Maneater

Mundane Thoughts

The Witcher is even more annoying today. He's done nothing but insult Jaskier, and I all day. Ciri keeps smiling and telling us to forgive him because he's stressed. But we're stressed too, and we aren't taking it out on him.

"I ask for firewood, and you bring me twigs?" The Witcher snaps.

Jaskier drops the sticks he's holding, clearly fed up with his attitude. "I'm sorry that I can't find logs in the middle of a fucking field that is covered in snow. How silly of me!"

"You aren't looking hard enough," Geralt says.

Jaskier looks at me, "Just conjure up some wood."

"You're a fae! You should know how!"

"A fae that didn't even know she was a fae until a fucking week ago!" I yell.

My yell echoes, the horses snort in annoyance as they look around. Ciri rests a hand on my shoulder, "I think we should go to an inn. The next town shouldn't be too far away."

"Great idea," I say, already beginning to saddle my horse.

The Witcher sighs, "If we go in town, we face the risks of running into Nilfgaard."

"Well, I'd rather die fighting than from frostbite," I reply.

I climb into my saddle and hold out my hand to Jaskier. He takes it, and I help him crawl on behind me. The Witcher is glaring at me, but he lets out a defeated sigh and saddles his horse.

~~°°••°°~~

The town is quiet. Really quiet. Geralt had mentioned something about a monster scaring the villagers off a few years ago. As we unsaddle our horses in the stables, I notice a small kid peeking around a stack of hay. When he realizes I've noticed him, he quickly ducks down.

I take Loki's bridle off and slowly walk over to the hay stack. The sound of hished whispering brings a smile to my face. I look over the top of the hay to see two little boys hiding.

"Boo!"

They look up at me and scream. I laugh, ignoring the confused looks from my travel companions. The two boys look at each other before laughing as well. The taller one stands up, "How did you sneak up on us?!"

"Years of practice," I say with a smile.

They both stand in front of me now. They're identical twins.

"Can you teach us?" the shorter one asks.

"Of course."

I begin to walk around, "You must be mindful of where you step. One little leaf can throw you off."

"And you step with your toes first, then slowly roll onto the rest of your foot," I explain, demonstrating how to step.

They copy my movements, and I smile. "When following someone, make sure you walk in sync. When they step on their left foot, you do too."

They begin walking around, and their footsteps are surprisingly quiet now. A woman's voice calls out, "Fred, George! It's dinner time!"

The twins turn to me and speak at the same time, "Thank you!"

As they're running away, I can hear the taller one speak. "I can't wait to sneak up on mom."

I shake my head, smiling to myself. Their poor mother definitely has her hands full. I turn around and notice Geralt staring at me, an amused smile on his face.

"You're good with kids," he says.

I look around, "Where are the others?"

'They went to the inn."