Chapter 6: Going her Own Way

They travelled for the next few days, meeting very few other travellers along the road. Jaskier spent his time writing new songs, and singing his old ones that had helped make Geralt the most famous Witcher. Geralt and Jaskier would speak sometimes, but Ciri stayed mostly silent, unless spoken to directly. Every evening, she would groom the horses while the two men would prepare the camp for the night. They settled into the routine easy enough, and they never suspected that there was anything wrong with the girl.

Yet, there was so much on the girl's mind. She had the feeling Geralt was feeling trapped, having to cart her around and move at a slower pace because of her. During the evenings, when they thought she was asleep, she had heard them talk about a bad fight they had had, where Geralt had blamed Jaskier for ending up with the child-of-surprise. This stung; was she really so bad to end up with? But of course, she knew that answer. What grown man wanted to be stuck with a strange, magic-child who was being hunted?

This is what kept her silent. She did not want to be more of a nuisance than she already was. The lightheartedness she'd felt at the beginning of their travels, had turned to full-blown guilt at even existing. A part of her began to wonder if she should leave the group, run off in the middle of the night and find somewhere else to hide out, until her enemies assumed she was dead.

It was late in the night, Ciri was asleep in her bed roll when she was startled awake by the sound of metal clashing. "Kill the men, and take the girl!" a gruff voice shouted. Jumping up, Ciri looked around quickly, wide-awake and adrenaline pumping. Bandits, unconnected to the people tracking her she assumed, surrounded their camp. Each man, dirty and gross with wild facial hair, clamped a sword tightly in their hands. Geralt had his sword driven through one of them already, while Jaskier held a dagger in front of himself, his hand shaking slightly.

Standing up swiftly from her bedroll and fumbling for the dagger next to her supplies, she could hear Geralt's sword slicing through the men with practiced-ease. Before she could get a firm hand on her dagger, a man grabbed her from behind, his mouth covering her mouth and pulling her tightly against his body. "Aren't you a pretty thing…" he hissed into her ear, making her body shudder in disgust.

He began to slip back into the trees, and she panicked, trying to flail and get free, but he completely overpowered her. She could see Geralt slashing through the few remaining men, his eyes beginning to frantically look around until they locked on her being pulled back. Instantly his eyes darkened, and he bolted forwards, sword up. "Let her go, and I promise to kill you quickly," Geralt barked, golden eyes giving a look that could kill.

Ciri felt the man tremble slightly, but still cold steel came up to press against her throat. "Drop your blade Witcher, or I swear to the Gods I will slit her throat." A tear slid down Ciri's cheek as she looked at Geralt with wide eyes. She didn't know what to do.

A strange look passed through the Witcher's eyes, and unbeknownst to Ciri, that was fear that flickered through those golden orbs. He began to lower his sword slowly, laying it on the ground and raising his hands. He did not even notice the figure moving up behind him quickly, and Ciri's eyes widened as she saw the blow coming. The bandit who was hiding behind the trees, slash Geralt across the back, grazing him as the Witcher jumped forward at the last moment.

The man holding her startled backwards when Geralt jumped, and his hand flew off her mouth. Instantly, Ciri screamed into his ear, her powerful magic causing his ear drums to burst as he flung himself away from her. She was thrown to the ground hard, but she still backpedalled away from the man, grateful when Jaskier appeared next to her and pulled her aside.

Geralt, already with his sword in hand, decapitated the man who'd cut him from behind, before darting forwards and snatching the man who'd tried to run off with Ciri. He slit his throat, shallow so he would die slower, but enough that he would for sure die. "Rot in Edom," Geralt spat, throwing the man into the dirt. Whirling around, he moved over to Ciri as he sheathed his sword. "Are you hurt?"

Shell shocked and still shaking, she whispered out "no".

Geralt nodded, secretly relieved as he moved back over to the camp. Jaskier guided Ciri back down to her bedroll, before he moved over to the Witcher's side. "We should wrap that," Jaskier murmured, indicating to the cut along the broad man's back.

Grunting, Geralt sat and removed his shirt, allowing the Bard to dress his wounds. Ciri watched, curled up in a tight ball in her bedroll. Geralt had gotten injured because of her. She wasn't a gift; she was a curse. Tears fell from her eyes as she mushed her face into her palms, trying to keep from shaking.

Hours passed as the night deepened, but sleep would not come to the girl. She could eventually hear the snores of Jaskier and Geralt, filling the eery silence of the night. Not knowing what she was planning to do, Ciri rose from her bedroll, and moved over silently to her horse. She couldn't stay here. Perhaps if she left, the boys' lives could go back to normal…

Grabbing Aspen's reins, she quietly untied the mare and mounted, before riding out of the camp. Leaving behind her items, her dagger, and the two men who meant more to her than she could even believe. Perhaps she would come to regret leaving them, but at least now they had the chance to move on with their lives, and pretend she was never there. They would no longer be hunted by the Nilfgaard, and they could go back to the way things were.

Once she was far enough away that she knew Geralt's sensitive hearing couldn't hear her, she urged Aspen up to a gallop, trying to put as much distance between them and herself before they would awake to find her missing. It was dark out, and she couldn't see well except for the light cast down from the half-moon, but her horse followed a trodden path faithfully, taking her way from her worries.

Meanwhile, a few hours later, as the sun kissed the horizon, Geralt's eyes snapped open with the instant feeling that something was wrong. Sitting up, he looked over to Ciri's bedroll and jumped to his feet when he saw that it was empty. Turning around rapidly, he looked over to where the horses were, his stomach dropping when he saw that only Roach and Beast stood tied. "Fuck." Geralt snapped loudly, as he moved forwards and roused the bard. "She's gone. We need to go."

Jaskier woke up instantly, looking around to confirm what Geralt had said. Upon seeing the empty bedroll, his brows instantly furrowed. "Why would she leave? Where would she go?" he asked, standing up and quickly grabbing all their things and shoving them into packs.

"I don't know," Geralt said, obviously confused by where the girl had gone. There were many dangers, and so many looking for her. Perhaps after last night, she didn't trust him to keep her safe?

Throwing their gear onto their horses, Geralt adding Ciri's stuff to Roach's saddle, they mounted and quickly moved out, Geralt following the tracks and smells of Aspen. He had to keep his panic supressed, trying to stay focused so that he could follow the limited tracks. He needed to find the girl, quickly before she got herself killed or kidnapped.

He was going to tie the girl to his hip if he had to when he found her.