Songs of Fire °Jaskier, The Witcher

°1.6°

1.6 |shortcut|

VALERIA HAD TRIED TO IGNORE ALMOST EVERYONE AROUND HER.
Jaskier was smart enough not to approach her again after she walked away in anger. Luckily for her, she could walk beside Yennefer who did not care to start a conversation either. Was she truly the only one who actually cared for the dragon instead of having eyes only for its treasure? Walking ahead she could hear Jaskier at the back.
"Ladies, you look famished. Allow me to wander aimlessly into that thicket and retrieve for you, uh a tasty afternoon treat."
Everyone stopped to look back at the bard going through the bushes muttering about how he's hungry.
"There's something back here."
Valeria crossed her arms while tapping her foot impatiently. As Jaskier tried to look at whatever animal was hiding behind the bushes. She raised her eyebrows as he came running back yelling out hers and Geralt's name. Forgetting about her anger towards him, Jaskier chose to hide behind Valeria while clasping onto her shoulders. She ignored it, still standing with her arms crossed as the creature approached. It was rather harmless according to Geralt but sir Eyck stepped forward killing it. Of course that wasn't enough for the man and he kept slachting into the dead beast. Valeria glared daggers at the knight as he shouted "for kingdom and glory!"
She turned to look at Yennefer and asked "How did you mange to scoop so low as to follow that?"
Not caring to wait for an answer she walked on again.

"Val! Val! Valeria!"
She tried to ignore Jaskier's calls and fastened her pace. To her dismay he managed to catch up.
She turned to look at him with a flat expression. "What?"
A grin spread across his face as he looked down at her. She furrowed her eyebrows not understanding why he looked at her so funny.
"I may have failed in getting all the lovely ladies a tasty afternoon treat but I did manage to find something else."
She narrowed her eyes while walking further and asked the same question again in the same bored and annoyed tone. "What?"
Jaskier held onto her arm signalling for her to stop walking. With a huge grin on his face, he revealed a flower. He shoved it into her face proudly. She took a step back with a small chuckle of uncertainty.
"You managed to find a flower?"
Jaskier tutted and shook his head.
"Not just any flower, my dear friend, but a flower that is a gift to you because I upset you. Its a token of my friendship and a plea for forgiveness, my lady," he explained as he dramatically bowed while giving her the flower.
With a smile she looked down at the flower and took it. She nodded trying to stop the grin from spreading across her face.
"Thank you, Jaskier."
She looked back at Tea and Vea and asked "won't they be getting any of your flowers, loverboy?"
The two started to walk again as Jaskier shook his head.
"No, no. They are not my friend and their beauty does not match the same beauty of the flower which you do."
Valeria couldn't help but laugh while rolling her eyes.

...

The dwarves claimed they knew a shortcut and that is where they were right now. The wind slashed against Valeria's already cold checks and she couldn't help but shiver.
Jaskier looked down the mountainside.
"Yeah, you're right, this is a shortcut. To death," the bard noted. The dwarf went on about how they'll manage but Valeria didn't like it one bit. This was not going to go well, that's for certain. Geralt turned to look at her. She nodded at him trying to look as brave as possible.
He whispered "You'll have to get used to this, if you ever want to ride a dragon."
She couldn't do anything else but chuckle nervously in response. Geralt was right of course but that did not mean she would like it. Perhaps she'll save Rhenvys from the trouble of carrying all her weight and just let him fly by himself while she stayed safely on the ground.
"Ladies first." Jaskier tried to come across as a gentleman but Yennefer just pushed him to walk forward.
Now it was the mage's turn to look at Valeria and ask "Is this the man you care for so much?"
After Geralt stepped onto the plank, Borch gestured for Valeria to get on. She nodded in response and carefully took her first step onto the creaky planks. She wondered how her hands could be so sweaty when it was freezing up here. She clasped tightly onto the chains as she looked down at her feet. She gulped seeing nothing but white of the clouds.
"Try not to look down too much, dear," Borch encouraged behind her. Slowly but surely she took steps forward. The end of the mountain was a long way ahead and Valeria couldn't wait for it to be over even though she knew it would probably feel like an eternity. With each step she took, the wood beneath her creaked loudly and she prayed silently that they would hold all this weight.

What already felt like hours passed and they weren't even halfway there yet. Valeria already felt a bit more comfortable clinging onto the chains while walking the tiny path. Perhaps it wasn't so bad after all. She regretted those thoughts as the wood beneath her cracked and she fell down along with Borch, Tea and Vea. A shriek escaped her lips as she held onto the chains for dear life. She, however, was somewhat in luck as most of her body still lay on the half broken plank. The other were just dangling beneath as Geralt held onto the chain with all his might.
Somewhere in the distance, she could hear Jaskier frantically shouting her name.
Valeria's heart was nearly thumping out of her chest as she tried to calm her breathing. Her eyes stared up at Geralt in panic as he tried to look as calm as possible. It didn't fool her though as she could see the concern in his eyes.
"Sir Witcher, save the girl and let go."
Valeria looked back at Borch while shaking her head.
"Are you mad?" she screamed out.
The wood cracked even further and it seemed as if it was going to give in near Geralt as well.
"Geralt, the planks won't hold!" Yennefer warned.
Borch smiled up at Valeria as she shook her head. She let one hand go and tried to reach out for the man but it was too late. He let go before she could reach him and a scream erupted from her. She quickly looked away trying to blink away the tears as Tea and Vea let go as well and fell into the depth.
Geralt quickly reached out toward Valeria and helped her back up onto the surface of the wood. He held onto her tightly as she didn't dare to let go of his arms yet. Still engulfed in his arms she looked down, teary eyed at the place where she was just hanging not knowing if she would survive.