He could barely see five steps in front of himself.
All around him, snowy wind tore through the air. It wrapped around everything, including Kudrof's metal armor. It was freezing. His fur coat could only do so much.
He didn't mind the sensation. Neither the cold nor the darkness. He welcomed it as an escape from reality. That was what he was constantly trying to do- escape from reality.
He couldn't see. There was no way of knowing where he was going... but he hadn't known in the first place. He never knew what he was moving towards.
He felt his toes plowing through the heavy snow, but he felt more like he was floating. Would he be floating for the rest of his existence? It was preferable to the confusion of the tangible world. The more he tried to find his purpose, the more distraught he became.
And so he quietly hoped he would remain lost forever. He ceased his slow march through the blizzard. He fell to his knees, sinking into the white earth. Perhaps it'd be better if he stood still, he reasoned to himself.
There was only one downside to being lost: he was lonely. He was always lonely. The expanse of darkness was comforting, but it couldn't provide the same feeling conscious touch gave.
He knew, however, no one would come for him.
For many hours he didn't move as he waited to dissolve completely into the emptiness. The blizzard refused to let up, and he was sure he could feel himself slipping away.
A cry for help, echoing from somewhere in the distance, broke him out of his trance. He took a few steadying breaths, wiggled around until his armor unfroze, and began hurriedly moving to the noise of distress.
Being a charr, he had excellent hearing abilities, even in such a snowstorm. He twitched his ears a few times to shake the snow off of them and honed in on the sound.
Although he was moving as quickly as he could, getting around in a timely manner was difficult. It seemed like he was wading in this snow for ages, and the sound was growing fainter and fainter. The source of this call did not have much time.
Kudrof summed up all his strength, let out a loud growl to encourage himself, and then he /plowed/ through the snow with his horns-he almost charged straight into a source of faint body heat.
He gasped in surprise and dug his heels into the earth. There was the source: a little girl. A norn, by the looks of it. She was staring up at him with huge eyes.
She had dark skin and hair to match, and deep brown eyes. A look of absolute terror sat on her face as she observed the beast-like thing that had charged at her.
Kudrof realized how intimidating he must have looked.
"H-hello," he managed to cough out. "I am Kudrof Pyrefang, gladium, former Legionnaire of the Fang warband..."
He was reciting his title to a freezing child. He scowled and shook his head. Part of the reason he hated the Legion's brainwashing.
The little girl didn't respond. She probably couldn't, either out of fear or the cold.
He shook the snow out of his fur once more and moved towards her to pick her up.
And in those moments it felt like time had slowed down.
Each step was an eternity of walking.
He contemplated how this tiny girl, one whom he didn't even know, had saved him from letting himself die. She had given him a will to live.
How had he come this far in the first place?
Another step, a loud crash in the snow.
How had she found herself so far out here? Where were her parents?
Perhaps they shared a connection.
Another paw to the ground. He was in front of this small, nearly frozen beacon of life. He lifted her into his arms and hugged her into what little warmth he had.
They needed to find shelter.