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[lightkeeping]

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[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.