Ganondorf sat in the cockpit of the borrowed Great Fox. He, Link, Ike and Meta Knight were all sent by Fox and Falco to retrieve the root of a frozen breed of cactus. Link got up and started for the back of the ship to retrieve coats for everyone. While he was back there, he found Meta Knight sharpening his sword.

"I'm not too thrilled about this mission." He said, checking the edge of his blade for sharpness and wiping it down with a damp rag.

Link sighed, "None of us are. But Fox and Falco need that root because it's apparently the only cure to whatever they have." He reached into the cabinet and shuffled through.

"Not the only cure." Meta Knight took the sharpening stone and focused on one of the several points, "Perhaps a cure, but not the only cure." He'd woken up to Kirby's random screaming early that morning. Nothing was wrong; Kirby just wanted to annoy Meta Knight. So, as Link could tell, Meta Knight wasn't in the best of moods.

Link shrugged, "Just trying to help them out." He pulled his brows together and closed the cabinet door, "They're sending us on a mission in a frozen mountain, and they don't even supply us with coats?" he looked at Meta Knight who was shaking his head, "You can handle the cold, can you?"

"Not exactly." He said. He looked up at Link, "It makes my wings feel brittle." He shifted uncomfortably.

Link sighed and started back to the front when the entire ship shook and the wing that Meta Knight sat by shattered, showing a mountain going by as well as the snowy terrain. Meta stabbed his sword into his seat and held on, watching the ground go by.

"Meta, help?" Link grunted behind him.

He turned around and noticed Link lying against one of the seats holding on for his life. Sticking from his right side was a piece of the framework for the wing. Meta Knight jumped down and made his way to Link's side, forcing his way past the suction. Once the air settled, Meta Knight took a closer look at Link's wound.

"There were first aid supplies in that cabinet I was just checking in." Link groaned.

Meta jumped up and hovered to dig through the supplies. He folded his wings, hurried to Link and grasped the piece, "Ready?" he asked.

"Just get it out." Link growled, clenching a fist, the other hand hovering by the wound and shaking.

"Alright." Meta Knight mentally counted to three and yanked the piece out, earning a yell in pain from Link. He immediately got a gauze pad to press against the wound when everything went black.

Link and Ike emerged from the rubble of Fox's fallen Great Fox. They looked at each other, "We're dead." Link said.

"No." Ike shook his head, "If anything, Ganondorf is." He said, "He was piloting."

"If he survived." Link sighed and arched his back and cracked the middle of his spine, "Ah." He grunted and felt the side of his neck, "Any injuries?" he asked.

Ike nursed his left arm, "I think my arm is broken." He looked up at Link, "You?"

Link checked around him in case there was anything he couldn't feel, intentionally missing the stab wound so he wasn't worried about. "Not that I can tell. I'm not sore, so…" He lied.

"Your side's bleeding quite a bit, though." Ike pointed out.

Link looked down and acted surprised he missed it. Blood stained his tunic where he was stabbed, but it looked like it was just a small cut. "Shit…" he swore under his breath. Clanging caught his attention and brought it back to the Great Fox.

Ganondorf pulled himself out from underneath one of the sheets of metal that surrounded the crash site. He stood up and looked back at the wreck, "Fox is a liar."

"How is he a liar? You're the one who crashed it." Ike asked. Link turned around distracted with something else.

"He told me it was like flying the Halberd. Have you not seen the controls inside?" Ganondorf asked in defense.

"If it was like flying the Halberd, you should've let Meta Knight fly it." Ike snapped.

"It wasn't like flying the Halberd." He crossed his arms in aggravation from being yelled at by someone who reminded him of Link, "Besides, he didn't know where we were going." His fire red brows pulled together and he leaned over to see pass Ike, "Oh, terrific." He said in disappointment.

Ike turned around to see Link knelt by Meta Knight. He was in more questionable condition than anyone else. Link's side had a small stab wound that everyone thought was a cut he can survive from, Ike's left arm was broken, and Ganondorf had a small, non-life-threatening head injury.

"Meta?" Link called gently, "Are you alright?" he asked.

Meta Knight let out a weak groan. His head was bleeding and a piece of shattered frame from the ship had Meta Knight's side impaled, from front to back.

"Say something if you can hear me." Link said, gently shaking his shoulder.

He took a deep breath to speak, but he coughed instead, "Where…" he managed, "Where are we?"

Link looked around so he would answer. But it was a excellent question, "Um, Ike? Ganondorf? Where are we?" he asked.

The standing two looked around at the frozen wonderland they were stuck in. "Oh shit." Ike swore.

Link growled, "No matter. Meta needs help." He said, "Someone help me get his out so I can wrap it. Meta, I'm going to need your cape."

"I… don't care…" he said.

"Just hang in there." Link said, taking hold of the shrapnel as Ike knelt by him and took off Meta Knight's cape. "When I get this out, you need to wrap the wound." Link said.

"I know."

Ganondorf walked up and watched the emergency operation. He didn't want to admit to it, but he was concerned.

"Three, two, one." Link pulled the shrapnel out, Ike pressed the cloth against Meta Knight's wounds. Meta Knight yelled in pain, his wings opened and lowered at the pain. They began trembling. "It's cold here…" He shivered.

Link and Ike didn't know what to say to that. They were cold too, but they all at least had sleeves. Link quickly thought, "Whichever one of you with the thicker sleeves, give me your cape to wrap him up in. The other one, salvage the ship and try to make shelter with it."

Ike and Ganondorf looked at each other. Ike turned around and started moving pieces of the ship around while Ganondorf undid his cape and handed it to Link.

"Thank you." Link draped the cape over Meta Knight and picked him up in it, wrapping the rest of the cape around him. "Meta, would you be more comfortable with the mask off?"

"The mask stays on, thank you." Meta Knight barely whispered, still shaking from blood loss and the snow.

"Alright. As you wish." Link turned around to see the progress Ike was making with Ganondorf's help. He was shaking as well, but mainly from the cold. He'd completely forgotten about his own wound.

"How's this?" Ike finally asked.

Link nodded, "It's good, thank you." He walked into the makeshift shack and laid Meta Knight against a piece of metal that was still warm. "How's that?" Link asked.

Meta Knight just nodded and closed his eyes. He remained still.

Link pressed his ear against Meta Knight's chest and heard his heartbeat, then he sighed in relief.

"Is he okay?" Ike asked.

Link backed away and nodded, "He just fell asleep."

"He's comfortable with that mask?" Ganondorf asked doubtingly.

"He wanted to keep it on." Link said. This was probably the most friendly conversation he's carried with Ganondorf since they met.

"I wonder what he looks like without it." Ike sat down, jumping back up immediately from the snow's coldness, "We need to make a fire." He complained.

Link turned around and found the spot closest to the center of the shelter. He dropped to his knees and sunk his fingertips into the snow and pawed it to the side, shaking his hand free of the small ice shards.

Ganondorf dropped to his knees and began digging with him, "How big are you trying to make this?"

Link turned around and looked at Meta Knight, "As big around as him."

Ganondorf nodded, they were almost done.

"Ike, you can make fire, can you?"

Ike nodded.

"Can't you use Din's Fire?" Ganondorf asked.

"No, Zelda can. I have fire arrows but that's it. I need magic for those and I'm out." Link explained. "Plus, they're not even with me." He sat on his haunches and clenched his fists and opened his hands, "I think that's it." He said, trying to regain feeling in his hands.

Ganondorf backed away and let Ike impale the ground with his sword, flames sparking immediately. "As long as that's there, the fire will keep burning."

Link and Ganondorf thrust their hands into the flames, hoping to get them warmed up again. Ike carefully picked up Meta Knight and laid him next to the fire. "The guy's small, but kind of awkward to carry, isn't he?" Ike commented.

"Yeah, like Kirby." Link nodded and rubbed his hands together. "Meta's wings at least makes it a little easier."

"Yeah. Wait- you had to carry Kirby?" Ike asked, warming his hands.

"He got scared and wanted to be with Peach. Since it was in the middle of the night and he had a nightmare, I had to carry him to Peach's room." Link explained. "Meta Knight is the same general shape."

"General?" Ganondorf asked as though Link was criticizing that particular race of odd beings. He pulled his hands from the flame before they were cooked.

"We don't know what's under that mask." Link said. "For all we know, Meta could be a different colored version of Kirby." He grunted and laid against the same wall Meta Knight was just against, ignoring the snow he was sitting on. He put a cold hand against the wound that he was just remembering he had.

"Here." Ike took off his head band and wrapped it around Link's waist, covering the cut and keeping the blood in. He winced when he turned his arm the wrong way.

"Both of you two idiots sit still." Ganondorf growled and pulled off Ike's cape, using his sword to cut it into strips of fabric. He leaned over and finished wrapping Link's waist and looked around.

"What are you looking for?" Ike asked.

"Something to wrap with your arm." He said. Then he looked outside of the shelter. "We could use that piece that impaled Meta Knight."

"That's not right." Link said.

"I don't think we have much choice." Ike said. "He's thinking about our survival, so let him use the piece." He said.

Feeling as though he'd been snapped at, Link laid his head back and kept his mouth shut.

"Sorry." Ike apologized. "I'm just a little hungry. I skipped breakfast."

Ganondorf had already left the shelter in search of the shrapnel.

"Ike?" Link asked.

"What?" he looked over.

"Don't you have the sheath for your sword?" he asked.

"My sword doesn't have one. It never came with one. Can you imagine a scabbard for a blade this big?" he pointed at the sword protruding from the ground.

Link sighed, "Of course I don't have mine with me."

"I can't find it." Ganondorf returned. Anything else we can use? Link did you bring some arrows?"

"I don't have any weapons on me." He said, hating himself for seeming useless. "I'm sorry."

Ganondorf thought for a bit. "What can we use?"

"We still haven't scavenged the inside of the ship." Ike said, standing up and walking inside, dodging Ganondorf's swiping hand to make him sit back down, "I'll be back." He said.

Link stared at the top piece of metal that served as a roof. Fatigue finally reaching him, "What the heck were we doing out here in the first place? If we were desperate enough to ask to borrow Fox's Great Fox, then was it really that important?" he asked.

The Prince of Darkness looked at Link blankly, surprised to hear some doubt come from him of all people, for as long as he's known him. He sighed and looked ahead, trying to remember himself. "Fox and Falco got sick and Fox told us to use the Great Fox, since Wolf wasn't willing to help them. Why he picked us, I don't know."

"My navigation, your ability to pilot…" Link began counting on his fingers, "Ike's… I dunno. Meta Knight's ability to reach high places, higher than you can reach."

"I guess that makes sense." Ganondorf nodded. "What were we supposed to be getting?"

"Snow root." Ike said with a broken stake and Meta Knight's sword in his hand as he ducked out of the Great Fox. "It grows in cold places like this. Except it likes mountains, which is why Meta Knight was sent with us. The mountains around here are impossible for even the Ice Climbers to climb. I was sent with you to defrost the plant on top of the root so we could actually get to the root." He dropped the sword by his own sword.

"Why defrost the plant?" Link asked, pulling his brows together.

"When it's frozen, it acts like a cactus. When it's defrosted, the needles are withdrawn." Ike sat back down and handed Ganondorf the stake, allowing him to try and fix his arm.

"This is going to hurt."Ganondorf warned, he straightened Ike's arm and put the stake against it, tying a strip of his cape around the broken arm. "Did you find any food in there?"

Ike chuckled sarcastically, "No." he grunted from having his arm straightened out.

Ganondorf stepped up dangerously and lifted up Ike by his collar, "You mean to tell me that we're stranded in the middle of nowhere with two half-dead men and no food?"

"Ganon!" Link snapped, "It wasn't his fault. We didn't expect to crash out here and Fox didn't think we'd need that many supplies for a run that wouldn't even take very long." He grunted. "And I'm not half-dead, I'll be fine."

Ganondorf glowered at Link and dropped Ike, "Very well." He sat back down.

"Besides, it's better to have a more… calm atmosphere while Meta's recovering." Link said, "And not be at each other's throats and have one or two of us alive when we get home."

"No offense Link, but how are we getting home?" Ike asked, "The Great Fox is destroyed and the only one here who can fly is unconscious and too small to carry all of us at once."

Link opened his mouth to say something, but Ike had a point. He sighed defeated.

"When Meta Knight wakes up and if he's able to walk, we'll start walking in the direction we came from." Ganondorf suggested.

"No." Ike said flatly. "That'll get us killed."

"We have to wait here." Link said, "We'd starve to death before we found help. But if we stay… there's a good chance we'd be buried in snow."

Ike gave him a dark look, not in anger, but in slight fear, "So we're pretty much dead either way."

Ganondorf shook his head and carefully rubbed his head, "Sounds like it."

Link's eyes drifted closed. After a few minutes of uncomfortable sleep, he woke up to Ike gently shaking him, "Stay awake." He said. He looked around to see passed him and saw Ganondorf waking Meta Knight. "Did we get help?"

Ike shook his head sadly, "No. We can't be sleeping too much out here." He said, "The snow could freeze us to death. We're trying to keep everyone alive."

"Ike, he's not waking up."Ganondorf called.

The other two swordsmen gathered around Meta Knight, "Meta?" Ike called.

Link leaned over and listened to Meta Knight's chest. "Meta, wake up!" he snapped.

Meta Knight's eyes shot open and he coughed, "What?" he groaned, feeling his injury.

Ike explained everything to him that he explained to Link. Meta Knight nodded, "I understand completely…" he grunted and forced himself to sit up.

"Easy on your wound." Ike said, helping him up, "You sure you want to keep your mask on?" he asked.

"It stays." Meta Knight said harshly. Then his stomach growled, "Tell me there's food." He said.

"Nope." Link shook his head, "Ike already checked."

Meta Knight sighed and looked outside, "We're in for a long wait, aren't we?"

Link nodded, "Yeah, we are." He stared off. What they were waiting for, they couldn't decide whether they were being rescued or just waiting for their death.

**I'll be honest, I was kinda bored writing this one and on a serious SSBB streak. I don't expect too many people to really care much for this story, but- you know- here it is.**