(F/N) stood up and rubbed the part of his face that was exposed, he slowly felt himself wake up. He slipped his finger-less gloves over his hands, they were made of black leather, so his hands wouldn't get scraped up. He picked up his sword from off the dry ground, he slowly drew it from it's sheath, kieł, was its name. His hands shook as he took some cleaning oil out of his pouch and started cleaning it, the sword was one of his most prized possessions. It was made of a silver steel alloy, so it worked on monsters and humans. It only made his fingers burn slightly when his skin touched it.
The oil made the blade shine, it smelled of berries and herbs. (F/N) made sure to rub the rag in between the ruins that had been carved into the blade, he kept taking deep slow breaths, he was just a young witcher polishing his sword, he hadn't been about to battle the wild hunt and lose.
Geralt stood in front of the fire as he tossed a stick into it, he noticed his ward seemed off, "You alright?" (F/N) nodded and swallowed, he didn't want to talk about the events he had dreamed of, "I'm fine."
The witcher nodded, accepting the answer, he wasn't in the mood to have a heart to heart conversation, "Alright." The man merely held his hands out so the fire could warm them. Vesemir sighed at his former wards dismissal, he sat up and leaned against a nearby tree. He looked at the young witcher and spoke with compassion, "I could hear you panicking in your sleep, you haven't done that for awhile."
(F/N) glanced at the old witcher with his red eyes, he nervously sheathed his sword, and started ringing his hands, "I just had a nightmare is all."
Geralt looked at the young witcher, his curiosity was nearly non-existent, "About?"
(F/N) swallowed and slowly put the oil away, he didn't want to discuss what had happened, but when your master asked you a question, it was expected they receive an answer. (F/N) quickly recalled what he could, "I was back at Kaer Morhen...I was a kid...you were there...so were you."
(F/N) gestured at Vesemir with his head, he slowly sheathed his sword and adjusted the sheath so it was on his back, "Ciri and I were training together, then Geralt came and then we all trained together."
Geralt clenched his hands slightly, at the mention of Ciri, he hadn't seen her in so long, just the mention of her hurt him. Vesemir on the other hand smiled when he reflected, "Those were the days...Hm, little she devil, she could talk you into doing anything."
(F/N) smiled a little and remembered back to when he and Ciri had tried feeding Lambert slugs, they got along so well back then. Vesemir smiled, when he saw the young witchers reaction, "You two were inseparable, I remember you would always be the one to help her anyway you could, but she had you wrapped around her finger."
(F/N) rolled his eyes, he wasn't that obsessed, the oldest witcher leaned forward, he rested his arms on his knees, he could predict where he was going, "Didn't end well, did it? Your dream?"
(F/N) shook his head, he remembered the ending of it all to well, "The Wild Hunt showed up...they were gonna destroy everything...kill everyone...I felt helpless, which I was, I was just a kid."
Geralt finally spoke up, that was one phrase he refused to hear, "You may not have been what you are now, but you were far from helpless, my training made sure of that." The young witcher looked up at his master and smiled under his cloth mask, but other than that showed no reaction. Despite the rumors of witchers being emotionless men, he probably felt more emotional after the trial of grasses. He thought about his interaction with Ciri, he remembered the part where she said she liked him, that had happened, well...a version of it happened, he had been fourteen and she had been thirteen, and the whole encounter had been a lot more passionate. But that was a long time ago. She had scene only seen him one time since he had...(F/N) abandoned that train of thought. He looked at his finger tips, they looked so different then from what he remembered.
The man stood up, he wanted to get this task over with, he felt that something was wrong, and it involved Ciri. They both shared a connection, he knew when she was in trouble, he had known for awhile. Geralt looked at (F/N), a sense of eagerness seemed to hit him as well, he also had a reason, "We should get moving, it'll be dawning soon, call the horses."
(F/N) nodded and sucked a bit of air to his lungs, he let out a high pitched whistle, he could hear the sound of three hoof beats from afar. Sure enough, all of their horses trotted up, (F/N) walked over to his horse, Nosfer, and casually rubbed his neck, as Vesemir stood up. Geralt walked over to his horse, Roach, and got ready to begin riding, the old witcher spoke up, "Wait. Show me the letter from Yennefer, might've overlooked some hint in there."
(F/N) clenched his fist as he heard the name, it wasn't that he hated Yennefer, it was more of a mutual loathing, but there relationship was a lot more complicated. She didn't act as though she loathed him, but he was certain she did, but he had his reasons for hating her. He had come incredibly close to denying Master Geralt when he asked him to come search for the sorceress. His anger had only increased when it had been discovered that their original meeting spot had been destroyed. They had been tracking her for days, they had ran through some distant battlefields in order to keep tracking her. So now he was following the trail of said sorceress with his two father figures, all in all things could be much worse.
As Geralt handed Vesemir the letter, (F/N) took a quick sniff, even from this distance he could smell Yennefer's signature scent: lilac and gooseberries, although it was very faint. (F/N) walked up to the other two witchers, as Vesemir summarized the letter, "'We must meet, soon...Willoughby, near Vizima...hm, nothing here to guide us there.' Wait, what's this postscript? 'I still have the unicorn'?"
(F/N)'s eyes widened, he couldn't believe the old witcher had just read that aloud, "What? You mean..." the young witcher burst out laughing, he couldn't believe his master and the sorceress had used that. Geralt gave him a look, but kept most of his attention on Vesemir, he wished his ward wouldn't have said anything, "That's private. Very private."
The old witcher gave (F/N) a look, and seemed to understand what was going on, "I think it's for the best I don't understand."
Geralt sighed, "Back on topic. How's it look-how far behind Yennefer are we?"
Vesemir walked away from the horses so he could look at the rising sun, (F/N) walked up behind him, but squinted, to avoid the suns glare, as the older witcher spoke, "Two, three days...Trail's fresh. But it looks like it leads towards the main road. Could be muddled there."
Suddenly a scent wafted through the air, it smelled of death, and rotten flesh, (F/N) cocked his head, and took a deep sniff, he'd know that scent anywhere, necrophages, "I think we might have some guests coming." The horses started freaking out, as the witchers drew their swords, Geralt and Vesemir chose their silver ones, while (F/N) drew kieł. (F/N) growled when three ghouls ran out of the woods on all fours, they looked hungry. There pale white flesh, was wrinkly, had boils, and cuts all around the. The ghoul's fangs were bared, and they were drooling, they wanted food. Geralt spun his sword theatrically and ran at one, while Vesemir kept a strong defensive position, waiting for one of the ghouls to come after him.
(F/N) spun his sword in his hand, the pain he felt from his sword only focused him, before the ghoul ran at him, he stood in place with his defenses lowered as the ghoul ran at him. When the monster was close enough it lept at him, but as quick as lightning (F/N) hopped to the right to avoid the attack and swung his sword down. It was like slicing through air, there was no resistance, as he cut through the monster. When the ghoul returned to the ground, it was in two pieces, it let out a pitiful howl of pain as it died. (F/N) wiped kieł on his sleeve before he sheathed it. As he finished up he noticed Geralt was walking towards Roach, he had made even quicker work of the ghoul. (F/N) started walking back to Nosfer, it only served to remind him how far he needed to go. Vesemir finished slaying the last ghoul, as he sheathed his sword, he let out an annoyed sigh, "Of course. When armies pass, necrophages, follow. Let's go before anymore show up."
(F/N) shook his head as he saddled up, and snapped the reins, "Suppose we should be grateful, it wasn't a devourer or a grave hag."
Vesemir nodded a little, in acknowledgment, but didn't reply, he really didn't want to fight any necrophages. As the three witchers rode off, Geralt spoke up, "I ever tell either of you about this sorcerer I knew? Couldn't stop talking about how useful they are as creatures."
(F/N) raised an eyebrow, and rattled off the first thing that came to him, "Because they make good practice for hunting monsters?"
The other witcher simply added, "Because by eating rotting the corpses they prevent epidemics."
(F/N) laughed loudly, while Vesmir shook his head, "Did he know they eat the living as well?"
Geralt kept the neutral look on his face, "No. Really upset him, too. His theory collapsed."
(F/N) shook his head as he rode behind the two witchers, the sun was slowly rising over the horizon, thankfully his hood protected him from the sun's glare. As they kept riding, (F/N) picked up the stench of death, he looked at a nearby, hanging post, it had multiple bodies with sacks over there heads, hanging by the neck. (F/N) sighed, as he watched the dead bodies swing in the wind, "The war's only getting worse, innocents suffering, the world really is going to shit."
Geralt glanced at (F/N), and spoke in a matter of fact voice, "it has been for a long time."
The old witcher in the front spoke up, "Enough you two, once one side wins then things will start to get better."
"Believe that?"
The Vesemir sighed, he truly didn't know, but he wanted to keep his hopeful tone, "Gotta believe in something, that's what keeps us going."
(F/N) smiled under his mask, he was about to respond, but then he heard something, the others heard it to, it sounded like a hawk but much bigger, the three immediately knew what it was. Vesemir looked at the others, "We going?"
Geralt just snapped the reins to Roach, and took off, while (F/N) unsheathed his sword and followed after his master. (F/N) rode Nosfer as fast as he could, his horse kicked up dirt as he rode hard, the dirt road led them to an opening where a river used to be. It was an opening in the woods, where anyone could see everything. Sure enough, there was a wagon, that looked badly damaged, (F/N) heard what must have been the wagons owner hiding under it, "Help me! Help!"
(F/N) hoped off of his horse and held his blade in a defensive position, as Geralt and Vesemir dismounted, they stared at the creature who's large frame was only being slightly covered by the wagon. The young witcher clenched the hilt of his sword, as he easily identified the monster, when he got a good look at it, it was a griffin. The large hawk like monster was currently eating the merchant's horse, it stopped eating it's meal and let out a loud caw when it saw the three witchers, it's feathers and beak were covered in blood. Geralt slapped Roach's behind to make her gallop away, he ran at the winged monster. The horrid looking beast started flapping it's wings when the strongest witcher slashed at its leg.
The monster howled as it flew up, but the witcher only succeeded in drawing blood. (F/N) kept his sword up, he knew exactly what the griffin was gonna do. It glared at the three men, but then it dive bombed the people who hadn't attacked it: Vesemir and (F/N), the younger of the two dove out of the way, as the large monster soared towards them, he barely avoided getting struck by the beasts talons. Vesemir wasn't so lucky, he howled and grabbed his shoulder as he fell to the ground, the talons of the monster sliced through his armor. (F/N) jumped off the ground as the griffin swung back around for another attack. But (F/N) was ready this time, he raised his hand, made some quick gestures and suddenly a column of flames shot out of his hands.
The griffin flew higher to avoid the fire, but it dove again so it could snatch the dead horse from off the ground. (F/N) watched the griffin as it flew off with it's meal, it let out one last screech. (F/N) sheathed his sword and shook his head, he watched the monster fly off. He looked over and saw Vesemir was standing and holding his hand on his shoulder, right over the spot, the griffin had hit him in. (F/N) shook his head as Geralt walked up to him, and asked him his usual question, "What was your mistake?"
(F/N) cleared his throat, he had panicked and chose the first sign that came to him, "I used Igni instead of Aard, which would have knocked the griffin out of the sky, so we could kill it." Geralt nodded, his yellow eyes bore into him, "If It's a large monster knocking it off balance could mean the difference between life and death." The young witcher nodded, making sure to make a mental note, as the merchant from under the wagon spoke up, "Ha-Has it gone?"
Geralt shot (F/N) one last look before answering, "Yeah. Come out!" The timid looking merchant crawled out from under his wagon, and let out a sigh of relief, he was filthy from hiding under the wagon, "Gods, that was close! I was sure I'd end up like my mare."
(F/N) folded his arms, and spoke as honestly as he could, "You really wouldn't have wanted that, getting eaten by a griffin is a horrible way to go, they'll just hold you down and take bites out of you, it's slow."
The merchant turned white, "Oh ahh." He looked at (F/N)'s red eyes and took a step back, he seemed freaked out at first, but then he noticed that the other two had yellow eyes, he realized they were witchers, "I-I suppose you'd like a reward?"
(F/N) scoffed that wasn't his question to answer, Geralt added, "You don't owe us anything. You were in need, we helped."
The merchant smiled, as he realized his saving was free, "And they call witcher heartless. Say they wouldn't lift a finger without pay."
(F/N) leaned on the merchants wagon, and casually replied, "They also say that we abduct children, don't believe everything you hear."
The Merchant nodded and went to fix his wagon, Geralt looked at Vesemir, eager to keep searching for Yennefer, "Back to the trail?"
The old witcher nodded, "Like I said, leads to the main road and ends there. Muddled."
(F/N) sighed, he didn't want to put this much effort into finding Yennefer but he kept his mouth shut. The merchant turned back to them, "You seek someone?"
Geralt nodded, he was desperate for any help at this point, "Yes, a woman, medium height, long-black hair. Seen anyone like that?"
The Merchant shook his head, "No, but...there's an inn here in White Orchard. Sole one around. Get's it share of travelers, perhaps you'll learn something there. Besides the inn keeps my cousin, tell her Bram sent you, she'll treat you like family."
(F/N) slapped the merchant on the back, they were already relieved, "Thank you, we just might take her up on that."
Geralt nodded in agreement with his ward, and looked at Vesemir, "Not a bad idea. Considering that wound needs cleaning."
The old witcher looked at his shoulder witch wasn't bleeding too badly, "Bah, beast barely grazed me. But sure, could use a good rye. Nice and cool, you know straight from a cellar."
(F/N) played up how thirsty he was, and spoke with even more hoarseness in his voice, "Getting ale doesn't sound to horrible."
Geralt nodded, he was a bit tired himself, "Let's go."
As (F/N) saddled up on Nosfer, he took a smell of the air, immediately he wished he hadn't. Although it was faint, the smell of blood wafted through the air, (F/N) felt his lips wet from saliva, his pupils dilated slightly, it had been so long since he even had a taste. But all it took was a sniff and it felt like he needed blood. Geralt turned and noticed (F/N) was staring at the spot where the horse had been devoured, he saw the red spots on the wet ground, "(F/N) focus."
The young witcher shook his head, and blinked a few times, he muttered an apology, and snapped his horses reins, "Sorry, I lost focus." Geralt gave him a concerned look as they started riding. He didn't need him going crazy.
The village was small and casual, there were a couple of huts, a blacksmith, it was simple, but people seemed to enjoy themselves. As the three witchers rode into White Orchard, they had a similar greeting, children and cats noticed them first. A tom cat hissed at Vesemir and ran off, while kids screamed and ran off in terror when they saw Geralt's eyes. When the people saw (F/N) however they looked terrified, people tended to be scared when other people had blood red eyes that looked like cat eyes. (F/N) was used to it by now, ever since he became a witcher people treated him horribly, he was a mutant, a freak, a half monster.
As (F/N) pulled Nosfer over to a hitching post, he didn't bother tying the horse down, he was trained to well. The witcher hopped off of his horse, and walked over to the door of the inn, the large wooden building was covered, in decorations, and the inside sounded incredibly lively. As (F/N) opened the door, everyone in the building went dead silent when they saw the three witchers.