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merlot-and-chardonnay · 3 months

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Snowball Fight- Ciri

This is kinda based on the snowball fight Geralt had with Ciri in Witcher 3 game, but it's based on the Netflix version. The reader joins the duo at Kaer Morhen and instigates a snowball fight, all while dragging the other witchers into it.

Enjoy.

"Morning all," you greet as you take a seat at one of the tables in the keep, grabbing some bread and dried meat for your breakfast.

You look around and see the usual company was present at your particular table. Well almost. Geralt was there, as was Triss, Eskel, Lambert, and Coen. But you notice a certain young girl was nowhere to be found. "Where's Ciri?" you ask.

"Hell if I know," Lambert shrugs, taking a bite of bread, "I ain't that little brat's keeper. That's Geralt's job ask him." "Okay," you say turning to the white haired witcher, "Geralt, where is Ciri?" "She was supposed to be eating breakfast right now," Geralt says, "but she said she didn't feel hungry and wanted to get a head start with training instead."

"Again?" you groan in exasperation. "What's the big deal, one missed meal won't hurt the girl," Coen points out. "One meal yes," you agree, "but this has been going for over two weeks now. And it's not just breakfast, sometimes she skips lunch. And sometimes she comes back bruised and exhausted to the point where's she's too tired to eat at all. Is no one else concerned about her physical health and well being? Surely I can't be the only one."

"Of course we're all worried about her," Triss says, "but you know how stubborn Ciri can be. She's wants to learn how to fight and she's determined. Although, that being said she is still a child. She needs time to act like one while she still is." "Ha!" Eskel quips in, "not like any of us had a childhood either." "Eskel has a point," Lambert agrees, "why should the princess have something we've never got?"

You sigh and shake your head, "Can you at least tell me where she went?" "She's at the training course," Geralt answers, "I believe she asked Vesemir to go with her, show her a few of his own tricks with a sword."

You nod and stand, taking a plate of food with you as you exit the keep.

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

As you make your way towards the obstacle course, the young girl in question comes within sight. Wooden sword in hand, Ciri made various turns and pirouettes while Vesemir observed, nodding in approval. You were close enough to see the young girl was growing tired already, but despite this state, she seemed determined to perfect her skills.

You sigh a bit and approach. "Am I interrupting?" you speak up, right when Ciri was in the middle of a turn, causing the girl to slip up and lose her sword. "Yes, you were," Ciri sighs in annoyance, "I almost had it and you distracted me." "In (y/n)'s defense, if you were more aware of your surroundings, you wouldn't have been taken by surprise so easily," Vesemir states, "what if it had a forktail or a bruxa instead?" "It wasn't," Ciri points out, "if it was, you would've done something about it." "And if I wasn't here to keep aware for you?"

Ciri remained silent, not having an answer for that. "I'll leave you to take over babysitting for a while," the elder witcher tells you as he leaves.

"I brought you breakfast, Ciri," you say, handing her the plate, "Geralt said you didn't eat anything today, and if you want to get better at fighting, you need food to keep you strong." Ciri seemed reluctant, but it was clear her tired state and growling stomach was making it difficult for her to refuse. She took the plate from you and scarfed down the contents.

"Clearly you've been neglecting your basic dietary needs," you state, "don't eat too fast, honey, you'll get sick." "Sorry," Ciri says, mouthful as she swallows what food was in her mouth, "I just wanted to get these new tricks perfected. Vesemir's been showing me every day but I can never seem to get the hang of it. I need to get this right."

"You don't need to get it right all the time," you point out. "Geralt said anything less then perfect can get me killed," Ciri points back. "Yeah, I'll need to have a chat with Geralt about that," you mutter, "you know, Ciri, sometimes when you keep trying at something for too long you may find yourself actually getting worse at it. It may be a sign that you need to take a step back, rest from it, maybe do something else to take your mind off it." "Well what else am I supposed to do around here?" Ciri huffs.

You think about it for a moment. There wasn't much to do in Kaer Morhen beyond sword fighting and making deadly potions. This place wasn't really meant to encourage looking into hobbies apart from killing monsters and collecting coin. You look around to see the snow on the ground. This was winter after all, that's why the witchers were here in the first place. You take some snow from the ground, roll into a ball, and toss it at Ciri's head, taking her off guard.

"Hey!" you couldn't but giggle, "well, what are you going to do about it?" you sass.

Grin on her face, Ciri rolls up a snowball of her own and tosses at you. You dodge, but Ciri rolls up another ball. You dodge that one, but you hear a familiar 'oof' sound behind you. "Watch it, girl!" Lambert scolds, wiping snow off his beard.

"Sorry," Ciri giggles a bit. "Lambert, what are you even doing here?" you ask. "I was going to see ol' Vesemir kick Ciri's arse," the witcher simply answers, "especially after that little stunt, she damn well deserves it, the little brat."

Your own eyes narrowing, you throw a snowball at Lambert, "what the fuck?" Lambert exclaims. "Oh I'm sorry," you sass, "I just thought you damn well deserved it." "Alright, if that's how you want to be," Lambert says, taking a snowball in his own hand. "Run, Ciri!" you say, happily running off with Ciri while Lambert chases the two of you.

As the three of you got closer to the keep, Lambert kept throwing snowballs at you and Ciri. Coen and Eskel had walked out right at that moment; Lambert threw snowballs, hitting the two witchers in face.

"What the fuck, Lambert?!" Eskel exclaims. "That was hardly called for," Coen agrees, wiping the snow off him. Both witcher now had crossed looks aimed at Lambert, "Ah, men, I swear, that was not for you," Lambert insists, backing away, "don't give me those looks."

Eskel and Coen both pick up snowballs and toss them at Lambert. You and Ciri did your best to contain you laughter as Lambert gets chased around. The two of you were so busy containing your laughter, neither of you notice Eskel and Coen turn and throw snowballs at you.

You and Ciri get behind some broken walls and return fire.

"What's going on out here?" you hear Geralt's voice as he walks out, which everyone stopped the snowball fight at this moment. You throw a snowball at the white haired witcher.

You quickly get behind the wall before Geralt could retaliate. Eskel, Coen, and Lambert started laughing, so Geralt took some snowballs and threw them at his brethren. You and Ciri throw snowballs at Geralt, so now the witcher went back and forth throwing snowballs at either side.

In need of some cover, Geralt runs off and jumps to a high point in the keep. Triss took a peak outside to see the little 'battle' going on. Smiling she goes to join Geralt as reinforcement.

"Ciri, I need more snow!" you exclaim, throwing snowballs at Eskel and Coen. While Ciri did so, you felt multiple snowballs hit you on the back and practically cover you from head to toe. "Hey!" you call out, shaking off the snow.

"Nice shot, Triss," Geralt compliments. "Always happy to help," Triss says with a smile before you and Ciri throw snowballs at Geralt, catching him off guard and knocking him off his feet. "Oh gods," you say, concern in your voice when you saw Geralt fall and land on the snow.

"Geralt!" Ciri calls out as you and her rush to make sure he was okay. Geralt laid on his back, seemingly not moving. As you and her get closer, Geralt then suddenly stands up and pelts the two of you with snow.

"At least he's alright," Coen sighs in relief. "You actually thought he was gone?" Eskel snorts. "Well, if he was, it would be a shit way to go for a witcher," Coen points out, "death by snowballs. Vesemir would never let any of us live it down. Or Lambert now that I think about it." "Where is Lambert?" Eskel asks, looking around.

Right on cue, Lambert had shown up with a giant snowball he spent the better part of the late morning rolling. "Incoming!" Lambert shouts, rolling the giant snowball towards his colleagues, whom wisely dodge. That was right when Vesemir came outside, "what in the name of Melite is going on out here-"

Before the elder witcher could really finish his question, the giant snowball makes full impact. You, Ciri, Triss, and the other witcher break out in laughter as Vesemir pops out of the disintegrated snow boulder. He was mad at first, naturally, but a small smile formed on his face from watching you all with your own smiles, even if it was at his expense.

The snowball fight soon turned to a full scale battle for the rest of the afternoon.

Masterlist

#the witcher #geralt of rivia #ciri #lambert #eskel #coen #vesemir #one shot

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cosmos-coma · 5 months

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I have another old sick day post lined up to post in the next few days!

Do you guys have any characters you’ve been wanting to see more of lately?? Let me know!

#I’m thinking of like one shots #I have a mini series for geralt in my mind rn #and of course TCTBU has Eskel #dm me or ask me to let me know! I’ll probably do it

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sourwolf-sterek32 · 9 months

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Broken Heart

Summary: You were the first and only female Witcher.

You and Geralt had been together since you were teenagers, training and fighting alongside each other for decades. However, when Yennefer of Vengerberg showed up, he chose her.

Now, years later, you go back to Kaer Morhen for the winter and come face to face with Geralt of Rivia, forcing old feelings to resurface once again.

Pairing: Geralt of Rivia x Reader

Word Count: 3.3k

Warnings: Language, violence

Previous Chapter

Chapter 12-

Travelling the Continent constantly looking over your shoulder for danger wasn't so different from when you used to walk The Path with Geralt and Eskel slaying monsters for coin.

You missed those days.

Life had been so much simpler back then.

And you missed your twin brother dearly.

Now, you were running from powers across the Continent who wanted to get to Ciri and use her Elder Blood for their own personal gain. You had lost track of how many different factions were hunting the girl, but it didn't matter. You were never letting anyone touch her.

Recently, you had found yourselves taking refuge in one of Yarpen’s cabins situated on the outskirts of the woods by a frozen lake. You were surprised that he was willing to help you, knowing what kind of heat you would bring to his area if anyone found out, but you also knew that he wanted the hush money for his discretion, so actually, you weren't surprised at all.

Yennefer had followed along with you, Geralt and Ciri, moving from place to place with you guys without complaining. She continued trying to train the young girl with her powers, but as far as you could tell, that training hadn't been very successful.

Jaskier had travelled with you for a while too before meeting a woman named Vespula, and well, he chose to stay with her for the time being while the four of you kept moving. You missed his constant ramblings and his beautiful yet annoying singing, but you understood why he chose to stay, and you couldn't hold that against him.

When nobody came knocking at your door after a couple of months by the lake, you all unknowingly began letting your guard down. Your little cabin that you shared with Geralt and Ciri was starting to feel like home.

It was nice.

It was domestic.

Yennefer lived in the small cabin next door. She never once tried to sleep in the same house as you guys which you were grateful for. Although you were willingly dealing with her being around, you still didn't trust her after everything she had done.

The mage wasn't stupid, she knew that you didn't exactly like her, so she respected your privacy and kept her distance. She taught Ciri magic in the mornings, and you trained Ciri in the afternoons on how to fight and be a Witcher. It worked. You had a good routine and Ciri was happy, so that was all that mattered.

"Thank you for the supplies, Yarpen." You said, taking the last crate of potatoes from his horse cart.

"What would you guys do without me, eh?"

"We would probably starve for one." Ciri chuckled, taking a bite from one of the fresh apples.

"We wouldn't starve." You rolled your eyes, placing the crate down on the ground. "We can still hunt food, but these are greatly appreciated."

"Oh, I forgot to tell ya, our Belleteyn festival is down the valley. You should come." Yarpen offered, looking over at Ciri.

The girls eyes lit up, "I'd love to."

"It's not safe."

"No."

"Bad idea."

You, Geralt and Yennefer all answered at once causing Ciri to glare at you.

Well, at least the adults were on the same page.

"No one's asked about me for months and everyone will be in costume. And... I was born on Belleteyn." Ciri negotiated.

"Ah! You'd have had a shot at bein' May Queen. Except my niece's beard is comin' in nice and full this year." Yarpen laughed with a wink causing Ciri to giggle.

Geralt practically hissed as he walked past Yarpen, glaring at the smaller man who sobered up his laughter real quick before sighing.

"Just say yes, already! About time for a fuckin' thaw round here."

Ciri looked between you and Geralt with a bright smile, but you just shook your head. It was too risky. After everything you had done to make this place a safe haven, you couldn't risk throwing it all away for some stupid festival.

"I promise I'll be safe."

Geralt glanced over at her hesitantly before looking over at you with a questioning look, but you shook your head again.

"We can't risk it."

"Please, I'll be safe. I swear." Ciri practically begged before Yennefer walked over and joined the conversation.

"I guess it probably wouldn't hurt. She's a girl, I think she deserves to have some fun with other people for at least a couple of hours."

You turned and gave Yennefer a pointed look that she knew meant, shut up. But she completely ignored you and turned to look at Ciri.

"Yarpen just told me that he dropped off a bag full of old dresses for us to choose from. C'mon."

Ciri's smile spread further as she took Yennefer’s hand and you watched in disbelief as the two of them rushed into the cabin without further word, leaving you and Geralt standing outside.

"What the fuck just happened?" You said, staring at the closed door before glancing over at Geralt. "Does she think that she's in charge here?"

Geralt sighed, "she is not in charge. But... I guess one night won't be so bad."

Whoa, wait, what?

You opened your mouth to argue, but quickly closed it again. This wasn't a fight worth having. Geralt wouldn't allow this if he didn't think Ciri would be safe, and you trusted Geralt.

Later that night, you were sitting at the kitchen table with Geralt debating whether or not you should go with them to this festival or if you should stay back and watch the house, but Ciri had already decided for you.

"Y/N, I found the perfect dress for you!" The girl shouted from her bedroom.

That caught Geralt's attention. He looked away from the knife he was sharpening and raised his eyebrows at you.

"You're gonna wear a dress?" He asked, a hint of a smile forming on his lips. "I don't think I've ever seen you wear a dress."

"For good reason. Dresses are impractical. They get in the way. These pants and shirt are much easier to move and fight in." You replied, motioning towards the clothes you were currently wearing.

"I've never been to a Belleteyn festival outside of Cintra before. You know, this one year, Sir Lazlo tried to jump the bonfire in full armour." Ciri continued to say from her room before her door opened. "What do you think?"

You glanced over your shoulder and couldn't stop yourself from smiling as you took in the beautiful long blue dress she was wearing. That colour with her long light hair, it suited her perfectly.

"I think you need to hide your hair and mask your eyes." Geralt muttered, turning his attention back to his knife.

The smile on Ciri’s face instantly vanished and you kicked Geralt’s shin from under the table causing him to glare at you.

"Would it kill you to say, 'You look lovely'?" Ciri mumbled before she stormed off back into her bedroom.

"Ciri." Geralt sighed, but she was already gone. "I knew this was a bad idea."

"It is a bad idea. But she is also just a little girl. All she wanted was for you to approve of her outfit and maybe tell her she looks nice because believe it or not, that girl looks up to you. Your opinion matters to her." You explained, looking at your boyfriend across the table.

"It shouldn't."

"Maybe. But it does. She cares about what you think. Remember that."

You stood up, giving Geralt’s shoulder a small squeeze as you walked past before you knocked her bedroom door softly.

"Hey, kiddo, can I come in? I wanna see that beautiful dress of yours up close and I believe you have one inside for me?" You asked, and a second later the door opened, but Ciri was still frowning a little. "Don't worry about him. He's just a grumpy old man."

"A grumpy old man that can hear you." Geralt grunted from the table.

"You were meant to!" You shouted over your shoulder causing Ciri to chuckle softly before she stepped to the side and let you into her room.

She walked over to her bed and picked up another dress before holding it up for you to see, and it was gorgeous.

It was a simple long dress that looked a little too small for your liking, but the dark blue was a nice colour, you had to admit that.

"What do you think?" Ciri asked cheerfully.

"It might be a bit small. But I can try it."

"It will fit. If there is one thing I am good at, it is fashion. Trust me."

"Trusting you then."

Ciri was right. The dress did fit, and as much as you hated to admit it, you liked it. It was beautiful and hugged your curves just perfectly.

“Can you go and grab my sword?”

Ciri nodded, walking out the room and leaving you to admire yourself in the mirror for a few minutes before she returned with your sword in her hand.

"Here. What are you gonna do with it?"

"I am not going anywhere without it. Here, I need your help. Can you pull the back of the dress away from my body?" You asked, taking the sword.

Ciri frowned a little but nodded and stepped behind you before grabbing the back of your dress and holding it away from your skin. You lifted your sword up behind you before carefully sliding it down your back until the tip of the handle was in line with the back of your neck.

"Hold the sword there while I tighten the corset."

"This is so cool." Ciri whispered, holding the sword against your back beneath your dress while you tightened the corset enough to hold the sword in place while still being able to breathe in the meantime.

"Ta-da." You said, holding your arms out as you spun around just to make sure that the sword was secure.

By Ciri's silence yet stunned look on her face, you were going to assume that you looked good and that she liked the sword idea. So, you smiled at the young girl before slipping back on your usual boots because why put on fancy shoes that hurt your feet when the dress was too long to see them anyway?

"Oh, wait, almost forgot the masks." Ciri said, snapping herself out of her shock before she rushed over to the desk and picked up the two masks. "Here."

To your surprise, the mask matched the colour of your dress identically and you had a few questions for Yarpen about why and how he had access to such clothing.

You slipped the mask on over your face while Ciri raised her handheld mask over her own and you both grinned at each other.

Dressing up like this wasn't something you thought you would enjoy. You grew up surrounded by boys. You never once had a girl around, it was always boys. And those boys, you loved them all like brothers, but this was something none of them would enjoy or do with you, so it was nice to let your hair down for once.

"Are you two ready yet?" Yennefer's voice called out from the main room.

You glanced over at Ciri, "ready to go?"

"Come on!" She grabbed your hand and pulled you out the bedroom just as Geralt stood up from his chair and had to do a double take when he saw you.

His mouth parted in silent shock, but no words came out. Those beautiful golden eyes looked you up and down, but he seemed unable to speak.

"Geralt, tell her that she looks lovely." Ciri prompted from beside you.

Geralt blinked, glancing at the girl before focusing back on you and clearing his throat.

"You look lovely, Y/N."

His voice was a little rougher than usual and you smiled taking that as a compliment before you glanced over at Yennefer who was standing in the doorway. She had a nice black dress and matching mask on, and as always, she looked absolutely stunning.

Geralt slipped on a large black cloak, hiding his clothes and white hair before the four of you left the safety of your new home and made your way to the festival.

The sound of music blasting and people laughing could be heard for miles before you finally reached the festival, and you weren't sure how many people you were expecting to be there, but it sure as hell wasn't this many.

Crowds of people covered the area. Many dancing, others standing around with drinks talking and laughing with one another.

"I don't like this." You whispered, leaning closer to Geralt.

He snaked his arm around your waist, pulling you into his side while you entered the festival, your eyes frantically scanning the mass number of people cautiously.

"Just be on guard." He whispered back.

"Always."

Ciri had left to go dancing with the locals while you, Geralt and Yennefer found a nice quite spot by the ale tent. You watched Ciri as she danced, her smile so bright it was lighting up the whole area.

She was having fun. She was happy. That was the main thing.

It wasn't long before Ciri managed to drag the three of you with her to the maze. What a garden maze had to do with a festival was something you couldn't quite figure out, but Ciri seemed excited to go inside, so you followed.

You lost the girl within the first 30 seconds, Geralt and Yennefer also nowhere to be seen.

Maybe going in a maze wasn't the smartest idea.

You weren't too concerned though until the sound of people’s laughter around you turned into petrified screams.

Oh, that couldn't be good.

Scared civilians rushed past you trying desperately to get out of the maze and away from whatever had them so frightened. You could hear Geralt and Yennefer calling out Ciri's name from somewhere in the maze while Ciri shouted back at them.

Neither of them was with Ciri.

She was alone and in danger.

That realisation made your stomach drop.

Reaching back behind you, your fingers clasped around the handle of your sword before you pulled it out and held it up in front of you. The civilians were still rushing past, screaming and crying at everyone to run, so you did what you always did.

You turned around and marched towards the danger.

The ground beneath you was starting to rumble and you could hear the sound of something snorting and growling. You were close.

"Ciri, where are you?!" You yelled, trying to run through the maze, but your tight dress was restricting your movements. "Fuck it."

You hacked away at the bottom of your dress with the sword. The blade slicing through the blue material until your legs were free from the restraining fabric, the dress now super short, but at least you could run.

"Ciri!" You continued to shout as you ran, turning left and right, but continuously finding yourself facing a dead-end.

Fuck, mazes really sucked.

"Y/N?!" Ciri's voice shouted desperately.

You looked around and realised that searching for Ciri in this maze like this was too time consuming. The tall hedge to your left had a stone feature beside it and you knew that was your best bet.

Without hesitation, you climbed up the stone wall to get the high ground before spotting Ciri a few rows away. The girl was slowly backing away from a large monster and-

Oh, fuck was that a Jackapace?

Its body resembled that of an armadillo, but a hundred times more terrifying. They were blind though but used their sense of smell to navigate and of course, to locate their targets. It's target right now, was Ciri.

It didn't even care about you, it was zeroed in on one thing, and one thing only, that little girl.

You ran along the top of the maze, jumping over rows to get to Ciri, but the Jackapace was already charging at her and you knew you weren't going to reach her in time.

Ciri raised her hand and started chanting in Elder trying to use her magic before Yennefer suddenly appeared behind her and used her own magic, throwing the monster back a few meters to buy some time.

Oh, thank God.

Geralt appeared out of nowhere, slicing his sword along the side of the creature, but it simply whacked the Witcher away with its thick tail, sending Geralt flying through the air and landing on the ground, hard.

That was all the time you needed before you leaped over the last row of the maze and jumped down, spearing your sword through the Jackapace's head, pinning it to the ground.

The monster shrieked in pain but didn't die. It thrashed its body from side to side while you struggled to hold the sword down through its skull. If you released the sword, this monster would go feral and Ciri who was somewhere behind you, would be dead.

"Geralt!" You shouted, using all your strength to keep its head pinned to the dirt. "It's heart. It needs to be stabbed through the heart!"

"Move!"

You yanked your sword out and jumped backwards, trusting Geralt's word blindly. The monster reared up on its back legs, its body now twice as tall as it roared down at you before Geralt suddenly slid under it and stabbed his sword up into its chest, the blade piercing through its heart.

The Jackapace's angered roar died in its throat before Geralt pulled his sword out and the monster collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

You let out a sigh of relief before you turned around to find Yennefer standing beside Ciri who was staring at the dead creature with wide eyes.

"Hey, are you okay?" You asked, rushing over to the young girl.

"Yeah, yeah." She nodded, unable to pull her eyes away from the monster.

"Hey." You said gently, stepping in front of her and blocking her view of the creature before her green eyes met yours. "I was never going to let that monster get to you. You know that, right?"

"I know." She answered honestly before she looked down at your dress and frowned. "It's ruined."

You chuckled, "dresses were never really my thing. They look better on you."

That caused the girls eyes to brighten a little, a small smile forming on her lips before Geralt walked over to the three of you, scanning you all for injuries before letting out a sigh of relief when he couldn't see any.

"We need to leave." He muttered, motioning for you all to follow him.

Nobody dared to argue or say anything as you followed him through the maze. You were already lost in this damn thing, but Geralt somehow seemed to know his way around and before you knew it, you were walking back through the woods to your cabin.

"You good?" Geralt asked quietly, glancing over at you.

You nodded, "thanks for the backup."

“Thanks for the save.” Geralt replied.

When you returned to the cabin, you all got to quick work with backing up your things because this location was no longer safe. If that monster managed to find Ciri, then more would too. You had to move on.

"We'll find another home." Geralt insisted, looking over at Ciri who was sadly packing away her items.

"I liked this one." She whispered, refusing to look at him.

"We all did." Yennefer's voice responded, walking into your cabin with her bag already packed. "How did that thing find us?"

"A Jackapace hunts by scent. It found Ciri because it knew her." Geralt answered.

"Her scent? How?"

"Vesemir told me that Rience stole Ciri's blood from Kaer Morhen." Geralt began to say, coming to the same realisation as you. "He must have used the blood as a scent marker."

"Great. That's just great. Perfect. Fucking perfect." You swore, leaning your back against the wall as you pinched the bridge of your nose. "So, wherever we go, that fire fucker will find us?"

Geralt glanced over at you sadly, "yes... unless we find him first."

"We draw him out." Ciri suddenly said, bringing your attention to her. "We give him the thing he wants most. Me."

Next Chapter

MASTERLIST pinned to profile

Commissions open! Link in bio & DM for enquiries

A/N- Season 3 is finally out!!! (well part 1 anyway)

So I am back with new chapters as we continued on with y/n's journey with Geralt, Ciri, Yen and our favourite bard! I hope you all enjoy ❤️

#geralt of rivia x reader #geralt of rivia x y/n #geralt of rivia fanfiction #geralt of rivia #geralt of rivia fanfic #the witcher #the witcher fanfic #jaskier #henry cavill #joey batey

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starfirewildheart · 5 months

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The Wolf and the Flame

Summary: Geralt had just found Ciri and was headed to Kaer Morhen when something drew him into the woods. He found a woman near death and things changed for them all. (I suck at summaries just read please!) Yennefer is bad in the start of this but she and Geralt work on their friendship. Eskel is a dick at first but there is a reason and it works out. Will have a happy ending. Ciri is younger here than in the netflix show. She is about 12.

Warnings: abuse history, injuries, hurt comfort, no one under 18 to be safe, will add when I need to

Words: 3,936

Chapter 1

Ciri was trying to hide her chuckle at Geralt’s low growl but couldn’t keep quiet. The red spot on his forehead was already fading to soft pink due to his witcher healing powers. She’d been frightened at the goat-like creature that had jumped from the bushes at first because it looked like the demons she’d read about in books. Geralt had told it to go away but it shot a metal ball at him from a slingshot, catching the witcher in the forehead with a loud thunk. After a low growled “fuck” Geralt was off of Roach and had the little menace pinned to the ground. The entire scene was more than funny to Ciri and even though Geralt cast her a very frustrated glare she couldn’t help but laugh.

This lifestyle was a far cry from what she was accustomed to as the princess of Centra and coupled with the loss and trauma she’d suffered she was glad for the levity. It had only been four days since she’d managed to find her protector and while she felt safe with him she was still uncomfortable with what being someone’s ‘child surprise’ meant. What were the implications of being a child surprise? Was she to be the Witcher’s mate when she got older? Was he just to be her guardian? What was expected of her? Was he now her owner? Could he sell her if he wanted to? Did she have any say in what was going to become of her? There had been no time to ask any of these things because it seemed something was always trying to kidnap or kill her. She’d seen Geralt fight several times in just the short time they’d been together and as reluctant as she was to admit it, even to herself, the witcher intimidated her greatly.

Geralt had led them to a small town to get a room for the night. Ciri had never been more grateful for a hot bath and a bed. At dinner, she was introduced to the bard, Jaskier, who had been performing at the inn. She was surprised Geralt and Jaskier were friends as they were so different. They were like night and day. She wasn’t happy when her protector left her with the bard with a simple rumbled, “Stay.” She protested but he told her he had to take a contract and earn some coin if they were going to continue to eat. She sat at the inn for nearly a full day before he returned. He was covered in blood and muck and what looked to be entrails as he swept into the bar. The silence was deafening as he approached the mayor of the town and dropped a cloth bag containing a severed Endrega head on the table in front of him. The next morning he used some of the coin to get a horse for Ciri and they headed off, that was two days ago.

Ciri finally worked up the courage to speak. “Where are we going?”

“Dorian.”

The witcher was a man of very few words and sometimes having a conversation was like pulling teeth. “Why?”

“Information.” Geralt wasn’t trying to be difficult but something was off. He felt a hum throughout his body. It was similar to when a monster was near yet not quite the same and he didn’t know what it was. It had him on high alert and he was trying to focus on their surroundings.

“Can you speak in full sentences?” she huffed softly thinking he wouldn’t hear her.

“Yes, I can,” he arched a brow in her direction. “I may be a mutant but I am an educated one.” Geralt hissed and cringed; his shoulder and back felt as if they had been licked by fire. He could feel blood trickling down his skin and pulled Roach to a stop

“I didn’t mean to…” she blushed. “Geralt?” she asked worriedly.

He was off his horse and removing his shirt with a hiss. “Fuck!” The air felt electric and the pull he felt was even stronger. He wanted to run into the woods and find whatever was doing this. He looked up when Ciri came to him. “Hand me the kit in my pack.”

“What happened?” she gasped as she saw the large slash that went from his right shoulder down to his waist in a slight inward arc.

“I don’t know.” He laid out the kit and found the healing potion he needed. He poured half of it down his back on the wound itself, the sting making him growl then he drank the rest. “What the fuck is happening?” he wondered aloud.

Ciri took one of the bandages, wet it from one of the water skins and started gently dabbing at the bloodll. Geralt tensed, “you don’t have to do that.”

“I know I don’t but you can’t get to all of this to clean it on your own. What happens if it gets infected?” She took her hand and turned the witcher back around. She knew it was only because he allowed it but still she wanted to be of use. His muscles were rigid and tense the entire time she was touching him. “Am I hurting you?”

“No.” He tried to hide the unease in his voice. He wasn’t used to someone caring for his wounds unless he was at Kaer Morhen. It made him uncomfortable.

“There, finished,” Ciri said as she got the last of the blood off his skin. The wound was no longer open and bleeding but it still looked very red and angry.

Geralt pulled his other shirt from his bag and quickly put it on. “We need to keep moving.”

They rode in silence for a bit before Ciri spoke again. “Has anything like that ever happened to you before?”

“Quiet” he whispered as he pulled Roach to a stop again. The feeling was much stronger now. It was pulling him toward the forest. Whatever it was that was guiding him didn’t seem dangerous but he couldn’t be sure. His first instinct was to ask Vesimer but of course, that would have to wait until he saw him at Kaer Morhen. For now, he had to trust his instincts.

A loud wolf’s howl ripped through the air and made Ciri jump. “Geralt!”

“Stay on your horse. You aren’t in any danger,” the witcher assured her. He slid off of Roach and handed her reins to Ciri. “Stay close.” He walked farther down the trail, sword at the ready. The scent of blood and sulfur hit him before he saw the remains of the first body. “Wait here.”

Ciri was frightened but did as he told her. Somehow the witcher seemed to have a calming effect on her even though she was scared.

Geralt walked farther away from the road into the woods and he saw a small camp. As he looked around the area he counted the bodies of about twenty Nilfgaard warriors littered on the ground. It looked as though they had been torn apart by animals and fed upon. They were in various stages of decomposition and dismemberment. Suddenly he saw movement. Someone was alive. He rushed over to the prone body and knelt down.

Naurel saw someone approaching but did not have anything left in her to fight with. This was the end for her and she was grateful for it. The pain was finally over she thought to herself as she saw a giant cloaked figure approach. Just as hands reached for her the world faded to black.

Ciri gasped when she saw Geralt running back toward her with a woman in his arms. An unconscious, bloody woman. “What happened?”

“I don’t know. There seemed to be a fight of some sort. Maybe with a beast or animal, I’m not sure. She is the only survivor.” He knelt on the ground lowering her gently so he could examine her. “Get my bag and bring me the bandages and my kit,” he ordered as he moved to unbutton the top of the woman's dress.

Ciri knelt down beside him to help and she had to look away from all the gore. “What would do something like that?”

“No beast that I know of,” Geralt growled. “This was done by humans.” He wiped away all the dirt and blood he could in an attempt to help her. “This is beyond my skill,” he sighed. “We need to get her to Lakeside. They will have a healer and with any luck, Triss will be there.” He knew the sorceress frequented Lakeside and stayed there with the healer a lot. She enjoyed the quiet and the herbs that grew by the lake. Geralt lifted the woman onto Roach and climbed up behind her. “We must ride quickly. Keep up,” he ordered as he urged Roach on.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Triss smiled as she heard people start whispering about the approaching witcher. One thing about a small village was that news of visitors spread like wildfire. She was anxious to see Geralt. It had been too long. Her smile faded however when she opened the door and saw the near lifeless woman in his arms. “Get her on the table, quickly.”

Geralt laid the woman down and helped Triss start removing her dress. He noticed among the wounds was one just like the one he got on his back before finding her. “Found her in the woods. She was the only one left alive out of about twenty Nilfgaardian soldiers. No sign of what or who did this though.” They stopped short of bearing her completely. No one noticed Triss's friend the healer slip out the door.

“These wounds are not from a beast or animal Geralt. A human; likely a sorcerer or mage did this to her,” Triss worried. She turned to the young girl that was with them. “Fill the tub with hot water. Use the tea tree oil and add some of the liquid soap to the left.” She saw Geralt arch his brow in question. “There are so many wounds the best way to ensure we cleanse them all is to put her in a tub loaded with antiseptic. Normally I wouldn’t because it will be incredibly painful but she’s unconscious.”

Geralt removed his armor and dropped it on the floor out of the way before tossing his shirt aside as well. As soon as the water was ready they rid her of the last of her clothing and he lifted her into his arms. Carefully carrying her the few steps over and lowering her into the water. The maiden’s eyes snapped open at the searing pain and she started to thrash about and struggle. Geralt grabbed her wrists in both his hands and held her still. “Shh, you’re going to cause yourself further injury. We are here to help you. My name is Geralt and this is Triss. She is a sorceress. She’s going to heal you.”

The maiden’s mouth opened to scream at her to get away but the only sound that escaped her was a wheezing rasp. She wanted nothing to do with another sorcerer. Why couldn’t she just die? What had she done to anger the gods enough to make them let this happen to her? She could feel the restraints around her wrists and it took a moment to register that they weren’t metal cuffs but huge hands holding her still. For the first time, she forced herself to focus on the looming figure above her. Her emerald green eyes met gold and she slowly calmed down. She didn’t know why but all the fight drained from her as his low, growling voice soothed her and her eyes slipped shut again.

Ciri positioned another bucket of water under the woman’s hair as it draped over the back of the tub. She began scrubbing and picking muck and bone fragments out of her hair while Triss and Geralt cleaned her body. Ciri couldn’t help but stare at the witcher as he gently cleaned and cradled the maiden's arms and legs. She hadn’t seen the gentle side of him and it helped her relax to know he wasn’t always such a brute as he seemed.

The snarl Geralt let out when he started washing her feet made them all jump. Triss quickly moved to see what he was so upset about. There were bruises and lash marks from a cane where the bottoms of her feet had been beaten raw. “It’s a war crime,” he growled in answer to Triss’s unspoken question. “They do it so the person can’t stand to run away. I haven’t seen anything like this since Falka’s Rebellion.”

Once she was cleaned Geralt moved her back to the table and Triss covered her breasts and pelvis with towels to preserve what she could of her modesty. “I can’t heal all of this,” she sighed. “I can heal the internal injuries, probably the broken bones and the worst of the burns but she is going to have a very long recovery.”

Geralt nodded, “do what you can.”

“Girl,” Triss called to Ciri, who was now sitting in a chair by the fire. “I need to go out behind the cabin and collect all the wildflowers you can for me. I need the stems to be about this long,” she showed her with her fingers. “Take those two baskets and that cloth bag by the door. As quick as you can.” Ciri nodded and ran out the door.

Triss pushed up her sleeves and prepared for a long session of healing. “ Hold her so she doesn’t hurt herself more. Healing bones is extremely painful and the burns won’t be much better.” Several hours and most of the flowers in the village later Triss was passed out in her bed, exhausted and Ciri was asleep in the den.

Geralt sat beside the woman and kept the fire going in the kitchen. He put his shirt back on but was too tired to even bother buttoning it as he leaned back in one chair and put his feet up in another. He finally took the time to really look at her and study her features now that she was stable. Her hair was fire red, her skin as pale as his own, and her eyes almost crystal green. She was tall, with long legs, slender but muscular build. He could tell she was used to hard work be it on a farm or as a servant. She had several scars on her back and legs that looked like she’d been whipped and beaten throughout her life and he wondered where she’d come from. He took her small hand in his large one. “Who are you m’lady and what drew me to you?” he asked.

#henry cavill #henry cavill fanfiction #henry cavill x reader #henry cavill fanfic #geralt x reader #witcher geralt #geralt z rivii

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redskull199987 · 9 months

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All the right Moves

Eskel x female Witcher!reader Word count:2.4k warnings: canon typical violence, reader is injured, fluff at the end Summary:You´re on your way back to Kaer Morhen together with Eskel, as you run into a Leshy. You knew that something was wrong, as Eskel told you he wouldn't want to travel with you anymore…

Masterlist

You were hiking so fast, that you could feel your lungs burning inside your chest. Your throat dry from not drinking anything for hours. Your feet were begging you to stop, even just for a minute. But you knew, you couldn't. If you stopped now, he would be dead, once you reached Kaer Morhen. You just had to make it in time. If Eskel died, you would never forgive yourself. His words were still ringing in the back of your head.

“Leave me alone!”, he yelled, as he pushed you away from him. Confused, you looked at the Witcher, who was normally warm and understanding around you. All you had done was touch his shoulder carefully, asking if you could see his injury.“Eskel…are you okay?”, you mumbled, Confusion still written all over your face.

“Just fuck off.”, he cursed under his breath, turning away from him.

You watched in confusion as he walked away from you, gathering his weapons. He didn't look back at you even once.

Your breath hitched slightly, as you could finally see the silhouette of Kaer Morhen on the Horizon. One or Two hours more and you would reach the old castle. It would be nightfall by then. You finally started to walk again, reaching into your pocket to find the potion, that was the reason why you were so late. You were sure that all the others had already arrived. Geralt and Vesemir probably worrying not only about Eskel, but also wondering why you didn't arrive yet.

You desperately wished that you weren't so late. But it had taken you longer than expected, to find someone who knew how to make the potion you needed. If it weren't for a mage, who was a good friend of yours, who teleported you near the mountains, where Kaer Morhen was, you would´ve lost several days and Eskel would probably be dead already. But luckily, you were only half a day behind him, which luckily gave you enough time to save him. Or so you hoped.

“Just fucking leave me alone!”, Eskel screamed at you, after you had finally managed to get a good look at his shoulder.“You´re infected, Eskel!”, you yelled, trying to grab his hand,”If we don´t do something, you will die!”“I am not going to die, so just leave me alone. I don't need you. I never needed you!”, he barked, looking at you with a stern expression. You were taken aback by his words. You knew that he didn't mean it, he didn't know what he was saying. But it still hurt you.

Before you could say something more, he was already mounting the horse and running off. You didn't try to follow him. It was worthless. You knew that he would be in Kaer Morhen after you found a potion that would save him.

You looked at his back one more time, before making your way into the other direction, already knowing who you could ask for help.

A small sigh left your lips,as you finally reached the doors of the keep. You were about to push it open, as the medallion around your neck started shaking. Hastily, you made your way inside. This wasn't the first time this happened today. But this time it was much harsher.

You didn't see anyone at first. The great hall was completely empty, but you could see plates full of food and tankards filled with ale standing all over the place. Someone was here not long ago.

Your head shot up, as you heard ruckus coming from the laboratory, seconds later the sound of pots being smashed and tables thrown over. As you finally started running, you could hear a beasty groan. “Fuck.”, you grunted as you heard the voices of Geralt and Vesemir. And as you finally reached the designated room, you peeked through the open door. What you saw almost made you lose your composure.

Right there, just a few meters in front of you, was Eskel towering over the other two Witchers. But he wasn't himself. Not in the slightest. He had transformed into a wooden beast, his face barely visible, but it was there.

Mere seconds, after laying your eyes on him, you wanted to storm towards him, but a magical shield was blocking the door. You quickly drew your sword, as you saw what was about to happen.

Eskel had managed to trap Vesemir, resulting in Geralt lighting up his sword to end it.

As fast as you could, you muttered a spell and lifted your sword. With all your power, you pierced it through the barrier.

You took three big steps, breathing in heavily, knowing that what you were about to do would knock the air out of your lungs.

And only as you stepped in front of him, lifting your blade to meet his in the air, Geralt had finally noticed your presence. He looked at you perplexed, as your sword clanked against his, the metall hissing from the heat. “What are you doing?”, he asked, not even angry, but genuinely concerned. “You're not going to take him away from me!”, you claimed, as Geralt slowly lowered his sword.

“Please just trust me!”, you urged the white wolf. He only nodded at you, as you quickly turned around, grabbing the small potion from your pocket.

“Eskel?!?!”, you yelled as loud as you could. The beast-turned Man quickly turned around, upon hearing your voice. Vesemir, who had previously been choked, fell to the ground, coughing. “Take care of him!”, you ordered Geralt, who was able to quickly make his way over to the older Witcher, since Eskel´s attention was all on you now.

“Here goes nothing.”, you muttered under your breath, as you felt a branch pierce through your shoulder. You yelped, as you were lifted into the air, more branches wrapping around your body. You were pushed against a wall, as Eskel leaned closer to you.

“Y/N”, he sputtered, his eyes scanning your form.

“It's me, Eskel.”, you affirmed, slowly bringing the potion to your mouth to rip the cork off, “You´re going to be alright, my love. Don´t worry.”

Eskel was about to answer, but no words left his mouth, he was just staring at you. You quickly realized that this was your chance, as he was momentarily confused. You lifted your arm, as best as you could and threw the small bottle of potion right into his mouth. He choked on it for a second, not comprehending what had just happened. “I'm sorry in advance.”, you quickly mumbled, before lifting your foot and kicking him in the jaw, in order to make him swallow the potion.

Your breath hitched for a second, as you didn´t know what was going to happen. Would it work? Would he live?

As you fell to the ground with a grunt, you were pretty sure that it was working. Grabbing your bleeding shoulder, you quickly backed off, as Eskel started to squirm around, an angry scream leaving his lips.

“Y/N?!”, Geralt yelled, as he tried to reach you, but Eskel´s branches were throwing a tantrum, swinging all around the hall.

“Please just work.”, you prayed, but suddenly, all movement stopped. The room was silent for a second, before all the wood surrounding you suddenly started corroding. You watched with wide eyes, how all the branches coming out of Eskel slowly crumbled away all the way up to his body. He had stopped moving for a second, but as you stood up and called out for him, the wooden exoskelett rumbled to life. You heard cracking and wood breaking and seconds later, you saw Eskel´s Human body falling out of what looked like a tree stump now.

"Eskel!", you gasped and leaped forward just in time to catch him. His body weight pulled you down with him. He was still unconscious, as you slowly turned him around, resting his head on your lap. Just now, you took a good look at him. His entire body was covered in dirt. Vines and leaves had grown in and around his clothes. The only thing untouched, was his Witcher medallion.

“He´s alive.”

You looked up at Geralt and Vesemir who were now standing in front of you. Vesemir was still leaning on Geralt for support, but apart from that he seemed fine to you.

“You saved his life”, Geralt added. All you could do was nod. Your emotions were slowly coming to the surface now and you realized that you could´ve lost him today. But here he was, laying in your arms unconsciously.

"Come on.” , Vesemir patted your shoulder, kneeling down next to you,”Let's get him fixed up. We´ll take care of this”, he lifted his hand to gesture around the completely destroyed room,”later, alright?”

You just nodded again, stepping aside, as Geralt and Vesemir proceeded to lift Eskel up to carry him to his room. As the other Witchers ran into you, you promised them an explanation , but for now, you needed to look after Eskel.

Your eyes kept falling shut over and over again, as you lay in a chair in front of Eskel´s bed. It had been a few hours since you managed to cure him from the infection. He hadn't woken up since. You tried to stay awake but sleep was gnawing at you, like a hungry aeschna.

“Sorry? Are you Y/N?”

Your eyes opened once more, as you looked over to the door to see who had come to visit you. A young girl was standing in the doorway. Her long blond hair was slightly disheveled and the bottom of her white dress was dirty and ripped open.

“You must be the child surprise.”, you stated, after getting up and bidding her inside.

“Cirilla of Cintra.”, she smiled, as she stepped inside,”Geralt sent me to give you this. He said it would help with your exhaustion.”

You looked at her curiously, as she handed you a small bottle of potion. You gingerly took it and inspected it´s contents. After recognizing the mixture, you quickly downed it in one sip. Mere seconds after, you already felt it working. Your eyes didn´t feel as heavy anymore and your limbs stopped aching a bit.

“Thank you Cirilla.”, you finally said and gifted the young girl a soft smile.

She only nodded and was about to leave, as you gently grabbed her wrist. She turned around perplexed.

You cleared your throat once more, before finally speaking again:”Geralt told me that…that Eskel was a bit rude with you, upon arriving here at Kaer Morhen.”

“He wasn't exactly the nicest.”, she admitted after you finally let go of her hand.

“I want to apologize for his behavior”, you sighed, rubbing your neck,”He isn't usually like this. He didn't even let me touch him, after he was injured. This infection…it did something to him, changed him.”

Cirilla didn't say anything, but instead stepped closer to the bed, Eskel was lying in. She inspected him carefully, her eyes wandering over his exhausted body.

“I really hope that he will wake up again. I would like to meet the real Eskel.”, she uttered and turned around to you with a smile. “Yeah, me too.”, you mumbled weakly. You were really missing your soft Witcher. The way he always smiled at you with his big eyes, the way his hands felt on your skin, his lips on yours, his gentle voice, as he mumbled sweet nothing into your ear in the early mornings. You just wanted him to wake up again.

“Hey?”, Ciri asked, pulling you out of your thoughts. She must have noticed how shaken up you were, “He'll be alright. You saved him, right?”

You only nodded, slowly petting her shoulder:”You should go to sleep now. It's late and you must be tired, after all this ruckus.”

“You should get some sleep too.”, she smiled softly before leaving the room. You threw one last glance her way, before the door finally closed and the room was silent again.

At least for a few moments.

Your head shot up, as you heard groaning coming from the bed. That could only mean one thing: Eskel was awake.

You quickly made your way over to the bed and you would be lying if you said, your heart didn't skip a beat. There he was. He was alive and well. His heartbeat going steady and his breath a little shallow, but also very much there.

As he looked up and his eyes landed on you, you couldn't hold yourself back any longer. you stepped forward, kneeling down on the side of the bed, your arms pulling Eskel into a massive hug.

“Woah there, bug. It's alright, I'm here.”, Eskel affirmed, as you buried your face in his shoulder,”I'm here with you.”

“Yeah”, you sniffled, a few lonely tears rolling down your cheeks. You finally parted to get a good look at him. Frankly, he still looked unbelievably tired. Dark circles were prominent under his eyes and you noticed that he moved with a bit of discomfort. “What happened, bug?”, he suddenly asked you, now fully sitting up against the headrest.

“The leshy.”, you mumbled, reaching out for his hand. He gladly intertwined his fingers with yours. “It infected you, after we fought against it.”

“Fuck, I think I remember now.”, he hissed,”I'm so sorry. The things I said, I did. I was such an arsehole, wasn´t I?”

“Well, Ciri certainly thinks so.”, you chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. But Eskel didn't laugh. Instead he lifted his hand to softly grasp your cheek. He gently wiped away your tears, but new ones were already coming, upon feeling his soft touch again.

“I am sorry.”, he said firmly,”Thank you for saving my ass.” “Of course.”, you assured,”I would do anything for you. I love you.” “I love you, bug”, Eskel mumbled, pulling you back into his chest. A small sigh left your lips, after settling against his body. You finally allowed yourself to rest, after so many hours of being completely on edge. Eskel was alive. You did, in fact, save him.

“Rest.”, you heard him whisper into your ear, as he pulled you closer to his body. His warmth spreading welcoming you, after he pulled the blanket over you.

“You deserve it.”

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0dde11eth · 2 years

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There's a "quiet place" trend going on in tiktok. A blindfolded guy has a nerf gun and other players try walk around him. He listens carefully and tries to shoot them.

The kaer morons doing this with jaskier as the shooter would be hilarious:

Lambert would always get cocky and be the first one out.

Geralt would be convinced he has an advantage "i know jaskier, I can trick him". Unfortunately jaskier also knows geralts habits and shoots him immediately after Lambert.

Eskel does his best, but the man is a wall of muscle, if jaskier accidently corners him he can only dodge so much.

Aiden takes quite a while to be shot, with his cat acrobatics. But eventually jaskier catches on. He shoots, and then immediately spins 180 and shoots Aiden as he's landing.

Coen is the second last to get shot. He uses his wits, and is humble enough to keep from getting cocky like the other witchers.

Papa vesemir lasts the longest. He only gets shot when he falls asleep on his chair in front of the fireplace. (Everyone says it was a Lucky shot. It wasnt. He snores. Loudly)

#my nonsense #jaskier #geralt #geraskier #lambert #eskel #coen #aiden #papa vesemir #kaer morons #another day in kaer morhen

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geraltofriviacollection · 10 months

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Chapter Six

Paring: Geralt x Reader

Summary: Reader is thrown into the Witcher’s world. Will she survive? Eventual smut may come about😉

A/N: This is the first part in a series. I have not edited or proofread. Please do not repost, translate or copy my work without permission. Please leave comments! ❤️

Things seem to settle into a routine. Ciri spends most of her days training with Geralt when she’s not watching me train with Vesemir. I can hold a steady orb of energy and bring it forth with ease. Tapping into the power I had the night I killed Eskel……

The knot in my stomach tightens watching Ciri train. I fear Geralt may not be enough to pull her back from the edge. Seeing her on the obstacle course makes me nervous. Watching her fall off and stand back up in pain makes me proud of her endurance. Geralt walks with her disappearing into the keep.

A short time later I start to enter the room where Geralt is bandaging her up but ciri comes flying from the room like a bat out of hell. I start to ask if she’s alright but before the words have left she is already far down the hall.

I turn going into the room and see Geralt kneeling by the bed and he sighs. “Do I want to know what that whole thing was about?” I ask walking further into the room. He sighs again at my question. “So I am going to take a shot in the dark and guess that you tried to show that you care by imparting a valuable lesson and ended up saying something stupid with all 10 words you use. Did I miss something?” I challenge.

“Must you always be like this? Such a pain in my ass.” He growls.

“Well I haven’t made any plans on changing but we shall see where the day takes us. Now spill, what did you say to her?” I ask to get back to the point.

He looks at me for another moment before sighing and moving to sit on the bed. “I told her that she is not a Witcher and that great fighters all end up dead in the end.” He explains looking up at me. This time it's my turn to sigh. “I only told her the truth.”

“Next time less truth would be good.” I say moving to sit next to him I gently place my hand on his as he doesn’t move it from mine. “You may have told her the truth but you also managed to tell her that you don’t believe she can do it.” I told him.

“I do believe that she will die if she doesn’t understand she isn’t a Witcher. I will not have her die to prove a point.” He says.

“Geralt, She has lost everything she has ever known in a matter of months. She is trying to figure out her new place in this world. This is not Ciri proving a point, this is Ciri figuring out who she is again. Our job is to keep her safe while she does that. We won’t let anything happen to her. You just need to learn how to be a tiny bit softer with her.” I tell him. He sighs and squeezes my hand. “Now my next piece of advice is that you go and maybe try to talk to her again.”

A few days later I wake up with a strange pit in my stomach like something is about to change. Almost like smelling the wind before rain. In the afternoon I’m still with Vesemir practicing. I’ve learned how to throw balls of energy in my hands at a target. However my aim still has much to be desired so hitting the target is not going well.

“Lass, I don’t think I have ever seen someone so bad at something.” He frowns at me stroking a hand down his face.

“You say that and yet I know how you feel when Everard tries to cook a meal.” I joke wiping sweat from my brow. He laughs as he hands me water. I hop up on one of the benches in the lab. “Ves?”

“I thought we agreed that name would not be spoken aloud again.” He mumbles working on something next to me.

“I agreed not to speak that name aloud in front of others, since I am your new favorite you have agreed to indulge me.” I grin at him. He rolls his eyes at me.

“What is it you want to know, Lass?” He smirks.

“Why aren’t there any woman Witcher’s?” The question hangs in the air before he responds.

“Over the years since the Witchers came to be, women have been put in the trials. Not a single one of them have survived. Deglan believed it had something to do with the-“

I tense as I feel something in the air has shifted.

“What is it, Lass?” Vesesmir interrupts himself.

“I don’t know. Something has shifted. I can’t tell much more than that.” I stumble through my explanation. Vesemir comes in front of me and tilts my head side to side. Just then my stomach rumbles quite loudly. He smiles.

“I think we may have found the problem.” He laughs. We walked down to the great hall only to find Lambert there. Vesemir walks over to talk to him and I naturally go in the other direction considering…. Well everything.

The door opens and Ciri comes in first with a red headed woman behind her and Geralt coming in last. She looks familiar and very pretty. I can seem to place her name.

“I brought dinner," he says with a dead boar on his shoulders. The rumbling in my stomach halts like a foot slamming in the brakes looking at that thing. A very familiar feeling arises down south the longer I look at Geralt holding that boar.

“More than that.” Vesemir says breaking my creepy stare and He glances over at me before turning back to the woman. “My child, what a surprise.” He walks to her and she kisses his cheek hello.

“Oh hell, haven’t even had my fill of grog yet and ,already the women are tripling.” Lambert says. “Merigold.”

“Lambert, I see your wounds have improved but your manners have not.” Light laughter fills the air.

“I wish you had come sooner. We all could have used you.” Vesemir says to her. Sorrow and guilt make my throat and chest tighten.

“Hopefully, we still can.” Geralt says, turning to look at me. I’m not at all fond of that problematic transition. Her eyes follow his and she sees me standing there. Ciri sees me for the first time and comes to join me at my side. I smile down at her before looking back up at Geralt and my eyes move back to the red headed woman.

“I’m Triss. Geralt has told me about you on our walk here.” She smiles at me. I smile back at her.

“I imagine it couldn’t have been very much, considering that he mainly communicates in grunts.” Ciri and Tris chuckle.

“I think I might like her.” Tris says, looking at Geralt and them me. He rolls his eyes with a slight uptick in my mouth. “It’s very nice to meet you.” She smiles again at me. “I’ll go and dress for dinner. I assume you’ll want to wash up as well?” She says to everyone. Chuckles go around again. She takes that as a no before leaving the room.

Ciri takes a seat. “So, How do you know her?” She ask Geralt. He sighs and I smirk before intervening.

“I'm sure he will tell you all about it after you have washed up.” I tell her. She gives me a look that calls bullshit. “Okay maybe not but that does not change the fact that if you sit here much longer you might smell worse than that boar.” Ciri grunts in discontentment before leaving the room as well. “You know she gets that from you.” I smirk at him. He rolls his eyes again before walking off leaving me.

Dinner with Triss is a rather uneventful occasion. I learned enough to know that I like having another female in the keep. Even though we are still woefully outnumbered, the energy has shifted into peaceful uncertainty. Something still feels like teetering on the edge of chaos like a shoe waiting to fall.

I leave the table first, stealing myself away to the armory. I stay there practicing controlling this power to avoid sleeping. The nightmares for killing Eskel haunt me when I close my eyes. Watching the life drain from him is the only part that seems to be crystal clear in my memory. My only hope at night is to push myself hard enough to have dreamless sleep.

My fear of dreaming is not the only thing that keeps me awake at night. The longer I stay the more I have begun to feel some of my memories of the storyline fade. Not big things but smaller details. I can’t help but to feel purposeful.

It’s late into the night by the time I leave to head to my room. I am about to turn the corner when I hear voices across the way.

“If it’s up to me, everyone will know their names.Perhaps they can live on in our memories. Perhaps something more.” I recognize Triss speaking. “You witchers pretend not to have emotions, but you do. I know you feel it too. All of it. Normal love, normal hatred,normal pain, normal fear and regret, normal joy and normal sadness.” I peak around the corner and across the courtyard I see Triss taking Geralt's hand in hers. “Stay with me tonight.” She says. Geralt starts to talk but Triss cuts him off. “Only stay. Let’s not be alone.” she says.

‘Nope, don’t like that.’ I think to myself watching this unfold in front of me. I try to suppress my inner psychotic dialogue and try to attempt being reasonable. Geralt probably is lonely and Triss is sad and beautiful. Maybe he should take her up on her offer… Yeah fuck that I’m still not liking it. Just as I’m about to run over to break up whatever the hell this is, Geralt takes his hand from Triss.

“I’m sorry.” Geralt says before walking away from her. Triss stands there a moment before walking away. I let out a sigh of relief when I heard a voice behind me and nearly hit the ceiling at the abrupt sound.

“So are you going to tell him?” Vesemir ask once I have calmed down from my near heart attack.

“Damn it Ves! I almost woke up the whole keep with you coming behind me like that.” I whisper yell at him.

“From the looks of it you were about to wake the keep by fighting one of the best mages I know.” He said teasingly.

“I don’t know what you're talking about, old man.” I say lying like a rug through my teeth and starting to turn back around.

“You and I both know you have feelings for him. I think he might return them if you tell him.” He says, causing me to pause. I nod my head before going to my room.

The next morning I leave the keep on Roach to find a berry patch. I’ve managed to half way fill the basket when I feel the string between ciri and I tighten. The feeling travels through me so abruptly I drop my basket berries and the glow starts. I leave the basket and mount Roach and we rush back to the keep. When we finally make it back I push the reins into Lambert's hand rushing in not even hearing what he says. I run through the halls and find her in her bed. Geralt standing next to her and Triss sitting on the edge of her bed.

“I felt it. What happened?” I ask them but panting.

“She went into some weird trance and passed out a second later.” Geralt explains.

“What do you mean you felt it?” Triss asks me.

“How long has she been like this?” I hiss looking between Geralt and Triss.

“Not long.” He tells me. I lean down and the second my hand brushes her cheek her eyes open and I jump a bit at the movement.

“Cirilla” Geralt calls out to her moving closer. I back up and give her room to sit up. “

“I’m fine. I’m fine.” she repeats covering her face with her hands. Geralt looks at Triss before looking between Ciri and I.

“Ciri, look at me.” I say to her firmly but gently. “You need to tell us what happened.” I say moving to wrap an arm around her. She leans into me but stays quiet. Geralt comes even closer.

“You are brave. But let us help.” He says looking at her. She finally moves her hands from her face.

“All right.” She sighs. “When the black Knight captured me..I was scared. I screamed.

And that’s when the monolith cracked and fell.” She pauses and looks up at Geralt. “I toppled it.” I hugged her closer to me. I can feel the way she trembles as I hold her.

“How can that be?” Triss ask looking at Geralt.

“I don’t know.” Geralt replies. “I need to see it for myself.”

“I really didn’t mean to do it, Geralt.” She says pulling away from me and I can see the tears in her eyes. My chest tightens at the sight. “And if these monsters are my fault…” She trails off looking at me.

“Ciri, Nobody blames you. It was an accident.” I tell her pulling her back to me and she fully sinks in my embrace. A lone tear streaks down her pale face.

“It’s alright. We’ll fix it.” Geralt says placing a hand on her arm not cuddled into me. She nodded her head before closing her eyes as a few more tears fall. I look up at Geralt and the look on his face tell me we need to talk. He walks out of the room.

Tris leaves shortly after. Ciri and I sit together until the trembling stops and the tears have dried. I stay until her breathing has evened out and her eyes have closed. I pull away from her as gently as I can so I don’t wake her.

I leave Ciri to find Geralt only to overhear another somewhat intimate conversation.

“You are important to me, Triss. You always will be.” He says. I decide that is a good time to make my entrance because well I have heard enough of that.

“Care to fill me in on what you plan is big guy?” I ask him walking in and effectively smashing whatever fucking vibe was just in the air.

“You’re going to Cintra.” Vesemir says, rounding the corner behind Geralt.

“Cintra?” I question.

“You said you’d never go back there.” Vesemir says to Geralt.

“Cintra holds the answers that I need.” He says, looking at me. “Besides, no Witcher has died of old age lying in his bed dictating his will. I have a girl to protect. I can’t just stay here.”

“I have a friend who studies monoliths. I can portal you to him.” Triss offers.

“Portals are no fun.” Is all Geralt says.

“Do you think you could excuse us for a moment?” I ask looking at Vesemir and Triss. They both nod before leaving us. “How long will you be gone?” I ask him.

“Not long enough that you will not be annoyed with all my grunting when I come back.” He says with a slight uptick in his smile as he takes a couple of steps closer to me.

“Under different circumstances I might not mind your grunting so much.” The words fly out of my mouth before I can catch them. I feel my face get hot. I take a look at Geralt to find an amused sort of smirky smile on his face. “I mean I wanted an answer in hours to days.”

Geralt is close enough that I can feel his body heat as he looks down at me. “A few days. Less than a week.” He says softly.

@freegardenbanananeck

#geralt of rivia #witcher geralt #geralt x reader #geralt imagine #geralt x y/n #geralt fanfic #Geralt and Ciri

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smolgloves · 10 days

Text

Not So Useless

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Summary: The gang is in the heart of the lair where they must fight the hag

Tw: Blood, gore, violence, mentions of sex, and near death experience

Despite the looming threat of facing a hag, Freya found a glimmer of joy in this dark cave. Tav.

They marched forward ready to strike anything that decided to jump out at them. Freya gave a soft sigh as she stared at Tav, there was just so much to admire when they were half the size as the others yet willing to take the lead to protect the group.

“It's cute, you know.” Astarion spoke in a hushed tone. “Looking at Tav like that.”

Freya snapped her head over to the elf, a puckish grin planted on his lips. “I don't know what you're talking about.”

“There's no need to be coy.” He said with a breathy laugh. “You stare at them like a lovesick puppy.”

Immediately, Freya's eyes darted to Tav and the two women to make sure none of them heard what Astarion was implying, she couldn't believe he just said that out loud! “your eyes must be getting dull if that's what you see.”

The borrower's retort only fueled the teasing spark in his eyes as he gestured over to the unknowing halfling. “I don't blame you, Tav is a delicious treat; I would know, I've indulged myself.”

A tight knot formed in Freya's gut, her heart sputtered at the mere thought of them fucking. Was she… jealous? No, Freya was just annoyed that Astarion would bring this up all of a sudden. “Good for you.”

“Oh, don't be so tense, darling. I'm just trying to start a conversation.”

“I'd rather stay focused on the mission.” She said through tight lips.

Astarion scoffed. “You're no fun.”

“It's hard to be when a hag wants to use your people as potions.”

Astarion glanced over at the borrower on his shoulder, his quiet expression only made her grow more tense. “They cast you out, yet you still want to save them, why?” A scowl was painted on his face, yet despite the obvious disgust he voiced, there was a curiosity that lingered in his tone.

“Because they don't deserve to suffer from a hag.”

He gave a haughty laugh. “Really, because if I can't imagine wanting to lift a finger for someone who wronged me like that!”

“Of course, you wouldn't understand.” Freya gave a sharp exhale. “Not all of them are bad people, there's good people.”

“But did the good ones try to stop your exile?”

Silence hung in the air, Freya thought of her dear cousin, who voiced his opinion, yet didn't do much to stop his dad from making the call. Freya wanted to give Kes grace for not intervening more, but there was a selfish part of her that wished he would have told his father off right there! It wasn't fair, she has been more supportive of him than Uncle Eskel would ever be! Yet, he let this happen.

“That doesn't matter.” She quickly snapped back. “There was no stopping my exile once the elders made the decision.”

“And what makes you think your little leaves will be any different?” He shot a look so full of contempt it had Freya scrunching up her nose.

“Oh, why do you care?”

“I'm just wondering what you'll do if your little plan doesn't go over well.” He shrugged. “Where will you go if you never get accepted back to your colony?”

That was a scenario Freya had avoided thinking about because the truth was, she had no idea what she would do. Ideas flitted in her mind all at once, she could always live near the outskirts of the border, then she could at least see Kes. However, the outskirts weren't exactly a safe place to live especially with Goblins and gnolls roaming around. There was always the option to travel and see the world like her father used to, but not only is that dangerous, she would have no one to share the journey with. Defeating the hag and delivering the Aixosfeaf to the colony had to work in favor!

“Hold it.” Tav commanded quietly, making everyone stop and hold their breath. A shrill voice was spewing curses in the distance. Everyone crouched down and pressed forward, the shadows becoming their cloak as they reached an opening. Mushrooms of varying sizes cluttered the pit of the cave, with moss that lined the walls and plants sprouting from the dirt, had the circumstances been different, Freya would have been ecstatic to be in a place that grew such an array of herbs, but the writhing old woman kept her focused on the mission.

“Vile, wretched worms!” The hag wailed out as she plucked herbs and mushrooms that gathered around the area. Freya took note of the plants she grabbed, no doubt she was trying to make an elixir to aid her severed hand.

The group split, with Shadowheart stalking off in the shadows, past the hag without a trace. Karlach and Tav seemed to stick together, hiding behind boulders, but Astarion veered away from everyone, sneaking over to a rocky perch that clung to the shadows. It was the perfect spot to stay hidden while also keeping a tiny woman safe from the action.

As Astarion stayed crouched, Freya kept her eyes on Tav and Karlach, they approached the hag cautiously with their weapons ready the moment the vile wench tried anything. However when she eyed the two, she ceased her agony to throw on a menacing glare.

“Think you'll finish the job so easily?”

Tav gave a short laugh. “I've fought one too many hags to think a wounded hag would be any less dangerous.”

“You're smarter than you look, halfling.” The hag smirked. “Too bad you weren't smart enough to leave when you had the chance.”

Snarls from those redcaps echoed down the tunnels and soon a swarm of the vicious fey circled the two. Tension built up in Freya, she counted at least ten of those things, maybe even more! Tav and Karlach may be tough, but could they take on a whole swarm?

“Detono!” Tav thrust their hands forward as they spoke the words. A boom erupted and several of the redcaps plus the hag were thrusted back!

From the shadows, on the other side, Shadowheart shouted a phrase that sounded like Silentium, and a purple aura surrounded an area of the cave. Freya was about to ask what the cleric did but she got distracted by Karlach charging in swinging her greataxe at the hag. She staggered back trying to avoid being sliced to bits by the barbarian. Meanwhile Tav took on several redcaps at once, knocking them back with ease! However, Astarion drew his bow and shot at a redcap that seemed to be running away.

“What are you doing?” Freya snapped. “You're going to give away our position!”

“I'm trying to make sure Shadowheart keeps the spell up!” He retorted as he hopped down from the rocky perch they once were stationed at. “If her concentration breaks then that bloody hag is going to be able to use spells!”

The spike in adrenaline heightened the borrower's adrenaline, watching as several redcaps stopped their fight with Tav in favor of the woman in the shadows. Astarion chased after them, running into the dome that kept the area magic free. Borrowers weren't versed in magic but even Freya felt a change in the atmosphere, shouts from Tav sounded miles away. She turned back to see a look of shock written on their face; one that would've held her gaze if a sudden lurch hadn't caused Freya to nearly fall from Astarion's shoulder. She grabbed onto his collar, scrambling to keep herself from losing balance, Astarion had stabbed the redcap in the back, making it go limp. He didn't give the borrower on his shoulder a chance to catch her breath before he bolted off to the next one.

This redcap turned back to counter Astarion's attack with its sickle, swiping at him in an attempt to slice open his belly. Fortunately, the vampire was quicker than the redcap but he couldn't seem to land a blow as the creature creature was aware of his tricks.

Finding her footing, Freya was able to sit up and slip the leather collar between her under arm and torso, keeping her somewhat stable during the erratic movements. It was an awkward position but it was the best she could do as she gripped her peashooter and aimed for the redcap. Once it got dangerously close, Freya shot a pebble towards it, hitting it square on the nose.

It staggered back, letting out a howl before being promptly cut off by Astarion as he slashed his blade across its throat. There was a pause from him as he glanced at the dead creature, blood pooling at his feet. “Seems like you're worth more than just being hag bait.”

Freya rolled her eyes. “Just try and keep your shoulder steady!”

“I'll do my very best, darling.” He gave a cheeky grin before making a mad dash to the next prey.

Pride swelled inside Freya's chest when she caught a glimpse at him. Astarion could throw a hundred backhanded compliments her way but it didn't hide the approving look that fired in his crimson eyes.

Astarion's blade pierced another redcap in the back. Just in time too, as it had Shadowheart cornered. She glanced at her ‘saviors’ before shooting a radiant bolt at an enemy.

“I don't think this is keeping her safe.”

“No, I'm keeping you safe.” Astarion fired back with a smug tone that matched Shadowheart.

“I'm fine, anyways.” Freya scoffed, keeping watch for more redcaps.

“See, she can handle herself.” Astarion gave a short laugh. “I'm not sure why anyone doubted her abilities.”

“Careful Astarion, keep talking like that and you may yet like her.” Shadowheart said teasingly.

“It'll take more than a few lucky shots for me to ever like a borrower.” A haughty laugh erupted from him.

Freya broke her gaze from the battlefield to glare at the vampire. If they weren't in the middle of a fight, she would absolutely swing at that smug face of his!

“Look out!” Karlach's voice carried over to the three. A redcap had broken away from Karlach's range and charged after them with terrifying agility. It lunged forward and Astarion only had a split second to duck away. While he and Freya got lucky, Shadowheart was not and got her arm sliced by the sickle. She cried out and in a moment the spell silencing aura disappeared.

“Gods damn it!” Growled Astarion as he backstabbed the last of the redcaps.

There was a chilling laughter from the hag, Freya snapped her head in her direction but she was nowhere to be seen. Dread washed over her as she felt like a sitting duck about to be hunted.

“Keep your guard up.” Shadowheart warned.

Despite her hammering heart, Freya scanned the area for anything out of the ordinary. The battlefield was eerily silent, with everyone remaining still as statues. She briefly glanced at Tav, who looked like they were ready to dash over to her and Astarion, but the borrower broke eye contact when she noticed a large mushroom that seemed to radiate a sickly green color near the halfling. It took a second for her to realize that was Deathsbreath.

“Get out of there, Tav!” She shouted but it was too late, as spores erupted from the mushroom and sent Tav tumbling forward, coughing up bile. The hag revealed herself to lunge at Tav, only for Karlach to rush up and swing her ax at her. Shadowheart and Astarion rushed towards Tav, helping them up.

“I'm alright.” Tav waved off Shadowheart's healing spell to look up at Astarion. “Get her out of here, now.”

“Hol-!” Freya’s protests were cut short by Astarion making a mad dash for the exit. She tugged at his collar urging him to turn back, he didn't even bother to give her an annoyed glance. However, he stumbled to a halt, snarling a bunch of profanities towards the ground. Freya followed his gaze to find twisting vines wrapping themselves around his ankles. He took his dagger and began slicing his way to freedom but for every one vine that was torn away, three more snaked their way around the vampire's limbs!

“Get out of here while you still can!” He ordered.

“I'm not leaving you guys behind!” Freya snapped, she frantically searched for an opportunity to free Astarion. “Maybe I can help!”

“The hells you can!” Astarion bared his fangs at an attempt to scare her into listening. “Don't be stupid!”

“Didn't realize trying to save you was stupid!” Freya sneered, pulling out her tiny dagger in a futile attempt to slice the massive vines. A vile screech from behind broke her attention, Freya turned to see the hag charging at them with her claw-like nails out to attack. The borrower screamed and squeezed her eyes shut, pressing herself into the cold neck of Astarion as a foolish attempt to protect herself.

Then…. nothing. Freya blinked a few times, before finally looking over to where the hag was. To her shock, she stood a few feet away, that menacing glare no longer aimed at them but instead at Tav, who stood in between them. Blood dripped down from their side staining their robes, as each breath they took became shakier.

“To think Ethiel was bested by you.” The hag spoke coldly. “Did you really think sacrificing yourself for those two would prolong their lives? That I wouldn't toss you aside and tear their innards out?”

To the surprise of everyone, Tav responded with a weak laugh. “Did you truly think…. saving them was my only… reason for doing this?”

Using all their strength, Tav thrusted a fist forward into the hag's chest, their hand slicing through like a knife to butter. Blood oozed down their arm, and the hag stared down at the tiny monk in horror. Then her face twisted in pain the further Tav seemed to reach into her chest cavity. Finally, the hag staggered back, clutching the wound in an attempt to stop the blood from flowing out. She dropped to her knees, never breaking eye contact with them. “You… fool.” The hag uttered before finally collapsing on the ground, letting out a final breath.

Once they knew she was dead, Tav stumbled back, wheezing out each breath.

“Shit! Tav!” Astarion scrambled out of the now shriveling vines and rushed over to the halfling. He wasn't even trying to be careful with Freya on his shoulder, but she couldn't blame him as she was ripped out of her shock when she laid her eyes on Tav. Their dark skin grew pale and their eyes were bloodshot, Freya wasn't sure if they were hurting more from the deathsbreath, or from the blood loss, but it was clear. Tav was dying!

“Bloody hells!” Shadowheart exclaimed as she ran up to Tav with Karlach. She quickly knelt down to heal them. “Stand back, I got this.”

Before she could even lay hands on them, tremors made everyone stumble, Freya had to grip onto Astarion's collar to keep from falling off. Stalagmites falling from the ceiling and rocks tumbling forward, the ground cracked around them. The hag may have died, but she wasn't going to go without taking her killers with her.

“Let's get out of here first!” Karlach shouted.

Astarion wasted no time pulling Tav close to his chest. His arms shook as he stood to his full height and ran. He kept his eyes on the two women who were already heading for the exit, but Freya just stared down at Tav. Their eyes squeezed shut. Would they even have time to get out of this crumbling cave before they succumb to their alignments?

Her thoughts were immediately silenced as the quakes intensified and made the quick footed vampire stumble forward. Then the ground cracked underneath his feet and shattered. Gravity did its job in pulling the three down the open cavern, Freya's heart lodged itself in her throat, sealing a scream that desperately wished to break out. All she could do was watch in horror as darkness shrouded the three and they were swallowed up by the earth.

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cas-kingdom · 2 years

Note

I think I’ll also add Geralt and “Poke me again and see what happens.”

Find the OC version of this fic here.

“Poke me again and see what happens,” Geralt spoke monotonously as he glanced over his shoulder. It was only after you felt his eyes on you that you realised he was talking to you. Which was shocking only because you hadn’t a clue what he was talking about. Before you could ask, he returned to his meal.

Your confused stare lingered on him a little longer, your tired mind attempting to catch up to his words, but you gave up after a moment or so. You’d been trying to sleep, curled up behind Geralt with a blanket and a pillow in the hall of Kaer Morhen. Though the witchers had all returned for the winter and were busy drinking and exchanging stories, you welcomed the clamour more than you found it difficult to rest with. It was a reminder, after all, that your family had remained in one piece for another year.

“Stop it, Y/N.”

Now that you were sure Geralt was addressing you, you turned on your side and propped yourself up with an elbow. “I’m not doing anything,” you insisted truthfully. “I’m just trying to sleep.”

Geralt glanced over his shoulder again and hummed, most likely in disagreement. You rolled your eyes and turned your back on him once more. You were growing more restless by the minute, increasing each time Geralt told you to stop doing something you weren’t doing.

Staring ahead, your eyes caught Lambert’s, the redhead grinning from ear to ear in a very conspicuous way. He was supposedly having a conversation with Eskel and Coen, but Eskel and Coen seemed to be the only ones actually conversing. Knowing he was far too chipper to not be up to something, you narrowed your eyes at him, watching as he picked up a small stone from the ground, tossed it once in the air, took aim, and sent it sailing towards Geralt. It hit his shoulder and he tensed.

This time, you shot up in your makeshift bed, sending a look of utter hatred, eyes wide, brows furrowed, mouth open, to Lambert, who merely crossed his arms behind his head and settled back against his chair.

“You dick!” you hissed, just as Geralt turned to face you. You shook your head at him. “It was Lambert, Geralt.”

“Poke him again, Y/N! I wanna see what happens!” Lambert called. If looks could kill, the witcher need not worry about dying by a monster’s hand. You got to your feet, snatching up your pillow as you went, and stormed towards Lambert.

Lambert chuckled, clapping Eskel on the back. “Watch this,” he said. He remained still as you made quick work of rushing over to him, pillow raised high above your head. As soon as you neared him enough to attempt a solid hit, Lambert jolted upright, grabbed you, and pulled you onto his lap, tickling your sides so suddenly your arms jerked...

And hit Eskel instead.

Witcher Masterpost

send me the first sentence of a fanfic and i’ll write the next five, except i don’t know when to stop writing so i guarantee there’ll be more than five

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shy-urban-hobbit · 7 months

Text

"Usual rules of 21 apply. You go bust, you have to either take a shot or do a dare." Jaskier stated for the benefit of everyone sat at the table.

"What are you, 12?" Lambert sneered as Jaskier dealt everyone in.

"Some of us would like to able to eat this month. Last time I played you guys for cash, you cleared me out."

"Not our fault you're a shit player. Besides, we gave it you back."

Jaskier heard Aiden mutter "How generous of you." From next to him and he felt his heart sink a little.

He so wanted his best friend and his boyfriends family to get along. He already knew Geralt and Aiden got along fine and Eskel was his friendly self after his usual shyness at meeting someone one new, always self conscious of his scars. Lambert and Aiden though seemed to be a no go. Jaskier was hoping they'd warm up to each other but three social meet ups later and they'd yet to say two words to each other that weren't sarcastic (Aiden) or borderline insulting (Lambert).

Things started off fairly tame, with most people opting to do shots first (bar Lambert, who was tonights designated driver for those who wanted a ride later and was playing with soda instead). However, a couple of hours and a good amount of Dutch courage later, the dares had started. Ranging from downing a shot glass of extra strength hot sauce that had Eskel making a desperate grab for the milk to Geralt doing a lap of the garden naked, much to the delight of a tipsy Jaskier. Lambert was incredibly happy for the potential blackmail material he was collecting. A still relatively sober Aiden laughed from where he was nursing his own drink, feeling relatively smug at having only suffered half as many losing hands as the others.

"Ok. Final hand, then I'm calling it a night." Eskel slurred from where he was swaying dangerously in his seat.

"Hmmm." Geralt agreed from where he was slumped against Jaskier, the brunette grinning like a madman as he sat twirling a small paper cocktail umbrella in his fingers (because of course he had cocktail umbrellas in his house).

"Ok, ok, ok." Jaskier stated, slamming the umbrella down and holding a finger up imperially, "Dare this time iiiiiiiissss....loser has to kiss Lambert!"

The table erupted.

"Why the fuck am I the dare?!'

"Eeeew!"

"Don't care if he's adopted. I'm not kissing my brother, Jask."

"I never said you had to kiss him on the mouth, you perv!" Jaskier sniffed "And it's only if you lose!"

The others all looked to Lambert, who was also the designated dealer at this point, "Fucking fine. Let's get this over with."

Aiden stared at his cards in disbelief, ignoring the wolf whistles and cheers, "You're fucking kidding me."

23. Bust.

"Oh, get over yourself." Lambert snarled back.

"You guys don't - don't have to.' Eskel managed to get out, looking between them like he was expecting a fight to break out.

Aiden shrugged and downed the rest of his whiskey, "Dare's a dare. Just make it quick."

"Not going to be a problem."

"Wait, wait!" Jaskier called, grinning impishly, "New rule. Aiden's not related, he does have to kiss on the mouth!"

"Jaskier." Lambert let a warning growl slip into the word but didn't get any further as a pair of lips pressed against his then swiftly retreated.

"There. Done." Aiden said fishing his phone out of his pocket, "I'm calling a cab."

"You're over on Beech, right?" Lambert asked.

Aiden nodded.

"I'll drive you. It's on my way home anyway."

"You don't have to."

Lambert jangled his keys, "Designated driver. Remember?"

"Still. Thanks."

Both of them tried to ignore the way Jaskier was excitedly jabbing Geralt in the ribs with his elbow.

"Esk, you coming?" Lambert received no reply from his brother who, it turns out, had wandered over to the couch at some point in the last few minutes and passed out.

"Let him crash here." Geralt muttered, "Won't wake him now."

"Jaskier, I'll see you Monday." Aiden said, giving his friend a tight squeeze and Geralt a couple of solid back pats before looking back at Lambert, "Ready when you are."

The door to his flat hadn't even clicked shut before Lambert was kissing Aiden soundly. The other man humming into it happily.

"Fuck me, that was torture." Lambert said, making his way into the kitchenette and grabbing two beers from the fridge handing one to Aiden before flopping down onto the couch. Aiden hummed in agreement, taking a swig as he leaned over the back of the couch, wrapping an arm around Lambert and resting his chin on his shoulder. Watching as the other pulled up the next episode of the series they'd started binging.

"You know we're going to have to tell them eventually, right?"

"I know." Lambert butted his head against Aiden's affectionately, "I just..."

"Just?" Aiden prompted, taking another mouthful of beer while Lambert got his thoughts in order.

"I'm not embarrassed or anything. Everyone in my family is already up in each others business and you were already friends with Jaskier. I just - I just want it to stay like this for a little longer. Just us two, nobody else."

Aiden pressed a kiss to Lambert's cheek, "I get that."

"Plus you do realise Jaskier will be even more insufferable when we do? He'll say it was down to that little stunt of his tonight."

"Eh. If he can remember it, let him have it. I know I'd prefer it to the true story of how we met getting out." Aiden said with a laugh as he released Lambert and vaulted over the couch, landing next to him with far more grace than a man clutching an almost full beer bottle should possess before placing it on the coffee table.

"Ugh. I think that's the first time I've cheated to lose! I feel dirty."

"Yeah?" Lambert gave a grin as he moved until Aiden was laid out on the couch underneath him. The others hands already sneaking up the back of his shirt, "How dirty, exactly?"

#the witcher #the witcher fanfiction #aiden/lambert #aiden x lambert #lambden #lambert/aiden #lambert x aiden #witcher aiden #witcher lambert #lambert #secret relationship

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merlot-and-chardonnay · 4 months

Text

A Lark Among the Wolves and Dragons: Chapter 11.5

Chapter 11

"Now you see the lengths I can go to in order to take back what belongs to me," Daemon says in triumph as Caraxes stared down Geralt, the look in the dragon's eyes mirroring the same triumph and anger in his rider's.

Back inside the keep, the other witchers could only stare in awe and terror at the sight of the blood wrym.

"That's the dragon?!" Jaskier exclaims in shock, "that's THE dragon that Daemon rides?" "Caraxes," you nod in confirmation.

"I did say he was big," Ciri points out. "Yes, but THAT big?!" Jaskier exasperates.

"I have to agree with the bard on this one," Vesemir speaks, "Even if there were a hundred of us, we may not stand a chance."

"We have a sorceress to help us," Ciri points out. "I appreciate the confidence," Triss speaks, "but dragons are near impervious to magic. Just as with witchers, it would take dozens, even hundreds of us to subdue such a beast."

You sigh, taking a deep breath, thinking about what needed to be done. You were the reason Daemon came all this way. You were the one who could stop this conflict and prevent the bloodshed that was going to ensue.

"You are outmatched, witcher," Daemon continues his triumphant speech, "even with your tricks and spins and your enhanced senses, you are one man. You cannot hope to defeat a dragon on your own. Surrender now. Produce me (y/n) and my child, and I will spare you the destruction of your home, and you the pain of a burning death."

Geralt stood his ground, refusing to back down.

Right at that moment, the doors to Kaer Morhen opened wide. The witchers, lead by Vesemir, run out with swords in hand, their eyes black and skin ashen from the potions they had just consumed. Geralt turns to see the wolves join him in the fight.

Daemon's eyes widen a bit, not having realized there were more of the witcher's kind.

Geralt turned his gaze back to the prince, potion vial in hand, "as you can see, prince, I'm not alone," he downs the potion, his own eyes turning black and skin turning ashen white, "but you are, even with a dragon by your side," he points his sword at Daemon, "turn back now. There is nothing here for you."

"So you will not surrender?" Daemon asks, looking to Geralt, and the other witchers, "you would put your own brethren in mortal danger just to defend the woman you love?"

"We will all defend (y/n) and her child to the last fucking breath if we must," Eskel speaks, "they are one of us."

"You think yourself the first to invade Kaer Morhen?" Vesemir states, "Men who possessed none of what you have tried to rid the world of the likes of us once before, yet here we stand. We've survived the last raid, we will do so again."

"Go back home to your comfy cushioned palace, you fucking spoiled princeling!" Lambert sneers, the other witchers shouting and jeering in agreement.

"...So be it," Daemon says in a rather calm yet threatening tone, looking to Caraxes, who seemed all too eager to obey his master's next command. Daemon turned to the witchers, a small smile on his face, "Dracarys."

Caraxes raised his head and a pillar of fire shot from his mouth. The witchers simultaneously cast the Quen sign to shield themselves from the dragon's flaming wrath. While the sign proved to be effective, it did little to conceal the heat of the flames.

Nevertheless, the wolves stood there ground.

Meanwhile Triss stood by the entrance to the keep, gathering her thoughts and her strength, focusing on the dragon.

She begin to mutter incantations in the Elder Speech, focusing the chaos around her to surround Caraxes.

It took some time, but the spell started to take effect. Right on time as the witchers were starting to feel the heat of the flames burn through their armor and into their skin. Their magic shields were starting to falter right when Caraxes stopped.

Daemon looked to his dragon, wondering what was going on.

Caraxes swayed and started to move about in a sluggish fashion, almost as if he were disoriented, until he faltered down.

The blood wrym was down, but he was not completely out.

Triss kept repeating the incantations that kept Caraxes sedated; it hadn't even been a minute and already the effects of the spell were starting to take its toll on the sorceress.

Many of the witchers were still recovering from the dragon flame.

Vesemir, Lambert, and Coen and two of the witchers rush up to subdue the dragon. Despite the heavy sedation spell, Caraxes could still push his weight around and knock the wolves about.

Eskel and Geralt take up their swords and charge at Daemon. The prince parried each of their blows from their swords. Valyrian steel was lighter then silver, which worked in Eskel and Geralt's favor as they begin to push the prince back.

While the fighting was going on you ran to your room and found your daughter still in your crib.

You had no doubt the Geralt and his brethren could take on Daemon (one would've been more then enough to suffice), but Caraxes was a different story.

You trusted Triss to be a capable and strong sorceress, but if what she said was true, she would not be able to subdue the beast for much longer.

You take Aemma from the crib and cradle her to your chest, giving her a kiss on the head. You feel your eyes start to well up with tears.

Aemma looked up to you, blissfully unaware of what was about to happen. To her, you were her whole world at this moment, unknowing of the outside world like she's been since the day she was born.

You loved her, and this was the last thing you wanted to do, but you couldn't be responsible for the needless deaths of the men who had welcomed you into their home and allowed you to stay and care for your daughter.

This needed to be done before more blood was shed.

You walk out of your room and into the main hall of the keep, heading for the front entrance.

"Uh, (y/n), what are you doing?" you hear Jaskier question in confusion, "Where are you going with Aemma?" You look to your brother with a knowing gaze.

"No," the Bard shakes his head, "no, no, no, (y/n), don't you dare, I forbid it." You scoff lightly, heart not completely in it, "when has that ever worked?"

"(y/n), you can't," Jaskier insists, "you don't have to do this, we can figure something else out." "Wait, what is she doing?" you hear Ciri ask. "Daemon is hear for Aemma and me," you say, "If I go with him, he'll spare Geralt and the others. I need to do this."

"No, don't," Ciri grabs your wrist, "you can't do this. I swore I would not let anything happen to Aemma, and I won't. I'll protect you, the both of you."

You turn to Ciri, tears in your eyes, "Ciri, you're a brave and sweet girl," you say, placing a hand on her head, "but don't make this anymore difficult then it already is." "But (y/n)-" "this is my decision, Ciri," you say sternly, "I'll be okay. Daemon won't hurt me, not as long as I have Aemma in my arms."

Meanwhile, the fight continued.

Daemon was pushed to the ground by Eskel as he and Geralt have their swords pointed at the prince. Daemon looked towards the keep to see Triss was still focusing her spell on Caraxes. If Daemon could take out the sorceress, the dragon would be back under his command once more.

Daemon got on his knees, putting his hands up to signify his surrender.

Geralt and Eskel still kept their defenses up as they slowly approach the prince.

Noticing the dagger by Eskel's side, Daemon quickly stands and grabs it, stabbing the man in the side.

"Eskel!" Geralt rushes to his brother's side as Daemon makes a run for it. Geralt was about to go after the prince, but Eskel was doubled over in pain.

The white hair witcher looked to see exactly where Daemon was running towards.

"Vesemir!" Geralt calls out, getting the elder witcher's attention, "he's going after Triss!"

Vesemir stopped fighting the dragon and ran after the prince.

Triss' nose was starting to bleed at this point, but she stood her ground and kept focus on the spell.

"Triss!" she hears Vesemir calls out.

Sure enough, Triss looks up to see Daemon about to stab her. The sorceress quickly dodged, but the sword braised her side, forcing her to falter in pain.

Vesemir ran to Triss' side and helped her to her feet.

The spell quickly dissipated and Caraxes shook off the effects, almost as if he was never under the spell's influence.

"We might want to fucking run now," Coen suggests.

Too late.

Caraxes growled and went after the witchers. One got snapped up in the dragon's jaws while the rest ran for their lives.

Daemon stood in triumph as Caraxes approached Geralt and Eskel. The prince walked towards the dragon and stared into both the witchers' eyes, ready to finish it all.

"STOP!!!"

Daemon and Caraxes both turned around towards the keep to see you by the entrance, the baby in your arms.

Daemon stood there, speechless. He felt himself start to walk towards you.

Before you knew it, Daemon stood in front of you, staring in awe at the bundle in your arms. "Please stop this, Daemon," you say, voice broken as you fought back your tears, "This is the reason you came all this way, isn't it? You came for me...and for Aemma."

"Aemma?" Daemon looked into the bundle to see your daughter's face, "you...named our daughter after the late queen?"

You nod, fighting the urge to shove Daemon away as he reached a hand to touch Aemma, rubbing her back.

"She is mine," you hear the prince whisper, "the blood of the dragon courses through her veins."

You look up to Daemon, staring into his eyes with a hard look on your face.

"Spare the witchers," you sternly tell him, "and we'll go with you. Please, Daemon, swear to me no further harm will come to them, and I'll swear to go with you back to King's Landing, or Dragonstone, or wherever it is you wish to take us. Just please, stop this madness."

Daemon looked to his daughter, then turned his gaze back to you. He leaned down and placed a kiss on your forehead, "you have my word, Little Lark. On the gods of Old Valyria."

You exhale, still annoyed by his pet name for you, but relieved that you were able to end this.

"(y/n)!" you hear Geralt call out, as he helps Eskel back to the keep, "what are you doing?"

"I'm sorry," you say, letting a tear run down your cheek.

You feel Daemon place a hand on the small on your back and escort you towards Caraxes; the prince giving the witcher a knowing and triumphant look as he did so.

The witchers, Jaskier, and Triss could only stand and watch.

Ciri walked out of the keep, to see you and Daemon walking away.

"(y/n)!" she calls out, tears in her eyes, "don't do this!"

The young girl runs after you, but Geralt stops her, "Ciri!" he says. Ciri struggled, tears falling down as she watched Daemon help you up on Caraxes.

"No..." Ciri cries softly as Daemon mounts the beast behind you on the saddle.

"NO!!!!!"

The ground began to shake. Triss, Jaskier, and the witchers cover their ears from Ciri's screams. Caraxes roared in agony. You hold Aemma close to you for protection. Behind you, Daemon covered his own ears, looking to see where the source of this power was coming from.

For one reason or another, the chaos surrounding Ciri started to cause the witchers to pass out, the injured ones first.

Caraxes managed to protect you, Aemma, and Daemon by raising a wing to form in barrier in front of you.

"CIRI! STOP!!" you shout out, but it didn't do much good.

The keep was starting to crumble from the impact.

Triss stepped away from Vesemir, summoning what strength she had left to cast another spell to subdue Ciri.

It worked, but the spell also backfired, hitting Triss and Vesemir, causing them to pass out; the spell ricocheted towards Caraxes, who had lowered his wing, and hit you and Aemma.

To your surprise, you barely felt a thing. You look to Aemma, but it didn't seem anything different happened to her either.

Daemon leaned over your shoulder, concern for his daughter taking over.

Ciri, still disoriented from the impact of the spell, groggily got back on her feet. Seeing the everyone else was down, and the dragon had not yet taken off, she runs to you and Daemon.

Both you and Daemon could only stare at the young girl, shocked and speechless, even Caraxes seem to stare at her in shock as well.

"You want to take (y/n) and Aemma away from here, you're taking me too," Ciri states with authority.

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

Some time later, the witchers started to come to.

By the time Geralt regained consciousness he saw his brothers walk back to the keep, many of them exhausted and wounded.

Inside, Vesemir tended to Triss' wounds while Cone took care of Eskel.

Geralt walked in and approached the elder witcher, "Where are (y/n) and Aemma?" he asks. "...Gone," Vesemir says somberly, "as is Ciri."

"What?!" Geralt's eyes widen, "she...no, no, no," he shakes his head in denial.

He runs outside to calling out for Ciri, shouting into the mountain.

The witcher fell to his knees, not able to come to terms with the fact that not only was the women he loved taken away, but now his ward was taken from him as well.

Geralt turned his gaze to the west. He was going to do everything in his power to travel to Westeros, and bring you, Aemma, and Ciri back home.

Chapter 12

Masterlist

#geralt of rivia #jaskier #geralt x reader #ciri #daemon targeryen x reader #hotd #daemon #daemon targaryen #lambert #eskel #triss merigold #vesemir #caraxes

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cosmos-coma · 1 year

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Hi!! Can I request an Eskel one shot where he fell in love with the reader (a Viper witcheress who is homeless since it disbanded) and he invites her back to Kaer Morhen for winter to introduce her to his brothers. She's also a great cook and the wolfs says she's a keeper. 😆

Vipers and Wolves

A/N: Ive never written a witcher!reader before, but it wasn't bad at all! I was hit with the comedic bug for this one, It's not super romantic all around but it is strong in found family!

Pairing: Eskel x Reader

Words: 1.9k

Warnings: Language, very quick editing

___________________________________

It was in the heat of summer when you first met.

You had been laying under a great big oak tree as the rain pattered down around you. The fire warmed your face as you set a heaping pile of damp fuel beside it, hoping it would dry in time to use it. Stray raindrops fell like tears from the leaves above you, making you shudder as one lucky one slid right down your back.

“Ugh… stupid rain,” you complained to yourself as you set out your bedroll and started getting comfortable in your camp.

The sun was beginning to set when you heard rustling far off in the distance, towards the middle of the forest. You were right outside of a small town so it was probably just a human, but people don't usually travel through the thick of the forest either. Your viper head medallion confirmed your suspicions as it lay motionless against your chest.

You stood cautiously and drew your steel sword as the sound of breaking twigs got closer and closer. A large dark silhouette moved within your vision as the sun was now halfway sunk on the horizon. As they got closer you could see it was actually a man on a large black horse, with… two swords on their back? Is it possible you really found another witcher?

You couldn’t believe your cat-like eyes. So many of you were lost after the sieges. So many of your brothers and sisters were killed defending your home from the onslaught of humans, and even then they couldn’t succeed. Your old home now was a wasteland of rocks and unlivable walls that held no more life. All the books and research your school did on the wild hunt… gone save for you and the few survivors.

“ A fellow witcher.” You held your hand up in a friendly wave as you watched him dismount and come closer to the light of your campfire.

Your breath escaped you as you saw the warmth of his Golden eyes lit by the fire, they were soft in a way that you didn’t often see from others, let alone witchers. Deep scars ravaged the right side of his cheek, tightly twisting his skin in jagged ways and notching his slightly chapped lips.

“Ah, not every day you run across another witcher out in the field.” He smiled a bit as he nodded toward your swords. “Eskel, Wolf school.” He introduced himself and held out his hand. He seemed oddly trustworthy of you, but you suppose some people just have better judges of character.

You dropped your sword back with your other belongings as you shook his hand in return. “Y/n, Viper school.” you smiled a bit as you spoke and motioned to your camp. “You’re, uh- I guess you’re welcome to make camp here too… means I have someone else to collect firewood for me.” you laughed a bit, gaining a small smile in return from the broad man.

He shook his head a bit as his brow furrowed, “isn’t there a town just a few minutes ride that way? Why don’t you get a room at the tavern there?” He asked, taking a seat across from you at the campfire as you sat down on your bedroll.

“Can’t waste the money.” you said with a frown, “The viper school isn’t livable anymore so I have to hole up in a tavern all winter. I mean, I’ve found a nice place that’ll let me work to stay but, somehow money still seems to run far too thin by the end of the season so I need everything I can get.”

Eskel watched as you stoked the fire carefully and added another log. He wasn't sure if it was the scar that ran across your nose that seemed to highlight your features, or perhaps it was the way you spoke that found him feeling exactly at home. Maybe it was your subtle scent of lavender? No, no, it was your eyes for sure. Your eyes glowed in the firelight and danced with a fierce- yet gentle- determination, a dichotomy that Eskel rarely saw outside of his own eyes.

“Well… Do you mind having a guest at your campsite tonight? I’ll collect all the firewood you could ever need.”

---------

“Are you sure this is gonna be alright? I’m not sure…” You said as the tall standing walls of the Keep just crept into view over the hills. “They're not gonna be nearly as nice as you are, you're an exception…” You sighed.

“Oh, no. You’re right- they’re complete assholes, but I promise they’d never be like that to you. Not right away, anyways.” Eskel stifled a small laugh when you turned to scowl deeply at him. “I just mean to say… that as you become more like family they’re gonna treat you more like family. And that of course includes ruthless teasing from time to time.” He smiled and shrugged.

Though you were fierce and skilled as a Witcher- and among the few women in your profession at that- you knew that you were intruding on another school, someone else's home with different customs and you felt like you needed to tread lightly lest you be asked to return to the oncoming winter season.

It took the rest of the day to finally reach the Keep’s arching gate and ride your horses through. You put them away in the stables, absolutely taking the opportunity to meet the famed Lil bleater along the way.

A comfortable warmth washed over you as the doors to the great hall opened and a large fire crackled in the fireplace, warming the 3 men already inside. Eskel had told you more than enough about his brothers and his father figure. Geralt, the one with white hair and a scar down the eye who looks grumpy all the time, but can be cracked with a joke at Lambert's or Eskel's Expense. Lambert, smaller than the others and the stereotypical younger brothers, his heart lies in mischief and bomb-making. And finally, Vesemir, Who always- but especially after the sieges- stepped up as a sort of father figure to them and was always a little wary, but more than willing to give anyone a fair chance.

“Eskel… Welcome back” Geralt greeted and held his mug up to his returning brother.

“And friend..? Well, Hello..” Lambert said with raised eyebrows which quickly turned into a mischievous grin. Your fingers brushed Eskel’s hand before you could even think about it, inviting and asking for his hand to hold, to which he was quick to respond and intertwine his fingers with yours. You could tell it didn’t go unnoticed, but none of them said anything about it.

“And a Viper at that…Been a long time since I’ve seen any of you. I reckon there's even less of you than there is of us…” Vesemir observed out loud as he nodded and raised his hand in greeting.

“You’d be right on that… Letho is the only other one of us I know to still be around.” You said with a hint of sadness in your voice, unlike that of what was expected of a witcher, even less than that of what a Viper should be. You were all made to be ruthless and cold, but for some reason, it just didn’t seem to stick with you for very long.

“Well, welcome to the last of the wolves, I suppose. “ Geralt said with a nod to you, “we were all just arguing about whose turn it is to make dinner.”

Eskel sighed and set his stuff on the table, “I’m not doing that after a full day of travel. I vote Lambert.” he proposed, getting met with Lambert’s loud and offended scoff.

“What the FUCK, Eskel?”

Geralt’s serious exterior cracked as a smile slipped onto his lips and he turned to Lambert with a smirk. “Well, Lambert. That’s two votes for you, one for me, and Vesemir couldn’t give a shit. Sooooo…” he said with a short laugh.

“You guys are absolute dogshit,” Lambert complained, throwing his hands in the air in an exaggerated gesture.

Now it was your turn to pipe up, “I don’t mind cooking…”, you said, looking between the small group of men.

“Y/n, you don’t have to do that. We’ve just spent days on horseback, you should rest..” Eskel tried to argue, but you quickly waved him off.

“Nonsense. Part of my job at the tavern over winter was to cook for guests. I actually find it rather relaxing.” you said with a smile and a firm squeeze to his hand before you handed your pack over, “Which way to the kitchen?”

“I’ll show you!” Lambert shot up faster than he probably ever had for a task, and quickly waved you on towards the Keep’s kitchen. Once out of earshot of his brothers and father he quietly thanked you for taking over the dreaded task and showed you everything you could need.

It wasn’t too long before you were cooking up a storm and coming out of the kitchen with a sizzling pan and a steaming pot. Vesemir was kind enough to grab plates for everyone as the boys all began to crowd around.

“Hmm, smells better than Geralt's cooking…” Lambert commented as he wafted the steam toward his face.

“Fuck that, it smells better than Vesemir’s cooking..” Eskel dared to say in front of the old man. But it was true, you put all you had into this dish. You figured that- like with many people- a wolf’s heart lies within its stomach. Of course having a full shelf of spices available to you helped a lot, some even that you hadn’t seen in circulation for many years.

Without another word, they all quickly served themselves up and began eating. It was so quiet that you could have heard a pin drop all the up the stairs into the tower if you tried hard enough. Your nerves started twisting at your stomach as you got your own plate and still no one had said a word. Was it good? Was it bad? No, Lambert probably would have said so.

“This…” Vesemir spoke, the first word since everyone had been served, “This is the first time they’ve been completely quiet at dinner in over 50 years…”, he said with a warm smile, more than you ever thought capable of the older man. “Your great food has given me the one thing I never thought I’d have again. Silent company..” He laughed a bit, now turning to Eskel.

“She’s a keeper, you know that, right? If you show up next winter without her you’re gonna sleep in the stables.” Vesemir finished as he turned back to his plate. Lambert and Geralt mumbled agreements through full mouths and content hums as Eskel turned the slightest shade of pink.

“Yes, I understand. I don’t need your threats to keep her around though,” Eskel said with a small smile as he reached for your hand above the table, in full view of everyone else.

A smile spread across your face that you tried to hide as you took a bite of food, “Oh yeah, Eskel’s never gonna be rid of me at this rate…”

_____________________

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#listen theyre all kinda morons together and i like to think that they still act like dumb kids when they all come together in winter #eskel imagine #eskel fanfiction #eskel fic #witcher eskel #eskel x you #eskel x reader #eskel x y/n #Eskel x Witcher!reader #Eskel x fem!reader #witcher self insert #self insert #the witcher fanfiction #the witcher fic #eskel my beloved

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