->Yennefer & Ciri Interactions<- - Blog Posts

endlxssnights​:

|   ⚜   |   C. & YENNEFER WILCYNSKI   |   ⚜   |

Ciri thought she could do this. She had been on her own for much longer, under much more traumatic circumstances. Those had ended… decently, with far  less issues than she initially expected to come out of those situations with. There was something about the quiet living in Sallow Hills, the lull of the town making even the smallest of situations seem mountainous. 

She couldn’t. Ciri still felt very much like a child when she slid the key into the lock- steadily ignoring the tightness in her throat when it sank in smoothly, Yennefer hadn’t changed the locks- even more so upon swinging open the door. She dropped the duffle bag to the ground, trying to ignore the sense that she had betrayed her mother by staying away for so long.

@bombadills​ for yennefer!

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The topic of Ciri weighed heavily on Yennefer’s mind, as it often had since the day they had met. Of course she knew that her daughter was perfectly capable of taking care of herself (especially since there was no Hunt here to chase her), but she still worried. She was still her mother, better or worse. 

Things were better with Geralt, which helped soothe her frayed nerves partially but not completely. Her flat felt so empty without Ciri there to fill it. 

The sound of the door opening sent a little jolt through her system; interrupting her thoughts as she was pouring herself a glass of wine in the kitchen. She wasn’t expecting any visitors, surely none that could simply open the door. Logically she knew nobody could get through the wards on the door if they weren't supposed to, but it was still ingrained in her to jump into fight mode. 

As Yennefer entered the front room to investigate, her heart swelled and her anxieties diminished. Holding out her hands in a welcoming gesture for the girl to take, a smile lit up her face. “Ciri, my darling girl.”

endlxssnights​:

|   ⚜   |   C. & YENNEFER WILCZYNSKI   |   ⚜   |

━━━━━━━━━    ☽ ⚜ ☾    ━━━━━━━━━

Giving Kotek’s head another pat, Ciri figured the cat would be good for the two. Ciri needed something she could pick up and almost squeeze the life out of and Yennefer… well, her mother needed something to parent when Ciri wasn’t around. A cat seemed perfect for that. A whatever kind of cat Kotek was. One her way to work, she’d overheard some terrifying blonde… creature talk about them and the misuse of their names. Cat-sí, she had called the little chaos gremlins.

Ciri could only hope her hands weren’t shaking as she left Kotek to his own devices, folding herself around her mother’s outstretched arms. She was weak for touch, she always had been.

She couldn’t lie to Yennefer. No, they had agreed to never lie to one another. “I went to work then the gym.” There. Normal. But a small pit of guilt was creeping at her. “I overdid it though, I think I almost caused Jesus or Ben to call the emergency services.”

Ciri’s eyes widened, realizing just how that would sound. “I didn’t pass out!”

Not quite.

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Wrapping her arms tightly around Ciri, Yennefer pressed her nose into her blonde hair and held her for a moment. It didn’t take long for her to feel there was something slightly off with the girl. Despite the little weirdness, Yennefer wasn't expecting something on that scale. 

“Cirilla!” Usually Yennefer refrained from using Ciri’s full name, but the statement came as such a shock it just came out of her. She pulled back a little, holding the girl by her shoulders and immediately began going full mother hen mode as her hands searched over Ciri’s head and face to identify the problem. “What were you doing? What happened? You know I take no issue with your training, but this— you have to take care of yourself first.” 

Suddenly there was a glass of water on the nearest end table which Yennefer quickly picked up and gave Ciri no other option than to at the very least hold it. She was no medical professional, but usually these things stemmed from dehydration. “I should hope you didn’t pass out, gods give me strength.”

endlxssnights​:

|   ⚜   |   C. & YENNEFER WILCZYNSKI   |   ⚜   |

━━━━━━━━━    ☽ ⚜ ☾    ━━━━━━━━━

“Kotek,” She repeated. The little cat’s name seemed to break the spell, Ciri bending down to scratch behind his ears. She loved him already, the cat seeming to return the love tenfold. “Hi Kotek, I’m Ciri.”

Yennefer always seemed to know what Ciri needed, and the solution to it, before she had even pinned down the actual problem. She loved her mother, but sometimes it scared her, how in tune she was. Was it a mage thing? Or was it just something uniquely Yennefer?

“Grandmother didn’t let me have animals.” Ciri’s voice was soft, as if speaking too loud would cause Kotek to run. “We’d lose them too easily. Kelpie was my first one.”

And now Kotek.

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Immensely glad that Ciri liked the newest addition to their flat, Yennefer watched the pair interact with a genuine smile on her lips. She idly wondered what a younger version of herself would think about the display before her, but she was quickly brought back to reality when Ciri spoke.

“I’m happy you have a second, then. And I’m glad he’s made you happy. He seems to like the place well enough.” Yennefer held an arm open for a hug, not wanting to impose the affection if Ciri wasn’t in the mood for it. She knew her daughter better than anyone else (bar Geralt of course), and could recognize when she was having a rough time easily enough. Try as she might, Ciri had never been good at hiding things from her. 

“One reason to be happy you haven’t undergone the Mutations– cats can’t stand the presence of Witchers. I can’t speak for those of this sphere’s magickal origin, but back home… the look you’re giving me tells me you already knew that,” she spoke in the gentle and kind tone that was reserved only for Ciri. She should’ve known better than to try and lecture the girl tied for ‘most stubborn witcher in existence’ on something she had already gone over, no matter how long ago that was. A smile was still dancing on her lips. “Nevermind that. You’ve met the events of my day. How was yours, daughter?”

endlxssnights​:

|   ⚜   |   C. & YENNEFER WILCZYNSKI   |   ⚜   |

Things should be fine. Geralt remembered her, was close to remembering Yennefer, remembered Uncle Jaskier. She should be okay. The withdrawal-like aches in her chest would not leave her. Ciri had only felt like this once, in the few days between arriving at Kaer Mohren and starting training. As if her body was protesting the lack of adrenaline and grief that had been coursing through her system ever since she watched her grandmother fall from the tower.

Ciri let herself in through the front door, readying an explanation for her shaking hands (trained too much, ask Ben or Jesus or even Poe and they would back her up). The explanation and bone-deep exhaustion seemed to leave her as a furry, color-changing creature wound around her legs.

“We have a… cat now?” Ciri spoke more out of confusion than directly to her mother.

It certainly looked like a cat- if she didn’t concentrate too hard or look directly at it- but things here always hid behind masks.

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He had nearly sent her skidding across the pavement. One moment Yennefer was walking home from work, and the next a streak of dark fur was scrambling across the sidewalk beneath her feet. 

She had learned of the sudden appearance of the animals a few hours previously from a coworker when she had gone into work, so she knew exactly what it was that had crossed her path. Yennefer steadied herself, eyes fixed on the animal as it bobbed and weaved around her feet. Two minutes later, the scary mage lady could be seen carrying home a (very cute) ball of fur.  

She hadn’t owned a cat before. By the time she was stable enough to (the first time around), she was living in Vengerberg with Geralt. Cats notoriously don’t like Witchers, no matter how fond they were of mages, so Yennefer didn’t even attempt to lure one in to stick around. After that breif time, she had been on the move too much to give it a second thought.

Yennefer hoped Ciri would be as happy with the little addition as she was. She figured the pair of them could use something like this with the recent stress they had been through. 

“Ciri,” Yenner smiled as she came into the front room from the kitchen, a soft and loving greeting. “Ah, yes, I see you’ve met Kotek. Isn't he sweet? He looked like he needed a good home, and I’ve been wanting one, so here he is.”

shallowmagics​:

— *•̩̩͙   c. & yennefer wilczynski  •̩̩͙* —

━━━━━━━━━    *•̩̩͙ ♔ •̩̩͙*　 ━━━━━━━━━

It was stupid to believe Geralt. Back home, believing her father was a matter of her own life or death. Trusting Geralt meant Ciri had a much better chance of living. Even if it scared her in the process. She had spent longer than she thought with him that day, holding onto that same hope.

If she was with Geralt, she was safe.

Cirilla had never imagined one of her core tenants would shatter around her like broken glass.

“I know, I know I shouldn’t.” But she wanted to.

“I liked it better when I thought he was on a different sphere,” she muttered, dark and low. Selfish, she knew but Ciri would say anything, wish for anything, in order to contain the gaping wound in her chest.

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If Yennefer could’ve stopped the pain herself, she would’ve. She wanted to find every one of the fragmented pieces around her daughter, to take them on as her own; for those she couldn't take, she would file them down until they couldn't do harm any longer. Ciri was the only person she could ever fathom doing such a thing for. 

“I preferred it that way too. It was much easier like that.” Her fingers continued smoothing down her back, until she decided to make a little attempt at capturing Ciri’s attention. A wisp of concentrated pale smoke came up from one of the few burning candles in the room. Though the fire was not its source, Yennefer was. It grew in size until it was nearly the size of a basketball. It danced around the living room in the shape of little animals and birds and figures. 

“I think the pair of us deserve a Skellige beach vacation after all of this. Don’t you?” 

shallowmagics​:

— *•̩̩͙   c. & yennefer wilczynski  •̩̩͙* —

━━━━━━━━━    *•̩̩͙ ♔ •̩̩͙*　 ━━━━━━━━━

“If he ever gets here, you’re teaching him how to behave around technology . You brought it up, you get to handle him,” Ciri gave a laugh, but it was cut off too short. Being without her parents wasn’t what bothered her. Them having to bury her was what sat heavily in Ciri’s chest, having already come far too close to that fate in the past. She squeezed around Yenn’s hand once, more as a comfort to herself than her mother. “Neither of you will let that happen.”

The bed and breakfast came into view, Ciri leading her mother inside and to the door of her room. She was reluctant to separate contact from Yennefer, but practicality won out as she dug in her gym bag for her key to unlock the door.

The room was plain, pretty in an unoffending, universal sort of way. Thick curtains, light colors, light wood furniture. Ciri dropped her gym bag onto the small bed as she stepped inside, fishing out a slightly larger one to begin placing her meager belongings inside. “You can come in, I won’t be long. I didn’t see the need for much.”

Basic toiletries, a few changes of clothes, everything she had appeared with. Zireael, thankfully, was included with the latter. Leaving Cintra had taught her at least one thing, to pack light. Safety in one place was never a given.

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Squeezing the hand in her own, Yennefer shook her head. “No, no we will not. So long as I have my way, and you know I always do, nothings happening to you.” Briefly, the phantom figures of The Hunt crossed her mind, but she dispelled it as fast as it came. They were spheres away, and the pair of them were stuck here. Ciri would be fine. 

As she followed Ciri on the way to her room, Yennefer surveyed the people in the bed and breakfast. She liked to see who was where, who they were meeting, and to surmise the why behind it. In short: she was nosy. 

When they got up to Ciri’s room, she slipped in when she was directed to. It was much the same as the one she had stayed in upon her own arrival. “When we get back to my flat, we’ll match up our schedules, and find a day where we can go out to the shops to get you some new things.”

shallowmagics​:

— *•̩̩͙   c. & yennefer wilczynski  •̩̩͙* —

━━━━━━━━━    *•̩̩͙ ♔ •̩̩͙*　 ━━━━━━━━━

“He said he would visit me tomorrow,” Ciri murmured, eyes unseeing as she fixated on the wood grain of the floor.

Yes, she understood why. Her mother knew what she would do, Geralt’s memory loss be damned. The interaction might have gone even worse had Ciri known before. An ache still resided in her chest, but she knew that had been the best that conversation could have gone. How could she rationalize pouring her heart out when it would be meaningless the next morning?

Carefully, Ciri toed off her shoes, going to sit on the couch beside Yennefer. She fell into the embrace, wrapping her arms around her mother’s middle. Her face was buried in Yennefer’s side. “I want Father back.”

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It was a rare occasion to see Ciri look so small. The weight of it seemed to be crushing down on both of them now, which was far from what Yennefer wanted. She had been sure there would have been shouting, yet this quiet resignation to it was somehow worse. 

“Did he?” voice soft, not wanting to pry her open any more than she was willing. There was no comfort Yennefer could offer; she had none to give. “Don’t... hope is a fickle thing, Ciri. Be careful with it.”

The older woman watched her daughter carefully, feeling her heart ache inside her chest. Holding her was grounding. It kept her in the moment instead of allowing for her mind to wander a world away. Her arms tightened around the girl as she pressed her nose into white hair. Yennefer’s fingers danced up and down her back for a while before she had the courage to speak again, “I want him too, Cirilla. We’ll find a way out of this mess, I always do.”

shallowmagics​:

— *•̩̩͙   c. & yennefer wilczynski  •̩̩͙* —

━━━━━━━━━    *•̩̩͙ ♔ •̩̩͙*　 ━━━━━━━━━

She didn’t understand this land, not at all. Monsters and elves were far easier to understand than things like cars and headphones. What she did understand was the way her mother’s hand felt in hers,  how things would eventually be alright. Yennefer would die than let anything hurt Ciri. The blonde knew this like she knew her own heartbeat. A comforting, ever-there weight. 

“You sound too much like Uncle Vesemir. You might just summon him with those words,” She smiled. Zireael had been a comfort she clung to her first few nights in this town, quite literally. It was proof that everything had happened, that she still had her family, somewhere out there. In a strange world with things she didn’t understand, the sword she knew as an extension of her own body was her solace. “Not a Witcher yet. Never, if Father gets his way.”

Ciri nodded, listening intently. Five months. Yennefer had been without her and Geralt for five whole months. “I’m surprised you haven’t burned the place down. I never thought you would ever work for anyone, the Council included.”

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Everything about this town left Yennefer cold, the kind of chill that sank into her bones and stayed there despite any effort to chase it away. Holding onto Ciri was the first touch of warmth she had felt in months. She would do anything imaginable to keep that warmth from slipping from her grasp. 

“Could you imagine? I think the sight of a lightbulb would be far too much for him to process,” the idea of the grumpy witcher trying to navigate technology was extraordinarily amusing. “You’ll get there in time, daughter. He just wants to make sure you’re safe, it's a dangerous job after all. Takes years of training. To be without you is a fate unimaginable to either of us. But your work will pay off, I know it will.”

She did know. The Ciri of her time was a bit farther down The Path, and was shaping up to be quite the formidable opponent. From what she could discern, there was no Path to be found here, but she wouldn't be the one to tell Ciri not to practice. They neared the bed and breakfast before long, having been close to it to begin with. “Ah, yes. I had given up on employment in my late thirties, but one must make sacrifices when trying to get the things they want, my dear.”

shallowmagics​:

— *•̩̩͙   c. & yennefer wilczynski  •̩̩͙* —

━━━━━━━━━    *•̩̩͙ ♔ •̩̩͙*　 ━━━━━━━━━

“For how long?” Ciri whispered, body rigid. 

She wasn’t a child anymore. Ciri didn’t need to be lied to. Protecting herself, emotionally or physically, was something she could handle! There were others more powerful than she, yes. Ciri was no Witcher nor Mage, could barely keep control of her Chaos, but she could be told upsetting things without inflicting too much damage. 

She was much better at it now, having accepted that her childhood had been just a pretty lie. 

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Inhaling slowly, Yennefer scrubbed her face with unease. It didn't mess up her usually perfect makeup- her battle armor- as she wasn't wearing it; she didn’t need that cover in front of Ciri. 

She hadn’t meant for this. Stupid, stupid, stupid, of course Ciri would find out. She was curious, often too curious for her own good. She was bound to find out sooner or later, but Yennefer was hoping it would’ve been later, giving her time to figure out what to say, how to say it. “Three days,” she paused, trying to figure out where to go next. “You spoke to him, then? You understand why I couldn’t just… say it?” 

It hurt her. He had crawled under her skin and made an uncomfortable home there. As it seemed, Ciri was the only person who didn’t make her feel bad anymore. She was the only truly good thing Yennefer had. The last thing she wished was for her to turn on her too. 

shallowmagics​:

— *•̩̩͙   c. & yennefer wilczynski  •̩̩͙* —

The lock of the door made a soft click as Ciri stepped inside, not daring to make a sound louder than that. It would break the fragile calm she had pieced together, causing her heart to shatter. Being transported to this town had already made her brittle, deep cracks spidering out from the center. Geralt had taken a hammer to that heart of glass, Ciri keeping it- and herself- together by sheer willpower. 

The soft sounds of the television caught her attention, turning to find Yennefer on the couch. For the second time that day, Ciri wanted to scream. She caught her mother’s gaze, mouth opening in an attempt to speak. When words escaped her, she shut it again. Anger and despair tore through her body, ripping her psyche in two. Ciri squeezed her eyes shut, knowing she couldn’t be looking at her mother when she spoke. 

“Did you know?”

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Fuck. She knew. Yennefer didn’t have to ask what Ciri was talking about. It had only been three days since she had found Geralt, if found was the right word for it. She had wanted to tell Ciri, but the thought of it made her sick. How was one supposed to deliver that sort of news? She had spent all the time since trying to figure it out, but it seemed the universe had another idea. The TV shut off with a click, and she sat up to look at her daughter properly.

There was no want nor need for her to lie. Yennefer didn’t like lying to Ciri, there had been enough trouble stirred up by that in the past, and she found no good came from it. Her reply was quiet, “Yes.” She let the word hang in the air for a minute, before continuing, “You have every right to be angry with me, but would you let me explain?”

shallowmagics​:

— *•̩̩͙   c. & yennefer wilczynski  •̩̩͙* —

━━━━━━━━━    *•̩̩͙ ♔ •̩̩͙*　 ━━━━━━━━━

Ciri’s nose scrunched up as she smiled. There had been issues between them, beginning and ending with the witch, but Ciri knew Yennefer would rather die than actually hurt her. Yenn had seen the chaos within Ciri, how she was drowning under the weight of it, and had chosen to help her. For that, Ciri would always be grateful. Yennefer made her feel safe. 

Lacing their fingers together, Ciri playfully knocked her smaller body into Yenn’s. “I would like that. I don’t have much, the people in town helped me. I don’t have a lot from home either.” The thought was sobering. The people were the most important to her, at least she had one with her now. “Zireael managed to come with me.”

“I don’t understand the technology but the bakery… they’re nice to me. Helpful. How long have you been here?”

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A laugh bubbled out of Yennefer as Ciri bumped into her, the sound a true rarity, especially in the past few months of being here on her own. She mirrored the action, lightly knocking into Ciri. Elation couldn’t begin to describe her feelings in that moment. Even if it were only to last a little while, for now she had her daughter, which was the only thing that mattered.

“Its good to know the realms still respect the first rule of being a witcher. ‘A witcher can forget to eat, to drink, to breathe even, but a witcher never forgets to care for their blade,’“ It was a sentiment the pair had heard rattled off by Geralt and Vesemir countless times. She knew the importance the blade held, and was glad it had made it across. For a moment, she wondered if Ciri could escape this place, for she was the only person she knew of who could easily hop between realms. She dispelled the idea with a minute shake of her head.

Yennefer nodded as understood the bit about technology well, “I’m glad they’ve shown you kindness. I’ve been here, oh, five months now? Maybe more. Tracking time was a little hard at first. I was trying to find my way back to you, mostly, but there doesn’t seem to be a way to leave. I’ve got a job at the little metaphysical shop. Its nice enough, but its not as pleasing as what I used to do. You know how well I take being told what to do.”

shallowmagics​:

— *•̩̩͙   c. & yennefer wilczynski  •̩̩͙* —

━━━━━━━━━    *•̩̩͙ ♔ •̩̩͙*　 ━━━━━━━━━

At first, Ciri had been… hesitant about trusting others. In the span of a single night everyone she had ever loved was stolen from her. All that had been afforded to her was fear and the knowledge that some mysterious man would help her. Then she had Dara. Then came Geralt, Vesemir, Lambert, Yennefer. People she loved and in turn, loved her. 

She shut her eyes as Yenn kissed her forehead, wanting to stay in the moment forever. Calanthe had loved her, of that Ciri had no doubts about, but not like Yenn. Calanthe was blood and fire, who gave hugs hard enough to bruise only when Ciri was truly in need. Yennefer was soft touches and let Ciri hold her close, didn’t comment when tears would eventually bead upon her lashes.

A quick nod, going to collect her gym bag from where it was forgotten on the ground. She didn’t want to stray too far from Yennefer, not when she had just gotten her mother back. “There’s a woman- Tano- she owns the-” Not an inn, what was the equivalent here? “-I don’t know what it’s called. It’s where they put people who don’t have anywhere else to go. I’ve been there about two weeks.”

She readjusted her bag. “If you have the room for it.”

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It was an extraordinary relief, having Ciri back. It felt like fitting the final piece of a puzzle in place. Yennefer watched her as she went for her bag, taking in every little difference from the last time she had seen her. The mage had lived an extraordinarily long time, and had seen many beauties in her day, but nobody rivalled the radiance of her Ciri. Nobody ever could. 

“If I have room for it? What a ridiculous thing to say. Did you leave your sense back on The Continent, cub?” Her words were light, teasing, in a way she hadn’t spoken for a long time. She held out her hand for Ciri to take, “Come, lets get your things from the not-an-inn, then you can settle in with me. I happen to have an empty guest bedroom which I think will work perfectly.”

There was very little Yennefer wouldn’t do for Ciri. As any mother, she had made her fair share of mistakes in the past, but she worked to ensure she wouldn’t slip up with her ever again. “You’ve been well, I hope?”

shallowmagics​:

— *•̩̩͙   c. & yennefer wilczynski  •̩̩͙* —

━━━━━━━━━    *•̩̩͙ ♔ •̩̩͙*　 ━━━━━━━━━

Ciri pressed herself further into Yennefer, as if a simple embrace would be enough to quiet her mind, make her forget about being in a strange land with no one from home around here. Well, close to no one. Having Yennefer here with her was one of the best possible outcomes. She hadn’t allowed herself to hope her family would come, not with the aftermath of Cintra still fresh in her mind. That loneliness was still carved deep into her chest.

Yennefer being here, with her, stoked that hope within her. Ciri wouldn’t wish for more, she didn’t know if she could allow herself to wish for more of her family to come. It was dangerous. That one, terrible night had taught her so.

Ciri blinked back tears as she stared up at Yennefer, a watery smile gracing her face. “I thought I was going to be alone.” Again. Ciri felt her unspoken words would be too harsh, would cause this fragile moment between the two to break. “I can’t remember a thing after leaving Kaer Mohren after I-“ Destroyed it, killed the men I believed to be my family. Disappointed Geralt even though he would never say it. “-after everything. I know something happened, I know it. I just can’t remember.”

She didn’t deserve Yennefer being so understanding, so kind to her. Not after Yenn had to help clean up Ciri’s mess while she had laid there shivering, exhaustion and revulsion fighting for the dominant emotion in her body. 

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There were very few people Yennefer truly cared about. When she was a girl, she had locked her heart safely away, and kept it far from reach. It would protect her from getting hurt; it would keep her safe. Over the years, slowly, surely, she had built herself a little family. Her little family. To have even part of it back... she couldn’t be more grateful.

Maybe it wasn’t the exact Ciri she had been waiting for, but it was her daughter nevertheless, and that was all that she cared about. She cupped the girl’s face in her hand, gently swiping her thumb over her cheek. A wobbly smile on her face, Yennefer placed a kiss in the center of her forehead.

“You’re not alone, now. I'm here, and I wont leave you. Not ever,” she said softly, with a reassuring look. “Don’t fret over any of that my dear. Its past, and far away. No need to dwell on it for the time being.”

She knew what Ciri meant, of course, but Yennefer would never hold anything over Ciri. Exhaling, Yen adjusted Ciri’s jacket in the way that only doting mothers can manage. “You should go get your bag. It won’t do you good to lose your things. Where are you staying? Do you- do you need some place to stay? I’d rather not be apart from you anymore.” 

shallowmagics​:

— *•̩̩͙   c. & yennefer wilczynski  •̩̩͙* —

Earth was different. Terrifying, if Cirilla would ever allow herself to voice her innermost thoughts. Never would she allow it. Her grandmother had taught her better. Geralt had taught her better. She found a job, trained at the gym, and kept to herself. The people at Bevin & Cecil’s had taken pity on her, the girl clearly not from this land. She thought her father would be proud of her for keeping her head down- mostly- and not running headlong into the forest with a dagger in hand.

Ciri shouldered her gym bag, attempting to get back to her temporary ‘home’ before the snow started to fall in sheets. Now, the flakes only dusted her lashes. She paused at a corner to readjust the bag again, gaze sweeping over the cobblestone road to land on someone she thought would never be here with.

“Yennefer?” Her voice came out as a hoarse whisper, Ciri blinking again as if Yenn would disappear if she looked for too long. When she stayed, Ciri broke into a run, her gym bag falling to the ground.

“Mother!” The last half of the word was cut off by Ciri throwing herself at Yennefer, the girl’s face buried in the other’s shoulder.

⊱ ──────────── {⋆⌘⋆} ──────────── ⊰

Yennefer could handle anything. She was powerful, and everyone on the Continent knew it. Yet, this wasn't the Continent, and she had to adapt. She had gotten a flat, a job, and a silly little routine to keep her mind off of Geralt and Ciri and every other damned thing. On her walk home from work, she would often find herself nearly ready to kill to get them back. Her mind would do twists and turns trying to think of something, anything, that could help her track down their missing daughter. 

For a moment, she thought she was starting to lose it, as she could've sworn that she could see an apparition of the girl she so longed for. But it wasn't an apparition. It had to be her. For the gods’ sake, it was. Yennefer stopped walking, face breaking out into the biggest grin this town had ever seen.

“Ciri!” her name was a gasp, as she wrapped her daughter up in her arms. “Daughter,” she crooned into her mess of blonde hair, before pulling back to check her over, studying her face and person carefully. “Look at you! You’ve grown up on me, swallow. Positively gorgeous,” Yennefer was bubbling as she pulled Ciri into another embrace.

The Horsewoman of War. That's what they called her. A beautiful phantom in the night, flanked by her black kestrels, who left misfortune in her wake. A dangerous, fatal woman not to be reckoned with. The mage was a deadly force, known far and wide in her realm. Yet there she was, embracing a young woman with every fleck of strength in her body, and had they not been in public, Yennefer may have started to cry.