57

HOURS TICKED by.

Kanan's every breath fogged up his visor, and then faded away. He held his lightsaber high above his head with one arm and hugged himself with the other, shivering. It was so cold here. So oppressively silent..

Kanan fumbled for his com with his free hand. His fingers were numb. When he finally got ahold of it, he turned it on and held it to his mouth. "H-Hera-- d-do you read?"

After a moment of faint background yelling, Hera replied. "Yes, Kanan. I'm here." He could almost hear that worried frown in her voice. "Are you alright, love?"

"I-I'm f-fine, only c-cold. I-I... I wanted s-someone to talk to. I-It's j-just too quiet here."

"I understand, Kanan." Hera's gentle tone almost made Kanan feel warm again. "You have about an hour left; that's why it's getting colder. Have you found anything?"

"N-Negative, Hera. B-But I'm n-not gonna stop l-looking." Kanan lowered his lightsaber a little bit, trying to get the heat of the blade to penetrate him.

"I know you won't. Stay safe."

"I will."

Kanan switched off the com and tried to put it away. Instead, it fumbled through his fingers and clattered to the ice. He sighed in annoyance and stooped down to pick it up.

To his astonishment, if he looked hard enough, he could see past his own (devilishly handsome) reflection and through the ice. Kanan leaned closer, staring. It looked like there was water down there.

Kanan gulped and straightened, clipping his com to his belt. The ice is thinner around here...I'd better be careful to listen for it cracking. If I fall through, I'm a goner.

The Jedi continued on. He wasn't sure how many more precious minutes slipped away as he walked, but he knew that if he didn't find Ezra soon, none of them would ever see the boy again.

Some master I turned out to be.

Kanan came to the foot of a small hill. Even though he had to go up it, he found himself extremely grateful for the geographical change. The endless expanse of ice looked exactly the same no matter where he looked. It made him feel unsettlingly like he was going nowhere.

Reaching the top was an easy task; the slope wasn't long or steep at all. Kanan was pleased by that, because all of this walking was making him feel tired. He drew on the Force for strength, then looked down the other side of the hill.

It led very steeply down to more flat ice.

Kanan's eyes stretched wide and his breath caught as though he had finally frozen.

There, sitting still and silent just a few yards beyond the bottom of the hill... was an Imperial freighter.