if i die tomorrow - permanent hiatus

laugh

     "Which one?"

     "Hyrule."

     "Oh, so not me? I am offended."

     "Have you ever needed my rescue?"

     She laughed, the sound whipped away by the wind. "Good point.'"

     The rest of the ride was silent. We couldn't veil the blood moon with idle banter any longer.

     We burst out of the snowy terrain and into the lush fields of centural Hyrule. I was expecting monsters running rampant, attacking as soon as they set sights on us, but the world was empty. Somehow, this made me more restless. I rested a hand on the sickle I had taken from the Yiga hideout, listening to my heart pound as the scraps of frayed leather wrapped around the handle flapped in the wind like twin crimson flags.

     My right hand hurt. It hurt like I had plunged it into lava.

     Soon Squabbling River was within sight, a ribbon of quicksilver winding between the giant peaks. The horse trampled through the water as we tore through the split between the mountains. 

     We grinded to a halt before the stable. All looked peaceful. Quiet. Something smelled strange, though, riding on the light breeze. 

     Sadie leapt off the horse and started toward the stable, then stopped dead.

     "No one's at the window." She whispered into the night.

     The lights were on. The horses were peacefully sleeping. But no one was there.

     No one sat at the tables outside, no one muttered about the blood moon, no one sleepily brushed the horses before bed.

     My mouth was dry. 

     I suddenly recognized the scent.

     Bodies. 

     "No--" I started, then fell quiet.

     Sadie, her shoulders shaking, stared at the place she had once called home.

     "My damned sister." Her voice was slightly muffled from her bottom lip, held between her teeth. "My damned sister."

     It has started. 

     Her hands were balled into fists. Blood welled up at her teeth and ran down her lip.

     I caught her shoulder. "Do you still want to go in?"

     She shrugged me off and stepped through the door, her entire body stiff with tension. I hesitated for a moment, recognizing and fearing the flare in her eyes, then followed suite.

     The first thing I noticed was the bodies.

     They were littered all over the floor, a thin pool of blood coating the floorboards. They looked new, smelled new, but the ashy gray of their faces hinted at a violent death. 

     Sorrah was draped across the table tucked into the back of the stable, the expression on her face one of supreme unconcern. Her eyes, instead of blank or crimson as I had imagined, was almost normal, the shade of hazel that I had become so acquainted with. Only the unnatural dilation of her pupils gave away her... condition.

     Sadie was standing at her opposite side by the door, her teeth gritted. Conflict raged in her eyes, mirrored over and over by the glassy surface.

     "So you have returned, baby sister." Slowly, Sorrah swung her legs over the side of the table and stood up. The blood lapped at the sides of my boots.