A/N: Soooo, yeah, I've been gone a while. I don't want to go into details here, but I've been dealing with some personal stuff and it's been hitting my mental health hard enough to the point where I thought about quitting my fic. But, to those who have reached out and supported me, I am forever blessed and grateful for all of you, and you've helped encourage me to keep going. So, here's the next chapter, and I hope you guys all enjoy!
Chapter 68: Voyager of the Seas
As the gummi ship dove through the stratosphere to the heroines' next destination, Kairi tapped on numerous buttons to prepare for landing. At first glance, it appeared to be a normal landing, but as they drew closer and she attempted to pull back on the controls, the ship appeared to be ignoring her commands. In fact, the ship just appeared to stop what it was doing altogether and started to freefall. The girls all screamed as their stomachs flew into their chest from the faster than gravity fall.
Thankfully, the ship was built with an Emergency Stop button, which Kairi stretched forward and pressed. The command told the ship's computer to basically reset itself to its parked position. Just before landing, the ship rotated to its right side up position and crashed down for landing. While it was a rough landing, Kairi, Naminé, and Xion would begin counting lucky stars as they could tell by the bobbing of the ship that they had landed in a body of water, prompting Naminé to activate the emergency floatation device beneath the ship that would prevent them from sinking. While landing in water prevented their ship from being destroyed from the impact, there was one problem.
"Whoa!" Kairi gasped as she looked out the ship. "Uh...this could be a problem. We're in the middle of the ocean."
"Also, I hate to be the bearer of more bad news, but we're out of fuel in the ship." Xion added on. "Which would explain why the ship suddenly came crashing down."
"Did any of us remember to get some from Cid when we were at Radiant Garden?" Naminé asked.
Kairi sighed, her head sinking low. "No...Well, staying in here won't help." She said as she opened up the emergency evacuation hatch, allowing each of them to slide out of the cockpit and onto the floatation device. "Good thing the ship had this or else we would have sunk down to the bottom of the sea."
"Well, that's great for the ship, but we gotta get to land somehow." Xion reminded her.
"You know, that raft that I was working on with Sora and Riku a couple years ago would've come in handy right about now." Kairi said while folding her arms.
The wind that blew with the currents suddenly picked up, as did the waves that had formed. While it was beginning to bother Xion, she tried to fight it, knowing there wasn't much any of them could do with there being no sign of land. Kairi would've preferred if they just landed at Destiny Islands. The currents weren't as choppy and she knew the geography of the different islands really well thanks to all of those social studies classes in school.
Kairi found herself lost in her thoughts as the ship continued to bob around. Drifting in a boat tended to make her sleepy unless she was the one sailing, and this time was no different. Her eyes grew heavy as she drifted off and on out of a snooze, especially with it being late in the day and the sun was already setting. Yet in a moment of weirdness, Kairi suddenly felt a splash of water. She snapped out of her trance and questioned Naminé and Xion, but claimed neither of them splashed her.
Instead, Xion tapped on Kairi and pointed at something that appeared to be sailing their way. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was flat, wooden, and it had a mast and sail! It was a raft! It even looked better than the one she, Sora, and Riku built a couple years back. There were even a few oars resting on it. Either some island gods were looking out for them, or this was the result of an unfortunate accident that left the original owners without a raft.
"Hey! What are the odds of a raft coming our way?" Naminé asked while laughing.
"I don't know, but I'm not going to question it, not while we're stuck out here in the middle of the night." Kairi shook her head.
Carefully, Kairi dove off the floatation device and into the water to meet with the raft and take control of it. She manned the sail and rowed closer so Naminé and Xion could board it without much trouble. Once all three of the girls were on board, it was time to set sail. Kairi took an oar and handed one to Naminé and Xion. Or at least, she tried to give one to Xion, but couldn't as the poor girl ducked over the side of the raft and lost whatever she ate on the ship. It was going to be a long trip.
A long trip, it was. Naminé spent most of the early evening paddling to the point where the sun had set completely and her arms were starting to feel sore and exhausted. Xion was looking green in the gills and didn't have the strength to even sit up straight, and Kairi had to man the sail since she was the only one who knew how to do it. Now she finally understood why more than three people went sailing together. Kairi had tried to use her phone a number of times to try and steer them in the right direction, but it seemed like no matter how much they sailed, there was just more water. At least the compass on her watch came in handy with keeping them in a sole direction as opposed to going around in a circle.
"So, where are we headed off to, Kairi?" Xion groaned while lying on the raft.
Kairi whipped out her phone and pulled up her tracker. "Uh...honestly, I can't really tell where it is, but we're supposed to go northwest from here."
Xion heaved over the raft and brought her greenish face back up. "Okay, which way is that from here?"
"Maybe we'd better find some solid land first?" Naminé suggested. "Xion sounds awful right now."
"Well, lucky for us, the wind is blowing us where we need to go. It'll give us a speed boost and surely we're to find an island around here soon." Kairi assured the girls.
"Never heard that before." Xion sarcastically remarked while rolling her eyes.
Kairi shook her head. "No, seriously." She pulled up the compass. "As long as we keep following the wind northwest from here, we'll make it in no time. Just smooth sailing from here."
Naminé nodded. "Yeah, it can't possibly get any-" She was cut off as if the world had a sense of humor and began downpouring right on top of the three girls, each of their faces scrunching up at the inconvenience.
"Were you gonna say 'worse'?" Xion asked.
"No…" Naminé answered in a guilty tone.
The pouring rain, as annoying as it was, didn't cause so much trouble, at least until the wind picked up and became a tropical storm. The ocean's currents were much choppier, the wind was shoving their raft in different directions, and lightning was threatening to crack right over them. Kairi attempted to tie down the sail as it snapped off, but was overpowered by the wind of the storm and was unable to do it herself.
"Whoa! Naminé help me!" Kairi yelled out.
"Of course there's a storm right now!" Xion growled. "Of course!"
Naminé ran to Kairi's side and helped her pull back on the sail. It was anybody's guess where they needed or wanted to direct the raft, for it felt like the winds were blowing from multiple directions. Xion attempted to stand up in order to help her friends, but the choppy current smacked against the raft at the wrong angle and caused her to lose her footing. She nearly fell off the raft, but Kairi released the sail and dove forward to grab her by the hand. Xion grunted as she held onto both Kairi and the edge of the raft for dear life. Let go, and she would be swallowed by the currents.
Despite how incredible the storm was, Kairi was able to fight back and pulled Xion back up, instructing her to stay seated. As she ran back to the mast to help Naminé, something bright caught her eye. The glow of the light matched that of the moonlight and appeared to be moving closer toward them. Kairi couldn't make out the figure at first until it leapt out of the water, revealing itself to her, Xion, and Naminé. The shape resembled a kite, the wings that slowly flapped at its highest point, and the long tail, Kairi knew it was a stingray, having seen them numerous times at home.
As the stingray leapt, Kairi felt a warm aura that was exchanged with her. Somehow, she knew this spirit could connect with her. Maybe it was here to rescue them out of the storm? Kairi gasped as the stingray dove back in the ocean before jetting even faster toward them. She tapped on Naminé's shoulder and got Xion to watch as the ocean glowed even brighter before them. The stingray was massive, at least a few meters wide in wingspan. It took one more leap over the girls and their raft before continuing forward. Something, possibly the aura, told Kairi that they needed to follow the stingray. It couldn't be anything other than a guide out of the storm.
"Girls! Try and follow that stingray!" Kairi said as she pulled the sail to the side to redirect the raft.
"Are you crazy?" Xion yelled as she coughed out salt water that splashed into her mouth. "We're not the islanders here!"
"No, I think Kairi's right! The stingray is slowing down! I think it wants us to follow it!" Naminé suggested.
Kairi nodded as she tended the sails. "Full speed ahead ladies! Follow that ray!"
Xion grabbed her oar and started to paddle to the best of her ability, fighting both the storm and her seasickness. The longer the girls followed the stingray, the bigger the waves were, and it started to feel like riding a rollercoaster, but it was on choppy water and without the safety restraints. While Kairi kept them on course to follow the stingray, it eventually got to the point where it swam directly into a wave that towered about ten feet over them. Xion instinctively turned herself around and tried to paddle away while Kairi and Naminé scrambled to turn the raft around.
Much to their failure, the wave crashed right on top of the girls and their raft, destroying it into numerous pieces. The darkness in the water and the continued choppiness made it difficult for anyone to see or concentrate on trying to get to the surface. Kairi frantically searched around for Naminé and Xion, but didn't see them. After swimming up to the surface to try and call for their names once, Kairi dove back down to try and find them. She finally did see them, unconscious, sinking down to the bottom of the sea.
Kairi gasped, letting bubbles out of her mouth, before swimming back up to gasp for air. She was normally an excellent swimmer and could hold her breath for several minutes, but the exhaustion from steering the raft as well as fighting the currents was catching up to her quickly. The low elevation of the sea didn't help either. Kairi swam down as fast as she could toward her friends. She figured she could grab both of them and then swim back up to the surface to find any piece of the raft to hang onto for support.
Naminé was the first one Kairi caught up to. She wrapped an arm around her before swimming further down to grab Xion. As the sea grew darker the deeper it went, Kairi could feel herself slowly but surely losing consciousness the further she swam. Her energy was draining and she lost grip of Naminé. Kairi coughed as the lack of oxygen caused her to black out. As her consciousness started to go, she could vaguely see the glow of the stingray swimming toward her. The only thing she could think was either this stingray was coming to save her and her friends, or it was going to be the last thing she saw before drowning to death.
-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/
Instead of continuing to sink to the bottom of the sea, Kairi, Naminé, and Xion were carried over to a small and abandoned island. It wasn't a viable place on account there wasn't any sign of life or vegetation, only a group of massive boulders. The softness of the white sand and the heat of the sun was enough to start waking each of the girls up. Naminé was the first. She slowly cracked her eyes open, shielding them from the harsh sunlight, and slowly sat up. Her hand massaged the side of her head, having felt like she smacked it against a rock.
"Ouch...my head…" Naminé whimpered.
"You're telling me, you landed on my head." Xion groaned as she rubbed her own noggin.
Kairi rose up shortly after Xion and Naminé did. The sky was perfectly blue and the ocean was now completely calm. It was almost as if the storm had never happened, which she was used to, having plenty of storms pass through on Destiny Islands. Kairi was grateful that they were okay despite being completely unsure how they ended up on this island. Yet, she felt a sense of uncertainty as her eyes scanned the island. They were on a pretty solid path before the storm kicked in. Now there was potential that they were completely thrown off course.
"Where...where are we now?" Kairi asked, afraid to look at her phone.
"I don't know, but we're on an island, and I couldn't be happier." Xion sighed while kissing the sand.
Chirithy sighed as he spit out salt water. "That's the last time I go rafting with you girls in the ocean!"
"Here, Chirithy." Kairi took him and pumped on his body, squirting all the water out of his lungs. "You get some rest now." She said before he vanished.
Naminé sighed. "Unfortunately, I don't see anyone else. I think we're the only ones here."
Xion took her own look after brushing the sand that stuck to her lips from kissing the ground. Just as Naminé had suspected, there appeared to be nobody else. The good thing about this was they weren't in any danger. She had seen enough movies where characters are stranded and taken hostage by island natives or cannibals. The bad thing was they were stranded by themselves without any way to get help, especially upon seeing the pieces of wood from the base of the raft spread out along the beach as well as the sail.
"Well, too bad our raft is wrecked…" Xion groaned. "Now what are we supposed to do?"
Naminé thought for a moment before sitting back down. "Do we just wait for a rescue?"
Kairi shrugged her shoulders as she sat back down on the beach. "Well, I did send a message to Chip 'n Dale letting them know that our ship needed fuel. I'm sure Launchpad will bring the fuel, fill her up, and then he can come get us when he's done."
"Yeah, but how long is that gonna take?" Xion asked as she brought her knees to her chest.
"We don't have any food or water on us." Naminé noted.
"Don't remind me…" Xion groaned.
"Don't worry about it! If there's one thing we won't do, is starve." Kairi assured her team. "I'm an island girl. If there's one thing every islander knows how to do, is survive in the event of being stranded. We can make a fire, I can fish, and use my Water magic to hydrate us."
Naminé shrugged her shoulders, going along with the plan. "Well, it sounds better than anything I would've come up with."
As the hours passed and the sun rose, the less patience each of the girls had. Kairi was able to keep herself and Xion and Naminé hydrated, but the emptiness of hunger was about to settle in. With everyone growing hungry, Kairi was ready to go fishing, but as it turned out, whatever higher deity lived in this new world, they were smiling down upon the stranded girls as what appeared to be a pure blessing appeared before them.
There it was, a beautiful creature. He was about eighteen inches tall, had feathers of green, yellow, and red, and aimlessly walked in front of the three hungry ladies. It almost seemed too good to be true, especially once he started walking head first in a boulder...and kept doing it, clucking casually. Kairi, Naminé, and Xion all shared a smirk with each other. Even the tiniest little bug on the island could tell what all three of these girls were thinking.
"Hey, do you see what I see?" Naminé whispered.
Kairi chuckled while standing up and grabbing her Keyblade. "I sure do…"
"I see lunch." Xion said while licking her lips.
Carefully, the girls stood on their feet slowly enough to not make a sound. The last thing they needed to do was scare away their lunch. Kairi stepped ahead and kept Xion and Naminé behind her as she crept closer to the chicken. Being the kind soul she was, she was never one to actually kill an animal for the purpose of consuming it unless it was a fish. Even with fishing, she used a line and hook and the fish was usually already dead by the time she got the hook out. Sora and Riku were never gentle with unhooking fish either, making her used to watching them die pathetically at the hands of two hungry teenage boys.
Now that Kairi thought about how pathetic fish were when they died after being caught, she started to realize that this chicken was just as worthless. Surely by now, he would've at least tried to run away once he saw the girls' shadows. Instead, he seemed completely oblivious as his big beady eyes stared ahead at the spot that he continued to hit his head on. Kairi stopped and stared down at the chicken. Sure, she was hungry, but her conscience was making it harder to actually strike him with her Keyblade. At least when a lioness hunts down her prey, the antelope usually has a chance to try and save its skin. Not this pathetic bird.
"You know, is it just me, or do any of you guys feel bad for the chicken?" Kairi asked.
Xion sighed and folded her arms. "Why would you feel bad about a chicken? We eat it all the time."
"I know, but look." She pointed out as the chicken kept walking into the boulder and hitting its head. "He's so stupid, it's kind of sad. He has no way of defending himself. Are we really going to take advantage of such a pathetic chicken?"
"Kairi, leave that to an animal rights group. We're stranded on an uncharted island where we can potentially starve to death." Xion shook her head. "Whose life is worth more? Ours or...a chicken's?"
Naminé nodded in agreement. "Xion has a good point."
"Alright, alright, we'll eat the chicken." Kairi held her hands up in defeat.
Kairi turned around and gasped upon seeing that the chicken had disappeared out of sight. The immediate distressing disappointment elicited groans out of all three of the girls. Between the hot sun, the thick moisture, and realization that if Kairi had just killed the chicken right away they would've had food, each of them fell to their knees one by one. Xion ducking her head in frustration normally wouldn't have done much good, but something in the sand caught her eye and it was possibly the key to their problems.
Naminé watched as Xion pointed out the small footprints in the sand that looked like they belonged to a bird. With there being no seagulls, there was only one bird who could have left the tracks. Naminé and Xion got Kairi's attention and pointed out the trail that the chicken tracks created as it made its way further down the island. The redhead smiled and nodded in approval as she helped her friends up. The chicken may have finally decided to be smart and walk away, but he wasn't smart enough to try and not leave tracks behind him.
The trail of tracks worked down the beach toward the other side of the island. The chicken itself was walking pretty fast and appeared to be moving with a purpose. Kairi waved, signaling the girls to move faster. Now that it seemed the chicken knew there were three teenage girls trying to eat him, he was booking it. Even with him picking up speed, none of the girls were letting him escape this time. Xion finally ran past Kairi and lunged forward, diving onto the ground and catching the chicken in her grip.
Kairi and Naminé laughed as Xion held the chicken tightly. He finally realized that he was in danger and clucked loud enough that it echoed all over the island. If he had pulled this when Kairi was feeling sorry for him, she would've let him go, but now that he has tried to escape, it was time to set up a fire and cook the chicken rotisserie style. Although they were just one step away from having food, something else still managed to distract Kairi. She looked past Xion and saw a boat that was capsized and something was moving in the sand. The more it moved, the more she could make out the figure.
"Huh?" Kairi inched forward and got a better look as a human figure emerged from the sand. "Naminé, Xion, I think there's someone else on this island."
Xion and Naminé followed Kairi as they moved a little closer, but still staying somewhat hidden behind a boulder. The figure turned out to be a young girl about their age. She stood up and brushed the sand off her dark skin and curly black hair, appearing to be just as frustrated as they were, for she appeared to be stranded too.
"It's a girl." Xion pointed out.
"How'd she end up here?" Naminé asked.
"The same way we did." Kairi answered.
Like Kairi, Naminé, and Xion did, the new girl took a moment to take in her surroundings before she had a chance to vent and be frustrated at the situation. However, unlike them, this girl expressed her frustration a little...differently. Maybe it was because she was by herself, but the girls could only question why she was storming to the edge of the coast and starting to yell out to the ocean. It wasn't a matter of just yelling out loud, she was actually communicating with the ocean as if it were an actual person.
"Kairi? Is it pretty normal for islanders to talk to the ocean?" Xion asked.
Kairi slowly shook her head. "Not that I know of. I know the sailors sometimes talk to their boats, but that's about it."
"She must've been stranded here a long time if she's at the point where she's talking to the ocean itself." Naminé guessed.
"If that's the case, we'd better help her out. She has to be from an island around here. We help her get refreshed and take her home when our ship gets here." Kairi suggested.
Xion sighed and shook her head. "I'll never judge Axel for talking to himself in the mirror ever again…"
Kairi moved closer to the girl with Xion and Naminé behind her. There was a good chance she was hallucinating if she was talking to the ocean. Maybe she was imagining another person there? It seemed logical, until the girls were close enough to be within ear reach of her. Before they could say anything, a part of the ocean stretched out and curved toward her, almost as if the clear body of water itself had come alive and was leaning its 'face' close.
"Okay, now I'm hallucinating!" Kairi gasped. "The ocean just moved!"
"Oh no, that's actually a normal thing." The girl said nonchalantly.
After a double take, Kairi and the girl both gasped, backing away from each other. Considering how empty and desolate the island was, neither of them expected another person to be here.
"What are you doing here?" Kairi and the girl asked in unison. "I was shipwrecked!" They both answered in unison as well.
"Wait, you were shipwrecked here too?" The girl asked, furrowing her eyebrows.
Kairi nodded her head. "Yeah. We were on our raft and then a storm appeared out of nowhere and kinda washed us over here."
"Actually, the storm was kind of just tossing us all over the place and then this huge stingray appeared out of nowhere and told us to follow it." Xion added on.
"Stingray?" The girl gasped. "I wonder…" She muttered.
"You wonder what?" Naminé asked.
"Well…" She gasped as the ocean suddenly shot up by itself, holding its shape as it stared at all four girls.
Kairi yelped and jumped back. "So, I wasn't going crazy? The ocean is alive?"
"Yeah, we're kinda friends. I'm Moana of the island of Motunui."
"I'm Kairi of Destiny Islands!"
Moana gasped as she shook hands with Kairi. "Wait, you're an islander too? I've never heard of yours before."
"Oh, uh…" Kairi blinked a few times, forgetting about the world order in that wrong moment. "It's…"
"South from here." Naminé chimed in, helping her friend out.
Kairi nodded as she waved her hand in the southern direction. "Yeah, it's really south from here. Xion and Naminé here are friends from somewhere really far from here."
"I see. Well, nice to meet all of you!" Moana laughed as the ocean came close to Kairi. "Ocean here seems to like you."
Still surprised to see the ocean alive, Kairi kept her gaze fixated on the oceanic figure. It didn't speak, but appeared to have a curious personality, almost like a puppy. Anytime Kairi moved her head to the side, the ocean did the same. She even nodded her head a few times, only for the ocean to imitate her. The ocean's charm was enough for Kairi to smile and slowly hold her hand out. There was something about her that won the ocean over and connected with it.
"Well...Ocean, nice to meet you too!" Kairi giggled as she held her hand out. The ocean covered her hand and shook it, formally greeting her.
"Oh, you found Heihei!" Moana said as she took the chicken from Xion.
"Your chicken? As in your pet chicken?" Xion asked.
Moana chuckled as she tapped him on the head. "Yeah, he's been in my village for a long time. You weren't gonna eat him, were you?"
"No!" All three girls answered in unison, guilty looks on their faces.
"So, how is your raft looking since you've shipwrecked?" Moana asked as she set down Heihei, who continued to walk into a boulder.
"It's...destroyed to say the least. So, we're stranded here." Kairi sighed.
"Oh, that's rough. Well, why don't you three come with me on my boat?" Moana offered as she walked over and rested a hand on her boat. "Now that I've found Heihei, I'm ready to…" She grunted as she tried to flip her boat over. "Get...going!"
Naminé tilted her head as she tried to help with the boat. "Where are you trying to go?"
"Well, it's a long story, but the short version is that there is a demigod named Maui. He stole the heart of Te Fiti-"
"Stole the heart?" All three girls asked in unison.
"So he's a Heartless?" Kairi asked.
"What's a Heartless?" Moana asked.
"Those things!" Xion pointed to the boulders above them.
Kairi immediately ran in front of Moana and summoned her Keyblade. Xion and Naminé also covered her as their Keyblades appeared in hand. It had been at least a week since either of them encountered a single Heartless, so it was only a matter of time before their 'old friends' would show up to make a stink once again. Moana curled a hand in her fist, instinctively wanting to jump in and not leave her new friends to do all the dirty work. She looked around and found an oar. It may not have been a weapon, but it was long, hard, and effective.
Aside from the usual Shadow and Neoshadow Heartless that liked to harass the girls, Water and Earth Cores showed up, as did a couple large Heartless who resembled palm trees. According to the data on Kairi's gummiwatch, they were Wild Palms and were weak to Fire spells, which was perfect. Despite being the one with the least experience, Moana was the first one to charge toward the Heartless and begin striking the Shadows with her oar. When it had the chance to, the ocean even lent a hand, capturing an Earth Core and causing it to disintegrate easily.
Kairi and Naminé went after the Wild Palms, focusing mostly on their Fire magic to take them out. They wouldn't go down with a fight though. Both girls were reminded that coconuts grow on palm trees as the Wild Palms began firing coconut projectiles at them. Kairi was grateful they weren't real coconuts or else that would lead to even worse head injuries. Xion went after the Water Cores, charging at them with her body engulfed in lighting, which was useful in stopping them from shielding themselves. With the Water Cores stunned, Xion dashed through with her Sonic Blade technique and finished them off.
Even with the Heartless putting up a fight, Kairi, Naminé, and Xion had spent the past couple months fighting so many of them, that it had never been easier. Kairi and Naminé each cast a great Firaga spell at the Wild Palms to finish them as Moana and the ocean worked together to finish off the last of the Earth Cores. Moana used her oar to keep them distracted and open while the ocean would burst in and take them out. Kairi had never seen someone work with water so well and she was impressed. In fact, all three of them were impressed with how Moana handled the Heartless.
"Wow, I didn't think my oar was this useful!" Moana laughed as stuck it in the sand.
"Well, it was a nice break while it lasted." Xion sighed as she dismissed her Keyblade.
Moana furrowed her eyebrows and folded her arms. "So that's what those things are."
"You've seen Heartless before?" Kairi asked.
"A few times on my island. Thankfully the warriors are able to make fish bait out of them." Moana sighed as she sat down on a boulder by her boat. "But they've been around a long time, ever since the heart of Te Fiti was stolen." She took her necklace and opened it up, revealing a shiny green pebble with a swirling pattern on it. "Te Fiti is the creator of life among these islands. When her heart was stolen a great darkness started to consume her surrounding islands."
Xion chuckled as she placed her hands on her hips. "Sounds like it's right up our alley."
"My grandma said to find Maui, drag him by the ear onto my boat, and demand that he sails with me to the island of Te Fiti to restore the heart." Moana explained as she firmly stood up. "Otherwise my island will be in trouble and the darkness will consume it. We're already having trouble finding fish without going beyond the reef."
"Well, it's your lucky day!" Kairi laughed. "We're used to dealing with this, so if you let us ride on your boat, we'll definitely help you out with this. I'm best friends with two island boys who taught me how to sail."
"Great!" Moana bounced in place. "It's hard doing everything yourself."
The boat was much bigger and made Kairi, Naminé, and Xion's raft look like a pathetic piece of tree bark. It was on the heavier side for one 16-year-old girl to turn over and slide to the ocean herself, but four of them wouldn't be a problem. As Naminé approached the boat with her friends, she looked behind the boat and saw some peculiar scratch marks on the boulder. The scratch marks themselves wouldn't have been so distracting, but these were done in the shapes of hooks.
"Hey, what are these markings right here?" Naminé asked.
Moana stopped and examined the markings, only to see a shadow approaching from the other side of the island. "Quick! Behind the boat!" She shoved everyone behind with her.
"Wait, why are we hiding?" Xion asked. "I thought we took care of all the Heartless."
"We did, but...I'm sure it was Maui's shadow that I saw." Moana whispered.
"How sure?" Kairi asked.
"Those markings formed the shape of his hook."
Xion nodded in agreement. "Okay, she's sure."
In a normal scenario, Kairi, Naminé, and Xion wouldn't have taken cover and hidden, but the fact that Maui was a demigod did put him on a 'red alert' list for the girls. Sure, they were strong Keyblade wielders by now, but compared to a demigod? There wasn't any telling what kind of powers he'd have up his sleeve. The sound of his footsteps against the sand were enough to let them know that if they encountered Maui, they were in for someone huge and powerful.
"Maui, demigod of wind and sea, I am Moana of Motunui. You will board my boat." Moana whispered to herself, as if she were rehearsing something. "Yeah, I am Moana of Motunui. You will board my-"
"Boat! A boat!" A massive man that was covered with tattoos and had long and dark curly hair rejoiced as he easily picked up Moana's boat with one hand. "The gods have given me a-AHH!" He cried out in distress as he saw Kairi, Moana, Xion, and Naminé right below him and nearly dropped the boat on them.
"Whoa! Watch it with that boat!" Xion yelled defensively at him.
"Who is that? He's huge! I thought Terra was big!" Naminé asked.
Moana growled as she got up and stood her ground. "That is Maui."
"Oh…" Kairi blinked her eyes a few times. "Well, he definitely looks like a demigod."
"Demigod or not, we've got him cornered." Moana said as she grabbed her oar and held it toward him. "Maui, shapeshifter...demigod of the wind and sea…" She went on, leaving Maui confused and uninterested in what she had to say. "I am Moana of-"
"Hero of men." Maui cut her off. "It's actually, Maui, shapeshifter, demigod of the wind and sea...hero of men. I interrupted. From the top, hero of men, go!"
"Uh…" Moana stuttered briefly before starting again. "I am-"
"Sorry! Sorry, sorry." Maui interrupted again. "And women. Men and women. Both. All. Not a guy, girl thing. You know, Maui is a hero to all. You're doing great."
Xion rolled her eyes and folded her arms. "At this point, we'll starve before we get this wazoo on the boat."
"I prefer to be called demigod, hero, I'm pretty popular around her. Don't forget it." Maui said while clicking his tongue.
"Oh my gosh, he's just like Axel…" Xion sighed while shaking her head.
Moana growled and stuck her oar further out to him. "Look, I'm here to-"
"Oh of course! Maui always has time for his fans!" He said as he took the oar from Moana and picked up Heihei, using his beak to write on the oar. "When you use a bird to write with, it's called tweeting." He said as he handed the oar back. Now, there was a heart next to a hook drawn on it. As he watched Moana 'admire' his autograph, he noticed Kairi holding her Keyblade. "Hey, should I sign yours too?"
"Absolutely not! This is a sacred weapon!" Kairi gasped, responding defensively. "And considering what you've done, you're lucky you don't meet the sharp end of it!"
"Whoa! Whoa! Easy on the hostility! Is that any way to treat your heroes?"
Kairi could only furrow her eyebrows to his response and back away. Who was this guy to assume that she worshipped him? Moana was certainly not going to tolerate it. She swiftly smacked Maui in the shin with her oar, giving him a moment of vulnerability and for her to stand her ground.
"You are not my hero or theirs!" Moana said in an aggravated tone while yanking him by the ear. "And I'm not here so you can sign my oar!"
Maui sighed and rolled his eyes as all four girls folded their arms and gave him a deadly glare. "Okay, I've known all of you for like not even five minutes. What exactly did I do?"
"You stole someone's heart!" Kairi yelled, jabbing a finger in his face.
"Oh, that's not a crime, I steal everyone's hearts." He said nonchalantly, causing the girls to gasp. "No! That's not a bad thing! It's what happens when you're a hero of men and women. You 'steal' their hearts and everyone loves you for it."
"No, she's not talking about that." Moana growled as she flicked open her necklace to show him Te Fiti's heart. "She's talking about this. You stole the heart of Te Fiti! And you will board my boat…" She demanded as she tried to drag him, but failed on account of his large size in comparison to her. "And sail across the sea...and put it back!"
"Uh…" Maui sighed, not giving them the time of day. "Yeah, it sounds like you don't like me, which is impossible because I got stuck here for a thousand years trying to get the heart as a gift for you mortals so you can have the power to create life itself!" He explained, leaving Kairi, Naminé, Xion, and Moana all dumbfounded. "So what I believe you were trying to say...is 'thank you'."
"Thank you?" All four of them asked in unison.
"You're welcome!" Maui chimed back.
"No! No! That's not…" Moana stammered as she started fuming. "We're trying to…"
Naminé rested a hand on her shoulder, calming her down. "Let me try, Moana." She stepped closer to the towering demigod, folded her hands, and put on her happiest customer service face. "Maui, I'm sure you're a wonderful and beloved hero, but you see, it's really important you help us get the heart back to Te Fiti."
"Naminé's right." Kairi nodded. "Ever since you stole it, Heartless-"
"Heartless?" Maui cut her off. "You mean those shadow-like things that look like giant bugs?"
"Uh...yeah?" Xion answered.
"Oh, I see the problem." Maui nodded. "Those things are everywhere! They're vermin! Disgusting!"
Xion chuckled as she summoned her Keyblade. "Well Maui, it's your lucky day! I, Xion, as well as my friends here, Kairi and Naminé, are experts in dealing with those creatures."
"Well, in that case," He leaned his face in closer to whisper. "You might want to check out that cave right there. I saw a bunch of them!"
Kairi furrowed her eyebrows. "In that tiny cave?" She questioned before going along with it.
Holding her Keyblade out and ready for an ambush, Kairi tiptoed in the cave with Moana and the girls behind her. At first glance, there didn't seem to be anything inside the cave, not even claw marks, a sound, or a stench. The girls stopped and shared a look of confusion before the little light that was inside the cave suddenly vanished. The cave was now dark and the girls were all trapped inside behind a boulder.
Maui laughed heartily as he effortlessly pushed Moana's boat down the beach and onto the ocean. With a content sigh, he gazed out toward the horizon that awaited him. After being stranded on an island for a thousand years, he was finally free and there was nothing that Kairi, Moana, or any of the girls could do about it. Or so he thought. While Maui's conscience appeared to be clear, there was somebody who didn't agree with his actions.
"Whoa!" Maui grunted while looking down at his tattoo. This one specifically resembled the demigod and was mystical and as alive as he was. The tattoo folded his arms and scowled at Maui before pointing back toward the cave, nonverbally telling him to go back for the girls. "No! I'm not going to Te Fiti with a bunch of kids. I'm going to get my hook back! You have yours and I'm not Maui without mine." The tattoo, not satisfied with that answer, hopped over to his pectoral and started trying to push him back. "Okay...talk to the back!" He laughed before flicking his tattoo literally to his back.
While Maui continued on his merry way feeling no remorse nor regret for his actions, Kairi and Xion were hard at work trying to break out of the cave. The only solution they could think of was smacking their Keyblades against it, hoping that eventually it would shatter. Although it wasn't shattering for them, Moana and Naminé pushed against the boulder with their entire body weight, which wasn't much. Despite the efforts, it wasn't budging. Kairi sighed inwardly, feeling she should've known. Maui was a demigod, so of course he would trap them with anything that was beyond too heavy for them to move.
"Man! I can't believe I fell for that!" Kairi growled as she coughed from some of the dust. "I'm smarter than that!"
"Well, we can't just stay trapped in here! We'll starve!" Xion groaned as she tried to strike the boulder out of the way.
"Hey, if we're trapped in a cave, why is there light in here?" Naminé asked nonchalantly.
Kairi froze as she was about to strike once more with the teeth of her blade that were now starting to dull up from impact. Why was there light in the cave if they were trapped? That would only mean once answer. There had to be a way out! Moana tapped on Kairi and Xion and ran to the back where Naminé was pointing the small beacon of light that was glowing from above and shining upon what appeared to be a statue of Maui that he himself had to have carved out of boredom. Normally Kairi would've rolled her eyes at something like that, but now wasn't the time to be bothered by conceit.
Moana looked up into the opening and could see it was quite small from where they were, but felt it was just big enough that each of them could get through if they could get up to the top. It was just a shame there weren't vines or boulders or anything they could use to climb up. Or was there? There was a statue that was tall enough to reach. It sounded like a crazy idea, but at this point, the girls were desperate, Moana especially.
"Girls! We're getting out of here!" Moana said as she ran over to the statue. As she studied the statue's placement and the location of the crevice, being diagonal from each other, Moana quickly realized that it was going to take creativity and excellent timing. "Well, I was thinking we could knock the statue over, and as the head is going under the crevice, we jump out, but that might be too close for all of us."
"Wait!" Kairi gasped as she summoned her Keyblade. "I have an idea! You three go up on top and push the statue over, and as soon as it is underneath the hole, I'll use Stopga to freeze it in place!"
Xion nodded as she was the first one to start climbing. "Great idea, Kairi! Come on, ladies! We're busting out of here, cavemen style!"
"Last time I checked, cavemen didn't wear pretty dresses and carry giant keys." Naminé laughed while climbing up.
"Of course they did! Who do you think invented such a style?" Xion asked while brushing her bangs out of her face.
Naminé thought before shrugging her shoulders. "I'm not sure. Obviously some guy who is obsessed with belts, zippers, and plaid."
"Alright girls," Moana said as she caught up with Xion and Naminé. "All three of us are going to have to get between the wall and the statue and push it!"
Xion sighed as she did what she was told. "I thought I was already between a rock and a hard place."
Kairi waited on standby as Xion, Naminé, and Moana all squeezed between the wall and the statue. Their first attempt at them pushing with their arms. When that didn't work, Kairi suggested they lean their backs against the wall and use their legs, feeling that she had better leg strength than upper body strength and that the others were no different. As it appeared, having a daily 'leg day' workout on this journey proved to be useful. Instead of the statue not budging, the three girls' shoved their legs against the statue and pushed it over. With it being a heavy statue, it fell slowly, giving Kairi just the right amount of time to cast her fully powered Stopga spell just as it was at a right angle pointing toward the crevice.
Xion, Naminé, and Moana celebrated their success in executing the plan, but Kairi reminded them that the magic wasn't permanent and they had to get out quick before it expired. Moana nodded and was the first one up, ready to help the other. How long would this magic last? They were about to get their answer. Moana got out no problem, then Xion, and Naminé, but as Kairi went up, she could feel the statue disappearing from below her feet. Instinctively, Kairi yelped and leapt up for her life. Moana reached down and held Kairi tightly by the hand as the redhead dangled several feet in the air. As she caught her breath, Xion and Naminé helped Moana pull her up and out. It was a close call, but very worth it now that they had escaped.
The voice of Maui hollering in the distance echoed all the way back to the island and drew Moana's attention. She gasped and pointed out her boat that was rudely stolen from them. Kairi, Naminé, and Xion all huffed as they all stood their ground atop that cave. It was going to take more than a narcissistic demigod to keep them from restoring Te Fiti's heart. All four of them sprinted forward and dove into the ocean before they started swimming toward the boat that was keeping ahead of them. This would take a while.
As if fate had their back, the ocean of all things embraced the girls in its grasp and sent them jetting toward the boat. Even with having to chase down a jerk, Kairi had to admit to loving this and feeling like she was riding a jet ski. Once they were close enough, the ocean dove them underneath and shot them right onto the boat in front of a shocked Maui. Even Heihei, who Maui took on the boat to be his 'snack', shot his deadpan face up in surprise.
"Did not see that coming…" Maui said, dumbfounded.
Moana huffed as her soaking wet hair slapped against her face. "I am Moana of Motunui! This is my canoe and you will journey to-" She was cut off by Maui simply tossing her into the ocean.
"Alright, who's next?" He asked.
"You think this is funny?" Kairi scoffed. "I've dealt with men that are much bigger and scarier than you." She laughed until Maui pulled back on a lever, causing the canoe's bow to shoot up and knock her into the water.
Maui laughed as he smirked at Xion and Naminé. "Two down. Anyone else?" His moment of basking in his pride was short-lived as the ocean graciously lifted Kairi and Moana back onto the boat. "And...they're back."
"You wanna try that again?" Xion asked with a smirk.
"If you're as smart as you think you are, you'll listen to them." Naminé nodded in agreement.
Moana shook her hair out and took Te Fiti's heart out of her necklace. "I am Moana of Motunui! You will sail to the island of Te Fiti and restore the heart!" She demanded while shoving the heart in his face.
Without saying a word, Maui snatched the heart and chucked it for what appeared to be miles thanks to his godlike strength. Kairi and Moana both gasped as they saw the heart land in the sea several miles back, only to be reminded that the ocean wanted this as much as they did and chucked the heart right back...at Maui's face. Would Maui finally give in? No, of course he wouldn't. If he couldn't get rid of the heart, then he was just going to bail. Maui scoffed before diving into the sea and starting to swim away, but forgot that the ocean didn't really like him all that much and was shot right back onto the boat by it.
"Oh, come on!" Maui yelled in frustration.
"What is your problem?" Moana asked.
Xion took notice of how Maui stiffened up whenever Moana held the heart closer to him. "Wait a second, are you afraid of it?" She asked in an amused tone.
"No! I'm not afraid of it!" He pushed Moana's hand away from him. His tattoo begged to differ as he began chewing on his fingernails. "Hey," Maui said to the tattoo. "Stay out of this or you're sleeping in my armpit."
"Ew…" Naminé shuddered.
"Look, if you have to know. That is not a heart, it is a curse. The second I took it, I got blasted outta the sky and I lost my hook!" Maui explained, only to scramble back as Moana held the heart even closer to him. "Okay, get that thing away from me."
"Get this away?" Moana mocked him. "Kairi, I think he's scared." She said in an over dramatic tone.
Kairi laughed and nodded. "I think so too, Moana."
"Hey! I'm a demigod, okay? Stop that or I will smite you!" Maui threatened. "Do you wanna get smote? Smoten?"
"Okay, I've only got about two years of life experience and knowledge and even I know that's not a word…" Xion said while rolling her eyes.
Maui growled as he stood back up. "Listen, that thing doesn't give you power to create life, it's a homing beacon of death! And I refuse to have anything to do with it!"
Kairi and Moana shared an unconvinced look before Naminé gasped, coming up with an idea. She ran over and huddled with the girls, whispering soft enough that Maui couldn't possibly hear him. Even if he tried to escape, the ocean just continued to bob up and down and shake its head, reminding him that it will bring him back if he tries to escape. Maui groaned and rolled his eyes as Naminé finished her secret exchange with Moana, Kairi, and Xion.
"Well, I guess you leave us no choice then. I guess we'll have to go to 'Plan B'." Moana sighed as she put the heart away.
"Wait…" Maui said as he sat down on the boat. "What's 'Plan B'?" He asked.
Kairi chuckled and folded her arms as she turned the attention to her blonde friend. "Naminé? Care to do the honors?"
"My pleasure." Naminé said as she summoned her Keyblade.
"Uh...what are you gonna do to me?" He asked, his eyebrows furrowing.
Not having a real moment to question Naminé's actions, Maui suddenly lost feeling his hands as the bitter chill of pure ice surrounded them. He looked down and shouted in despair as he saw that Naminé had encased both of his hands in blocks of ice that were attached completely to the boat. Maui may have trapped the girls in a cave, but in his opinion, this was a new low. The girls on the other hand, thought it was funny and that it was a perfect time to give him the cold shoulder.
"'B' is for blizzard, you got that memorized?" Xion asked with a smirk.
"You can't be serious? You're going to freeze me to this boat?" Maui yelled as he struggled against the ice, his tattoo also shivering in response. "Well the joke's on you because the ice will melt within minutes." He laughed.
Naminé giggled and shook her head. "It doesn't work like that. This ice is the work of magic and is meant to be used for offensive and defensive combat. It doesn't melt like normal ice unless I cast a fire spell on it."
"Pretty cool, huh?" Xion asked.
"Great, magic ocean, and now magic ice. What's next? Magic light?" Maui asked while rolling his eyes.
Kairi suddenly made a Pearl light orb appear in her hands. "Don't push your luck."
"Okay, now that's just freaky." He shook his head while his eyes bulged wide. "Look, I'll go along with your little game. Could you at least scratch my nose a bit? It itches like crazy."
"Fine, I'll do it." Moana sighed in defeat. She went up to him and gently scratched the tip only for him to sneeze on her purposefully. "Maui! That's disgusting!" She yelled as she brushed herself off.
Maui laughed and shook his head. "Payback hurts, doesn't it?" The ocean ended up shooting a small seashell at his head, eliciting a grunt out of him. "Really?" He asked, unamused.
"Are you sure we can't just throw him overboard and do this ourselves?" Xion whispered.
"Unfortunately, no…" Moana grumbled with her teeth gritting.
"Well, ladies…" Maui sighed dramatically. "It's gonna be a long ride, so you'd better get used to me!"
Feeling truly stuck between a rock and a hard place, Moana and Kairi attended the sail and set the boat continuing on while Naminé and Xion took off their boots and began to relax their feet in the cold water that felt amazing against their tired feet. It was going to be a long voyage, so they might as well have gotten comfortable.
A/N: Man, those interactions with Maui were so fun to write...see you guys next time!