This is something I wanted to attempt for awhile now and with the encouragement of my dear Alva Starr I finally got it finished. Can't thank you enough darling. Would love to know what you all think.

Clipped Wings

"Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet." - Plato

Every road leads us to somewhere, every turn closer to the place we want to call home. It is a predetermined path set before us by the three Moirai that could save our lives in one moment and end it in the next. No matter how inconsequential it may have seemed at the time there was a purpose for every leaf that fell and every breath that one took. Daryl was left all alone in the world but it didn't mean he was free if anything he felt more chained than ever. Had it been a few years earlier he might have relished in the fact he was by himself but if there was one thing this world had taught him it was that you needed people. The survivalist in him was what kept him moving forward when the memories of the herd crept back in like a daunting spirit making him feel the weight of the guilt and remorse as it pressed down on his shoulders. Daryl shoved it down though and locked it away with the rest of the memories he would try to forget but never would be able to.

He was out hunting, listening to what nature was whispering in his ear, and he started toward the gushing stream to his left suddenly very aware of his thirst. As he got closer his need for water was forgotten, a single gold thread of fate wrapping itself around his soul. Daryl was pulled deeper into the woods, no longer on watch for walkers or his next kill, but his feet refused to stop searching out a thirst that went beyond physical. Even though the forest held its own melody of chattering a distinct and alluring song had captured his attention. The words, although saddened, were some of the most beautiful he had ever heard; a ballad that had been written just for him. He was a bug being drawn to a lamp, needing to feel the warmth without the worry of getting burned. He broke through the thicket and came across a charming little cabin that was buzzing with energy.

It was then he first laid eyes on her.

Remi stood on the wooden porch, her long sun kissed locks dancing in the wind. Her dress unlike one he had ever seen before, draping her body so that it seemed as if she was floating on air. Her mouth was closed, her piecing emerald eyes locked onto his but he could still hear the song as clear as day drawing him in. She was mesmerizing, a beauty that just by being there was able to take away the pain she knew nothing about. The stairs creaked under his boots as he was magnetized to her until he was close enough that she was able to reach out and touch him. Her fingers ghosted his cheek but instead of shying away Daryl found himself craving more. She started humming the tune as she opened the cabin door, leaving him to follow like she knew he would. The inside appeared to not have been affected by the world turning upside down but he couldn't see a single candle or book he could only see her.

Loneliness wasn't a strong enough word to describe what Remi was feeling as the world turned on its axis again. Too many men had fallen to the hand of the new extinction and even fewer had heard her song. She felt as if she had been singing for years, the tune never once changing, a song she would never tire of. He followed her back to the bedroom and she never once stopped humming as she traced his features with her finger. There was something so stunning about the hard exterior he had tried to show the world but she could see beyond that. She could see the heart of the man whose breath was changing the longer her hands wandered over him.

Remi kissed the mole that was almost hidden by his facial hair, her hands sliding up the front of his shirt, reveling in the heat his body gave off. She pushed on his chest so that he fell back on the bed and worked his belt open slowly, hypnotizing him with her song. She undressed him with such care and precision until he lay on the bed in front of her completely naked. Remi kissed his right calf, then the inside of his left thigh, his right hip, his left nipple, and the right side of neck until her lips met his in such passion he was sure the life was being sucked out of him.

Daryl reached to remove the dress she still wore but she hushed him, removing the material herself, careful that her hair kept her body mostly covered. Her song echoed off the walls as her hand slid over his cock with skilled precision. She stroked him a few times before adding her mouth, an action that had Daryl thrusting his hips off the bed. She started humming again, the vibrations in the back of her throat pulling Daryl deeper into ecstasy. This was a choreographed dance though and she ran her tongue up the length of him before moving further up his body. Gripping him with one hand, she lined him up, and eased herself down. He filled her in a way that caused the song to grow louder as she stayed perfectly still for a moment. It wasn't until she realized that he had changed the routine she was so used to that she started rocking her hips, her breasts jostled with each thrust, her hair brushing over his bare chest. She needed to make this last, she wasn't sure when the next man would hear her call, and she slowed her pace so that it was in rhythm with her song.

X-X-X

Remi traced the stitched wings on the back of his vest, amazed and in awe at his courage to let them show so freely. He wasn't like the rest of the men she had lured with her song over the years. True, he was drawn to her like the rest, she was a Siren and it came with the territory, but for the first time she found herself drawn to him as well. She had tried twice already to kill him now but each time there was a strong jolt in her stomach that stopped her from taking his life. She couldn't understand, it was a part of who she was, engrained into her being since the beginning of time but she couldn't- wouldn't- do it.

When Daryl woke later that night he found himself longing for the melody that had gone quiet. He searched the small cabin for her and found her on the porch swing, silent tears rolling down her cheeks. "Remi?" He questioned softly so that he wouldn't frighten her.

"I was unable to fulfill my duty. I will be shunned, unwelcome in my own family." His face was a mask of understanding and concern but before he could think of something to say she looked up at him through her lashes, her emerald eyes glistening with tears. "Why do you not hide your wings?" He slightly shrugged, taken off guard by the question but not having an answer for her either. He had been wearing the vest for so long that most of the time he forgot that the wings were even there. "You are a courageous man."

Daryl shifted a bit on his feet at the compliment, "No more than anyone else."

"Daryl," her voice washed over him like pure grace. "If I show you something, will you promise to stay?"

He was quiet for several moments as he thought it over. There was no one left, no direction for his endless wandering, and his hidden desire to not be alone anymore won out. He gave a short nod as she stood from the swing, her hands coming to the back of her dress. She pulled at the strings, loosening the knot and letting it fall away from her body. She wasn't embarrassed by her nudity but by the two angry scars on her back that she had refused to show anyone before him. Taking a deep breath, she gathered her hair, tossing it over one shoulder and revealing her secret to him. They were unlike anything Daryl had ever seen before and when he went to touch one more tears rolled down her cheeks in shame.

"I was tired of being different. I thought that if I got rid of them, changed who I was, then I wouldn't be the freak no one could fall in love with but I was wrong. I clipped my wings and yet the sting of loneliness is still strong in my heart. All I have left is my song- that was until you." She moved to redress, her admission making her feel vulnerable, but he lightly grabbed her wrists to stop her.

"Sing for me."