Sorry this took a while guys but i have had assignments and tests and excursions and personal business bashing me at every angle. Please be patient with me guys, I sometimes have to go weeks without writing things because i just cannot afford to. I already do way too much art when i should be passing my subjects at school, so writing and archery and work and friends (and watching Moana and Beauty and the Beast -old and new- on a loop,) does take up some of my time.
Anyway, hope you enjoy and remember I do not own Maui, moana, Te Fiti etc. but my OC's are mine.
The chamber was enormous. Ahonui had to bite his bottom lip to stop from gasping, as he gazed from the corner he was hiding behind. Instead of being a flat floor, it had several rises and dips in the ground, and the roof must have been almost a hundred feet above his head. The demons and creatures were arranging themselves, and Ahonui saw that the shark and barracuda forms had changed into something more humanoid, but like Te Tamaroa, they were grotesque and scary in appearance. The head red shark was lithe and strong looking, but large teeth poked through his bloodied and scarred lips, and his eyes were as dark as the bottom of the ocean.
Others like Tamatoa stayed in their form, even though the coconut crab himself still looked unimpressed, although he was surrounded by treasures.
By the gods, the treasures!
They covered the walls, piled against them in mounds. It wasn't like Tamatoa's hoard though. These were not glittering shiny gold, but weapons and jewellery and food, statues made of coral that Ahonui swore would sometimes move. But no matter how much he looked, Ahonui couldn't spot Maui's hook. But, he still had to stick close to Te Tamaroa. It was still his highest chance of finding it.
A particularly large rise in the chamber was in the very centre, directly under some form of life that Ahonui couldn't find the source of. It was here that Te Tamaroa, in his strange human form, took his place. He stood patiently, waiting for the others to settle, and a few moments later the chamber was silent.
"My friends," Te Tamaroa said, opening his dark arms with a smile. Ahonui saw a few of them snigger, Tamatoa included. The red shark stayed silent and still. "I have invited you here today because we all face a very common problem."
"Yeah, you!" One of the Tern's called out, earning some chuckles.
"All of us are problems to each other. But this is minor, compared to what we really face." Te Tamaroa continued with the same smile. Ahonui had to hand it to the psychopathic creep, his voice was smooth and caught attention. "I have been a god for thousands upon thousands of years," He started pacing on his small stand, turning on the spot to address the whole room, "Many of you have been around as long as I have. And what has always been our major problem? Our annoyance? The cause for the lack of power that we once possessed."
Mouths twisted and eyes squinted in suspicion. Ahonui wasn't alone in wondering where this was going. He was particularly interested in the red shark. Sharks are not usually a danger, but as large and powerful as these, being controlled or encouraged by another force, this could be another dead age for the WayFinder.
Te Tamaroa had the whole chambers interest now.
"Humans. My fellow gods made them sprout from the earth and water, to live as mortals. And ever since they have existed, our kind, the dark," he looked at the tern Ka-poe-kino-manu, "The dangerous," he gestured towards the Ka-poe-kina-mano, "And the bold," he swept his hand across towards the others, and even Tamatoa lowered his crossed arms, his face slackening, "Have been oppressed and tossed to live in the blackest corners of the earth while these humans drink the finest of Kava, while we should be drinking their life blood."
Where is he going with this?! Ahonui thought, his eyebrows coming close together as he watched.
"And what do you suppose we do about it?" One of the Tern forms asked, hopping forward once on her legs, tilting her head. Her beak was the sharpest of all and her feathers pristine, despite the cuts on her legs.
"Simple. We destroy them. If we create a revolt of all our kinds, all the demons, dreadful and the dead inside, we will have the largest and most dangerous army of them all." Te Tamaroa said with a cocky smile. However, it was quickly expelled when only laughter from dozens of demons met his suggestion. Only the red shark and
Tamatoa seemed to be unentertained.
"You're a fool eel-head." Growled one of the Barracuda humanoids with good humour. "The gods would never allow it. They'd blast us out like how you blew your chances with Hina."
This earned a surprising amount of laughter. To Te Tamaroa's credit, he didn't flinch, glare, anything.
"But look where Hina is now? Almost a mortal, confined to the earth." He answered easily.
"So you suggest we try attack all the other gods? Ha!" Laughed the first tern, her wings twitching as she laughed. "We'll never be able to. You're a god, but we are simply the scraps, the leftovers, of their creations."
"My dear Teuila, we won't have to. Even the gods wouldn't be able to stop the host I am planning on building. Most of them cannot even return to the mortal world without being bonded here for ever. I am one of the only gods that belongs to both worlds."
No one was laughing now. This was looking far more serious than they were used to. A revolt, against the humans and without the gods will. And they had the capability to do it.
"What about Maui and Hina? And, this Moana?"
The whole room turned to look at the head shark.
"If gods cannot fight us, Katao my friends, then what is two demi-gods?" Te Tamaroa smiled.
"Two determined demi-gods, and a mortal whose friend is the very ocean around you. If you are not careful, Te Tamaroa, you may be suffocated by your own home. My kind are healthy. I will not put myself into this foolishness." He spoke with finality.
"But the rest of us are not!" Tamatoa spat. "That blasted Maui ripped off my leg and stole my hook from me. I will eat him the next chance I get."
"What if I told you all that I had both? Maui and Hina, and their mortal friends too." Te Tamaroa said.
Tamatoa paused.
"You'd be lying." Katao stated matter-of-factly.
And now Ahonui could see what Te Tamatoa had been doing the whole time. It was the height of manipulation. He had raised their hopes, only for doubt to creep in from Katao's words, but now those doubts could be crushed violently by the evidence that the slimy eel really did have the two demi-gods under his fist. With this, they would want to join him.
Ahonui swallowed with worry.
Te Tamaroa stamped his foot once, and the sound reverberated through the chamber, making the demons shuffle uncomfortably. There was a rumbling beneath the rise that Te Tamaroa stood upon.
"Tamatoa, you are the one who has had the most taken from you by the demi-god Maui. He stole your leg, your dignity, then your precious hook. He tricked you and betrayed what friendship you once had." Te Tamaroa cried as the rumbling increased, and the ground below opened into a small crevice. "I give to you, Maui's hook, to gain your power to my cause."
From the crevice came a small column on top of which stood two of Te Tamaroa's princes, and between them they held the legendary magical hook. Ahonui's eyes went wide, and he saw the other demons gasp. Tamatoa gasped the loudest, then yelled,
"Get out of my way," and hastily scrambled his way towards it, pushing other demons roughly. He stopped just before the two princes, staring at the glorious hook in awe, his two claws held either side of his face, pushing his cheeks. If he was anything else, he might have looked kind of cute.
"It's yours my friend." Te Tamaroa said, indicating to it.
Tamatoa delicately took it from the princes, who disappeared once more into the crevice which closed over when they were gone.
"You have my vote." Tamatoa said gladly, grinning, while placing the hook onto the top of his golden pile.
"And mine!" Cried out Teuila,
"And ours!" Yelled the barracuda and octopus and other demons. All except the sharks, who were looking dark and unimpressed.
"I will not." Katao said calmly, but he was glaring at the other demons. He did not look at Te Tamaroa. "It is not the humans who have pushed you back, nor is it Maui, it is your own cowardess and wounded pride. My Ka-poe-kina-mano have nothing against the humans or the demi-gods or the gods like Te-Fiti."
"We're leaving!" one of his kind yelled, possibly his son or prince.
"Very well," Te Tamaroa said, not bothered. The sharks, glowering in their annoyance, made their way back, and Ahonui panicked as he realised they were coming his way. He backed away along the wall slowly. But he would have to stop eventually, because he did not have the power to open the exit, and they would see him before they did it themselves.
But Ahonui thought back on their expression, their reaction. Katao made it clear that he had nothing against humans, and he had looked more and more angry at the other demons as they rallied to Te Tamaroa.
If he could help me steal Maui's hook, we could put a stop to this, he thought, biting his lip and his fists tightening. He could try hide as a mound of seaweed here in the tunnel, but he would then have to steal the hook back without anyone's help…and the more help he could get, the better.
When he saw their shadows enter the tunnel, he made up his decision, and slid back further until he had reached where he had come in, and waited.
As they got closer, he realised how big they were. A head taller than Maui, but nowhere near as muscled. It was their cores that had the greatest muscle, and looked like they were built to move and twist, not lift and bash. Their arms were corded but smooth and thin. Each was a different colour, some with patterns like stripes or tips on their shoulders. Katao led the front, two deep greens closely behind.
Ahonui took a deep breath, then stepped from the shadows a dozen feet before them.
The sharks saw him and stopped, their expressions unchanging.
"Open the exit." Katao commanded.
"I can't." Ahonui said breathily, trying to keep quiet without whispering, then he removed some of the sea-weed from around his face. The Shark's faces changed finally, some surprised, some simply confused. Katao raised an eyebrow, and lowered his voice, to Ahonui's internal gratitude.
"What is a human doing here? You've come
"I know about the negotiations. Te Tamaroa captured me along with Hina, Maui and Moana."
"Then you best get away from here." Katao replied, but didn't move.
"No. I need to help them out and I need your help to help me help them out." Ahonui tried not to stumble on his own words. He was terrified. Any minute now they could call out to Te Tamaroa and the other demons or monsters, and he would be killed or thrown back into another stronger cell.
Or worse. The sharks just might decide they were hungry after all and take him out to rip him to bloody pieces in the water.
"Why should we help you, human?" Katao simply stated, his head tilted uncertainly.
"You'd be doing a favour for a few grateful demi-gods, and you'd be stopping all kinds of monsters disturbing the balance of the world."
"Some of those monsters are related to our kind." One of the deep green Ka-poe-kina-mano ones replied with a snap.
"Then why are they the ones planning on attacking my world, and not you?" Ahonui asked, trying to look timid. "Don't be oblivious to this danger, please. I promise you'll be favoured by humans if you help us fight Te Tamaroa and his new army he plans on making."
"We don't need favour from humans." Another one growled.
Ahonui was losing them, he could see it. He had to think of something impressive, fast. Some of them even started moving past him, only their leader and a few staying still.
"Wait!" he said, and the moving ones paused. "You get to kick Te Tamaroa's butt."
A few of them looked at each other, and Katao smiled a little.
"Sharks and eels practically hate each other, right? And I didn't see you exactly calling him friend." Ahonui was just talking to Katao now.
"I want to see how tough that Tamatoa is." Replied one of the other sharks, but Ahonui didn't see who.
"Te Tamaroa has always looked down on us." One of the deep greens said to Katao.
"If you have nothing against humans, or the gods, then help us survive." Ahonui pleaded, ignoring how so many dark eyes were focused on him.
Katao finally smiled and nodded. "So how is exactly do we release your friends?"
Maui gripped Hina's legs as tight as he could without hurting her. If she fell, it would just add to her weakness. However determined she was to not let it show, he could tell that the strength was constantly being sapped.
She was heavy on his shoulder, but not enough to be uncomfortable, as she bashed and dug away at the roof with the sharp rock in hand.
Maui stood with his legs a little splayed across the rock pile they had made of the rocky scraps from when he had bashed through the wall. He tried not to think about the blood he could see on Hina's legs and arms, or notice her strain. He wanted her to rest, but he knew she would refuse. She would rather fall dead exhausted trying to escape then just sit around and do what she called 'nothing,' which was what he thought would actually be 'healing'. She didn't heal as fast as him but fast enough.
"How far have we gone through?" he asked, trying to keep a conversation going.
"About a foot and a half." She panted, gritting her teeth to dig harder. She grunted in annoyance in pain as she accidently crushed some of her fingers with the rock.
She pulled back her hand to keep going, but Maui stepped back away from the pile, carrying her with him.
"Hey, what are you doing?" she asked.
"You need a break." He stated, grabbing her by the waist and lowering her.
"We need to get out." She said, stepping back towards the pile, but he stood in front of her to bar the way.
"We can't do that if you're about to drop dead. I'll dig for a while, you go to sleep."
"What about you!? You bashed through a wall and have had me standing on your shoulder for half an hour, you need a rest to."
"I didn't get beat up by a pair of gods Hina." He snapped. Then he sighed, and softened his tone, "Please, just go to sleep. We'll do shifts."
Her mouth twisted, and she looked away, but he could tell she had resigned. "Fine." She growled. "But as soon as you need a break, let me know."
He nodded, and turned back to the digging. He grabbed a rock in his right hand, and jumped, grabbing onto a hand hold in the roof with his left, hanging there, then started bashing away at the rock in the hole they had made. It was uncomfortable and tricky, but it was enough, and the next time he looked over his shoulder to check on Hina, she was fast asleep, curled up against the wall. He smiled, then continued digging.
Eventually however, he grew sleepy. He didn't often get sleepy, but so many things had been going, and Hina had been a little right when she had said he might need a rest too. And the digging was tricky work with how he had to manage without the extra height of Hina on his back.
He dropped the rock absent minded, and yawned, then let go of the roof, landing on the pile. He walked down it, immediately refusing the idea of waking Hina up, and looked around for a place to sleep.
He didn't want to acknowledge the fact that he wanted to sleep right next to Hina, possibly even snuggling his face into her shoulder blades, so he shrugged the feeling away and went to the other side of the chamber. He sat down, then tilted until he landed on his side, shuffled around a little, and closed his eyes.
Moana was still surprised every time that she managed to sneak past some eels unnoticed. She was feeling a bit of pride too. She'd managed to undo whatever had been done to her chamber so that she could escape, and it was proving a very triumphant feat. She kicked her legs vigorously to get to the next air pocket, glancing around for the eels who might spot her, but nothing dark came streaming for her, and she made it inside another air chamber.
She burst to the rocky ledge, gasping in air, and pulled herself up for a rest.
Okay. So, what now? She thought to herself, looking around without much care. She had left her chamber in a haste, not thinking it through very well. She had simply been so desperate to get out of there, to escape the suffocating confinements of the lifeless walls accompanied by a floor that had drained her strength.
She had to find the others, but she had no idea how to do that. When she had seen the size of the closed off lagoon she was in, she almost lost hope. She could be anywhere, and so could they. They could have been right next to her, or on the other side, or not here at all. Again, she pushed away the thoughts that they could be dead.
It was then that she noticed the marks in the sand she was sitting on. Pausing, she gazed at them.
They were hand prints, and other rub markings as if someone had sat here just like she was. She put her hand in the print nearest to her, and it was definitely bigger than her own. But they weren't as big as Maui's or Hina's, and not as monstrously large as Te Tamaroa's or his sons.
There was only one other person she could think of that made sense.
Ahonui.
He was here! Moana looked around desperately, but there was no other signs. He must have only been here for a short amount of time.
That means he's escaped! He's moving around to air pockets just like I am. Moana felt a strange pride and soft love for him at that moment, and more importantly, a spark of hope. If she could find him, it would make things easier and better for the both of them.
She caught her breath, took in as much air as she could, and then slipped back into the water.
Things, believe it or not, got harder from then on for Moana. Every shadow could be a friend or an enemy, and she had to be extra careful to identify which one was which, because if she didn't, it could mean her death. But also if she missed identifying the shadow, it could have been Ahonui and she would have missed him without even knowing it.
It meant Moana had to poke her head out more often and risk being seen. It was terrifying, and she couldn't tell which one she hated more.
It took longer to make her way around the bowl, and her body, her lungs, were getting weaker. She had gone days without rest, food, or sleep. Her legs were burning and her arms were getting more sluggish with every stroke.
But as she was making her way past a strangely blank, flat, smooth part of the bowl's wall, she heard a deep rumble and groaning. The smooth wall beside her started to shift, and she gritted her teeth in shock. She kicked as hard as she could to get to the coral on the other side. She gripped onto the touch underwater plants and pulled herself among them, her hair floating around her, mimicking the movements of the sea-weed around.
The wall shifted and opened, and a large group of the biggest and most terrifying sharks she had ever seen came from within, swimming lazily with determination, but not very fast. A strange shifting blob was swimming with them.
And turned its head to look around.
Moana almost had to stop himself from calling out his name, or trying to at least. Her heart beat faster and tears almost welled up in her eyes with complete and utter gratitude. She was kicking away from the coral and beating the water with her legs and arms faster and harder than she had the whole time she'd been stuck underwater.
She swam up from beneath the sharks, and they didn't see her until she grabbed Ahonui's ankle.
He started and turned quickly, but it only took a miniature spaced moment for him to recognize her. His eyes widened and he smiled with puffed up cheeks. He swam closer to her, and she couldn't help but hug him, even though he was covered in what she realised now was sea-weed. He hugged her back, even as they floated. Looked around to see the biggest of the sharks, a scary red one, swim to them, looking at Ahonui. Ahonui pointed across to some of the openings where the air pockets were in the rock face, and the big shark nodded, then grabbed some of the strands of sea-weed in its jaws, and swam towards where Ahonui had pointed.
once they reached an opening, Ahonui and Moana swam inside with thankful nods.
They both burst from the water at the same time, breathing in relief and in a desperate need for air.
"You're okay!" Ahonui yelled immediately, hugging her again. She gripped onto him desperately, stopping herself from sobbing.
"It's so good to see you." She said, not letting go until they both climbed into the sandy chamber to talk.
"I'm just glad we're both alive." He responded, placing a hand on the side of her neck, probably without realising. She giggled at his appearance. "What's with all the sea-weed?"
He looked down at himself with a smile. "A disguise."
A disguise! Why didn't I think of that?
"That would have made everything easier if I'd thought of that. But what are you doing with a group of Ha-poe-kina-mano!" She screeched.
He shrugged. "I made some friends."
At that moment a dark shadow rose from the water. Moana stepped back as a large humanoid form of the Ka-poe-kina-mano followed them into the chamber.
"Is this one of your friends?" he asked.
"Yes, Katao, thankfully." Ahonui breathed out.
"No, seriously, what are you doing with them?" Moana asked, eyeing the shark-man warily.
Ahonui smiled widely, at Moana, then Katao, then back to Moana. "They're helping me steal Maui's hook back."