Mikhail slowed when the boy spoke, his dark eyes following the direction of where the boy pointed. The gray bulk of rock rose out of the snow like a ship’s hull breaching the sea, jagged and bare, but promising at least some measure of shelter from the wind and snow.
He huffed through his nose, steam billowing in the frigid air as he padded silently towards it, massive paws leaving deep impressions in the frozen crust, but thankfully the fat flakes of white that fell would soon erase his footsteps.
At the base of the rocky outcrop, a shallow cave presented itself - its scent was stale. No one had used it for some time, and it had not been home to an animal for longer than that. It would suffice though, enough to break the wind, and shield them from drifting snow. His massive shoulders hunched as he sniffed the air, ears twitching, straining for any hint of boots crunching through snow - nothing, mercifully. The wound in his shoulder throbbed, sharp and insistent, but his ursine instincts dulled it enough for now.
Mikhail settled into a position near the cave’s mouth, fur bristling slightly against the cold, eyes scanning the tree-line and sky. Sleep was also out of reach; the night would be long, and Mikhail would have to keep watch, every sense alert. Fire was out of the question too, the smoke would carry too far, and the wind could turn it into a beacon for any soldier foolish enough to track them this far. This was not ideal, he could weather the cold just find, but Mikhail was acutely aware that the teenager with him might not fare so well with the biting cold.
His brown eyes flicked to Sasha, who huddled into the damp jacket, leaning against the cold stone. The boy’s breaths came shallow, uneven, a mix of exhaustion and lingering shock.
"Take the jacket off and lay it on the ground, take off your sneakers too - anything that's wet, take it off. If I hand you back to your father with frost bite, I fear I may earn his ire."
Shifting where he lay, Mikhail turned his back to the cave's opening, canting his head to the side and pointing his snout at the ground next to him, "Lay the jacket down here, lay on it. I assure you, I do not bite ... well, I do. But you are safe. We will not be lighting a fire, this warmth is the best I can offer in these circumstances."
the bullet buried in mikhail's shoulder hadn’t slowed him down and that added to sasha's mounting shock and fear. and as he stepped into the meagre shelter the small cave offered, there was a part of him that wanted to argue. his pride reared up on reflex - he was sixteen. almost seventeen. he wasn't a kid and he didn't need to be bundled against someone like a toddler.
if i hand you back to your father with frost bite ...
those words hit somewhere strange and it took sasha a breath to figure out why it rang differently; father. everyone else he had interacted with since waking up hadn't called him that; red guardian, asset, operative
but mikhail called him father, and he was from this strange new world and seemed to share a past with his dad.
sasha swallowed and forced his fingers to move. the jacket peeled off stiffly, fabric creasing and crackling along its seams. his sneakers followed next, laces awkward under his numb fingers. the cold hit him hard then, slicing through damp cotton and his skin like a knife.
he laid the jakcet flat where mikhail had indicated, interior facing up, offering a thin layer of insulation between him and the stone floor of the cave. sasha hesitated for a second before shifting closer to mikhail.
heat radiated from mikhail in steady waves, thick and animal and alive. he smelled like iron and pine sap and something feral beneath it. sasha pressed his back cautiously against the dense fur. the warmth was immediate. almost painful as circulation protested. the teenager's jaw tightened to keep his teeth from chattering.
' thank you, ' sasha muttered after a moment, his voice low, controlled despite the tremor of cold that rattled through him, ' for helping me. '
his eyes drifted toward the cave mouth, toward the endless white beyond it. the snowfall was already swallowing their tracks.
' they called me S-01. ' sasha muttered quietly, his brain flitting back over the last few hours in a blur, trying to pull some sort of logic out of this mess - the designation felt wrong. like it belonged to someone else.
something else. not a person.
his fingers curled into the thick fur unconsciously, not gripping for comfort, but anchoring himself as his brow furrowed, ' наследие проекта; Project Legacy ... that's what they kept saying. '
the wind screamed again outside, and sasha felt mikhail shift to block breeze with his body. sasha's breathing steadied slowly as warmth soaked deeper. shock and exhaustion tugging at the edges of his consciousness, lulling the teenager into a disjointed sleep to try and recalibrate.
