The New Conjunction (a Witcher->Real World crossover)

[justmedk]

Ciri nodded happily when Denisa suggested that she teach her how to ride a bike the next time she came back to the village. This was apparently something that almost everyone knew how to do, but her. And it was definitely an embarassment for her.


The suggestion to go to the park to play football cheered Ciri up immensely, and she eagerly went to get her gear on as instructed. She'd seen this played. Now she wanted to play it! She knew she could run, after all.

She couldn't help but roll her eyes a bit in a very teenage-like-fashion when told to not pick up the ball, and not attack the other players. She'd figured that much out from watching the moving-pictures-screen.
So when they got to the park, and there were, in fact, a lot of kids playing football, it should have been easy for her to go over, introduce herself, and join in.

In fact, it was not. She hadn't been used to being around other kids for a long while now, and the girls back at the village were different, because in that place it seemed to be...different. She couldn't say how, but it was.
She hesitated for a moment, then looked back at Denisa, and was about to say something when she was interrupted.


"Hey! You", a girl's voice was heard. "Come on. We need a fourth here."
Ciri hesitantly moved closer, and the girl coralled her towards her team.

"I'm Darja", she said with a grin, and introduced the others on their team, and then the ones on the other team. "Haven't seen you around before"

"N..no, I'm visiting my...cousin", she said, trying to find the best way to describe Denisa to them, before mentioning the village where she actually lived.

If anyone reacted to that news, Ciri didn't realize it, trying as she was to size up the pitch.


When the game started, Ciri moved like lightning, finding herself at the opposing team's part of the pitch before the others knew what had hit them.
If she'd been as good as shooting as she was at positioning, they'd have scored. Sadly, having never kicked a football before, she ended up shooting ridiculously wide the first time she got the ball when she slightly panicked in front of the goal.

She blushed and then ran to get the ball, realizing that was the least she could do.

The pattern repeated itself over and over: Ciri was a master at outrunning the others and positioning herself, but when it came to finishing...it was a different story, and the level of frustration she felt was growing.
So, apparently, was her teammates, and at one point one of the others, a boy about a year older than her, slapped her across the neck with a remark to pull herself together or get out.

That triggered a fight-or-flight response that had been drilled into her by the witchers of Kaer Morrhen, and she instantly turned around and sent him to the ground with a punch to the nose. She looked down at him, twisting and turning and holding his nose, then looked at Darja.

"Sorry about the game. I'll leave", she said quietly, thinking her chance to make friends here had gone for good now, before heading back towards Denisa.

"Let's go back", she said gloomily. "This was apparently a bad idea. I stink at this sport"

[guesswho]

It started well enough. Even looked like she's gonna make some new friends, but apparently she can't aim. Like at all. Doesn't seem to be a big deal at first, before one of the boys starts getting possibly too competitive? She doesn't catch the details, but she can see clearly enough how he slapped Ciri. But her reaction is even more surprising. No hesitation, no thinking, just one direct, efficient and professionally looking punch. A work of reflex and muscle memory, no actual brain function involved. Fascinating. And scary.



"I don't think it was a bad idea. Look, it's like the trampoline. You just need to learn how to do it. Also, nice punch. I bet he didn't expect that. Looks like he needed it..." Denisa holds Opinions, with a capital O, about boys of whatever age getting aggressive because of sports. She's not particularly concerned about this specific set of kids not liking Ciri, though the girls appear to look at her with certain respect.



"Let's go for a walk. D'you like dogs?" She asks, looking at the dog part of the park, where there's a bunch of people training dogs and playing with them, and conveniently enough, there's a pub between their current position and dog park. They're already giving out plastic cups for parkgoers! Started early this year.


"Tell Dan to buy you a football. Or to be more precise, a number of them." She recalls the number of footballs she destroyed growing up, and she wasn't even interested in the sport very much, just played for something to do. "I once kicked the ball so it got impaled on the antenna on neighbors roof. I have no idea how that happened and couldn't replicate it since. Anyway, kofola for you? Or they have a yellow version as well. Imma get a beer, cause it's sunday and I'm an grownup adult person and nobody can tell me not to have a beer at ten in the morning." She doesn't even like beer very much.

[justmedk]

Darja also at first stared wide-eyed, but then grinned. He was a menace, and more or less only played because he pushed himself in, and they had little choice in the matter. Seeing someone - especially someone who didn't appear very big or strong, put him in his place was immensely satisfying!

"Wait! Wait up!", she called after Ciri and ran towards her. "What's your number? So we can hang out when you come back sometime?", she smiled.
Ciri at first stared, but then smiled widely and gave Darja her number, as well as got hers. "That was cool", she leaned in towards Ciri and whispered, so that the boy's hysterical mother wouldn't notice them. "Thanks! I better get back. You better get outta here.", she grinned, and headed back towards the pitch.

Ciri walked much taller and prouder after that, nodding to Denisa's remarks about it being the same as the trampolines, and how the guy deserved it. "I guess you're right", she said. She couldn't help but giggle a little as Denisa told the story about the football. She had actually liked the game until it had gone wrong, except for being unable to kick it right. She knew enough to know that this could improve with practise. She already felt a little better than she did before Darja had approached her.



"Yeah, Kofola sounds good", she smiled and sat down at the cafe they found. She already was a bit more at ease regarding the big city. A bit more, not completely. But she didn't look like a deer caught in the headlights anymore.


When they got back, in time for Daniel to come pick her up, Ciri hugged her and again said "Thanks for letting me stay". She had enjoyed her time with her, and really hoped it wasn't a one-time-thing.

[guesswho]

And in the end, she even made a new friend, a new alliance over the body of a defeated bully. Now this was a productive weekend. A pity it's coming to a close, but she's relying on Ciri being around here more often.



"Oh, I'm happy for your visit. We should do this again in a couple weeks...and when you're going to school, I think you could visit me more often. I'll be there when you need to lay low for a while." Obviously, Dan now needs to act like a parent and dish out discipline when necessary, but she feels it's unfair towards Ciri - and also towards him, if the girl has nowhere to hide and wait for tempers to cool down. "Or just hang out, of course."


She hugs Ciri and goes downstairs with her, just to see Dan's car arriving.


"Yo, how are you...two...doing...what the fuck?" He stares at Ciri's new hair color. He didn't expect this. He should have expected this. "Well, at least it's not some crazy color. And it looks pretty good anyway." He's forced to admit. "But we'll talk about this!" A threat aimed at Denisa, who just laughs.



"Yeah, yeah. You don't scare me." As if he doesn't know.


"Alright, Ciri, get in. How was the weekend? I see the city is still standing, so that's a good sign..." Somewhat. It's not as though some of the streets couldn't do with demolition.

[justmedk]

Ciri beamed with joy when Denisa said that she'd like her to visit more often - maybe as soon as a few weeks! She'd love that very much. She giggled a bit at the "lay low for a while"-comment. Not quite understanding it for now, but having a feeling she might later. For now, though, she was also eager to get back to her own bed back at the village, and to the relative quiet of that place. It had been a good trip, and she'd enjoyed it very much, but she was also pumped full of new impressions.



Daniel arrived, she smiled widely and instinctively at him, before seeing the look on his face and hearing his exclamation, and for a moment she was horrified at what she saw, until she realized that his reaction had been about her hair, and then she giggled loudly and hugged him tightly before heading for the car.


"It was good!", she said. "We went to play some game with beams of light coming out of something that looks like weapons", she explained the laser-game "and I was kinda okay at that", she understated the events to not cause Denisa second-hand embarassment. "Oh, and we went shopping, and then found some obstacle courses! One of them was like super easy, but the other was eerily like the one back at Kaer Morrhen, but not dangerous or anything, and I did okay with both of them. I even got a lot of stuff from the place as a prize", she gestured back towards the apartment she'd just come out of "And then we went to the park and I tried that football-thing and it turns out I stink at it, but I met someone cool and that's something at least", she finished, not realizing that she was exitedly ranting.

[guesswho]

He listens attentively, even while driving. It's been her first weekend in this world without his oversight, and he was nervous about it. Like, the whole time. But Ciri passed with flying colors. Denisa had a bit more to say about about how lasergame went, and had some searching questions as to where exactly did Ciri acquire these skills, but he's pretty sure he deflected such questions safely.


"Oh yeah, I know that one." He had once agreed to visit said establishment, after a lot of persuading, and he had to grudgingly admit he enjoyed it. Denisa even managed to get her in some sort of attempt at football, that's a pretty good performance for someone who prefers to spend time with computers and robots.



"A successful weekend, then. I'm glad you enjoyed it." Her youthful enthusiasm is cute indeed. "So I guess you'll want to visit the city more often?" In the meantime, he also found out to which school her new friends are going and maybe he'll even get her there before next school year.



When they get home, he helps Ciri unpack all the stuff they bought. There's a lot, but Denisa fulflilled his request to buy her something more along the line of current teen clothing.


"And you've got enough clothes for a while, I'd say." In his eyes more than possibly could be used, but he's been proved wrong about this before, so he keeps that judgment to himself.



"Oh and there's a cake from the neighbor, dig in when you're in the mood. Uhm...think you could run an errand for me? Old Hanko wants his knives sharpened, but he doesn't walk like he used to and I need to make the dinner...think you could run along and pick 'em up?" A cynical part of him feels there's not much point in sharpening knives for a guy of almost hundred, but such thoughts are against neighborly life, and all in all, quite nasty.



"It's on the other side of the village, number three, green gate and house covered in...that thing that crawls on walls. You'll know it when you see it." The other side of the village means about ten minutes walk, if one takes the scenic route. "Just ring a bell and tell him I've sent you to pick up the knives." He gives out instructions, while starting to prepare the kitchen. Today's dinner is rabbit, and that takes some time...

[justmedk]

"Oh yeah, definitely!" Ciri confirmed when he asked if she wanted to visit the city again. "I mean, it's still a pretty weird place, and it's strange having so many people around, but I guess it's like Cintra or Novigrad only bigger and more people I guess. Oh, and yeah, I got some chocolate as a prize from that obstacle course and Denisa and me didn't eat all of it, so have some if you want!", she freely offered, and then frowned "From what she said, it won't be long before it becomes bad, so I wonder why they gave such as a prize, but...I guess there's a lot about this place I don't know", she shrugged. "Maybe an endurance test? Eat out-of-date food to see if you're strong enough to do it? That seems needlessly dangerous, though", she mused, then shook her head as he heard one word that instantly drew her attention:

Cake!

"Oooh, cake! I love cake", she announced, the world's least shocking announcement since "water is wet": "Girl likes cake!". "What kinda cake is it?", she asked, not that she was going to say no regardless, but cake wasn't just cake. She was already looking forward to it, and then he asked her about the errand, to which she eagerly agreed.

"Oh, yeah, sure!", she promised. She was happy to be able to do something for HIM for a change, instead of only the other way round.

She put her jacket and shoes back on, and went on her merry way. She looked around for the place for a whlie, somehow getting lost, though she didn't want to admit it, and tried to backtrack her route. She refused to call for help! She was not going to get lost in this small village! So she took a lot longer than it would have taken if she'd called and asked for directions again, before she finally found the correct house. She was not in a very good mood when she did, but she took a deep breath and rang the bell.


"Hi" she said with a smile when the door was opened. "Daniel asked me to pick up the knives you wanted sharpened?"

[guesswho]

It takes some time for door to open, but when it does, there's an ancient standing there, squinting at the new girl in the village, leaning on a stick.


"Is this what things have come to? A girl blacksmith's apprentice?" He says in a shaky voice, his eyes looking at some point around seventy years ago. He's not entirely caught up on the recent events and Ciri's existence comes as something of a surprise to him.


"Well, come on in, then." He sighs, as he slowly walks back inside and to the kitchen. The house is almost a museum, full of ancient furniture, but also decades old guns hanging on the walls. And above fireplace a bunch of medals, back from the great war.



"You said Daniel sent you? And when did you turn up here? Never seen you before. Not even in the church!" He says a bit disapprovingly. "No young people there these days...you're all heathens, with your computers and phones..." He drifts off, then seems to remember why Ciri is there.



"Knives you wanted, did you? Wait, I'll need to gather 'em up. Why does he send an apprentice, doesn't he have legs? What's your name anyway? I'll be checking with the lazy young man if you really brought the knives." He warns Ciri, as he walks off, leaving her in a living room. A large piano takes up a significant part of it. Eventually, he comes back with a box full of knives, and an axe. "Do tell him I need the axe sharpened as well. It doesn't cut as it used to. Not that the wood is even worth cutting these days. Oh and while you're here, can you help me out with something? There's a chocolate in it for you! Come, come." He walks upstairs, surprisingly sprightly for his age and point his stick at a trapdoor in the ceiling.



"Look, open that. There's stairs, and up there, under the roof, there's this box. Can you get it for me? It's not very large, but I'm...well, I'm not very good at going down the stairs these days. They're too steep. And you'll probably need a ladder to reach it. Or a chair."

[justmedk]

This was not the reaction she had anticipated, and Ciri could not help but frown a bit. She wasn't going to answer him back the way he'd spoken to her - for Daniel's sake - but she instantly realized she did not like this old man at all. She didn't want to tell him anything, so she was happy when he didn't even wait for his questions to be answered before he asked a new one about her, which he also doesn't wait for the answer for.

Not even the mention of chocolate got him in her good book. She had all the chocolate she could want at home. And didn't need any from this guy. Right now she just wanted to get the knives, and get out of here, because he was not pleasant to be around at all. But she also wanted to not disappoint Daniel, so she nodded when he asked her to help him. As he pointed out the trapdoor he wanted opened so she could go get something for him, she didn't want to wait for a chair or ladder. It wasn't that big of a jump before she could reach the handle, and she bent her knees all the way down before doing a tiger-like - or wolf-like, given as she was trained by witchers of the school of the wolf - jump up towards the trap door. It almost wasn't enough - almost - but she got her hand into the handle, and when gravity pulled her down again, it also pulled the ladder down.


"I'll just be a moment", she told him and ascended the dropped-down stairs to get to the space under the roof.

"What does the box look like?", she called down, now wishing that she either had the mutations that allowed her to see in the dark, or had brought one of those portable lights that were much more efficient than candlesticks.
Once it had been described well enough that she knew what to look for, and her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, Ciri didn't take long to find it, head back to the stairs, and with one hand support herself as she climbed back down, the other holding on to the box.

"Here you go", she said, handing him the box, and then folded the stairs back up, before doing another wolf-like jump on the same spot to push the trapdoor back into place.

[guesswho]

He waits patiently, until the girl finds the box. He could get up there easy enough, if he was ready to spend the rest of his life in the attic. It might not be long, but it's certainly longer than that would be comfortable.



"Oh, thanks. It's just a bunch of old photographs, you know. But important to me." For the moment, he's much more pleasant than before. "Well, that'll be all, I think." Going back downstairs is not that fast, but when finally there, he indeed finds the promised chocolate and packs it with the knives.


"Well, thanks again. I'll be here when the knives are sharpened." He says, sending the girl on her way.


Meanwhile, Daniel is making good progress on the dinner, wondering what's taking her so long, but food won't be done anytime soon anyway. Probably just the old man talking her ear off. While she's gone, Daniel finds some of the Witcher books and quickly goes through them, trying to figure out at which point in their timeline did she actually appear here. Must be pretty early...which confuses him even more as to how her world works and what the actual connection is. He could understand easily enough if she appeared after all the story was done, but how does it work if she arrives in the middle of things? Probably something quantum...