I'm a sucker for Witcher!Jaskier who abandons the Path to be a bard instead but after the Mountain he is tempted to "Kill" the everyone's favourite bard to distance himself from the memories of his travels with Geralt.

He finally does it couple of months later when Nilfgaardian soldiers try to capture him. He kills them, retrieves his Witcher gear*, and then makes sure the rumor of the bard's demise spreads far and wide

*He doesn't wear any insignia and does his best to hide his swords as well, trying to stay as much under the radar as possible

He is back on the Path and within a month he runs into Ciri. He is petty enough not to do anything about it at first, she is after all Geralt's child surprise. But he is not petty enough to let her die or be captured by Nilfgaard when he sees them attack her. Jaskier saves Ciri and well. It's not like he can just tell a child to fuck off now. They start traveling together, Jaskier deciding that taking her to Kaer Morhen is probably the best bet.

They don't make it to the Keep together. One day, in a village not that far from the Keep, they run into Geralt. Well, Ciri runs into him, Jaskier is off on a job in nearby woods. He has left Ciri in a small apothecary of an old lady who hired him. Geralt is there to replenish some herbs. She tells him she's been traveling with a man who promised to help her find Geralt which is why they were so near the Keep. Geralt is on high alert, but when the man doesn't return after several days, they leave for Keep alone

Jaskier for his part is very aware of Geralt as soon as he is done with the hunt. He starts walking in the opposite direction of the village and only turns back because he sees injured Eskel and has a bad feeling and he wants to make sure Ciri will be fine. He makes it to the Keep just in time to save the day (no one dies). Geralt is very confused

Jaskier also punches Geralt in the face for his assholery (I am living vicariously through this) He also promises to kill him if he hurts Ciri ❤️

Jaskier doesn't leave only because Ciri asks him to stay and he helps train her, finding Wolves' methods stupid and wrong. Like, Ciri is not a big muscly witcher and never will be as strong physically as Wolves and they can't just ignore that. Jaskier, despite having witcher strength, is also not very big and thus has always relied more on his agility rather then physical strength and privately teaches Ciri his fighting style. She does win a sparing fight against Geralt (even if part of the reason is his surprise and inability to predict her moves; it's the only fight she wins against him without using any magic)