Lina trudged through the snow, wrapping her arms tightly around herself and trying to calm her violent shivering.

"I hate this, I hate this, I hate this, I hate this, I hate this, I hate this, I hate this, I hate this, I HATE this, I HATE THIS…"

Sure, she thought, I could have gone to the south … lain around all day on a hot beach, nice, warm ocean water … a big, bright tropical sun … but no, that would have been too easy. Instead, I decided it might be nice to go off to the north for a while … with the polar bears and the eskimos, and oh, why couldn't I have gone somewhere warm for once? WHY?!

She looked down at her hand. It was beginning to turn blue. She didn't even have any decent winter clothing … if she didn't get shelter sometime soon, she was going to start losing body parts!

Not only that, but she didn't have any food, either. It had all been lost when they were attacked by a low-level mazoku a while back. It had caught them unaware, managing to blast them with a fire attack before anybody could put up a reasonable shield. All their supplies had been lost, and Amelia had tripped over a rock trying to kill the beast before Lina was able to cast the Dragu Slave and blow it away.

That's why she was out there right now. Because Amelia had tripped over a rock. Because Amelia had tripped over a god-frickin' rock and broken her leg and possibly damaged her spine and everybody was too scared to move her. So, they had to find her a doctor somewhere … only problem is, the last town was over thirty miles back and they weren't sure what direction they'd come from. So … they decided to split up. Gourry was likely too stupid to find his way back -- and certainly not clever enough to return to them after finding a doctor, if he even got that far! So, they'd left him with Amelia, and Lina and Zelgadis headed out to find a town.

That was quite some time ago. All she cared about now was finding somewhere to spend the night.

But, no such luck … I mean, where does one find a cabin in the middle of the snowy woods?!

PHIBRIZO-- "Yeah, where?"

NEL-- *Slaps Phibby upside the head.* "Shut up. You don't come in 'till later."

PHIBRIZO-- "Define 'later'."

NEL-- *Glares.* "I said, 'SHUT UP'!!!"

PHIBRIZO-- "H-hai."

Now, back to our story…

Just then, she saw something behind a cover of snowy trees. It was … a house!

Lina rushed forward, cold and hunger nearly forgotten in her excitement. She ran up to the door. It appeared to be a little cabin…

Lina knocked on the door.

Hmmm… she thought. Sounds like no one's there. Well, I can't just keep standing around in the cold like this…

Lina tried turning the knob. The door opened!

PHIBRIZO-- "Now, could someone please explain to me why anybody would go to all the trouble of building a nice cabin all the way out in the middle of woods, and not even bother to lock the door?"

NEL-- "Because I said so. And didn't I just tell you to shut up? Oh, well, I guess I'll just have to punish you…"

Noticing the maniacal glint in Nel's eyes, Phibrizo squeeks and scampers away before the looming figure behind him has a chance to act.

NEL-- "Hey, come back here! I'M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU!!!"

Phibby dives behind a rock, narrowly avoiding being hit by a large kitchen knife.

NEL-- "Oh Phiiiibby … come out, come out where ever you are."

Nel darts around the rock where Phibby is, brandishing a bloody fork.

NEL-- "Gotcha!"

*CENSORED*

Lina walked inside. The furniture was kinda tacky, and it was a bit dusty. But there was a fireplace. Lina shivered. And at least it'd be warm...