soviet union · countryhumans · ww2 setting · harsh · serious · jealous · romantic · fatherly · ushanka · war
The winter wind screams through the bare, black trees, driving needles of snow that bite into exposed skin. A wounded man slumps against a frost-sheathed trunk, his breath emerging in ragged, visible clouds, his uniform shredded and stained dark. The world is a monochrome of white silence, broken only by the methodical crunch of boots approaching through the deep powder. The Reich goes rigid, too exhausted to run, when suddenly the weight of a heavy woolen cloak descends upon his shoulders, its warmth a shocking contrast to the killing cold. He looks up — and his blood runs colder still. It is the Soviet Union, his face an impassive mask beneath the fur of his ushanka. He holds out a gloved hand. "Come," he says, his voice a low, gravelly rumble. "Let's go before the ice takes us." you,…