A Tale Told Before, Told Again - The Witcher
A Tale Told Before, Told Again by taran
Rating: 16+ Audiences
Word Count: 57375
Status: Incomplete
Summary: Fleeing across a war-torn Cintra on her quest to find Geralt of Rivia, Ciri finds... not Geralt.
*
“I want you to let me go!” She snapped, and pulled her arm from his grasp. He let her go easily. “It’s, it’s no business of yours what I am doing,” she declared, every inch royalty in her moment. It fled her the next, leaving a scared little girl in its wake. “Please, let me be.”
“I can’t,” Jaskier replied instantly, and he found he meant it. “Let me help you,” he said.
After a long, squint-eyed moment of suspicion, her chin thrust up defiantly.“I won’t lie on my back for you.”
“Lie on your-- no,” he retched, horrified, but her face remained as it had, cagey, untrusting, jaded. “Princess, no. I want nothing so vile from you, I promise you. You must leave this place, immediately. You need accompaniment,” he pressed, even as she shook her head. “You- you need to find Geralt of Rivia!”
Some Thoughts: I absolutely treasure this fanfic, despite the fact that it hasn’t updated since April. Personally, I really like long fanfics, and would try to consume as much of the really long fanfics as possible, and this fanfic has 9 chapters for 50k+ words. The bells were ringing in my head, especially after I saw the tags, to read it. I was like, “Okay, brain. Whatever you say, but if it’s bad, you know what to do.” And it was not bad. It was great. I finished that fanfic in one morning. It was so good, so well written, and Geralt hasn’t even appeared yet!
Half-way through the fanfic, I already knew it was going to be good. The premise alone is so different and seems like something straight out of my fantasies, and I just wish there was more like it. Of course, there are fanfics where Ciri finds Jaskier, or fanfics where Dara remains with Ciri, or Mousesack lives, but I’m shocked at how well the author combined these elements into such a good and compelling story with such a different dynamic. After I recommended this to my friend, she messaged me while she was reading it to tell me how well written it was.
Don’t stop yourself from reading it because it’s ongoing. The risk is there, I understand, but it’s also so worth it. I loved reading the first 9 chapters–– the way Jaskier in this fanfic is portrayed is likely one of my favorites, and Ciri’s and Dara’s characterization works so well. It’s charming, thrilling, and I’m so grateful to the author for writing this. This deserves more kudos than what it’s getting. Just please read it, look at it, and enjoy the first 9 chapters as much as I have.
Available on Site(s): Ao3
Part of a Series: No.
Other Notes: Kudos: 2800+; Bookmarks: 1600+; Hits: 820+ (if you’re into those kinds of statistics). Dadskier; Post-Episode 6; Multi-chapter; Multiple POV; Canon Divergence; Sort of a Fix-it (Mousesack lives and Dara remains); Ongoing