face these outside threats alone."
"I know, mom. Thank you."
She held his face dearly and kissed his forehead. Hiccup laid his hands over hers.
"And maybe tell your girlfriend next time you're gone for weeks on end." Astrid stormed in and punched him, hitting the spring that released the dorsal fin of his wingsuit.
"Ow! Hey, what have I said about—"
"Sorry," She quickly apologized to his mother.
"Oh not at all. He should have let you know." Valka shook her finger at Hiccup. "Not wise to keep your future wife in the dark."
Upon hearing those words, Merida looked away sad and awkwardly. Thankfully she saw the Guardians riding in on the shining sleigh.
"Oi, mate!" She mocked.
Bunnymund hopped onto the floating cloud right before her. "You're terrible at accents, red."
They both chuckled and jabbed each other with friendly nudges.
"You young ones did well." North praised from his seat.
"You saved the day, everyone. The world. We're so proud of you." Toothiana buzzed in.
"We didn't do it alone," Jack said as he flew up to hug the Tooth Fairy in midair. "Hey, and Hachiman?"
"He's taking care of the details, mate." Bunny pointed his thumb to the four corners.
While everyone was rejoicing and patting themselves on the back, the Warrior God was tending to the mountains. With his great earth-bending abilities he submerged the formations deep below the ocean's surface, returning them back from whence they came.
Sandy was smiling and laughing with all the rest until detecting something troubling on his other cloud farther off above. He flew off without anyone noticing.
Toothless pounced about in joy around Cloudjumper, whom was just sitting comfortably on the golden cushion. Then came the winter dragon in all her elegance. The Night Fury just stopped in his tracks, not knowing how to approach her. The Snow Queen dismounted her creature to go reunite with Jack, leaving her creation alone. Now was his chance, but Toothless was still frozen with nerves. Then suddenly, with absolutely no warning, Cloudjumper just shoved him into her with his horned head.
The two dragons of opposite colors bumped into each other. The Night Fury made a series of grunts in apology, then immediately silenced when the winter dragon curved her neck down. She growled softly as she took the time to get a good, up close look at him. Thank Odin, dragons could not blush, for he would be fuming red hot at this very moment. He slowly pried his mouth open, showing an adorable toothless smile of innocence. The beautiful dragon of ice and snow smiled and blew her nostrils, layering a thin coat of frost over his snout. She liked him.
Toothless shook the frost off and looked up at her happily. The dragons harmonized in soothing growls.
Jack and Elsa separated from a long hug and stared into each other lovingly.
"We made it." She said.
"We made it." He reuttered contently.
They heard the Berk gang make their scandalous "Ooo's!"
"Get a hut you two!" Ruffnut shouted.
"Jealous?" Jack shot back with a cocked brow.
"Pssh, no!" She crossed her arms and looked away pouting. "Whatever. I totally have a hot boyfriend back home."
Looking down at the winter couple, Tooth hovered beside North. "Aww, aren't they just the cutest?" She squealed, bringing her hands together.
"Tone it down, Tooth. Don't embarrass them." He told her amusingly.
"You know I can't help it." She batted her long eyelashes like a crazed fanatic. She then cupped her hands around her mouth, "KISS!"
Hachiman stomped over to the large, golden cloud in the sky where everyone was gathered. He leaped and began shrinking through the air, until landing on the cloud at normal size. "Well done, my—"
The young heroes did not let him finish. Jack, Merida, and Hiccup just tackled their mentor off balance with a sudden group hug. He burst into laughter at the affection, wrapping his arms around them as well. Hachiman had indeed bonded with the Big Four throughout this grand adventure. But that was just it. Four. They were missing someone.
"No," North uttered as Tooth gasped. They both saw the other cloud descending towards them.
The rest of the allies looked up as it came lower. They saw Sandy. He seemed down and...dimmer. They then saw the rest. He was fallen to his knees, tending to Rapunzel's lifeless body. The princess was flat on the cloud, facing up, eyes shut, and hair spread out beneath her. Sandy held her hand with a deep gaze of sadness.
Toothiana quickly zipped over to her friend. The two clouds merged into one and everyone else started to walk over with worrisome expressions. A dreadful silence consumed the air. The Fairy knelt down at Rapunzel's other side. She looked over everything, but then pressed her ear to the princess's chest.
She and Sandy met eyes. He simply shook his head. Tooth fight back tears. Her wings lifted her a mere hair off the surface and turned her to face the others.
"She… She's not waking up…"
The rest of the four rushed over to Rapunzel, including Toothless. Frantic "No's" and begs escaped their struck voices. The Guardians floated off to make way for them.
Everybody loved Rapunzel. She got along with everyone. Seeing her like this wounded the rest of the allies' hearts, but nothing like her dear, closest friends; nothing like those four, no.
Elsa and Astrid wanted to step in, they hated seeing their lovers in so much pain. But Hachiman stopped them. As sad as it was, he and the rest of the adults knew they had to let them be for this.
Toothless whimpered as he nudged her body with his snout. But nothing. The rest of her best friends kept pleading for her to wake up. Merida was the loudest as she caressed Rapunzel's face; tears swelled in her eyes and streamed down her reddened cheeks. She started screaming at her to wake up.
Hiccup had to pull her off. Merida fought him, pounding the bottom of her fists onto his padded armor, crying uncontrollably. But she soon sunk into his arms, sobbing into his chest.
Jack was a silent crier. He stared onto Rapunzel's face. She was always so happy, always so full of life, and now…she was not. The sight hurt him like nothing else.
The Viking's eyes swelled too. He watched her from over Merida's shoulder. As she kept weeping, he thought of his own experience when he heard his father's voice. The voice that saved him from the darkness. He recalled the aching pain, the fear…the deadly cold. It was a fate he did not wish upon his dear friend, but there he stood...feeling as useless as did they all.
But for Rapunzel it was different. She did not feel the cold. Only the heavenly embrace of eternal warmth.