Hearts of Rebels | Star Wars Fanfiction

Chapter XVI

The sun was almost entirely below the horizon, and a blizzard had begun to pick up. Rhea shivered, she was starting to lose feeling in her hands and feet. She spurred the Tauntaun closer to large ridges of snow, fumbling with her belt as the snow lizard trotted over to the ridges.

Either Luke hadn't returned, or her commlink was frozen over. Finally finding her communicator, she dusted the snow off and activated it.

"Woah," She cooed as the Tauntaun jerked backwards. Petting its neck, Rhea pulled her scarf down, raising the commlink to her mouth when the wind whipped around smacking Rhea and her stead with clumps of frozen snow. The Tauntaun made a high pitched snarl and jolted. Rhea grappled for the reins, dropping her commlink in the process.

"No!" She reached out for the device as it fell into the snow, the Tauntaun whipped around to face the ridges letting out strangled barks. It snarled once more as it reared up fast enough to throw Rhea off.

She yelped, landing awkwardly on her right foot. A lightning bolt of pain shot up from her foot through her leg and into the rest of her body. She laid in the snow, her mouth agape from the sudden pain.

The Tauntaun growled at the ridges before running into the distance. Rhea snapped out of her shock as another wave of pain hit her. She clamped her teeth together, tears that escaped her eyes pooled on the bottom of her goggles, freezing up quickly despite the protective gear. With her Tauntaun nowhere in sight, she twisted around to look at the ridge behind her, the one that had caused her Tauntaun to buck her off.

She forced herself to crawl to the ridge, dragging her injured foot behind her. Reaching the snow ridge, she saw a cave open up in front of her. Without a thought, she slid down into the cave. It already felt considerably warmed then the icy desert behind her.

Now at the very least, it would take longer to freeze to death. Whether or not that was such a good thing, she would have to decide later. She was brought out of her thoughts as a malicious roar echoed off the cave walls. A few suspenseful moments later, she wrapped her hand around the blaster pistol strapped to her thigh, her finger tensely placed against the trigger as she unholstered it and held it by her face.

She peeked around the corner of the cave and saw one of Hoth's carnivorous snow monsters, a Wampa, feasting on the remains of a Tauntaun. She also noticed a man dressed in rebel gear hanging upside down from the ceiling, his ankles frozen into the icy top. He pulled himself up, trying to grab hold of his ankles, unsuccessfully dropping back down into his hanging position.

"Luke!" Rhea hissed, Luke twisted to her from his dangling position giving her an alarmed expression. He waved his arms towards the cave's entrance, trying to get her to leave.

"Rhea-" He was cut off as the Wampa let out a low growl, lumbering towards Luke. He looked between the ice creature and his friend frantically going for his ice-covered feet again. The Wampa reached its blood-covered paws for Luke as he dropped back down from the attempt.

Rhea cursed under her breath. She shoved herself up, stumbling into the cavern she fired her blaster at the Wampa. To both rebels dismay, she only managed to hit its shoulder, burning the fur off.

Enraged, the Wampa stomped past Luke and reached for Rhea its claws scraping across her back. As the ice creature lifted her, a metallic object flung from the snowy ground and into Luke's hand. Instantly igniting the ancient weapon, he swung up, cutting himself loose from the ice and falling onto the cave floor in a heap.

With adrenaline fueling his body, he leapt up swinging at the Wampa, separating it from its arm, Rhea falling with it. Both of them startled at the intensity of the Wampas bloodcurdling scream. Rhea scrambled up, swallowing a howl of pain as she stepped on her foot. She tugged Luke by his coat collar, making him stumble back onto her.

He looked at her, his eyes locking onto her foot. Sensing the pain she was in he wrapped his arm around her waist, hoisting her to her feet. They staggered out of the ice cave together and into the dark snowy twilight.

Weak and exhausted, they clung to each other as the wind buffeted against them in the ever-worsening blizzard. Out of the two of them, Rhea was faring better. The cold was numbing the rest of her body, including her sprained foot. Luke struggled to stay upright, a blast of freezing wind managing to knock him over, bringing Rhea down with him.

She laid in the snow, utterly exhausted until she heard Luke groan over the wind. Battling against the wind, snow and her foot at the same time, she dropped down beside him panting, unable to get herself back up. She clasped her hands under his arms and pulled him onto her knees. She strapped his scarf to his helmet and took off her snow goggles, placing them over Luke's eyes.

She leaned over him, trying to protect him from the wind. She pulled her own scarf back across her face. Without her goggles, the freezing snow and bitter wind had taken their advantage and saw to stealing her last bit of warmth. Her lips were turning blue, and her face was becoming a painful bright pink.

She likely had a few more hours herself before she would give in to the cold. She needed to last until the blizzard was over and make sure Luke could make it back to Echo Base. She repeated the thought in her mind to stay awake, keep Luke alive.

Slipping in and out of consciousness, Luke managed to mumble something reaching his hand out. She followed his hand, to her disbelief, a Tauntaun with a rider cantered through the blizzard. She flailed her arm above her head to get their attention, and to her amazement, Han was the one who leapt off the Tauntaun hurrying over to his snow-covered friends.

"I thought I told you to stay put!" He shouted angrily.

"When did you ever listen to orders?" Her voice was hoarse from the cold. He raised a brow at her before digging in his belt, eventually holding up a frozen commlink that was still blinking red.

"You're a damn lucky fool" He hugged her, handing her commlink back. She managed a throaty laugh hugging the smuggler back.

The joyous reunion was interrupted as his Tauntaun let out a pitiful bellow, collapsing to the ground dead. He rested his head against Luke's chest. Sighing with relief once he heard a faint beat, he rested Luke back on Rhea's legs and swiped his lightsaber off him.

He stumbled to his dead stead slicing into its belly with the lightsaber, unleashing a vile stench. Even at her distance through a blizzard, Rhea could smell the beast's innards. Luke even fidgeted in his unconsciousness.

"Hang on, kid," Han pleaded as he rushed back to them, he grabbed Luke under his arms and dragged him to the deceased Tauntaun.

"This may smell bad, kid..." He left Luke by the cut he had made and tried his best to push him into the vile smelling guts. "But it will keep you warm... til I get the shelter built."

Han dropped down on the Tauntaun, exhaustedly waving his hand in front of his nose, trying to dispel the disgusting odour away from him.

"And I thought they smelled bad, on the outside!" Han complained through laboured breaths. He hoisted himself up and trudged over to Rhea. She had already dragged herself a few feet towards him, feeling the considerable difference of cold without Luke's body heat near her.

"Come on, sweetheart. Just a little further," Han encouraged her. He pulled her up and helped her over to the Tauntaun, gently letting go of her arm as she laid beside the beast.

She immediately felt the warmth as the heat washed over her body, as well as the stench. As Han moved to the back of the Tauntaun to grab a shelter container and out of sight for Rhea, she slumped down beside Luke, who was muttering about a planet and a Yoda.

After some time, Han returned and sat her up. The wind had picked up considerably, making it difficult to move. He pulled her to a pitiful protection against the bitter Hoth night.

Once Luke was placed beside her, Han closed the shelter. Finally, Rhea allowed herself to succumb to fatigue, passing out almost immediately.

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