Chapter Text
Life on the continent was hard and especially so for people who didn’t fit in. People like you. You pulled your hood down further as you approached the door of the village tavern. You wanted to get a bath and a hot meal before your journey to the nearby forest that was full of useful plants at this time of year. Since you earned your coin by selling herbs and healing potions to anyone you encountered you had to ensure you were fully stocked at all times.
You breathed deeply as soon as you entered the woods and the village disappeared out of your eyesight. You always felt uncomfortable around people, especially humans, and being in nature made you feel more peaceful and at ease. You spent hours crawling through thorny undergrowth and crouching near large trees to find all the herbs and mushrooms you needed. You took a quick break to breathe in the fresh air before continuing your search. Your satchel was filling up quite nicely and you felt proud of today’s work.
You were just using your daggers to cut through a particularly thick bush when you stepped back and your legs hit a set of strange large eggs. Whatever grew out of these, it was bound to be huge and definitely dangerous. You heard faint screeching and immediately started running away as fast as your legs could carry you. You didn’t dare look back to see what kind of monster it was, you only focused on getting as far away as possible. You heard skittering behind you and the sound made you shake with fear but you pressed on.
You could already see the trees getting lighter and you hoped that the beast would turn around once you reached the open field. Suddenly your foot got caught on a gnarly tree root and you fell face down onto leaves and moss covered ground. You sat up as fast as you could and slid the daggers out of your sleeves in order to defend yourself. The thing that appeared over you looked like a gigantic scorpion and it seemed to be spitting poison at you. You put your arms in front of your face to protect your eyes and scrambled to your feet.
You slashed at the monster blindly while trying to avoid its sharp teeth but you didn’t account for the heavy spiky tail that hit you right in the ribs. All the air was forced out of your lungs at once and you collapsed and dropped your daggers in the process. This was it, you were going to die in the middle of the forest, ripped to bits by some oversized poison spider. You closed your eyes to brace for the inevitable onslaught of searing pain when you heard the distinct slashing of a sword nearby.
You carefully looked up and you saw a large man with an impressive looking weapon slice away at the beast as if it were butter. You watched with wide eyes as he rolled and jumped around to escape the nasty tail while continually hitting it with his sword. Finally it was dead and there was gunk, blood and poison everywhere, including your saviour who was regarding you with a strange look. “Thank you,” you managed to grit out, still trying to remember how breathing worked.
He offered you his hand and you took it with a grateful smile, and he lifted you up to stand. You quickly introduced yourself and asked quietly “And who am I to thank for this timely rescue?” He seemed confused at your soft tone and the warm expression on your face and it took him a moment to respond “Geralt of Rivia. Witcher.” You smiled widely at him and nervously started wiping dirt off your tunic. “Well, Geralt, you are my hero,” you stated matter-of-factly and he raised an eyebrow at you.
He considered whether you were mocking him but your tone had been honest and you were still smiling at him. “What are you doing here, alone?” he asked in his deep rough voice and you laughed. You pointed at the greenery around you and replied “I was gathering herbs.” A moment later you added with a hint of sorrow in your voice “And I’m always alone, Geralt.” The way you so casually used his name made him relax more than he normally would in the presence of strangers. Then again, you were an elf clearly not versed in combat so he could probably just pick you up if he wanted to. Which was obviously not a thing he was thinking about.
“I know you’ve already saved my life but would you accompany me back to the nest of those uh - “ “Endregas,” he announced. “Yes, those endregas. I dropped my satchel around there and I would really like to get these herbs.” He nodded and motioned for you to point him in the right direction. To his surprise you instantly took his hand, seemingly not bothered by the dirt and blood on his glove, and started walking back towards the circle of eggs. He kept glancing at the expression of concentration on your face and he couldn’t help thinking that you looked lovely.
You crouched down to pick up your abandoned satchel and he immediately mourned the feeling of your small hand in his. He shook his head to get rid of those thoughts and instead tried to focus back on the endrega nest. He told you to stand back and dropped one of his bombs in the ring to ensure that no more monsters would spawn from this point. You looked at him with wide eyes and he realised that he found your curiosity charming rather than annoying and it unnerved him.
“Let me look at you,” you exclaimed and he looked down to where he had gotten hurt and blood was dripping down his torso. He was about to decline and insist on his Witcher healing powers when you started pushing him into a seated position a bit further away from the destroyed nest. Your gentle hands easily moved him and he genuinely wondered if he had lost his mind. You asked him to remove the upper armour and he complied with only a small grunt of protest. “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you,” you said in a soothing tone and that darn smile that made him weak in the knees.
Once Geralt was exposed you grabbed a clean cloth from your bag and cleaned the wound as best as you could before rubbing some herbs on it against the pain. “Alright, I will heal the cut with magic, okay?” he frowned at the word magic but nodded nonetheless. Your hands came to rest on his chest and a moment later he felt a warm tingling sensation travel through this entire body. He had never experienced any magic that felt this pleasant and he wondered what kind of powers you had. Your eyes were closed to concentrate on the task and he took the time to study your features.
You finished the healing process and gave him a proud grin. “There. As good as new,” you laughed and he put his dirty shirt back on, leaving the armour since it desperately needed repair anyway. “Where did you learn that? I’ve never met anyone from Aretuza who could do something like this.” He didn’t mean for his question to come out quite so accusatory and he felt guilty as soon as the words left his mouth. You didn’t seem bothered and responded in a wistful tone “My grandmother taught me. It’s an innate ability that runs in our family.”
Geralt hummed at that, processing this new piece of information. He wondered how good old Tissaia would react to this and he was glad that you had evidently escaped her clutches. Exhausted from your encounter with the endregas you huffed and leaned against the tree next to him. He felt strangely calm around you and he wondered if that was part of your special powers too. “What about your parents?” he asked quietly and he heard you sigh softly. “They died when I was very young. The neighbouring humans couldn’t accept that a family of elves was thriving in their village and took means into their own hands” Your tone was bitter and his mouth filled with the taste of ash at your words.
“I’ve been trying to avoid humans as much as possible since then but unfortunately their coin pays for my food,” you added after a moment of silence and he turned to face you. He felt the desperate need to wipe that frown off your face and make you smile again and he honestly had no idea where that impulse came from. “Are you not afraid of me?” he asked and then felt ridiculous when you burst out with an adorable giggle. “No, why should I? First of all, you’re an outsider like me. And second, you just saved my life when you didn’t have to.”
Your smile seemed to light up the entire forest and he felt warm and content gazing into your sparkling eyes. It was slowly getting dark and he wondered if it’d be smart to try and walk back to the village in these conditions. “Shall we set up camp nearby?” your question mirrored his thoughts and he immediately agreed. Geralt made a small fire so the ambers could warm you throughout the night and you lay your bed roll right next to his, feeling a bit anxious after the attack.
You barely managed to say good night to the Witcher before the events of the day caught up with you and you were fast asleep. Geralt watched your sleeping form for a bit before lying down next to you. When he woke up he felt more comfortable than he had in ages and it took him a moment to understand the position he was in. He was lying on his side on the bed roll and his arm was flung over your hip. His face was so close to your head that he could smell the salve you used to clean your hair and your distinct scent underneath. Praying that you were still asleep and unaware he quickly retracted his arm and turned onto his back.
Once you had also woken up and you packed up your gear he suggested he’d show you the signs of endregas to watch out for in future. You agreed and trotted after him through the forest, trying to keep up with his long strides. He demonstrated how to notice if endregas or similar beasts were in the area by looking out for spots of acidic liquid and you listened patiently. “Thank you, that’s really useful,” you praised him and he felt grateful for his dampened physical reactions that meant he didn’t blush in response. You walked back to the edge of the village together and he felt the urge to come up with an excuse to spend more time with you.
He pushed away those pesky thoughts and turned to face you “I should be on my way.” You smiled up at him and nodded with a hint of gloominess on your face. You rummaged around in your bag and presented him with a dried blue-purple flower. “As a gift for rescuing me. And maybe a reminder of little old me,” you stated quietly, gazing at him with vulnerable eyes. He cleared his throat and tenderly took the petals in his large hands. “Thank you.” Your open smile returned and with a last look back you started walking along the dirt road away from the village. He stood there watching you until you were merely a small dot in the distance.