Truth Beneath The Rose - Witcher
The last thing Yennefer remembered was burning. Fire streaming from her hands as chaos ripped her apart, finally free after being leashed for so long. It was agony that surpassed even her transformation. She was being torn apart anew. Only what the outcome would be was a lot less clear this time.
Then cold. All around her. Soothing, calming. Scales slithering against her skin. Magic in the air. Then nothing but dark.
Now she had woken. She had expected hurt, even agony. But she had not been prepared for this. The ache she felt was all too familiar. But surely that couldn't be, could it?
Yennefer opened her eyes to find she was in a tent of some sort. With a groan, she tried to sit up,despite her body's insistent protest. A soft hand on her arm and a well-known voice halted her.
"Don't. You're still not fully healed."
With great strain, Yennefer turned her head to the side. Tissaia sat by her bed. Her teacher looked tired.
"What…?" Her voice wouldn't cooperate, Yennefer found. But Tissaia seemed to know what she wanted anyway.
"You unleashed the full potential of your chaos on the battlefield. That much magic took a toll." Tissaia took a silver handled mirror from the bedside table and handed it to her.
Yennefer wasn't sure what she had hoped to see. Certainly not her old face. And yet, that was exactly what she saw in the glass now. Tears filled her eyes, the only unchanged thing in her face.
"The unbridled chaos burned away all enchantments from you. At least that is our current theory." Tissaia explained. "I thought the fire would consume you. And it likely would have. But then those that weren't burning were being frozen from the sky. You were saved by a dragon, Yennefer. I didn't even know there still were any. But he came. It's a miracle"
Yennefer couldn't remember ever hearing Tissaia sound so reverent. But even the appearance of a dragon couldn't really distract her from what she had lost. And yet, she had to ask.
"Did… Did it re-re…" Her voice broke away.
Tissaia shook her head. "It did not restore anything. I'm sorry, Piglet."
Defeated, Yennefer sank back into the pillows.
***
Geralt reached the battlefield only after all the fires had turned to ash. Ordinarily, he might have found the patches of ice peculiar but this was a battlefield of mages. Not a soul in sight. He searched anyway. Until he tripped a magic ward of some kind, at least.
"Fuck" He had just enough time to utter that word before a blinding flash of light left him blinded for a moment. When he could see again, he was… About a head shorter? How strange. His sight seemed ever so slightly sharper, the colours a bit more dull. He took a breath and a step. Something didn't fit about his walk. And scents were more intense than he was used to. Geralt looked down himself and saw… Paws. A wolf's paws.
Well, fuck.
On the plus side, he could see a slight shimmer in the air not too far off his position. It looked like a tent. With little other idea, Geralt began to head towards it.
A shadow passed overhead. Next thing Geralt knew, a dragon with brilliant silver and blue scales landed before him.
Shocked and surprised, the witcher turned wolf stopped and fell to sit on his hindlegs. His surprise rose even higher, when the dragon turned into a very familiar human.
Jaskier!
He had meant to call out but all that escaped his muzzle was a bark. Jaskier laughed.
"Didn't expect you of all people to trip my ward. Don't worry, it'll wear off on its own in a couple hours. Maybe a day or two."
Geralt glowered at his friend.
"Oh don't look at me like that. It's your own fault, really. But I suppose you're looking for Yennefer, aren't you? Come along then."
Without waiting for a reply, Jaskier led the way to the tent.
***
Inside the tent, Yennefer was trying her best to sleep. But no matter how she moved, she couldn't seem to find a position where her stupid back didn't ache.
Tissaia was still sitting by her bed, reading a book.
Yennefer's mind drifted back to what Tissaia had told her.
"I never told you why I called you Piglet, did I?" Her former teacher had started. "I grew up on a farm not too unlike yours. A bit richer, that much is true, but not too different after that. We had some pigs that I helped take care off. One year, when I was still a young girl, one of the mother sows rejected one of the piglets. A tiny little thing, but I loved it. And so, I took care of it, loved it, raised it. And when the little piglet was grown, I begged my father to let me keep it. He sold it anyway. To teach me a lesson. And he made sure I knew that it would be butchered. A year or so later I was taken to Aretuza." Tissaia sighed. "When I met you, you reminded me of that little pig that had been abandoned by its family. So I decided to do for you what I did for my little pig. Only this time I wouldn't fail, I told myself. But I failed you, didn't I? You are the closest thing I ever had to a daughter, Yennefer. And yet I failed you, too."
A rustling at her crooked back pulled her out of her recollection. Soft pads across the floor and then the bed dipped in front of her. Slowly, Yennefer opened her eyes. Before her was a white wolf with golden eyes. Eyes she knew as well as her own.
"Geralt" her voice was still little more than a hoarse whisper. The wolf whined softly in response, then jumped fully onto the bed to settle against her. Leaning against his warm body afforded her aching back some relief. And Geralt's affectionate nuzzling afforded relief to her aching mind and heart. Maybe she could be loved like this, after all.
***
Jaskier smiled softly as he watched the currently very lupine Geralt cuddle with an enchantment free Yennefer. They would be alright, eventually. With a yawn, he made his way to an adjoining "room" to curl up in his bed among his pillows and sleep for a week or so. Tomorrow he'd tell Geralt to get the little princess. But that was tomorrow. Today he'd do nothing else but sleep.
***
When Geralt woke, it was as a human and with Yennefer in his arms. He couldn't help but smile. With a groan, Yennefer moved against him before she opened her eyes.
"Geralt?"
He smiled at how sleepy she sounded.
"Yes, I am here." He sighed. "I'm sorry, Yen. I should have told you."
She scoffed. "You should have. But that hardly matters now." her eyes closed in defeat.
"Why?"
"Have you looked at me recently?" There was so much resentment in her voice.
"You think that matters to me? Yen, really."
Yennefer sat up against him, quickly. Or tried to. But her twisted back got in the way of that. With a yelp, she fell back into his arms. He caught her effortlessly and pulled her close carefully so he wouldn't hurt her.
"A bit more than a clubbed foot, hm?"
Geralt chuckled. "It doesn't matter what you look like, Yen. As long as you're you."
Yen stared at him a moment longer, then settled against him with a small smile.