"Can only offer ye' 200 for this piece of stone, miss" Ciri sighed and groaned; Leon and her had been going at it against a certain banker for a little more than an hour by now, to try and collect as much gold as possible for supplies and at least a few hits on Zirael from any sort of blacksmith available, but the little fellow was stubborn, dry and absolutely gray when it happened to be about buying and trading.
"I think that's the best we've gotten, though, you should leave it at that or we'll lose our daylight for the travel" The ever so smart Leon whispered into her ear and she, albeit in a defeated mood, agreed with him entirely. Velen was probably still at least three to four days away on Kelpie, and losing daylight specially around Oxenfurt would do them no good; bandits loved to use night at their advantages, and even though she could probably handle them, she wouldn't take her chances and let Leon get hurt in the process.
So she smiled through gritted teeth and took the small bag of coins the little banker offered to her, not much more than 200 gold coins, and with that, they both moved away from the bank, with Leon guiding Kelpie with a small rope, making the horse follow them without much thought.
She turned her head a bit to look at her current companion. The brown haired mess of a shy boy seemed cool enough, the fluster from today's awakening soon faded away as he remembered the deal he made with her after the...messy incident they had, and had long since turned back into his usual dorky self, getting surprised at every corner of the city, waving at every stranger they came across to, and overall being the attractive sun you weren't supposed to be in a place like Oxenfurt.
But she'd let him be, she was fully rested, eccentrically happy with what had happened last night, and ready to smack the soul away of any bandit that would try to come closer to them in this damned to hell city.
"So now we look for a blacksmith?" Leon managed to catch Ciri ogling him and she immediately turned her head away before humming in response, "Seems like you know this place quite a bit"
"I've been here a few times over the years" She replied with a shrug, "It may be downright disgusting, but it's far better than staying out in the open, there's lots of job posters awaiting bounty hunters, and you could always find a familiar face here and there within the increasing mob of monkeys around the city" She continued walking while keeping an eye on him; Leon was apparently oblivious of the eyes that were focusing on the bag on his back, and even though most bastards hid in the deepest part of the dark corners around Oxen, she knew they wouldn't be past jumping onto him, slicing away his already clearly unprotected throat and take whatever price was in his bag.
"I figured a Witcher had contacts all over the place" She chuckled and nodded at his statement, although she worried about the way his eyes would just gaze away at the arcs around the city, the statues and the fountains. He was a clear tourist, and an even clearer target for rogues around the area. Especially dwarven rogues.
They needed to get out of the city as quickly as possible.
"Leon, we're gonna pick up the pace a little" She warned him beforehand and even though he looked confused, he agreed nonetheless, doubling his hold on Kelpie and pulling the horse a little harder when he noticed Ciri walking faster than before, "It'd be in our best interest to find this blacksmith quickly, and then move out of this hellhole of a city" He replied with a troubled uh-huh as he put effort into catching up to her with the horse, while she kept a keen ear up in the air, hoping to find any sort of clanking noise that would indicate the location of a smith.
Once they reached a plaza, she finally heard it, and through some pushing and cursing, they made their way to a particularly well cared for blacksmith, with the store and it's showings already displaying a far better skill than most smiths around Skellige itself.
She quickly hushed Leon inside, telling him she'd tie Kelpie up herself and he, albeit still confused, obliged, pushing up the door and greeting the owner with a polite smile and a hand up in the air.
She was second to go in, and after hearing Leon bicker a bit with the weapon master,- about something completely unrelated to weapons and armor-, she rolled her eyes and joined in the conversation.
"Hey" She wasn't as friendly as Leon, probably because of her entire time exchanging with rough, dry men that had between zero feelings and the sense of delicacy of a drowner, "Was wonderin' if you could hit my sword a few times, it's been a rough week, and my little precious seems to be about ready to break up any second now…" She took out Zirael without the smith even asking about it and then, with a heavy sight, she placed three quarters of their collected money on the table as well, "Look, I haven't got much coin around, but maybe this could be eno-" The smith interrupted her before she could even finish her dealings.
"Excuse me, but are you by any chance...Ciri?" The mention of her name hit her by surprise, making her blink twice and take a step back as Leon whistled, "I-I'm sorry! I should've introduced myself, just where are my manners nowadays?" The elf-ish looking, slender man apologized sheepishly before clapping his hands together, "I am Hattori! And even though it's very possible that your father hasn't told you anything about me, I happen to be good friends with Geralt" Suddenly, images of her surrogate father showing off his new, masterly crafted swords and a whole conversation about the hassle it was to find someone skilled enough to craft them, came into her mind like a flood, making her sudden panic turn into one of relieve, even when Leon's eyes were all on top of her, clearly questioning her silently.
"You never told me your dad happened to be The White Wolf himself" He chuckled and she bit her lip a little, pondering whether or not he was mad or just surprised; she figured out it was the latter, Leon didn't look like the guy that would get easily mad, less so at unreasonable things.
She brushed his comment aside, casting a look at him that told him they'd talk about it later, and returned her eyes to the smiling weapon master in front of them. Leon probably didn't even know what it meant to have such a caliber of a smith talk to them in a friendly manner, but to her, it meant amazing opportunities for upgrades she's needed for a long time now.
Although now, she could only pray he'd offer them a discount for a good repair.
"Well, yeah, I am Cirilla" She replied with honesty and then she motioned with her opened hands at Leon, "And this is Leon, my...companion" She decided to leave it like that for the time being and Leon, in a well mannered way, bowed to the smith slightly before waving cutely.
"That is I" He grinned and she rolled her eyes at him again. Hattori seemed delighted with the two of them, already seeing something they were absolutely, clearly not, and she sighed before tapping onto the table, bringing both Leon and the weapon smith back to present.
"Could you do something about Zirael? We've got literally no coin, but maybe this would suffice for a few hits to leave him out of the red?" She continued her initial deal and the weapon master scoffed and laughed, while taking the sword in his calloused hands.
"For a weapon as fine as this one, and the daughter of a great friend, this is no ordeal" He commented as he turned his back on them, weapon in hand; She turned to Leon with a half smile and he offered her a thumbs up, "I won't ask for a coin; just give me a minute and this relic shall be back on its original state" They both nodded at the same time and she signaled Leon to join her outside the smithing place for the small wait.
"Thank you!" He yelled on their behalf before he followed right behind her, smiling when she held the door open for him, "What up?" He questioned Ciri once they finally got out of the place.
"Just wanted to mention that, well, I did plan on telling you once we got closer to Kaer…" She was fidgeting in place, and offered him an apologetic smile, "I know we did talk about him and the entire thing, but it just didn't feel necessary to say that I was his adopted daughter" The adopted part clearly took him off guard again, but he seemed to understand well enough either way, "And now someone else blurted it out which is, trust me, as weird as coming across a dragonoid nest" Her last comment made him laugh and nod at the same time.
"Cirilla, you don't have to tell me anything you don't feel like telling me, aight?" He winked at Ciri and she beamed up, not once used to someone other than her biological father use her complete name, but nevertheless it felt good when it came out of his mouth, "I trust you, and we all have things we'd rather keep hidden; I don't blame you, nor was I even bothered by it" He hummed up as he thought his next words cautiously, "If anything, this makes the entry to Kaer Morhen even easier...or at least not deadly" She chuckled at patted him on the back.
"And we can find your other sister even faster with Getalt's help; trust me, he is the best there is" He blinked in hopeless confusion at her statement, and before he could even comment on it, she continued, "Yup, I've decided, you're too dorky to be able to find the rest of your family on your own, and I very much like you, so I'll help you find them" He opened his mouth, his eyes already puffy and red-ish, and she interrupted him again, "Yes you could and can ask me for that, and I will help you even if you don't want me to" She, this time, covered his mouth with her half gloved hand, "And no, you cannot repay me...or at least not with gold" She finished with a wink, not once giving time for refutation as his cheeks turned a slight shade of pink, the one she'd come to enjoy seeing on his adorable face.
"Ymmph cmhh thmm ymm" He tried speaking and Ciri, giggling, finally removed her hand off his mouth, letting him talk, "You can let me say thank you, at least, jeez" He acted out his annoyance, but she could see his teary eyes filled with hope and excitement, "Guess I'll have Ciri time for a little longer, huh?" He asked her jokingly and sniffed.
"Oh yes" She patted his chest twice and winked at him before motioning with her hand that they both should go into the store to retrieve Zirael, "You're not getting rid of me that easily, mister" She gained another chuckle out of him and smiled as she greeted Hattori inside the smith.
"Who'd even wanna get rid of you, Ciri?" he commented to the air and continued following her, stopping by her side once they reached Hattori's table.
The guy was smiling up at both of them with his hands clapped together, and Zirael, as shiny as he's never seen it before, laid on the table, ready to be picked up by its rightful owner.
"I hope you two manage whatever it is that you want to accomplish" The blacksmith spoke the moment Ciri picked up the sword off the table, and she smiled up at him, thanking him with a nod before turning to make her way out of the store and out of Oxenfurt, "And you two look very cute together!" He finally let out the comment Ciri had hoped he'd keep deep inside of his mind forever, making them both freeze after they closs the door and stepped out and into the plaza.
Ciri remained quiet, not really wanting to talk about what the smith said nor really desiring to go back and correct him, and just left it at that; Leon on his side didn't even seem to have registered it, so she just untied Kelpie without missing a skip and called him out on his mental spacing.
"We're leaving now" His eyes, that before seemed lost in thought, immediately placed themselves on her and he nodded, following her every step and smiling when she offered Kelpie's rope, "You take care of Kelpie, it's my turn to ride once we're outta here"
"Right, and supplies?" She hummed proudly and continued walking, knowing he'd follow close behind.
"Thankfully, there's a stand right at the exit" She informed him as they both quickened the pace, with Leon now appearing to be less in a trance with the city and more concentrated on following her close by; a thing that didn't go unnoticed.
"I saw some guy checking out Kelpie as we walked out" Leon whispered out to Ciri, talking as low as he could, knowing that only Ciri would be able to hear him, "And it wasn't only him, two were right by his side, acting out as if they didn't know each other; but three idiots wearing the same kind of dirty, weird looking hoodie? They don't fool a donkey" She snickered at his last statement and turned to look at him with surprised eyes.
"I thought you were pretty unaware of how things really ran around this city" She confessed to him, mocking him with her tongue out the moment he made a funny face towards her.
"Oh, I know I was pretty taken aback by the entirety of this monumental place" There he was again, using complicated words, "But anyone with half a brain could detect so many eyes ogling your back as you walk by" He added, and Ciri nodded; it made enough sense for her and Leon had already proven to her that he wasn't as dumb as he pretended to be...at least most of the time.
"Then the more reason to start walking our arses outta here" She just re-informed him and this time Leon only hummed in response, bringing Kelpie closer to them and urging her to speed up even more.
They reached the bridge leading outside relatively fast, almost throttling their way through peasants, beggars and Eternal Fire preachers that recognized her pendant almost immediately, forcing her to scowl the entire time to intimidate them into not talking to them at all; meanwhile Leon seemed ready to jump at a sounds notice, with his bag now on his chest rather than hanging loosely around his back, and with a tight hold on Kelpie's road.
"Hear, hear, ye'! Fresh chicken breezt', fine wine and cheese comin' from quality goat just for ya customers!" They both were drawn by the noise the local general seller made around the entirety of the bridge's entrance, clearly trying to attract as many customers as possible, interrupting travelers, bothering bystanders and pulling whoever wasn't paying attention's sleeves in an attempt to earn coin, and Ciri clapped her slender hands together, delighted at the sight of both the exit and the supplies they needed for their travel.
"Wait close to me as I buy whatever we could use with the extra money Hattori saved us, alright?" She ordered Leon as she already made her mind list of items that would be essential to survive at least a day or two until they reached an inn, and it was Leon's hand that pulled her out of her thoughts instantly, making her turn and look at him with a confused mind.
"Lemme do the shopping" Ciri's eyebrows rose even further and if it wasn't for her companions finger already placing itself on top of her lips, she would've voiced her questions, and possible complains as well, "Come on, trust me on this; I may not be the best fighter, but I learned other skills throughout my negligence to learn combat or whatever else was it that my father wanted me to learn" Leon extended his hand, silently asking for the bag of coins Ciri had already pulled out of her pockets, "Pretty please?" At the sound of his voice, and the way his brown eyes stared down into her soul, she gave in, took hold of Kelpie's rope, and dropped the small pouch onto his hand.
"You better pick enough for at least two days of travel, you goddamn sweet talker" She finished, faking an ego-gutted tone as she smiled at him.
She couldn't deny it, the rabbit he had shared with her days ago was delicious enough to tell her Leon did know his way around the kitchen, and that he would probably make better use of cheaper ingredients than she would spending all their money on easy to make, easy to eat supplies.
The task itself didn't even take long at all; between Leon's own strange charm with people and the vendors desperate look for coin, he managed to get a hold of plenty of things she didn't even consider filling food to begin with, making her cast a questioning eye at him, to which he only replied with a wink, -probably the first wink he's ever thrown her way-, and a thumbs up, dismissing her qualms and worries immediately.
"I told you, just trust me on this, princess" He mocked/assured her, and, after she made sure that he had strapped it all onto Kelpie property, she huffed and threw the horses rope at him lightly, not undignified but in a mood to follow his role play for the meantime.
"Whatever, doofus. It's your time to ride" They were both standing on the beginning of the bridge and no guards were on sight, so she found no reason to stay on the ground and not go back to messing with Leon's awkwardness at the back of Kelpie's saddle, with the boy in question concentrating on not letting it bother him to the point of having a heart arrest, and keeping his eyes on the road.
Leon himself seemed ready to leave as well, and in a jiffy he was already on top of Kelpie, offering a hand for her to use as a boost, making her smile at the gesture.
"Ready to ride into the unknown wilderness yet again, milady?" She chuckled, took his hand, and quickly tapped his back with both of her palms.
"Ready when you are, servant"
—-
Disclaimer: I don't own WITCHER 3 nor it's characters, only the OC and the story
Well I'm back after a hiatus of weird stuff happening and what not, I know most people must've dropped this story by now but I'm having a lot of troubles, and right now this felt like a nice escape from reality; quality might not be as good as the others chapters but you can trust that I'm trying my best for ya.
On another note, I'm trying to make Leon into a great wilderness cook but I don't really know any recipes nor ways to make him look cool while cooking, if anyone has any suggestions it would be great, please leave them in the reviews. Something that would make Ciri go "wow, you made this all with just stuff you bought at the general goods store?" Kinda thing!
See you soon - Paw