❝I have something to lose. My heart. It would be very hard to put it back together if it would be broken by you.❞
❝I would never hurt you.❞
When Visna gets separated from her sisters on a mission, she finds shelter at Kaer Morhen and stays with her...
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The woods were quiet at the early hours of this calm morning, the birds were still sleeping in the trees. It was getting brighter, but the sun was nowhere to be seen yet, we were surrounded by a blue shimmer that made it look like we were in an enchanted forest.
I waved Ciri closer to me when I spotted a movement in the far. The girl stepped next to me and investigated the direction I was pointing at. She nodded and raised her weapon, aiming at the deer that was sniffing the grounds a few meters away. It hadn't seen us yet but that would change if Ciri would miss. And it looked like it, she was way too nervous to make a clean shot.
"Relax your bow arm," I whispered and the princess did. "Take a deep breath. Good. Now let go."
The arrow flew through the air but landed next to the deer. The animal raised his head in shock and threw a terrifying look towards us before stomping off. "Quick, or you'll lose it!"
Ciri made a few steps to the left to be in a line with the fleeing deer and prepared herself for another shot.
"Don't think too much about it," I told her. "Always keep your eyes on what you're trying to hit."
She let go off the bowstring and the arrow flew through the air once again. This time, I was more confident that she would succeed. And she did. The animal looked behind itself and right at this moment, the arrow went straight through his right eye. The deer trembled to the ground and laid there, dead.
"Well done!" I smiled at the excited girl. "That was an excellent shot, couldn't have done it better!"
"Was about time!" Ciri sighed in relief. "I thought I might not hit this one either - And I already let four others go."
"But you did it," I reminded her as we walked over to our prey. "The training pays, see?"
Ciri pulled the arrow out of the animal's eye and looked at the bloody end in disgust. "Do I have to help you with the ... gutting part?"
"You killed it and you want to eat it, right?" The princess looked over to me, not very sure if she wanted to eat the animal's meat if she had to prepare it herself. "I know it can look very cruel and distasteful but if you concentrate on the biological part it's very interesting."
"Try that again when I vomit in the corner of the room ..."
"You're going to be fine," I laughed and lifted the deer by its front feet to pull it over my shoulder. "Didn't Geralt made you gut anything before? You travelled over the continent, I can't imagine you didn't eat a deer or a rabbit."
"A fish," Ciri replied and watched me arrange the animal on my shoulder so it wouldn't fall off when we walked back to Taalen. "I did it once and it was disgusting! He always did the killing and gutting part ..."
"That's where the nickname 'Butcher' takes a rightful turn ..." I started walking back home. "Do you think he and Jaskier will wake up before we start to cook the meat?"
