The Boy from Rivia and the Girl from Oxenfurt

II

— One Month Later —

"Father, I'm going hunting! I'll be back soon!" I stated, going out the front door where my blade rested against my home. My bow and arrows were already secured to my back.

The woods were a buzz with birds and other sounds of nature. I stepped lightly, careful not to crack a branch. My sword rested against my hip and my arrows clung to my back. I held my bow with an arrow in the notch, ready to be drawn and sent into the air. I was waiting for the right deer to cross my path. I kept walking, finally spotting a deer. This one was dead, it's inside strew about the woods floor. A monster. There was something else in these woods. I turned on my heel back towards the village. I needed the witchers. Something rustled the bush behind me, sending me into a sprint. I threw my bow onto my back and held the hilt of my sword, ready to draw. Tree branches smacked my body as I ran.

I could hear the heavy beats of something chasing me as I ran, it was gaining on me. A flash of white hair darted in front of me, grabbing my waist as it went diagonally. It pulled me with it. It was Geralt. He finally set me down, taking a stand between the monster and I.

"It's a myriapod." He grunted, "Stay behind me." Geralt withdrew his silver sword from his back as I took out my steel sword. The thing looked like a giant centipede with four eyes and two large spiked claws at the front. The thing was ugly and scary. Geralt was quick, dashing between its legs, cutting some legs off. The beast screamed in agony. I darted around the left side as one of its spiked claws came down towards me. My sword sliced through one of its legs. The beast turned, locking onto me.

"Oh, sh-" I gasped, turning to run. Geralt quickly jumped onto its back, slicing down its body. The beast let out a scream before colliding with the forest floor. I stuck my sword back into its sheath.

"I told you to stay behind me." He growled.
"You took off!" I yelped, walking towards him. "How did you even know I needed help?" I took my bow from my back, ready to finish my hunt. My chest rose and fell quickly. The bottoms of my lungs burned in agony.

"You were taking too long." He muttered.
"What? You were in Kaer Moren? How did you know I was out here?" Confusion covered my face. He stuck his sword back onto his back, wiping the beasts blood from his face.
He pointed towards and group of deer. I took a breath, aiming the arrow steadily. My hands were shaking from the resent ordeal. I released my arrow. It landed far from the deers. I let out a curse before grabbing another arrow to load into the bow.

"I came because I got reports of a monster. Your father said you were out hunting so I started tracking the monster through the forest then I saw you running from the beast." He explained. I drew the arrow back and aimed at the deer again, my hands still shaking violently. His hand found my shoulder. His touch calmed my hands for a moment, allowing me to release the arrow and find its target. A large deer fell to the ground.

Geralt grunted, walking towards the deer. He hoisted it onto his shoulders and motioned for us to go to the village. As we walked, I glanced at him.

"You used to talk... a lot. What happened?" I asked, replacing my bow onto my back.

"I don't know. The mutagen changes people. I guess another element is that I saw you again. I guess I don't know what to say." He responded, shrugging the deer farther onto his shoulders.

"What do I have to do with you not speaking? You used to never shut up around me."

"I don't know, Vivian... You're my past. You knew me before... all of this. It's hard to explain." He snapped, walking faster.

"I'm sorry." I focused my eyes back on the path, trying to keep up. "I didn't mean to pry. I just... I spent years looking for you. I'm shocked to have found you." I said quietly.

"Technically, I found you." He gave a small smile. I looked up at him and smiled back.

"I guess you're right..." I laughed.

"So, what happened with you after all these years?" He asked.

"Oxenfurt was raided about 10 or so years ago. About 5 or 6 years after you disappeared. My father and I moved here after we escaped the raiders. My mother didn't make it out of Oxenfurt..." I trailed off. His eyes looked at me with no emotion. "Since then, my father has trained me with the sword, bow, knives. He's a former knight so... But we still have a farm, I work with the town's healer most days. It's an easy life in this village." I sighed. We had reached the edge of the woods and could see the village.

"I'm glad you have been doing well." He smiled slightly, "Let's get this deer to your father."

"Yeah, and get you in a bath." I groaned, holding my nose as he got closer as we walked. "You smell worse than a horse's arse." I giggled. He laughed, following me to my home. "You must join us for dinner tonight." Geralt nodded in agreement.

After putting the deer down for my father to skin and cook, I took him upstairs to my bedroom. "Give me a few and I'll get the bath filled. If you want to strip and wait behind the divider, I'll also wash your clothes so they're fresh for tomorrows ride back to Kaer Moren. I'll bring you something to wear tonight." He nodded in agreement. I quickly disappeared, heating water and grabbing replacement clothes from my father's old truck. I returned to my room where I knocked them entered. Geralt stood at the end of my bed, wrapped in a towel. His eyes looked at one of the trinkets from the top of my chest.

I stared at his back. He had some scars here and there across his back and arms. I gasped at the sight of his flexing muscles. My gasp made him turn towards me. I finally saw what was in his hands. It was one of the toys he'd let me borrow on the last day I saw him. I'd promised to give the stupid straw doll back to him when I saw him at the market next.

I pulled my eyes away from him and the doll, dumping the water into the bath tub. I placed the clothes onto the sitting chair by the divider. His hand touched my bicep.

"Vivian." He begun, my eyes darted to his golden ones. "Why'd you keep this doll for so long?" I pulled my eyes from him.
"I knew I'd see you again." My simple green eyes finally found his extraordinary gold eyes again. "And I couldn't throw away the one thing that reminded me of the little boy I once loved." His face twisted slightly at my words.
"Love?" Geralt's voice hitched.
"Once loved..." I mumbled, pulling my arm from him. "But I haven't seen you in years... Things change." I backed up a little bit.
"Vivian..." He reached out towards me.

"You're a witcher. You don't feel things like a human anymore anyways. You haven't seen me in years. It's just a silly trinket, Geralt. Nothing more." I finally turned away from him. "There's the clean clothes. The waters getting cold." I stepped out the door, leaning against the wall outside the room.

I hadn't thought about Geralt in forever. I hadn't seen him in 15 years. I'd moved on. Why was there this sudden pain in my heart? This pull towards him? A hole in my chest? He was a witcher. I was a human. Two beings who could never be together. Why was I even thinking it?