Our world is filled with magic and wonder but a galloping steed is still as majestic of a sight to behold. Even the act of riding one was a rustic experience that brought the most stern of man a pure joy hidden underneath their leather like skin. Wind was no such man, he was grinning from ear to ear. Ves had a half smile adorned on her face, partly excited but partly scared. They both were taking this journey as an escape from their harsh reality for a spell.
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Ves had never ridden a horse before. She hadn't done much of anything, really. Even from a young age her days were mostly filled with helping out with farming or fishing, never going that far from home until her mother became ill. Her life shifted to taking care of her. Her heart was in it but her mind was becoming ashy, almost like a campfire that's just burnt out. As terrible of a situation she found herself in, this was a needed adventure for her sanity, even if she didn't know it yet.
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Ves and Wind rode for an entire day, deciding to not stop and set up camp but to ride through part of the night to make it to Kirkwall as fast as possible. And they did, arriving before the moon sprung to its highest point. Ves' eyes were coated with such amazement at the town. It seemed one building alone could fit every home in Ambra inside it. Even with the townsmen asleep and the desolate streets sprawled out before her as empty as the heart of a siren in the frigid waters of Skellige she could feel the incredible energy the town held. The streets were alive and you'd never know the night was hanging over with the torches and lanterns lighting up everything.
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Wind pointed out a tavern made up with dark wood, with a few people coming in and out. A few more standing around. Ves was visibly nervous but Wind told her he's been here lots of times. These were some good people and they wouldn't be long. Find the Witcher, pay him and leave. Simple. Wind swung open the door with Ves in tow. The tavern brimming with laughter and muffled talking and it reeked of mead and bad decisions. There were more people inside than Ves had ever seen in her life, or so it seemed. Just then, it struck as swiftly as a bolt of lightning. Ves' chest became tight like some unearthly python unseen by the naked eye was squeezing the life from her, making it near impossible to breath. Her heart fluttered and skipped, becoming erratic and unruly. She started to panic.
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A flashback rushed to the foreground of her subconscious of when she was little. She was playing beside the Copper stream, running along it for a little too long until she was out of town. She started panicking then, too, but it started completely consuming her in a silent, windless night kind of way when she saw what stood before her in the foliage. A grotesque bug called a kikimore worker, it was bigger than Ves on its four grey-ish red tinted legs, with its gnarled mouth contoured. The red streaks of color along its body and legs made her think of blood. Ves was frozen with fear on the outside but internally she was hysterical. Unbeknown to her, her quietness actually helped her. These bugs are born blind but with a great sense of hearing, so her stillness was actually concealing her.
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It stalked around, it's blade like legs piercing the ground and leaving behind small holes. It started walking towards the stream, and towards her. Just then her father, brandishing a cooking pot lid in one hand as a makeshift shield and a long spear that was just a sharpened stick, came running.
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Ves watched in awe at the bravery of her father, impaling the giant insect and its green hued insides gushing out onto the ground. But the bug was more resilient than that, retaliating by spitting acid at her father. He raised his metal pot lid to block it, and it did to some extent but that acid was potent and some of it ate clean through the lid, burning her fathers hand pretty badly. She didn't remember much past that, just waking up at home in a blur and her parents talking over her. Her father ended up losing his left hand from that encounter, she felt mostly responsible for it.
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Some of those feelings reared up in that tavern, those feelings of helplessness and feeling trapped. This time, though, she didn't freeze, she bolted outside and straight into the middle of the main road. She kneeled over, hands on her knees as she tried to calm her breathing. Wind came running up behind her, wanting to comfort her but not really knowing how.
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In a lot of ways she wasn't much different from that little girl but in others ways she was a stark contrast. That time she was defenseless and waiting for someone to save her, this time, in a way, she was the one doing the saving. Saving a whole town. She looked up at the stars and raveled in their clarity and beauty. "I'm ok" she told herself over and over. She leaned over and told Wind to find the Witcher and she'd wait outside, if that was ok. He nodded. She moved out of the road and instead sat next to it, watching the stars and giving herself a pep talk.
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A few minutes go by and Ves felt a tap on her shoulder, it was Wind. He told her he found the Witcher, or learned where he is rather. Supposedly there was a little inn on the other side of town that he was staying in. Wind climbed on his horse and Ves opted to ride in the cart this time instead, to lay down and watch the stars pass. She composed herself.
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It was only a few minutes before they arrived. This town was big but only compared to Ambra. The inn was less than extravagant compared to the tavern but still a degree of striking. Something like a quant cottage but bigger with hanging vines in the front and a chimney. The inside was comfy and a lot less crowded, Ves was thankful for that. Wind asked around with no real luck before talking to the inn keeper who's tight lips loosened up for the price of a rented room. He gladly paid, the price of information was usually too high but maybe the inn was struggling. The innkeeper was a scrawny man with snow white hair and a deposition of constant annoyance. He told Wind which room the Witcher was staying in but was warned "You probably shouldn't bother him, Witcher aren't known for their patience and you're liable to end up chopped up". Wind laughed but underneath he was unnerved. Ves wasn't fully paying attention so she missed the warning, she was eyeing someone sitting at a table eating a succulent chicken soup dinner. Her stomach yelled. She was so distracted she nearly didn't notice as Wind walked off to the staircase and started ascending, she followed suit.
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They reached the top and passed a few doors before Wind stopped. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, he was nervous, in fear he couldn't find the words for what was to come. Ves wasn't nervous at all, she was mostly numb at this point. Wind reached out and unlocked the door, revealing an empty bedroom.
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Wind had been impressed by Ves' courage so far, even though he didn't say it. They walked inside. Ves wasted no time and plopped down on the bed. She was dead tired but Wind didn't have the time to relax. He paced around for a minute, searching for words and courage. He found a bit of the latter in a swig of mead. The words were more stubborn. He left the room but Ves didn't much notice until he came back, still she didn't notice him but the smell that followed. He brought back a fresh baked potato and a steak, handing to Ves as her eyes widened with anticipation, she even drooled a little. Wind waited for her to finish eating, in hopes that the taste of steak would mask the awful aftertaste of the words that would follow.
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Wind leaned in and told Ves from this point on she was on her own. That sent a jolt of energy up her spine as she sprung back to life and jumped from the bed with worried eyes. Her earlier courage fading. Wind explained he never planned on stopping in this town, he definitely didn't plan on escorting anyone today. He had to be in Velen by tomorrow and had to ride through the night. A terror brewed in Ves and he could see it in her eyes but he reassured her that she should get some rest and tomorrow she'd ride out with a flesh and blood Witcher. Who else better to travel with?
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Wind apologized profusely and gave Ves a hug before leaving. He told her the Witcher was staying in the next room over and in about an hour, meet with him. Ves laid back down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. She could feel it in her chest that she wasn't going to be sleeping much tonight after all of this. Wind tilted his head down as he left the room and ventured off back into his own life, remorseful and saddened. He didn't want to leave Ves alone, he was thankful for the unexpected excitement of adventure but once stopping in town, seeing both of the tavern and inn's low stock of goods, he was reminded of his reality as a trader. This was his livelihood.
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Ves waited awhile. Time went by too quickly and before she could even muster a few cleansing breaths it was time for the meeting. She went out and knocked on the neighboring door. She could hear shuffling inside before a grovely voice let out "come in". Ves twisted the knob and slowly opened it.
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Before her sat a short, hooded man at a dingy table. Ves immediately thought he resembled a mushroom. He had a long red beard and matching hair on his knuckles as he rested his stumpy but strong looking hands on the table in front of him.
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Ves, weary, approached and sat across from him. She went to speak but like every other time in her life her tongue acted as though it was a timid wolf cub in a cage, it's back against the wall. Even with the cage door wide open it huddled in the corner. Then her mind filled, a flood of feelings. She pictured her aling mother, she saw Rose and Mossly, her dying town. She even saw the ill mannered Etnis and her wounded husband. A sea of faces diminished into a handful of those left. A subtle strength started to rise in Ves. The disappointment in herself had she of let her natural state of being take over and remain silent would have been more painful than even the thought of letting down her mother, her people. She spoke calmly and directly with the eloquence of a poet. She told her story, of Ambra, of it all. She dumped out the little pouch of 58 crowns onto the table and insisted the Witcher take this contract. Her heart burned with a determination anyone with eyes could see.
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The Witcher stroked his beard and squinted his eyes before standing up. He could barely see over the table. To Ves' surprise, he was a dwarf. He reached out and gripped the crowns, pocketing them. He nodded and in a rough voice he said his name was Aubry. He laid out his plan to Ves.
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"Tis getting late" he exclaimed, walking over to the window and leaning against the wall, peeking out. He said he must go get his silver sword sharpened and went on a tangent that no other metal would harm a beast such as the one Ves described. All though she only really knew it had sharp claws and an affinity for the fog. Aubry mentioned the name Foglett. He knew the type of beast. He said afterwards he'd head to bed and accompany Ves back to Ambra at first light. With the terms set and plan laid out, Ves headed back to her own room to try her best to rest.
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