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[lightkeeping]

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[lightkeeping]

I can come to you. I don't mind the cold.

[And, as promised, Aloy makes her way to Ciri's domain as soon as she has a moment. Crossing the Horizon takes little more than a thought, sure, but Aloy prefers to actually travel. It helps that she can hitch a ride on any machine she likes--for these purposes she settles for a simple Charger, not wanting to take Ciri by surprise with something more complicated.

The house isn't hard to find, based on Ciri's description, and she's quick to dismount once she arrives, raising a hand in greeting.]

Thanks for the invitation. It's good to see you.

[wiedzminka]

[ They are alike in that way; Ciri keeps her horse in Kaer Morhen's stable, takes care of it and rides it whenever she decides to visit the Horizon, sometimes only for that reason. Maybe it's ironing when she can literally teleport, but she enjoys the traveling.

First, Aloy will find the mountains, and then of course the Keep, but once she's in the courtyard, Ciri's stone cottage is easy to spot. It's nestled right up against one of the slopes, in a place where Kaer Morhen's outer walls have crumbled, resuming raggedly on either side.

Her door is open, and Ciri steps outside when Aloy arrives, greeting her in turn. ]

And you! It's much nicer to speak face to face, or at least with the illusion of it.

Do you want to sit inside? Or we can take a walk, if you prefer.

[lightkeeping]

Let's walk.

[Sitting in someone's house feels kind of intrusive, even if Ciri did invite her here (and even if the stone cottage is not real, in the strictest sense of the word). Besides, she might like a little tour of the surrounding domain--Aloy has always been the most comfortable on her own in the wilderness.

She'll wait for Ciri to make whatever preparations she needs, then gestures for her to lead the way.]

Is this somewhere from home?

[wiedzminka]

[ Luckily, Ciri's just as comfortable outside. She has no preparations to make; she just shuts the door and joins Aloy, gesturing out toward the training yard. The Keep isn't as large here as it is in real life, but there's still plenty of space to walk, the snow crunching beneath their booths as she leads Aloy up the path. ]

It is. [ She gestures up ahead to the parapets above, in disrepair the way they'd been back home. Bones of great beasts (and some men) can be seen buried and frozen beneath the hard snow, as if become part of the earth. It's an austere-looking place, but when Ciri smiles at it, it's with warmth and fondness. ]

This is Kaer Morhen, the fortress of the Witchers. Geralt made it, and when I arrived here too, I helped. It was a place I considered home when I was a child.

[lightkeeping]

[Even for someone who has only seen the ruins of her Earth's civilization, Aloy can tell that the architecture is much more archaic, in comparison. She's known that, but seeing it in person is different.]

I like the mountains. [And the familiar crunch of snow beneath her boots.] I grew up there too.

[Different mountains. Similar enough for this conversation's purposes.]

[wiedzminka]

The desert's taken some getting used to. I miss the snow.

--though the last time we were in snowy mountains out in the physical realm, it wasn't quite as nice as it might've been with some supplies. [ She laughs, a bit dryly, and shrugs. She had some related questions to ask Aloy about their time together in the pit and after, but this is, for now, a simpler topic. And she's curious. ]

Is Solvunn closer in climate and landscape to your home? Cadens is very different from mine.

[lightkeeping]

[Aloy's familiar with the desert too, though comparatively she's spent less time there. Maybe she'd fit in better in Cadens, with the people who make careers out of monster hunting, but there is something to be said for the quiet tranquility of Solvunn's forests.

She lets out a little laugh, the memory still fresh.]

I would have liked it better with some equipment, yeah.

[But they're all alive, and that's what matters.]

I've traveled a lot. Seen everything from mountains to deserts to forests to beaches.

[wiedzminka]

[ This answers appears to please Ciri, who answers brightly in kind: ] Me too!

It's nice that we can make whatever landscapes we want here, but it's never quite the same. At least there's plenty to explore out there, and I can see real trees in Nocwich even if it's in the dark. We should go on a hunt there sometime again.

[lightkeeping]

No, it's not the same.

[She dislikes the Horizon, in that it reminds her too strongly of what the Zeniths did--live out their immortal lives in simulations, doing and creating anything they liked and forgetting what it is to be human.

There's no replacement for experiences in the real world, and she's glad Ciri feels similarly.]

I'd like that.

[wiedzminka]

[ Ciri smiles, pleased to show Aloy around. She points out the training ground, mentions she learned to use a sword here. Maybe she mentions Geralt too, if Aloy has met him, and it's no secret that Ciri considers him a father.

Once they've walked the perimeter, Ciri gestures toward the large double doors to the keep itself. ]

Want a drink?

If you wouldn't mind, I would like to ask you about... Those visions, in the cave.

[lightkeeping]

[Since Aloy isn't much of a talker, she's content to listen. It's not often she gets to hear about the places other Summoned come from, and she considers herself close enough to Ciri at this point to entertain the conversation that follows.]

Sure.

[Though she's not sure what she wants to say about it, if she's being honest.]

What did you see?

[wiedzminka]

[ Ciri leads them inside, into a wide dining hall with high ceilings, where several long tables and benches sit waiting for apparently many more people than usually sit here. The fire blazes to life in the hearth with a thought. In the back of the room, there's a large, barren tree, with dozens of silver medallions hanging from its branches.

She invites Aloy to sit at one of the benches near the fire and conjures up two tankards for them and a pitcher of ale. ]

Won't be offended if you change the drink inside. [ Ciri adds with a smile, picking up her own cup.

Then it's down to business. ]

I know many people saw different things. If you remember when the Heralds were wreaking havoc, I saw the same thing briefly in the Horizon. For me, it was a tower in the desert with a great, tentacled beast, surrounded by death and bones.

But I also saw the shadowed figure of a man. That's the part I'm trying to figure out if everyone saw. If it was always the same.

If you saw anything more, any defining features...

If you got the feeling that he saw you too.