Chapter 9: The BASE

"Now, then." Lora wrenched a broom from the nearest pile of junk. "Who's going to—" She threw her hand out to steady the pile, which tilted over her dangerously. "Who's going to be the one to sweep?"

The children spoke simultaneously, saying the other's name. Lora's eyes targeted Link and he groaned in displeasure as he took the broom.

"Tetra, I'm going to start removing things that are stacked high. You'll clear away the nonsense I bring down." Lora glanced around, thinking for a moment. "Take things outside, and if something's too heavy just push it to the side in here for the meanwhile..."

"Something like that beat up moldy dresser over there? If there weren't walls you'd think we're settling down in a junkyard," Tetra picked up a brass fork, running a finger along the dull prongs. "You said someone lives here?"

"Well, he intended to use this shack for one of his bussiness ideas, but I'm not too sure what his status is on that," Lora said, now inspecting the dresser. "Pisces has an issue of not fleshing his plans out, that, or moving onto something else at the smallest whim and leaving things unfinished. He means well and likes to help others...though it wouldn't hurt him to be a little less scatterbrained."

Tetra hovered up behind Link. He wasn't sweeping and was hunched over in front of a desk, rifling with something.

"Stop forking around!" Tetra yelled, jabbing him in the flank with the thing. He hopped up and ran out of the shack with something purple in his hands. "Hey, he's messing around, can't you ground him or something? I'm not starting to work until he does! And...ugh, I swear every time I blink, it gets worse in here. I hope this guy realizes we're doing him a favor. I'm only doing this because I'm being forced to."

Lora shifted her eyes, leveling a stare on her.

"I mean, right?" Tetra argued. "Doesn't this count as child labor?"

"You might end up relating to Pisces."

"Uh, no, I think my plans through all the way. I'm a pirate captain, you know."

"That's mildly vexing."

"Why?" Tetra challenged, leaping at her. "You don't leave valuables lying around like some of these doofuses walking the streets, do you?"

"How much did you steal today, and from whom?"

"Nothing and no one...that I'll say. You told us we don't have to say what we don't want to, right?"

"Of course. I'm just confused as to why someone like Link finds it worthy to forge a friendship with a delinquent like you."

"Someone like—it's not—that's just how it happened! It's not like I go around antagonizing people for fun." Tetra was silent for a moment, then piped, "I'm just a good friend, grandma."

"If you think so. He has something to give you, by the way."

Tetra turned around. Link flung something at her forehead and it exploded, drenching her.

"Oh, you found one of Roxy's Octo balloons...and filled it with water? That's a funny idea," Lora admitted. She raised a brow when Tetra shoved Link. He pushed her back and they got into it, beginning to wrestle around playfully. Being where they were, it wasn't long before they started to knock into things.

"Children, stop," Lora said. Tetra just happened to maneuver in front of her.

Link snatched up a cork ball and hurtled it at Tetra's cross-eyed, buck-toothed face. It careened towards Lora, who jerked her head to the side to avoid getting hit. The ball splintered through the wall of the shack.

Tetra laughed. "Outta practice! Your aim blows harder than a whale."

"YOU weigh more than a whale," Link countered.

"Ha! Your head alone is as heavy as my whole body!"

"Is not."

"Is too."

"Is not."

"Is so. Boys are always heavier than girls."

"Not always," he argued. "It depends."

"Fine, you're right. Just not now. And I bet I can guess how much you weigh. It's probably like one hundred gazillion—"

Link took off, pouncing for her. Tetra met the attack head on and they both tumbled along the ground, bouncing into a grandfather clock and toppling it. Lora saw dark gritty patches on its backside.

Mold there, too? She thought. This place is revealing itself to be more and more of a hazard...so of course they start getting rowdy in here...

After contemplating a handful of ways to get their attention, Lora settled on an option that didn't involve physical or mental distress. She faced the dresser and raised her left hand, pointing with a steel tipped finger.

"Magistrate: Fyros!" Lora hissed.

The moldy dresser exploded into a pillar of billowing flames. At first it seemed like the ceiling would catch fire and that would be the end of them, but the fire behaved oddly and didn't spread. The smoke that was produced also acted strange, snaking up into the air to slither along the ceiling before funneling itself through the two holes in the wall - one where the poor excuse of a window had been, and the other that the children's play had made.

The flames reared one last time and the cupboard's remains instantly vaporized into dust, which condensed and began following the rivers of smoke outside. The remaining embers of the fire shrank and fizzled out like they had never been. The spot where the dresser burned showed no signs of fire damage.

The children were now calm, if calm could mean terrified and awestruck.

"Hey, that looked pretty cool!" Tetra admitted. "Can we just burn this whole place down and be done with it?"

"Move out of the way. I need that clock," Lora said, raising her hand. They had barely scrambled from the danger zone when the clock blew up into flames. As it turned to ashes Lora glanced over at the children, who quickly got the idea and pushed the thoughts of goofing off out of their heads. At that point, they had no idea if she was pondering setting one of them on fire.

For the first hour they were at it, their efforts seemed shallow. Dust and dirt stubbornly clung to every surface and some things had sat for so long they were glued to the floor by a tension of filth. Tetra had trouble moving a few things on the ground, so Lora's newest suggestion was to smash whatever didn't want to move to pieces. The girl seemed to get more into her job after that.

As Tetra added to the pile of refuse outside, Link attacked the top layer of filth as hard as he could with the old broom, sweeping dirt and dust up into huge fluffy piles. At some point he noticed Lora doing something interesting.

She seemed to be using some sort of wind magic and was still motioning with her hands, gathering the mounds he had swept up and casting them out in swirling waves.

He propped the broom up, suddenly struck with a thought. He couldn't believe how long it had taken him to notice.

My wind sense feels different here.

Through the power of the Wind Waker he had gotten accustomed to sensing the subtle shifts and pressures of the wind in his immediate surroundings, even when the baton wasn't even in his hand. King Daphnes had told him that sort of thing would naturally happen and likened it to a sort of six sense.

Link could feel that it was certainty there, but dull. It wasn't unlike biting into something with taste buds that rendered flavorful things bitter, or being unable to draw in the vibrant scent of wildflowers. He inhaled slowly and steadily, filling his lungs with the next breeze that wandered in...a small leaf spiraled into the shack and tumbled to the ground. He glared at it, trying to will the wind to move it like Lora had done.

...how did she do that? She wasn't using anything, or even speaking…

I just need time with the Wind Waker to get a sense for...here…

That may have been it. He was in another world and unfamiliar with his surroundings. All of his other natural senses felt the same, he thought. He wasn't going to doubt his wind sense couldn't eventually feel the same way too.

I just have to learn all over again, I think...but it's weird.

Something is...something's...

Other than the unfamiliarity, something else was off. He couldn't put a thought or idea to it.

"Boy," Lora muttered. "Get your head out of the clouds."

Link did a double take, looking around with wide eyes. He was the only one in the shack at the moment. Maybe he was imagining it, but he felt eyes on him from somewhere. He put his head down and quickly got back to sweeping.

The floor gradually cleared, though many stubborn patches of caked on dirt refused to budge. Lora fetched them a bucket of water and rags for their last task. The sun ticked across the sky into the later hours of the day as they feverishly stewed over the paneling, but finally their progress shone and the space was back to being habitable. The last thing they did was gift the door with a brand-new brass knob and set it faithfully in its frame.

There was a small nook behind the shack overgrown with wild grass. Part of it overflowed with reedy water and caused a trail of mud to run towards the fence. Along the back wall of the shack laid a rusted equipment rack, though all it bore was a stack of lusterless, dull-edged swords.

In the deep grass laid half a dozen waterlogged training dummies. Tetra laughed as she picked one up.

"Ha, look at this ugly mug! Oh wait, I think this is supposed to be King Hearth," she dropped it dismissively. "Lame!"

Grinning, Link followed her into the shack. "He's really not impressive?"

"No way…he just had that aura about him, you know? I didn't even get that long of a look at him either. There was a whole execution about to start."

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah. Some guy got turned into a human torch." Tetra said casually. "Everyone found that hilarious, I think."

"Public executions are a norm," Lora said. She must have whisked away for a moment while they were outside to get supplies. She had set up a pair of cots, now unraveling one of two thick red-and-gold blankets. "They're like glorified pep rallies here…"

"I was wondering about that," Tetra said gruffly. "Everyone in the capital was there. Does that mean there's a lack of better things to do in this dump?"

"Executions are merely a means of expression here. You're to treat them casually."

Tetra shook her head with a scoff. "Wow. If that's how it is..."

Link likewise didn't see the appeal in the idea. It wasn't as if the concept of death itself was an enigma to him. After all, he had killed monsters and creatures numbering in the hundred and even spoken to those who were technically dead.

This was different. Not the idea of execution, but it being an event that was used to create entertainment and joy. The thought left an uncomfortable ache in his chest and Link hoped he would never have to see anything like it. Lora studied him out the corner of her eye as she smoothed the blankets out.

"...normally, the worst of the worst are executed. Those who have done something treasonous or exceptionally vile." Lora said. "Punishments match the crime. Usually."

"Oh yeah...what'd that guy do again? I can't remember. Something about his daughters?" Tetra wondered.

"Yes. He attempted to sell his daughters into slavery to a group of extremists...I'm unsure of the details as to why, but I don't believe they matter. I only witnessed part of his court appearance and he groveled like a worm the entire time. It was only about him. Never about his children...that's all it was, at base. Cowardice. I wish I could've been there to make him burn myself, but I know Major Bellows made sure he didn't perish quickly..."

"Sure sounded like it," Tetra quipped.

"Good."

"That's terrible," Link muttered.

"Surely you're referring to his worthlessness as a father?" Lora asked him.

"Yes. Burning is still a terrible way to die."

"For sure. I was pretty glad I wasn't him in that moment," Tetra said, folding her arms behind her head. "...I got it. So if you steal a horse belonging to some rich guy, do you get dipped into a vat of hot oil over and over again until your skin melts off?"

They stared at her.

"Just an example," Tetra clarified.

"Execution by boiling is usually done by those in the eastern kingdom of Serenala. Typically their only method. The most recent example was a Zora who assassinated their late king and queen," Lora said. "But thanks to Queen Luna's enthusiasm regarding executions, we're typically encouraged to be more creative over here. She has a book on a variety of torture methods that she keeps on her bedside table."

"Where'd she get that from?"

"Myself. What?" Lora asked, when they gaped. "I had to author it for a...research project back in the days."

"The Art of Execution! Sounds like a page-turner, huh?" Tetra cracked as she nudged Link, but he only grimaced.

Lora was finished setting up the cots. She placed a familiar fishing pole-and-clothing bundle on one of them. "Here are your things," she said to Link. Then to Tetra, who was suddenly scowling, she added, "You're to come with me."

"Huh?" the girl droned. "By myself?"

"By yourself."

Neither of them moved for a moment. Lora swept over to the door and held it open for Tetra, who begrudgingly trailed over. Link took a few hesitant steps forward.

"It won't take us long. Relax. And don't leave," Lora said to him before shutting the door. Link looked around the shack, feeling content with how much more homely it felt. He hopped on his cot and unpacked his things. When he picked up the Wind Waker he felt a brief electric shock, almost as if it were asking him where he'd been.

"Oh!" Link uttered in surprise. It had never done that before! "Um, sorry…"

He laid on his back to relax and gather his focus. What barriers he had felt before in his senses had been opened now that he held the baton in hand. He was now acutely aware of another previously undetected feeling. It came as a heavy pressure to his head and made it harder to focus; the essence of the wind was as defensive as a porcupine with its quills bared.

Link had his eyes shut in a firm frown. He thought the wind was just as unfamiliar with his presence as he was to its. He let ease take over him and waited.

When he felt that first, curious tickle of a breeze he latched his mental focus on it, only for it to slip away like a catch off the end of a fishing line. He grimaced soundly out of frustration but would keep trying for how ever long it would take. The wind fluttered and spiraled around him enchantingly in an unseen dance.

He was patient with its fickleness. It seemed tolerant of his passivity and with each brief connection that was made, the wind whipped at him less and less...

Skitter skitter.

Link's eyes popped open. At first he wasn't sure what had happened, then he realized he had dozed off. He sat up with a heavy head and felt a little dizzy. The mental strain of playing tug-o-war with the wind had never hit him so hard. He picked up the Wind Waker and felt a sudden billowing updraft that nearly lifted him from his seat.

The shack flexed and groaned but the occurrence was soon over. Link was bewildered and cautious, staring down at the baton.

What was that? I don't feel...

He didn't feel obstruction in his wind sense. Maybe he could—

Thmp-thump!

He jumped, bristling. Something had fallen over. The noise came from behind the boarded up closet, which they hadn't bothered to touch. Link hopped to the floor, snorting steam when he recalled what woke him up in the first place. He knew what the sound of claws on wood sounded like and there'd be no rats as long as he was around.

He eyed the blocked doorframe carefully, fiddling with a few of the boards before finding and breaking off one that was loose. Another board fell with the first and left a gap just his size. He peered into the dark closet and was surprised at how clean it seemed.

He made out a rocking chair with a blanket bundled in its seat. Next to it was a stack of books. It looked as though something had bumped into the stack and caused a few of them to fall. Link sucked in his breath and carefully hoisted himself up, barely managing to squeeze through.

Skitter.

He honed into an overturned barrel, creeping up quietly and dropping to his knees. The first thing he could make out were a pair of wide, glossy black eyes. When his vision adjusted he realized that it wasn't a rat, but a squirrel. It was pressed flat against the back of the barrel, twitching its nose at him.

Link slowly got up and bumbled out the closet. He ran to the Octowok, which was seeing its busiest hour of the day. The bar was filled end-to-end with tired workmen.

"Link," Roxy scolded him the moment he arrived. She pushed half a dozen chairs and their occupants aside to get a better look at him, asking, "Now, are you supposed to be out of that shack?"

"I found a squirrel," he said. "May I have some bread to give it?"

A man exclaimed, "Boy, kill that thing! That's good meat you're missing out on."

"You shut up and leave him be," Roxy said coarsely. She slithered a tentacle in the kitchen, then tossed Link a small loaf of sweet bread. "That's enough for you both. Now, hurry up and get back in there before your Momm—before you get in trouble!"

Link thanked her and hurried out. The squirrel was lurking along the back wall and retreated when he entered the shack. He carefully maneuvered into the closet, trying not to startle it too much, and laid down flat in front of the barrel. He broke off a modest piece of the bread and tossed it to the rodent before shoving the rest into his mouth.

The squirrel was motionless for a few seconds, then its eyes got even bigger as it lifted its nose, finally picking up the sweet smell. Link got up to give it its space. He had just popped out of the closet when he heard skittering and smiled to himself. He stretched as he made it to his cot, then hopped up to lie down again…

"Wake up…"

But it was hardly five minutes after he had drifted off that he heard the whisper, clear as day. He jolted awake, quickly realizing he wasn't dreaming, and wildly looked around. He only heard daytime traffic outside. The wind wasn't even blowing anymore.

"Moth…Lora?" he called, uncertain. The voice had been quiet but definitely belonged to a woman. He felt eyes on him and half expected to look in any direction and find Lora suddenly standing there.

Something fuzzy ran across his hand and he jerked away, almost falling off the cot. A red shape darted into view. It was just the squirrel. It stared up at him, completely still, and was clearly tensed in a stance to flee.

He let it be for a moment and went back to looking around. He was a lot more addled by the disembodied voice, until it came from right beside him.

"It's me," the squirrel said. "That was my voice, child."