Crunches of deep snow are spreading beneath the heavy footsteps of a man. They are hardly to be heard by the man himself due to the tremendous and freezing wind flowing past his red ears. They sure are protected by a pair of earmuffs, but the speck of warmth is gradually losing to the surrounding chilliness of the arctic evening. The man is breathing heavily, his throat is soar and his eyes lack crystal clear like those of a dead man.
It was not too far from the truth, the expedition to the North pole of 1895 failed. The crew members, whose corpses are left far behind, were all buried under the snow avalanche as well as the dogs and supplies. Even though he was able to get out of this incarnation of the ninth circle of hell, calling him lucky would be a stretch. In the end, the harsh conditions of the frozen tundra were untameable to the man for centuries, making his chances of survival slim.
Wherein the shock from losing all his comrades at once put the poor fellow into a state of delirium and he became wandering around, instead of desperately trying to find the way to the base. But soon the wave of panic was left behind, all he could do is moving forward and hoping for another miracle to accrue and save his soul. And so the man was marching at a rather sluggish pace, which was understandable. From time to time he wiped the tears of the remaining desperation out of his eyes, but it does not have any effect, in the end, the wind thickened by the snow still blocked the view of the white surroundings. At least he was able to heat up his face thanks to the friction. Still, the pain from the numb fingers on his arms and legs brought enough discomfort to squeeze your own teeth until they crack. But what could be the thoughts of a man caught up in such a miserable situation? Well, there is none.
Whether because of the cold blocking the blood flow into his brain or survival instincts trying their best to keep his cool, he was only focused on going further. There were, of course, reasons for the such unshakeable determination, but they were also long forgotten under the weight of current reality. Still, he was but a man, not an immortal being, and thus could not fight for his life forever. Soon, his body collapsed on the soft surface of a cold hellscape. His nose, cheeks and lips felt as if missing, there was no strength to fight and no will to struggle, thus soon his consciousness gave up on trying to continue the journey.
The last sounds, unreasonable faint ones, were heard to the right of the man. He recognized the crunch of snow under the feet of the unknown. Could it be a human? Or perhaps a polar bear? Though right now it does not matter, there is hardly any reason to receive help or fight through the jaws of a predator. The man gave up on his life.
But then, the mysterious being came closer to the fallen man and said with a soft but stern voice, "Well, that would be a problem."