a l d i t h
Candlelight was the only thing to light the cold, dark huts on the outskirts of Velen; No Mans Land.
People often mistook all Temerian's as rich. As one of the wealthiest realms in the Northern Kingdom, it also had the highest rate of poverty, which was cleverly hidden through drawing attention to the capital, Vizima. Home to King Foltest. No Mans Land was the land of sickness and deceit. Bandits, thieves, monsters.
She paced along the uneven, creaking floor, a book balanced firmly in the palm of her hand. She focused on each word carefully, not taking into consideration her surroundings. It wasn't long before she knocked the silver cutlery off of the cabinet, "Shit."
She bent over to pick up the spoons and placed them back on top of the cabinet. Bending back over carefully, she picked up her book and continued reading.
Eventually setting down on the rolled out rug in what was the shared bedroom for both her and her brother, Belvedere - the lilac haired woman studied a particular page with a furrowed brow. She had always known about Witcher's, and had often heard civilians speak of them, 'Mutants', she heard them be called, or 'Scum'.
You see, now humans had evolved with weaponry, combat skills combined with Mages serving with Kings - there wasn't often need for a Witcher; a monster slayer; they were a dying breed.
A long, skeletal finger traced over the words written on the page that spoke of a particular Witcher. He had always fascinated her, his brooding expression, strength, bravery amongst many other things. He was written to be a hero, yet many people despised him, for his amber eyes and tall, stocky frame.
Before Belvedere and Agnus - her mother, were subject to bandit slaughter, they would ridicule the lilac haired woman for having such an interest, an infatuation with this man, "Reading the same words over and over won't suddenly make him appear, my love. It's all tell tale, Witcher's don't exist anymore, and if they did, they sure as fucking hell wouldn't waste their time in a shit infested wasteland like this."
She had lived in No Mans Land her entire life, her father killed hunting; leaving just Agnus, Belvedere and herself. She was conditioned to grow up without a father figure, learning how to sew, clean and cook whilst her brother went to hunt. She taught herself basic hunting kills, and learnt how to defend herself if the situation ever called for it.
A strand of hair fell from behind the young woman's ear, which was gently placed back to where it was previously sat, it soon fell again when she jumped backwards at the sound of an almighty crash coming from the outside of the hut. A faint crackling could be heard, and a soft red glow emitted under the cracks of the door. The woman stood up and slowly edged toward the door, her hair now free flowing over her shoulders and cascading down her back and face, her gut told her that something bad had happened, and it was only confirmed through the terrified screams erupting from the neighbouring huts.
Fire.
Smoke bellowed throughout the forest village, as children, men and women screamed, helplessly running around as their clothes burnt from their backs, the smell of fresh rotting away filled her nose and lungs, causing her to lunge forwards and vomit, "Help, someone help us!" She bellowed as loud as she could, but nobody heard her, nobody responded to her cries for help. Why would they? They were seen as an inconvenience to Foltest, and to the rich. Burning them alive would only be ridding the world of 'Vermin'.
She knew what this was though, bandits raided through poor community's, for the people wouldn't fight back, nor would they have adequate protection. They were easy targets.
Fearing for her life, with adrenaline coursing through her blood and veins, she ran. Ran deep into the forest, away from the smoke, and the screams. She had no idea where she was going, her boots getting more soaked the deeper she ran into the forest; mud collecting at the front. Her blouse falling out of her leather trousers, yet she had no time to care for her appearance as tears stained her cheeks and her hair matted from the sweat, rain and leaves that fell from the trees. She ran for hours.
The forest continued to get darker, and her legs couldn't carry her much longer. She fell into a heap on the floor, the mud engulfing her in a cold, wet embrace. She was used to being alone, after Agnus and Belvedere were killed, but now she was truly alone, her friends now burnt alive in a gruesome, brutal attack. Who did she have left?
The sound of twigs snapping under a heavy leather boot echoed throughout the forest, startling the lilac haired woman. She lifted her head from her knees and squinted, seeing if anybody was around, yet she couldn't see anything. Darkness surrounded the forest, she could barely make out the trees that say in front of her. Was it a bandit, coming to finish the job? Did they see her flee? Panic set in again, her heart rate elevating ever so slightly, her breath catching. She frantically turned her head, from left to right but to no avail, she couldn't see a thing. Her ears were her only friend and even they were playing tricks on her.
Feeling better, she stood up and decided to try and find a clearing, or another village. Just somewhere with a light source, or less trees - the claustrophobia was crushing.
After walking for what felt like hours, but was probably minutes at most, she found a clearing in the woods, a break in the trees. A large swamp say in the middle of the clearing, and a small deer was perched alongside it, bleeding from its side, "Hunters." She muttered, not paying any attention to the rippling of the water.
Before she could continue walking, a large beast; more commonly known in the world of monsters and a Kikimore - erupted out of the water. A white haired armoured man attached to its body, flailing a sword, thrashing at its body. She fled behind a tree, cowering at the mere sight of this huge, grotesque beast. It's huge arm flung the man into the water, holding him under there for a few seconds, before a sword flung into its mouth, stunning it - not long after it fell backwards, clearly defeated. She peeked round the tree and watched the man turn around, her eyes widening with realisation.
White hair hit his shoulders, dripping wet, what was left of a Rivian ponytail hung limp, the tie falling out. Black, leather armour gripped his muscular frame, with two swords held in a sheath along his back. Steel for humans, Silver for monsters. Finally her eyes caught the medallion sitting on his chest.
She knew exactly what this man was, she knew who he was.
"Witcher's will never come to No Mans Land Aldith, even if it is heaving with monsters. We simply just do not have the coin to pay them. So they stay away." Belvedere muttered at the table.
Their mother placed her spoon down, "Enough talk of the mutants at the dinner table."
Her breath hitched as he edged closer, he looked down at the deer, "Today's not your day, is it?" he muttered before swinging his sword, heroically ended the deers pain. She watched him walk towards a horse, a beautiful brown mare, "Come on Roach."
He walked towards her, slowly tilting his head, tightening his grip on his horses reign, he spoke, "Who are you?"
Her eyes widened, she froze.
"Cat got your tongue? Pity." He said.
She shook her head, standing up and smoothing down her hair, tucking it behind her ear. "Aldith, my name is Aldith."
"Hm, elven? Explains the lilac hair." He asked, more to himself.
"I'm not sure, I never asked about my name, I'm not an elf." She looked at her feet.
"Where are you from?"
"Velen. The outskirts, a small forest village but it's been torched by bandits." She stopped for a minute, looking around and realised she had no idea where she was. "Where am I?"
"Blaviken, you're a long way from home, kid." And with that, he continued to walk, away from Aldith.
"You're Geralt of Rivia, the White Wolf." She shouted, walking after him.
"Hm." Geralt hummed, he stopped and turned around to look at her; she must of been from Elven descent, lilac hair, tall and skinny, confident; perhaps even outspoken. Maybe a sorceress? No human naturally had that skin tone or hair colour. She was exceptional, her large green hazel eyes bored into him with despair and almost a plea; a plea for help, "Do you always follow strangers?"
She laughed, she wasn't sure if he was intentionally being funny but it made her laugh all the same, this earned her a smirk from the legendary white wolf. "No, however I assume you're going to a town for a reward on that ungodly monster."
"Correct." He nodded, "Look lady, I'd love to help you, but I can't. I don't do company, or companions."
"I'm not after a companion, just someone to travel to the town you're going too." Aldith kicked a battered brown boot into the mud, a simple action; showing her stubbornness.
Geralt sighed and shook his head, his orange eyes staring straight at the green ones that pierced through him, "Fine. You accompany me to Blaviken village, I'll drop you off there. You can start fresh, and I'll be on my way."
"Thank you." The lilac haired woman beamed.
"Hm."
Aldith sped up her steps to keep up with the legendary Gwynbledd, she was in mostly good health though, so this didn't bother her. Two things bothered Geralt, how did the woman get from Velen to Blaviken? They were located in two completely different regions, and how did she do it so quickly? He wanted to ask her, ask her more about who she was, why her hair was the way it was, there was something more to the woman he had just met. Though in the grand scheme of things, it didn't interest him that much. It was more of a natural curiosity.
"What are you doing with a Kikimore?" Aldith questioned, briefly turning her head towards the monster; that was limp along the back of the horse.
"There was a notice, I picked it up, I get paid. Simple really. The Alderman wanted it dead." Geralt replied simply.
Aldith shrugged her shoulders slightly, "Oh." She looked ahead, at the village that was coming into sight, "You're not much of a conversationalist, are you Geralt?"
The sound of her using his name unsettled him, she had only just met him. Yet his name rolled off of her tongue as if they had known each other for years. "Like I said, I don't do company. Look, we're nearly here. We'll go to the inn, and I'll drop you off there."
"Ok." Aldith sighed.
She was used to being alone. Hell, she even enjoyed it. But a part of her didn't want to leave Geralt, she felt protected, maybe, just maybe, she had found someone just as fucked up as her, in that lonely, grim world.