Chapter 1: A chance meeting

(Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did, then this would be cannon and that wouldn't be good for anyone)

Dawn broke through the tree line; birds were chirping as they awoke with the sun. Within the forest sat a graveyard, long forgotten by man and elf. The forest had nearly reclaimed it, for it was littered with the broken remains of gravestones. In this sad, forgotten place sat an unexpected figure: a man dressed in black leather with a tricorn hat atop his head. By his side lay a curious assortment of items: this first, though the people of this land would not know it, was a pistol of some kind, the second was a large sword with bandages wrapped around the blade, and finally there was what looked like a saw wrapped in bandages.

The sun, finally reaching the graveyard with its light, struck the eyes of the strange individual. Blinking warily, the man slowly stood up to look at the sun, as if in awe. "Oh, the night was so very long. Dawn has broken at last" said the individual who looked like he was about the praise the very existence of the radiant sun. Tearing his eyes from the sun, the individual took in his surroundings, noting that his was very much not in Yharnam. "Is the hunt finally over?" he said to himself. Upon seeing the weapons, the individual, known as a hunter in Yharnam, gathered them up, holstering the pistol on his side and sheathing the sword on his back. Looking around further, the Hunter found a bag filled with ammunition, vials of blood, and other tools that would be useful for a hunter. Slinging the bag over his shoulder, the Hunter walked down the path leading out of the quiet graveyard, never once looking back.

Some Time Later:

It was midday when Ciri arrived in the town of Redwater. It had been a long morning, with her waking up at dawn and riding all morning with the intent of reaching the town as soon as possible with the hope of getting a warm meal and a contract. Patting the neck of her horse Kelpie, Ciri smiled and said, "Looking forward to a nice soft bed and a warm meal, how about you girl?". Kelpie just snickered in response.

Arriving at the inn, Ciri stabled Kelpie and entered the inn, immediately assaulted by the noise and the heat of the fire. Making her way through the crowd, Ciri arrived at the bar and waved down the innkeeper. Coming over after serving two other people the drinks, "What can I get for you miss?"

"A warm meal, a bed, and any knowledge on contracts for witchers will do".

"The first two I can provide, and witcher contracts are posted on the message board in the town center"

"In that case, I'll be back for the meal and bed after I get a contract then." With that, Ciri turned and left the inn, making her way to the town message board. Upon reaching the message board, Ciri paused at the peculiar sight. In front of her, looking at the message board, was a man garbed entirely in dark leather. From his back, she could see he wore a strange three-pointed hat and a long leather coat that hid much of his body. On his back was a sword that was partially clad in bandages and in his hand was a strange saw. As if sensing her stare, the man turned just enough to look at her, revealing his leather clad face, leaving only his hazel colored eyes exposed. "Do you want something from me miss?" His voice, softer than she expected, shocked her out of her reverie. "No. I was not expecting to see someone dressed like you in this town. You stand out." With that the stranger let out a hearty laugh. "I suppose I do, but so do you." The stranger stuck out his hand "The name is Jon, a Hunter of Beasts. And you are?"

"I'm Ciri, a witcher. I must say I have never heard of a 'Hunter of Beasts', certainly sounds like an interesting profession. Would you care to tell me about it?"

"Aye, and a bloody on at that. It's quite simple really: beasts prey upon men, and it's the job of the Hunters to… hunt them"

Ciri narrowed her eyes at the man, for several things that he said put her on edge. First, his role sounded like that of a witcher, but she had not heard of rival groups. Second, his accent was strange and nothing she had ever heard before. And finally, something about him felt off, like it was not from this world. Realizing that Jon may not be from this world, Ciri opted to follow him to see if she could learn more. "I… see. I take it you are looking for a contract on a monster like myself then?"

"Yes, but there is only one posted. Shall we work together on this hunt?"

Ciri agreed to the strange man's request, and the two set off towards the contractor, a farmer who lived on the edge of town, to negotiate a price for the head of the monster, and to find information on it. Upon reaching the farmer, Ciri was able to haggle for a raised price and learned that the monster had been attacking the farmer's livestock. Hoping to learn what the monster was, Ciri asked "Did you or anyone else see the monster? It would help us with killing it."

"Aye Madam Witcher, my son says he saw it. He says it looked like a lizard with wings and the head of a rooster. He ran off as soon as he saw it. Thought it would have chased him down and ate him if he stayed any longer."

"He likely would have been eaten. Your son was lucky. This shouldn't take longer than a day, we'll return with the monster's head. Until then, stay inside and don't go into the fields." With that Ciri and Jon left the house and made their way towards the field where the monster was said to be attacking livestock.

Turning towards Ciri, Jon sought to break up the uncomfortable silence as they walked. "I take it you know what type of beast this is then?"

"Yes, it sounds like a cockatrice, they can be quite dangerous if you are not careful. Local superstition is that their gaze can turn the living to stone, which is downright false. Their gaze is no more dangerous than that of an angry goose"

Jon chuckled. "Then I suppose we shall have to find a goose to see who has the scariest glare then"

Ciri laughed at the unexpected joke from her so far stoic companion. However, before she could reply they arrived at the field where the most recent attack had taken place.

Jon looked around, seeing only the freshly ploughed field and nothing to indicate the passage of the beast. "I take it you have a plan for finding or drawing out this beast then?"

Ciri nodded. "Yes, cockatrices prefer to hold their ground, so we merely need to draw it out then damage its wings to ensure it will not escape. As for drawing it out, we need bait of some kind. The problem is that the farmer likely will not want to sacrifice another of his livestock, so we need to find something else."

Jon looked pensive as he thought about which tools may help. "I may have a solution to the issue of bait." Reaching into his bag, Jon pulled out a glass vial which was filled with a liquid that was very similar in color to blood. "This is a pungent blood cocktail, known to attract blood crazed beasts. Back in Yharnam, it was quite effective. But I am unsure if it will work on this beast"

"Well, we may as well try it, we don't have much to lose and I am curious to see your methods of hunting"

"Very well." Jon walked to the center of the field and poured out the contents of the vial onto the ground. After placing the empty vial back in his bag, Jon made his way to join Ciri under the shade of some nearby trees. The wind soon picked up, carrying the powerful stench of the cocktail far and wide.

Seeing that Jon had settled in, Ciri turned to him and asked, "So how long have you been in this world?"

Jon started at the unexpected questioned. Stuttering for a moment, he replied "I… how do you know that I am not from some far away land? The world is a vast place and there are always new things to discover"

Ciri smiled at Jon's 'attempt' at explaining himself. "First, you said you were from a city called Yharnam, which does not exist on the Continent. I would have heard of it otherwise, especially since it produces a group that would be rivals to witchers like myself. Second, your reaction when I called you out gave it away. You are not a good actor. And finally, you have the feel of someone who is not from this world. It's faint, so I know you have been here for awhile now, but it is still there."

Jon had no answer to this at first for he just looked out at the field. After a while, he turned back to Ciri. "I suppose there is nothing to hide then. What do you wish to know?"

"Why are you here? How did you get here? What are your intentions?" Ciri rapidly fired off her questions.

Jon leaned back against a tree, looking pensive. "I have no ill will towards the people in this land or the land itself. I am unsure how I arrived hear exactly for I awoke in an old graveyard some two or three weeks ago. As for why I am here… I wished to end the hunt and the longest night. I… I… I am struggling to remember. The night was so very long, and the blood filled the streets. I learned some truth, but I can't remember it. It's on the edge of my mind, just out of my reach. You must think me as mad."

Ciri looked at Jon concerned. "No, well, maybe a little. Why don't you tell me about your world and I mine, and maybe you will start to remember?"

Jon was about to reply, but was interrupted by a screech in the air, followed by a reptilian shape descending on the field. Ciri drew her silver sword, Zireael, and quickly made her way across the field to the confused and now very angry cockatrice. Jon, seeing Ciri's quick reaction to the appearance of the monster, drew his saw cleaver and followed just behind her.

As Ciri drew close to the monster, she slowed down slightly growing concerned at what she saw, mainly that it was easily twice as large as a normal cockatrice which would make it difficult to kill. Crushing her doubt to focus on the fight, Ciri readied and ignited a grapeshot grenade and then teleported behind the cockatrice. Upon reappearing, Ciri quickly threw the grenade, where it landed under the left wing of the monster, eviscerating it. The cockatrice cried out in pain from the destruction of its wing and turned on Ciri with wrath in its eyes. However, in doing so the creature took its eyes off the charging hunter who had just entered melee range.

Jon, who had fallen behind after Ciri teleported to the beast, had finally reached it and prepared to fight it in the way only a hunter could. Seeing its exposed neck and side, Jon gave two quick swipes with his saw tearing away at the neck of the massive and scarred beast and showering himself in its blood. As it let out another shriek of pain, Jon vanished into mist and reappeared a couple yards away. The cockatrice, gaining a new target, lunged at the now reappeared hunter. Jon, startled by the beast's quick response, only managed to partially dodge the attack and was staggered by the lunge.

Ciri, seeing that her compatriot was about to get pecked to death by the monster, teleported in front of Jon and delivered a strong stab to the chest of the cockatrice. Staggering the cockatrice with her quick attack, Ciri heard a metallic click behind her and to her mild surprise, saw Jon holding a larger cleaver where his saw had been. Rushing past Ciri to the recovering monster, Jon delivered a powerful strike with his transformed weapon to the right wing of the cockatrice, severing it. The monster, mad with pain and unbalanced due to the loss of its wing, collapsed to the ground where Ciri finished it off with a stab through the eyes.

Ciri looked at the blood covered hunter and grew concerned. "Are you hurt Jon?"

Jon replied, "No, none of it is mine."

Satisfied that her companion wasn't about to die on her, Ciri began the gruesome task of removing the monster's head as proof of a contract completed. Seeing that Ciri was having a little difficulty cutting through the oversized cockatrice, Jon held out his saw to her "here, this might be easier than your knife." Nodding in thanks, Ciri took the saw and quickly cut through the rest of the monster's neck, severing the head. Handing the hunter's weapon back to him, Ciri picked up the head and the two made their way towards the farmer's house.

The walk was silent except of the sound of their footsteps, for both were trying to process what they saw the other do. Jon was the first to break the silence. "You fought well against the beast, though I was surprised by your teleportation. Is it related to your ability to tell that I am not from this world?"

Ciri turned her head to look at him but kept walking. "Yes, it is. Before we start this massive line of questioning, let turn this contract in, get food at the inn, and hold this talk in front of a warm fire over some ale. How does that sound?"

"That sounds like an excellent idea." Both the witcheress and the hunter fell silent once again, until the reached the farmhouse. Once again Ciri did the talking and received the gold for the contract, which she split evenly with Jon. The two then, once again in silence, made their way to the inn in the late afternoon sun, both preparing to give a long explanation to the other.

AN:

So that's the end of the first chapter of this story, which I started on a whim but now will try to continue it to make something out of it. Constructive criticism is always appreciated. I have no upload schedule due to school, so sorry. I will try to keep these author's notes short to avoid inflating the word count