Hey look at that I remember to post this thing. A bit of good news bad news, the good news is you guys are guaranteed to get a chapter next week , the bad news is that it was the chapter that you were meant to get today. As i was proofreading it I noticed a segment that while on first glance seemed perfectly fine would be come a gaping plot hole later down the road, so I took the first segment and gave you what I could. Next week's chapter though is looking to be around 12-13k words.
Any way have fun with this one guys.
He felt his body burning.
Fire coursed through every artery.
Any attempt to move only fanned the flames higher.
Pain.
It was a sensation Jaune had become very familiar with over the past- hours? Days? Weeks?
He had had one faint moment of respite, when the flames died down and he started to grow weary. But that did not last, he was vaguely aware of some vile liquid passing his lips then near instantly the flames redoubled their blaze. Yet now they were not content with just his veins, they spread hungry for kindling, taking root in his bones, his lungs, every inch of muscle and skin. It was unbearable. Jaune wanted nothing more then to just end his life, if moving didn't start new waves of agony he would bite through his own tongue, bleed out in minutes.
Disappointment.
The word pierced the veil of pain and everything started to fade away. He clamped down on the feeling, willing it to go away. He would take the pain just not silence!
No!
I- I will live!
I have t-to survive.
I can't di-
Blessed blackness.
=][=
"He seems to be taking to the trial quite well I must say." A female voice, one filled with grace and elegance interrupted the witcher's silent vigil over the newest aspirant.
Pushing himself off the cold stone walls of the mutagen lab Geralt brought his hand up and rubbed away the drowsiness from his eyes. "Mhm. He started to succumb to the venom earlier but he's a stubborn one."
He glanced over at the new arrival, Yennefer. She was a sight to behold, holding herself nobly even now in the dead of night, only wear a night shift. She strutted over to where the boy lay stopping by his head, she reach down and seemed to examine his hair, a lock of which had transitioned from a dirty blonde to pale white.
"Hmmm stupid enough to charge a basilisk, stubborn enough not to die and now hair turning white?" She looks up from the boy, a teasing smile danced across her face. "Looks like we have a Geralt Jr in the works."
Geralt rolled his eyes even as a grin of his own threatened to break past his stony facade. "A good enough name until we actually learn his."
Yen resumed we walk around the table toward several growing mutagens, each a lumpy mass of flesh no bigger than a thumbnail. They would be inserted into the arms, legs and torso on the last day of the trial.
"Junior it is." She paused looking up from her work. "Ciri is starting to get curious."
"Oh?"
"Yes, she knows you're in the castle but no one is telling her what you are doing. I caught her prowling the dungeons trying to find you."
Geralt only raised his brow, "Isn't Vesemir keeping her busy?"
"No doubt he fell asleep during lessons again."
A small chuckle escaped the witcher "Well she should have someone her age to keep up with her soon."
"Won't hear her complain about that practice dummy anymore." She added. "Why don't you come up, see Ciri, get some rest?"
Geralt shook his head. "Can't. Always has to be a witcher on vigil."
"I'll go get one of the others to come down, you've been up for three days."
"Okay, I'll be up soon." Geralt agreed watching the sorceress walk out the door and up the stairs before once more throwing his gaze upon the still form of Geralt Junior.
=][=
Waking up was horrible.
His senses returned to him at what seemed like a snails pace.
Every part of him held a deep seated soreness, worse than any day of training with his father.
But at the same time he welcomed it. The soreness was a far cry from the constant agony he had been in for the past... Who knows how long. Jaune tried to bring his hand up to relieve the pounding in his head- but he couldn't...
That wasn't a reassuring feeling.
Okay. Focus Jaune. This is important. Aaaand still nothing. Okay baby steps. The fingers.
Slowly. So very slowly, Jaune could feel his fingers twitch and brush against... Was that wood? Another twitch. Yup wood. Twitch. Twitch. Fidget. Twitch. Inch by monumental inch he closed his hand into a fist and it was like a flood gate opened as awareness flooded through him.
Opening his eyes he saw that he was inside somewhere, stone seemed to make up every surface, and was laying down on a surprisingly comfortable wooden table. But his vision was swimming and painfully blurry so when he finally was able to bring up his hand he tried to wipe the disorientation away with a groan
"Hey, you're awake." A male voice said startling Jaune and causing him to jump as much as his body was able. Which wasn't much, at all. It mostly consisted of his head lolling over toward the voices direction bringing a man into view. Average looks, with large scars running down his jaw. He was dressed in layers of lightweight armour and two sword handles poked over his right shoulder.
"Whe-" the word seemed to stick to his throat, almost out but straining stay unheard. Thankfully the man seemed to understand. He walked over and knelt so as to be at head level.
"You're at Kaer Morhen. My names Eskel, a witcher." Seeing no spark of recognition in the boy's eyes he continued. "You're one of us now, means we take care of each other. So just lie back and try to get some rest I'll go grab Vesemir, tell him you're awake." Eskel said before disappearing from sight, door hinges squealing signalling the departure.
Rest.
Rest sounded wonderful right now.
Not even ten minutes later the door swung open again and to Jaune's surprise when he lifted his head to look his body obeyed immediately. Two new faces. The men could have been father and son on first glance, both with ashen hair, swords strapped to their backs and similar dress. But they didn't look nearly enough alike they just seemed to have that air between them, both were armoured in chain mail and hardened leather. Eskel was nowhere in sight.
The old man was the first to speak. "Well, I'm glad to see you recovering so nicely. Gave us quite the fright when we heard you in the forest."
"Wh-what happened?" Jaune asked, the words starting to flow much more smoothly.
"Me and Geralt" he said gesturing to the other man "were hunting a basilisk, imagine out surprise when we find a boy who instead of running away from it, charged the beast with a sword bigger than him! You got a nasty bite from the monster so we took you here, gave you the only cure we could."
Looking at the man more intently now Jaune started when he noticed the old man's eyes, glowing amber with narrow slotted pupils. Like a cats. The younger man Geralt shared "One of us..." The boy whispered and when the men shared a look he knew they heard. "The man who was here when I was awake, Eskel said I was one of you. What did you do to me?"
"We put you through the Trial of the Grasses. Traditionally one of the final steps of becoming a Witcher. In your case we had to do it first to neutralize the basilisk venom. There were some complications." Geralt explained, talking for the first time. At Jaune's vacant stare he continued. "Because of the lack of preparations not all the mutagens took perfectly and some reacted to the venom in your blood. Your faster and stronger then humans now but you won't be as strong as most witchers. That's the biggest one, other then that we'll have to wait to see how you develop."
The boy sat up slowly and stared down at his hands, clenching and unclenching them. Previously non existent muscles shifting below his skin. "What's a witcher?"
Vesemir had only a few words on the matter, but it was enough to fill Jaune with hope.
"We're Monster slayers lad."
Wow the outpouring of support has been phenomenal! Thanks everyone for every review, follow and favourite. Please keep it up the more i get the more motivated I am to put extra time away to making sure chapters are on time. See you guys next thursday!