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Spirit-Touched Goose-chief
Ciri was a gift from the Spirits.
She is a perfect blend of Geralt and Eskel, and not only in looks with her bone-white hair, and mirrored facial scar to Eskel.
As a toddler, the trainers and other adult Wolfblood who remember young Geralt and Eskel can see them both in their daughter.
Her magic is always just a tad stronger than it should be, her control too perfect; much like Eskel. She takes to Wolfblood Signs like a duck to water. She has them mastered before most trainees ever start to learn - and that is of her own doing. She frequently disobeys her trainers and fathers alike, practicing in far-flung corners and towers of the Keep where any mishaps are usually contained.
She befriends animals on the grounds - livestock and pets alike. While Geralt prefers horses, Ciri tends to attract those animals with feathers. On one memorable occasion, when she's no more than 5, she is found by Aiden sitting on the roof of the Keep. Surrounding her is a flock of crows. She's got a palm full of trinkets that she has traded the birds for with scraps of baked goods, cured meats, and dried fruit. All of the Wolfblood learn to look up first when looking for Ciri after that.
Then come the geese. The white and brown demon-birds become Ciri's favourite companions in mischief, disruption, and mayhem.
Of course, this isn't solely her doing.
It's Lambert that introduces Ciri to the feathered devil-spawn when she's little. The human is now in his 30s and should know better, but many of the trainers have given up on trying to reign the boy-turned-man in, especially now that he's flanked by a Wolf, a Cat, and a Griffin Wolfblood. He's got “supervision”; but there's no stopping their group of miscreants once they've got a plot in the works. Ciri learns most of her mischief from them.
Ciri’s aptitude with animals, and birds in particular translates marvelously well to geese, and the geese follow Ciri closer than some of the goose-girls who care for the flocks full-time.
The shenanigans start small.
A half-dozen geese are let loose in the Keep (nowhere dangerous (the labs), and nowhere malicious (personal quarters or rooms with important or breakable things)), but having a handful of geese storm the lower classrooms during lessons still creates havoc.
On another occasion, a few geese are dusted with coloured powder and released on the training fields. It takes most of the morning to herd the geese back into their pens. The goose-girls feed them mealworms to keep them placated, and the warriors lumber tiredly back to the Keep. They are covered in various colours from head-to-toe, and the remembered sight of them chasing after a flock of dyed geese is one that leaves the trainees with stitches in their sides, and mud on their trousers where they fall to the ground giggling maniacally. It becomes a favourite story to cheer-up new boys that are still intimidated by the Wolfblood.
Then, when Ciri is 7, comes the first of many more in-depth goose tricks. Ciri orchestrates the first herself. Five mud-covered geese are released into the Great Hall when a number of elven dignitaries are visiting. Ciri, however, cannot be directly implicated. She’s between her fathers at the table after all.
The geese are let in through the main doors, and the doors close behind them with no one on the other side. Ciri’s magic of course, is to blame, but it’s an after-thought in the chaos of the event. Filavandrel finds the entire thing to be a joyous production, and an excellent show of the good-naturedness of not only the Wolfblood in general, but Geralt, the White Wolf himself. A leader who can enjoy and even participate in the chaos of children is a good man to follow, after all.
Later, after Ciri has cheerfully helped clean goose-poop from the floor and tables of the Great Hall, and everyone who was caught in the muddy goose cross-fire has bathed and cleaned up, Lambert takes her for a walk.
“What did you think?” she asks cheerfully once they are hidden behind the closed doors of the suite that Lambert shares with Milena, Aiden, and Voltehre.
Lambert sits on the hearth while Ciri bounces in one of the plush chairs that Aiden prefers for lounging in. Lambert smiles, brimming with pride.
“Fucking genius, kid,” he praises. “The mud was an excellent touch. It got fucking everywhere. Five geese is a good test as well,” he continues. “You need to keep it small for the first bit, yeah? No rushing into this shit. The long-game is just as important as the final pay off, yeah?”
“Yes, Uncle Lambert,” Ciri says, ideas swimming in her brain.
“What if they only thought there were five?” Ciri asks.
“How would you make them think there is a different number?” Lambert asks, liking what she’s thinking of.
Ciri chews her lip for a moment, her face scrunching adorably while she thinks. Lambert leaves her to ponder, leaning back on his hands, feet outstretched.
The door to their suite opens up, and Voltehre comes in followed by Milena and Aiden. Aidden scoops up a giggling Ciri, plonking her on his lap where she admonishes him.
“You’re in-er-upting my scheming, Uncle Aiden,” she says.
“Oh, beg pardon, my lady,” he replies, curling around her instead. “I’ll be quiet as a mouse!”
Ciri giggles quietly.
Milena has gone into their sleeping chamber to change, and comes back out in a comfortable shift, and a dressing gown. She takes a book from the shelf, kisses Lambert’s head as she walks by, and takes the other plush chair beside Aiden and Ciri.
Voltehre sprawls himself atop Lambert’s legs, legs and arms akimbo. Lambert leans down to press a gentle kiss to his lips before leaning back and waiting for Ciri to flush out her thoughts. He has a few himself he’ll ease her into if need be, but he wants her to come up with some of this chaos herself.
“What if-” Ciri begins, then pauses. “Hmm.”
“Talk it out with us, kid,” Lambert prods. “We’re all here to listen.”
Ciri nods decisively.
“We need them to think there’s a different number of geese,” she pauses. “We need to tell them without actually telling them how many geese… I can’t tell them myself, that would ruin the fun.”
Lambert nods. “Dyeing them worked well, right?”
“It didn’t hurt them, and it washed off safely,” Ciri agrees. “Mariana told me none of the geese were harmed by it.”
Lambert grins, hoping Ciri sees the solution.
She sits there in Aiden’s lap, deep in thought. Her frown makes the scar down her cheek pull in a bitter mimicry of Eskel’s own lop-sided grimace. She takes one of Aiden’s hands and idly pokes at his fingers, counting under her breath.
Voltehre grins up at Lambert. Lambert smirks back.
“What if… we number them?” Ciri asks.
Lambert looks at her, smiling. “You can use the dye to write the numbers on them.”
Ciri nods, face serious. “You have one more goose than there are numbers.”
Lambert tilts his head. “They’ll notice the one without the number.”
“Hmm.” Ciri says, frowning. “What if…”
The three Wolfblood and Lambert watch her thinking.
“What if… what if we put 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,” she counts off the numbers in Aidden’s fingers. “What if we put the numbers on the geese… but we don’t put goose 3 in the hall?”
“Goose 3 doesn’t really need a number then, does he?”
Ciri’s face brightens. “Then they think they’re missing one!”
Lambert nods. Voltehre, Milena and Aiden smother their own smiles.
“They’ll look for ages! And only we know that there are actually five geese! Because number 3 is in his pen!”
“You’re diabolical, cub,” Aiden says, lifting her into the air.
Ciri squeals. “No I’m not! Uncle Lambert is di-bolicle! Papa says so.”
Lambert scoffs.
Voltehere grins. “Geralt’s lucky he didn’t have to mind Lambert when he first came to the Keep.”
“Letho knew what he was getting into,” Lambert replies.
“Did he, though?” Milena asks.
“I grew on him,” Lambert says defensively.
“Like a barnacle-goose,” Aiden says, placing Ciri back in his lap.
“What’s a barnacle goose?!” Ciri asks excitedly.
“Now you’ve done it,” Milena sighs.
Aiden laughs. “They’re like your geese, except instead of eggs, they hatch out of these shell-like things called barnacles,” he explains.
“They live on the side of cliffs, mostly,” Voltehre adds. “You should ask one of the Cranes. They lived on the coast and probably saw them more than we ever did.”
“Are they special geese though?” Ciri asks.
“The assholes bite.”
“So they’re a goose,” Ciri says, disappointed.
“They have actual teeth though,” Aiden says with a shudder.
Ciri frowns. “That sounds weird.”
“It is weird,” Aiden agrees. “And painful. Schrodinger has a scar on his ass-”
“Aiden!” Milena admonishes.
He continues, unbidden. “He was trying to repel down a cliff, and one bit him right through his armour!”
“I’m glad my geese don’t have teeth like that,” Ciri responds to laughter all around. It's a testament to how often she hangs around Lambert that the foul language doesn't bother her.
*
Ciri takes the next few weeks to carefully test the dyes she is going to use to paint the numbers on the geese. She makes sure they won’t hurt the geese, and then tests them on a few geese over the course of a week. The goose-girls of course tell Jan, who tells Eskel what his daughter is doing.
“Ciri,” he says that night before bed.
“Yes, Da?”
“Have you been planning something with the geese again?”
Ciri grins brightly. Geralt groans in dismay.
“Only a little one,” she says, sounding entirely too innocent for that to be true.
“Are we allowed to get a heads up before you unleash the chaos this time, cub?” Eskel asks, knowing it’s futile to try and stop her from creating mischief.
“No Da!” Ciri giggles evilly. “That would ruin the fun!”
“Cub,” Geralt pleads, pulling their daughter into his side.
“Nuh-uh Papa!” Ciri admonishes. “Uncle Lambert said you’d try to stop me!”
Eskel tries to hide his snorted laughter.
“Not stop,” Geralt disagrees.
“We just want to know when you’re going to do it,” Eskel continues.
Ciri looks at them both skeptically. “Hmm.”
“Please?” Geralt asks, rubbing his chin into Ciri’s neck.
She giggles, trying to escape the possibility of her Papa blowing raspberries into her skin.
“Maybe,” she says.
Eskel sighs.
Ciri giggles. “Okay Da, Papa. I’ll tell you.”
“Thank you,” Geralt says, hugging Ciri closer to him.
She wraps her arm around his neck, squeezing him closer. “Love you, Papa.”
“I love you, Cub,” he replies, purring deep in his chest.
She flings herself at Eskel next, and he catches her easily.
“Love you, Da.”
“I love you, Ciri,” he says grinning. He and Geralt share a look over her head. They silently thank the Spirits for gifting this beautiful girl to them.
*
One morning a week or so later, Voltehre decides to spar with Eskel. “Don’t wear your good clothes to lunch,” he says when he’s close to Eskel during a block.
Eskel pushes him away, frowning in confusion. What is Voltehre talking about? Then, he casts his eyes around the training field. Ciri’s distinctive hair is nowhere to be seen. Nor is Lambert’s.
“Is this my warning?” Eskels asks with a grimace.
Voltehre smirks. “As much of one as you’re getting.”
“Fuck.” Eskel says, shaking his head. He should have known this would happen with Ciri spending so much time with her favourite baby sitters - Lambert and his troupe of mischief makers live for it after all.
Voltehre cackles, and Eskel proceeds to remind not only Voltehre, but everyone observing that he and Geralt are more than normal Wolfblood.
Volethere isn’t mad at him for it. He just curses him playfully and demands Eskel help peel him off the ground at the end of their bout. Eskel does so with a grin and a whispered “thanks” as he pats Voltehre's shoulder.
*
The prank… is a good one. As far as Eskel can tell, it's gone off without a hitch.
A flock of geese are let into the hall at the end of supper.
Geese 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 are all quickly found and corralled back outside.
The entire hall is covered in feathers, gooseshit, mud, and leftover food. Everyone who was at supper is also covered in the assortment of… ick.
Ciri and Lambert are especially covered, as they ‘helped’ try to find goose number 5. The hall was searched. The Keep was searched.
And then Goose 5 was found sitting peacefully on her nest, asleep and unbothered by the whole prank.
Geralt playfully growls at Ciri after all is said and done, as he launches her into one of the baths. (Coen is there ready and waiting to catch the giggling Cub as she emerges from the water).
Eskel is slightly less gentle as he trips Lambert into a pool where Aiden, Voltehre and Milena make sure he doesn't drown. He is still only human after all, even though he is Eskel's shit head little brother.
“Can't you encourage less messy pranks?” Eskel laments later on.
“Nah. That would ruin the fun,” Lambert says grinning.