Vyr’s Journey Through The Multiverse - Chapter 39

The morning was a trail of will to say the least. Ruby had stayed up late last night keeping vyr up with her. She was both excited and nervous about the first real contract she was taking. When she finally fell asleep Vyr could swear she saw the sun peaking out its first rays of the day. So upon hearing Josh beating on her door, it took all her self control not to toss his ȧss into the lake.

By the time they had set out onto the road the sun had just finished rising, and the witchers had finally finished getting everyone mounted. To be fair though it was a unique kind of joy to see Weiss struggle to mount a horse. You’d think her upbringing would include horse riding being a noble and all. But it turns out due to the vast forests and sprawling mountain ranges that make up Remnant, Horses never grew too common. That combined with Atlas’s technological advances, horses quickly moved from high societal training.

Once everyone was mounted and on the road the lineup was something like this. Josh is the lead on his Plotka named Beerbatter. Yang on my old horse named Peptoboonsmal who is also a Plotka. Blake on a horse borrowed from Eskel named Shemry, Something of an arabian breed. And Vyr pulled up the back on sif as she dozed off on his soft fur.

“You doing ok back there sis?” Josh called back, knowing vyr was trying to sleep.

“Eat a dɨċk josh.” Vyr called back without moving from her position laying on a happy sif.

Josh cuckold to himself for a moment before turning the conversation to the other two “how about you two? Saddle need tightening? Need a break?”

“Nah i’m good. We just set out, why would we stop?” Yang said, confused.

This made Josh laugh again as he said “Ask that again in a few hours, you’ll know by then. What about you, oh quiet one. You fine as well?” getting a small affirmative hum from Blake in response. They rode this way for hours, just making small talk and jokes to pass the time. At some point the talks moved toward the mission ahead. What signs to look for. What are some things they could expect? Old stories to learn from. That sort of thing. Vyr had even joined in after getting a few hours of sleep.

“At least it’s not gargoyles this time, I don’t think my sword can take it.” Josh said jokingly as he finished a story.

“I pity Gargoyles actually.” Vyr chimed in, smirking at yang.

“What why?” Josh asked confused

“They have a hard rock life.” Vyr said with a shiteating grin, forcing a groan from Josh and Blake. While Yang had stars in her eyes and quietly said “I’m so proud.”

But they didnt stop. Why would they? They had a contract to do, and the only person who didnt notice was the person that needed the experience. So they continued telling stories and passing time.

As the sun was near setting they could see the trees thin a bit and a village ahead.

“Yeah you should have seen Yennefer’s face. I thought she might cry for a second.” Josh said with a laugh thinking of the normally scary Yennefer crying.

“I can’t help it ok? I just don’t like cloaks. And hers had all those feathers too. It’s uncomfortable, not to mention they get in the way of fights too. I’m surprised Ruby can do so well with one. Then again she does use a scythe.” Vyr said, trying to defend herself and mumbling the last part.

“You should have seen her when she first started training. She could bȧrėly swing the thing!” Yang said, laughing along.

“Is that the town up ahead?” Blake asked, pointing to the lights we were riding up on.

“Nah, but it will be where we stay the night. We could push on ahead but I’d rather we play it safe.” Josh replied.

“Wouldn’t it be better if we got there faster?” Yang asked even though she wanted to stop for the day too. She now knew what Josh had meant when he said they’d be wanting to rest. After riding most of the day her back and lower body were killing her.

“In some cases, yes. But it’s better to be rested before we get there. It’d only cause more problems if we show up bȧrėly able to keep our eyes open.” Josh reasoned.

Entering the town they could see signs of a happy village. Old women sitting outside chatting and sewing. Children running, playing, and laughing along the way. Some men sitting near a fire telling stories. All around a happy and cozy place.

The deeper into the village they went, more people recognized Josh and Vyr. The townsfolk would wave and smile at the duo. At one point a small girl with a wooden sword ran up to Vyr and laughed happily yelling “Lady Vulf! Lady Vulf! Have you come to play again?”

Vyr laughed back and said “I have! Have you been good and learned your numbers?” as she picked up the girl and carried her.

“Mmhmm. I even learned how to add and take away from uncle Hal.” the girl replied happily while swinging her little sword around.

As Vyr was talking to the girl and some of the other townsfolk and children, Blake asked Josh ” I thought the people didn’t like the witchers?”

“Most don’t. But the few towns near the keep do. See we normally have to pass through, and we regularly stop to see if we can help out. Give it a few years along with Vyr doing her thing, and bang. Now the witchers are well like in a few towns around here.”

“Are they normally so …” Yang begins but struggles to find the right word.

“Friendly?” Josh helps her finish.

“Yeah. Friendly.”

He spares a brief glance at the town notice board and pauses slightly before continuing on. They walk inside and Josh goes up to the lady running the bar while Yang and Blake take a seat at an unused table not too far from the fire pit in the middle of the bar hall. Not long after Vyr walked in and joined them after helping Josh grab some drinks at the bar.

As they sat around playing Gwent and waiting to head to bed, one of the village girls came to refill their drinks. As she left the table she trailed her hand across Vyr’s shoulder and up to her face, she then gently turned Vyr’s head so she could watch as they walked off swinging their hɨps seductively. Vyr smiled and started to get up to follow them before frowning and sitting back down while shaking her head.

“What? Not going to follow the poor lass? She’ll clearly miss you.” Josh said with a laugh.

Vyr just growled at him and downed a good part of her drink.

“Wha- who was that?” Yang asked

“That was the sister of the girl vyr was playing with.” Josh replied.

“Do you “know” her?” Blake asked Vyr with implied meaning.

Josh chuckled and said “every inch I bet.”

On one hand Vyr wanted to call it an early night and head to bed, but if she left now it would seem like she was taking the earlier invitation. Not something she wanted infront of her girlfriends sister. On the other hand she could sit here and awkwardly talk about her past “relationships”. She never got the chance however as Yang continued her questioning.

“Depends on what you mean?” Josh answered, taking another swig.

(Blake) “Are people so “forward” here”

“Most times you’d have to pay to get that lucky, But sis here has a charm that lass’ can’t seem to resist.” Josh replies almost like he was cursing Vyr.

“Hey Josh. you wanna … mabey… shut the fuċk up?!” Vyr whisper yells at him.

“What’s your problem?”

“Mabey that drink went straight to that pathetic thing you call a skull sponge, but if you haven’t realised. I. AM. WITH. SOMEONE. NOW.” Vyr says slowly and clearly.

“Yeah I know. The red girl.” Josh says with a so what attitude.

“Yang is her sister, dumbass.”

“OH! … um”

“Thanks yang.” Vyr says, relieved at her understanding.

“Besides this is great blackmail material.” Yang says happily getting an “there it is” from Blake who had just been watching this play out.

After this the night continued on uninterrupted with laughs and teasing from all around. Eventually they all retired to rest for the long trip they had tomorrow as well. The next morning was interesting to say the least. See the girl last night somehow thought vyr didn’t follow her because she was “sleeping” with Yang and Blake as the girls all shared a room. That plus the weird way they were walking the next day seemed to have cemented the idea as fact. But truthfully the only reason they were walking weird was due to them not being used to horse riding. This didn’t stop Vyr and Josh from breaking down into tears due to laughing so much at their expense when the girl confronted the two.

After that whole debacle they were back on the road once again. And as the sun rose to its peak they came upon the village the contract was at. Once more, Vyr dismounted and let sif run off and hunt for a bit in the surrounding area. Looking around the town was better off than the one they rested at the night before. The houses were made of new materials and there was even a wooden wall surrounding the place. When they approached the gate it was already open and village life was continuing. The people were walking from place to place and preparing things for when the summer rolled around once more.

Asking around they soon found the village elder man. A strong man about forty to fifty in age. He was starting to leave the golden age of his life but it was easy to tell the man wasn’t going down without a fight. The man had an accent but after speaking with the villagers they were expecting it. They ironed out some details with the man but he was insisting that the beast that was near them was stealing horses. Saying they would handle it the four left the town the same gate they went in.

“Alright, let’s get the hell outta dodge.” Vyr said, Whistling to Sfi to regroup with them as they walked away.

“Huh? I thought we were taking their contract?” Yang asked, confused.

“Don’t they still need help?” Blake seconded.

“Let me ask you some questions.” Vyr said, waiting for Sif to join them.

“The town we came through, did it have walls?”

“No?”

“Right. It didn’t. Know why?” Vyr asked again as Sif joined them.

“Uh… they couldn’t build one?” Yang guesses.

“No, they could’ve probably built one. There’s just no reason to.”

“”What?!”” both Yang and Blake ask

“Yeah. The monsters here aren’t grimm. Which means unlike grimm most of them don’t go out of their way to attack people. Which means walls aren’t really a priority for villages. A wall means labor and time. Not just to put it up, but to keep it in good condition too. There’s something else about the wall too. Did anyone else see the part on the inside of it?”

“It had a walkway” Josh chips in.

“Spot on. Now to put it together. They have a wall, that wall has a defensible position, and its not meant for monsters. Which means~” vyr says, dragging out the ending so they have time to guess.

“Which means it’s a defensive position.” Blake concludes.

“Surely you didn’t get that from just a wall.” Yang says unsure. If they were wrong those people could die! She couldn’t let that happen just because they had a wall.

“Of course not. There were plenty of other giveaways if you look close enough.” vyr replies getting in position on Sif’s back.

“The people, they were soldiers in disguise.” Blake states.

“Correct. I knew you were a brainy one.” Josh says merrily.

“What? How? They seemed fine to me.” Yang says still unsure.

“The little things. The women hiding in the houses.” Vyr said as she listed things off.

“The men all being buff.” Josh adds

“The men are all stiff backed and young.”

“The people setting out tools for planting while it’s still snowing was pretty telling.” Josh says with a laugh.

“But the main thing was” Vyr starts saying only for josh to say it as well “”They all had a Redanian accent.””

“What does their accent have to do with anything?” Yang asked, while Blake just sighed and said “will you please pay more attention in history class.”

“The accent means a lot, all things considered. See we are in the kingdom of Kaedwen. And while we witchers are technically not part of any country, because of where we base ourselves, witchers can be considered a national resource. See we go around and improve living conditions by killing harmful monsters. Without us, the self trained, self maintained professionals. The government would have to do it, and they dont want that as they are shit enough as is. So when we find a different kingdoms troops trying to give us a sketchy job, we say sure and then fuċk off.” Vyr explains while thinking “hopefully they’ll remember this and know to pay more attention when they are hunting grimm.”

Having explained everything and mounted up, the group quickly left the direction they came. They rode at just below full gallop trying to put space between them and the military encampment. With their fast speed they made it back to the village they left in the morning in only a few hours. They decided to stay the night once more and let the newbie horse riders rest. The next day came quickly and they were off once more heading back to the keep and for the non witchers a soft bed and hot shower.

As they were just shy of half way they returned to the ambush site, this time it was in use. As they rode up three men, dirty and covered in leathers and furs stepped out into the road in front of them. The leader had a sword with rust on it and a tower shield with a banner that seemed to have been rubbed off. The man to his left had probably the best weapon of the three, a large two handed axe seemingly used to cut trees. The final man was hunched slightly and held a sword only slightly better than the shield guy’s.

“Stop there! ‘Less you be wanton’ dead.” the shield guy slurred out obviously drunk.

“Dammit! Are you drunk again?!” sword boy asked

“Not now.” the man with the axe said.

“Righ’ get off your hors’. Don’t make me say it again.” shield man said back on task.

“You do realize this is a bad idea, right?” Josh says

“Oh yeah? An’ why’s that?” the shield guy asked while laughing.

“Well for one, I’m a witcher. For two the one at the back is, again, a witcher. And to top that off, the witcher behind me is riding a giant wolf.” Josh applied reason to the trio. The two sober men immediately started sweating, especially when they saw Sif.

“I don’t care if all of ya’s are witches. Get off yer hors’” the man says reading his sword to swing down on Josh. Josh just sighs and draws his steel sword, firming his mind to the immedient bloodshed.

Not even an hour later the group were back on the road. The only difference being the drying blood spattering their bodies and the weapons tied to their mounts. Yang was being comforted by the other girls as this was the first time she had ever killed anyone. It didn’t help that she had forgotten the people here can’t use aura. She had punched the man who only had a sword in the face and as Vyr said “popped his head like a grape..” Now she was having an internal struggle while the girls helped remove gore from her clothes.