Well hello again readers and reviewers! See, I promised I wouldn't make you wait so long! That last gap really was awful, I will do my utmost to never have that happen again. I love you guys way too much for that. Alrighty, here we go!
Oh, one more thing, I'm throwing in a small disclaimer, because there is a reference in the middle of the chapter that people who are familiar with the TV show but NOT my prequel to this story "Wildflower" are going to cry foul on. Wildflower, incase anybody reading doesn't know by now, DIDN'T FOLLOW THAT MUCH OF THE CANNON STORY OF THE TV SHOW. So, when you see this reference, don't freak out, ok? Ok, cool, we're good.
The sun was all but set by the time Luna and Judith had made it halfway up the mountain to the quarry. The twilight toned the world a soft dusky blue that reminded Luna far too much of her father's eyes for comfort. Her blood was filled with restless energy as step by step she and her sister climbed the mountain, their legs burning with exhaustion as they forged their way up the hill. It was as if in every breeze that blew she could feel the caresses of all those who had died on these roads, the wrecked carnage of broken vehicles mostly left behind on the interstate road, any Walkers still left inside so weak from starvation that they hadn't had enough energy to chase after the two girls, only loll their heads in the direction of their footsteps. Neither of them had lingered long enough to give them much opportunity for anything else.
"Our family walked this road," Luna whispered softly. "I wonder how many times they ran this path for supplies to and from Atlanta."
Judith paused for a second to tie her hair back in a messy bun before wiping the residual sweat off her brow before continuing on. "More than they care to remember, I'm sure."
Daryl had of course told his daughter the stories from the very beginning of the outbreak, and all the group members they had lost along the way, as well as all the ones they had started with when everything first had fallen apart. The steady signs from his fingers as well as every twitch of his facial expression echoed inside her mind as she kept her eyes peeled on the road. They hadn't needed their weapons since escaping the edge of the city's buildings and she'd been enormously grateful. She whispered pleas that Mal and the others would remain safe and join them soon as she took the forward march up the hill.
They rounded another bend, trees waving in the cool breeze that rolled in slowly from the top of the mountain where the quarry was located. The sky above them was indigo swirled with blue, the first of the brightest stars beginning to burn while the bright light of a white moon rose overhead. More restless energy spilled through Luna's veins and unconsciously her fingers squeezed over the handle of her knife inside her vest. She saw no threats or any signs of danger but she couldn't seem to become comfortable in her own skin, despite the freedom of finally being outside.
They kept going up the road, climbing ever higher until finally the hill leveled to a plateau and upon it the span of the quarry was revealed; the wide rocky clearing where great construction machines had once driven back and forth, and later, where tents and vehicles had been pitched for shelter when the world had first collapsed and no one knew any place safe to go. The feeling of desperation and desolation not only lingered but intensified as Luna took the first step onto the ground made of loose gravel, the sound of her boots crunching the gravel inaudible to her but with just that one step it felt like a thousand different signs rose up to fill her mind's inner eye.
"This place is haunted," she signed to Judith, suddenly losing all desire to speak. The stillness that lingered over this place seemed to permeate her skin and hold her fast to where she stood, but she refused to be chained down. Despite her reservation and misgiving, she took step after step forward, moving further into the quarry space, slowly letting her eyes wander and soak up the moonlight soaked landscape, wondering what the original camp must have looked like. Where had the RV once been parked? Where had her father's tent been pitched? Would his bike have been nearby? So many questions and pictures ran over her mind's eye. She gazed towards the tree line, the echoes of her parent's stories running through her; the flow of their signs from one to the next ran like river water against her mind's eye. Her spirit was suddenly filled with terrible longing and strength she didn't understand.
At the edge of the gravel clearing where the trees began to flank what had likely been the living space was a large oak tree, it's branches bowed forward with age, and wrapped around one of those low branches was a rotted mess of rope, the two loose ends of which were frayed, severed and split by a rough swinging chop of a blade.
"This is where they tied Mom," she signed to Judith as she approached the tree and stretched up her hands to touch the rope. "When she first was caught, this is where they brought her."
"That was so long ago," Judith signed back, sensing her sister's desire for silence. She watched Luna closely, seeing mostly her profile as she stared up at the rope hanging in the tree, the tousled waves of her hair gleaming with a silver sheen from the moonlight. Her skin was dusty and coated in filth from the hard road they'd taken to get here, but it still managed to somehow glow. She turned away from the tree at last and walked to the precarious edge where the quarry itself had been dug, the crystal water down below much lower than it had probably once been due to drought, but there was still a decent pond all the way down at the bottom. She sat down at the edge and let her legs dangle over the edge and slowly Judith joined her.
"This was where they met. My mom and dad, your parents, everyone. This is where it all started," Luna signed slowly. She looked at her sister, still unable to find the waters to speak, moving her fingers steadily but without haste, the words spilling free as she had not had the chance to do so for longer than she could really remember.
"Do you think they were afraid? Do you think they thought they'd die here?"
Judith paused, her fingers holding onto the edge of the quarry as she stare first down into the water and then across the great hole to the tree line beyond. The breeze whispered through the trees, the leaves speaking and if she held her breath she swore she could hear the voices of her father, her brother, and the mother she never knew.
"I'm sure they were afraid. In one way or another," she answered, speaking with words now. She understood the hidden question in her sister's movements. She rose back up to her feet and offered her hand to Luna to pull her up as well. Remembering the words from her father and other members of her family she led the two of them down to the corner of the quarry where the grass had grown so thick that there were visible trails as they walked through. She led Luna down to the flat patch where lined in a row where a multitude of wooden crosses were raised. Time had harmed the wood, eaten away at the beams and blown away the mounds of top soil that had been raised over the graves. Grass had grown in it's place, not quite as thick as what surrounded it, but still clearly present.
"But they had reasons to keep going. So the ones they lost would not have died for nothing." Judith turned to her sister who's eyes were focused directly on the graves as she walked the line of them.
"Morales. His son. Jim. Jacquie. Amy." Luna's voice was hoarse as she dropped down in front of the last grave. There were no names but she could imagine that perhaps buried down underneath the earth were the right person's bones.
"I wish they still lived," Luna signed. "I wish I could know them. And all the others who are not buried here. Sophia. Dale. T-dog. Beth. Andrea. Carol." The sign for the last name had been taught to her by her father, and shared the same meaning as the one he had taught her for a particular white flower that once she was old enough to read he had spelled out for her on paper, the Cherokee rose.
Judith bent down next to her sister, leaning her shoulder against hers for comfort. "I do too." She leaned her cheek down into her sister's neck, trying not to think too hard about her father or her brother, the other members of her family, but most especially her mother. Her father had always been careful to say little of his late wife, but especially when he sensed Judith's presence. Carl had divulged more, but still all she had were shadows, wisps of fog with nothing concrete to hold them too.
They remained at the graves well into the night until finally stiffness and exhaustion compelled them to move. They had rations from the CDC in the small packs they had brought which they devoured quickly to ease the grinding pain in their stomachs before bedding down in the long clean grass some distance away from the graves, staring up at the sky, watching the stars gleam brilliantly overhead.
"These are different than the stars at home," Luna husked as she rolled over to watch her sister so she could see her reply. "There are only a few that are familiar."
Judith nodded. "But we know this place. I'm not nearly as weird or earthy as you and even I know it."
Luna rolled her eyes while Judith smirked a bit. Luna had always been grateful for Judith's sense of humor, but especially now, when the night grew very dark and every twitch of grass felt like a Walker coming up behind her. Judith fixed her with a more serious stare as their laughter died down and Luna once again felt the prickle of restlessness.
"Do you really think you can find him?"
Luna sat up fully and plucked a few strands of grass from the ground and began to weave them into a braid. The words came out rough-hewn and nearly broken, but steel edged through each syllable nonetheless.
"Yes. If anybody can, I can. I know where to start. And if Dad was right, he won't be far from there."
"And what if your dad was wrong? What if this was for nothing? Are we still going back to the CDC?"
Luna was forced to look at her sister to discern her reply but as soon as she stopped speaking she looked away, staring into the darkest depths of the tree line, wondering how long her father had kept watch, waiting for her mother to appear, waiting for his chance to drive off a dangerous intruder. He'd said that for the longest time all he'd seen of her was her eyes and then the running of a shadow.
"My dad knows Merle better than anyone. The only reason he won't have reclaimed the land is if he was dead. And he ain't dead." She withdrew the knife from inside of her vest and turned it over and over in her palm, watching the way the light bounced off, picturing the way it would drip red with blood of anybody who threatened the ones she loved. How she longed to see it run cleanly through Jenner's skull.
"I won't let those kids die, Judith." She stroked her thumb over the engraving in the handle and carefully exhaled. "Especially not now. Now that they helped us."
"Our friends came with us!" Judith hissed. "They'll meet us here soon. We wouldn't have any reason to go back! We made it out, Luna. This is our chance, this is what we've been waiting for! Why should we risk everything we fought so hard to get for them?"
"Simon won't leave Raoul. He'll go back. Mal and Simon are close, Mal will follow him. Leland will as well, and Tau will follow Leland. They have been friends longer than you've been kissing him. And as for whatever Mal feels for me…I hope his sense of honor is enough to remain by the ones who's grown up with. Not some girl he just met who's smashed his nose in on more than one occasion." She looked up at her sister, cobalt blue eyes meeting Judith's dark brown. "We know what Jenner's planning. We have the opportunity to stop it. We are just as guilty of murder as Jenner is if we do nothing."
"You'd risk your life for that? My life? Destroying our family if we get killed?" Judith's eyes hardened and Luna felt the breath in her lungs freeze up. A light was burning deep in the back of Judith's pupils, something that was like the spark to start a wildfire that destroys all in it's path, and Luna was forced to remember a conversation she had with her father not so long ago, but long before she and Judith had been kidnapped.
"Rick's not Judith's father, is he?"
Daryl's mouth had pulled tight, his jaw setting with a terrible stern edge, and his eyes had grown very dark. He beckoned Luna to follow him down the trail into the forest away from home, the same one they would take when they went to hunt. They walked for at least a mile before he spoke, and when he did, she didn't have to hear his voice to know the seriousness of his tone.
"Never say anything about that. To anyone. She doesn't know, and Rick will never tell her. Carl won't either. No one will. Rick raised her as his own, he loves her as his blood. That's a lot more than a lot of parents could say for their own kids."
"She's Shane's. The man Mom killed."
Fire burned through the back of her father's eyes, a fire that warned her if she probed any deeper she was going to get burned into staying quiet. She took his answer and never asked about it again, forever carrying the weight of that secret from her sister.
"Shane was evil. I knew it the first time I met him that he was dangerous. He had that look in the back of his eye, the one that wild animals get when they're gonna jump you. A lot of people tried to warn Rick and he didn't listen. He was Rick's friend, and yes, your mother killed him. To protect me, Rick, and the group. Lori, Judith's mother, made a mistake, but Judith doesn't have to pay that price. Never say a word, Luna. Ever."
"I can't force you to come," Luna said, gravel grinding every single syllable to shreds. "But I'm not going to leave those kids to die down there."
Judith narrowed her eyes and finally unclenched her fists. "Well you're an idiot for thinking I'd let you do something that dangerous on your own."
Luna snorted and laid back down on the grass and stared up at the stars overhead, trying the old trick of counting them in order to help make her drowsy.
You can't blame her for being afraid. You will probably get killed when you try to stop Jenner. She might not be Rick's blood, but she's our family. She's trying to protect the family.
Luna was early to rise the next morning. Judith was still sleeping beside her and for the moment she was reluctant to wake her sister. She'd need all the rest she could get. She sat up and stretched before harnessing all her weapons back onto her person before walking down into the quarry. The water wasn't safe to drink but she splashed several large handfuls on her face and neck, reveling in its coolness. She climbed back out onto the plateau and noted that Judith was still sleeping. Maybe she could spear fresh game for breakfast before she woke. She made for the tallest part of the rise that led down into the plateau to see which way would be best to look for game when her eyes locked onto the road that led to the quarry itself. Movement flickered through the early morning haze, and Luna grinned wildly. She hurried to the edge of the road and leaned up against the last tree before the gravel clearing began and nonchalantly cleaned underneath her nails with her knife, all the while she kept her eyes trained towards the small pack she'd seen coming towards her. She could not hear their voices but she could guess what they were saying, and when they were finally within earshot she called out to them.
"Nice of you to join us for breakfast!"
A pair of silver steel eyes found hers, burning with all the shine of a diamond caught in the morning sunlight. Mal grinned up at her, his shaggy hair messy and caked with filth, as was most of his skin, which appeared a shade or two darker than it had before. His shoulders were bent with exhaustion and even from this distance she could see how much he trembled in his arms and in his legs. Beside him, Tau, Leland, and Simon were fairing no better. In fact Leland looked all but ready to collapse.
"Please tell me you actually have food," Leland huffed as they finished the trek up the hill.
"We have one set of rations each." She shifted out of the pack and handed it to him, catching his wrist to stop him before he continued on. "Judith is still sleeping. Wake her gently and get something to eat. You'll need it."
"What about you?" Tau asked. Her enormous mane of hair was tied back with multiple bands and even in the early morning sun her skin was tinged with sweat.
"I was going to go hunt anyway. We'll never make it to my uncle's land without fresh game and wild greens. Mal can come with me. That is if he can stand." She turned her eye towards him with a slight grin and he bucked himself up as much as he possibly could underneath her scrutiny.
"Of course I can stand. I could go another ten miles," he huffed.
Luna snickered right along with Tau. "Good. We may go that far." She turned back to Tau and embraced her with a smile. "I'm glad you made it safe."
"It wasn't that big a trick. Not with Mal's sweet-talking to Milton. The hard part was getting back once the tunnels stopped. The streets are more crowded than ever," Simon said as he slowly pushed himself up to his feet from where he'd been leaning against the tree. Like the others he was streaked with grime and filth but his eyes were clear with relief.
"Coincidence?" Luna asked quietly.
Simon shrugged. "Maybe. And yet I doubt it."
Luna shifted her weight and felt the comfort of her guns brushing against her hips. "Go rest up. We got work to do." She beckoned Mal to follow her and he wearily pushed himself to stand straight and follow after her towards the tree line. His body ached in ways he was unaccustomed to, the only thing he really wanted to do was lie down somewhere and not move for the next year or two but Luna was moving stealthily in front of him like a wolf stalking through the trees and despite himself he felt a little bit of life steal back into him. After they reached the shadows of the trees she turned on her heel and approached him, smiling in a far more genuine way than he was used to seeing. So much so that he found himself caught off guard when she backed him up into a tree and kissed him on the mouth, her teeth nicking against his lip just enough to send a shiver through him.
"I missed you too," he joked when she let him go. He wouldn't let it show but even that brief kiss had his head spinning. She tasted like the wilds, like rain and wind and musk and it more than made up for the way his bones ached.
"What did you say to Milton?" she asked as she beckoned him to follow her through the trees once more.
"He freaked out about the fact that you and Judith were gone, obviously. So I told him I'd go back and catch you before you could get far. Tau, Leland, and Simon volunteered to come along." He grinned a little, sparks flashing in his eyes. "It was just as we planned it."
"It won't turn out so pretty when we get back." Her voice was rough as she paused on the crest of a small hill, looking down a steep embankment coated in pine needles that were no doubt hiding rocks and crevices.
Mal shook his head. "It won't. But whatever happens to you, I can get you out. But only this last time. After that they'll know which side I'm on."
Luna nodded solemnly. "Thank you, Mal." She tugged him in close and crooned softly into the side of his neck. She kissed him gently and this time for far longer than before, languidly enjoying the way he tasted just a little more wild now, a little more like her. His fingers tightened in her hair and began to slide down her back as he tipped his head to the side, opening her more fully to him now, showing her several maneuvers with his tongue she hadn't been expecting that made a soft growl huff in her throat. Her nails bit down into his shoulder blades and she longed to take this much further, but the electricity burning through her veins was shouted down by hunger. Reluctantly she pulled away and chuffed softly when she saw him groan.
"Later," she said. "We have work to do."
He rolled his eyes but willingly followed her down the embankment and then up the shallow rise across the valley it created, walking almost parallel to the rise to make the climb easier. Once they were on level ground she took him through the trees and low shrubbery, going at a steady pace, following some sort of path that apparently only she could see. He was at a loss for words at her methods, but less than fifteen minutes later, with the sun climbing higher and higher in the sky, they were perched at the top of another ridge, this one far taller than the other they had climbed down, and this one was also overlooking a gentle stream that snaked its way through the leaf litter canyon, part of the sandy bed exposed due to the mild drought.
"You're not seriously thinking about drinking that are you?" Mal asked as Luna crouched down and surveyed the surrounding territory. His own throat was desperately parched but he knew the dangers of water that hadn't been sanitized well enough to know better.
Luna shook her head. "No. I'm looking for where the deer are hiding."
"Deer?" he hissed, instinctively lowering his voice though it probably didn't matter.
She nodded. "They're in their thickets now because its late morning. Deer usually only come out in the open at dawn or dusk. But it's not impossible to find them during the day."
She stood up to get a better lay of the land and saw that further down the ridge, opposite the way they'd come, was a long stretch of dense green foliage. Mal followed her down this path, moving slower now, a change rippling across Luna's skin. He'd seen her aggressive as a fighter as well as a calculating observer but this was entirely different. Now she was the hunter, slipping lightly over the foliage, barely making a sound, pausing often to observe little marks in the ground or on the edges of the trees they passed. At one point they were thirty yards from a very dense thicket when she paused and held her hand up for him to stop moving. She dropped down to a crouch and drew an arrow from her quiver. Bewildered, Mal slid down beside her and watched as she loosely notched the arrow to the bow.
"I don't see anything," he mouthed, knowing full well she could read his lips. She just grinned a little at him and let her eyes shift back towards the thicket. Just then from their right side, heading back towards the greenery, was a young buck, just four prongs on his head. He seemed in no particular hurry, lifting his head up every so often to nibble off the more tender leaves of the trees above them. On one such pass Luna drew her bowstring tight and took aim. Mal's heart pounded high and hard, anticipation of many degrees squirming in his gut until at last Luna let the arrow fly.
The buck bleated in miserable pain as the arrow imbedded deep into its chest. He staggered at first and then took off running, blood trailing down behind him. Luna was already on her feet, strapping her bow down across her back and beckoning for Mal to follow.
"You missed!" he muttered as he followed her. "Now he's suffering!"
Luna stopped in her tracks and poked him right in the forehead, her eyes all but rolling as she looked at him. "Head's too small a target at that distance, dumbass. And don't you worry about him. Soon as we find him, his pain we'll end. Now let's move, before the vultures get him and spoil the meat."
Mal did roll his eyes as soon as Luna's back was turned, but he made an effort to keep up with her. Now she was in a serious hurry, following the blood trail that was splashed over the ground and surrounding foliage. They found the buck about a quarter mile later, staggered down onto his side, legs kicking weakly, Luna's arrow still protruding deep into his chest.
"Now what?" Mal huffed as he and Luna approached the animal.
"There's two schools of thought at this point," Luna said as she withdrew the knife out from inside her vest, the blade gleaming brightly in the morning sunshine dappling the ground. "Hit the heart, or cut the throat."
Without waiting for any input on his part Luna situated herself over the buck, using her knee to pin down his shoulder as she caught his muzzle in her hand, hauling his head up. The bleating, gurgled cry as her knife bit deep into his white neck made Mal's stomach roll but as the blood gushed free and the kicking motions in the animal's legs died, there was an unclenching sense of relief. He was careful to avoid getting the blood on his shoes as Luna continued to let the carcass drain dry. Once she stood up and sheathed her knife, wiping the excess blood on her hands on her jeans she glanced at him through the tangled mess of her hair, a mischievous light in her eyes.
"Whatcha thinkin' city slicker?" she asked him.
"Wondering what you think of me," he shot back, refusing to let her intimidate him. She just grinned again, less feral this time, but no less roguish. She stood back up and stepped over the carcass and backed him up into a tree, her tongue flicking around her teeth.
"I'm thinking you did well. First hunt is always a good test." She growled softly in her throat and let her fingers tighten in the hem of his shirt. "And that I'd really like to get cleaned up. But we have to get the meat back to camp."
He nodded fervently and together they worked to lift the deer carcass and haul it back the way they'd come. They were both huffing and sweating profusely by the time they made it back to the quarry, the sun so high that Luna knew it was past noon, but as soon as they cleared the tree line the others came to greet them, along with the scent of a fire.
"Lunch is served ladies and gentlemen," Luna panted when they were within earshot. Simon quickly helped to lift the carcass and Judith directed him to an open space where she'd already set up a place where she could start butchering the meat.
"While we were waiting, Judith and me found some greens too," Leland chimed in to Mal while Luna went to help Judith start to take the skin off the deer. He glanced at his friend, noting that he was now smeared with fresh blood in addition to all the other stains. "You look like hell."
Mal snorted. "Feel like it too. I don't know if my spine will ever unbend." As if to prove his point he tried to stretch his back and felt the impossible crack run through the bone. "I've never been this tired. Ever."
Leland snickered. "If we really make it out of the CDC alive, you'll get used to it."
Mal tilted his head slightly. "What do you mean?"
Leland shrugged, his expression growing more serious as he watched the two girls and Simon work at the deer while Tau tended the fire. "I don't have any hope of finding my family. They're probably dead by now. I don't have anywhere to go but with Judith. That is if her dad doesn't shoot me. She says he's got a python that could blow my head off."
Mal nodded slowly. "I guess I didn't think that far ahead. I didn't even think we'd get this far to be honest."
Leland smiled a little and clapped Mal on the back. "Leave it to your girl, Mal. She knows what she's doing."
"Hope that's true if I ever meet her father," he said with a shudder that crawled up and down his spine.
It was later afternoon by the time they had eaten their fill and washed everything down with water they'd boiled clean from the quarry. They were all resting by the fire when Tau glanced over at Luna to get her attention.
"So when do we head out for your uncle's place?" she asked.
Luna glanced briefly at the sun and then back at the group. "I can travel at night fine, but we need to rest, and you all from the CDC aren't as steady on your feet in the dark as me and Judith. We'll leave at dawn. We'll finish cooking the meat we have with us and take as much food as we can with us on the road. My uncle's land should only be a day or two away from here on foot. We'll probably run into some Walkers as we move through the town at the foothills, but once we clear that, it should be smooth sailing."
"Are you sure he's there? And that he'll help us?" Simon asked softly, glancing up at her from where he'd been watching the fire.
Luna nodded. "My dad always said nothing could kill Merle but Merle. But fair warning, he ain't exactly good company. But I'm a Dixon and so is he. He'll listen to me."
"Your dad killed a bunch of people at the CDC eighteen years ago," Leland said quietly. There was a long pause as the group collectively held its breath before Leland got the gumption to continue. "Why?"
"He was protecting what belonged to him," Luna answered softly as she handled her knife carefully. "And I think it was just the one man. The one man who hurt my mother."
"But why was she with them in the first place?" Simon asked, emboldened by Leland's prying, and Luna's apparent willingness to talk. Judith kept silent for the most part, keeping her eye contact with Luna at a minimum. Her father had told her little bits and pieces of this story, just enough to satisfy her questions, but she suspected it had never been the whole truth, but at this point she had an answer.
"Right when the outbreak happened, our family went to the CDC looking for answers. It was abandoned, but someone had left behind the last sample of the parasite that causes people to change. My father took it out of the lab, thinking that if he didn't, there might never be another chance to salvage it. He gave it to Luna's mother for safekeeping. Jenner was one of the last men standing when everything fell apart, but he had soldiers who would do his bidding. He ordered them to get the sample back. When one of the group betrayed our family to Jenner, they were able to catch her and hold her hostage."
"They tortured her." Luna growled deep in her throat, not willing to look the group in the eye as she turned her knife over in her hands again and again, watching the way the flames danced off the metal. "They almost killed her. And when my dad broke in to get her back, he destroyed who was responsible. As any man protecting what's his should." She clicked her teeth together and finally looked back up at them. "My father is not the vicious killer the other adults in the CDC said he is. He did what he had to do."
Tau nodded her head in agreement. "You have to protect your family. There's not much else worth risking your life for. Not these days anyway." Her feet dug into the ground a little and her eyes grew sad. Luna watched her shift and the way she spoke as she continued. "My dad died early in the outbreak, but my mom, her sister and her family stayed alive for a long time. I was fourteen when the fire hit and drove us out of the little town we'd been hiding in. It was during the scramble trying to get out of the way of the flames, and the biters attracted to the noise that Martinez and some of the others caught me. I figured keeping quiet and just going with them was safer for the rest of my family than making a bunch of racket to bring them running. Turned out to be a good thing too, because later I found out that someone set that fire on purpose, to drive out anybody living there to make it easier for them to catch what they needed. Me. But they never caught anybody else."
"I'm sorry, Tau," Judith murmured softly. Luna nodded in agreement as she saw Tau's shoulders knot up with tension. She looked up and slowly exhaled, her fingers loosening from where they had been clenched on her lap.
"It was a long time ago. I just hope they're all still alive." She looked over at Luna and their eyes met each other measure for measure and not for the first time Luna found herself grateful for Tau's innate understanding. "But if I knew who started that fire, I wouldn't hesitate."
Silence descended on the group but after a while the conversation shifted to things less grave. Darkness began to close in on them, the last of the sun's light blazing at the edge of the ridge, casting the trees in golden light that began to thin and slip away as the minutes ticked by. Simon volunteered for first watch after nightfall and Tau agreed to go on second. Luna bedded down for the night slightly apart from the group, but it was only so when she was sure everyone else asleep it made it easier to get up and slip silently around the sleeping bodies until she found Mal. She nudged him awake and put her hand over his mouth so his start wouldn't rouse anyone else or Simon's attention from his post.
"Still want to get cleaned up?" she asked. When he nodded she took her hand away and together they crept on their bellies through the long grass until they reached the slope that led down to the quarry water. They both had a fresh change of clothes with them and when Luna gave the signal they carefully crept down the hill until it was clear they had not been noticed and were finally free to stand up. By the time they reached the bottom where the water gently lapped the dusty bank, they were well out of earshot of anyone back at camp.
Luna didn't hesitate. She shrugged out of her T-shirt and tossed it away quickly before stripping out of her jeans, setting them well out of reach of the water before prowling towards Mal who had stood still, watching her move with a mesmerized gaze. He was somewhat surprised when she grabbed his shirt and yanked it away, pulling it over his head and tossing it to the side with the rest of their clothes. She smiled softly, almost to herself, as her fingertips ran over his skin, the heat rapidly beginning to cool in the lower temperature of the night air around them, despite the raging humidity that was always present.
"What are you doing?" Mal asked as she continued to palm his chest and abdomen, little sounds coming from her throat as she dragged her calloused hands over him repeatedly. It wasn't as if he didn't like it, but he wasn't used to it in the slightest.
"You can learn a lot from a person's skin," she murmured, slowly looking up at him. "Words don't mean that much to someone like me." Her voice was lower now, thicker, harsher on her tongue, and it sent a dangerous shiver through Mal even as her fingers bit down into his shoulders, their torsos pressing together. "Just noise that clouds the brain. But what you see? What you feel?" Her fingers tightened into the hair at the back of his head as she arched up on her toes to meet his ear with her lips. "That means everything."
Mal let his hand palm her waist, skimming very cautiously down towards her hip and then up again as he slowly took a pace back from her so he could really see her. The moonlight washed her skin silver and made her hair burn with obsidian fire. The blue of her eyes was like a comet shooting through the sky at dawn and he felt his throat tighten at the heat that suddenly began to blister between the two of them. He struggled to maintain his calm even as he let his eyes wander over her. As he had always suspected, her body was wry and lean, coated with muscle, tucked tightly into bones and tendons, roughened by an entire life spent working hard just to survive, but without permanent damage. Almost rather, because now that he looked carefully, he could see several scars that cut across her skin, all of them old and pale with age. One on the side of her hand that was probably caused by a slip with a knife, another on her chest that dipped down between her breasts, the end invisible from how far down it went. The largest of the ones he could see however was a mark that traced from just below her navel down to her right hip, much deeper than the others he had seen, the ridges more prominent, almost gleaming in the silver moonlight.
"I see you," he breathed softly as he came towards her again. He let his fingertips trace each of the scars he could see, his thumb lingering for eternity on the one on her hip, stroking it back and forth all the while he could see her shivering. "And what I said before still is true." He used his other hand to stroke through her hair, tipping her jaw up so he could look down into her eyes. "You will break the heart of everyone who loves you, Luna."
She chuffed softly as she leaned into his touch. "Why's that?"
"Because you'll die young," he answered. "You'll die young, but you'll never know a leash. Or a cage. You don't just seek freedom. You are freedom, Luna." His heart pounded in his chest but his words were surprisingly steady as he spoke against her lips. "And I've never wanted anything so much. I've spent my whole life caged, pretending to be what you've always been. I want the real thing. I've never wanted anything so much."
She looked up at him, star fire burning in her eyes, and in the back of her mind she swore she heard a wolf howling, the song of conquest, of victory, of lust finally slaked after a painstaking and exhausting hunt.
"So take it."
He kissed her, and this time, for the first time, it was as equals. They sank deeper and deeper into each other as they grappled at each other's bodies, eventually stumbling into the water, the cold liquid hardly phasing them in the slightest as the rest of their clothes were left on the bank. The caramel of his skin soaked up the moonlight and contrasted sharply with the darkness of the water as they closed again, pressing into each other fiercely. His hands wandered over her, sending fire through her veins and she was glad for the coolness of the water because otherwise she wasn't sure she would have survived the burn. Her teeth bit hard into his neck and her nails clawed up and down his back even as he held onto her. Pain ricocheted through her but he was gentle. She knew he was speaking, she could feel the vibrations of his throat, but her cheek was pressed to his and she couldn't see the movement of his lips, but it didn't matter. He'd begun to learn the meaning of all her little motions, what it meant when her fingers skidded over his ribs, squeezed his shoulders, or clenched down onto his biceps. Her teeth gritted together as pain throbbed through her core but with each pass it both spiked and eased. His hands guided her, maneuvering her both to his liking and into positions that would let her feel the pleasure through the pain. After a while he pulled her out of the water and laid her out on the sandy bank, denying himself in order to send her to the moon. He owed her that and much more for what she'd given him.
She started when he laid her out on her back and crawled between her knees, but he soothed her disquiet with firm touches of his hands. He'd begun to understand that she didn't respond to submission, rather to strength. And when she was arching against him, her fingers digging into his hair, her throat tightened from the way her neck was craned back, he swore she'd never looked more beautiful. He'd tell her so later but for now all he could do was just soak everything in. She cried out his name, warbled and choked, a rasp on her tongue as her fingers bit into the earth around her. When she finally shuddered back into her skin he laid out next to her, a self-satisfied smirk on his face. He would have been content to lie there all night, but only after a minute or two she was up and pushing him onto his back.
"We're not finished yet," she hissed as she climbed over him and kissed him firmly. She drove him clean out of his mind and into the next galaxy as her hips undulated on top of his, his body seizing up in ways he couldn't even begin to understand. Dimly in the back of his mind he made a mental note to ask where her abundance of natural talent came from but before he got far at marking that thought to memory he was crying out just as loud as she had, if not louder. She was shuddering against him, leaning back on his thighs for a moment before tipping forward and claiming his mouth once more, stealing what remained of his oxygen. When they finally were both gasping for air she slid down to his side and he towed her in firmly against him, far enough from the water's edge that they began to dry off quickly.
"I won't let him kill you, Mal," she breathed into his ear as her teeth gently nipped the nape of his neck. He turned onto his back and let his arm curl around her shoulders to hold her against him, cocking his head at her.
"Jenner? As if that crazy bastard could ever kill me," he snorted humorously.
She chuffed with laughter and shook her head. "Not him. My dad."
mrskaz453: Finally, Daryl let Rick have it... but I do wish that he would have knocked him on his backside, because for me he derseved it and more...LOL Rick took something from Daryl/Luna that he had no right to have and Fox had no right to give him that.. .I wish I could get over being mad at both of them for that, but I just can't... As much as, I love Daryl/Fox and Rick/Daryl friendship, Rick/Fox have crossed way to many lines for me...and Daryl let them both off way to easy... Hopefully, Luna will set her mother and Rick straight…LOL I still love Daryl/Fox together...but Rickyl will never be the same for me... not after Rick/Fox antics… I love that Fox admitted to herself that she is partly at fault for the tension between Daryl/Rick, because she is.. I get that she has a bond with Rick, but they both take it way too far and cross way too many lines.. Daryl is just way to nice, good, loyal to both...LOl Okay, rant on Fox/Rick over...for now..LOL. I felt for Daryl when they brought up Merle and I'm glad that Fox stopped Rick from going after him... I loved when she went after Daryl and the talk was great... Damn, just when my anger at Fox for her BS with Rick starts to come back, she does right by Daryl and some of that goes away...LOL Your fault for writing such an awesome story that drives me BSC... One second, I want Daryl to flatten Rick and I'm ticked at Fox, the next I'm almost crying for her & Daryl…LOL Merle.. .OMG, I can't wait for Merle… Maggie/Glen need to realize that Merle is Daryl's brother and STHU about him in front of Daryl... No matter what, Daryl deserves that from them.. Another Awesome Chapter...UPdate soon...
I love how much enthusiasm you bring to this conflict. Totally didn't expect it but I love it regardless. As far as the hash-out between Daryl and Rick, I took cues from the show. I think in the past Daryl would have been more aggressive (possibly physically or otherwise) but he's learned to restrain himself. In the show, I was expecting a full on BEAT DOWN about Rick's kicking Carol out of the group, but he didn't. And so in staying as in-canon as possible, that's the way I chose to take it. (I actually have a "deleted scene" of sorts where Rick and Daryl do have a beat down but I cut it) As far as Daryl and Fox is concerned, Daryl isn't willing to rock the boat anymore, and Fox is learning to do the same, because everything is just too stressful. Someone in their group died, after not having lost anyone for almost twenty years. Its shaken them, they're choosing their battles differently now, and Daryl and Fox both know that they would never leave each other. Fox knows Daryl only too well, and she knows how raw that wound is where Merle is concerned. They left a lot of unfinished business on the table in Wildflower, and she knows that when that conflict comes to a head it's not going to be pretty. She's upfront with him in that now when it comes down to it, she won't let Merle take advantage of Daryl, but she acknowledges the pain and the shame he feels over the whole situation. And she knew better than to let Rick rub salt into that wound. As aggressive and stubborn and raw as Fox is, she can soothe too, when it's really necessary. And again, as far as Glenn and Maggie are concerned in their reservations about Merle, I took cues from the show. Obviously there wasn't that whole conflict with Merle beating the crap out of Glenn and everything else, but Glenn still was never that kosher with Merle anyway, and he's so protective of Maggie he doesn't want someone like Merle around her. And he's more vocal about his protests now than he used to be, and since Daryl is so good at hiding his feelings and the things that bother him, Glenn probably doesn't actually realize how sensitive the issue really is. It was so good to hear from you again my friend! I always do my best when I offer up my writing, so I'm infinitely grateful I can make the emotional pendulum swing wildly. Hopefully now my updates won't take so damn long!
DarylDixon'sLover: I hope they find each other soon
Soon, but probably not soon enough xD
Brittney: Another amazing chapter, I loved the scene between Michonne and Ivy. Please don't do too big of a gap between now and the next update, I understand that you have commitments though :)
I definitely wanted to bring a little interaction between the two newest members of the group, cause in some ways they are pretty similar, and in others starkly different. I will try my best to not make you guys wait so long anymore, I felt so guilty about it, but there was just stuff that I /had/ to get done, plus vacation without internet, not so good for updating.
Emberka-2012: Ah, men's talk. Yes, Daryl and Rick had to solve this question. Merle - a great character. Generally among characters in the series Dixon brothers - my favorite. So all paths lead to Merle?
Yes they did indeed, and hopefully they were able to put the problem in the grave, but there's never any promises in this world. All paths lead to Merle…it would seem so, wouldn't it? So looking forward to bringing you guys those reunions.
lunasky99: Yay! you finally updated! and though I don't like that you didn't update for so long I do get your reasoning so I can't really be mad... Well this was a great chapter, as always I love Daryl's possessiveness over Fox. I'm glad Daryl and Rick have settled and most of the tensions gone :) Poor Daryl having to face his brother again after many long years of being happy without him, good thing he has Fox. Haha when/if the apocalypse ever happens I want to find someone who will understand me like Fox and Daryl understand each other, I just love it! I liked that you had Michonne and Ivy have a talk about why their staying and I must say there good reasons :) definitely can't wait until the boys meet the girls parents, those girls have a lot of work ahead of them trying to keep their boys alive... All in all this was a great chapter and I can't wait to read the next one! :D
Daryl is definitely possessive over her, one of the few things he is. He doesn't claim that much in his life, but what he does, he hangs onto with a death grip. He can't really help it, he's so used to having everything he loves ripped away. And when it's his friend that is intruding on his territory, the sting is even worse. He doesn't want to fight Rick, but he will. Daryl's not really interested in being an alpha dog or things like that, but he'll fight ruthlessly for what's his. IKR, if the apocalypse happens, point me in the direction of the group that mirrors the survivors in Atlanta. Cause yeah they've been through shit but damn if they aren't hanging on for the long haul? And that is because they do accept each other, for everything they are, and everything they're not. Haha, man do Luna and Judith have an uphill battle where their boys are concerned, both in keeping them alive in the wilds, and from their parents. Particularly their fathers. Cannot wait to show you guys all that conflict. Hopefully sooner rather than later!