A/N: Well, well, well guys, we're on Chapter 69 now (LOL), and that's all I'm gonna say on the matter!
Chapter 69: The Lair of Tamatoa
The journey to Te Fiti had the opportunity to be quick and painless, but thanks to a particularly difficult passenger on board Moana's boat, it dragged on for several hours and it would continue to drag so long as Maui continued to be stubborn about pointing them in the right direction. Instead, he continued to pout and mouth off like an immature child, something that began driving Kairi, Moana, Naminé, and Xion all crazy. If they didn't need him, they would have thrown him overboard within the first fifteen minutes. Even Ocean was tempted to throw him overboard, but knew it couldn't.
"Man, I'm so hungry." Kairi sighed as she took a mango out of the canoe's supply compartment and munched on it.
Xion grumbled as she lay on the raft curled up in a fetal position. "I'm not…"
"Uhhh...is she gonna be alright? Or are we gonna have to bury her at sea?" Maui asked.
"Very funny." Moana rolled her eyes. "I could ask the same thing about you. Are you feeling cool enough?" She asked with a smirk referring to the fact that Maui's arms were still frozen to the boat.
"Okay, now that's really not funny." The demigod pouted, despite his tattoo laughing at Moana's pun.
Naminé shrugged her shoulders and walked up to Maui. "It's really simple. All you have to do is promise that you're gonna stick around and go with us to Te Fiti to restore the heart. It's all we've been asking you for the past...how many hours?"
"The same amount that I've been trying to tell you that it's not a good idea to be casually wandering about with that heart! It's cursed!" Maui groaned.
"Then you're stuck there, Maui." Moana sighed.
Maui grumbled as he leaned against the mast. "I give up…" He whispered to himself.
Kairi sighed with relief. Maybe this meant they were going to finally get some peace and quiet during the voyage. Xion needed it more than anything. As long as her seasickness kicked in, anybody speaking at a normal volume sounded like they were yelling to her. Naminé was being a trooper in rubbing her back to try and settle her while also sketching the oceanic view. How could anyone not want to remember this? In the meantime, Kairi and Moana took a moment to sit down and soak their feet in the water, the former of the two especially feeling a soothing sensation as her working feet relaxed.
"So, how exactly are we supposed to find Te Fiti?" Kairi asked.
"Well, I'm not completely sure where it is, but my island's people used to be voyagers. We were born to travel and see the world." Moana explained. "And then we found Motunui, and it just grew into a beautiful village that we still have today. Unless…" Her smile faded. "Unless my island is destroyed by the darkness."
Kairi furrowed her eyebrows, concern stirring up in her chest. "You don't really think that's gonna happen, do you? Because...I've had that happen to me before, and it usually takes something really powerful to accomplish that."
"Wait, your island disappeared?"
"A couple of years ago. I was separated from my best friends when it happened and it took over a year before we were all back home safe." Kairi recalled. "But, that wouldn't be the first time. I lived...somewhere else before my island and that was destroyed by the darkness too."
"So...then it really can happen…" Moana murmured.
"It can, but it can also be stopped and fixed." She noted. "My island was restored, and my friends and I did get to be home together for a short time before they had to depart again. And then when it seemed like we would all be happy and home again, something terrible happened to the boy that I love at my expense, so now, I'm going to fix it and get him back. And I'm also going to get my grandmother back...somehow."
Moana gasped softly. "Your grandmother?"
"Yeah, she raised me when I was little, and then we were separated when my first home was attacked by the darkness." Kairi said, her eyes drifting down to the clear ocean. "I miss her so much."
"I understand." Moana nodded. "My grandma died just after I left. I love my parents, but she was the only one who really understood my love for the ocean and how much world there is to see beyond my island."
Kairi laughed. "I remember my grandma always had these stories to tell. It was almost like she was there too."
Moana took the heart out of her necklace and held it for Kairi to get a closer look. "It was her dying wish for me to find Maui and restore the heart of Te Fiti, and I'm going to do just that, and nobody is going to get in my way." She said while giving Maui the stink eye.
Maui closed his eyes and looked away. "I'm not listening! I'm also not warning you that if you don't put it away that those Heartless things are gonna come after it!"
"Oh yeah, sure!" Moana laughed. "They're totally gonna come and get the heart!" She yelled.
Xion also joined in the laughing. "Yeah! It's not like there are four perfectly capable young ladies who can kick their butts!"
"Shh! You're gonna get us all killed!" Maui shushed her.
"No, I'm gonna get us to Te Fiti so you can put it back, thank you!" Moana said before bowing. "You're welcome!" She finished with an imitation of Maui.
Moana yelped as an arrow shot right past her face and in front of her, landing direction in the boat and nearly impaling Heihei. Kairi, Naminé, and Xion were just as freaked out, wondering where the heck that arrow came from. If there was anything good that came from it, it was that the force shattered the ice around one of Maui's arms. Using his free arm, he picked up the arrow and gripped it tightly. That arrow could have only meant one thing.
"Kakamora…" Maui growled.
"Kaka-what?" Kairi and Moana asked in unison.
"Murdering little pirates." He explained as Naminé thawed his other arm. "I wonder what they're here for." He sarcastically remarked as he looked down the horizon.
In the distance, there appeared to be a strange rock ledge in the middle of the ocean. On the ledge, there were three small creatures that resembled coconuts, but wore blank tiki masks. Their round shape, their short size, their small arms and legs, and their beady eyes. Were these really the creatures Maui was referring to?
"They're kinda cute." Moana noted.
"Yeah, how bad can they be?" Naminé asked.
The seemingly cute coconut creatures suddenly painted angry faces on their masks and drew both helmets and weapons such as spears and arrows. From behind the trio of Kakamora suddenly came a ship that made Moana's canoe look pathetically weak. Aboard the ship wasn't just another trio, but an entire army of Kakamora. If having an army wasn't enough, there appeared to be an army of Heartless that resembled the Kakamora, but were smaller and had the Heartless emblem on their frontal area. Kairi held up her watch and scanned the Heartless that were on board.
"Oh gosh! This is bad!" Kairi gasped. "Those Kakamora have Heartless with them that are called Kokomors. They're just as aggressive as their leaders!"
"That's our cue to get out of here! There's too many of them!" Naminé said.
"Ocean! Do something! Get us out of here!" Moana pled with the ocean.
Maui groaned and rolled his eyes. "The ocean doesn't help you, you help yourself!" He ran to the back of the boat and grabbed a rope. "Tighten the halyard, Kairi!"
"Got it!" Kairi nodded as she went to grab the sail.
"Moana! Bind the stays!" Maui called out, only for her to stand there, confused by his demands. "Wait...you don't know how to sail?"
"Uh…" Moana thought for a moment, trying to find a way out of this one. "I am self-taught?"
"Moana! Even I'm self-taught!" Kairi mentioned.
Xion growled and broke up the fight. "I don't care who knows how to do what! They're catching up!"
The Kakamor Heartless began shooting arrows at the boat, as that was their best method of attack so long as Moana's boat was speeding ahead. With how quick the arrows were flying and at mass quantities, Naminé gathered everyone together and cast Reflega, hoping it would deflect the arrows back to them. While the arrows didn't necessarily fire back at all of them, some of the Kakamors were taken out by the deflected arrows while the ones who survived continued to attack.
Naminé sighed as she could feel that she couldn't hold this Reflega spell forever, and with how many Kakamora and Heartless there were, she knew she had to conserve her energy for her other magic spells. She cautioned this to Moana and Maui with the hopes that they could come up with something else.
"Can't you shapeshift or something?" Moana asked Maui.
"Do you see my hook?" He answered with another question. "No hook, no shapeshift!"
A large spear with a rope attached to it was launched at the boat and gripped it at the end. With the Kakamora ship using it to pull them closer, the Kakamora and Heartless stopped shooting the arrows. While it was good for Naminé so she could restore her energy, this also created another problem. What everyone thought was one ship had now split into three. The larger one reeled in Moana's boat while the two smaller boats sailed around them, attempting to entrap them and prevent escape.
"Their boat is turning into more boats!" Moana cried out.
"We're surrounded!" Xion yelled.
They were not only surrounded, but also within jumping range of the Kakamora. Both the army members and their Heartless companions began jumping off the boats and onto Moana's boat. While there was a chance of escaping before, now there was none. Maui and the girls were outnumbered and with the Kakamora being as aggressive as they were, there was no trying to ignore them. Kairi whacked as many as she could with Xion trying to use Strike Raid to stop any mid-jump. Naminé aimed her Keyblade and began shooting off Firaga spells wherever she could, whether they were mid-jump or already on the boat. Maui and Moana couldn't do much about their situation, especially with Moana trying to protect the heart of Te Fiti.
One Kakamora managed to get a hold of Moana's necklace and yanked on it. When she tried to fight back, the Kakamora lost its grip and snapped the necklace against her chest, causing the shell to open up and spill the heart out. Heihei, the chicken who normally wouldn't even eat normal food, decided at that very moment that he was going to eat the one thing he shouldn't eat. He picked up the heart and decided to swallow it whole. On one hand, it's a good idea since the Kakamora couldn't have access to the heart anymore.
Instead, the Kakamora were smarter than that and decided if they couldn't get the heart the normal way, they'd just take the whole chicken. One of the Kakamora grabbed Heihei and ran toward the end of the boat. Before it could jump, something else caught its eye. Kairi was knocked down after a Kakamor Heartless whacked her in the head and her lucky charm managed to fall out of her pouch. The one Kakamora signaled its buddy to grab the charm before both of them jumped back onto the main ship and made an escape back to their leader.
"No! They took Heihei!" Moana yelled as she ran to the edge of the boat.
"And they took my lucky charm!" Kairi growled. "Alright ladies, we don't have a choice! We're gonna have to fight them off!"
"All of them?" Naminé and Xion asked in unison.
"Yep!" Kairi got ready to leap off. "If Sora can take on an army of a thousand Heartless by himself, so can the three of us!"
"Maui! We need to go back for Heihei!" Moana mentioned.
"We're going back for a chicken?" Maui asked in an irritated tone.
"No! The heart is in the chicken! And I need my lucky charm back so if you won't turn us around…" Kairi said as she grabbed the sail. "Then I will!"
Kairi was not in the mood for Maui to bicker and argue with them. Was it stupid to try and fight aganst hundreds of Kakamora and Heartless? Of course it was, but she needed her lucky charm and Moana needed that heart. Kairi manned the sail and drew closer to the Kakamora's main ship. All she needed was to get just close enough that she and the other girls could jump up. As for Maui, he'd have to figure out how to defend himself. He was a demigod, surely he'd be able to figure something out no problem.
Upon landing on the ship, Kairi, Xion, Naminé, and Moana split up, ready to face off against this army of coconuts. Lucky for them, they were small and easily disposable. Naminé cast her Thundaga spells on any that tried to surround her while the other girls just continued to whack the Kakamora out of the way and into the ocean. It seemed simple enough, but the number of Kakamora that they'd have to deal with were starting to catch up with them, making this more difficult than just fighting a regular swarm of Heartless.
Kairi could see that Naminé, Xion, and Moana were starting to run low on energy. Even she was starting to feel done with trying to fight off an entire army. Sure, Sora may have been able to take on an entire enemy of Heartless, but now wasn't the time to compare her skills and endurance to him. He was physically stronger than her anyway, so it only made sense that he could handle it.
Xion unfortunately took a hit to the head and was knocked out cold, but not for long as Kairi ran to her side and cast Curaga to get her back up. There had to be a way to make this easier, Kairi thought. She and Moana had to find the lucky charm and the heart of Te Fiti. She smacked another bunch of Kakamora and caught sight of Naminé during the hit. Thanks to her magic, Naminé could make easy work of them, but Kairi knew she wouldn't be able to do that forever without conserving any energy. She gasped as she remembered that there was one person who could cast magic without conserving any energy.
"They may just be coconuts, but there's still a lot of them!" Xion grunted as she struck another bunch into the ocean.
"Yeah, but I know someone who can help!" Kairi said as she held up her watch. She tapped on the Lamp icon. "Genie! Give me strength!"
Genie appeared from a puff of blue smoke right on cue, ready for action. "Phew! It's been a while Kairi! Sorry your vacation was ruined…"
"No! I'm not on vacation, but do you think you can help us get rid of some of these guys? There's a lot of them!" Kairi asked.
"You got it!" He said while high-fiving her.
"Thanks! I gotta go get my lucky charm and help Moana, but look after Xion and Naminé!"
Genie gave Kairi a thumbs up before he cracked his knuckles and went on to aiding Xion and Naminé during the fight. He varied between casting fire, ice, thunder, and even wind magic on them. Because of Genie's power, the Kakamora seemed to want to target him more than the girls. His phenomenal power was still helpful in keeping the Kakamora far away and disposing of them, but with him not having the same phenomenal powers that he had before his freedom, Genie still had his limits.
As he took one second to aid Naminé and help her restore her energy so she could keep casting magic, Genie found himself overwhelmed by the Kakamora. A heaping number of them jumped him, making it near impossible for him to focus his magic. Genie grew hysterical as they started covering his face and holding his arms hostage. It was apparent that even his power couldn't get rid of all of them. As much as he wanted to help Xion and Naminé, there was just not much he could do at the moment and dismissed himself back to where he came from.
Kairi and Moana had been climbing up to the top of the ship where the chief was. As it turned out, Heihei and the lucky charm were both handed to them, and like the others, they weren't going down without a fight. As the girls arrived, the chief jumped down a level and made a run for it. They may have been small, but Kairi and Moana were both just as stubborn. Moana grabbed a rope and swung down toward the chief. She was just close enough to grab Heihei, but couldn't grab the lucky charm. Kairi leapt down and joined her, both of them cornering the chief and leaving him with nowhere else to go.
"Got him!" Moana breathed a sigh of relief as she held up Heihei.
"Awesome! But that one still has my lucky charm." Kairi said as she cast a hostile glare at the leader who was not about to submit anything that looked valuable.
The chief growled as he held the lucky charm tightly and tried to get around Kairi and Moana to escape. Thankfully, he was a smaller guy and they were much bigger than him, giving them the advantage to cut him off. The girls' advantage would be short-lived as a couple Kakamora caught up with them and aimed their poison dart shooter at the girls, but were unable to make up their mind which one to shoot at. The chief saw past the girls and hollered for them to shoot. Kairi, taking notice of this, looked behind and caught wind of the poison dart that was just fired.
Kairi quickly grabbed Moana and shoved them out of the way, causing the poison dart to nail the chief instead of the girls. The chief glared at its incompetent army members, who dropped their shooter in shame for not nailing the right target. They were in for an earful, except for the chief dropped in place, their body numbing up completely from the poison travelling through their bloodstream. Thanks to their inability to move, the chief didn't even have the strength to hang onto Kairi's lucky charm any longer and was left wide open for her to take it.
"I'll take that, thank you!" Kairi said as she took her charm back and placed it safely into her pouch.
"Alright," Moana said as she looked at the charm. "We've got the heart and your charm, now it's time to-"
"RUN!" Naminé and Xion yelled as they ran towards their friends with a herd of Kakamora chasing right behind them.
"Xion? Naminé?" Kairi asked. "What happened to Genie?"
"There's too many of them! Even for us!" Naminé took a moment to catch their breath. "We have to just make a run for it!"
With the girls not having many options of where to go, they nearly just jumped straight in the ocean when the hopes of swimming to Moana's boat. Instead, she caught sight of a spear and a rope that was attached to the ship. She took the spear and held it out for Kairi, Naminé, and Xion to see. The three of them could immediately understand what her plan was and followed her as she launched herself up into the air and threw the spear at her boat with as much force as she could use.
The spear impaled the boat and created a zipline for Moana and the girls to use to get back to her boat. She used Heihei while Kairi and the other girls used their Keyblades to land safely. Although they managed to get off the Kakamora ship, there was still the problem of being surrounded by all three of their ships. Maui yanked on the rope to try and get their boat to sail faster as two of the Kakamora ships started to cave in with the goal of crushing him and the girls.
When the boat wasn't sailing fast enough, Naminé came up with an idea. She ran to the edge where Maui was and stuck her Keyblade in the water. She cast an Aeroga spell, creating a jet stream that pushed the boat forward at record speed. The spell made it harder for everyone to hang on and be steady on the boat, but the important thing was that it got the boat out of the Kakamora's way, causing their two ships to crash into each other instead. With the Kakamora ships slowing down thanks to their collision, Moana's boat got ahead and out of harm's way. Heihei even coughed up the heart of Te Fiti, allowing Moana to put it back in her necklace.
"Yeah! We did it!" Moana jumped up and down.
"Thank goodness!" Xion sighed. "And now...I'm ready to go back to being seasick…" She said while her stomach gurgled.
Kairi smiled and shook her head. "Well Maui, you gotta admit it, we were pretty cool back there, hm?"
"Yeah…" Maui sighed and nodded. "Congratulations on not being dead, ladies. You surprise me, but I'm still not taking that thing back."
Naminé sighed in frustration. "Come on, Maui...what's it going to take?"
"Look, no offense, but you don't understand. If you wanna get to Te Fiti, you gotta go through a whole ocean of bad. There are these island god trials, and then there's Te Ka." Maui explained.
"Te Ka?" All four girls asked in unison.
"The lava monster?" Maui asked. "Ever defeated a lava monster? One with godlike powers?"
"Uh…" Kairi, Naminé, and Xion thought for a moment.
"No, but have you?" Moana asked, almost in a teasing manner.
Maui froze in place. Did he have experience fighting a lava monster? Not necessarily, but that didn't matter to him. The only one who seemed to care was Maui's tattoo, who was keeping score over who was winning over the arguments. Moana and the girls were ahead as the tattoo gave them a point over this argument.
"If you think I'm going on a suicide mission with a mortal princess and her companions-" Maui laughed.
"I am not a princess!" Moana cut him off. "I am the daughter of the chief."
"Same difference." He shrugged. "If you wear a dress, and you have an animal sidekick, you're a princess."
Kairi could only laugh. "I guess I fit the bill perfectly according to him."
"Anyway, you're nuttier than those coconuts if you think I'm going to risk my fine-looking booty just to take a rock back to Te Fiti." Maui said as he sat back down and leaned against the mast with his arms behind his head. "I'm getting my hook back, and that is it."
Moana sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. There had to be some way to convince Maui to go with them. Kairi even felt the same way and even quietly mentioned it to her, saying that they just needed to find his weakness. Maui's weakness didn't seem obvious at first, but upon laying eyes on a tattoo of him being praised by humans, it hit Moana like a coconut on the head. She knew how to convince him to go. She gathered the girls and whispered her plan to them. While there was no guarantee for it to work, all four of them decided to go for it.
"You know...if you did take the heart back, you would be a hero." Moana noted.
Maui arched up an eyebrow, straightening himself up. "Little girl, I am a hero."
"Doubt it. All you did was steal the heart of Te Fiti and set a curse upon the other islands." Kairi chuckled and said nonchalantly. "Last time I checked, heroes didn't set curses upon others."
"Face it, Maui. You're nobody's hero." Moana shook her head.
"But…" Naminé chimed in, resting her hands coyly on his shoulder. "You take the heart of Te Fiti back, you save the islands, and everyone praises you as a hero to all."
"Everybody would cheer!" Moana added on. "Ahhhhh! Maui! Maui! Maui! You're so amazing!" She whispered, the tattoo even illustrating this for Maui over his chest.
The idea had merit, Maui thought. As much as he hated to admit it, she was probably right. If stealing the heart of Te Fiti did this damage, the humans were definitely not happy with him right now. Maui smiled at the thought of humans cheering him on, chanting his name, naming future children after him. He would leave a legacy behind that would be unmatched. Again, he refused to admit it, but Maui could feel that Moana's plan had potential.
"So here's the deal." Moana said. "You're going to come with us to restore the heart of Te Fiti, and then you'll be praised as a hero to all. Deal?" She asked as she held out her hand.
Maui sighed, thinking that oh great, she was trying to strike an official deal. If he was going to have that status as a hero to all, it looked like he was running out of options. He looked down at his tattoo, who held out his own hand, encouraging Maui to do the same. Even a tattoo was trusting in Moana. He supposed he might as well give it a shot. What was the worst that could happen at this point?
"Fine, deal…" Maui grumbled. "But two conditions: one, we get my hook back first. Two, I don't want to hear all of that girl talk. It's disgusting…"
"Oh don't worry, wouldn't dream of it." Xion said while rolling her eyes. "I live with three other guys, I'm used to it."
"Alright, fair enough. I can agree to that." Moana nodded.
"If we're gonna get your hook back, do you have any idea where it is?" Kairi asked.
Maui nodded as he went to the back of the boat and grabbed the rope to modify their direction. "Yes, as a matter of fact. We have to sail east to the lair of Tamatoa. He's the only beady-eyed jerk who would have it in his possession."
"What makes you say that?" Naminé asked.
"He likes anything precious and valuable."
"Precious and valuable?" Kairi repeated. She took out her phone and pulled up her tracker, gasping upon seeing that her seashell was east from their current location. "Hey, maybe my seashell piece is there!" She showed Xion and Naminé on the screen.
Xion nodded upon seeing the blinking dot. "Well, it's worth a shot!"
"What's the seashell for?" Moana asked.
"It belongs to this." Kairi answered as she held out her charm. "We need only two more pieces and it might help me find the boy that means the world to me."
"Say no more then! We'll find Maui's hook and your seashell!"
Maui's eyebrows shot up and he rushed forward. "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! I didn't agree to a scavenger hunt!"
"What's a little detour?" Xion asked. "Besides, it's not like you're in a hurry to go beat the giant lava monster, right?"
"Uh…" Maui froze. In the meantime, his tattoo rewarded the girls with another point in the argument competition.
"We'll check the lair of Tamatoa and if it isn't there, then we'll go from there." Moana decided.
"In the meantime, Moana, I'm gonna show you how to sail!" Kairi said confidently.
"Really? You'd do that?" She gasped.
Kairi nodded as she handed Moana an oar. "Of course! You helped us, so now it's only fair!"
Moana smiled, appreciative of the offer. As the ladies (and Maui) sailed the open seas to the lair of Tamatoa, Kairi taught Moana the basics of how to sail. While she'd be the first to admit that Sora and Riku were much better at it than she was, she was at least confident enough to know the basics. She showed Moana how to man the sail, how to steer, and even what to do if an emergency situation occurs. Moana was sure to remember everything and was impressed with all of the knowledge she shared.
Maui, being...himself, pouted and didn't want anything to do with teaching Moana how to sail. Yet, some strange force was pushing him to at least give some input. Kairi was giving correct information, but something in him made him want to say something. He figured he'd share with them one piece of advice. It started off with little tips such as how to measure the stars to help with travelling to stupid little jokes such as checking the water and if the current was warm, that meant they were going to right way. Kairi and Moana didn't find that one funny. In fact, they found it disgusting as soon as they realized why the water was suddenly warm.
Even with Maui's childish behavior, Moana picked up on the skills enough overnight that Kairi handed control to Moana for the remainder of the trip to their destination. For Moana, it was a boost of confidence. She was glad to see that there was a lot more to sailing than she even thought and that she was able to learn, even if it meant being a victim of one of Maui's immature jokes. Although Kairi was happy to see Moana catching onto sailing, she was ready for some sleep. In fact, both she and Moana were ready to sleep. Maui sighed as both princesses fell asleep and decided he had no choice to take control. Still, there was something cute that plagued his mind about how all four of the girls were sound asleep. Maui's tattoo encouraged him to admit that he liked them somewhat, but of course he wasn't about to give into that.
As the misty morning was upon them, Maui had gotten everyone to the island where Tamatoa's lair was. Kairi gasped as they drifted closer to the coast. It didn't look like much. There was barely a beach and it was mostly just a tall cliffside made up of a bunch of rocks. It wasn't anywhere close to what she imagined the other islands to look like. Maybe she was spoiled with how green the Destiny Islands were?
"This is the place?" Kairi asked. "It looks like a bunch of rocks."
"I think that's the pattern here." Xion noted as she stepped off the boat. "I'm just glad to be off the boat…"
"And you're sure this guy's gonna have your hook?" Moana double checked with Maui.
"Believe me, Tamatoa will have it." He nodded as he attempted to spread food on the ground to feed Heihei. "He's a scavenger. Collects stuff. Thinks it makes him look cool."
"Huh…" Xion folded her arms. "Sounds like Axel with his candle collection."
"Exactly! And my hook is the coolest collectible." Maui noted.
Naminé sighed as she gazed up to the top of the range of rocks. "Let me guess, he lives up there and we have to climb up?"
"Uh...he doesn't exactly live up there. That's just the entrance to Lalotai." Maui answered while scratching the back of his head.
Moana gasped upon hearing the name. "Lalotai? Realm of monsters? We're going to the realm of monsters?"
"We? No. Me." Maui laughed as he began climbing. "I'm going, and you four are gonna stay here. It's...not exactly an appropriate place for pretty little girls such as yourself."
"Ugh…" Kairi growled as she climbed up a rock. "I'll have you know, I've climbed mountains, trekked through snowstorms, and cheated death numerous times!" She continued on climbing effortlessly to catch up with Maui. "Maui, we both have agendas here, so I would greatly appreciate it if you would just put your coconuts where your mouth is and let me and my friends get what we need, and you will get what you need, thank you! You're welcome!" She rambled before continuing to climb past him.
Maui only stared dumbfounded at Kairi before looking down and seeing his tattoo laughing and giving another score to the girls. "Ugh...it's always the redheads."
The climb to the top was long and arduous. Xion had it the roughest considering her seasickness hadn't passed all the way through her. It was an overcast day, which meant that it was hot and muggy, which nobody liked. Even with the drabby weather, once everyone had climbed to the top, each of the girls couldn't help but take in the view. It wasn't every day they were on a cliffside that overlooked the massive ocean.
For Kairi, it got her thinking about home. It reminded her that very soon, her journey with Naminé and Xion would be coming to an end. It would be any day now that she would be returning home with Sora and Riku, and life would be back to the way it was meant to be, simple and clean. There was a part of her that would miss it. There was a sense of family between the three girls, and it was a relationship that could never be replaced.
"Well, we made it up." Naminé sighed with relief.
"Yeah, good job guys!" Kairi nodded and took her phone out. "We're right over it! At this rate we'll have my lucky charm completed in no time!" She took a moment and gazed into Xion and Naminé's eyes. "You know, we've been through a lot, and as I'm standing up here overlooking the ocean, I can't help but feel like nothing could ever express how much I appreciate both of you."
Xion smiled and brushed her bangs. "Hey, what are sisters for, right?"
Kairi smiled and giggled. "Yeah."
"If you start citing some cliche motivational speech about friendship, I'm gonna throw up…" Maui said in the background in a deadpan tone.
"Keep your skirt on Maui, we're just taking a moment to smell the ocean and enjoy the view." Xion rolled her eyes.
"But there is something missing." Moana noted. "Oh...right. There is no entrance up here like you said."
"Yes," Maui lowered his voice to a menacing demeanor. "Because it only happens after a human sacrifice." He said while approaching them. The girls gasped and stepped back, fearing for their lives in that moment until the bright face of a trickster replaced the dark scowl on Maui's face. "Kidding! So serious!" He laughed.
Kairi and Moana took a moment to roll their eyes before Maui performed what appeared to be a chant in a language that Moana understood, but neither of the other girls did. As he called out the chant, Maui launched himself up and came crashing down on his feet. Whatever it was he did, it opened up a door beneath them that would lead them to a completely different realm. Kairi was no stranger to doors taking her to different realms, but the fact that this one was specifically a realm of monsters creeped her out a bit. At least if she knew the monsters were Heartless, she'd be able to handle them.
Maui was the first to jump in, doing a cannonball no less. Whatever lay beyond the door was anybody's guess, but Kairi had to get her seashell back and had no choice. She and Moana were the next ones with Xion and Naminé behind them. What started off as a regular jump had them landing in a pool of water that acted as a barrier that separated the human realm from Lalotai. The water's jet stream pushed them all the way through until they popped out the other side and into a place that looked like an underwater coral reef if it were on land instead of under the sea.
As beautiful as it was, the girls were all wary as their eyes canned the different colored rocks and coral. Naminé grew curious and looked closely at what appeared to be a giant flower. Foolishly, she reached out to touch it, only for the flower to open up like a mouth and shoot out its tongue, wrapping it around her arm and trying to drag her in. This was no flower, it was a monster! Kairi and Xion yelped as they ran back to help her. Kairi pulled Naminé back as Xion got her Keyblade and chopped the tongue off. It was still stuck on Naminé, but at least she was free.
Even with Lalotai being a beautiful place, it lived up to its reputation of being the realm of monsters. The flower monster seemed to set off the other monsters. Kairi would have suggested just fighting them off, but they were massive and resembled anything from bats, to reptiles, to even trees, and they all ate humans. Xion was sure they'd taste delicious, but really didn't feel like being somebody's meal and suggested all of them take cover at a nearby cave that happened to be shining in the distance.
"Okay, I think I now know what it is like to be in one of those giant monster movies." Xion sighed, catching her breath as they took cover.
Naminé scrunched her nose like a rabbit as she wiped the slobber off her legs. "Ewww! I still have slobber from that one plant thing back there!"
"Well, at least we're safe here." Kairi said while dismissing her Keyblade.
Once each of the girls were calmed down, Moana took a better look inside the cave and saw that the source of the bright shine was because it was loaded! In the dead center, there appeared to be a mountain of treasure. It was anything that would be worth any value: gold coins, jewels, jewelry, and the most valuable item, Maui's hook. There it was, topping the mountain as if to remind any wanderers of how valuable it was. After a thousand years, Maui had finally found his hook.
"Hey! It's Maui's hook!" Moana pointed out.
"Ha! I knew it! Told you I was right." Maui chuckled.
Kairi shook her head and waved her hand. "Yeah, right. Well, let's get the hook and then find my shell and then we can get out of here.
"I'm gonna get my hook. You are gonna stay here." He said while moving the girls out of the way.
"But I found your hook and Kairi still needs to find her shell!" Moana argued.
"Listen, for a thousand years, all I've cared about is keeping this hair silky, getting my hook back, and being awesome again. Also, with how tiny that piece of shell is, the odds of finding that thing in here are slim to none. Let's be real. So, you four stay here so that my chances of getting my hook back are not getting screwed up by a bunch of mortals who have no business inside of a monster cave, except…" Maui paused as he looked down and saw a cone-shaped shell that sparkled, an idea sprouting in his mind. "Except maybe as bait."
"Bait? How could one of us be used as bait?" Xion asked.
"Well, if you think about it, Tamatoa likes things that are bright, beautiful, and...shiny." He explained. "But now begs the question, do any of you fit the bill?"
"Bright, beautiful, and shiny…" Kairi muttered.
Kairi, Naminé, and Xion were no stranger to creating diversions and using each other as bait to get where they needed to go. It usually didn't matter who was the diversion, but if they were looking for somebody bright, beautiful, and shiny, there was nobody in that trio who shined more than the one they often looked to when they needed a 'pretty girl' diversion. Kairi and Xion shared a smirk with each other before looking over at Naminé, who was just as lost in her thoughts as everyone else was.
"Why are you all staring at me?" Naminé asked. Her heart rate spiked as Kairi and Xion gave her the 'we need you to do something stupid' look. "Forget it! I've already tried the 'pretty girl' plan as a distraction and it never works! It didn't work then and it won't work now!"
"Come on, Naminé! We'll make sure it works for sure this time!" Xion assured her.
"No! No! NO! I've already been nearly eaten alive in here and I'm not gonna be live bait! I won't do it and nobody's gonna make me!" She argued.
-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
"I can't believe I'm doing this again…" Naminé grumbled.
"Okay, you remember the plan, right?" Maui whispered.
"Yes. I use my girlish charm and shiny accessories to distract Tamatoa while you get your hook and find Kairi's seashell...yeah." She answered in an unamused tone.
Kairi smiled and gave her a thumbs up. "Great! Good luck!"
Naminé sighed and took one last look at herself. She was now covered from head to toe in anything that was sparkly and shiny. While she hated the fact that she was being used as live bait, Naminé had to make a mental note to 'borrow' some of this stuff for later after returning home. She picked up the drum-that was also shiny-and began to bang on it, making a lot of noise in the cave. She had no idea who this Tamatoa guy was or how she was supposed to get his attention since there was nobody else there, but did what she had to do.
"Oh Mr. Tamatoa! Did somebody order a beautiful girl who is all sparkly?" Naminé asked in a coy, but anxious tone. "I'm...oh so lonely and could use a...companion…? Who...sparkles just like me?"
Moana sighed and rolled her eyes. "This is stupid! She should just run up and get it!"
"No! If she does that, he'll kill her!" Maui shushed her.
"K-kill me?" Naminé stopped in her tracks, feeling her heart drop into her stomach. "You mean I may not walk out of this place alive?"
Maui laughed sheepishly as Kairi and Xion cast harsh glares at him. "In my defense, I did warn her that she would be bait."
"Okay, I'm out. You get the hook yourself, Maui." Naminé growled, ready to take off her accessories.
"No! You're already too late! Just stick to the plan! Keep him distracted, even when he gets here! Make him talk about himself. He loves bragging about how great he is." He encouraged her.
"Wow, you two must get along great." Xion said sarcastically as Naminé continued to pace around and bang on her drum.
"Not since I ripped off his leg." Maui noted.
"Wait, you ripped off his-"
Suddenly, the ground beneath Naminé started to shake. As the tremor intensified, Maui grabbed Moana and the other girls and took off, not having time to explain. The ground where the treasure was started to rise and Naminé lost her balance and slid off. She normally should have fallen all the way to the ground, but felt the grip of something holding her by the shell she had draped over her body. Naminé sighed with relief as she remained in the air, but it would be engulfed by fear the moment she realized who was holding her.
Naminé turned around and saw that the pile of treasure was nothing more than a shell. It was a shell that belonged to a giant crab. It was the giant crab that had grabbed Naminé with his claws and held her right in front of his face. She froze for a moment, taking in the fact that she was now being suspended in the air by a giant crab. Not knowing what to make of the situation, Naminé simply let out a scream, a classic reaction when a lovely lady discovers she's being held hostage by a giant beast.
"Well, what have we here?" The crab chuckled.
Naminé yelped as she was tossed up and down into the crab's pincer. "Y-you're T-T-Tamatoa?" She could barely get out.
"Oh...so you have heard of me." Tamatoa said with a snicker. "And just who might you be, you pretty little th-" He was cut off when Naminé couldn't make up her mind which eye to look into. "Hey, just pick an eye, babe. I can't concentrate on what I'm saying if you keep-please! Just pick one!"
"W-what...what are you gonna do with me?" She asked.
"Well, first I'm gonna ask my question that I was in the middle of asking before you rudely-ooh!" Tamatoa paused when he saw Naminé's star charm hanging from her pocket. "And what is this shiny thing?" He asked as attempted to grab it with the bottom of his pincer.
"Hey!" Naminé snapped as she held the charm tightly. "You leave that alone! It's very important to me!"
Tamatoa laughed and rolled his eyes. "Aww, what's the matter babe? Got a little boyfriend back at home?" He mocked her. "You know, I used to have a wife, and then I ate her and all 100,000 of my children! Come to think of it...it is close to meal time, and you do look rather scrumptious." He smirked.
"Uh…" She shook in her skin.
Naminé looked past the hungry Tamatoa and saw that Kairi, Moana, Maui, and Xion had climbed up to a higher ledge and were gauging out a plan to get on the crab's shell. She remembered to when Maui told her she needed to get him to talk about himself. Granted, he was about to eat her, and the chances of him sparing her were slim to none, but in the few seconds she had left before she was ingested, she decided to go for it.
"Wait!" Naminé held her hands out. "If you eat me...then...you wouldn't have somebody to talk to...about how...amazing you are!" She said in a fake tone of admiration. "In fact, you're so amazing, it scares me! But really, I've heard the tale of the great crab who became a legend! And I...would be honored to hear how you became so...crabulous?"
Tamatoa aimed a suspicious eye at her and leaned his face closer. "Are you just trying to get me to talk about myself? Because if you are…" A bright smile immediately formed on his face. "I would gladly do so!"
Just as Maui predicted, Tamatoa settled his mood and started talking to Naminé. He spoke of his backstory and how he went from a drab little crab to a rich and shiny fellow. While the story itself was silly, and it sounded like he was sharing his story in some poetic prose, it was doing the job and keeping Tamatoa busy. Even with this plan working Kairi and Xion were still stressed with the possibility of him growing bored of talking and deciding to eat Naminé instead, especially once he started pacing side to side, making it harder to judge when they should jump onto his shell or not.
"Oh man, this is too close." Kairi whispered.
"If Tamatoa eats Nami, you're dead." Xion threatened Maui.
"Relax!" He said as he grabbed Kairi by the back of the hood. "So long as he keeps going, she'll be fine. Here, go find your stupid shell and I'll be over to grab my hook when he gets close enough."
"Wait, what?" Kairi gasped.
Before she had a chance to ask, Maui tossed Kairi onto Tamatoa's shell. Her first reaction was that he was going to feel her, but as it turned out, his shell was too tough and she was light as a feather compared to him. Xion and Moana were tossed over afterward, and the three girls dug through the coins and jewels searching for the seashell. Kairi even brought out her phone and used her tracker to help make it easier because of how small it was. It was pretty simple to dig until Tamatoa started to pace even faster. It seemed the longer he went on about how rich he was and how much he loved free food, the more he got into it. Naminé was trying to act interested, but she could only do so much for a hideous monstrous crab that she wouldn't mind steaming and dipping in a side of butter.
Kairi yelped, being nearly knocked off Tamatoa's shell, but at least he was close enough to the shell for Maui to jump onto now. Although he was heavier, Tamatoa still didn't realize all of Naminé's friends were on his back, but Maui's landing was enough to shake some of the coins and shift them. Lucky for Kairi, the ones in front of her shifted just enough that she could see the seashell piece. She shoved the remaining coins to the side and pulled the seashell out, wiping the dirt off and waving Moana and Xion over to show it to them.
"Look! I got it!" Kairi whispered.
"That was quicker than I thought!" Moana beamed as she watched Kairi slip the shell into her pouch.
Xion laughed and nodded. "Good job! Now, we gotta get Nami back before-oh no!" She gasped.
Just as Kairi and Xion predicted, Tamatoa finally grew bored of talking about himself and decided that he was hungry again. He brought Naminé closer to his face, lifting his mouth wide open and ready to have a very sweet meal. Naminé shut her eyes and cowered, fearing that this was how she was going to go, but there was something else that was more distracting to Tamatoa and it would save her life.
"Hey crab cake!" Maui hollered, drawing Tamatoa's attention from Naminé over to him. He had made it over to the top of the crab's shell and had regained possession of his hook. "I'm back! It's Maui time!"
"You!" Tamatoa growled as he dropped Naminé, distracted by the distress of his enemy retrieving his hook once again.
"Alright, what do you say, little buddy?" Maui asked his tattoo. The tattoo transformed into a bird creature and flapped his wings. "Giant hawk? Coming up! Cheeeehoooo!" He hollered as he twirled his hook and cast the shapeshift spell.
Kairi, Moana, and the others all eagerly waited to see Maui shapeshift into the giant hawk he said he would...but it didn't happen that way. Instead, he changed into a tiny pink fish that flopped around pathetically. Okay, he screwed up once, but it wasn't a big deal to him. He'd try again! Maui attempted his powers again, only to fail again. This time, he transformed into anything but a hawk such as a shark, lizard, reindeer, chocobo, fly, and a pig before reverting back to his human appearance. As it turned out, Maui may have found his hook, but his hook wasn't any good if he couldn't use his powers correctly.
"Well, well, well, looks like little Maui's having trouble with his hook." Tamatoa taunted him. "Ouch! What a terrible performance." He said as he shook Maui and the girls off his shell, picking him up after. "You don't swing it like you used to."
"Put a shell in it, crab." Maui threatened before his body was tossed against a wall and sent him collapsing to the ground.
Tamatoa chuckled as he dug a claw into Maui's foot, dragging him back into his clutches. "Maui, you can try, but you can't expect a demigod to beat decopod. Try, try, try, as you might, just like the way you try chasing the love of these humans who make you feel wanted." He said while snickering at the girls. "You try to be tough, but your armor's not tough enough!"
Kairi and Moana both watched in distress as Tamatoa smacked Maui against the wall of the cave. As much as he was a jerk to them when they first met, it was hard to watch him get beaten this badly by Tamatoa, especially when his powers weren't working the way they were supposed to. Naminé thought about trying to distract Tamatoa again, but Xion noted that if Maui distracted him from her, then it wasn't going to do any good this time around. Moana thought that they needed something that was really going to shine.
As the girls took cover behind a rock, Moana looked down at her hands upon feeling something moist against them. She gasped as she realized it was bioluminescent algae that glowed green. From the color alone, there was only one thing they knew that would be more valuable to Tamatoa and would stop him from hurting Maui.
"Prepare your final plea." Tamatoa said as he brought Maui closer. "You'll never be shiny!"
"Hey!" Moana called out and gathered the crab's attention. "I've got something shiny for you!" She held up what appeared to the heart of Te Fiti glowing a fluorescent green.
Tamatoa gasped and dropped Maui, giving the girls a chance to help him move out. "The heart of Te Fiti! You can't run from me!" He said before Moana started running for it. "Oh, you can."
"Moana here!" Kairi prompted her to toss the heart to her.
As Moana tried to toss it to Kairi, the ground's shaking caused by Tamatoa's steps caused her to lose her balance and drop the heart into a small crevice in the ground. Although that wasn't part of the plan, Tamatoa fell for it and started to dig for it. His digging gave them enough time to make a run for it and escape Lalotai. With Maui injured, he would need help getting out of there. Moana and Xion both took his arms and supported him while Kairi and Naminé supported them from behind just to be sure nothing attacked them back there where they were defenseless.
"The power of creations...for a crustacean…" Tamatoa muttered as he dug the heart out and held it up in his pincer. "Yes! I have the-wait a minute. I see, she's taken a barnacle and she's covered it in bioluminescent algae as a diversion."
Naminé looked back and saw that Tamatoa didn't take to the diversion too kindly and was chasing after them. "Ugh...guys! I think he's angry! We'd better hurry up!"
"We'd love to, but...Maui's...kinda heavy!" Xion grunted. "No offense."
"None taken." Maui shrugged.
"Come back here!" Tamatoa growled as he got closer at a dangerously faster pace.
"Uh...anyone got any ideas?" Moana asked.
Kairi sighed and summoned her Keyblade. "Looks like we're just gonna have to fight him head on…"
"Okay, I was right. Redheads are the crazy ones." Maui nodded, affirming his suspicion.
"Either we fight him on or we're seafood!" Kairi said as she ran back toward the crab. "You guys get Maui out of here! I'll serve crab legs here!"
Maui called Kairi's name, trying to stop her from doing what he thought was a really stupid thing. She ignored his plea and met Tamatoa between her friends and the cave, challenging him. The aggravated crab growled as attempted to stomp her with his pincers and legs. Her size absolutely put him at a disadvantage and it didn't help him any further once Kairi bounced off of some coral and launched herself onto his shell. Once Tamatoa realized she was up there, he paced around and shook his shell violently, knocking her down.
While Kairi may have fallen off, she landed in the perfect spot. There was some light being cast from the human realm's sunlight above. It was strong enough that it shone right on Kairi's keyblade and created a sort of glare. Thanks to it being cleaned before leaving Radiant Garden, and being in the ocean a number of times, it made the weapon look...shiny. He may not have noticed it before, but Tamatoa, being the rich and high-class crab he was, always noticed something shiny and valuable.
"Oooh! What...what have we got here?" Tamatoa asked as he tilted Kairi's Keyblade up with his claw. "It's rather...shiny."
Kairi looked at her Keyblade before a mischievous smile grew upon her face. "Shiny, huh? Is this what you want?" She waved it in front of her.
"Shiny...yes! I must...have it!" The crab hissed, his mouth watering at the thought.
"You know, this item is really quite rare too!" She worked him up.
Tamatoa breathed heavily and nodded. "Give it to me! I must have it!"
"Well then, if you want it…" Kairi suddenly tossed her Keyblade back into Tamatoa's cave. "Then go get it! It is yours!"
While Kairi was completely confident in throwing her Keyblade, Xion and Naminé's hearts nearly stopped as they saw her just toss the weapon into the cave and run away as Tamatoa started chasing after it. Kairi urged them to get on the water geyser immediately while the crab was distracted. It was then that Xion and Naminé were reminded of one very important thing about Keyblades. Only a Keyblade wielder can have one. Kairi smiled mischievously and held out her hand, Destiny's Embrace appeared right back where it belonged.
Tamatoa, not noticing that the Keyblade had disappeared yet, scurried around the cave and dug in search of the Keyblade. When his whole cave had been dug up and he realized that Maui and the girls had escaped, Tamatoa had no choice but to wallow in his defeat.
"Nooooooooooo!" Tamatoa hollered at the top of his lungs.
A/N: I know! I'm sorry there was no "Shiny" song here during the Tamatoa scene! I didn't want to risk the fic getting reported for copyright by including the song lyrics, but it was still a fun scene to write and it gave Naminé something fun to do!