A Switched Perspective

Chapter 3

Three nights later, Hiccup was woken up by a sudden weight on his chest. Thinking he was being attacked Hiccup struggled, but then he realized that it was Toothless. "Hey now, what's up? It is way too early for this." Dagur was also sitting beside the bed, looking annoyed that he couldn't speak as a dragon. Toothless's eyes widened and he used his hand to pat Hiccup's chest, then he pointed outside.

Hiccup just looked confused, and Toothless didn't know how to communicate in Dagur's body. He was getting more and more frustrated, but then he had an idea- he could always understand Hiccup, could he make the same sounds in this human form? Dagur bobbed his head, seeming to encourage him.

"Dan... Dan-gerrrr" Toothless said, sounding out the word slowly. Hiccup gasped, shocked. It was very strange hearing Toothless use Dagur's voice- it sounded like the berserker was drunk and slurring his words. "There's danger outside?" Hiccup asked, still in disbelief. Toothless nodded excitedly, "Ess! Yeh. Yes! Dragons danger drag-gons."

Hiccup snuck out of his hut and soon saw the intruders: five masked figures, each leading a dragon through the outpost, moving slowly to muffle any sound. Toothless pointed at them, excited that he had successfully alerted his human. Hiccup whispered, "Thanks guys. Now we need to split up and wake the others, quietly." He scribbled a note on a bit of paper and handed it to Dagur, who took it in his mouth- being able to explain in writing would help.

Miraculously, the other dragon riders were woken and grouped without incident. Astrid joined her friends just as one of the figures lit a match to a torch, raising it far above his head. Hiccup saw that he was planning to set fire to one of the homes, and he shouted, "Now!" The dragon riders charged, engaging the intruders when they turned to face them.

Hiccup tried to keep Toothless and Dagur out of the fight, afraid they would get hurt in their switched forms, but the two fought nonetheless. Toothless jumped on one of the men, growling, yelping like a kicked puppy when the man threw him off. The figure chased him down as Toothless got to his feet, and then Toothless remembered something humans did: he drew back his fist and brought it hard into the man's face.

Dagur saw and made a happy noise, running over and grinning at Toothless excitedly before turning back to the skirmish. It was weird beyond imagining, watching himself punch someone, but strangely enjoyable at the same time.

The intruders took to their dragons, and Hiccup gave the order to pursue them before remembering his predicament. He wanted to know who these people were and why they had broken in. Suddenly, the building next to Hiccup burst into flames; gagging, he backed away from it, only to realize that he was surrounded by the fire. Dagur hesitated for a second, then grabbed Hiccup by the back of his shirt and threw him onto his back, doing the same to Toothless right after. Bending his wings, Dagur shot up into the sky.