Becoming

Double Trouble

Hiccup's POV:

Once Merlin had taken us back in time to show us the day our supposed father, Arthur, had sent us away with a certain magic that I didn't even know existed, Jim decided to take me on a tour of Trollmarket himself.

I will admit, while there was a part of Merlin's proof that refused me to ignore, I still had my doubts about him and Jim himself. As he guided Toothless and I through the village in Trollmarket, I couldn't help but notice how we both strived to be leaders of our own tribes. At least, that's what I called this place which reminded me strangely of Berk.

Then again, there was a point when I thought that Heather was my sister when she was actually Dagur's sister all along. What if what Merlin told us was true. That we really are brothers? That's when I decided to say to Jim when he took us through another entryway into a bigger and more cavernous room that made my jaw drop and Toothless come up closer to me.

"Okay. So we may be brothers, but just because we are, that doesn't mean that Stoick was never my dad. Maybe he knew all along that I was adopted. Maybe he didn't. But that won't change the fact that he was my father and always will be," I said.

"Hey, I get you," Jim said as he guided me onto the open, flat and large, circular arena that reminded me of the Training Academy back at Berk. "I'm not forcing you to change your views of your past, Hiccup. Only to accept that now you are here, we have to work together if we want to put a stop to this Donmar guy that Merlin told us about. And now to think of it, what did you mean by was when you were talking about your father?" He asked me.

I didn't answer him straight away when he asked me that. It had only been a year anyway since Stoick the Vast had passed away and if there was anything in the world that I didn't want, it was to be reminded of that terrible and traumatic day again. However, "The day when a man called Drago Bloodfist came to attack the dragons nest, was also the day when he took my father's life."

Toothless and I looked at each other when I said that. Even though I had forgiven him already, knowing that it had not been his fault, I knew that a part of Toothless still felt guilty for what had happened back then just by the way he looked at me now. "It's okay, bud. I told you it wasn't your fault," I said before turning back to Jim who was now looking at us with a certain compassion in his blue eyes.

"And what about you?" I asked him when I remembered Merlin's words to him back in the library.

"What about me?" Jim asked.

"Well, Merlin mentioned something about you not really knowing your father... Jim?" I asked when he looked away from me for a second. Looks as if we both had a difficult relationship with our adoptive dad's then.

Then he sighed. "Well unlike you," he said. "I never really knew my father at all to be honest. The last thing I remember about him was giving me a bike for my fifth birthday. And then just like that, he was gone. If anything, Blinky is more like a father to me than that other man ever was."

"Blinky?" I asked.

"Yeah. The troll with the six eyes and four arms back in the library. He's also my trainer and guide. And most importantly, friend. So yeah. That's my story. I don't know your history, Hiccup. But as far as I know my own dad never supported me in anything. If all I know he could have just been disappointed with me. Unlike my mom."

I felt sorry for him. I won't lie. After listening to his story, I realised how lucky I was to at least have Stoick there for me instead of no father at all like Jim. Yes there were those times when Stoick was hard on me. Such as the times back when he had first found out about Toothless and my deceiving ways of beating everyone in Training back with Gobber all those years ago.