[h2][center]Geralt of Rivia[/center][/h2]
[center]The Maw- The Depths[/center]
[center]Lvl 7 (68/70) -> Lvl 7 (69/70) [/center]
[center]Word Count: 699 words[/center]

To say Geralt was concerned and confused about the most recent turn of events was an understatement. Even Nadia's explanation of what the conveyor was didn't really help much. It was like a moving carpet used to transport objects, like some kind of extremely limited cart stuck on a single road, forever, in one direction. 

That was about as close as he was gonna get to understanding it without really stopping to think on it, which was a luxury he didn't have at the moment. 

Sakura's impending breakdown was, to him, probably the most important thing to deal with now. She wasn't going along with the others, and that meant the two of them could afford to sit and talk for a minute. Trusting the others to handle the....diving...suit....[i]thing[/i], he walked over to where Sakura had sat down and started having an existential crisis. 

"Hey." He simply said, holding an arm out to offer a hug. "I...already mentioned I'm not good at this. But you look like you could use a friend. Not a pep talk, or a rousing speech, just...somebody who understands. I'm here for ya, k-Sakura. I'm not going anywhere. It's okay." Geralt thought back on some of the more...memorable people whose lives he'd ended. 

Holy shit, that was a depressing line of thought to go down. 

Shaking his head to physically clear away those musings, he sighed. "It's...not easy. Ever. Even now. I still think back to the first. A bandit on the side of the road, threatening a man and his daughter with his gang of pals. Her reaction was a lot like yours after I cut him down." He left out the...less pleasant implications of [i]why[/i] he was threatening them, hoping Sakura wouldn't pick up on the omission. "All over me. And then passed out. Less than heroic start to my career, if I may say so." He shook his head again, this time with a hint of amusement. 

"I'm telling you this because I want you to understand that you're not weak. There is a strength in compassion where others are callous. There's power in empathy and love that hate and anger can't match. It's what made me fight a war for Ciri. Not anger at the Wild Hunt for taking her. My love for her. My desire to see her free and happy to live the life [i]she[/i] wants to. That's what drives me. They say a man with nothing to lose is scary, but a man with [i]everything[/i] to lose can be just as terrifying." 

Nodding, Geralt sighed once more. "You're not weak because you care Sakura. The rest of us are just...jaded, and maybe broken, and definitely tired. You don't have to be like that." He was exaggerating, of course, but the point was the same. They'd all been fighting for their lives for so long that things stopped phasing them like this. He was sure they'd all seen or come close to death enough times that it just felt normal for them, unlike the Street Fighter girl. She'd likely never forget this experience down here in the Maw, and Geralt was well aware of that. 

"So remember Carl, and remember that when everybody else wanted to kill off that big guy in the water, you went out there and stopped them. Us. Despite what happened with that giant shark, you still put yourself out there and helped, because you have a strength that some of us have given up on. Sure, I'll let monsters go here and there, but I've never backed down from killing them if it felt necessary. And maybe it wasn't always. Maybe if I were calmer, maybe if I were less prone to drawing silver, there'd be a few more people, a few more monsters around."

[i]Maybe if I were more like you,[/i] was left unsaid, but he hoped it came across. 

This girl didn't deserve this shit, and for everything he said about love being stronger than hate, he was going to plunge his sword so far down Galeem's throat the fucker would be spewing bits and pieces of silver for what little bits of life he had left.