The silence stretched for a beat more as everyone gathered their bearings. Jaskier grew tired, leaning heavier on Geralt's frame the longer he stood, he was also starving, unable to recall when he ate last.
"DANDELION!" Ciri screamed and ran forward, Geralt tensing for the oncoming impact as his child surprise threw herself at them.
Jaskier bit his tongue as she collided with them, pain racketing up his entire body, but he'd rather bite his damn tongue off if it stopped the whine from making itself known and causing distress to the child. He wrapped his free arm around her slowly, voice soft. "Ah little Swallow, I'm so glad to see you safe. I hope these wolves have been treating you well."
At the last word his eyes flickered up over to the others and pinned them with a stare, he could smell her pain and the healing wounds. Could see a wicked bruise forming on her shoulder, peeking out from the too big shirt.
Sniffling Ciri pulled back and stared up at her Dandelion, her special name day bard who sang her songs well after the party, who told her stories. "I'm so glad you're okay, that you're alive."
"I heard you call out to me Little Swallow, how could I not come back?" He whispered with a gentle smile on his face. Though the smile turned strained as her eyes flickered to his cheek, more specifically, to the scar that cut through it.
Ah yes, she's unused to seeing my true face.
"Ciri, how about we let Jaskier get back to bed." Yennefer's voice rings out in the hall.
An air-shattering snarl escaped Jaskier's lips as he lurched forward, Geralt catching him as his feet refuse to move. He could feel the sharp points of his canines nick his lip as he bared his teeth in warning, his body coiled tight while his hand swung Ciri behind him. "You have no say over her Witch not after what you have done. Geralt may trust you with her, but I do not."
Yennefer stilled, a flash of fear running down her spine as Jaskier's face twisted in rage, a rage she had never seen directed at her before. Yes, they were not friends exactly, but they had come to an understanding she thought, and she knew that she had betrayed his trust. Though he had always seemed to be a forgiving person.
A dark laugh escaped Jaskier's lips as he stood to his full height and took a step forward. Geralt eyed his brothers who were circling all the while keeping a firm hand on Jaskier's arm. "Don't think you know me Yennefer. I am not the foppish naive bard you think I am. I've lived a long life and it took even longer to forget it. But I will rip out your throat with my teeth if you so much as breathe wrong in Cirilla's direction until my instincts stop seeing you as a threat."
"Julek, calm!" Levana's voice rings out, snapping Jaskier from his rage. "Calm, she will leave the room. Ciri, be a dear will you fetch my medical bag from Jaskier's room?"
Ciri eyed Jaskier and Yen with wariness, chewing her bottom lip in uncertainty. She didn't want to leave him, not yet, not after finding out he was still alive, but Levana asked her for supplies; ones that she may need to help him more. Her decision was made when Dandelion gave her a reassuring smile.
"Coën will go with you, he will help you gather more bandages as I can smell Geralt has a wound and so does Eskel and Letho." Jaskier hummed, his eyes flickering to the Griffin briefly and earning a sharp nod.
"Okay," Ciri replied thankful. "But you better be here when I get back."
A huff of laughter escaped Jaskier's lips. "Of course, Little Swallow, maybe if you can, can you bring me back something to eat? I'm hungry enough to eat a pack of wolves, stringy as they are."
Laughter followed Ciri out as she and Coën go and do as he asked, his smile lasted until he knew the child was gone before he turned back to the others. "I don't know if they told you, but I killed the Emperor of Nilfgaard, Ciri is safe now."
Geralt shuffled Jaskier over to one of the tables near the hearth, it hadn't really been used since Jaskier was brought here but it still stayed lit to warm the room. "Komos told us."
"It was Duny," Jaskier explained low, eyes locking onto Geralt who stiffened.
"What?"
Rage began to creep back into Jaskier's face. "Emhyr var Emreis, the White Flame of Nilfgaard is Duny, Ciri's father. The bastard was after her because he wanted to…" a rumbling snarl escaped Jaskier's lips, his hands clenching the table enough to cause indents. "Because she will bear my child as prophesied and bring about the pure age of Nilfgaard is what he spat at me. He didn't care that she was his child, only that she could breed power to further his reign."
"Ah, that explains why your roar was so powerful," Gron murmured to himself, his hand snapping out to grab his two Cubs as they crouched in their own fury.
"Wolf calm, she's safe," Vesemir stated as he watched Geralt grow tense, could see the animal lurking behind the burnt gold eyes.
"For now," Letho rumbled as he took a step forward. "There's still the sorceress bitch that worked for him and the fire fuck you told us about."
Triss winced as the Viper spoke. "She's extremely powerful, enough to shake me… when I helped her walk through her memories… it terrified me what I saw. She's of Eldar blood, they won't stop hunting her."
Exhaustion was clear in Jaskier's voice when he spoke next. "That's a problem for another time, have the barriers over the keep been replaced since Fire fucker got in?"
"Yes, I made sure to do that when I portalled back. Triss helped as well." Levana stated while brushing past Geralt to look at Julek, her fingers poking and prodding, humming pleased as she pulled back the wrappings around his chest wound to see that it was no longer infected and inflamed. "Good, you'll be able to have Swallow and heal fully."
Tension seemed to evaporate from the air at her announcement, a smirk pulling at her lips as she glanced at all the Witchers in the room. They all wanted to check on the bard but dared not get close to him while Geralt was standing guard. Truth be told, Levana was extremely glad and thanked whatever deity gave him back from death's embrace because she was sure that Geralt was one step away from either killing his brother or… well…
A throaty chuckle escaped Jaskier as Levana inhaled sharply, her amused smile dropping into one of disbelief and wonder as she realised that his medallion was missing, and he was still a Witcher. Startled green eyes met golden-blue.
The curse broke… he thought to her, eyes flickering up to Geralt whose hand had not left his arm since guiding him to the table.
Julek…
"I am fine Lev, another time… later." He replied out loud, turning enough to grin at Ciri as she came rushing back into the room. The bag of supplies half slung over her shoulders and a bowl of stew in her hands, violently sloshing to the edges. "Thank you, Little Swallow."
He tossed back the Enhanced Swallow with a grimace before taking the stew, forcing his hand to slow. He knew from experience that inhaling food after not eating for days would bite him in the ass, the experience an uncomfortable one and this time would be painful with the wound still knitting back together. "Oh, sweet blessed Melitele, whoever cooked is a life send, Geralt doesn't even believe in salt and pepper."
"Vesemir cooked," Geralt replied with a scowl. "Why bother add spices to the meat when I know you'd do it yourself? Either I do or I don't, you'd still you'll complain."
"It's the point of the matter, Geralt! Meat needs spicing, you can't just eat it bland and half raw, that's sacrilege to the food!" The exasperation was loud in Jaskier's voice. "Melitele knows what you did before I came around, I know you wolves like to…"
"Maybe I just like it when you cook for me." Geralt interrupted, a pleased smile pulling at his lips as Jaskier's tirade spluttered off and a light blush pinked at his ears. Sunshine and Home wafted off him in waves, easing more of the anxiety he was feeling.
Lambert mock retched at the scene before him, ignoring the scowl that Geralt sent his way but fuck, he's waited days. "You bein' a Witcher explains so much."
"Oh? Does it really?" Jaskier asked with a frown.
Coën nodded vigorously. "Yes, it does. You may have spent years around Geralt as a human but when you tended to me you kept my weapons close. Walking down that mountain back to Spalla you eyed the surroundings as we would, it confused me, I thought you picked up Geralt's habits, but they were yours."
"Not only that, but the fact also is that you carried potions with you." Eskel continued as Lev wrapped the bandages around the bite mark on his forearm from his brother. "Human or not, the ones you gave me cannot be made by human's they're too toxic to break down, yet you told me you learnt watching Geralt but that couldn't be."
"You also managed to know which potions negate what, how toxic they are." Aiden hummed. "I had an inkling something was amiss since you healed me, but I knew the moment you asked what potions Coën took when you were healing him. Also, Vi always spoke of a brother, not his name no, but that he was a Witcher."
Jaskier's face seemed to close off more and more as the others pointed out the obvious traits, his eyes locking onto Geralt who was staring at him with a frown. A year had gone by and yet still Jaskier could read him well, he had on his thinking face and usually, that meant he was angry. "Before you ask, I had been human for a long time to the point I forgot I was a Witcher half the time. The Medallion was the only way I could be such again and that wasn't an option."
"You always gave a Witcher goodbye," Geralt started slowly, eyes distant as he tried to remember. "The first winter you Blessed me a safe journey on the Path, the way you wielded the dagger I gave you against the thief who tried to steal the pendant. You never mixed up my potions even though I never told you which was which."
The pause was long and near uncomfortable for all as Geralt's gaze began to focus once more. "Were you ever going to tell me?"
"I…" snapping his mouth shut he shook his head. "There was no point, I was human, and the curse was old and powerful not even Yennefer could break it. I am sorry Geralt, truthfully, I never intended for anyone to know besides those that knew me from before. I never intended…"
He couldn't look at Geralt, at any of them to be precise. He didn't expect to wake up, he thought this was his end even though Violet kicked him from the In-Between and back. Goddess, he was tired. Not just physically but mentally, so much has happened over the last few years, let alone the last month.
Letho grunted and glared heavily from his spot several paces away, "yes, another thing. What did I tell you Julien about hurtling yourself down fate's path faster? You may have expected to die that day against Nilfgaard but fuck, do you not see the loyalty you command around you?"
His arms swung open and gestured to the Witchers, sorceresses and the child in the room. All were looking at Jaskier with various emotions.
"You could have asked us for help Jask, we would have come." Eskel started soft as if Jaskier was a startled deer and it rankled him.
Rage began to bubble up under his skin, the lingering effects of taking two potions worth of it. Everything he had been pushing to the back of his mind began to rattle at the chains, Geralt's hand on his arm still that was once soothing now seemed to brand him.
This was insanity, this constant talk of the same thing but in different voices and words.
He was sick of it.
So fucking sick of it all.
"No, I couldn't, why would I?" He whispered the words like ice. "I didn't want to shovel shit on anyone else. This was one thing, one thing I could do without being a burden, without…"
Geralt snapped his hand back like he'd been burnt, eyes snapped wide open and heart lurching. A whine escaped his lips as he staggered back, dropping to his knees in front of Jaskier who had bowed forward, hands resting limp between his knees and face unreadable. "Jask…"
Red-tinted eyes snapped to him, fury burning in their depths. "Don't. Just don't."
"To your feet, Julien!" Gron ordered with a grimace, he was no longer the Witcher that trained the cubs, but he could see the Rage burning across those eyes and there was only one option left. "Outside. Now."
Jaskier snapped to attention at the tone in his mentor's voice, his body reacting automatically. A glance around showed that his brothers also stood straighter, rigid and though the order was just for him alone they too joined him outside.
His bare feet tinged with the cold; skin prickled in the air, but it was no worse than doing this in the dead of winter in the Amell Mountains. Haern Caduch was harsh all year round, even more so in the winter and those training to be Witchers well, their job was to constantly shovel the snow from the courtyards. Sometimes none of them had the chance to get dressed and well after the trials, their mutations made them able to endure the cold, enough they could stand shirtless for hours in it.
"Armour off," Gron ordered the others, shooting them an apologetic grimace.
Komos waved him off as he began to peel off his armour, placing it on one of the stone benches in the courtyard, his brothers doing the same while Julien stood sentinel. His eyes flickered to the door where the others followed, all with worry and confusion wafting off them in waves. His instincts told him not to disobey Gron's command, but he also has spent the last twenty-five years trying to unlearn them with him, so that in mind he went towards the others, stopping them in their tracks.
"Julien took two doses of rage, even with the Golden Oriole it will linger. Our instincts are more, severe than yours and he…" Komos trailed off, ear twitching towards the courtyard where Gron has began their drills. "From what we have gathered, heard and been told, he's been under a lot of stress. Smuggling elves, disrupting Nilfgaards plans, being tortured, the curse and then dying… he needs to let it go."
"He's still healing!" Eskel hisses as he grabbed his brother's arm in a tight grim, eyes casting to Levana and gesturing for her and Triss to take Ciri from view. She can't be here for this, you of all should know of some of the Bear Schools training…
Levana nodded and pulled Ciri into her arms, whispering in her ear. Very well, summon me when they're done. I'll bring swallow and kiss.
A snarl rippled in the air and the others watched as the Bears crouched around Jaskier, a rumbling snarl vibrating from their chests. In a blink Zadin moved, his arms locking around Jaskier in a grapple, the struggle was easy to see but, in the end, Jaskier was able to drop his shoulder and pivot; tossing Zadin over his shoulder with ease.
They watched as this happened repeatedly, faster and more violent. Teeth piercing flash, fists and kicks landing hard enough to bruise. Gron was telling them again and again, criticising their moves and how to correct them even though Jaskier's eyes were tinted red in Rage.
"Hm," Letho hummed arms crossed and head tilted to the side. "This was how you all trained?"
"Melitele no, this was what we did before the Trials. Gron is just trying to burn the last of the Rage out. Normally it wouldn't be this bad but even with our mutations Julien put his body through too much strain." Komos explained as he began to warm up, waiting.
Vesemir hummed. "Gron did say he had a soft spot for the boy."
"If you could call it that." Komos snorted. "Julien was several classes younger than I, he was beaten quite a lot for his… friendliness. Gron brought him to the keep, but he treated Julien no different than I or the others."
A dark laugh echoed the air followed by several curses, bringing everyone's attention back to the fight to see Jaskier spinning, sending a burst of power out of him in a swirling dome that crackled. Coën felt his eyes widen and mouth drop in surprise at that, a Sweeping Axii was easy enough but to mix it with Volun?
"My turn," Komos grinned and kicked off, barrelling towards Jaskier with ease.
Watching them both fight really put into perspective how Bear's were trained, how brutal they were. Lambert swallowed and turned to Vesemir who was watching with the familiar tick of disapproval, the severe need to apologise to his father figure for all the insults and anger at his own training for Lambert can now see how easy Vesemir truly was on them.
"Oh sshit." Serrit hissed as he threw his hands over his ears, Letho and Auckes following suit just as Jaskier roared.
The sound seemed to ripple across the ground in a wave, vibrating the air and shifting the flecks of snow in the air. It hit the others in a blink causing them to whine and hiss at the pitch leaving their ears ringing. The wolves shook their heads trying to get it to stop while Aiden rubbed at his ears.
"Wha' the fuck was that?" Lambert grunted once his ears stopped ringing.
"A Bear Roar," Letho replied. "He did that on the battlefield too, it doesn't do much besides stun slightly."
"It also releases tension," Gron explained as he made his way back up to them. "He'll be fine now, angry still yes but he won't be fuelled by Rage."
They watched as the Bear's go to their feet, laughing and joking as Jaskier shook off the snow that Komos had bodily slammed him into. He seemed to hold himself a bit freer, less tension in his shoulders and as he ripped away the bandage of his chest, they could see that the wound was closed.
"Jask," Geralt called hesitantly, stepping forward.
Jaskier sighed and made his way towards Geralt resigned. "We need to talk, I know. But I reek and am in dire need of a bath."
"I can show you to the hot springs," Geralt replied slow, hesitant like he normally isn't.
A please smile bloomed softly across Jaskier's face. "Now that, I would like very much."
