Toss a Coin ? THE WITCHER ONESHOTS

Note: Geralt is a relatively young/fresh witcher, you are a bit older & more experienced.

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"Vesemir, Geralt's off again." You called out to the old man, poking your head into his chambers to see his reaction. Vesemir sighed, shaking his head as he turned to you.

"That damned boy.. (Y/N), go with him. Keep 'im outta trouble." He ordered. You nodded in response, swiftly turning to go towards your own room. You dressed quickly in your armor before mounting your horse, Torch, and speeding off in the direction Geralt had gone. Using your witcher senses, you were able to pick up on Geralt's trail and found him a short while later.

"Geralt, where are you off to?" You asked, letting Torch walk next to Roach.

"To hunt." Geralt grunted, barely sparing you a glance.

"Vesemir sent me with you. Heading anywhere specific?"

"I'm going to White Orchard, you're going back to Kaer Morhen."

"And disobey the old man? Don't think so. What's in White Orchard?"

Geralt pulled Roach to a halt, forcing you to stop as well and turn back to face him. "I'm going to kill a griffin, but you aren't helping. I don't need an escort everywhere I go. Get lost, (Y/N)." Geralt practically growled, his words filled with equal parts venom and annoyance.

You clicked your tongue, wagging your finger at him as a broad grin donned your face. "I don't have to listen to you, Geralt. The young witcher fancies a duel with a griffin? I doubt you'd even know where to start. How about this: I'll let you take the lead, but I'll teach you the proper way to kill the beast. And I'll tell the old coot what a splendid job you did. Deal?"

You watched as Geralt's brow furrowed, a frown forming on his lips. "Fine." He finally agreed, setting Roach on course again. You followed along, laughing to yourself at your success.

***

After a few days of travel, you finally arrived to White Orchard. You ran into a merchant who's cart was destroyed by the griffin. You let Geralt talk to the man to see if he knew any information about the beast. Unfortunately, according to the merchant, everything happened so fast. He could only remember the creature carrying off his only horse.

"Nothing useful." Geralt complained. It wasn't ideal, but you remained optimistic about the hunt.

"Not to worry, we'll just have to track the damn thing. That's half the fun!" You stated, though Geralt didn't reciprocate the smile you shot him. Tough crowd.

Venturing into the village of White Orchard, you led Geralt to the tavern.

"First lesson, drunk folk are more likely to spill their secrets. Second lesson, if anyone refuses to spill their secrets, Axii them." You grinned at your 'joke' while Geralt gave a nod. "I prefer to save the sword for last, but you never know how folk'll react to a witcher... Let's head in, ask around."

You pushed through the wooden door, entering the tavern as a hush fell on the occupants. Whispers flared up shortly after, most of them directed towards you and your partner. Geralt sidled up to the barman, the easiest person to gather information from, especially with a golden incentive. You turned to the patrons, eyeing the crowd that tried to avoid your gaze.

"You fuckers lost?" A grizzly voice broke the silence. "Two swords, monster eyes, uglier than shit. What are two mutant bastards doin' here?"

You could see how Geralt's body tensed in anger as he turned towards the owner of the voice. You, on the other hand, were used to it. You sized up the soldiers who stood before you, five of Temeria's finest shit eaters. Raising your hands, your voice remained smooth as you spoke, stepping slightly between Geralt and the soldiers to prevent him from doing something he'd regret.

"C'mon chaps. We're just here for the griffin that's been ripping these poor folks to shit. No trouble here." You stated.

The soldier who started the little altercation spat at your feet, twisting his features into an ugly frown. "Ya, an' who's paying ya? Hm? Didn't get any orders to send for a witcher."

You turned to Geralt at the soldier's question. After all, you were following him, not a contract. You weren't even sure if there was a contract.

Geralt cleared his throat, pulling a finely folded piece of parchment from his trousers pocket. You watched him carefully unfold it, shoving the letter into the soldier's face.

"Contract put out by Gil." Geralt confirmed, pulling the parchment away before the soldier could grab for it.

You released a breath you didn't realize you were holding, clapping your hands together to regain the soldiers' attention. "See? No harm here. Now, could you point us towards this Gil fellow?"

The soldiers grumbled under their breaths, drawling out the directions to Gil before sauntering away. You turned to Geralt, gripping his shoulder firmly as you pushed him out of the tavern.

"That ended well. Let's avoid picking fights, hm?" You insisted, clambering onto Torch as Geralt mounted Roach.

***

After speaking to Gil, you were satisfied with the amount of coin he had scraped together within the village to put out the contract. You also learned the general location that the griffin hung around.

You sat on a log while Geralt inspected an area where the griffin had attacked a hunter, leaving nothing behind but the hunter's bow and a few bones.

"See a blood trail?" You called out.

Geralt didn't reply, focused on something on the ground. You watched intently, waiting for him to respond. Frustration seeped through Geralt's tone as he finally turned to you.

"I've got blood, but it ends here." He pointed to where the last spot could be seen.

You scratched at your chin, thinking for a moment. "Can you pick up its scent?"

"The griffin?"

"Well, if it left a feather or something. But I figure the bastard carried off the body. Blood still seems fresh, I'm sure we could track the hunter's scent instead."

You walked over, plucked a blade of bloody grass and shoved it under Geralt's nose. He backed away at first, then hesitantly sniffed the drying drop.

"Well?"

"It's this way." Geralt took off in the direction of the scent, leading you towards the griffin. You noticed tiny specks of blood along the way, pointing them out to Geralt as you saw them.

"I was right, it did carry the body." You confirmed. Geralt halted you, pointing to a large structure of branches and leaves. It was an enormous nest. A griffin laid out in it, presumably asleep. You and Geralt drew your swords, carefully sneaking towards the beast as quietly as possible.

"What the fuck?" Geralt cursed. "It's already dead."

"This isn't good."

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(A/N)

Cliffhanger! Because I didn't want to make this one too long. I'll be doing a part two!

Thank you so much to everyone for all of the love and support so far, you've made this book grow and it's been so enjoyable for me to write! I can't wait to put out more content for you all! ^-^

-moss