Hypothermia and You: A Guide No One Ever Reads

[andrend]

WHO: Kylo Ren
WHERE: Near the fountain
WHEN: Evening, November 15th
OPEN TO: All
WARNINGS: Incoming angry wet former Jedi with family issues
STATUS: Closed

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It took almost no time at all for Kylo Ren to realize he had been submerged. The unfamiliar clothes that clung to his skin were heavy with the weight and chill of the water, and stuck uncomfortably to his skin while he fought to find the right orientation to kick and push himself upward. Everything on his body fought against his upward movement from the thing strapped to his back to the heavy and unfamiliar boots on his feet. When he breached the surface, both hands gripped tightly to the edge of the fountain and he hoisted himself out of its watery depths, rolling over the edge to the hard ground on the other side with deep, gasping breaths for air.

His thoughts were spinning wildly, and a chill clung as tightly to his skin as the over-saturated cotton pressing against him so uncomfortably. His mask and uniform were gone, and although he could feel the weight of the pack resting against his back, he could not sense his weapon. The air was frigid. His wet hair, skin and the drenched cotton and fabric clinging to his body did nothing to hold back the below freezing chill in the air. Rather than sit and gather his thoughts, Ren immediately began to remove his shoes and socks and set them to the side with his backpack. The scrub shirt followed, until Ren was left barefoot with only a tank top and the trousers.

Anyone out in the cold could come across Ren carrying a dripping backpack and bundle of foreign clothes as he deliberately makes his way barefoot into the town. His primary mission: find shelter before losing any of his digits or limbs to the cold. If not encountered in that state, Ren can be found eventually breaking or pushing his way into the first building he comes across in search of shelter from the elements. Especially if the building is giving off smoke or light.

Comments

[tooktheblack]

"Just here," Jon said, motioning toward the house. He had deliberately chosen one at the end of the row away from everyone else and while it made for a trudge in the snow, it was nice for privacy.

"I apologize for the length of the walk but knowing what I knew of you before, I know you value your privacy. We won't be disturbed here." Jon stepped up onto the porch and opened the door, showing him inside.

[andrend]

That much of an assessment was true. Ren did prefer the idea of being able to acquaint himself with his new surroundings somewhere away from other prying eyes or ears. He didn't need any Rebel Supporters figuring out who he was or that he was there unarmed if there were any. He entered the building, relieved to at least be out of the bite of the wind, and set the pack and his shoes on the ground, flexing his fingers to keep the blood moving through them.

"I would keep to the edges as well." Ren admitted it only as an offering of thanks and agreement. He looked around, taking the primitive building and surroundings in, and then turned his focus back to Jon. "The technology here seems outdated at best. No government, no technology, and you are not from here either. This planet, this- village. It's some form of prison or banishment?"

[tooktheblack]

"That's what I thought, when I first arrived. It seems like some sort of trap, some sort of way to keep me away from what I ought to be doing. I was in a war before I came here."

He had shared these things with the first version of Ren and had trusted him. Jon didn't think it would be a breach of that trust to share them with the same person over again, even if this Ren didn't recall their relationship.

[andrend]

"Have your opinions changed since?" It was important to know. If anything had come up worth altering that idea he needed to know what it was. He rubbed his hands together, dropping the dry backpack to the floor. He crouched to open it, and found the clothing within still dry. He wasted no time or care for privacy pulling the soaked top off and pulling the flannel undershirt on instead. The warmth that thin fabric offered is near instantaneous just by virtue of covering his goosepimpled and shivering limbs up. Everywhere his skin is covered and marred with the scars of battle and training, some larger and more evident than others. A burn in his lower torso from a blaster and the thick scar that traveled over his arm and shoulder and up across his face the most immediately prevalent ones.

He took a seat after, tilting his head up to watch John as he pulled the thick wool socks on over his frozen feet and rubbed the warmth back into them.

[tooktheblack]

"No. If anything, it has only strengthened my opinion in that matter," Jon admitted. "Everything seems determined to keep us here. The snows are endless. We spend most of our days just trying to keep the paths clear. It stymies us from being able to try and formulate a way to escape."

Jon paused for a moment, thinking back to when it was warmer. "Before, there were earthquakes. The weather was warmer and the days were longer then. We could explore more, you see? But the quaking of the earth prevented that."

[andrend]

"So our captors intend to keep us busy. Stop efforts to seek out answers or a way out." He wasn't offering anything new, merely piecing together Jon's words and implications. He finished changing into dry clothing, shoving the cold, wet fabric back into his pack. When he was done he sat on the floor and rested his arms on his knees, breathing slow and even in his attempts to warm his lungs back up. It's a jump to assume earthquakes were not natural, but he was running on assumptions and paranoia, assuming weapons or controlled planetary strikes were the cause.

"Have they done anything to prevent arming? Building up defensive structures?" He was tired, cold and confused, but focusing his mind on what was around them was better than letting it drift to the confusion of the missing pieces of his past.

[tooktheblack]

"We have some weapons but they are limited and in poor condition. I've repaired a few," Jon said, thinking of the bows they'd found in the ruins.

"Though it's still not enough. There's nothing to prevent us building palisades or defenses other than a lack of tools. The knowledge is there - many of us know how to fight. It's a lack of tools to use."