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

[justmedk]

Ciri nodded to his plan.

"Sounds good!", she said. Though, truth be told, she'd likely have said that, had his plan been to just politely ask the executioner to "Please stop what you're doing."
As plans went, it was like 3,6 röngtgen: Not great, not terrible. Objectively speaking, it would stand a higher chance of success if she did the fighting and he helped the victim to safety, but....she'd impeded upon his masculinity enough now.

But when they headed out, and were met by his former group, everything went to heck in a handbasket. She almost drew her sword, but then took her lead from Lukas and ran, making sure to run fast enough to keep up with him, but not fast enough to overtake him.
This, however, was apparently not fast enough, as the other group was gaining on them, and Ciri had to make a split-second decision: Did she throw off the mask of "damsel in distress" or did she stand and fight and save his character?
One of those lightning-quick risk assessments that Geralt had trained her in, told her the answer plain as day: From their reaction and words, he'd already know the truth, even if he hadn't had time to process it. Why pretend. So she let Lukas get a little bit ahead of her, let the others get a little closer, before she suddenly stopped and took a side-step at the same time, while also drawing her sword and quickly and effortlessly deliver what in the game was a one-strike-kill; meaning a direct swing to the back of the guy in front.

It was meant to signify decapitation, but of course no strikes against the head was allowed for obvious reasons.

After him, she faced the other three, and almost instinctively assumed the stance Geralt had taught her when faced with multiple opponents.

The remaining three guys hardly even saw their demise coming as Ciri practically danced around them, landing strike after strike before they could parry or do anything else. One of them managed to block a couple of strikes, which Ciri was quite impressed by, but by that time the other two had fallen to "decapitation strikes" and she very quickly made short work of him too.

When the fight was over, she pointed back towards the temple.

"I believe you know the way", she smirked and then headed back in the direction she'd last seen Lukas go. She just hoped it wasn't over for her now....and she didn't mean the game!

[guesswho]

He knows he should stay and fight and be a hero and all that, but he also doesn't really feel like dying just yet and if confronted after their escape, he could always say he didn't like the odds of two against four. Apparently, Ciri sees it differently. By the time he realizes she's not running after him and turns around, one of the guys is already down and the others follow soon after. Of course, he recognizes some of the moves. There probably isn't anyone around here who didn't read at least some of those books or at least played the games. But he'd never expect seeing anyone using them to such an effect.



And so he waits, leaning on his sword like it's a stick, which it, under all the covering, is.



"That was...brutal..." He says with considerable respect, bordering on awe. "So about that girl that wiped out my former band..." Lukas doesn't even raise his sword. If she wants to kill him too, like the lady said, there's not much he could do about it, and it certainly doesn't include a sword, at least not the one in his hand.



"I guess you'll want to kill me too, now?" Lukas asks calmly. Where the hell did she learn to move like that. Various ideas are fighting for attention in his head, and this adolescent is feeling very...confused. So he masks it with fake calm, unfortunately betrayed by his stiff posture and burning ears.

[justmedk]

Ciri's heart raced as she saw that he apparently expected her to kill him too, just as she had his band. She didn't know what he thought of her now. Had she just ruined every chance she had with him? She hoped not. And..possibly it was best to come clean.


"I mean...yeah, I was the one who took them down", she said with a smirk that was meant to hide her wild insecurities and hopes that she hadn't blown her chances with him. "But...no, why would I want to kill you? We're on a quest together, after all", she said with as sweet a smile as she knew how to give, to give herself another chance. She knew enough to know that guys, however much they want to appear tough, sometimes can be made to melt like butter in the hot sun



"If....if you want I could show you some of the moves?", she suggested, hoping that by doing that, she could get Lukas to like her, instead of being intimidated by her which he obviously currently was. "We can do it after this mission, if you like?", she suggested. "We have someone to save from an execution after all", she finished with a smirk, and gestured towards the direction they'd been heading before the attack.

[guesswho]

So she doesn't want to kill him, and they're indeed on a quest together. And she's probably the best fighter around. Lukas grins widely. Things are going much better than expected, and she even seems to want to spend some time with him even when their quest is done.


"That sounds great. Where did you even learn that? Not exactly a common sword technique." But this is no interrogation, it's clear Lukas is fascinated, the quest almost forgotten. But she's right, they've got work to do. And his former friends will probably try an ambush next time, to deal with Ciri in a somewhat smarter way than their last two attempts.


"But...yes, you're right. Quest. Let's go. Oh and careful, I guess? Those guys will get reinforcements...and they're working for the town authorities, so we might run into them again." He used to work for them too, up until very recently...


Lukas, trying to sound serious and like an experienced warrior unfortunately sounds like a fascinated teenager, and what's happening in his head is an absolute chaos of emotions and impressions, but for now he's pretty certain he'd prefer to stick with Ciri, just in case...

[justmedk]

Ciri was happy that he changed the subject so she got a chance to not answer the question. Though if she'd been less nervous she would have answered differently than



"I'm not that worried. They were no match the first couple of times. I doubt the third is gonna be much different."


As things stood, she wanted to reassure him that they were safe, without realizing in the moment that....this was usually the guy's job.
On they went, however, to the outskirts of the place where they were to rescue the "victim". Even though she knew on an intellectual level that they were merely "playing", Ciri was uncharactaristically serious. Maybe it was the fact that this game imitated a kind of world she was intimately familiar with that helped her "get in character".

"Now we wait", she said almost in a whisper, when they'd arrived and hiding. "Wait for the distraction. There aren't a lot of guards, sure, but we can't take even that number by ourselves, I don't think. What do you think?", she asked, looking at him. She knew for a fact they couldn't, but wanted to give him the deciding vote. Guys liked to be in charge, after all!

[guesswho]

Lukas, happy as ever to follow, kind of likes Ciri's seriousness. She really seems to be into it, but at some point he realises maybe he should have a slightly larger input than he had up until this point. Even though Ciri looks like she knows what she's doing to the extent it's getting scary. Maybe she just played the Witcher games a bit too seriously.

From their hiding place, Lukas scans the area closely and suddenly an idea comes to him. He's been here before. Well not physically, obviously, but this situation is not new to him. All those stealth tactics games are finally going to pay off...

"I...have an...idea." Lukáš says slowly with a widening grin, as he pulls out his knife. "See that guy? Nobody else has line of sight on him, but he's the only one with line if sight on that guy." He points at two guardsmen who are positioned with all the military expertise that obe gets from reading fantasy books. The NPCs, played by organizer's friends and just random people who didn't feel like playing their own characters right now. They look bored. He knows how to fix it.

"So if we cut their throats and drag them away, that opens the way to those guys." He points at another small group of guards. Three of them though, so it will require a distraction.

"So, I take one, you take the other, then meet up,figure out a way to distract those guys and pick them off one by one?" Yes they can wait for the planned distraction, but Lukas has recently read a book about...Different Lukas. The Trickster. And he's feeling mischievous.

[justmedk]

Ciri's smile grew ever wider as she listened to his plan. And now she was happy that she'd asked. Because the fact that he actually HAD an idea, and a GOOD one at that, made him all the more attractive....
And now she wouldn't have to go ahead with a half-baked plan of her own, or wait for the distraction.
This was perfect!

She nodded eagerly.


"Agreed", she said with a grin. "Great plan!", and the way she said it showed that she meant it, it wasn't just stroking his ego now. She took out her own "knife" from her belt and looked at him and nodded but a question in her eyes, as if to say "Now?"


When they started, Ciri crept up as quietly as she had that first day when she'd caught the cat on the roof of Dad's house. A pin dropping would have sounded like a freight train compared to the noise she was making...or...rather...not making. She quickly and efficiently "slit the throat" of her intended victim and "dragged him away" out of sight, then looked over at Lukas to check how he was doing. This was going well! Gods, how she was crazy about this boy! It was almost embarassing...

[guesswho]

Despite never actually even talking at length before, they're pretty well coordinated. It helps his guard isn't exactly alert, hiding a phone behind his shield that's consuming most of his attention. So Lukas waits and as soon as Ciri cuts her target, he also dispatches his, giving her a wink just as they're cutting throats. He has never felt cooler in his life before. And he'd never even consider doing this if it wasn't for Ciri...

As planned, they meet up again after the murder, and Lukas can hardly conceal his excitement. Their targets are leaving together, one hand behind their head to show they're not playing, but they can hear the guys discussing what those two could have planned.

"You'll see. Go respawn." He tells them with a grin, before finally turning to Ciri. "So...fucking... cool." And nobody noticed them. "Glad to be working with you." He sounds completely professional, as if this is a common occurrence, but doesn't notice how his voice shakes somewhat and his ears are just burning. And he feels... extremely confused about Ciri.

"So, cut some more throats, rescue the innocents and then celebrate?" He certainly hopes Ciri would like to stick around even after their job is done.

[justmedk]

Ciri felt something stirring in her when she heard the confident tone in his voice when addressing their victims. She couldn't quite put a finger on it, but it was definitely there; so much so that it took her a moment to recover from it and focus again on the matter at hand. She nodded eagerly at his question to get the job underway, and when they got in position, she felt her pulse quicken. At one point the guard walked past them not one meter in front of the place they were hiding, and she kept as quiet and still as a corpse. Once he'd past her, she crept out from the bush she was hiding in, and "cut his throat" without ever having made a sound before the loud shriek she made when he, from surprise, elbowed her in the stomach.

He, of course, immediately apologized profusely and explained that it had been from shock, an instinctual response.

Ciri grinned and bore it after having gotten her breath back, and soon they were at the pressing point. The execution was close to starting. She looked at Lukas.

"There's not a lot of guards left", she whispered. "I can take them. I know I can. Lead the people we're rescuing back to safety while I deal with them?", she suggested, then added "We wouldn't have gotten this far without that brillant plan of yours", she smiled and - dared - to put a hand on his shoulder encouragingly. She felt that warm sensation again as she felt him, and tried to be casual about withdrawing her hand again back to wait for his response.

[guesswho]

Lukas stiffens when he feel Ciri touch him, but it's certainly not unpleasant. He gives her a wide smile and nods. "Thanks. Let's get to it...." Lukas gets ready to get moving as soon as the distraction starts.


The execution is starting. Remaning guards are bringing out the prisoners, staring around them, doing the mental math that ain't mathing. There should be more of them. The ruler has his little villain speech, while the executioner sharpens his axe with great enthusiasm, almost covering up that the axe is made of foam.


As he's ending his speech, the distraction starts with a loud bang and a bunch of arrows landing all over the place, some even hitting the guards.


"Go go go!" Lukas charges forward, shoving a guard out of his way with his shield and rushing the executioner, who swings his axe but is wat too slow. Lukas ducks under it and runs him through. The executioner rolls his eyes and moves out of reach so as not to get in the way. At least he can now watch.


"Get a move you big lump, they're already attacking!" Barbora rushes Daniel who's trying his best to get into his massive armor.



"Would be faster if you helped me!"
"Would be faster if you helped me!" Barbora mocks, but indeed goes and helps him.


"Next time, you're in the armor!" Barbora looks at the armor that weighs slightly less then her entire body.


"Yeah, sure...you ready?"
"Yeah..." Daniel lifts his warhammer, almost as tall as he is.



"Alright, big boy, go and...get killed gloriously." Even Dan doesn't know her plan. He'd probably try to help if he knew, but Barbora wants to enjoy this scheme on her own.



While Ciri is fighting off the guards, Lukas rounds up the prisoners and starts leading them away. The ruler ran away as soon as actions started, the coward. Maybe they'll get to him later on. However, he only manages a few steps, when he runs into a problem. Quite literally. He looks up right in the rather scary mask. He knows who's under, and he also knows there's no point in talking. The armored juggernaut is not the friendly blacksmith, rather one of the ruler's elite bodyguards. Due to lack of willing participants, the only bodyguard, elite or not.


"Oh fuck." He manages, just as Dan hits him with the hammer. It doesn't hurt as such. It's like getting hit by a very soft, large and most importantly, heavy pillow.



"Help!" He yelps, as he lands on the ground after having short flight. But soon, he's back on his feet and charging Daniel, in his huge armor and even bigger hammer. This feels like not such a good idea, but he's not gonna look like coward in front of Ciri. He just hopes she'll find some time in her busy schedule to assist him.