Ciri did not consider herself a very exigent person. Sure, she enjoyed luxuries as much as the next one. She liked shoes and pretty dresses, jewelry and make up, and even the occasional fancy noble ball, but she could live just fine without those things. She went across worlds with as little as the clothes she had on her, and was not into the habit of hoarding transdimentional souvenirs.
There were, however, small commodities she liked to have, one of which she currently held between her fingers: a ballpoint pen.
Wonderful, practical little things, those are.
The sun was pleasantly warm against her skin, and the scent of fresh air was a treat to her lungs. She uncapped the pen and rested her back against a tree trunk, making herself comfortable. Then, she resumed taking notes on her booklet. The encyclopedia of the creatures of the multiverse was a project she'd had going for a long while, and this was the seventh or eighth notebook she filled with doodles and annotations.
The alagaesian elf, she wrote down right under 'the alagaesian urgal', then inked a quick sketch of Arya. 'The alagaesian elf is quite average as far as elves go. Pointy ears, good with magic, superiority complex, fairly unremarkable. See 'elves' for more information.'
She crossed her legs and skipped some space, in case she wanted to go back and add something. She was about to move on to the unique species of rabbit she had spotted – and eaten – early in the morning, when her musings were interrupted by the landing of a gigantic blue dragon. Its weight made the ground shake and the impact lifted a cloud of dust that made Ciri cough.
From the beast's back, a boy no older than sixteen jumped down from a saddle, drawing his crimson sword as he moved. He was, of course, Eragon – the one she was meant to capture. King Galbatorix had warned her that by taking the elf, the boy and the dragon would follow, and she had obviously noticed their approach, so she wasn't really surprised. Still, she had been enjoying a fairly peaceful moment for a change.
The boy was now only a couple steps away from her, his hand tensely holding his blade, pointing it at her. Ciri slammed her notebook shut and grit her teeth with mild irritation.
"Plague take me, I hate Mondays," She declared, not hiding her general annoyance.
"Where is she?" Eragon snarled. His eyes had dark rings under them, and he looked disheveled and tired. He was also rather rude.
"Good afternoon," She snapped.
The boy took a step closer. "You can't escape us. We've had your tracks for three days now. You are surrounded. The elves are ready to leap into action, even if you somehow evade me…and Saphira."
The dragon growled in agreement.
Absolute fucking bullshit. O gods above and below, grant me patience.
"Oh no." Ciri replied in a monotone. "I have been found. How could you have uncovered the trail I worked so hard to… wait, no, I didn't. Glad to know it took you five days to find me on a leisure stroll, I can now rest assured that I will never be caught if I start trying."
His ears turned pink at that, and she smiled maliciously.
You are mean, Cirilla.
She grinned wider.
"Where is she?" Eragon insisted. "I'm going to give you one more chance to start talking."
The witcheress lifted her palms in a gesture of peace. "All right, all right, as you wish, sir. Right now, it's twenty two forty seven past midday, so she's probably applying her lilac and gooseberries perfume to attend court – oh, you mean the elf, not my mum? Silly me. She went to the village to buy bread. Did you know she's a vegetarian? Isn't that crazy?"
"Have you no fear for your life?" He growled. "You dare mock Eragon Shadeslayer? I who, defeated Durza? I, who dare defy the king?"
Ciri paled, her eyes wide, and swallowed dry. "My apologies, sir. I wasn't aware…but of course, the woman. Oh!" She moved her hand to her waist and patted the pouch strapped there, her fingers trembling, until she finally fished out something. "Damn! For a second I thought it was the elf I had forgotten here inside one of my pockets, but no. Just another ballpoint. My sincerest regrets, Eragon Shadeslayer."
It took him almost two seconds to realize she was making fun of him again – probably because he had never seen anything like a ballpoint pen in his life. Ciri mentally patted herself in the back for her convincing acting.
The dragon let out a stream of fire from her nostrils. The boy closed the distance between the them and pressed the tip of his sword dangerously against Ciri's neck. In an instant, without moving a muscle, she blinked herself right under a tree on the opposite side, her position unchanged except that she now faced Eragon's back. Moving her fingers in the air, she swiftly cast the sign of Aard.
The result was immediate, and the telekinetic blast erupted from her palm and tossed the boy face first against the tree she'd leaned against mere fractions of second before.
"If you point this thing my way again, I am going to shove it up to the hilt inside your arse. I mean it."
"She means it," Arya agreed as she appeared just over the hill, a bag slung over her shoulder. She ran the remaining distance between them, a look of legitimate worry on her face.
"Arya!" The boy exclaimed as he stood back up, bewildered. "Where –"
"Fucking buying bread!" Ciri snarled exasperatedly, then took a deep breath and mentally counted to ten. She turned to Arya. "Is he daft? That's the man you're with? You should consider other options, you know – like me. One night stand, no strings attached. Guaranteed satisfaction."
The elf frowned, and the boy turned to stare at her with complete puzzlement.
"But you're a woman," he pointed out.
So this world is one of those places
"I'm warning you for your own good, lady elf," Ciri continued, ignoring Eragon's remark. "You see, Lara loving a human is precisely the reason my life turned to shit. I know it can be tempting, considering the elven -" She paused and lifted her hand, thumb down. "Plrrrrt. As opposed to the human -" Paused again and showed a considerable size with her outspread palms. "– and you would be absolutely right, I would know, but do open your mind to other possibilities, you might be pleasantly surprised."
Eragon gaped as she spoke, his cheeks quickly taking a crimson shade. Arya hid her face with her hands.
"Please, stop," The elf begged. "I think you've completely misunderstood –"
Ciri laughed. "All this is a big misunderstanding." She turned to the boy. "Our first meeting was rather abrupt, I admit, and the way I snatched your girlfriend away might have given you the impression I am holding her hostage, which I am not."
"She's not –"
Arya didn't let him finish, turning to face her. "Yes, you are."
"I am not. I'm holding the world hostage. There's a difference. A big difference. A few billion cubic kilometers of pure fucking difference. Hey, watch the sword. You think I'm scared of you just because you showed up with a dragon? Because you're wrong."
The dragon in question growled, small flames licking at its nostrils. Arya sighed and tossed the bag she'd been carrying on the ground, then sat down in the ground, picked up a loaf of bread and bit into it.
"Please, let us talk this out," The elf suggested. "Eragon, don't act like a fool. If this was a matter to be solved with brute force, I would have already escaped. You'll have to reason with her, because I'm not sure the three of us can take her down, together."
"You can't," Ciri informed.
The witcheress had met many people across the worlds that could go toe to toe with her. Dark figures like Corvo Attano and his daughter Emily Kaldwin. Powerful mages such as Merlin and Morganna, Gandalf the White, the Dragonborn from Tamriel, Inquisitor Trevelyan and the youngest Hawke from Thedas. And then there were also people with not a drop of magic to them that she still wouldn't want to cross, as was the case of the eldest Hawke sister and Commander Shepard.
She liked to think she knew how deep into trouble she was. She'd made mistakes when she was younger, grossly misjudged the danger in Bonhart, Vilgefortz and even Eredin, but she had learned and grown cautious from it. She knew what she was doing now.
Maybe.
She still found very little to fear from the boy and the dragon. The elf was another story. The elf, she kept an eye on. Still the three couldn't beat her on raw power, that was for certain. Some worlds simply bred out shitty mages, and Alagaesia was one such place where the greatest magician had nothing on Triss Merigold hanging upside down from a dimeritium post.
The elf and the boy exchanged looks and the witcher medallion on her neck trembled, telling on their telepathy. Their mental communication ended with Eragon sitting down next to Arya, a look of distaste stamped in his face. Still sitting, Ciri teleported herself closer to the pair, snatched what remained of the bread from the elf's hand and stuffed it in her mouth. It tasted of raisins.
Where did she get bread with raisins at this end of the world?
Arya squinted and wordlessly picked up another loaf. Ciri swallowed the food and cleared her throat.
"Well, I suppose this is a good time as any for some much needed explanation," She conceded. "You two must be dying of curiosity about my mysterious…everything."
"You three," A feminine voice inside her head corrected.
The witcheress recognized it the source of the voice as the dragon. "Oh, so you speak. Pleased to meet you, Ser dragoness."
"Saphira. And of course I speak."
Ciri shrugged. "The king didn't mention it and I didn't ask. I've met dragons that spoke through telepathy, dragons that spoke through their mouths and dragons that did not speak at all. I'll make sure to add 'sentience' to the section about 'alagaesian dragons' on my glossary. But for now, gather round you three, and I'll tell you a story."
And then she reached to them with her thoughts, because she had learned with Dandelion that a picture spoke more than a thousand words, and she prized herself very much on being able to spin a good tale.
"A story with illustrations," She called out with her mind.
And then she began.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I know the chapters are a bit too short, but that means I can update more often. Still, I'd like to hear from you guys if you rather have them longer but more spaced out. I'm new to this fanfiction thing, so all feedback helps, even flames. Thanks again!