In all of Kagome Higurashi's fifteen years, she had never been so terrified. Here she was, backed into a wall with a giant monster towering over her frail form. What was a high school girl to do? Call for help, that's what.

"Inuyasha!"

Movement from the other side of the room was heard, and the monster nearing the priestess suddenly let out a tremendous roar before collapsing at her feet with a loud thud.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha voice shouted the minute the door from the other room slammed open. The minute he charged for the beast, blue eyes stared back, halting him from his attack.

"Wait! Wait! Stop!" A male voice cried from another part of the house.

Before Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, Shippo or Kagome knew what to do, lights suddenly flickered on, revealing the cabin's state of disarray. A short man with a white cloth over his head now stood among the group. He had a black mustache and a goatee, and his eyes were slanted. A band made of copper was wrapped around his upper right arm, and heavy boots adorned his feet. His only source of decency was a one-piece dark blue shirt and pants that only revealed his arms and his chest. Only his nipples showed as the fabric seemed tied around his neck.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked, his expression angered and confused.

Kagome, now behind Inuyasha, gazed at the man inquisitively before turning her sights on the monster that attacked her.

The monster, revealed to be very grotesque with grayish skin and tremendously robust features, grunted from his place on the floor. Armor covered its chest, and an iron mask, with only one hole for the eye, covered his entire head. The purple pants it wore were shredded to ribbons at its knees, and thick work gloves covered its enormous hands. Link, who she had thought to be with the others, was casually sitting on the monster's back, eyes closed as he gave a sigh of what seemed like relief.

"What do you think you're doing?" the small man asked with anger. "Why do you attack Gabora? Are you all crazy?" His anger was directed at Inuyasha, who had unsheathed his sword.

With a sigh, Link stood up and scratched the back of his head. All the while, he could not help but feel embarrassed at such a situation. He felt bad for the guy he had pushed to the floor, but it was that or let him suffer at the end of Inuyasha's blade. Gabora didn't deserve such a fate.

"Well?"

Somewhat surprised and almost at a loss for words, Miroku stepped up. "Sorry for the intrusion, but we mean you no harm."

An eyebrow arched with suspicion. "Really? Then why is my assistant on the floor?" The small man's eyes narrowed angrily, crossing his arms.

"Assistant?" Sango muttered as she turned her attention to the monster as it rose to its feet.

Annoyed by the strangers, he nodded. "Yes! Of course!" He hadn't been expecting any company, so he was a little surprised to find a strange group of people in his home attacking his fellow assistant. "Now answer my question!"

"Sorry, but we needed shelter from the cold. We called many times, but we got no answer," Kagome explained from next to Inuyasha. She stared at the massively tall man with an iron mask, similar to a killer from a scary movie. He towered above her and her friends.

"What the hell is that?" Inuyasha asked with a wide-eyed expression as he and the monstrous beast stared at one another.

Surprised by his rudeness, Kagome smacked him. "Inuyasha!"

Blinking at the man with the strange ears and hair, the little man answered his question. "Gabora's his name, I told you. Now why did you attack him?"

"We thought he was attacking us!" Shippo explained from Inuyasha's shoulder. "It was too dark!"

Finally satisfied, the little man gave a sigh. "That's what I wanted to know!" He muttered as he stood next to Gabora before patting him on the stomach. "Gabora here is as dangerous as a Deku stick. He won't hurt you, don't have the brains to!" he explained, watching the relief wash over the travelers. "My name is Zubora. We own the smithy here. Can fix any weapon and sharpen it just as new!"

"Really? We didn't know. Your sign outside was broken…" Miroku explained.

"Yes, I know. Haven't gotten around to fixing it." Placing a hand to his chin, Zubora turned his eyes out the window. "How long do you wish to stay?"

"Until we've rested and gotten warm," Kagome explained with relief.

Rubbing his chin, Zubora fixed his eyes on the young girl, before narrowing them. "No one followed you?"

The way he asked this baffled everyone in the room as they turned to stare at each other with uncertainty.

"Um… no…" Kagome muttered. Actually, she wasn't positively sure if anyone had been following them. Yet his questioned made little sense to her.

Satisfied with this reply, he set about fixing the chairs in the room. "Good! Good! You may relax." Zubora straightened up a table for the guests and moved all the chairs into their respectable places.

"Ugohhh!" Gabora yelled, causing Kagome to jump with surprise. "Ugoh… Ugoh!"

Not sure how to respond to his shouting, the group could only stand there and stare as he began jumping up and down in place while waving his arms. The giant hammer in his left hand swung dangerously in their direction.

"Calm down!" He grinned toward the group. "He's excited because we haven't had a visitor for some time now. Gabora, go fetch our quests some coffee, quick-like!"

"Uugohhhhhhhh!"

"Don't act like you know what you're talking about, you Deku stick! Now make haste!"

As Gabora disappeared through another door, Zubora exchanged glances with the others as he ushered them fervently to their seats. "Sit! Sit! Why are you all standing?" Again, he went about cleaning the room, before looking out the window with uncertainty. After picking up some discarded weapons that were all strewn across the floor, he walked toward his guests, only stopping to unlatch a lock on a cellar down below. "I'll be back shortly." With that, he opened the secret hatch and descended a hidden staircase, closing it behind him with a click.

"What was that?" Shippo asked, though his friends' only replies were bewildered shrugs. "They're kind of weird, aren't they?"

Inuyasha sheathed his sword, disappointed that there was no real threat. "Keh! Who cares? I've seen weirder…"

Doing just as the little man said, Kagome and Sango, joined by Shippo and Kirara, took a seat near the hearth, while Miroku and Link sat at the table. The room was quiet, save for the moaning of Gabora in the kitchen fixing their coffee.

While the men sat in silence, Kagome and Sango chatted. Shippo busied himself with rummaging through Kagome's backpack, while Link went about fixing the string on his bow.

A shout was heard from downstairs, and the door leading to the basement swung open, revealing an angered smith. "No good, I say!" He shut the door before hurrying across the room to glance nervously out the window. He then disappeared into the kitchen. The others could hear his loud inquiry. "Gabora, what's the delay?"

"Uuugoh… Uugoh go go!"

"What? Already? Then forget the coffee!"

"Ugoh!"

"Don't sass talk me!" Zubora's voice rang through the entire house. "Make that instead!"

After a few seconds of what sounded like glass shattering, Zubora returned to the living room. "Sorry. Seems we're out of coffee beans. Gabora is preparing tea as we speak."

Kagome gave a weak laugh. "Thanks, but you don't have to go through all the trouble," she insisted.

Zubora waved her off as he once again stared out the window. "Hm… I wonder…"

Fed up with the constant staring, Inuyasha asked, "What the hell are you looking for?"

Startled from his pondering, Zubora glanced at the silver-haired man. "Pardon?"

"Well," Miroku began. "You seem a little worried about something, and you keep staring out the window. Is something wrong?" he asked, watching the man.

"Well, recently, we were happily enjoying our lives when Spring returned to the mountains…"

Gabora interrupted his explanation, crashing through the door and making the visitors jump. They turned their attention to the weird creature who now wore a pink frilly apron with flowery designs while holding a tray of hot, steaming tea in his wobbly arms.

Noticing his friend enter the room, Zubora gave a shout. "Sit down Gabora! I'm telling them a story!"

"Ugohhh!" Gabora did not seem pleased about being yelled at, but he complied well enough as he handed each of the guests a cup. After that, he sat down next to Shippo.

Zubora coughed. "Well, as I was saying, spring did not last. Strange occurrences have transpired as of late. Just yesterday, I was out fetching some wood for our fire, and that's when I saw it."

"Saw what?" Kagome asked.

"A monster!" He explained. "The moment it saw me, I ran for the house, and it followed. Day in and day out, that beast shows up, tormenting Gabora and I."

"Uugohh Ugoh!"

The little smith sighed as he took a seat near Miroku. "Even Gabora is afraid to leave the house. We thought to build a secret room, and we did," he pointed toward the door on the floor. "Whenever that beast shows up, we hide in there."

"With all the weapons you have here, I'd never thought you'd be afraid to take on that monster," Inuyasha replied. His eyes roamed all the weapons on the walls.

Zubora nodded. "Yes, but its size out matches that of me and Gabora combined. We couldn't defeat the likes of it. When I heard noises inside the room, I had thought it might be the monster, so I had Gabora check it out."

While Link fixed his bow's string, he listened to the story. While on his travels, he had never heard of such a beast wondering around the mountains. But, stranger things had happened. Once again, it was winter in the mountains, and now there was a beast on the loose. 'I just don't understand." Looking around the room, Link realized that his fairy friend was missing. Upon closer inspection, he found her resting by the fire, listening quietly to the man's tale.

Zubora suddenly stood and quickly made his way across the room. He picked up a block of wood and tossed it in the fire before settling down at the table. "We don't know what to do."

"We'll help!" Kagome all but blurted out, catching both the Zubora and Gabora off guard. "Don't worry! That monster won't stand a chance against us!" She declared.

Miroku nodded. "Of course. It's the least we can do since you've allowed us to take shelter from the cold."

Before the group could say 'Naraku', both Zubora and Gabora were on their knees with their hands clasped in front of them, pleading.

"You will. Will you really?" Zubora asked. "Thank you! Please, use any weapon you want in the room!"

Inuyasha removed himself from the wall he had been leaning against. Angrily, he glared at the priestess. "Kagome! Stop offering to help! You do this every single time! Listen, we don't have time for this. Don't forget the reason we're here."

Expecting as much from Inuyasha, Kagome stood with her hands fisted at her sides. "Inuyasha, they need help! We can't just stay here and watch them hide in fear!"

Much to his annoyance, everyone else in the room agreed with her. Inuyasha's blood boiled. "But—"

"Don't make me say it, Inuyasha," Kagome threatened.

Not wanting to say hi to the splintered floorboards, the half demon decided not to argue. "Fine! But on one condition!"

"Condition?" Zubora gave him a startled look. "You name it!"

"We'll take care of that monster if you let Kagome stay here and keep warm."

Kagome could only gape at her friend. Even though he was being kind enough to assist these people and wanted her to stay warm, she would not allow it. "What?"

"Deal!" Zubora grabbed Inuyasha's hand and began shaking it enthusiastically. "Don't worry about a thing!"

"Inuyasha!"

Gently, Sango placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, distracting her from her rage. "Kagome, I think it's best if you stay. You're not wearing suitable clothes for weather like this, and we would hate for you to catch cold," the demon slayer explained, watching as her friend relaxed.

"But what if you need me?"

"Don't worry! Heck, we'll worry less if you're safe inside the house!" Inuyasha explained. "Miroku, Sango and I can handle this."

With a huff, Kagome sat down with Shippo and Kirara. This was so typical of her friends. Sure, she wasn't strong like them, but it didn't mean she was useless. "It's not fair."

Not only was Kagome upset, but so was a certain fairy. "What? Link, aren't you going after the monster too?" Serena asked as she bobbed up and down in front of her partner, who was currently staring at the priestess.

"…"

"Oh come on! You're normally more active than this!" she cried, though Link swatted her away gently, somewhat annoyed.

Inuyasha, who had heard the fairy, gave a grunt. "You two will only get in the way! Just stay here. We'll be back shortly," he said as he left through the door with the others, following Zubora.

"What did you say?" Serena's light turned a dark shade of red. "What does he mean we'll get in the way? Heck, we showed them the way up the mountains for crying out loud! Not only that, but you saved Kagome's life, and I had to explain what certain monsters were!" Before she could fly outside after Inuyasha, Serena found herself pulled back by her partner. "Link?"

He shook his head lightly. "Nevermind that." It didn't matter to him whether he fought the monster. Even if he was annoyed, he didn't show it. Instead, he focused on sharpening his sword. Its edge was dull.

"He thinks you're weak," Serena explained, though she was ignored. "Hmpt!" Realizing that she would not bring her partner back to his senses, she fluttered over to the windowsill.

"Sorry about that," Kagome muttered from her place near the hearth.

Glancing up from his work, Link regarded her downcast expression. He watched her hug her knees to her chest while resting her head on them. 'She seems so sad…' For a moment, Link pondered why Inuyasha always picked a fight with her. 'Her friends treat her as if she's weak.' When she had aimed her bow, her eyes held such determination that he could not help but watch her hit the target straight on. Her archer abilities were top-notch; for a female, that was remarkable.

"Inuyasha is like that sometimes," she said with a sigh.

Realizing he had been staring too long, Link returned to his task. While he sharpened his blade, he wondered why he was even helping them. If he was not destined to save Termina, then what was the point in teaming up with these people? To Link, it was a complete and utter waste of time. Actually, he could leave whenever wanted, but where would he go? The forest was out of the question.

"Link," Shippo's voice interrupted his thoughts.

Link looked down, noticing Shippo staring up at him worriedly. "Huh? What is it?"

"Why do you look so sad?" he asked in a childlike voice, completely surprising the boy warrior. Even Kagome had turned to look at him with curiosity.

He furrowed his brow. "It's… nothing. Excuse me." Link suddenly stood up and approached the door. Taking hold of the handle, he opened it, letting in a cold gust of wind. Seconds later, he and his fairy friend were gone. Kagome and Shippo stared after them, bewildered.