A Song of Ice, Fire and the Dead

…

Chapter 12: Splitting Up

After cleaning Saya's wound and Shizuka put a simple band-aid on it, everyone had a quick breakfast and afterwards, Aegon offered to remove the rubbish himself. Taking the bag of rubbish and waste, Aegon then headed up the stairs to leave the parking garage to throw the bag into the nearby dumpster. After reaching the stairs and preparing to open the door, he heard someone cough behind him. Turning around, Aegon noticed Saya standing there with a bag of her own.

Offering a warm smile, Aegon held the door open for Saya as she passed through. He averted his eyes as she walked up the steps in front of him, her short skirt revealing a glimpse of silver and white stripes.

After tossing the garbage bags into the nearby dumpster, Saya looked at Aegon before she looked away awkwardly, fiddling with the cuff of her shirt. Aegon noticed this and looked at her calmly; she must want to say something to him, he thought so he waited for her to speak.

"Listen, about before…" Saya said meekly.

Aegon smiled softly, folding his arms under his chest and said, "It was no trouble, Lady Saya. No man should attack a girl, nightmare world or no."

Saya's face heated up as she heard those gallant words from Aegon's mouth. "It's not just that," she said timidly. "But it was all the times I lost my cool and went off at everyone," she added in a rare moment of humility.

"I understand, Lady Saya," Aegon said to her gently as he stepped a little closer to her. "This is all a very unusual situation, for everyone involved," he stated. "So I shan't blame you for being a little on edge."

"A little on edge?" Saya raised an eyebrow in annoyance as she looked at Aegon. "Is that how you think I am?" she asked.

Aegon shook his head slowly and replied, "Perhaps that is too simple a phrase to use, but you were forced to leave your parents behind. I understand how difficult that must be for you. But you did not do anything in that moment. Your parents acted to protect you, and you yourself have saved my life and the others through your intellect and observation skills which has been instrumental in this ordeal." Saya sniffled a little at the mention of her parents and solitary tear slid down her cheek.

Aegon gently wiped away the tear from Saya's cheek and cupped her chin in his hand as he said to her, "You have been incredibly brave the entire time I've known you and you've done more than I have. Sometimes an act of bravery is more than something physical such as fighting or physically helping someone."

Saya gave a weak chuckle. "And people think I'm a genius," she said as her cheeks went red from the bold gesture of Aegon touching her face.

Aegon gave a smile and replied, "From what I've seen, you're much smarter than I. Now, let's head back inside before everyone else starts to worry."

Nodding at Aegon, Saya headed back inside the garage with him. She then headed into the Humvee and sat in the front seat. She needed some time alone to ponder things. So much had happened and there was the question of what their next move was going to be. Ciri was a new addition to their group and she was quite a strong fighter, according to Saeko and Aegon, and coming from them carried weight to it.

Logically, a larger group was safer to an extent and so long as they could maintain their supplies, it would be no problem. And Ciri seemed to get along with everyone in the group; she seemed to hang around Saeko and Aegon the most, but that may have been due to the fact they were the first to meet her.

Then a gentle knocking on the door startled Saya and she looked to see Aegon standing outside the door with a friendly smile on his face. "Yes? What do you want?" Saya asked, trying not to look flustered or even sound rude in her question.

"Takashi wants to hold a meeting about beginning the search for his and Rei's parents today," Aegon informed her. "I thought I'd go check and see if you want to participate," he said.

Saya bit her lip as she looked at Aegon's handsome face and her stomach did a little flip. 'Stop being weird!' Her inner monologue chastised her before she responded to Aegon. "I'll be there in a minute, just gimme a sec," she said.

Aegon smiled and nodded at her before walking off to talk to Takashi.

Meanwhile Saeko had watched quietly as Aegon interacted with Saya and she closed her eyes and shook her head slightly in frustration.

'Why does this bother me so much? It's not my business who Aegon talks to. It wasn't as though they were making out or anything. And so what if they were? It's not as if Aegon is mine and mine alone, is he?' Saeko shook her head as she tried to rid the nagging thoughts in her head. 'I'm being stupid! Just because Aegon and I slept together doesn't mean we're together. Aegon's an adult, what he does is his business. Even if he and I were to become something… more, but I'll make that decision later when I come to it.' Saeko sighed tiredly as she continued her thoughts. 'But what if Aegon likes someone else in this group? Rei is much less complicated, but she does have Takashi, aside from that she's the perfect girl: young, sweet and innocent. And Saya is intelligent and has no emotional ties holding her back anymore. I don't know what to do…'

"Saeko?" Saeko gave a started and looked to see Ciri standing behind her with a concerned expression her face. "Is something the matter?" the ashen-haired Witcheress asked her.

"It's nothing, Ciri," Saeko denied quickly, although the blush on her cheeks indicated it wasn't and something Ciri picked up on.

"You were thinking about Aegon, weren't you?" Ciri said to the indigo-haired girl.

"Am I so obvious?" Saeko asked looking at Ciri who smiled at her and said, "You're obviously very close to Aegon, much closer to him than anyone else here," she remarked. "Is it because he was talking with Saya and not you?" she asked.

"I… I don't know," Saeko mumbled in embarrassment.

"If you don't want to talk about it, then I won't press you," Ciri said kindly. "But Aegon is a good man. He likes you a lot, so you shouldn't worry to much about it," she added.

"But what if…?" Saeko tried to say.

"Do you really think Aegon would be unfaithful to you?" Ciri asked her pointedly.

"He doesn't seem the type," Saeko admitted.

"Then what are you worried for?" Ciri then said.

Saeko cast her eyes down and Ciri then said, "Well, if you want someone to talk to about anything, I'll be here." Ciri then walked off.

Saeko sighed softly, thinking over what Ciri had said to her; Aegon didn't seem the type to be unfaithful to someone, but Saeko had a nagging feeling that someone like Saya might snatch Aegon up for themselves. She didn't know what to do; she didn't even know what she wanted to do in this situation. It was a foreign experience for her.

Takashi's voice then caught Saeko's attention and she looked to see Takashi waving everyone over to conduct a meeting. No doubt, Takashi wanted to discuss the plans for finding Rei's parents and his.

…

Everyone sat around in a half-circle while Takashi stood in front of them, his arms folded over his chest. To his right, Rei sat with Saya, then Saeko, Shizuka, Alice, Ciri, Kohta and finally Aegon sat on Takashi's left.

"As you all know, Rei and I have not given up on finding our parents. We've been kept busy with numerous sidetracking events but now that we've settled, it's time to act," he announced to them. "The longer we wait, the slimmer the chances of finding our parents gets," he then said. Looking at Ciri and Aegon, Takashi said, "Miss Ciri has agreed to help us out and Aegon is willing to help us in this endeavour."

Ciri smiled and nodded at this and Aegon rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly at being the centre of attention. Takashi continued talking.

"Because of this, I have decided that we're to split up in two teams so as to cover more ground and find our families at the same time. At Aegon and Ciri's advice, I've chosen the teams, based on our strengths and also the possibility of having to deal with our families if they have turned."

Everyone nodded at this; it was a sensible and logical course of action. Then the youngest member of the group asked the universal question, "What are the teams?" she blurted out.

Takashi smiled at Alice and replied, "I don't like splitting up but with the teams, I feel our chances of success are high. Aegon will go with Saya, Rei, Alice and Ciri. I will go with Saeko, Shizuka and Hirano."

Upon hearing her name, Saeko stiffened slightly. She did not like the idea of spending time away from Aegon already, let alone on such a dangerous mission. "Komuro…"

Takashi looked at the samurai and saw her disappointment and he had a feeling there was more between Aegon and Saeko then he thought. "The teams were split to maximise our fighting strength on each side. Miss Shizuka and Aegon both have medical knowledge should anyone fall injured. Along with Rei and Ciri, Aegon can help fight off any dangers so they can protect Saya and Alice." Gesturing to Saeko, Takashi said, "You're our best martial fighter and I can hold my own, and Kohta has weapon expertise beyond any of us here. This way we have the best chance of finding our parents and getting back safely."

Saeko clenched her jaw but remained silent. Bad enough she was being split off from Aegon, but he was going with Rei AND Saya! She felt even worse as she saw Aegon giving her an apologetic look, as if he understood her frustration.

Scanning for everyone's reactions, Takashi nodded in satisfaction. "I see there are no objections. We'll prepare and leave in 30 minutes," he said to everyone.

As everyone headed to the Humvee to prepare, Saeko hung back a little and Aegon stopped to talk with her. "Saeko…?" he said to her in concern, his hand touching her shoulder.

Saeko turned to look at him, a look of anguish and worry on her face. "I don't want to lose you!" she said in a harsh whisper as she struggled to contain her emotions. It was unlike her to have no control over her emotional faculties, but lately everything had changed.

"You won't!" Aegon whispered to her, his eyes wide with surprise. "I swore I would fight for you, remember? I don't like being split off from you, but this way we have the best chance of finding Rei and Takashi's parents," he said.

Saeko sighed and looked away in frustration. "How can you be so calm about this? What if something goes wrong? What if-"

Saeko's question was cut off by Aegon's lips pressing themselves to hers. Saeko almost melted as she felt the familiar sensation of Aegon's lips on her own before he pulled away from her.

"I swear to you, Saeko, you will not lose me. You just need a little faith," he told her with a smile.

Saeko sighed softly, touching her lips with her fingers and smiled. "You're right. I don't know how you do it, but you seem to know what to say to make everything better," she said as she looked at Aegon before hugging him tightly and added, "You had better come back to me, or else I will find a way to torment your spirit." With that said, Saeko headed to the Humvee to prepare what she needed for the mission.

Aegon watched Saeko prepare herself before he too headed over to grab what he needed for the mission. He had yet to use the pistol Souichiro had gifted him and he did not have any experience with guns, but perhaps asking Kohta for some tip on gun use was advisable?

After preparing themselves, everyone prepared to head out. Rei would lead her group to Takashi's house since she knew the way there, and Takashi would lead his team to Rei's place.

As they went their separate ways, Saeko looked back and she saw Aegon looking at her. Aegon gave a smile and waved at her. Saeko smiled and waved back before continuing with her group.

TO BE CONTINUED…

A/N: There! The twelfth chapter of this done and dusted. Apologies if this is just filler, but the next chapter will have some more in terms of action and the introduction of a character from the HOTD Manga, so have fun guessing!

Anyways, in other news, I've decided to rewrite my Justice League of Amazons/Fallout story and while I haven't set up a romance poll, but I will in future, I have a poll showing which Fallout protagonist should be used. So far, the results are that the Courier from New Vegas is the favourite which is perfectly fine by me, but if anyone else wants to see the Lone Wander, the Sole Survivor or a Vault 76 Resident take the lead, then you know what to do.

But in all honesty, the Vault 76 Resident feels more like an OC or a Self-Insert which isn't something that's overly popular with people on this site. But it's highly unlikely that a Vault 76 Resident will take the top spot, unless some of you start voting for him.

Anyway, another bit of news is that I've written a Kingdom Hearts/Elder Scrolls/Fallout crossover called The Elder Scrolls: The Quest for Kingdom Hearts and I would appreciate some feedback on it, so feel free to have a read of it if you'd and I've also submitted the story to the Fan Ramen Podcast.

If you are unfamiliar with Fan Ramen, they are two professional voice actors (Lindy and Ralph) and a professional sound foley (Kevin) who read your fanfiction for everyone to hear. This means they read and do character voices and they do sound effects and such to make your fanfiction come to life!

I've submitted a story to Fan Ramen in the past, my Lord of the Rings/Red Dead Redemption crossover and it was awesome work they did with it.

So I decided to submit my Kingdom Hearts/Elder Scrolls/Fallout crossover to Fan Ramen and see if they would be interested. They got back to me and said they would peruse it and see if it is possible, because there are a lot of voices for Lindy and Ralph to do and they are only two people. But I am confident they can pull it off. I'll keep you all informed if they do decide to do my KH/ES/FO crossover.

And other than that, I haven't got much more to say, so I'll see you all in the next one.

Be kind to one another,

Angry lil' elf.