it takes two to travel // geraskier

the incident under the red moon

14th May, year 3

Sweaty and heavy breathing, Geralt was trying to fight a pack of wargs, keeping them as far as possible from Jaskier.
The bard was lying under a giant tree, with a large wound on his arm.

The camp was a mess.

The body of a dead monster was lying on the ground next to Jaskier, with his dagger burried between the beast's ribs. The man managed to defend himself from one, but the fight was rough and before he could even think of attacking another one, sharp pain is the arm stopped him.
Geralt was fighting as fast and brutal as possible, knowing he didn't have amy time to waste. At least the pack was focused on him now, not bothering Jaskier or Roach.
With a furious scream, the wither cut the last warg's standing stomach.

Suddenly, everything went silent.

The witcher ran towards his companion, falling on his knees next to Jaskier.
'Geralt... It- It hurts like hell...'
'Stay still.'
The man quickly searched his bag for something he could use as a bandage. A shirt would work quite well.
When the man found one, he immediatly got to work.
'It's going to hurt, but I need to tie this tight. It will stop the blood from running, at least a little.'
Jaskier nodded, looking at Geralt woth teary eyes.
'I tried to fight it. I tried! I'm so sorry!'
'Stop talking now, I'm trying to get you fixed. You didn't do anything wrong, Jaskier.'

The witcher looked into the bag once again, looking for the leftover alcohol he had there. After what felt like ages, he found a little bottle.
Jaskier cried out when Geralt poured some of the alcohol on his wound and pressed the material to it.
'Don't move.', he instructed and stood up. It wasn't necessary though - the bard has already lost conciousness.

A few seconds later, he was back woth to the bard, Roach standing next to him. This little amount of things they owned was packed since they didn't bother taking it all out last evening. The witcher was carrying bags with all their belongings inside, ready to go.
He picked Jaskier up, trying to be as gentle as possible and seated the bard in front of him, holding him close.

Geralt couldn't remember a day when he was nearly as scared.

The witcher had no idea how long was he riding before arriving in town. The only thing he knew at this moment was that there was no time to waste.
Carring the hurt man in his arms, the witcher entered a building that seemed to be the most crowded - a tavern. Sure, Jaskier needed fresh air, but what he needed more was help. A few minutes inside a crowded room shouldn't do much harm.
'Help! Where is a medic?!' - the witcher yelled right after stepping inside. The music stopped and all the people turned to him.
The view was horrific and for a few long seconds all the people froze, afraid to make a sound. Finally, somebody stepped out of the crowd.
'Follow me.'

The medic greeted them with tired eyes, in sleepwear.
'Iyan, what is that supposed to mean? It's the middle of the night and-'
The man's eyes widened when he saw Geralt.
'Oh. I- I see. Step inside.'
'I will leave you here now. Good night, Virgil' - said the man called Iyan and left.
The medic and the witcher introduced themselves. Then Geralt got instructed to follow the host into the house and lay Jaskier down in gutests' room.

'What happened to him?'
'Wargs.'
'Good for him. If it was something venomous...'
Geralt immediatly tensed.
'...well, anyway. You should take a bath. I don't need any more dirt in my house.'
The witcher nodded and left the house to get Roach and his bag.

When he was back, Virgil was in the guests' room, stiching Jaskier's wounds. Geralt wasn't sure if the bard was still unconcious or if he was given some kind of sleep potion - probably both.
He stood in the doorframe for a while, looking carefully at what the medic does. Finally, the host spoke:
'The bathroom is on first floor, second door to the left.'
'Mhm.'

Upstairs, Geralt carefully examined his wounds - nothing much, except for a few shallow cuts, stinging while he was sitting in hot water. The witcher ignored the pain and quickly started getting rid of blood and dirt.

He wanted to go back to Jaskier as soon as possible.
Geralt felt like it was his responsibility to take care of the bard now. Even a thought of the smallest bad thing happening to him now was completely crashing.
The witcher has experienced loss before.
There was Vincent - a boy he met during his training. They were friends, until Vincent's head got bit off by a werewolf.
There was also Bernard, a friend from years before Geralt met Jaskier. He owned a tavern in a town the witcher used to stay in, but then he got murdered. Since then, Geralt never stopped travelling for more than a month.

And now, there was Jaskier.
Somehow Geralt knew loosing him would hurt more and in a different way. They were not only friends, there was something much more going on.
Jaskier was the reason Geralt started to smile again. He was like a bright star on the dark sky or like a rainbow on a rainy day. He saw the world from a different perspective, noticing beauty in things the witcher only started paying attention to because of the bard. He was the only person the wotcher really cared for because he knew damn well he won't fall asleep wothout Jaskier's songs and neverending stories.
And as Geralt sat in the bathtub, it hit him - the weird feeling he had for the bard was nothing else but love.

The man curled up and did something he never expected himself to do again - started to cry.
Jaskier could have died tonight, that was more than for sure, and world could feel cold and ugly again.

It took Geralt some time to put himself together, but when he finally did, it was a question of time for him to get dressed and rush back to the guests' room.
'He is stable, but needs to rest.' - said Virgil, looking Geralt in the eye. 'And you two will have to stay here for some time. Your friend needs time to recover.'
'Mhm.'
'Don't worry about a place to stay, my house is open to you both. During the day I'll be in town, but my helper will check on your friend regurarly. There also are two maids and a cook, but the don't know much about medicine. You will have to stay with him.'
'I understand. And payment?'
'We'll talk about that later. Now, I think you rest. Nothing more should happen tonight. Good night, witcher.'

But Geralt didn't rest.
All night long he sat next to Jaskier and tried to figure out what should he do next.
First, without Jaskier's performances there won't be much money and their savings were definitely not enough. Virgil was a kind man, but Geralt knew eventually he'll have to pay him.
Now, how many monsters can there be around one middle-sized town?

'Oh, Jaskier...' - the witcher sighed. 'It's not going to be easy.'
Then he leaned in and softly kissed the bard's lips. If Jaskier woke up now, Geralt wasn't sure what would he say. Fortunately, he only smiled in his sleep.