A tasteful ending to the trial.
Reima drops on his ass as he looks at the carnage of his previous battle, some trees are on fire, some younger trees snapped completely due to his Aard shock-wave and most importantly, the decapitated Leshen body lying next to him. He grabs some of the debris from the battle and makes some basic rope like material to carry the Leshen head, he let it hang from behind him as he prepares to go up the mountain to retrieve Arie.
Entering the forge he finds Arie still unconscious where he had left him and flips his body onto his shoulder so he can still use his spear.
He cautiously makes his way down the mountain path and goes back to where he fought the Leshen, It takes longer than he had expected to traverse the woods despite it being the thinnest path through.
He eventually breaches the treeline coming to the shore of the lake they had previously swam through, Reima remains on high alert as he surveys what paths he could possibly take... Swimming is a no go due to Arie still being out of commission, the shores around the lake are infested with Water Hags and Drowners and the forests, while the Leshen is dead are still chock full of predators like bears and wolves.
Reima "Well, I guess this'll be practise then.." As he looks across the lake, he can barely see the shore opposite him due to the distance but doesn't spot any enemies nearby.
Despite being rather drained due to his fight with the Leshen he think he can make it, as he takes a deep breath and crouches down as if hes about to lunch into the lake.
"GO!" he shouts as he disappears in a Turquoise flash.
He re materialises with Arie but both are thrown in various directions due to the forces being projected on them. Reima lands on his face causing his wound to flare in pain in a mess but scrambles to make sure Arie didn't break his neck or something. Thankfully he seems fine, albeit covered in mud.
He spots his spear nearby and picks it up while shouldering Arie before quickly making his way to Kaer Morhen, the journey took around an hour but felt longer due to the exhaustion of teleporting such a distance with a passenger. He reaches the gate of Kaer Morhen that has been open since he started training here.
He enters the courtyard and spots Lambert tapping his foot in irritation? He quickly spots the injured boys and rings a bell that Reima hadn't noticed before.
Lambert "Is he alright!? What the fuck happened!?" He almost shouts when he sees Arie minus his left arm.
Reima "Long story... Can you get Vesemir to check on Arie please?" He says as he hands over the injured boy to Lambert
Lambert "They're just coming, hold on." as he looks over Arie's wounds.
Reima takes a seat on a stump as the Witchers trail out of Kaer Morhen, Vesemir and Eskel jogs to Lambert and they all take Arie inside the keep to look him over.
Geralt walks over with a woman, black hair, black clothes and Witch amulet? Defnitely Yennefer.
Geralt "Seems like you made it through, albeit with some injuries." he says looking over Reima.
Reima inwardly grins and gives a innocent smile while showing them the Leshen head.
"Father! I have slain a Leshen, are you proud of me?" Geralt shudders and Yennefer's eyes turn to Reima.
Yennefer "Haha, Very funny... Lambert and Eskel have been making similar jokes since I arrived... You do bear a striking resemblance though... Tell me Geralt, have you been unfaithful behind my back?"
Geralt "Obviously not... Do not listen to the jokes of children, that includes Eskel and Lambert in particular." He gives a warning look to Reima as he says this.
Geralt tries to change topic by talking about the trial "A Leshen though, whether it's young or not even a seasoned Witcher would have trouble hunting one. Even if you aren't my son" He sends an imploring look at Yen, "I am impressed with your hunt."
Reima "Thank you, Master" He sends a grin at Yennefer, "Will you be listening to my tale of my trial... Mother?"
Yennefer gives a peculiar reaction at being called Mother, "Ill be staying for a few days if that's what you're asking, I would love to hear your story."
Geralt "We should have probably started with introductions.. This is my lover Yennefer of Vengerberg" He makes a gesture towards her. "And this is my Apprentice Reima Ludvig."
Reima nods "Nice to meet you miss Rivia? Misses Geralt?..."
Yennefer laughs "Just call me Yennefer or Yen outside of polite company."
After introductions Reima gets up and leaves his spear with the other weapons. He follows Geralt and Yen into the keep and finds where Arie is being taken care of. Before visiting Arie, Reima quickly wipes himself clean of dirt an get some decent clothes on.
Arie is in the laboratory being fed various potions by Vesemir as Eskel closely watches.
Reima "How is he?" He directs the question at no one in particular but receives an answer from Vesemir. "He seems to be in shock from the loss of his arm, he should recover in a few days, a week at most." Reima gives a sigh in relief at the news.
Reima "It's a shame he won't be awake when I start on my path then..." he notes, he intends to get "Witchering" as fast as possible to prepare for future events.
Vesemir "Well, nothing else I can do for him now... All we can do is let him rest, Reima I would like to hear of your trial. Shall we get a feast prepared to celebrate you both making it back.
The rest of the Witchers nod in assent.
Everyone chipped in and made something unique for the feast, Lambert grilled some ribs over the fire, Eskel got out some pickled vegetables and other foodstuffs, Geralt made enough egg products to last a couple days... And Reima decided to try make some foods from his past life. First he minced up various lean and fatty meats into something resembling minced meat before he used an egg yolk or two to bind it together. He seasoned it with lots of pepper and salt an shaped them into patties.
Next he found some relatively burger bun shaped bread and toasted them with an iron pan over the fire.
Thirdly he attempted to recreate mayonnaise, he had previously watched tutorials on how to make it on various cooking channels. He gathered the ingredients, Vegetable oil, egg yolks, vinegar and various seasonings... He couldn't find any lemons so he used a similar tasting citrus fruit instead.
Yennefer watches over his shoulder as he starts to fry the patties and assemble the burgers, he gets some milder tasting cheese and melts it over the patties.
Reima "Tadaa, Cheese burgers!" he says dramatically before bowing to Yennefer.
Yennefer "They look unique but how do you eat such a thing?"
Reima head instinctively turns sideways as he replies "You eat it with your hands?"
Yennefer who seems satisfied by this sits down at the table to wait for everyone to finish.
Eventually a feast of various food and drink is assembled and everyone starts taking seats around the table. They start tucking into the food, during the meal Lambert discreetly asks for the recipe that he used to make the burgers, Reima tells him but makes him keep it a secret due to the potential profit burgers could make.