A Song of Ice, Fire & the Dead

Chapter 17: The Wild Hunt Cometh

The next morning, everyone gathered around in a semi-circle with Takashi sitting in front of them. He began to tell them what he, Kohta and Shizuka had found at the sanctuary.

"So far, New Haven looks pretty good. It's a safe and secure location, and although I hadn't found any sign of mine or Rei's parents, I'm confident they're there," Takashi said.

"What's the security like?" Saya asked the first question on her lips.

"It's a good size," Kohta answered right away. "It certainly isn't slack or complacent, and they hadn't asked us to disarm, which is a good thing," he added with a smile.

"And the medical facilities?"

Shizuka answered this question with, "It's really good! They have clean facilities and actual medical professionals staffing it! Even better, they have washing and bathrooms with hot running water!"

"That is a relief," Rei said with a smile. "The last time I showered was at the Takagi Estate," she added.

"It'll be a relief to actually wash ourselves," Saeko voiced her agreement.

"What's the surrounding area like?" Ciri asked.

"It's a good size," Kohta answered. "There's a fifty-foot cliff on one side, another side is facing open water and the area is less population dense, so the threat of Them is lower, and there are more open spaces between buildings so there are more lookout points to choose from."

"That's good," Ciri said with a nod of her head. "At the very least, it'll be a safe haven for a while and there is a strong possibility of your parents being there, Takashi," she added.

"And Rei's too, I hope," Takashi replied in agreement.

"So, when do we leave?" Aegon asked.

"We'll start packing up and leave within the next hour," Takashi stated.

"Very well, let's get this over with," Aegon said as he stood up and swayed slightly before steadying himself.

"Are you sure you're up for this, Aegon?" Kohta asked him after noticing him sway like that. "Why don't you take it easy and let us handle the packing?" he offered.

"I'm fine, Kohta," Aegon said curtly before sighing and added, "I've rested long enough and I don't want to burden you all by being an invalid."

"I'll help him," Saeko quickly said before anyone could try to tell Aegon that he should rest more. Standing to her feet, Saeko made her way to Aegon's side and everyone else then began to pack everything up and load what they had into the Humvee.

Aegon buckled on his sword and fixed the pistol Souichiro had given him to his right hip. The weight of the gun was a little unfamiliar but Aegon told himself that he would get used to it soon enough. And he also reminded himself to ask Kohta for some lessons on using firearms in general as there may come a time when he would have to use one.

Within forty minutes everyone had packed everything up and loaded it into the car. Then came the question of seating arrangements. With over ten people in the group plus their supplies, it would be a tight fit for everyone in the Humvee. After a few minutes of discussing the seating arrangements, it was decided that some members would have to share a seat with another. Alice was seated on Saya's lap in the back seat and Takashi shared a seat with Rei who didn't seem to mind the arrangement and she was practically sitting on the young man's lap, evidenced by the light blush on his face and Rei's giggling. Asami sat beside Kohta who looked happy being seated next the policewoman and Asami didn't appear to mind either. Ciri sat in the front seat next to Shizuka in the driver's seat. And Saeko & Aegon shared a seat with the indigo-haired Samurai sitting boldly on the Valyrian's lap. Aegon swallowed a lump in his throat as he felt Saeko's delectable rear snuggle into his groin. The memory of yesterday's bout of lovemaking with Saeko was still fresh on his mind and he could feel his manhood grow hard and erect.

Saeko apparently felt her lover's erection as she looked at Aegon with a smile and blush heating her cheeks. The look in her sapphire blue eyes told Aegon that Saeko was all too ready for more and it was all he could to restrain himself from taking her on the spot, regardless of everyone else watching.

After opening the door to the garage, Shizuka started up the engine of the car and Ciri climbed back inside the vehicle. With the sound of thick hard rubber crunching asphalt and ash, the Humvee's wheels began to roll and soon the group was on its way to New Haven.

"How far is it to New Haven from here?" Ciri asked Takashi as the Humvee made its way through the ruined streets. So far they had not run into large hordes of Them, but they didn't want to tempt fate.

"It's on the outer edges of the city, and should our luck hold, we'll be there in with forty-five minutes, give or take," Takashi replied.

"Either way, things are looking up," Rei said happily. "We'll finally be able to find our parents!" she added in excitement.

Then there was sudden shift in the air and the windows of the Humvee began to fog over and the temperature dropped. "Is it me? Or did it just get really cold?" Saya asked as she shivered slightly in her seat. Everyone else wondered what had caused the weather to suddenly change so quickly, but Ciri on the other hand, had felt this cold many times.

"Oh, no…" the Witcheress uttered.

"What? What is it?" Kohta asked.

"They've found me!" Ciri said more to herself than to anyone else.

"Who? Who has found you?" Saeko asked.

"We need to get out of here. Now!" Ciri said in fear. "Drive faster!" she told Shizuka.

"What? Why?" Shizuka asked in confusion.

"Don't argue! Just do!" Ciri spat out.

"O-Okay!" Shizuka pressed her foot to the gas pedal and the engine of the car roared louder as it sped up.

Then there was a loud neighing sound of horses. "Horses?" Takashi uttered in confusion as he opened a window to poke his head out and what he saw truly frightened him. It frightened him even more than the sight of Them.

A group of large and heavily armoured figures on massive horses, followed by howling winds and snow were galloping after them. The riders and their steeds looked spectral as if they were mere spectres than corporeal beings. Riding at the front of these riders was a massive figure wearing a dark crowned helmet with a skull faceplate. The seemingly empty eye sockets of the faceplate bored into Takashi's eyes and filled him with dread. Takashi found himself being pulled back into the car.

"What is it? What did you see?" Rei asked him in worry.

"You don't wanna know!" Takashi replied fearfully. "Miss Shizuka, drive as fast as you can!" he said to the nurse.

"Okay!" Shizuka responded as she shifted into a higher gear and the car roared loudly.

Aegon looked out the back window and saw what Takashi had seen and what Ciri seemed so fearful of and he realised that these beings were what Ciri had alluded to when he had first met her.

The bounding out from the ghostly horsemen were some kind of hound-like creatures encased in thick blue crystalline ice. Galloping on four limbs each, the hounds caught up to the Humvee and tried to bring it down. The vehicle rocked from side to side as the hounds swiped at it with icy claws and tried to set their teeth into the thick armoured plated metal.

"Wah! They're trying to get in!" Shizuka wailed in fear.

"What the Seven Hells are these things, Ciri?!" Aegon shouted at Ciri.

"The Wild Hunt," Ciri said in a stony voice. "They're Elves from another world, and they've been hunting me my whole life," she explained.

"Why are they hunting you?" Saya asked as she held her Luger in her hands.

"Because of my Gift. The Elder Blood," Ciri lamented. "They want my blood to open the Gateway from their world to other worlds," she said.

"But aren't they already doing that?" Saeko asked as she held her katana in her hand.

"Only in small numbers," Ciri said. "With my blood, they'll be able to bring their entire people to other worlds," she added.

"Why would they want that?" Takashi asked.

"Their world is dying, and they want to inhabit another world that's safer for them, but they want to make the inhabitants of whatever world they colonise their slaves," Ciri replied. "I'm so sorry about this. If I hadn't come to this world, they might never have come here," she said sadly.

"Don't worry about it, let's just focus on getting outta here first!" Takashi said as he readied his shotgun and opened the window. Just then one of the hounds tried to leap in through the window, but Takashi had already his shotgun aimed out the window and pulled the trigger. With a boom and spray of ice shards, the hound's head exploded, and its body fell to the wayside in a crumpled heap.

With a loud neighing sound, one of the riders rode up along side the Humvee and tried to swing an axe that had a large blade into the roof of the vehicle. With the sound of screeching metal, part of the roof was carved open. Alice cried in fear and Saya hugged the little girl close to her chest to spare her the sight. Aegon pulled out his pistol and aimed it at the helmeted head of the axe-wielding rider and squeezed the trigger. With a sharp crack and bang followed by a flash of flame, a bullet shot out from the barrel of the pistol and bounced off the helmet of the rider who shook its head in discomfort. Shizuka then jerked the steering wheel and the Humvee jostled the rider's horse. The equine gave a shrill whinny as it was nearly knocked over by the heavy machine, but the rider quickly steadied its mount before taking another swing with its axe.

With a scream of metal shredding, part of the door was cut off and the rider reached out with one gauntleted hand inside the car, trying to grab onto Saeko.

Suddenly Ciri began to glow with green-white light as she grasped the edges of her seat. Suddenly the Humvee and all its occupants inside were enveloped in the same light as Ciri and in a blink it disappeared. The rider gave a roar of anger as its prey had once again escaped its grasp, slowing it steed down to a trot as it looked around, as though trying to discern where Ciri and her comrades had disappeared.

…

It was a kaleidoscope of colours, images, places and people for Aegon as he seemingly fell through a whirlpool in some kind of void. All he could really register was Saeko holding onto him and screaming in fear as they fell uncontrollably. In the corner of his eye, Aegon could see everyone else and the Humvee falling as well. Then they were suddenly pulled apart and the last thing Aegon could see was a large body of water rushing towards him before finally he blacked out.

Then there was a distant voice calling out to him.

"A… Ae… Aeg… Aegon!"

Then something splashing against Aegon's face woke him up with a cough and splutter. Blinking water out of his eyes, Aegon tasted that the water was salty so he could surmise he had landed in an ocean and he saw Saeko looking down at him with worry in her eyes.

"Saeko?" was Aegon could say at that moment before Saeko engulfed him in a vice-like hug, sobbing in relief.

"You're alive! I thought for certain…?" Saeko tightened her grip on Aegon and he weakly returned the hug.

"I'm alright, Saeko. I'm alright," he said to her and he looked around to see they were in the deck of a ship. "Where are we?" he asked.

"I don't know," came Saeko's response. "I found you, Saya, Alice and myself falling into an ocean. A ship came by and the sailors on board fished us out," she said.

"Who are they?" Aegon asked as Saeko loosened her grip on him.

"See for yourself," Saeko replied as she gestured and Aegon looked to see a tall brawny looking man wearing a fiery orange tunic with a brown sash studded with large gold buttons on it and a close-cropped beard of chestnut red hair. A sash of tartan was tied around the large bicep of the man's left arm and on both forearms were golden bronze vambraces.

"Ah, you're awake, laddie," the man smiled showing some missing or broken teeth inside his mouth. "Thought for sure you might no longer be with us," he laughed.

"Glad to disappoint you," Aegon retorted. "Who are you, ser?" he then asked.

"I'm Hjalmar, son of Crach of the Clan an Craite of Ard Skellig," the man proclaimed. "Who might you be, lad?"

"Aegon, Aegon Targaryen, and this Saeko Busujima, daughter of Master Busujima," Aegon replied respectfully. "Were there any others you found with us?" he asked in worry.

"Aside from you, we found two other lasses, one with pink hair and the other with darker pink hair," Hjalmar replied. "Saya and Alice, I think were their names," he said thoughtfully.

"That's all? Are you sure there were no others with us?" Aegon asked.

"That's all we found, lad," Hjalmar replied kindly. "But if there any others you came with, we'll find them," he said confidently. "Who else was with ye?" he then asked.

"There was Miss Shizuka, Takashi, Rei, Kohta, Asami and Ciri," Saeko answered. The last name had Hjalmar's eyes widen in alarm.

"Ciri? My Ciri?! She's here?! Where is she?!" he shouted.

"How do you know Ciri?" Aegon asked a little taken aback by the sudden outburst from their saviour.

"She's my intended!" Hjalmar replied. "Is she in danger? Is she alright?!" he asked frantically.

"We were attacked by those pursuing Ciri," Saeko replied. "The Wild Hunt."

"Ach, those fecking spectres, you mean?" Hjalmar spat. "Ploughing bastards! If they've hurt Ciri, I'll fucking gut every last one o' them!" he cursed angrily.

"Where are we?" Saeko.

"Aboard me ship, bound for Skellige. Good thing too, as there's someone there who'll want to know what you know about Ciri's whereabouts," Hjalmar replied.

"Who?"

"A Sorceress. Yennefer of Vengerberg. And Ciri's mother."

"Didn't Ciri's mother die?" Saeko asked.

"Oh, aye, that she did, but in a way, Yennefer adopted Ciri as her own child and loves her fiercely and would do anything to protect her, especially from the Wild Hunt," Hjalmar said. "But we can chat on that later, you two might need some warm clothes and hot meal," he added knowingly.

"Our thanks, Ser Hjalmar," Aegon said to the man respectfully.

Hjalmar gave a hearty laugh and said, "I ain't a knight, I'm a Skelligan Raider. We have no knight on the Isles."

"Raider?" Aegon asked in alarm.

"Aye, but you needn't worry about that right now. Just get yourselves below and you'll find some fresh clothes awaiting ye," Hjalmar said.

"C'mon, Egg, let's go get dressed in some warmer clothing," Saeko said to Aegon who nodded quietly. Saeko then helped Aegon to his feet and they then made their way below the deck of the ship as it cut through the waves of the ocean.

TO BE CONTINUED…

A/N: There! We've finally gotten to the crossover section! I hope this was good enough to satisfy you all, but I don't know if it was enough to satisfy me as I feel like I half-assed this. Anyway, as you can tell, the group has been separated with Saeko, Aegon, Saya and Alice landing in the Skellige ocean and being picked up by none other than Hjalmar an Craite and from there it'll be a journey to Kaer Trolde where they'll meet the rest of the an Craite family, Ermion the Druid and Yennefer herself who'll have many questions about their relationship with Ciri. Where the others are, is unknown at the moment, but they shan't be too far away.

Aside from that, there isn't too much to say about this chapter, so just let me know what you all thought of this chapter and I'll see you all in the next one.

In other news, for a Fallout/Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice & Fire/Elder Scrolls crossover, I'm trying to decide which Fallout game/setting should be used and I've set up a voting poll and so far, New Vegas is the favourite by seven votes. New Vegas would be pretty fitting for GoT/ASOIAF as there are many themes in New Vegas which fit in pretty well with GoT/ASOIAF. But to give you a premise of the idea, basically, Aegon VI/Young Griff, Asher Forrester, Beskha the Basilisk, Dacey Mormont of Bear Isle and the Dragonborn/Dovahkiin end up in the Fallout universe and form a mercenary company of sorts.

That's the gist of my idea, so depending on which Fallout setting is the most popular, that's what I plan on doing. I'm thinking that once the number of votes reaches about thirty or so, I'll close it and go with the highest voted option, so if you want to see a particular Fallout setting be that one, then you know what to do.

Anyways, I've talked and rambled enough, so I'll see you all in the next one.

Be kind to one another,

Angry lil' elf.