Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda, but the main character and many others are original creations of mine. Furthermore, this story is in no relation to the events taking place in Wind Waker.

Chapter 1: The Warning

A youth with red hair sat in his boat looking at the rising sun just like he had many times before. He shaded his emerald green eyes from the bright light with his hand as he looked out at the ocean around him. The pure beauty around him brought a smile to his lips.

The summer was just coming to an end. The heat would be less intense and the winds would start to blow. With autumn on the horizon, the sense of responsibility was starting to come back. It was for this reason that the youth went out onto the ocean in his little boat.

Despite being the prince of Hyrule, Zeke was often given a sizable workload during the first weeks of autumn to help prepare for the colder seasons, usually chopping wood or hanging drapes in doorways to keep heat from escaping the many rooms of the castle. It was detestable work, especially for one of his standing. As a prince, he was entitled to a certain amount of respect, however no one ever showed him any. After all, if the queen was going to treat him poorly, then logic showed that it was all right for the rest of Hyrule to do so as well. Queen Zelda may have been his mother, but she hardly acted like one when it came to her eldest child.

Perhaps it was out of embarrassment, but Zelda frequently gave Zeke tasks that kept him out of sight and out of trouble. In the past he had gotten into some situations that had brought shame upon his name, and this was a blemish that could not be related to the queen in any way or the people's opinion of their leader could be tarnished as well. Not that he ever intentionally did anything to anger his mother. Even though his feelings for the woman were cold, she was still his mother and he did not want to make her angry. Deep down, he only wanted her approval.

However, growing up under the circumstances he was in, it was not easy to please everyone, especially when no one particularly liked him. Zeke liked to blame the conditions of his birth, being the bastard son of the queen. No one but Zelda knew who the father was, and it was not rare for the young prince to spend entire afternoons trying to figure it out on his own. On this particular afternoon, he was pondering this issue, wondering if it were at all possible for his mother to tell him if he asked her.

Zeke felt a tug on his fishing pole, momentarily distracting him from his thoughts, so he sat up to see if he had snagged a fish, but when he reeled in his line there was nothing on the hook except for a piece of seaweed. It was disappointing, and only went to damage the prince's determination. Since he had started fishing at the crack of dawn, he had not caught a single fish. Sneaking out was an act he would usually be punished for, but if he managed to bring home something useful he would be pardoned and his day would shine with hope that nothing unfortunate would happen. Much to his dismay, Zeke had to give up if he wanted to get home before the noon meal.

It was odd that his catch bucket was empty. On most mornings where he barely caught anything he would at least have one or two fish to show that he at least tried, only rarely coming up with nothing. Peering over the edge of his boat, he wondered if a fishing party had already cast their nets into this part of the ocean, but then he saw something that he had not seen ever before. The water beneath the surface was moving in a different direction in a rapid torrent, sweeping everything up that was unlucky enough to be in the way.

He could see fish and other things being carried away by the rough current, and he knew this was why his bucket was empty. Silently cursing his luck, he pulled out his map to look for another area that usually had large schools of fish just waiting for his line to be cast. A splash of water came up over the side of his boat and fell on his map, ruining the parchment instantly. "Damn it!" he shouted, tossing the soaked paper into the ocean. "That thing was brand new." Falling backwards, Zeke stared up at the sky forlornly. With no catch and no map he was surely in for a stern reprimand from both the cooks and the archivists.

Another wave came over the side of the boat and fell on Zeke, chilling his skin instantly. Sitting up to curse at the ocean, Zeke finally saw what was causing the irregular ocean currents and sending waves over the side of his boat. A whirlpool had appeared while he had been fishing, and it must have grown in size while he had his attention diverted. Now the maelstrom could be heard, howling like a malicious beast ready to devour anything within reach.

Realizing that it was dangerous to be where he was, Zeke started setting up his sail, but a wave caused his boat to shift violently and he fell over. With his arms wrapped around his pitiful mast, the prince stared helplessly at an oncoming wave that towered above him like a wall of death. Zeke let out a pitiful cry as the water fell on top of him and his boat, crushing the wooden vessel and sending the prince into the ocean.

Zeke had always thought the view of the sky from below water was unusual, but this time he had little interest in staying where he was. Kicking and struggling with his arms to be free of the suffocating world he was in, he thrust his head out of the water and took a deep gulp of air. The water all around him was thrashing like a beheaded snake, pulling him back under so he had to work his way back to the surface. Again and again Zeke struggled to stay afloat while the water threw him around like a rag doll.

"Grab on!" someone shouted from above Zeke.

Zeke could not see who it was, but they were offering him help and he was not about to refuse. Reaching as high as he could, he felt someone close around his wrist, and then he was being pulled out of the water. Shaking his head and rubbing his eyes with his free hand, he looked up to see who is savior was, but could not tell exactly if it was even human. The salt water had blurred his vision too much and his eyes kept watering from the irritation. He waited until he landed on a cliff before trying to see what his saving grace had been.

When his vision cleared, he was shocked to see an owl as tall as he was standing before him. Falling over in shock, he pointed a shaky finger at the bird and shouted, "What the heck are you?"

The owl cocked its head to the side and regarded Zeke with a curious gaze. "My name is Kaepora Gaebora. I am a wind sage from the village of Zephyr," the owl said, preening his feathers as if the activity were more interesting than the prince. "You're lucky I came by when I did, or you would be floating off to the afterlife right about now."

"Zephyr?" Zeke asked, clutching a handful of grass to steady himself. "I know about that village. That's where the knight Sir Calintz is from. Do you know him?" The giant owl made no attempt to answer the question, making Zeke wonder if the knight had been exiled from his village. But that was not possible, for Sir Calintz had only just returned from a week long leave that he spent at home in Zephyr. Ripping the grass up from the ground, Zeke said, with as much authority as he could, "Answer me, Wind Sage. What brings you this far from your home?"

Flapping his wings to dry them, Kaepora yawned and wrapped his wings around his body. "First thing's first." A gust of wind swirled around the giant bird, whipping up dust that made Zeke raise a hand to guard his eyes, and, when it was over, a man in a brown cloak that looked like feathers stood before the prince. His eyes were gray, and they were full of wisdom. There was no doubt that this man was who he said he was. "Allow me to formally introduce myself, young prince of Hyrule." With a deep bow, the man said, "My name is Kaepora Gaebora Yuji, Elder Wind Sage of Zephyr, Shaman of Knowledge."

Rising to his feet, Zeke returned the bow. "I am Prince Zeke, son of Zelda, and a disgrace to Hyrule," he said, adding his own embellishment to the title. The sage was not amused by the self-proclamation.

"I bring news," Kaepora said, waving a hand to indicate the ocean to the right. "The flood is over. Take a look. The waters are receding and soon the land of Hyrule will be as it was."

Walking over to the edge of the cliff, Zeke looked out at the ocean and saw that it was indeed dropping in level. It was a spectacle to behold. However, Zeke was frightened by it. "Why is it doing that?" he asked, stepping away from the cliff face that was getting taller and taller with every passing second. "What evil is at work here?"

Crossing his arms, Kaepora smirked and shook his head, amazed by the youth's lack of reasoning. "Evil caused the flood, child. If it is receding then logic says that evil has been vanquished." Walking to the edge of the cliff, he turned and gave Zeke a mysterious smile. "Though one evil has been destroyed, I foresee another. Be on your guard, prince." Jumping off of the cliff, he resumed his birdlike form and flew off into the sky.

Zeke watched the owl until it disappeared from his sight, then he decided it was time to return home, a task that would take him a significant amount of time on foot. With a deep sigh, he realized that he would miss lunch, and if he were absent from the table that he would get a swift kick in the head from his mother for inconveniencing everyone. "I sure hope they'll let me off this time," he said to himself, more to keep himself company than anything. "I could have died today. That should be a good enough excuse for being late."

***********

"Hiya there, Zeke!" said a young voice as Zeke entered through the front door. A little girl ran from inside the room and went airborne when she was a few feet from the prince, flying towards him like a loosed arrow. He caught her and spun her around a couple times before setting her back down on her feet, making her laugh excitedly.

"What's going on, Faye?" he asked, steadying his sister as her dizziness was about to make her fall over.

Grabbing onto Zeke's arm for support, the small girl pointed at a box on a short table by a couch and said, "You got a parcel from somewhere far away." Her matter of fact tone was enough to betray a secret she had hidden inside of her head.

"Oh really," he said, with a smirk. "What's inside it?" He dropped down to his knees and raised an eyebrow, an action that usually meant he suspected something he could not see in front of him.

Looking down at her feet, trying to look innocent, Faye mumbled, "I don't know." Her voice was enough to give away the truth to Zeke. "I was told it was for your birthday, so I didn't open it."

The prince laughed, giving her a pat on the head. "Let me guess, Roland told you not to tell me what's inside?" She nodded, a small smile playing at her lips. Zeke then reached forward and lifted her chin so she was looking at him. "You sure a few rupees won't loosen your tongue?"

She shook her head and giggled. "I know how much you've got in your wallet and it's not enough." Then Faye then ran out into the hall outside, laughing with glee. "I know what Zeke got for his birthday!" she shouted as she ran through the castle.

Zeke chased after her, letting her stay a good three meters ahead of him. "I'm going to get you, and when I do it'll mean the end of you," he taunted in a scary voice. Faye yelped and ran faster, making Zeke worry about her tripping.

"You're not going to catch me!" she screamed, afraid of what her brother might do to her. Turning down another corridor, she found a statue of someone she had been told was significant in Hyrule's history. She had no idea why the man was important, so she had no qualms about using the statue to escape from her brother. Using a skill that she mastered over her eight years of life, she climbed up the statue and sat on the "man's" shoulders.

"Faye! Get off of Azel's statue!" Zeke shouted, knowing that if it broke he would be the one getting blamed. "Azel was an important person, and it's disrespectful of you to treat his memorial in such a way."

The little princess stuck her tongue out at her brother. "You're just saying that so I'll get down. I'm not falling for it."

Zeke continued to plead with his sister. The day had started out bad enough with his life being endangered by water and being saved by a giant talking bird, he was not going to let his little sister make it worse by breaking the statue of Hyrule's most famous knight. "Faye, please. I promise, I won't do anything to you, just please get down from the statue before you break it and I get blamed."

Her brother never lied to her, so she started to climb down from the statue. "You don't have time to bug me anyway," she said regrettably. "Mom wanted to see you about something."

"What?"

She nodded and relayed the message; "Mom said that when I saw you I was to tell you to go to the throne room immediately. She wouldn't tell me what for though."

Zeke motioned for Faye to climb onto his back and said, "Well, let's not keep her waiting any longer than we need to." The girl did as she was told and jumped onto her brother. After making sure she would stay in play, Zeke carried her down the hall towards the throne room.