Nathan reached back to take Mark's hand, intertwining his fingers with him before walking into the parted mist. The mist was so thick that upon entering it, it was easy to lose your way or get lost. Making sure that he just walked straight, Nathan asked Mark softly. "Something on your mind? Are you worried?" Mark exhaled lightly, telling him softly. "Of course. I don't know what to expect... This place has been closed off for so long. The spirits here are angry... You can feel it." Nathan kept his pace slow, listening to the crunching leaves beneath his feet and the soft creaking of straining tree branches around them. Swallowing, Nathan pulled Donner's bridle to keep him moving as he also slowed down to listen intently. Taking a deep breath, Nathan tried to calm everyone down as he stated aloud soothingly. "Just stay close and whatever happens. We face it together." Mark squeezed his hand, informing him lightly. "I want to share your optimism, Nate. But something let us in... and something will be waiting for us. Magic like this. It is too powerful to just let anyone inside. Without knowing what we are walking into. This could go very badly."

Nathan nodded, replying as calmly as he could. "I know... but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Just stay alert." Nathan couldn't see the end to this dense mist and began to wonder if the whole forest was going to be like this. When the mist behind them started to condense into a wall that slammed into their backs and forcefully began pushing them forward faster. Donner panicked, starting to bolt into a run as the wagon was hit to shove him forward. Mark stumbled as the wall hit him, but even when he fell, the wall simply pushed him across the ground quickly. Nathan took the first shove, then sprinted into a run forward as the wall chased him. The way before them parted faster and when they reached the end, the mist pulsed hard enough to knock Nathan and Mark away from the wall of mist. Stumbling across the ground beside Mark, who had been sent flying from the last pulse, Nathan sat up and gasped out. "What was that?!" Sitting up next to him, Mark brushed off the leaves on his jacket, telling him gruffly. "A closing entrance. I think we're stuck in here now." Climbing to his feet, Nathan mumbled out to himself. "Oh, no. That's not it. We just have to do the thing again."

Putting his hand out into the mist, he waited for it to part, but it didn't. Instead, his fingers touched a solid wall within the dense mist. Stepping back, Nathan sent an ice spike into the mist. Only to yelp and flinch away as it came back to impale the ground beside him. Staring at the ice spike, Nathan reluctantly told Mark admittedly. "Ok. Ya. We're trapped." Getting to his feet, Mark glanced around the woods before them, asking in a worried tone. "Nate? Where is Donner and Aputsiaq?" Looking down at the disturbed leaves that had been crushed by a wagon, Nathan answered a little worried himself. "They bolted. Looks like they went that way. Come on. We'll catch up to them." Taking Mark's arm, he helped steady him as they followed the trail. While walking, Nathan took in the woods with fascination. The woods here were so different from Arendelle's lush green pine trees. The white bark of the birch trees stood out beautifully against the autumn colors of the leaves. Touching one of the trees that had what looked like gashes in it, Mark quietly whispered aloud in disbelief. "This can't be..." Nathan watched Mark kneel to pick up what looked like a strip of red velvet from the base, before adding a little excitedly. "This... This is a reindeer rubbing? From one that just got their antlers... There is a female in the area. Donner isn't the last one."

Nathan smiled, then gasped as his eyes took in the scenery nearby. Walking over to the cliff, Nathan breathlessly said to himself. "Whoa... This place is huge." Mark walked up next him, before pointing up and telling him. "Look. The mist isn't just around the forest... it's over it too. This is like one big igloo of mist." Nathan nodded to himself. The sun's rays barely passed through the thick mist, casting everything in hues of pinks and soft purples. Which only added to the mysterious look of the vast bright red forest and the shadows between. Pointing to what should have been the river that ran down to Arendelle, Nathan told Mark grimly. "You can barely even see the river from here. The mist is hanging over everything." Mark kneeled again to see the river better, before uneasily stating out. "Dam." Nathan chuckled, starting to say. "Ya. How are we going to navigate-" Mark tapped his leg to stop him, then pointed to the river below to correct him. "No. Nate, look. There is a dam." Nathan blinked, stating out. "What? There is no dam up here. None of Arendelle's history spoke of one even being built this far North."

Kneeling beside him, Nate followed where he was pointing with his eyes, while Mark told him anxiously. "That's because it's not man made..." Nathan narrowed his eyes on the spot, his jaw dropping as he realized what he was looking at. Laying in the nook between two cliffs was what appeared to be a massive giant made entirely of rock! While the giant slept, the wall of water behind him leaked over his side to trickle down him like a blanket. It was both stunning to look at and incredibly horrifying. Lowering his hand, Mark reiterated why it was frightening by stating out. "Let's hope that thing isn't waking up anytime soon... because if it does. The water it is holding back would send a tidal wave so big that it would wash away everything on the Fjord and raise the water level by a few feet, at least." Rising unsteadily back onto his feet, Nathan shakily said aloud. "Arendelle would be destroyed..." Mark straightened up, nodding grimly as he started to add before drifting off to silence. "Who knows how long that thing has been there. And to think. A giant has been..." Turning his eyes on Nate, Mark asked in sudden realization. "Oh, no. Tell me that giant isn't what I think it is?" Nathan gulped, before saying guiltily. "There was a giant in my dream. The elemental spirit of Earth."

Mark exhaled heavily, before uttering out grimly. "The flood and earthquake in Arendelle. The giant was moving... Grand Pabbie was right then. It is waking up. Arendelle is in more danger than we thought." Giving him a shrug, Nathan asked him scarcely. "What do we do? We can't go back and warn them." Mark put a comforting hand on his shoulder, telling him warmly. "No. We can't. The people should be fine though. We evacuated them away from the fjord. It's a good thing we did too. Let's just do what we came here to do and see what we can do to fix this along the way. For now... Let's just try not to wake it up." Nathan nodded, then flinched as a gust of wind hit him as it whipped out of the woods. On the gust were the sounds of Aputsiaq's distressed squeaks and Donner's grunting. Grabbing Mark's jacket, Nathan blurted aloud before running in the direction of the sound. "Aputsiaq!" Running through the woods, they came to a small clearing where Donner was stuck. The wagon wheel had gotten caught on a cluster of tree roots and Donner couldn't free himself from the harness. Mark ran over to him, grabbing his bridle to calm him down with soothing words.

Nathan rushed to the back of the wagon, but when he didn't see Aputsiaq, he called out her name. He heard a tiny squeak and spotted her huddled under a rock ledge. She hissed and whimpered as her eyes tried to peek out at the sky nervously. Nathan stopped to look up but didn't see anything up in the treetops. All he saw were leaves. He moved closer to try and encourage her out, but she refused. Hissing and thrashing in the hole with a terrified expression. Nathan started to reach in to force her out, when something slammed into him. Grabbing his shirt, it lifted him off the ground and threw him away. Twisting in the air, Nathan let out a startled cry before puffing into a pile of leaves beneath a large tree. Mark whirled around, asking just as surprised. Nathan?!" Crawling out of the leaves, Nathan huffed out. "Did you see that?!" Mark clung to Donner's nose, trying to keep him calm as he honestly admitted. "I missed it. What happened?" Getting to his feet, Nathan shrugged out. "I have no idea. But whatever it was, it..." Nathan drifted off as he looked at his shirt to see little burned holes where he had been grabbed. Looking up to lock eyes with Mark, he told him a little confused. "It snuck up on me."

A soft bird call echoed through the woods in an almost haunting tone. Mark tensed, scanning the treetops as he asked curiously. "That's not a bird I'm familiar with..." Nathan moved out to look around. He could hear it moving but couldn't see it. Nathan raised his hands, letting the icy mist roll off his palms as he waited for a target. Spotting movement in the treetops, he turned and saw only the leaves move. Then from behind him, something slammed into him and got ahold of his shirt. Lifting him off the ground, it easily flung him to the ground. Moments before it let out an angry caw and lightning blasted the ground. Mark yelled out his name, while Nathan rolled over and snapped out in fright. "Holy shit!" Throwing his hands out, he blasted the sky with ice blindly. The ice hit the wing of a large bird hovering nearby, forcing it to fall in a graceful spiral into the pile of leaves that Nathan had come out of. Nathan got a look at the frozen wing on the ground, blurting out to Mark. "It's made of tree leaves?" From the pile of leaves, the form of a large white-tailed eagle burst out with a fixed wing, letting out a loud screeching call. Nathan rolled up onto his feet as the eagle soared toward him with feet made from sharp looking stick talons that were sparking yellow lightning!

Mark released Donner, picking up a stick to defend himself and Donner. Raising a hand, Nathan tried to shoot the eagle with his ice, but it swayed as flawlessly as the wind to dodge the attack as he soared toward him. Nathan waited, then blasted the eagle as it reached for his chest. The eagle took the hit, falling back to the ground and shattering to pieces at Nathan's feet. Nathan cheered and snapped out. "HA! Take that, bitch!" Turning to look at Mark, Nathan chuckled out. "It never saw it coming." Mark's eyes widened and he pointed as he yelled out. "NATHAN!" Looking over his shoulder, he saw the leaves swirl faster and faster into a tornado! Backing up, Nathan winced as he said timidly. "Oh, fuck..." The tornado surged forward, sucking Nathan and Mark toward it. Nathan clawed at the ground, yelling out over the rushing wind. "SORRY!" Yanking him off the ground and into the tornado, the wind whipped them around until they couldn't tell what way was up or down. Then without warning it slammed them to the ground in the center of the tornado, knocking the air from their lungs. Mark groaned, dry heaving like he was going to be sick. From the swirling walls of the tornado, lightning began to ripple up the sides like it was charging itself for an attack.

Quickly getting to his feet, Nathan extended out his hands to try freezing the swirling wind. The wind slowly turned into snowflakes as the temperature dropped but it still crackled with lightning. The ground beneath him began to freeze over as the temperature continued to drop. Over the wind and crackling thunder, Mark yelled out to Nathan as he covered his ears. "NATHAN, STOP! You're drying out the air! You're helping it! STOP BEFORE-!" Mark didn't get a chance to finish because one of the ripples of lightning ignited with the thickening snow and caused an explosion. The snowy wind shot out in all directions, blasting Nathan and Mark apart in the blast. Lightning shot out through the woods in weak strands of golden light that the trees easily grounded, while one loud 'BOOM' of thunder rang out. Wisps of snowy mist puffed out across the ground and Nathan groaned in pain as he laid very still. His arms hurt like he'd felt the shockwave up his very arms. Mark groaned, then rubbed his ears as he staggered up to his feet. Turning slightly, Mark snapped out. "NEVER do that again! Thundersnow is twice as dangerous as a normal thunderstorm because snow is water. Water and lightning, don't mix!" Nathan groaned, stiffly sitting up as he grumbled out. "Got it..."

With a sharp screech the wind swirled up into a cluster of leaves to reform back into the large white-tailed eagle, that soared straight for Mark! Nathan yelled out for it to stop, but it didn't listen. Mark took a step back as it came closer, before he raised his arm out to protect his face. Nathan raised his hand to see if he could hit the bird but stopped when he saw the eagle glide into a stop. Hovering in front of Mark, it cocked its head to look over Mark's face with a leafy brown eye. Mark kept his arm up but stared back at the large bird that had a wingspan as long as an adult's arm span. After looking him over, the eagles sparking claws dulled down to reveal they were actually just plain sharp sticks. One of its feet grabbed Mark's arm, easing his light weight onto him, before perching to fold its wings cautiously. Sitting on his arm, the eagle leaned in to get a better look. Mark slowly reached up with his free hand to stroke its head, fascinated by how realistic it looked for an animal made from colorful leaves. Behind the leaves, he could see a mini tornado holding the pieces of its form together and smiled. Nathan stayed very still, asking Mark completely perplexed. "What did you do to it?" Mark shrugged as his only response.

The eagle let him pet him a bit more, then at the sound of a twig snapping, it leapt off Mark's arm to soar into the treetops. Its leafy body practically vanishing as it blended into the canopy of leaves above. As it soared away, Mark told Nathan a little excited. "I don't know what I did... but I think it likes me." As more twigs snapped, they both fell into silence and moved closer to each other. They were so focused on what was snapping the twigs, that they were surprised by something sharp touching their backs as a female voice told them sternly. "If you have any weapons. Put them down. Now!" Mark raised his empty hands, clearly saying over his shoulder. "I'm unarmed." Nathan lifted his own hands, trying to appear as normal as possible. The woman behind them padded down their sides quickly, then asked in a confused voice. "Whose side are you on?" Mark blinked, asking dumbfounded. "Excuse me?" Someone else behind them, then stated aloud. "This one is wearing clothing from our tribe. Elder Yelena? Is he one of ours?" Nathan and Mark both risked turning around as the small group of people parted for an older woman.

The older woman had to be in her late thirties with long braided white hair. She stood strong with deep brown eyes that looked them both over with a guarded expression. In one hand she held a spear made only from wood. Giving a fowl look to the way Nathan was dressed, her eyes softened when she saw Mark's attire. Moving closer to him, she asked curiously. "Who are you? What tribe are you from?" Mark nervously shared a brief look with Nate, before answering honestly. "My name is Mark. I... I don't have a tribe." Donner let out a grunt that drew their attention, before Yelena cautiously reached out to touch Mark's cheek. Mark didn't flinch from her but he tensed up with uneasiness. Upon lowering her hand, she whispered out to herself. "By the spirits... I don't believe it..." Mark leaned back from her a bit, asking curiously. "What? Do you know me?" Yelena lowered her hand to cover her mouth as she breathlessly told him. "After getting a look at you... Yes. I believe I do. If I'm right... We've been waiting for you." To Be Continued...