Disclaimer: All characters and names that are familiar have been stolen from the Zelda series and are not a result of my own pitiful imagination. Anything unfamiliar is more than likely my own creations.

Read, enjoy, and review!

"The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

And miles to go before I sleep."

-Robert Frost

Prayer of the Refugee

Scalding heat.

Stop.

Hungry flames.

Stop!

The smell of burning flesh.

STOP!

Consciousness eluded her. The searing pain washed over her body in waves. In its traumatized state, her mind reached out and clutched onto the burning agony. She knew nothing but the fire that engulfed her body.

The pain… it needed to stop. Now.

She twisted blindly, moaning. Her hands moved on their own volition to her back and began clawing furiously.

Destroy the source.

Destroy it and the pain will end.

It will end.

That's all that matters!

Brown eyes snapped open.

Her hands immediately flew to her back. She let out a relieved sigh upon feeling the soft material of her shirt. It wasn't real. It was simply a dream… well, it was more like a nightmare. Her back was completely untouched and, most importantly, burn free.

The realization of this important truth freed Alexis' mind to wander to more critical things, such where the hell was she?

All at once, she became glaringly aware of the cold bite of snow beneath her and the sharp throbbing sensation stemming from her skull. She subconsciously decided that the latter insight took precedent over the former.

Sitting up had at seemed like a great idea, until she attempted it. Apparently her head did not take too kindly to the shifting pressure of gravity, for as soon as she was situated on her bottom, she lurched forward overwhelmed by the pain. Tears began pooling in her eyes.

"Ow," she whimpered pitifully.

Blinking away her blurry vision, she forced herself to focus on something, anything, in order to distract herself from the pain. The well placed pebble near her leg was received with tears of joy. Well, she decided, they would have been joy if it were not for the fact her skull was cracking in two. Attempting to clear her thoughts, she urged herself to concentrate.

Pebble…

Smooth pebble...

Pretty pebble…

Pebble…

She began to smile as she believed that she felt the pain begin to lessen. This only drove her to double her intense focus upon the little rock. She distantly noted that her contact lens was becoming hard with her ceaseless gaze, though the discomfort was immediately shoved to the back of her mind.

Slowly, after what felt like hours, the throbbing faded to what seemed like a dull ache in comparison. She affectionately reached out for the small pebble, cradling it in her palm.

"Thank you, Mr. Pebble," she whispered hoarsely.

Feeling its chill seep slowly into her skin, she continued staring down at it, as if expecting a response.

It was only when a large breeze pulled at her hair and tore through her clothes, seemingly to her very bones, that she was finally able to snap out of the staring contest she had begun and become aware of her surroundings.

She found herself in the center of a small snow covered clearing. Around her, a whole forest lay asleep under the packed flakes. Glancing upward past the high peaks of the trees, she found thick clouds blanketing the sky. A large mountain peak rose up to clash against the gray heavens.

It was scenery such as this that made her treasure trips to Colorado, she mused lightly; however, that thought triggered the opening of a flood gate.

Everything rushed back. The phone call, the accident, Boy Meets World, the rushed packing, the vomit, the car ride, the snow bank… it all flashed before her eyes.

The snow bank!

"Where is the car?" She looked around in panic.

This wasn't right! Where was the snow bank? How was she outside the car?

She had not flown through the windshield, had she? No, no, she had been wearing her seat belt. Could the seat belt have broken? No, Ford would have been sued a long time ago if it had had defective seat belts. Maybe the windshield had shattered and a piece of glass hit the seat belt just right and-

Wait, why was she even contemplating this?

Where was the car?

She swiveled around. Trees towered over her in every direction.

Where was the road?

Her breath shortened. This wasn't happening. It simply wasn't. Panic began to set in. This was simply another bad dream. Right, she was still dreaming. She was probably lying in some white hospital bed in a perfectly sterilized hospital room in a scratchy white hospital gown.

She could have slapped herself.

Panicking never solved anything.

Forcing her eyes closed, she inhaled deeply until she felt the mental alarm diminish fully. She needed a clear head to figure this out. She began to carefully turn over the facts in her head.

They had been in a car accident. They had plunged into a snow bank. She now was no longer in the car. She was not in the snow bank. She could not see the road. She was in the middle of a forest. She was on a mountain. She was surrounded by snow. She was not dressed for snow.

She glanced accusingly down at her jeans and long-sleeved tee shirt, as if it was her outfit's fault that she was in this mess. Why couldn't she have picked something warmer for the plane? Perhaps a pair of ski boots instead of her flimsy tennis shoes?

"Maybe", she announced bitterly, "because I didn't expect to get trapped on a stupid mountain in the middle of nowhere and have to trek through countless feet of snow to find my way back!"

It was not until she felt a stinging sensation that she realized that she had been tightening her fists to the point that the small pebble began digging into the skin.

"What do we do now, Mr. Pebble?" she asked, despairingly.

She was going absolutely mad. Shaking her head again, Alexis unsteadily brought herself to her feet. The stillness of the surrounding forest unnerved her, and she caught herself before she instinctively cowered away from it. However, she quickly discovered the problem with her new idea; walking in knee deep snow in tennis shoes was not as easy as she had believed.

The cold frost seeped easily through her now-soaking jeans and converse. Her feet were already beyond feeling; however, her legs still felt the sting of the snow. The crisp air bypassed her thin shirt and cut directly into her skin. Her hands were attempting to thaw under her armpits. The teen suddenly paused, glancing about the clearing indecisively.

"Good idea," she spoke, her words becoming mist in the mountain air, "straight forward seems like the best choice to me too."

She felt as if she had been walking for ages. Her body was exhausted, and her head throbbed painfully.

She supposed, though, she should at least try to be a little more positive. It wasn't like she was lost in the middle of a forest on some random mountain in the middle of nowhere with no hint of civilization for miles.

Cue panicking.

The only thing she was really aware of was the biting pain in many parts of her body, but that was not what was really worrying her. What really made her start to panic were the parts of her body she could not feel anymore. She didn't want to get frostbite and have to get toes and stuff amputated. She loved her toes, and her fingers. Fingers were very important.

Abruptly, a metal clang erupted from somewhere beneath her foot, and she felt the ghost of a touch on her leg. Startled, she began digging into the snow surrounding her leg, desperate for some sort of sign of human presence out there.

Her mind was clearly not working correctly for she did not even pause when the snow she was now digging out was stained red. She finally hesitated when she was able to get a clear view at the bottom of her jeans.

What looked like some sort of animal trap had dug its deadly, razor jaws into the bottom of her calf. Blood freely flowed around the wound, soaking her jeans.

She knew she should be bothered by this, at least mildly upset. Life had just kicked her when she was down. Not only was she stuck in the middle of no-where in below freezing weather, she now had a eight sharp knives digging into her leg, causing her to lose blood at a rate that would probably leave her close to death in a little over an hour.

She also was conscious to the fact she should been in extraordinary pain. The sight of the white of her bone through the incisions caused her stomach to turn uncomfortably, or perhaps it was the reeking smell of blood that had permeated the air, which was equally wonderful. She could now be eaten by some passing bear or wolf instead of slowly bleeding or freezing to death.

If she was given a choice in the matter, she would rather be eaten by some animal, at least then her death had benefited someone. Though, she mused, this could only happen after she had passed out of course. She'd sooner kill herself than be eaten alive.

These morbid thoughts danced about her head, as she made an effort to continue moving. However her foot seemed to no longer be responding to her commands, so when she shifted forward, she merely collapsed in a heap on the snow.

She fleetingly wondered when it had begun snowing again. The physical exhaustion of her body prevented her mind from grasping the passage of time. It could have been minutes or hours for all she knew.

She somehow managed to drag herself over by a fallen trunk of a tree, a crude shelter against the harsh and biting wind and snow. She looked backed lazily, to see a shockingly bright trail of red following her path. Well, she noted cynically, even if she did die, someone was sure to find her now.

She had been fighting sleep for what seemed like years, but here, under this tree, she finally lost. Her eyes slid closed, and the world around her was gone.

After an unknown amount of time, something she could not identify dragged her back into consciousness. Her mind felt blank, unable to process anything. The noises around her, the feeling of something soft against her skin were all incomprehensible. She felt like there was some sort of fog separating her from the world around her.

Control of her body seemed impossible. It was as if somehow her body was moving forward and she had been left behind, separated.

Then, her eyes were open. She could not recall opening them nor could she determine how long they had been open. All of a sudden she was just aware of colors.

There was white, lots and lots of white. Then the white was smothered by brown. She felt she was drowning in this sea of brown. There was flashes of red too, and then shots of green. They were warm, though strikingly foreign.

Her mind suddenly went on overload. It was if she had just been submerged in a pool of icy cold water. She could feel herself struggling to breathe against the onslaught.

Everything was dark again. She knew nothing but absolute panic. Was this how she was going to die? Was this the end?

The cold darkness was unbearable. She felt herself slipping deeper and deeper in the frosty water.

Suddenly, she was sucking in air again, and encompassed in warmth.

She felt like crying; she had never felt so relieved. She clung to this warmth with all of her being. It was her life-vest in this sea of ice, and she'd be damned if she let go of it.

The passage of time was completely lost to her.

At random intervals she was aware of dark shapes surrounding her and muffled noises. Occasionally she could feel warmth filling her and refreshingly cool caresses, but nothing more. Her mind always seemed just a step too slow to grasp its surroundings before it was whisked back into a state of nothingness.

Then suddenly, she awoke.

Looking around the dimly lit room, nothing was familiar. The bed she lay in was old and wooden, and the blankets scratchy. She could not see much farther than that for her contact was dry and blurry. She wondered vaguely if she still had those eye drops in her back pocket.

Rubbing her eyes frantically, panic began to set in.

Where was she? Why was she here? Where was she even supposed to be?

Nothing was making much sense to her muddled mind.

One thing was for certain though: she knew she wasn't supposed to be here.

Why were her legs and arms not moving? Were they tied down? No, no they're not. Was she paralyzed then? Paraplegic? She didn't want to have to use a wheelchair.

Here she slammed the brakes on her thought process. Panicking never solved anything. All problems must be processed by a calm and clear mind.

However, all of this shattered the moment the door opened.

The notion that she had not even noticed its presence in the far left corner of the room drifted through the back of her mind.

But all of her attention soon zeroed in on the figure, who was casually closing the door behind him and juggling a tray in his hands, completely oblivious to her current state of consciousness.

However, when he turned, his electric green eyes immediately locked with her dark brown ones.

Time seemed to freeze.

Neither blinked nor breathed; both pairs of eyes wide in shock and surprise.

Suddenly, time jump started, and many things happened all at once in a flurry of motion.

The girl hurled herself off the bed in a swirl of blankets and pillows. She had planned to stand, but her body betrayed her at last minute, so she went hurtling towards the wooden floor, crashing with a loud thump in a disgruntled lump of limbs and fabric.

The boy had reached forward upon seeing her flying off the bed, but ended tripping over his own feet in the process. The tray of food clattered onto the floor.

He jumped back awkwardly in an attempt to dodge the flying shards of glass, but merely ended up falling backwards and banging his head against the door. Letting out a groan, he slid slowly down the wood into a crunched position, cradling his head in pain.

At the same time, a loud groan sounded from the other side of the bed.

After he felt he had fully indulged in enough self-pity, he dragged himself to his feet, passing a remorseful glance at the wasted food. Forcing himself to unglue his eyes from the mess, he shifted them to the previously occupied bed. He cocked an eyebrow at its now absolutely bare state.

How she had managed to drag everything off down to the under sheets and last pillow was beyond him. He let out a light chuckle, while carefully making his way over and peaking around the edge of the bed.

He thought he would have to literally smother himself to quiet his laughter.

This finally caught the attention of the disgruntled blonde. Miraculously pulling her head from the web of fabric, she caught sight of the boy.

"Well, yer 'av really gotten yerself in quite a mess, aye lassie?" he forced out from behind his hands. The sound of his voice startled her into action.

He blinked unbelieving at the now vacant square of floor. What had his ma been feeding this girl?

He got down on his hands and knees and peered under the bed. Two brown orbs bore heatedly back at him from the tangle of blankets. He chuckled nervously under their intensity.

"Well, yer sure are active for a person who just woke up from a three-day nap," he said, grinning widely.

The only response he received was an inquisitive blink of the eyes. The boy shifted into a more comfortable position on the floor; he had a feeling he would be there for awhile.

"Well, oi am a pretty patient lad lassie, so oi don't mind a bit sittin' 'ere on de floor all day, though oi afraid me neck might develop a terrible knot," he proclaimed with an even wider grin, head pressed flat to the ground. The only response he got was a further retreat into the shadows.

"Yer gave us al' quite a scare, yer know," he began. "Showin' up like dat in de forest bloodied up, frozen, and practically 'alf-dead. Me ma' nearly 'ad a 'eart attack over seein' your blue lips an' skin. But don't yer worry, yer couldn't 'av been in better 'ands. Me ma' is a right expert at nursin' people back ter 'ealth after raisin' five lads." He rambled a bit, grinning at her.

"Ah, oi almost forgot! Me names Kafei, but most just call me Fei." He reached out a hand under the bed, smiling reassuringly.

She suspiciously scrutinized his face. The boy had sparkling green eyes complemented by bright flaming red hair that spilled messily over his forehead. His nose and most of his face were sprinkled with freckles that would forever ensure that he would never out grow his boyish looks.

Though something about him radiated kindness and inspired trust. Alexis found she had to literally fight to keep herself alert and remotely suspicious.

"Alexis," she whispered hoarsely, but did not reach for his hand.

Kafei repeated the name a few times, immediately liking its foreign sound. He grinned back satisfied after he had decided that he had mastered the word, though his outstretched hand never wavered. She noted vaguely that he pronounced it with a slight accent, despite it being a rather commonplace name. Back at school, there had been at least six other Alexis's in her grade alone.

"Well, Alexis," he began, "I imagine bein' stuffed under dis cramped little ol' excuse for a bed is probably less than 'ealthy for a 'ardly recovered patient. How about we start den with gettin' you out from under it an' back on it, aye?" He nudged his hand a little farther forward, reaching out for her.

Her eyes flickered down to warily stare at the outstretched appendage, as if it would bite her. Even in the dim lighting she could tell it was extremely calloused. She assumed he must do some kind of serious manual labor daily in order for it to get that way, what, though, she couldn't imagine.

She also noted how large it was. It could easily swallow hers, though she had always considered her own a little larger than normal.

Realizing she was getting far too side-tracked in pointless ponderings, she mentally slapped herself back to reality. She struggled a bit to reach out to him.

"What's de matter?" he asked, looking on concernedly at the sporadic jerks of her body.

"Um…," she stammered, face flushing red. "I'm stuck…"

"What?" he asked.

"The blankets! I'm," she cried, frantically wiggling, "I'm stuck!"

Fei never thought he would laugh so hard again.

"Its-not-funny!" she cried out, jerking her body, trying to weaken the blankets restraints.

"'ere, 'ere, let me 'elp yer before yer smother yerself," he said, grinning humorously, ducking under the bed.

The moment he had a hold on one of the blankets the door flew open with a slam.

"KAFEI!" a voice screeched form the doorway.

Both teens jumped at the noise, banging their heads on the bed above them with a loud thump.

Two groans sounded simultaneously.