"Okay, now you block; raise your sword but not too high. The higher you raise the sword, the bigger opening they have to get you," he said as she nodded.

"Got, okay. 1, 2, 3, 4," she said as she tried, and Geralt was blocking her hits with his sword while she used her wooden sword.

"Okay, not faster," he said as she went faster.

"Okay, faster; we need to build up until you can match the real battle speed," Geralt said as she nodded; she was going faster and faster until she messed up, making her laugh.

Jaskier sighed, knowing that Geralt would get tired of her laughing it off like it was nothing, but it was necessary, and she wasn't taking it seriously enough. It was going to piss Geralt off, and he was going to stop teaching her if she didn't stop laughing about it.

"Like this," he said as he got behind her and put both of her hands on the hilt of the sword, and helped swing and block.

He also helped with her footing and did some practice until he felt like he was done for the day. He didn't want to push her too much on the first day, especially since she was new to the sword-fighting deal.

"Okay, that is enough for today; we need to get moving," he said as she sighed.

"Aww, but I was having fun," she said as she saw a frog and put the sword down to go after it.

"Don't chase the frog!" Jaskier said as he threw his hands up in the air in defeat.

"Come here; we can be friends!" She said as she was now trying to get the frog happily.

"What are we going to do? She got distracted by a bird, a squirrel, Roach, and now a frog! I'm telling you now that you can't teach her how to fight," Jaskier informed as Geralt looked at him, annoyed.

"This is her first day. She is also new to being out and about," Geralt informed as she caught the frog.

"Geralt, can we keep him?" Stella asked as he turned around Amsterdam. The frog jumped on his face, making Jaskier laugh as Stella quickly got the frog off of him.

"Bad frog, you are supposed to be nice! Jumping on people's faces is not okay," she said, "I don't jump on his face, so you shouldn't either."

"We can't keep the frog," Geralt said.

"But why?" She asked.

"It likes it here best, plus it might have a family here," Geralt said as she sighed.

"Oh, Geralt, do you think I have a family?" She asked.

"You had to have come from somewhere," Geralt said.

"Do you have a family other than the witchers?" She asked.

"No," Geralt said.

"But you came from somewhere, too," she said.

"I did too, but I was abandoned on the doorstep when I was young. Whoever had me didn't care for me enough to keep me," he informed.

"Well, I care about you and Jasker and Roach; I'll keep you three forever!" She smiled.

"You might not be able to once we find your family," he said.

"Why?" She asked.

"Because you belong with them, not us; we are friends, yes, but even friends have to part ways sometimes, no matter how close we get to them," Geralt said.

"Well then, I hope I never find my family then," she said as Geralt paused.

"Your family might care for you," Geralt said.

"Or they put me there because I'm different, and they didn't like that," she said.

"When we find out, you can decide to stay or go with us," he said as she smiled.

"Well, I already know what I am going to choose!" She smiled as she put the frog down and hugged Geralt tightly.

Geralt was beginning to think that this was a problem. She needed to return home even though she was starting to grow on him; Geralt knew it wasn't her proper place. No one would just buy her a specially made sword, and it was odd. Geralt should have asked if it was specially made for her. The Star stamp was put in as an afterthought, and he could tell. Whoever wanted her to have this sword knew he named her Stella and that he would buy ord in the next town they stopped in. Someone had to be watching them, and he didn't like that at all. He didn't know who or why, but he was hoping it wasn't the people that had her for all those years. She wasn't ready to take them on just yet.

"Come, Stella, we have to keep moving to find another job," Geralt said as she smiled.

"There are more towns?" She asked.

"Yes, lots of towns, but not all are friendly to witchers," he said as Geralt started picking up his things.

"Why do you keep moving around? Why can't you stay in one place?" She asked.

"Monsters are everywhere, not just in one place," Geralt said.

"Yes, they are. Plus, how am I supposed to write more songs? Plus, the women can't forget about them. Also, no money means no women, no food, no place to sleep unless you want to sleep on the ground all the time," Jaskier said.

"We can make our place and stay there," she said.

Geralt wished he could do that, especially with Stella, since she needed all the training she could get. She was constantly moving around, and having no choice but to fight monsters to make coins would slow her movement. They started to head to the next town. Stella was running around and asking questions about everything and trying to get any small animal she could find to ask if she could keep it as a pet since she still missed the wolf.

She missed him a lot, and she wanted to find a wolf just like him or try to find a pet that was like him. Every animal she found she named Alexander mostly because she wasn't good with names and couldn't figure out if it were a boy or a girl, even if it was clear to Geralt and Jaskier.

"Are you ever going to tell her what the difference is?" Jaskier asked as she found a giant squirrel and caught it.

"Geralt is a boy or a girl squirrel she asked as she stood before him, holding the squirrel.

"My God! The squirrel has the biggest nuts I have ever seen on a squirrel!" Jaskier informed.

"I didn't see any nuts on it," Stella said, making Jaskier try not to laugh.

"It is a boy squirrel, Stella; please stop asking me to check," he said as she looked at him, confused.

"I still don't see what happened to his nuts. Did he drop them off or something?" She asked, making Jaskier burst out laughing.

"Oh, I say they have!" He laughed as Stella put down the squirrel.

"But Geralt, I miss the wolf, and he was a boy. Maybe I can have a pet just like him," she said as they entered the new town.

"Stella, no, we can't have pets; Roach is different. She isn't just a pet. She does things like carry us and supplies," Geralt said.

"But Alexander did things too. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have found you. I didn't even smell blood because I was in the Inn with the doors shut," she said.

"He was someone's pet, and I don't know why he was even there in the first place or how he even knew where to find you," he said as an arrow flew to them, and Stella caught it quickly in her hand.

"I haven't seen a wolf in ages, and we have been traveling for five days! I like wolves," she said as Jaskier and Geralt looked at her, shocked.

"What is that?" Jaskier asked as she looked confused.

"What's what?" She asked.

"You caught something," Jaskier said as she looked at the arrow.

"Oh, I saw a shiny thing, so I grabbed it. It is the strangest bird I have ever seen.

"It's not a bird; it's an arrow," Geralt said as he took it from her and saw a note attached.

He untied the note and looked around.

There is a job in the Inn. The man is not friendly with witchers and too familiar with women.

-A

"Is it a story?" Stella asked.

"No, it's not. Someone was giving us a heads up," Geralt said as Geralt was trying to figure out where the arrow came from.

"We made a friend! I love making new friends, what's his name? Can we keep him?" she asked happily.