"The demigod Maui's magic fishhook will be a great addition to my shiny collection." The words rang through the cave loud and clear, but you still had a hard time believing them. Maui? The demigod? That was just a tale that parents tell their children so they have some type of fantasy to look up to, right? Ungracefully, you snort out a burst of laughter that caused both of the other occupants in the cave to look at you incredulously. "Yeah, right." You waved your hand. "That's probably just something that someone, somewhere, made as a toy."
Out of nowhere, a hand covered your mouth, as another started to lead you out of the cave. "Please excuse her impudence, Great Tamatoa." Waione said clear and concise. "She has always been very critical of things she cannot or has not seen with her own eyes. If this is to your liking, then we will be taking our leave now, so she doesn't offend you anymore than she has already done so."
Tamatoa eyed you in what could only be described as disgust as he pointed at you with his huge claw. "This very hook is the reason that I'm missing part of a leg, dull human, so you can believe the stories your parents told you." Waione apologized for your behavior again and made you bow slightly to the crab as he did so, as well.
You were fuming but you knew it best to keep your mouth shut. How dare he treat you like you were just a nuisance! Waione was going to get a good reaming on the climb back up the ladder. True, he was probably right, but it didn't make you any less upset; if anything, that's what made you even more agitated. Only when you were both out of the cave did he finally let go of you, staring pointedly ahead in a manner that said 'I'll deal with you later', which silenced you.
"Waione…I'm s…" You started to say, but were cut short by a loud screeching that came from high above both of you. Waione grabbed your forearm painfully tight and pulled you down into some nearby shrubbery, putting a finger to his lips to shush you. He was ducking into the shrubs beside you, but his overall size was significantly larger than yours and caused the plants to part and make a hole that clearly showed where he was if you were looking. The shrieking grew louder and time seemed to come to a halt as Waione was abruptly being lifted out of the plants and into the air by a giant winged bat like creature!
"WAIONE!" You grabbed onto his leg, causing the winged creature to falter before pumping its wings harder and managing to lift you from the ground as well. If only you had been a bit stronger or heavier or bigger or….
"TAMATOAAAAA!" You bellowed in the direction of the cave, ignoring Waione's protests. Thunderous footsteps echoed from the cave as he came bolting out to see what all of the ruckus was that was disrupting his attempts at finding a good spot for his new treasure. Initially, he scoffed and turned back into his cave because why would he help two puny humans who meant nothing to him? Such were the ways of Lalotai. Eat or be eaten.
"Tamatoa, please! If we don't return then our people will stop bringing you treasure!" This seemed to dawn on him right as the words were leaving your lips because soon you were falling to the ground and the bat creature was completely snapped in two by Tamatoa's giant claw. Both you and Waione landed with a roll as the pieces of the now dead creature were picked up and eaten by the crab who then glanced down at both of you to be sure of your survival.
You were shaking from fear and adrenaline but you hoped it didn't reach your voice. "T-Thank you, T-Tamatoa. We couldn't have escaped without you. I will ask the elders to increase your treasure load upon the next visit." A giant claw pushed you to your feet and wrapped around your waist, lifting you into the air and closer to his face.
"How can I even be certain that you will return the next time after what just happened?" His eye darted down to your injured leg. "Really? You come here to my fabulous home looking like a drab, broken piece and expect to NOT be attacked by every blood thirsty monster in Lalotai? You're a rather dense human, huh?" He glanced at Waione, back to you, then back to Waione.
"You seem to be the more rationally minded one. You can tell your island people that I will be keeping this one. When you come back with double the amount of treasure than usual you'll get her back in one piece….more or less." He smirked and turned to go back into his cave, a flabbergasted Waione left outside before he slowly made his way back up to the exit of Lalotai. He had to get back. The faster he got back, the faster they could return with more treasure to appease this vile creature who just took a human sacrifice...and it wasn't just any 'human' that Tamatoa had taken. You were the one Waione had been hoping to marry. He was definitely going to fix this. 'Hang on, Aratika. I promise I will return swiftly.'
You were thrown, carelessly, into a plant that had grown from the cave floor in the formation of a type of cage. The ground was soft, which made your landing easy, but being tossed around like a doll was still painful and had its disadvantages with a hurt leg. You sat on a large patch of moss and pulled the wrappings up a smidge so you could see that the landing had caused it to start bleeding again. "You're making my home reek, human, do something about it." Tamatoa was in the center of the cave, moving some of the gold around on his shell to find a home for his new hook.
"Hey! You can't keep me here! Why did you kidnap me?!" You rush over to the bar like side of your cage, peering out at him in rage, but he ignored you, finally managing to get the hook stuck in the treasure on his shell. Smiling triumphantly, he set about adorning the hook with coin pieces. How he managed to hold tiny gold pieces with his claws was beyond you. "I'm talking to you! Hello?" If he wasn't going to talk to you, then you were just going to talk until he did.
"Hey! You stupid giant crab! Stop ignoring me! I'm talking to you, you overgrown, tacky shipwreck!" Tamatoa snapped his claw at you and picked you up by your hips again. You were being lifted out of your cage and squeezed, way too tightly, by his giant claw as his furrowed eyes scowled at you. The image of the winged bat creature being snapped in two was brought to mind as you looked up into the crab's face. "Do you care to repeat that, human? Or shall I just eat you now. I don't care if you return to your people or not. If they try to avenge your death, I'll just eat them, too."
Maybe you shouldn't have opened your big mouth and stuck your foot in…. Terrified, you stuttered while asking that he put you down, or loosen his grip on you, since it was hurting and causing your legs to feel numb. Smirking he threw you back into your cage and you were almost happy for that outcome. Better than being squeezed to death, right? You sighed and apologized for upsetting him; he didn't even comment on how you didn't apologize that you actually said your snarky insults.
"Human, you can either be grouchy the entire time you're my prisoner or you can attempt to make the best of it. I won't be bad company if you aren't. Anyone would be honored to be in my presence for an extended amount of time because of how fabulous I am." Tamatoa shrugged and lay down in the rays of sun that came through an opening in the ceiling. You had no idea how the sun managed to come all the way down to the bottom of the sea, but the feelings of jealousy that arose as he warmed himself in the rays as you sat in the dark and cold of your cage were overwhelming. Were you ever going to see the sun, or better yet, your people again?