(no subject)
There's something to be said for a normal snowfall on a relatively normal planet. Han's seen a few (most have been at Milliways, if you want to get into specifics...or consider Milliways Bar to be normal for that matter) but they always have different factors involved. No wind means the snow falls lightly to the ground in clumps and layers. Colder temps mean the snow is more like ice than a light powder. More moisture means it coats your clothes. If this was a relatively normal planet, then maybe the snow would fall normally.
Hoth is not a normal planet.
It's frozen year round. Abandoned, practically a wasteland. That's why the Alliance picked it. Empty. Nobody would ever think to look for a Rebel base on an ice covered rock in a far reach of the galaxy, right?
The darkness is creeping in as Han rides out across hills and valleys, the tauntaun breathing heavy as he pushes the beast further. Maybe just over that ridge. Maybe just over that hill. The snow is blowing in five different directions, swirling, almost impossible to breathe in, and he can barely see the head of the animal in front of him.
Just over this hill.
Maybe the next valley...
There.
A dark patch against the snow. It's either a rock, or it's the kid, and the closer he gets, the more Luke-shapes it is. His face is black, blood frozen in his veins, and Han jumps off the tauntaun and rolls him onto his back.
Muttering something about Yoda and some system on the other side, not making any sense.
There's a thud.
(The tauntaun, tired from running and being pushed to the limit, staggers a few steps and then collapses in a heap.)
Well son of a...
Han ducks down and pulls Luke's lightsaber off of his belt. The kid needs to get warm, and get warm fast, and if the tauntaun is already dead, what's the harm in using what they've got. Slicing open the belly is disgusting, but when it comes down to it, Han would rather Luke be stinky and alive over fresh-smelling and frozen to death.
He'll apologize later, he thinks, as he tucks him into the body cavity of the beast to protect him from the elements.
Shelter. They won't be sending out a search party tonight, not in this weather and not in this cold. Need shelter.
Han struggles to unpack the small emergency shelter from his belt, it's not much, but pressed up against Luke and the open belly of the quickly cooling tauntaun carcass, the foil layer against the snow (which is soon buried under a thick layer) and they stick together for body heat. The kid is still out of his mind.
Yoda. Ben. Dagobah.
Yoda.
Ben.
Dagobah.
He lies awake, trying to ignore the way his gear is sticking to the ice beneath him, the way his breath is freezing against his parka, how numb his hands are. He thinks of anything he can to keep himself awake.
Luke sleeps.
Han spends hours counting each breath the kid takes, and waiting for the next. The skin on his face gets lighter as he warms up, from body heat and the air they've trapped inside the shelter and the tauntaun.
(That tauntaun which is still stinky, why can't his nose go numb now dammit.)
The storm gets quieter outside, but he doesn't sleep.
Eventually, it stops. He breaks his way out of the ice and snow to find sunlight on the surface, and listens in the distance for the sound of speeders. His comm unit needs to thaw, but once it does, he hears the transmission.
They're coming for them.
The speeder comes over the hill.
Just one more hill.
"C'mon, Luke," he calls, before he sets about digging out the shelter while the snowspeeder lands a short distance off. "Time to wake up."
But for Han, all he wants to do is sleep. They send Luke back in the first speeder while another is on the way to pick up Han, so he sits on the snow and watches the way the faint breeze kicks up drifts, light, harmless powder.
Harmless, now.
(His hands are still numb.)
Eventually, they send a speeder out for him, and he climbs in the back and tucks Luke's lightsaber into his jacket. Wouldn't do to leave that behind, and the kid wasn't even awake when they carried him to the transport.
That's two Luke owes him, now.
Han ends up in Echo, still dressed in snow covered gear, and makes his way for the Falcon.
(What he wasn't expecting was the Bar to show up, finally.)
Hoth is not a normal planet.
It's frozen year round. Abandoned, practically a wasteland. That's why the Alliance picked it. Empty. Nobody would ever think to look for a Rebel base on an ice covered rock in a far reach of the galaxy, right?
The darkness is creeping in as Han rides out across hills and valleys, the tauntaun breathing heavy as he pushes the beast further. Maybe just over that ridge. Maybe just over that hill. The snow is blowing in five different directions, swirling, almost impossible to breathe in, and he can barely see the head of the animal in front of him.
Just over this hill.
Maybe the next valley...
There.
A dark patch against the snow. It's either a rock, or it's the kid, and the closer he gets, the more Luke-shapes it is. His face is black, blood frozen in his veins, and Han jumps off the tauntaun and rolls him onto his back.
Muttering something about Yoda and some system on the other side, not making any sense.
There's a thud.
(The tauntaun, tired from running and being pushed to the limit, staggers a few steps and then collapses in a heap.)
Well son of a...
Han ducks down and pulls Luke's lightsaber off of his belt. The kid needs to get warm, and get warm fast, and if the tauntaun is already dead, what's the harm in using what they've got. Slicing open the belly is disgusting, but when it comes down to it, Han would rather Luke be stinky and alive over fresh-smelling and frozen to death.
He'll apologize later, he thinks, as he tucks him into the body cavity of the beast to protect him from the elements.
Shelter. They won't be sending out a search party tonight, not in this weather and not in this cold. Need shelter.
Han struggles to unpack the small emergency shelter from his belt, it's not much, but pressed up against Luke and the open belly of the quickly cooling tauntaun carcass, the foil layer against the snow (which is soon buried under a thick layer) and they stick together for body heat. The kid is still out of his mind.
Yoda. Ben. Dagobah.
Yoda.
Ben.
Dagobah.
He lies awake, trying to ignore the way his gear is sticking to the ice beneath him, the way his breath is freezing against his parka, how numb his hands are. He thinks of anything he can to keep himself awake.
Luke sleeps.
Han spends hours counting each breath the kid takes, and waiting for the next. The skin on his face gets lighter as he warms up, from body heat and the air they've trapped inside the shelter and the tauntaun.
(That tauntaun which is still stinky, why can't his nose go numb now dammit.)
The storm gets quieter outside, but he doesn't sleep.
Eventually, it stops. He breaks his way out of the ice and snow to find sunlight on the surface, and listens in the distance for the sound of speeders. His comm unit needs to thaw, but once it does, he hears the transmission.
They're coming for them.
The speeder comes over the hill.
Just one more hill.
"C'mon, Luke," he calls, before he sets about digging out the shelter while the snowspeeder lands a short distance off. "Time to wake up."
But for Han, all he wants to do is sleep. They send Luke back in the first speeder while another is on the way to pick up Han, so he sits on the snow and watches the way the faint breeze kicks up drifts, light, harmless powder.
Harmless, now.
(His hands are still numb.)
Eventually, they send a speeder out for him, and he climbs in the back and tucks Luke's lightsaber into his jacket. Wouldn't do to leave that behind, and the kid wasn't even awake when they carried him to the transport.
That's two Luke owes him, now.
Han ends up in Echo, still dressed in snow covered gear, and makes his way for the Falcon.
(What he wasn't expecting was the Bar to show up, finally.)