Cold.

It was cold.

Kylo Ren was rather surprised that he felt it. As he lay there on the ground, weakened, dazed, so effortlessly cut down by that scavenger girl's lightsaber - rightfully his lightsaber - even as Starkiller Base was on the verge of total annihilation, all he could think of was how cold it was.

He could hear the earth shattering beneath him, around him, as Starkiller Base consumed itself from the inside, threatening to take him with it. The Resistance had dealt the Order a severe blow, and Supreme Leader Snoke would undoubtedly be... most displeased. Kylo felt a shiver run down his spine at the thought of Snoke's displeasure. There would be much he would have to answer for when he meets his master.

If he meets his master.

Hux would be looking for him by now. Though he couldn't sense any stormtroopers making their way to where he lay, he knew they would seek him out before the Base was lost. But... what if they didn't? What if Snoke decided to leave him to die, a failure amongst the Knights of Ren? Was that his ultimate fate? Would he be a miserable example of the price of failure?

Cold.

Kylo coughed, spitting blood, and he sighed weakly, unable to get up. The wounds immobilized him; the blaster shot that caught him in his side now flared with immense pain, held back as he fought the traitor and the girl. But now that she had struck him so... the wounds seemed to have intensified the pain coursing through his body.

Or perhaps it was the humiliation that hurt him even more than the physical wounds did.

He reached out with the Force, as best as he could, even in his weakened state. Perhaps he could direct the search party his way, if there indeed was one. No, he thought, there will be one. They will not leave me behind.

It was then he sensed something else. No, someone else. Close. Very close.

In the corner of his eye, he saw a figure move towards him, clad in black. Who was that? Could it be Hux? No, something doesn't seem right. A vision? A trick of the mind? There seemed to be a... familiar aura, emanating. It reeked of the dark side. But there was... something else. Something different.

Grandfather?

He tried to utter the word that had crossed his mind, but he could barely make a sound, the words stuck in his throat. He saw the figure walk ever closer to him, taking slow, purposeful steps. It wore a black cloak, and... boots? It seemed to Kylo that those may be boots. He couldn't think straight; the pain ate away at him.

The silhouette stopped moving, so very close now, just by Kylo's legs. It knelt, and Kylo struggled to look at it, even as his eyes faltered in the chill, the pain, the scar that ran along his face, nearly blinding him. His vision was blurry now, and he couldn't recognize the face that now looked upon his sorry state.

He tried to speak again. He managed to stutter something, vaguely coherent, but the pain again overwhelmed him.

"Kylo Ren," the black figure spoke.

At that moment, Kylo knew it wasn't Darth Vader who had come to him.

"Who...are y-you...?" he managed to say, gathering what strength he had left to speak. He grimaced as the pain lanced once again across his every nerve fibre.

"I am Cain," it replied, its gaze afixed on Kylo. "I was a... friend of Vader."

"You... knew my... g-grand...f-father?"

"To some extent, yes."

Kylo wanted to ask more, but his words faltered, his strength slowly slipping away from him. Darkness was beginning to envelop what vision he had left...

In the distance, Starkiller Base rumbled its death throes. But Kylo could hear the sound of engines...

"Rest, Kylo of the Knights of Ren. You will not die here; the First Order still needs its greatest champion. You will not go quietly. And before long, the galaxy will know your name; they will remember you, fear you, and you will do your grandfather proud."

Kylo could not resist anymore, and the darkness overpowered him, just as he saw the bright lights in the sky, the thunderous roar of ion engines, descending from the heavens to where he rested now. He knew Hux had not abandoned him, nor would the Order abandon him...

"Master..." Kylo croaked.

He could barely hear the stranger's last words as sleep claimed him.

"Sleep now, Ben Solo. Sleep, and when you wake..."