The Competitive Ciri (Part 1) (Page 20)

We've made it back to Crows perch earlier than I expected. I want to know what Ciri's been through the past 11 years, but that'll have to wait when the mood is right. I know she's strong, but I also know her life couldn't have been easy. She's a special girl to many. The Wild Hunt pursued her as they did me. She didn't have Yen to come and save her as I did. I still don't know how Yen killed all those soldiers. She is regarded as the strongest woman in the world. I have faith in her ability to fight.

There are many things I want to do with Ciri today. I wonder if she still likes the things we did when we were kids... Competing with each other was a blast. I have a couple of ideas on what to do. I can't make up for the last 11 birthdays, but I can do something that shows I thought about all the ones I missed.

Ciri is a couple of months older than me, and I've never forgotten her birthday. "Now that we've got the whole day to ourselves. Is there anything special you want to do?" I'm not a maestro with women, but I remember Yen telling me you always ask a woman what they want to do before you just decide.

If it doesn't work, I have to trick her into something that'll be fun and exciting to do. "I was thinking of maybe looking into maintenance for my sword... Now that I've said that out loud, it sounds very boring..." It seems I have to trick her into a fun activity since she's giving me nothing. Now, what would two 21 year old's enjoy doing together?

We can't do the obvious since we did that last night. The Baron has quite a number of horses up here. Maybe a friendly race will be a good time. "How much do you like horses, Ciri?" Now that she's thinking about it, it'll make the idea much easier to execute.

She has a gentle smile, and her voice comes out as gently as Cintranian honey. "As much as the next girl... They're the fastest things we have in larger numbers. Loyal if you treat them right too..." It seems my plan worked. Now all I gotta do is use her personality against her.

She's never been one to back down from a challenge after all. "Well, you were never that great at riding horses, Ciri... I'm surprised you have so many good things to say about them..." I said it as innocently as possible, but the ball is in her court now. After a couple of seconds, she turns to me with fire in her eyes. A smile growing ever bigger.

Guess I had nothing to worry about. "Care to wager, Cera? I know I can beat your slow ass on a horse." My, what a shift in personality! The sweet and calm Ciri is gone, and the one who never wants to lose is here.

I succeeded in drawing out her competitive side. Now I just have to make her want to do it more. "If my memory of Kaer Morhen serves me right. Every time you were on a horse, you looked as lost as a virgin at an orgy." Insulting her skill in anything riles her up. It makes me feel kind of bad playing her like this.

On the other hand, it's nice that I have someone I know so well. "You're on Cera. I'm going to dominate you just like when we used to spar." Now I don't feel so bad. I have no question about her skills. I just want to have fun. This is the best way for me to do so. Getting in her head would be a good idea too. Gives me an advantage in the race.

I know just the thing to say too. I wonder how good her memory of last night is? "What, like how you dominated sex last night? I remember always being on top. I think you're no better at dominating me than you are at horse riding." Maybe a little tasteless, but I know if I get in her head, I'll win. I'm doing this to win while having fun.

My, what a blush Ciri, seems my head games have worked. "Well... You... I'm..." I made her lose her words at what I said. Pretty cute. She went from 0 to 100 to 0 again with just some trash talk.

I think adding some fuel to the fire will be interesting. "What's that, Ciri? You agree? Wow, who would've thought you grew so mature." She cocks a smile and squints at me. Maybe I took it a little too far. It was pretty funny, though.

She has a confident smile spread across her face, and she reaches her hand out to mine. "Let's go, you silver-tongued devil." Perhaps getting her like this was a poor decision. Not the first one I've made in the last 24 hours. However, go big or go home. I wonder how well she can keep her head in the game. When I made that little domination comment, I saw a look in her eyes akin to last night during said domination.

We make our way to the Baron to ask if we can use some horses in a race. He agrees, of course, and we head off to the stables. We both pick out horses and make our own little course for the race. It's a point-to-point race, and I believe it ends at an old run-down tower. We wait for others to arrive because the Baron wanted to make a show out of it.

Things get pretty dull around here. He's waiting at the finish line for us in a slightly drunken stupor. "What a lovely way to have some fun, don't you think?" After spending so much time with Gaunter, I learned how to manipulate people. Not to the degree of someone like him, but to people who are more emotional. People like Ciri, it's quite easy.

I wonder what Yen would think. She was always great at that with Geralt. "Yes, I must admit this is a great way to pass some time. I wonder if you can back up all that trash talk from earlier." That tells me I'm in her head for sure. If it didn't affect her, she wouldn't talk about it. I wonder what she's thinking about right now. Probably coming up with a plan.

Unknown to Cera, the woman is not thinking about the traditional after-effects of trash talk. She's replaying last night and realizing that Cera is right.

He dominated the entire time, and she did nothing but enjoy it. Her pride is clashing with her lustful memories right now. All of this is working to benefit Cera in this race if she doesn't focus.

They line up and wait for the signal to start. They were off and on their way to the tower. However, they have no idea that an enemy plans to ruin the fun with its unwanted appearance. Nothing that the two can't handle, but they have no idea that others are also in danger.