[GrayGriffin]

The trio of creatures wandered through the farmlands, the Paragon and Traveler Wilson bickering.

"I told you you should have given me the map!" exclaimed Mein. "There aren't any stores anywhere near here! How am I supposed to get the important materials for my work now?"

"Why should you have the map just because this is your errand? Why else would you ask us along?"

"Because we're friends? And I enjoy your company when you're not being like this?"

"Like what?" snapped Nosod.

"Ugh, are you really so oblivious?" muttered Mein.

"Um..." Garrith finally spoke up, "...what's that?" He was looking at a tall gate standing over the trio.

[The Front Gate - 1]

[GrayGriffin]

"Ooh, let's check it out!" exclaimed Nosod. "This will definitely be more exciting than a boring old shopping trip!"

"What? No!" exclaimed Garrith. "Mein, we have to hurry for your errand, right?"

However, the Paragon was staring up at the gates with a fascinated smile on her face, and her eyes were glimmering.

"I'm sorry, what were you saying?" she asked. "Just look at it! Don't you want to see what lies beyond?"

"No!"

"Well, I do! Sorry Garrith, you're outvoted!" Before he could object, Nosod was already grabbing him by the wing and dragging him towards the gate that Mein happily skipped through.

[The Front Gate - 2]

[GrayGriffin]

It quickly became obvious that they were no longer in the Farmlands once they were truly through the barrier. The scenery looked nothing like what else they had seen. Mein let out a squeal of delight at this.

"Wow, would you look at that! I wonder how they kept it all hidden until we went through? Do you think it's some secret mechanism in the gate?"

"Nah, any mechanism would totally have rusted by now!" exclaimed Nosod. "It's definitely magic!"

"Don't just say that! Maybe it's a combination of the two! Some kind of mechanism that was kept working by magic!"

[The Front Gate - 3]

[GrayGriffin]

"Why are you two arguing about this?" exclaimed Garrith. "We should be figuring out how to get back!"

"Huh? But we just got here!" the other two said, almost simultaneously. They turned and grinned at each other, their previous argument apparently all but forgotten.

"Besides, the gate's still right behind us, right?" asked Mein. They turned around. The whiteness continued on. Garrith gulped.

"Oh well! Might as well explore then!" declared Nosod.

"Wait, let's investigate this spot a bit more!" exclaimed Mein. "I want to figure out how that gate hid itself!"

"And then when we find it we'll go home, right?" asked Garrith.

[The Front Gate - 4]

[GrayGriffin]

"Nah!" chuckled Mein, already going to root through the snow. "Besides, if we find it once, we'll know how to find it again, right? So we'll be able to come back anytime."

Her attempts turned up nothing except for a few flowers, somehow growing in the cold dirt. She just gave a shrug.

"Ah well! Maybe there's another gate somewhere around here."

"Yesssss...so I guess we just have to explore everywhere, right Garrith?" Nosod had a birdy grin on her face as she fluttered closer to the other Mr. Wilson, now looking extremely flustered.

"F-fine! But we'll check out that cottage first! It looks nice and normal!"

[The Front Gate - 5]

[GrayGriffin]

"Are you sure?" asked Mein. "It looks pretty far away..." Despite her feathers, the Windgill did seem to be shivering slightly already. Garrith frowned in concern.

"Right...I guess we can stop off at the barn first, get ourselves warmed up."

"Sure! You never know what kind of old machinery you'll find in a barn!" Mein perked up as the trio headed in that direction, Garrith's wings fluttering with worry.

"W-wait! Don't just take apart someone's machinery and stuff without asking them!"

When they arrived there, though, there was only the Myu Reaper snoozing on a pile of hay. Nosod fluttered closer, preparing to peck at its ear to wake it up.

[The Barn - 6]

[GrayGriffin]

"Don't!" hissed Garrith, fluttering forwards to drag her back. "Do you want to get eaten?" Nosod grumped at that, fluttering back to his side.

"Fine, guess we can let the kitty sleep. What's inside?"

"...hay," said Nosod, shoving her nose into one such stack of hay in look for tractors or combines. None came up. Still, she managed to dig out a temporary bed for herself anyways. "It's warm, at least."

"Yeah, it is!" agreed Garrith, also finding a temporary hay nest to snuggle into. "Let's rest here for a bit, okay?"

"Well, while you two are napping like that cat out there, I'm going to check out the loft!" exclaimed Nosod as she fluttered upwards.

[The Barn - 7]

[GrayGriffin]

Mein nosed around the hay a bit more searching for stuff she could take apart, but eventually she burrowed into the hay and soon seemed to doze off. Garrith thought he wouldn't be able to fall asleep with all the nerves running through his body, but it turned out that soon he was dozing as well. Nosod, watching from above, stared intently, wondering whether or not she should try to wake them up with a scare. But as she was pondering, she heard the growls start up.

Immediately, she fluffed up her feathers and glared in the direction of the growling. "Oh? Is someone there? You want a piece of me?"

[The Barn - 8]

[GrayGriffin]

Nosod circled the lofts for a while more, puffing out her feathers and chirping out a continuous challenge. However, nothing actually approached her, though the growling continued. Finally, she settled back down, though her eyes were still on the lookout.

"Too scared to challenge me, huh? Thought so! No one messes with Nosod, nosiree!" Still, she was a bit more cautious as she continued her explorations, peering around corners of haybales instead of just diving into whatever pile caught her fancy. But for all her precautions, she continued to not catch even a single glimpse of whatever was growling here.

[The Barn - 9]

[GrayGriffin]

Meanwhile, Garrith was managing to actually have a good dream, about flying languidly through fluffy clouds, when suddenly there was a low growling that intruded, and suddenly he found himself pounced on by a Garudor erupting from the nearest cloud. It let out a ferocious growl as he struggled to fly away, but found his wings paralyzed.

With a loud screech, he burst out of his hay nest, startling Mein awake as well. The fact that the growling was continuing around him did nothing to alleviate his nerves.

"...oh, hey, you're awake!" exclaimed Nosod. "What's the matter?"

"Don't you hear that growling?" demanded Garrith. "Let's hurry up and get out of here!"

[The Barn - 10]

[GrayGriffin]

"Oh yeah, that growling," said Nosod, shrugging her wings. "I don't think it's that much of a danger? I challenged it a while ago and it didn't even pop out at me."

Garrith huffed. "Maybe it was waiting to pounce on me! That growling in my dream felt so real! It was really too much of a close call!"

Nosod chuckled. "Aw, don't worry, I'd have spotted anything coming for you and taken it out in one hit!"

Mein brushed the last bits of hay out of her mane. "I'm feeling warmer, now," she said. "How about we head towards that forest?"

"Wait, weren't we going to the cottage next?" asked Garrith.

"I'm feeling interested in the forest now," said Mein.

"Sounds good to me!" exclaimed Nosod.

Once more, Garrith found himself outvoted and dragged along as the group entered the space underneath the frozen pines. If he'd had arms, he'd have crossed them.

[The Frozen Forest - 11]

[GrayGriffin]

Mein hummed to herself as they walked under the pines, looking fascinated at their icy branches. Spending some time in the barn seemed to have warmed her up enough to not mind the ice, or maybe it was something about being around plants that helped with it. Especially the flowers.

The first time she saw one, she almost immediately shoved her face into it with a delighted squeal. "Oh! You two, come look at this!" she called.

"That-that's not a good sign, is it? If it's so fresh, doesn't it mean it was flash-frozen somehow?" Naturally, Garrith's first reaction to this was to fret about it.

[The Frozen Forest - 12]

[GrayGriffin]

"Pfft," said Nosod. "Stop worrying so much! Even if that did happen, it was probably a one-time thing, right Mein?"

"That does seem likely," agreed Mein, holding up several frozen flowers she'd carefully stepped on their stems. "If you look closely, you'll see they all have only one layer of ice on them, which suggests only one instance of freezing. But just imagine the power it would take to freeze a whole forest!" She sighed dramatically. "Oh, if only I could harvest it!"

[The Frozen Forest - 13]

[GrayGriffin]

"What-what would you do with all that power?" asked Garrith, eyes boggling.

"Oh, I have no idea!" laughed Mein. "But it's just wonderful to think about having it, isn't it?"

"...not really," whispered Garrith. Meanwhile, Nosod laughed, dropping down from a frozen tree to land in Mein's hair.

"Don't listen to him! I think it sounds great! You could do whatever you wished, and no one could ever stop you!"

Garrith groaned. He really wished Shawn had come along instead of Mein. Nosod was too good at encouraging the Windgill's predilections.

[The Frozen Forest - 14]

[GrayGriffin]

Mein continued collecting various frozen plants as they continued along, Nosod occasionally helping by stomping on a particularly stubborn one. Garrith watched all this with worry, and not just because of Mein's mad science plans.

"Aren't you worried about angering some guardian of this forest?" he asked. "Or of this place in general?"

"What, like that cat? Nah, I'm sure Mein can handle it, whatever it is!" chuckled Nosod. Garrith hung his head, muttering. Nosod fluttered closer.

"Really, don't worry. Both of us are here to watch out for you, okay?"

"...yeah." Garrith knew that when push came to shove, despite all their teasing the two girls really did care for him. And he would willingly place his life in...well, in Mein's claws, at least.

[The Frozen Forest - 15]