Her Sweet Kiss | Geralt of Rivia X OC | The Witcher FF

Chapter 30 - Parkour -

Geralt's pov

Vesemir and I returned from the wolves' cave and Ciri was not where she was supposed to be. The usual. "I thought the girl was supposed to be tending your horses." Vesemir stated, also seeing Ciri's absence. "She was." I said and looked around to check if she was still somewhere around. "Training's going well, then." Vesemir said, almost in a mocking tone. "She's a quick study, if impatient." I said and Vesemir smirked. "Sounds familiar." he chuckled. I stopped in my tracks and Vesemir did too after I called him then. 

"I'm sorry for Eskel." I apologized yet again. And I say it often enough. "I know, son." he said nodding a little, the smirk gone now. "And if I was ever a burden..." Vesemir interrupted. "Was?" Vesemir joked with a small smile. "Geralt!" Coen called me after he jogged into the entrance of the front yard. "You need to see this." he said and pointed out again, into the direction he came from. I sighed. What was it now?

"I've told you once, and I'm not gonna say it again! Stop showing off!" Lambert shouted as I saw them from afar already. They brought Ciri to the old training ground. I rolled my eyes. They should've let me know first. "Steady your legs. And breathe, damn it!" Lambert then instructed. The closer I came the more I saw the dirt and the injuries all over her. She was holding her arm. Must've made friends with the blade carousel. 

She started to walk over the plank, keeping the pillars in her gaze. "You're panting like a dying mammoth." Lambert shouted. She made it over the plank of the first obstacle. I was still too far from her for her to see me. I could see and hear clearly but that wasn't the benchmark. 

"Stay calm, girl!" Lambert shouted and she actually made it past the swinging blades. I shrugged a little, approving of it. The steps that were stuck in the wall were one of the easier obstacles, if one had balance. She tripped but caught herself, making it to the last one, the swinging platform. before she jumped on it, I fell into her gaze as I stood now next to the others who were also watching with interest. She looked over at me and then back at the parkour. Did she get nervous just now? 

She screamed and then jumped. Some cheered for her. She swung the platform a few times back and forth before jumping at the two chains that were dangling in front of her. She grabbed them and then, too, swung back and forth. She was nearly done with the parkour. I clenched my jaw. Come on, Ciri. You can do it! She let go of the chains and jumped on the last platform, a steady one that would be the end of the parkour. She landed unbalanced on her feet, which gave in underneath her. She fell to the ground. 

I approached her as she got to her knees to get a steady stand afterwards. She spat out blood into the snow and wiped her mouth afterwards. I looked to the parkour then back to her. "So close." I said with a small frown, knowing how that feels. 

"I almost had." she mumbled. We were in her room. I ripped apart an old piece of clothing so I could tend her wounds with it. I didn't say anything, just kept ripping the cloth. "I can do it." Ciri said and stood up, taking one of the stripes from the table. I opened a small leather case with anything one needed to tend wounds. I took out the bear fat to smear it around the cut. "You can do anything." I said and took her arm to put the fat around the wound. She winced and pulled her arm away a little, unintendedly. "Doesn't mean you have to." I said, referring to the sentence before.

She looked at me confused and disappointed. I sighed. She didn't understand. "When a Witcher cracks his skull, all we need do is stick him in a cot and fill him with veratrum, spurge, and hawthorn. Chances are, he'll survive. You don't have that luxury." I said to her she frowned. "But you said we catch fear. That you have to face it. You mustn't just give up." she said with a heavy sigh at the end. I nodded and took the stripe of ripped cloth from her. "That's right." I said and started wrapping it around her upper arm. "But you have to train first." I explained.

"Well, then let me train." she whined. "I am." I said as I tied a knot into the cloth. "No, you're not. Not enough. I want to be a great fighter. And not just against sacks of straw." she complained. I smiled a little. "I have known many who wanted to be great fighters in my time. Do you know where they are now?" I asked her and tilted my head. Her expression dropped. "Where?" she asked, her voice just above a whisper. "In cemeteries." she groaned at my answer.

"What about Evelyn?" She suddenly asked. I frowned. "What about her?" I asked back and tried to control my expression. "She's a fighter. Did you let her train?" she asked and bit her lip at the end. "I did." she scoffed. "Why may I not then?" she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Evelyn trained for around twenty years with a pillar of wood in her house. When I trained her, she already had all the things you now need to learn." she rolled her eyes at that and stood up, rushing past me out of the room. 

I just stood there, looking around the room. An uneven spot in the wall caught my attention. There were cracks in the wall and a little branch was hanging from it. I pulled on it only for the wall to crumble at that place. Between some wood and straw, there was a blue sash with golden lions on it. The smell on it... It wasn't Calanthe, who it should've belonged to.