Mikael stood in front of a clinic near Oxenfurt. It was a cozy place, there were many plant decorations scattered around the place, the smell of herbs was everywhere, well, it is a medic's clinic, so it's only natural… he was wearing a cloak, hiding his armless body, away from prying and judging eyes.
Mikael cleared his throat, and knocked on the door softly, not wanting to bother the others around the clinic, as it was barely morning.
He waited for a minute, but no one opened the door. He knocked again, this time, a little bit more louder.
"Coming!" shouted a woman from the inside. There were sounds of loud footsteps inside, and not a second later, the door opened, revealing a pretty young woman, red in hair, a medic symbol as her necklace.
"Hello miss." smiled Mikael. "I'm here to escort you to the well."
"You're not the usual soldier…" murmured the woman, she examined Mikael's face, and hummed in approval. "Mercenary?"
"Not really, no." said Mikael. "Just a man trying to make due for himself."
The woman hummed. "Well, I'm Shani, pleasure to meet you." she offered her right hand, a sign for a handshake.
Mikael just chuckled awkwardly. "Will a left hand do?" said Mikael, showing his arm, or rather, his lack of right arm…
He uncloaked himself a little, so that Shani could see it.
Shani was surprised, she retrieved her right hand back, and coughed in embarrassment. "Ahem… Pardon me, I didn't know…"
"That's alright, miss." shrugged Mikael. "Name's Mikael, pleasure to meet you as well."
"Right." nodded Shani. "Could you please wait a little longer? I need to take the vials…"
"Sure, take all the time you need, miss."
Shani then entered her clinic once again. Mikael had to wait for a couple of minutes, before Shani appeared again, this time, her hair more tidy and neat, and her pouch filled with empty vials.
She locked the door of her clinic, and walked with Mikael to the location.
"So, Mikael, where are you from?" questioned Shani curiously, walking side by side with him.
"Honestly, I don't know miss." shrugged Mikael. "Been wandering all my life here."
"Oh, stop that." groaned Shani, rolling her eyes.
"Stop what?"
"Stop calling me miss." she continued. "My name will do fine."
"Right… Shani…"
Shani nodded. "Feels weird to be called miss… especially by a guy my age."
"And how do you know I'm your age?" said Mikael, raising his eyebrows.
"I could tell." shrugged Shani. "Part of my job really, a medic."
"That's not how Medics work." chuckled Mikael.
"Well, true… most of them can't tell…" murmured Shani. "But I could."
"Really? Tell me my age then." said Mikael casually.
"Hmm.. smooth skin… almost no wrinkles whatsoever, just starting to grow a beard… you're around 20-25 years of age."
"That's a broad guess, anybody could do that," said Mikael, rolling his eyes.
"Fine, let's say… 23?"
"Damn, you really could huh…" said Mikael, amused.
"Ha! Told you!" giggled Shani. "I am a licensed medic for a reason."
"How about you? 23 too?" questioned Mikael curiously.
"A bit inappropriate asking a lady her age, don't you think?" teased Shani.
Mikael sighed. "Fine, I won't ask."
"I was joking." chuckled Shani. "Twenty two, almost twenty three this year."
"The same age after all…" Mikael murmured. "Well, you're lucky you guessed it right, if you met a sorcerer or sorceress, you probably won't be able to guess at all."
"True." hummed Shani."You ever met a sorcerer during your travels?"
"Sorceress. Once." answered Mikael, surprising Shani.
"Really? What's her name?"
"Yennefer of Vengerberg." said Mikael, surprising Shani even more. "Met her at White Orchard when I was traveling with a witcher."
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"Really?" she said. "What's the Witcher's name?"
"Geralt of Rivia." said Mikael. "And… and old Witcher too, Vesemir."
"Huh…" murmured Shani.
"Know them?"
"Yes. I knew Geralt." Shani said. "It's been a while since I talked to him."
"Well, he's in Vizima now. With the sorceress."
"What for?"
"No idea." shrugged Mikael.
Shani hummed, and the two kept walking, passing through the almost empty streets of Oxenfurt.
They stayed silent for a while, before Mikael noticed that Shani kept looking at his missing right arm.
"Wanna see it?" questioned Mikael, making Shani blushed.
"No… it's just– how do you—"
"Lose it?" said Mikael, making Shani hummed. "It's been like that since forever, I honestly don't know how I lose it."
"Ever use prosthetics?"
"I have no money." shrugged Mikael. "Besides, I'm left handed, so no big deal."
"Wait… you said it's been like that since forever, right?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Why do I smell… rot?" questioned Shani, examining the missing right arm intently, making Mikael uncomfortable.
"Er… it's fine, really."
"No, no, take off your cloak."
Mikael sighed. "Can we do this later? The squad is waiting."
Mikael pointed in front, and a group of six men standing around a well, and they arrived.
"Oh, yeah… you're right." nodded Shani. "Let's meet the others."
They then walked towards the squad, where the squad finally noticed their presence.
"Finally miss! What took you so long?!" shouted a soldier, the commander looks like.
"Hello to you too, Vern." Shani said, rolling her eyes. "A lady has to prepare too, you know."
"Or is this bloke halting you?" questioned Vern, narrowing his eyes at Mikael.
"No, he picked me up," said Shani. "This is Mikael. Mikael, this is Vern, the commander."
Mikael just nodded at Vern, making Vern snort. "Dunno why the office sends a random mutt to us… telling me that 'your unit is not enough', bah! We could kill the beast easily, right boys?!"
The others then shouted in unison, protesting against the office decision.
"Save your rant for later Vern, we have a job to do." said Shani, walking towards the well that has been closed.
"Let's get this over with, I'm supposed to be on leave next week." commented a soldier.
"Really, well, congratulations Nols." said Shani.
"Well, let our boys enter first. Who knows what might lurk in that damned sewer." said Vern, commanding the rest of the boys to enter the sewers. As they entered one by one, only Shani and Mikael are left.
"You sure you could do this?" commented Mikael. "Entering sewers, I mean."
Shani scoffed. "I'm a big girl Mikael, I can do it." she said. "Besides, I've been to worse places."
"Whatever you say." shrugged Mikael. He then jumped to the well, not using the ladder at all, and landed, knee first on the ground of the sewers.
That earned a shout from Shani.
"What the hell are you doing?!" she roared. "Your bones could be broken!"
"I'm fine!" shouted Mikael.
"The hell you are!" Shani then quickly climbed down the ladder, intending to check up on Mikael, which made him amused.'