Chapter I
[Chapter 1 of my Prince Carl story, you'll see what I have planned in due time]
Three days, it had been three days since he had been grounded for trying to take out Negan on his own. In retrospect it wasn't the brightest move even he could admit that.
In a moment of blind rage he almost got himself killed and with Negan's unexpected return could've gotten a lot more people killed. Carl understood that and learned from it. Carl had nothing to do but think. He was ambling around his room in a vain attempt to disrupt the boredom.
Due to his punishment, Carl hadn't been allowed to go any runs. To put it simply Carl wasn't sure if he'd last another twenty-seven days. The young man was also still a bit pissed off with his father, Rick. Everyone in the group had detected it by now. Especially if with what he had overheard from his father the day prior was anything to go on.
[Flashback begins]
What remained of the group was situated in the Grimes' living room discussing methods to get a hold of the commission they now had to gather for Negan. Rick, Michonne and Daryl, along with Aaron the only member of Rick's group that wasn't present was Carl who had been grounded due to his lapse of judgment only a day ago. None of the present company was all too alarmed by this.
Carl had been seen though. The young survivor had been spotted by the group scrubbing around, taking care of Judith or other needs. They noticed that Rick had purposefully positioned himself so that he could watch his son's movements to insure there was no attempt at escape. There was also a very present of angry tension between Carl and Rick whenever the two of them made eye contact. That had been an hour ago however.
Rick asked Michonne to care for Judith, he wanted to make sure Carl realized that he was is real trouble this time. Michonne agreed albeit reluctantly. They then heard several thuds of something falling followed by the sound of several rolling objects.
Rick heaved an irritated sigh
"I wish he would just sit his ass down and accept the damn punishment already."
The group exchanged looks; Aaron's was pretty neutral however Daryl and Michonne's expressions were ones of incredulity. Another series of thuds sounded from the upstairs bathroom followed by a large crash.
"What the hell is he doing?" Rick stood and approached the bottom of the stairs. "CARL! What on Earth are you doing up there?!" Rick barked in a very aggravated tone.
The former sheriff waited for a reply but received nothing. Rick could feel his blood pressure rising by his son's disrespect.
"CARL ANTHONY GRIMES! YOU ANSWER ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU!" The gruff leader roared his patience finally exhausted.
Judith had been scared by her father's loud outburst and was now crying. Michonne was getting trying to calm her as she directed an angry glare at Rick, he was making a fuss over nothing. They all heard the pained groans from upstairs.
"Dial it back Dad, slipped and fell that's all" was Carl's hurt response.
Michonne and Daryl both heard the tone in that response. It was depressed and the two of them knew why. Carl's next statement proved it
"Not that you seem to care…damn that really hurt."
Rick sputtered
"What was that?"
Carl himself appeared at the top of the stairs, looking down at him, a trail of blood running down the left side of his face.
"You heard I don't have the energy to explain it." Carl's tone was neither inflammatory nor condescending it was neutral with a side note of sorrow but it was well hidden.
"That explains the crash but everything before it?"
The young survivor walked down the stairs carefully, he passed his father and went into the kitchen.
"I was attempting to change my bandage, you know this thing?" Carl jutted his thump to the missing wrap on his head, his injury just visible under the fringe of hair.
Rick decreased his glare slightly but only slight. Carl opened the freezer after pulling out a plastic bag and then he filled it with ice cubes before responding
"The other sounds was just me dropping stuff, and slipping on a puddle of water on the floor that I didn't know was there" Carl finished, placing the makeshift icepack on his now throbbing head.
"Now if you'll excuse me there is a wall in my room that I need to glare holes in."
With that the teen went upstairs, back to his room. Michonne handed Judith to Daryl before for walking up to Rick.
"What's up?" she asked noticing his still incensed glare at Carl's retreating back.
"I'm not sure I can trust him anymore, I was thinking he was so mature but now…now I think he hasn't grown up at all."
Rick turned back to the front room and engaged Aaron and Daryl in conversation, the one they were having before Carl's interruption.
Michonne was fighting with herself, on the one hand she wanted to go comfort Carl who she is sure heard what is father said.
All parents do it, say something condescending about their child to friends when they don't think the child is listening. On the other hand she wanted to slap Rick for discounting his son's experience. This was a recipe for disaster and Michonne knew it but decided she would talk to Rick later.
[End of Flashback]
From what Carl could decipher, Rick didn't actually see him an asset to Alexandria, Rick's trust in Carl had been shaken due to his recent actions. Lastly his father felt he was immature. That last one didn't bother him too much but the other two did.
Until this point Carl had done everything his father asked him to, at least since they had come to Alexandria. The teen walked into his bathroom and looked at his reflection in the mirror while thinking.
Was he really that untrustworthy now, that weak, that expendable now?
Now that he thought about it, Rick had always considered his point-of-view last. His mother had always told him he was special but oh boy she didn't realize how special. Ever since the apocalypse started nearly three years ago Carl had been having weird dreams, dreams that Carl had realized by now were visions of the future.
The night the Greene family farm was overrun by walkers, Carl had seen something like it in his dreams. While he'd been recovering he had several nightmares where something similar happened. It occurred a lot sooner that he'd like to admit but it happened.
Carl at the time hadn't realized this and he too dismissed it as a coincidence. That however wasn't the only occurrence. The night before they found the prison, Carl had dreamt about a mansion covered in sickly looking vines. It was abstract but it described the prison perfectly, a strong sanctuary but with deep problems.
Another dream was just as abstract but it depicted a wolf in sheep's clothing so to speak. This was a vision foretelling the arrival of the governor. He had one similar to a scene he saw in "The Revenge of the Sith" where Anakin has the vision about Padme's death, except remove Padme and put Lori there and you got what he dreamt.
It was after this one that Carl started to voice his fears and concerns. It was out while farming with his father and Maggie. He had a sudden mind flash that showed Maggie holding her broken ankle. "Maggie! Watch it, soft dirt ahead of you about four feet" Maggie sidesteps it before she stepped down. "Thanks Carl." She smiled at him.
Carl recalled a dream that depicted a dark-skinned guardian with a sword; he now knew that was Michonne's arrival. The one after that though really scared him so he told Rick about it. It predicted the destruction of the prison. Rick however didn't believe his son's words; he thought them scared fantasies of a child's imagination.
He wouldn't be deterred; he went to every adult he could find Tyreese, Bob, Beth, Daryl, Hershel and Sasha and got more of the same.
That was until he found Glenn and Maggie who were flirting with each other. He told them about his dream and to his surprised they believed him. Apparently they had been observing him since they arrived at the prison. All the comments, all the mannerisms and realized that before every significant event he would begin act strangely, Carl was on edge.
They had also witnessed a not so friendly exchange between him and his mother, Lori. After she left, they saw Glenn and Maggie saw Carl show his rage and his power. He had let out a mighty scream that leveled the guard house and knocked a large hole in the back wall.
A sudden sound downstairs shook Carl out of his thoughts. He heard his father's heavy footfalls as they came up the stairs. The young man had no desire to see Rick right now. There was a loud knock on his door followed by his father's voice
"Carl! Are you in there?" Carl waited a few minutes to see what his father's reaction would be today.
It was test, to see if Rick really meant what he said yesterday when he presumed Carl to be out of earshot. There was another loud rap against the door.
"Carl! I'm coming in!"
Rick opened the door to find the room empty.
"You better be in that bathroom."
Carl sighed and took an extra measure. He took off his eye wrap and his shirt to make it look like he was preparing to shower.
He then opened the bathroom door.
"Mind keeping it down, I just got Judith to sleep."
Rick saw him walk across the room to his dresser and pulled out a pair of boxer briefs and a T-shirt.
"You didn't answer me the first time." Rick barked still being a little loud.
"Do you have to be so loud?" Michonne's strong voice answered from the doorway.
Rick looked at her sheepishly.
"The reason I didn't answer is kind of obvious isn't it…oh wait you're kind of blind to what's in front of you." Carl snarled quietly.
"Watch your tone; I've just about had it with your disrespect Carl." Rick responded a challenging tone in his voice.
Carl turned away and took a moment to compose himself. This showed Carl's level of maturity which impressed Michonne.
"Why should I respect you?" Carl inquired with a glare.
Rick was about to respond but Michonne beat him to it.
"Let him finish before you bite his head off Rick." Michonne knew this confrontation need to happen for the tension between father and son to abate.
She decided to play referee so that it wouldn't get out of hand. She motioned for Carl to continue.
"Why should I respect you; when you don't respect me?" Carl's inquiry stopped Rick cold while tried think of a time he disrespected Carl but couldn't think of anything aside from the recent grounding.
"You mean the grounding? Are you really that childish Carl? What would Lori say if she saw you right now…being mouthy and disrespectful just because you don't like your punishment?"
That statement caused even Michonne to freeze, did Rick really not see what Carl was getting at. It took a few seconds for Rick's words to sink in but when they did all hell broke loose. Next thing Rick knew he had been knocked back against the wall behind him, his left jaw stinging.
He regained his senses and saw Carl standing there, breathing hard, his blue eye alight with fury quite literally.
"Are you fucking serious Dad? The grounding, you really have so little faith in me now that you think I would care remotely about that!" Carl growled out still attempting to keep his voice down.
"I know I messed up, I understand that and punishment must be paid."
Rick stood up straight and took in his son's visage and noticed for the first time that he may have crossed a line.
He had seen Carl mad on several occasions but it had been quite a while since he saw him legitimately angry and by the look in his eye; Carl was absolutely furious.
Carl took another moment to collect his thoughts and emotions.
"That isn't what I was referring to…I'm talking about all the times I've warned you something was up or whenever I pose an idea and you don't even consider it, or if you do it's after some catastrophe has happened."
Rick thought back to a few instances where this was in fact true.
"I heard you yesterday you know, when you thought I was out of earshot…I believe it was; I'm not sure I can trust him anymore, I was thinking he was so mature but now…now I think he hasn't grown up at all." Carl stated angrily but there were tears in his eye as well.
Rick paled; he hadn't meant those things when he said them. He was angry and irritated.
Without meaning to Rick had hurt Carl, who was probably one the most humane members of their group. Additionally Rick hadn't missed how Carl handled himself; he wasn't immature far from it actually. His son had held back from attacking him.
"Carl, I'm sorry about what I said, I didn't mean any of it." Rick began unsure how to fix this. "I was angry and I let my mouth run."
Rick waited for his words to sink in.
Carl sighed and wiped the tears from his face.
"While that hurt that isn't it either, you remember…three days before we met Negan"
The gruff leader caught on
"When you warned me of a bad feeling, like something terrible was going to happen."
Carl nodded "
And what happened? We lost Abraham and we lost Glenn, Dad, Glenn!"
Michonne was confused by that statement; she had overheard Carl voice his concerns and his premonitions came true.
"Are you saying; you somehow saw it coming?" Michonne asked gently putting a reassuring hand on the teen's shoulder.
Carl nodded solemnly looking up at Michonne and Rick. He decided to elaborate a bit to help them understand what he was saying.
"I think…more like I know I have unique abilities, ever since the apocalypse started I have gotten weird and very abstract dreams, usually before something important." Rick pondered this a little before a thought occurred to him.
Carl had warned him back at the prison about a similar bad dream and it later turned out be true since they lost the prison and at the time thought they'd lost Judith, and before that the mistake Carl predicted would cost them both dearly.
If Carl had indeed had dream visions of almost every major event that has transpired since Lori's death and he had brushed off Carl's feeling and thoughts as products of a child's imagination but if they all came true at some point then that meant he really did disrespect Carl in possibly the most heinous way possible.
Rick had to know for sure.
"Carl how many things have you dreamed of recently that have come true?" The leader needed to know just how badly he may have screwed up and put them all in jeopardy.
Carl had to really think about that but not for very long.
"Just before Aaron found us, I had a short dream in that barn we nearly died in; in the dream I saw a pair friendly beavers offering a pale of water and behind them…a shining city on a hill."
Rick and Michonne took this and processed this. Carl was right the dream he described was abstract but it was obvious that the friendly beavers was in place of Aaron and Eric and the shining city on the hill was Alexandria.
Michonne spoke up "You foresaw our arrival at Alexandria…how about the mega walker heard?"
Carl's head drooped at the thought all those lost during that event.
"Yeah, in the dream it appeared as a flood of root beer."
Michonne chuckled at that "Flood of root beer?"
Carl's face and ears reddened.
"I was thirsty, alright."
Carl recovered himself
"Negan appeared much more ominously, an all consuming flame."
Rick heard that and blanched and realized Carl saw that coming too, making him feel like even more of a heel. Carl decided to give his family some hope
"However I had a dream last night that was odder that the others I've had." Michonne sat on the edge of Carl's bed and motioned him to take a seat next to her.
He accepted and sat down, his bare shoulder touching her's. Rick leaned back against the dresser; it had been a long time since they just talked.
"Odd…how was it odd Carl?" The stern leader inquired to which Carl smiled.
"It's rare that I get dream visions pertaining to me in particular, they're always about the group as a whole."
Michonne and Rick exchanged curious expressions.
Carl went on to explain.
"In this dream, I saw another shining city on a hill…at first I thought it was the Hilltop but it was different. I saw the silhouette of a person with dreadlocks; at first I thought it was Michonne but I noticed it was definitely a man's form and when he opened his mouth he let out a roar…like a tiger's roar I felt a rush of heat during the roar…I think this was a benevolent vision. We have another ally out there."
Michonne nodded and Rick hoped this would come true if there was one thing they needed it was allies.
[Chapter I Finite, don't worry I am still working on Heroes of the Apocalypse and my other works its just taking a while to get them how I want. I am already working on Chapter 2, It will come out sooner if I get reviews]