hiraeth | c.g. |

xii

"Hey, Badass."

Looking to the side, Clary smiled upon seeing Tara on the last steps of the ladder to the guard tower, making her way over to the young woman. "What's got you out here?" Tara asked, Clary shrugging. "Just worried... waiting."

Tara nodded softly as she followed the girl's gaze to the fields outside of Hilltop's walls. "So much for just trading timber and leaving your cohort, huh?" At that Clary laughed, nodding softly as Tara chuckled. "Yeah, so much for that."

The two were silent for a while until they saw Yumiko and Magna on the road, Clary's eyebrows furrowed as Tara sighed. "After we found nothing during our search, they went out to look for Luke, Alden and Alec. Guard saw 'em leave last night." Clary nodded, watching as they made their way in.

Seeing Yumiko looking up to Tara, the Commander patted Tara on the back. "I'll leave you to it. I'll talk to you later." With a nod and a goodbye from Tara, Clary climbed down the ladder, her eyes falling upon Daryl as he walked down the dirt road.

Making her way over to the man, Daryl smiled slightly seeing her. "Hey, did she talk?" Daryl nodded. "Yeah, says they got a camp. I'm gonna talk to Tara about going to check it out." Clary nodded, looking over to see the gates open before she looked back to Daryl.

"I'm coming with you," Clary began, ready for the retort from the man but her words died on her lips as he nodded. "I ain't stoppin' you. You know I'd rather you have my back than anyone else." Clary smiled softly at his words. "Thank you–"

Before Daryl could say anything else, shouts sounded. "Daryl! Clary!"

Looking up to the guard tower, Clary saw Tara with her eyes on them, her eyes drifting to see Carl had been making his way over to where Clary and Daryl had been standing. However, with the shouts, the three of them immediately ran towards the tower, climbing up before standing beside Tara with Yumiko and Magna who had followed behind them.

Their eyes all fell upon what looked like a herd waking through the fields, the giveaway being their steady footing. A bald woman weaved among the skin wearers, gripping their shoulders as she passed by. It wasn't until the skin-wearers stopped at the gate that the woman gazed upon the six at the guard tower.

"I am Alpha. And we only want one thing from you. My daughter."

The words were sharp and strict, Clary finding her hand resting on the blade that rested at her hip. The people besides her grew tense, Clary's eyes meeting that of Carl's before they looked back towards the group.

"Our community is more than capable of defending itself!" Tara declared after a moment, the group turning into seven as Kelly joined them. As she looked through binoculars, Alpha spoke up. "I show you my face because we mean you no harm. I just want my daughter. I know you have her."

Daryl shook his head. "You should turn around. Leave now and no one gets hurt." Alpha watched the group for a moment.

"Wrong answer," Alpha declared. They watched as she raised her hand, Clary growing cold as she saw even more of the skin-wearers treading through the fields, joining Alpha.

"Connie's down there," Kelly spoke after a moment, allowing the binoculars to fall from her eyes. "They haven't seen her. Least not yet."

Looking at Daryl, he shook his head. "Girl told me what her mom does to her. We ain't sending her back to that." Tara shook her head. "Yeah, but what if she has Alden, Luke and Alec? Pissing her off can get them killed."

With those words, the group fell silent, the only one speaking being Magna as she questioned Alpha. "Did you kill our friends? We found their horses." Alpha was quick to respond. "No. Which one of you leads these people?" The woman questioned, to which Daryl shook his head. "The hell does it matter?"