Hey guys! erm... New story ?
Honestly I'm sorry, I had sworn to write only one story (The Redhead Outlander) at the same time, but since I joined the fandom of The Witcher recently, I couldn't resist.
I've seen the whole series on Netflix (and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series) and I've been playing the Witcher 3 Hild hunt with the DlC recently (since christmas and i haven't finish it yet !). and I haven't read the books yet.
My knowledge of this universe is for the moment still limited and I hope that you will be indulgent towards this aspect.
This chapter isn't corrected for the moment and I look forward to your reviews if you find a fault somewhere. (tell me it's great and you want more, isn't negligible either; p)
you can find this story also on ao3, wattpad AND Tumblr! (the last one is just because i teased the story on the site)
Anyway, enjoy it! and... Toss a coin to your witcher !
Crisis. Big crisis. Serious. Crisis. Big serious crisis. You can't imagine how fucked up I was. Very deeply and submerged.
Very big and serious problem. You can't imagine how fucked up I was. Very deeply and submerged.
I usually like the forest when I know that a wolf pack is not running for my ass wanting to devour me alive. I like the forest, when I'm in a more climate-friendly outfit. I already consider myself lucky to have an outfit that would not make me ashamed or was worthy of the beginning of fanfiction. Fortunately for me I was not in pajamas and even less in a dress.
The groans and the barking behind me really did not inspire me to stay, encouraging me to run again and again despite the fact that my legs were screaming for a rest. My lungs were aching and there was a constant reminder on my side that reminded me that running for that long was not good, at all. Which did not help the situation one bit.
On the bright side, it was not nightfall yet. Which meant I wouldn't have any bad surprises, but I still had no idea where I was, where I was going nor how the fuck, I ended up in a forest?!
Earlier I was in a coffee shop in Toulouse, France, waiting for my hot chocolate by the counter, while my friends were watching over my coat and schoolbag. There was nothing to indicate that I was going to be teleported from one place to another, without any notice! Another thing, since when was teleportation a thing? It's still science fiction to me, even in 2020!
As I continue to run, glancing from time to time at the pack that was still chasing me. Suddenly my foot sank into something with a horrible damp noise, just like the smell it gave off. I had the misfortune to take a look at the thing and I had never regretted so much in my life. A corpse, a damn corpse, a damn corpse which by the horrendous smell it gave off, had started decomposing a while ago.
I threw up, I'm not ashamed to say it, I threw up, on the dead body too. I had never seen a corpse. Well actually I did, but not in such state and even less in this situation. The wolves were closing in, and I had yet to remove my foot from the open rib cage of the corpse. I closed my eyes and held my breath then removed my foot from the body with the same sound as earlier. Unfortunately, the wolves had caught up. There were about ten of them, one of which looked a little bigger and had a darker brown coat. They surrounded me, growling, licking their lips, ready to jump me any seconds from now.
I had little to no hope of surviving until the shining reflection of some metal crossed my sight. I crouched down slowly, without making any sudden move, plunging my hand into the litter of the forest soiled by the blood and organs of the corpse. I felt something and grabbed it, pulling it out as I stood up, now standing with a sword in hand.
A question crossed my mind, who in this time, apart from coplayers and collectors, has a sword on them and a sharp one at first sight.
him apparently, I sniffed.
Luck was on my side, kind of... At least I had something to defend myself. Although my notions of fencing were close to none, I had a few. But let's be honest Game of Thrones and the Lords of the Rings are not reliable sources of knowledge in this situation because it was real life, not a video game nor a movie. But my close combat skills are useless at the moment, I do not see myself beating to death all those wolves around me with my bare fist.
I started by grabbing the handle firmly with both hands, handling it with only one hand required skills and strength that I did not possess, I'm not Kirito or Asuna from SAO, even less Jon Snow. Then I took a stance more suitable for a fight, may it be attack or defense. I lifted the blade slightly and observed the wolves.
One of them started the fight and decided to attack me but I was ready to fight. I didn't realize what had happen but after what felt like an eternity, all the wolves were dead. The bigger one gave me a run for my money, I struggled a bit to take it out but when the beast let out its last breath, I collapsed on the ground, blade at my side, arms and legs trembling from the rush of adrenaline. I glanced at the massacre around me with a quick breath that slowly slowed down as the cold bit my cheeks. The humidity of the soil seeped viciously into my pants and it was with regret that I got up and started moving again. It was cold and wearing wet clothes in this weather was not a good idea.
The forest was silent, only the rustling of the leaves and the cracking of the branches cut the silence. My gaze turned to the corpse then to my sword. I had to find a way to carry my weapon until I returned to the civilization, you never know, in case I came face to face with another pack of wolves or something much worse. Maybe not a bear, because they had disappeared in France at the level of the Alps and there were about forty in the Pyrenees.
I approached the corpse, wrinkling nose at the rotten smell. By observing carefully, I notice that it was a man and he wore an outfit similar to what people in medieval times used to wear. The outfit might have been beige or white at first but had now a brownish color upon being stained by the blood, he had a leather jacket similar to that of a hunter, thick leather gloves, pants in a material that I couldn't identify and leather boots. He had a belt around his waist that held the sheath of the weapon I was now holding in my hand, and some saddlebags. I built up courage and made the effort to loot the things from the corpse and keep them for myself. I don't like stealing, but for the time being it was necessary and it's not like he was going to complain now, was he?
Backing up to a tree lying on the ground, I sat on the trunk and put the blade in the sheath and started to rummage through the many saddlebags. I found a small blade there. Dagger or knife, I couldn't tell the difference. Folded parchment, vials with questionable liquid inside, herbs and a few gold coins.
I first unfolded the scroll to see a drawing of a man, who looked dangerous. There was something written in a language that was unknown to me and seemed Norwegian to me, add numbers to it.
"It must be a wanted poster ..." I whispered to myself. "But who writes on parchment nowadays?"
Moving on to the vials, I opened one and lifted it to my nose to sniff it. Bad idea. It was not worse than the smell of a rotten corpse, but it was not pleasant either.
"That shit must contain some traces of sulfur. The smell is gross as fuck, I can't imagine the taste ... "
Finally came the pieces. They were gold. Finally, I guess, I'm not an expert on the subject after all… it was uneven, as if it had been made by hand and not in a mold. By turning a coin between my fingers, I did not recognize it. It was not European currency, nor English, nor American and even less Japanese. On some sides there was the face of a stern and hard man. He was probably a former monarch or emperor.
Doubt crept into my heart. Everything was starting to get strange and a wacky theory came to mind. My reason and my logic implacably told me that it was impossible and that it was surely a dream or a hallucination, but a small voice in my head told to me that it was probably true, after all I had been teleported, and I had some scratches.
But a dream or hallucination could not be as real in details, smells and even less in pain as this.
I shook my head and slapped my cheeks. Now is not the time for a panic attack, my priority was to get out of this forest alive, the rest may come after. Getting myself together, I got up from the tree trunk, I hung the belt and the saddlebags around my waist, tightening them to the maximum possible without restricting myself and tied the small blade close to my sword, on my left hip. I put the gloves on my hands after having cut the tips of the fingers with difficulty, to make them into leather mittens. It was man's gloves, and I had rather small hands even for my age, cutting them made it possible for me to wear them.
I started moving again, paying attention to where I was walking and the slightest sound. I was hoping to hear the sound of flowing water, hoping to have a source of water to drink from, which is essential for my survival, and I could follow the stream to reach civilization. Perhaps... My knowledge of history and geography tells me that the Man lives by a source of water, with bit of luck I could come across a village.
Thanks to the position of the sun, I could tell it was past noon. After walking more and more, I finally found a stream. I drank with joy and had also found wooden berries. With the little knowledge I had, I preferred to eat strawberries and raspberries instead of those berries that seemed too good to not be poison. Death by poison, thank you but I'd rather not. I allowed myself a time of rest on the fresh grass under the sun and took advantage of the rays of sun which warmed my dark clothes. At least I was wearing black, which helped keep the heat, or what little heat I had. The weather felt like fall or early winter at best, it was humid and cold but not the coldest it could be.
A few hours later I resumed my walk but had to stop at some point, for on the other side of the shore, I could see a few people. But they didn't seem human like. Fear settled in my stomach and my throat; I discreetly joined the edge of the forest and knelt down to observe these creatures. I was too far to see them properly, but from what I could already see they seemed terrifying. They had blue green skin and seemed to have white, globular eyes; they cried and growled as some were leaning on the ground to devour something, a corpse no doubt. There wasn't much left of the bodies on the ground, arms and legs torn, mouth bit off. One of the creatures looked up, bowels hanging from their mouth. Nausea took over and I had to put a hand on my mouth to keep myself from throwing up.
But now I was definitely sure that I was not home; I was in another world. A world were creatures and huge beasts existed, the kind of things that do not in my original world.
I waited until the creatures had finished feasting before leaving in the direction of where I came from; then waited a little longer to make sure they wouldn't notice me. Then I left. I kept walking until nightfall. The cold was biting my body, but I had nothing warm to protect myself from the cold and no way to make a fire. Fatigue had taken a toll on my body, and yet it was out of the question to sleep on the ground, who knows what other kind creature could exist here at night. I decided to look for a tree in which to climb for the night with the little light that remained before the sun disappeared.
I found a thick oak tree, with branches nested and thick enough for me to sit on, rest my legs and sleep without falling. Closing my eyes under the moonlight, I slowly drifted away to sleep hoping that the whole situation was a very vivid nightmare and that I was going to wake up with a nice coffee.
Upon waking up in the morning, everything came crashing down. I was still in that stupid tree, and not in my home world. After jumping off the tree branch, I checked if there weren't any monsters nearby then started my routine of going to the riverbank to drink a bit, before cleaning up my wound and face.
I lived like this for two days while trying to find civilization, drinking water from the river, feeding on berries, avoiding monsters and beasts and sleeping in trees. After two days, it was with joy and hope that I spotted a road as well as a bridge that crossed the river. I spotted a sign 10 meters away, this could tell me where the fuck I was! I thought
Along the road I observed the traces on the ground, there were footprints, no hooveprints, and what I assumed to be a red-haired being. When I got to the sign what had been written on it was in the same language as the parchment. A few meters from the sign were three corpses. These seemed colder than the first ones I saw, but my disgust was the same, but I reluctantly approached them, looting them.
I took the most interesting goods from the corpses: money, food, bags and weapons. I added a knife to my right hip and exchanged the heavy sword I had for another one that was slightly lighter and in better condition than the one I had. The most interesting goods and more useful for me, were a hooded cape which covered my whole body and dragged on the ground when I was not in motion and a scarf a little short but still I hastily put it around my neck. I considered switching from the gloves that one of the corpses had but upon noticing the size even bigger than those I had cut holes in, I decided not to.
After looting the corpses to my fullest, I continued my sweet trek and it was after a few hours of hard walking that I encountered a village. There were about twenty houses altogether, all made of stone, wood and straw. The village was inhabited by what I guessed to be "peasants". Women wore long dresses while men wore tunics like the corpses. The men I came across were ruder than the women, although the women did not breathe politeness either. Spitting on the ground and sniffing was even more gross than young people living in the poor neighborhoods of the big cities of my worlds.
As I entered the village the locals looked at me suspiciously. I swallowed hard and did my best to ignore them. When I got to the center of the village, I found a sign with hanging parchment posters and a taller building with 2 stories and more alive than the rest of the other houses. From one of the windows I could see men drinking and a woman serving drinks. Not far from the buildings was a herd of horses who were living their best life with water and hay.
It was an inn. Now, I'm no believer, but may God be praised, I could finally rest! That is if I had enough money. Walking to the inn, I opened the wooden door. The cries and laughters that had reached my ears were even louder at the source; but the warmth of the inn covered my body and it was with joy that I accepted it. I slowly walked to the counter, listening to the conversations around me only to find that we did not speak the same language at all.
A woman, with brown and gray hair welcomed me; when she spoke I obviously didn't understand anything at all. I replied with a sheepish smile in my language and mimed the action I wanted. She quickly understood that I absolutely did not speak the language of this country and a compassionate look was printed on her slightly wrinkled face. I made her understand through mimes that I wanted to eat, drink and a bed. When I took out a small purse where I had collected all the money I had collected, she smiled gently and indicated to me with her fingers how many coins she needed.
I thus paid 3 gold coins and 1 copper coin. And it seems that I got a discount because I don't think the room was so cheap. She led me to a medium-sized room that had everything I needed, a bed, a bathtub and for the rest there were shelves on the walls on which were set a few candles. There was a table with a chair near the shelves as there was a wooden chest. I had never felt so happy to see a bed in my whole life, it seemed so comfortable. The room in itself was very dark, but the dim light of the fire and candles made it possible for me to see.
I thanked the lady and before she left I called out for her to mime her "write", she nodded then left. While waiting for her return, I put my stuff in the trunk. She came back a little later with food and drink so a little blank page book, a pen and an ink vial. When she put the tray on the table I quickly grabbed the notebook and pen before plunging the point into the ink and drawing a bath; I showed her the drawing and she nodded.
Before leaving to get hot water for the bath she introduced herself under the name of Isla. I introduced myself as Azeria. It was not my real name, but knowledge was power and anyone who knew my real name could be dangerous, after all names had power. Isla smiled at me and finally left to heat the water.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, I undid my braids, my red hair framed my face and tickled my neck. I combed my hair back, hating it when my hair was in my eyes. I sighed and went to sit at the table to start eating. I groaned in pleasure at the taste of the roast chicken and its warmth, when I wanted to drink, I realized that it was wine and not water. A rather cheap one as it may, not really a great vintage. Ignoring my taste buds and the surprise I drank quietly making sure to compensate by eating. When I finished eating, Isla returned with another younger woman, holding buckets of steaming water. They filled the tub and I tested the water to the touch and confirmed that it was the right temperature. The youngest left with the buckets while Isla stayed to point out a piece of soap and towels on the shelf. I thanked her with a nod and I poured myself a glass of wine. She left with my now empty plate and as she closed the door I waited for her footsteps to fade to start undressing.
I folded my clothes and put them on the trunk, filling myself another glass and putting against the bathtub opposite the soap placed on the towel I had put there. As I sunk my body inside the warm water, goosebumps crawled all over me. It felt like ages since I last bathed. My muscles relaxed immediately, and I took advantage of this moment to rest and think about everything that had just happened.
I disappeared from my home world, reappearing in this completely new one. A world whose language I did not know, which seemed to be filled with monsters and in a medieval era where the plague certainly still existed.
What brought me here? Was there a reason for that? Do I have a way to get home? I had to survive. First, I was going to have to learn the language, it was essential. Then learn to defend myself with the sword that I had stolen/looted. I had a few notions of self-defense, but it was not enough. I suppose that here women had as much power as respect, that is to say very little. I also believe that rape and murder are as common as bastards here.
I was going to have to learn everything that had to do in this world: fight monsters, learn history and politics. I would not survive without any of this, not being aware of the last battle would be fatal to me here. I was also going to have to learn how to take care of myself and master certain plants, medicine is clearly not as advanced, neither is science.
God, I do miss electricity and all that I have back home. Everything is too quiet here, even though at the moment I was laughing at the people below. Suddenly a flash of my family popped in my head, I missed them. Their jokes, their laugh, their presence. I was alone now, completely and utterly alone. Tears ran down my cheeks and I started sobbing at my misfortune. Were they aware of my disappearance? Were they actively looking for me with the hope of finding me alive and healthy?
I spent more than an hour sobbing in the tub, crying all the tears in my body. When I ran out of tears and the bath water had gone cold, I washed myself thoroughly, wetting and cleaning my hair at the same time. I got out of the water and dried myself off before putting on my underwear and my top. I blew out the candles and let the fireplace crackle to slip into the bed. It was pleasantly comfortable, I thought before I finally fell asleep, exhausted.
It was with content that I fell into the arms of Morpheus, resting to then survive this world for the moment still unknown.
