Beneath the Skin (Daryl Dixon x OC) ON HOLD

Chapter I

Hey y'all! Lilaclover here! Just wanted to let you guys know how excited I am to be posting my first ever Walking Dead fanfiction!! Constructive criticism is always welcome! The feedback I receive on the first few chapters will determine if I will continue writing on this story or scrape the whole thing and start over so please let me know what you think!
~~ Lilaclover <3

Hungry for the kill
But this hunger it isn't you
Voices disappear
when we're speaking in somber tunes
I will be the wolf
And when your starving you'll need it too
Hungry for the kill
but this hunger it isn't you,
it isn't you
It isn't...
(Hunger -OMAM)

The cool dark river water rushed past as I walked along side it. My bare feet maneuvered along the bank with effortless grace as the wind buffeted the trees. The whistling it caused was calming and alluring. The viridian leaves rustled with both the wind and the small creatures that resided inside of them. The windsong paired with the birdsong created a beautiful glamour that covered the woods in peace and calm. Yet, all of the peace the woods offered was now a lie.
I sighed and raised my black bow. It was loaded with a dark arrow, my own harbinger of death. It was my life force, my only hope, my only friend here in this new world. It had been for almost all of my life. The breeze picked up again and my loose, sleeveless flannel blew around me. My bright emerald eyes searched the trees around me for any signs of life. Hopefully I would be able to shoot a bird of some sort or maybe even a squirrel. I needed food.
A sudden movement caught my eye and I turned swiftly and loosed my arrow. A soft thud sounded as the dove fell from its perch onto the soft mossy forest floor. I lowered my bow and walked over to the small bird. It was a heaven sent. I quickly thanked the forest for this meat, pulled my arrow out of its breast, and gently picked it up. It's feathers were soft and I smoothed them down before putting the tiny creature in my backpack. I smiled softly, looking around at the forest that surrounded me. The trees were so green here and the sky was always so blue. It was perfection. A garden of Eden that was incredibly deceptive. Now that the dead were walking nowhere was safe or calm. I sighed once more and continued on along the river bank.
How long has it been now? Was it months? A year? Time didn't seem to matter now. It was just one line that never ended. Time used to have a purpose to me, but now, it was nothing more than a pointless thing. Survival is all that mattered.
This survival was what I am used to. I had been surviving my whole life and more recently, I was living off of the grid away from others— sans my two best friends. Living off the land was normal to me so this was nothing new. The part that I am not used to is being chased by the dead. The loneliness, I can deal with. The independence I am used to. The dead, well, I don't think that will ever seem normal.
The forest was quiet now. Less life filled the trees and more death stalked the shadows. It was an interesting and saddening shift. This forest was an extension of myself and I couldn't help but think that the changes I saw in me reflected the changes in the woods. I too was quieter, more wild, and much deadlier.
I really did love the forest. All of its beautiful mysteries and secrets I knew by heart. These secrets that were now mine to keep. This forest was more than my home. It was my lifeblood. It kept me alive when I needed it and was an eternal sanctuary for me. I was as much a part of it as it was of me. I would not be the same person if not for these woods.
I looked around once more. There had to be more here. More life, I mean. Time passed and I found little. If it wasn't hidden, the dead had taken it. I growled in frustration and decided to check the opposite bank. As I was wading across the powerful river movement caught my eye. My bow was up and loaded in an instant but all I saw was a large pair of dark amber eyes staring back at me.
The creature rose out of the bushes. It's grey and white fur bristled and its ribs showed through its pelt. Large paws gracefully brought it through the underbrush and further into my line of sight. The wolf had a rabbit in its jaws. I just stood in the middle of the river as the elegant animal stared back at me. It's deep amber eyes glimmered with its primal instinct and lust for meat. I did not flinch or falter. I only averted my eyes from its own gleaming pair. I knew not to mess with this predator. The feral part of me wanted to kill the creature before me and feast like a queen. The other part of me, the part that was bonded to this forest, told me not to. This majestic creature was trying to survive just like me. In a way, I saw myself in the wolf. It too probably wanted to kill me but, like me, denied itself the meat. We both knew that self preservation was more important that whatever pride and territory we had. In that moment, I swear we shared a deep respect that otherwise wouldn't have been. I used to see whole packs of them before the outbreak but now they were a very rare sight. I reveled in its beauty and effortless grace before it turned and stalked back into the woods.
I decided that I too needed to vacate the area. I probably already spent too much time here.
Night had fallen by now and the forest was dark. All of the color seemed to have been leached out by the stars and moon. What the sun graced with color in the day, the moon painted with a loving brush of silver light. This far into the forest everything was shades of grey as far as the eye could see. The stars were innumerable and some of the brightest I had seen in a long time. It was easily attributed to the lack of light pollution from the now empty cities.
I sat perched up in the branches of a a tall pine and looked up at the stars. They were bright freckles on the face of the endless sky. Constellations scattered across the opening in the trees branches. It was absolutely breathtaking. The Milky Way was cast in the sky with a bright silver and dull purplish tint. It sliced across the night
like a deep cut in the celestial body. The night saw no clouds to mask its full beauty. It really did have a captivating effect. I could stare at it for all of my life and never grow tired of exploring all of its mysteries.
I leaned back against the trunk of the pine and continued to look up at the sky as I pulled my backpack around to my front and pulled out the now cooked dove. I began to pick at it hungrily. I though, as I have every night since the dead rose, of my two best friends. Where were they now? Were they alright? (In answer to this one I always laughed slightly. Of course they were. They were survivors too.) But most of all, Did they miss me? Were they looking for me as hard as I was looking for them? Had they written me off? Everyone O had ever known seemed to.
I sighed and finished eating what little meat the dove offered before throwing the bones down to the forest floor. They were too small and fragile to be used which was a shame. I hated to waste something like that. My trusty bow was on my lap and my quiver was hanging from a branch next to me within arms distance. I needed to at least try to sleep. How long had it been since my last good night's sleep? I couldn't even remember. I took a deep breath and took one last look at the moon. I drifted off with a reassuring thought in my mind. No matter how far away my friends were, we still shared the same moon.