in_sidon_we_trust | Outside of Room 221 and Points Beyond; Saturday Morning [02/02].

Leave it to Vette to find beauty in the most unlikely of places. She smiled up at him, already shrugging her way out of her coat so that she could carry it in her arms, and nodded.

"I'm fine with being spoiled," she informed him, taking to that path with enthusiasm (and possibly making a silly face or two at the cows as they passed them by), pausing every now and again to take a better look whenever the path afforded them a good view. "I mean... It's easy to be fond of what you've shown me."

Even the castle, for all of its ominous twisting horror. Even the looming beast. The shadow was adventure, to be experienced as a free Twi'lek, without constant reminders that she hadn't always been, and that those near to her still weren't.

That meant a lot.

"So," she added, grinning. "Are we fishing, then?"

And Sidon laughed at that, grinning back. "We most certainly are," he declared, "and I almost feel as though I should be profusely apologizing for being so predictable when I should be making an emphasis on being surprising, but I shall refuse to do so on this occasion. After all, this coast offers the best fishing that Hyrule has to offer, and it would simply be a grave oversight on my part to simply pass that up. There will be fruit, as well, local to the area, for you while I'm out ensnaring only the best the ocean has to offer. Mighty bananas and palm fruits, mostly."

As he spoke, they'd entered the village proper, which was little more than a slightl oragnized scattering of a few huts, some of them like the one they approached resembling the hull of a ship. There weren't many people around, most of them either out in the boat bobbing along in the sea or simply keeping up with the request that Sidon had passed along to the village elder when planning the trip. After all, he was a living legend to the people here, but, as good as it would be for his ego, it wouldn't be easy to spend time with Vette if he had people fawning over him on the visit. So they mostly kept their distance politely, though they couldn't help a few curious peeks, especially the children who had only heard stories of the Prince who Slew the Fell Octorok before, wide little eyes peering out from behind railings that didn't keep them nearly as concealed as they thought, interrupted only by whispers and giggles.

And then a flailing scattering once Sidon couldn't help himself but to turn his head slightly and acknowledge them with a wink.

Reaching the inn, Sidon gestured for Vette to walk up the stairs through the entrance while he followed, having to duck underneath the low sign overhead to do so, and he greeted the woman inside warmly. "Hello! We won't be staying long, we were simply hoping we might be able to keep some of our travel gear here as we won't be needing it until we leave. Ah! And excellent!" The woman had already set a basket on her counter with a bob of her head and with a smile, offered to take their coats.

"There's the fruit I'd mentioned," he informed Vette, after thanking the woman, who may have not quite expected the enormity of the coat that had been handed to her, and he grinned. "Looks like they were able to bring in some spicy peppers as I'd hoped, as well."

For what it was worth, Vette's coat was much smaller! She smiled a little lopsidedly as she passed it over to the woman, and then peered into the basket curiously.

"Spicy peppers!" And now she was grinning brightly at the woman and up at Sidon. "I promise I won't make you eat any this time around. I'll even eat some fruit and fish before I kiss you silly after I eat them."

Because she valued you and your mouth, Sidon.

And that was one of many, many reasons Sidon appreciated you so much, Vette.

"You didn't make me eat any last time around, either," he pointed out with a laugh. No, he had only his own bravado to thank for that one. "Though, thankfully for my sake, I'm afraid you may find these peppers to be a bit milder than some of the others you've tried. Still, perhaps it might not be a terrible idea to get some of those kisses in beforehand. Just in case."

Like...now, for example. Sidon thought now would be an excellent time to get in a few kisses, grabbing the basket while leaning in for just that.

Vette was absolutely giggling up into that kiss, standing up on her toes as best as she was able to save him even the smallest bit of leaning, reaching a hand up to just kind of fondly run her fingers over one of his headfins.

"Mmmhm," she murmured, once she'd surfaced again for air. "Great idea, get some of that done now. There's a quota we need to hit, you know."

She'd just made it up. But it was important.

Incredibly important!

"A quota?" Sidon remarked with delighted, though mostly feigned, surprise. "Why, I had no idea! But I can assure you, with the utmost confidence, that I shall completely dedicate myself to ensuring that this quote is not only met, but that it is staggeringly exceeded!"

Like...now. He was going to help with staggeringly exceeding that quota bit more...now. Far be it from him to let it even be briefly suggested that he was all words and no action!

Vette would never dare even suggest such a thing! She was going to have to get better at just jumping up so that they could spare their backs and necks the strain eventually, though. Mind, climbing her boyfriend like a tree so that she could kiss him silly in front of the innkeeper was probably not the greatest idea here, she might have to put that thought to use once they were a little more alone...

"See," she laughed, "you're already well on your way to doing your part to satisfy very important kissing needs."

Yeah, that innkeeper was definitely reconsidering her benefit analysis that had her thinking it would be good for business to be able to tout her place as a famed romantic retreat for the Prince who Slew the Fell Octorok right about now...and feeling glad she hadn't had her own breakfast yet, too. She'd had to have lost it.

"Had you any doubt?" Sidon asked, somewhat loftily, because he was clearly far too pleased with himself at the moment. "You should know well by now that kissing is one of my great talents. Much like swimming. And winning date competitions."

So he had to squeeze that one in there, okay? And he had no intention of letting her protest it, either, snagging the basket of fruit and ducking out the door. "But let us go! We did not come all this way just to spend all our time in an inn, lovely and charming though it may be! I have the perfect spot in mind, under a scattering of trees with some of the best fishing and a magnificent view of the ocean!"

Vette's mouth had just been opening for a snappy comeback, too. But then he was back out the door, which mostly just got a, "Hey!" out of her before she laughed and ducked through it behind him.

She was grinning again by the time she fell back into step with him, at least.

"A scattering of trees and a view, hm? Well, I should hope I'm going to have a view if you're planning on fishing."

It was always a breathtaking sight, when he surfaced again.

"But of course," Sidon assured Vette, beaming down at her as they skirted around the little bay with the few small boats bobbing along beside the dock. "Naturally! It would be a truly boorish move on my part if I were to take you out and not ensure that you were sufficiently entertained!"

"Oh, good," Vette laughed. "I love watching you," showing off, "in your element."

It was a pretty, pretty view, and Vette was not above shallowly enjoying the pretty at all.

And Sidon was not above shamelessly basking in her enjoyment of him...in his element.

He'd quite meant it, too, when he said he wanted to ensure she had a good view of the fishing. Just outside the village was a charming, tall hill, rather perfectly placed for this sort of thing if it hadn't been set so far back on the bay, the jagged rocks running along the sand and in the water making it incredibly unsuitable for the style of...fishing Sidon was intending on performing. But just further ahead, as the bay spilled out into the great wide ocean, there was another, smaller little knoll quite as Sidon described, a collection of palm trees set over a patch of grass, to shade them from the warm, bright sun, just a leap (a Sidon-sized leap, but still, not too far) from the shore. A trio of wild horses that were racing along the strand stretching to the east slowed to stop and watch their approach curiously, flicking their tails at dragonflies never too far behind.

It was a true testament to Sidon's dedication to remain at Vette's side, too, that he didn't just take off and leap into that enticing ocean the moment they were near enough for it. Instead, he stopped to look at her, tilting his head, grinning his sharp grin, and gesturing an arm toward the view. "Well, now," he said, "I think this should suffice quite nicely. Wouldn't you agree?"

"I think this is still pretty amazing," Vette replied, smiling around them, looking curiously at the horses, and then grinning back up at him. "Not too bright, not too dark, still a great view... You've planned this whole day out just so, haven't you?"

She was a little awed by that. She could do a plan if her life depended on it, sure, but those were generally not this sort of plan at all.

"And just think," Sidon pointed out, the brightness of his grin giving that sun a good run for its money, "this is only breakfast! Speaking of which..."

And for a moment, he realized that there had been far too much walking and talking and showing off beautiful vista, and not nearly enough keeping up with the mysterious kiss quota, so he paused just enough to sweep in and catch up on it just slightly before continuing.

"...how hungry would you say you are? So that I can have a good idea of exactly how much to catch, and I shall pursue our repast without further ado."

Because those waves were calling his name, and, as much as he absolutely adored you, Vette, he could not ignore them much longer, and it was now he who couldn't help bouncing a little in his anticipation.

A bounce like that was hard to ignore, and was charming as heck, and Vette couldn't help but give a little laugh and wave a hand toward the water.

"I'm definitely hungry," she replied, "for fish and for the show that comes when you catch them, so you had better get to wowing me, huh?"

If she'd been set in front of a tomb that very much needed raiding, she'd probably be bouncing the same way. She understood.

It was amazing, really, how Sidon somehow always managed to find more smile when it seemed a moment ago it seemed to have reached its apex. "Immediately!" he declared, though that wasn't necessarily true; he had to shirk off his bow and quiver first, steal another kiss, then take up his trident--the ocean fish were, after all, significantly larger than the trifling morsels found around Zora's Domain!--with a wholly superflous but none-the-less spectacular little twirl.

"I'll not be too long," he promised, though there was also an unspoken vow that he wouldn't be too quick about it either, his grin sharpening a little with the sheer pleasure that went along with knowing that Vette enjoyed watching him show off as much as he enjoyed doing it. And, with that, he turned toward the water, jogging just a few steps before launching himself up in the air with one of his impressive leaps, executing a few flips that were not just showy, they were practical in getting him in the right angle for a smooth and seamless dive.

The flip out of the water that followed a few moments later did serve a purpose, too. It served the purpose of showing Vette just how incredibly far he'd managed to get out there in such a short amount of time. It was very important information that he felt she should really, really know.

Could Sidon hear Vette's cheering and clapping from all the way out there, when he surfaced? She'd seated herself on the grass to watch, and while she was curious enough about the contents of the basket, she was also loathe to look away from the show that Sidon was putting on, at least partly for her, but also, she suspected, simply for the joy of living in this moment to the fullest.

That was another thing she liked about him; he knew how to live. Embraced it. Threw himself into it without reservation or regret and moved through life like it was a... like a dance, something more wild and spontaneous and undisciplined than the ballet that they were both learning, not no less elegant for it. She settled in, smiling warmly, to watch him move through the water the way he seemed to move through life, a little in awe of his ability to do so.

Any world that a person like Sidon could come from had to be beautiful. The shadow infected it, maybe, threatened to choke it off and destroy what was beautiful about it, but whatever it was, it hadn't stopped Sidon. Made him stronger for surviving it, maybe. She'd eat when he returned to shore. Right now, she didn't want to look away from his antics just to peruse some fruit.

There was, at one point, not very long after diving in deep and swimming around to explore the otpions for the actual reason for being in the water, that Sidon rather forgot about showing off and just found himself wrapped up in merely enjoying himself and taking full advantage of the sea. Luckily for his audience, there was only an incredibly thin line between Sidon showing off and Sidon just having fun. And the fishing was excellent this morning; it would be a more difficult thing to narrow in on what to catch than it would be to actually catch them, though he did try to make it a particularly exciting one that would inspire a few good leaps out of the water here and there.

The highlight, however, was easily when he'd caught the attention of an ockorok and taunted him to the point where, when Sidon made a leap out of the water, it jumped, too, ready to launch a rock at him. Sidon pulled back his trident, leaned to the side just enough to narrowly avoid the projectile before releasing his weapon with a straight shot at the troublesome beast, which struck just in time for Sidon to plunge back into the water to collect his spoils.

And that wasn't even done to show off, but it was kind of nice that it would likely work out that way.

Knowing he could easily lose himself at this for quite some time, Sidon eventually made the effort to rein it in and return to the shore, making a fast track for the land before ducking in with just enough depth and space left for a good departure, launching up, flipping artfully, and landing in a deep crouch on the sand, thumping the end of his trident in the sand like a flag claiming the spot, only instead of a flag, it was a large, pierced fish held between its prongs. A fish that, given a little longer in this world, might have been just about as big as Vette herself.

And when he looked up from his landing with a grin and straightened up, he regarded the fish at the end of his trident with a tilted head and a laugh. "Yes," he mused, as if he'd spent a good deal of time considering it, "I believe this shall do nicely!"

Vette's eyes were actually pretty wide by the time Sidon landed.

"There was a-- it was a-- a thingie!"

Octorok, Vette.

"That was SO GREAT."

"Oh," said Sidon, flicking a little water off his headtail before going to plop down beside Vette and feeling grateful for it; awkward as sitting could be sometimes, it was a welcome way to rest after all of that! And as he sat, he stuck his trident through a nearby bit of sand, propping it up so that he could easily peel off bits with his claws, offering the first morsel out to Vette as he leaned into her a little, "that little thingie? Why, that one was nothing! Not even big enough to swallow you up, Vette! You should have seen the last one I fought whilst I was last in this region."

Really, it would be impossible for them to have come to Lurelin Village without him bringing it up. He'd been angling to do so eventually; she'd just given him the perfect opportunity to segue into it just then.

"I'm actually not quite sure if I've ever told you that story before," he admitted. He had told many people, it was true, but he'd discovered that it wasn't quite as many as he'd thought. Besides, when they started telling stories, he'd tried to stick with more general things, obviously, and then, suddenly, there were...other ways of occupying their time than just stories.

Vette laughed as she leaned against Sidon, taking the morsel of fish as it was offered to her.

"I'm pretty sure I haven't heard that story, no," she agreed. "I mean, besides the snowman warfare at the animal shelter, I don't think I've really heard or seen much of that kind of thing from you." And now she was reaching to poke him in the ribs. "So you need to tell me! Story time, Sidon! Spill it!"

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."

Vette was staring at Sidon now, eyes wide.

"It ate you?"

That really did give some indication as to just how massive this thing was, for starters. For another...

"If you ever get yourself eaten again, Sidon, I swear I'll cut that thing open myself and pull you out so that I can shake you! I don't care if it's an octorok or a krayt dragon, you're not allowed!"

... Vette versus a krayt dragon would be pretty rich. Best to not get eaten again, Sidon.

"It isn't as though I intended to get eaten," Sidon pointed out, his smile perhaps a touch guarded now, as he felt that perhaps Vette had sort of picked the wrong part of the story to focus on. Especially when there were parts like him being a hero and being the only warrior out of dozens who was able to defeat the monster. But it hadn't exactly been his only close brush with death, and the latest one, if he didn't count the trek to the shelter during the snowstorm, was...well...

The guard in his smile fell, leaving the expression a little softened and apologetic. "So I regret that I cannot in good faith make any promises in that regard, but I can at least vow that I shall strive to attempt to avoid being eaten again in the future."

Spoken an awful lot like a Zora who was most definitely going to get eaten by something again at some point in time.

Some things just couldn't be helped!

Vette considered that, and then blew out a little breath and snuggled up against him.

"I suppose I can live with that," she decided, and then laughed softly, shaking her head. "I mean, I got eaten by an ancient Sith tomb and it spat me out in a Portalocity terminal, I can't really talk, can I?"

Not reeeally, Vette.

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