Elemental Artwork

( Merfolk AU )

I just want to say this, I wasn't planning on this image to be uploaded in May. The artwork was sketched out months prior and I completely forgot that May is Mermay. So Yeah, but nonetheless here's Noctis and Zambak as mermaids. Noctis is a Flying fish, and Zambak is a Lamprey.

Sketches I made of the two:

Noctis:

I figured that since Noctis is an Air gormiti it would make sense for him to be a flying fish

Zambak

So this is how I imagined how Z would look as a mermaid in Merfolk AU. She's based on the Lamprey fish.

The doodle on the bottom left corner is a tail size comparison. It shows how long Z's mermaid tail is compared to a normal mermaid's tail. While Zambak's upper half ( the humanoid half) is the same size, the tail however is longer.

Here's a short scenario of how the two would interact:

Clank!

The sound of the double-edged spear that slashed at the stone pillar was enough to be heard from miles, but the stubborn Prince didn't care, he had to train hard for the ceremony, where Prince Noctis had to go through the most difficult trials and prove himself for the king, the people, and his family. He had to get ready and for that, he needed to train hard without any breaks.

He remorselessly slashed at the rock pillar with the spear. And as he attacked the pillar, a figure appeared beside him. The maiden looked at him for a bit before saying:

" What are you doing? "

Noctis quickly turned and pointed his spear at the maiden's throat, not knowing who it was.

" Wow easy there, tiger shark! " She said as she used her claw to hold the tip of the spear and pointed it away from her throat.

" What are you doing here you sea snake?!!" He told her with venom in his voice.

" The reason I'm here was to silence the person doing all that ruckus that woke me up, but seeing how you are pathetically swinging your spear around, I've changed my mind. " She answered his question.

" Changed your mind? And What do you mean by that exactly?" Noctis asked again.

" I just want to watch. " She replied.

Noctis was gonna ask her to leave, but he didn't want to waste more of his time talking to her, so he told her " Okay, you can stay and watch " and quickly went back to practicing. 

Zambak swam over to a nearby rock and laid there to watch the prince.

A few minutes of more training had passed by. Noctis kept on training, trying to cut deeper into the stone pillar while being watched by Zambak.

" So, why are you training so hard?" She asked him.

Noctis was a bit annoyed because he didn't want to be distracted, and because everyone knows about his kingdom's ceremony. Did she just say that to annoy him?

" I'm training for the flyers ceremony. " He said and hit the pillar hard.

" Oh, Is that it? You and other fly fish folk gonna compete for the thrill and attention of the crowd. I kinda see why the other competitors want that, but I see that you want something else." She said.

The Prince was about to hit the rock again but stooped after hearing that last sentence.

" And what do you know of what I want from the ceremony, if it's not the love, fame, and attention from the crowd then what is it, snake? " He asked her.

" You're father's attention " She replied.

Noctis's eyes widened for a second, then to annoyance.

" Are you here to speak ill of my father? The king!!" He yelled at her.

" No, I'm just saying what sounds right. You just want your father's attention, love, and approval. I get that he's busy with his duties and all, and so do you. But, you still want his time and affection, so I'm guessing that's why you joined in on the ceremony" She said calmly, not phased by Noctic's anger.

The prince looked at her for a second. Then he gave a long and tired sigh before telling her.

" The reason I'm joining in on the ceremony is because it is my duty as a prince to do so. I want my people to know that the future ruler will be strong, intelligent, brave, and be able to protect his people from harm. And yes, wanting the affection and approval of my father may also be one of the reasons I'm joining. But that's just it. " He replied to her, sounding confident.

He waited for her to reply, hoping she would be so overwhelmed that she couldn't utter anything at him. But all he got was.

" Okay, future ruler, say whatever you want, I don't care. " She told him, and then looked at the pillar, " You call that a cut?"

Noctis looked at the stone pillar. He saw the damage he had done to it, some of the cuts on the pillar were deep while others were not. He didn't understand it, was this not enough for her? Could she do better? He would like to see her try!

" What? Not enough?! How about you show me then how you do it" He said in a cooky and prideful tone of voice.

" Fine. " she said and swam over to the stone pillar. 

She looked at the pillar for a while. Noctis had a smug look on his face, not knowing what was about to come.

And as he was about to say something mockingly, Zambak suddenly used her lower half tail to swing at the pillar and struck it with such force that the top half of the pillar ( or 50% ) fell down to the ground. Noctis was in awe at first before he realized that she had just torn down one of the pillars used for training.

" Hey!! What the Heck!!!!" He yelled.

" What?" She said.

" You just tore the pillar in half, I was using it!!!" Noctis yelled some more.

" Ohhhhh, well there are others in mangroves, and did prove it to you didn't I?"  Zambak said.

" Well, still you shouldn't have done it! " He said.

" Noctis are we gonna argue this whole afternoon or what?" 

When Noctis heard that last part, he soon realized something he almost forgot, his other training course. " Wait, Afternoon?! Damn it, I'm gonna be late for my next training!!" He said and quickly swam away from the Mangroves while being watched by Zambak.

" Goodbye and good luck with your training." She said knowing full well that he didn't hear, still it's a nice thing to say.

The end