Snow and Ice 1/2
Summary: Missing scenes from The Empire Strikes Back beginning when Luke wakes up in the Wampa cave.
Author's Notes: This was originally published in the zine Comfort Zone.  Some of the dialogue is taken from the movie's novelization by Donald F. Glut.
Disclaimer: Star Wars and it's characters are the property of George Lucas and Lucasflim Ltd. No money exchanged hands.

The distant roars of a creature woke Luke Skywalker. He had a dim memory of sitting astride his Tauntaun and then being attacked. At first, he feared an Imperial attack; however the roars brought the chilling thought that instead of an Imperial, he'd come across something potentially worse.
His head was aching, aching worse than any headache he'd ever had before. It felt like it was exploding, so much so that it hurt to open his eyes. But he had to open his eyes, had to find out where he was.
Opening his eyes, he tried to get his bearings, which was difficult because of the wave of dizziness. All he could really see was snow and ice, not that much different than what he had last seen. The only difference now was that the constant wind was not biting into his body, although his face felt as if something had bitten him. Everything looked strange somehow, as if it was upside down . . .now he knew part of the reason why he was dizzy. He slowly rolled his eyes upward to take a look, only to see what appeared to be a rocky, icy surface littered with what appeared to be bones. His only hope was that they were animal. He stretched out his fingertips but he still was several inches above what he now figured was the floor. He wiggled his fingers, glad he could still feel them, but his toes were another problem. He could barely feel them and his feet seemed stuck. Craning his neck, he saw the problem. His boots were somehow attached to the ceiling, perhaps frozen. At any rate, he was stuck; he tried moving his feet again and got nowhere.
The roars sounded again; the creature was getting closer. He had to get out; he had to free himself from the ice. Only he was so cold and felt so weak. Still, he had to try. He was not about to die here, not this way, not as dinner for some creature. Since he had already tried to move his boots, he decided to try to free his feet from his boots. With determination, he reached up, trying to reach his boot clasps. As he tried, he realized that his boots were covered in ice over their tops freeing them that way was not possible. He slumped back down again.
Luke's gaze darted around the cave, desperately looking for something, anything, that could help him. Suddenly he was relieved to see his gear heaped in a corner, a few feet away. He could see his lightsaber. It almost called to him. Just out of his reach . . .
He twisted his body, stretching as far as he could. Possibly, if he wasn't so cold, if he wasn't so sore, he might have reached it. But he couldn't. The creature was close now, so close he could almost see it, almost smell it.
He decided to try a different approach. He went still, rolling his eyes up, searching for that feeling, that soothing presence which he had felt so many times in the past few years, ever since Ben had given his life to help him and the others escape the Death Star. The presence that had come to him during the battle against the Death Star. The feeling he had come to come to recognize as the Force.
The Force. Relax, he told himself, just relax. His mind fixed on the lightsaber, shutting out the pain in his body, in his head. Just focusing on that object, reaching out his hand. The Force calmed him, helped him channel his all into getting that lightsaber.
Time stood still for him, but just as the creature loomed in front of him, the lightsaber sprang into his hand. He activated the saber, its blade quickly slashing through the ice that held him prisoner and dropped to the icy floor.
The monster hesitated for a moment, scared by the unfamiliar weapon. Luke looked to avoid it, but it blocked his escape. He brought his lightsaber down, slashing the creature. It shrieked, lumbering out of the cave. He wasn't sure if he had mortally wounded the beast, or merely scratched it. He wasn't going to stay to find out.
The sky was getting darker and it was getting colder. Luke stumbled forward, letting the Force guide him toward what he hoped was the Rebel Base. The icy wind mercilessly bit into his wounded face and seemingly into his very bones. He felt like he was dragging a Tauntaun behind him as his numb feet and legs could barely support his weight. He was tired, so very tired and all he wanted to do was lay down and sleep.
Finally he stumbled down an embankment of snow and lost consciousness.

"Then I'll see you in hell."
The words echoed through Han Solo's head as he raced his Tauntaun through the frozen terrain, searching the area that Luke's last transmission had come from. The snow was falling heavier and the daylight was fading rapidly; it would be only a matter of minutes before it was completely dark. The bitter cold cut through Han's coat like a vibroblade. He wiped his glove across his face, brushing off the crusty ice that was forming with every breath.
Hell was not a word that he would have used to describe this place. Hell would be too warm, far too warm.
The Tauntaun was wheezing, his breath becoming more labored with every step. Even the snow-lizards were not equipped to deal with the effects of the surface after nightfall. Han hoped that the animal would last until he found Luke. What would happen next, he didn't even want to think about.
He pushed the mount harder, until it was racing at maximum speed, way too fast for a mount that had already traveled an hour's distance at subzero temperatures. He could hear its pained moaning even above the relentless whine of the wind. Han felt bad about that, but all that mattered right now was finding his friend.
Every so often, he would yell into the increasing darkness, "Luke!!! Come on, answer me kid!!!"
He was only met by the moans of his Tauntaun and the roar of the wind. All he could make out in the darkness was snow, endless snow.

Luke slowly regained consciousness, the night storms swirling around him. He tried to stand, only to be blasted back down by the wind. He attempted to crawl instead, inching forward painfully; he knew he had to keep moving. His face ached dully, his legs and feet numb from the cold, his whole body felt heavier by the moment. Overcome with exhaustion, he collapsed again in the snow.
This was it; he was going to die here on the frozen wastes of Hoth. He was never going to see Han or Leia or Wedge again. He would have liked to have told them goodbye. He was never going to be a Jedi like his father. Ben had died in vain.
Suddenly, he heard a noise, a voice. In front of him, shimmering, like a vision or a hallucination was old Ben Kenobi, clad in the same robes he had been wearing when Luke had last seen him.
"Luke, you will go to the Dagobah system."
"Dagobah system?" The term meant nothing to him.
"There you will learn from Yoda, the Jedi Master who instructed me."
"Ben, Ben . . .." Luke called out, feebly reaching for the figure. But the vision faded.
Luke could swear that Ben's figure was replaced by another, this one on a Tauntaun, but he was not sure.
"Ben?" he whispered, one last time before allowing oblivion to over take him once more.

"Luke?" Han called as he brought the snow-lizard to a stop and quickly dismounted. "Luke!"
Han looked in horror at the figure at his feet.
"Don't do this, Luke," he said turning the younger man over, "Come on. Give me a sign here."
Luke looked terrible, his face savagely torn and crusted with ice and blood. All things that a good dip in the Bacta tank could cure; that is if Luke was still alive, and Han could get them both back to the base before they turned into icicles.
Han scooped up the younger man in his arms and carried him to the waiting mount. But before Solo could drape the young rebel over the back of the animal, the Tauntaun gave an anguished cry and fell over. Sighing with annoyance, Han set Luke down and looked over the snow lizard. The Rebels had a problem with the tantalums dying recently and all of them had learned how to tell the signs. Unfortunately, all the signs were there, the animal was dead.
Now what? Solo had to keep his friend from freezing to death, set up a makeshift shelter and contact base. Some of the fringe benefits of being a smuggler, if you could call them a benefit, were keen survival skills. The smuggler looked over the dead mount and then back at Luke. He just needed some sort of tool . . . . His eyes fell on the lightsaber. "Not much time," he muttered.
It can't be that difficult to use these things. He grabbed the lightsaber, ignoring the mumbles from the younger man, and flicked the switch, causing the blade to ignite with a hum. With a slashing movement, he cut open the belly of the pack beast.
"Hang on, kid." He quickly cleaned the insides out of the animal, the innards melting the snow around his feet. Then he shoved his murmuring friend inside the still-warm skin. "This may smell bad, kid, but it will keep you warm 'til I can get the shelter built." A waft of steam rose from the entrails he'd removed. "Agh! I thought they smelled bad on the outside!"
Once Luke was safely ensconced in the Tauntaun, Han flipped on his commlink. "Echo base, this is Captain Solo, do you copy?"
Silence met his inquiry. He tried again. "Echo base, this is Captain Solo, do you copy?"
"Come on, Echo base, can you hear me?"
"Wonderful," he muttered, turning the commlink off. No one could hear him, his mount was dead, and Luke wasn't doing well.
In frustration, Han began to rummage through his supply pack, taking out the shelter container.
It was the only thing that was going to get them both through the night.

Part 2