[ CLOSED ] tell them that the villains on my list

[wiedzminka]

Who: Ciri, Jaskier, and others
What: Geralt has gone missing. Ciri and Jaskier are on the case.
Where: Around Cadens, the desert outside it, perhaps the other Free Cities; possibly Horizon and Network
When: Mid-November
Warnings: violence, gore, dismemberment

If you'd like to plot out a thread, please PM Ciri or Jaskier's journals, or catch us on Plurk at belleteyn and scathefire respectively!

Comments

mid-november.

[wiedzminka]

[ Roach came home alone.

Ciri found her by chance, wandering down the street near the small stable where she's been housed, adjacent to their apartment building. The sun was nearly set, and the mare's fur was dirty with dried froth from sweat, dusty from the desert. She was still partially tacked up, saddle loosened and crooked on her back, the lead rope around her muzzle of the sort meant for tying up, not riding.

She was baring her teeth and tossing her head at someone on the street when Ciri found her, but it was Ciri herself who scared the stranger away -- not with words, but with a look, the way her expression became instantly like a storm, the sharp, quick movements that brought her to the horse's side. The darker spots splashed across the mare's flank looked suspiciously like blood.

Ciri's heart had hammered in her throat; the rest of the world had gone quiet.

No Geralt. Only a tired, thirsty, blood-splashed horse.

Jaskier might be the only person in all the Free Cities now who could have stopped Ciri, convinced her to wait until morning. She didn't want to listen. But, eventually, she had. And, for his part, Jaskier had insisted he not be left behind.

We leave at first light.

With the gray dawn still carrying the chill of desert night in the air, the horizon only barely lit enough to see by, Ciri and Jaskier had fresh horses, supplies enough for several days, and -- in Ciri's case -- a healthy number of weapons. For several hours, while the sun is rising, they ride quickly toward the area Geralt had mentioned he'd be hunting in. It's not until the heat is too strong and the sun is too high that they have to rest; and so, they stop off at a small rock formation with some dry, brittle-looking shrubs clinging to the earth around it.

Ciri sits with her back to the stone, knees up, pressed into the meager shade to wait out the high sun and eat. She does so without relish, mechanically shoving bread and dried meat into her mouth, her only goal to keep her strength up so she can keep going. Keep searching.

She's barely said a word since last night. ]

a few days later; for alucard.

[wiedzminka]

[ Ciri's been looking for him. She could have gone to his domain in the Horizon, but she wished to find him in person if she could, and by now she knows of a few places where she might encounter the not-quite-vampire in Cadens.

Jaskier has come along as well (Jaskier has been sticking to her side a lot lately, though Ciri can neither blame him nor mind too much), and this time, Ciri defers to him to do the tracking, since he seems better acquainted with Alucard and Hector (whom she only knows tangentially, and apparently used to live with Alucard, and it's... a whole mess she's not remotely interested in right now).

In any case. It seems Jaskier is at least aware that the dhampir can be found "sulking in the graveyard" these days, so that's where they go.

It's morning. The cemetery is quiet, and the air is still cool.

Where on earth could a sulking vampire be in a place like this? ]

Mid-November

[princessvegas]

[ Jaskier and Ciri are not the first people she contacts. That honor goes to Nadine and Lloyd, who have to be informed that there is an issue and that they have to share a bed for the foreseeable future, because Julie just flat-out doesn't have anywhere else to put a giant, bleeding, unconscious witcher.

But they are a very close second in her list.

Once she's got Geralt relatively cleaned up and sleeping, she sits in the armchair in the corner of her bedroom, sighing and blinking at the ceiling before she sends out a message. They have to have their messages on, right? They must know that he's missing.

God, she doesn't want to be the one to have to tell them that he's been missing, too. This is hard enough without that on top of it. ]

Hey. Y'all lose something?

before leaving to look for geralt; for rinwell.

[wiedzminka]

[ Rinwell might have heard the commotion. Ciri shouting. Jaskier trying to calm her down. They don't try to keep it quiet; it's clear enough that something is very wrong. Geralt. Geralt is gone.

Despite the desperate urge to run back out and go after him right now, Ciri eventually listens to good sense, if only grudgingly. The sun has already gone down. Jaskier makes her promise, several times, that she will not leave (and especially that she won't leave without him), and it's only then that he steps out to seek out Sam.

Ciri sinks into a chair at the empty table, leaning on her elbows, pressing her knuckles hard against her brow. Alone. Her shoulders heave, jagged, heavy breaths that stick in her throat, hissing out between her clenched teeth in a snarl.

Her fist comes down on the table with a resonant thud. ]

Fuck!

post-jailtime; for jaskier.

[wiedzminka]

[ Despite everything, Ciri did manage to get some sleep. It wasn't comfortable, but that hardly mattered -- and, frankly, it'd been better accommodations than the cell she'd shared with several others for far longer back in Thorne. If the guards who'd locked her in there had expected Ciri to examine her actions and repent in any way, they'd be disappointed; the men who'd raided Geralt's camp had gotten exactly what they deserved, and Ciri considers a night in a cell a worthwhile tradeoff for the result. Most of all, it's the fact that Julie assured her Geralt is safe and being taken care of that had allowed her to actually rest for the first time in days, the hard and lumpy cot be damned.

In fact, Ciri is feeling significantly more composed than she has since Roach came home sans Geralt. She's still worried, of course, and won't be able to fully relax until he's back, but all that matters for now is that they know where Geralt is, that he is among allies, and that he means to return soon. It's good news.

So when Ciri is released, shortly before noon, she puts on a properly polite and obedient face, nods along with all the warnings she's given and promises to leave the doling out of justice to those employed by the Free Cities for that purpose. She doesn't bother arguing or explaining herself, seeking only to be free of the lecture as soon as possible. And when she finally makes her way to their shared apartment, it is with a more energetic step and growling stomach.

Luckily, as soon as she opens the door, Ciri is greeted by the welcome scent of fresh bread. And plenty of it. ]

Jaskier!

[ Whether or not he's in the middle of something, Ciri makes her way inside and straight for him. Time for a real-world, non-Horizon hug. ]

end of november, after geralt is back; for sam.

[wiedzminka]

[ As soon as Jaskier reached out to her, Ciri had run out to Sam's, barely pausing to write a quick note to Rinwell and leave it on the table for her just in case she ends up staying at Sam's all night. Or longer. She'll have to thank the girl properly later, for all her help and keeping a cool head while the rest of them were losing their minds with worry over Geralt.

Now, Ciri walks as quickly as she can manage without breaking into a full-on sprint through the darkened city streets. She arrives at Sam's breathless anyway, stomach all tied up in knots. Not thinking, she tries the handle before even knocking, ready to simply barge right in. ]