You let slip a shouted curse of surprise as you slipped on the sleet as you ran. Bracing yourself for impact, you landed hard on your knees- bare palms burned by the icy snow, rubbed raw and bleeding from the winter logged earth. Tears of frustration and fear from at the corners of your eyes, but you quickly wipe them away, the cold causing them to sting. Wobbling like a fawn gaining its feet for the first time, you try to rise, your urgent need to go further into the snow blinded woods almost causing you to tumble again. Luckily, you managed to regain your footing and set off in a desperate jog.
You had felt more than heard the pain filled cries of your lover coming from deep within that horrid forest. You had been trying to make your way towards the escape pods, passing by Stormtroopers and base personnel, all confused and panicking in their own ways. No one had heard from the Lt. and though you knew the Resistance had been responsible, the reality of the situation was daunting.
The base, the weapon, your home was collapsing.
And you couldn't find Kylo Ren anywhere.
No one you passed answered your questions, an in your growing panic you were becoming more and more forceful in that questioning. Finally, after grabbing a poor panicked soul by their rumbled collar, you got a lead. They thought they had seen the prisoner escape out of the base with outside aid, and as you pushed them away from you, you booked towards the nearest exit leading out of the base.
'Kylo! Where are you?!" you yelled out into the biting cold, voice sounding flat. The silence surrounding you was nerve wracking, and yet the cracking earth sent gravelly rumbles through your soles. You hugged your arms around you, the uniform you were wearing not meant for wear outside, and cursed bitterly at your lack of forethought. Breathe fogging your glasses you pushed onward. Gritting your teeth as the cold sapped your bones.
The minutes ticked by, feeling like hours and you were beginning to lose hope when you came to a huge rend in the planet's surface. The heat rising from its depth was melting the ice, and for a brief moment, you allowed its cloying comfort keep you from your past. The numbness began to leave your fingers, and with that small amount of returning feeling you felt the hair on the back of your neck stand on end.
You felt him.
Sucking in a quivering breath, you pulled yourself away from the warmth and looked through the steam that is rising from the magma filled maw. He was on the other side, a dark blight upon the pristine bed of harsh snow. Your heart dropped into the pit of your stomach.
He wasn't moving.
"Oh, stars. Kylo. No. No. NO!" You bellow in grief as you frantically fight your way around the chasm. Slipping and sliding as you try to move to him. Tears sting and freeze to your face as you choke back sobs after you notice the crimson splashes on the ground. Falling hard on your knees you let out a keening wail and crawl the remaining distance towards your fallen lover. All reason gone, the cold not noticed, your trembling hands grab his shoulders and shake him, while letting words fall from your mouth in an unheard rush. You giggle deliriously when you catch yourself thinking the gash across his face reminds you of the newly made gorge.
You lean your face to his, hoping to feel his breath against your cheeks, and let your shoulders shudder with sobs as you barely feel it. You notice his brow twitch and you bring your hand up, meaning to trace his face, but stop in horror. Blood covered your hand, and in a panic you look down at his shoulder. Blood was pooling beneath him, and tendons were exposed. You looked back at his face and felt the weight of the situation fall on you. Bringing your knees beneath you, you pushed yourself up to get a better look at him. Blood was seeping out from his side and by the amount it seemed to not have been cauterized like his shoulder and face.
"What the frell did you get yourself into?" You murmur as you pull a utility knife out of your boot and cut off a part of his scarf. As you began leaning over him so you could push the cloth against his wound, you begun to hiccup between sobs.
"Don't hic you hic dare hic die." No response, just a breath so shallow the cold could barely claim it.
"I can hic feel you." You pressed the cloth tightly against him, and you felt his side flinch in pain.
"I hic can still feel you, hic blastit!" You lay across him, hand still firmly pressing against his side wound.
You continued to lay there, dimly thinking that what little body heat you had would help him stay alive. The lack of sound, aside from the planets rumbling caused your already numb mind to wander. You were focusing on the minuscule rise and fall of your lover's chest when he let out a violent, body shaking cough. You raised your head and turned to stare at his face with wide eyes. Continuing to place pressure on his wound you sat up, and switching pressure to one hand you brought the other to his chin. You tilted his face up slightly, trying to straighten his throat, a small, troubled smile twitching at your lips.
'Oh stars, love, "You removed your hand as he opened his eyes suddenly, gasping in huge gulps full of icy air. As he begins coughing again you placed the free hand on his chest, trying to keep him down, but failing as he outweighed you.
"The Scavenger! I must-" he broke off into a coughing fit, and you felt blood begin to flow again under the cloth. He fell back down in the snow and gasped in pain. His eyes squeezing shut, brow furrowed and mouth opened as he panted his breaths. You quickly placed your other hand back on his wound and pressed down hard- both out of frustration and fear of his wound tearing more.
"Dammit, Ben! Stop!" you sob and he finally notices you. He tries to lift himself back up, but his injured shoulder gives out and he falls back down, causing you to brace against his wound to keep from falling. He groans in pain, deep in his throat and you press harder, angry at him, at the situation, at yourself. As he furrows his brows and groans you press your lips to his mouth and let your frozen tears fall.
His breathing is labored when you raise your face. Your face dark with sorrow and fear as his good arm shifts and rests on your hands, trying to help seal the wound, but he lets it fall limp due to blood loss.
"Y/N...go. Leave …me." he whispers through ice cracked lips. You shake your head furiously and press on his wound. He sucks in a breath with a hiss, knitting his brows in pain, but his dark eyes find yours and he pleads.
"I hic will not." through clenched teeth you continued your harsh menstruations. If he was feeling pain, and reacting, you'd keep him awake that way. You pressed your lips to his once more as you pushed with all your might against his side. When he opened his mouth to cry out, you shift to claim his lips with yours, silencing the scream with a desperate kiss. While he tried to push up, you pushed down trying to keep him immobile just a bit longer.
"Please, please hic just get angry or something, we need to go." You may have been new to the Force, but you knew he drew upon it through anger and fear. Figuring you had the fear part covered, if you could get him angry, maybe you could get him to walk to an escape shuttle. You continued to ignore his pleas for you to leave him behind, eventually moving to his left side so you could pin his good arm down as you continued to apply pressure to the wound on his side.
With your knee on his arm, you pressed all your weight into his wound, the blood had slowed and his breathing was ragged but constant. Snow had managed to cover his feet and while you continued to brush it off of his face, you knew the cold would soon sap all reclaimed strength he had, as well as your soon to be depleted reserves. Leaning forward, you rested your forehead to his. Eyelashes brushing his, you slowly rubbed your nose tip against his nose in a small, comforting gesture. Opening your eyes you caught him looking up at you, his eyes filled with pain, and a small spark of determination.
Pushing up with his good arm, he used his forehead to guide you up. Through gritted teeth he sucked in a breath, and slid his head towards his left to look at the arm he could no longer feel. You shifted back to your haunches, hands still firmly in place on his side. The blood had stopped flowing, but you hadn't noticed quiet yet, the cold had leached too much out of you.
Kylo Ren turned to look at you, his eyes glassy, yet somehow still alert. The blue of your lips pained him more than his side. Using his good hand he grasped yours and squeezed it weakly, his brow furrowed mouth tight.
You let yourself slump against his shoulder slightly, relief trying to make you forget his current state, but you caught most of your weight before you could knock him over. He still grimaced and you felt his breath hiss out against the top of your head.
"Where...the...frell...is Hux..?" Kylo managed to hiss as you moved away, trying to stand up. You were wobbling on your feet, the cold long since numbing your limbs, and you just shook your head.
"I, I d-d-d-on't kn-n-ow." You started, teeth chattering. Holding your hands out, you grabbed his outstretched hand and pulled with all your might, helping him to gain his footing in the snow. He stumbled forward, landing hard in your arms, almost knocking you down. You grunt as he tries to brace himself with his dead arm, and you bend your knees trying to stay up. With his good arm finally anchoring himself to you, you buries his face briefly against you neck and just breaths.
"Damn, please.. y/n... Just go…" despite his plea he tightens his grip on your shoulder and takes a step towards the chasm. You smother a sob and shift so you are supporting his weight on your shoulders. You both begin to walk, albeit quite slowly, through the snow.
The silence around you both is now much more noticeably disrupted by the roars of breaking earth. The snow seems to be melting much faster as well, despite the cold still sending daggers through your now soaked uniform. As you both struggle forward, you force yourself to just focus on Kylo's grip on your shoulder and the placement of your feet. The magma filled chasm slowly looming closer. It was much bigger than it was before, you frantically search for a new way across, thanking the Stars when you notice a new outcropping of rock.
Tightening the grip on your dark knight, you began leading him down towards the newly formed bridge. Fighting your screaming muscles as Kylo shifts his weight against you, you press a kiss against his jaw as you pulled him along.
"Kylo, love," you whisper breathily, the magma in the chasm torturing you frozen form, "Kylo, come on. This was the biggest obstacle on the way here." The light from the melting pools around you cast harsh shadows on his already pain shadowed face. "We can do this, Kylo."
He shifts his weight as he missteps, sending you into further panic as you brace yourself, and by extension him.
"I swear to the Stars, Ben Solo, I will shove my finger in your side if you don't help me help you walk. The frelling floor is lava!" You stand still as he sways on his feet, glaring at him, eyes fierce and filled with tears of determination. His grip on your shoulder tightened and he huffed out a pained laugh. Taking a slow step forward, he began moving again, watching his feet and trusting you to guide him.
Finally, with much cursing, you are both over the chasm. After that, it was smooth sailing, or as smooth as helping a half dead Force user through a frozen forest while the planet itself is crumbling beneath could be considered smooth. And after what felt like hours of your lover's weight resting on your shoulders, the two of you finally reached the tree line. Turning your head to give him a reassuring smile you notice his eyes are once again closed. Pain is etched across his face and you bite your lip in worry. With the base in site- and what a charred site it was, you began yelling out, hoping one of the 'troopers running about would hear you.
You began walking faster, almost dragging your lover through the snow through pure adrenaline. As a strong tremor shakes the planet, you slip, falling to your knees. You scream out in panic as you try to brace Kylo before he hits the icy ground and succeed in cushioning his fall. He groans low in his throat and tries to look up at your face, his lips blue and cracked, and you can't help but let the tears fall down you frozen cheeks. You press your forehead to his and murmur reassurances as you hold him tightly to your chest...
Trying to push yourself up while maneuvering him was a trial, and one you we're failing. You let out a frustrated scream and sobbed onto the top of his hair as you fall back to the ground, caught under his weight. You could feel his breathing growing shallower as the warm air hit your throat, and you considered following through with your earlier threat, but whether by the Force or sheer luck, a Storm Trooper finally sees you and shouts for his squad to come to your aid.
As you hear the crunching snow beneath their boots you bury your face into Kylo's hair, weeping with relief. As the 'troopers draw near you turn you head to meet their dark visored faces.
"Kylo, helps here." you whisper to him.
As you relinquish your precious burden to the troopers, your breath catches as Kylo cries out in pain. You glare at the Stormtroopers and as one of them helps you up, resting and arm on the small of your back you tell them of the wound on their Commanders side. As you keep your eyes on the ones guiding your love in front of you, you slowly begin to lose focus and soon your path to the escape pods becomes nothing more than a blur of white armor, black cloth and flashing lights.
Once on board, one of the troopers guided you to a gurney and you allowed your soaked and shivering body to rest. You reached out to the gurney you knew was next to you and rested your hand against Kylo's chest. You could hear his breathing being aided by a mask, but what you hoped to be a medically induced slumber was barely comforting you. You knew he had almost died. That you almost died from the cold trying to save him. But you could still feel him, the tug on your heart was still there, but it was small.
As you let your exhaustion claim you, you couldn't see that in the distance, a junky ship had blasted off, sending sprays of snow, ice and water out behind it as is jettisons off of the doomed weapon planet. You didn't know when your own shuttle jettisoned out towards the Outer rim territories. And you didn't get to see the spectacle that was you home, Starkiller Base, becoming