AN: So this will be a one shot series I will be working on a little bit. Before each story I will mention when it happened in the Series.
This one for Example will take place after "The Protector of Concord Dawn."
I hope all enjoy this, I hope to continues with this and my other stories as well.
One thing the Crew agreed on was that Hoth was the worst planet to go to. No plant life made food very scarce on the planet, the white color of the world was too plain to look at, and the freezing temperatures made being on the planet a frostbitten nightmare. It was the perfect place to create a rebel base.
No way would the Empire think the rebels would be that crazy to build a rebel base on a planet that was so challenging to live on. That was exactly why the Ghost Crew was there now. Kanan and Hera were dropping off supplies a few kilometers away while Zeb, Sabine, and Ezra were checking the terrain out to see if it was safe for the base. Each rode their tauntauns to their respective point before checking in with the others at their meet up point; their com-links had no signal on the planet.
"Any luck?" Zeb asked the younger two.
"Nothing dangerous in my area." Ezra replied "Just snow. Anything on your end Sabine?"
Sabine though didn't seem to hear them as she got off her tauntaun.
"Sabine?" Zeb asked a little louder than the kid.
"Huh, oh yeah it was clear on my end." Sabine replied
"Well let's get back to the Ghost then, Sun is setting and Kanan and Hera are waiting for us at the base." Zeb said.
"Hoth has a sun?" Ezra asked sarcastically as he got on his tauntaun, "I had no idea Hoth had a sun, maybe I could tell if it wasn't below Celsius."
"Stop whining and get on." Zeb replied to the runt.
Ezra was right though. Even though they all had the proper protection to wear on the planet, it was still freezing.
The boys and the tauntauns headed towards the direction of the base.
"Sabine, hurry up." Ezra called out.
"Coming" Sabine hollered out as she and her animal rode up to meet up with her companions.
The specters were half way to the base when the clouds quickly began to form and the snow fall began to pick up. With the sun setting, the planet began to get darker, there for much colder.
"How much further?" Sabine asked through chattering teeth.
"I was about to ask you the same, you know because you have the holomap." Zeb pointed out to Sabine.
"Right, duh," Sabine said to herself, "oh we're only eight kilometers away." Sabine happily replied as she looked at the map. Suddenly though she began a coughing fit.
"You okay?" Zeb asked as he got off his animal to check on Sabine.
"Yea, just a tickle." Sabine assured the Lasat
As Zeb approached Sabine to check on her, Ezra quickly noticed something in the snow moving, something big and heading towards Zeb.
"Zeb watch out!" Ezra shouted in a panic.
Zeb had turned just in time to see a white snow beast emerge from the snow! The monster stood taller than the Ghost, and it looked angry at Zeb and Sabine! The two were barely able to get out of the beast way before he slammed his hand on the dimwitted tauntauns, killing them instantly. Zeb and Sabine began shooting their blaster at the monster with no effect. The beast roared as he was about to attack. That was until Ezra with lightsaber in hand bravely yet foolishly jumped on the creatures back. Clutching the monster's hair, Ezra was able to cut into the creatures back with his saber, but only a little bit before the creature took the boy by his leg and hauled him into a snow bank.
"KID!" Sabine and Zeb called out as they still attempted to shoot the beast down. The Beast though was unfazed and was about to swing his hand at them when the beast suddenly stopped. The Lasat and Mandalorian then noticed Ezra, eyes closed and arm stretched out from the bank he was thrown into; he was using the force to connect to the beast. The Beast then ran off to the unknown and far away from them.
As the creature left, Zeb and Sabine ran to Ezra and helped dig him out of the snow bank he was lodged half way into.
"Kid that was suicidal and idiotic!" Sabine yelled in a rasped voice as they pulled him out.
"Are you o-," Zeb was interrupted when Ezra then yelped out in pain as he grabbed onto his leg.
"What happened?" Sabine asked in concern.
"Damn beast bend my leg." Ezra explained through cringed teeth.
"Karbast! Where did your Tauntuan go?" Zeb asked, trying to figure a way to get the kid to the base for medical care.
"He ran off after yours were squashed." Ezra explained as he tried to sit up.
Sabine took off her helmet to assess the damage.
"Where does it hurt the most?" Sabine asked.
"inner side." Ezra replied.
Sabine pressed on it and Ezra again winced.
"Looks like you broke your tibia." Sabine revealed.
"I didn't break it, that snow monster did!" Ezra replied before clutching his leg in pain.
Sabine sniffled a bit before replying, "No way we can walk back to the base with your leg like this, and in this storm."
"We'll just have to camp in there for the night," Zeb stated as he pointed to a snow cave a little way.
Zeb then picked up Ezra (much to the kid's dismay) into his own arms and began to head to the only shelter they could find.
"Sabine hurry up," Zeb replied to the slower of the two. Zeb though noticed the mandalorian stumble a bit as she got up, grabbing her head like it was bugging her.
"You okay?" Zeb asked, worried about two of his teammates being down.
Sabine just brushed it off and put her helmet back on. "Yeah, just a little out of breath. Never a dull moment for us, is there?" Sabine was almost laughing at the situation in an effort to hide what was really going on.
After a little trek the three made it to the cave. While the inside was pretty cold, it wasn't as cold as it was outside. Also the cave served as protection from the storm outside.
Sabine set up the fire starter from her supplies while Zeb put Ezra down, though the boy cringed at his leg again.
"Try not to move too much, you will only agitate it." Zeb told the injured padawan.
"Thank for the advice." Ezra replied, again a little sarcastic.
Zeb looked out of the cave to see the storm was picking up.
Sabine, who took off her helmet, was looking at the holomap from earlier.
"On the positive note, we are only eight kilometers south of the base."
"And the negative note is that we have no way to call for help with our coms down and our ride there are either dead or ran off." Zeb replied bitterly.
"Ezra, can't you do that Jedi thing with Kanan to talk to him?" Sabine asked as she wiped her nose a bit.
"I can't," Ezra replied bitterly, "I need to be able to to focus, and it's hard to focus with-," Ezra then grabbed onto his leg again to suppress the pain of his broken limbs."
"With your leg snapped in two." Zeb finished the sentence for Ezra.
"Pretty much. Sorry guys." Ezra looked disappointed in himself.
"Don't worry about it." Zeb said as he got a little bit of snow to put on the kid's leg, which surprisingly helped reduce Ezra's pain a bit.
"Thank," Ezra replied gratefully.
"Don't mention it." Zeb replied.
"So it looks like we're camping here for the night till the storm lights up." Sabine stated the fact. "We should take shifts to watch out for any more-," Sabine then had a hacking fit that seemed to only stop after a minute or two.
"Sabine, I think you're sick?" Ezra pointed out with a little concern.
"No!" Sabine snapped in disgust of the idea. "Just being out here is bad for the lungs is all." Sabine just gave them her bitch face look like she shouldn't be messed with. That was hard though cause her eyes were blood shot and Zeb and Ezra noticed that Sabine's cheeks were red.
Ezra though just let it pass.
"Okay, I'll take first watch then."
"Why you?" Zeb replied.
"Cause with my leg in so much pain, it is going to be hard to get any sleep anyways."
Zeb just looked at the smiling kid, he knew Ezra was up to something, but honestly didn't have the energy to deal with it.
"Fine, but don't wake me up in five minutes, saying you need to sleep." Zeb replied as he found a side of the cave wall that he could sleep against.
"Deal," Ezra replied.
As soon as the mandalorian and Lasat found a somewhat comfortable place in the freezing cave to sleep in, the two fell asleep.
"Zeb," Ezra whispered to the sleeping Lasat with no response as he poked Zeb's face. Ezra whispered louder, "Zeb!"
Zeb grabbed the kid's hand before he poked him again.
"Kid I thought I told you-,"
"It's been an hour and we have a problem." Ezra replied as he nodded his head towards Sabine, "She's sick, like really sick"
The Lasat then went over to the sleeping manadlorian, and noticed she looked paler than before. The Lasat placed his hand on her forehead before retracting it.
"Karabast, she's burning up." Zeb now had to find a way to take care of a mandalorian who was sick and a kid who couldn't stand.
Zeb though had to smile a little bit at the kids cleverness.
"Smart though to make sure she was asleep before checking her temp." Zeb admitted, but Ezra was not smiling. The kid looked serious, which scared Zeb a bit.
"Zeb you need to get Sabine back to the base, right now." Ezra told Zeb.
"Kid we can't-,"
"No I can't," Ezra stated the plain truth, "I can't walk on this leg. We know where the base is and with the map you can get there easily with her, get Sabine help and tell Kanan and Hera where I am."
Zeb wasn't going for this plan at all. "Kid I can carry both of you." Zeb stated the facts.
"It's still snowing out and the less time you guys are out in the storm the better. Also your faster with just one of us and Sabine needs help now.
"Oh, and you don't?" Zeb simply replied as he pointed towards the broken leg that Ezra was holding in place to keep from moving.
"Zeb, with the fire still going, I will be fine. But with Sabine out in the cold, she is only going to get worse and you know it. You and her can get the base in an hour, but with me slowing you down it would only take longer and Sabine could get worse. I will be fine by myself for a little bit. I was alone for eight years; I can handle an hour or two."
Zeb let Ezra's words sink in, he knew the kid had some points. The fire would last for a bit. But when he looked at the ill explosives expert, he remembered a promise they made to each other; a promise he couldn't break.
"Sorry kid," Zeb said as he took his bo-rifle off his back and tied it around the kid's leg as a make-shift splint. Ezra just winced as his leg was wrapped up by the rough Zeb.
"The only way I am leaving is with both of you." Zeb then picked up Sabine in his arms and then bend down low enough so Ezra could get onto his back.
"Zeb I-," Ezra was again going to protest when Zeb told him,
"Look either we all go now or not at all. Your choice." Zeb sounded serious, something Ezra was taken aback by. So with his good leg was able to get up a bit onto Zebs back piggy-back style.
"Let's go," Zeb said as he began his trek from the cave to the base.
With the holomap point them in the right direction, it was the only hope the three had at this point. The snow was still coming down and harder now. They were still a way from the base, and Sabine hadn't even woken up to notice they weren't in the cave anymore.
With the snow obstructing his vison and trying to carry a wounded and ill teammate, Zeb was beginning to question if he was being as crazy as Ezra had been when he jumping onto that monsters back.
Speaking of the padawan, "You still awake back there?" Zeb asked, hiding his concern for the kid.
"Yeah," Ezra said through chattered teeth, "I should be asking you that."
Zeb just laughed at the kid and his ridiculousness.
"Kid, I'm a Lasat. Lasan has some of the coldest winters in the Galaxy. You're the one who broke his leg."
"I told you, the monster broke it and-," Ezra was interrupted by his own sneezing fit.
"Don't tell me you're getting sick too?" Zeb asked annoyed.
"Nah just a little..." Ezra began to explain before he began to fall asleep. His own exhaustion of fighting the pain in his leg began to take a toll.
"Come on kid!" Zeb yelled, being able to snap the kid back awake.
"What?" Ezra asked a little startled before asking Zeb, "How much further to the base?"
"According to the map just two more kilometers," Zeb replied, a little relieved they were almost there.
"How's Sabine?" Ezra asked, clearly worried about her.
Zeb looked down at the girl in his arm. It was weird to see Sabine so vulnerable. She looked so pale, aside from her flaming red cheeks that showed how high her fever was becoming. Zeb was doing okay at keeping the snow off her.
"She's still breathing. Don't worry, we'll get her back to her typical self."
Ezra sighed in despair, "You guys would have been at the base by now if you had just left me at the cave.
Zeb though pointed out the obvious.
"Sad fact is kid, you're not that heavy to be a burden on this trek. Besides, with this snow coming down how it is, I would have been moving at the same pace anyways.
"Zeb, I can tell your exhausted from carrying the two of us." Ezra pointed out. He had noticed the Lasat's exasperated breathing. Not to mention the fact he had tripped several times and each time he struggled to stand back up. Ezra was freezing and he wasn't even moving, he couldn't imagine being Zeb right now.
"Well the alternative wasn't going to happen." Zeb said bluntly.
It was silent for several minutes before Ezra asked, "Why? Why couldn't you?"
Zeb took a deep breath before he explained.
"Because; remember how you got grabbed by mutton chops?"
"Hard to forget that." Ezra admitted with a weakened chuckle.
"Well it wasn't a unanimous decision to go back for you." Zeb admitted with guilt.
"I know, you and Sabine were against it." Ezra also admitted, causing Zeb to turn his head back a bit to make sure he heard Ezra right.
"Chopper told me." Ezra explained. Zeb was pissed, yet again the droid put his nose in other people's business.
"You guys know I don't hold that against you right? You guys just met me and I was just…" Ezra couldn't really explain it. Zeb continued with his story.
"Well Sabine and I, after we got to know you, we made a pact. That we would not leaving you behind again."
Ezra was a little surprised by it, and touched by it as well. "Is that why you didn't leave me and Sabine when the Inquisitor siblings attacked?"
Zeb chuckled at that, "Pretty much. Also kid, I'm the older of the three of us. It's my job to look after you too. Besides, Hera would kill me if anything happened to you guys."
Ezra giggled a little bit too before he began his own coughing fit, almost losing his grip on Zeb's shoulders.
Zeb began to worry; he knew Ezra was catching what Sabine had.
Before Zeb could begin to panic though he saw lights, the lights of the Ghost. Down in a valley a little way down, was the Ghost and the semi-structured base
Zeb smiled, "See kid, told you I could carry you and Sabine here easily." Ezra didn't reply though. Good chance he had lost consciousness from hypothermia.
"Hang on a little bit longer," Zeb told his unconscious teammates as he attempted to make his way down the snow hill. He knew he had to hurry.
Going down though was harder than Zeb thought. The Lasat remembered how the tauntauns made going up and down the valley side look so easy. But with the accumulating snow, it made it hard for Zeb to figure out where he should step.
Zeb was carful where he placed his feet, blindly putting his feet on the snow buried trail the native creatures walked on before.
Zeb was already half way down when the snow slipped from under him. His feet slipped under him as he began to slide down the valley side. One of his feet tripped over a stump of ice, cause him to roll onto his side.
Out of instinct, he grabbed Ezra from his back and held both Ezra and Sabine as close to his chest, to prevent them from getting hurt from the slide down.
Zeb's side was aching from the frost his skin felt as he slid down on his side. When it finally stopped, he checked on the kids he held close to him. They were freezing and look so darn fraile. Zeb could see the Ghost, it was so close. They were going to be okay.
Zeb flung Ezra's form over his shoulder. As he got up though, he immediately noticed pin and needles feeling in his right foot.
"Karabast," Zeb thought to himself, though he couldn't stop laughing at it; now two of them had problems with their lower limbs.
Zeb though knew he had to push through the agonizing pain to get them to the ship. Zeb limped as he held Sabine in one arm and was holding Ezra over his shoulder with the other. As he got closer to the ship he saw the ramp come down, immediately followed by a panic stricken Kanan and Hera.
"Zeb are you okay? What happened?" Hera asked with her motherly concern As she saw how damaged the three were.
"Zeb, buddy can you hear us, what happened to you guys?" Kanan asked also.
Zeb though just ignored them as he limbed his way to the medbay. Once inside he set Sabine into bed and Ezra in another. In the door frame he saw the concern on Hera and Kanan's face.
It took what little energy he had left before he weakly told them, "Take care of them." That was all Zeb could do before he collapsed onto the ground. As everything was going black, all he could manage to hear was Kanan saying his name, though it was muddled as he finally fell into the world of unconscious slumber.
It took both Kanan and Hera to get Zeb onto the final bed in the medbay.
An analysis from the medial droid was able to tell them what was wrong; Ezra's leg was broken and he seemed to of caught a cold, Sabine had the flu that would take a while to heal from, but Zeb seemed to have it the worst.
Zeb was severely hypothermic. He suffered from multiple sprains from his trips down the slope. With his skin so frozen, even with his fur, it was no wonder the solider passed out. Along with the fact he carried Ezra and Sabine for almost two hours lead to his exhaustion. To top it off though was that Zeb was starting to develop a fever as well.
The med droid made it clear that with how bad the storm and the cold was, if they had stayed out in it for a few more hours, all three would most likely be gone.
Sabine was the first to wake up within a few hours of being analyzed by the med droid.
Sabine moaned a bit as she opened her eyes to the painful lighting of the medbay.
Hera immediately noticed her mandalorians alertness, "Sabine, take it easy, you're a little sick and you need to rest." Hera told her in a gentle tone.
Sabine just looked at Hera with tired eyes before she asked weakly, "Zeb? Ezra?"
Kanan just smiled, "They are fine, see." Kanan pointed at the other two in the medbay asleep.
Sabine then smiled, "He kept his promise." Was all Sabine could utter before slumber overtook her again.
The next week was all about healing for everyone. Sabine's flu only lasted a few days before her fever broke. The boys though took a little longer.
Ezra's leg was put in a cast that would only have to be on for about a month, and his cold went away after a little bit of chicken soup (okay more like four bowls of it). After a few dys of bed rest, the kid was able to get out of bed with his crutches.
Zeb though ended up on bed rest the longest. The trek through the snow took a number on his frozen body and it took a while before his body temperature could be regulated again. Sabine and Ezra took turns checking in on him. It was the least they could do. At night though the two continued to sleep in the medbay, looking out for their friend just like he had for them.
When Zeb was awake, he would make sure Sabine and Ezra were doing ok before he could relax. Before he fell asleep however he remembered the promise he made to not only Sabine, but himself; Never to leave his family behind again. After all, that was what a family does, they look out for one another.