abraxaslogs | [ OPEN / CLOSED ] i think i found a way to kill the sun

[ So he doesn't know. Not for sure. But he must suspect that Yennefer had something to do with his escape -- or so Ciri thinks from what he's said thus far. He at least is certain she hadn't known what the queen was planning, and hadn't been inclined to help her; even if her reaching into Geralt's mind might be construed as assistance, she'd done it to protect Ciri. Hurt him to protect her.

It doesn't really make Ciri feel any better.

Geralt's hand covers hers, reassuring. Ciri's eyes fall on the lingering mark around his wrist. ]

It's a hell of a demonstration just to see how Yennefer would react. For a few moments seen together before you came here, when so many of the other Summoned were doing the same.

What the fuck is she doing in Thorne?

[ To make her loyalty so necessary to test. To push her like that. Because if it wasn't that they suspected Geralt of something important he himself could provide, then that's the only reason Ciri can think of. The queen is planning to rely on Yennefer, and making sure Yennefer can be trusted not to put someone she supposedly cares about from her own world over whatever that plan is.

The question is: what is Yennefer getting in return? ]

[ He suspects. Of course he does. From what he can tell, the queen is the threat to keep an eye on. It's only natural Yennefer would want to get close to her. If anyone will discover there is a strange source of power across the world that is not the Singularity, it will be the queen.

And he knows. He knows she's doing it for her own reasons outside of Ciri. He has not come to understand Yennefer after all these years by being oblivious to who she is. He just—he doesn't believe she would risk Ciri deliberately. Not knowing how important she is to him.

Geralt studies Ciri, his brows furrowed a hint. ] What's on your mind?

[ It feels like Ciri isn't telling him something. He can't quite pinpoint what. There are a lot of things Ciri has yet to tell him, either because he's chosen not to ask or because she will not. He's accepted it, what she is to him. He's accepted how important he is to her in return. But that distance will always exist, that knowledge he is missing years upon years where he'd have learned who she is, learned what he should know about her. Where he'd remember having been there for her, throughout everything that's happened to her. ]

[ For a moment, Ciri is quiet. She pulls her hand away, but slowly, as if to make sure Geralt doesn't think it's him she's recoiling from, and picks up her cup to take a drink just for something to fill the silence.

When she sets it down again and meets Geralt's eyes, she looks... unsure. ]

The queen was testing Yennefer's loyalty. I can't help but wonder if there is a specific reason. If she is planning to ask Yennefer for something, or if Yennefer has asked her for something.

Why go to such lengths to make certain she won't defect to protect someone from her home? Paranoia, for one. I understand that. But there is some amount if risk involved for Thorne as well, snatching you up from enemy territory. What makes her loyalty worth that risk?

[ Asked for something. It's possible. What would she have asked for? He'd leaned towards the queen wanting something from Yennefer. Even amongst Thorne's mages, Yennefer's magic is powerful. Possibly even different than what they can do. She can approach the Singularity, after all. That's not something even the most skilled of Thorne's mages can hope to accomplish.

He thinks back, searching through that day. What had they said? When he'd been taken into the room? Extraction of information. His memory of the conversation between the queen and Yennefer is...hazy at best, but. He thinks he recalls—

He pushes it aside. Not now. ] I'll speak to her. When I can. She could only reach me through another when I was there.

[ The only thing he'd received was his medallion. And truthfully, he isn't sure he'd have wanted to see her, as he was, bleeding out and half-dazed. There's no point in speculating. He can't know until he speaks to her, until he sees her. Until he can look her in the eyes and know what it is she'd...thought. Or felt. Or wanted. Right now, he just. He can't think about it. Too much weighs on his mind, sinks into the places he prefers not to dwell on. And he doesn't want to worry Ciri until he understands more, whether that's in regards to Yennefer or Thorne or whatever else. ]

Edited 2021-12-22 07:27 (UTC)

That's not what I mean, Geralt.

[ Ciri interjects quietly, shaking her head. Her gaze softens. Gentle. Tired. A little sad. ]

I'm not asking you to find me answers. Nor am I expecting you to come up with solutions. I'm only sharing my thoughts. I know reaching out is hardly feasible or safe for any of us right now.

Whatever Yennefer's embroiled with, we will have to trust her.

[ Trust that she will make the right decisions. Even though Ciri knows she has no memories of a time when Ciri trusts her, yet-- will it really make a difference? She'd thought not. She wants to hold to that conviction.

It helps, that Geralt trusts her too. ]

How did you come by your medallion?

[ She changes the subject, though only slightly. Again, Ciri expects she already knows the answer. Though how is another matter entirely. ]

[ So they do. He'd settled on doing precisely that, but he can't deny Ciri's questions have tugged loose something that was not there before. Still, he nods. Perhaps he's reading too much into it. Or if he isn't, now is not the time to dig deeper. Not when so many of his thoughts remain jumbled. He's healing steadily, but he's not slept since his return, beyond the times when his body would give out, and it shows.

He goes back to his breakfast, methodically tearing a piece of bread. He needs to eat, and that's the only reason why he's forcing food into himself. ]

It was slipped to me. A signal. [ He leaves it at that. He doesn't know how, either. There'd been little chance to talk or ask. He'd been told to wait, to gather his strength, and that was what he'd done. Only in the past few days, now that he's home, now that he can rest as much as he's able, has he started to look back and examine what he recalls. There are more holes in his memories than he'd like.

He shifts the topic, too: seemingly further than Ciri has, but not as far as it may appear. He knows what answer he will get if he asks Ciri how she's been doing. So instead, he asks, ] How's the mage girl?

It looks-- It feels... Real.

[ Only one person in Thorne could know that, but... Make it? Ciri's not sure. Whatever Yennefer means by it, and whatever Geralt means by signal, what matters is that he'd accepted it.

Geralt's question takes Ciri off guard. She blinks, then shrugs faintly. ]

Rinwell? She's all right. Making herself a nuisance reminding us to eat. But she's been helpful, keeping things tidy and going to market. Roach likes her.

I know. I've got no explanation, either. [ She had it, before he arrived. He can't imagine she'd have had time to obtain it in the hours that passed before Kylo came to him and there are simpler methods to signify her trust in another than his medallion. He knows Yennefer could not have made something like this. Not replicated so precisely, down to the etched runes at the back. Someone must've helped her. But who would have? Or why would she have asked, even long before he showed up in Thorne as he was?

(Has she thought of him, this entire time? Had she hoped to see him again?)

He takes in Ciri's reply, quiet. He feels like a lot has left his mind lately. Even Roach. He'd been so focused on surviving. Now that he's back, trying to catch up, trying to remember that there's shit still happening here around them, even apart from Yen and Thorne and royals—it's been a struggle, to keep himself present. ]

Good. She'll be taking care of her for a bit. [ He pauses. Ciri's likely aware of what he's got in mind, but he feels the need to say it nonetheless. ] I'll be staying here. Until...

[ Until. He isn't sure when. It's hard to say. All he knows is that he doesn't want to be surrounded by so many people in such tight quarters while he's working things out on his own. ]

[ Ciri nods. The truth is, she has many more questions, but Geralt has told her what he can. She doesn't want to keep pushing, not right now. Especially since it seems he has few answers in the first place, and still too much rawness.

She reaches for the bread again too, mechanically. Something to do with her hands, something to fill the silence. ]

I expected as much. Considering.

[ He needs room and quiet to rest. There is quiet here -- and extra room too. Ciri looks down at the bread in her hands, digging her nails into it, picking it apart in smaller and smaller pieces that don't end up in her mouth. In truth, the place is a little crowded for her too, right now. She still feels on edge, nerves frayed; Geralt is back, but the information he's returned with and the questions he has (and hasn't) been able to answer leave Ciri frustrated and unsteady. She's going to be looking for work. Escort missions, if she can find them. Plenty of merchant wagons like to hire a guard.

Unlike Geralt, she doesn't want to be here, either. ]

...Alina left. [ Ciri says finally, with a pile of bite-sized shreds of bread in her plate, like she's about to go feed a flock of pigeons outside. ]

For Thorne.

[ Yeah. Considering. He notices the way Ciri tears at her bread, leaving bits and pieces on her plate. It's hard to tell if she's still thinking about Yen or Thorne or something else altogether. His expression is contemplative, but he doesn't remark upon it or on anything else further. He is not the only one who needs time and space to breathe.

Only when Ciri speaks again does he look up. There's no surprise on his face—as though he'd been waiting for her to bring the topic up. His eyes soften. ]

I know. [ He tilts his head towards the room that was once Alina's: he saw. The empty drawers, Sam's glance towards the bed when he passes on occasion. He's been here often enough to know what the place looked like while Alina was living here. She obviously no longer is.

It isn't hard to put it together, what happened. Why she left. And though he doesn't like that she took off with only a letter to Sam nor Ciri, he gets it, too. He's spoken to Alina only once or twice, but the girl is not difficult to read. A combination of stubborn and wary that he recognizes. ]

Mal reappeared in Thorne. [ He pauses. ] Did she say anything to you?

Not before she left. Just a note to say she was leaving. [ And... Some other stuff. She doesn't say that part. ]

Didn't say where until I contacted her the next day. She told me about Mal, but didn't seem certain. No plan. Just ran off.

[ Ciri sighs, shoving her plate aside and reaching for the ale instead. ]

I understand. They'll take care of each other.

[ A note to Ciri, too. At least there's that. He listens quietly. When had this happened? Before he returned, he's certain. This place was already empty when he'd collapsed on Sam's couch.

His chest tightens. He can imagine what that was like, for Alina to have vanished at the same time he was still gone. And if he knows anything about Ciri, he suspects she might have hoped Alina would be there for her through...this. Only she wasn't. (Neither was he.) ]

I can ask someone to look out for her. [ Someone because he's not entirely certain he wants that person to be Yennefer in this moment, but there are others in Thorne if not Yen. (It will likely be Yennefer, in the end, if he isn't lying to himself.)

They can't bring Alina back. The girl made her choice. But he thinks Ciri still cares enough for her friend to want to be sure of her well-being. ] If you'd like.

[ She does understand, but it doesn't help very much. Still doesn't make it any easier that Alina hadn't trusted her enough to tell her, either.

Ciri looks back up at Geralt's offer, hesitating. ]

I'd thought the same. [ To ask someone (Yennefer) and to tell Alina who she could trust. Except then she'd been... unsure. ]

But I don't know anyone there except...

[ He knows. ]

If you could, I'd rest easier.

I will. [ It's one more thing to take care of, but he will. ] They've been granting amnesty to those who return.

[ A small thing, he's aware. Amnesty can be taken away as quickly as it's given. But it's something. And he remembers, in those cells, he'd been the only one held. Few guards around. So either Thorne has made good on their word—or they've moved onto something worse than imprisoning those they deem undesirable.

Regardless, if Ciri has spoken to Alina recently, it means the girl is safe. For now. So it'll only be a matter of making sure she stays that way. Sam will want to know how Alina is doing, anyway.

As for Mal, his reappearance is something else altogether Geralt hasn't even begun to work out. ]

...thank you. That is a relief.

[ She's already told Alina to put herself in their good graces as much as she can, just to keep herself (and Mal) safe if she has to. Considering she'd been imprisoned the first time, it's good to hear she's got a chance without being immediately thrown into a dungeon or worse. Ciri is too tired to ask Geralt where he heard that; she assumes that, if he's telling her under such serious circumstances, the information is good.

Ciri bites her lip, glancing away again as she considers what else she wants to say. She'll have to tell him. He'll notice. ]

There's something else.

The city guard's put a tail on me. I expect it's just for show, and they'll leave me alone soon enough. Pretend you don't notice.

[ Something else? Geralt's brows draw together into a frown. He leans forward. What does she mean the city guards? (Do they know something? Has he been so caught up with what Thorne nearly uncovered that he's lost sight of threats far closer to home?)

No. He pushes the thoughts aside. Ciri seems to understand why she's being followed—and her reaction tells him she doesn't suspect it to do with her abilities. She'd have not waited until now to tell him otherwise. For show, she says. ]

Tell me what happened. [ It must be while she was searching for him. A tail is concerning, but. As long as they can be sure it isn't anything to do with her powers, her Elder Blood—that's the most important part. ]

[ Ciri sighs, leaning an elbow on the table as she deflates a bit. Luckily, she doesn't look upset or scared -- merely annoyed, and perhaps a tiny bit sheepish. Or maybe just frustrated. ]

When Jaskier and I went out looking for you, I followed your trail. We found your camp. But...

[ The frustration solidifies into anger, quiet, already mostly spent. The memory of it is enough to make her lip curl, disgust more than rage now. ]

We were not the first to have discovered it. A group of those wandering brigands -- you know, the ones that roam the desert attacking merchant caravans. They were already there, picking through your belongings. They'd taken your sword.

[ Her voice is flat, unflinching. ]

I took it back.

[ She needn't say much before understanding shifts his expression. In a sense, he's suspected there was a reason his gear was waiting for him when he returned. A sword like that would not sit in the open desert long before someone happened upon it: to sell or salvage or keep for themselves.

He gets it. What it would have looked like to Ciri to find a group of men over his belongings after a bloody trail was left behind. (Jaskier being there, though—mm. Jaskier knows when to keep out of the way.) And if the only consequence she received was akin to a slap on the wrist, then the city must have considered their deaths no great loss. Wanted men in the first place, probably.

Not like he hasn't left a small handful of corpses himself. He'd have preferred not, but—they'd made their choice, so he made his. ]

Should've left the bodies by an outrice nest. [ Those damn birds will eat anything. He does not dwell on the simple way Ciri tells him. He might carry no memories of training her, but he does know Kaer Morhen is not a place where one learns to preserve one's innocence. Neither is the Continent at large. ] Save you the trouble.

Mm. [ Her lips quirk, shoulders loosening. She appreciates that Geralt doesn't even bother asking further questions. That he understands. (Of course he would; she was counting on it, wasn't she?)

Ciri shrugs. ]

I'll keep that in mind. [ Not that she's hoping for any sort of next time.

The mood having, oddly, lifted a little, Ciri reaches for her ale again. This time, her sigh is more of a grumble. ]

You know, the guards practically thanked me. Desert's safer without the rogues, after all. But they apparently had to make a show of some sort of consequence.

[ She doesn't mention the part where she was also in a cell for a night. It's not important. The point here is that the men following her are just doing their jobs, which are stupid, but at least they can all acknowledge it's stupid and there's no reason for Geralt to worry. The last thing she wants is for him to notice someone tailing her and end up with consequences of his own for her carelessness. There's enough on all their plates without that. ]

[ OPEN / CLOSED ] i think i found a way to kill the sun

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