Darkest Hunt (The Witcher 3 Fan-fiction)

Three

Ava felt pain echoing through her body; when she stopped rolling, she just lay upon the ground letting the blistering white hot fire that made up her pain burn through her. Her eyes where closed but when she opened them she could see Geralt battling the Bruxa once more, her vision was black at the edges but she watched the Witcher battle this vampiric woman. Geralt! Ava bared her fangs as a snarl escaped her jaws, she watched the Bruxa bite him but she could barely move. As she watched the Bruxa smile she noted that Geralt was weak with the loss of blood; Ava rolled onto her stomach and managed to stand as the Bruxa noticed the sudden weakness within her body and snarl-roared with rage as she went to lung at the Witcher again, only to find Ava's fangs in her throat again and this time she did not miss the area that rendered the vampire immobile. When Ava leapt away her back legs gave out and she found herself sitting and on the verge of collapse. She heard the Bruxa's dying gasps but ignored it as she stood and walked over to Geralt before her legs fully gave out on her.

"Ava, you crazy assed woman." Geralt spoke as he opened his eyes to see her collapsing next to him. He reached out and began petting her head which rested upon his lap.

It worked though. Ava thought to herself as she closed her eyes.

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Damien and Anna Henrietta came up as Geralt smiled, "She's fine. Just sleeping." He told them as he recovered. He looked to Ava as Damien spoke.

"She always was one to rush headlong into danger and anyone forbid if she gets attacked and doesn't get the last blow." He smiled as he pet the slumbering wolf. "She surely takes after her father." He stood and helped remove the she-wolf's weight off of Geralt's lap allowing the Witcher to stand.

"After this I would say she needs more then a pardon." the Duchess spoke as she watched Geralt pick up the wolf. "Damien, lead them to the rooms, I will have Shavah pardoned upon having woken and regained her strength. I will also have something else planned for her after she is pardoned." She turned to Geralt then.

"I will remain with Ava until she awakens, it is the least I can do after a fight like that." He spoke and knew that he would get no arguements as he followed Damien to the rooms that were specially reserved for him.

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Ava felt cool air run through her thick, yet soft fur. When she opened her amber-gold eyes, she noticed the scenery had changed and half wondered where she had 'teleported' to. When she rolled onto her stomach a voice had her ears flicking back and her gaze set upon Damien. "Shavah! Your awake! I was worried about you, battling that vampire was not easy on you." Ava looked to him and he answered the unasked questions. "That happened a week ago, you have been sleeping with a fever on and off since then. Geralt has left to do some contracts, but not before managing to calm your fever with a potion or two. He plans on returning in a day or two." Ava snorted and closed her eyes to sleep once more. Before she knew it a gentle hand upon her head was running along her spine. She woke up and thumped her tail a few times to show that she was happy to see the Witcher. "I've never know her to be happy to see a stranger."

"I may be a stranger to her but at least I am willing to work with her." Geralt spoke as she lifted her head up and stratched her neck only to discover that the collar was missing. "No point in wearing it while sleeping or not traveling." The Witcher smiled as he helped her stand, she vanished for a moment behind a door and when she returned her raven hair was curled from the heat of the day time. "How do you feel?"

"Like I was run over by a heard of wild horses and trampled on by a goat or two." Ava replied as she went to sit down, Damien walked over to her and held out a glass of watered down wine, which she took gingerly.

She sniffed the wine and smiled as she sipped at it. "Watered down some and with extra sugar to make it sweeter then normal. I also managed to sneak in some of your favorite chocolates." Damien smiled as she nodded.

Geralt looked to them and noticed how Damien treated Ava with the tenderness of a father. With him treating her so kindly it made him miss Ciri and he wondered about Ava's parents even more, "Damien? Mind if We talk for a moment?"

"Of course Master Witcher. Stay here Shavah, I will return momentarily." Damien smiled as Ava nodded. As the two men walked away, Ava sighed; she knew that Geralt was questioning her origins and only Damien could answer those questions. She looked outside and stood to walk towards the double window. Nighttime had settled upon the lands of Toussaint and now she truly wondered what was going on with her, "Shavah?" Damien asked as both he and the Witcher walked up to the window.

"Just lost in thought." She spoke as he hugged her from behind.

"Well get some rest, tomorrow you earn both pardon and reward." Damien held her close for a moment or two then left her alone with Geralt.

After he was gone completely Geralt turned to her, "What is your true relationship with Damien?"

Ava turned to the Witcher then. "I've known him since I was a babe but there are days where I think he wants something more, that at times he wishes I were his true daughter, instead of the daughter of another man's seed." Ava sighed heavily. "I do adore him and since the disappreance of my parents he has truly acted like a father but there's...there's something missing." Ava spoke as Geralt watched her.

"What would that be?"

"My father used to take me out on adventures. When I couldn't sleep at night, he would sneak me out of the house and we would go riding or if I was bored he would take me to a secluded area, train me and teach me things that no one outside of his group should ever know."

"What about the wolf form? Where did that come from?" Geralt asked as she sat upon the sill.

"Don't know, everything from before my first transformation is blurred and the immidate time before it is blank like it never existed." Ava told him as he reached out with one hand and she took it and he led her to the nearby table. He waved to the food and joined her; as they ate she told him what all she could fully remember; she did not realize that he was getting to know her, that he was trying to get her to remember how the wolf form came to be. As he learned more and more about her, he felt a deeper connection to the young woman and realized that she was almost excatly like Ciri. "Geralt, if it doesnt bother you I plan on staying in wolf form for a while. I see no point in using humanform when traveling and I was planning on trying to find any traces of my parents that can be found and that would be easiest to find some traces as a wolf over human."

"That will be fine. I will help you find your parents." He promised which made her smile. When she disappeared again after eating she returned in wolf form and he replaced the collar. The next day Ava was pardoned and given the lands her parents had owned but Ava pointed to Geralt with her nose and he was given the deed for safe keeping. Before they left Ava had a small metal thing placed onto the collar and both looked to Anna.

"To show you have been pardoned, but Geralt if she is to be your companion you may want to put something on the collar to signal that she is under your protection and that she is your 'pet' in a human sense." Anna Henrietta spoke as both nodded.

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That night, Geralt crafted a Witcher's symbol and placed it onto the collar. By the time dawn broke the next day they had long left the comfort of the city and traveled swiftly over the land; Ava racing along side Roach as Geralt drove the horse away from the capital and together they ran towards the boarders of Toussaint. When they came to the boarder, Ava stopped long enough to look back for the fleetest of moments and then continued on, now racing to catch up to the powerful Witcher Horse.

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The fight between the Bruxa and Ava is a tribute to the fight between Kiba and Darcia in the final Wolf's Rain episode.

The part where Ava tells Geralt about choosing to be a wolf has a hidden meaning that will be revealed much later on in the story.