The Witcher The Swallow and The Monster

The Cold Beginning

The young witcher heard his master snort and slowly wake up, he leaned forward from the chair he had been sitting on, "Hm? What?"Geralt turned around as the older man readjusted himself on his chair, "Time to wake up, master." As Vesemir put his head in his hand, Geralt continued, his ashen hair shined in the sunlight, the scar across his eye was even more revealed, "These lessons so boring they put you to sleep, too?"

Vesemir looked at the ground, and then at the piles of books, he quickly realized the two students were gone, "Dammit...I had them both taking notes on Ghouls and Alghouls...Wanted to rest my eyes a bit."

Geralt smiled a bit, that sounded like his Ciri, and it was just like her to drag (F/N) along with her, he could tell she was like a little sister to him. "Huh. Making her slog through that brick? (F/N) might stomach that but if Ciri took off there's no chance he'd stick around."

Vesemir scoffed and defended the teachings that he had delivered, "John of Brugge lacks flair, true, but he's reliable. Not like the hogwash they print nowadays. Let me guess, she's tackling the pendulums? And he's practicing technique, right?"Geralt remained silent and merely folded his arms, his golden cat like eyes didn't portray any emotion.

When Vesemir stood next to Geralt on the balcony he sighed and spoke with his displeasure, "How many times do I have to tell them? Don't train without a master it only embeds your errors. The boy will have enough problems as it is, he needs to have as flawless technique and knowledge as his body will allow."

Geralt sighed and nodded, he looked down at the courtyard and stared at (F/N), he could sense untapped strength within him, when he had found him in a home for young boys, all those years ago he was instantly curious. It was a stroke of luck that, they had found eachother, Geralt still thought it was a chance and not destiny, like Ciri. A small werewolf problem, and he hadn't even wanted the young boy as a reward for dealing with it. He hadn't been too fond of the young boy when they first met. But as time went on, and the small child grew, so had their connection.

Vesemir cleared his throat, his displeasure was obvious, "Bring our young damsel and her knight in shining armor to the lower courtyard, if they want practice, they'll get it."

Geralt stood up straight, and felt the need to defend the kids, "Don't get mad at them."

The old witcher scoffed, he found it odd that he had to explain himself to his own student, "Why the hell not? The young whipper snapper refuses to do as she's told, she keeps dragging the boy with her."

The ashen-haired man smirked, "Come on, you like that about her, and (F/N) is too focused for his own good, Ciri helps him see around him."

Vesemir sighed, acknowledging his own fault in the matter, "Fine, I suppose I'm partly to blame, but this has to end. Now." Geralt nodded and went to break the two up, "Killing monsters is not something to be taken lightly. Ciri and (F/N) must understand that if they are to become one of us." The old witcher's expression fell as the delicate subject of the young boy came up. "He'll face more scrutiny than any of us. He doesn't even know what he is. It's only a matter of time."

Geralt paused, how he planned on telling him, that was another matter entirely. How does one tell a child they weren't fully human? He certainly had no idea, "You and I both know, the more he trains, the better he gets, he's getting faster, stronger, his senses could be as strong as mine one day, even without mutations." Vesemir sighed, he was scared for the young boy, "Let's hope, he's understanding when he discovers who he is...but that's a concern for another day, I'll see you below."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(F/N) took a few breaths, his muscles weren't aching but he was sweating, for some reason he felt incredibly focused. He jumped out of the way of the air, and sliced at the wooden post before spinning and taking a jab, he finished off by spinning his sword in his hand. Geralt walked up to the young boy, his technique was a bit basic but he held himself very well and struck with strength. (F/N) could hear his teacher behind him, which only encouraged him to get more extravagant, he did a role and struck at the post, Geralt spoke up and gave him a lashing with words, "(F/N) you're footwork was off after the roll." The young boy rolled again, but paid attention to his boots, he was determined not to make a mistake. When Ciri did a flip from one of the wooden pillars to the other pillar he simply said, "Wrong." Ciri wobbled a bit but quickly regained her balance, Geralt didn't relent, "Now I see why you were both so eager to practice. Both of you Strike!"