Chapter Text
A lone figure stood amongst the ruins of a fortress destroyed by time. He was so still that, amongst the evening shadows, he could have been made from stone himself if not for the dark cloak that whipped around his ankles, caught on the gusts of bitter wind which howled through the gaps in the toppled walls. The black sky overhead threatened a vicious storm. Already, a light snow had begun to fall, dusting his raven hair with delicate ice crystals that were as white as his milky skin.
If the man was bothered by the plummeting temperatures, he made no sign. He dragged his blood red eyes across the jagged silhouette of the forest below, searching endlessly for a secret the trees would never tell. His dark curls snatched at the edges of his vision, tossed up by the icy gale, but he didn't even blink. It was as though he couldn't even feel it.
And he couldn't. Though his face was impassive – a carefully crafted mask of indifference – a storm raged endlessly within him, as terrible as the tempest overhead. No cold could compare to the eternal winter in his heart. No pain could compare to the splinters of ice in his soul. He was a shell of a man, hollowed out by time and haunted by the spectre of a kiss.
It had been so long that, at times, he wondered whether he had dreamt her; whether, in the throes of depression, his broken brain had conjured her. After all, in his mind's eye, she was warm and bright. When he was lost in a storm of his own making, she was the light that pointed home. It was impossible not to cling to the thought of her.
From time to time, he saw glimpses of her at the edges of his vision; heard her voice as though caught on the wind. He knew she would be gone before he could turn in her direction, and yet he turned every time. Somehow, he knew he would always be seeking her. It wasn't a choice, it was an instinct – every fibre of his body was bent on it. He would follow her to the ends of the earth, if necessary.
And so, he found himself on this godforsaken mountaintop, chasing another false lead. Always looking, always listening, always disappointed.
'Sir?'
He didn't even bother to acknowledge his lieutenant – Mitaka's arrival usually heralded bad news. Reluctantly, the lieutenant continued anyway.
'Sir, we tracked the fugitives to the target location, but…' Mitaka swallowed nervously. 'We were unable to apprehend them for interrogation.'
So intense was the rage that overcame the hulking man that he was tempted to destroy the entire mountain and his lieutenant with it. Instead, he settled for flexing his fingers at his sides, itching for a neck to snap.
'Anything else?' he rasped, barely able to contain his fury.
Mitaka's reply was so quiet that its intended recipient almost missed it. 'There was a girl.'
Four words that could mean nothing, or everything. Kylo Ren's world tilted on its axis.
He whirled to face his lieutenant, unable to suppress the hope that flared in the empty space between his ribs. His ruby eyes glittered with such intensity that Dopheld Mitaka felt more afraid of the vampire lord than ever before. Kylo Ren's lips parted, revealing two rows of pearly white, razor sharp teeth.
'What girl?'