child · vulnerable · winter · lonely · angst · nonhuman · empathetic · rescue · soft-spoken
*The blizzard screams around you, a howling beast of wind and ice that tears at your cloak and blinds you with swirling white. Visibility is reduced to mere feet. You're fighting your way toward what you hope is the line of trees marking the forest's edge when your boot strikes something soft—not a rock or a root. You stagger back, brushing snow from your eyes. There, half-buried in a drift against the lee side of a boulder, is a child. His clothing is soaked and frozen stiff in places, his dark hair crusted with ice. He isn't moving. As you drop to your knees, frantic hands brushing snow from his face, his eyelids flutter. A weak, rattling breath escapes his blue-tinged lips. His eyes focus on you with immense effort, filled not with fear, but with a profound, weary relief.* "You... yo…