After breakfast, Tuda walked the grounds, familiarizing himself with them,seeing as he would be staying there. As he does, he instantly noticed the group of five that was failing to secretly trail him. Four girls and one boy. Seeing as Tuda didn't want to let on that he knew what they were doing just yet, he could only get a glancing description of each. The boy and three of the girls looked nearly identical with their physical build. Fighters tried and true, confidence and arrogance filled their posture. However,the other girl was differentFirst off, she was blonde. Very different from the muted hair colors of the other in her group. She didn't exactly look like a fighter. More like one that ran from fights. She walked cautiously, and with elegance however; he did notice her occasional glance at the others, and how she looked at them. As Tuda walked, they followed. They failed at being stealthy and he heard every step, no matter how silent they believed they were. He could spot them in whatever shadows they believed concealed them. Their scent lingered in his nose, even if the wind favored them. They can't hide from him.
As Tuda approached the communal washrooms he heard them approach him,their footsteps now heavy and no long were they trying to hide.
"About time you showed yourselves, I was starting to get bored, watching you all." This made them all pause, Tuda couldn't see their faces as his back was to them, but he could imagine their shocked expressions. He turned around and their faces, although not as amusing as he had hoped, were still covered in felt his medallion vibrate on his chest as it detected magic. He looked at them all, trying to find the source of it.
"Would any of you happen to have a magical item with you?"
"What's it to you?" The clear leader of the group asked in a snarl.
"I ask because it's setting my medallion off." Tuda said, raising an eyebrow at the tone as he crossed his arms
"Can it detect magic?" The blonde one asked curiously.
"And on that how did you know we were following? Where did you come from? What is a Witcher? Where's Kaer-"
"Alright enough, blondie! No one gives a shit!" The head girl snapped... Wait. As Tuda thought about it, he recognized that voice.
"Captain?"He mused, while staring at the child.
"What?" She then asked confused
"Captain. It's what they called you last night during that game you played." Tuda stated
"How do you know that?!" She then snarled all of them but the blonde one step towards him.
"Simple, I was in the trees. How the hell do you think I avoided all you idiots these past few days. You never look up" Tuda said snidely, this only seemed to piss off the kids more than they already were.
"Why you!" The "captain" charged in first, winding up with a punch Tuda saw a mile away, and he quickly sidestepped. His eyes watched them, sizing them up.
"Couldn't there have been five of you? That's my favorite number," He said as his arms slowly uncrossed and took a defensive position in front of his chest. The Captain circled back around and joined the other three in front of him;he watched as they looked at each other, clearly holding a conversation without words. They all then nod and slow start to try and circle him. Like he would let them, Tuda knew taking out the leader would cause disarray within their group. He then made his first target the so-called "captain". Time seemed to slow for Tuda as he dashed at her, her arm slowly moved to block him, but they seemed to move as if they were in slime. Tuda quickly Delivered three blows, a punch to the gut sending her body lurching forward. He then reeled his arms back and slammed his hands over her ears, making her scream as her ears were filled with a deafening ring. Then, he grabbed her head and slammed his knee into her nose, hearing an all too familiar crunching noise. Tuda let go of her head and she fell backwards, the force of his knee lifting her off her deer before she slammed into the groundKnee lifting her off her feet before she slammed into the ground.
"Clarisse!" Tuda took a few steps back from Clarisse, at last having a name for one of them. As he does so, he can hear the girl to his right run towards him with a bloody battle cry. Tuda quickly turns in her direction and watches her charge and just waits; he sees her bring her arm back for a swing. Turned in her direction and watched her charge, just waiting. He saw her bring her arm back to take a swing. He brought his arms together to block when he felt her fist meet his arms explode outwards, throwing the girl off balance. As she stumbled, Tuda brought his leg up and kicked her in the chest, which sent her crashing into the other girl, carrying both of them to the floor. Tuda then noticed the boy trying to attack him from behind stealthily. However, a quick Aard blast sent the boy through the door of the restrooms.
"My gods…. What was all that?" The blond asked in a mix of horror and excited curiosity.
"Hm." Was the only response Tuda gave as he started to walk off.
"Hey, wait!" She said, chasing after him. Over the next few minutes Tuda does his best to ignore the blond girl and her nonstop question but everyone has a breaking point even a witcher and his was thirty-minutes later
"Ok enough!" he shouts and she promptly shuts up
"I can barely hear myself think over your ramblings." He says rubbing his head
"Sorry but there's just so much I know about you I can't help myself. I have to know all of it!"
"You can help you just utterly chose to not" he remarks annoyance dripping in his voice
"There's magic, your armor, your swords-My gods! You need to see the oracle!" She gaps coming to this realization. This, this makes Tuda stop, an Oracle? He knows what thoughts are and he knows what and prophecy from them can do to a person to people over all. Hell his sister is supposedly apart of a prophecy said by and Oracle
"Why do I need to see an oracle?" he asks, his eyes narrowing, not liking that this relatively young girl is saying that he needs to see it.
"Because! Because no one has been allowed to see the Oracle in years which means that no one has been on a quest in years and I need to go on a quest. I know it is my destiny to do so and you are my only chance of doing that!" the girl says with an overabundance of excitement and a hint of pleading in her eyes as she stares up at him.
"Your destiny huh. Pft kid some life advice avoid trying to fulfill what you believe your destiny is it will only bring ruin to you and the ones around you." Tuda says crossing his arms
"No you don't understand, Chiron wont let me out and he said that it is my destiny to go on a quest but only when someone special shows up. That person is you Tuda!"
"Master" Tuda says simi-bitterly
"What?" she asked completely sucked out of the moment
"Master Tuda. you think I trannied a Whitcher my entire damned life for you to not respect that?" he said with a look of annoyance and an eyebrow raise
"Kinda Medieval isn't it? No one talked like that or addressed anyone like that in centuries " Tuda gives the girl a glare that is a mix of I don't care, and I can kill you and the power radidatin off him right now make the girl pale and gulp
"Right my apologies master Tuda" there was a hit of snark and sarcasm as she says it but Tuda just rolls his eyes and rubs his face, It will have to do for now.
"Just do it please?" the girl begged
"No, I'm not going to," Tuda says.
Tuda is now in the adicc of the house grumbling to himself incoherently. He looks around the dusty place trying to find this oracle but all he was finding was dust, dust and well more dust. That is until he came across a body. One that looked like an accident the skin was wrinkled and glued to the bones, its face looked hollow and well dead. As he stared at his longer he felt his medallion start to trimble and he quickly drew his silver sword and looked around searching for something.
"A spector most likely. But what kind?" he says to himself as he primes a sign in his hand but not casting it yet. Then he heard a voice one that was raspy and hollow.
"Hunter comes closer" Tuda narrows his eyes and opens his sense further but yet he can't seem to see anything out of the ordinary. Aside from the corpse, there was a strange kind of haze green energy radiating off it. It was similar looking to that of a spirit but yet lacked the violence and setting hatred that a Wraith usually has.
"Approach " the voice whispers again and slowly he does so. He watches as green mist begins to seep out of the eyes and mouth of the corpse. Before it could reach him he brought his hand to the ground casting a ring of protection magic around himself. Yerden, also known as the Trap sing, despite being one of Tudas weaker sings it will slow any other creature that enters it as well as binding any corporale creatures to a physical form, thus increasing the effectiveness of a silver sword on them. The mist approaches the magic trap and forms around it leaving the area inside it as well as Tuda untouched.
"He wished to force his victory but only confirmed his defeat. Trust me now hunter so I may speak your fate" the whisper voice pleiades as it echoes around him
"Why should I trust you, spirit? I am no fool." Tuda says in a flat tone his silver sword at the ready he had heard tales of spirits trying to convince people to trust them only so they could possess them or further free themselves hell Gartlat admitted to almost falling for one in Novigrad.
"Hunter I only wish to help and guide you please" the voice says softly again with that pleading tone
"Whatever you have to say I can hear you now so just say it here it the only way i'll listen to you" there is a pause in the energy and the movement of the mist
"Very well hunter" there is then an explosion of power, one that almost makes Tuda leap forward and swing but yet something stops him. He sees the course floating in the air above its chair.
Return does the will lost from the sea,
Face they who have turned for all to see,
Be betrayed by one loved by all,
Find it which was lost and be paid as his decree,
else the wolf will be forever gone.
As the Oracle says this Tuda notices it seems to struggle at the end before he hears a short scream of pain and the skin on its mummy like body seems to crack before the mist retreats back inside the copres and once more it lays still and motionless on the chair.
"The hell does any of that crap mean" Tuda says, both annoyed and very confused.