Reincarnated as a Dragon - A New life

1| A New Life

I open my eyes. It takes me a moment to regain my vision from the haze of waking up. As my sight clears, I'm met with the view of the forest. The scent of grass, wet with morning dew, fills my breathing, and a cool breeze swept across the field, prompting me to shiver slightly from the cold.

After listening to the faint sounds of chirping in the distance, I get up and stretch, arching my body and yawning while doing so.

"Gaaaaah~"

Thirsty.

I move past a large brush between a thicket of trees, revealing a small spring of water which sparkles brightly in the soft morning light.

I bend my neck down and drink, relishing the feel of cool water sliding down my throat. After having my fill, I head back into the open and lay on top of the grass. With my head up, I stare at my surroundings.

...

...?

???

I blink. My mind begins to focus.

...Huh? Where...am I?

Confused, I look around in an attempt to find my bearings.

I...remember something happened but wha-

I freeze when the arm I lifted came into view. In place of what should have been my hand, there is instead the scaled claws of a monster. No, that's not a monster's hand. That's my hand.

W-What the hell!?

Is what I tried to say, but something different came out instead.

"G-Gwah!?"

Panicking, I look down. I swear I felt my heart skip a beat. Instead of skin, I am instead greeted by a body covered in orange scales. My arms and legs are completely foreign to me.

What? What happened to me!

I twist and turn as my thoughts race frantically through my head.

Did I turn into a monster? How did this happen? I must be dreaming. This can't be real. I need a mirror. Wait, wasn't there a spring around here?

I jump up and search for the spring. It should be around here somewhere. I scramble around the area, my head spinning as I attempt to find its location.

Where is it? How did I find it before?

From the corner of my eyes, I catch a glint of a lights reflection.

There!

In a surprising burst of speed, I beeline for the spring, skidding to a stop right before I reached the water's edge. When I gazed into the surface, I nearly faint. It took me a moment to realize that the creature staring wide-eyed back was my own face.    

My breaths become irregular. My mind was already moving fast before, but now its been flipped into overdrive.

Holyshitholyshitwhattheactualfuckhappenedtome?!?!

I perform double takes at my reflection, hoping that each subsequent look would show me as normal, but nothing changed. When I find the nerve to look at my reflection for more than half a quarter of a second, each detail and note of what I saw sent my panic to near hysteric levels.

Like I saw before, I'm completely covered in orange scales, but what I didn't know is that my body is morphed like that of a lizard. Two long ears perch atop my head, twitching involuntarily, and a muzzle that I've now just noticed sticks out the front of my face. It looks as if I was a dragon.

A dragon! Did I become a dragon? No, no this can't be happening, this shouldn't be possible!

Something flicks behind me, catching my attention.

...is that a tail? I HAVE A TAIL!?

I force my breathing to slow before I collapse from lack of air.

Okay, okay, calm down. Think. What happened?

I...I know that I was about to die. Actually no, I should've died. How am I still alive? Now that I'm thinking about it, what killed me? How did I die? What was I doing before I died?

My head churns searching for an answer, but nothing came up.

This isn't normal, something this important shouldn't be so easily forgotten. I know for sure that I should've died, so then why can't I remember how? Maybe I might have gotten amnesia? Shit, if I did get amnesia, what else did I forget?

I probably should be more worried about the fact that I did die, but for some reason, it doesn't bother me at all. Concerned about my memories, I try to list out what I know. I used to be human, and that I should have died, that's for certain.

To find out what else I remember, I begin to randomly recall the names of different things: books, restaurants, bars, animes, games. I stop myself soon after though as I was going off track. Although I'm slightly relieved that I'm able to remember them, there are more important questions I need to ask.

Right, first question. What is your name?

Name...name...what is my name?

My heart beats faster as I draw a blank.

Shit. C'mon! Name, what's my name? My name is... my names... uhh... uhm...

I stand there, mouth agape, unable to recall something as basic as my name.

A-alright uh, next. What's your age?

25? No...uh...32?...41?...15?...20?...30?

I don't even know my age? There's seriously something wrong.

Race? Do I know my race?

Again, I recall nothing. As I continue, trying to figure out the missing pieces of myself, an intense feeling forms in my heart. There's still something important that I had forgotten. It's right there on the tip of my tongue, but I don't know what it is.

This thing...it's very important. It's something I wouldn't dare ever forget.

Is it my gender? No, that's not it. What I liked? Not that either.

As I continue to ask more questions in hopes of hitting the right one, the burning in my heart intensifies until it becomes unbearable.

What is it! Dammit!

I punch the ground, frustrated at my inability to remember. Small drops of tears begin to form in my eyes for reasons I don't even know. The burning fades into a hollow pang. It's a horrible feeling, but I've given up.

It seems like specific memories of my personal life have been affected. I can't recall anything about who I used to be.

Looking back at my reflection, I stare at the monstrosity I've now become. It's true, I am some sort of dragon now. 

I look closer at the features of my body. Opening my mouth reveals a sharp row of teeth. Can I even talk with a mouth like this? I try to say something.

"Gao"

I try again, struggling to form any resemblance of a word.

"Gau" "Graah" "Guruaa" "Guooh"

It's no use. It will be hard communicating with others.

I look at my hands, sharp claws make up the ends of the tips. I've gotta be careful not to accidentally stab myself. I check my legs. They look weird seeing as how they're bent the wrong way.

Then I have this to deal with...

I twist and stretch my arm behind me and grab hold of my tail.

It feels strange. Although I have a completely new appendage, when I touched it, there was a familiar sensation, as if I've held my tail multiple times before.

Batting my tail between my hands, I decide to test if I could move it independently. I hit it against the ground, swing it from side to side, and extend it as far as I could in front of me.

After messing with my tail, I just sit there, staring into the forest, not thinking about anything. After all, there is a lot to take in.