Regicide

Chapter 12

One more skull was attached to Dune now. It was strapped to his left leg, as planned, on the same side which Blood's skull was.

Sand was next. He found her scent about 36 hours later, and was tracking it down. It was leading into the desert— finally. He was growing sick of the new, unfamiliar surroundings he was in when stalking Blood and Shadow. He preferred the familiarity of the desert which he had once ruled.

Of all the traitors, Sand was probably the most independent and loyal. If, in an alternate reality, she had never egged on his sister with the betrayal, he would probably have had some form of respect for her. They may have even been friends.

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From the moment Sand was born, she had been looked down upon, hated, bullied.

She was not a runt by any means- she was very strong in fact, both physically and mentally. But, she was small, smaller even than Dune.

She was born before he was, but everyone had seen a runt. At first, most wanted her dead, thinking her size was reason enough for her to be culled. Her mother refused to allow it, but more importantly, so did Blaze. Blaze, as the alpha, had the responsibility of killing runts- and he most certainly did not view Sand as a runt.

Despite her approval from the alpha himself, she was generally disliked. Youngsters would oppress and torment her, either verbally abusing her or completely ignoring her no matter how much she cried or begged for attention. She was an easy target for them- even if she was strong, she never fought back, not even lingually. Adults- with the exception of her two parents- behaved coldly towards her. She was 'too small', 'unimpressive', 'too timid'.

After a year or so, she gave up. She didn't even try to socialise with the others. What was the point? They only made fun of her, or rejected her. And yet, everything had built up- she was not the kind to retaliate, and thus, a huge ball of negativity had appeared inside of her. It consumed her, overwhelming her with deprecation and loneliness. For her, it seemed eternal and inescapable.

One day, while she had been sitting alone as she always did, she looked up at the night sky. She wanted the darkness to take her away- she hated the pack. They barely even gave her a chance, or took her seriously in any way. They all just laughed at her, mistreating her as if she could did not have any feelings of her own. Shuddering, she tried not to cry- most nights, she was able to stop herself. But this night seemed to be an exception. She felt a cold line stream down her face.

'Hey!'

She looked up, and let out a dismayed sigh. It was Rock, one of the meanest individuals in the pack. He enjoyed upsetting her- she could see it in his eyes. Unbeknownst to her, he had his reasons- a traumatic experience had left him bitter, and he took it out on those who a majority of the pack disliked.

'It was you who stole my food, wasn't it?' He snarled. Sand blinked at him.

'I didn't steal anything,' She replied, quickly rubbing at her cheeks as she tried to hide any sign of her tears.

'I've asked everyone else. Must be you- I'd expect as much,' he narrowed his eyes.

Sand looked away from him. She really was not in the mood for this.

'I said it before, I'll say it again. I didn't steal your food, I promise.'

'Give it back.'

No response.

'Did your bastard of a mother never teach you not to steal from those superior to you, omega?' He sneered, while Sand did her very best not to weep. 'She has done an abhorrent job of raising you. Look at you, sitting there with your teary eyes like the weak little runt that you are.'

Sand accidentally let out a small sob.

'Only weaklings cry,' Rock growled, though for one moment he remembered the event which had made him wail out and want nothing more than to lay down and perish. He grimaced, feeling more and more bitterness flow through him. He turned, and announced to other nearby raptors 'Look! She's crying again!'

But something snapped that day. Something from deep inside.

Sand slowly got up, eyeing Rock angrily. She felt like she was dangling off the edge of a cliff, and she had felt that way for a long time- enough was enough.

Most of the other raptors smiled or laughed, all of them looking at her. Normally, Sand would shrink away and weep some more. But she stood strong, not taking her eyes off of Rock. He had not noticed her standing behind him.

'Weaklings mean nothing. And she means nothing to anyone.'

With a loud cry of fury, Sand smashed her claws against the side of Rock's head. Rock winced as he felt blunt pain hit his skull, then his eyes rolled up into his head as he collapsed against the ground, completely knocked out. The others looked at Sand with shock, and she stared back at them. She had shown that her strength was not limited only for use against prey.

'Rock!' One of the raptors cried out and ran to him. They looked up at Sand nervously, but she did not strike them or show any signs that she was going to attack them. She just watched while they dragged his limp body away from her.

From that day on, no one dared push her. No one dared harass her. No one dared to do anything that could potentially make her deploy her power upon them. She went up from omega to beta in a matter of moments. In fact, the events of that day were what caused Blood, Shadow and Bone to approach her- her proven strength was proven worth to ringleader Bone. Sand befriended them, for the loneliness had been too much to bear, and they were the few who did not fear her. But the only reason she spent time with them was because they were the only ones who would wish to spend time with her- nothing more, nothing less. If, instead, things had been different- if she had waited a year or so, or if her loyalties had drifted away from them- she may have befriended someone else, someone she would get along with much better, like Dune. But things had not been different. No.

She had made enemies with him.

And, with two of her allies dead, she was next.

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(I expect betrayal from all I meet. If the presence of an emotional bond is there during said betrayal, it will hurt, but it will not be surprising.)

(For that reason, I stand alone.)