Huxloween: The Thirty Night Trial

Day 6: Transformation

Once again, they braved the great outdoors. And tonight, it was raining.

"I told you we ought to bring a tent," Hux growled, curling up beneath his coat.

Kylo had pulled his cowl low over his head but otherwise seemed unconcerned. "You're from a planet of perpetual rain. I'd have thought you'd be used to it."

"We had monsoons," Hux grumbled. "And growing up plastered in mud whenever you dare to go outside doesn't actually endear wet weather to you."

"It's just water. Stop complaining."

"I wouldn't complain if you'd listened when I said we ought to bring a tent. 'Oh no,' you said. 'It'll be fine,' you said. 'We won't need it,' you said."

"Hux," Kylo snarled. "If we're in a tent, how are we meant to see the trial?"

Hux glowered and curled up tighter under the greatcoat. For once, he would have liked his rations as a hot stew, but they couldn't light a fire. Kylo had consented to using one of the vents of his 'saber to heat two cups of rainwater, which provided them with hot but increasingly dilute drinks, but other than that they had soggy mush. It was pretty miserable.

There was a flash of lightening. Hux started at the unexpected light, then the roll of thunder hit. "The Academy used to get hit by lightning a lot," he reminisced. "The rod kept melting. Needed replacing every other year."

Kylo chuckled. "Sounds fun."

"Not when you're inside with the flood shutters closed and you don't know if the rod will last the whole monsoon."

The lightning flashed again, this time with the thunder on its heels. "Getting closer," Kylo remarked. Hux grunted. He found a long stick, stuck it upright in the ground and hunkered down. Just in case it came any closer.

With a flash, the electric bolt set fire to the stick, and Hux felt his bones creak and his flesh flow. He yelped. Had the electricity gone through the rainwater and got him? And Kylo was screaming too. Were they going to die, not even a third of the way through the trial?

He felt his body warp, and then straighten itself. He blinked, and looked down.

A long expanse of red fur met his gaze.

"Kylo!" he screamed. It came out as a canine yowl.

He looked up, and where Kylo had been sitting was a large black wolf. It barked, then padded over to him.

Hux inched back, knocking over the no-longer-flaming stick. Something lashed around his feet. His…four feet. Ending in…paws.

It was a bushy, red and white tail.

Yelping, Hux pawed (literally) at his face. His nose and mouth had elongated into a snout. He no longer had a ginger mop on top of his head, but there were two triangular ears. "I'm a fox!" he yelped. "Kylo, I'm a fox! And you're a wolf!"

Wolf-Kylo advanced on him gently and nuzzled him soothingly. The wolf lay down, half curled, and looked pointedly from the slightly panicking Fox-Hux to the gap in his curl.

Taking the hint, Hux curled up next to his wolf. At least sleeping in thick fur would stop him feeling the wet so much.