Yankee
TruthHurts
princess
Plank SinatraGeralt & Ace- Scouting Party
3,596 words (+4 XP/Rapport)
Lvl 15 Geralt (136/140) -> (140/150) 410 % OL Charged (Lvl 3)
Ace - Level: 9 - Total EXP: 432/90
The battle inside the space center had been rough, but they'd made it out - and now that the entirety of the White Team was back together they could all get moving again. Following the inexplicable defeat of Belial (which Ganondorf was actually privy to), Ace had gotten himself patched up by Blazermate since the Juggernaut had been taken care of as well. It saved him a potion at least, though eventually he'd probably have to dump some stuff into his Alchemy Barrel and restock a few items he normally carried. There were a few other things on the hunter's mind as well; what they could have done differently, what he could have done, what he had available to him, what they'd have to face going forward and what he'd have to do to be better equipped to help everyone handle it. Physically and not. He had a few ideas.
For now though Ace simply shoved the sort of grotesque great sword into his logicless backpack, downed a bowl of stew, and heeded Sandalphon's suggestion to find a good spot to make camp. By the Cadet's estimate it was probably late afternoon at most, but it wouldn't do to travel in the dark in unfamiliar lands no matter how early it was.
He pushed out of the back of the stagecoach, letting the cold air blow in momentarily as he hopped down. They were approaching another forested area, which would be a lot better than an open field for camping. Wanting to make himself useful, Ace jogged around to the front of the carriage while calling out, "I'm gonna go on ahead a bit, see about finding an area to hunker down in! Anybody wanna come with?"
Geralt’s head poked out of the Stagecoach, followed by his shoulders and torso. “I’ll go. Between the two of us, shouldn’t exactly be a challenge.” He fully emerged from their carriage, climbing down to the ground and looking to the forest. “We run into anything too nasty, I can call Sandalphon and give them our location too.” Taking Ace’s distaste for magic into account, he’d rely on his more physical capabilities, and handle any messages to the team’s leader as well, while they were out.
Ace looked back at the Witcher, a bright smile on his face. He'd always liked Geralt, and having fought together since the Land of Adventure (save for the Cadet's previous stint in the Highlands) it felt to him like they'd known each other for years already, despite the actual time frame. Plus it was as the other man said: with the two experienced hunters on the case, finding a secure spot to make camp shouldn't be hard at all.
"Groovios, sounds good," the Cadet said, and slowed so that his senior slayer could catch up with him. A moment later and the two of them were shoulder to shoulder and trudging through the snow ahead of the stagecoach, making tracks to scout forward. Those staying with the carriage could watch them go until the forest ahead swallowed them.
Almost as soon as they'd crossed the treeline, quiet fell over them. It wasn't an oppressive silence by any means, simply the foliage blocking the wind that had begun to pick up and had started whistling over the snowfields they'd just come from. The flurries themselves were caught by pine tree branches above them, making the walk less arduous. It was an old, strong forest; the kind many a monster might lurk in, but that also supported all kinds of life. Currently though, the two hunters appeared to be alone and unhassled.
Ace's scoutflies seemed to confirm it when they spread out wide, their soft green glow never changing hue. Even so they kept an eye out, though after another glance around Ace broke the silence. "I don't think anything's around, which would be a first today," he chuckled.
“Gladly take a few minutes’ peace.” Geralt sighed, pushing aside a branch and stepping past it. “Dealt with enough crap today.” He was, quite clearly, just about done with the constant moving and fighting in the frigid landscape. “Not used to being out in this kind of weather. Back home, when winter comes, us Witchers just all come back to Kaer Morhen and wait it out, swapping stories from the Path and drinks to pass the time.”
That seemed to take Ace by surprise as he looked back over at Geralt with a curious look. "Huh, really? I just assumed you worked all year round... do your monsters take the winter off too?"
He spoke with a humorous, light tone, but he was genuinely interested to know what the cold weather situation was in Geralt's world if its monster slayers shacked up once the snow started.
Geralt let out a small huff of laughter, shaking his head. “Moreso that everybody takes the winter off. Nobody out in the fields means nobody being slaughtered by a Fiend. Wars just about break for the winter, too, so no fresh bodies for necrophages to hunt. It’s another matter in the cities, but outside the more dangerous, or foolhardy, monsters, not much would show its face in a city. And if something does happen to show up, locals are usually enough to deal with it. Only call a Witcher in if it’s something truly dangerous, or hard to find.” He shrugged.
“Not many of us, either, for that matter. Monsters and Witchers are a dying breed on the Continent. Skellige’s still got plenty to hunt, but it’s harder to get work there. Skelligers are a rough bunch. Half of ‘em can fight monsters just fine, and the other half know somebody who can fight. Seafaring people, and not above piracy, especially against the Nilfgaardian Empire.”
Though the names were unfamiliar it was easy to put together the picture that Geralt was describing. The only thing Ace couldn't as easily imagine was a dwindling population of monsters or those employed to hunt them. The Hunter's Guild of his home world was always bustling with people eager to take on requests or to supply their services to those coming and going. Guild halls all over the continent and abroad were lively places with hunters gathering in every season to share meals and stories only to go right back out into the field afterward. Still, Ace nodded along.
"Makes sense. If there's no prey there's no predators," he said. "Us hunters never get a break like that. I mean the established hunters, sure, they can pick and choose what quests they want, but the newbies and vets? Always on assignment! Fetching supplies in the wilderness, securing village borders, getting sent to tundras, swamps, the tops of mountains, and inside volcanoes after aggressive monsters that start wandering a little too far out of their territories towards settlements..."
The Cadet sounded almost wistful as he listed things, ending with him ducking his head slightly as he rubbed the back of his neck, a little grin on his face. "To be honest I don't think I'd even want a season off. Might get too boring, heheh.
"...but I do wish all the merchants that put in hunting requests would learn not to try and force shortcuts through the wilderness.”
“That’s a problem that transcends worlds, I fear. Always looking for the easiest way to ship their goods. I’ve delivered and recovered plenty of lost goods, either bandits or monsters. Ugh.” Geralt sighed, shaking his head. “And I can imagine you hunters are much more busy. Could hardly leave your outpost without seeing a dozen monsters. Wish people on the Continent were as content to live with them, but I don’t blame them either. Even corpse carrying is a deadly profession on the Continent. Lose focus for a minute and a Nekker’ll be enjoying you along with what you were carting off the battlefield.”
“Won’t lie. Didn’t much hate your world. But it wasn’t where I needed to be. Wasn’t where I was supposed to be. In another life? Think I’d have enjoyed it.”
"Yeah?" Ace's smile had brightened even more, a touch of color beyond just the cold clinging to his face. "...I'm happy to hear it. I guess it's like being kind of proud to show off your home town, right?"
Never mind the fact that discussing entire worlds, their similarities and their differences, had become a common pastime for the Seekers as a whole when just weeks ago the thought might have been completely alien to them.
"I'd have liked to show you more of it, too bad you ended up in Astera instead of Dundorma or Val Habar. Y'know, back when we were at Alcamoth and did those spars for fun and they had those stage-picker things, I got to show Sakura a little bit of Val Habar. I wonder if we could set something like that up in the Avenger? It's so high-tech, I bet there's some kind of..." the monster hunter grasped at nothing for a moment, trying to pull the word from thin air. "...I dunno, illusion type of thing they could pull off."
He glanced at Geralt. "Some people -not naming names here bud- like to make it seem like the world they came from giggisux, but I'd still like to get a real glimpse at it. Yours, Nadia's, Edward's... a whole bunch of places I'd love to be able to visit."
Geralt huffed. “It ain’t all bad, trust me, just…last few years? They’ve been pretty terrible. War. Plague. Pogroms.” He sighed, shaking his head. “Yeah, really selling that it isn’t all horrible. Point is, it is a beautiful world, but there’s a lot wrong with it, too, and I’ve been in a position to see a lot of it. Just end up focusing on what needs to be fixed too much.”
And who could blame the guy, really? Especially if he was one of the few both willing and able to help fix it in the first place.
"Bet you'll go back with a whole new perspective though, huh?"
“Not as much as you might think,” Geralt confessed. “Always known there were other worlds out there. While it's been nice to see what comes from them, unless everybody else accepts that we need to be more cooperative…don't see much changing. Call me cynical, I guess.” He admitted. “Though maybe if we can recreate some of the technology we've seen, might make it easier for a lot of folk. That'd be good, at least.”
Ace mulled over Geralt's words for a moment. He made a good point, cynical or not. Though Ace preferred to call it realistic instead, even if he himself tried to be more on the optimistic side of things. If they were all going to go back to their own worlds after this adventure, he did hope things changed for the best everywhere. Even in his own world, where he agreed that copying over the things he'd seen would be really beneficial.
"Guess you're right," the Cadet said. He added, sort of more seriously than needed considering what he was about to say, "I know I'll be bugging all the wyverians to try to make a bunch of stuff. Starting with a bicycle."
While the two men talked they made sure not to neglect the reason they'd gone ahead in the first place. Loosely following a path through the trees as more light bled away they poked around for any areas that might be suitable to park the stagecoach and weather the night. So far the forest had remained tightly clustered with pines, ever-green shrubs, and snow-covered rocks with nary a clearing in sight, but it was still much too early to give up looking. Eventually they came to the conclusion that they'd have to strike out further away from the Midnight Walk, and ahead of them there were two options more interesting than just the forest scenery. West of the path was the sound of slow moving water, leading to a foot bridge over a shallow creek, while east of it was a slightly wider area with the remnants of wooden stairs and other buildings that stood alongside a separate trail.
Geralt paused, looking at both paths. “Don’t know how much I trust that bridge. Stagecoach is pretty damn heavy. Hate to see it break the wood underneath it.”
"Then let's head the other way, see if we find anything." The coach was probably large enough to just roll through the creek bridge or no, but there was no reason to test it out if the easier path led them to a good camping spot.
They veered east, climbing over a small snowbank and making their way to what must once have been a road, though now covered over with snow and shoots of frozen weeds and fir saplings. It was a little bumpy maybe, but far from impassable. The broken fixtures along the route suggested that at some point people had lived and built in the area, so it wasn't far-fetched to think that maybe they were on the right trail.
“Doesn’t look bad,” Geralt offered, following along the path. “Coach should be able to roll right along here. Now we just need to find a spot for it to sit while we make camp.” They continued along the snowed-over road a short while longer, keeping their eyes out for any clearings or perhaps even a partially-intact building that they could shelter beneath.
As luck would have it, the keen eyed Witcher did eventually spot something that looked like a building through the trees. As they approached, a small twinkling light beckoning them closer, the full shape became clear to them. It appeared to be a house, a rather large one in fact, made of wood and stone. No smoke rose from the either of its two chimneys and no light besides the one hanging by the door shone out of it, but it was intact. If they cleared some space in front of it they could probably even fit the stagecoach in what might have once been the front yard.
It was a lucky find; even if Ace’s armor protected him completely from the cold, the same couldn’t be said for the rest of the Seekers. If they could all stay here, they wouldn't have to be miserable in a cold weather campsite tonight (and as such they could save the camping supplies for if they really needed them).
…maybe it was even too lucky? The thought did cross Ace's mind, but it didn't stop him from strolling up to the door and rapping his knuckles on it. No one came to answer, and there were no sounds of movement from inside. The Cadet looked back at Geralt.
"Last abandoned house we found, back in Snowdin? Full of zom-bots," he stated. Though whether this one was actually abandoned or the owner was just away remained to be seen.
Geralt hummed as they approached the house. The place looked abandoned, for all intents and purposes. He saw no footprints in the snow, though all that meant was that it hadn’t been traveled to recently. The lack of answer from the door cemented the thought that the place was likely abandoned. Of course, they couldn’t know, but Geralt wouldn’t lose too much sleep over squatting in a veritable manor for a night. Climbing the steps to the door, Geralt tried in, nodding when the door remained stubbornly closed. He crouched giving the entry a good look. “Wouldn’t do us much good to go through, let out the heat. Let’s look around, find a window. Worst case, we have to break something anyway.” Dismounting the stairs, he waved Ace after him.
They took a path around the side of the house, where several squat egress windows allowed access to the ground floor. The only question was if any of those were unlocked. He tried each in succession, growing resigned with having to break at least one, when the last window budged. “Found our way in.” He said, fingers finding purchase under the bottom of the window and slowly prying it open. “I’ll boost you. Leave your weapons here, I’ll pass them through.”
Ace stripped off his backpack and set it down in the snow, part of his arsenal following soon after (earlier he'd tucked Yato into the pack too, keeping one short and one long range weapon on him). He would have asked Geralt if he was sure since the hunter was still muscle dense even after his one fusion, but he was also currently the smaller of the two of them, so up he went. After crawling in through the window and ending up in what served as part of the house's basement, he reclaimed his sword, shield, and gun from Geralt outside.
Peeking back out from the way he'd come in, the Cadet said one of his worst puns yet with a wiggle of his eyebrows, "go back 'round to front, icy you there soon to let you in." A quiet sigh followed him as he turned around.
Ace made his way quietly up to the main level, finding that the interior of the house was open concept with multiple levels. It really did appear empty as he couldn't hear anything besides his own footsteps and the creaking of wind against wood.
"Hello?" he tried once, but again there was no answer. A minute or two later and he was unlocking the main door to let his fellow hunter in. They could both see that the place had plenty of large, spacious, well furnished rooms with a modern aesthetic. There was a thin layer of dust on most of the furniture suggesting once more that no one had used it in a while, along with the fact that the fireplaces were barren and it was cold. Compared to the elements outside, though? It was basically a haven. If they found firewood or some other things to burn it would be perfect.
"What do you think? Wanna sweep the place real quick and call the others if we don't find anything?"
“Yeah. If we find nothing, perfect. If we find something, two of us ought to be enough to deal with it. If not, I’ll call in Sandalphon and we’ll make a break for it.” Loathe as he was to speak ill into existence, it was better to have a backup plan.
Thankfully, their sweep of the residence revealed nothing but a small, furred creature which had curled up in a cabinet to escape the cold. It was quick to run, and soon after the pair had finished and met back up in the foyer. “Sandalphon, this is Geralt. We’ve located a large house that seems to be abandoned. Managed to find an unlocked window and sneak in, so we can leave the place intact for if the owner does manage to find their way here down the line. There’s ample room for the Stagecoach to be left out front, and plenty of rooms for people to take.” Describing the path they’d taken to reach the manor, Geralt spoke at a fair pace, making sure Sandalphon heard every word loud and clear.
Once the report was made Ace stopped inspecting the knick knacks and came back over, hands on his hips as he looked towards the upstairs level where the bulk of the bedrooms were. With ten members of the White Team there weren't enough for everyone to have their own spaces, but the home itself was large enough that they could all spread out if they needed some privacy.
"Scouts get first pick of rooms, yeah?" he joked, then turned to Geralt properly. "Also wish we had stuff to cook in that kitchen. Honestly I could drain that whole stew pot myself right about now. Twice."
“Don't think anybody could deny us that,” Geralt joked back. “Got some meat as well from earlier, could give that a go. Know what you mean, though, starting to get hungry again myself. Big as it is, that pot isn't enough to keep us all fat, just alive. Alive's good, but as cold as it is here, I could do with some more energy.”
Actual meat? The prospect of a more filling meal sparked bright enthusiasm in Ace, showing clear in his eyes. He was ready for someone to try their hands at cooking it even if it had to be him.
Geralt took a seat on one of the steps, looking around the home. “It's nice, though. Not too big, but plenty of room.”
"Real nice," Ace agreed. Certainly more spacious than the dorms on the ship and a lot of other places they'd stayed in. Even the hunters' lodgings back in Astera, save for the Sapphire Star's quarters. Ace turned his gaze towards the stairs leading down. "Once everyone's settled in we could even do the whole stories and drinks thing! If we can find some. Place like this might have a wine cellar? I'm sure whoever was here last would hate to have it go to waste."
Geralt's mouth broke into a smile at the prospect of a wine cellar. “Well, what are we waiting for?” He asked rhetorically as he stood, making his way towards the set of stairs they'd discovered earlier. “Been a while since I've had a good drink. Wasn't much around at the Satisfactory, and before that, Z interrupted the last one I had.”
Grinning, Ace fell into step beside the man. "Guess we'll just have to make up for that then!"
