Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Moana. All belong to Disney and the story's creators. I only own Lahela and the plot created for this story.
Welcome to Eye of the Storm! Sequel to Raging Storm. If you haven't read it yet, I would recommend going back and working on that first. I'm thrilled that so many of you liked Lahela and I could bring her back for more. I hope you enjoy the story and let me know what you think!
- ShadowMoon2430
Chapter 1
The forest surrounding Lahela and Maui was dense, much like the village they had just left. In comparison to the village however, the forest was calm. The village left behind was nearly overflowing with a collection of people bustling about with their daily lives.
The only thing disrupting the forest was Lahela. Despite her best efforts, the goddess of storms could not contain her laughter as she walked behind the demigod. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she spoke through her laughter, muffling her mouth with her hand. "I just can't believe they prayed for your help with that. And you answered."
Maui didn't reply, grumbling to himself as he walked.
"I assume they never said what they needed help with. I hope not anyway. Oh, it was wonderful though. The great Maui, reduced to house work." Lahela continued laughing until she had to pause her steps. She hunched over, trying to breath as her crimson hair fell over her face.
"Laugh all you like, you're not doing much better. If you actually responded to prayers, I'm sure they'd want you to watch their children."
Lahela scoffed at the idea. "As if anyone would put a child under my care. They'd have to know my name first anyway."
Maui stopped as he turned around and gave the goddess a look of disbelief. "They do know your name. You can pretend to be invisible all you like but you're starting to get a name for yourself again."
"Doesn't matter," Lahela said with a shrug as she tried to move on from the topic. It had been several months now and restoring the heart to Te Fiti hadn't exactly gone unnoticed. With life returning to the islands, people thanked the gods and began looking for the next tale to pass on. With time, the pieces were put together and the tale of how Maui, Lahela, and the human, Moana, were able to defeat Te Ka and return Te Fiti's heart spread throughout the islands.
From the moment he became a demigod, Maui seemed to always be the focus of tales. His name was known everywhere and he loved it. Humans knew his name and worshipped him, and he embraced it. Which is why Lahela made no sense to him. "You're a goddess, people are supposed to know your name."
Lahela shook her head. "It isn't necessarily a good thing. Sure, people can call on me if they need rain but most don't. They just think about violent storms and associate it with me. I'm destruction."
"You just saved the world! People can't say that anymore." Maui put an arm around her shoulder and pushed her along. "Just stick with me. They'll be praising your name."
"I'll leave the praise to you."
Maui rolled his eyes before he moved his hand to her back and gave her a light shove. "You are one weird goddess."
"It's better than being a pompous demigod," Lahela teased as she caught herself and faced Maui.
"It's okay, I understand. It's intimidating when you have to start living up to my awesome stories."
She snickered as she turned away from him dramatically and continued their walk towards the boat. "Oh, you wish! You are so full of yourself. How is it that people still pray to you after meeting you?"
"They realize my greatness. You will too, someday."
Despite Maui's proclamation, Lahela laughed at the demigod. It was a typical conversation for them. Even if they let it rest this time, it would rise back up another time. It was just what they did.
The pair bickered often, even in front of humans. Though they didn't mean to, that was the image they created. After all, it didn't go unnoticed that the Demigod Maui and the Goddess of Storms, Lahela, seemed to suddenly be traveling together. A peculiar combination that had no explanation. It is that situation that leads to people making up their own. If only the pair knew what was being said about them when their stories were being brought up.
A new island led to a new situation. Having left their previous location, Lahela had suggested stopping at another island she knew was simply a day away, one that had been dying the last time she saw it. The bleak world she left was no longer there. A thriving island full of life awaited them instead. That was the only peace on the island though.
Many years before, there were two villages that had made the land their home. Since that time, they had learned to live together and assist each other when necessary. They were hardly viewed as two villages, but more as one.
Maui and Lahela walked around the outside of the village as they remained out of sight. Though Maui was uninterested in anything going on at the moment, Lahela watched the village. She assumed it would have been lively, but something seemed off. Even from a distance, she could feel a tension in the air.
"I wonder what happened," Lahela whispered as she listened to a set of villagers arguing as they walked past where the pair was hiding.
"Who knows. They're humans, they argue sometimes."
Lahela looked at him critically. "Are you not seeing what I am? The entire village seems to be arguing. Shouldn't they be happy? They just got the island back."
"You're thinking too much into this." Maui sat down and turned his back against the village. Lahela could worry but he saw no reason to.
Lahela sat down in front of him them. "I thought you wanted to help the humans. Isn't that what you do, Maui?"
"Yes, but this isn't the same. Let me know when they need saving, then I'll step in."
She let out a breath and looked away annoyed. She supposed that he was right. They weren't exactly dying and they weren't the first group of people to have issues. In fact, they got along better than the gods most of the time. It just wasn't what she wanted to see on the island. It reminded her of when she had still been answering prayers and visiting humans. "Fine, let's just head back out."
"Nope," Maui said as he leaned back, making himself comfortable against a tree. "You dragged us here. Why rush back out on the water?"
"Why not if we're not doing anything here?"
The demigod simply waved her question off and closed his eyes.
"I'm gonna go explore then. I'll be back later." Lahela stood up and walked off, leaving Maui to his lounging.
She wasn't expecting to find much on her trip around the island, but she did find a few answers. Her trip took her down a path that looked like it had long since been forgotten. She was not the only one on it though. At the end of the path sat a middle-aged woman who was staring up at the sky. Being such a distance away from the village, she seemed very out of place despite being so relaxed.
As Lahela took a few steps closer, the woman turned towards her and smiled gently. "Well, I can't say I ever expected to see company out here. What brings you out here?"
The goddess paused. She hadn't expected such friendly words. "I'm quite fond of exploring…"
The woman laughed at her hesitation. "I come out here a lot. It's peaceful, something that isn't common in my village anymore."
"I noticed," Lahela said as she walked forward again. "My friend and I just landed here and the village seems… quite tense."
"Tense is one word for it," the woman conceded. "The people in the village just can't seem to get along anymore. Of course, that's nothing in comparison to our neighbors on this island. If you were trying to find somewhere new to stay, I recommend somewhere else."
"Why?" Lahela asked, caught up in her thoughts. Perhaps she was right about something being off. "I was here a while ago and the villages got along wonderfully. Why are they fighting now?"
The woman leaned forward as she looked at Lahela closely. "I don't know, but perhaps you and your friend could find out. These issues happened recently and escalated quickly. I fear what will come next. It's why I come out here. Most people seemed to forget what peace is."
Lahela bit her lip as she tilted her head in thought. Nothing came to mind as to why that would happen. And she didn't know why this woman thought she and Maui would be able to fix it. "I'm not sure I know how to help."
"Maybe not, but I would feel much better with your help. I fear we may need help from the gods." She stood up then. "I should get back to my husband though. I'll have no home to go back to if I stay out here much longer." As she walked off, she took a moment to turn back around. "Thank you for letting me get my thoughts out. It was a pleasure to meet you."
Once the woman was out of her sight, Lahela made her way back towards the village as well. She assumed Maui would still be there and if not he was most likely at the boat. Just as she thought, there sat the demigod right where she left him, resting without a care in the world.
Lahela knelt down beside him before she spoke quite loudly in his ear. "Maui!"
He jolted up and slammed his head against Lahela's before he looked at her wide-eyed. "What was that for?"
She cringed as she rubbed her head but smiled once she finally looked back at him and spoke quickly. "I was right! I knew there was something going on. I met this woman who said this started suddenly. And it's not just their village, it's almost everyone on the island."
Maui was clearly skeptical. "And you expect us to… what? Talk about their problems?"
"No. I don't know. I don't know if we can even help, but there is something going on. I was right."
"Okay, okay. So maybe there is a problem here. Let the humans work it out though. We don't need to do everything for them."
"I guess…" Lahela agreed, though she wasn't sure it wasn't worse than just the usual human problems. She left it at that.
The rest of the day was spent on the island until Maui and Lahela decided it was time to head off. It seemed that was simply the first stop on the path to their next adventure.
Lahela and Maui are back with a new problem is lurking in the distance. If homework doesn't get in the way too much, I will hopefully have a new update sometime in the second half of the week. I am super excited to get this new story going though. I have fun things planned for the plot that I am just dying to get to.