Lilla'akkun was born deep in the woods, with only her mother and father in the nearby area. If they wanted to visit the closest town for supplies they geared up in the morning, before the sun started to rise, and left just as soon as it was bright enough to see where their two-person speeder was headed. They rarely ever made it back before sun-down.

Ko'un, her mother, was the first to die the night the fires started. A heavy, beautiful rainfall masked the deadly lightning that was striking far more ferociously than ever before. The forest was usually too damp and dense to allow fires to travel far, especially during a rainfall. It took an almighty shower of electricity surrounding the cabin of the small family to do any real damage.

Faze, the family pet, warned them when it smelt smoke and sensed the rising damage. As a small fox, it took a lot of movement to stir little Lilla'akkun awake. When she woke, it was her responsibility to warn her parents. They responded immediately, their tired eyes snapping open in alarm. There was no telling how long they had before their home betrayed them to the pyre.

As they fled down the steps of the cabin, the speeder in the garage exploded in a ball of smoke and debris. Everything else started to follow suit right after. There was no time to grab supplies, or to say goodbye; the entire family ran out of the cabin narrowly avoiding serious burns on the fallen beams and metal grating.

All Lilla'akkun knew for the next hours was the death of the only people she knew, smoke too thick to see through, and a loss of hope so sudden she thought she would never have any again.

They tripped through the mud at their feet, the rain still falling, turning the forest into a swamp. They ducked under branches as they fell with flames so hot it burnt their eyes just to look at. They choked on smoke so heavy their lungs became the working plumes of old machinery.

There was no more comfort in the woods, no more safety, and when the trees started cracking and falling, the loud crashes all around, Lilla'akkun's mother told her it was over. That it was time to stop, to give up.

Ko'un refused to get up after that. The flames started to catch on her nightgown. Lilla'akkun's father, Li'um, grabbed his daughter and Faze, and kept running. He tripped several times before gasping for air as he told her to run. Tears ran down his face, the rain not enough anymore to cover it up. He was ready to give up along with his wife. He had lost so much, and he was too weak then to fight any longer.

Lilla'akkun ran. She ran hard and fast, and Faze kept up with her, right at her heels.

They were far from any shelter or help. They wouldn't make it out of the forest alive while that fire was still burning.

Faze tugged on her gown, directing her towards a cave. The two adventurers knew there was a pool of water in the cave, as well as decent enough ventilation. It may not save their lives, but it was the best shot they had. The bad thing was that the cave was already inhabited.

Lilla'akkun waited at the mouth of the cave, on her hands and knees, waiting with her last breath. Faze had gone in, teeth bared, and over the crackling fire and falling trees there was the sound of fighting. Shrieking animals, nails scraping stone, something wet and solid hitting the ground. Lilla'akkun listened, her heart in her throat. She was about to lose the last member of her family to a pack of wolves.

The pitter patter of Faze pulled her inside the cave. There was a mess of blood and fur just inside. Faze had won. But he was badly wounded. Lilla'akkun brought him deeper into the cave, keeping low to give her lungs a break from the smoke on the ceiling. The cave was wet and narrow, until it widened into a deep pool. The glow from the fire didn't reach it. Nothing seemed to reach it. Not even air.

Faze sat in a corner, where the water didn't quite reach. Cracks in the wall let in clear air and vented out smoke. Still, there was no light to see by and her lungs couldn't breathe enough to sate her blood. The two were left alone in the dark, gasping and crying dried tears.

For two days, they drank the spring water. Lilla'akkun didn't trust the pool until she found the little waterfall that ran into it. She carried Faze over to drink, the fox whining with every movement. She couldn't see her friend's injuries but knew it was bad; her hands were covered in sticky blood every time she picked him up.

Faze didn't survive the third day. Lilla'akkun didn't have any tears left to shed. On the fifth day she had to pull herself past the pool, through the narrow tunnels, past the remains of the dead wolf family, and into the night. The moon's glow had never been so bright on the forest floor. There used to be trees that reached into the sky and snuffed out the moon's glow before it could touch the earth. The rain seemed to have eventually beat out the fire after the trees gave in and crumbled. Lilla'akkun's feet sank into the mud as she walked. Her skin itched, her hair got tanged in branches.

And she was afraid.

So, so afraid.

All she knew of the forest, the leaves, the moss, the shining streams, was dead and gone. The streams had overflown, while everything else had burnt into ash and char. There was no sound, not even the wind.

More than just wolves and men had died in the forest during the fire. All the animals had.

She walked far, and then farther and farther. Finding anything to eat was a miracle, but she managed to. Finding water that didn't have charred branches poisoning it was far harder. Even the dirt was dirtier than usual. Even the mud itched and stuck to her skin more than it did when she played in the rain.

The air was still heavy. Her lungs burned and her throat ached just the same. The smell of smoke seared her nose.

She was surprised that there was anything left of her to ache, after her entire family died, but there was plenty. Each muscle, each limb, every pore and nail. She caught splinters in her toes and under her fingernails, and it was just another thing that was going to kill her. Another ending to her life.

She walked for days, weeks she thought, trying to find anything different. Anything other than death and ash.

Her savior approached in a large, rugged caravan. She appeared with a group of others, concern etched on their faces as they saw her scrambling towards them for safety. The gangly woman held Lilla'akkun close as she was scrubbed head to toe, bandaged, and fed. Their water wasn't pure, but it was the closest she'd had in as long as she could remember.

They dressed her, sized her up. They smiled at her and consoled her. They were everything she could have asked for in a savior and more. They praised her.

At the first city they passed, they had her appraised.

Lilla'akkun, still only a child, was saved from certain death and sold into slavery.

**_/AN/_**

This story is written with the POVs of both Lilac (Lilla'akkun in the prologue) and Kylo. There are definitely mature (sexual, violent) themes, but there will not be smut in every chapter. I will leave a note at the top when there is.

The content is lightly edited. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think! Feedback will determine how often I update. Thank you! It's good to be back to posting fanfiction!