Felt like giving a peek of a handful of the many faces that can be found in the Necluda Megapod and how diverse each individual can be! Specifically, some of the members of Zalfe's communal sub-pod!
Zalfe has a relatively small sub-pod by Necluda pod standards consisting of only 45 members. Some members are related to her by blood, but a majority are not!
The members of her pod that are related to her by blood in the image are her mother Loqua, her father Kohv, her grandmother Hurna, her nephew Derle.
While the rest of her family can be found in the Necluda Megapod many of them have divided up into their own personal sub-pods. The pod majority consists of Common Zorphin's (short faced common dolphin zora) but there are several "adopted" members of other subspecies of zora.
“I uh—you’re good!” Cironus did his best to recover from the shock. He coughed and let out a nervous laugh. “I get it, I think! And uhh...thank you?”
I’ve never been described as a hot lunch.
“To be honest with you, the Zorca remind me of the Zorphin. It sucks that Zalfe’s initial impression of my people is based on the decision of my exile. Before that though? Things were decent. We’re jokesters at heart! Our whole courting event is one big game.”
He let out a chuckle that had a sad undertone to it.
“I won’t lie though. Our Matriarchs can be a bit touchy and set in their ways. It’s not often, but if the grandmothers have something to say, that’s when everyone listens.”
Cironus straightened his back, and cleared his throat before he did his best impression of an elderly Zorca matriarch.
“NoW LiSTen hERe yOUng mAn! PlAYing wiTh mAgiC shoUld bE nOne of yoUR businESs! Why CanT yOU cauSe tRouBlE likE a noRmAl zoRCa? SinG aboUt gIRls oR go chAse a LizAlfos.”
He grinned and gave a half apologetic shrug.
“Okay so maybe my grandmother doesn’t sound like that. But something about magic gets them all cagey. Knowing that you all see it as a positive thing does come as a shock. Guess that means I gotta get back to practicing again!”
That last sentence was only partially sincere. Deep down, Cironus was nervous about the idea of going “back on the market” as it were. It wasn’t often he was pursued during courting; even among his own people, zorca his age never shown any interest.
Well, it’s not something you have to worry about now.
Change of topic.
“So…” Cironus said then, “Zalfe’s a clown, huh? Guess that means I don’t have to hold back on my puns. Danmalaak was lecturing me during our first night here about how I need to enjoy myself in the good vibes. And your daughter is honest so if I do anything wrong she’ll let me know.”
Reminded of their first meeting, he laughed again, this time it was sincere with no hint of sadness.
“When she was talking to me about her invitation, she talked me through the basic rules, about the locations of the Isles of Song, the importance of your pearls, and courting rituals. She was even nice enough to flick her fins as an example. And you know what I did? I opened my big mouth and told her she had a nice behind.”
Wait. Should I have told Zalfe's mother of that incident?
Quick! Say something to mean that it wasn't a bad thing!
Continued from this excellent intro done by @songofnewlife
“Zalfe! Hey! I br—”
Cironus was interrupted by the swarm of children that surrounded him in the blink of an eye. He could barely register their questions since they were all being voiced at the same time, but he was also in awe over how many there were.
He remained in place so as not to bump into any of them by accident and tried his best to hear out their questions. Wee and Lili’s shrieks of delight only made it all the more difficult.
“LOOK AT ALL THE BABIES!!”
“Uhh hi! You can call me Cironus. The shrimp on my head are Wee & Lili and—”
Cironus turned to see that the kids were forming a chorus line around the creature on the raft.
"Whats that?" one child asked.
"A Goron." He heard one of the adults respond.
"Will you sink if you fall in water?"
One of the kids was evidently trying to test this, grabbing the side of the boat and tipping it to the side.
"Uh oh!" cried Danmalaak, gripping the side of the boat in an exaggerated display of trying to steady it - though in actuality, he was making it sway more and more wildly. "Uh oh! I don't know! UH OH OH NOOOOOOOO--"
As the box raft swayed its wildest, Danmalaak leapt over the squealing calves' heads, flinging himself as though knocked overboard. There was a collective YELP as the goron hit the waters - but instead of plunging into the depths as the kids feared (or hoped?), he barely made any ripples as he bobbed like a cork. Indeed, a solid half of the goron floated above the waves, far more than anyone had any right to do, and he sported the most delighted “oops, gotcha!” grin as he pinned his hands on his swim trunks’ waistband.
“Bet’cha didn’t think that’d happen!” he exclaimed as the kids SCREAMED in approval. “Just don’t try that on any of those Hyrule gorons. Remember, ‘red and gray will float away, yellow and brown will sink right d-AAAAGH–”
Danmalaak failed to realize that he’d just inadvertently given a pod of hyperactive children their best pool toy yet. In mere seconds, they were crawling all over him, already playing a rules-free game of King of the Hill as they tried to climb onto his head.
"Thats it, Piva! You're DONE."
"NOOO! NO NO NO, FJORD! I DIDN'T DO NUTHIN!"
"NOPE! You're done. Pon! Come get your creature!"
Cironus lowered his head so Pon couldn’t see him grinning and laughing. He didn’t find their punishment amusing, only that they were so darn cute. The wild energy of all the children reminded him of his little brother, Kaso. And all the trouble they would get into.
He looked up when he heard Zalfe approach and apologize for the scene. Still smiling, he shook his head.
“It’s all good!”
Meanwhile, Danmalaak was suppressing his own laughter as he grabbed a rope on the raft’s side.
“Hah! Yeah, no need to–hurp– worry,” he said, climbing back on. “I’ve had my share of zor-kid dunkings over the years. Comes with being the first rockboy who doesn’t fall to pieces in the ocean, you know?”
“That’s Danmalaak,” Cironus added by way of introducing him to Zalfe. “He’s sort of been my neighbor back on Eventide. I told him all the details about the rules, too. He wanted to tag along to make sure I settled in.”
“He’s my husband!” Wee added, obviously forgoing the pet rock story.
Cironus’ smile did not waver. He had nothing to add to that, but judging from the piano smash of a facial expression on his friend’s face, he knew if he laughed, Danmalaak would tie all the ballast he had available to drag him to the bottom of the sea.
“Love comes in all shapes and sizes,” the goron deadpanned through gritted teeth.
Thankfully, Zalfe pressed on with her side of the introductions by gesturing towards the massive figure she’d introduced as Fjord. As Cironus turned his head, getting a better look at the Zorphin who whisked Piva away, his smile vanished.
His jaw dropped.
Danmalaak wasn’t kidding about the pretty faces. Holy Hylia.
Cironus jerked his head back to focus on Zalfe again who was talking about their pod name, the Cackling Coral pod, and their leader, Sylphon. His eyes followed to where Zalfe pointed at the bickering pair.
Wow, he looks like he has some stories to tell, Cironus thought, admiring Sylphon’s scars. He couldn’t suppress the chortle when she described her mother, though. As he watched Loqua and Sylphon argue he couldn’t help but take note of the similarities Zalfe shared with her mother.
This time, he was going to keep his compliments to himself. He didn’t think 45 Zorphins needed a second helping of his trademark word salad, if only so he could at least last a full day in the pod.
With basic introductions made, and Danmalaak back on his raft, Cironus’ smile came back.
“It is a little bit, but we’re all looking forward to this. I seriously can’t thank you enough for this opportunity, Zalfe.”
“Absolutely!” added Danmalaak, nodding. “Even being a guest around here’s going to be fascinating. And again, thanks for letting me pal around for the time being! It means a lot.”
“Let’s get this show on the road!” Wee shouted at the top of her lungs. ”Here’s to Team Cackling Coral!”
loquatius standing next to laerryn as they face what they know will be, inevitably, their final moments; loquatius putting a hand on laerryn’s shoulder and giving her (his last) inspiration
