Disclaimer: I don't own The Witcher 3, CD does.

This is the remake of the first chapter, since I wrote it when I was still technically a child and I find it hard to read nowadays.

The whole plot unrolls itself months after the ending, and it settles in a world in which: Geralt and Yennefer are back together at Kaer Morhen, the place is as active as it gets, and Ciri is a resident; there to finish up her Witcher training and help out as a new unit in case of emergencies.

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Night in Velen, unlike in most places of the continent, was known to be a completely dark experience, a certain type of void the thick forest offered to newcomers. The stars were hidden by the plethora of leaves and the moon, albeit as bright as always, wasn't capable of penetrating the fortress that the forest trees had built over the years, leaving many, including the Lady of Time, Cirilla of Cintra, better known as Ciri, lost inside a maze of wood and bushes.

She was galloping at top speeds through the darkness, as her enhanced eyes tried adjusting to the void and guide her somewhere where she could find respite, but it was to no avail. Even with magic imbedded inside her eyeballs, she could see nothing but trees and darkness, and even if she had traveled this land multiple times over the course of her Witcher training, she'd to admit the obvious, and it was that the forest had won against her, and she'd need to wait until day time to actually find her way through the forest.

To make things absolutely worse, her trusty weapon Zirael, and her loyal companion Kelpie, were both running low on gas, one chipped away from its usual sharpness, and the other tired from galloping continuously for the last five hours.

And Ciri herself was exhausted, annoyed and feeling betrayed. The last village she'd found requested help, saying something between the lines of a woman and a cry, and she'd agreed wholeheartedly on the exchange of some food and a place to stay…only to find herself walking directly into a lie. After a minute of research, she'd walked straight into the ghost of a widow, killed by her own son so she wouldn't marry a man the kid did not like, filled with hatred, betrayal and revenge.

Had it been someone else stumbling upon such a high tier monster, they would have perished, and then maybe even the entire town would've died as well. Instead, she was left only with a graced shoulder, a bit of back pain and her poor Zirael sword chipped from the many times she failed to hit the ghost and instead hit a log of wood.

"Gods…" She muttered to herself, clutching her stomach to ease the discomfort. It had been too long since she last ate, and as a matter of fact, it had been too long since she had any ideal sleep too. Her body was tired and, Witcher or not, she was human and needed food, rest and somewhere to sit her bum for a while.

So she did the only thing smart and enhanced her senses even further, hurting her in the process. It took a bit of time to adjust, but with this, she could at the very least sense things ten or twenty meters ahead without issue, and therefore could find anything, literally anything that could save her from this misery.

Jumping through time and space with her magic in this exhausted and disheveled state, could bring her various terrible consequences anyway.

An hour went by, or maybe it was only twenty minutes, with absolutely no signs of life. No deers, no wolves, no bandits ready to die at her hand so she could steal their food and eat something, anything. Only woods, only trees, and only leaves.

Until her nose caught up with a familiar smell. The smell of fire, the scent of wood cracking, and the sound behind it. Someone humming, something being cooked on the flames…

She couldn't help it, and she immediately pulled Kelpie and forced him to go through the bushes, directly towards the sound of fire. If it was a wildfire, so be it, she'd eat whatever died on top of the fire. If it was bandits, the more the merrier, it was less than a hassle for her and a favor to the world itself. A monster…unlikely, maybe a wyvern. She wasn't ready for those.

On her train of overthinking, she stumbled upon the source in quite underwhelming fashion, forcing her to double take with her eyes what she was seeing.

A well built campfire, a hanging pot of boiling water, and a dead rabbit hanging on top of the pot.

"Excuse me, but who might you be?" Oh, and surprisingly…

An auburn haired guy, sitting cross legged in front of the fire.

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"So you say your name is Ciri…as in Cirilla Fiona…of Cintra" Ciri couldn't help but roll her eyes at the usual challenge people had when trying to pronounce her name correctly, "And you are…a Witcher?" The guy questioned, his wide brown eyes looking at her with eyebrows up in a questioning manner.

"That's me, you are correct" She stated the obvious, sitting down on the fire, across the boy. It made no difference to tell this guy her real name or not for she was already, officially dead by kingdom standards and it had been years since anyone actually learned her name, so she was okay with him learning it.

"Aye…and you wanna stay the night? Need some food too?" He repeated her initial greeting and Ciri nodded once again, trying to look as hopeful as possible. Truth be told, now that she was in front of that rabbit, she was about a few minutes away from passing out thanks to starvation and exhaustion.

"Yes, if that's okay with you, mister…?"

"The name's Leon" He bowed her way in courteous fashion, silently fascinating Ciri. It had been years since the last time anyone actually harbored any type of manners towards her, moreso now thanks to her Witcher pendant, "Sure, you can stay…yer' a Witcher, I wouldn't be able to stop you if I tried" He chuckled, dry sense of humor coming out, and Ciri frowned.

"Of course not, I wouldn't attack you or get aggressive…I know we have a bad reputation, but me personally, I'm not some heartless, stoic monster killer" She retorted his comment and crossed her arms under the chest, "You just strike me as a person who'd help someone in need" She finally confessed and the guy, named Leon, finally nodded and smiled her way.

"Sorry! I'm aware that's not the case…It's just been a few jumpy nights, so I'm a little alert right now…" He let out, apologizing with both of his hands clasped together, "And also, I am no mister, ma'am" He concluded and Ciri couldn't help but chuckle at his words, "I'm barely twenty…born in the summer"

"I'm no ma'am, either. I'm twenty three..-er, almost twenty four" She laughed, Leon in front of her nodding a few times in understanding.

Ciri could only like him so far. He was a breath of fresh air, without questions. Young, not sickly so, but at that age you wouldn't expect anyone to be around Velen. You either died a kid to a disease, or you were old and grumpy…The younglings were all sent off to war, and never returned.

This one was a rare specimen of healthy, energetic and easy going.

"Right, so I caught some rabbit a few moments ago…" All of a sudden, a strange bellowing sound interrupted him and Ciri had to berate herself and her belly, because on the mention of rabbit, her stomach had actually spoken on her behalf, "I see someone is hungry" He mentioned and Ciri scoffed, waving her hand to try and dismiss the statement.

"Maybe a little…" She finally agreed, feeling a bit embarrassed, even if it was quite true. She didn't want to come on as desperate, but in reality, she was.

The auburn haired stranger merely nodded back at her with a smile on his face, before dipping the rabbit into his boiling hot pot, turning the already intense smell of water and spices into an increasingly debilitating smell of food getting cooked.

"It's not much, but if you want, we can share" He finally offered the one thing she was dying for and she immediately nodded multiple times, happy to accept the food.

"We shall" She said, a fancy tone always imbedded into her voice since birth.

Silence quickly enveloped them, as they waited for the Rabbit to be cooked and safe to eat.

"Ya' know…you talk like nobility" Leon, at some point, decided to break the ice and talk in a far friendlier manner, and she could only thank the skies that he did.

"Oh well…I could've been a princess, in another life, perhaps" She overly exaggerated her already quite defined tone and Leon laughed in return, showing his toothy white grin her way. His laughter was contagious and innocent, and she couldn't help but start gathering some little something for the guy.

Leon was clearly an honest, intelligent and adorable individual, and it had been a long time since she last felt the need to chase anybody.

She was always the proactive woman, always making advances towards men, and women, she liked..but her engine had slowed down after a year or so of actual freedom, and a new quest of becoming her own persona as a Witcher and finish her training replaced the need to go off and meet people, see places or love freely.

And now this boy turned that engine right back on. Blame it on those big, brown eyes of his.

"In that case, I hope this rabbit is to your liking, your eminence" Ah, humor. How rare of a thing, here in Velen. Leon stood up straight and, reaching for a unique looking backpack, he took out two wooden dishes.

In less than a minute, he had them ready and served, with steam coming out of them both. To say Ciri was entranced would be an understatement. She needed to eat soon.

"It will have to suffice.." She played along and gracefully accepted the plate of food, where pieces of rabbit were calmly waiting for her to consume.

Unlike the Witcher's own cooking, this wasn't merely rabbit, but it was a rabbit showered in spices and a few leaves. And the smell…

She couldn't help it, and without waiting, she took a bite of the rabbit and entered a state of momentary bliss.

"My gods, you cooked this?" Ciri questioned once the rabbit went down her throat.

Leon merely chuckled and nodded, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

"...Aye, I did" He replied back, making himself small as he ate his own portion in silence, "I love cooking…even if its not manly-, my dad's words, not mine" Ciri could only scoff at his words and, after eating one more time, she quickly denied with her head, shaking it multiple times.

"No, that's such a moronic thing to say" She managed, "This is great, I like you" She said, and then a moment afterwards, she coughed and sputtered, "I mean, I like it…the food, I mean-, god, I swear I'm not this much of a mess, usually" She sort of fixed her mistake and by then, Leon was already laughing and waving his hands, dismissing her worries, letting her know he didn't misunderstand.

She kind of hoped he did.

"I'm relieved it was to your liking, Lady Cirilla" He bowed once again, this time in mocking fashion, and Ciri picked up a small pebble and threw it his way, forcing another cackle out of him.

"Stop it, Ciri is just fine" She ordered as she continued eating.

"Aye, you really are" For once, he jested back to her and the only thing that managed to do was add fuel to her already ongoing engine, further pushing her imminent desire to flirt and court.

But it wasn't right, not with this innocent guy having fun with her, not around a scary, light voided forest, and not while half her brain was already turning off from the exhaustment.

It could wait. So for now, she smiled in response.

"You built this camp yourself?" The Witcher continued with their talk, not wanting to have him think she was done speaking, and actually admiring the well-built tent on their backs.

"Aye, I did. I've been traveling for some time, and this has been my way to spend the night" Unlike the ashen haired Witcher, the guy was fast and he was done already with his dish, throwing away the small residues on a bush nearby before stashing the dish back where it belonged.

"Where are you headed?" She questioned, letting it be known that she was paying real attention.

"Ah…a district nearby…I come from the east, and there was this place on the west…"

"Velen" Ciri helped him out and Leon instantly brightened up, nodding in response, "You are already in Velen, Leon" She let him know and his eyes went wide in surprise, half smile showing on his face.

God, he was cute.

"Really? I thought it'd be more populated" His sincere realization was so innocent, she had no right laughing at his words, but she did anyway, because it was hilarious.

"Of course, this is just the edge of Velen. You are barely entering the region" She hummed in pensive fashion, before nodding to herself, "The closest town would be…about three hours away from here, give or take…on horseback" She finally realized he had no such thing as a horse, and berated herself.

Not everyone enjoyed such rare luxuries.

"Well, at least I know I'm heading to the right direction" He tried removing the guilt off Ciri, but she just shook her head in denial instead, not allowing that to happen.

She could do better than apologize.

"I can take you there" She offered, an honest smile plastered on her face.

"I don't have any coin" Leon replied back, shoving his hands in his pockets to add emphasis to the fact that he was very much poor.

"It's free service" She attacked back, winking in the process and adding a bit of spice to her voice, forcing a blush out of the auburn haired guy.

After a bout of sputtering and laughing, he finally nodded her way, "That..well, okay. I'll take the offer, thank you" He bowed, just like the first time, with honesty and she couldn't help but bow his way as well, feeling it necessary.

"No need, you gave me food and respite. I'll guard this place while we sleep and I'll take you wherever you need to go, Witcher promise" She finished and Leon stared at her with awe in his eyes, nodding as he did so.

"Witcher promise…sounds amazing" He smiled and she internally sweat dropped, because she just made up that word. Even then, the sentiment was honest and real, "I was gonna bust some leaves and make a bit of tea to help with the slumber, would you like some?" He continued with surprises. He could brew tea and cook? The gods were smiling upon her.

With an eager nod, she decidedly stood up, walked over to him, and sat right next him.

She didn't know which one of them fell asleep first afterwards.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

If there was something Ciri was proud of having developed throughout her years as an renegade and then as a Witcher in training, it would be her inner clock. Working exactly like Geralt's, her surrogate father, she could designate the exact moment she desired to wake up, and never get caught in her sleep in case she needed to take advantage of as much daylight as possible.

This morning it was no different, and she actually pressured herself to wake up earlier than usual, only to give Leon a good image of how diligent a Witcher was. Last night had been beautiful and fulfilling, and Leon had been such a gentleman, not allowing her to sleep on the ground or outside the tent, and it was him that actually took a place to rest on the grass around them and pretend to fall asleep, if only to finally convince her to take the tent for herself.

Her heart had warmed up from the kind action he took and she had been twice as diligent in keeping her magical enhanced ears on the entire night so she could guard them both from anything.

Waking up from her meditative state, she opened her eyes to find the sun barely gracing the sky, sunray penetrating the leaves on top of them and allowing light to finally make the forest a far less menacing place.

A sound startled her, and the view surprised her even more.

For all her morning boasting and proclaiming that she could wake up as early as a bird and feel rested, Leon was right next to her, stretching his body and yawning, with his hair all over the place, forcing something in her chest to tug. Now that she was well rested and fed, she could concentrate on what mattered, and it was him. Lean, vibrant and golden. His body shone under the sun and it was clear he took care of himself, because his hair looked healthy and his skin smooth, with a scar here or there but nothing too alarming to find. And even though he was wearing a white shirt and a leather vest, she knew he was fit and filled with lean muscle.

Meat all over the right places, Ciri could get behind that…

"Morning" She muttered, allowing her body to flex and stretch as well, while she put on her boots that she had left outside his tent in correct decor.

"Oh, 'tis a good morning indeed!" The auburn haired boy greeted her back with energy, feeling ready to continue his journey.

Ciri didn't take no as an answer when she offered help packing his little camp up, and soon enough, they were ready to get going. It was funny, seeing Leon, a guy about her own height, carrying a backpack almost as big as his body.

"Come on, let Kelpie take care of that" The ashen haired Witcher took hold of the backpack and helped him off from it, finding it surprisingly light even though she always enhanced her muscles through special magic.

"Thanks" Leon bowed a quick bow, and she frowned.

"I told you last night, no more bowing. You and I are equals, you're not my client and I'm not your…whatever, so let's drop it" She argued and Leon nodded again, understanding.

"So how are we doing this?" The guy was obviously referring to riding, and whether or not she'd ride Kelpie because, obviously, it was her horse, or if he should ride, because she was doing him a favor so he'd take the heavy part of the deal.

"Can you ride a horse?" She questioned, not in a joking manner but out of actual curiosity.

"I've had my fair share of lessons" Ciri actually laughed at the tone of pride in which he said that, and nodded.

"I offer you to ride, what with that manly pride and all that" She jested in reply and Leon scoffed, not liking the words in the slightest.

"If it were because of that, I'd obviously let you take the leash. It's your horse, not mine" Ciri sighed, realizing her joke went over his head and shook her head in denial.

"Turns, we are taking turns. It makes sense, like I said, you're not my client, so we can see it as a team…riding is tiring, but it's not a lot different than sitting on the back of the saddle either. We'll trade every other hour, how does that sound?" She offered again, and this time Leon smiled that bright smile that blinded her rational brain, often inviting her to shower him in teases and flirting insinuations.

But she managed to keep them in control for now.

"Then I'll ride first, since you offered" He finally decided, sounding actually quite excited.

Slowly, he approached Kelpie. Ciri already knew her horse had no issues with new people, but she still found herself astonished at how fast the horse actually lowered its nose for it to be patted by Leon. Was he a Horse whisperer?

In less of a minute, Leon was already on top of the horse, ready and comfortable.

"Ready to ride?" He asked, offering his hand for Ciri to take, which she did so happily.

"You mean the horse?" She flirted/joked, and Leon only stuttered in return, red cheeks invading his face, "I'm ready" She finally let go and giggled as he coughed back into a composed state.

"Been a while since I rode…" The auburn haired guy said, mostly to himself.

"I've had my fair share of lessons…" Ciri countered, mocking him as she placed her hands on both sides of the saddles, not trusting herself to put them around his body and not make things incredibly awkward.

"Ah…well, what's well learnt will never be forgotten" He quoted a well known phrase and patted Kelpie on his neck softly, inviting him to start moving forward. The horse obliged and started throttling, forcing the air to push Leon's hair back and his scent to hit Ciri right on her enhanced nose.

Truth be told, his scent reminded her of wooden logs, campfire and warmth. Cozy and comfortable, a small place of peace in the rotten world…She liked it. So much so that, without noticing, she closed her eyes and let herself enjoy the ride out of the forest.

After some time, the brightness invading her eyes let her know they had finally exited the forest, and she opened her eyes to find herself latching onto Leon's torso.

"Oh gods, sorry about that! I didn't mean to…" She didn't mean, and was actually happy about the turn of events, but at the same time, she didn't want to make Leon uncomfortable, or make him think she was an easy going type of person-which she wasn't. She was before, at times, maybe, but not anymore. She wanted to take things slow, if she even did take things somewhere.

Leon instead, seemed calm and collected.

"It's fine, I was wondering if you had slept well last night, I'm happy you were able to take a nap…also, well, I guess you should ride now, because I have no idea where I'm going" Leon mentioned, calm and dandy, only his cheeks were still a bit red.

Kelpie stopped and they changed positions, but not before stretching a little and enjoying the view.

"It's surprisingly green…I had heard Velen was a death march after Lord Emhyr's war but, this is quite pretty" Ciri visually froze at the mention of her biological father, but immediately relaxed so the auburn haired boy wouldn't take notice of it.

"That's only this side of Velen…the rest, it's pretty disgusting, so enjoy it while you can…" She said, losing herself in a sudden thought that she decided to voice, "Also, you should already tell me! Why are you here, in Velen?" She asked as she climbed up Kelpie.

Leon's eyes turned from bright brown to cold and she almost regretted asking the question. Taking her hand, he hopped onto Kelpie and let her guide the way through.

"We lived in a village some distance to the east, quite progressive really. Big numbers, like maybe a hundred or more citizens, but…well, a new Duke got assigned to handle the village, and my dad was

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The internal clock inside Ciri woke her up just at the time she had aimed it to, right after sunrise. The night had been a long one, and between flirting failures and interesting stories, she couldn't tell who fell asleep first. She remembered Leon offering to guard up the whole night, but after a long time bickering about how Witcher training helped her detect dangers various meters away from them, he had instantly fell asleep on the grass.

Or so he made it seem, but it was pretty obvious that he fell asleep on the open wild to let her use his shelter.

Her chest tightened once she realized that, and for the rest of the night she kept her ears up to any cracking sound, any leaf being crushed, any heartbeat.

It surprised her a lot to see Leon waking up after she made sure to make silent steps in order to let him sleep as much as possible.

"Morning" He greeted her as he stood up, yawning and stretching as hard as his body allowed it.

"Morning" She greeted him back and stared at him.

Now that he was up and flexing she could notice his lean complexity. From the arms to the torso, everything was lean muscles and healthy physique.

His skin seemed well taken care of, and his hair, albeit a little messy, seemed bright with energy.

"Are we ready?" He questioned her with eagerness and she nodded.

"As long as you are" Ciri commented jokingly and he laughed.

"I sure am ready to leave this place" He said and crossed his arms, "So, how're we doing this?" Ciri pretended to be in a thoughtful state for a few seconds before laughing.

"Do you have any experience with horses?" She inquired, and he looked at her with confusement in his eyes.

"I had my fair share of lessons" He nonchalantly said and she gave him a smug look.

"Then I offer you ride, what with that manly pride and all that" She smiled sheepishly at him, shrugging against his still confused eyes.

"Does that really matters?" He sighed, "It's your horse, if you wanna ride it, then ride it" And she was about to reply with an out of place comment, but instead shook her head.

"You can take the lead, I'm pretty sure we'll stop somewhere along the road, so we'll switch each time we stop, how's that?" She offered and, after a second or two, he agreed.

He approached Kelpie without a second thought and brought his hand to the horse's nose, greeting him and, apparently, silently asking for permission.

She knew Kelpie had no trouble riding with other people, but it was just astonishing how fast Leon managed to earn the horse's trust.

A moment passed and Leon was already waiting for her on Kelpie's back.

He offered a hand and she eagerly took it, smiling at their first physical connection and he pulled her, giving her some time to adjust on the already small enough saddle.

"It's been a while since I last road" He commented off hand, perhaps only for himself to hear.

"You said you knew how" She mockingly tried as she placed her hands on both sides of the saddle, not quite trusting herself to hug his torso instead and not make things awkward.

He turned his head to look at her, staring deeply into her bright, emerald eyes before he winked.

"What's properly learnt will never be forgotten" He commented wisely and softly kicked the sides of the horse, urging it to move forward with ease.

The road was silent, and so were them for a couple of minutes; both just enjoying the dear opportunity of sun and breeze, until Leon broke the ice.

"Wanna know why I stopped riding?" He questioned her without turning his head, just staring at the road.

"Sure" She replied and lifted up her hands from the saddle, feeling sore.

"I stopped my riding lessons, which were at that moment slightly advanced if I may add, because of the methods" He said rather sheepishly, with a grin on his face that she couldn't quite see but could sense it, "I was never quite fond of hitting the horses" She remembered the fact that he hasn't even kicked Kelpie this whole time, "My father would always urge me to kick them, to make them do what I say, but I disagreed" He chuckled, "I'd instead pat them, or ask them to move forward, to run, to gallop" He listed the things he would ask the horses to do before sighing, "It was never an efficient way of treating horses, but it hurt my soul a little less in a way" He chuckled again, "And now you're thinking I'm just a softy" She giggled as well.

And placed her arms around his torso.

"I don't think you're a softy" She said as she rested her cheek on his back, almost chuckling at the speed of his heartbeat, "I think that's called having a Golden Heart" He nodded.

"Well this Golden Heart is gonna end up getting my throat" She hummed in response.

He went silent as he waited for Ciri to come up with something to say.

"And why're you not with your father?" She asked, "I mean, you're old enough to travel, but is that all there is to it?" She didn't mention the fact that he hadn't offered his second name.

"Well…" She felt guilty as she glanced at his saddened face, but as soon as it came, the sad face left and Leon turned back to normal, "Let's just say the baron didn't like us as much as we thought" He laughed cynically, "He wanted us whipped off the map" Ciri brought a hand to her mouth, looking horrified.

"And you are the only survivor?" She tried and he shrugged.

"I don't know" He sighed, "I wasn't there when it happened. My father had sent me to hunt dinner as a punishment for not hitting the horses… I was only there for the aftermath"

Ciri looked mortified.

"Old Man Gregory was the one that warned me to run away and never, ever come back" He sniffed, but shed no tears, "I did just as I was told and ran, so I don't know if there were others than survived" He lifted up his punch, "I really think that my sisters actually survived, but I don't know about my father or my mother"

Ciri's eyes snapped up and she straightened herself, moving her hands from his torso to his shoulders.

"Then you should go looking for them!" And he snickered.

Well, as a witcher, she should've thought it better.

"So that's why you're heading to Velen!" She guesses and he grinned, this time turning to see her.

"Well, not quite, Velen is only the first step" He chuckled, "It's past Velen" She frowned.

"Past Velen?" She questioned him, "What else is there?" He grinned.

"Why of course, nothing else than my sister's favorite legend" He looked at her with serious eyes.

"Kaer Morhen"

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And that's it folks, this is like a short teaser, or one shot, if you want a whole story just tell me in the reviews.

Hugs and kisses - PawsLover