A/N: I'm sorry everyone that this is a day late, but it seems that upload dates will be temporarily shifting to Monday's. My computer crashed on me on Friday, so I had to wait for the computer lab at my school to open today. Luckily, I have several copies of this story saved in various places, so something extremely terrible would have to happen for me to lose it all. That is why I don't keep stuff on my laptop solely anymore. Anyways, the perspective of this chapter shifts very early on to someone else, you'll see when you get there. I'll shift it back after this chapter, but the scene just worked better from another perspective.
ToxicGirlfriend: I'm sorry! I am notorious when it comes to cliffhangers. But I do try to limit them to every other chapter if I can.
Ruff made her way up the stairs, a bowl of stew in hand. She gently pushed open the door and peeked in to see Hiccup sitting in the bed, flipping through the pages of a book. She walked over to the bed and cleared her throat, causing the boy to jump.
"Wh-what? Oh, Ruffnut, it's you," he let out a sigh of relief. "What's that?" He leaned over towards the bowl as Ruff set it down on the table beside him. "Oh, I guess you've learned of my banishment to my room. Which I have no choice but to listen to because my greatest enemy stands between me and freedom. Stairs."
Hiccup let out a huff before he continued, "And on top of that, my dad and Gobber don't even believe I'm me! They think I'm some sort of impostor. And honestly I'm starting to believe it myself. Just look at this," he picked up the journal and flipped through the pages toward the beginning. "See, I remember designing these. I remember BUILDING these. This is exactly like a journal I have until this page," he flipped to a strange looking dragon that looked like it had a tail-fin smudged out and drawn in again, "I didn't draw this. From this point on, I don't recognize any of the drawings or schematics. I didn't make any of these. But this is my handwriting." Hiccup let out a long sigh, dropping the book back on the bed as he fell backwards onto the bed.
Ruff leaned forward and waved her hand over his face. No response. He had blacked out.
Gobber was just leaving the Chief's house when a shout went up from the village, "It's the dragon-riders!" He looked up to see five dragons swooping overhead, a long black one in the lead. The group landed in the clearing in front of the chief's house and a boy with auburn hair gave Gobber a grin before dismounting the black dragon.
"Hey Gobber!" the boy called out in a nasally voice. "What's going on? My dad seemed panicked in the Terror mail he sent, but it didn't really explain."
"Well Hiccup," Gobber started, "to put it quite simply, there is a boy in your room that looks an awful lot like you."
"Me?" Hiccup said. "Someone is here trying to impersonate me. But, why?"
"Beats me," Gobber shrugged. "That boy is a terrible actor, but he is very convinced by his own story."
"Gobber that doesn't even make any sense," Hiccup sighed as Astrid walked up beside him.
"Go inside and see for yourself. Oh, and you might want to reassure your dad while you're at it. He seems pretty shaken up by the whole thing." With that, Gobber hobbled off back to his shop.
Hiccup turned to Astrid, worry in both of their eyes. A silent exchange occurred before the two walked up to the house, Toothless close behind.
The first thing Hiccup saw upon entering his house was his father sitting by the fire, staring off into the distance. "D-dad?" he called to him, a little nervous considering whatever seemed to be happening.
Stoick turned towards the door, the haziness of his eyes clearing as he spotted Hiccup. "Son!" he boomed out as he made his way over to Hiccup, scooping up his son in a huge bear hug.
"D-dad! Air" Hiccup gasped out.
"Oh, sorry," Stoick put him down. "I'm just glad to see you."
Hiccup had wrapped one arm around his middle, bent over, trying to get his lungs working again. "Well," he gasped out, "I'm glad. To see. You too." It took a minute for him to right himself and question his father, "So, why did you call me home from the Edge so suddenly?"
Stoick turned towards the stairs, his expression suddenly becoming stormy. "Take a look for yourself boy," he muttered turning back towards the fire.
Hiccup looked up towards the stairs and started towards them with Toothless directly behind him. He quietly made his way up the stairs and paused at the door, listening for a moment, before pushing the door open just enough to peek in. A girl was standing at the window with her back to him, so Hiccup looked towards the bed. And what he saw there left him staring in shock.
A boy was there with his auburn hair, although a little shaggier, and his face. Which shouldn't be possible. No, not shouldn't, COULDN'T be possible. This boy was messing with something on his leg that Hiccup couldn't quite see. When the boy spoke, it sounded just like him too! Although the boy's voice was a little softer, "Ruff, what is it? What do you see?" The boy then sort of picked himself up as he turned so that his feet were on the floor facing Hiccup. Wait, feet? Sure enough, this kid had his left leg and foot, something Hiccup himself had not seen for four years. Although it did have a metal brace covering most of it.
At this point, the boy turned his head just enough that he caught sight of Hiccup. He jerked his head back and Hiccup realized that he had seen those eyes before, staring back at himself out of the reflection of ponds or buckets of water. This boy looked like almost an exact copy of Hiccup himself right down to the scar on his chin.
At that exact moment, Toothless decided to take a look and pushed his head into the room. The boy shifted his eyes down to look at Toothless and a look of panic and dread filled his eyes. He let out a screech that sounded vaguely like, "DEMON!" and threw himself back in flurry to put as much distance between himself and the door as he could.
"Hey, hey!" Hiccup said as he took a couple steps forward, his hands up in an attempt to calm the boy. He was stopped suddenly as the girl that he had forgotten was in the room jumped in between him and the boy, a dagger pointed at his chest. Hiccup took a step back as he noted that this girl did indeed look like Ruffnut. "Look, I'm just here to talk."
The girl just narrowed her eyes and the boy seemed to calm down a little after Hiccup motioned for Toothless to calm down. "Ok, see we are all calm. Can you please put the knife down?"
The girl stayed frozen in place until the boy said, "It's ok Ruff. Put it down." The girl then slowly lowered the knife and returned it to the sheath on her side. She then carefully made her way to the boy without turning her back on Hiccup and Toothless. When she reached him, she carefully helped the boy to his feet, her eyes never leaving Hiccup.
Hiccup crossed his arms, "Well now that we are on friendly terms, I think, it's time we get introductions done. Who are you two? And tell me the absolute truth."
"Well, I think you already met Ruff," the boy gestured to the girl who was still standing protectively beside him. "And I'm Hiccup heir to Berk." His expression darkened as he muttered to himself at a volume that Hiccup could barely hear, "For now….."