Of Monsters and Men

Chapter 5 - The Way Of Swords And Blood

Summary: Deciding to have a little fun with Ciri's training do you invite her to test her skill with you until Geralt shows up, roping you in for a friendly hand to hadn't combat session. Then later does he gift you with a little surprise you hadn't been expecting.

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The sky is bright and blue overhead, gifting a light breeze that blows small snowflakes down from the heavens and all across the yard of white as you sit on a piece of broken wall. A chunk that's undoubtedly been laying there since the sacking of Kaer Morhen when all hell broke loose and a real shit time had befallen upon the Witchers in their isolated fortress.

A time in history when the Witchers were at their lowest upon the land of the Continent all because of some insane mage who wanted their kind brought to extinction. Or so you've heard. When Geralt was just a young boy with his brothers trying to survive the trials with the guidance of Vesemir in his more youthful self.

A time when you were traveling as a rouge in the lands going from place to place, doing as you willed, taking part in things as you wanted, and sleeping with the most handsome faces to cross your path. You didn't give a fuck back then, well, when you have no one to give a shit about or anyone to give a shit about you. Who cares, right? A far far away life is all that it feels like now, so long ago when things where so very different and you had no soul to bring your heart to.

Concentrating on the old sword in your hand do you stare at the steel, you found this seemingly ancient artifact in the armory since you have no actual sword of your own as of now. Considering the only sharp weapon on your person being a dagger you were gifted to by Geralt that's rather too dull for your liking, you miss the one you'd lost in Sodden. Now that blade could cut through dragon hide if you wanted, a gift from your mother, one of your favorite gifts in fact.

Unfortunately now completely gone and lost to the wind, most certainly never to be seen ever again. So goes most things with life anyways, especially with being who you are and all, when one tends to never age does these things tend to happen. Losing stuff and moving on from things adrift, you try not to think too hard about the loss. It was just a dagger anyways.

Ciri grunts and thwacks at the straw man with all her might as you bring the dull white cloth down across the long shaft of the sword. Trying your best to clean it off of the stray minuscule specks of blood and rust and dust that has been covering it for many years. It smells old, like something valuable found in a tomb that should have just been left there. But it's all you've got until you stumble upon a new, better type of sharp weaponry, or someone makes you one since sword forgery doesn't happen to be a prominent skill you've acquired yet.

Ciri's wacking of the straw dummy goes silent as she takes a couple heavy breaths from the physical exertion of it all. She turns her gaze onto you who's still attempting to clean the old shitty sword despite how many times Lambert teased you about it being as sharp as a butter knife coated in honey. You truly do not relent; a sudden thought pops into her head as she begins walking over to you seated on the rock.

"You're good with a blade Y/N." Says Ciri as she takes a break from twirling around with her wooden sword to put her focus to you instead, "Who taught you how to fight so well?"

Observing your blurry reflection in the swords blade do you stare at your blood red eyes before setting the steel in your lap, now looking upon her as she walks over to where you sit. "My mother did. Among a few others of my kingdom." Your hand moves down the slick steel as you rub some flecks of dirt away, "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious. I never had anyone at home offer to teach me."

"I did. That was a subject my mother was persistent upon, she wanted me to be able to adequately defend myself." You tilt your head at her, "Looks and status alone cannot do such a thing in this world. She believed that if you never figured how to defend yourself with a blade, then you're easier to die by one."