Run. That was all he could think as he charged through the streets. But where? He had nowhere to go. His best friend was dead. His fosters revelled in his misery. His school didn't believe him. What was he to do?

He crossed a street not looking as a car beeped at him. He didn't care so long as he kept running, bumping into people on the street. (He may have knocked over an old lady but he didn't turn back to look.)

The autumn sun was setting by the time he finally stopped. Somehow he had made his way to the cemetery. He didn't mean too but yet here he was. The place that gave him the closest feeling of joy. "Christ what a depressing notion", he thought. On autopilot he slowly made his way up the path he was so familiar with. The path to his mother's grave.

Dry leaves blew around his ankles as he walked. A funeral taking place in the distance and a homeless lady snoring at the base of a tree the only other sounds as he reached his destination.

Caroline Campbell
1971-2003
A loving mother leaves us too soon

Four years? Has it really only been four years? It felt like an eternity. Everyday she wasn't around was like a lead weight on Richard. They had no other family: No relatives to take him in. So he was taken in by the social services, or rather just dumped from one foster to the next, never staying in a place more than a few months. Changing schools constantly, he soon lost contact with his friends.

Except recently when he quickly became best with a fellow orphan: Thomas. They just gelled so well together and instantly got on. Nothing could separate them until two months ago.

Walking home after watching Spiderman 3, it happened so fast. Another teen rushed him with a knife. Thomas dived to save Richard but got stabbed as a result. He died bleeding in Richard's arms.

The memories ramming him caused a flood of tears to rush out. Everyone he cared for was dead. His mother. His best friend. Gone.

Slumping to his knees he banged a fist against the ground in anger. Why? Why him? What the hell did he do to deserve this? He kept banging his fists in frustration, punishing the world for his position.

"Fuck this world!" He shouted. "Fuck this place! Fuck everything!" His banging continued causing the dirt to bend beneath him. "FUCK! THIS! LIFE!" He bashed his fist against the ground, except he didn't hit the ground. He fell.

A starry void now surrounded him as he tumbled through the darkness,his anger and despair replaced with terror. Where was he? What is this place? Stars whizzed past him and at such speed, yet there was no wind.

"HELP!" He screamed but there was no response, not even an echo. Screaming again got the same result. He kept calling out but there was still nothing and he couldn't stop himself from spinning, unable to tell what was up anymore. His throat grew sore and he couldn't call out anymore. He was stuck.

Tears fell down his face once more. Was this hell? Was this his punishment for failing to save Thomas? For not being a good son? Whatever it was, he just wanted this nightmare to end, but it would not.

A growling came from his left. He tried to turn and look but failed to see anything. Then it came from his right. Still nothing. The growling came from two places now yet he couldn't see the source. Then he was slashed on his side.

He screamed in pain and looked at the damage. Three deep cuts but blood wasn't coming out. Instead it was stars and his body looked like it was dissolving from it. He was too terrified to even breathe and then heard the growling again.

Looking up he saw the source. Two beasts growled at him, only able to see the outlines of them as they seemed to be made of the stars themselves. He could only make out that they looked part feline and something he didn't recognise.

One lunged at him. He tried to back away but he was a sitting duck and unable to grab hold of anything in this void. The beast grabbed hold of him, digging its claws deep, and took a huge bite out of his left shoulder.

He screamed in agony and punched the beast away. His body disappearing before his eyes into stars and a feeling coming from his shoulder that wasn't pain but an emptiness that he had never experienced before. The beasts growled in anger and charged at him again. Richard rolled up his fists in a vain attempt of survival, then something attacked the beasts.

It wasn't big but it had wings. It rushed the beasts tackling their faces making the stars around them shatter. They howled in pain but fought back. The small creature however didn't give up and kept attacking them. The beasts got the message and ran away with their tails between their legs.

Richard relaxed a little but screamed in horror when he saw his left arm was gone. It had vanished into nothing leaving an ethereal form of it behind. His body vanishing into the darkness leaving his ethereal self behind except for his left shoulder where the chunk the beast ate could still be seen.

"Do you want to live?" Richard looked up. The small winged figure was staring at him and now that it had stopped moving he could see what it was. It was a dragon about the size of a house cat and like the beasts it was made out of the stars around him.

"Do you want to live?" It spoke with a woman's voice. "I can help you. Take you somewhere safe and give you a new body". A new body? How was that possible? How could she…

"Time is short. Make up your mind or your soul will be lost too". His soul? Wait what was she going on…

"DO YOU WANT TO LIVE!?"

"Y yes!", Richard stuttered, "I do. Please. Anything."

"Hold on tight". The dragon then began swirling around him. Getting faster and faster until she was nothing more than a blur. Then he felt pain. He looked down wandering what was going on and saw within his soul new organs and flesh was growing. If he had a stomach he would've thrown up just from the sight of it. In a short time his new organs were being covered by skin except it wasn't skin. It was scales. Too shocked to say anything he watched with fascination as his new body took form and his back became heavier for some reason. The dragon then stopped suddenly and looked at him.

"Whenever you need me, just call my name and I will be there", she said. Before Richard could respond he began falling again. Shouting in terror a white void was now fast approaching him getting bigger and bigger. He braced for impact covering his head and…

He woke with a start, breathing heavily, heart pounding from his chest. It was just a dream. A horrid one of the day his life changed forever. Looking from his bed he saw Harold and Jessica still sleeping soundly. "Good, I didn't wake them," he thought.

He got out of bed and looked out of the window to get some air. It was cloudy but peaceful with a few happy drunks being the only occupants of the street. He gave a small smile. In a kind of sick twisted way he got his wish. He wasn't in that world anymore. To this day he still doesn't know how he did and has come to the conclusion that he probably never will.

With a yawn he turned around back to his bed, brushing his tail aside. "You certainly took some getting used to", he chuckled to himself as he climbed back into bed.

Down in the streets looking up at the window however was a man with a missing eye. With a smile he spoke to a woman next to him. "Send in the troops. We attack tomorrow."

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This is a epic commission I got from  LittleBadWolf

Big thanks to  enigma530 for checking the spelling and grammar

Richard belongs to me