Chapter 16: Pathfinding

After doing some research in the school library, Moana discovered that her people were indeed sea-faring voyagers as her grandmother claimed. Then a few days after her grandmother's passing, she followed the direction of the hook constellation to the docks on the city's eastern side which led out to sea. Smelling the fresh salty air brought back memories of when she was living on her island, and immediately she noticed the ocean water seemed to rise up to her level. This caused the nearby pedestrians to run away, including several fishermen, though the water didn't advance. Instead, it loomed like a towering droplet over Moana.

"Am I doing this?" Moana asked, though she quickly felt embarrassed at the thought of talking to literal water.

Yet the ocean water seemed to respond by moving side-to-side like it was shaking its head.

"So you're…alive?" When the water bobbed up and down, Moana interpreted it as a 'yes'. "Then you really did move when I was little?"

Again, the ocean water nodded.

"Because you chose me to restore the Heart of Te Fiti," Moana concluded, looking down at her grandmother's necklace. "Do you know where I can find Maui?"

In response, the ocean water moved down the docks toward a shipyard full of large boats and cranes that resembled upside-down hooks. Moana followed the ocean water on impulse and was distracted by the size of boats when she almost ran into someone.

"Whoa, hey!"

Looking up, Moana saw a big man with long curly brown hair tied up into a man bun large muscles covered in tattoos and beady eyes. He wore an orange jumpsuit with the top part unzipped revealing no shirt underneath and had a hardhat tucked under one shoulder.

"Sorry," Moana apologized. "I was looking for someone."

"Well, unless this person works in the shipyard I suggest you should look somewhere else," the big man said. "Civilians aren't allowed here except under special permission."

"Right," Moana nodded, and looked at the other people nearby who also had their jumpsuits unzipped. "Is there a person named Maui here?"

"I'm Maui," the big man answered. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Taking a deep breath, Moana tugged on the big man's ear and said, "I am Moana of Motunui and I demand that you return the Heart of Te Fiti!"

"Ow! Wait a sec!" Maui pushed Moana back, causing her to let go. "What's this Heart of Te Fiti stuff you're going on about?"

"You're the Demigod Maui, right?" Moana claimed. "You stole the Heart of Te Fiti long ago, and dropped it when Te Kā showed up. That's what my Gramma Tala told me."

"Then she must be crazy, because I'm no Demigod," Maui insisted. "I build ships for a living, and just happen to share the same name as he does."

Unsure of what to say, Moana's eyes fell upon one tattoo on Maui's body depicting a miniature version of him which seemed to move across his chest. From there, she noticed other tattoos depicting the sun being stopped by a hook land formations being pulled from the sea with a rope and a coconut tree blossoming from the guts of a snake.

"Maui was said to possess tattoos that have a mind of their own, depicting all of the deeds he did across the centuries," Moana recalled out loud. "So you are him!"

"No, I'm not," Maui insisted, zipping up his jumpsuit and putting on the hardhat. "Whatever you saw on my chest was probably a trick of the sunlight. Now if you don't leave right now, I'm going to call the cops."

"I'm not leaving until you agree to help me restore the Heart of Te Fiti," Moana replied, reaching for her necklace. "I have it right here if you don't believe me."

"So what?" Maui shrugged. "Even if it was the real thing, it'll only bring you trouble."

"And how would you know that, if you're not the Demigod Maui?"

Flinching, Maui walked away forcing Moana to follow him.

"Why are you lying to me?" Moana demanded. "Is it because you don't want to face Te Kā, or Te Fiti for that matter?"

Maui said nothing, and instead he turned around and picked up Moana. She tried to struggle, but Maui's grip was strong as he placed her back at the entrance to the shipyard. But Moana immediately walked back over to him.

"Please, Maui," Moana pleaded. "My home island of Motunui is dying because of Te Kā's influence, and the ocean chose me to return the Heart of Te Fiti. I need your help."

"Leave me alone!" Maui snapped, picking Moana up again and tossing her into the ocean.

What happened next was so baffling that Moana couldn't process it properly. One minute, she was sinking and then suddenly the water rose up beneath her pushing her up to the surface and back onto the edge of the shipyard. She was completely wet from head to toe, while Maui and a few others stared at her in confusion.

"Um, that wasn't supposed to happen," Maui reacted.

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Afterwards, Maui got fired by the head shipbuilder for trying to harm a civilian though Moana tried to claim it was an accident. Then as Maui stormed away from the shipyard, Moana followed him down the pier to a small ship that looked like the traditional ones Moana's people sailed to impress the tourists that came to Motunui. But what made this one stand out was the blank sail.

"Came here to gloat?" Maui asked without looking at Moana. "I was due for a bonus that would've allowed me to make some upgrades to my ship, which I've spent a long time building so I could leave this city one day."

"But can't you just shape-shift into something and leave that way?" Moana brought up. "You can do that with your magic hook, right?"

"Yes, but I don't have it anymore," replied Maui.

"What happened?"

"It was stolen when I set foot here many years ago to get away from Te Kā."

"By who?"

"A crab named Tamatoa, who left the Realm of Monsters Lalotai to cause mischief on land. I've been keeping tabs on him while taking odd jobs around town, waiting for the perfect time to get the hook back. But thanks to you, I'm now going to have to start from scratch."

Moana thought for a moment and then said, "If I help you get the hook from Tamatoa, will you help me find Te Fiti?"

Maui let out a deep sigh and responded, "Fine, but I'm not taking you to Te Fiti. You'll have to get to her on your own."

"But how? I don't know where she is."

"Not my problem," Maui shrugged and stepped onto the boat.

"Then can you at least teach me pathfinding with your ship?"

"Oh, no," Maui objected, looking directly at Moana this time. "You're not sailing my baby."

"Okay, then I'll find my own boat," Moana compromised. "But in the meantime, could you teach me how to be a pathfinder?"

"If you think you've got what it takes, Princess."

"I'm no Princess!" Moana objected. "I happen to be the daughter of Motunui's senator."

"But you're wearing the Disney Academy girls' uniform," Maui pointed out. "And I know there's a Princess program at that school, which is only for the girls, so by that definition you're a Princess."

Groaning, Moana responded, "All right, but I'm willing to learn pathfinding if it'll help me find Te Fiti."

"You say that now, but the arduous training might make you change your mind," Maui warned as he climbed into the hull of the boat. "In the meantime, I'll meet you at the Shiny Deals loan company building two months from now."

"Two months?" Moana exclaimed. "Why that long?"

"Because I need to get another job in order to request a loan from Shiny Deals, which Tamatoa is posing as the president of," Maui explained. "That way, I get inside the building and figure out where my hook could possibly be before we try taking it back. Does that make sense?"

"Yes," Moana nodded.

"Good!" Maui then slammed the door to the hull of the boat on Moana, causing her to be briefly perplexed before walking back to her apartment.

End of Chapter 16