Red

Moana ran. The darkness blurred by tears faded the trees and rocks, making them impossible to see. She ran into the dark labyrinth filled with euphoria and numbed by panic and desperation. Sidestepping and jumping over appearing obstacles pushed her senses to the edge but even in her sharpest moments, it was not enough. A split second too late on her reaction made her shoulder crash against a palm tree. Her momentum made her turn and she almost lost her balance. Groaning under her breath and holding her now sore shoulder, she recovered her footing and kept running despite the throbbing pain. A hard sting on her foot made her curse loudly, forcing her to stop and drop to her knees as a scream of pain escaped her lips.

A cautious look at the sole of her foot revealed a deep cut, coloring her skin with thin streaks of red.

Just then, she heard her name in the distance. It pained her to realize it wasn't her father's, her mother's or Maui's, but it was familiar and friendly.

And she needed friendly right now.

"I'm here!"

Kiakaha and Makoha appeared out of the darkness and helped her stand. Allowing her to carry on by foot would cost a lot of time so without wasting any, Kiakaha wordlessly offered a piggy back ride. Moana hesitantly accepted and whispered her gratitude. Whatever gets her home faster.

Making sure he had a strong grip on her and checking if his mother was alright, he dashed into the black maze ahead.

His eyes darted one side to other, his pupils dilated searching for his target.

Fuck. Fuckfuckfuck.

Nothing. There was nothing. How could he lose him!?

He turned right. Empty. Nowhere to hide. Nowhere to go.

Maybe he went left?

He changed course hoping to find a footprint or a clue but it was too dark and quiet.

Shortcuts. Obstacles. Crowds. There were plenty of reasons to go off road but he had a bad feeling about this. The boy must've outsmarted him, no doubt. He'd better go back to Nanakia and report it before things got worse. Just thinking of giving him the bad news made his mouth dry.

"Damn. Chief Nanakia is going to slit my throat as soon as I -"

Just then, a hand materialized on top of his mouth and chin and pushed his head back. A quick sting across his exposed neck was followed by a sensation of a warm coat softly falling over his chest. He struggled clumsily to break free with an increasing lightheadedness. It was then when his body felt too heavy and numb to fight that he was released. With no strength left, he fell to his knees first before tasting dirt.

Light was fading and he could not see the face of his killer but he still recognized him, barely, by sound.

"Does Father really think a worthless tracker like him is enough to spy on me? Insulting."

He felt a tug on his haka. Probably being used to clean the knife that ended his life.

Suddenly, he was flying. No, not flying. He was being moved. Dragged to be precise. His body was about to be thrown to the side, hidden between trees and bushes and to be discovered just when the foul smell of rotting flesh reaches someone's home.

As he was dumped and the steps of the prince began to fade in the darkness, he wondered.

Why on Earth did he waste his life serving the royal family?

Sina screamed her name one more time, feeling her throat protest at the effort. No response. Just the silent overwhelming absence of her daughter.

She was supposed to be back by now. She was supposed to be safe and warm in her bed. Was she lost? Was Maui with her? For the love of the gods, was she safe and alive?

It didn't make any sense.

Maui is always with her! He can fly from one side of the island to the other in a blink of an eye! He is unstoppable when it comes to Moana.

If he isn't here, he must be with Moana. But where? And why haven't they come back?

Something was wrong. So so very wrong. She could feel it in her heart and in her guts. It was nauseating to think about her missing daughter, hurt somewhere in this goddamn island. Or worse. Lying lifeless between rocks or down a ditch.

That bloody red mental image did it.

Her stomach protested and forced Sina to find support on a tree while lunch went up to her throat and down to the ground. She spat with disgust as her body recovered from the shock.

She knew the gods favored her when she left to find Te Fiti. Deep down, she knew she was coming back safe and sound, which didn't stop her from worrying but kept her sane. Now, it was different. There was no guarantee. No godly blessings. No certainty whatsoever.

She took deep breaths and resumed her search. She had to move forward and find her, even if it meant searching the whole island by herself, no matter how long that could take.

Maui wished for the tenth time he was mortal. The pain was too much and death was suddenly so tempting once more. The chains in his ankles and wrists were tightly gnawing the skin everytime he dared to move less than an inch. The spears impaling his arms and legs made his existence agonizing. But nothing was as painful as the heart-wrenching thought of losing Moana. He begged the gods to have mercy on her.

Don't let her suffer. Don't let her die.

He prayed for her life between his own prayers of death. He considered asking for a trade in his delirium but he would never ever curse Moana with eternal unhappiness for a selfish wish.

He chose this path, he would accept the consequences. After all, he had no regrets when it came to his little human.

He closed his eyes and instead of death, asked for strength.

He then heard voices outside his demands of the guards at first but then some rustling and bangs on the door. An intruder?

And then he appeared.

Maui could feel the rage bubbling up. "You better get out of my sight before I br-"

"Moana is free."

Maui didn't take the bait. He remained stoic but his heart was screaming with hope and wonder. "Why should I believe you?"

Tuarua circled him, moving out of his sight. Maui could feel his eyes scrutinising his imprisonment conditions.

"You don't have much choice. I don't have much choice."

The spear on his left calf twisted. Muscles and blood together made a disgustingly wet sound as new flesh that had regenerated tightly around the weapon was back to a raw wound. Maui groaned in pain and saw spots behind his eyelids until Tuarua stopped a few seconds later.

"What was that for!?"

"Shh! For Gods' sake, shut up." Tuarua sighed with disdain before circling back and crouching before Maui's face. "Can you free yourself?"

Maui didn't know what his deal was but he played along. "I could if I had my hook."

Tuarua nodded. "Done."

Maui blinked twice and almost allowed Tuarua to stand and leave to run the errand. "Wait, what? Really?"

"I know where your hook is and we need to get off this island fast. My mother and Moana are on their way to Motunui but so is the army."

Maui's breath hitched.

Moana. Army. Nanakia. Motunui!

"I don't need my hook." His voice was unrecognizable under the heaviness of his determination. "I hope you have a strong stomach. This is going to get messy."

Maui's world turned red.

Yes, I'm alive. I'm on college and language lessons' break and work is not that crazy for now so I finished the chapter and decided to post today. I'm planning to lower my loads a little since I've been on full throttle for quite some time now and I want to slow down at least for a year or so. Good news for this fic!