worstsin: (Default)
[personal profile] worstsin
There was something wrong happening.

At first Geralt had avoided the woods, because it felt like that off-ness was concentrated there. The birds and insects had gone quiet at first, and soon after they'd started to flee to the forest's edges. Though autumn had barely begun, in some areas Geralt found trees turning rusty, leaves dying off.

That had been at first, and from there things had gotten wronger.

When Geralt realized what was happening, he went to the woods. He worried it had no longer become an issue of protecting himself until he managed to leave Darrow, but of protecting Darrow potentially from himself.

Whatever corruption existed in the forest, growing and spreading, it affected his body, and his mind. It had twisted itself around the witcher mutations, had expressed them in new ways, or simply more.

And so Geralt was back at his old camp. Hiding, biding time, and keeping a baleful eye on the situation. He ought to do something about it, but what? What could he do, when he didn't even understand what was happening to himself?

He sat beside the fire, hunkered over an evening meal in a foulest mood. His skin was paler than usual, dark veins standing out against the white. All of his senses screamed. He gripped his dinner in hands that had begun to end in blackened, pointed nails, that reminded Geralt too much of Regis. That was the bruxa in him, no doubt, a fact that he wanted to put little thought into, if he could avoid it.

The canines that filled his mouth too much more than they used to, those were likely more attributable to a manticore mutagen.

And the fact that he had made dinner of a squirrel, and had not felt the bother or desire to cook it, that Geralt wanted to put thought into even less.
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Date: 2017-09-21 02:58 am (UTC)
every_blossom_blooming: (soft girl)
From: [personal profile] every_blossom_blooming
Nina didn't like bad dreams. She had always been blessed with fairly restful sleep, whatever happened to her, but lately that hadn't been so.

She knew Inej was unquiet, and she could see and feel the tension in other people around Darrow - some more than others. Her tailor seemed exhausted; a young man she'd seen a few times looked downright haunted.

And she hadn't really seen Geralt in a week or so. She hadn't thought too much of it the first day or so: maybe he was out monster hunting. But his visits had been so regular before, and more frequent since they had decided to start a relationship, of a kind, that his absence was noticed.

He didn't answer his phone, either.

Finally Nina grabbed her shawl and headed out to the woods. Autumn had finally come to Darrow and the leaves crunched underfoot as she made her way to Geralt's camp. She had only been to it a handful of times - usually he came to see her.

She smelled the campfire and before long she caught the familiar rhythm of his heart... but something felt off, somehow. Nina grew more cautious as she approached. She wore a long, comfortable red dress with a dark cardigan to help keep warm. She didn't bother to try to hide her approach, not wanting to startle him.

"I should be mad at you," she said as she approached the fire. "Making me traipse all the way out here to make sure you aren't dead."
Edited Date: 2017-09-21 03:01 am (UTC)

Date: 2017-09-21 03:15 am (UTC)
every_blossom_blooming: (soft and dark)
From: [personal profile] every_blossom_blooming
"Probably not," she agreed. "But here I am. I brought you some things."

Maybe Geralt didn't need anything from her, and maybe she should have just trusted that Geralt had good reason for vanishing. But she had worried, and now she had to see for herself that he was alright.

He wasn't.

She slid a bag off her shoulder and slowly came closer to the fire, though for the moment she kept it between them. It threw light on Geralt, for one thing. His fingers looked blackened and she could see the pallor in him even as he tried to hide his face.

"What's wrong?"

Date: 2017-09-21 03:29 am (UTC)
every_blossom_blooming: (Default)
From: [personal profile] every_blossom_blooming
Nina's eyebrows drew together and she moved around the fire to get a better look. She set her bag down: it had apples, a heavy blanket, sachets of tea, a tin of ginger snaps.

She sank down next to him and pulled one of his hands into her lap, unafraid. She let her fingers brush over his, feeling the bones in his fingers. Slowly she lifted her gaze to his face, the same concerned look there.

"This must be terrifying," she said quietly, full of sympathy but not pity. Geralt told her of his mutations, but feeling his body change like this, out of his control, must have been disconcerting at best and frightening at worst.

Date: 2017-09-21 03:41 am (UTC)
on_mans_road: (hair in wind)
From: [personal profile] on_mans_road
Something was wrong. She couldn't even find solace in Cabeswater and after leaving the magic forest she felt... she felt off. She hugged herself as she walked through the twilight wood, looking far more concerned than a girl who was also a unicorn should look.

Her pale hair, her moon-white skin, and her white dress caught the dying light of the day when she caught the scent of fire, and of Witcher. But something was off there, as well. She had not encountered Geralt at his campsite in some time and she was surprised to realize he was there now, when the nights were chilly.

She changed course through the wood until she found the fire proper and his lean to. Even at this distance she could tell there was something different and she approached with natural caution.

Date: 2017-09-21 03:43 am (UTC)
every_blossom_blooming: (dubious)
From: [personal profile] every_blossom_blooming
A frown tugged at the corners of her mouth at the mention of working.

"Work?" she echoed. "What work?" Was there some contract or had he just found a way to keep himself occupied?

This close she realized his scent had changed. It wasn't unpleasant, per se, but it wasn't the same and that alone was worrying, never mind all the more visible changes in him.

Date: 2017-09-21 04:01 am (UTC)
on_mans_road: (wistful profile)
From: [personal profile] on_mans_road
"Where would I go, Geralt?" she answered quietly, certain he would hear her. "There is no where I can go that is not touched by... whatever this is."

She felt it even in the city; she felt it in her dreams. Even those had become more persistent: dreams of running and running and the heat of the fiery bull on her back. The cold feel of the surf around her legs. A castle falling into the sea. A prince.

She wished she could forget all of it.

"What has it done to you?"

Date: 2017-09-21 04:07 am (UTC)
every_blossom_blooming: (over the shoulder)
From: [personal profile] every_blossom_blooming
"Let me help," she said quietly. She didn't try to keep hold of his hand but she didn't break eye contact, either. Geralt seemed more monstrous but she had worked with monsters before - ones that looked perfectly human and were capable of deep wickedness. Whatever was happening to Geralt, she still trusted him and she still cared for him.

So she wasn't going to just abandon him to suffering if she didn't have to.

Date: 2017-09-21 04:19 am (UTC)
on_mans_road: (Default)
From: [personal profile] on_mans_road
She came closer to the fire because she was feeling the chill of the creeping evening. The girl sank to the ground near Geralt and drew her knees to her chest so she could rest her chin on them. She stared at the flames.

"Men have done their worst to both of us," she murmured. "All in the name of what? Being helpful?"

Amalthea rolled her eyes and squeezed her arms around her legs.

Date: 2017-09-21 04:24 am (UTC)
every_blossom_blooming: (oh really)
From: [personal profile] every_blossom_blooming
"I don't know," she answered honestly. "But I want to try anyway."

Nina didn't think that trying to slow or ease the intensity of his mutations would hurt her. She might not even be successful. She didn't think some part of him could somehow rub off on her, and she doubted anything she felt would frighten her now.

And even if it did, she was a soldier, unflinching in her duty. She cared about Geralt and she was willing to endure horrors for people she cared for.

"At worst, I think, nothing will happen. At best I might be able to ease some of your... symptoms." She wasn't sure what else to call them.

Date: 2017-09-21 04:40 am (UTC)
every_blossom_blooming: (Default)
From: [personal profile] every_blossom_blooming
Nina sighed her relief when he didn't fight her. It was his body and she would not invade it like that without his permission, but she was grateful that he was not making her beg. She moved closer to get a look at his canines.

"I don't have my tailoring kit," she said with a soft sound of frustration. "I'll do my best. I've never done anything quite like this before, and I want to warn you that even if it does work... it might only be temporary. Something is causing this, and if it isn't inside of you then it needs to be resolved first."

And she hoped it would be. "Could you meditate? Or at least... just sit quietly and breathe deeply."

Nina seemed to do the same, but she kept her eyes open and before long her hands began to move in subtle, small gestures. She sought out places where the physical manifestations of his genetic mutations were seeming to go haywire.

Rather than focusing on one part of him, though, she tried to focus on the way his body was feeding into these mutations and making them... more. She tried to find the threads of it, to slow it down since she knew she couldn't cut them off. This wasn't like breathing lungs or a beating heart. THis was cellular. It moved too fast for her to stop it at the source but... but she could slow it down, maybe roll parts of it back.

Her fingers curled toward herself like she was coaxing something.

Date: 2017-09-21 04:51 am (UTC)
every_blossom_blooming: (lounging)
From: [personal profile] every_blossom_blooming
It took time, and Nina felt a weird mix of energy and exhaustion when she was done. Using her power always left her feeling amazing, but this had required far more concentration than she usually needed because of the detail required, because of how quickly the body metabolized and changed: because Geralt's body did those things even faster.

As she focused again she gave him a tired smile. "How does that feel?"

Date: 2017-09-21 05:15 am (UTC)
every_blossom_blooming: (soft girl)
From: [personal profile] every_blossom_blooming
"I'm fine. Working on that level isn't something I've had a lot of practice with and it took more concentration than most other things I do." Geralt had seen what she was capable of with a flick of the wrist and a clench of her fingers. This had been far more nuanced and subtle.

Nina moved closer and more or less tucked herself into Geralt's lap so she could rest her head on his shoulder.

"You smell better."

Date: 2017-09-21 05:31 am (UTC)
every_blossom_blooming: (lounging)
From: [personal profile] every_blossom_blooming
Nina didn't push harder than she already had. Geralt let her this close, she would let him take his time from there. It felt good to have his arms around her, even if his touch was light.

"I started missing you," she admitted quietly. "Then I was annoyed, and then I got worried. Even if you end up smelling like a tomcat again before whatever this is passes, just... let me know you're alright. And I suppose if you need to disappear I'll try to let you."
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