( It takes more out of him than he anticipates, bracing his hand on the ground as he pushes himself to his feet. He can feel every twitch of a pulse, every slowing burst of a heartbeat, in the palm of his hand. His own pulse hammers hard in his ears, a slow, sluggish rhythm with a heavy undertone, but Kylo can't tell if it's slow and sluggish because of the blood that he's lost, the white out of pain that bursts through his thigh as if the bone itself has burst through the skin, or because of something else, something more. The slowing of time as he dives under, deeper and deeper under the rising tide of black water that engulfs him in cool, dark silence. He hangs there, in suspended animation, and only surfaces when the weight of his body on the destruction of his leg is too great to support even with the assistance of the darkness, and he stumbles forward.
The roughness of the ground slams into his palms, and Kylo catches himself in that way, refusing to sit or kneel but lingering at a crouch that allows him to catch his breath but does nothing to alleviate the blinding pain the vibroblade had left etched deep into him. The sniper is down fifty yards or so away from where he crouches, now stands again, but it's Rey's dry heaving that receives the bulk of his attention. He'd felt the snap, that quick sever, and while he makes no move to remove the helmet that winks at him from where the body itself has fallen, Kylo knows without having to check that it's Aurren Ren underneath the heavy armor, deadly with a blaster but worthless on the ground.
There's no room left within him to spare any amount of consideration for his subordinate's demise - keeping in mind what drove both Aurren and Ji here, tailing them through space, Kylo is of the opinion that neither of them deserve it, at least as far as the pain will let him have any opinion. Rather, he concentrates the bulk of his focus on what this means for him - for them - at the end of all things. He has destroyed the Knights of Ren, defied Snoke, killed at least one of his own men after a hasty pursual, abandoned the First Order in relative silence with no inclination as to what he intends to do with the information that he possesses, defied and abandoned Snoke. With Rey's help.
He turns to look at her, shouldering the heavy rifle and casting a glance toward where Kylo stands, either waiting for her or gathering his bearings. Not even he is sure. The deep darkness of the mine shaft stretches behind her, a swirling mass of dust and debris and loud, shifting crashes that still tumble from deep within. The light outside the tunnel they have traversed is waning but not dark, and it allows him to see some of the expression on her face although much of it is cast in shadow. There's no need to test the limits of the bond between them in an effort to determine what it is she thinks or feels. The set of her shoulders tells him what he needs to know, and while Kylo can't rightfully say that he finds anything disquieting about it, it does call to attention what it is that has ultimately shifted between them. It isn't the first time they have stood on separate ends of a dividing line, but this time there is nowhere for them to go but forward, with equal stride. )
Let's get back. ( He says it without bothering to pose it as a question, bending down after a moment's pause to seize Aurren's still form - not much bigger than Kylo's own - and drag him. Dead men are heavy, and Kylo has little respect for someone who would have put a blaster to his head years ago, unprovoked, and pulled the trigger were it not for Kylo's position at the head of the pack, but he's a warrior. He'll get a warrior's end.
Ji, wherever it is that she remains, is unreachable now. )
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The roughness of the ground slams into his palms, and Kylo catches himself in that way, refusing to sit or kneel but lingering at a crouch that allows him to catch his breath but does nothing to alleviate the blinding pain the vibroblade had left etched deep into him. The sniper is down fifty yards or so away from where he crouches, now stands again, but it's Rey's dry heaving that receives the bulk of his attention. He'd felt the snap, that quick sever, and while he makes no move to remove the helmet that winks at him from where the body itself has fallen, Kylo knows without having to check that it's Aurren Ren underneath the heavy armor, deadly with a blaster but worthless on the ground.
There's no room left within him to spare any amount of consideration for his subordinate's demise - keeping in mind what drove both Aurren and Ji here, tailing them through space, Kylo is of the opinion that neither of them deserve it, at least as far as the pain will let him have any opinion. Rather, he concentrates the bulk of his focus on what this means for him - for them - at the end of all things. He has destroyed the Knights of Ren, defied Snoke, killed at least one of his own men after a hasty pursual, abandoned the First Order in relative silence with no inclination as to what he intends to do with the information that he possesses, defied and abandoned Snoke. With Rey's help.
He turns to look at her, shouldering the heavy rifle and casting a glance toward where Kylo stands, either waiting for her or gathering his bearings. Not even he is sure. The deep darkness of the mine shaft stretches behind her, a swirling mass of dust and debris and loud, shifting crashes that still tumble from deep within. The light outside the tunnel they have traversed is waning but not dark, and it allows him to see some of the expression on her face although much of it is cast in shadow. There's no need to test the limits of the bond between them in an effort to determine what it is she thinks or feels. The set of her shoulders tells him what he needs to know, and while Kylo can't rightfully say that he finds anything disquieting about it, it does call to attention what it is that has ultimately shifted between them. It isn't the first time they have stood on separate ends of a dividing line, but this time there is nowhere for them to go but forward, with equal stride. )
Let's get back. ( He says it without bothering to pose it as a question, bending down after a moment's pause to seize Aurren's still form - not much bigger than Kylo's own - and drag him. Dead men are heavy, and Kylo has little respect for someone who would have put a blaster to his head years ago, unprovoked, and pulled the trigger were it not for Kylo's position at the head of the pack, but he's a warrior. He'll get a warrior's end.
Ji, wherever it is that she remains, is unreachable now. )