Work Text:
The frozen landscape of Hoth always looked the same. There was nothing exciting about it, Kallus mused as his tauntaun trotted through the snow. Through his goggles, everything looked the same. He squinted through the blinding sunlight anyway, scanning the horizon for any possible signs of attack.
“See anything?” one of his patrolmates called to him from behind. He guided his Tauntaun to a halt, taking one last look over the frozen wasteland in front of him.
“No,” he responded, slipping his gloves from his hands before shifting his goggles onto his forehead. Without the snow covered goggles, he could see a lot clearer. Fortunately, there was still nothing to see. “I don’t see anything.”
They stayed still for a moment, Kallus assessing his own level of warmth, along with his two colleagues. The two younger patrolmen seemed alert and warm enough, neither of them complaining about the frigid temperatures yet.
Looking down at his wrist, Kallus made note of the time. They had another hour before they should start heading back to the base.
“We have another hour before we should be heading back,” Kallus called to the men behind him. “You boys up for another lap?”
A sudden gust of wind whipped around Kallus’s body, slipping inside the hood of his coat and making him shiver involuntarily. The gloves which he had kept resting on his left thigh were carried into the swirling snow, disappearing into the blinding whiteness. That probably wasn’t good… But Kallus supposed maybe he could turn back a little early, if his hands started getting too terribly cold. He should be fine though, he thought. Fine enough to finish another lap of the base, that was for certain.
Leading the way, Kallus started off for one final lap around the base before shift change. His hands were cold against the reins of his tauntaun, but he was able to make do for a while longer. It wasn’t until they had finished their final lap that things went wrong.
Once Kallus’s hands had gotten too cold to hold on to the reins, they had stopped for a break. After dismounting his tauntaun to give it a momentary respite from his weight, Kallus had shoved his hands into his pockets. He watched as the animals grazed on the snow, picking it up in their mouths, and then letting it melt on their tongue before swallowing it. He waited for the feeling to come back to his fingers as his teammates followed his lead, dismounting and letting their tauntauns rest.
Kallus looked over to the two men, whom he knew as Les and Kraev. “Curious creatures, don’t you think?”
One of his subordinates, Les, spoke up, also watching the tauntauns from afar. “That they are,” he said, a small smile on his face as he watched the animals drink.
Kraev huffed, taking a seat in the snow beside where the other two men were standing. “I don’t know about you both, but I’m ready to go home.” The man tucked his face inside his fur-lined hood, hiding from the gusty wind. “It’s too damn cold out here for this shit.”
With that, Kallus could agree. He took stock of his hands, noticing that the feeling was mostly coming back now. The base wasn’t too far, just about two miles from here. They should make it back in less than twenty minutes, if they hurried. His hands should be fine for that amount of time, he bargained. Plus, then he would get to warm them up back on base, rather than try helplessly to warm them out here in the elements.
“I can’t argue with that one Kraev,” Kallus said, taking a step toward the animals. “Let’s mount up and head home then. I say we’ve earned it.”
He stood by his tauntaun, watching as the other two hopped back on their animals. Kraev turned to Les. “You ready?” he called.
Kallus gripped the reins of his tauntaun, attempting to swing his leg over its back, before his grip failed, sending him ass-first into the snow. He cursed as snow seeped through the open neck of his jacket, melting against his skin and instantly chilling him. He tried to flex his hands as he fought his way to his feet.
“Let’s go!” Les whipped the reins in his hand, his tauntaun rushing forward at the sound and feeling. Kraev’s followed close behind. Kallus attempted to grab onto his own reins before his tauntaun started following the group. His hands once again failed, the momentum of the animal sprinting to catch up with its pack causing him to fall face-first into the snow.
He looked up, clearing the snow from his vision as he watched the other two, along with his ride, dissapear into the blizzard. For a moment, he tried with everything he had to follow, before stumbling back into the snow. He laid there for a moment, just looking into the distance.
Without the warmpth from the animal beneath him, Kallus felt the cold start to seep into his bones, chilling him instantly. He had always complained that they used tauntauns on this planet instead of speeders, but he understood why. The warmpth of the animal under him had always been nice. And it had been something he had taken for granted until this very moment.
Shivering, Kallus stood from the snowbank. He searched his pockets for his communicator and emergency homing device. Maybe he could walk back to the base if he could only find…
He had left them in his satchel attached to the tauntaun’s saddle. Cursing himself, Kallus quickly thought of a plan. If he stayed out here any longer than necessary, he would freeze to death. He had to get back to the base before nightfall, or there would be no rescue. Kallus would freeze to death, and the rest of the rebels might find his frozen corpse, if the snow hadn’t covered it by the time they did come across it.
He looked into the distance, unable to see much of anything through the storm. He then looked down at the ground, noticing the pristine snow, broken up by the occasional large footprint from the men who had left him out here for dead.
Kallus tried not to hold it against them, he really did. They were young, and inexperienced. And they clearly didn’t pay much attention to their surroundings. He had been like that once, Kallus reminded himself. Most young recruits were like that. And while they had disobeyed the chain of command by leaving before him, he was sure the talking-to they were going to recieve upon returning to base from Zeb was going to make anything he could say to the pair pale in comparison.
Looking down at the snow once again, Kallus took note of the distance between the footprints. He could see between them, and could easily keep track of the direction they headed in. If he followed the prints through the snow quick enough, he should be able to get back to the base before nightfall. He was sure Zeb was going to be worried sick about him, but he figured he didn’t have another choice at this point, no matter how much he just wanted to curl up in the snow and take a nap.
The thought of Zeb warmed his heart, although his extremities were quickly freezing. He needed to get back. Once he was back, he was sure he could ask Zeb to come to bed with him. Under all their blankets with Zeb cuddled up next to him, Kallus was sure to warm up in no time. The thought kept him fighting forward through the wind and snow.
He was able to follow the tracks easily for a while, although he didn’t quite know how long. They were fresh, and had hardly been covered by the blizzard. However, as he kept walking, the prints got fainter and fainter, before finally fading completely, lost to the snow and wind.
At this, Kallus stopped. He squinted into the storm, finding nothing in front of him. Looking back at the ground, he found himself searching for the footprints he knew were there. He looked all around himself, finding a set of footprints behind him… or… were they in front of him?
Kallus looked at the footprints for a moment, confused. He shook his head agressively, trying to straighten out his thoughts. However, as soon as he thought he knew what he was supposed to be thinking about, the thought faded away like it was being carried with the wind.
Footprints. The footprints were probably good. Footprints meant people, and people meant warmth. But there was a small voice at the back of his mind that kept telling him that something was severely wrong here. He closed his eyes, trying to focus on that feeling. There really was something wrong here. He shouldn’t be out here in this cold.
How did he even get out here?
Kallus’s eyes widened as he realized he couldn’t remember. He swallowed, looking around. He was so confused. Which way had he come from again? He had been… following the footprints. Right, he was following footprints. Because footprints meant people. And people meant warmth.
He turned once again, searching for the footprints in the snow for a moment before realizing they were no longer there. Whatever footprints he had been looking for, and even his own footprints had been swept away by the blizzard, and replaced with pristine, shimmering snow in all directions.
As hard as he tried to grasp onto any thought in his mind, it was no good. He couldn’t seem to focus on anything as he tried to think of a way out of this situation. However, every time he tried to think of a way out of this situation, he got stuck trying desperately to remember how he had even gotten into this situation.
After another moment of panic, he decided that he needed to just keep moving. A clear thought finally surfaced in his mind that standing here in the wind was only making him colder, and wasn’t doing him any favors. Despite his limbs being heavy with cold and fatigue, Kallus tried to swing one leg past the other.
His coordination was off, causing him to trip over his own planted leg, falling on his side into the snow. He laid there for a moment, knowing he should at least try to get up. He had to. He had to keep moving.
But why did he have to keep moving again? He couldn’t quite remember. He couldn’t remember much of anything. He couldn’t even really remember his own name. Why was he out here? Where was here? Why was it so damn cold?
Listening to the voice in his brain that told him not to worry about it, he tried to put those thoughts from his mind. They obviously weren’t that important, if he couldn’t remember things. All he really knew for certain was that he was extraordinarily tired. He was so tired, he could probably fall asleep right here in the snow.
The snow was cold against his skin, almost feeling like it was burning in some places, especially against his cheeks and hands. But it was soft. Maybe if he slept for a moment, he would be less confused when he woke up. Maybe he would remember who he was, and why he had to keep moving. Maybe some rest would help him.
These thoughts kept coming to him, washing over his mind like a comfort as he closed his eyes. For a moment, there was cold. But then there was nothing but darkness.
~~~~
Kallus couldn’t feel his hands. He couldn’t feel his face. But what he could feel was a burning warmpth under him. It was so hot, it hurt. He groaned for a moment, trying to shift away from the fire against his back.
“Hey Kal. Hang in there for me, okay? Stay still, I know it hurts.”
That voice was familiar. That voice meant he was safe. That voice meant warmpth, and home, and comfort.
He opened his eyes, just a crack, and saw the comforting glow of bright green eyes looking down at him. Zeb looked worried. Kallus hoped that whatever Zeb was worried about would be okay. He didn’t like it when Zeb was worried.
So for a moment, Kallus lifted his hand, dragging across Zeb’s cheek in what he hoped was a comforting gesture.
“It’s going to be okay Zeb,” he croaked out.
The smile lighting up Zeb’s face was the last thing he saw before the blackness pulled him back under once again.
~~~~
The next time Kallus woke up, he was surrounded by burning warmth. It was so warm, in fact, that he felt like he was burning. But despite the pain of fire against his back and limbs, Kallus thought this was very much preferrable to where he had been earlier in the day.
He tried to roll over in the bed he was lying in, but realized there was another person laying behind him.
“You’re awake,” Zeb rumbled sleepily from behind him. “I thought you were never going to wake up.”
Kallus turned over, his limbs still sluggish and somewhat uncooperative. He was met with Zeb’s smiling face and warm body. He scooted closer, enjoying the heat radiating off the other man. He really felt like he couldn’t get enough.
As he nuzzled into Zeb’s chest, he realized there was something on his face. He leaned back a little, touching the spot on his face before noticing his hands wrapped in bacta bangages. Shit.
Zeb noticed Kallus’s realization. “You got some frostbite while you were out in the snow. The medbay folks think this’ll help though. Hopefully you won’t loose anything. They seemed confident though,” Zeb reassured him while wrapping a large arm around Kallus, pulling him closer to his body.
After simply enjoying the heat for another moment, Kallus spoke up. “What happened? How… How did you find me?”
Zeb sighed. “Well, when your buddies came back without you, I gave them a bit of an ear full. I’m sure they won’t be wanting to talk to me again anytime soon. I wasn’t exactly nice to ‘em.” He paused for a second, waiting for Kallus to respond.
“Well, they weren’t very nice to me, leaving me for dead in a frozen wasteland.” He pressed his face further into Zeb’s chest.
“After I somehow managed not to kill those two sleemos, I headed out after ya. Against orders, but who cares about that anymore. It took me about an hour of wandering around on one of those beasts before I saw your jacket sticking up out of the snow.”
There was another long pause before Zeb spoke up again, this time much quieter. “I thought you were dead, Kal. Layin’ in the snow like that. Your nose was black, you were barely breathin’. So I rushed you back here. You woke up a few times on the ride back, and you were pretty out of it.”
Kallus nodded. “I was certainly confused. I don’t remember much of anything, except for not being able to think.”
Zeb chuckled. “That’s when it’s real dangerous. When the smartest guy I know can’t string two coherent words together.”
“Thank you for saving me, Zeb.”
The lasat hugged him tighter, bringing him even closer to the source of the heat. “I’ll always come save ya, Kal. Although, I did petition for you to get a break from patrol duty. So maybe I won’t have to anytime soon.”
Smiling against his will, he wrapped an arm around Zeb’s waist, pulling him into a tight embrace.
The two didn’t say much more before falling into a peaceful and warm sleep beneath the pile of warm blankets in each others arms.