twd: the last silence

Chapter 108 – The Blade

It had been a few days since Rick and his people visited the Sanctuary. The tension that once gripped the place had long since melted into something calmer — a fragile peace shaped by Axel's presence and the lingering influence of what he'd done in Alexandria.

Inside Negan's office, the air was thick with the scent of old leather, oil, and distant cigar smoke. The dim light from the window cast long shadows across the room, and Negan was leaned back in his chair, boots kicked up on the desk like the king of some twisted kingdom.

Across from him sat Axel, shirt torn at the collar, a faint bruise still marking the side of his neck. He held a cup of coffee — half full, long cold — untouched.

They were quiet for a long moment, the way old soldiers sometimes get when they've run out of words that matter.

Then Axel looked up, his eyes a little softer than usual. "Please, Neg," he said quietly. "Tell me my katana is safe."

Negan raised an eyebrow.

Axel leaned forward a little, voice firm now. "The same way I gave it to you — before I went to Alexandria. Is it still here?"

Negan exhaled and dropped his boots to the floor with a loud thud. He didn't speak at first, just stood and walked toward the metal cabinet in the corner of the room — the one nobody but him ever touched.

"I remember," he said. "You came in here like some goddamn samurai. Said you were gonna talk peace with Rick and them. Handed me that blade like it was your damn soul."

He unlocked the cabinet and pulled the heavy doors open.

There, inside, hanging like a relic in a museum, was the katana.

Polished. Wrapped. Untouched.

Negan turned and held it out with both hands, not tossing it, not joking — just offering.

"Still sharp," he said. "Still yours."

Axel took the blade with a reverence that felt almost holy. His fingers ran over the hilt, remembering every scar on it like it was part of his own body.

He whispered, "Thank you."

Negan gave him a look. "Don't get all mushy on me now. You want flowers and a letter too?"

Axel chuckled — not one of his wild laughs, but something real, something tired. "No. Just this."

He unsheathed it slightly, the metal whispering like wind through leaves.

"I feel whole again," he muttered.

Negan walked back to his desk, collapsing into the chair. "Well, ain't that poetic. You and your fancy sword. Now don't go running off and slicing up the world again, alright?"

Axel stood, the katana resting against his back once more like it belonged there.

"I won't," he said. "Not unless the world asks for it."

---

The morning sun hit the training yard like fire on steel. Dust kicked up under heavy boots, and two figures circled each other in silence. Axel cracked his neck as he faced Silas, a slight grin playing on his face.

"You ready, number one?" Axel teased, holding his katana in one hand, low and relaxed.

Silas smirked. A real smirk. Not the dead, silent stare of the man Axel had once trained, but a look with heat behind it, personality. "Always, sir."

They moved.

The clash was fast and hard. Silas came in with a sweep, Axel twisted and countered, and for a while, it was a blur of movement — fists, steel, laughter. Axel wasn't holding back much, and neither was Silas.

They weren't trying to kill each other. They were remembering.

And after a while, they just stopped. No clear winner, no score to settle. Just two warriors who knew each other like brothers.

Axel stepped back, breathing steady. "You've changed."

Silas wiped sweat from his brow, nodding. "You taught me how to be more than just a weapon. I figured… maybe it was time I listened."

Axel smiled. "I'm proud of you, one."

They clasped forearms like warriors and walked together back toward the Sanctuary.

Later that afternoon, Axel sat across from Negan again. The katana rested on the table beside him, silent and gleaming.

Negan watched him for a minute before speaking. "So what now, kid? You stickin' around or off to slay more monsters?"

Axel leaned back in his chair, arms behind his head. "Nah, no more monsters."

He stood, stretched, then glanced toward the door.

"Well," he said, voice calm but with that sly grin returning, "I guess it's time I go back to Alexandria."

Negan raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Or Maggie girl's gonna be mad at me. And trust me, I've seen walkers, whispers, savages — but a pissed-off Maggie?" He chuckled. "That's real fear."

Negan laughed. "You better run fast then, Romeo."

Axel picked up his katana, strapped it across his back, and headed out. His silhouette vanished into the golden light of the late afternoon.

The Sanctuary had changed.

And so had he.

---

.

.

.

You can contact me through my official page on the following Accounts:

telegram:

miraclenarrator

tiktok:

miracle_narrator

instagram:

miracle_narrator