It had happened a few times where he would have to transfer classes. Some where the bullying would get so bad that he would fight back with his mediocre fighting skills and face suspension. He'd been suspended three times. Transferring classes had only occurred a couple of times, and that was because his father would have sympathy for him and give him an escape from the bullying. There was even a period of time where his dad would scold him for not standing up for himself. If there was one thing that always failed to happen, is that Hiccup could never get his father to understand.

But he didn't want to leave Berk High. Not yet. Even if he had already accepted that he wouldn't have any friends at this school either, he liked everything else about it. He'd found a place to hang out even after he ate. The trophy hall Astrid had mentioned in the morning. Seeing the picture of his dad in his senior year hoisting a golden trophy into the air, his teammates swarming around him and cheering him on. Upon closer inspection, he could see his mother in the background, smiling widely with her eyes, the ones he inherited, gleaming.

That was why he wanted to stay, To be able to see his mother in her youth, before the gods took her away. Seeing the picture, knowing that he walked the same hallways she once did.

" Son, fixing my office is off-limits."

" Dad, you're going to have double check those plans, because it's not a complete transformation," He didn't look up from his homework," but I noticed that in a corner of the room the paint was cracking. All it's going to need is a repainting, it can be the exact same color if you want."

" Changing nothing else?"

" We spent all of Friday morning and afternoon putting together your office. If I was going to to suggest any changes, it's to get rid of that cracked beer mug you bought in Red Thorn."

" Again with the mug?" He heard his dad approach behind him.

" It's cracked, and you've had it since I was eight. You don't even drink from it either."

If it weren't for a knock on the door, the debate would have gone on for another ten minutes.

" That'd be Gobber. He said he's bringing yak chops for dinner. Come on down son, and you can tell me about your first day."

" Maybe you should have asked me that when it actually was my first day, and not two days after."

His father went to open the door while Hiccup set the table. It was now a week that they had been on Berk, and he hadn't complained about the cold once. When he thought about it, there wasn't anything to complain about. There were no obnoxious neighbors, the Thorston twins hadn't paid him a surprise visit, and his class schedule was due to change. Mrs. Terres had not allowed him to stay in the class. Instead, she insisted he be moved to a higher level. Starting the next day, he would be going through a different schedule.

He would still have the same art and the same anatomy teacher, but just in a different period. He would be doing language arts and had dropped journalism, and his gym period had been moved to an earlier time. He was a bit behind in the curriculum and the sudden change in classes from one high school to another was going to take some adjustment.

" Where's me godson!?"

Hiccup turned to see his godfather stumble from the hallway into the kitchen. His actual name was Gordon Beller, but among he and his father he was called Gobber. The man was of his father's build, but lacked Stoick's height. Gobber had cornflower blue eyes and a braided blonde mustache that reached his shoulders. As long as Hiccup could remember, his godfather always kept his blonde hair shaved close to his skull, and a unibrow that would move with every movement of his mouth.

Gobber and Stoick had grown up together, but shortly after they graduated from Berk High, Gobber entered the military. He returned to Berk a few months after Hiccup had been born. Arriving at his best friend's home missing his left hand and right leg. To replace the lost limbs he now had two metal curved rods, like crab claws, for his hand and a metal prosthetic leg. Before the Haddock family moved to the States, Gobber was declared the godfather of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third.

" Right here, Gobber."

He was enveloped in the man's arms, feeling the pointed silver sinking into his back as his godfather tightened the embrace. He hadn't seen him since they had come to visit back when they lived on Berserker. That had been nearly five years ago.

" Ye've grown so much Hiccup! Ya finally had yer growth spurt didn't ya?"

" I've only gone up a few inches." He responded meekly.

" Stoick!" He shouted. " Yer better have been feeding me godson! Odin knows he could use some more meat on his bones!"

He hastily turned away from the blonde veteran, patting his cheeks for a few seconds to get rid of the blush he knew that had formed. It was always hurtful when someone at school pointed out his body shape, but when Gobber did it, he had a different response. It was somewhat motivational, while also embarrassing.

" I feed my son Gobber, but I get the feeling that the meals I give him turn into height more than muscle."

" Then let's get to work!" Gobber threw a large bag with a logo titled Sven's Delicacies on the table. " I brought ye two food that'll last you for the rest o' the week."

" Please tell me there's yak chops in there." Hiccup's mouth began to water.

He hadn't eaten any since the last time he had seen Gobber. There had been several occasions where his father would bring takeout or they would go to a restaurant and he would express disappointment on the lack of yak chops on the mainland. Yak chops seemed to only exist on Berk, while yak meat was considered a rarity in the rest of the Archipelago.

" I guess we know the meal fer tonight then." His godfather buried his hands into the plus-size bag.

Minutes later, Hiccup had already devoured a yak chop and was piling three more onto his plate. Shoving in bites of meat along with mashed potatoes soaked in mushroom gravy. He could feel his father's and his godfather's eyes watching him eat, and he wondered what was on their mind. While they had not visited Gobber for a few years Hiccup knew he and his father still communicated.

" Hiccup, we want to hear about your first few days."

He nearly spat out his food. In all honesty, he had been trying to avoid the conversation with his father. Since fifth grade, his father had started to ask him about his first days, or randomly ask at any time. Hiccup had come to find it shameful. At a young age, his father would yell at him for letting the other kids pick on him. After he turned ten, he started ensuring his son would be able to defend himself, so he wouldn't lose his only son.

" The twins that I met, on my first day here. They enlisted their friends to be a welcoming committee for my first day."

He didn't give him all the details, but told him about Astrid, Mr. Mulch, and the art teacher that doubted his abilities. He neglected to mention to his dad that he was sitting at a table with two underclassmen. Yes he had figured out their grade after two days of sitting with them. If it escalated to where the bullying had began, if it ever happened, then he would mention it to his father. For now, he just needed to know that he hadn't made successes on making any friends.

" You know, you could try son. Just walk up to someone and introduce yourself."

" Dad, you honestly think I haven't? It's not that easy anymore. The people you meet won't stay your friends. They'll soon lose interest in you, just as they did me. I've told you countless times, they leave when they either find out about my leg or that I've moved many times since I was little."

" That shouldn't be-"

" It's what I've dealt with. I hardly expected this time to be different."

" Don't ya worry, Hiccup. There's bound to be someone who'll like you this time around." Gobber gave him another yak chop. " Stoick, ye did say yer stay on Berk is permanent, ay?"

" "Till me death Gobber."

He still didn't believe him. Hiccup knew for a fact that his dad was renting out places on the mainland where they had lived. At any moment they could be moving back into any one of those houses. Gobber dismissed himself after the meal, saying he had to grab something from his truck. Hiccup couldn't deny it, he had really missed the two-limbed man those five years. When his mother was still alive, and Hiccup hardly remembered, Gobber would venture out of the Archipelago and travel to visit them in the States.

After he lost his leg, he found himself occasionally contacting his godfather to vent his frustration on the loss of his lower left leg. Gobber would sympathize with him, because they had both lost their limbs through traumatic events.

" It's five years to make up Hiccup. I hope this is enough."

He was carrying a giant sack in his arms, and dropped it on the floor. He loosened the drawstring, and the first thing he withdrew from the dark gray sack, was a box with silver wrapping paper. Five years. Five years, of gifts.

( ^ * ^)

He didn't have Astrid to show him to his classes this time around. She didn't know his schedule had changed. Hiccup didn't even think she still remembered him. He had managed to survive his first class, but he had qualms about walking into his second block. For the last two days he felt he was being watched. Someone in the history class observing him instead of paying attention to the teacher. Of all the classes he wished could have changed, it should have been the history class. Over the years, he'd learned not to look back and explore the classroom.

He got tired for seeing faces made at him when someone made eye contact. But he got the feeling that he needed to, for his own safety. He walked into his history class, and first put the textbook on his desk before taking a seat himself. He saw the teacher smile at him, and he could guess that Mr. Mulch didn't see him as Hiccup, he saw the great Stoick the Vast. Even though they looked nothing alike. He looked like his mother more than anything. There were countless times where his father would say that he acted like his mother as well.

He reached into his satchel and pulled out the binder he had made specifically for the class. He had to take notes on three chapters while trying to keep up with the current chapter the rest of the class was on. He knew he'd have to come for tutoring, but he had to get himself situated. Advancing to the third level of art had thrown everything else off track. He dragged his finger down the syllabus, trying to figure out from which page to which page he should take notes on later on when he got home.

It was knocked to the floor when a hand dragged its way across his desk.

" Never stopped with the dragons, did ya?"

His head snapped up to see, someone he hoped he wouldn't see for the rest of his life. Yet there he was, staring at him like a predator stalking their prey.

" Dustin." He managed to say.

If he recalled, the teenager was a year older than him, and he was in the sixth year when Hiccup was in his fifth. So it would mean, he was a senior by now.

" Hiccup, it's been a while since we've seen each other."

" You came to Berk after?"

" Been here ever since." He planted his hands on the desk, watching Hiccup with a growing smirk on his face. " I'm glad we have a class together. We didn't have opportunities like this back on Berserk."

" No. W-we didn't."

He silently cursed inside. He hadn't stuttered for years. It couldn't be coming back, not because of a past bully. He was older now. He had to tell himself that he could fight Dustin this time around. But he was the worst of them all! He learned to defend himself because of that experience.

" Mr. Querett, will you please take your seat? When the bell rings, that means class has started," Mr. Mulch huffed irritably.

" Sorry, teachs." He said in a sickeningly sweet voice. " We have a lot to catch up on, Hiccup." he purposely stepped on the binder as he walked past the desk.

He leaned down and picked up the binder, the mark of a foot visible over his sketch of a Terrible Terror. His head turned back as he watched Dustin take his seat. He was the one. The reason he felt like he was being watched. Dustin "Dogsbreath" Querett, only sat in the next row and a few seats behind him.

Was it time to want to leave Berk now?