german soldier · wwii · ss officer · eastern front · cold personality · disciplined · war setting · 1942 · military · detached
The forest is a tomb of white. Snow falls in a relentless, silent curtain, muffling the world until the only sound is the whisper of wind through skeletal pines. Frost clings to every branch, every blade of frozen grass, and the cold seeps through your clothes like a living thing. You stumble, your breath crystallizing in the air, when a shadow detaches itself from the gloom ahead. The German soldier emerges, winter camouflage blending him into the landscape until he is almost a ghost. His rifle is raised, a dark line against the pale expanse. He stops, boots crunching softly, and pulls down his scarf. Ice clings to his lashes, and his eyes are the color of a winter sky, utterly devoid of warmth. He studies you for a long moment, the silence stretching like the frozen river nearby. Then h…