(A/N: This is the beginning of the sequel to my story "Secrets and Silence", which I would highly recommend reading before you read this so you don't get lost. I know I might get some criticism for starting the sequel so soon after finishing the prequel, but whatever, I'm excited to share this and I didn't want to wait anymore.

Just to make the critics happy, although this is still chapter one, it is more or less a prologue if anything else. This is primarily to introduce a new and very important character. How important? I cannot disclose that just yet.

Before we continue onward, warning: there will be some brief nudity in this chapter. It's not much, I assure you, and it's not too graphic.)

X-O-X*~I~I~I~*X-O-X

It was a cold, dark night, bordering on the beginning of the middle of winter. Animals were hibernating, dragons were nesting, and humans were huddled inside of their warm homes with their loved ones.

Although it was typically calmer at this time of year, this year the gods were not as merciful on humanity. Snow peppered the entire archipelago, every inhabited island was blanketed with a sparkling whiteness. The ocean, usually very resistant to the cold winter weather, was frozen over along some regions.

It was god-forsaken weather, where the gods would have to be very generous to show any mercy, but that did not deter a shadowy figure from making their way up a hill after docking their boat at a random, uninhabited island. They placed something rounded on the cold, icy ground before walking away, not looking back. They hoped that would be the end of their problems forever, however, that would not be.

A Deadly Nadder was nearby and heard the footsteps as the figure walked away. Out of curiosity, the Deadly Nadder decided to investigate and discovered the object the figure left was an egg. It was the color of dried wood with grey flecks and spots and it was more rounded than any dragon egg, although still had a slight oval form.

The Deadly Nadder was a mother, she had a nest and eggs. Motherly instincts took over and she picked up the egg in her mouth and flew back to the island where her nest was.

The island she lived on was inhabited by humans, but she was far enough away to not have to worry about them, at least she hoped she was. She landed near her nest and set the egg she found with her other eggs.

She then stood over her nest and lowered her body to keep them warm. She didn't care that the egg she found wasn't hers, it was now. She stretched her wings and made herself comfortable before closing her eyes and falling asleep.


Sunrise came and the mother Deadly Nadder immediately got to work to take care of her eggs. She breathed on the ground without her flame and thawed the dirt. She used her claws to dig a hole in the ground, only one foot deep. Afterwards, she lined the shallow hole with leaves and other debris she found and gathered.

Once that was finished, she left for a nearby stream for some water. Fortunately, the water wasn't yet frozen, so all she had to do was carry it in her mouth.

She spilled the water into the hole upon her return. She breathed on a couple of rocks to heat them up and placed them into the water using her mouth to move them. The air and the water were very cold, she could visibly see the steam. After a minute, she picked up each of her eggs and set them into the hole she dug to allow the water to warm them.

What she was doing was incubating the eggs, she was trying to help them hatch quicker. It was something many dragons did because they couldn't remain with their offspring for very long.

Dragons could be with their offspring for only so long before it was time for them to return back to their non-parental instincts. Hers were to continuously collect food for her ravenous alpha, the Red Death. Instincts trump the iron claw of the alpha, however, she was safe until the eggs hatched.

Perhaps this was the reason why she decided to stay on the island instead of migrating with the other dragons to the Rookery. The waters of the Rookery would help the eggs hatch much quicker, but she wanted to take her time, as well as keep herself alive a little longer.

Although many dragons did go there to nest, it wasn't a natural instinct to journey there, it was to get their eggs as far away from the Red Death as they could without upsetting the alpha. The large dragon was known to devour everything, including the eggs of the servants.

She shifted her legs and her wings shivered at the thought of the Red Death consuming her eggs. It's not easy for any parent to think about losing their offspring, even if they only raise them for a week or two at the most.

After a little while, she took the eggs out of the water and put them back in the nest. She stood above them before lowering her body to protect them and to continue to keep them warm in this cold weather.

She was going to allow herself to fall asleep, but then suddenly detected a foreign scent nearby. Deadly Nadders had a remarkable sense of smell, capable of smelling any life form for miles. To her, it smelled like it could have been a Timberjack, but it could also be a related species.

She got her answer to what it could be when she heard a distinctive roar, it was from a Timberjack. She immediately stood up and the spines that decorated along the length of her tail extended erectly, she was ready for a battle.

She heard the same roar again, it sounded like it was coming from somewhere above. She let out a roar of her own and flew up to make sure it stayed away from her territory.

At first, she saw nothing and thought it might have left for somewhere else. Then, it arose from the trees and let out another roar. It saw her and its pupils dilated to be slitted, almost disappearing.

It unleashed its fire at her, she avoided it by flying upside down, releasing her own flame as well. The blast hit its wing and she shot her spines at it, but it flapped its large wings and fanned them away. She growled in distress when one of her own spines stabbed her in the leg.

The other stray spines flew into other directions, some of which went directly downward towards her eggs. Three of them separated the Deadly Nadder's biological eggs from the one she found and that caused it to roll away from the nest.

The Deadly Nadder built her nest upon a flatly sloped hill and the egg began to tumble down the ice and snow. It travelled down hundreds of feet, rolling past a few dragons, until it eventually came to a stop when it came into contact with a rock that was only slightly protected under a tree. Once its journey was over, the face of the egg began to crack.


In a village at the edge of the forest lighted by fires in colossal torches that tower about the town, a young woman stepped out of the chief's house next to the Great Hall. Her name was Valka, she was the wife of the village chieftain and the mother of a four-month-old baby boy.

It was very late and there was a light snowfall, but on this night she decided to go for a walk in the forest. She was having a little difficulty sleeping because of her infant son falling ill the other day and that made her very concerned as a first time mother, despite the village healer saying that he would be fine with a little rest.

It was a short walk to the forest, but she had to take very cautious steps, the ground was littered with traps that were now hidden by a blanket of snow. She didn't plan to take a long walk, just long enough to help her relax and calm her nerves.

Soon, the snow began to fall harder and there was a gust of wind shaking the trees and flowing through her hair. She shivered despite the pelt draped over her body and held it closer to herself.

She turned around to go back home before the weather got worse, when all of a sudden she froze when she heard something. It sounded like a cry, a cry similar to that of a baby dragon, yet also human as well.

The possibility of a baby dragon nearby told her to get out of the area as quickly as her feet could carry her. Mother dragons were typically very territorial and highly protective of their offspring.

However, the fact it also sounded human compelled her to continue onward to find it. She was a mother, if a baby was out there in this weather without a mother it would die.

She tried to ignore her motherly instincts that were shouting at her but she couldn't. She continued to trek forward to find the source of the cries.

She followed the cries, they got louder the further she continued. The closer she got to it, the more she thought it sounded more human than dragon.

Finally, the cries were so loud and clear that she figured she had to be right on top of it. She looked around the area she was in, trying to find where they were coming from, and she soon found it.

She found it, it was coming from a baby, it was lying naked in the snow next to a rock. It was so dark she couldn't see if it was a boy or a girl, all she could see were the eyes. They were bright, a silvery, golden color, not too dissimilar from that of a dragon, and the strangest thing about them was that they almost seemed to glow.

She removed her pelt and picked up the baby, immediately wrapping it in it to help it get warm. She was cold, but she didn't care, the safety and survival of the baby came first.

The baby immediately calmed down as soon as she picked it up and wrapped it in her pelt. It was soon asleep once she held it closer to her for some additional warmth.

She smiled softly at the sleeping tiny life in her arms, it was as if it thought she was its mother and sought comfort from her. It reminded her so much of her own son, he was always crying until she came to comfort him or feed him.

This little baby already seemed to accept her as its mother, but could she really raise another child so soon after the birth of her first? Was she ready? Was she capable?

And what about her husband? Having more than one child was often beneficial to ensure that at least one of your children became like you. Or in this case, to guarantee that your family bloodline continued to lead the people. Did that apply to children that were not your own by blood?

She vividly remembered when she went into labor with her son. She gave birth to him nearly three months early, he weighed less than a basket of quail eggs and hardly made a sound. No one thought he would survive, it was even once suggested that he should have been mercy-killed to spare him a short, agonizing life.

She didn't listen to them, if she thought he wouldn't make it he would have died while she was giving birth to him, but he was a fighter. He was still living, he was still breathing, the gods didn't bless her with a baby to kill, they gave her a baby that would fight for his life.

She was told not to keep him alive, to just let the gods take him to the heavens, but instead she helped him live. Just as her child fought for his life, this one did the same until she found it, she was going to help it live.

She left the area with the baby, headed down to the village for home. She walked away without noticing the broken bits of eggshell where the child was found.


Stoick the Vast, the chieftain of the village, sat at his dining room table, waiting for his wife. He rested his elbow on the table and his head in his hand, his eyelids were heavy and he was nodding off to sleep, but tried to stay awake at least until his wife arrived back.

Just as he was about to drift off into sleep again, the door suddenly opened and Valka came inside. The wind had grown quite strong and she struggled to close the door, but eventually did.

The first thing he noticed when he saw her was that she wasn't wearing the pelt, instead it was in her arms. He wasn't sure why she would take it off and elect to carry it instead of wearing it in this cold weather. He couldn't help but to notice that the way she held it was similar to how she holds their infant son.

She looked down at the bundle of the pelt and used her finger to pull it back slightly, as if she was looking at something. She bore a very worried expression on her face, obviously quite sad and concerned, but for what?

"What have you there, Val?" he asked.

"I found a babe, out in the forest," she answered, her mouth slightly agape.

"Was it alone?" he questioned. He wasn't entirely sure why bothered to ask, he knew his wife would never take the child of someone else.

"Yes, and crying," she responded. "I couldn't let it freeze to death."

"Is it a boy or girl?" he inquired.

"I don't know, it was too dark," she replied.

She tucked back more of the pelt, but there still wasn't enough light for her to see any details of the child. She went over to the fireplace for more light and sat on her knees on a rug made from the fur of a bear.

She began to remove the pelt to get a better look at the infant. When she did, she discovered that it was a boy and had very unusual features.

His skin wasn't skin at all, it was scales, smooth and sleek in the light of the fire. The scales on his arms, legs, head, and back were forest or dark green, it was difficult to tell next to the fireplace, and very similar in shape to that of a dragon. On his abdomen, however, the scales were much lighter and seemed to have a tint of a very pale yellow, they were more similar to fish scales, or the scales of a snake. His abdomen was also speckled with the other, darker scales on his little body.

He had small but sharp claws on the tips of his fingers and toes. Each hand had five fingers and each foot had five toes, just like a normal person. Although, the fact that he had claws almost compelled her to open his mouth to see if he had sharp teeth.

The shape of his head was distinctly similar to that of a lizard, although he had a muzzle strangely more like that of a canine. His eyes were more centered in his skull, although still further apart than any normal human's.

She lifted him up and turned him to the side slightly and discovered something very odd. She saw that he had a tail, it was five or six inches long coming from the base of his spine with a row of small dorsal scales not too dissimilar to the lobes commonly found on a dragon.

She was stunned by everything she was discovering about this baby. After everything she saw and studied about his body, she knew that he wasn't human.

What was he, then? She's never seen anything like him before, or even heard about in stories. She did know one thing, he looked human, did that mean he could grow up to have all of the potentials of a human? He was crying when she found him and calmed down as soon as she picked him up, could that indicate that he was an intelligent being?

"Stoick," she softly beckoned her husband over, "take a look at this."

He stood up from the table and went over to her, "What is it, Valka?"

"Look," she slowly dragged her fingers along the length of his tail, "he has a tail," she then held up one of his arms, "and scales."

He knelt down to take a closer look and saw what she was talking about, "You're right. What in the name of Thor is he?"

"I'm not sure," she replied.

She started to fiddle with the pelt and placed it over the baby's naked body. The baby made a little movement and a soft cooing sound, she smiled down at him.

He sighed, "Val, we can't-"

She interjected before he could say anything more, "Stoick, I know what you're going to say and I want you to think about this. When Hiccup was born and everyone was telling us to put him out of his misery, could you really imagine taking your son into your hands and stealing the light of his soul?"

He said nothing, he couldn't imagine it, he loved his son. If he had done so, he would likely be cursed by the gods for putting out the light that was his life instead of breathing life into him.

"This child, he may not be like us, but he is still a living, breathing child," she declared, clearly emphatic and empathetic. "Thor gave us our son and blessed us with another, it would be immoral to disregard what is given to us as nothing."

He wanted to give some kind of argument, to tell her that the villagers would talk about them as possible worshippers of Loki and his monstrous offspring, but he couldn't. This little child was not a human, but he was still a living being, and had a right to live, as all do.

"If we are going to raise him as our own," he began, pausing only for a brief moment, "he needs a name."

She hummed as she tried to think of a fitting name for him. Although she had never heard of any story involving beings resembling him, she did know of a legend she heard about in her early childhood.

From what she could remember, it was said there was a race of serpent-people that was in the archipelago when humans first arrived. The story varies, but it ends with the serpent-people leaving the archipelago for somewhere else when they realized they could not compete with humans.

These people were local to the area that's been called home for generations. Although just a story, it was still intriguing and unusual, just like this little child.

She thought she finally had a name for him, and thought it was very fitting. "How about… Ladok?"

"Ladok?" her husband repeated.

"Yes," she smiled down at the infant. "I think it's very fitting for him."

"Well, then," he chuckled, caressing his finger on the baby's scaly yet smooth forehead, "welcome to the family, Ladok."


It has been six months since Valka and Stoick adopted Ladok into their family. There had been good days and bad days, but that was the lifecycle of parenthood.

It had been decided that he had to be kept a secret from the village, at least until the time was right. A mob of angry Vikings was bad enough, a mob of paranoid ones was nearly as bad as Ragnarok.

For the first month of life, Ladok had to sleep in the same crib as Hiccup while a crib was being made for him. It had to be built in secret, and when Stoick was asked about it, he simply said that Hiccup was growing and too small for his crib.

Valka wasn't sure if Hiccup was aware that he had a younger brother, but figured he must have known someone was sharing his crib. He didn't even turn onto his side while he was sleeping, as if he was purposefully trying not to upset him.

She spent more time inside their home now that they had two children to take care of, and she wouldn't miss a moment of her two sons' lives for the world. She made dolls for them modelled after dragons during her time inside. For Hiccup, she made a doll modelled after a Deadly Nadder, and one modelled after a Hideous Zippleback for Ladok.

As they got older, their personalities began to develop as well. Hiccup was very lively and curious, but he could be a little fussy at times, especially when he was hungry. Ladok's personality wasn't as developed as his brother's, but he was beginning to show a bit of curiosity as well, yet also a little timid.

Ladok slept more often than Hiccup, who was definitely the more active of the two, because he was younger. Although, Valka did notice that he was certainly more lively at night, leading her to speculate that he may be biologically nocturnal.

There was a lot to learn about whatever he could be and his unique biology. He did have teeth when he was a newborn, but they were so small she barely felt them whenever she fed him. It wasn't until recently that she began to notice them more, they were still quite small, but they were gaining sharpness. It also caused her to speculate that he might be a carnivore, or perhaps an omnivore, but it was still difficult to tell as he was still an infant.

At night, Stoick would be the one who would check on them whenever one or both of them was crying so that she could sleep. He quickly discovered that being a mother was more difficult than being a father. They were a handful, but he loved both of his sons as much as his wife did.

However, if there was one thing all of mankind could agree on, it was that all that was good must come to an end at some point in time. It's only a matter of when and how it would be.

It was the middle of the night when Ladok suddenly began to cry in his crib. Knowing that Stoick was exhausted from his prior day, Valka got out of their bed and went to check on him and Hiccup.

Hiccup was awake, but not crying, so she picked up Ladok and tried to get him to go back to sleep. "It's okay, it's okay, my sweet one," she soothed.

Still, he cried and squirmed in her arms; it was almost as if he sensed something and he was trying to tell her. She knew how he liked fresh air, so she took him outside, behind the house, hoping that would calm him down.

Once outside, she walked around and gently rocked him to try to get him to sleep. Finally, he seemed to calm down and stopped crying, relaxing his small body against her.

She sighed and smiled softly, she began to walk to go inside of the house to get a little sleep. Suddenly, he started crying again, this time much louder and higher-pitched, not unlike that of some kind of distress call.

Then, she heard a roar, the roar of a Monstrous Nightmare. She jumped and hunched down to avoid the dragon as it flew past her, clenching her wailing son protectively.

Now, she was scared and worried, not just for herself, but for everyone. Ladok's cries were similar to the cry of a baby dragon when heard from a distance, a human couldn't tell the difference, let alone a dragon! It wasn't mating season for them, but they would do whatever it takes to find and save a baby in distress.

She tried to quiet him, but there were more dragons arriving and firing down on the village, she was all nerves, he wouldn't calm down until she was. If there was a Thor or Odin, she hoped they were listening.

Suddenly, she heard something enter their home through the front. She would have thought it to be her husband if she didn't already know that he had left the house to fight the dragons. It was thought that sickened her stomach, but she couldn't think about it for the moment, Hiccup was still in the house!

She grabbed a mace and ran around to the front of the house, immediately running inside. However, once inside, she saw one of the most bizarre sights of her life.

It was a dragon that had broken into their home, a Stormcutter, a relatively uncommon species on Berk, and it was looming over Hiccup's crib, but it wasn't attacking him and he wasn't crying. No, Hiccup was laughing gleefully, reaching up towards the dragon with his little hands, while it was using the talons on its wings to inspect him, as if trying to figure out what he was, similarly to her when she first found Ladok.

She heard Hiccup's laughs turn to cries when he was accidentally scratched when the Stormcutter turned to face her. It saw the axe, but did not see her as a threat, it could tell she was just a protective mother, dragons could sense that, it was an instinct.

Valka somehow knew the dragon wouldn't attack her, she wasn't sure if it could sense she was a mother or if it saw Ladok in her arms, who by that time was no longer crying. She dropped her mace and reached her hand out to the Stormcutter as it looked upon her with soft, kind eyes.

Out of nowhere, an axe was hurled between them, impaling into the wall! "Valka!" Stoick shouted.

Believing he was trying to hurt her or the children, the Stormcutter fired its untamed flames, setting the house ablaze. Now, both Hiccup and Ladok were crying, this was too much for them.

"Don't!" she cried, although she wasn't sure if it was to the Stormcutter or her husband.

The flames were surrounding Hiccup, and Stoick had to save his son. He had to save his wife and Ladok too, but Hiccup was defenseless and would likely die if he didn't take action.

He leaped over the wall of fire and grabbed Hiccup out from his crib, holding him close and protecting him from the heat. "Hold on!"

Suddenly, he heard his wife shout, "No! Stoick!"

His back was to his wife, other son, and the Stormcutter, he didn't see as the dragon grabbed her in its talons and flew off with them. It believed he was attacking them, all three of them, all it wanted to do was to get to somewhere safe.

Valka was terrified, she didn't know what to expect from the large red dragon. She cried for her husband one last time at the top of lungs, "Stoick!"

Before she and Ladok were taken into the darkness and unknown, she heard him shout in despair, "Valka!"

As Stoick loses sight of his wife, in the distance he could hear Ladok's cries in the wind. He looked down at the crying Hiccup, bleeding from the scratch on his chin, he was looking up at the dark sky as his mother and brother disappeared. He held him close to him, protecting him from the dangers all around him.


Valka wailed in the dragon's claws, screaming for it to let her and her infant son go. She held him close to her, keeping him safe and warm in the crisp air.

She hoped and prayed to the entire pantheon of gods that this Stormcutter was not a servant of the legendary Red Death dragon. If it was, both of them were as good as dead. It was the duty of a mother to protect her child, but she couldn't do much if both were dead.

However, she also had something else to worry about in the back of her mind. Her son was held tightly against her chest, against her clothing; he could very easily suffocate. He wasn't crying, he wasn't moving, was he alright?

She loosened her tight grip on him, only slightly, she was not letting him go. As soon as she did, he started squirming and crying loudly, as loud as he could. She tried to quiet him, she shuddered to think what could happen to them if the dragon misinterpreted his wails.

The Stormcutter looked down at them, it heard the cries coming from the infant. They were very similar to a baby dragon's, yet also very human as well, they were unique to him. It sounded like he was in distress, so was the woman, she tried to keep him calm while she looked down below them, she was trying not to think about what would happen if the talons' grip was only a little loose.

They were flying north, to the Stormcutter's alpha, it intended to fly into the night, but knowing there was a baby caused a reconsideration. It looked for an island and found one just a few degrees off course.

Valka saw the dragon was flying towards an island and she held her breath as she swallowed her fears. She hoped it was just landing for a rest, not for a meal.

They were headed towards the surface of the island at a rather quick pace. Valka closed her eyes and held Ladok close to her, his head resting between the crook of her neck and her chest. She waited for them to be thrown to the ground and then killed and eaten.

She didn't truly believe any dragon was evil, but not all dragons had a paternal instinct, some were known to even consume their offspring, so what might normally stimulate a protective instinct could cause infanticide. She hoped and prayed Stormcutters were a more docile species, she didn't know much about them, just that they were like all dragons, territorial.

But, nothing happened. She opened her eyes warily and saw that she was just a foot or so above the ground. The Stormcutter hovered over the ground to keep her suspended above it at a safe distance.

After a moment, the talons released her and she landed on the ground on her feet. The Stormcutter hovered over her for a moment longer before landing a few feet in front of her.

She quickly held Ladok closer to herself and took a step back, leery of the large red dragon. It knew she was afraid and wondered why, there was nothing to be afraid of, not that it was aware of.

It took a step forward, using its talons to walk on all floors. She took a couple of steps back, she wasn't sure what it wanted. When she did, it stood on its haunches again and tilted its head aside, as if curious.

'What is it doing now?' she wondered.

It wasn't attacking them, it simply sat and looked at her with eyes that showed curiosity. It didn't appear to be hostile, she wondered if it wanted her to take a step forward.

Which was what she did, she took a step forward with some hesitation just in case it became hostile and aggressive. When she did not take another step forward, it took a step forward.

Now, they stood closer together, so close that she thought she could feel its body heat. She reached her hand out again and it sniffed her palm, becoming familiar with her scent.

It lowered its body to be closer to the baby in her arms, sniffing him just as it did her hand to become familiar with his scent. She allowed this, no longer believing that it was going to hurt them, not purposefully at least.

Ladok wasn't crying anymore, but he began to squirm again, which she knew meant that he was hungry. She was as well, she and Stoick had an early dinner because he was tired, it was a light supper of a mushroom and carrot soup with rye bread. But the baby's health came before hers, and he was growing hungry. It was better to handle it before he began to cry again.

She sat down on a log nearby and began to remove her tunic, enough to expose her breasts in order to feed him. She was cold, her sensitive skin shivered at the feeling of the freezing air dancing on her body.

She never thought she would ever expose any part of her female anatomy in front of a dragon, but it didn't seem to mind, it looked on with curiosity if anything else. It had never seen anything like it before in its life, it wasn't something dragons could do for their children.

It watched as she fed her child from her mounds, and observed she also had a hand on her stomach, was she hungry as well? Maybe it could find something for her? There was bound to be something she could safely consume on the island.

She watched as the Stormcutter took to the air and flew to another part of the island. Where was it going? Was it hunting, or looking for something?

She got her answer a short while later when it returned with a branch from an apple tree in its mouth and a full elderberry bush in its claws. It set them down in front of her and played with them with its talons on its wings, encouraging her to eat with a nudge.

She waited until Ladok was finished and fast asleep again before she could even think about eating. She fixed her tunic and covered herself before she broke off one of the apples from the branch the Stormcutter brought her and began to eat it. Once she was done with her apple, she plucked off a couple of elderberries and started to eat them.

Meanwhile, the dragon watched as she ate the fruit and licked its lips, it enjoyed eating fruit as well. It approached her as she continued to eat more of the fruit, slightly hesitant to do so at all.

It eyed the fruit she had, she wondered if it wanted some, although she did have a little doubt. She knew that dragons could consume fruits and vegetables and other plants as a snack, but always thought it was out of desperation because their alpha, the Red Death, always ate so much fish and livestock.

Nevertheless, she was curious and picked off some elderberries, extending her hand out to the dragon and offering the dark blue berries. To her surprise, it ate every single one of them out of her palm happily, enjoying the sweetness of the small fruits. Next, it used its teeth to pick up an apple and ate it quickly in only a couple of bites.

It nudged her again, rumbling in its throat, sounding something like a mellow purr or a soft growl. She laughed, "You're welcome, err, boy."

She ate a couple more berries and shivered when there was a sudden gust. Ladok began to writhe in her arms, he hated the cold, he couldn't stand it. She shifted her arms in order to help keep him warm since he had no blanket or pelt.

The Stormcutter frowned, he didn't like to see them suffering, and also admired Valka's compassion and concern for her son, even when he wasn't his. He stood on his haunches again and draped his wing over her to protect them from the wind.

Valka couldn't believe what this dragon was doing to protect and help them, it was something that many people did not possess in them, compassion. What did this mean though?

She always knew dragons were intelligent creatures, but never expected what this dragon had done not just for her but also for her son. Could he possibly sense something in her soul that compelled him to help them as much as he could? Or did his soul somehow reflect her own? Were they connected in some way? A way that was more spiritual than something that could be easily explained?


It was morning, Valka awoke believing everything she had experienced may have been nothing more than a dream. However, when she saw that she was laying in grass with a Stormcutter next to her and Ladok asleep on her chest, that assumption was frayed.

She sat up from the ground with a soft groan, careful not to awaken her son. The Stormcutter felt her movements and raised his head to look at her.

She smiled at him, "Hello. How are you?"

He tilted his head to the side again, curious why she was asking such a question. She wasn't sure why she did, she felt a little awkward that she did at all.

She hoisted herself onto the log, beginning to eat the remaining fruit, which wasn't very much, much of it was gone. The Stormcutter nudged Ladok with his snout and sniffed him.

He writhed in his mother's arms and spread his arms out as he cooed, although his eyes were still closed. She supposed that was his reaction to being smelled and touched by a dragon.

She laughed to herself and began to remove her tunic again to feed him. The Stormcutter decided to leave to give her some privacy and sat facing the north.

He was done feeding in less time than usual, she guessed he was still tired. She fixed her tunic again and noticed the Stormcutter was looking north. They had been flying north until he decided to land, was that where he was from?

She looked south, where her home was, she wanted to go back there to her husband and other son. But then remembered the circumstances that separated her and Ladok from them in the first place. If they arrived with the same dragon that took them away, what would they do to them?

Not only that but none of the villagers had ever seen Ladok, he had been kept a secret from then for the past six months. None of them would be as accepting of him as she and Stoick were, they wouldn't understand.

She stood up from the log and went to the Stormcutter's side, placing a hand on him, "How far do we have to go?"

He gave her his own version of a smile, lowering his body, low enough to touch the blades of the grass. His body was level with her waistline, it was as if he was telling her to get on his back.

She hesitated, swallowing nothing but her own saliva, before she held Ladok tightly in one arm and used her free hand to help herself climb onto his back. Once she was settled, he took to the air and continued north, to his home.

Her heart was in her throat, she tightened her hold on her son as if her life depended on it. Ladok was surprisingly very calm, he glanced down at the sea below and his arm reached down towards it.

She held her son closer to her to keep him warm as the climate got colder. They were so far north she thought they were nearing the top of the world.

Soon, she saw the most amazing sight in her life. It was as tall as a mountain and appeared to be made out of a light cyan-colored ice. The ice made it look like it had sharp spikes that protected it like a fortress. It was breathtaking, especially when sunlight reflected off of it.

The Stormcutter flew up to the mountain and went inside of it through an opening. He flew through a tunnel that was fed through the opening into the interior of it.

He eventually came out of the other end of the tunnel and she saw yet another amazing sight. The interior was green and lush with dragons flying together, some were even playing with each other. The climate was surprisingly very warm and the plants were nothing she had ever seen before.

However, what really stood out to her was a colossal white dragon resting under a waterfall, its eyes closed as if it was sleeping. The Stormcutter landed and she got down from his back, unable to take her eyes off of the large dragon.

The gigantic dragon opened its eyes, they were turquoise in color and as glassy as ice. It stood up, causing the water to pour down its body like the waterfall above it. The Stormcutter bowed his head as it approached her and Ladok, her heart was in her throat again.

It stood before her and she unconsciously held her son tighter with both of her arms. It inhaled, smelling them, trying to distinguish both of their scents. After smelling them, an icy vapor passed through its lips and made contact with her and Ladok, turning into ice immediately.

It left to go back under the waterfall, leaving her stunned. Had the dragon just accepted her and her son as a part of its pack? It seemed so surreal, but that seemed to be what happened.

She felt something on her leg and looked down to see a baby dragon, a Gronckle, nudging against her. It looked up at her and swayed its tail vehemently, apparently very happy. Other dragons looked at her and Ladok with kind and even accepting eyes.

She never thought she could see such expressions from dragons, despite what she had already believed and seen with her Stormcutter. Dragons were more accepting than first thought, than anyone could have thought. Perhaps it meant that a life with these magnificent creatures was possible, and that she and Ladok would be happy there with them.

X-O-X*~I~I~I~*X-O-X

(A/N: Whoa! This was one hell of a first chapter to write. I'm tired, but I still have lots more to do with this story, so I'll be going back to work.

You guys did read this correctly, Hiccup does have an adoptive brother and he's not human. I can't say what he is yet, that's for way into the future.

Ladok's name is taken from the term "lad", meaning "boy", and lokal, a common Germanic word meaning "local" in many languages. There is a reason for his name and that does have to do with what he is, but again that's not until much later.

It'll be a little while before he appears again in this story, not for a few chapters. I can't wait until then, but I have to work on the other chapters before that.

I hope everyone enjoyed this first chapter and stays around for more. Until then, stay safe everyone.)