White Wolf & Red Hood Chapter 12: To Rescue a Princess
Disclaimer: I do not own The Witcher or RWBY. The former is owned by Andrej Sapkowski and CD Projekt Red while the latter is owned by Rooster Teeth.
[Near Pellar's Hut, Velen, Northern Kingdoms]
Geralt and Ruby rode through the forest on the way to the Pellar's hut. They had left The Strong Cook Inn early in the morning, just in case the remaining members of the Order of the Flaming Rose came back for revenge. They had stocked up on some food for the road. After a few more minutes of traveling, the found themselves right outside of a small hut. The two got off of Roach, and Geralt hitched the mare to a nearby tree.
As the two approached the hut, they then noticed a group of five men outside of it. They were all dressed up in patchwork armor, and all were armed with blackjacks, hand axes, and swords. Geralt immediately recognized them as men who worked for the Bloody Baron. He had saw a few of them hanging around Crow's Perch.
"Open up, ya codger," one of the men shouted. The leader of the men, who was rather fat, turned around and looked at the approaching witcher and huntress.
"Hey, look! Someone's come our way."
"Sod off, ya freak," Another of the men shouted as Geralt and Ruby approached them. The leader then stepped up and approached them.
"What do you want," he asked as the rest of the men surrounded them. Ruby tensed up at this, her hand unconsciously reaching towards Rosebud. Geralt, however, remained relaxed as he talked with the leader.
"We wanna talk to the pellar."
"Well, you're too late. We got dibs on a chat with 'im, and a long one at that."
"You should leave, now," Geralt said as he subtly casted Axii with his left hand. The sign soon afflicted all five of the men, and they let on their way without a single word. Ruby blinked at this in confusion.
"I don't understand. I thought that they were going to make a big fuss about leaving."
"Axii can be a strong influence on the weakminded," Geralt answered as he approached the hut's door and knocked on it. He waited for a few minutes, but there was no answer.
"Anybody home?"
"It's safe now, we sent those guys away," Ruby said, trying to reassure the resident inside. An old sounding voice then spoke up from behind the door.
"Devils! Who do they bring? And what do ye seek?"
"We need your help."
"Ooh, a man, nay, a wolf. Gray, though not old. And with him, a young wolf pup. 'Tis they the pellar awaits."
With that the door in front of them opened, revealing a very old looking man. He was balding, with his remaining white hair on the sides of his head. He wore a green robe that had a brown fur collar around his neck and shoulders, and held up by a simple rope pelt. He kept satchel on the right side of his waist, and he had two necklaces on his neck. The first was a leather pouch kept on a twine string. The second was a necklace that was made up of what looked like the feet of crows. The pellar then let the two in, and they had a good look around at the pellar's home.
The house was rather simple looking, with a table by the window, and candlelight illuminating the room. A book shelf near the back held several items used for alchemy and magic rituals. Decorating the walls of the room were skulls that belonged to deer and elk. Geralt then looked at the pellar, who had his back turned to the witcher.
"You were expecting us."
"Aye, as the bones declared that I should. 'They shall come whose stench is rape and death. But two wolves shall disperse them. The White Wolf and the young wolf pup.' And thus, they come. The Omens never lie."
Ruby tilted her head at the pellar's words. For her, the pellar came off as rather weird, with his way of speaking and how he seemed to be off in his own little world. How could bones predict their arrival, and why did the pellar refer to Geralt and her as wolves? Geralt, meanwhile, took out the talisman from his pocket and showed it to the pellar.
"Recognize this? It's made of spruce wood, and has a strong smell of juniper. Designed to protect somebody."
The pellar walked over and looked down at the talisman. He then recalled something as he looked at it.
"Freshly cut spruce sprinkled with goat's blood, then tempered with an incense of earthsmoke and juniper. For Anna, to protect her."
Ruby got what the pellar was saying and then talked to him.
"Wait, you were the one to make the talisman?"
"Aye. Sure, 'twas the pellar. After the way of his forefathers, over still water, in the light of the full moon. Proper as amulets go. It protected well. She should never 'ave taken it off."
"So it was designed to protect her, but from what," Geralt asked as he crossed his arms.
"Oh, the dear – besieged, she was. Evil all around, wanting to possess her. Old magic born of oblivion, from dark sources emerged."
"Old magic? Can you be more specific?"
"Tis not for mouth speech, nor for the touch. A small protective charm – not a thing more than a pellar could do."
"…what," Ruby said, her head tilted to the side. The pellar's answers only served to confuse her even more.
"The talisman is meant to ward off spirits," Geralt answered her as he turned back towards the pellar.
"Anyway, Anna and her daughter are missing. Do you have idea where they've gone?"
"Nay, no nay. Pellar don't know. But the spirits could know. The pellar will augur, the spirits ask."
Ruby's eyes widened at the mention of spirits. Geralt, on the other hand, responded to the pellar's solution in his usual dry and sarcastic manner.
"Spirits, great, fine with me. As long as we know where to look and where to find them."
The pellar didn't register Geralt's answer as he mumbled off something else.
"Lost, lost… must be found… Princess! None better than Princess for finding things!"
"A princess? Which princess," Geralt asked as the pellar suddenly went outside. Geralt and Ruby followed him.
"How does a pellar like him know a princess," Ruby asked as they stepped outside the door. They found the pellar at a small pen meant for keeping an animal. It was right next to a small herb garden. The pellar suddenly looked distressed at the empty pen.
"Princess! My goat, she's gone!"
"Hm, those men must have scared her off. Can we get back to the auguring," Geralt said, completely unconcerned about the pellar's missing pet.
"Without the goat? Impossible. With no goat, it won't work."
"You're joking, right," Ruby said as the pellar continued to lament the loss of the goat. Geralt simply shook his head and sighed. Never in all his lifetime would he think he would be chasing down a goat. However, if this would help them find Anna and her daughter, then he would do it. He then gave the pellar his offer.
"Will you help us if we bring the goat back?"
"Princess, Princess. Where've you gone to girl," the pellar said, not even registering Geralt's offer. The witcher pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance.
"Fine, we'll get your goat," Geralt said as he and Ruby began to walk off. However, the pellar suddenly came back to reality as he realized something. He then walked up to the witcher and huntress and brought something out of his satchel. It was a simple looking brass bell with a wooden handle.
"The bell! The little bell's ringing – she loves it! Ring, ring, and she will follow! Uh, for a while, that is."
Ruby took the bell out of the pellar's hands and gave it a ring. It let out a nice, chiming sound. However, the pellar then gave the witcher and the huntress a grave warning as his voice turned serious.
"But beware of wild strawberries. Raspberries as well."
"Yeah, treacherous as beasts go. I always keep an eye out for 'em," Geralt replied, his voice practically dripping with sarcasm. The pellar didn't pick up on it as the two walked off from the hunt.
Five minutes later…
"Here, Princess! Be a good goat and come home," Ruby shouted out as she ringed the bell once again. The two of them had been walking around the forest, searching for a sign of the goat. The had encounter several wild strawberry bushes, and Ruby had ate a few of them, not passing up the chance to eat one of her favorite foods.
"Hm, what kind of person names a goat 'Princess'," Geralt said as he stepped over a fallen log. Ruby rang the bell again as she looked over at her traveling companion.
"You named your horse after a bug."
"No, I didn't. I named it after a fish," the witcher said as he suddenly noticed something on the ground. He got one knee and inspected it as Ruby looked over his shoulder. It was a set of hoof prints that belonged to a goat.
"Hm, it looks like we're close," Geralt commented as the two of them followed the hoof prints. Geralt's ears then picked up the sounds of a goat bleating. The two went pass a tree to find a goat eating the fruit off a raspberry bush.
"There you are," Geralt said as Ruby went up to Princess and started to pet its head. Princess didn't seem to mind this as it continued to eat.
"The last time I saw one of you was when my Dad brought me and Yang to a petting zoo," Ruby said as she stroked Princess's hide.
"Petting zoo," Geralt questioned as Ruby tried to lead the goat away from the bush. However, Princess was rather insistent on eating the berries.
"It's place that you go to where you can pet and feed animals."
"I see," the witcher said as Ruby continued to try to get Princess to budge. She then remembered she still had the bell on her person. Ruby took out the bell and rang it. Princess turned away from the berries and started to follow Ruby, enchanted by the ringing of the bell.
The witcher, huntress, and goat continued to walk back to the pellar's hut, with Ruby ringing the bell to keep Princess focused on them. However, the goat suddenly wander off from the two when it noticed an untouched raspberry bush. Geralt and Ruby walked over to Princess as it nibbled on one of the berries.
"Come on, we need to take you back to the pellar. He misses you something awful," Geralt said, trying to urge the animal to follow them. Ruby once again rang the bell, and Princess began to follow them again. Another few minutes passed once again as they continued to walk through.
"Princess must really like strawberries," Ruby commented as stepped over a few stones.
"That's why it stops following us to eat them. I should of taken the pellar's warning seriously," Geralt mused as he looked back over at Princess, who had once again wandered off of the path. Ruby let out an annoyed whine at this while Geralt simply sighed.
"Princess, please come back! Don't tell me I have to keep ringing the bell to get you to follow!"
Geralt and Ruby then searched for Princess, catching up to it as the goat approached the mouth of a cave. Princess stood completely still in front of the cave as Ruby once again tried to coax it with the bell.
However, Ruby suddenly stopped ringing as a bear rumbled forth from the mouth of the cave. Geralt and Ruby immediately took out their respective weapons and the witcher turned towards Princess.
"Bear, bear," he shouted trying to get the goat to run away. However, Princess just stood there, unaware of the impeding danger. Geralt let out a grunt of frustration as he shouted at Princess again.
"Run, you stupid piece of shit!"
That seemed to get the goat's attention, and Princess wandered off as the bear began its charge. Geralt brought up his free hand and prepared to cast Aard. However, he was beaten to the punch as Ruby rushed forward and used Rosebud as a makeshift pole vault. She then contacted the bear and kicked it right in the muzzle. The bear snarled as it tried to swipe at Ruby with his claws. However, Ruby was too quick for it, and she responded by striking at it with three quick slashes of Rosebud. The bear finally decided that fighting the girl wasn't worth the trouble, and wandered back into its cave. Ruby folded Rosebud up and put it on her back while Geralt simply sheathed his sword. The two then walked back and found Princess once again eating strawberries.
"Let's just get her back before the bear shows up again," Geralt said as Ruby once again rang the bell. After more coaxing and bell ringing, they found themselves outside of the pellar's hut. The pellar looked overjoyed to see his pet again.
"Goat of mine! Dearest, sweetest goat," the pellar said happily as he got on his knees and scratched the underside of the goat's chin. Princess seemed to be happy as well as it let out a bleat. Ruby held up her finger in the air and waited for a good opportunity to speak up.
"I don't want to ruin the reunion, but you did promise us to help us."
The pellar continued to pet the goat as Geralt let out a sigh.
"Tamara and Anna might be in danger," he said as the pellar stopped petting Princess, got up and looked at the two.
"The White Wolf and the young pup helped the pellar, and now the pellar shall help them."
The pellar then lead Princess inside before turning to Geralt and Ruby.
"Blood. We need the blood of a living being."
"…we'll be right back," Geralt said as he and Ruby went off to find something that would fit the pellar's requirements. A few minutes later, the two stepped into the hut, with Geralt holding up a rat. The pellar, meanwhile, was busy milking Princess as the goat at from a wooden bucket full of grass and berries.
"Will this do," he asked as the pellar got up and looked at the rat squirming around in Geralt's hand. The pellar responded with a nod before he took some sort of dust out of his pocket and spread it out in a semi-circle. He did the same with the dish of goat's milk that he had required, splashing it over the semi-circle before casually tossing away the clay dish. He then motioned Geralt to hand him the rat. Ruby watched the process with intrigue, and then suddenly squirmed when she saw the pellar cut the rat with a knife. He then spread the blood over the semi-circle. He suddenly then dropped the rat and collapsed to his knees.
Ruby suddenly stifled a gasp as smoke suddenly emerged from his head and shoulders. The pellar began to speak in a possessed voice, as Geralt looked on in interest.
"They are not here. They have gone. Blood, I see blood!"
"Whose," Geralt asked as the pellar turned towards the two. Ruby became unnerved as she looked at the pellar's eyes. They were now completely golden, with no iris, pupil, or sclera. It just looked unnatural and inhuman. The pellar continued to speak in his possessed voice.
"No Anna… no Tamara… just a child."
The smoke suddenly stopped emerging from the pellar, and his possession ended. He suddenly got up and looked at Geralt and Ruby before speaking.
"A child that lives not, yet did not died."
"Who does the child belong to," Geralt asked, interested in the child that the Pellar mentioned.
"Why Anna's."
"Anna was pregnant?"
"She was, and she miscarried," the pellar said as Ruby stood back, stunned at the mention of a death of a child.
"The… the baron never said his wife was pregnant," Ruby said in a hollow tone. The pellar looked down at the young huntress.
"Afriad, perhaps, or ashamed, or forgetful… Or perhaps he had no wish to remember."
"The baron had anything to do with her miscarriage," Geralt asked, trying to put the clues together.
"Perhaps. Foul-tempered, he is, and a fondness of hooch."
"No doubt that makes his temper even fouler."
"Did… did the Baron abuse his family," Ruby asked, having a difficulty processing this. When she had first meet the Baron, he seemed rather friendly and welcoming, and he seemed to love his family a lot. How could someone like that abuse his family? Ruby then straightened up and looked at the pellar.
"Anna visited you, right? You must have noticed something about her."
"The pellar is old and nearly blind, young pup. But Princess came and licked her hand."
"So what," Geralt asked as the Pellar answered him.
"She's a wise beast, only comes to those who suffer."
"What happened to the child?"
"In a grave thrown, without rite or ceremony, it awoke. Now it wanders, it seeks vengeance."
"A botchling," Geralt concluded as Ruby looked at the witcher.
"A what?"
"A botchling is a creature born from a stillborn infant that has been improperly buried. When they arise, they prey upon pregnant women, sucking out their blood and eating their fetuses."
Ruby felt a shiver run down her spine as she heard Geralt's explanation. She didn't know that creatures like those could exist in this world. From what she saw in the Northern Kingdoms, the monsters and beasts that lived there seemed to be no different from the Grimm on Remnant, However, knowing that something like a botchling could exist unnerved her. The pellar once again addressed the two of them.
"White Wolf, wise wolf. You and the pup must catch the botchling. The botchling will help, and will lead the wolves to the loved ones."
"The botchling won't help us," Geralt said as he shook his head. The pellar, however, was rather adamant about this point.
"''Tis a being cursed, and witchers lift curses. If the White Wolf can't lift it, he should bring me its blood. Blood will always find kindred blood."
"The baron ought to know where he buried the infant. Thanks again with the help," Geralt said as he and Ruby left the hut. The two of them got on Roach. Ruby, however, noticed something about Geralt. He looked to be incredibly angry, yet at the same time, he at the same time, he had an eerie calmness to him.
"Geralt, what are we going to do about the Baron?"
"Let's just say that he and I are going to have a nice, long talk."
Next Time - Truths Revealed
A/N: And here is another chapter of White Wolf and Red Hood!
And here we adapt one of the more interesting parts of the Bloody Baron quest. It was really fun to write. I always found the pellar to be a rather interesting character, because of the way he speaks, like how he's speaking in riddles. And trying to find the goat was one of the more interesting quests that I have done in gaming. That, and trying to find a sex bot in Fallout: New Vegas.
And I hide a reference to Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope in this chapter. Whoever finds it gets brownie points.
Anyway, I have finals this week, so don't expect another update until after that. Please fave, follow, and leave a review (since I love feedback). I will see you all next update.
