if i die tomorrow - permanent hiatus

falling

A/N: YEAH LET'S GET IT! 

Part 1: Space

     Link's POV

     We were running.

     Haven't we been running non-stop for the past two weeks?

     "Hang on, Link." I could hear the tears in Zelda's voice, forcibly held back by sheer willpower. "We're almost at Dueling Peaks. And then we can rest. Just hold on for a little bit more."

     "Zelda..." A tiny smile lit up my exhausted, too-pale face. She turned her head to gaze at me, and yet again, I was struck by the brilliant green of her eyes, like emerald leaves in the height of summer.

     "Link, it's okay." She mustered up a smile. "I can keep going. Save your strength."

     I was leaning heavily on her shoulder, blood slowly draining out of my battered body, my torn skin aflame with agony. Her back was bent from my weight, her legs shaking with the strain, and yet, she kept walking, kept putting one foot in front of another.

     Even when everything around us was crumbling, even when everything was falling apart.

     Everyone was dead. The Champions, the King, the Kingdom itself. 

     Perhaps the mist of shock still pervaded my numb mind, but I couldn't bring myself to feel, feel anything at all.

     That was a gift that wouldn't last, as I knew all too well.

     "I'm slowing you down." I rasped, unable to produce any sound louder than a harsh whisper. "Zelda, all I'm doing is slowing you down."

     "It doesn't matter." She replied fiercely, holding on tight to my limp, ice-cold hand. "I am never. Ever. Leaving you behind."

     "It's not safe." I couldn't help but smile, a reluctant joy blossoming in my tightening chest. 

     "When have I ever cared about what's safe or not?" Zelda leaned her head closer to me, breathing in deeply. I closed my eyes, willing my legs not to give out.

     We walked in silence, drawing strength from each other. I wished I had something else to give her, her, with those hardened, determined eyes, with that set, snow-pale face. 

     I wished I wasn't such a liability. I wished I could find a way to stop leaching her strength.

     Step by agonizing step, we somehow made it to the towering Dueling Peaks, and under its pitch-dark shadow, we set camp. I slid off Zelda's shoulders and collapsed on the soil, fighting for breath.

     The moon was slowly rising over the ravaged land, and I cursed her lofty indifference as she set her cold glow on Hyrule, painting the bloodstained earth a serene silver. Stars were winking into existence, dotting the infinitely deep sky like jewels draping over a silky curtain. It was beautiful, peaceful, as though everything wasn't broken beyond repair.

      I leaned back into the cold rock of the mountain. It stole my little warmth like a parasite. 

     Zelda was attempting to bandage my cuts, her tongue held between her teeth. It seemed as though there were more gashes than skin on my body.

     Everything that she had ever loved was gone. Her father, dead. Her friends, dead. Her people, either dead or in hiding. Her technology, turned against her and after her blood.

     How could she go on?

     "Don't even bother," I said, rougher than I intended. I sighed, feeling a slow burning agony flare up again. Every part of me was in pain, my skin smoldering with fever, my eyes unfocused, clouded. "Save it. It's okay. Bandages are not going to help at this state."