Draco: My internal clock is so effed up.
In Wind Waker, Link's auction bets are noted in a text box as him speaking. That's just about the only conversation you're gonna hear out of him in this fic. Just a fair warning.
The Legend of Zelda and all related properties © Nintendo.
Log 4: Money in the Moonlight
"Windfall Island?"
Attempting to chase the Silver Bone had brought Tetra and her crew to a small island with a small village that gave Link nasty pangs of homesickness. The inhabitants reported seeing the ship at range, but having no idea where it had gone. A travelling merchant, however, made landfall while they were asking around - and on hearing who they were looking for, the Goron was willing to share an interesting bit of news.
"I thought you might know the region," the merchant observed, glancing up at the Princess Hilda. Tetra hadn't flown a traditional Jolly Roger since Ganondorf's defeat; the flag that flew atop the ship nowadays was a sold triangle over a Hylian bird, white against black - a variation on the Hyrulean Wingcrest. "I traded with the Bone's captain about a week ago," he explained. "Said he was headed to Windfall, and he wanted a few solid Rupees in his pocket for when he got there."
"Did he say anything about why he was going that way?" Tetra asked.
The Goron shrugged. "Something about a Shop Guru, or night auctions - he wasn't willing to share much."
Link and Tetra explained worried glances. "Alright," the captain mused. "Thank you."
The two of them took the King back to the Princess, and everyone was shocked to hear what they had learned. "He's trying to auction off your cannon?" Gonzo mused.
"A week ago," Mako mused, adjusting his glasses. "They're not bowing to the wind. At the kind of speeds that ship was moving, they'd make landfall at Windfall before the end of the month."
"How are we gonna catch up to them, though?" Senza mused. "Even if we put the wind on our backs the whole way there, that Stal would've sold it to the shopkeep and the shopkeep would've auctioned it off before we even got close!"
Tetra lowered her gaze. "...Cyclos," she mused. "That lookout where we met Skull - the one you guys couldn't see. It had Cyclos' mark. If I conducted the Ballad-"
She was cut off when Niko put two fingers over her mouth. "I'm gonna stop you right there, Miss Tetra!" he snapped. "You can't play that song on this ship! We're gonna get sunk if the Princess gets in the air!"
"What about... the King?" Zuko asked.
Niko yelped as Tetra closed her teeth on one of his fingers, pulling his hand away as Tetra turned to the lookout. "I guess that would be a little safer," she admitted, "but we can't exactly do a round trip with the Ballad. And we can't sail any further than that lookout until the auction party gets back. We'd have to halt our voyage."
"That's worth it, Miss Tetra!" Gonzo argued. "That cannon is way too powerful to just let someone take it! You gotta get it back! Sittin' around for a few days isn't gonna be a problem!"
Tetra sighed, turning to Link. "We're not exactly popular on Windfall," she admitted. "Can I get you to take the King and grab it?"
Link nodded with a smile.
+x+x+x+
Unpleasant discovery #17 since setting out on the Great Voyage: landing a boat off the Ballad of Gales is a lot harder without the boat putting in effort. Link hit the waters near the Forest Haven about twenty strokes away from the King, which had landed upside-down without its sail up. With a groan, the Hero of Winds swam his way over to his vessel and managed to right it, clambering on board as a familiar resonation emerged from under his tunic.
"Everything come out alright?"
Tetra's query caused Link to nod as he fished out the Pirate's Charm around his neck, baring it to the salty air. It wasn't the first time they had conducted through the charm - as Niko had said, nobody wanted to see what would happen if they got the Princess into the air - but it was the first time Tetra had done so, and she had been worried something would go wrong.
A relieved sigh came out through the charm. "Alright, then. How's the wind?" Link confirmed that the winds were blowing well to get him to Windfall, and Tetra continued; "Let me know when the auction's about to start. We'll be waiting at Cyclos' lookout." Link's wallet was packed to bursting with Silver Rupees to make sure he couldn't be outsold - although Zunari had a tendency to halt the auctions when the bidding hit 1000 - and the entire crew had expressed a desire to listen in.
The hero had a sneaking suspicion they just wanted to hear him talk.
+x+x+x+
Unpleasant discovery #18: Windfall was a lot more popular than it used to be.
As Link approached the merchant island, two days after the Ballad, he was surprised to discover several large ships around the island - none of which had their flags raised. They were moored prow-to-stern in a tight ring around the area, and Beedle's Shop Ship was drifting around as though looking for a way past them; Link himself just barely managed to cruise the King in under a figurehead that looked unpleasantly reminiscent of an unshelled Gohma.
He made his way to Zunari's shop to find the winter-coated merchant was absent; Mila was standing behind the counter, and she seemed rather surprised to see Link approached. "Oh, hey!" she called. "If it isn't the ally of justice!" Link winced - she'd never let him live that line down - as she continued, "You get tired of swimming with the pirates?"
Link shook his head; he didn't get the chance to do much more before someone ran into his back, causing him to stumble down on the counter as the guy who'd run into him - a heavyset guy who looked ready for a fight - muttered, "Watch it, brat."
Mila sighed as he took off. "I don't know how you got in here through all those ships," she admitted. "Those brutes have been pouring in like crazy ever since Zunari got his newest item." Link's gaze shot up at that, and she explained; "It was weird. This guy came in, all in armour. Said he wanted to talk to the 'shop guru'. Gave Zunari a box and said he wanted him to auction it off tonight. We weren't sure why he specifically... What?"
The hero's jaw had fallen when she mentioned the auction. He quickly drew an arrow, and in the counter he carved out a simple bone shape.
"He had that on his sword," she told him. "Said he was the captain of the Silver Bone, and got it..." Realization struck her. "Wait, he didn't-! Did he get that thing off your captain?!"
Link nodded.
"Son of a Moblin," Mila muttered. "I wish I could just give it to you now and tell him the story later, but he's holding onto that thing tight. How long are you gonna be here?" The hero gave her a look, even as she muttered, "Never mind, that was a stupid question. He said he's gonna hold the auction tomorrow night. Think you got a chance of winning it?"
A confident chuckle from the wind waker as he nodded again.
"I'll make sure you get a seat," she promised. "Best of luck."
+x+x+x+
Killing time was a little trickier than Link had anticipated - but when the auction came around, the Hero of Winds was indeed at the auction house. Windfall's usual auction hunters were nowhere to be seen; the house was full of pirates from the ring of ships moored around the island.
"Yes, yes, yes!" Zunari called as he arrived at his auction-runner's podium. "First of all, let me thank all you bargain-loving people for joining us this evening! Dear me, what a turnout!" Link tapped the Pirate's Charm a couple times to notify Tetra and the Princess' crew as the shop guru continued his usual pre-auction spiel. The auction is about to begin! Yes! And what do you suppose will pop up as our item of the evening?! Oh, dear me! I'm so excited, I can't stop sniffling! The calm before the auction storm always make my nose run!" He wiped his nose surreptitiously on the sleeve of his coat before stepping towards a solid box on auction-item pedestal. "Let's get to it! This evening, our glorious auction item is... This!"
The box was flung open as the spotlights lit up, baring Tetra's weapon.
"A hand-held cannon!"
A chorus of shocked gasps; then the gathered pirates began to exchange glances and murmur about themselves. On the balcony above, Link saw a woman in a red doublet looking concerned at the commotion as Zunari continued his spiel as usual, clearly unaware of the value of what he was auctioning off. "...Oh, my dear, what a prize! At last, the suspense is over. But all drama aside, you should know that it is extremely rare to even get a chance to own a fabulous item like this! It is precious! Quite dear! Very valuable! Yes, yes, yes! Listen well, for I do not lie!"
He made his way back to the pedestal. "Let the auction begin! Let's start the bidding at-"
"One thousand Rupees!"
The wind waker's proclamation had the entire house turning to him - even Zunari was shocked at his announcement. "WHAT!?"
The woman on the balcony above spoke up before he had the chance to cut the auction short. "Eleven hundred Rupees!"
A patch-eyed pirate followed through in short order. "Twelve hundred!"
Another, with a wooden peg where his leg should have been, countered with "Thirteen hundred!"
"Two thousand!"
Link's attempt at a jump was interrupted in short order. "Twenty-three hundred!" insisted the brute that had knocked him aside in town.
The patch-eye countered with "Twenty-six hundred!"
A short figure with a hook where his hand ought've been argued for "Twenty-seven fifty!"
"Four thousand!"
The balcony woman seemed amused at Link's fortitude. "Little man here with big pockets!" she proclaimed.
The wood-legger didn't give up easily. "Fourty-four hundred!"
A sixth bidder, this one a skinny twig who looked like he belonged in a crow's nest, countered with "Fourty-seven hundred!"
The hook-handed pirate spoke up again. "Fifty-one hundred!"
"Five thousand, seven hundred and ninety-one Rupees!" called the patch-eye.
"That your whole wallet?" asked the hook-hand.
"Fifty-eight fifty!" called the wood-legger.
"Sixty-three hundred!" countered the brute.
"Sixty-six sixty!"
"Sixty-six seventy!"
"Sixty-seven hundred!"
"Ten thousand Rupees!"
The wind waker's bellowing roar brought the auction house to silence just long enough for Zunari to interrupt, slamming a small mallet into his podium. "SOLD!" he insisted. "Here ends the auction!"
"Hold on!" the woman on the balcony argued. "Does this boy even have ten thousand Rupees?"
Link didn't say a word; he simply stepped up to the front of the area, reaching into his wallet. The gathered crowd of pirates stepped back in shock as he drew out a handful of silver Rupees, handing them to Zunari, who quickly counted them out.
"Fifty silver Rupees, at two hundred Rupees each," he confirmed. "Tonight's fabulous item goes to... Link! For the price of ten thousand Rupees!"
The wind waker didn't stick around for the rest of his post-auction spiel; he quickly slammed the box shut with Tetra's cannon in it, lifted it off the pedestal, and charged out of the auction house - and on the balcony above, the woman in the red doublet made her own way out of the building, signalling for the gathered pirates below to depart at their first opportunity.
+x+x+x+
"Hey, kid!"
Link had just secured the box with Tetra's cannon into the King, and was about to cruise it out past the ships and into open waters, so that Tetra could safely conduct him out of there, when the angry shout from behind caused him to turn. The woman from the balcony had followed him; she had in her hands a loaded crossbow, causing Link to reach for his Hero's Sword and Hero's Shield as she approached. "What are you doing?"
The wind waker raised an eyebrow at her.
"What use does a brat like you have for a weapon like that?" the woman demanded. "No one your age should be playing with bombs, let alone cannons. Be a good boy, and hand it over."
Link braced his shield before himself, raising his sword threateningly, without stepping out of the King.
A menacing laugh from the woman. "I'll let you in on a little secret," she warned. "All these ships around here? They work for me. Every captain in that bidding war, and every man and every woman of every crew around the island - they're my men, and my women. Your thick pockets, and your cheap gear, they don't mean anything. These people have my loyalty. You're nothing to us."
"You are nothing to us!"
Tetra's voice boomed out from the Pirate's Charm, causing the woman with the crossbow to start. Her grip tightened involuntarily on the trigger, and her bolt impaled itself in the earth under her as she stepped back. "Who's there?"
"Do you know who you're dealing with?" Tetra demanded. "If you're new to these waters, that's the only excuse you have!" Link braced his sword at his side, letting a magical glow surround the blade as she continued; "Ask anybody, on any island on this sea! Ask them, 'Who is the boy in green, sailing on the red ship with bow and sword in accord?' They will all give you the same answer! That is Link, the Hero of Winds! He who calmed the dragon Valoo, who earned the trust of the Great Deku Tree, and who raised a mighty tower in the center of the Great Sea! And he will be cowed by no one! Least of all a would-be captain who knows not what she pursues!"
The captains from the auction house were charging forward, and deep notes on a Hyrulean choir echoed from the charm as Tetra warned, "Hold on tight!"
Link quickly sheathed his sword and slung his shield over it, grabbing the King's tiller as the Ballad of Gales echoed around him - and a twister whirled around his ship, lifting it into the air - in full view of the pirates gathered there.
Draco: We're not done with these guys yet. I know it kind of looks like it, but we're not.
