Chapter Text
He was honestly disappointed in himself. When he had set out from the city a week ago he had been full of confidence, swagger, and flair. He had provisions, an actual bed roll even! With his lute on his back and a song on his tongue, he had considered the road ahead of him no obstacle. And why should he? He had spent the better part of the last year living on the road, traveling each day side by side with a Witcher. He had been set upon by bandits and had slept many nights under the stars. Even before that he had managed to make it from town to town alive and well enough, provided he hitched a ride with a caravan or local farmer.
Jaskier had considered himself experienced, and had given it little thought to dangers or logistics when setting foot on the path.
A path he could no longer see.
"Fuck fuck fucking fuck," he berated himself. How could the path just be gone? He spun around, only becoming more and more aware of how close the trees had gotten. When the sun was high in the sky there had barely been enough trees around to provide shade. But as dusk fell they had grown in number, until he found himself now, alone, lost, no path, and the light leaving him fast. He was in a forest. There wasn't supposed to be a forest on the way to whatsits-burg down the way.
"FUCK."
He needed to make camp. Hastily he dropped his pack, setting his lute down much more gently and fussing over her for a moment before resigning himself to the chore of gathering wood. He needed a fire first and then he could rest. It would be fine. Everything was sure to look better in the morning. He had probably just wandered off on a side path by accident and an hour or two of retracing his steps in the morning would set him right.
He wandered around, fretting, lost in his worries and the growing concern over this forest’s complete lack of loose firewood. Seriously!
Jaskier cast about incredulously, but lo and behold, there was nothing but pine needles on the ground, along with plenty of scrubby looking bushes that cluttered the bases of trees, making walking a dangerous and sharp proposition. He would probably have more luck setting a whole bush on fire than pulling off wood from it. He leaned back, looking up at the branches that were far too high above ground for him to climb, much less manage to break off any, even if green wood was acceptable for fires. Which, he was pretty sure it wasn't?
Maybe camping here wasn't such a good idea. Not if he couldn't get a fire going.
He hugged his arms tight around his chest, a shiver running through him as the night fell quietly around him. He had never really considered himself as someone who was scared of the dark. It seemed like such a babyish thing to fear, especially after such remains of monsters and gore that he had witnessed traveling with Geralt. But as the sun dipped lower somewhere behind the trees, and his eyes started to ache from strain as he stood alone, staring into the woods and praying there was nothing to see, he understood that he was very much afraid of the dark.
He had to get back to his pack.
Alarmed, unnerved, and sadly disappointed in himself, Jaskier retraced his steps. He had gone a bit further than he would have liked in his desperation for firewood, but he could sort of make out the lump up ahead that was his belongings. Relief rushed through him as he realized he hadn’t further fucked up and lost those too.
His steps slowed, as the release from that anxiety allowed him to take a more careful path through the dark. The last thing he needed was to twist an ankle on a rock or something — something small and unseen. Something glowing even.
He blinked, and stopped.
There was something shining near the ground. He blinked again, a little harder, and rubbed his eyes. The light was still there. Taking a slow, careful, absolutely restrained step forward — a step he was trusting would not end up being a mistake— he crouched down. Two little pinpricks of gold sparkled up at him from the brush shadowed roots of the tree.
They blinked.
With a startled yelp he fell back on his ass, hands stinging as he scrabbled backwards in the dirt.
"Melitele's tits! What on earth?"
A sad whine drifted eerily through the woods, the echo dying off as if whatever made it was heading away from where he sat. The two glowing spots of light blinked again, taking longer to reappear than previously, as the glow seemed to fade back into darkness.
“Oh wait, I’m sorry,” Jaskier called out. He was sorry, although gods only knew why. It wasn’t his fault he was startled by glowing eyes watching him from a bush, but he did know he didn’t want to be alone in the forest for any longer than he could help. Whatever was in the bush must be small, and sounded, well. Not aggressive at least?
“You just surprised me a bit. I promise I won’t bite if you don’t.” He cajoled, and he was pleased to see the glowing stopped fading away.
A blink and two eyes become four, another, and four becomes eight. Instinct froze him where he crouched.
He was surrounded.
“Oh dear,” he said, feeling slightly faint as this reaction caused the odd whining to start up again. “Umm, please pardon me, I think I’ve uhh—forgotten something. Something very urgent back home and—oh please don’t do that—”
Before him the bush where the first set of eyes still stare eerily up at him began to tremble violently. “Look, I’m sorry for intruding. I just want to leave this lovely forest, no trouble intended I swear!”
The whining was reaching a buzz that he could physically feel in the back of his teeth and he made the executive decision to get the fuck out of there immediately.
With a very colorful set of swears he lunged towards his bags, scooping them up as more bushes begin to shake and the glow of the eyes pick up in intensity.
“I’m going! Please! No need to eat me I swear, probably taste all bitter and awful anyway!” He cried, stumbling off into the dark in what he hoped was the way he came from. Fuck the town down-wherever, he needed to get back to civilization and then never—EVER travel without backup again!
Off to the right the eyes light up, spooking him further away from what he thought was the direction he needed to go, maybe. He didn’t fucking know anymore and he swore again as branches that hadn’t been there in the daylight now caught at his doublet, and the eyes kept just appearing, not even like they were following but like they were already there and —oh gods what if the whole forest was full of the creatures?
All he could do was run on, stumbling, occasionally tripping and crawling back up as he slowly began to realize he was being herded somewhere. Eventually he was barely trotting along, utterly exhausted and quite frankly a bit fed up with the whole thing.
“Yes yes, not that way. I get it,” he muttered, only the slightest sour tinge to his stomach appearing as the bush in front of him shudders and eyes flash at him like a warning. “I wish you wouldn’t play with your food, or if I am not to be supper I wish that you would let me res—oh hey, that’s new.”
The trees had cleared away, leaving before him a clear and well worn path. He was saved.
"Oh. SO THAT'S where we were going. Thank you!" He called to the creatures, turning around and waving merrily into the darkness. Dozens of eyes blinked back at him in what he just knew now was a friendly wave. Probably. "I will never forget the kindness you have done me this night! You have saved me truly."
He gave the trees a deep bow, feeling a little…something that might have been sadness or relief or maybe just exhaustion as the eyes faded back into the shadows, until there was no sign they had ever been there at all. He felt a little foolish now at his panic. There had never been any danger(?) and he was now through the woods he had gotten himself lost in.
He was lucky, to have met such helpful creatures out in the wilds. Perhaps traveling wasn't all danger and darkness. He pulled the lute from his back, whistling a merry tune as he began to walk and strum. The nearest town was very near, he knew. There was little reason to stay and camp the last few hours of darkness away when the moon was bright above him and a real bed so near.