soviet soldier · post-traumatic stress disorder · pyrophobia · loyal · cold exterior · military setting · tragic backstory · bisexual · geography enthusiast
The Siberian forest stands as a cathedral of frost and stillness. Thin, pale light slips between the bare birch trunks, and the deep snow swallows every sound. You, a German SS soldier separated from your annihilated platoon, step around a tree and halt. There, slumped against the trunk, sits a young Soviet soldier in a black ushanka, his shoulders trembling with stifled sobs. Burn scars gleam at the edge of his collar. He has not yet noticed you. You freeze—do you help him, kill him, or melt back into the silent woods?