Make Me Feel Again ♕ Geralt Of Rivia

seven .

G E R A L T

"You know what Vesemir would say? 'Witchers shouldn't play at being white knights. We shouldn't try and uphold the law. We don't show off. We get paid in coin.' And he's right." I hummed thoughtfully, "Want to hear about my first monster?" I ask Roach and when she snorts, I take it as my cue to continue. "Wasn't fifty miles outside of Kaer Morhen. He was huge. Stinking. Baldhead. Rotten teeth. He pulled that girl from the cart, tore her dress off in front of her father and said, 'It's time you met a real man.' I told him it was time he met one too. It took two strikes to kill him. They weren't clean. But they were spectacular."

I keep a careful eye on El's sleeping form, laid on her side in a pile of blankets I'd spread out for her.

"I turned to that girl afterwards. She was drenched in the man's blood. She took one look at me, screamed, vomited, and passed out." I sighed, "Yeah. I thought the world needed me too."

As I settle beside El, she turns into me and snuggles into my side. I sigh as El's new damn pet dog does the same, nuzzling its wet nose against my arm as it makes itself comfortable at my side. I grudgingly let it, not wanting to make any movements that would end up waking El.

Wrapping an arm around her, I pull her closer before pressing a kiss to her temple.

"Everyone saw me as a monster." I continued my story, "This girl right here was the only one who was never afraid of me."

I run my fingers across her cheekbones, taking in her features on her face- everything from her nose to her lips, and the light scattering of freckles across her cheeks.

She's been more quiet than usual since that run-in with the Ker. I could almost see the thoughts bouncing around in that pretty little head of hers. How she's probably overthinking everything and how's she's worried the Ker would get to her.

Only, she didn't have anything to worry about. The only way I would let anything happen to her was if I was lying six feet under. Even then, I would probably crawl out of my grave if it meant keeping her safe. Besides, the Ker was the last thing she should've been afraid of.

"Watching her sleep?" A familiar voice invades the peace that surrounded us, "Now, that's kind of creepy."

The dog is up in a split second, growling at Renfri as she emerges from the woods as he stands guard over El.

Considering the short amount of time this dog had been with us, it had grown surprisingly attached to El. Can't say I blame it. It didn't take her very long to win me over either.

"Who are you talking to?" She asks.

I grunt, "I talk to my horse."

"That's sad."

"Is it?" I raise a brow at her.

"It's not going to work, you know?" She says next, "A Ker always claims it's mark. Outrunning it is unheard of."

"It's come to my attention that people like to sprout shit they know nothing about." I snap, but quickly rein in my temper, careful to keep my voice down. The last thing I wanted was to wake El up. She was barely getting enough sleep as is.

I pry myself away from El, laying her head gently on a pile of makeshift pillows made out of blankets.

"Watch her," I say to the dog, who surprising listens, curling itself against her side as its ears perked up, twitching at every sound it hears and its eyes darting around the woods on high alert.

Satisfied that El would be well taken care of, I lead Renfri away from where we've set up camp. Stopping only when I thought we were far enough to not disturb El.

Renfri watches me with amusement dancing across her eyes.

"Tell me, Witcher. You don't believe in destiny or the lesser evil. What do you believe in?"

My eyes snap to hers at the sudden change of subject, but I answer, "You mean who do I believe in. I don't pick sides."

"You just kill monsters." She says thoughtfully, "I've made my decision. You gave me an ultimatum and I find they work. Tomorrow, I'll leave Blaviken. For good."

That, I was not expecting. I peer up at her face to see that her expression was sorrowful and genuine.

She does the same when I take a seat on a log in front of me. "My men, they love me and I love them. But it's been a long time since someone saw me." Renfri continues, "When I was a girl, my mother used to run her fingers over my forehead. She'd say she'd give a lovely lintar to know the thoughts going around in there."

Renfri looks up at me and as her eyes meet mine, I begin to feel oddly drowsy. She then starts to lean in, and my lids start to feel heavy.

I squeeze my eyes shut trying to shake the feeling off, but when I open my eyes again, I see El sitting in front of me.

"El?"

It's an illusion. The thought whispers to me in the back of my head.

"Relax, Geralt." El's voice says as she reaches out a hand to caress my cheek.

An illusion. I remind myself. El's still asleep not far from here.

I try to focus on El- the real El- and how I needed to get back to her, to make sure she was safe.

The sentiment works for a split second and I see the illusion flicker, revealing Renfri.

"Geralt?" It's El's voice that speaks again and just like that, El's sitting before me again.

She leans in closer, her hands resting on my chest. As I stare into her chocolate gaze, my defences start to fall, and when she leans in, her lips meeting mine, I lose myself completely.

Her lips move against mine, deepening the kiss we shared. This was what I've longed for, to be able to kiss the girl I cared so dearly about and to give in to the intense tension that has been bubbling between us for far too long.

But as I trail my lips down her neck, this felt anything like how I imagined it to be. There was a darkness swirling around us, and something inside me was telling me to stop. This felt all sorts of wrong.

A bark echos through the woods, snapping me out of this stupor for a split second, before Renfri's voice starts to echo through my head.

"You're in the market. Covered in blood. You say you can't choose, but you had to. And you'll never know if you were right. Geralt... Your reward will be a stoning." She says, "And you will run. You will try to outrun the girl in the woods, but you cannot."

The last image I see is Renfri sitting before me, definitely not El.

I had to get to El before she falls into too deeply asleep. Desperation claws at my throat as I try to fight whatever is still keeping me here, caught in what feels like an endless cycle of a vicious in-between state that I can't seem to escape.

My vision soon starts to blur and everything begins to feel like a dream. As the darkness soon pulls me in, the last words I hear will haunt me.

"She is your destiny."