Young Wolves, part two!! or is it part one, since the first one is chronologically after this? Young

Young Wolves, part two!! or is it part one, since the first one is chronologically after this? Young Wolves, the prequel?anyway!!! here’s a bit of fic under the cut(content warnings: drunk witchers, witcher approach to child care and safety)Kaer Morhen in the winter is warm, loud and crowded, and very exciting for a young novice. Witchers are accustomed to solitude on the Path, but now take advantage of the companionship and closeness of their fellows, which results in a deafening roar of overlapping voices, laughter and good-hearted arguments in the main hall. The senior witchers home from the path are also less strict about the rules novices are subjected to than their usual instructors, which means staying up past their bedtime, hearing wild, thrilling tales of monster fights, and witnessing displays of the superhuman strength and agility they dream of achieving. Younger boys nod off on the hearthstones, and eventually get herded to their rooms by the surly, cat-eyed teenagers tasked with their supervising for the night. Older novices dart around rowdy groups of witchers, slipping from table to table to hear the most exciting stories, sneak sips of ale, and get their hair ruffled by senior witchers, who for all intents and purposes are family to the novices, idolized uncles and brothers.Geralt is nursing his empty mug, reluctant to leave the warm main hall, when suddenly a hush – or as much of a hush that fifty drunk witchers are capable of – falls over the room. Geralt cranes his neck to get a better view of whatever has just walked in the doors. A haggard cluster of people, led by two senior witchers enters. The group is comprised of boys ranging from three to maybe twelve years old, skinny, filthy and hard, dusted with snow and shivering from the cold, and Geralt knows immediately who they are. Recruits.Witchers, contrary to popular belief, don’t steal children from their parents. Children of destiny – taken as payment, Geralt knows, never stolen – are special, uncommon cases, and for the most part witchers recruit young boys from already unwanted children. At least once a year a few witchers make the trip to surrounding villages, and bring back whatever orphans, bastards or abandoned children they can find, giving them a second chance at life as monster killers. Some, unfamiliar with the witchers’ trials, would call it a kindness.Geralt looks on, studying the new arrivals, as the witchers who brought them in try to get the shivering boys seated. The keep had stopped expecting the group to return this winter, as the passes were just about closed over, and weather was getting more and more brutal by the day. The witchers had clearly had to make a choice: push on and lose a few weaker children to the harsh conditions, or return them to the streets and orphanages, to see them starve and freeze on their own. Another dubious kindness.The brown-haired boy standing closest to where Geralt is sitting is clutching a bundle to his chest protectively, and as Geralt looks on, he realizes it’s an infant, weakly struggling, having probably been woken up by the noise and further invigorated by the warmth. The boy’s demeanor is surprisingly calm, resolute, when everyone else around him is looking around nervously and frantically rubbing their own arms to warm themselves up. Geralt assumes the boy is the same age as him, but he can’t be certain - the witchers’ tonics and herb teas are already taking effect on Geralt’s body, and he knows witcher novices develop faster physically than average children. As Geralt’s eyes are about to pass over him, and move to scan the rest of the group, the boy turns his head, and looks directly at Geralt. His eyes are a perfectly ordinary brown, but full of fire. -- source link

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