The Red Wolf : Healer of Witcher's (complete)

The Challenge

Sunlight streamed through the windows , waking me up to a beautiful morning. I sit up and stretch , my back popping in several different places. I slip from my bed , preparing for the day. I grab a white tunic and some brown leather pants. I quickly do up my green leather corset , that doubles as an everyday training armor. I pull on thigh high boots and my sword strapping it across my hips. I move towards the small mirror seeing a woman with flaming red curly hair that falls to her waist. I quickly pull half my hair back, braiding a fishtail braid. I grab my daggers and and strap them to my thighs. I look back up into the mirror and see a fierce warrior looking back.
A knock sounds on my door. I go and open it to find Vesemir. " Good morning Rafaela. Did you sleep well?" I shrug " better than I usually do Vesemir." He smiles " Come my dear let me escourt you to breakfast ." He holds his arm out to me and I take it . We make our way to the dinning hall where loud laughter is coming from. " So Ves, how did the others take me showing up yesterday?" He grins " shocked to say the least. No one expected you to return."
We stop before entering the dinning hall. " I figured it was time to come home. I needed time away from all this testosterone. I had to constantly prove my self over and over again. I maybe a Witcher but I'm still a woman." He pats my hand in understanding. " Come , let's go get some breakfast before these animals eat it all. " we enter and everyone stops talking to stare at me. I roll my eyes and move away from Vesemir towards the food. " So the Red Wolf decided to grace us with her ..." Lambert says , before he can finish I punch him, knocking him out. The others freeze at my out burst. " anybody else want to have a go?" I ask making sure I make eye contact with each one.
I stop on a pair of golden eyes to see them crinkle in amusement. " Nah Rafe , we get the picture." Says Aubry I nod and move towards the bread , meat and some fruit , filling my plate. I grab some ale from the pitcher and take a long drink. " So , nobody really gonna say anything about how she left?" I slam my drink down and look up at Eskel. "you still got a big mouth " I retort back.
He shrugs " You gonna tell us or ignore the mammoth in the room?" I grab my plate and ale ignoring his questions . Lambert starts to come around. I move towards him placing my uneaten food infront of him . I grab his chin moving it to the left. " go grab some ice from outside and ice that. It'll bruise if you don't. " he grabs my wrist and smiles up at me." Still just as fierce as all those years ago. Welcome home Rafe." I smile at him . " I can still kick your butt Lambert. Don't you forget it." He laughs and pulls me into a hug. " Sebastian isn't here, Rafe. " he whispers into my ear. I sigh in relief " Let's hope he doesn't show up then. " I pull away from him and look around at the others. " I left for my own reasons and I shouldn't have to explain myself to you all." A few nod in understanding , others still have angry looks . " that's not good enough Rafe! We needed you here! " yells Frank. I scoff at his out burst " It will have to be good enough until I think otherwise."
I move towards the door " I challenge you!" Yells Eskel . I turn around and walk up to him crossing my arms " For what exactly Eskel? My sword ? My title ? A night in my bed? If you issue a challenge state what you want in return if you win." Everyone looks at him to see what his next words are. " I want the Truth. About why you left. " I raise an eyebrow at him . " Fine, but let me ask you a question before I humiliate you in front of our brethren. Do you still telegraph before you strike?" His face turns red in embarrassment. " Be at the training yard in half an hour Red." I smile mischievously at him. " what afraid I'll leave again?" He rolls his eyes and stomps off. " men." I mumble underneath my breath. I turn to see Ciri watching me. " so wanna see me kick his butt?" I ask . she laughs , coming over to loop her arm with mine. " You are going to whip the floor with him." I shrug " I try not to get to cocky. Come on , I need to go warm up before this challenge." We pass Geralt , Vesemir , and Lambert making bets on who will win. I make eye contact with Geralt as he says " seventy crown on Rafe." I smile at his confidence in me.
" so you trained with all of them?" I turn back to Ciri at her question. " I did. It was hard trying to constantly prove myself to them. Over and over I was hit , punched and pushed to the ground. Some told me I wasn't good enough, to be a Witcher. So I practiced harder. Studied harder than the others. Ran the course when the others were fast asleep. I didn't let their negativity stop me. I became the second best of the guild. Geralt beating me for first place. " she smiles at that. We make it to the trading yard ad I move away from her she the asks
" Why did you leave?" I move away from her and start Going through my warm ups . Not answering her right away " I left because I fell in love." I look up at her and I see her eyes widen . " But with who?" I laugh and sheath my sword " Take a guess?" I say. She looks at me and then whispers " Geralt?" I nod and cross my arms. " love isn't instant for most people Ciri. Love sometimes comes softly. It grows with each passing day until it makes you feel like you can't breath from being near that person. It also is harsh and cruel. I fell in love with a man who didn't see me for a woman but just another Witcher. A training partner, a brother in arms. A friend." I sit down and stretch my arms up above my head then I reach for my toes. " So why did you leave." I stand back up . I place a hand on her shoulder " Another Witcher found out and threatened to tell the others. I left because I would have rather run then face the consequences of loosing that friendship. I let someone bully me into leaving so I did. This is the first time I've been back in twenty years. I'm not the same woman I was all those years ago. I've changed and I won't leave just because someone found out my secret. If it must come to light because these men are worse than two gossiping biddies then so be it." She laughs at my description.
" what are you two laughing about?" We turn at the question to see Geralt leaning against the wall watching us. We look at each other and smirk. " Girl stuff." We say at the same time. He raises an eyebrow at our answer . " Don't worry Wolf I'm not corrupting the girl ." I gently nudge her shoulder " go stand next to G. Knowing Eskel he'll try to do a sneak attack and I don't want you near when he tries and fails to best me." I move to the center of the yard , pulling my long daggers from their sheaths. I close my eyes taking A deep breath , listening for Eskel. I hear the sound of a sword being drawn. Then the sound of four foot steps moving along the dismount on the pendulum. I raise my daggers as he jumps at me, blocking him. He grunts in surprise. I open my eyes knowing they've gone from light sea blue to a dark turquoise. " first mistake , trying to catch me off guard." I raise my foot and kick him in the stomach he stumbles back. He regains his footing and telegraphs coming at me from the right . I roll my eyes. Typical. " Mistake number two you're telegraphing Eskel." He hits hard and fast swinging wildly in anger. I disarm him and sheath my daggers. " why's she sheathing her weapons?" I hear Ciri ask . " she's going to go to hand to hand. The challenge can't be over until someone draws blood." I raise my fists at him and he starts punching at me . I block him and then start going on the defensive, showing some moves I learned from some elves. I round house kick him and he staggers back. I then jump up in the air and throw a right hook. I can tell when he starts getting angrier he starts to get sloppy. I watch and wait for my opening. He tries to come at me again but I tackle him to the ground and use what a dwarf taught me as the arm bar I pull his arm between my thighs and pull back until he starts shouting . " tap out Eskel."
He squirms trying to get out of the hold. I pull back harder. " don't make me break your arm!" He stops and taps my thigh three times. I release him and stand up. Looking at the others seeing shock across their faces. " you cheated." I look down at Eskel and go to speak when Lambert speaks up " Actually she didn't. She could have finished it when she disarmed you. She went to hand to hand to see if you were listening when she called out the mistakes you were making. You decided to fight dirty so she used the knowledge she had to beat you. well done Red." I nod my head and move away from him. I hear Eskel get up and come after me. I sigh and stop knowing his wounded pride won't let him stop until he's drawn blood. He spins me around and throws a punch at me and I let him.
My head is thrown to the side and I feel blood at the corner of my mouth. The others shout in outrage. I slowly pull my head around and look at him seeing the smug smile on his face . I was going to walk away but when I see that smug smile and the enjoyment he gets from hitting me I know there's no other option but to beat the living crap out of him. . " oh lad you done awoken the Red Wolf." Says Vesemir . Eskel looks at Vesemir in confusion then back at me . I see fear enter his eyes when he makes eye contact with me. I smile an angry smile. I feel my hands clench . Before anyone can blink I punch him with everything I've got . He goes flying across the training yard and hits the dummy standing fifty feet from where I'm standing. I wipe my mouth and spit blood on the ground.
Turning to look at the others " Ves, I suggest you go check on Him . I think I saw some teeth flying from that last punch." He chuckles and moves to do that. I look around the others " Anyone else want to have a go?" No one moves . Bunch of pansies. I shove through them moving towards the laboratory. I feel a bruise forming on my ribs. I'm gonna need some help wrapping them. Just as I enter the lab I hear heavy footsteps behind me. " You gonna lecture me about my temper?" I ask over my shoulder. I start undoing my armor and place it on the table. I wince when I move a certain way. " No." he answers . I smile looking back at him . " he deserved it." He raise an eyebrow at me. " Maybe he did." I slowly raise my shirt looking down at my ribs. A big purple bruise has already formed. I strip my shirt off and am just standing in my breast bindings and pants. I look back at him and see him watching me. He can't really see anything due to my long hair. I watch him take in my nearly naked form and ask " could you help me wrap my ribs?"
His eyes meet mine and I see some kind of emotion there that wasn't there twenty years ago. He slowly moves foreword to stand In front of me. I hand him the cloth to wrap my ribs. He leans down and concentrates making sure to get it nice and tight . He accidentally Brushes the bottom of my breast . I jump at the contact and wince in pain. " Sorry . " he rumbles at me . I raise my eyes to his face , watching as he finishes binding my ribs.
As he ties off the ends he raises his eyes to mine again. " it's good to have you home Rafe." I smile at him and stand up grabbing my shirt to put it back on . " Yeah well , let's hope that was all the excitement for now." He chuckles at that. " You aren't the same woman from twenty years ago. She was timid , and shy, soft spoken but held her ground when she needed to." I shrug at that " I changed Geralt. I had to knowing that I probably wouldn't be welcome unless I came back stronger. " he pulls me back around to face him. " why do you say that?" I cross my arms over my chest and stare at him.
" You seriously don't remember?" I get a blank look from him. " Sebastian always picked on me . Humiliated me. Made my life a living nightmare constantly day in and day out. You all ignored it , thought it was funny . Well it wasn't, not for me. He found out that I had. Fallen In love with someone and threatened to tell him. So I left." I shrug " Me being me I thought it was better to leave than to face him. To show my emotions. I'm a Witcher as the humans say we Witchers don't have emotions. So I traveled and helped where I could. Took jobs for anyone in need of A healer or a monster hunter." I turn away from him and put as much space between us as I can.
" Something. Doesn't make sense to me Red." He says "when I saw you in that town all those months ago , you acted scared of me. Then you run from me and only when I had you cornered do you do the only thing you could think of and Kiss me to distract me from my questions getting away in the process of my shock . " I gulp and refuse to meet his eyes hoping and praying that he's not smart enough to I figure it out. " I never saw you as anything other than a friend Rafe." I shrug in defeat Still refusing to meet his eyes " I know you didn't." I whisper. Before I can say anything else a throat clears and I spin around to see the one person I had hoped never to see again. " Hello Rafaela, did you finally come to you senses and admit to the White a wolf that you love him?" Says Sebastian. Twenty years of running and all to come to this moment and time . I grit my teeth and move past Sebastian. " what did I spoil it for you? So sorry love. " I stop and grab him by his tunic and slam him down on the table bringing a dagger to his throat. " I'm not the same woman I was twenty years ago Bastian, I won't stand for you bad mouthing me or hurling lies about me. If one cruel or vile word crosses your lips I will cut out you tongue and feed it to the dogs. Do I make myself clear?" He gulps and stutters " Y-yes I understand." I push away from him and make my way to my room.
I stay in my room the remainder of the day. Several people come to my door and knock but I ignore them. The next person is someone I didn't expect. " Rafe? I brought you supper." Says Ciri. " I sit up and answer " Come in." She slowly comes in and places a tray on the bedside table. " are you ok?" She asks " I'm alright just faced a lot today. Takes alit out of a person. " I grab a piece of bread and bite into it. I notice a cup of chamomile tea with a slice of lemon. She follows my line of sight and smiles . " Geralt told me you like chamomile tea." I look at her in shock . " he's not as naive as you think him to be. " I reach for the tea and take a sip then she asks" Oh do you know how Bastian got that black eye. He came to dinner with it. It's nearly swollen shut." I choke on the tea , coughing trying to clear my airway. " what" I croak out . " yeah He wouldn't say who hit him but my bets on Geralt." I smile at that . " thanks for bringing me supper. And for keeping me up to date On the latest gossip. " she smiles and gets up to head out.
" Hey Ciri?" She turns when I call her " be careful around Sebastian, ok?" She smiles at me " ok ." She leaves me to my thoughts and some how I drift off to sleep .
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I change my clothes and head back out to the training yard. Seeing that it's completely empty I decide to workout. I strip my tunic leaving me in a light weight cami and start going through the steps. I close my eyes and imagine sparring with someone. Soon enough I'm so focused on training I don't hear anyone come into the yard. I start throwing punches and kicks into my routine. I open my eyes when someone grabs my fist. I stop to see Geralt in a offensive stance. " what are you doing?" I ask as I pull my fist from his grasp. " saw you sparring by yourself thought I'd give you a better target than thin air." I roll my eyes at him and walk over to my gear. " I think I'll pass. I've had enough male pride for one day thank you."
I take two steps when he calls out " What afraid you can't handle me?" I spin around to see him standing there watching me. " No the question is G,  can you handle me?" He smiles and gets in a ready stance. I drop my stuff and run at him throwing punches and blocking his long reach. Not once do either of us land a hit. I drop and sweep my legs to try to knock him down. He jumps over and lands standing at the ready again. I smile and move slowly back up to a stand. I swing out and barely graze him on the jaw. He somehow grabs me and spins me so my back is flushed to his chest. Pinning my arms to my chest. Breathing heavy in my ear . His lips graze my ear " I don't just think of you as a friend." I freeze at that and I try to pull out of his hold. " No you are going to listen to me. You are someone I hold in the highest regard. The one person I can trust with anything that includes Ciri. You are my best friend, Rafaela and if someone hurts you then it becomes my problem. ."
I can't do this . I can't stand here and listen to him tell me there's never going to be a chance for us. That he doesn't return my feelings . " let me go Geralt." I struggle like a drenched cat. His hold tightens and he pulls me closer to him " No Rafe." I decided to use the one trick I have left. I bring my head down and start to sob. " Rafe? What's wrong? Talk to me please?" He loosens his hold and I take off running.
I push past Vesemir who's coming out into the training yard. " Rafe? You alright?" As I'm passing him " Sorry can't talk! Angry Wolf after me!" I don't dare look back I hear his pounding footsteps behind me. I run into the dinning hall to see the others look up at me running through . I jump on the table to the other side and spin around . I see Geralt at the other side. "That was dirty Rafe." He says
I shrug and smile cheekily at him. " never underestimate a woman." He places his hands on the table attempting to come across . I move to the left as he copies me.
" give up now Rafe." Says Frank chuckling.
I don't take my eyes off Geralt.
" Have you seen him? No thanks I choose life." He goes to the right and I see a pot of vegetables and quickly throw it at him. He dodges it . I take off running again. I see a white blur out of the corner of my eye and I pour on the speed. I round the table and head towards the huge book shelf in the corner . I climb it quickly and grab the extra rope from the chandelier hoisting myself up to the second story balcony that no one can reach except from the rope and a secret door to my bedroom. I peer down at them and see Geralt staring up at me. Thunder clouds are are rolling in his eyes.
" Better luck next time G!" I bow to the clapping and whistles from the others. I turn to go but a noise like grunting stops me . I cautiously move back to look over and wouldn't you know it he is climbing the stone wall to reach me. I'm dumbfounded . Stupefied at what I am seeing. Well when a Witcher is determined enough he makes it work with what he has. I slowly back away and press my back against the door just as he pulls himself up and over the balcony. He and I lock eyes and I tremble at the look I see in his eyes.
Anger, determination, admiration respect ...and lust? He comes and stands before me , placing a hand on each side of my head bringing his face closer to mine. He stares at me for a few moments then brings his lips down meeting mine. He kisses me like a starving man. Bringing his hands up to tangle in my wild locks. I moan into his lips . He pulls back and says " You are mine."

Authors note:
Sebastian is played by Orlando Bloom.