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Aiden begged any deities still taking the prayers of Witchers that this town would not be inhospitable to him. If he had been there before, it had been years. Between the decades and occasional fits of frenzy in his early days on the Path, he couldn't recall the place. Nor did he know its name.
This part of the Continent was not his usual trek. However, it was Lambert's loop. So if Aiden wanted to see his-- friend, his mind supplied carefully, as though Lambert himself were nearby and could read his thoughts-- he'd brave a bit of unknown territory. Lambert was worth it, even if Aiden maybe wished to save himself some grief and not say it aloud.
It had already been a full day of rain that had washed out anything familiar that Aiden might have smelled. He was covered under a single cloak and hadn't had a contract in a week. His coin wasn't too low but it would be if there was another week like his past one.
Even the rain or wind letting up just a bit would be some kind of blessing. It wouldn't matter which, to Aiden. Then he would at least be able to hunt and forage without being soaked to the bone. He knew the idea of a bed was foolish but a stable, perhaps. Anywhere under cover would do.
Five minutes in the town and already no stones thrown his way or suspicious gazes. Sure, the thunderstorm was keeping most villagers indoors but Aiden would take his blessings where he could get them.
He eyed the board in the square. There were a few sheets of parchment still pinned there, clinging on with single nails for all that they were worth. As he came forward, boots sloshing in the mud, Aiden could read that one called for a Witcher.
A water beast. Unknown which kind. A woman had been attacked in a nearby stream. Small reward but more than Aiden would have expected for such a small town. That was it.
The simple post wasn't much information to go on at all but still, Aiden was mentally sorting through his knowledge of monsters and bringing some to the forefront of his mind. He would know more once he talked to whomever posted the contract.
By the time he had pushed open the tavern door and then fought to force it closed again, the tavern owner didn't even give him a chance. The gruff voice belonging to the man at the bar looked him up and down and told him, "Contract's already been taken, Witcher."
"In this storm?" Aiden asked, surprised. "By who?" Some monsters had to be destroyed in certain weather conditions sure, but unless it was truly an emergency, a smart Witcher would wait until the precipitation slowed down.
Granted, Aiden knew very few smart Witchers. And even then, brains didn't matter when you hadn't eaten in a week. He wouldn't begrudge any Witcher the chance at money and food. He had been there himself plenty of times.
The man behind the counter gave him a strange look and laughed. "Another Witcher. Who'd you think?"
Aiden's heart didn't pick up, not exactly-- but his Witcher senses became alert. He sniffed at the air inside the buildig, not caring who saw the animalistic action. The rain and the amount of people getting out of the storm had overpowered the scene of any Witcher if Aiden had known them. He moved onto his next resort: asking. "There's another Witcher around here? What did they like look?"
"Why do you want to know?" The tavern owner asked in a way that most likely meant that the answer could be available for some coin. By the gods, Aiden had wanted to eat and rest tonight.
He wasn't sure if the villagers had perhaps set a trap for the other Witcher or maybe the monster was worse than they let on. Or perhaps Aiden was wrong entirely, and the Witcher wasn't in danger. Aiden thought carefully before answering. "Because it is not like anything I've heard before. They might need the help."
Thankfully, it was an acceptable enough answer. "We've not got the money to pay both of you. You'd have to split the coin."
"That's fine." Aiden waved it aside. It would have to be. After all, the other Witcher had gotten there first. "Tell me what you know and I'll go to the other Witcher. In this rain, even our best wouldn't turn down assistance."
Now that certainly wasn't true but he wasn't about to tell a human that.
"Aye, Marta, a lass from down the way. Her ma asked her to go down to the stream early to launder clothe. She was the first one there. Didn't see anything, mind, but she said the water ripped and the next thing she knew, her father was shaking her awake, careful not to touch her hand. It had turned blue!"
Blue hand from some kind of venom, Aiden guessed. Whether she passed out from the frighten or the poison was a different question all together.
"Can I see the wound? Did the other Witcher?"
The few villagers around Aiden didn't like the question but at least the man behind the bar was polite about it. "No can do, sir. Poor thing is sick and in shock. Her ma won't allow it."
That was fine then. Aiden could work with that. He thanked the man and was directed towards the stream in question.
He didn't need to follow it far, only a little way out of the town. The rain showed no signs of letting up. Aiden shifted to distribute the weight of the swords across his back. It was near impossible for his wet clothes to not stick to his skin and it was throwing off his balance in more ways than one.
A poisonous river beast. The sparse description didn't narrow the options for Aiden as much as he would have liked. Still, if it was just one beast, it was possible the other Witcher had already slain the creature.
With the rain heavy as it was, the river crested high. Aiden kept careful footing and a safe distance in case of a flash food. No beast was out in this weather, whether it lived in the river or not.
Well, except for Aiden.
And...Lambert.
Aiden's firm feet were the only thing that kept him slipping in the mud of the riverbank. Lambert was meters away and standing up to his ankles in the river. He had a single sword held in a side stance as he faced down towards the water.
But Aiden saw no foe.
Still, he knew better than to distract a fellow Witcher in a fight.
Lambert looked-- well, Aiden knew he was biased. But still, even he could admit that Lambert could use a good meal. And some fresh, dry clothing. Aiden wanted to give that all to him. Maybe he'd get a chance to this season.
He saw the flick of Lambert's eyes towards him. That quickly his gaze was back on the water. As Aiden came closer, he still saw no beast breaching the surface. However, Aiden did see the uptick of Lambert's mouth at the corners. The slight nod of his head. He had noticed Aiden.
Even that little acknowledgement caused Aiden to puff up a bit with the pride. His Wolf had recognized his presence. Not only that but had near-smiled at him. Perhaps if the weather were better, or if Lambert were closer, Aiden would be closer to purring.
Lambert's stab into the water was so quick that Aiden nearly missed it. He took the opportunity to rush forward. Lambert's hand had already resurfaced but he hollered in pain, dropping his sword into the water.
Aiden leapt closer, scrambling to get in front of the wounded Lambert. He snatched up Lambert's sword and took up the same stance-- as well as one could when knee-deep in rising water.
Then he saw a furry flash of brown break the surface of the river and his arm slowly came back down to his side.
"Oh. Hello little one," Aiden said in delight. Still holding Lambert's sword, he bent over and peered into little black eyes. "I haven't seen one of your kind in quite some time."
"You're greeting it? Kill it!" Lambert shouted from where he had fallen ass backwards onto the riverbank.
Aiden spared him a glance. He even lobbed Lambert's sword towards him hilt-first. He caught it in his good hand. "It's not a monster, I swear."
"They said it was a beast,” Lambert insisted. He looked as though he was about to get up again, regardless of Aiden's reassurances. His cat had to be under a spell or ill. Perhaps he had slipped in all his rain and bumped his head. "Surely it changes forms or something."
"It's a platypus," Aiden explained with a sigh. He wiggled his fingers at the little creature again and sat down plumb in the river. What difference did it make to him? He was already soaked and he hadn't seen a creature like this in years.
Just as he remembered, the little mammal squirmed into his lap, sniffing at him with his odd duck-style bill. Its heavy tail lay over Aiden's leg, touching the water.
"Pus?" Lambert asked. "Pus?"
Aiden wanted to burst out laughing at his disgusted expression but if his wolf was going to allow him to travel with him for the next few weeks, he knew he had to choose his reactions carefully for a little while. Still, he could't hide a smile and Lambert could tell.
“Okay, well, it definitely had some kind of venom,” Lambert said tightly. “Maybe that leads to pus. If you could stop laughing and help me--”
“Well, you were probably going near their eggs!” Aiden argued.
Lambert growled at him and oh, Aiden had missed the low grumble. It was so sweet.
"That thing lays eggs? How is this my fault! All I did was take a contact for a river beast! I didn't know there were just angry regular creatures! These platypussies or whatever you called them."
Platypussies, Aiden mouthed to himself. He looked back up at Lambert and held out his hand. "Platypodes," he emphasized for Lambert. "Little river mammals. No magic here."
"You're-- you're cuddling it!" Lambert wasn't going to make this easy but then again, he never did. Aiden had missed him.
"He's cute."
"He's a beast," Lambert pouted. "I can't believe you're making friends with it.
Aiden ran a finger back across the creature's soft furry forehead. “Lambert, look how sweet.”
“I told you that it had venom! You're going to get yourself hurt.”
“Lambert, it’s cute," Aiden repeated.
“It looks weird and it's a contract," Lambert reminded him.
Aiden frowned at him and Lambert suddenly stood up straight, chastised without a single word from the cat. He held his hands up, coming to terms with the fact that the village wasn't going to be giving them any money since Aiden wasn't going to let him kill the thing.
"So...is doesn't change forms?" He double-checked. He looked as though he was prepared to race forward to save Aiden, if that was the case. Which was very charming if wholly unnecessary.
"They told you that? The villagers? I think they were having you on."
"It's not that hefty of a contract. I think they're just cowards. None of them wanted to come try and get rid of it themselves. Vicious little monster." He was still grumbling but he sounded a little less like he was going to pick up Aiden and run, saving them both from regular ol' mammal.
“Humans. Just because someone wants to protect themselves and their young doesn’t make them monsters," Aiden sang in a soothing tone to Lambert while still petting the platypus.
"Hmph. You're right." Lambert sat down next to Aiden on the river bank. After a few more moments, the platypus finally crawled out of Aiden's lap and slid back into the water. Aiden looked up and found that the rain was finally stopping.
Feeling bold, Aiden gestured for Lambert to come closer. He pointed to where the platypus was barely visible below the surface of the water, drops from the rain still distorting the top. "The eggs are just inside the banks of the river. If I had to guess, it built a den there on a day the villagers didn't come here to wash their clothes. Then the girl came back early and it tried to protect its eggs."
"Tried and succeeded," Lambert murmured, rubbing at his hand.
"The venom?" Aiden asked. He held out his hand and for the first time in months, had Lambert's hand in his own. He wished it wasn't to check for potentially deadly poison but he supposed that no relationship was perfect. They were both Witchers after all.
"It's near out of my system. Didn't think I would have had to take a Bindweed before this."
"You good for potions?" Aiden didn't have much left but hopefully with the two of them taking on some bigger contracts together, they'd both be able to re-supply.
Lambert stretched his arms up high and leaned from one side and then to another, testing his limbs for strain. When bringing them back in, he purposefully knocked Aiden lightly on the side of his head. "Wouldn't say no to a Swallow if you've got a spare."
"For you? Of course," Aiden said, just the side of too sweet that he knew Lambert didn't know what to do with.
"Shut up," Lambert grumbled. "Can't believe I tried to fight some kind of mutated beaver today. And you're sure it's not a monster?"
"Just an animal. It's more common as you get closer down to the South." Aiden stood up and frowned at his wet pants. Couldn't be helped now. He held out his hand for Lambert's healthy one again and pulled him up to his feet.
Lambert sheathed his sword and slung his pack back around him. "Then we're fucking headed back North."
We're. Aiden's heart sang. He could feel his purr kickstarting in his chest. We're fucking headed back North. Together.
"All right. Whatever you say."