CAUTION: Spoils aspects of Innocent Hopes, Twisted Realities, as well as aspects of When Nothing Remains and events of Usurpation of the Darkness through chapter 73.
Seriously, major spoilers here.
Assuming you wish to continue, read on…
Background: I rewrote a lot of UotD, especially the last third. There are a lot of unremarkable deleted scenes. Then there's this one, which I only recently realized I never showed anyone, though I did mention it in the author's notes of another deleted scene. Take nothing in this as canon or indicative of where canon will go, by the way; I wrote it before I had even the vaguest of plans for what was going on in certain places in the past, present, and future. It's rough, too…
This starts soon after Beryl has his mind restored by the Guardian who lives in the cold, though the exact details and events may vary because this is part of the first draft of the story.
Lily didn't know how long they ended up lingering in the apparently lifeless, definitely dark and secluded cavern of green crystals and nothing else of interest. She did know she wished they could linger longer, but the need for food and water drove them to make the rest of the trip back to the large, highly-trafficked tunnel they had passed through only a few days before.
Once they had satisfied their need for food and water, wading through the shallow waters that ran along the bottom of the river, they discussed exactly how long they wanted to stay.
"I say we spend the night in the mouth of that tunnel we came out of," Beryl proposed, swallowing a large and pale fish that seemed to have no eyes immediately after.
"Nobody ever goes in there," Lily agreed. "Because there's nothing good on the other end." Apparently there was an exit out into the world above, but one that had No-scaled-not-prey nearby, and a guardian that had told them to never come back. For her and Beryl, there really wasn't anything to be had there. And for everyone else, there were probably other, far more hospitable exits to use.
"We do not have to stay long after that," Beryl continued. "I want to see what there is to see here, but a few hours of sitting in that tunnel mouth and watching dragons fly by is probably enough. There are only so many different kinds to see, and most of the ones above us now are common enough."
Lily had no objections to that plan. Once the had eaten their fill, they retired to the tunnel mouth and lounged in the opening, doing exactly what Beryl had described. Dragon flew by often enough that there was almost never any time in which the airspace out in front of them was truly empty.
It did get boring for her long before it got boring for him. She resorted to playing little counting games in her mind to pass the time. At the moment, she had settled upon the buzzing, rock-like dragons, of which there seemed to be two different kinds, or possibly two different stages of growth of the same kind, though she had seen miniature versions of both versions, so she didn't think that was it.
Two, three, four and a half. The half was because one of the smaller variants, which was buzzing slowly along, seemed to be carrying another. The bottom one was brown, and the top grey, looking more like stones than any rock dragon she had seen.
They were moving so slowly she had plenty of time to look at them. "Beryl," she eventually said, "what is with that rock dragon?"
"No-scaled-not-prey call them Gronckles," Beryl remarked, looking for what she meant. "The one with another on top?" His voice was intrigued. "That is odd; the one on top does not look right. It has no tail, for one thing. Do you think it is injured?"
"Maybe, but then we would see the injury, right?" The Gronckle and its passenger were not all that far away, and given how their bodies were arranged, to lose a bulbous tail like that would leave a grievous wound. And where were the eyes? It didn't seem to have the huge jaw, or even the head at all.
"That is… not a Gronckle," Beryl decided, almost as soon as she came to the same conclusion. "And, you know, I almost feel like I recognize her."
"Could she be another dragon from the nest you liberated, like that two-legged one with a beak?" Lily asked.
"That's what I'm wondering." Beryl stood. "Up for asking them? I'll do the talking; you figure out what's up with that passenger while they're distracted."
Without even coordinating, he had set things up perfectly. Lily purred and rubbed her head against his side. "Have I mentioned how perfect it is to have a partner in trickery and subterfuge?"
"Not in so many words, but if you have more on the subject, I'd love to hear it." He jumped out into the air. "Later, though they are moving so slowly we are not exactly pressed for time."
Not at all pressed for time; it took them mere seconds to catch up, and Beryl had to glide almost as slowly as was possible in order to keep pace with them. "I feel like I recognize you," he said, alerting the Gronckle to his presence.
Lily, meanwhile, glided in above, looking down on her unsuspecting target of examination. From there, the scales still looked like flat, thin rocks. In fact, she was pretty sure they were rocks.
"Beryl?" the female Gronckle asked incredulously. "You should, I think. We spent moon-cycles working together! What are you doing down here?"
"Forgetting old acquaintances, I suppose," Beryl admitted sheepishly. "I do remember you." Then he glanced up at her passenger with a light of understanding in his eyes, one Lily could see from where she was. "And I think I know what is going on with this now, though I never expected to see that down here. Lily, stand down."
The mass wearing stones squeaked in a high-pitched voice and shifted, hunkering down further. Lily drifted away, feeling very out of the loop. "What is it?"
"I think we need to discuss this somewhere private," the female Gronckle decided. "If there is anywhere. Revealing Fishlegs out here, with scores of less… understanding… dragons around…"
"Terrible idea," Beryl agreed. "We have just the place." He cast Lily an imploring look. Asking for her to reign in her many, many questions until they were out of view of everyone else.
As she was pretty sure the thing on the Gronckle's back wasn't a dragon at all, she definitely had those questions, but she knew better than to start interrogating someone out in the open. She compliantly, silently followed along, putting on a show for anyone who might be watching. There was nothing to see here, just an odd trio of dragons going to wherever it was they were headed.
The moment she had landed behind the two other dragons and blocked their exit, however, all bets were off. "What is this? Beryl? Other dragon? Mysterious thing on other dragon?"
"Beryl, how understanding is your friend?" the Gronckle asked.
"She's my friend; that's a hint," he chuckled. "Lily, remember how I told you some No-scaled-not-prey were friendly? One of the ones I know personally is here."
"Hiding under a false coat of scales that are actually stones," Lily guessed.
The stone-covered mass dropped off of the Gronckle's back and shed the stone netting, which seemed composed of gray fibers and stones knitted together, somehow. Another example of No-scaled-not-prey ingenuity at work.
The actual No-scaled-not-prey was less impressive. He had the more normal build Lily had come to expect of No-scaled-not-prey, but what was muscle on them seemed to be insulation on him. Or her, she couldn't tell.
It squeaked something that sounded pleasant enough. "He says nice to meet you," the Gronckle translated.
Lily nodded politely, somewhat bemused. "Nice to meet you too." Now she knew it was a male, if nothing else.
"I will do most of our talking," the Gronckle announced. "Mostly because I know what questions he will ask." The No-scaled-not-prey nodded agreeably, staring inquisitively at Lily.
"Well, I have one to ask first," Beryl declared. "How is he down here? I didn't think any No-scaled-not-prey could get past the guardians."
"It was a very flattering thing," the Gronckle explained. "Usually, none are allowed. But, in investigating something else entirely, we quite literally fell into a guardian's range, and she seemed to feel it proper to at least check him. He caused quite a stir, in the end, when she realized he was more than good enough to pass through. They were very polite."
The No-scaled-not-prey smiled tentatively and waved that off.
"So we are down here, hiding out from his future mate and collecting knowledge," the Gronckle finished. The No-scaled-not-prey squeaked something indignant at her. "Oh, hush, we both know that is what you are doing, even if I cannot understand it."
Beryl laughed openly at that. "Lots of catching up to do, I see. Future mate?"
The No-scaled-not-prey shrugged his shoulders, and said something.
"We have time for a long story," Beryl replied. "And we can tell one, too. But could you translate for Lily, please? She does not understand that language yet."
"Certainly," the Gronckle hummed. "I will tell my part of things first, and then just stick to translating. It is easier if only one of us tries to talk at a time, if there is only one voice to be shared."
"Perfect." Beryl sat on his hind legs, his ears almost brushing the top of the tunnel. "So, how are things?"
"On Berk?" the Gronckle asked. "Good, very good. Astrid is a leader of dragon and No-scaled-not-prey alike, and tolerates nothing less than equal treatment for all. We had some pretty big trouble with other No-scaled-not-prey packs, but that is over with now. I have mostly been educating others and helping Fishlegs."
Lily took a good look at the No-scaled-not-prey's legs, just to confirm they weren't disguised fish. She could vaguely remember Beryl mentioning this very person in the past, in relation to who might be suited to unraveling the answers to some of the questions they had come up with about this place.
"That's it?" Beryl asked.
"My life is one of small things and simple pleasures," the Gronckle hummed. "I am not young and spritely like you. I leave that to others. But I do good work."
"To the point, I see," Beryl laughed. "Okay, Fishlegs?"
"He says he wants to hear what you've been up to first," the Gronckle relayed.
"Far too much to tell of in any detail," Beryl hummed. "Here are the highlights. Everyone is fine. Ember, or Hiccup if you prefer that name, is fine, though that was a close-run thing. Our lives have not been easy by any measure, but nobody you know has died, and we actually have not even lost anyone we care about that you do not know. Ember has found a new mate, and…"
There he trailed off. "You really do not know much. I will stick to myself, I suppose, because you have no idea who Storm or Thaw or anyone else is, and I am not the best to tell of them."
"Yes, stick to yourself, and introduce us to the pretty female who has been very quiet so far," the Gronckle requested, speaking for herself.
"I can introduce myself," Lily commented. "I am Lily." She avoided adding anything about being any sort of alpha, past or present. These people didn't need to know the details. "Beryl's mate, as of a few days ago."
"Congratulations," the Gronckle rumbled. "But what are you?"
"A light wing." She thought that was pretty obvious. "Something very, very similar to a dark wing, but not quite." Close enough to interbreed, though that was not an option for her.
The No-scaled-not-prey pulled out a little object and a slightly bigger one and began scratching one with the other, staring at Lily.
"We will have to wait for him to finish," the Gronckle remarked, looking at her companion.
A few minutes of small talk later, most of which Lily did not understand, being between the Gronckle and Beryl about people and places she did not know, the No-scaled-not-prey piped up again.
"Oh, he is done for now." The Gronckle nodded at him. "But he says there is not much to say on his side of things. We were on Berserker island, arranging a treaty, and needed something to do." She snorted indignantly. "Do not lie, Fishlegs, you snuck away. And she was such a nice young female too. You are head over paws, do not deny it."
The No-scaled-not-prey turned an interesting shade of red around the face and said something indignant.
"I'm not translating that; it was just a denial nobody would believe," the Gronckle supplied. "Anyway, we are not really the ones to ask. Astrid and Heather did most of the planning; we just kind of fell into it."
"And then you fell into things down here?" Beryl asked.
"Yes. I have been trying to get him to agree to go back," the Gronckle groaned. "We could spend many lifetimes down here and not be done, and he has a perfectly nice future mate to get back to, and apparently an entire pack to help govern."
"He says he will never get to come back here once he goes back to the surface," she added a second later, "which does not seem right. But I am not hauling him back myself; he would just run off again."
Beryl, who had been listening to this with a bemused expression, shook his head. "I think we are also lacking the context to get anything but confusion out of this. Maybe a trip to Berk is in order."
"We will not be there," the Gronckle replied. "We are moving to Berserker island. There is important work to be done there." She glared at Fishlegs. "Work we are neglecting. Others can do this, and you know it."
"And it sounds like we've stumbled into an ongoing argument," Beryl added, echoing Lily's own assumption on the matter. "How about we catch up later?" He cast Fishlegs an evil look. "On your island. As an incentive, I know about a few dragon types you will never get the chance to see, and the stories I could tell will amaze you… but I refuse to tell them here."
Fishlegs groaned and glared at the Gronckle, and then at Beryl, before saying something forlorn.
"He says he knew we had to go back up soon; it has been a long time," the Gronckle translated happily. "We will see you there eventually?"
"It might be a while, but yes. We'll add it to the list of places to visit." Beryl cast Lily a sidelong glance. "We'll be doing a lot of travelling in the future, so it is no trouble."
"And we will not be doing a lot of traveling in the future; we will be there." The Gronckle nudged Fishlegs, almost knocking him over, and he picked up the cloak of stones and fibers. "It feels like we are leaving without really catching up, but that sort of thing will take days, and we need to get back before our absence causes even more problems." Fishlegs nodded in unhappy agreement.
The two were gone almost too quickly for Lily to believe. She watched them buzz off. "Beryl, was it just me, or did little to none of that make sense?"
"Not just you; we ran right into the middle of something. I hope telling Fishlegs to go back wasn't bad advice," Beryl fretted. "They both seemed very preoccupied, and it sounds like a lot is going on up above. Not to mention how far from Berk they've gotten down here..."
"We will be going to check up on them sooner or later?" Lily asked, making sure he had meant it.
"Definitely. You wanted to travel, and I am building us a list of destinations. The ice nest, Berk, Berserker island, our family's old home, and wherever else we feel like going." He purred at her. "As long as you want to go."
"I definitely do." That sounded like an interesting adventure for the future. "But for right now, you also have a group of people to check in with before they get worried, so let's go." She wasn't going to hold Beryl back from that, especially as it was the last thing to do before they were free to go wherever they thought most interesting.
Author's Note: Yup, Fishlegs had a cameo in the first draft! Never mind distance, circumstance, or relevance. This doesn't happen in the final version of the story for obvious reasons. I'm also not committing to any of what he and Meatlug talk about actually being true for the canon universe of this series, though mostly it's vague enough that it wouldn't be much of a problem either way. This basically never came up again in the first draft; it was very much an orphaned plot thread that dropped in, reminded us of Berk, then pulled out again with exactly as much ceremony.
Also, this is my first post in a very long time! I'll be posting something every Saturday this year, or that's the plan. I've got a pretty substantial backlog to back me up (I was doing some writing in amidst all of the real life things going on in 2023), but what that something is will jump around between all of my existing open works in all fandoms, plus some new stuff once we get there. If my backlog continues to outpace my posting rate of once a week, I'll step it up another notch, but no promises there. This week it's just a deleted scene to ease in and help me remember FF's quirks when it comes to document formatting.