Cactus the SandWing's Adventures: Betrayed

**Four years ago:**

*Cactus was two years old and loved her family very much. She especially loved her older brother Iguana, who was teaching her how to fight other dragons and to defend herself. Even though she knew that he didn't like their mother she still liked him the most out of her siblings. "Tonight, I want you to do something for me.", said Iguana. "Yes, what Iggy?", said little Cactus. "When I wake you up tonight, I want you to slash your claws across Mother's throat like this...", said Iguana as he made a slashing movement with his claws. "Why, what will it do?", asked Cactus. "It will give Mother good dreams.", said her older brother. "I thought you didn't like Mother though.", said the young Cactus. "Well, I changed my mind.", said Iguana. "Will you do that for me?", he asked. "Yes Iggy, of course. I want Mother to have good dreams.", Cactus said. "Great, my beloved sister. Thank you.", Iguana said. As his sister left his room he started cackling madly. His dream would finally come true that night.*

**In the morning- four years ago**

*Cactus sat on her brother's blanket, where he slept, in his empty room, tears falling from her eyes. Iguana walked into the room with a look of triumph on his face, but Cactus didn't notice. He sat next to his sister and put one of his wings around her. "Mother is d-d-dead.", sniffled Cactus. "I know I'm sorry.", said Iguana solemnly. "Stop.", said Cactus as she pushed Iguana's wing off her shoulders. "You told me to slash Mother's throat! You told me it would give her good dreams, and it k-killed her!", wailed Cactus. "Cactus, I'm sorry I didn't know it would kill Mother. Somebody I met out in the streets told me if I did that it would give the dragon I did it to good dreams.", lied Iguana. "Then why did you make* me *do it!", Cactus growled angrily. "I started to like Mother and then I thought maybe I should give her good dreams, but then I thought of you and how much you love Mother and I thought that you should be the one to give her the good dreams. I didn't know it would kill her. I'm sorry Cactus, I really am. Do anything to me Cactus, I'll allow you to kill me, just do anything, Cactus I didn't know. It was an accident, I'm really sorry!", said Iguana while crying fake tears. "Iggy, I'm sorry. I didn't want to be mean to you. I know it was an accident and you didn't know what it would do. I would never kill you though, even if you deserved it, Iggy, I promise.", said Cactus through tears. The siblings threw their wings around each other. "I don't deserve a sister like you, Cactus.", said Iguana, wiping away his tears. "I have to tell you something though. Your sister, Sandstorm, she wants to kill you because you killed Mother. And she won't stop at anything, not even death. She will tell her friends, her followers, her soulmate, and her dragonets, to kill you and they will not stop at anything either. We have to get out of here now. Will you come with me and we can hide from her, together, forever?" Iguana said quietly. Cactus looked at her dear brother, with fear in her eyes. "Really? Iggy of course, I'll come and hide with you. Together, forever, just me and you." "Thank you Cactus! You are the best sister ever!" said Iguana. "Come on let's go!" "But what about Father and Shrub? He's only a year old. We can't leave them!" said little Cactus. "It's okay. We'll leave Father here and he can take care of Shrub. We will come back here when it's safe." Iguana said. "Alright." said Cactus sadly. "Come on let's go." said her brother quietly. They walked outside and hand in hand, they flew off into the morning sky.*

**At dusk- two years ago**

*Four year old Cactus sat outside the abandoned hut where she and her brother had decided to stay for a few days. They had been on the run from Sandstorm for over two years now. They were happy and had each other for company, but Cactus missed the days when her mother was still alive, she missed the days were she would sometimes go down to the oasis pool and play with other dragonets. She missed the days when her sister had loved her very much and she had loved her back. "Cactus!", called her brother happily, interrupting her thoughts. He came outside and sat down next to her. "Can you do something for me little sis?", he asked Cactus. "Yes Iggy, what do I have to do? Do we need more food?", asked Cactus. "No, we have plenty. I want you to sneak into our old house where Father and Shrub live, at midnight. I want you to go into Shrub's room without waking him up and squeeze on his throat very hard for a few minutes and then come back here, okay?" "Why?", Cactus asked. " I just found out that Shrub was having a hard time breathing, and I want you to help him. If you squeeze on his throat it will help him to breathe better.", lied Iguana as he hid his smirk. His sister was too easy to prank, and she was great to use for killing other dragons when he didn't want to do it himself. "Sure, I would do anything to help Shrub.", Cactus said foolishly. "So you'll do it?", asked Iguana. "Yes of course, my brother.", she said. Iguana was happier than he had ever been. He would use her to kill the rest of their family. When the rest were dead then* he *would be the only one she loved.*

**Midnight- two years ago**

*Foolish little Cactus flew to the house that she used to live in and snuck in quietly. She went into Shrub's room and saw him sleeping. Cactus walked over to her little brother and leaned over him. She firmly placed her talons on his throat and squeezed hard. His face started to turn pale. Shrub's talons tried to pull her's away from his throat. She stopped and let go of his neck. Shrub opened his eyes and Cactus saw the fear in them. Then Cactus knew, Iguana had been trying to use her to kill Shrub. Just like he had made her kill her mother two years ago. Cactus stared into Shrub's eyes and hoped he understood that she was not going to kill him and that she was tricked into trying to do it. Cactus thought of a plan. She walked over to a pouch that lay on the floor. She took five gems out of it and placed the pouch next to Shrub. "Go.", she whispered quietly to the scared little dragonet. Shrub took one last look at his sister, grabbed his pouch, ran out of the house, and took off into the night sky. Cactus flew back to the hut. "Did you do it?", asked Iguana when she got back. "Yes.", said Cactus. "I squeezed on his throat to help him breathe better for a few minutes. Then an old dragon came in and said he would give me these five gems...", she said as she showed Iguana Shrub's gems. "...if I let him take Shrub away. The gems were so shiny and beautiful and I wanted them. So, I took the gems and he took Shrub.", said Cactus. "Good.", said Iguana. Cactus could see the look of triumph on his face and knew that he had definitely set her up for this. She wanted to slash his smirk off his face but if she did, it would ruin her plan.*

**The next day- two years ago**

 *Cactus sat by the oasis that they had taken refuge at. She thought about what had to be done. But she didn't want to. He was her brother. He had always cared for her and she had always loved him more than any other dragon. But he had made her kill her own mother and he tried to make her kill Shrub. He would probably make her kill the rest of her family and he would probably kill many innocent dragons himself if he was not stopped. She had to do it, but she really did not want to. She did not like to kill innocent dragons, but Iguana was not innocent. He was the true murderer of Fennec and Cactus knew it. She couldn't believe how foolish she had been. He had used her. Cactus did not like to be used. That word was like SandWing poison to her heart. From now on Cactus would do what had to be done and she would never let any dragon use her again. She would be tougher and meaner. Iguana was evil and she had to do what had to be done. If she did it she would probably be saving countless dragon's lives. She knew what had to be done. She had to be brave. She had to make her decision.*

**Later that day- two years ago**

*Cactus was already bigger than her brother. She had an advantage. She took a deep breath. "You can do this.", she told herself. "Hello, Cactus!", said Iguana cheerfully. Cactus growled and pounced. She pinned Iguana to the ground. "Cactus, what are you doing!", said Iguana. She could see the fear in his eyes. "You used me to try and kill other dragons, dragons that I loved. You made me kill my own mother who I loved very much and you tried to make me kill my little brother!", Cactus shouted. "DO YOU KNOW HOW THAT FEELS? I THOUGHT YOU CARED ABOUT ME! I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME AND THAT YOU WOULD DO ANYTHING TO SAVE ME! I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY BROTHER, THE ONE WHO I LOVED THE MOST! YOU WERE MY FAVORITE DRAGON IN ALL OF PYRRHIA AND YOU DECIDED TO TREAT ME LIKE THIS, TO USE ME! YOU ARE THE TRUE MURDERER OF FENNEC AND YOU ALWAYS WILL BE! YOU BETRAYED ME, YOU KNEW I TRUSTED YOU MOST, AND YOU BETRAYED ME! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME AFTER I HELPED YOU, AND FORGAVE YOU, AND TRUSTED YOU! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME!", Cactus roared with fury. She slashed his snout and he yelped. "Please Cactus! I love you! You are the best sister any dragon could ever wish for!", Iguana pleaded. "I DON'T CARE, YOU STUPID SUN BAKED LIZARD!", she roared. "THIS IS IT! SAY GOODBYE TO EVERYTHING! I HAVE TO DO THIS!". Cactus raised her tail like a scorpion and stabbed it into his heart. Iguana was dead. Cactus lifted into the air and flew on for a while. She found a large boulder and sat on it. Tears fell out of her eyes. Her brother was dead. She had killed him. There was nothing left to do. The only person left to take care of her was her father. He would understand. He would care for her. He would keep her safe from Sandstorm. Cactus wiped away her tears. "I've got to be tougher.", she told herself.*

END OF STORY