#ralin

“I know that realistically a Zora and a human wouldn’t be able to have a kid, but theoretically...” I say, as I then proceed to go extremely overboard.  Oops.

In addition to being a concept for a unique crossbreed, this is also a character that I’d like to implement into my post-game headcanon.  They’re the adoptive child of King Ralis and Colin, after a series of events leads them to discovering a rather large and quite peculiar “Zora” egg.  Here are a few more details about them:

can stay on land (practically) indefinitely

on the flipside, they have only half as many gills as most other Zoras, and as such must return to the surface every so often to “rest”

custom-made flippers worn over top of webbed feet while swimming for increased mobility

wears Ralis’ childhood anklet on right arm; flippers are designed with this motif in mind

Zora Scale necklace to help w/ deep diving

teeth are sharper and stronger than a normal human’s

bioluminescent spots inherited from Zora parent, resembling freckles

intersex + they/them pronouns

very high energy and constantly rushing into situations regardless of any perceived danger, despite how much their parents fret over their health

“DADS, HOLY F**K, I CAUGHT A FISH WITH MY BARE TEETH. DADS.  DADS LOOK”

--and THEN I go through @therealflurrin‘s TP tag and find content for BOTH SHIPS?  From the SAME PERSON?  EXCUSE ME?

“Maybe I’m...better off alone.”

Colin turned at the words. Ralis sat on the precipice, his gangly legs hanging into the nighttime abyss that, somewhere below, reflected the stars in the waters of Zora’s Domain. His guards had withdrawn, hesitantly, leaving only Colin to protect the young zora king. Only Colin to keep him company.

“Why would you believe that?” Colin asked him.

He hugged one knee. “My father died. My mother died. Members of my court give their lives for me, and I lose them. It’s like destiny. I’m fated to end up alone here.”

“You have me, you always have me. Even when I’m in Ordon--” Colin broke into a stutter. “I, I think of you.”

“But what if you end up lost, too?” Ralis looked at him over one shoulder. The bioluminescent dots on his skin lit up his melancholic expression.

But Colin knew him by now. He knew these thoughts were a symptom of Ralis’s lingering sorrows and not a reflection of their future. It was an ailment that came and went and made him feel heavy, but sometimes, Colin saw the weight come away from the king and leave him high and smiling, and he wanted nothing more than to see that every single day.

preview:

Tentatively, Colin places a reassuring hand on Ralis' shoulder. He's never met a Zora before; his skin doesn't feel like a fish at all. It reminds him of the frogs he'd sometimes catch near his house back in Ordon. Before he thinks better of it, he blurts out, "You feel weird."

Ralis laughs, genuinely laughs, and shakes his head. "If you were a Zora, you would not think so." He reaches towards Colin and runs a webbed hand across his hair. "Now that," he says, recoiling a bit at the foreign texture beneath his palm, "is weird. You have no room to talk."

Eito and Ralin were a pair of brothers. Both clever. They spent their time learning about the world around them and the sky above. Eito was older and wiser, calm and gentle. Ralin was a bit wilder and ambitious, a fighter as well. They lived together out in the fields. They were very close, almost inseparable. They were rarely apart.

One day, something changed. A star fell from the sky and landed near them while they were out on a walk one night. They both approached the tiny star. Eito figured it had gotten injured and lost its way, and they took it in to see if they could help it. They started doing their best to heal and protect the tiny star, under the impression that if they could make it better, it would return home to its family. They treated it with love and care. Eito also started to document what he saw, studying it.

But as the days went by, it started to seem weaker and weaker. The tiny pulses it gave off slowly getting quieter. Despite their efforts, they realized it might not survive. They started to come up with ways to get it home, perhaps they could fly it up somehow. Ralin suggested several methods, all a little extreme. Eito told him they would risk hurting it further. They fought over how to save it, both scared for it. Neither of them understood the star, but they wanted desperately to help it. But nothing they did seemed to work.

One night, when Eito was asleep, Ralin took the star out of the little spot they kept it in and took it outside, holding it and looking up at the sky. 'I want to help you. But I don't know how. Please tell me.' He asked it, watching it in his hands. Nothing really happened, it seemed. 'Can a star even speak?' He asked. 'Would you even talk to someone like me?' He pondered. 'Do you miss your family like I'd miss mine?' He ended up sitting there a while, just holding it. He eventually just hugged it to his chest. 'I know it's not much, but we care about you.' He told it. He felt it move when he hugged it. Maybe it appreciated the hug. But when it got close to his heart... it glowed brighter in his hand. He swore he heard a whisper, or perhaps an echo.

'Grows to the beat of a heart.'

He didn't know how, but it seemed the star had talked to him. Excited, he ran back to the house, waking his brother. He told him that the star had spoken, and put it close to his chest again. Sure enough, it glowed brighter. It didn't whisper this time. It was getting yet weaker, barely holding on. They began again arguing about it. Eito could hardly believe it had spoken at all, and what it could have even meant. Ralin insisted it was important. They ended up putting the star back on its spot and going to bed. The day after was full of silence.

The next night, Ralin couldn't get the star out of his head. He was trying to figure out the meaning, and looked over at it, sitting there, glow weaker than it had ever been. How could a star grow?

Ralin decided to take action. He took the tiny star in his hands and made a decision that would change everything. He took a knife, cut into his chest, and put the star inside. He figured if the heartbeat made it stronger, this would be what it wanted. He bandaged himself up and went to bed again, hoping he hadn't made a mistake. He was awoken by Eito the next morning, frantic. 'The star is gone! I cannot find it anywhere!' He yelled, eyes wide. 'I doubt it had the strength to return home, even if I hope it did! Help me figure this out!' Ralin got out of bed and hesitantly told his brother what he'd done. Eito was furious with him. 'You'll hurt it! You'll kill it! What in the heavens were you thinking! Let's get it out of you before something bad happens!' Ralin wouldn't let him get close, he backed away. 'No. It's staying there.' He said firmly.

Eito kept insisting they remove it, Ralin refusing the whole way. The argument would have gone on, even with them fighting, but Ralin felt strange all of a sudden, and he practically collapsed. Eito was immediately concerned for his little brother, looking him over. 'What's wrong?' He asked. 'Is it the star? We aught to get it out.' Ralin just looked in a daze. He could hear it. The star was moving, growing now. It glowed brighter inside him, at last where it needed to be all along. Eito was startled by this, but seemed to realize something had indeed changed. He gently got his brother lying down somewhere comfortable, as Ralin seemed to be in some pain, unable to quite move. But the look on his face was one of excitement and wonder. 'It's talking to me again.' He said. 'It's so alive.' His brother looked after him, documenting what was happening the entire time.

It taught them secrets, and they wrote them all down, learned from it. It later taught Ralin to make another to share with his brother. And that's when they named it, the Heart of Light.

Kohr.