Review Index:
Guest: Lol, for sure, I had so much problems deciding whether or not I should give Ciri another title than just Witcher, but at the end and like you said it's more about the occupation, and in the world of the Witcher only Witchers tend to hunt monsters and the such, so overall here it gains the meaning of Witcher=Monster Hunter; thanks for the review as well, I hope you enjoyed chapter 6!
AdeielSilverbird: I get where you're coming from, I did ponder whether or not to include intercourse around Ciri's life as it was, but in the game we do see many people engaging on it, albeit it's through prostitution itself or some sort of payment (in Geralt's case). But it does leave a big plot hole if not taken into consideration; perhaps the best way to handle it is, indeed, having Ciri use a particular spell or something of the sort, which allowed her to enjoy her prior sexual life and the one she's currently building with Leon. I for one don't see Ciri marrying at all, not even with our OC, it's probably not a thing. On another note, yes, it feels kind of weird having Ciri use modern pet names for Leon,- The babe part did come out as a tease and a step into the relationship-, but the baby was probably just me getting into it a little too much, hahaha. There's still plenty of pet names that would fit both Leon and her either way, thanks for pointing that out. And I enjoy criticism, don't worry about it, I'm grateful you take the time to point out details here and there and to write a good review! Thank you and I'll read you soon!
7thManiac: The dynamic is probably the hardest thing to develop around the story itself, I have a hard time deciding whether or not things came out smoothly after any of their interactions, but Ciri's and Leon's personalities help me a lot with how things should go around; I'm really glad that you're enjoying that part. And yes, a male ranger isn't something we see this time around in fantasy, which comes out as a surprise to me because there's so many things one can do with a bow, rather than just shooting arrows. Leon has an incredibly huge perspective of his entire surroundings when fighting, and is able to take decisions that deliver final blows for Ciri, it goes beyond just trying to kill, he's gotta be effective, he doesn't have an infinite arrow amount at his disposal, and he's overall reluctant to actually kill whenever it's not entirely necessary. I think those are cool things to consider, as well as future attacks and skills I have planned to show over, which really edge around fantasy itself, but are cool nonetheless; for now, I'm trying to keep him real and human, ha. Also thanks for the review, I hope I can read you soon again!
As an important note, and *SPOILER* I've come to realize that by the end of Witcher 3, Ciri shouldn't be really afraid of using her teleportation powers anymore, because they defeated the hunt and that was the whole reason why she didn't use them to begin with; as it stands though, I have no actual explanation as to why she wouldn't just take Leon with her to Kaer Morhen in a continental jump. Bear with this fact with me for the sake of the story, or just down right think that she cannot jump that far away and accurately. Maybe some dangerous possibility about ending up in another timeline, or messing with Leon's own life as traveling takes some sort of toll on those not familiar with source or magic. Either than that I have no other explanation, but it would be boring to just skip through the journey itself and just use her jump to reach Kaer Morhen and Leon's sister.
Thank you for understanding and sorry for that big mistake, sometimes Ciri's own abilities are just too much, haha.
—
Waking up next to someone wasn't something Ciri was used to in the slightest, having spent most of her Witcher days the same way Geralt loved to, all alone with her horse and a mission in hand.
Her eyes stirred up at the sound of soft breathing, and once again for the third time that week, she found herself hogging a certain auburn haired idiot all the way down to his toes; she had clearly, unconsciously developed some sort of arm-leg tangling addiction since she first met Leon, whilst the guy himself would always sleep like a tree log, with only one of his arms distanced from his body that she had claimed as her pillow.
When she lifted up her emerald orbs, she found herself staring at the sleeping figure in front of her.
Soft snores, clean, golden skin and eyelids that made her feel jealous. He was too precious, more so than anyone else she had met before, and that didn't resemble an elf or anything of that sort.
She did her best to untangle herself off Leon and, even though her side faced the wall, she managed to get off the bed without waking him up for once.
Her current state brought a smile upon her face. She was completely naked, and Leon was too under the sheets she didn't remember putting on top of them. It had probably been him at some point during the night, thought she couldn't really fathom a way he would've been able to move without her noticing; she was pretty tired after last night, but that didn't mean she wouldn't wake up if she was all tangled onto him and he moved.
Removing her questions off her brain, she made her way to the table, picking up the bread they had forgotten about after all that fuss and taking bites out of it, not wanting to let it go to waste.
It tastes bland and terrible, she thought as she munched with trouble, walking around the place just to kill time and plan out the fastest route to leave Velen.
She took some logs next to the low quality fireplace and placed them on top of the ashes before whispering a low Igni to ignite the flame, all so Leon wouldn't wake up to the chilling cold the wooden walls offered in the morning.
Then she quietly dragged a chair next to the fire, fished out a small brush she kept around her thrown leather pants, and undid her bundled hair.
We need more coin, she started brushing her hair in slow motions, meditating her options, There's probably a contract or two that I could take around Crow's Perch, but I'd rather burn in hell than walk back into that place, Geralt had talked with her about how, when the Baron returned with his healed wife, the zone had turned into a mass of crime, where his henchmen would go around raping women, abusing merchants and destroying houses for the heck of it, while the bastard turned a blind eye on it all.
"I'd kill that man if I ever saw him again" She muttered between gritted teeth without thinking, and shook her own head when she heard movement coming from the bed, "Sorry, did I wake you up?" Leon's eyes were all on top of her, one half opened while he rubbed the other one, in a way that brought confusion in her mind.
"You look gorgeous with your hair down like that" The comment caught her off-guard, it had been years since she had opted to tie up her style into something more practical, but in reality she felt more confident with her bun and her locks falling down than with her hair all loose; it was too ladylike, and it wasn't really her thing.
She chuckled at his comment, utterly wordless at the fact that his first words in the morning would be complimenting her, before staring at him as he stood up from the bed and stretched.
"You look handsome stretching all naked and open for me to watch" She complimented/teased back at him; she figured Leon wasn't really the nude and careless kind of person that she was, and laughed when his face turned bright red before taking the sheets to cover his body.
She'd rather he didn't, but she understood.
"Y-You're all in the nude as well" He stuttered out cutely as he put on his underwear and trousers, leaving the shirt in his hand before walking to Ciri with some of her main garnets in hand.
She made it look as if she was going to catch them if he dropped them on her hand, but just removed her hand once he let go of the clothes, smirking at him.
"So?" She questioned him with an amused tone, lifting her eyebrow and looking at him with inquiring eyes.
His brain had a small seizure before realizing that indeed, there wasn't anything wrong with that
"Ah...no, nothing" He faked a careless shrug, but his cheeks were still tainted a little, forcing his eyes to stay on her own at all times or rather, look at anywhere else but her.
She was having too much fun with him, and while giggling she picked up her clothes and started covering herself.
"You're too much, seriously" She managed between giggles, taking her time to put on her leather pants, "Gotta get used to the view, darling" Leon only hummed in response, taking a thinking position once he put on his shirt.
"How could I ever get used to something so blinding?" A leather boot hit his back with little to no force, followed by loud laughter
"Stop with the cheese!"
—
"So we need money?" They decided to spend a little extra to have some breakfast at the Inn, once they returned the key and talked with the Old Man.
"We need to start recollecting, like I said, it's only a few days of travel before we reach Cidaris, and we are gonna have to pay a certain quota to bring Kelpie with us" Ciri didn't need to explain Leon the importance of bringing her beloved horse with them, and he just nodded in agreement.
"There's no way we'd leave the big guy behind either way, don't worry" She wasn't worrying, but still she casted a smile at his empathy; Geralt would probably tell her to get another horse, but that would be too heartless for her, and she wasn't about that, "I'll ask Sven, he may have a job or two for us; it won't be too much coin, but we better start saving up" Sven was the name of the kind, old hoster.
"Smart move, doofus" She pointed his way with her fork before she continued eating, "I'll wait for you here" She suggested, and frowned just slightly at the squinty eyed look Leon was giving her, "I won't steal from your plate, okay? Gosh…" He continued staring at her for a second before nodding proudly and standing up.
She took a small chunk of meat and a spoon of beans either way.
In a minute, Leon was back with a small paper in hand and a smile on his face.
"He needs certain pelts to finish up some projects he wanted to sell; offered a hundred for the entire list" Leon brought the paper close to her face.
Rabbit fur, wild dog fur and deer fur.
What caught Ciri's eyes was how the list was written.
"Did the owner write this?" Leon looked at her with confusion, as if that really mattered at all, before shaking his head in denial.
"Nope, I did" She let out a small happy hum as she continued inspecting the note, "Why?"
"It just caught my eye; your handwriting is beautiful, Leon" His confusion grew larger even though his cheeks tinted a little, and he nodded at her before retrieving the note and hiding it in his pocket.
"Thank you...I guess" He still wasn't used to getting complimented, and even though Ciri wasn't the best with words and expressions, she wanted to fix that as much as she could.
Leon stared at his food for a second, before raising his head abruptly, shooting daggers her way.
She just feigned ignorance, acting as if she was too interested in her food to actually notice his gaze.
At his continued stare, she huffed, stabbed one chunk of meat from her plate and placed it back on his own.
"You're such a child sometimes" She pfft'ed loudly at his side comment, looking at him and his smut smirk with complete disbelief and an opened, surprised mouth.
How dare he?
—
"Me, I'm the child" Ciri exclaimed in a sarcastic tone the moment they walked out, leaving Kelpie in the stables to start searching for the damned furs, and Leon internally sighed.
She had taken it too seriously.
"Yup" He had suggested he took lead while she used her ears to detect any sign of animals around the area, and before, she had agreed in a calm manner; now it was clear that Ciri was only waiting for them to be alone to start her annoying rant.
"O-Oh, Ciri, gods forgive me, you're...naked!" She mocked him, "We literally shagged a night prior, but you're naked" Leon laughed, shrugging off her efforts to annoy him; instead finding her interpretation of his voice too funny to take her seriously.
"Oh yes, and you're still a child" He said before crouching in front of a certain bush that had clear signs of small bites around its leaves, meaning there was a chance for rabbits or the sort nearby, "Why don't you help me out here, rather than whine like a little kid?" Leon muted his snicker at the way she groaned at his comment, immediately kicking his boot slightly hard before crouching next to him.
"I'm three years older than you" She reminded him as she took hold of one of the leaves, inspecting it just to drive away her inner annoyance. He was kidding, she knew, but pushing her buttons still brought reactions out of her, no matter how many years she took to fix her inner demons, and that fact itself annoyed her even more.
Even after all this time, rage seemed to build up quickly within her...even towards someone as important to her as Leon, and she hated herself for that, hated the small thoughts that would appear in the back of her mind and the way-
"I'm merely joking, Cirilla" His arm pulling her crouched form closer to him, the kiss on top of her head and the use of her entire name erased the episode she was about to induce herself over, replacing the hate for warmth and something else she couldn't quite put her foot on, "I just like seeing you this way, you're usually serious, witty, freaking amazing" He let go of her to continue walking the path he had deduced the animal it took, leaving Ciri to her thoughts, "And you're almost four years older than me" He retorted back to her comment.
"That's still three, you idiot" She had calmed down, but that didn't mean she'd let him out of the hook just yet.
"Alright, alright, you're not a kid" She hummed in content, catching up to him, "You're just a kleptomaniac"
"I'll hit you, I swear to god" She lifted her fist, pretending to be actually mad and aiming to smack him in a playful manner, but at the sound of smalls hops right in front of them, she stopped, "Rabbit, over there" Leon had closed his eyes, bracing for impact, but when her words reached him, he immediately took out his bow and tensed an arrow.
For him, like last time, time seemed to slow down, and the target in question, shine out to him. Even through thick bushes and leaves, the rabbit was in clear display.
For Ciri, Leon had just shot an immediate, blind arrow to the general direction where she was pointing.
"D-Did you hit it?" She didn't need to ask, she'd heard the small squeak that the poor rabbit emitted before it's life force left it; but she still felt confused and flabbergasted.
She turned to look at Leon, and even though it was brief, she could've sworn that his eyes changed from blue to brown.
"Of course, a clean shot" He didn't seem to notice, or if he did, he didn't comment on it, he just placed his bow where it belonged and walked towards the bushes, "Wouldn't wanna make this little guy suffer" He jumped across the bush and Ciri just walked around it, crouching next to him and inspecting the animal, which was already laying dead on the floor, "Sven said we could keep the meat..." He, once again, took the knife she kept hidden on her left leg (Without asking her), and began cutting away the fur.
Ciri just averted her eyes, not quite liking the scene.
"So I don't feel too bad about killing this rabbit" She shared his sentiment; killing for sport had a disgusting taste to it, and she judged whoever participated in that sort of thing.
Leon's cuts were swift and gentle, paying respect towards the deceased animal's body, and before she even noticed, he was done.
"Here" He cleaned the blood of her knife and she nodded silently to him before taking it; his eyes had gone from amused at their bicker to serious, not quite having fun in anything related to death, even if they both knew they'd be hunting a lot in their travels, "I've done this plenty of times already, but I'll never get used to it" She just stood up and patted his back twice before walking past him, continuing their search.
"Golden heart, remember?"
—
Even though Ciri had planned to be done before morning was over, it had taken them quite a while to find a deer around the entire forest, which also worried her a little; less deer population meant that wolves were growing in numbers, and even though they had no trouble figthing off a pack of wild dogs, she knew she'd need to flee with auburn haired boy in hand at the sight of a wolf pack; they were extremely hard to predict, and always aimed at the neck.
One single bite, and she'd lose Leon forever.
"The sun is in the middle of the sky, I'd say we took a little too long for this small job" Leon almost appeared to be listening to her thoughts, while staring up at the clouds as they walked closer to the inn.
By the sound of it, the place was full of loud people, forcing a frown out of her.
"It smells weird around here" Leon commented when they got closer to the door, and she stared at him with perplexed eyes; she wasn't detecting any sort of smell out of the ordinary.
His eyes seemed wary and alert, just like two days ago, and this time, she could see his bow glowing a low reddish colour.
"There's dangerous people inside" Leon told her after turning around to see Ciri, with his back facing the entrance, "This is the same feeling that I got before, that I couldn't really explain, remember?" Ciri nodded at his words and, even though she couldn't understand, she trusted him completely.
She immediately took her Witcher medallion and shoved it inside her clothes; in any other situation, she'd rather they picked a fight with her so she could smack their arses into oblivion, but with Leon and the old looking kind man serving at the inn, she decided it was best not to attract any fighters at all.
"What-"
"People hate Witchers, Leon" She interrupted him, "I don't wanna stain Sven's inn with blood just because someone decided to try their luck against a female Witcher. I usually just shut the mouths of any mongrel trying to pick a fight with me, but right now I'd rather respect the kind guy's hospitality" Leon didn't need two seconds to process what she was saying, and nodded with a knowing smile.
"We'll just go in, deliver this, get the coin and then we'll be out of here, no worries" Leon reassured her and even though she wasn't worried, she still smiled his way, following right up the moment he entered.
The place was, indeed, full of people; ranging from adventures looking for work and a place to stay, to drowner looking drunktards that seemed to have joined in on packs of four, occupying most of the tables around the place.
Ciri didn't need to ask Leon where the certain scent came from, his eyes were ever so slightly wary of a particular group of idiots that were louder than the rest, and that hit the tables disrespectfully every time they deemed it correct; by the looks of it, they all wore red uniforms and badly cared for steel armour.
These were the Bloody baron's junkies.
With a swift motion, she undid her bundled hair and started walking closer to Leon, who just stared at her for a second the moment she placed her hands on his back, almost looking like a scared lady.
"Just keep walking, these people could know me and if they do it'll be trouble" She was glad Leon didn't really like asking questions, and even though his back tensed up a little, he still diverted his eyes from them and resumed walking towards the hoster, knowing full well that one fine way to attract bad people was by making eye contact with them.
The bastards in question seemed too invested into their own drinking to care about the two, but still, he made sure to keep Ciri on their counter side; even the sight of a pretty girl around this damned to hell lands could mean trouble.
"Hey, young ones, you're back" Sven seemed tense with the way things were going, and how the presence of that group of drunkies clearly alarmed the rest of the customers.
Leon quickly raised up a big sack he was carrying and placed it on the table.
"Got everything, plus another wild dog we couldn't really avoid" The hoster's eyes shone bright and he took the sack of pelts and hid it below his counter, not wanting the customers to see anything that could be worth money, "We need to hit the road quickly" He continued, talking in a low voice, "And I was wondering if you could hook us up with some water, we've got everything else covered" Ciri tried looking less menacing than usual, shifting weight from one feet to the other and playing with her hair the same way Leon did when he was nervous.
The old man just nodded, not occupying as much time as he did last time to bicker with Leon, and he quickly took the auburn haired boy's hand in his, giving him the sack with money.
"Water is hard to come by, my boy, but I'll lower it down to fifteen crowns per sack" Ciri internally grimaced, but she knew they were running out of water either way and had no literal options to compensate for it.
Leon turned his head around to consult her, and she nodded twice quickly in response.
"Give me two" Thirty crowns was already beyond what they'd paid for their entire stay, breakfast and dinner, but it was to be expected, and there was no time for negotiations with the drunkies all looking at Ciri like a precious treasure.
The old man didn't hesitate, immediately taking out two leather sacks of water tied in a bundle as Leon took out the coins before passing the remaining money to Ciri, who took it as quickly as she could and hid it within her clothes.
It was a quick interaction altogether, the old man wishing the two of them good travels with his eyes and them nodding his way before leaving, with Ciri holding down the desire to smack everyone that kept whistling her way in a disgusting manner.
The mantra of the old man and Leon were the only thing that kept her from knocking out every looker.
Luckily for them, -Or rather for Sven and the baron's idiots-, they got out of there rather safely and without a problem, even when Leon was sweating bullets at the raging wolf he had behind him.
"I was so tempted to beat them all up" Leon sighed as they reached closer to Kelpie, who was waiting for them patiently at the small stable next to the inn.
"I know, I can sense your killing instinct" He laughed nervously as she kept on spitting out curses towards the inn, "But hey" He grabbed one of her shoulders, immediately freezing her in place, "I'm proud that you didn't do it; you say that you're still volatile, but this shows how far you've reached" His words alone wiped away any anger that was still growing within her, and filled the space with pride.
Smiling, she skipped past Leon to reach Kelpie first.
He was right, her efforts were showing, and she'd thank him later on for reminding her about that.
"We need to get going, those bloody mongrels are all taking the path we're taking to reach the end of Velen, their stupid baron's village is in the way after all" She offered Leon a hand and lifted him up with ease.
"Sweet, a villag-" She smacked him gently, just to interrupt his words.
"We're not stopping there at all" He looked confused as he rubbed the arm she had hit, but nodded nonetheless.
"Alright, no need to be so aggressive, sheesh" She didn't say anything and just moved Kelpie so they would start making their way.
"That place is disgusting, and if Oxenfurt was dangerous enough to make you realize you were gonna get robbed at some point, in there, you'd get killed, and I wouldn't be able to take my eyes off you at all" His hands found her waist and wrapped there lazily and with ease.
"Is that really the reason why you can't take your eyes off me?" A big chuckle escaped out of Ciri's serious mouth at his wittiness, and she looked at him funnily before turning around to face the road.
"Whatever, doofus; there's still a smaller village we can visit and hopefully take a contract or two to make money, although it's a little farther away than that cursed Crow's Perch" Leon just hummed in response, and she internally smiled at the way he hugged her waist in peace.
Since last night, even though he still exploded into bright colours at certain words, he seemed to be having an easier time around her.
"And I'll let you know why I can't take my eyes off you...another time, honey"
Leon gulped soundly at her tone.
—
"It reeks terribly around here"
Ciri could only hum at her partner's comment without taking her eyes away from the disgusting fortress she had right at her sides.
Truth be told, she had expected the place to have morphed into some sort of degenerate place like the hanged tree itself, but the entire structure had morphed into that of a real fortress, most of the house visible through the bridge itself were destroyed, the owners presumably killed, and the only thing anyone could notice was the sign that told everyone and anyone to keep out, not come in.
"So this is what that baron made of this place…" Ciri threw a comment out in the air, and Leon continued to stare at the bloodied stakes placed around the so called village in disgust, he didn't need Ciri's nose to know that some of that blood was recent, "We need to get away, whether or not we're welcomed here doesn't matter, we're not coming" Leon didn't complain about it, he was actually glad they wouldn't have to meet people around that area, and he just threw a small prayer up in the air that whoever was suffering inside those walls would be able to escape it soon enough.
"We do need to stop somewhere before complete night, so I'd say galloping is in order, I don't wanna be close to these idiot's hunting parties" Ciro agreed with him, anywhere close to the baron's would mean fighting, and even though reducing the number of bastards inside the world appealed her, she knew Leon didn't appreciate killing nor fighting itself.
With a swift motion, Kelpie picked up the pace, immediately forcing Leon to hold onto her once again, this time solely because he needed somewhere to grab or he'd have faced the floor
"Took me by surprise" Ciri was giggling at the incident, already thinking about a retort to use his way, but he continued, "Yeah, I know, I'm dumb because I was the one that said we should be galloping" She laughed harder and he threw a middle finger her way.
"You said it, cute stuff, not me" She munched her inner cheek, "And you do know I'm kidding, right? That head of yours is pretty damn clever, you sometimes surprise me, and I'm supposed to be used to clever people" It was his turn to chuckle.
"You're pretty smart as well, Cirilla" She couldn't look his way, for she was galloping, but still Ciri shook her head in denial.
"I've made big mistakes-"
"Mistake-'
"Yes-, Leon, I know where you're going, but it wasn't even those huge mistakes that made me learn at all, it was something else entirely" She let out an empty sigh; she wouldn't be getting depressed about her past bumps and abysses, at least not with him holding her tight while they galloped away from that hellhole, but still, she couldn't help but feel a little hollow, "Whatever, look, I'm smart, you're smarter, okay? I don't wanna sound rude, but let's leave it at that" She didn't even turn to face Leon at all, instead just opting to force Kelpie to run a little faster.
Leon remained quiet, a thing that she deemed wrong from the beginning. The auburn haired boy was witty, shy, curious and at times surprisingly cool, but never quiet, he always had something to say about every situation, no matter how extreme it might be; but since she had already unintentionally killed the entire argument, she just let him be.
Whatever it was that he was thinking or feeling, she'd later dig it out from him.
—
"You just have to rotate the meat slowly on top of the fire, I'll be back in a jiffy" Ciri was crouching in front of the campfire Leon had built a few minutes ago, using a stick he had impaled through deer meat to allow it to cook evenly, as he had said.
Her eyes kept on watching Leon as he ventured further into the wilderness, leaving her to guard their camp as he laid sound traps around the entire zone; How he managed to build traps as quickly as tensing an arrow, she still had no idea, but she wouldn't ask him either.
The fire was low and calm, this time he hadn't let her use an Igni of any sort and instead had used his own flint and stone, letting the wood logs they had found earlier crack in slow, calming noises, before going through his own process to prepare food for the both of them.
His quietness had disappeared after an hour or two of galloping, and as they left behind the damned Crow's Perch, Ciri's worries started leaving her at his every curious question, be it about their surroundings, the story behind the place, her own adventures or anything that would cross his mind.
"He's like a little kid" She muttered towards the fire, and smiled at the memory of their small morning bicker; she still felt silly about the fact that his playful comment had riled her up in such a way, moreso when she had been the one joking on him for the duration of their travels.
It was only fair that he made fun of her at times as well, and she really needed to meditate away more of her demons.
"I'm back-" But for now, she'd just talk to him and relish, "Oh, you did rotate that meat, right?" Her eyes opened abruptly and a small sound of surprise tried to get out of her closed mouth.
"I think I may have drifted away a few minutes ago" She smiled sheepishly at him and he just shook his head twice with his eyes closed, adding emphasis.
"Hand me that" He crouched right next to her and she let go of the stick, letting him take control of the meat immediately. She secretly loved the way his eyes focused on analyzing the state of the food, and then smiled to him when Leon turned and caught her staring, "It's all good, you didn't drift away for too long, whatever that's supposed to mean" He chuckled and she sat down right where she was crouching, opting to remain close together.
"I was thinking, Leon, I've got millions of things to think about" He hummed, looking straight to the fire, "I know I was a little too dry back there, but I want you to know that I'm trying my best" She placed her hand on his back, immediately feeling his calm heartbeat, "I may take some time off tonight to meditate, it's been some time since I last did that, and this travels have shown me that I still have plenty of things to settle down within myself"
The fire was turning stronger, and the smell coming out of that sweet meat let Leon know the stuff was ready to get out of the flames.
"It makes me proud to hear that, Ciri" He stood up, taking the entire impaled slice of meat out with him as he did so, "And I have a juicy steak for you to enjoy, so you can meditate in peace without your belly making those cute sounds it always makes" She smacked him in the arm and laughed.
"Shut up, dork, don't say that" Leon was laughing too, although his eyes were searching for something, smoking deer in hand, "Knife, darling?" She swiftly reached for her boot and took out her hidden shiv, already loving the way he just nodded without really thinking, taking it from her hand the moment she offered it.
They were such a team, and she liked that.
Leon was done cutting off the nice pieces of the meat in a minute, and meanwhile Ciri had already used the time to take out their designated bowls from the auburn haired archer's backpack, happy at the fact that she could finally see how neatly placed everything was inside the leather thing. His every belonging had a place where it was supposed to be, and the bag itself was pretty spacious and expandable; no wonder everything fit so perfectly.
"Where did you get that backpack, Leon?" She questioned him after he served their bowls, fork in hand.
"I made it with my mum, years ago" He replied with a warm smile as he munched, "She was always a handy woman, and I always wanted to learn from her" His eyes turned a little distant, "I wish...I had the chance to say goodbye to her" Ciri could literally see the knot in his throat forming.
She had forgotten that Leon had, unlike her, just recently lost everything, and that even though he seemed happy around her, there were clear signs that showed how humanly hurt he still was at the turn of events.
"She would've been happy you escaped that entire fiasco" Ciri tried and he nodded with a knowing smile, "I know I'm happy you did" Chuckles came out of his mouth.
"I'm fine knowing that I escaped...I was sort of already planning to leave, y'know, see the world a little, probably die to some monster or a bandit" He scratched the back of his head, "I didn't think too far ahead when I made my excellent plan to leave the village, but in the end…" He let out a long sigh and Ciri did too, internally, "Well I was forced to, and now I'm here" The time warper nodded, not really offering much more comment and instead just making an effort to enjoy the food.
The silence between them wasn't really an awkward one, but Ciri still was left feeling a little bittersweet; the way her partner acted made her leave out of her mind the fact that he was probably deeply scarred, and that he wasn't such a summer child as she always teased him about-, the way he described life in village wasn't a pleasant one, and even though her own childhood was pretty horrifying as well, she could relate a little.
Quickly, their bowls turned empty, this time with no remains left as they needed to complement their meal skip, and it was Leon's stretches and yawning that brought her out of her mental trance.
"Riding horses hurts my back like crazy" He commented as he tried popping some particular bones on his upper back with weird movements, to no avail.
"I could give you a massage anytime you ask for it, darl" Leon's eyes lit up at the idea even though he was shaking his head in denial.
"I couldn't ask you for-"
"What, a massage? What's so wrong with that?" She loved the fact that Leon didn't quite register yet the fact that they were more than just travelers working together at times, but other times it baffled her just how reserved he was towards her, "You gave me a pretty good massage last night, remember?" She teased him and immediately laughed at his flushed expression, with her hands up in the air asking him silently to pull her up to her feet,
"Y-You're too much at times, Cirilla" Leon whispered after lifting her up to her feet, making them end up face to face.
"Am I?" Her tone sounded childishly hurt and he squinted his eyes at her own emerald orbs for a second.
"Yeah, but I wouldn't have you any other way" Ciri beamed at his words, quickly stealing a peck on his lips before pushing him lightly in a playful manner, "You're also so vicious sometimes, gods"
"Don't be such a baby" Ciri joked, "You can skip ahead, I'll join you in the tent once I'm done resting my mind, how's that?" After yawning for a second time, Leon merely nodded at her words and made his way to their little hut
She could clearly hear how Leon immediately crashed onto the soft floor the moment he entered the tent, and smiled once soft snores started coming out of his mouth.
Ciri took the chance and walked close to the fire, sitting right in front of it with her eyes closed, and dove into her limbo of thoughts.
She couldn't remember how many times it had been already that she visited that deep hole within her mind, the one that was pitch dark and made her feel cold all around; She usually just explored it all, torturing herself over her own doings as a way of punishment,- overall, it was self destruction, and a reason why Ciri would never let Leon know about neither her methods nor her memories.
She went through them methodically, first with her younger traumas, and then her sins and mistakes, each one of them adding more pain and grief to her chest, a thing that she allowed, and even though she was mentally screaming, Ciri rejoiced in it.
It was a way to amend, a way to say apologize, and ultimately, a way to cope with her own darkness. She couldn't forgive herself, these weren't things that could be forgiven at all whatsoever, but she could at the very least say sorry, in her own mind and terms. It wouldn't fill the continuous void she could always feel within her heart, but it helped a little.
The thoughts of her past always took the worse out of her, and she paid the toll in full, reliving old scars, shuddering and hearing names that were long gone and buried deep inside; this wasn't the usual meditation, it was some sort of ritual she had gotten herself into, thanks to her wrong doings.
Time went on as she revisited it all, and through her suffering, Ciri didn't realize the moon was already fully on top of the sky, displaying midnight. She hadn't noticed the soft snores coming out of their tent fully stopping, nor the silent steps that could be heard getting closer to her aggravated self.
She could only concentrate on her erratic breathing, her darkness flooded thoughts and her wet gloves, which she could only guess were soaking because she might be sweating.
"Cirilla…!" Her body being shaken like a toy and a harsh voice brought her back to reality, her eyes snapping back open immediately and if it weren't because of her tightened up muscles, she'd have probably pushed the figure in front of her hard.
It took her a minute to reincorporate, and once her eyesight regained focus, she realized it was Leon, whose face was looking worried and in slight panic.
"Ciri, gods…" Leon brought her close to his body, embracing her slim form as tightly as he could.
Ciri couldn't explain the reason why his shoulder soaked immediately.
"You were crying" Her heart skipped a beat.
It made sense that her gloves were soaking wet; it wasn't sweat-, it was dead cold outside, but was her own tears.
"You were whimpering, muttering some names I'm not familiar with, and-, and then it just morphed into silent sobbing" Leon's voice was soft even though his eyes displayed huge worry, "I-I know I shouldn't bother you, but this wasn't meditating in the slightest" She couldn't find her words, her brain was still trying to understand what was happening.
"S-Sorry, I..." She managed to word out useless phrases and Leon just shook her body one more time.
"Don't be sorry, Ciri" He looked at her seriously, "Seeing you like this hurts, I may not be able to help, but I damn want to, you're clearly struggling, and Witcher or not, the mind is really one of the toughest enemies one could ever fight" He didn't wait for her to talk, and instead for once Leon forced Ciri to stand up, immediately wrapping her shoulders in a one armed hug while he walked them both to the tent.
"Maybe...I'm meditating the wrong way" She finally spoke halfway to their little hut, and Leon's hand squeezed her arm.
"I don't think any meditation that leaves you the way that you were, counts as meditating" She let out a dry chuckle and he smiled warmly her way, her eyes were a little red and looked extremely tired, but at the very least Ciri wasn't trembling on her spot anymore.
Leon took her into the tent and took a seat on the floor in front of her, leaving her standing.
"Are you better now?" Ciri's ego didn't want to let her speak up, partly because she hadn't even realized how much she was suffering until Leon snapped her out of it, and because she had never displayed so many emotions in front of anyone.
She felt vulnerable, and almost fragile in front of him; but his honest eyes stared at her without a single drop of arrogance, of amusement. He was worried for her and she had given him a good reason to get that way.
"I'm fine…" His hard gaze made her groan internally, "Alright, maybe not fine, but I've calmed down-, look, I-", She sat down right next to him, "I've grown up already-"
"I hope you don't think that me worrying about you is the same as treating you like a kid" Leon interrupted.
"No! No, no, it's not like that, it's me berating myself; I'm an adult already, I'm supposed to be beyond this...this emotions, not the harms that I've done, of course not, but I shouldn't be breaking and crying and...and I don't know" Ciri let out a huge, defeated sigh and Leon visibly grimaced.
"You're seeing it wrong, Cirilla" She frowned hard, frustrated, "It's as if gaining years of age meant that you'd magically stop feeling like yourself" He mocked without vile intent, "Like you've been doing, nothing really changes unless you start working on yourself" Leon continued, not letting Ciri barge into the argument at any moment, "The way I see it, you're berating yourself over the past, and in reality, you should really move past that, not forget it or bury it below your deepest thoughts, but rather take on over the fact that it happened, that there's no way to go back and change it, and that it doesn't define what you decide to do now" He finished, without once taking his eyes off her.
Silence quickly enveloped the two of them, with Ciri pondering over Leon's words, and Leon merely waiting patiently right in front of her.
After a few quiet minutes, Ciri sighed once again, rubbing her arm with her hand.
"How come you're this wise?" She asked him with a small smile on her face, "You always end up being the smart one, somehow…"
"Has it occured to you that I'm actually smart?" Leon joked and the white haired girl laughed cheerfully while nodding.
"Well, you do act like a dork at times, you can't really blame me" Ciri took a deep breath, "But you, uh, you really are very clever"
"And you can ask me for advice or vent, or whatever, Cirilla" He smiled at her brightly, "I know you may not think that highly of me in that regard, well, since I'm younger than you; but I can listen, I have good ears and I don't judge!" Ciri felt a sting in her chest realizing Leon really thought she felt that way about him, probably thanks to her own words.
She decided that his mindset would change, with her own too.
"Fine, I guess" She shrugged, "I've...never done it?, but if I start feeling...what, weird?, I'll try talking it out with you" A small nothing came up into her head, "O-Of course, no details about it, but, eh-"
"I'll just keep you company, Ciri" Leon helped, "You don't have to tell me dung shit about nothing, just let me know when you're not feeling well, and I'll make sure to help you out" She smiled once again.
"You're such a sweetheart, Lion" Ciri crawled over to him, "You always know what to say, what the hell?" She placed her arms around his chest and pulled herself close to him, enveloping him in a big bear hug, "Thank you…"
"You don't have to-, hmph" Her lips interrupted his own and she held them there for a few lasting seconds before removing them.
"I have to; I never do so with anyone either way, I'm not really the polite kinda person, so you better let me" Their noses were pressed together.
"I mean it either way, you've helped me, I help you, we are a team" Those words always brought fireworks within her, "And we still have a long, long journey together; just thinking about it makes me excited about the future,- And Ciri, trust me when I tell you that I've never really been someone that looks forward to what's next to come" He kissed her forehead, "You've changed that" Ciri felt her chest tighten up.
"W-Why are you always kissing my forehead like that?" She tried to shrug off the blush that was creeping up to her cheeks with a weird comment, and Leon chuckled loudly.
"I don't know, really" His hand started softly caressing her back, "I like it, I like-, uh, kissing you" He scratched the back of his head, "I may not be used to us snogging out and whatnot, but I love kissing you" He confessed.
Ciri stared at Leon while in his arms for a strong second, before kissing him again, this time more profoundly.
"Then I'll make you get used to it…" She separated just slightly so she could say that, and then closed their distance again, stealing kisses, sending him into an spiral of emotions.
She'd teach him and he'd fix her, and viceversa.
All, together.
—
Hey all! Thank you for finishing the chapter, I'm really sorry if it felt a little inconsistent, I, well, a few things happened this two weeks or so that I've been absent, but I finally got a hold of my thoughts once again and I got time to write! I got a job and stuff now for the first time so it's hard, and it's hard to keep up with the mood that I was trying to set first in certain scenes, but I hope you can enjoy it nonetheless.
Also, I'm noticing a lot of smut going on between our duo and if it bothers you or makes you feel like the story isn't getting serious in the slightest, I apologize, I will try to harden up the plot once we reach somewhere important, for now I've been solely solidifying Ciri's quirks and Leon's assets as well as story; I'm trying to build up the characters a little bit while also advancing correctly. I don't really wanna skip many days but I know I'll have to once the story itself thickens out and whatnot.
Either way I hope you guys are all okay, and I'll try to update sooner! Thank you for all the reviews, and see you on the next chapter!