Sophia is scared. Her little legs are burning from the effort it took to carry her this far. Her instincts tell her to run.
Run.
Run.
So she does. She runs, clutching her stuffed toy tightly to her chest, Sophia runs. Over branches, over rocks, and mounds of leaves.
She doesn't stop; even when she hears Rick yelling her name.
She just keeps running.
Run.
Run.
Run and hide like you do when daddy gets home late, smelling like the bad stuff and mommy tells you it is going to be alright. Run like you do when daddy tells you you're his precious little girl.
Run.
Run.
Sophia runs. She doesn't stop even when her lungs burn, screaming at her to take a break. Sophia knows what it means to take a break. It means pain. But in this new world, with the bad dead things, it means death. So much worse than what daddy used to do to mommy, and when mommy couldn't protect her, herself.
So Sophia runs, and runs, and runs, until she finds a little tiny hole just big enough to fit her body into. And she shuffles inside. The motions familiar. She used to hide inside the cubby hole at home, when daddy came home late at night. Mommy said that daddy loved them. Sophia is happy daddy turned into a bad dead thing and mommy killed him.
Sophia likes Merle. He's strong, and nice, and never smells like the bad stuff. Neither of the Dixon brother's do.
Sophia falls asleep thinking about what it would be like to have Merle as a daddy instead.
When Sophia wakes up, it's not to a dead bad thing, but to a wet nose poking against her cheek. Opening her eyes, Sophia giggles slightly at the coldness of it.
That is, until she is staring into the giant emerald eyes of a panther.
Freezing like a mouse caught by a snake, Sophia holds her breath. She is scared again. Though her fear soon fades when the big car does something unexpected.
He licks her.
Giggling, Sophia pushes the muzzle of the cat away. "Stop it kitty." She says, her voice rough from the strain of crying.
Raven's head cocks to the side in concern, and he nuzzles his head into her stomach gently, trying to warm up her chilled body.
Giggling, Sophia hugs the giant cat, grabbing fistfuls of fur. "Kitty!" She squeals quietly.
Raven gently nips her t shirt between his large fangs, and pulls her out of her tinny hiding spot. Shivering in the morning dew, Sophia cuddles next to the black cat.
"Kitty, can you take me back to mommy, please?" Sophia politely begs the big cat, her large blue eyes taking on a wet sheen.
Raven's heart lurches. Lowering himself towards the ground, he motions with his head for the small girl to climb onto his back. Sophia, not used to such a thing, awkwardly scrambles onto the back of the predator, and grabs silken fur between her fists.
"Okay kitty, let's find mommy."
Shifting his weight from side to side, in order to make sure the young girl would not fall off, Raven begins making his way back towards the group of survivors.
"Do you think Raven will actually be able to find Sophia?" Rick questions the younger Dixon.
Daryl, who was inspecting his arrows, stops to pin the ex-sheriff with a serious look. "Listen Officer Friendly. There is no one I trust more than Raven to find Sophia. If he is not back by noon then we will start sending search parties to look for her, until then we are all keeping our asses here. No clue what is in those woods."
Sighing, Rick glances back towards the forest. It was only the previous day that Sophia ran off, and Raven had ran off after her. Daryl had told the group to give the cat twenty-four hours before sending a search party, and they had reluctantly agreed.
Rick just wanted something to do. He wasn't the type to sit around and do nothing when others were in trouble, it was why he joined the force.
"Speak of the devil, and he shall appear."
Daryl's voice cut through the entire group, and multiple heads shot towards the forest.
A large black panther was making its way towards them, a small girl atop its' back.
"See Officer Friendly, I told you you had nothing to worry about."
Carol was the first to sprint towards the duo, pulling Sophia towards her and dropping down towards her knees so she could cuddle her daughter to her chest.
"Never, I repeat, never do that to me again. I love you so much. I thought I had lost you." Carol was crying, she was not ashamed to admit; and it was not an attractive sight.
Turning towards the panther, the mother wrapped him into her hug also.
"Thank you so, so much Raven. I don't know what I would have done without my little girl."
The panther's tail only flicks slightly.
"So you got to be a big hero today, huh?" Daryl teases the blushing ebony haired male beneath him.
"Oh shut up. You know as well as I do that if I hadn't have gone after her, you or Merle would have. And that search would have lasted for days." Raven rolls his emerald eyes at his boyfriend, crossing his arms across his chest.
Peppering kisses up his neck, Daryl lightly nips the other's ear. "Your point?"
Gasping slightly in arousal, Raven pushes his hips towards Daryl's, grinding his erection into the equal hardness of the hunters. "No point. Just facts."
Daryl smirks at the lust blown pupils of his boyfriend, he loves seeing the other come undone like this. "I think your good deed deserves a reward, don't you?" He questions, licking a line from the bottom of his throat to the tip of his ear.
Shivering in lust, Raven can only nod mutely. "Good, because I know the perfect way to reward you."
Daryl had just dropped to his knees when the two heard the telltale signs of someone walking through the forest, and heading towards them.
"Fuck! Aint nobody heard of privacy around here?" Daryl groans, watching as his boyfriend sulkily transforms back into his panther form.
Though, between the bond Raven and Daryl share, neither are too mad when they notice it is Rick who interrupted them.
Sorry for the short chapter, but I wanted to prove that I am still alive. My 21st birthday is tomorrow, so if I don't die of alcohol poisoning then I should be updating soon with a longer chapter.
See ya soon!