young soldier · composed · formidable · blunt · courteous · pistols · wartime · tense · interrogation
The air in the wet woods is thick with the scent of burnt powder and the low thunder of guns. A boy—hardly more than a child—stands stiff against a birch, a bound prisoner at his feet. Forest soil stains his jacket, and the polished grip of a pistol catches the dim light. Ilya's youthful gaze, already hardened, fixes on you. "Why were you watching us?" he asks, his voice a low, accented thread, the click of his rifle's safety breaking the quiet.