CH. 1: Questionable Woman and Cat

Rick let his eyes fall on that incredible beast sitting calmly besides Michonne; A beautiful black jaguar. Together they stood on the walkway, staring out into the field of walkers that still guarded the prison. Both were as still as statues, except for the jaguar whose tail flickered at the tip every now and then. They were truly one and the same.

Rick turned his eyes away and glanced down at the gray wolf by his side who was also watching the dæmon. After a beat she looked up at him.

"Such fierceness," she noted.

He nodded.

"Yeah," he agreed quietly. "You think it was a bad idea to let her in here?"

The wolf looked up at Michonne then turned back to him.

"Time will tell. We should definitely keep eyes on her."

"You were never one to steer me wrong Shira." He laid a hand upon her head before turning away, missing the moment when the black jaguar turned its head to watch them leave.

Inside, He saw Hershel, hobbling forward on his crutches due to his one leg. Next to him, mimicking his movements, was his boar dæmon Nelly.

"Hershel, still holding up alright?" Rick asked while Shira inspected the boar in concern.

"Everything's alright with me. How's our new guest?"

Rick glanced back around then dropped his head.

"Time will tell I guess. We still don't know her."

"This is a good opportunity to get to know her," Hershel advised.

"Yeah, maybe later."

"Me and Nelly agree, she's got quite a dæmon."

"Oh yes she does," the boar agreed while Shira perked her ears.

"Yeah. Hard to take your eyes off it, but keeping eyes on her is what we need to do, til we know what she's about."

"Nothing wrong with being careful," Hershel said gently. "Have you seen my girls?"

Rick shook his head.

"Well, carry on," Hershel said as he moved past.

Rick continued forward until he came across Daryl leaning against the outside of one of the cells. The fox circling at his feet seemed agitated. As Rick got closer he heard chuckling from inside the cell he was leaning against.

"Mark my words little brother."

Rick came to a stop and saw Merle sitting on the cot with a grin on his face. His possum dæmon seemed equally pleased in his arm.

"Well if it isn't the sheriff," Merle greeted. "We were just talking about you."

"Something good I hope."

"With my brother it never is." Daryl shifted his position.

Rick glanced down at Shira before looking over at Merle.

"Don't suppose you mind letting me in on the joke?"

"Not at all." Merle leaned forward and the possum jumped onto the bed, looking up at Rick.

"You let im' know how we feel Merle."

"Damn right I'll let im' know Peg." He stared up at Rick and smirked. "We were just talkin', how it's a big mistake you're letting Afro samurai in here. She could cut us all up in our sleep."

"I suppose the same could be said for you," Rick challenged.

Merle dropped his playful expression and stood. Shira growled as did his Peggi.

"Oh, thinking of kicking me out, Rick?"

"Nobody said nothing about kicking you out," said Daryl, seemingly acting as mediator.

"Sit down before you fall down," the fox spoke up.

"Back off Lu," Merle warned her. "This between me and the sheriff."

"Not anymore it's not. It's done," Rick clarified. He turned away from Merle in favor of his younger brother.

"What do you think? About Michonne?"

"Don't trust her," Merle interrupted. "You get a load of that jungle cat dæmon of her's? He'll gobble up poor Peg in seconds, your wolf too."

"I wasn't asking you," said Rick firmly, while Shira gave a warning growl.

Rick turned back to Daryl who took a moment to run the question in his head.

"Hard to say." He looked down at the fox who was looking up at him. After a moment, she stretched up to allow his hand to rub her head. "Me and Lu, got a good look at her, and her dæmon . Pretty serious."

"I know what you mean," Rick replied while placing his own hand behind his dæmon's ear. "She'll either be trouble, or an asset, we'll see."

Daryl gave a nod and Rick walked away in thought.

"Nice to know they're all on our side," Shira muttered and Rick gave a slight smile.

"Yeah…but you're on my side, right?"

Shira gazed at him with an expression that didn't quite make it clear, yet Rick gave a nod.

"Right."

I been a bit interested in dæmons lately and 'The Walking Dead' is one of my shows. I thought there might be a dæmon story involving the characters from the show since there are so many of them, but having found none, I starting writing my own, where it's kind of centered on Michonne, inspired by the show's season return. Any how the choices for the dæmons for the characters came from searching around a couple of sites for the symbolism of certain animals and seeing which seems to fit who according to how they are or will develop later in the series. Review and I'll continue. Hopefully this will inspire others to write some Walking Dead fics crossing over with the "Golden Compass" dæmons.