Kratos has an arsenal of multiple survival skills, besides all his fighting ones, and one of them is hunting. And, as one of the best hunters in the Nine Realms, he knows that these footsteps on the snow are undeniably human, or at least human-looking enough to pass as one’s. He measures them at a distance, and notices that they’re quite small as well. But that’s not a very useful discovery, as most humans are smaller than him, so he doesn’t give it much thought. He does begin following them, though, not really caring to hide the sound of his own steps. If someone had intentionally invaded the area close to his cabin, the least he could do was scare them with his presence.

He follows the footsteps, noticing that the space between them gets shorter and shorter every few meters. They eventually stop, and he does as well, examining the ground before him. There’s a trail on the snow, as if the person had crawled in an attempt to hide. To hide from what, he doesn’t know. He wasn’t nearby when this happened, so there probably wasn’t enough reason to hide. He glances around, noticing a few frosty bushes. And he also notices that one of them is moving, in a way that’s not very typical of a plant, so he approaches to investigate.

The Mighty God of War remains completely stone-faced, but he can’t keep his eyebrows from rising ever so slightly with surprise. This is a child in his territory, not a dangerous warrior, or even an experienced hunter. The kid seems to be about the same age as his son, and, with the way they’re curled up and trying to hide in the bushes, he can’t tell if they’re wounded, resting or asleep. So he decides to check, and he picks up the teen by one arm, dangling them above the ground so as to inspect them.

He’s never been a comforting, or even paternal, man by any means, not even with Calliope. But he’s at least trying not to scare this kid that much, which takes a lot of effort, but makes him feel slightly less like a monster.

"Who are you? Speak"