(This chapter is rather slow so please bear with me here.)
"Get down."
"Since when do I listen to you?"
Another arrow went whizzing towards y/ns neck, she flinched raising her hands in shock only for when the arrow was to hit her neck it crumbled into splinters and rubble.
"How do you do that?!" Geralt asked raising his voice walking towards the shooter pulling out one of his swords whilst avoiding getting shot with an arrow. He sent a blast of magic over to knock the person off their feet. He walked over to them their body lying against a tree.
"You cut my hair, I cut your throat." And with that, he slammed the sword through the thief's neck completely decapitating him. He walked back to y/n with haste. "That's twice you've escaped death today we are going to have to move camp to make sure no one else can harm us."
"You focus on gathering new bits of wood while I figure out a spell to protect us Instead of having to move."
"Give me some light." She grabbed one of the sticks of wood from the dead fire and lit it as if it were a torch, "There you go princess." She said handing the fire over to Geralt earning her a glare and a grunt causing a smile to reach Y/n's face. He walked away amazed at how well a smile fit on her face, but all he could think about was the nerve she had to challenge him, and even just calling him 'princess' as if that was definitely risky, although it was in some backwards way intriguing for him.
He wanted nothing more than to get rid of her but not until he fixed their 'bond'. Although she was intriguing didn't mean he'd keep her around for the fun of it, he had his priorities set.
He lumbered back with wood in his arms. "Did you do one of your magic tricks yet?"
"Yeah, to a certain radius we are safe for the night. Just don't break it to go for a piss or something, if need be, dig a hole instead." Geralt looked at her with slight disgust and simply exhaled in response. Y/n leaned her head back against the tree closing her eyes to rest, listening intently.
Before she even realised what had happened Y/n had awoken from her slumber. She looked around to see that the sun was barely in the sky, the fire was out, and Roach and Geralt were nowhere to be seen. Remaining still she had heard the crunching of some leaves. Y/n had curled up as much as she could without hurting her leg so whoever or whatever it was would be less likely to see her. Then she heard words.
"I often have a rough time cooperating with others, but she doesn't seem to want to cooperate with me, so as soon as she is better, and she fixes this for us we are out of here."
Y/n could recognise that deep grumbly voice from anywhere. Y/n couldn't have cared less about what happened to him as long as he wasn't her responsibility. As long as he didn't get Roach hurt it didn't matter what Geralt wanted to do in Y/n's mind. She went back to her original position and rested her head back against the tree and instead pretended to wake up all over again.
She stretched her legs and stood up careful of her bad leg. She stood to her full height and limped out into the open.
"Geralt of Riva, where'd you go?"
He walked back into view guiding Roach their noble steed back with him too. "Morning" He stated.
"I thought you had left." She joked limping towards the once again dead fire. She began to walk off in a different direction from the man and had no sign of turning back. He walked towards her with Roach beside him and decided to ask, "Where are you going?"
"I need to find this kid I promised to protect," Y/n said absent-mindedly not wanting to bore him with her life story
"That's all well and good, but I think you should sort our problem out first so we can part ways." He asked quickening his pace so that he could catch up with her.
"Why do you hate human company so much? Are you really that against having me around?"
"Don't take this personally but I don't like being around you."
"Don't worry, message received." She spat back not happy with what he had told her, as any standard person would be. She continued limping only for Geralt to grasp the girl by the shoulder pulling her to a halt. "Get on Roach."
"What?"
"I said get on Roach." He grumbled undeniably feeling somewhat guilty for what he had said, and he wasn't even sure why he had said it. Maybe he didn't want to get attached, he put his thoughts to the side and picked up Y/n with ease before placing her on Roaches back as if she weighed nothing.
Y/n sat on the horse not speaking a word only giving him a nod of thanks.
He led roach by the rein. After too long of silence they were still walking through the long blades of grass. The two were aware they had entered a field but where there is a field there are people and where there are people there is a village, or at the very least directions to one. Geralt stopped Roach before gesturing for y/n to move. She scooted back on the horse giving Geralt room to hop up on Roach.
As the two approached a settlement village they began to walk through the centre of the town. Y/n slipped off the horse not wanting to alert Geralt. She walked into the closest inn and immediately asked for their costs for a room.
Geralt noticed her as soon as she hoped off, and continued to watch her as she entered an inn. He kept going, to find a safe place to leave Roach. After doing so he went on a search for the woman.
"I never really drank before." She said waving her hands trying to refuse their offer politely. Some of the people in the inn were giving her words of encouragement. Over the loud clatter of words of encouragement, she heard someone say, "Well what would you have expected from a woman, they can't hold their drink."
Looking around she pinpointed who the voice belonged to, "Hey you, I'll only drink if you will go up against me."
"Darling I drink for a living, you won't be able to do jack shit against me." He snorted, laughing towards his friends. This immediately made her spiteful and bitter towards the man wanting nothing more than to beat the shit out of him in this competition. "Don't call me darling when you're too scared to go up against a woman"
"Okay then, rules are whoever blacks out first loses."
"Let's go." She spoke with a smile ready to wreck this bitch.
Geralt was still looking around and finally gave up thinking that she would show up eventually. He began walking back to roach he began to walk past one of the inns only to witness people yelling and being overly lively. Entering the inn, he witnessed y/n chugging down from a wooden mug while a man beside her was doing the same. She was smiling widely as she placed down the mug earning a loud yell from the crowd they had attracted. Geralt walked over to her and took a hold of her upper arm. Making her turn to face him. Her smile dropped and she just pulled her arm away and turned away not wanting to give him any attention.
"Y/n, you're being very immature. We need to go and find someone who can help us so we can't be drawing too much attention to ourselves."
"Well, if you don't want to be around me just go, I'm happy staying here."
"Have you forgotten the reason I'm decided to stay around you? We need to fix the bond." He said only for her opponent to speak.
"We already have coin on who will be able to drink the most. And no breaks are permitted so drink or withdraw." The man spoke directing the last sentence towards the h/c girl.
"Well, my friend and I are in a rush so how about something stronger?" She was going to pass out if she did this, but she had a trick up her sleeve, Geralt stood beside her examining the mugs she had already drank from.
The two were handed the drink and they both started chugging. As the drink went down y/n used a small replacement spell swapping the drink to water, so if anything, it'd help her sober up and get the other man drunk quicker.
Geralt saw what she was up to noticing the spell take place and simply rolled his eyes. After a few more rounds to the woman's rigged game, she had come out victorious. Swiping the sack of coins off the table she stood up only to trip over her feet almost forgetting that she too was drunk.
Geralt grabbed her by the arm dragging her out of the crowd into the dark main street. Pulling her arm out of his grip she stumbled back a few steps and glared at him leaving a moment of silence between the two.
"What's the problem with you? We aren't fighting over the fact that I said I didn't care for your company."
"I haven't really had human company I enjoyed in so long and the one time I find someone I remotely admire obviously they want nothing to do with me."
"It wasn't a personal thing I just don't want to have this stupid bond with you. You don't know how much of a burden a human can have on you, especially one with powers that doesn't even know how to use them correctly."
"Enlighten me, Witcher." She barked back bitterly her eyes glaring at him daring him to speak one word out of place but oddly enough he kept quiet. Most threats if not all threats wouldn't have affected him although now was the off chance where he thought to keep his mouth shut. He knew that she was drunk and if something were to happen, she wouldn't be in the right mindset.
"When I was young, really little. I never got anything right and my old mother used to try to take care of me. You grew up as a 'man', you never knew what it was like to be a woman in my times."
Geralt listened to her and decided to comment on what he thought he knew, "I'm older than you think, and I have seen and experienced oppression"
"I'm old enough to be your grandma." she retorted with a vague laugh while tears began to gather ever so slightly at the bottom of her eyes thinking about everything she has been through.
"I highly doubt that."
"All we had to do was keep the waters calm but I could never quite get it right. I was told to keep their secrets and in turn, they'd keep mine, but it never quite worked out that way. All I could do as a child was sit there... That feeling of uselessness and lack of control you do not know." She barked getting annoyed thinking Geralt couldn't understand how much worse she had it simply because she was a woman and her drunken state wasn't helping her. "And that is a dreadful thing to go through as a four-year-old child," she said gradually raising her voice at him taking slow steps closer to him the louder she got causing the man to slowly begin to walk backwards.
"How did you get here then" He whispered not wanting to cause her any more anger but in her inebriated state she continued to ramble on glaring into his soul.
"I had to fucking kill him, my father. That was my first experience with magic. Burning him down just like he deserved... the worst part was I liked it, it made me feel powerful."
"My father was a bastard. As far as I'm concerned, he never existed. Helplessness was no longer a feeling I had to experience and with that magic I could take care of myself and my mother, but she was scared of my gift. Although she made sure that I knew she feared the magic, and not me. But even she left after a few years."
He didn't realise but they had made it to the other side of the street with their gradual walk and finally stopped causing her to stop walking too. "What happened to her?"
"Mom died around 70 years ago." Her jaw was trembling as if she was about to cry but she couldn't control it. He went to place a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.
The woman smacked his hand away forming a small dagger from thin air only to back him up to a wall holding the blade to his throat. He remained calm and listened intently.
"You need to back off my shit. I don't care what you need I have been taking care of everyone I've ever known since my father died- "
"You murdered him."
"You wouldn't have?"
"I have taken care of humans since as far back as I can remember, be it my mother, or random strangers who didnt deserve to live. And I'm fucking done with taking care of everyone but myself. From here on out I will take care of myself and i will do what I want when I want."
He looked into her dazed yet somehow focused eyes, and even took notice of her heavy breathing, even details of the white uniform she wore that he hadn't noticed beforehand.
He spoke softly to her to comfort her, "Fine, but from here on in we stick together."