[GrayGriffin]

As they walked deeper into the forest, they soon came across an even more fascinating sight. A frozen lake was to be expected in a frozen forest, but this had been frozen so smoothly it looked as if someone had personally polished it. Garrith was actually the first to approach, fluttering closer and gazing down at his own reflection in the lake.

"Wow!" exclaimed Mein, squeezing up beside him. "You know, I'd have expected it to look way rougher than this, if the whole place was flash-frozen! But it looks smooth all the way through."

[The Mirrored Lake - 16]

[GrayGriffin]

"Maybe someone came along and smoothed it?" suggested Nosod, actually landing on the lake. Her sneakered feet slipped out from beneath her slightly, but she somehow managed to keep her cool and act like she was deliberately skating over the ice.

"No, that couldn't be it," muttered Mein. "There'd still be bubbles or striations in the ice below. Unless this lake was naturally calm before it was frozen."

"Too bad there's no one around we can ask," said Nosod, now sliding further over the middle of the lake. Suddenly, she gasped.

[The Frozen Lake - 17]

[GrayGriffin]

"Look, fish!" she exclaimed, stomping on the ice. Mein spread her wings, bits of powdery snow and ice flying off them, before taking to the air and gliding over, not landing on the lake yet.

"That's to be expected. If a lake is deep enough, it won't freeze all the way. Though I have to admit I've never seen fish quite like these before..." She glanced over at the two Wilsons.

"Can you two get off the ice? I want to try something."

The birds glanced at each other, the nodded and took off, landing in the branches of the tree closest to the lake to see what Mein was going to try.

[The Frozen Lake - 18]

[GrayGriffin]

Mein flapped her wings harder, taking off into the air before diving down and crashing into the lake, her claws making the ice crack. However, as she drew back for another blow, before her claws touched the surface again the water started freezing over, and was back to its original smoothness as she struck again. She stopped, staring at the surface in confusion.

"...that's not normal," she muttered, slowly settling down to land on the icy surface, a slight frown on her face.

[The Frozen Lake - 19]

[GrayGriffin]

"Hey!" called Garrith, fluttering closer, a worried look on his face. "Aren't you worried..." He trailed off as he realized that the ice wasn't cracking beneath Mein's weight at all.

"Very curious," muttered Mein, tapping at the ice with her claws. She tried a few more ways to get through it, but none of them succeeded, and she finally settled back with a sigh.

"Well, in that case, we might as well just watch these fish for a bit more before we move on," she said, settling down with her head on her foreclaws. Garrith landed on one of her shoulders, and Nosod the other, and they just observed the fish for a bit.

[The Frozen Lake - 20]

[GrayGriffin]

Nosod was the first to break the silence. "Okay! Watching fish was nice, but let's go somewhere else now, okay?" She fluttered up and off Mein's shoulder. "Which way did we come in, anyways?"

"There should be footprints, right?" asked Mein.

"Um...nope! Oh well, let's just-"

"No footprints?" Garrith let out a wail. "We're lost! We're going to die out here!"

[The Frozen Lake - 21]

[GrayGriffin]

"We're not going to die!" replied Nosod flippantly. "We just need to figure out where we came in from by looking at the various landmarks!"

"What landmarks?" demanded Garrith.

"The flowers!" exclaimed Mein. "Didn't we break off a bunch of them? We just need to follow the snapped stems."

"And you thought doing that would get us in trouble," boasted Nosod.

"It still could...but I guess it's our best lead. Let's go," said Garrith.

[The Frozen Lake - 22]

[GrayGriffin]

Luckily, the flowers didn't seem to have grown back. Or perhaps that was unlucky, if Garrith's constant suspicions about a guardian watching them ready to pounce were true. Still, by following the path of beheaded flowers, they were able to slowly start making it out of the woods. Even Garrith started to relax as they neared the exit.

[The Frozen Forest - 23]

[GrayGriffin]

"Ooh, look!" added Nosod, gesturing back as they finally stepped out of the forest. She gestured behind them, and the group saw their footprints actively fading away. Mein turned, looking as if she wanted to investigate further, but Garrith immediately landed on her head.

"No more studying the weird stuff here! We're heading to the cottage next, and that's final."

Mein pouted a little, but finally acquiesced, and they headed in the direction of the rising smoke.

[The Frozen Forest - 24]

[GrayGriffin]

Soon enough, they stood on the threshold of the cottage. Mein immediately reached forward to open the door, having the limbs most suited for it, and the two Mr. Wilsons crowded around her to get a better look.

"It looks cozy..." noted Garrith. "Something's weird though..."

"Yeah, it's bigger on the inside!" exclaimed Nosod. She fluttered in anyways. "Come on, let's see what kind of stuff they've got inside!"

[The Cottage - 25]

[GrayGriffin]

They peered into the other rooms, but what really drew their attention was the giant dining hall. Nosod let out a gasp of surprise and delight and immediately started flying down the length of the table, picking out her favorite dishes.

"Ooh, I want to try this! And this! And some of this!"

[The Dining Hall - 26]

[GrayGriffin]

"...what if it's cursed?" asked Garrith, hovering in the doorway still as Mein also squeezed her way through. "This looks a lot like some kind of cursed food! Why is it still fresh when there's no one here?"

"We're here, now!" exclaimed Nosod. "So obviously it's for us!" She had already landed by a bowl of pudding and was shoving her face into it.

[The Dining Hall - 27]

[GrayGriffin]

"That logic doesn't really make sense!" exclaimed Garrith. Nosod pulled her head out for a moment and snorted.

"What? I can't hear you over the taste of this delicious pudding."

Mein had picked up a leg of poultry and was tearing into it herself. "Doesn't taste cursed," she offered through a mouthful of meat.

[The Dining Hall - 28]

[GrayGriffin]

"How would you know what curses taste like?" demanded Garrith. He finally gave up and hovered forward as well. And he noticed a rather tempting-looking pie...after glancing around for a bit more, he finally succumbed to temptation and plunged his head in, pulling out a mouthful of berries.

"Ohkah...mmph." He swallowed them. "Okay, I guess you're right...they do taste pretty good."

[The Dining Hall - 29]