As if he needed much prodding to get the story out of him ever, much less with her. But Sidon laughed at the finger poking into his side, grinning down at her. "Perhaps it was best I'd held it until now," he mused. "So much better to set the scene, when you're actually physically present!"
He took a moment to clear his throat, to allow himself to get into full story-telling mode, which was bound to be particularly good, fueled already by the adrenaline rush of his excellent swim.
"Because it had taken place right here, in this very bay beside us now, so peaceful, so calm and lovely...but not so much when its waters were plagued by none other than the most monstrous octorok that Hyrule has ever known, and, Hylia willing, the most monstrous it will ever know! As large as the very mountains that tower over us in the distance, no one knows for whence it came, but it came with a thirst for blood...and Lurelin fishermen! They were helpless against the great and terrible beast; their spears and swords did little to nick its flesh as it, in its insatiable appetite, sucked up nearly anyone who dared try to defeat it, smashing the homes with rocks the size of boulders!
"The Zora and the Lurelin fishermen have always had a wonderful relationship, as you can imagine; we trade often in our various bounties of the great Hylian waters, so when we heard of their troubles with this foul monster, we simply had to send our very strongest and best. But, alas! Our very strongest and best still proved to be lacking. Even with our superior tactics in being able to fight in the octorok's own element, one by one, our warriors were similarly consumed and digested, one after another, to feed the still hungry beast!
"And that," Sidon paused for a sharp, proud, almost devious sort of grin, "is when they sent me. Sent is perhaps not the best word, of course; when I dedicated myself to the cause that had taken from us so many of our brothers, there was a great uproar, especially from the Elders, that I wouldn't stand a chance, they wouldn't allow for such a thing to happen, for I am the prince, I was too valuable to risk on such an endeavor."
The grin faded slightly into something a bit like discomfort, and Sidon snorted. "As if I was going to let that stop me! Under the cover of night, I made my way down here, so that with the breaking of the next day, I may confront the octorok, no doubt while the Elders wrung their hands and were already designing a monument to accompany my sister's. And perhaps they weren't wrong to have their doubts; so many had tried to conquer the beast, and each and every one of them had failed. But none of them were the Zora Prince.
"I swam circles around that octorok; I volleyed it with endless strikes from my trident, and yet barely made a dent. It struck out with its powerful tentacles, dashed me on the jagged rocks. That was how I acquired this scar, here," he turned his head, ducking slightly, to show her, "on my left headfin. But I didn't let it stop me. I got back up, I steeled my resolve, I charged forward with my trident ready to strike him, right between his very eyes if I could be so lucky...
"...only to be sucked right in to his giant, gaping maw, open and waiting for his next foolishly willing meal. I was now inside the octorok, Vette, swallowed down its gullet as easily as if I were one of these pieces of fish! But if anyone thought being lunch would stop me, well...then those people did not know Sidon! For I still had my trident, all was far from lost. For my trident is sharp and my arms are strong, and the inside of an octorok is much softer than the outside. I pierced through that monster's stomach, again and again, until it finally gained purchase and I could emerge victorious to deliver the final blows that defeated the terror and saved the very village you see so peaceful and quiet today!
"Perhaps not the best story to accompany a meal," he said, a bit apologetically, though he was positively glowing with pride, "but it truly has been one of my finest hours."
He chuckled, slightly, as he amended, "Or several hours, I should say. It was not exactly quick work, fighting one's way out from the inside of the belly of a beast."
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He took a moment to clear his throat, to allow himself to get into full story-telling mode, which was bound to be particularly good, fueled already by the adrenaline rush of his excellent swim.
"Because it had taken place right here, in this very bay beside us now, so peaceful, so calm and lovely...but not so much when its waters were plagued by none other than the most monstrous octorok that Hyrule has ever known, and, Hylia willing, the most monstrous it will ever know! As large as the very mountains that tower over us in the distance, no one knows for whence it came, but it came with a thirst for blood...and Lurelin fishermen! They were helpless against the great and terrible beast; their spears and swords did little to nick its flesh as it, in its insatiable appetite, sucked up nearly anyone who dared try to defeat it, smashing the homes with rocks the size of boulders!
"The Zora and the Lurelin fishermen have always had a wonderful relationship, as you can imagine; we trade often in our various bounties of the great Hylian waters, so when we heard of their troubles with this foul monster, we simply had to send our very strongest and best. But, alas! Our very strongest and best still proved to be lacking. Even with our superior tactics in being able to fight in the octorok's own element, one by one, our warriors were similarly consumed and digested, one after another, to feed the still hungry beast!
"And that," Sidon paused for a sharp, proud, almost devious sort of grin, "is when they sent me. Sent is perhaps not the best word, of course; when I dedicated myself to the cause that had taken from us so many of our brothers, there was a great uproar, especially from the Elders, that I wouldn't stand a chance, they wouldn't allow for such a thing to happen, for I am the prince, I was too valuable to risk on such an endeavor."
The grin faded slightly into something a bit like discomfort, and Sidon snorted. "As if I was going to let that stop me! Under the cover of night, I made my way down here, so that with the breaking of the next day, I may confront the octorok, no doubt while the Elders wrung their hands and were already designing a monument to accompany my sister's. And perhaps they weren't wrong to have their doubts; so many had tried to conquer the beast, and each and every one of them had failed. But none of them were the Zora Prince.
"I swam circles around that octorok; I volleyed it with endless strikes from my trident, and yet barely made a dent. It struck out with its powerful tentacles, dashed me on the jagged rocks. That was how I acquired this scar, here," he turned his head, ducking slightly, to show her, "on my left headfin. But I didn't let it stop me. I got back up, I steeled my resolve, I charged forward with my trident ready to strike him, right between his very eyes if I could be so lucky...
"...only to be sucked right in to his giant, gaping maw, open and waiting for his next foolishly willing meal. I was now inside the octorok, Vette, swallowed down its gullet as easily as if I were one of these pieces of fish! But if anyone thought being lunch would stop me, well...then those people did not know Sidon! For I still had my trident, all was far from lost. For my trident is sharp and my arms are strong, and the inside of an octorok is much softer than the outside. I pierced through that monster's stomach, again and again, until it finally gained purchase and I could emerge victorious to deliver the final blows that defeated the terror and saved the very village you see so peaceful and quiet today!
"Perhaps not the best story to accompany a meal," he said, a bit apologetically, though he was positively glowing with pride, "but it truly has been one of my finest hours."
He chuckled, slightly, as he amended, "Or several hours, I should say. It was not exactly quick work, fighting one's way out from the inside of the belly of a beast."