Huxloween: The Thirty Night Trial

Day Two: Bonfire

Hux leaned back against a log. He was half-wrapped in bedroll that was much cosier than standard First Order issue, courtesy of Kylo, but he'd rather be thrown in the garbage chute than admit he liked the better gear.

Speaking of Kylo, if he didn't stop poking their campfire, he'd…yes, his stick was on fire.

""It's not that funny," the Force user snapped, tossing the flaming branch on the fire.

"Kylo, we're camping out here waiting for something to come and terrify us out of our minds, so we learn something about ourselves," Hux drawled. "If I want to hang on to every piece of humour you provide, I will."

Kylo snorted and wormed into his own bedroll on the other side of the fire from Hux. He'd started becoming nervous as the sun set, clearly beginning to be apprehensive about the trials. Hux wasn't sure if he'd even experience anything, not being Force sensitive himself. Even if he did, could it be any worse that his father's Academy?

The campfire flared. Hux found his eyes drawn to it, a dark shape resolving itself in the centre. Long, thin…humanoid…with a suddenly familiar mask…

Hux glanced up at Kylo, who seemed fixated on the image. Flames leapt between them, and seemed to form a deep red streak along Kylo's face. Blood, a deep wound.

Then the ground cracked open, and the flames poured out.

It wasn't fair that Darth Vader had been given a Jedi's pyre. He deserved a Sith's tomb. But Skywalker had burnt him, and taken the remains to his temple, where Kylo had found them years later. The helmet was safe in his quarters on the Finalizer, the rest entombed on the Sith planet Moraband in the Valley of the Dark Lords. Kylo had seen to that himself.

The helmet wilted in the fire, going from shiny and flawless to warped and corroded.

Then the ground split open.

Kylo started, looking up to see growing horror on Hux's face. Pain suddenly lanced through him; his hip, his shoulder, his face. He fell back, squirming out of his bedroll. He reached for his lightsaber, but only succeeded in knocking it away. Hux was also on his feet, but the crack in the earth, spewing fire and brimstone widened, a chasm forming.

"Hux!"

"Kylo!"

Hux tried to lunge forward, and his flame-red hair blended in with the inferno.

Kylo looked to be struggling, injured, blood-streaked. Hux had to get to him. Snoke would not let him return without the Knight, and he was getting fond of the man, damn it.

Hux lunged, and jumped through the fire-

Crashing into Kylo in the quiet wilderness.

The campfire licked around his ankle and set fire to his trousers, making Hux yelp and roll over, grab a bottle of water and pour it over his leg. Then he looked up at Kylo's unmarred face.

"Everything's back to normal," Kylo remarked. He was breathing hard and looked startled, but not much more.

"I thought…" Hux trailed off, shaking his head.

"What?"

"It doesn't matter."

Kylo reached out and took Hux's hands in his, removing the empty water bottle. "For a moment I thought we were being separated, that I'd never be with you again. When you jumped, I thought for sure you'd fall into the chasm."

Hux stared at the ground. "I thought you were going to die. That you were too injured to get out of danger."

Kylo squeezed his hands, as much to reassure himself as Hux. "Well, I'm fine. You're fine. This must have been the first trial. It was more…intense than I expected."

Hux straightened himself. "Yes. Intense. We'll be better prepared tomorrow. It just…came as a surprise. Bit of a scare. Nothing to it." He pulled away from Kylo.

Kylo reluctantly let him go. "Yes. Bit of a scare. Nothing else."

There was an awkward pause. "We should sleep," Hux said. "We've a fair hike to get to the next trial site."

"Yeah."

Kylo retrieved his lightsaber before crawling into his bedroll, and Hux returned to his own.

Bit of a scare. Nothing else.