After managing to help the giant grab back on his feet the writer agreed to stay as long as he didn't try to eat her and she could stay in human form. Tamatoa for whatever reason insisted she stay on his shell though she was pretty sure it had something to do with her blonde hair. He had also started calling her treasure. "So why did you stay?" Tamatoa asked as the writer typed away at the next chapter. "You looked lonely." The writer said. "Is that the only reason babe? Maybe the fact that I'm so fabulous?" Tamatoa smirked. "While I'm not arguing with that, it's that you and I are similar." The writer said. *Tamatoa gave her an odd look* "You're not exactly shiny babe." The crab commented. "I meant you're an introverted theater person." The writer clarified. "Well, well, well? Are you a singer or a dancer?" The crab asked. "I can't dance." The writer admitted. "Oh come on everyone can dance you just need the right music." Tamatoa commented flipping a gold coin into the water. *Music began to play* "Hey that's not the track I picked!" the crab complained.
Trust in me
Just in me
Shut your eyes
"Is that you singing treasure?" *The writer didn't respond*
You can sleep safe and sound
Knowing I am around
*Tamatoa turned his eyes to see a huge snake moving towards a now sleeping writer. It stopped when it noticed the crabs glaring eyes*
"Hi." The snake greeted. "I didn't mean to interrupt your dinner." *The snake glanced down at the writer again* "Who are you and what are doing in my lair." The giant crab growled. "Kaa." She hissed. "I have come to invite you to a little villain gathering as a sort of welcoming to you as the new villain." "I will have to think on that one. Now if you don't mind I have guest." Tamatoa growled. "Well if you're not going eat the little morsel I will." Kaa stated poising herself to strike. *Tamatoa quickly turned accidently throwing the writer to snap at the snake. "Ow!" the writer complained. *Kaa fell from where she was hanging glanding close to the writer and was about to strike but suddenly froze* "Aren't you just the biggest fiercest noodle" the writer grinned. *Tamatoa looked closer to see both their eyes were glowing purple* "Not so fun being hypnotized is it dearie?" the writer asked. *the snake shook her head* "Now beat before Tamatoa decides to eat you." The writer ordered. * the snake slithered out as fast as she could* "Noodle?" Tamatoa questioned. "It's what snake people call snakes." The writer smiled. "You are weird." The crab commented. "I take that as a complement. So what'd I miss?" the writer asked. "What do you know about villains?" Tamatoa asked. "What's there to tell their villains? Their pretty one dimensional." *Tamatoa picked her up in his claw* "Is that what you think of me?" he glared at the writer. "Oh Tama, you are not a villain. You are a predator. Villains always have some kind of domination plot. Predators are concerned with survival (I'm aware Kaa also fits in this category). The only reason people consider you a villain is because you tried to eat Moana and beat up their favorite demigod (sorry Hercules it wasn't even close). "Fair enough" Tamatoa admitted. "What about villain parties?" "Oh they are known for throwing the most fun parties." The writer laughed. "Then it's settled you're coming with me." Tamatoa smiled. "Wait what?" The writer gasped.
"Makana you don't have to go I can handle crab cakes." Maui offered. "That's Ok Maui I actually need a favor from you." Makana requested. This got a raised eyebrow from the demigod. "I need you to protect the children in case any of the monsters have already left." She asked. "Keep them away from the water for now." "Makana…" Maui started but she stopped him. "Maui please, I probably wouldn't be alive if not for Aoloa. I owe him this much." Makana insisted. "Besides you asked for me to trust you. Well I'm trusting you with the most precious of my people." Maui sighed in defeat. "At least don't go alone." Maui asked. "I won't." she promised. "Somebody has to take Aoloa home and I will bet you a fish dinner that certain dragons will follow me no matter what orders I give." "That's a suckers bet and you know it." Maui teased. He watched as Makana took to the air with ease despite the monster on her back. He couldn't help but laugh when he saw the small fleet of male dragons give chase. They did not know what they were getting themselves into. The demigod looked down at the still frightened children. They had stayed where they were at the request of their chief. Maui wasn't quite sure what to do with them. It had been forever since he had been around dragons that young. As if Mini Maui could hear his thoughts he started waving franticly trying to get big Maui's attention. All the kids noticed and couldn't help but stare at the moving tattoo. Maui glanced down to see what was going on. As if on cue both Mini Moana and Mini Makana moved to the pectoral where Mini Maui was. He gestured at the two of them but Maui still didn't understand. Suddenly Mini Moana and Mini Makana glared at one another like they were about to attack each other but Mini Maui pushed them apart. They all glanced up at big Maui and this time he got the hint. "Have you kids ever heard how I ended the human dragon war?" the demigod smiled.
Maui flew high above the sea in his giant hawk form searching for any sign of trouble. It didn't take long for the demigod to find some. A large winged monster with shimmering bluish white scales was attacking a fleet of canoes. Fire erupted from its jaws igniting one of the sails. Maui's hawk cry rang out as he rushed the beast. The monster snapped its jaws at the annoyance but the demigod was too fast and tore into the monster's massive wings. Maui shifted back to his demigod form. This seemed to confuse the monster. Maui took advantage of this and leapt at the monster with a great roar his glowing hook slashed across its chest leaving a large wound. The monster yelped in pain before high tailing out of there. The voyagers cheered at Maui's victory. The wind picked up throwing water on the burning sail. "Great Maui," Chief Wai approached him. "Thank you for your assistance." "It's what I do." Maui smiled. "Was anyone hurt?" "Not this time." The chief admitted. "This time?" Maui questioned. "Many months ago, we voyaged to an island full of those monsters. There did appear to be humans on the island but we did not encounter any, only those beasts. We managed to wound one of them significantly before we were attacked by more. We are now unable to sail past their accursed island without being attacked." Chief Wai informed him. Maui glanced around and noticed a noticeable lack of children and very few women that normally accompanied these voyages. He also noticed an abundance of weaponry. "What were you planning on doing chief?" Maui asked. "We were going to finish this and with you here we are sure to succeed." The chief smiled. Everyone began to cheer. Maui usually didn't let humans accompany him on such feats but he loved having an audience.
The wind dragon Maui had injured landed with a hard thud with in the village of the dragons. Many of them, both in human and dragon form, ran to his aid. "Kamakani what happened?" one of the moon dragons asked but Kamakani pushed the healer away. "I need to see the chief." He grunted still in pain. Kahekili the powerful storm dragon and chief of the dragons suddenly appeared. His dark grey shimmering scales were offset by the many scars he had from winning the Kaua year after year. "I am here." He stated. Even his voice seemed to resonate with power. "Chief the humans, they attempted to return again. I managed to chase them away but one of them is a shapeshifter." Kamakani informed him. Murmurs broke out among the dragons but all fell silent when Kahekili spoke. "Only we dragons have been gifted with shapeshifting." He said trying to keep everyone from panicking. "I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen if myself." Kamakani insisted. Frightened whispers began again. "One of us?" someone wondered aloud. "Are there more?" another asked. "Enough!" Kahekili commanded. "We will deal with the intruders like we always have, by keeping them away from our home. Everyone but my Imua will remain here." The Imua were the elite warriors of the dragons. Several dragons stepped forward and readied themselves for battle.
The journey to the monster's island took about half a day. Maui was a bit surprised to see the island was huge. He remembered pulling it up eons ago. It would have supported many humans if not for its current monster problem. The boat had no more been moored when twenty or so of the monsters emerged from the forest. Maui readied his fishhook as the monsters barred their dagger like fangs. They didn't seem fazed by his warrior face in fact a grey one marked up with scars actually stepped forward baring his teeth. The humans held their weapons at the ready. One of the monsters charged but Maui leapt at the beast and killed it with his hook. That started everyone to charge forward and the fighting to begin. The two sides tore into each other brutally. Maui shapeshifted into his hawk form to get greater altitude catching the attention of all the monsters who gave the same confused expression the first one had. He changed back into his demigod form and slammed into one of the monsters cracking its bones. He tried the same thing only this time he was slammed by the large grey one's tail. Th demi god changed tactics and managed to tear a deep gash in the monster's side with his hook before being smacked away by the creature's large claws. With Maui's help half of the monsters were killed and the other half severely wounded. They were forced to retreat. The humans cheered at the victory but many of them were in just as bad of a condition. The only relatively uninjured one was Maui he thought about pursuing the monsters but chose instead to assist the injured humans.
This was only the first of these battles. Terrifying stories began to spread throughout the dragon colony about the fierce shapeshifting warrior fighting alongside the humans. He had gained the name Destroyer. The dragons still refused to give up their island. With each advance, fierce battles took place and there were always casualties. Maui couldn't figure out how the dragons were healing so quickly so he decided to investigate. His hawk form was to easily recognizable so he opted instead to shift into his lizard form and made his way toward the interior of the island.
Maui hurried along the ground and was surprised when he could see the tops of well-maintained fales. "So, there are humans here." Maui thought to himself. So why hadn't he seen any? Were they being held hostage or something? Suddenly he heard voices and was about to call out but stopped when several of the creatures appeared. These were much smaller than the ones he had been fighting. He guessed they were the creatures young. There were five total. One green, one brown, one blue and two white. Maui couldn't help but notice that neither the brown nor the blue one had wings and that they all had very shiny scales. "Tamatoa would love these guys." Maui thought to himself. The demigod hated that he was going to have to kill these kids but if he didn't they would retaliate later in life. Maybe he would just toss them into Laloti instead. His thoughts were interrupted when the smaller of the white dragons spoke. "Chief Kahekili said to stay near the village!" he protested. "Then go back scaredy dragon!" The brown one teased. "Why'd you have to bring Aolani, Kekoa?" The green one asked. "Hey lay off!" The larger white one protested. "You know my mom wants me to keep an eye on him." "He sure needs it." The blue one commented. "He doesn't have his fire and he can barely shapeshift." "Wait what?" Maui thought to himself as he moved a little closer. "Yeah your one to talk Honi!" the brown one laughed. Honi gave a mischievous smirk before transforming in a flash of fire to a boy that couldn't be older than twelve. Maui couldn't believe what he had just seen. "Better run guys." Honi threatened picking up a curved stick. "I'm the Destroyer!" the young shapeshifters laughed keeping just out of reach. "I am the dragon chief of this great island and I will defeat you Destroyer!" the green one said in a much deeper voice trying to imitate the chieftain. Honi let himself be pinned and they all laughed as they continued to play. Maui realized he had made a terrible mistake. These weren't monsters, they were just shapeshifters that could change into… what had they called it? A dragon! He needed to correct this. Maui backed away not wanting to scare the kids. It was obvious by the name they had called him that they would be terrified of him. "What kind of title was Destroyer?" Maui questioned. He was a hero for crying out loud!
The five young dragon continued to play not knowing they had been seen by the demigod. "Hey guys if we're going to get to the stream and back before anyone notices we better go now." Honi reminded them. They all nodded and hurried off. Aolani, the youngest of them only five, tried to keep up but soon found the others far ahead of him. He was pretty sure they had done that on purpose. Aolani didn't know this island as well as they did but he remembered the stream was on the far side of the island. He did his best to find his way but ultimately found himself lost and besides that something felt off about the area he was in. The older earth dragon Hori's words rang in his head. "I am not a scardey dragon" Aolani told himself before stepping forward only to have ropes thrown over him from every direction.
The four older dragons practically dove into the stream. They darted after small minnows testing out their fishing skills. Since the humans had come they had been unable to go anywhere outside of the village and this was their favorite spot. Honi being a water dragon used his powers to start a splashing war. They were all laughing joyously when Kanoa the forest dragon spoke up. "Hey Kekoa, where's your brother?" he asked. They all stopped and looked around. "Aolani?" Kekoa called. No answer. "Oh no, where is he you guys." Kekoa began to panic. "He was right behind you!" Hori protested. "This is not good guys! We have to find him." Kekoa begged. "I told you not to bring him!" Honi reminded him earning him an angry look from the other dragon. They all began calling for the little moon dragon when a distressed scream echoed through the forest. Kekoa knew it was his brother. The four dragons ran towards the scream and burst into a clearing only to be met with a wall of spears. Several humans jabbed at them tearing wounds in their sides and wings. Kekoa could see his brother on the other side of these humans. A few more humans could be seen pulling a struggling Aolani away but none of the dragons could get to him. Hori attempted to use his powers to make the trees attack the humans but they barely moved. The others elemental powers didn't fare any better and they were forced to run or be cut to pieces. Kekoa had to be dragged by the others. "Kekoa stop! We need help!" Kanoa insisted.
Maui emerged from the forest to find the humans cheering. "Maui, you just in time." Chief Wai approached him. "What's going on?" Maui questioned. "We've managed to capture one of the monsters." Chief Wai smiled. "You what?" Maui demanded hurrying towards the cheering crowd that surrounded the young dragon. "You don't understand." But before the demigod could explain more storm clouds appeared out of nowhere. The ocean and wind whipped themselves into a frenzy and the trees began to move unnaturally as almost every adult dragon appeared at the edge of the forest, at least fifty. All full grown and all very angry. The humans grabbed their weapons except for the ones restraining the young dragon and one about to kill him. Maui rushed over and grabbed the shark tooth club before it came down. Much to the humans' surprise the demigod cut the ropes restraining the dragon. He was so small Maui was able to scoop him up in one arm. Aolani was so scared that he didn't move but there was something different about this human. He seemed to be protecting him and his mana almost seemed comforting. The two sides were about to kill each other when Maui sent a blast of blue mana between them drawing everyone's attention to him. "This ends now!" he proclaimed. He moved closer to the dragons and set Aolani down. Maui kept his eyes on the adult dragons as he did. "Hoku take your son to safety." The large grey one ordered. Maui assumed he was the chief of the dragons and did not protest as a much larger white female moved towards the young dragon. She scooped her son up in her claws and took flight. "Maui?" Chief Wai questioned. "There's been a mistake. These aren't monsters, their shapeshifters." Maui informed them. The humans glanced between the demigod and the dragons. "That doesn't change the fact they attacked and killed my people!" Chief Wai protested. "How dare you!" Chief Kahekili snarled. "YOU who invaded our island and started this when you kill one of MY people simply because he was in his dragon form. You call us monsters yet you are the ones acting monstrous and to add insult to injury you bring a shapeshifter to kill us all!" Maui could tell a fight was about to break out. "Alright enough!" Maui ordered bringing everyone's attention back on him. "Let's hold off on killing each other. You two chiefs are going to work this out." "And who are you to give that order?" Chief Kahekili growled narrowing his eyes. "I'm Maui, demigod of the wind and sea." Maui informed him. Chief Kahekili's eyes widened with this revelation. Frightened murmurs broke out among the dragons and many of them took a step back. It didn't escape Maui's attention. "I'm not going to hurt anyone unless they give me a reason and nobody is going kill anyone while I'm here. Are we clear on that?" He asked eyeing both sides. Chief Kahekili took the hint. "Stand down." He ordered. At this command the elements seemed to calm down but the sky remained overcast. "Let's talk." Maui stated.
Chief Kahekili ordered the dragons back to the village before shifting into human form. Maui took note of the fierce looking dragon tattoo on his back along with the storm themed tattoos decorating other parts of his body. There were also many scars crisscrossing his body. The two chiefs followed the demigod to more neutral ground. They finally called a truce. The voyagers would be allowed to gather supplies at the discretion of the dragons. It was their island after all. They would also be allowed to voyage past the island. In return the humans would never attack them again. It wasn't a perfect relationship but even Maui understood this was going to take time to fix. Maui continued to visit this island of shapeshifters. It took a while for them to warm up to and stop being so scared of the demigod. Not surprisingly it was Aolani the young moon dragon he had saved who convinced his people that Maui was more like them and wasn't someone they should be afraid of. The dragons also eventually warmed up to the humans as well. They even went as far as to defend them against monsters as they sailed through their waters. This alliance lead to ceremonial necklaces being crafted and exchanged among the chiefs as a show of friendship. Some dragons even dispersed to live and voyage among the humans. Maui couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction when a tattoo of him uniting the two peoples appeared on his lower back. With the dragons helping to protect the humans, it made his job a lot easier but there were even monsters the dragons couldn't handle. Maui wasn't happy to take care of those and reveled in the praise he got. He did everything to make them love him and they did. How could they not? He was Maui, demigod of the wind and sea, hero to all.
"And that's how I ended the human dragon war." Maui proclaimed. "Whoa!" all the little dragons gasped. Maui could see he had gathered quite an audience of older dragons around the fire. He noticed Makana smiling at him from the other side of the fire. "See, I knew you handle it." She said. "Of course I can, I'm Maui." he smirked. "So how was Laloti?" "Interesting and it now has one less screaming crab." Makana informed him. "You killed him?" Maui asked a little surprised. "No I helped him and he helped me make a point to my suitors." She clarified. "I could have helped you with that too." Maui laughed. "Somehow you're not as intimidating as a fifty-foot bioluminescent crab." She smiled. "And it was the weirdest thing he called me his friend for some reason." At this Maui's expression changed. "Maui, are you alright?" Makana asked. "I'm fine." Maui lied. "Just be careful around Tamatoa. He may seem friendly at first but he will eat you the first chance he gets." Makana could tell he was extremely upset as he walked away from her but it wasn't at her. "Don't do something rash!" Makana called but he ignored her. He wasn't going to do something rash just give some "friendly" advice to his old friend.
Tamatoa picked absent mindedly through some of the treasures he had recovered from being flipped on his back when he felt a presence behind him. He didn't even have to turn to know it was Maui. "Well, well, well." Tamatoa sang. "If it isn't the fallen demigod. Heard about my new friend?" "Stay away from her crab cakes!" Maui warned. At this the giant crab turned to face the demigod. "Oh, what's wrong Maui man? Mad that one of your little friends likes me?" Tamatoa taunted. "And a chief no less." "I'm warning you right now you beady eyed bottom feeder, if you hurt her or any of them, I'll do more than rip your leg off." Maui threatened. At this threat the crabs smirk disappeared. "You just can't accept that someone might actually want to be friends with me." Tamatoa challenged. "No I can't." Maui stated turning to leave. "You did." Tamatoa muttered as the demigod disappeared.
"Tamatoa put me down you over grown hermit crab!" (fun fact: coconut crabs are the largest species of hermit crabs in the world) The writer growled. "I may be a vet student but I will hurt you." "No wonder you're so crazy and I thought you only worked on those small fuzzy things." Tamatoa laughed. "And you said you were a theater girl." "That's a hobby. Wildlife vet is a career." The writer clarified. "And part of the reason I chose to hang out with the giant singing crab instead of the demigod." "Look treasure, you know these people better than I do." Tamatoa protested. "Yeah and the fact that I am not a Disney villain will get me killed or worse!" the writer warned. "You really think those pathetic little villains can get past moi?" "I'm not going to win this am I?" the writer sighed. "What do you think babe?" the crab smirked. "Fine, just let me make one adjustment." The writer sighed. *Tamatoa opened his claw letting her jump to his back and type something into her laptop. Both of them began to glow for a moment* "Ok we're good but hopefully nothing bad will happen." The writer confirmed.
