(A/N: Holy cow, it's already the tenth chapter! Is it really? I can't believe it!
As I said before, Stoick will be in this chapter and he will have a major role in it. The events of the last chapter were more or less to prepare for the real revelation to Hiccup and his family.
With nothing more I can say, I'm going to let you guys get to reading. I hope you guys really like it!)
O~V-Y-U-Y-V~O
Stoick was eating his lunch after a long day of watching over his people, he wasn't expecting to see anyone, and certainly not his son. He wasn't sure what or why Hiccup was back on Berk, but he was always glad to see him.
He was sipping his ale when Hiccup suddenly asked him if he was familiar with anyone named Ladok, and nearly spit it out. He hadn't heard that name in a very long time, not for almost twenty years.
Hiccup wasn't sure what kind of reaction to expect from him, but he certainly didn't expect to see him suddenly become tense and ask him in a very serious and almost grim manner, "Where did you hear that?" It was as if he was interrogating him for information on something he had no knowledge of.
He didn't know how to explain it simply because it was so bizarre and unbelievable. Gobber hadn't even asked many questions, yet he still welcomed Ladok and even suggested they all go to the Great Hall for a meal. He wondered if perhaps a simpler explanation may be better than one that was more complex than it truly was.
"We found…" he trailed off for a few moments as he tried to think of a way to describe him "...I don't even know exactly how to describe him, but we found him on an island and we brought him back with us. He's injured and can't speak, but he wrote down his name and said it was Ladok."
He was slightly nervous as he waited in anticipation for his father's reaction. He was used to him not giving a straight explanation until he felt pressured to by the look of his face.
Stoick, however, was uncharacteristically silent with his eyebrows furrowed displaying the only sign of emotion on his otherwise blank face. That made Hiccup feel even more nervous than before, his father was never so quiet and whenever he was it meant he was concealing an explosive rage.
He turned and slightly leaned his body to the side as he reached down to his waistband, "This was on him when we took him back to our island."
He held up his hand and unfolded his fist, revealing what he found. It was a stuffed dragon toy in the shape of a Hideous Zippleback, Ladok's toy.
Stoick gasped slightly, his mouth remaining open only slightly, he recognized it. He not only recognized it, he remembered it, and who it was made for.
He reached out to grab it, his hand shaking slightly. It was something Hiccup never thought he would ever see coming from his father, nervousness. And it was at that moment that he realized that he knew what it was.
Stoick's large hand gripped it, then he seemed to be frozen as he did not move for several seconds. Finally, he lifted it up to himself to look at it; the look he had on his face, it was as if he was looking at a ghost.
"Dad, what is it?" Hiccup asked when he noticed the look on his face. "What's wrong?"
His father was quiet for a while before he closed his eyes and sighed. "Hiccup," he spoke softly, "do you remember the story I told you about how your mother was taken from us?"
Hiccup swallowed nervously, he did remember, and it wasn't something that was pleasant for him to think about. "Yeah, you said a dragon set our house on fire and took her and killed her."
He was told that story when he was very young, it scared him to death. It caused him to purposefully drop the toy his mother made for him into the ocean while he and his father were fishing.
He could have chuckled when he finished telling him that. He hated that story, he couldn't sleep at all after hearing it. He never told him the full story because he feared how he would react to it, but now he felt he had to.
"Hiccup, there's more to the story," he told him softly. "So much more."
He was bewildered by this, he thought there were no secrets between them, they lived as a pair for as long as he could remember. "What? Wh- What do you mean? What is it?"
"Before it happened, your mother woke up to quiet your brother," he mentioned.
"What?! But I don't have a brother," he nearly shouted. His father had barely begun to explain everything to him, but he was already confused and shocked by what he was hearing.
"You were only a baby at the time, there's no way you could remember," he muttered.
"Dad!" he practically yelled at him. "Tell me what's going on! What are you talking about? What does this mean?"
He sighed, his son was becoming upset with him and he thought it was time he told him the whole story. "You weren't even four moon cycles yet when your mother found him crying in the snow and brought him home. She convinced me that we were the only ones who could take care of him," he chuckled lightly at the memory of his wife and rubbed his eyes and brow line. Then, he frowned, "Only six moon cycles later, that's when it happened."
Hiccup wasn't sure what to make of his father's story, his heart was racing in his throat with anticipation. He was speechless, but he still asked, "What happened next?"
The next part of the story was not easy for him, it pained his heart, but he still continued, "Your mother wakes up to his cries one night and takes him outside to calm him. It was then that the dragons began to attack the village, one broke into our house with no one to protect you. I came in..." He paused and seemed reluctant to continue as he fought the harsh effect the memory had on him.
"It- It's okay, Dad," Hiccup reassured. "You don't have to-"
Stoick continued the story, "...the dragon was in front of your mother. I thought it was going to attack her, so I threw an axe at it, the worst thing I could have done, I startled it and set the house on fire. You were in your crib and I jumped over the flames to save you, the dragon used this as a distraction to take your mother. I thought your brother was in his crib, but he wasn't, he was taken with her."
Hiccup listened to this story with astoundment, it was fascinating, but he wondered why he would tell it to him if he was asking about Ladok. "Dad, what does any of this have to do with Ladok?"
He was silent for some time, his son now knew that he had a brother, but he never said his name. He wasn't sure if he could handle the truth, but he would have to find out eventually.
"Hiccup," he uttered softly, gently gripping his shoulders, his voice full of empathy, "Ladok is… your brother."
Hiccup was dumbfounded, utterly speechless over this revelation, all he could say was, "What?"
He thought his father must have been telling him a cruel joke, that it was all some kind of prank, but he knew his father. He knew that he would never tell him such a thing unless it was true.
He had called him 'brother' the other day, but he assumed it was due to the darkness and possibly tiredness. But now that he was given this information and told the story, it all seemed to come together.
Ladok must have figured it out from the moment he got a decent look at his face. He knew they were brothers the entire time, that was how and why he was so trusting of him, but wary of everyone else.
Now that he could think about it, he should have been able to figure it out for himself. He did think it was strange that he was able to trust him after he seemed hostile at first. He would also be lying if he said he never felt oddly drawn towards him, to the point where he was almost acting as a protective brother-like figure, and now he understood why that was.
Stoick chuckled softly to himself, "Your mother and I once had a bit of a joke that he knew you had a brother."
He had to crack a smile at that, he couldn't help it, "Really?"
"It's true," he responded, his voice full of mild amusement. "You two had to share the same crib for a couple of months, you never moved."
Hiccup suddenly heard Toothless let out a rolling warbling sound, telling him he was hungry. Truthfully, he had forgotten that Toothless had come with him to see his father, everything he was told had kept his mind occupied.
His dragon's hunger gave him an idea and he asked his father, "Why don't you come up with me to the Great Hall? That way you can meet him."
He thought about it for a few moments, "Alright then, I'll go with you just to see how he turned out."
With that, they were walking out of the house together. The father and son duo along with the Night Fury began to walk up the steps to the Great Hall.
The other riders along with Ladok and their dragons were sitting inside of the Great Hall as they ate their food. Ladok was nervous about being inside of it, even with all of his new friends, their dragons, and Gobber.
He didn't like to have so many eyes on him, and this place was no exception. Although there were not nearly as many people as there were outside in the middle of the village, it did little to calm him.
The only thing he paid more attention to besides all of the eyes, was his hunger. He was starving, to the point where his ribcage was more than an outline on his body. Although he had refused any food on Dragon's Edge, anything that was offered to him here was down his throat.
The riders were shocked to see how voracious he was; he had eaten two herring, a salmon, a thin filet of halibut, and a couple bits of mutton, along with half a loaf of bread, three carrots, an apple, and a hard-boiled egg. He was thought to be carnivorous because of his sharp teeth and claws, and although meat was clearly his favorite, it was obvious that he ate the same foods they did.
"Whoa! I bet he could eat anything," Tuffnut smirked with an obvious growing mischief.
"I wonder what else he can stuff into his mouth?" Ruffnut asked with a mischievous smile and a tone similar to her twin's.
"Bet he could eat both of you muttonheads if he wanted to," Snotlout remarked.
Fishlegs rolled his eyes, "Guys, we've been over this, he's not a pet."
Suddenly, everyone's attention was diverted when the grand doors opened and Hiccup and Toothless walked in along with Stoick. It was certainly a shock to them to see Stoick, but not an entire surprise.
Ladok lowered his head to the table and covered his head and face when they walked in, trying to appear to be more unassuming than he really was. He was glad to see Hiccup, but had no idea why the large village chief was there nor what to expect from him.
Hiccup sat down at the table next to him, knowing that his presence was enough to calm him. While he knew his father would never try anything - at least not now, in the years after making peace with the dragons - he was still willing to stay by Ladok's side just to relieve his nerves.
"It's okay, Ladok," he reassured the timid reptilian, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, "there's nothing to be afraid of. This is my Dad, Stoick the Vast, the village chief."
He almost felt as if he could have leaped out of his seat, but contained himself by only peering an eye up at him. He recognized his name! His mother had mentioned the name of her husband in many of the stories she used to tell him as a young child.
"Shy one, aren't you?" Stoick chuckled.
"Well, it's not so much that he's shy, he's just a little wary of new people," Hiccup awkwardly explained it as best he could. Ladok quietly let out a growling hiss.
"I can understand that. I used to be the same way with the dragons, and now look at me," he smiled slightly as he scratched Toothless under his chin. The black dragon rumbled affectionately at the feeling of his rough and calloused fingers against his scales.
That simple gesture alone was enough for him to raise his head from the table, but he was still hesitant to confidently look him in the eye. Hiccup still kept his arm around him to help him relax as he could tell he still felt very much intimidated.
He could feel Ladok's heart pounding against his chest, as if it was impatiently waiting to explode out of him. He frowned, he wanted him to not be so afraid of anyone, especially if what his father said was true. But he knew that would be difficult, he had injuries inflicted by humans that prevented him from speaking, and as far as he knew he lived an isolated life before he was found.
He saw him reach a hand up to his throat and rubbed it, the same gesture he did when he spoke for the first and only time earlier. He may have been trying to soothe his throat enough to make it easier to speak.
It made him wonder if perhaps he regained his ability to talk then he might be more open to people and willing to be around them. It couldn't hurt to try helping him; he observed that dragons seemed capable of using vocalizations to communicate in a way only they could understand and he noted that it made even the shyest of dragons seem lively; he wondered if Ladok would be the same.
He hated comparing him to dragons when he obviously wasn't one, it was almost degrading to parallel him to them, even if there were dragons as intelligent as humans. It especially pained him to think as such with Stoick's words still fresh in his mind.
"Why don't we go up to see the healer, Gothi?" he suggested. "See if she can help you talk again."
"You can go to Gothi later, Hiccup," Stoick interjected as he sat at the table with them.
Ladok was now situated in between them and that did not help his nerves, only made them worse if anything else. He gripped Hiccup by his free arm and held on tightly, determined not to let go. He moved to be as close to him as possible, as though he was hoping to hide behind him again.
"Uh, Dad, you know he can't talk right now," Hiccup pointed out, feeling slightly awkward by Ladok's closeness to him.
"I know," he replied, "but we'll need to get used to being next to each other. After all, we're family now."
"Hiccup, what's he talking about?" Astrid whispered to him.
His eyes widened when he suddenly realized that he didn't get the chance to tell them yet. It was difficult to explain and he wasn't sure if they would understand, but they were his friends and fellow Dragon Riders, they did have the right to know.
"Well, uh, you see, uh," he awkwardly began and paused for only a moment to look at the skittish creature his arm was still around, "Ladok and I are… brothers."
All at once, the others began laughing like it was Loki Day; Hiccup should have expected such a reaction from them. The only ones who weren't laughing were himself, his father, Ladok, Helene, and Gobber.
"That's a- that's a good one, Hiccup!" Fishlegs huffed in between laughs.
"And it's not even Loki Day yet!" Tuffnut leaned against Fishlegs as he laughed.
Ladok leaned his head onto Hiccup's shoulder, who instinctively wrapped his other arm around him, bringing his two hands together as he held him in an embrace. He still kept his hold on his arm, yet his grip was softer than it was before. He didn't cry, although he had every right to if he did or decided to.
Stoick wanted to try to comfort him, but decided it was best not to. He was only comfortable with Hiccup and only he could get close enough to keep him relaxed. He only allowed himself to become calm around Gobber because he saw that Hiccup was comfortable with him and knew he could be trusted.
As they all laughed hysterically, Helene saw how Ladok reacted to them and how Hiccup reacted to him. While she didn't have any siblings herself, she knew what compassion between siblings looked like.
"Uh, guys, I don't think he was joking," she told them. "I think they're brothers."
"Uh, in case you can't tell, he's a lizard-person… thingy," Ladok growled when he heard Tuffnut say that, Hiccup felt the vibrations from his throat and chest in his shoulder, "and Hiccup is a-"
"My wife found Ladok," Stoick suddenly announced, loud enough for all inside of the Great Hall to hear. "We took care of him, raised him as our own. He and Hiccup are not related by blood, but they are brothers."
He placed his large hand over Hiccup's smaller ones, his hands entwined over Ladok's shoulder. He didn't flinch at his touch, he took Stoick's words to heart and saw no reason to move away from him.
He raised his head from Hiccup's shoulder and looked at Stoick, "F… f… fa…" He cleared his throat as best he could and rasped, "Fath...er!"
O~V-Y-U-Y-V~O
(A/N: How did everything like it? I'd love to know your thoughts on this. It's a shorter chapter and I did expect it to be longer. Some writer's block got in the way again, but I'm happy with it and I hope everyone else is too.
I'm sort of debating the next chapter, I don't know if I should write one more chapter to further delve into Ladok or just get right back to the episodes. If I decide to do the latter, it'll most likely be the episode "Crushing It" and then I'll just go from there. I'll figure out what I want to do eventually and hopefully soon.
I think I've taken up enough of your time and it's time for me to go. Until the next chapter, please be safe and I hope you guys return for more reading.)