He didn't know how long he had been knocked out, but it did not matter. He awoke sometime after the storm had passed, and the sun was starting to rise up in the east. Everything around him was still wet from the rain. The sound of the ocean beside him was the first thing he heard, and its scent was calming, though there were hints of blood mixed in as well.

Bone's blood. My blood.

Dune lay there for half an hour or so, not wanting to get up. Once he killed his sister, it would all be over. He will have achieved his goal- what would come next? After all, he had spent years training himself for the moment he would kill his sister- and that moment was within reach.

He remembered what Sand said about Fern killing her own child just because it resembled him.

Is that how much you hate me, sister? Disgraceful.

He snorted in disgust. That thought was enough to get him back onto his feet. He had to kill her; she deserved it, and he would be the one to thrust death upon her. He would take over the pack once she was dead, taking his rightful place as alpha.

Yes. That was a good plan.

He dragged himself on his feet, and took Bone's skull. It was a slippery process, considering that the rain had not fully dried from her, but he managed it eventually. With a snort, he tied it to his right arm. Now, all his limbs had their skulls. Strangely, it wasn't quite as satisfying as he thought it would be.

But that didn't matter- he would complete the set with the death of his sister. Her skull would be tied to the top of his own cranium.

Dune lapped up some rainwater from a puddle, then began his journey back to the desert. He was glad that his final battle would be in his homeland, and not in some other kind of unfamiliar habitat.

All creatures who saw him- from the smallest rodent to the deadliest Tarbosaurus- knew well to stay out of his way. They were not fooled by his small stature. They could sense his brutal, merciless nature. Even natural predators of Velociraptor felt nothing but fear when they saw his bloodied figure trudging through the sand, not daring to even try to come near him. But, Dune was not interested in killing them- he was only focused on slaughtering one being in the entire world. And now, with her friends dead and rotting in the scorching desert sand...

He will kill her.

---------------

There was once a time when Fern had a sense of caring towards Dune.

Of course, that time was long gone. She genuinely did hate him now.

But it was a lie when she told her friends that she never cared for him.

She found him to be the most interesting of her siblings. Since they were in the same clutch, she, being the eldest, witnessed the births of all her brothers and sisters. Dune was the second oldest, and even at such a young age of only a few hours, she couldn't help but feel an instant curiosity towards him- he was the first baby raptor she ever saw, after all, as well as the her first sibling. She saw how different he looked from her- she was white, he was black, she had a black underbelly, spots, and stripes while he had white ones.

When her parents came along, they were happy with their clutch. Their father, Blaze, seemed unsure about the small black raptor, but their mother (Shrub) seemed to like him. At three weeks old, Fern and her siblings learned to speak the raptor way. The small black one was not as talkative as the others, but the more time they spent together, the more comfortable he felt talking. Fern and her other siblings all got their names, but for some reason, he didn't.

'Fern,' He said one day to her, while the two were walking around the pack's parameter. 'Why is it you all have names except for me?'

'I'm not so sure,' Fern replied to him. The small black raptor sighed, head drooping.

'Mother and father may not have named you, but maybe you can name yourself?' Fern said, trying to cheer him up. He looked up, and she smiled at him.

'How does Night sound as a name?' She asked. 'It's dark, like you, with little white stars. It's mysterious and quiet too!'

'No,' the small black raptor said. 'There's already someone called Night in our pack, right?'

'Oh, yes,' Fern replied as she realised that he was right. 'Hmm... what about Ice? It's rare and cold, hard to find, but whoever sees it never forgets it.'

'Ice breaks easily- it is weak. And I know I'm weak, but I don't want my name to reflect that...' the small black raptor said. 'I'm sorry if I'm being picky.'

'Don't worry,' Fern smiled. 'I have an idea!'

Her face lit up, and she brought it close to him as if about to tell him an amazing secret.

'Dune.'

The small black raptor thought for a moment, while Fern waited for his response excitedly. Then, a tiny smile appeared on his face, and he nodded.

'I like it,' He said, happily. 'They're big, vast, and grand! Strong and impressive too, but most importantly, powerful.'

For a moment, he faltered.

'I'm not any of those things, but I really want to be,' He said, quietly. 'Maybe if I call myself something strong, I can become strong? Dune it is.'

Fern happily agreed, and from that point on, his name was Dune.

His parents didn't know until one week after, when they came to kill him.

Blaze had not particularly wanted to kill a runt from his own clutch, but he knew it was pack tradition, as well as his duty. He had given the runt some time to see if it could grow stronger, but it hadn't- and so, it had to be culled. It was a complete and utter surprise that Fern, his extremely powerful daughter, stepped in front of her brother and told her own father to back away. Blaze was even more shocked when he learned that she had named the runt Dune- runts were not meant to be named. And no matter what he told her, she refused to let the runt die, instead promising that if anyone kills him she will never forgive them, and will kill them the moment she has the chance.

Blaze knew he could get around this by killing both the runt and his daughter- some raptors, in fact, would have done this without second thought. But Fern was strong and would grow into a fine hunter, to kill her would be a waste. He also did not have the heart to slaughter two of his own children, especially when one could potentially become one of the best raptors the pack had seen in years.

And thus, Dune was allowed to live.

Fern genuinely did enjoy being around Dune. For a while, the two seemed inseparable.

But Fern had a fatal, fatal flaw.

She was utterly terrified of what others thought of her.

She did everything in her power to get the majority of the pack to like her, even if it meant changing herself and pretending to be something she was not. She always followed group convention, and never questioned tradition unless it involved Dune, who aggressively despised it.

  For about ten months or so, she had no issue with being friends with Dune. But hearing others talking and gossiping about them, about how he shouldn't be alive, how she shouldn't have protected him began to get to her after a while. At first, she tried to ignore it, but it just wouldn't stop haunting her. It got especially worse when her father died, and she allowed Dune to have the position of alpha instead of herself, despite being older and stronger. She had nightmares of the entire pack turning against her, killing her for befriending her unpopular brother and letting him lead. She would have moments where she would cry her eyes out because she overheard someone say that they would like her a whole lot more if she wasn't so protective of Dune. She became paranoid and afraid, but Dune rarely ever noticed. The fact that he was so oblivious to her feelings was the final trigger- slowly, slowly, she began to be annoyed by him. That annoyance grew to dislike. That dislike grew to hatred.    

She tolerated him for quite a while, but in the end, began to leave him in favour of more approved individuals. His existence was nothing but a detriment to her own- after all, popularity was far more important than loyalty.

She met Blood, Shadow, Sand and Bone, who she ended up enjoying more than anyone. They commanded respect from all, were well-liked, sociable, conventional. Dune became useless to her. Using her own mind, she had turned herself against him, changing her mind about him.

Of course, she couldn't escape the fact that there was once a time when she genuinely did care for her brother. But she wanted to forget that such a time had ever existed. She wanted to put it all in the past, forever.

When her new friends asked her about him, she lied and told them she never cared about him- that she only 'befriended' him because she found him entertaining, but eventually grew bored of him. Yet this was not true, and she knew it very well. Part of her felt guilt as the lie slithered from her jaws, yet she merely ignored said guilt by reminding herself of the horrors of the pack disproving of her, as well as Dune's unconventional ways.

In the end, she, with the help of her friends, decided to overthrow Dune. They planned it all five days in advance- and on the day of the battle, she allowed Dune to sit with her for one last time as a show of mercy. When she actually fought him, a strange feeling overtook her mind- which, for the first time, she found herself unable to identify. But whatever it was, it was strong. It was like a mix of almost every possible emotion, all at the highest intensity.

She didn't dwell on it, though- it was strange, and strange was never good. She achieved her goal and killed her brother- that was what was important. For many years, she remained alpha, and was the most well-liked alpha in the pack's memory. No one ever challenged her because everyone liked her too much. There were only three who opposed her- old friends of Dune- but they were promptly exiled, for bringing him up was against the rules. She wanted them all to forget Dune- to forget about the first named runt in pack history.

When she laid her first clutch of eggs, there were only two survivors. Of course, everything Sand told Dune about this was true. Indeed, one chick looked like Fern while another (a runt) looked like Dune, and indeed, she refused Bone's offer to kill it, and instead tore her own child apart. She knew what the others were thinking- she knew they were remembering her brother the moment they saw the runt. And she wanted them all to see that her hatred for Dune still burned hotter than magma.

In the past few months, Dune had not really entered her mind much. He had only appeared a couple of times in her dreams, but apart from that she did not think of him.

She was blissfully ignorant of the fact that Dune was coming to find her.

-------------

(I shall paint the entire desert in your blood.)