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"I have always depended on the kindness of strangers."

-Tennessee Williams

Lessons on Hospitality


Alexis winced at the loud voices drifting around her. She was glad she had taken Kafei's offer to sit; she was not sure she would have been able to stay upright long between her rickety crutch and her pounding head.

Gazing tiredly out at the room of arguing men, she was aware that she should be worried out of her mind and paying meticulous attention to the debate, playing out before her, but, after being in this stuffy room since noon, she honestly could not bring herself to give a damn anymore. She just wanted to curl up in a little ball and go to sleep, forgetting the nightmare that was currently her life.

As if reading her thoughts, a hand squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. Glancing back, she saw Kafei standing protectively behind her chair, as he had since the entire ordeal began. His green eyes sparkled down at her with a comforting smile, the same smile he gave her this morning when everything had started.

She could not remember the last time she had actually slept through the entire night, so, when a series of loud bangs shattered the peace of the still house that morning, she was groggily conscious. The noise continued on for what seemed to be forever, finally ending with the distinct sound of the front door opening and slamming closed once more. Judging by the lack of light floating in through the tiny excuse for a window in the far corner of her room, she guessed it must have been only about four in the morning. What type of person would stop by someone's house at such an hour?

A muffled murmur of furious voices drifted in past the door, causing her to shift upright to better listen. Through the heated whispers, she heard what she was sure was Kafei's father arguing with some other man, or perhaps men, she could not be sure.

The soft murmur continued on for quite a while. There were times where she could have sworn she heard Kafei's mother and occasionally Kafei, but she was not about to fully trust her senses in her sleep deprived state.

Giving up on hearing anything worthwhile, Alexis plopped down and huffily threw the covers over her head in an attempt to muffle the noises. She squeezed her eyes shut, groaning as the steadily growing murmur became harder and harder to block out.

"She's only a child!"

At the sound of that shriek and consecutive bang, Alexis shot up in bed, ripping off the covers. What in hell was going on out there? A hush fell across the household, and, for the first time since early that morning, the house lapsed into an unnerving silence.

That was all she could take. She was going to get up and find out just what was going down. She had the creeping suspicion that the whole thing was not just some family matter.

Swinging her legs around and off the side of the bed, she took in a deep breath before placing her feet on the ground. The wooden floor felt like ice against her skin. She slowly shifted a slight amount of weight onto her left leg. It certainly felt stiff, but there was no immediate pain, which encouraged her.

However, before she was able to test its limits, the thuds of heavy footsteps and the loud slam of a door reverberated throughout the house, causing her to pause momentarily.

Again, an eerie and foreboding sort of silence descended upon the house, and Alexis stared expectantly at the door of her room.

She was not been disappointed.

The wood creaked cautiously open, and a ragged and barely awake Kafei hesitantly slipped in. His clothes, which she noted were the same ones he had on yesterday, were heavily wrinkled, while his bright red hair seemed to be trying to disprove the laws of gravity.

She did not fallen for his expression of mock surprise at seeing her awake.

"What are ye doing up? Don't yer dare be thinking aboyt walking aroun' on dat leg, lassie! Ma' would 'av a right fit if yer so much as thought aboyt standin' in your condition! Do yer want yer leg ter even 'eal, 'mm?" Kafei exclaimed, talking a mile-a-minute, while fluttering about her.

She did not, or rather could not, respond, as her mind sluggishly tried to comprehend his heavily accented words that early in the morning. She sighed despairingly at the coming of yet another headache.

During her moment of distraction, he hurriedly yet gently picked her legs up and tucked them neatly under the covers. He could feel Alexis' eyes boring into him, and he did everything possible to not have to meet them.

Alexis was well aware of this fact, as she watched with growing irritation as Fei busied himself with securing the blankets around her legs and fiddling with a pitcher of water on her bedside table.

"Did oi tell yer what 'appened yesterday wi' de goats? Oi wus 'erding dem roun' de pasture ter de north an' they-" Kafei rambled on, while pouring a glass of water and taking out a small bottle of red liquid from a far drawer.

Alexis winced at its appearance. They had been literally forcing the stuff down her throat every chance they got.

That was the regular morning prescription: one bottle of red liquid, accompanied by a large glass of water to wash down its horrible taste.

Kafei still refused to meet her eyes, even as he held out the small bottle for her to drink. He had continued rambling on about his 'near-death-experience', even though he had already given her the event's detailed play-by-play and complementary visual aid in the dirt the night before.

Alexis crossed her arms and huffed. Only upon her refusal to take the bottle did Kafei finally glance up to meet her unamused stare, wincing slightly at its piercing quality.

"W-what's de matter, Alexis?" He questioned, shifting his weight uncomfortably.

"Stop pretending to not know Kafei. We both know I would have had to have been deaf to not hear what's been going on all morning," she pointed out flatly.

With a sigh Kafei placed the red potion and water on the side table before plopping himself down at the foot of Alexis' bed.

"Well?" she pushed, impatiently. She had spent all morning in the dark and that most certainly was not going to go on any longer if she could help it.

"Well, a couple men from de village council stopped by ter talk ter me pa'. 'e's an important member av de Council, yer know? So, they stopped by an' chatted for a bit…" Kafei drifted off, biting his lip.

"I doubt they stopped by at the crack of dawn to simply chat. What did they want?"

"Well, they jist wanted ter discuss sum things wi' me pa. Yer know, village council things…" Kafei continued, eyes staring unfocused at the low ceiling.

"Kafei," Alexis' voice reached a dangerously low level, "what was it really about?"

Kafei glanced down at the young woman with an expression she had not been able to quite figure out.

"Yer just too damn observant for yer own good," He finally spit out, letting out a deep sigh. "It wus aboyt yer."

Alexis froze. She had been right. All of it had been because of her. She had brought this mess to this family, this nice, kind, and absolutely wonderful family that had taken her in and had treated her like one of their own, with no questions asked and with no expectations.

"Now, hold up lassie," Kafei voiced, hurriedly upon seeing Alexis' expression. "Don't yer go a blamin' yerself for any 'av dis' nonsense."

Alexis had already tuned him out. Her mind was racing. How could she have done this? How could she fix this? Dammit, it was all so screwed up!

She was been shaken from her thoughts by a rough jerk of her shoulder.

"Look, before yer go off an' make plans ter be al' self-righteous an' such, maybe yer should slow down an' let me explain a bit?" He said slowly.

He took Alexis' blank stare as an invitation to continue.

"Well-" He was cut off by the door whipping open.

Kafei's mother, Marin, whirled into the room.

"Alexis, dearie, I need-" she paused at the sight of Kafei's position on the bed. "What 'ave yer told her, boy?"

If the situation had not been so serious and Marin's tone so grave, Alexis would have laughed at how Kafei's large frame cowed under his mother's heated glare.

Remembering how Kafei's large frame had cowered under his mother's heated stare, she let out a silent giggle. The Kafei standing behind her squeezed her shoulder warningly. She ignored him and dove back into her recollections.

"Nothin' she didn't already figure out 'erself," he explained, glancing out of the corner of his eye at Alexis.

"Your pa' isn't going to be de slightest bit pleased," the woman threatened, letting out an exasperated sigh.

"What can I do?" Alexis voiced abruptly, startling the two.

Recalling their expressions, she had to smother another laugh. The last thing she needed these people to add to the list of why-Alexis-does-not-deserve-to-breathe-the-same-air-as-us-creepy-white-haired-technologically-deprived-mountain-folk was possible mental instability.

"What are yer talkin' aboyt, dearie?"

"Look, I know something's wrong, and I know it's because of me. Now, what can I do to help?" Alexis deadpanned.

Kafei's mother gave her a withering stare. "Gran' 'eavens, what 'as become 'av dis 'ousehold?!" the older woman exclaimed, throwing her hands up.

She began to mumble angrily, too low for Alexis to understand, turning back to the girl only after she seemed to have blown off enough steam.

"Oi recognize dat look. There be no changin' your mind den, oi presume?" the older woman questioned, beginning to bustle about the room, glancing up in time to catch the shake of Alexis' head. "Well, den dearie, let's set aboyt gettin' yer ready."

She glanced down at the scratchy, woolen dress she was currently wearing. She remembered Kafei's mother forcefully shoving the green cloth over her head, just before she had brandished a rustic excuse for a hair brush, yanking at her hair so hard that Alexis had been sure clumps must have been ripped from her scalp. Marin had then just as roughly tugged her hair back into tight braid.

"De better for showing off those ears av yers." She remembered Marin telling her, whatever the hell that had meant.

Wincing at the memory, Alexis mentally swore to never allow the woman to help her get ready for anything under any conditions. Despite this, she had to admit that it had been pleasant to have someone dote over her all motherly-like; it was a feeling that she was not quite used to.

Soon after Kafei's mother had declared her appearance satisfactory, Kafei had burst excitedly into the room wielding what he had declared a crutch.

In all honesty, it had looked like an oddly shaped stick, but when Kafei had announced that he had spent the last couple of days carving it, she had kept her thoughts to herself.

In the end, the stick had turned out to be surprisingly sturdy and effective in preventing any irritation of her wound or ripping of her stitches; however, it had to be one of the most awkward things she had ever used. Also, to only add to her burning hate of the object, it had single-handedly dragged out one of the most embarrassing and horrible moments of her life: the trip to the center of the village.

Alexis was finally permitted to leave with Kafei and his father, but only after Mrs. Dotour had straightened absolutely everything on her person one last time, mumbling heatedly to herself about ridiculous, paranoid old goats.

"Now, don't let dat group of old men scare yer de slightest. Their al' bark an' no bite, yer 'ear?" Kafei's mother reassured, tucking a piece of blond hair behind Alexis' ear, "Nothing is gonna 'appen ter yer dearie, Rusl 'ill make sure 'av it." The matronly woman sent a harsh look at her husband, who chuckled nervously.

"We've got to be goin' Marin. We wouldn't want ter keep dohs 'old goats' waitin'." Her husband declared cheerily, herding the two teens out the door before his wife could really get in another word.

They suited each other quite well, Alexis observed. With his light hearted and easygoing demeanor, Kafei's father perfectly balanced out his wife's own emotional and fiery personality.

"Supper is at dusk!" Marin cried after them. "And don't yer dare be late, or oi 'ill bust into dat little club of yers and drag you lot out meself!"

Both Kafei and his father winced at her words. Alexis could only imagine that such an incident had occurred before.

From what she could tell, the Dotour's farm seemed to lie on the outskirts of the village. A wide dirt path curved round the front of the property. To the west, it ran toward the thick forests in the distance before it curved out of above the dark green of the trees were colossal, white mountains. Their abruptness and stark contrast to the verdant valley made the entire view could not help but feel as if the entire image had been photo-shopped, or something of the sort.

Turning away from the towering mountains, Alexis peered down the road to her left. She could make out countless little stone and wood cottages dotting the landscape, small billows of smoke rising from their stone chimneys.

As the road wound along, the buildings steady became denser until they reached what she decided must have been the very center of the entire community. A large plot of grass lay before a high arched building, far larger than any she had seen so far. This, she assumed, must have been where they were meeting this "council."

It had also only been during this trip to that great edifice that Kafei had finally graced her with the knowledge of what was really going on.

"Roi, let's start from de beginning…" Kafei began, tucking his arms behind his head, as they walked along. Alexis tried desperately to ignore all the stares she was receiving and focused all her attention on Fei.

"Well, yer 'av ter understan' de geography av de place first. Dis entire village," he made wide gestures with his hands, "is completely surrounded by icy, impenetrable mountains, completely unlivable. De legends say dat a Great Spirit lives within these 'arsh mountains, and when our ancestors wandered 'ere from a far away lan', dis Spirit took pity on dem an' created dis fertile valley in the deepest part av de mountains.

"Here, de people would forever be protected an' isolated from de evils av the world. Over time we 'av discovered small paths through these mountains ter de outside world, allowin' us ter 'av a flourishin' fur trade with de people av Hyrule, which lies on de other side av those mountains dare," he explained, pointing to the snowy peaks to the west.

"Seven winters ago, de King av Hyrule wus overthrown by an evil man, de King av Darkness, Ganondorf. Since then, de land of Hyrule 'as been slowly tainted wi' de evils av dis man; 'owever, cos av de protection av the Great Spirit, dis village 'as remained untouched by dis darkness." Kafei paused to take in Alexis' reaction.

Her face was expressionless, and her gaze locked on the ground in front of her. He could not sure if it was simply so she would not trip with the crutch or not.

"An' then yer came," Kafei stated, excitedly.

Alexis eyes shot up, as she stumbled lightly.

"Sum av de villagers see yer as a sign av dat encroachin' evil, evidence dat our village isn't as isolated an' protected as we vainly thought it wus. They think yer are de first av many ter follow, an' for dat reason sum are not very welcomin' ter your presence. Rumors 'ave been whispered dat perhaps yer are a spy for Ganondorf, sent ter infiltrate dis valley an' brin' 'is darkness upon us," Kafei elaborated in a tone Alexis deemed far too cheerful for the topic.

He seemed to want to burst into laughter at Alexis wide eyed expression.

"They think I'm a bloody spy?!" Alexis exclaimed, stopping.

Kafei let out a chuckle, "Ridiculous, isn't it? Imagine, yer, a spy 'av de Dark Lord." Kafei collapsed into a fit of laughter.

"Kafei, this is not funny!" Alexis proclaimed, stomping her foot, "What if they find me guilty or something? Will they imprison me? Could I be executed? I haven't even done any-" Alexis paused, short of breath when Kafei jerked roughly on her shoulders.

Forcing her to look him in the eyes, he suddenly grew very serious.

"Listen 'ere, Alexis. Absolutely nothin' is gonna 'appen ter yer, understan'? Oi, an' me family, won't allow it. Not everyone in this village is a paranoid fool. Others 'ill see yer as we do, a simple young lass, who is very far from 'ome and terribly lost," He stated firmly, his eyes boring into Alexis'.

This had to be the most serious she had ever seen Fei before. For once, he actually acted as if he were her senior by two years.

"Not a single 'air on dat pretty wee head is gonna be touched," Kafei ended with a grin, as he gave Alexis' head a pat.

"Now let's 'urry an' catch up before de old goats git cranky."

She looked up to find Kafei's father a good deal in front of them. Man, she was really slow with this crutch. Mr. Dotour's bright snowy hair was steadily less and less discernable.

She had previously assumed his hair had merely gotten white with age, but as they had walked through the village, Alexis had noticed something very unsettling. All of the people, men, women, and children, shared his snowy white hair and icy blue eyes.

Alexis had honestly never felt so out of place and foreign in her entire life. Her hay colored hair and dark brown eyes made her feel dirty in that sea of snow and ice.

It did not help that, as she passed, everyone in the immediate area had abruptly stopped anything they had been previously doing and stared. She remembered feeling the shivers running up and down her spine the entire way, as if the villager's frosty gazes had actually been stealing her warmth.

It had also not escaped her that after they she had passed, the natives behind her had without fault immediately burst into a flurry of talk, no doubt about the freaky alien girl.

Even here in the council room, all of these men shared the same striking features, as apparently the rest of the entire village.

Alexis could not help but wonder how Kafei's mother had ended up so drastically different in appearance compared to the rest of the villagers with her flaming red hair and warm green eyes, which she clearly had passed on to Kafei. She made a mental note to ask him about it later, after this whole mess was taken care of.

Bored of her musings, Alexis let herself drift back into the conversation, trying to gauge its progress.

She nearly cried in frustration.

They had been there for hours and the same exact arguments that had been presented hours earlier were still being raised and argued over again without any head-way whatsoever.

"How did she even make it on the mountain and survive? Only the evil of Ganondorf could have accomplished such a thing!"

"She must have purposefully injured herself on our animal trap, knowing that we would find her and take her to the village!"

"It was our trap, which injured her. It is, therefore, at the very least, our responsibility to house and provide care for her until she is fully healed."

"Ganondorf has not even succeeded in taking over all of Hyrule, who is to say that he would concern himself with us as of yet? Even more dubious is his usage of a young girl."

It was only when Alexis was ready to simply scream profanity at the top of her lungs that the heated 'discussion' pulled a one-eighty.

"If no one has cared to acknowledge, the young lass is human."

At this statement, the entire group fell silent and all of their icy gazes swiveled to Alexis, who promptly flushed bright red.

One of the men she had put in the anti-Alexis camp approached her and roughly grabbed hold of her chin.

He seemed to be a village elder of sorts, for he along with two others seemed to reign supreme among the men of the group. Alexis did not really take in much of his physical appearance other than his wrinkly pale skin and sharp blue eyes that seemed to her frostier than all the others combined.

With icy cold fingers, the man jerked her head from side to side, peering closely at her small, rounded ears.

Alexis wondered briefly what else she could possibly be other than human, but decided it was simply best to keep her mouth shut. No one had yet to ask her opinion this entire time, and she was not about to offer it, fearful of making things even worse.

"Being human, it is quite dubious that she heralded from Hyrule. I also sincerely doubt Ganondorf would have any other contact with humans besides members of our own village, as we do not even know the residence of our brethren. It is then impossible for her to have been sent by Ganondorf," one of the other two village elders resolutely declared.

Alexis immediately ranked that dude on the top of her amazingly-cool-must-worship-ground-they-walk-on people list.

The man who had been inspecting her ears jerked away from her and slinked back to the other two elders.

"Perhaps, a compromise would be the best route." The third village elder stood up. "I propose the lass remain in the village until healed. She may then be taken out with the next caravan of traders and perhaps taken to Kakariko Village or other areas of Hyrule, where, goddess' willing, someone might recognize her."

The words of the man washed over the Council. Discussion began again, though lacking the heat of the previous debate. It seemed as if a consensus had been reached, finally.

So, they were sending her away.

She was not exactly sure how she should feel over such a thing. She had already entertained the idea that this place must be just like some strange village of Amish type people, who have rejected technology or whatever, like the people in that movie The Village.

If so, getting out of here would probably be the best option for her. She could get hold of a phone and get herself home.

Even as these thoughts crossed her mind, a sinking feeling developed in the pit of her stomach.


Link dragged himself warily over the rotting wood that in a previous life had been the castle's drawbridge.

He had spent the last three hours of his time and nearly all of his energy destroying every ReDead he could get his hands on.

His boots splashed carelessly in the murky water of the once crystal-clear moat.

He looked out tiredly over Hyrule Field. At least it hadn't changed much, he noted. Though, he thought troubled, everything seemed to now have a dark hue cast on it.

He found a certain cry of despair in everything he looked at. Even the sun seemed to not shine as bright as he once remembered. Not even it could cut away at the darkness that this land had fallen under.

He stared longingly out at the setting sun, thinking of better days and the pledge he made to bring them back.

"Hey, Link! Look!" Navi cried shrilly, fluttering wildly above the decaying wood.

The hero gave one last longing glance out over the great field and lowering sun before making his way over to the fairy. Shoving a piece of wreckage out of the way, Link froze in shock. There half submerged in the water was a small girl.

"Is she even alive?" Navi asked, peering at her motionless face.

"I think so." Link replied, checking for signs of breathing.

A small rise of her chest confirmed his suspicion. He hastily hauled her limp body out of the water and onto the soft grass.

"Link, be careful! She's injured!" Navi cried, flying frantically about his head.

A thin cut ran along the girl's face, vanishing into her hairline.

"What do I do now?" Link asked, looking to Navi, after settling the girl in what he decided was a comfortable position.

"You treat her wound, of course! There should be bandages somewhere…" Navi answered, digging through Link's pack. "There! Right here Link!" Navi cried from the bottom of the bag.

Following the blue glow, Link reached in and tugged out the large wad of cotton dressings, spilling the majority of his bag in the process.

"I got the pot!" Navi announced proudly, emerging from the spillage. "It's to boil the water!"

Link swiftly intervened, snatching the metal pot, as he saw the fairy dip sharply under its weight.

In just a couple of minutes, the hero sat prodding the small fire, while Navi kept meticulous watch over the slowly warming water, waiting to declare the moment it started to boil.

"Maybe she's a victim of the attack on the Castle Market Place. Being hidden by the wood like that, she was probably never noticed by any of the others who escaped," Link proposed.

"That's possible, but with the condition that place is in," Navi replied, a wince evident in her voice, "it appears as if it has been in that state for quite a while, years maybe. But one never knows."

Link nodded thoughtfully, though secretly hoping she was wrong. It brought him far more comfort in knowing that the attack had been recent and that Hyrule had not been living in this state for the entirety of the seven years of his absence.

"AH!" a piercing scream filled the air.

Link toppled forward in surprise, knocking over the water and effectively dousing the fire.

"It had just begun to boil…" Navi muttered remorsefully.

"Where the hell am I?!" a voice screeched.

Link turned to find the previously unconscious girl wide awake and appearing quite panic stricken.

"Who the hell are you?! Why am I wet?! Oh my God, is that blood!? Why am I bleeding?! Did you attack me?! Where the hell am I?!"

It was a few minutes before the ringing in Link's ears finally passed that he was finally able to formulate a response.

"Um, well, I am Link. I am not exactly sure why you are bleeding. I most certainly did not harm you in anyway. I just hauled you from among the wreckage over there." Link replied warily.

The girl's head swiveled, following his finger. Her nose wrinkled in disgust at the decaying moat.

"Why was I there?!" she demanded angrily, jerking back to Link.

"Where you a victim of the attack here?" Link questioned, rising slowly to his feet, hands raised cautiously as to not startle her.

"What attack?! Where is here?! I don't even know where the hell I am?!" the girl cried.

"We are presently outside what used to be the castle gates and the market place," Link explained.

The girl merely blinked dumbly back.

"Just before the castle. Hyrule Castle?" Link elaborated, but still he found no spark of recognition in the girl's face.

"We are currently standing in Hyrule Field? In the land of Hyrule?" Link questioned further.

"None of those names mean anything to me! Just tell me what state we're in!" the girl demanded frustrated.

Link glanced questioningly at Navi.

"I'm not certain what you are asking…" he said carefully.

"What are you talking about?! I asked you what state we're in! The state, like Colorado, Texas, as in the United States of America!" she exclaimed, arms flailing.

At the blank expression upon Link's face, the girl directly collapsed into a fit of sobs.

Link turned to Navi in panic, thrown completely off balance by the entire situation. He detested feeling helpless.

"Perhaps she has lost her memory. I have heard that occasionally occurs with a particular nasty blow to the head." Navi proposed.

Link nodded in agreement, glancing over at the girl, who was now wailing into her knees.

"Um, Miss," Link began, cautiously approaching the hunched over figure, "we have decided that perhaps you have simply lost your memory. So then…" Link paused just before her crouching down to her level.

"Miss?" he repeated when the girl showed no signs of hearing anything he had just said. In fact, the sobs seemed to have gotten louder.

He reached a tentative hand out to tap her shoulder.

"Miss, I understand you are quite upset bu-"

Suddenly, the girl threw out her arms and sprung forward. Link blinked shocked, suddenly finding himself clutching the shaking body of the girl, who was now soaking his tunic with her tears.

The hero sent Navi a questioning glance, as she fluttered about them worriedly.

"Comfort her!" she declared exasperatedly. She released a sigh."Boys."

Link tried desperately to recall all the times Saria had comforted him whenever he had gotten injured or upset, typically following a particularly nasty fight with Mido. She would always hold him tight, sometimes whispering words of comfort into his ear or humming that one song of hers, while rubbing his back soothingly. Well, he certainly had no idea what to say nor was there any way he was going to hum to her, so he settled with simply rubbing her back in what he hoped was a comforting manner.

Time passed and Link watched the sun lower over the girl's head. It had almost dipped completely below the horizon when she finally pulled away, still hiccupping slightly.

"Do you feel any better?" Link asked, glancing at her tear-stained face and his now soaked tunic.

"No," the girl declared flatly, "I feel even worse."

"You should have tried harder Link!" Navi squeaked.

The girl's swollen, blood shot eyes shifted to the ball of light floating about Link's head.

"A Deku Scrub would have done a better job than you!" she cried, as Link swatted her in annoyance.

At the sound of Navi's voice, the young girl's eyes widened and promptly rolled to the back of her head, body flopping over.

"You see what you caused!" Navi cried, fluttering over the girl's slumped over body.

Perhaps he should have tried humming.