Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Wind Waker nor any other Zelda games.

--

Shi'ah 'a Jaz'win stared at the village before her. It had taken her years to find this place and the boy it housed. He was a young man now; it had been five years since Link had defeated Ganon, saved his sister, and said good-bye to the King of Hyrule. Shi'ah watched as the village's inhabitants did their evening chores, hissing silently when one came out of his house.

Shi'ah 'a Jaz'win was a Shiekah, one of the remaining few of the secretive race. Where once there had been one tribe, there were now two. One believed that the land had been deserted by the Hero of Time and had been left to Ganon's evil scheme because the Hero simply did not care. That was her tribe, and it boasted of having the successors of the Great Impa as its leaders, using this as proof that they were correct. The other tribe believed that the Hero could not come for one reason or another. They held the story of the Great Seal, which they said was created when the Hero and the Princess Zelda gave their bodies to save Hyrule by sealing Ganon. They held that since Ganon had not been able to subjugate the entire land, the Hero still cared and watched over Hyrule. It was to this tribe that the man she hissed at belonged to.

Orca looked around, sensing something amiss in the calm dusk air. A member of the Sheikah tribe, he had a self imposed duty to protect the two children that lived two houses down from him and the pirate princess. Cursing his failing eyesight, he continued on his walk, heading down to where Link and Aryll lived, when he could not find anything that could have been the source. He had been invited to dinner, to celebrate Tetra's arrival. Sturgeon, his brother, had been too busy with his latest research to be moved, though he sent his regards for the young woman. Aryll had hinted that the pirate would be staying for longer, but Orca was not sure how true it was. Link had been there, blushing madly, so his younger sister could have been teasing him for all Orca knew.

The two had grown up a lot since Orca first saw them; after all, it had been fourteen years. He had been with their grandmother when she found the two; Link was three and Aryll not even a year. The two were sitting just inside the forest of the far side of the island, protected by a strange looking basket. Aryll was crying, and Link was clutching onto a small pouch. In it were four items, two letters, an ocarina, and a golden chain with a ring, which had a strange design on it that Orca only later identified after showing it to his brother. It was an ancient Sheikah design, from before the time of the Hero of Time. A few years later, his brother finally confirmed that the ocarina that Link had was the Ocarina of Time. Because of the ring, the Hero was said to be part Sheikah, and the Ocarina, the two brothers had decided to keep an eye on the two children due to the high probability of them being related to the Hero. When Link had turned into being the Wind Waker, it had solidified the belief that Link was related to the Hero. The two letters that had come with the children were a source of frustration for Sturgeon. One was written in what he had identified as ancient Hylian, yet he could not read it. The other letter would have him break out into curses whenever he tried to figure out what it was written in.

Shi'ah watched as Orca entered the house of the Hero's brats. She knew what the fighter and his brother did not, that the two were the children of the Hero of Time. She did not know who their mother was, but it did not matter to her. As she watched the house, she began to formulate a plan in her head. She could not just barge in and grab the boy, for the princess was there. She was still sworn to the Royal Family of Hyrule, which meant that she could not endanger the life of Tetra, the last member. She fingered the transporting device in her side pouch, smiling when she settled on a plan. She had been watching the house for days. The brat would come out to see Orca off. Then she would get him.

She could finally avenge her brother.

--

Zelda sighed, flopping down beside Link after her tour of the small island.

"It's useless," she breathed, "There's no way off this island. No one has seen the fire, and there's no way either of us can swim to that one on the left."

"And I have no ocarina," Link muttered, shading his eyes from the setting sun. He winced as his stomach complained, and Zelda looked over.

"It's still bugging you?" she asked, referring to last night's hasty dish of shellfish.

"I am never eating mussels again," he swore, wincing again after another stomach pang, "Or any shellfish for that matter." Zelda smiled, finding it a little amusing that the great Hero of Time, vanquisher of Ganon, was laid low by an unusual shellfish allergy.

"You're lucky Ganondorf didn't know about this," she chuckled, and Link glared weakly at her.

"Not funny Zel."

"Sorry," she smiled, brushing the hair off his forehead. "But you're cute when you're sick." Link sighed, letting the matter drop. He shifted so his head was resting on Zelda's stomach, and she looked down, smiling as she ran her fingers through his silvering hair.

"I don't think I've seen a sunset this pretty," he commented softly, looking at the sky. Zelda looked up and nodded.

"It's gorgeous. It's different than the ones in the desert, put just as pretty."

"I don't think I ever managed to see one in the desert. I was either in the temple or trying to get out of the cell I kept getting thrown in," Link commented dryly. "That complex was the only place I tripped in. And they heard me every single time." Zelda giggled.

"There are some perks to being female, especially when you're in Gerudo territory."

"As if you would know," Link retorted, "You were running around disguised as a man then."

"You must be feeling better," Zelda commented, "You're using sarcasm again." Link decided to refrain from commenting. There were perks to being sick as well.

A rumbling soon caught their attention, and Link sat up. It got progressively louder, and the island started shaking soon as well.

"What's going on?" Zelda shouted, clinging to his arm. Link shook his head, not even bothering to shout. Noticing something in the water, he pointed. A bridge was rising out of the water, and when it fully surfaced, they looked at it, amazed. It was made of roots, coiled around each other.

"It can't be," Link breathed, standing. "The Deku Tree…?" Zelda shrugged, standing as well. They walked over to it, jumping back when a little tree creature popped up.

"Hello!" it squeaked, "I'm Oakin! The Great Deku Tree sent me to get you! We're all really excited to see you again Link, though you look really old now!"

"Oakin?" Link asked, surprised. "What happened?"

"What?" Oakin asked, confused after being cut off.

"You look so different," Link said, remembering the orange haired Kokiri who had always been bullied by Mido into doing chores for him. He had been trying to clear the rocks in front of Mido's house when Link had gone to see the Deku Tree to begin his quest as Hero of Time. The little Korok chuckled and waved them on.

"That's cause we changed when the land was flooded! Now c'mon, the Deku Tree is waiting!" He bounced off, and Link shrugged and followed him, Zelda close behind.

The bridge led to the island on their left, which was covered in a forest.

"You can't go to that island," Oakin warned, pointing to the island on their right. "That's the Forbidden Woods; no one's supposed to go there."

"Is that where the Lost Woods were?" Link asked, realising that they were being taken to what was left of the Kokiri Forest.

"I think so. I never went in the Lost Woods, remember? That was all you and Saria. You guys were crazy." Link smiled at Oakin's comment.

"Yeah, I guess we were," he said softly.

"What?" Oakin asked, not hearing Link properly.

"Never mind. Is Mido still around?" Link asked, wanting to patch things up with the bossy Kokiri. Oakin stopped, shaking his head.

"Saria faded away when she had to leave. After that, Mido kinda lost it. He would wander around, not saying anything, not eating or drinking. Finally, he stopped showing up. The Deku tree said he had moved on, and that he was with Saria now."

"I… I see." Nodding sadly, the Korok started walking again. Zelda squeezed Link's shoulder, and he gave her a sad smiled before continuing on as well.

"Come on!" Oakin suddenly shouted, "The bridge can't stay up much longer!" He jumped into the air, the leaf on his head whizzing, keeping him midair. A faint rumbling could be felt, and Link grabbed Zelda's hand, pulling her along as he broke into an all out run.

They made it onto the forest island just as the bridge began to sink in. Link leaned on a tree, holding his stomach.

"Oww…" he muttered. Oakin looked up at him, concerned.

"What did you do? Eat a bad mushroom or something?"

"Shellfish," Zelda explained.

"Ooooh," Oakin said, "Don't worry; we'll get Bandam to make you something!"

"Oh joy," Link muttered, remembering Bandam's antics from when he was a Kokiri.

"Psh, don't worry Link! This one won't explode!" Bandam explained eagerly, pushing his over sized hat out of his eyes.

"Umm…" Link said, unsure. "Okay. Well, I promised Saria I would get her when you were ready to unveil your new creation, so I'll go get her now."

"Sounds good!" the eager young scientist said joyously. "I'll just pour this into here, and…" But Link was gone, running as fast as he could. He still got hit by flying tree bark as Bandam's latest experiment exploded.

"Oh don't worry," Oakin giggled, realising where the expression on Link's face was coming from, "He only makes potions now. And he's really good. He even gave some to Link, and they helped a lot!" Stomach pain forgotten, Link stared at Oakin.

"Link was here?" Zelda asked. The Korok nodded, walking into the forest.

"Yeeeeeeeeap! But the Deku Tree wanted to tell you all about that, so c'mon! If we get there before he sends the others off to bed, we'll get to stay up late!" Zelda looked at Link, an eyebrow raised, at Oakin's last comment. Link shrugged sheepishly, following the little creature. He too was guilty of tricking the Deku Tree into letting the Kokiri stay up late.

"Stories are good things," he explained weakly, and Zelda rolled her eyes.

When they reached where the Deku Tree grew, all the Koroks were out, waiting for him.

"LINK!" They squeaked loudly, jumping around him. Laughing, Zelda stepped back.

"Lemme out!" Link shouted after a few minutes, "My stomach hurts!" The Koroks instantly calmed down, and one stepped forward.

"What did you do?" it asked authoritatively.

"Bandam?" Link asked. The Korok nodded and repeated his question. Sighing, Link answered.

"I ate some shellfish, but stopped when it started getting hard to breathe. Then my stomach clenched up."

"Psh, no problem," Bandam said, hopping over to where his potion ingredients were.

"No exploding potions please," Link called out, causing the others to snicker.

"No trust," Bandam muttered, handing Link a potion. Hesitating, Link drank it.

Now, let's explain what has happened here, the Deku Tree said, catching everyone's attention. The Koroks began jumping up and down again, begging to be allowed to stay up and listen. Smiling, the Deku Tree acquiesced. Excited, the Koroks sat beside Link and Zelda, who were now leaning against a mossy boulder, and listened to the story of the Wind Waker.

--

Shi'ah grinned as Link walked out with Orca, laughing at some joke that had been made. By now she had moved to the gable above the door and was in perfect position. Grabbing a smoke bomb from her pouch, she threw it right at Orca's feet. She was confident that she could get Link, but she wanted Orca out of the way. Despite the other Shiekah's age, she did not want to take chances.

The bomb exploded, and Orca shielded his eyes, shouting in surprise. Link had stumbled back, blinded by the smoke. Shi'ah could hear Tetra and Aryll moving inside to come and see what the commotion was about, so she moved quickly, jumping down and looping her sling around Link's neck.

"Don't move," she hissed. "Or I'll kill you and your brat of a sister." Link, who had his hands on the sling, slowly lowered them, standing stock still.

A high powered spin sent out a blast of air which blew away the smoke, and Shi'ah looked up to see Orca facing her, a spear in hand. It seemed he had kept one near by.

"Stay back," she hissed, "Or the boy dies. You don't want that, now do you, fish boy?" Scowling, Orca took a step back.

"Let him go," Orca thundered, "He's not the one you're looking for, traitor."

"Oh?" Shi'ah asked, arching an eyebrow as she smiled. "You haven't done your homework then. And the only traitor is this brat's father. He was the one that left the land."

"Let him GO!" Orca shouted, ready to launch himself forward. Link was ready to kick his captor in the shin for when that happened, but Shi'ah foiled them both by grabbing the transporter from her pouch and throwing it at her feet. The magical device surrounded them in smoke, depositing them in a dark room far from Outset Island.

Whipping the sling from around Link's neck, she kicked him to the ground.

"You're mine now."

--

A/N: So it was a lie that I was going to get farther in "High King" before I started this one. Oh well. And thanks everyone who was so kind to review at the end of "Past Experiences"!

Now review, and I'll update both stories quicker (I hope…)