It was early morning, the sun still climbing over the horizon and painting the sky with golds and pinks. The woods were quiet. Normally at this hour it would be chattering away as the wildlife woke for its day. But since the human dead stopped staying that way most of the wildlife had been killed off. Kieran liked the quiet, but her heart couldn't help but to break at the reason for it.

She got up, stretching her lithe body from the cramped confines it had spent the night in. She had found a small cave, a rocky hole if she was being honest, and made herself a bed of leaves to sleep on. She shivered as she stood, her naked human skin no protection from the crisp morning air. With a sigh she fell on her hands. Her bones reforming, muscle growing and shifting beneath stretched skin which grew a think coat of shinning black fur. After a moment it was over. Kieran stood, a majestic ebony mare, soaking in the feeling of her strength and power before taking off through the trees.

Kieran spent her days now the same way she spent them before. Running. The only difference was now she could run through open fields, and walk down roads. Before if someone had seen her in this form they would have tried to capture and tame her. And if they had seen her in her h human form, naked and wandering, they would have taken her to a hospital. She was free now. There was a small community of people nearby, a pair of humans from it had tried to catch her a few times. But they were no real concern. She had even teased the group a handful of times, running past the gates just out of reach. Listening to the children comment on how beautiful she was and beg the adults to save her. But she didn't need saving. She had already been saved when the world ended.

Today was the same as any other. She had been trotting through the trees when she smelled it. It wasn't púca like herself, but it was distinctly fae. She couldn't discern the species though, it was covered in the sent of human. Perhaps it was a halfling, but no. There were too many different human scents. It was almost as if it was a fae who had been living with humans. Kieran chuckled to herself at the thought. No self respecting fae would take up residence with a human clan. Not without getting something out if it anyway.

She began stepping closer to the odor, curiosity winning out over caution. She saw two men standing in the trees. One had a crossbow pointed at the other. She recognized the one on the receiving end of the bow as one of the men who had tried to catch her. Fear shot through her body as she thought maybe they were fae hunters. But the other put his bow down and the two took off, with almost friendly behavior. Now she was really curious. The fae scent had definitely been coming from the pair. And Kieran knew from past encounters it wasn't coming from the man she recognized. It had to be coming from the new man.

Kieran changed back into her human form in order to be more quiet as she tracked the pair through the woods. She was paying special attention to the new one. He had long dark hair, which hung in his eyes. And he wore a dirty vest with wings on the back. She thought it odd he was so unkempt. Most other fae she had encountered prided themselves on appearance, and Kieran was no exception.

They were talking about some sort of party as they walked. The one she knew telling the new one he should try to go. The new one stopped suddenly, silently indicting to other he should stop too. She quickly hid herself and froze as they both looked in her direction, but she was certain they caught a glimpse of her. She changed back into her horse form and took off. She vaguely heard the one she knew tell his new companion to help chase her.

She ran through the trees, darting between them trying to lose the men. The one in the vest was skilled though, he would be difficult to lose. She changed between human and horse a couple times, hoping the alternating tracks would throw him off. Eventually she lost them and breathed a sigh of relief. Her trick had worked, unfortunately it wasn't the first time she had had to use it in her life. Still, that had been far too close. Even if the one was fae, he clearly fraternized freely with humans. And Kieran could not allow herself to be caught.

She leaned against a tree in her human body, allowing her breath to calm and her nerves to steady. There was a field in front of her with beautiful lush grass. She looked around to make sure she had indeed lost her pursuers and there were no walking corpses before changing back into a horse and walking out into the field to graze.

The grass was sweet and delicious. And the sun warm on her back. She couldn't help thinking about the man in the vest though. She wanted to know more about this fae who associated with humans so easily. What was he getting from them? Or gods forbid, was he their captive? No, if he was then why did he threaten the human? He was with them freely, and Kieran wanted to know why.

She was considering taking a nap beneath a tree when she smelled it. She stilled in the field, they had found her, but how. This vested fae must be a better tracker than she gave credit. She looked over to where they were standing in the tree line. The one she knew was pulling rope from his bag, they were going to try and catch her. But the fae one took the rope. Told the human to stay put, and he walked slowly toward her. The way he was moving, nicking at her. It was almost as if he thought she was a real horse. Kieran thought it had to be for the human's benefit, how could he not smell her? But then he began talking.

"Ain't gonna hurt ya." He said.

Kieran lifted her head, looking into his eyes. They were blue, but not the magical vibrant azure of most fae with blue eyes. They were more of a bright grey. And they had very little light in them. She began to wonder about this strange fae. He really didn't seem to realize what she was. And with as close as he was now, she was certain she should be able to discern his species. But his scent was so muddied by human she was still unable. He reached out gently with the rope as he continued speaking.

"Ya used ta be somebody's, huh." He said. "Now yur just yours."

His speech pattern wasn't fae at all. The way he interacted with her and the human Kieran began to think maybe even he didn't know what he was.

She heard groaning coming from nearby and looked over just as a group of undead caught site of her. Kieran panicked. She had never let them get this close. Her horse took over for a moment and she reared up, braying widely. She took off into the trees, fleeing the certain death. But as she reached the treeline she heard the twang of a crossbow. Looking back, the two men had taken out the small group. But now they were after her again.
Kieran ran deeper into the woods, struggling with herself over wanting to get away and wanting to get to know this strange fae better. She changed into her human form and leaned against a tree, stilling her thundering heart. She could smell the fae, he was very close. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She let him turn past the tree and find her.

He just stood there. Mouth agape, and she smiled. He was obviously taken aback. Not only by her naked body, but by finding a woman where he was expecting a horse. No, she thought, he definitely didn't know what he was. And she had to find out. Kieran stepped closer to him, softly placing her hand on his cheek.

"I could be yours." She said.

Suddenly she smelled the human. She wanted to know more about this fae, but she didn't want to be found out either. She changed back into a horse and his eyes widened, clearly having never seen anything like it before. As the human came around the corner she lowered her head, letting this strange fae place the rope around her neck.

"Woah! You caught her." The human said.
"Yeah. She jus' sorta let me." The fae said.
"She just let you?" The human asked.
"Yeah. Came 'round this tree and she was standin' here. Put 'er head down and let me rope her." The fae responded.

Kieran smiled to herself. He hadn't given her away, and he so easily could have. The two began to walk back toward their community. Kieran knew the way, but didn't want to let on. She didn't make the man lead her though. Instead she just followed, allowing his scent to fill her nose. She was determined to figure out what he was.

********************************************************

Aaron was leading the way back to Alexandria. Daryl following behind at a fair distance with Buttons on the rope lead. There was something different about her. Something so completely familiar and yet so remotely distant he couldn't put his finger on it. He was barely even leading the stunning black mare. Yes, the rope was in his hand. But he wasn't tugging her along the way he should have been. She was following him. It was unsettling.

The large gate whined and hissed as it slid open before the trio. Daryl followed Aaron inside, and for the first time since placing it around her neck, tugged lightly on Buttons lead. He looked back at her and it almost seemed as though the horse was stealing herself to walk through the gate.

'She's a horse.' Daryl said to himself. 'Nothing more.'

On the walk back, Daryl had worked very hard on convincing himself what he saw was a hallucination. There was absolutely no way it could be real. Because in order for it to be real, in order for a horse to turn into a woman and vis versa, that horse/woman would have to be fae. And fae weren't real. No matter what his mother had told him and Merle as children. Their father had denied it all after her death, and besides, he surely would have met one sooner if they were real. Mom always said the fae could find each other.

"Where are we gonna keep 'er?" Daryl asked Aaron as he finally got the horse to follow him inside.
"We'll have to leave her loose inside the gates for now." Aaron answered. "You said your people had caught horses before? What did you do with them?"
"It was jus' one. Rick and Carl built a stable." Daryl said.
"Would he be willing to help build another?" Aaron asked.
"Probably. I'll ask." Daryl said.

The horse snorted and Daryl looked back at her. He thought for a second he saw her roll her eyes. But no. She was a horse. Horses don't roll their eyes.

"C'mon." He said, tugging her in the direction of the houses his group was sharing.

When he reached the houses he took her over to the small plot across from them and took the rope off. He paused for a minute before speaking.

"Don't know why I'm sayin' this. Ain't like ya can understand, but stay put. Ok?"

Buttons looked Daryl in the eye and he almost thought she nodded in understanding before leaning down to graze on the bright green grass.

'No.' Daryl said to himself. 'She's just a horse.'

Another snort from Buttons and Daryl paused again before heading off to find Rick.

********************************************************

It took a few days, but Daryl and Rick managed to scavenge wood and nails from the church outside the walls and build Buttons a decent size stable on the small lot. It wasn't huge, but it was certainly bigger than she needed to be comfortable. They enclosed the lots edges with a fence, but Daryl was wondering if they even needed to. Buttons hadn't moved from the plot since he told her to stay put. She had studiously watched them build the whole thing as well. They were currently putting some finishing touches on the inside when Rick finally said something about it.

"She's a good horse, huh?" Rick said.
"What?" Daryl was pulled from his thoughts on why Buttons was absolutely not fae.
"Buttons." Rick said. "She hasn't moved. She listens. Wonder if she used ta belong to somebody?"
"Yeah. Probably." Daryl said, looking over to where the horse was once again watching them. Sometimes it seemed like she was just watching him if he was honest.

Buttons walked over to where the two men were working and poked her nose in Daryl's face. He began rubbing down her head and she closed her eyes.

"Looks like she likes you." Rick said.
"Yeah." Daryl answered.

She did. She really did. He was absolutely certain she was just a horse. But there was no denying she had a particular affection for him. And Daryl liked her too. He had never really liked a horse before, but there was something about her. Something new, different, wonderful. If he was being completely honest with himself, something which felt like home. And nothing had ever felt like home to Daryl, especially not something living.

Daryl took it upon himself to care for Buttons. He wasn't sure why, but he felt jealous whenever someone else tried to care for her. He searched out a farm and brought back a serious supply of straw to use for beding in her stable. He also brought back some tools to keep her and her stable clean, as well as a bridle, saddle, and horse blanket. She seemed to enjoy being brushed, and Daryl soon took to doing it daily. The hoof cleaning was absolutely not happening though. And when he tried to saddle her she nearly killed him. Daryl figured it would take a little while to break her, but overall she was trusting. He was confident he could handle her.

********************************************************

Kieran wasn't so sure about the ramshackle stable this strange fae had built her. It seemed to be cobbled together with rotting wood and bent nails. She was nearly certain is was going to collapse on her in the Night. She would much rather be sleeping in a bed, but that would require revealing herself to the human's. Which absolutely was not an option.

The humans called him Daryl. It was not a typical fae name, but he was not a typical fae. They called her Buttons. She hated it. Leave it to human children to name a horse Buttons. She thought Daryl may eventually give her his own private name, but no. Just Buttons.

He did bring her soft straw to sleep on though. And a warm blanket to wrap herself in at night. He took to brushing her coat daily, which she completely loved. No one had ever done that before and it felt wonderful. Like a full body massage. But he also tried to pick her hooves, and once he tried to saddle her. Sometimes she wondered if he had forgotten she was not a regular horse.

She would smell him whenever she got the opportunity. Determined to figure out his species. But his scent was so muddied. And there was no indication of magic or light anywhere in it. It was almost as if he had been around humans since his birth and had never been to the fae realm before. It would explain the lack of light in his eyes. But no, every fae was born in the fae realm. They only ones who lived permanently in the human world were those who had been banished. And no fae, banished or not, would ever think of birthing a baby in the human realm.

He absolutely had to have been born in the fae realm, but then where was his light? Where was his magic? Perhaps his mother had fled with so quickly after his birth he didn't have time to absorb any? Yes, that had to be the only explanation.

Well, not the only explanation. There was one fae she had heard of. He was banished many years ago, a horrible, vicious, violent man. He had murdered many fae. He kept his wife locked up, and Kieran had heard awful things about what he did to her. Things so terrible she couldn't even bring herself to imagine living those horrors.

He was eventually tried by Oberon himself. The king thought death was too good for him and banishment was the best punishment. The only thing this fae hated more than his own kind was humans. And since no fae could kill a human, being forced to live out his days among them would be the ultimate punishment. She had heard his wife went with them, but they had no children. And certainly they didn't have any after leaving the realm did they?

What was his name? Kieran tried desperately to place it. As she did Daryl came through her door. Reaching to unlock her gate he said good morning. She looked him in the eye and smiled to herself, following him out into the sunlight for their morning walk. As they headed out onto the asphalt it came to her. That horrible fae was Dixon. Tynan Dixon.