if i die tomorrow - permanent hiatus

who

     I listened to the clock tick the seconds away as I lay, restless, impatiently waiting for Impa to finally, finally let me leave the village.

     I had been here for days now, as my wounds stubbornly refused to heal properly. I watched the hours slip through my fingers with helpless rage, the bitter tang of frustration sitting on my tongue despite what Impa could tell me about the dangers of braving my quest before I was well.

     I felt well. Well enough to stop wasting time sitting around doing nothing.

     I had already failed Hyrule once. I couldn't fail it again.

     "Can I go out today?" I asked Impa the moment she stepped into my room, by way of greeting. It was custom by now. 

     She sighed. "Link, you had been badgering me nonstop for the past three days--"

     "But can I?" 

     "No." She set down a platter with a steaming cup of tea on my lap, rolling her eyes. 

     "I have trespassed for long enough." I pressed. "I should be going. My time is running out."

     She sighed and straightened. There was something in her sharp eyes that I couldn't quite read. 

     "We had lost too much." Her voice was suddenly quiet. "I cannot afford lose you as well."

     I fell quiet, cursing myself over and over again.

     So I stayed without another word of complain for a few more days, pushing down the ever-nagging frustration gnawing at the edges of my mind.

     The routine at Kakariko Village was slowly becoming familiar. Wake up, throw open the curtains to breathe in deeply, brush myself up. Lock away the pain festering like an open wound in my soul. Help as much as I could with the Sheikah's daily business, watch time flow by like a waterfall, sweeping me along with it, tumbling down, down, down. Speak with Impa. Test the limits of my physical capabilities. Wait for yet another fruitless day to pass.

     "Link?"

     I looked up from a grim report I was reading. 

     "Yes, Lady Impa?"

     "I believe you are ready." She stated plainly.

     Instead of excitement torrenting through my veins, I felt a knot of apprehension form in the depths of my stomach.

     I stood and bowed low. 

     "Thank you for your hospitality." I said, determination ringing hard in my tones. "I will not fail your confidence."

     It took me a surprisingly short time to pack. I scraped together some spare clothes, rupees, and of course my sword, shield, and bow, my sturdy constants, all that I could rely on in this broken world. As I left, I turned back and gaze one last time upon the closest thing that I had to a home, the place that had taken me in at one of the darkest moments in my life.

     Everything was tidied up, every trace of my stay here erased. It was as though the room had never known me.

     Fighting down the lump that had risen in my throat despite myself, I turned my back and left behind the luxury of home, with a sprawling span of empty, ravaged wilderness stretched out before my path.

     The new bearer of the Triforce would have to be a Hylian, of course. I was guiltily relieved not to have to visit the towns of the Champions. How could I face them and look into their eyes, the eyes had had once watched me with shining admiration, and tell them that their warrior had fallen and that I did nothing to save them?