"Don't bully Minos dad! It's my fault he got distracted." Tinka said, defending Minos.
"My baby girl is already starting to defend the outsider over her own dad." Ronkus said exaggeratedly as he gripped his chest, as if his heart had just broken.
"Minos isn't an outsider!" Tinka said with annoyance.
"Your fathers just joking dear, don't take him seriously." Meninka said as she slapped Ronkus on the back of the head, forcing him to stop his act.
"Have a seat you two, you came at the perfect time, lunch has just been served. Dig in." Meninka said.
"Many thanks." Minos said, taking a seat and eating, not treating himself as an outsider at all.
Everytime Minos finished eating, Tinka would funnel some more food onto his plate, truly treating him like her husband.
Ronkus and Meninka couldn't help but laugh as they watched Tinka's performance, causing her to go red in the face in embarrassment.
"Looks like my little girl has finally grown up. What do you say Minos, how about we just hold a marriage ceremony and get things over with?" Ronkus suggested.
"Dad!" Tinka shouted.
"I'm fine with that." Minos said.
"Minos!" Tinka shouted again, feeling like Minos was betraying her.
"Tinka, I'm serious. We've already been together so long, and I truly do love you, so why not make it official." Minos said, changing the room's atmosphere completely.
"B-but, I can never leave the tribe, you'll never be able to have a normal life if you marry me, you'd be better off with someone without my curse." Tinka said, not wanting to drag Minos down with her.
Minos didn't say anything right away, instead he grabbed Tinka by her hand, lifting her chin so she was looking him in his eyes.
"I don't care about your curse, I care about you. Besides, didn't you say you believe in me? If you believe, then believe I'll find a cure so you and your tribe can live normally." Minos said.
"Are you sure you want to marry me?" Tinka still asked, not feeling confident in herself.
"I'm sure as the sky is blue." Minos said with a smile.
"Okay! Let's get married!" Tinka said with excitement.
Ronkus and Meninka couldn't help but feel slightly shocked at the massive twist that had just happened in front of them.
Ronkus scratched his head awkwardly, not thinking that his joke would end up being taken seriously.
"Looks like your jokes did something good for once." Meninka said, laughing at the awkward looking Ronkus.
"Hey, my jokes are always helpful!" Ronkus said, puffing his chest out.
"Since you two have decided, then let's not waste any time. How would you like to hold the ceremony?" Meninka asked.
"Since I want to marry Tinka, then naturally I want to do things the Salt Breathing Tribe way." Minos said.
"Boy, the Salt Breathing Tribe's ritual is quite unique, and not at all easy to accomplish, are you sure?" Ronkus asked.
"Positive." Minos said confidently.
"Good! I like confidence. The ritual is both simple and hard, requiring you to go to sea alone and capture a fish, but not just any fish."
"For us, the fish you give your loved one is a reflection of the love you hold for her, so naturally the better the fish, the more the love."
"Sometimes if the fish caught isn't good enough, the bride will flat out reject it, canceling the marriage all together."
"But seeing how much my daughter loves you, I bet you could hand her a worm and she'd still be happy." Ronkus said with a laugh.
Tinka didn't reject her fathers words, instead blushing slightly on the side, as if she was fantasizing about her and Minos's future.
"How could I let Tinka down with a subpar fish? I promise to catch the greatest fish the Salt Breathing Tribe has ever seen!" Minos said as he patted his chest.
"Hahaha, that's my boy! I believe that you can do it." Ronkus said with a loud laugh, Meninka also smiling at Minos's resolve.
"Minos, don't worry too much about the fish, no matter what you catch, I'll always accept it, just don't hurt yourself." Tinka said with worry, not wanting Minos to stress himself over this too much.
"Don't worry Tinka, I always prioritize my own life." Minos said with a laugh.
"Good!" Tinka said with a smile.
"Since everythings been decided, let's start the ceremony tomorrow! But first I have to tell the tribe, after all the marriage fishing is quite a special ceremony, and everyone likes to watch." Ronkus said.
Like that, Ronkus quickly exited the house, using his loud voice to gather all the tribe members. After telling them the gist of things, they couldn't help but get excited, looking forward to the marriage fishing tomorrow.
Some went into the forest to harvest some fruits to give as a wedding gift, others decided to gift some dried fish, and others came up with other ideas.
The marriage fishing was a sacred event in the tribe that was held with utmost importance. The entire tribe would gather the morning of, praying for the groom's success.
If he managed to catch a fish that his bride accepted, everyone would celebrate, handing off their gifts and holding the official marriage ceremony.
If she declined however, everyone would take their gifts back, and the marriage would naturally not happen.
But regardless, everyone was still excited to see what kind of fish the groom would come back with, and the groom himself would try his hardest to get a good fish.
Those who caught a good fish could brag about it for the rest of their lives, and the other tribe members would also look up to them, hence this was an incredibly important event, not only for marriage, but also for the men to have a chance to show themselves off.
Of course Minos couldn't care less about the bragging part, but he didn't want people to look down on Tinka if he gave her a bad fish, so he decided to use his full strength to catch something amazing.
Having told the entire tribe about the event, Ronkus came back in. Walking past Minos, he made his way to a bookshelf, searching through before pulling a book out and handing it to Minos.
"Here, this is a guide to every fish ever caught by the tribe. We've marked them all off, alongside their rarity, so if you want to impress everyone, try to catch something more rare." Ronkus said.
Minos thanked Ronkus before flipping over the book, quickly memorizing every single fish alongside their rarities.
Having burnt the book's contents into his head, he handed it back to Ronkus, who took it back with slight confusion.
"Just take it with you, that way you can compare any fish you catch to it." Ronkus said, handing the book back.
"No need, I've already remembered." Minos said.
"Remembered!?" Ronkus said in shock, Meninka also looking on with surprise.
"Didn't you guys know, Minos has a perfect memory!" Tinka bragged, as if the accomplishment was her's.
"Amazing, I didn't know such a thing was possible!" Ronkus said, looking at Minos's head as if he wanted to crack it open and discover its secrets.
"Boy, you are filled with wonders, aren't you?" Meninka said with a giggle.
"Seems we don't have to worry about tomorrow then." Ronkus said.
Having showcased some of his talents, Ronkus couldn't help but get curious, repeatedly testing Minos to see if he had any other amazing abilities, much to Tinka's annoyance.
"Leave him alone dad! Come on Minos, let's go." Tinka said, grabbing Minos by the arm and dragging him out of the house.
"See what you did, you big oaf." Meninka said, slapping the back of Ronkus's head.
"Hey, you knew I was a curious person when you married me!" Ronkus said in self-defense.
…
Meanwhile, Minos and Tinka had stepped back onto the beach, but despite escaping Ronkus's shenanigans, it seemed they had indirectly stepped into another storm.
"Hey Minos boy, congrats on the wedding, I hope you catch a huge fish!" One tribe member said.
"Thank you." Minos returned.
"Tinka is the most beautiful gem of our tribe, so you better take good care of her!" Another man warned.
"Of course." Minos replied.
"You lucky bastard, I was going to propose to Tinka!" A younger man said, crying his eyes out as his friends pulled him back.
"Uhh, sorry about that?" Minos said, not really sure how to answer.
"Common Minos, it's too noisy here." Tinka said, pulling Minos away from the tribe's living area and deeper along the coast.