Rizze felt grief. A cold, dark feeling that spread throughout his body. Like small, reaching tendrils of frost that made him sluggish, and weak.
The bare pain of something he couldn't understand. With every passing second he could feel the silence of the forest, the wind cutting through the trees. The sunlight paling within the cover of the branches above. No help, to soothe his chills. Not that it would reach the chilling darkness that festered within him. It was of a different sort.
Yet at the same time, he couldn't convince himself that all was lost. The back of his mind, and perhaps the shred of what was to be the Dragon initially, insisted on this being the natural way. An instinct of support. Even with the separation from his mother whom he'd grown so attached, he felt the strength to take at least that first step forward. And so he did.
He began upon a path which he did not know. Each step into the darkening brush bringing him further down and away. Where he went, he knew not... But within him something gave direction, and he was not inclined to wander blindly. He was just glad that he had something to do.
He focused on each step, on taking every stride. To occupy his thoughts and wonders, to distract himself from his previous grief... As much as he hurt, he did his best to numb himself.
And though his mind slowed, he did succeed in that endeavor... And so, Rizze was the sight of a distracted beast... Wandering almost aimlessly through thick brush and paths alike. A near straight line as his absent mind, absentmindedly followed his heart. Like an arrow of guidance, it pointed the way within.
His path was forged anew, quite literally. Never had anything larger than the ground squirrels and other under-brush critters touched this soil... Evidenced by the briar, and the grassy weeds that stood tall in his path. It was not so clean and wild behind him, for he trampled it all down. The only things that forced him to moved to the side whatsoever in his blind venture, were the more solid obstacles such as the trees.
Otherwise, his pace remained true. Time passed, neither swiftly nor slowly. His limbs grew tired, even at the moderate pace he kept. Muscles burned. Scales chipped. Time passed.
The ground life scampered in the brush, whenever he neared. For anything that sounded as large as he was surely a danger... A needless worry, for he felt no desire to feed. He didn't feel his hunger. Night had come, and passed. And similarly had day.
But even a dragon's strength lasts so long. Even walking, it had been such an amount of time that he had grown too weary. His movements stiff, his body cold.
A new night had reached its apex, as the first glimmers of a full moon pierced through the dense treetops... His eyes searched through the darkness slowly, as he ventured anew for a place to stay. The urge to follow the feeling within had grown stronger, even as he tried to instead take an opportunity to rest. He ignored it.
It pushed further. He shoved it down. He continued his search.
As he turned around to search the path he'd taken, it surged with greater strength than before, and even with his efforts to resist his steps once more followed his heart. Rizze sulked within, as he found himself unable to resist further... Only to watch and wait as he continued his journey.
Though it turned out that he didn't have to wait very long. His destination was far close than he'd thought, as he cleared the woodline and stepped into a clearing on the edge of a hill. The side of the hill he faced was rocky, and seemed to have once been carved out, a well-sized cavern breaking the earth. It seemed to be nearly large enough to fit something the size of his mother. Meaning, plenty of space for him.
His control returned, he made for the entrance, and soon scraped out a comfortable enough hollow into the earthy cave's ground... It wasn't long before sleep overtook him.
---
He changed the channel on the television, surfing the stations and wondering just what had happened to the time of good shows. In the past he could go to any one of these channels and enjoy himself... Yet now he couldn't find any sort of satisfaction from these barely thought out shows.
He cracked open his drink, and took a slow, lazy sip. As soon as the liquid touched his lips, something was obviously wrong. The liquid was nearly hot, and as it gushed over his tongue it tasted strongly metallic. He began to spit and cough, and he watched as he spread the thick, red liquid across the floor and television alike. He looked in horror upon the scene, and tried to wipe away his mouth... But more continued to pour from his lips, and his fingers met something foreign. Instead of lips he found the hardness of large teeth and bone... The smoothness of a scaly hide upon his face...
He rushed to a mirror, which was nearby and ready for him... And he panicked as he took in the sight of a dragon's face, blood readily dripping from the blood-stained teeth... Dagger-like, and deadly. The maw was spread in an evil, bloodthirsty grin, and it began to laugh in deep, rumbling tones. He laughed along, uncontrollably. His mind racing with horror as the laughter only grew in strength, and his lungs screaming as he was deprived of breath and yet continued to laugh. His voice tearing and becoming hoarse, his yellow, slitted eyes filled with craze as he stared into them.
His vision was growing dark. He couldn't stop laughing. His lungs were tearing themselves apart, fresh blood now being coughed up with each violent tearing of his throat. The mirror long covered in his blood, yet he could still stare straight into himself. His eyes a glowing golden, and reptilian. Evil, they felt. His vision went black.