Disclaimer: I do not own the recognizable characters of this work of fiction, and no profit is being made, monetary or otherwise, through the writing of this.
Notes: Momilani Ululanilelanikeaokawai means: pearl from heaven, divine inspiration, heavenly woman, the light of day, coming from water; Maui is not the Disney version of the Hawaiian god that we all know and love. I have taken bits and pieces of information from several different resources and combined them to recreate Maui and Lono in a way that I hope is entertaining, and not disrespectful.
A/N: Thank you for the lovely support, IreneClaire. :-)
Warning: This is different in tone than the previous parts of this story. It is heavier, and darker in content. The darkness (which is intentionally vague at the moment) is hoping to gain a foothold in the islands, and is using a follower willing to make a sacrifice of blood and innocence. There is blood and violence in this story.
Freedom like he'd only experienced once before, as a dragon, was liberating. Lou dove toward the sparkling blue of the ocean, pulling up at the last second, no doubt avoiding a watery death. He let out a whoop that sounded a lot like an eagle's screech and circled the rest of Five-0, happier than he'd been in a long time, though that happiness was tempered by the nature of the mission they'd been given. Lou felt guilty for his momentary lapse, and focused straight ahead, flying even with Danny.
Maui, the demigod who often tested the five people he'd chosen to be the Guardians of the islands, had really outdone himself this time, Lou thought. He didn't really mind this transformation, or the long flight from Oahu to the big island (Hawaii).
From Smurf, to dragon, to a sizzling slice of bacon, to an eagle soaring through the clouds, there seemed to be no limit to what the demigod was willing, and able, to do to his chosen five. Lou wondered what the demigod would think of next, or if he'd finally trust them to tackle the darkness facing the islands as their human selves.
Part of him wanted to experience other transmogrifications, because, like flying, it was, in a way, liberating to be something else and experience a few hours, or longer, as something other than human. Another part of him, the part that still remembered the lingering heat of the frying pan (probably the part of him that still retained some semblance of sanity after joining Five-0 and becoming part of Maui's crew) wanted to remain in human form and kick some supernatural, or human, ass without the addition of godly mojo thrown into the mix. He wasn't sure which part of him he should listen to as he soared through a cloud and peered at the glimmering ocean below. From this height, and with his eagle-eye vision, the ocean looked like it had been infused with diamonds.
Danny, some kind of dark feathered hawk, was making a lazy swoop as he circled Steve, some kind of black eagle which Lou doubted existed in the real world, before pulling even once again with Lou.
Kono was skimming the water with her talons, almost as though she was surfing in her parrot form, pulling up every once in awhile, and then letting her talons dance across the waves. She was clearly having fun, and Lou tried not to let it bother him.
Chin was flying off to Steve's left, keeping an eye on his cousin, Danny, and Lou as he let the air currents carry him. A raven, Chin was smaller than the others, yet appeared to be just as formidable a foe as the rest of them with razor sharp talons that he'd used to scoop a fish out of the water and eat. Apparently he'd missed dinner when they'd been called into action.
Lou knew that a typical flight to the big island took a little under an hour, but that was on a plane. He wondered how long it would take them to reach their destination, and how long it would take them to then find the little girl they were supposed to save. She'd been kidnapped before they'd been dispatched, and was in danger.
According to Maui and Lono, who'd contacted them all in a dreamlike vision, the little girl, Momilani Ululanilelanikeaokawai, who was the future hope of the islands, was in danger of being killed by her kidnapper, a man who'd been corrupted by the evil darkness encroaching on the islands. The very darkness that they'd been chosen by Maui to fight against.
Why they'd been forced, once again, to take on alternate forms, was a mystery to Lou. Had they been human, they could have already been on the big island by now. He estimated that they'd been in the air for well over an hour. Who knew what the corrupted man had done to the little girl by now? She'd been with him for half a day by the time they'd been notified of the kidnapping by the gods, and by the time they'd taken flight, she'd been with him for three more hours.
Time was of the essence in kidnapping cases. True, they'd found out about her before the standard forty-eight hours allotted to such things, but in Lou's mind, they should have been notified before she'd even been taken so that she would not have to go through the terror of being kidnapped in the first place.
Lou's heart ached for the little girl, and he cried out as he flapped his wings, hoping to go faster, in spite of the powerful winds that seemed to be against them.
Unfortunately, it wasn't easy going, and Lou wondered why Maui and Lono didn't still the winds. If they cared at all for the little girl, and their chosen Guardians, surely they'd do everything in their power to make things easier, rather than harder.
Lou threw himself into a gravity defying dive, leaving Danny, then Steve behind. He passed Chin and came alongside Kono. He pulled up just before he hit the water and turned to glare at the 'surfing' parrot, reminding her that they were on a case. With an irritated squawk, Kono pulled out of the water, a fish dangling from one of her talons, and she flew up past Lou and then her cousin before dropping the fish and making a sound that could only be described as laughter when the fish landed in the water with an impressive splash.
Sighing, Lou climbed the air with his wings, and resumed his position high above the others where Danny was, both of them keeping an eye on the horizon, both keenly focused on the task at hand. As fathers of little girls, both of them had a rather vested interest in their current mission, not that the others didn't, but the others didn't seem as invested in the mission as they were. Maybe Lou was too close to the case to have perspective on the behavior of the others. Maybe he was reading something into Kono's actions that wasn't there. Maybe he was just pissed off at Maui and Lono for not putting them on the case earlier.
Danny brushed the tip of a wing against Lou's, a question in his eyes. They were unable to speak in their bird forms, much to everyone's annoyance, though they did seem to be able to communicate through actions and the typical sounds that birds made.
Lou responded by brushing Danny's wingtip in return and then he spotted land. Danny must've spotted it a second or two before Lou, because he broke away and flew an arc around the team, making an almost haunting screech that shook Lou's bones. It was clear what Danny was saying, Land ahead, eyes sharp, get ready.
Steve rose in the air - the impressive span of his dark wings reminded Lou of the Dark Knight himself, Batman - and took the lead. Danny continued to fly in elegant arcs around them until they drew closer to land, and then he flew off ahead of them, ignoring Steve's sharp cry of rebuke.
Lou understood what Danny was doing, and while he understood Steve's concern, he silently applauded the hawk. As a smaller bird, Danny had the advantage over both Steve and Lou, he would be able to fit into tighter spaces (should it be necessary), and could fly a little faster than any of them. He also had the ability to make tighter turns than either Steve or Lou, and his eyesight was just a smidge better. As a hawk, Danny was the ideal scout for the team.
As a parrot, Kono was trailing a little behind them with Chin just in front of her. Both the raven and the parrot were known for their ability to mimic human speech, which would hopefully come in handy when they found the girl. Lou was hopeful that, even if it didn't seem like Maui and Lono were giving them much help on this mission, they had at least sent them off on the right course and that it wouldn't take them long to find the girl once they'd reached the coast of Hawaii.