Fandom Island and Town

Sidon had been absent quite consistently these past few weeks...maybe even these past few months, really...because things were getting worrisomely more intense back home, around the Calamity, around Zora's Domain, around Vah Ruta. And naturally, it was his princely duty to be there for his people, especially if things were finally ramping up to the crisis that had been having over their heads for the past one hundred years. The monsters were relentless, the blood moons more frequent, the evil ichor swirling around the castle more vibrant and spreading than ever. Was it finally time for Calamity Ganon to make his final strike to destroy Hyrule entirely, once and for all?

Needless to say, these distractions had definitely lead him to be neglecting Furnado quite a bit lately. And while he could not feel bad about being where he needed to be, there was a part of him that realized that his duties were swaying him hard in another direction, and he had to give Hyrule the absolutely most of his attention.

Which was why he came back to the island today to get in touch with Prompto and had for him a proposal: the two of them went way back, further than most, when one considered their varying time disparity, but no matter how much time had passed, there would always be a firm place in their hearts for the animal shelter, where so much of their friendships had grown over their time as students here. He knew Prompto himself had a lot on his plate these days, with supporting his family and everything, but he also knew that the animals at Furnado were always a part of that family, too. So he could think of no other person better for the job of keeping an eye on the place while he was gone than him.

And Prompto was also uniquely able to truly understand what it was like to have a complete apocalyptic destruction of your home hanging over your shoulders, as well.

So there was barely any hesitation from Prompto to agree and promise to do Sidon and Zack proud. Granted, he wasn't really sure this was wise, but, well, Noctra was growing more and more her own capable person by the day, and he was sure he could find somewhere to slide the business of the place into his schedule, especially with the help of the vet.

He did have one condition to his acceptance, though: that should Sidon find that he needed help, he wouldn't hesitate to ask for it.

And that was a promise that Sidon was more than happy to make, clapping a hand on Prompto's shoulders (without even knocking him forward too much, even!) with a laugh and an agreement, and then he went to show him all the finer details involved in running the shelter as opposed to just working there.

Furnado is open!

[[ and this will very likely be Sidon's last post for a while, as I finally nudge him toward going through canon, huzzah! ]]

Knowing how much the cats around the shelter liked to climb on things, especially him, Sidon was feeling a little bit....inspired, and decided to implement a new idea to keep the kittens engaged and challenged.

By setting up a kitten wall!

And, sure enough, just as he suspected, the fibrous carpet now covering a section of wall was perfect for the kittens to sink their little claws into, but he was quickly discovering that while they were excellent at climbing up things....they still had a long way to go before they were more confident in getting back down from where they'd climbed.

So he would be spending most of the day plucking kittens off the wall, but, after a while, it became a little bit of a game, as he challenged them to climb up as high as they could, because, really, no matter how high they climbed, he'd be able to reach them and pull them back down to safety.

Furnado is open!

Sidon had, rather unintentionally, been creating quite the hubbub that day, it would seem. A few people were in to pick up supplies for their their exotic fish, caught the top of Sidon's head over one of the shelves, and appeared to have mistaken it for an actual shark. Which lead to a whole discussion about it apparently being Shark Awareness Day and how, no, he actually wasn't a shark, and it was probably important that people be aware of that, and now that he was aware that it was Shark Awareness Day, he became increasingly aware of people thinking, based on sights of his head alone, a shark.

That put a damper, a little bit, on maybe going for a swim in the ocean later, since he could only imagine how many people would become aware of his shark-head if he did.

So now he'd be spending a good portion of the day attempting to put together a helpful PSA poster pointing out the differences between a Zora's head and an actual shark.

But once the poster was made, he could....well, he couldn't really blame people for the confusion, could he?

Furnado is open!

Since Sidon's class for the second part of the summer would be taking place in the animal shelter, he had a big weekend of cleaning and preparation ahead of him, and he could not be more excited about it. And while all that was going on, he was sure to give all the animals encouraging affirmations and inspiration so that they were ready for it, too.

There was also a bit of planning going on, at the counter, figuring out which animals to do which week and having back-up plans ready because animals could be unpredictable, but Sidon found organizing and cleaning and pep talks much more engaging than lesson plans, so maybe those would wait more for after all the set up.

Either way, he was terribly excited, and he certainly hoped all the students and animals alike would be, as well!

Furnado is open!

It was a good thing there was a lot to do at the shelter that week, because Sidon kept casting somewhat worried glances out the window at the sky, and the weather, because it seemed that one forecast called for just rainy weather and the other for stormy weather, and he just didn't know which to believe, and that was a problem. Rain was lovely, he rather enjoyed a good summer rain, but thunderstorms could be very problematic for someone with a particular sensitivity to lightning. Of course, he'd long since discovered that, thankfully, lightning didn't seem to strike the Earth nearly so much as it did in Hyrule, making it a significantly smaller threat, but still!

It also got the puppies a bit riled up and skittish, and so he was also busy trying to think of good ways to distract them or make them feel better, which involved some games, but mostly just him extolling how brave they all were and encouraging them to be strong and valiant, no matter what the weather was actually like.

Furnado is open!

The shelter had just gotten a shipment of some new and exciting interactive toy for cats that day, and, Sidon felt, perhaps not a moment too soon! He couldn't help but feel like perhaps the felines of the shelter, in particular, were missing having Sakaki around. She was always so good and attentative to them! And, of course, Sidon had his feline fans, as well, always stalking him around the shelter and finding high shelves to climb on in attempts to pounce on him, but there was really a big gap in their days without her around, and he was hoping they'd find some excitement and engagement in some new toys, so he opened one up and set it out for them to play with.

And, in true fashion with anything actually designed to entertain cats, they maybe spent about three seconds sniffting and examining it, maybe gave it a few bats and tried, and then resolutely ignored it for the rest of the day.

They did seem to rather like the box, though!

Furnado is open!

Sidon had not been around much at all lately; there had been some admittedly troubling rumblings around Hyrule Castle lately that had everyone back home quite a bit on edge, wondering if this was finally it, if this was the moment that the Calamity Ganon finally surged forward to finish what he started a hundred years ago or not, and so his focus has very much been elsewhere. He felt a little bad about it, too, especially since it turned out to be quite a bit of nothing (at the moment), and he'd missed properly saying good-bye to Sakaki before she headed back home and then started her own veterinary journey.

But he did have her contact info, so, after spending some time checking in with the vet and getting a few tales out of her regarding the events of last week, he set to doing a little bit of work at the computer, which also included an email to Sakaki wishing her well and letting her know that, should she ever need anything in the future, to never hesitate to call upon him, and he shall be honored to lend his assistance.

Of course, since Sidon was not very good with computers, and yet was also very wordy in his correspondence, even that one email wound up with him, hunched and looming and henpicking keys on the keyboard with a single, slow claw, for the majority of the day.

And frequently taking moments to congratulate himself whenever he had trouble locating a letter and then eventually finding it.

"Ah-ha! U! There U are! Tried to hide from me, did you? Ahh, but your efforts were in vain! Now, let's see, what comes next? Yes, T, now where was--ah! Right there, nearly neighbors! There you are, T! And now....please, let's see, P......L......E.....A.....S....E! Ha! Well done! Marvelous! And now k...."

Furnado is open!

In general, Sidon didn't really eat a lot of food that wasn't either fish or pizza, so even though he respected the vet's desire to celebrate National Chocolate Covered Raisin Day, he was going to kindly pass on her offer to share some of the ones she brought with them.

And he would insist that it had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the rabbits had gotten out of their pens last night and he'd been spending the morning cleaning up after them all around the store, and accepting chocolate covered raisins in the shelter right now seemed like a risk even he wasn't willing to take.

Furnado is open!

and very sorry to everyone

Frequent trips back and forth between Fandom and Hyrule, both for his class and for his princely duties, meant that Sidon hadn't been able to spend as much time at the shelter as he might normally, and to make up for it, he not only made sure to bring back a good deal of fresh fish for the cats to enjoy and a bunch of new chew toys for the puppy pen, but he was also dedicating himself to another big thorough fish tank cleaning day!

It was the least he could do to make up for it, and he did, truly, enjoy a good fish tank cleaning day.

And not even because it was still winter and therefor he got some direct benefits from a nice clean fishtank, too!

Furnado is open!

In an effort to help keep all the animals at the shelter more engaged and entertained, Sidon had decided that today would be the day they celebrated the Bird Olympics! They had, after all, some excellent sets of tabletop games for birds, and he felt they should really get some use, the birds would surely enjoy the competition and the fanfare of it all, and the cats, as it turned out, much to his surprise, were in rapt attention of every single one of the thrilling events, from the edge-of-your-seat excitement of Bird Basketball to the thrill and skill involved in Bird Skateboarding!

(It did not occur to him that the feline attention to the proceedings was more out of hunger and hope than anything else, but the man still didn't realize that the cats were trying to eat him half the time, so this should not be surprising).

And he was particularly excited about when the games were finished, and he could start awarding the birds with their adorable little Bird Olympic medals.

He would offer his thoughts on who might win, but, as the judge, it was important for Sidon to remain impartial.

Furnado is open!

As Sidon was making the rounds around the shelter that day to check in with all the animals, he did notice the cute little stuffed animals that were showing up here and there, and he made it a particular point of focus today to match all the Beanie Babies up with their respective animals.

Some of them were just collecting on the counter, because they had no corresponding animals, and some were a bit of a stretch to match, like putting the dragon one with the lizards, but, overall, Sidon was pretty proud of himself for his efforts.

So when they all just seemed to randomly disappear, he was a little hurt about all his effort going to waste, although he did, briefly, wonder if he had somehow managed to solve some kind of puzzle that would open up a secret chest or dungeon underneath the shelter (like you do), but, alas, no such result.

Well, it had been fun, all the same, and had been a good way to come around and interact a little with all the animals.

Furnado is open!

With Halloween now passed and gone until next year, all of the animals were back to their regular unconstumed lives. Except, apparently, for one pug who still seemed to prefer running around in his pirate costume.

"He just really seems to like it," said the vet, with a little shrug when Sidon asked after it

"....good for him!" Sidon decided after a moment of watching the pug run around in that costume with pure delight, and figured it was a good time to bring those pirate shit cat scratchers back out. He did, after all, have a soft spot for a good nautical theme!

Furnado is open!

Furnado had a special guest that Wednesday, although it might be tricky to find him at times, considering he was spending most of his time there buried under a pile of puppies. For old times' sake.

Prompto had swung by to see Sidon and catch up with him a little, bringing along Rain so that she could have a little playdate with all the shelter cats, and just because he wanted to see the shelter and reminisce a little with Sidon about a time that had been a lot further in the past for both of them than it had actually been for the island. And it was always good to catch up and talk a little bit about their time as students here, about time displacement, about living through the constant threat of the end of the world, and monstrous plagues that took over their lands, be they Starscourge or Calamity, and about the future....lots and lots about the future.

There was a lot to catch up on, but they did so productively, as well. When they weren't getting the cats all acquainted with Rain or playing with the puppies, they were also working on setting up the little suites for any pets that might need kenneling over the next week. The suites had been a pretty big success during the last trip, Sidon felt, and so he was excited to set some up again for this time around, too, and Prompto agreed to help the vet out, too, since Sidon himself would also be going on the trip.

They decided to try and make some of the suites inspired by the location, which neither of them had been to, so the results were...interesting, and very fueled by Google.

Furnado is open!

Sidon was naturally always quite pleased whenever a postcard from Furnado's own traveling frog band came in, and he was always thrilled to get to report to the other animals how they were doing. Whether or not the other animals even cared was very much up for debate, but you'd better believe that, as he informed them of the various comings-and-goings of the ambling amphibians, he had enough enthusiasm himself alone to more than make up for it.

"Oh!" he found himself particularly pleased to report on that particular day. "And it seems as though they've added a new member! His name is Jeremiah, and he is a bullfrog!"

Furnado is open!

With fall making its unofficial arrival with the passing of labor day and the march into September, winter wouldn't be too far behind, which meant that Sidon was going to be proactive in making sure all the tanks were ready for him with the colder months. And a forward thinking eye toward winter also meant that Sidon was going to make sure that the shelter's generator, and the spare generator, were in fine working condition, too. Even after all these years, that mighty and epic battle against the snow monsters to preserve the power to keep the animals safe and sound in that crisis so many winters ago (not so many winters for everyone here, of course, it had been much longer for Sidon) was still one of his most favorite and exciting memories of the island, and it so it was with particular pride that he ensured that battle was never to have been in vain!

And that battle was also a reason why Sidon's attention to proper winterization also included having several cordless hairdryers on hand.

Which did work well when it came to grooming the animals, it was true, but that was, actually, not their main purpose, believe it or not.

Furnado is open!

With some new additions to some of the tanks at the back of the shelter in the form of blue crabs and lobsters, Sidon figured it was as good a time as any for another really good, thorough tank cleaning day, which everyone knew was one of his favorites. It was involved, it was damp, and it created some really good bonding time between himself and the fish and the other aquatically inclined animals here at Furnado. A bond he always felt was particularly important, being quite amphibious himself, and also to ensure them that neither he nor the cats had any intention of eating any of them any time soon.

The way the cats seemed to be stalking around in the shadows as if waiting for the perfect opportunity to pounce on a particularly forbidden feast, however, likely wasn't instilling a lot of confidence in his finned friends.

Furnado is open!

Sidon was, of course, always on the look-out for new and interesting things to make the lives of the animals here at the shelter more fun, enriching, and overall better, even if, sometimes, it was sort of slow-going since he didn't come by technology naturally. But, every so often, in the course of events that went along with running a pet-related business, he'd come across something too spectacular to refuse, and, today, one of those things had finally arrived.

Knowing the cats as well as he did, he figured it might take them a little while to get used to them, but once they did?

Watch out, Sakaki! Furnado now had banana beds to be enjoyed by all!

The adorableness would be unfathomable!

Furnado is open!