Lightning and Death Itself Deleted Scene 01

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 that you get when you buy a movie on DVD, 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 immediately after the end of Chapter 21.

o

"…Astrid?" he sobbed, nearly choking on his tears. Gunnarr couldn't question that it was her, even though his eyes and his common sense told him otherwise. It was as though she had come back badly mauled by some wild animal, to the point that he almost couldn't recognize her, but still knew it was her.

"How did this… what happened to you?"

WRITING IS HARD FOR ME NOW
CAN WE WAIT UNTIL MOM IS READY?

Gunnarr glanced at his wife. Edda was showing signs of regaining consciousness. She shook her head slowly and opened her eyes. "Gunnarr? What am I doing down here?"

He took her hands in his. "You fainted, dear. I guess your nerves couldn't handle it."

She started to say, "Couldn't handle what?" and then she saw the black dragon standing within touching distance of her husband. She gasped and tried to scramble away, but the feet of the crowd behind her kept her from getting very far.

"It's okay, Edda! It's okay!" he tried to reassure her.

"But that's a… that's a…" she stammered in terror.

He knelt and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Yes, I know what it is. I also know who it is."

She slowly remembered what had happened just before she fainted. The chief had been explaining how the one of the two Night Furies was really his son, and the other one had approached her and called her… Mama.

She shook her head hard. "Don't let me faint again! I'm not a fainter!" She tried to stand up, but was still too shaky; Gunnarr helped her to her feet. He felt like the crowds around them were pressing in on him, and they also were intruding on what was likely to be a very intense family discussion.

"Could you people please back away a few steps?" he called. Everyone's attention was on the Night Fury. No one moved.

"Please! We need to… please, let us out of here!" Still no one moved.

The black dragon took a half-step forward and snarled viciously. Now they moved! Within moments, Gunnarr and Edda were the only people within a hundred feet of the dragon, which quickly lowered its head and made a soft warbling sound. Edda had tried to run with the others, but her husband held her back.

"Edda… it's her!" He pointed at the runes she'd scratched on the rocks. "It doesn't make sense, but it's really her!"

"It can't be," Edda sobbed. "That's not my Astrid!"

IT'S ME

"How... how could you be?" she sputtered. "How could my little girl turn into a dragon?"

ANOTHER DRAGON TRANSFORMED ME
IT WAS MAGIC

"Well, I hope you killed him for doing that to you!"

THIS IS VERY COMPLICATED
HIS REASONS WERE GOOD
I DON'T HATE HIM

"Astrid, honey," her father said softly, "these rocks are going to wear out your... claws. Let's go home, where you can write in the dirt, and we'll all be more comfortable." The Night Fury nodded, and they passed through the gap in the crowd that magically opened as they approached. Everyone stared at them, from a healthy distance, until they were out of sight.

As they drew near the Hofferson home, the door flew open and Astrid's two younger brothers burst out... and stopped dead in their tracks. Eyes as wide as saucers, mouths hanging wide open, they just stared at the creature that was walking next to their parents. The dragon's eyes lit up at the sight of them.

VARINN, HOW HAVE YOU BEEN?
RANGI, YOU LITTLE TROLL

Both boys stared at the runes the dragon had just scratched in the dirt. Varinn, the twelve-year-old, turned to his father. "How does it know our names?"

Nine-year-old Rangi exclaimed, "That's what Astrid calls me!"

I KNOW

"How do you know?" The boy was directly addressing the dragon, as though he'd been talking to Night Furies all his life.

I'M ASTRID
I GOT TURNED INTO A DRAGON
BUT I'M STILL YOUR SISTER

He stared. "The chief says dragons always lie."

THE CHIEF'S SON IS A DRAGON, TOO
AND WE ALMOST NEVER TELL LIES

"Is that true?" the boy demanded of his parents. They nodded.

"Is it... safe?" Varinn quavered. They nodded again, and so did the dragon.

"I thought dragons were bad," Rangi said quietly. His big brother very hesitantly walked up to Astrid, stretched out his hand, and patted her on the nose. She made a burbling sound that scared Varinn at first, but he realized that the huge beast was being friendly, and patted her on the nose some more. Rangi also started away, but didn't want to look scared in front of his brother, so he forced himself to join Varinn and pat the dragon's jaw.

"Now do you believe it's her?" Gunnarr asked his wife.

"This is just... impossible!" she burst out. "My brain has to believe it, but my heart can't accept it. That's not the little girl I gave birth to, and nursed, and taught how to walk and talk and dress herself."

Gunnarr walked around to where his sons were standing. "Boys, I need you to step aside so she can write. Astrid... please, tell us what happened to you."

LONG STORY

"We have to know." The dragon nodded and began to write in the dirt.

HICCUP TAMED A NIGHT FURY
HE TOOK ME FOR A RIDE ON ITS BACK
IT TURNED BOTH OF US INTO DRAGONS
IT CAN'T BE UNDONE
ACCEPTING THE CHANGE WAS HARD
BUT I'M TOTALLY A DRAGON NOW
I LIKE WHAT I AM

Gunnarr sadly put an arm around his wife's shoulders. "I've been totally fixed on how hard this is for the two of us to accept," he sighed. "I've barely given a thought to how hard it must have been for her." He faced Astrid. "Are you sure you're okay like this?"

ACCEPTING IT WAS THE HARDEST
THING I'VE EVER DONE
I'VE FULLY ADJUSTED TO IT
I LOVE FLYING

"I can imagine," her father nodded.

In moments of great stress, it was easy for Edda to fall back on old motherhood habits. "Can we... get you something to eat?" she asked nervously.

FISH WOULD BE GREAT

"I think we've got some in the cellar. Come on in and let's see what I can find." Edda led the way toward the house, followed by her sons, then Astrid, then Gunnarr. The procession stopped abruptly at the threshold. The dragon was too big to fit through the door.

"Huh," Gunnarr said with a shake of his head. "Your big cousin Birna has trouble getting through doors sometimes, but I never imagined you'd have that problem."

Astrid laughed. It didn't sound like Astrid's girlish laugh at all; it was a baritone chuckle from a mouth that could not form consonants. Yet there was no question she was laughing.

Somehow, that did it.

Somehow, that simple, almost-human reaction to a terrible family joke finally touched Edda Hofferson's heart with the truth.

She took a step toward the Night Fury, then rushed at her, threw her arms around the thick black neck, and clung to her, sobbing, "My daughter... oh, my poor daughter..." The dragon's eyes got a little bit moist as well. The boys turned away in embarrassment. Gunnarr just rested one hand on his wife's shoulder until she regained her composure.

"Astrid, please... tell us why you ran away."

VIKINGS KILL DRAGONS

"She has a point," her father nodded. "What about you and the chief's boy, Hiccup? You two ran away together, right? Uhhh... is there anything between the two of you that I ought to know about?"

WE ARE A COUPLE

Edda burst into tears at that. "No, not that! You're supposed to get married first!"

WE CAN'T SAY VOWS
WE CAN'T WEAR RINGS
DRAGONS DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY

"I don't think your mother's bridal crown would look good on you," Gunnarr nodded, "but we both longed for the day when you'd marry a nice boy."

I DID, SORT OF

"Astrid... are you going to come home now?" Edda asked through her tears. The dragon paused.

DO I HAVE TO ANSWER THAT NOW?

"That sounds like a 'no'," her father thought out loud.

I'M JUST NOT SURE
SO MUCH HAS CHANGED
BESIDES, THE OTHER DRAGONS NEED ME

"What do they need you for?" Varinn wondered.

NIGHT FURIES RULE THE NEST
I'M LIKE A CHIEF NOW,
WITH HICCUP AND TOOTHLESS

"Who's Toothless?" Edda asked.

THE OTHER DRAGON

"This other dragon doesn't have any teeth?" Varinn cut in.

She showed them how her teeth retracted and popped out. "Cool!" Rangi exclaimed. "Do that again!"

"So my runaway daughter... is a dragon now... and she's kind of married now... and she's kind of a chief now..." Gunnarr shook his head. "Got any more impossible surprises for me to adjust to today?"

I CAN'T THINK OF ANY

"Hey, Astrid," Rangi asked, pulling on her wing. "If that other dragon could take you for a ride, then could you take me for a ride?"

MAYBE SOMEDAY,
BUT NOT TODAY,
YOU LITTLE TROLL

"Hey!" he shouted. "I'm not a troll!"

"Don't pull her wing like that, dear," Edda admonished him.

"So... what are you going to do next?" Gunnarr asked softly.

I HAVE TO HELP HICCUP
GET BACK TO THE NEST
HIS LEG IS HURT; HE NEEDS HELP

Edda nodded. "I'm pleased by that, Astrid. Not that he's hurt, but that you want to help him. You never used to be the nurturing type."

LIKE I SAID,
A LOT HAS CHANGED

"Will you at least come visit now and then?" her father almost pleaded. She nodded vigorously.

AS SOON AS WE DECIDE, YOU'LL
BE AMONG THE FIRST TO KNOW.
NO MATTER WHAT, I'LL VISIT

"We?" Edda asked.

"Her and Hiccup," Gunnarr said.

Edda shook her head. "This is going to be so hard to get used to! Is there anything that hasn't changed?"

I STILL LOVE YOU
I MISSED YOU ALL A LOT

Gunnarr moved to hug his daughter's neck, but Edda got there first. "I'll find a way to adjust, somehow," she sobbed. "All that really matters is that you came home! Oh, praise every god we know of, and few that we've forgotten about! My baby came home! You came home!"

Gunnarr realized that his daughter's neck was probably big enough for two people to hug at once. He tried to give her one of his big-daddy bear hugs; he realized that those worked better when he was bigger than her. "We both tried to guess why you left. I admit, this is just about the only reason we didn't think of. It's a hard thing... I'm sure it's hard for you too... but please come back home, and if you can't, then please visit as much as you can!

"You look a little different, but... somehow, you're still our daughter."

ONE WAY OR ANOTHER,
I'LL BE BACK
I PROMISE

Then she leaped into the air and glided back to the cliffs to find Hiccup. The rest of the family stood side by side and watched her fly away.

"Wow," intoned Rangi.

"I've got a Night Fury for a sister," Varinn said softly.

"She came home," Edda barely whispered.

Gunnarr's only words were, "We'll have to make a wider door."