A/N: WHOO! FIGHT SCENE! YEAH!
Volcano Quest
Hiccup, Toothless, Fishlegs, and Snotlout were crouched behind the large pile of rocks that they had climbed down. They were preparing to put Hiccup's fiendishly clever plan into action.
"Okay, remember," said Hiccup, "just distract the big guy and try to take out the Fyremytes. Try and stay quiet, though. We don't wanna wake up the other Fyremytes..."
"Right," said Fishlegs. "So we'll just run back and forth really fast to distract the Fyremytes and the big guy... I really hope he can't breathe fire."
Hiccup glanced at Toothless.
"Yeah, he can definitely breathe fire," Toothless whispered.
"Great..." muttered Hiccup.
"I only understood half of what he said," said Fishlegs, "but I can tell he just told you that the Guarder Dragon can breathe fire."
Hiccup didn't respond. Instead, he looked at his cousin.
"Snotlout? Are you ready?"
Snotlout looked like he was about to pee himself, but he nodded, getting a tight grip on Hiccup's sword, which he was using now that his own sword had been melted.
Hiccup nodded. "Good... Now let's go."
They waited until the monster dipped its head into the lava to make their move. All four of them ran out into the opening, and Toothless shot a fireball at several of the Fyremytes hovering around the Guarder's head. It didn't do much except immediately get their attention.
Then the strangest thing happened. All of the Fyremytes simultaneously snapped their eyes towards the small group, and the Guarder dragon did the exact same. There was something strange about it, and Hiccup made a mental note.
"Scatter!" exclaimed Hiccup. They all ran in different directions. Snotlout ran left, Fishlegs ran right, Toothless backed up towards the wall, and Hiccup actually ran towards the giant dragon.
The Guarder immediately focused on Hiccup, and it lifted one of it's feet out of the lava and set it down heavily right in Hiccup's path, blocking the way to the Fire Diamond.
"Suffering scallops..." muttered Hiccup as he stumbled backwards and away from the lava-covered paw.
Right at that moment, one of the Fyremytes dive-bombed him, turning black as the fire went into its mouth. Hiccup just barely ducked out of the way in time, swinging his shadow talon dagger and slicing the six-legged beast in half. It's body fell into the lava, and the resulting explosion was smaller, but it kicked up a lot of magma.
By now, Hiccup had scrambled back to edge where he had started. Glancing over, he saw that all three of the others were battling the Fyremytes that had been hovering around the Guarder.
"Move back towards the center!" exclaimed Hiccup as he fended off several Fyremytes. The others heard him and slowly but surely made their way towards Hiccup.
"It really was a good plan," said Fishlegs loudly, almost shouting to be heard over the screeching of the Fyremytes. "Got any more?"
"I think there's something going on with the Fyremytes and the Guarder," Hiccup shouted back. "There's some kind of connection between them."
"Well, let's see!" exclaimed Snotlout, quickly stooping over and picking up a rock. He then stood upright and hurled the rock at the Guarder. It struck the giant dragon square in the left eye. The Guarder roared in pain and fury, and the Fyremytes seemed to get more aggravated.
"Well that didn't do anything except piss them off," muttered Toothless.
"No wait, I saw something!" exclaimed Hiccup, quickly looking back and forth between the Guarder and the Fyremytes. "They closed their eye when you hit the Guarder's!"
"You don't think..." muttered Fishlegs.
"What is it?" asked Snotlout, confused as ever.
"Maybe there's a reason the rest of the Fyremytes have their eyes closed," said Hiccup, jabbing at another Fyremyte that came too close.
"Get to the point!" exclaimed Snotlout before letting out a sharp cry as one of the Fyremytes raked its claws down his arm, leaving long red scratches with blisters along the edges. Toothless took care of that Fyremyte by crushing it's skull with his teeth and tossing the body into the magma.
"It's how they're connected!" shouted Hiccup as several more Fyremytes on the walls opened their eyes and replaced the dead ones. "The Guarder Dragon is blind! It needs the Fyremytes to see!"
"That's why only a few of them have their eyes open!" Fishlegs exclaimed. "Otherwise it would be too much information for the Guarder!"
Before any of them could say anything, the Guarder caught on to what they were talking about. It growled deeply and opened its mouth. They could see a bright orange glow building up in its throat.
"It's gonna flame!" shouted Hiccup, his eyes widening and his face paling.
"Get down!" shouted Toothless, knocking the three Vikings to their knees and jumping between them and the Guarder. He then turned so that his back was to the Guarder and he spread his wings, wrapping them around the Vikings in a protective hold similar to the one he used with Hiccup after the Green Death was killed.
Then the Guarder flamed.
An enormous burst of fire and lava shot out of the monster's gaping maw, impacting with Toothless' back with enough force to almost knock him over. He held his ground, however, and the second the fire died away, he turned and shot a fireball into the Guarder's other eye. The force of the blast sent the Guarder stumbling backwards, and it removed it's foot from the pathway to the Fire Diamond.
Toothless quickly folded up his wings, and the three slightly singed Vikings quickly stood up. Hiccup noticed that Toothless' saddle had been completely destroyed, along with all of the packs of supplies that had been attached to them. The only one that was left was the one Fishlegs was wearing on his back.
"Hiccup, go!" shouted Toothless, quickly gesturing to the small pool of magma that held the Fire Diamond.
Hiccup nodded and started to run forward, but the Guarder wasn't finished yet. With the Fyremytes scattering, the Guarder's vision was slightly messed up. But it could still see Toothless, the black shadow against a red background.
Without another thought, the Guarder shot an enormous glob of fire at Toothless. The Night Fury didn't have time to react, and the fireball struck him right in the chest, sending him flying back into the wall. When he hit the wall, his head connected with the rocks, and he was knocked unconscious.
"Toothless!" shouted Hiccup.
Big mistake. The Guarder's sensitive ears picked up Hiccup's cry, and it lowered it's massive head to block Hiccup's path. Hiccup again scrambled backwards to where Fishlegs and Snotlout were standing.
"Fishlegs, go make sure Toothless is okay," said Hiccup. Fishlegs nodded and ran back to where Toothless lay.
"He's okay!" Fishlegs called back. "He's just unconscious. But there's something else here!"
Hiccup quickly turned and saw that part of the wall had been knocked out when Toothless hit it, and behind it was a tunnel. Hiccup could even feel a cool breeze blowing out of the gap in the wall.
If they made it through this alive, that would be their way out.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake, and the air got even hotter. The tremors seemed to excite the Guarder Dragon and the Fyremytes.
Hiccup only groaned as more Fyremytes opened their eyes and flew down from the ceiling. It was complete and utter chaos. The Fyremytes were flying around, the Guarder was screeching, and the volcano was only minutes away from exploding. And if they didn't do something fast, they would be at the epicenter of the explosion.
"Hiccup, what's the plan?" shouted Snotlout over the rumbling of the volcano and the roaring of the Guarder.
Hiccup didn't answer him immediately, simply because he was already in the middle of another one of his brilliant yet crazy plans that would probably end in somebody getting hurt.
There was no way they could safely get the Fire Diamond. It was right under the Guarder Dragon's belly, and it's head was blocking the way. And even though the dragon itself couldn't see, it had plenty of extra eyes, but...
"Okay, I've got a new plan," said Hiccup as he fought off several angry Fyremytes. "Fishlegs, try and get Toothless into that crevice!"
Fishlegs nodded and immediately began using his impressive strength to drag the unconscious Toothless backwards into the crevice in the wall.
"What about me?" asked Snotlout frantically.
"You're with me," said Hiccup. "I'm gonna get the Fire Diamond. I need you to wake up as many Fyremytes as you can."
"Are you crazy?!" exclaimed Snotlout, batting away a couple more of the six-legged beasts.
"Possibly..." muttered Hiccup. He then picked up a rock and threw it at the wall. It startled a dozen Fyremytes awake, and they began flying around, trying to find what attacked them. Snotlout picked up on this and began throwing rocks too. Soon, most of the Fyremytes were flying all over the cavern in a confused fiery panic.
All of the activity was too much for the Guarder, and it raised it's head, stepping back and exposing the magma pool with the Fire Diamond inside. This gave Hiccup the opportunity to run beneath the dragon's massive legs and reach it's blind spot beneath it's belly. As Snotlout continued to stir up the Fyremytes, Hiccup knelt down next to the small pool of still magma. It was only a few inches deep, but it was deeper than it had seemed from far away. And at the center of it sat the Fire Diamond, a perfectly spherical crystal that was glowing white hot in the bright red magma.
Hiccup hurriedly looked around. All of his fireproof tools were gone... all of them except the gloves. However, the gloves only covered his hands and wrists. If he were to reach into the magma, it would reach halfway up to his elbow, and he had no idea what kind of damage that could cause.
Hiccup looked around again and saw that there was nothing that could help him. He also saw that he was running out of time. Snotlout was slowly losing ground to the Fyremytes, and the Fire Diamond was slowly glowing brighter and brighter, meaning that the volcano could erupt at any second. The resulting explosion would not only kill them, but it would also send out a tidal wave of water and pyroclastic material that would completely destroy the island of Berk.
He was out of time. And he was out of options.
Without another thought, he plunged his right hand into the pool of magma and grabbed the Fire Diamond. The second he had it, he convulsively pulled his arm out of the molten liquid, letting out a white hot scream of agony that was matched only by the Guarder Dragon as it's source of life was taken. The Fyremytes instantly scattered, and the shaking of the volcano increased.
Hiccup didn't notice any of it. The only thing he was aware of was the Fire Diamond and the wet burning sensation all along his right arm, the worst being right around his wrist. The muscles in his right arm began to spasm, causing his right hand to lock into a fist, keeping him from dropping the Diamond.
His world was spinning. All he could feel was pain and nausea and burning, but... there was something else. He wasn't touching the ground anymore. Someone was carrying him towards the fissure in the wall.
It was Snotlout. He knew Hiccup was in trouble from the moment he knelt next to the magma pool. And after Hiccup had reached in and taken the Fire Diamond, the Guarder Dragon reared back, giving Snotlout a clear path to Hiccup.
Snotlout had ran over and caught him just as he started to topple over. Seeing that Hiccup was only partly conscious, he scooped him up and ran over to the fissure in the wall where Fishlegs and Toothless were waiting.
As soon as Snotlout made it inside the fissure with Hiccup, the violent tremors from deep within the volcano caused a rock slide, sealing the way behind them and protecting them as all the lava in the volcano rose to the top and spilled out over the edge, covering the entire mountainside in lava.
The volcano then slowly quieted as the lava washed harmlessly into the sea. Berk was saved.
A/N: Okay, so what just happened? They stole the Fire Diamond, kept the volcano from exploding and destroying Berk, and... then there's Hiccup and Toothless. Mwa. Ha. Ha. Also... SPEEDY UPDATE!