Ciri stood at the edge of the descent in the mountain top, the wind tugging lightly at the loose strands of her ashen hair, the distant outline of Kaer Morhen barely visible through the trees.
Sebastian stepped up beside her, rolling his shoulders once.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then Ciri glanced sideways at him, a spark already in her green eyes.
"Race you."
Sebastian let out a quiet breath,
"You're going to cheat again."
She smirked. "I prefer to call it… using what I have, after all you do cheat as well."
"That's not what a race is."
"Sounds like you're making excuses already."
That did it.
A faint grin touched his lips.
"…Fine, let's race."
There was no count.
No signal.
They moved at the same time.
Ciri vanished first.
The air cracked faintly where she had stood, space folding in on itself as she slipped forward, reappearing several meters down the slope between two trees without breaking momentum. Her boots barely touched the ground before she stepped again, another blink, another shift with her powers.
Sebastian didn't follow her, he simply launched.
Flame burst from beneath him in a controlled surge, not wild and reckless, a refined flame that did not harm life around him. It didn't explode outward but it pushed him, concentrated force driving him forward. He landed lightly, barely bending his knees before another pulse of fire propelled him again, weaving between trees with sharp, calculated long jumps.
Branches snapped past them.
Wind roared in their ears.
Ciri reappeared ahead, just long enough to glance back over her shoulder.
"You're slow!"
Sebastian angled mid-air, twisting slightly as he cleared a fallen trunk, landing on the side of a slope before pushing off again.
"I'm not the one skipping half the mountain with her space-time powers!"
She laughed, bright and unrestrained as she blinked again, this time appearing higher up along a cluster of rocks, using the elevation to her advantage before dropping down in a controlled slide.
"Work smarter, not harder!"
"That's not smarter," he shot back, flames flaring again as he cut across her path, closing distance with a long, low burst that brought him nearly level with her. "That's avoiding the race entirely."
Ciri reappeared just ahead of him again, barely giving him time to react before she pivoted mid-step, running backward for a brief moment, her grin sharp.
"Sounds like something someone who is currently losing would say."
Sebastian exhaled sharply through his nose.
Then he changed pace.
Instead of chasing directly, he veered off to the side, angling downward through a denser cluster of trees where teleporting would be tighter, more restrictive. His movements became sharper, more grounded, shorter bursts, faster transitions, using the terrain rather than fighting it.
Ciri noticed.
"Hey! that's not fair!"
"You can teleport," he called back, ducking under a low branch without slowing. "Figure it out."
She clicked her tongue, but the smile never left her face.
'Fine.'
'If that was how he wanted to play it...'
She adjusted.
Her next step didn't take her forward, it took her above.
Space twisted again, and she reappeared on a higher incline, using gravity to her advantage as she pushed off, dropping down through the trees in a diagonal descent that cut across his path entirely.
Sebastian looked up just in time to see her coming down ahead of him.
"…Alright," he muttered, a hint of admiration in his voice.
He surged again.
Flame carried him forward in a longer burst this time, the heat trailing behind him as he closed the gap once more. They were neck and neck now, weaving through the final stretch of forest where the trees began to thin and the path widened just enough to see their destination clearly.
Kaer Morhen's keep.
Ciri hit the ground running, no teleport this time, just speed, pure and unassisted, her boots striking the earth in a rhythm that matched his.
"Last stretch!" she called.
"No tricks?" he asked.
She shot him a look.
"…No promises."
He almost laughed.
They pushed harder.
The gate loomed closer in the distance, the courtyard beyond it just visible now,
And then,
They crossed.
At the same time.
Both of them stepped onto the stone within the keep's courtyard in the same instant, momentum carrying them forward a step before they both stopped.
They were silent for a moment, then
"I win, you cheated."
They said it at the same time.
Ciri was out of breath, and turned to him immediately, pointing a finger at his chest.
"You cut through the trees!"
"And you teleported half the way down the mountain!"
"That's my ability!"
"That's not running!"
She opened her mouth to argue,
Then stopped.
He did too.
And just like that, it broke.
They laughed, freely.
It carried across the courtyard.
Enough to draw attention of everyone there.
Geralt stood near the far side, arms loosely crossed, watching them with that same expression of amusement. Vesemir was closer to the center, speaking with Eskel, though both of them had turned at the sound. Lambert, leaning lazily against a crate, took one look at them and smirked.
"Well, well," he called out, pushing himself upright. "Lovebirds are back."
Ciri rolled her eyes immediately, though the faint red color was rising to her cheeks.
"Shut up, Lambert!"
Eskel chuckled under his breath, crossing his arms as he looked between them.
"You two look like hell."
"Feel like it too, actually. This race was more intense than the monster we fought." Ciri muttered.
Vesemir stepped forward slightly, his gaze moving over them, taking in the dirt, the dried blood.
But there was something else in his eyes, relief and pride.
"You're back," he said simply.
Ciri's expression softened, just slightly.
"We are."
Vesemir nodded once, then glanced past them, as if expecting something to follow.
"So," he asked, "was it worth the trip?"
Sebastian adjusted the grip on his sword slightly before answering.
"It was a Chort."
"And now," he added calmly, "It's dead"
Ciri let out a quiet breath, rubbing at the back of her neck.
"Took longer to track than to kill," she said. "Thing knew how to stay hidden."
Vesemir hummed faintly, unsurprised by it.
"They do that," he said. "Big as they are, they'll vanish if they want to, and the only way to be sure is to lure them out the old-fashioned way, through a good old bait."
Geralt's voice came then, his gaze rested briefly on Sebastian.
"Looks like you managed alright."
Sebastian nodded.
Geralt's expression shifted just slightly.
"Speaking of which," he added, "are you ready?"
The words hung there.
Ciri got silent.
"I am." Seb answered.
There was no doubt in it or second thoughts.
"I've been ready for sometime."
"You were ready long before now," Vesemir said. "But it was still not exactly right to send you off on the path at the time for many reasons, but now..."
His gaze softened, just a fraction.
"Now you are."
Sebastian inclined his head slightly.
That was all.
Ciri said nothing.
She had crossed her arms at some point, her gaze drifting away from them, toward the far side of the courtyard where the walls met the mountain. Anyone looking closely would see it, the way her jaw tightened slightly, the way her shoulders held just a bit too still.
But she didn't speak.
****
Vesemir looked at them all, then he exhaled, slowly.
"That's enough work for the day," he said,
Lambert raised a brow, "That so? Didn't think you had it in you to call it early."
Vesemir shot him a look to remind him who he was speaking to. "We're going inside," he continued, ignoring the remark. "There's reason enough to mark the night."
His gaze flickered, briefly, toward Sebastian.
"Not every day one of ours sets foot on the Path for the first time."
"And besides," he added, "half of you idiots will be gone by morning anyway."
Lambert snorted, pushing himself fully upright now, stretching his arms above his head in an exaggerated way.
"Well, when you put it like that…" he said, stepping forward with a lazy grin. "Of course, Papa Vesemir. Anything you want."
Eskel let out a chuckle under his breath, shaking his head slightly as he followed after them.
Geralt said nothing at first, falling into step beside Vesemir, though the faintest hint of amusement lingered in his expression. The group made their way inside, the heavy doors of Kaer Morhen standing open to receive them.
All except two.
Ciri hadn't moved, she still stood where she had been, arms crossed, her gaze fixed somewhere far beyond the courtyard walls, as though she could see something none of them could.
Sebastian noticed.
He lingered a step behind the others, watching her for a moment, then quietly changed course, closing the distance between them without a word.
He didn't speak at first or ask.
Instead, as he reached her, he simply slipped a hand around her waist firmly, and pulled her gently out of her daydreaming.
She blinked, caught off guard just enough for it to work.
"Hey!"
"Come on now," he said, his tone light, almost teasing, as he guided her forward.
Ciri frowned, "I'm walking," she muttered, though her feet had already begun to move with his.
"Doesn't look like it."
"It does."
"It didn't."
She shot him a look, sharp but lacking any real heat.
"Fine," she said after a second, "Let's go."
But even as she said it, her hand slipped from her side, catching hold of him in return, not resisting now. Her fingers curled lightly against him as they walked, her earlier tension easing.
They walked together.
Ahead of them, the others had already begun to disappear into the keep, their voices echoing faintly through the stone halls as they moved deeper inside.
Geralt paused just beyond the threshold, his gaze shifting slightly as he glanced back.
He saw them, the way they walked together and the way she held onto him, even if she pretended otherwise. And for the briefest moment, Geralt closed his eyes and smiled then he turned, following the others inside as the heavy doors of Kaer Morhen stood open just a little longer.
/-\
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