(A/N: I decided to write one more original chapter to focus just a little bit more on Ladok. After this, I'll likely go back to the RttE episodes and remain on them for a while, but we'll see what I decide to do. I don't know if it's going to be another short chapter, but that's definitely a possibility.
I think that's all I really have to say for now and I'll just let you guys get straight to reading. No matter how it might turn out when it's done, I hope everyone enjoys it.)
U-I-X-I-U~o-v-o~U-I-X-I-U
Everyone was stunned when Ladok had managed to speak, even if he had only said one word, as it was all he could. Stoick was also quite surprised but only showed it by his slightly widened eyes and raised eyebrows.
"I thought you said he couldn't talk?" Gobber asked, the right side of his unibrow raised.
Hiccup looked at Ladok and asked, "Is your throat feeling better?" He shook his head.
"I think that was only a one time thing, Gobber," Astrid told him.
"Yeah, but he was able to speak, that's a good sign," Fishlegs mentioned.
"I don't think I'd get my hopes up," Helene uttered. She noticed that Ladok had begun to caress his throat and grunted as he did so, as though he was in pain.
Hiccup rubbed his shoulder, the one both of his hands were on - although he had since removed one of them. He was proud of him, he really was, he didn't think he would try nor willingly speak, especially since it had been a struggle for him the last and only other time he did.
"I think it's time to take him up to Gothi," he told their father. "What do you think, Dad?"
"Aye, I agree," he replied. "But ask him first."
"Alright. So, are you ready to go up to Gothi so she can help you?" he asked him.
He wasn't sure if he was ready to see her yet, she was a new person he had never seen nor met, he didn't know how she healed, her methods, or if she was good at it. He was injured a lot as a child, as anyone was, he rarely required attention for them and whenever he did it was always his mother that helped him.
However, he was fully aware that if he wanted to stay with his brother and new friends, he would have to learn to trust the people they did. If Hiccup really did regard Gothi as a good healer, he would trust his judgement. It seemed Stoick had the same mindset, as well as Gobber, and that was enough for him.
He nodded in response to his question, agreeing to see her. "Alright, great. We'll go-" Hiccup paused for a moment when he saw Toothless helping himself to a barrel of fish, eating it all happily. "Go after Toothless is finished."
Helene laughed to herself by covering her mouth, 'What a ham.'
She was still smiling when she removed her hand to grab a cup of water and drank out of it. Although her face was slightly obstructed for a moment, it was still oddly enough to make Ladok's heart skip a beat.
What has been happening to him lately? He never had his heart act in such a way to a simple smile. When he was afraid or angered his heart rate increased, but not when he was relaxed with no reason to be afraid or angered.
When Toothless' hunger was satiated enough, he went to his rider and nudged his free hand with his snout while warbling. "Hey, bud, ready to go?"
Hiccup removed his arm from Ladok's shoulder and stood up from the table. He thought he would have reacted to him when he moved his arm from him, but he didn't. He didn't even look at him or grab onto him in a panicked reaction, he almost looked frozen in place.
He grabbed onto his arm, which caught his attention, "We're ready to go, are you?" He nodded and stood up himself.
He was still a little uncertain about seeing someone he knew he wouldn't be comfortable with and having her attempt to heal him, but he felt at ease that his brother would be with him. If she was able to treat him, he would have his voice back, and there would be one more person he knew he could trust.
As they began to walk away, Hiccup addressed the other riders, "We'll be back soon. Try not to cause any trouble in the meantime."
Tuffnut scoffed and pointed a spoon at him, "Really, Hiccup? You need to have better faith in-" He accidentally threw it over his shoulder and landed on Ripwave's horn-shaped snout, she growled at him and electrocuted him. "Ow! Oh, I am hurt! Very much hurt!"
He rolled his eyes, "Okay." He grabbed his brother's arm and guided him out of the Great Hall, "We'll be back."
The two left with Toothless, the grand doors obscured them once it was closed. Stoick watched as his two sons left, proud that Hiccup was taking care of his younger brother, even if the age difference between them was virtually nonexistent.
"So, what do you think of him so far?" he asked the remaining young adults.
Snotlout shrugged, "Meh. He's okay, I guess. Won't ever be better than me though."
"Well, he hasn't really done anything," Fishlegs uttered.
"Unless you count what happened yesterday when he made Snotlout and the twins fall to the floor," Astrid remarked, holding back the urge to laugh. Helene covered her mouth again to hide her laughs.
"Oh, yeah," Tuffnut sighed happily, fondly remembering the incident, "that was great."
"Great?!" Snotlout shouted. "That tail of his gave me a bruise on my ass!"
Helene rolled her eyes, 'Too much information, Snotlout.'
"Wonder what else he can do with it?" Ruffnut smirked deviously. Her twin snickered mischievously.
"Guys, for the last time, he's not a pet!" Fishlegs disciplined them.
Astrid cleared her throat and asked Helene, "And what about you, Hele? What do you think?"
She thought about it for a little while before she answered, "I think... he's just a little scared right now, but once he gets used to us, I think he'll be a great friend. He's... already proven himself to be skilled, and that could be very helpful, especially once he's back to health."
Astrid couldn't help but to notice something about her friend that she thought was unusual for her. She noticed that she seemed to be blinking her eyes more often than she usually would when talking, as though she was choosing her words carefully before speaking.
"What about you, Gobber?" Stoick asked his longtime friend.
He set down the pint he was drinking out of, "He seems like a good lad. I'm sure he'll make a great son and brother to Hiccup. And you, Stoick?"
"Well…" he trailed off for a couple of moments, "I agree that he did turn out to grow into a fine young man. The only thing I wish to know is where he's been all these years."
Hiccup took Ladok up to Gothi's hut with Toothless, situated well above the village. He mused that if he didn't have an injury, he would be asking him why she chose to have her house built so high. He wouldn't be able to answer if he did, he didn't know why either, the only one who did know was mute, she could never talk.
Hopefully, despite the fact that Gothi herself was mute wouldn't hinder her in helping him with talking. He had faith in her, she wasn't the best healer in the village for nothing.
As soon as Toothless landed in front of the hut, they dismounted and the first thing Ladok saw was an elderly woman. She was very short, perhaps half of his own height, her hair was tied into braids and held onto a staff with dragon teeth dangling from the head of it.
"Uh, hi, Gothi," Hiccup greeted her, and she nodded to him slowly. He placed a hand on Ladok's shoulder and introduced him, "This is Ladok, he's my brother."
Surprisingly, she smiled softly at him and used her staff to write in a pile of dirt next to her. Hiccup's interpretation of her writing wasn't as good as Fishlegs', but he was certainly better than Gobber.
"She says, 'It's nice to meet you'," he translated for his brother. He gives her a slight bow of his head in respect. Hiccup then decided to get straight to the topic, "Gothi, he was attacked a couple of days ago and he's been unable to talk ever since. We wanted to know if you could help."
She gestured her cane into her house and walked inside. The two brothers exchanged glances between them before they followed.
The inside of her house was lit by a fire pit, where there was a cast iron pot over it. There were plants and bottles strewn about the floor, along with sacks of what he assumed to be herbs or more dirt.
Gothi was sitting on a stool with another situated in front of her, which she used her staff to point at. Ladok sat in it, feeling a wave of awkwardness at having to sit face-to-face with a woman he was uneasy about.
She gestured for him to lean forward, closer towards her, and he did so. He leaned his head upward slightly to give her better access to his neck.
He swallowed when her hands touched the scales of his neck, his throat suddenly feeling cold. Her hands were not soft or gentle, but rather they were cold and bony as she examined him. They weren't rough on his scales, however, they were uncomfortable, but he tolerated it if it meant he would have his freedom of speech again.
As she checked him, he wondered what she would do for him. He wondered if she would do something very complex and complicated or simplistic.
She did have a lot of herbs and bottles of what he thought to be oils and extracts, or perhaps potions she made to give to people. Would she use them on him?
As a healer, he suspected she must have practiced the use of applying pressure to certain parts of the body to numb pain or stop it completely. Would she have to do that for him? Somehow, he doubted that, he didn't think his injury was extensive enough for that to be necessary.
He didn't know what she would do, if she would give him one of the bottles or make him a potion or, for some reason, use pressure to make it less painful for him to speak. Honestly, he hoped that all she had to do was give him plain water for it.
Once she was finished with her examination, she used her staff to write in another pile of dirt. Hiccup read it to him again, "Okay, good news, she says it should heal on its own and you'll be able to talk on your own again in a couple of weeks."
Gothi stood up from her stool and dropped a couple of herbs into the pot over the fire, which smelled like lobelia and yarrow to him. She stirred them with a ladle as they simmered over the fire pit.
Once she was satisfied it was done, she poured a liquid into an empty bottle. Then, she removed the cork of a different bottle and poured a little bit of a slightly brownish fluid into it. The liquid she poured oddly smelled like mint and cinnamon.
She gave him the finished product and wrote into the dirt again. Once again, Hiccup explained it to him, "She says the medicine in the bottle will help soothe the pain. She recommends drinking a little bit now or at least within the next hour. She says to drink it once every four hours. It should last until you can talk again, but if you drink it all and still can't talk she strongly urges you to come back to her."
He decided to follow the elderly healer's recommendation and took out the cork to consume a small amount of it, barely enough to be a mouthful. He could have grimaced at the taste; it wasn't necessarily terrible but it was overwhelmingly herbal and flowery, with only the slightly spicy sensation of the cinnamon to counteract it.
Despite the taste, he was thankful that she had taken the time to make it for him. He almost felt blessed that she didn't hesitate to help him, even though he wasn't human.
He pointed at her staff and then to himself, telling her that he wanted it. She understood this and allowed him to take it from her. Once in hand, he used it to write in the dirt, just as she had done.
In it, he wrote, "Thank you. I cannot express how thankful I am."
Gothi thought she felt her cheeks flush when she read it and bowed her head in a deep nod respectfully. He gave her as best a smile as he could before returning her staff to her.
"Thank you, Gothi. We really appreciate it," Hiccup gave her a smile as a thanks. He then began to address his brother, "Come on. We better get back to the Great Hall before it looks like a tornado ripped through it."
They left her hut and mounted Toothless to fly back down to the rest of the village. Their father would be glad to hear that Ladok would be able to talk again in time.
They were descending to the Great Hall when a sudden burst of fire shot at them. The unexpected attack startled Toothless and caused him to fly awry and uncontrollably.
Ladok held tightly onto his brother as Hiccup tried to regain control of his dragon, "Whoa! Whoa! Toothless! Take it easy!"
Toothless landed roughly on the ground, throwing off his two riders. Hiccup's prosthetic leg was still attached to the pedal of the saddle, although he was lying on his side on the ground. Ladok was completely thrown off of the Night Fury, he also laid on his side.
Hiccup rubbed the back of his head to ease the pain from the impact, groaning slightly as he did so. He saw his brother had taken more of the impact and quickly asked him, "Are you alright?"
He lifted himself off the ground and rubbed the back of his own head as well. He looked at the bottle Gothi gave him, he saw that it was undamaged, he was relieved.
"Hiccup!" they heard Astrid cry out as she ran to them with Stormfly. "Are you two alright?"
He grunted as he stood up from the ground, "Yeah, I think so. What happened?"
"We heard what happened from inside the Great Hall and came out here," she explained. She then suddenly reeled herself into him as she gave him a hug, "I'm so glad you're alright!"
Hiccup stood stiff and awkward at the sudden embrace. He relaxed a little after a moment and returned it.
Toothless and Ladok exchanged looks between each other at the sight. The black dragon allowed his rider's brother to steady himself on him as he stood up before standing up himself.
Hiccup saw that out of the corner of his eye and smiled slightly, glad to see his brother and dragon getting along. 'Nice to see those two are bonding so well.'
Toothless then suddenly pushed all three of them to the ground while Stormfly shot her spines up into the air. When the three of them looked up, they saw the reason for the dragons' reactions. It was a turquoise and red adolescent Monstrous Nightmare with yellow wings, and a wild one at that; it's eyes were bright and feral.
The Monstrous Nightmare snarled at them and bared its teeth, preparing for an attack. Before it could, it was stopped by a lava blast from Meatlug and electricity from Ripwave. The other riders and their dragons along with Stoick and Gobber joined them as the juvenile flew away.
Stoick immediately came up to his sons, "Are you boys alright?"
"Yeah, we're fine, Dad," Hiccup reassured as he stood up from the ground for the second time.
"What's with that Nightmare?" Gobber questioned.
Once again, Hiccup responded, "I don't know, but we have to figure it out, fast!"
They all heard screaming coming from the middle of town and rushed to help. When they got there, they saw the young dragon's body completely enveloped in flames as it roared in a rampage.
They were about to intervene, but then Snotlout, mounted on Hookfang, stepped in, "Let the Snotman handle this one!"
The hot-tempered duo approached the flaming adolescent, who roared at them in response to this confrontation. It was not happy to have the older Monstrous Nightmare in its path.
"Let's show 'em who's boss, Hookfang!" he shouted.
Hookfang fired at the young dragon, but it blocked it with its wings. It roared again in anger and swung its tail at them. The older red dragon lowered his body to avoid it, but his rider wasn't so fortunate, he was flung off of his saddle and into a barrel.
"Does anyone have any actual ideas?" Stoick asked in a deadpan manner.
"Stormfly, spine shot!" Astrid commanded.
"Meatlug, spew!" Fishlegs cried.
The two female dragons unleashed their respective attacks on the Monstrous Nightmare, but it was proven to be a more worthy opponent than first thought. It shielded itself with its long and large winds and the flames of its body helped to protect it from them. The fiery dragon may be young, but it was a born and bred fighter.
Ladok watched as all of this happened, it was certainly an unexpected turn of events. He knew dragons better than they did and this was definitely not the typical behavior of them. Then, he thought he saw something, a piece of rope was hanging from the side of its mouth.
He knew what was wrong with it, he just needed to get close enough. He eyed the dragons and watched as Hookfang stood up, an idea formed in his head.
Toothless growled at the young Monstrous Nightmare, awaiting a command from his rider to attack. He howled in shock when he felt someone climb onto and stand on his back, causing him to instinctively rise to stand straight.
"Ladok, what are you doing?" Hiccup questioned.
He got his answer when he jumped from Toothless' back and onto Hookfang's snout, leaping over the other dragons in the process. Hookfang reacted by trying to throw him, as he was unable to see properly with him in front of his eyes.
"Hey, what are you doing to my dragon?!" Snotlout yelled as he tried to pull himself out of the barrel.
"Ladok, get down!" his father shouted.
"You'll get hurt!" Hiccup cried.
"He's going to get himself killed," Tuffnut remarked to his sister. Ruffnut snickered in agreement.
Helene had an idea of what he might be trying to do and cried out to stop him, "Don't do it!"
He didn't listen to their pleas, he already made up his mind. He jumped backward, using Hookfang's snout as a way to propel himself. He flipped in mid-air before landing on the snout of the flaming adolescent.
He met its eyes, they stared directly into each other's irises. The flames burned his clothes yet he hardly seemed to notice it. He grabbed onto the horns, which were as hot as the rest of its body, and sneered.
The Monstrous Nightmare snarled at him and shook its head to try to throw him off, but his grip on the horns tightened and he didn't let go. He retaliated by pushing back on it, putting most of his strength into his arms as well as his feet.
Once it realized he would not be letting go easily, it flapped its wings and hovered over the village. If it was trying to scare him, it wasn't working, he had been to heights thousands of feet higher.
"Ladok!" Hiccup cried, mounting his dragon.
Helene stopped him from doing something he might regret, "Hiccup, wait!" She grabbed onto his sleeve to ensure that he wouldn't leave, lest he let her fall.
"Hele! What the hell are you doing?!" he yelled, pulling his arm away from her.
She didn't know how to fully explain her actions to him and simply told him, "Just wait."
The Monstrous Nightmare eventually returned to the ground, which was what he wanted. Ladok released one horn and pulled his strength onto the one, forcing the young flaming dragon lean its head to the side, towards the ground.
He grabbed the one horn with both hands, pulling it closer to the ground, so much so that he could feel the tip of his tail just barely touching it. Now, he had to do the hard part, he had to force its entire head to the ground.
But not yet, not with everyone standing so close to him. He needed them to step back so that he would have enough room.
"G… ge…" He took in many deep breaths before clearing his throat, "Get back!"
The strained, gravelly voice took them by surprise, but they complied with his wishes and backed away. He didn't have to worry about them getting hurt.
He swung back and forth on the horn before jumping onto the neck, wrapping his arms around it. It was only then that he began to feel the flames on his scales, but he ignored it.
He gripped the horns again and forced his weight down onto it as he pulled its head to the side. He maneuvered his body onto the side of the young dragon's mouth, keeping one foot on the neck as he used his own weight to the ground.
The adolescent's head was in between the ground and his body and it was then that the flames of its body died out. Ladok knew he had won, he proved his dominance to it; and his own worth to those watching.
He knelt down next to the young Monstrous Nightmare as it huffed from the exertion. He reached for the mouth as he pulled out the rope that hung from its jaws.
No one was sure what he was doing until he pulled out a hook from the adolescent dragon's mouth for all to see. The young Monstrous Nightmare opened and closed its mouth a couple of times in relief, rubbing its head against him thankfully.
Hiccup removed himself from Toothless when it was all over, stunned that his brother knew how to help the raging adolescent. He was even more shocked that he knew exactly how to do it, as if it was something he had done thousands of times.
Fishlegs could have slapped himself when he saw the hook, "Oh, of course! Nightmares often act aggressive when there's an issue with their mouths."
Snotlout, who was still trying to pull himself out of the barrel, crossed his arms and grumbled, "Lucky guess."
"That was amazing!" Astrid smiled.
"Yeah," Tuffnut agreed, smirking slightly.
"Show us how to do that?" Ruffnut eagerly asked.
"That was incredibly stupid," Helene crossed her arms. He frowned at that. Then, she smiled, "But you did good. You stopped a potentially dangerous situation from getting worse." The corners of his mouth stretched upwards when he heard that.
"Aye," his father agreed, "but I'm proud of you, son." That made his smile grow wider.
Hiccup walked up to him and he couldn't help but notice that his gait was not his usual one, which put him on edge. He didn't know what his brother was going to say to him, and what would happen to him.
If he berates him for what he did, he would be spending the rest of his days on Berk without having the chance to see more of the world. He couldn't stomach the thought of staying on Berk forever, despite how much he cared for his father.
They were practically the same height and they seemed to be having a standoff with both of them looking each other in the eyes. Ladok's heart was pounding with nervousness, waiting in anticipation for him to say something.
After what he thought to be forever, Hiccup finally sighed and spoke, "You could have gotten yourself killed, it was incredibly reckless and idiotic, and I just don't know what to do with you. I don't want to go to your funeral when you've just come into mine and our father's lives."
He frowned again, he expected such an answer, but honestly didn't think he would actually say it. He thought he would have been a little lenient with him because they were brothers, but he subconsciously knew he wouldn't because they were.
Then, he continued, this time with a smile, "But after seeing what you did to help that dragon, I realized that there was something not only I could learn, but all of us. So, for that reason, I'm not going to punish you for your actions." Ladok smiled at his older brother with glee. "You did good today and I'm happy to call you my brother and a fellow Dragon Rider."
"What?!" Snotlout exclaimed, still stuck in the barrel. "How is that fair?! Why does he get a pass and I get-" The young Monstrous Nightmare fire at him, freeing him from the barrel, but knocking him to the ground.
Hiccup could have laughed at the sight, but his brother had his full attention. He wrapped his arm around his shoulders and they began to walk away together, "Come on, let's get you back to Gothi so she can check you out. And maybe a change of clothes, too."
Ladok looked down at himself and saw how burned and tattered his clothes were from the flames of the adolescent dragon. He used one of his claw tipped fingers to poke through his shirt.
He looked at Hiccup who seemed to know what he was asking as he chuckled, "Yes, you can pick out your new clothes if you want."
U-I-X-I-U~o-v-o~U-I-X-I-U
(A/N: How'd you guys like it? I was finally able to make a longer chapter (and in less time than I thought). I hope you guys like that it's a longer one than I've been writing lately. :) :P
I'm getting back on track with the episodes in the next chapter, so I hope you guys stick around for it. I'm excited for it and I'm eager to get the chance to write more situations like what happened in this chapter. It's a good opportunity for me to get more comfortable with it and I know you guys will love reading it.
Until the time comes, I'm going to let you guys get back to reading. See you next time!)