"Amy!" Mark struggled against the wind and called again. "Ethan? Tyler! Anybody!" He heard nothing. His voice was whipped away by the howling wind, he could hear nothing and see nothing but white. He shivered. Where the hell am I? I hope the others are ok. The accident was still fresh on his mind. It had been his dumb idea to try to climb a mountain in Europe, but then a sudden blizzard had broken off a chunk of rock, and an avalanche ensued. Mark's rope had broke, and he'd tumbled for a long time before collapsing on snowy ground. Now, he was lost, wet, cold, and trapped in a nasty storm. What a great Christmas this was.

"Hello!?" Mark yelled. "Anybody!" He misstepped and fell face first in the snow. He groaned and sat up, huddling miserably in the snow drift. Shit! He tried to get up, but his legs buckled. He fell on his side and lay there, shuddering. He tried to hide his face in his parka as the wind howled on unrelentlessly. He tried to take a few minutes to rest, but his muscles grew numb; ice crystals beaded his beard and lashes and brow; he was so cold he hardly had the strength to even shiver.

So... cold... Mark coughed. His throat burned, and his lungs felt frozen in the chilly air. His eyelids felt heavy, and he eventually closed them. Just... five minutes... He started to drift into darkness, but then he felt something in the ground. It was a tremor, and then there was another; and another. They were light, at first, but then they grew and magnified. Another avalanche. Great. Mark closed his eyes again and went limp in the snow. White powder already partially covered his cold body.

The tremors got louder. He could hear the snow crunching, and hear something huffing against the freezing air. Mark thought little of it though; he only wished that his friends were ok. But before he could slip into darkness, something warm touched him. He opened his eyes and saw a shadow stretched over him. But it was hard to see what. He shuddered and tried to move, but he only could curl up a little. The huge figure over him rumbled and crouched down. A warm breath of air tickled Mark's bare skin. He gasped and shivered, invigorated by warmth. Groggily, he tried to sit up and fell over, and he made no progress. Heat radiated through the air just before the big thing lay down behind him. The snow blew off his side, and then Mark felt something nudge him. He was forced to curl up, and then pressed against a warm wall.

His body tingled as warmth crept into him. His teeth chattered for a while, and he continued to shiver for a bit until he started to warm up. Whatever had settled down beside him, it was blocking the wind and snuggling Mark with its body heat. Mark sighed and relaxed, starting to feel better as the storm continued to wail. The being shifted and carefully placed itself on top of the stranded man, enveloping him in warm darkness. Mark turned over and closed his eyes. He was still tired. Before he could help it, he found himself falling asleep.

Mark opened his eyes slowly. Something thumped loudly in his ears like a drum, and it was dark. He shifted and tried to sit up, but he was pinned on the crunchy snow. He squinted and touched his surroundings. Fabric covered him like a blanket, but behind it felt something solid, like bone. Bone? Mark gripped the fabric and pulled on it. A loud rumble greeted his ears, and his eyes widened. What was that? It sounded like... like a snore.

"H-hello?" Mark pushed whatever was laying on top of him, but it didn't budge. He tried again. "Hey! Is anybody there?" The thing suddenly moved. Mark heard a loud groan as the huge figure shifted and moved away from Mark. Mark's eyes grew very wide as the creature sat up and gave out a loud, toothy yawn; it looked like a person, but he was massive!

Mark stared up from the snow drift as the giant rubbed his eyes and shook the snow out of his hair. He ruffled it and then looked around at the snowy landscape. Mark was breathless. He was amazed. But when the giant looked down and realized Mark was awake, his bright blue eyes widened. With a noise of fear, he suddenly jumped away from the human and took off running. Mark gasped.

"W-wait!" Snow from the booming footsteps dumped on Mark's head. He sputtered and shook his head, getting the snow out of his eyes. But when he looked up, the giant was gone. All that remained were its large footprints. Mark slumped and shook the snow out of his ears. He's gone... He was frozen in place for a few seconds. He saved my life. I would have died if he hadn't sheltered me from that storm... so why did he run?

Mark snapped out of it and climbed out of the drift. I need to follow those footprints before they disappear. But as he started running, a voice pierced the chilly air.

"Mark!" Mark skidded and turned to see his friends and their mountain guide.

"Amy!" He ran and sweeped the platinum blonde woman off her feet, hugging her dearly. The others laughed in relief as he kissed Amy and then hugged them all.

"We thought you were dead!" Ethan gasped. Tyler shot him a look and said, more carefully, "We were really worried about you. That storm was nasty."

"Are you ok?" Amy hugged his arm. He smiled at her.

"I-I'm fine, I..." His smile fell, and he looked back at the footprints. They were already starting to fade. "Someone saved me," He murmured. Ethan's eyes got big.

"Who?" Mark shook his head.

"I don't know, but he was scared of me for some reason... he left as soon as the storm was over." Mark's eyes widened, and he shook his head. "I-I gotta go find him!" He kissed Amy's cheek and then turned and started running.

"Mark!" Ethan started after him, but then stopped and looked back at the others.

"Mr. Fischbach!" The mountain guide tried to protest.

"Just stay there, I'll be right back!" Mark ran along the footprints and followed the trail. He ran as fast as he could as the wind started to pick up. It started to snow when he reached the base of the mountains, and in front of him yawned a large hole in the rock. The prints led straight inside. He inhaled deeply, and then walked in to the cave. Stalagmites sparkled with frozen water; it was pretty dark and chilly still, but the cavern looked like it went pretty deep.

"H-hello?" Mark's call echoed against the walls. He looked around and kept exploring. "Um, g-giant? Or, sir?" Mark sighed. I'm an idiot. He glanced at the entrance. His friends were waiting for him out there, and it was only thanks to the giant that he could be reunited with them. He had to thank him!

Mark sighed quietly and kept looking around at the darkness, hoping to glimpse those two crystal blue eyes. "Um, I-I just wanted to say thank you," he stammered. "But-but then you ran away. I'm not-I don't understand why, but... I'm sorry if I made you feel threatened, somehow." Mark looked up at the ceiling. Countless stalagmites glittered coldly like pointy swords. Should I even be in here? What if he feels threatened by me being a dumbass and walking into his home? Mark opened his mouth to say more when someone else suddenly shouted loudly.

"Watch out!" Too late, Mark looked down and saw the yawning darkness in front of him. His foot broke the cliff edge before he could stop walking, and gravity gave a mighty yank on Mark's body as he lost his balance. He fell over with a scream. I'm an idiot, I'm an idiot, I'm an idiot! Mark closed his eyes and braced for impact. But, before he could hit the ground, something dived under him, and he landed on a soft, familiar surface that broke his fall. Mark choked on the air and struggled to get his breath back. When he eventually did, he became conscious of his landing pad and sat up, groaning. He felt the surface under him move.

"A-are you ok?" The words were uttered quietly, and yet the Irish voice still bounced strongly off the cave walls. Mark groaned and smiled weakly.

"I-I'm ok." He looked around and added gratefully, "Thanks to you. That's the second time you've saved my miserable ass." At last second, the giant had managed to jump under Mark and sprawl on his back, allowing Mark to harmlessly land on his stomach. Mark tried to get up, but his legs were too shaky.

"Here." A hand cupped Mark as the giant sat up and looked down at the human. "Why-why did you come here? You could have gotten hurt," he asked. Mark leaned on his thumb and sighed, relieved.

"Well, I never got a chance to thank you before." He smiled. "But now, I guess I need to say thank you for two things." The giant shrugged, looking embarrassed.

"I just did what anybody else woulda done," he mumbled.

"But you saved my life," Mark pointed out. "And you don't even know who I am."

"I know your name," the giant admitted. He used his free hand to run it through his messy hair. "I heard the other humans calling out for you, so I tracked you down and followed yer scent." Mark was impressed.

"Wow, really? In that weather?" He gaped. The giant grinned, looking more confident.

"Yeah! And when I saw you, I knew I couldn't just leave ya there. The others were pretty far away still, and you needed help. So I tried to warm you up. I thought maybe if I left before you woke up though..." Mark shook his head.

"No way. I'm so glad I did though, because I can thank you now." The giant glanced up at the cliff.

"What about your friends? They're probably worried about you." Mark nodded.

"True... But there was no way I was going to just leave without saying my thanks. That's just plain rude!" The giant smiled, and then he frowned.

"You ok? Yer shaking." Mark looked at his hand and saw that he was, indeed, shivering. "Come here." The giant held Mark to his chest and wrapped his jacket around the human. Mark sighed.

"That feels good," he murmured. Then he frowned and shook his head, pulling away. "Thank you, but I left my friends out there in the wind. They're probably colder than me, so I can't just be selfish. But thank you." The giant's eyes got big and round; He had never met a human who cared more about his friends than himself.

"Ok." He stood up and lifted Mark up the cliff. "Well, here ya go then." Mark stepped off and turned around. The cliff was only level with the gargantuan man's chest, giving Mark a really good idea of just how huge the giant was. But he still grinned up at him.

"Uh, before I go," he said, "Can I ask what your name is?"

"Oh! Sure, it's Sean, but you can call me Jack." Jack held his smallest finger out, and Mark shook it with a goofy grin.

"Well, Jack, thank you," he laughed.

"Mmhmm!" Jack beamed as Mark let go of the handshake and stepped back.

"Will I ever see you again?" He wondered out loud. The giant shrugged.

"Depends. Do you live here?" Mark shook his head.

"I live in America. Los Angeles, to be precise." Jack's smile fell.

"Oh..." Mark looked around the cave, then back at Jack.

"Is that why you live here? Because you don't like people?" Jack shook his head.

"No, I do, it's just..." he sighed. "You're the only one who hasn't run away from me..." Mark frowned.

"Oh... Jack..." Jack shook his head and put his arms on the cliff.

"It's ok. Just go," he muttered. "Go back to yer friends, they're waiting for ya." Mark looked at the despondent giant helplessly.

"J-Jack-" Jack shook his head and put his forehead on his arms.

"Just go before I hurt you too." Mark stared at the giant. He looks sad... maybe it's been a while since he's had anyone to talk to. But Mark wanted to respect Jack, and he didn't want to anger him.

"Ok..." Mark backed away. "It-It was nice meeting you," he said. Jack didn't answer. Mark sighed and turned around, walking away. But it didn't feel right. As he walked out of the cave, the human heard Jack sniffle, and his heart broke. But he had to go home.

 He didn't know what he could do to help the Irish giant.