Lightning and Death Itself Deleted Scene 04a

A/N I've gotten multiple requests to write sequels, epilogs, etc., for this story. At this time, I don't have any ideas to add; the book is pretty well closed. But in the interest of keeping my readers happy, I can offer you something a little different: deleted scenes.

Like the deleted scenes from a movie or TV show, these are chunks of dialog and action that I considered writing, but ultimately left out or glossed over because I thought they distracted from the flow of the story. But they have merit, and since you want to read more from this story, I'll write them out and let you enjoy them. They will appear in no particular order.

This scene takes place in the middle of Ending 1-a. It almost tripled in size as I wrote it, compared to what I expected it to be, so I broke it into two chapters. This is the first portion.

o

"You're the chief! You can do something about it! You have to do something!"

Stoick threw up his hands. "What do you want me to do, Edda? Banish them? Shame them in front of the whole village? I don't have that authority over them. I don't have any authority over them – they aren't even Vikings!"

"They live in your town," Edda Hofferson persisted. "They have to abide by your rules, even though they aren't human any more. One of those rules is that a boy and a girl can't live together unless they're married, right?"

"Edda, I don't want to rub salt in the wound, but... he isn't a boy any more, and she isn't a girl any more. They're dragons, both of them. They live by dragon rules now. As long as they don't bring any harm to Berk, I can't force them to live like people when they aren't people."

"But it's wrong!" she sputtered. "What if all the other young people in town start thinking, 'It's okay for them, so it must be okay for me, too'?"

"If they all get turned into Night Furies first, I'll have to give them my blessing," Stoick replied. Gunnarr tried to stifle a snort.

"This isn't a joke, Stoick! How can you let your only son break every rule you've ever taught him?"

"For one thing, he was breaking all the rules long before he turned into a dragon," the chief sighed. "For another thing, he can't do any of the things a Viking is supposed to do when he gets married. For a third thing, I had a talk with him about this a few days ago, and he tells me that dragons don't marry."

"Maybe that's good enough for you and your son, but it's not good enough for our family," she snapped. "We believe in tradition, and in doing things right! Those two are not doing things right; they're making a mockery of everything we hold sacred! One of your jobs as the chief is to uphold our Viking traditions, isn't it?"

Stoick glanced at her husband. "You haven't said much, Gunnarr."

Mr. Hofferson started to open his mouth, but his wife cut him off. "Never mind that. I'm not the only one in my family who's outraged at this... this shameless behavior! Some of my brothers and cousins are so angry, they're talking about challenging your son to a hólmgang to restore our family honor."

Stoick actually began to laugh. "Challenge a Night Fury to a duel? You're joking, right?" She glared at him. His laughter stopped. "You're not joking. All right, tell me this: how does Astrid feel about all this?"

"She's on the same side as her shameless dragon lover! It's like we taught her nothing!"

"Her 'shameless dragon lover' is my son, Mrs. Hofferson," he growled. "Please keep that in mind. You aren't the only one who's had a hard time with the changes those two have been through."

"No, but it looks like I'm the only one who still cares about right and wrong," she persisted.

Stoick knew that he was right (and so were Hiccup and Astrid), but he could also see that he wasn't going to win this debate with logic. Maybe if he did something chief-like, it would buy him some time to think of a solution.

"I suggest that we hold a two-family meeting to discuss this. Both of you, me, and the two young... I mean the two dragons in question will meet in the Mead Hall tomorrow, an hour after lunch ends. Is that acceptable?"

"I don't know what there is to discuss," she replied heatedly. "Right is right, and wrong is wrong, and talking about it won't change a thing."

"We'll be there," Gunnarr said, "and we'll pass the word to our daughter." He put both hands on his wife's shoulders and guided her away before she could say any more.

"You were no help at all!" she snapped at him.

"You knew I disagreed with you before you started this confrontation," he replied calmly. "You still haven't explained how they're supposed to get married in the first place. I believe in traditions, too, but for those two to go through a wedding, they'd have to ignore every tradition in the whole ceremony."

"There has to be a way!" she said firmly.

"When you think of a way, please let me know," he answered. "Hopefully, you'll think of it before tomorrow's meeting. I'll go let our daughter know about it."

"I'll go with you," she said firmly. He shrugged, and they both made their way toward the other side of town.

Astrid saw them coming up the road, and glided down from the Nest to meet them. Her scratching of runes in the dirt was getting slightly faster with practice, but it was still slow and laborious.

MAMA, DAD
IT'S GOOD TO SEE YOU

"It's good to see you too, honey," her father said affectionately, resting a hand on top of her head. "Where's Hiccup?"

HE'S FLYING WITH TOOTHLESS

"Astrid, there's something on our minds," Edda cut in. "We... how should I say this? We don't approve of the way you and Hiccup are living."

I DON'T UNDERSTAND.
DO YOU WANT US TO WEAR CLOTHES?

Gunnarr snorted again; Edda elbowed him. "We think you two should get married."

MAMA, DRAGONS DON'T MARRY

"Maybe they don't," she answered firmly, "but you're still our daughter and you ought to respect your parents' wishes. Especially when it's about something as basic and necessary as marriage."

DIDN'T WE HAVE THIS
DISCUSSION A WEEK AGO?

"Yes, and my view hasn't changed," her mother shot back. "You're a respectable girl, and he's the son of our chief. You need to do the right thing, for a lot of reasons."

WE CAN'T, FOR A LOT OF REASONS

Gunnarr cut in, "Would it be so hard to just go through the ceremony, to make your mother happy? You know about her and doing things the traditional way."

WE'D HAVE TO BREAK EVERY
TRADITION IN THE CEREMONY.
HOW WOULD THAT HELP?

"I can't believe it's that bad," Edda replied. "Gunnarr, go through the wedding ceremony, and we'll see who's exaggerating."

"Okay," he said, and took a deep breath. "First, there's the ceremonial washing..."

WE CAN'T FIT INTO THE BATH HOUSE

"... where your married relatives tell you what you need to know, in order to keep your husband happy."

HOW MUCH OF THAT ADVICE WOULD
MEAN ANYTHING TO A NIGHT FURY?

"Then there's the sacrifice to the gods, to ask their blessing on your union."

NORSE GODS HAVE NO
REGARD FOR DRAGONS

"Then you wear your nice clothes... never mind on that one... and you'd wear the bridal crown that used to be your mother's."

I DON'T THINK OUR HEADS
ARE THE SAME SIZE

"Then you exchange swords..."

OUR CLAWS CAN'T GRIP A SWORD

"...and exchange rings..."

NO FINGERS

"...and exchange your vows to each other."

YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND US

"Then you both go to the reception in the Mead Hall. You have to be sure you don't trip over the threshold, or it's a bad omen."

WITH FOUR LEGS, IT'S HARD TO TRIP

"Then Hiccup has to throw his sword into the central pillar and hope it doesn't fall out."

HE STILL CAN'T GRIP A SWORD

"Could he throw it with his teeth?" Edda wondered. "He seems very clever."

WOULD YOU LIKE TO HOLD A
SWORD IN YOUR TEETH?

"Maybe not," Gunnarr nodded. "Then you have to serve him mead in a special goblet while reciting a special verse, and you have to drink it together."

I CAN'T HOLD A GOBLET,
WE CAN'T DRINK OUT OF ONE,
AND I CAN'T RECITE.

"Then we lay a hammer in your lap and recite a verse to ask Thor to bless your babies."

I'M GOING TO LAY EGGS,
NOT HAVE BABIES, AND
I DON'T EVEN HAVE A LAP!
CAN WE STOP THIS SILLINESS?

"Astrid! Show respect!" Edda snapped.

MAMA, I RESPECT YOU, BUT
THIS IDEA IS UNREALISTIC.
I KNOW YOU HATE TO HEAR THIS,
BUT I... AM... A... DRAGON

"You make it sound like that changes everything," she pouted.

Astrid snorted. Before she could write anything else, Gunnarr cut in, "Edda, it does change everything! She said it herself – the only thing that hasn't changed is that she loves us."

"Gunnarr, whose side are you on?" Edda demanded.

"I'd like to make everybody happy, but you aren't willing to bend and face reality at all. We can't just –" His wife turned and stormed off before he could finish.

DAD, I'M SORRY.
I DON'T WANT TO CAUSE
PROBLEMS FOR YOU AND MAMA

"You aren't the cause of the problem, Astrid. Don't feel bad. We'll work this out somehow. That reminds me – you and Hiccup are expected to join us and his father in the Mead Hall after lunch tomorrow. We're supposed to discuss this."

WITH NO DIRT TO WRITE IN,
HOW MUCH CAN WE DISCUSS?

"Oh. I hadn't thought of that," her father said absently. "Hmmm."

He suddenly felt a downdraft. He looked up; Hiccup was hovering overhead, reading the many rows of runes that Astrid had scratched in the dirt. Toothless was flying figure-eights above him, marking time until his friend was done reading. They landed together, one on each side of Astrid.

"Hello, Hiccup. Good morning, Toothless," Gunnarr greeted them casually. Sometimes he mentally took a step back and was astonished that he was now on a first-name basis with dragons, and could tell them apart on sight. He had to remind himself that, compared to the changes his daughter had been through, his own changes were in the same league as changing his socks.

GOOD AFTERNOON, MR. H
YOUR WIFE IS TALKING
MARRIAGE AGAIN?

"I'm afraid so, Hiccup. We're going to have to settle this issue one of these days."

New-night-fury turned to Night-fury. "There's never been a case where dragons committed themselves to each other for life?"

"Not that I've ever heard of," Night-fury replied. "Dragons bond together during the mating flight, then they stay together to care for their young, which takes about a year until they're big enough to be self-sufficient. Some dragons change partners every year, some stay with the same mate for decades, but there's no mechanism for a life-long commitment. We stay together by choice, not by promises."

"Do dragons ever pair off without mating?" Small-night-fury wondered.

"Yes, it's fairly common for a male and female to keep each other company because they like each other," Night-fury nodded. "But that's always a prelude to a mating flight together; it's like they're making reservations early. We have feelings like friendship and gratitude, but romantic love, the way humans feel it... we don't have that. You two are quite unique in that way."

Gunnarr could understand none of this, of course. Hiccup summarized their discussion with written runes for his benefit.

"Thank you for summing that up," he nodded. Astrid and Toothless glanced at Hiccup and laughed. Gunnarr continued, "So what we've got is two incompatible cultures, meeting head-on. Most head-on collisions don't end well for anyone."

INSTEAD OF COLLIDING,
COULD OUR CULTURES
GO SIDE-BY-SIDE?

"What do you mean, Hiccup?"

CAN WE SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN HUMAN CULTURE
AND DRAGON CULTURE,
AND DO SOMETHING NEW?

Gunnarr rubbed his beard. "Tell me more about what you're thinking..."