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Death lurked behind the girl, a silent specter of shadowy wisps standing in the snow. Its crooked bony hand reached out from its tattered robes, a kiss of death upon its fingers.
Kylo tightened his grip on his staff, watching with morbid curiosity as his fellow immortal carried out his thankless chore.
The girl could be no older than seven. She was curled up under a barren tree, her thin, weathered clothes doing little to protect her from the harsh element. His element. Winter. It never ceased to amaze him how childishly enthralled humans were by the winter. They saw the snow and wondered in it. They saw it as a game and played in his season; crafting men from its powdery coldness, splashing angels along its landscape, skating dangerously across it’s frozen lochs and ponds.
So often humans forgot how cruel it could be. How unforgiving. Just as this sorry sight of a girl clearly had. She was shivering violently, snow and ice coated her in a frigid blanket.
He didn’t know who she was, nor did he care. Countless humans perished in the snows beauty. She was no different. And she would not be the last.
He stood from were he knelt hidden in the shadows of the forests edge. Moonlight bathed on his skin, illuminating him in the darkness. Staff in hand he went to leave, casting the child one final glance.
He froze. She…. she was starring at him. Not through him… but at him. It was as if she could see him.
It can’t be, Kylo murmured, taking a step towards her.
Humans could not see him, just as they could not see so many of the immortal creatures that played a role in their lives. He was part of the unseen, the unheard and never felt, but always there. And yet…
He only realized what he had done once he had wrapped his hand around Deaths wrist, holding him back from taking the girls life.
“Wait,” Kylo whispered.
Death waited for no human, and Kylo held his breath as the hooded creature slowly titled its head to look at him. It nodded, pulling its hand away and stepping back, it’s long robes trailing with it.
Kylo knelt down beside the girl. She could see him. He could see the way her eyes, flicking shut and open behind heavy eyelids, followed him. She showed no sign of being aware of Deaths presence looming over her. Only him. Only Kylo… the spirit of winter.
“You can see me?” He asked quietly, reaching out and brushing her cheek with his knuckles. He felt his heart tighten. He’d been able to touch her! His hand hadn’t went right through her as it did everyone else. How?
The girl struggled but managed to nod her head, a strained splutter of coughs escaping her.
Kylo felt the air being knocked out of him. She could see him. Really see him and feel him. How could she do what no one else could? For centuries he’d existed, no humans acknowledging him as anything more than an expression. They called him Jack Frost, a mischievous spirit who went around nipping at their noses. That was it. He was nothing more than that to them.
It boiled his frozen blood at the thought, filled him with a dark, seething rage. He was the sculpture of the cruelest season. He could stop the fieriest of rivers and waterfalls in their tracks with a touch of his staff, could freeze the very oceans if he desired! Few weathers could compete with his blizzards when his wrath was invoked. He could coat entire lands and mountains with his snow, not an inch of green would be spared.
He was a power to be reckoned with; yet still humans belittled him. Refused to believe in him. A foolish mistake. One day they would pay for their insolence. When that day came there would be no where on this forsaken world that they could hide. Not from him. Not from an eternal winter. He pitied how little rest Death would have on that day.
Kylo felt Death move behind him. The girls time was up. Something dark clutched at his heart and again his body moved without thinking. Carefully, as though he were from the most fragile of ice, Kylo scooped her up into his arms and rose to his feet.
Death watched him, shaking his head.
It is her time. The creatures voice echoed in his head.
“Not yet. And not by my element,” Kylo whispered, watching the girls hazel orbs vanish behind ice kissed eyelids.
His stare turned hard and he glared at his fellow immortal.
This is unwise.
“You grant the Man on The Moon favors. Allow him to pick who will escape your kiss. Allow me this one. Just one.”
Death remained silent. The moons light touched down on them, both immortals turning to stare at the watchful beacon in the sky. With a creak of its bones Death turned away, leaving no trail in the snow.
Very well, Kylo Ren, Spirit of Winter.
Death faded from were it stood, but his voice, dark and quiet echoed through out the clearing once more.
Your compassion has given Rey a second chance.
Kylo bristled at that. He did not have compassion for her. A mortal. A foolish little girl who had been left in the snow to die. He did not care for her. He was trying to have her spared yes, but not because of that. She had seen him, believed in him, and that deserved some form of recognition. That was it.
However, be aware that she will no longer be what she once was. As all humans who I spare that is the price she pays… I wonder how that will effect your plans?
Kylo didn’t know what that meant, but when the voice finished he knew Death was now completely gone. He pulled the girl, Rey, close to his chest. He had to get her somewhere warm. All he could do was keep her cold.
He placed her on the ground, taking off his long brown cape and fastening it around her before lifting her up again. He took her to the closest village, a small outpost at the edge of the lands called Niima.
He took her inside an old abandoned stable, laying her down on a bed of hay.
“Compassion is a weakness. Do not expect it to save you in life again. If you want to survive rely on yourself. And only yourself.” Kylo whispered, reaching out and tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.
He let it go as though burned when the strand turned chalk white, a tingly feeling stingy his fingertips. He looked at the girl in shock, not quite understanding what had just happened.
He stood up and left, leaving the girl in the stable, her only companion being the gentle rays from the moon basking upon her goosebumps ridden skin.
Before he left he glared up at the spirit in the sky.
“Do not mistake this for weakness. I will finish what my grandfather started. And the humans will know true fear. You and your Guardians will not be able to prevent what will pass.”
Kylo would not return to Jakku for twelve years, but when he would he would be brought there by whispers of a young women blessed with magic of ice and snow.
A women… called Rey.