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⁰³ SHIKAR
❝ There is more than meets the eye. Heart like yours is rare to find. ❞
―Kaleo, Save Yourself
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THE DEMAND WAS SIMPLE; the needed man wasn't. She stood there without a fault, hands curled to ambitious fists at her sides. "Teach me," She asked, met with judgemental eyes. Daryl observed the heavy bags on her back, sure to slow her down. Her bare legs were ready to be scratched by weeds and branches. That thin tank top would leave her shivering in the chill of the night. Too colorful for disguise.
A mouth and feet too loud, eyes too naive. The girl looked absurd to him. And the answer came firm and short, "Nah."
"I want to― I need to learn. You're the only one that can teach me." She pressed. "I'll stay quiet and watch. You won't even hear me breathing."
"Bolt ya rocket, girl." He shook his head, snorting. Absurd.
But her indocility was absurder. Irma used to say it would be her demise one day. Harlene would rather die of dourness than lack of knowledge. "Walk me through what you do. You don't have to look out for me. I can protect myself. Just let me around so I can start protecting others, too."
"I'd say you don't got a problem with that." He grumbled. "Weren't you the crazy bitch that almost killed Merle? I ain't never forgetting."
"I'm not sorry." She shrugged. "He was threatening the kids. He had it coming."
He knew she was right, but it still touched a nerve in him. Daryl shot up to his feet with heavy breaths. He appeared like a wild animal to her, his lungs like an inferno breast, exhaling fire. It seemed that in this cesspool world, one needed to have barbarity in them to survive.
She wanted more from him than tracking and hunting lessons. She wished to learn to be vicious, and Daryl knew that because he had witnessed her grief. Like a blaze full of rage, she burned those who dared hinder her. But her thin limbs and untried mind wouldn't handle him. He couldn't be bothered by a girl ― he persuaded himself.
