if i die tomorrow - permanent hiatus

accidents

     No.

     Wait.

     Not yet.

     It's not my time to meet you. Not now. 

     I'm certain. I'm not done with Hyrule yet.

     How do I know?

     Well, I pulled that Sword out, didn't I?

     My eyes flew open and I shot up to a sitting position, my hand jumping to my chest. My heart was thundering. 

     I raised my fingers to my lips. A thin coat of blood. I wiped my mouth on my sleeves and winced at the patch of crimson on the gray fabric. 

     I was this close to death. 

     I felt thrown off balance, dizzy, like I'd drunk too much. 

     But I'd survived. Against all odds, I was living, breathing, the Master Sword in tow.

     The Master Sword.

     I felt around frantically for it in the darkness, throwing up clouds of dust. I coughed, my eyes watering. My breathing came fast and harsh.

     Where was it?!

     Then my fingers found the hilt and I shuddered. An electrical charge ran through my entire body as I came into contact with the blade, as though a long dormat power was finally starting to stir at my rouse. 

     For a moment I just stayed there, gripping the Master Sword tightly, feeling fire and ice entwined rushing through my veins. 

     The sword rejected me still. That's okay. I would not be the one to keep it. 

     My skin crawled. To think I bore the Hero's name, presented to the public as the savior of Hyrule like a gift-wrapped poster boy of hope, whereas the real Hero was a stable girl everyone met and promptly forgot about. She would be the one to wield this Sword.

     It was not in me to resent Sadie. We'd been through too much together for me to be petty about this now. However, it was still strange. As one who was given the name Link, having lived my life playing the role of the Hero of Hyrule, only to gift another with the Blade of Evil's Bane certainly was unprecendented.

     Forces were colliding. Rules were changing. Patterns were breaking. Nothing was as it seemed.

     And it was no accident that I have survived the trial that was meant to kill me, as the wielder of an alien Triforce attempting to claim the Sword. I knew better to accredit it to Hylia's mercy. 

     So... were there other influences at play? Other reasons I didn't know yet?

     My head cleared, like a tide retreating and leaving behind a beach smooth as a mirror. I decided to stop questioning things with no answers and get a move on. I had no idea how long I'd been out and wasn't inclined to lose my cover of chaos. 

     I turned back to the pedestal. I sheathed the Master Sword, cutting off its unearthly glow, and hid it within the shadow of my cloak. I'd clipped a belt there for this exact reason. 

     Then I pulled out another blade, its identical twin, and unsheathed it. The finely made edge glinted, catching the smallest hints of light within the Sanctum, yet it lacked the hum of power that the real Master Sword possessed. It didn't possess its ethereal presence, almost like a soul held within a blade.

     This was the one I had used for most of my life as a soldier of Hyrule after the world had accepted me as its hero.

     I'd stolen it from the blacksmith that I knew was preparing this sword for me to use shortly in the future. My father had wanted everything to be prepared as early as possible, including the fake Sword, and now I knew why.