|discontinued| Stars Will Fall, twd

cherokee rose.

The rest of the group pulled up to the house, everyone gathered around as Rick and Lori walked out, "How is he?" Dale asked.

Lori smiled, "He'll pull through, thanks to Hershel and his people"

"And Shane and Leo" Rick added, "We'd have lost Carl is not for them"

The others looked over to them, Leo looked over his shoulder to Shane but the man avoided eye-contact and the others went back to questions about Carl.

"How'd it happen?"

"Hunting accident. That's all... just a stupid accident"

Hershel and his family wanted to to give Otis a funeral, the group agreed to join them. One of the girls, Beth, placed the final rock onto a pile and Hershel started his speech, "Blessed be God, father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to him for the gift of our brother Otis, for his span of years, for his abundance of character, Otis, who gave his life to save a child's, now more than ever, out most precious asset. We thank you God, for the peace he enjoys in your embrace. He died as he lived, in grace... Shane, will you speak for Otis?"

"I'm not good at it. I'm sorry"

"You were on of the last with him. You shared his final moments" Patricia, Otis' wife said, "Please. I need to hear. I need to know his death has meaning"

Shane looked at her and nodded slightly, his eyes looking everywhere but anyone's eyes, "We were about done. Almost out of ammo, we were down to pistols by then. I was limping, Leo was winded, it was bad. 'We've got to save the boy' see, that's what he said. He gave me his backpack. He shoved me ahead. 'Run' he said. Said 'I'll take the rear. I'll cover you' and when I looked back..." Leo looked up to Shane, not sure what to think. How could just lie like that? He killed Otis, and had all these people praising him.

The man walked over to the wheelbarrow with rocks, "If not for Otis. I'd have never made it out alive. And that goes for Leo and Carl too. It was Otis. He saved us all. If any death ever had meaning, it was his"

Leo shifted in his spot and walked forward to pick up a rock, everyone looked to him. Silently he picked up a rock and set it on the top of the mound, turning to face Patricia, "I'm sorry" he whispered then walked back over to Glenn and Daryl.

☆彡💫----🪐ミ☆

Leo was helping the other set up camp. Hershel agreed to let them stay there until Carl and everyone else was fully healed and Sofia was found.

He was trying to figure out of the tents when he seen Daryl walking towards the woods out the corner of his eye, "Hey, two minutes" he said to Glenn then rushed off.

"Daryl!" the man turned around, "Where you going?"

"Looking for Sofia"

Leo nodded, "Okay, give me two minutes, I left my knife back there" he started to turn around but Daryl stopped him.

"You sure?" He looked a little awkward, shrugging off Leo's raised brow, "You've been through a lot the past couple days"

"Yeah" the teen smiled, "I'll come. Only for my favorite person of course" he joked and spun around to go and get his knife. Daryl was still waiting in the same spot when he ran back over, "Let's go"

"Alright"

The two walked in silence for a little while, "You're very quiet, you know?" Leo said to the taller male.

Daryl looked down to him with a grunt that Leo guessed was supposed to be some sort of laugh, "Yeah. And you talk a lot"

Leo grinned, "Of course. That's why we go so good together. Look at us; Leo and Daryl, against the word... it's like Batman and Robin" he thought for a second, "Woah, that's like actually... a really good uh..." he flicked his fingers for the words.

"Analysis?"

"Yeah... you know? Cause you're kinda like Batman with you barely talking but being good at fighting . Then Robin just kinda hangs out with Batman and annoys him... I think. I've never actually read a Batman and Robin comic but I'm sure that's right"

Daryl nodded, "uh-huh, sure kid"

...

"Do you want to know a fact about lobsters?" Leo asked out of the silence

Daryl brought his free hand to rub his forehead, "No, not really. Have a feeling you're gonna say it anyway"

"Yep. They pee outta their faces, just, straight up..." he emphasised while waving his hands about, it's something he realised he did a lot. "They also piss on each other to communicate something about survival. Imagine that, you're just swimming about then Jerry over here come and pisses on your face just to tell you there's danger. Cool fact, right?"

...

"No? Well... I got it from this book, one from Dale's library. It was all about sea life and shit"

...

"There was another one I remember. It's about seahorses, wanna hear it? ... well so basically it's the male seahorses-"

Daryl put a hand over his mouth with a sigh, "Yeah... I've already heard this and I still don't wanna hear your weird ass thoughts"

Leo brought the hand down from his mouth and scrunched up his face, "I didn't tell you this"

The other chuckled, "Yeah you did. Wouldn't surprise me if you didn't remember it though, it was at the CDC"

"Oh... that explains it" Leo said with a smile and followed after Daryl, "That was a good night. I've never drank before"

"Really? Couldn't tell" Daryl mumbled as they continued on.

Eventually, they broke through the forest into a nice area with a large house. Daryl readied his crossbow and moved to the building.

The man kicked through the door with Leo close behind him, knife in hand.

Daryl led them through the house, carefully checking all the rooms before heading upstairs. Leo pointed to the corner which had some food packets, Daryl crouched down to smell it. He looked towards another door and pushed it open.

Nothing was there but a pillow and blanket at the bottom, "Think it's her?" the teen asked and Daryl nodded his head.

The two went back outside again, "Sofia! Sofia!" Leo watched as Daryl leaned down to pick up a small white flower.

"What's that?"

"A Cherokee Rose"

Leo walked over to him, "It's pretty"

"Yeah... it's got a nice story too"

"Story?"

Daryl picked the flower then started walking, "Come on. I'll tell you while we walk"

Leo and Daryl walked side by side, taking in the nice view around them. It was a really nice area, a lot of flowers around, the sun shining right through the ring of trees.

"The story is that when the American soldiers were moving Indians off their land on the Trail of Tears, the Cherokee mothers were grieving and crying so much cause they were losing their little ones along the way, from exposure and disease and starvation. A lot of them just disappeared... so the elders, they said a prayer, asked for a sign to uplift the mothers spirits, give them strength, and hope. The next day this rose, it started to grow right where the mothers tears fell..."

Leo looked over to the man with a soft smile, "I like it. You pick it for Carol?"

"Yeah... I think it bloomed for Sofia"

"That's nice..." the teen looked to the ground then smirked back up at Daryl, "So, you and Carol?"

"No. No way, man"

"Uh-huh, sure" he laughed and Daryl smiled, watching the boy get to be happy.

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