I can't wait for the KH3 DLC!
Ok, got my fangirling out... ok.
I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! I'm really happy how it turned out!
OCs (c) to me!
Moana (c) to Disney!
Chapter 10
The cold of darkness pulled Xehanort further into it. He remembered the storm and the crash, but here he was, floating, drowning in something that felt like water, but he could see nothing.
His throat burned as water rushed in. For a moment, in his struggle, he saw something. A blue figure, glowing with an unearthly light, approached. It came closer, and Xehanort could see it clearly.
A shark. Long, lithe, with large black eyes and a long tail that stretched upwards(1). It came closer, almost touching him, but then it turned, vanishing into the darkness.
But then, nothing.
The water seemed to vanish from his mouth and nose. But still he saw nothing. Still he floated downward.
His feet touched something hard, but still he saw nothing.
Glancing around, he searched for something. Anything to convince him that he wasn't dead.
He took a step.
The ground beneath him blossomed with light. White doves spread out from the floor, flying off into the darkness. The boy stared down at the platform beneath him.
A mosaic of stained glass. The image of himself, asleep, sat on the edge of a black circle. Outside the circle, panes of dark purple and deep blue glass crisscrossed, reminding him of a stormy ocean. Inside the circle, he saw a vision of his island, as well as Scala ad Caelum. A circle of soft yellow glass decorated the middle of that larger circle, and within it he saw the sleeping face of Venus.
Words refused to come out of his mouth, but he could only wonder what this place was.
The ground shuddered and three pedestals suddenly rose from the outer edge of the circle. Upon one appeared a sword. The other a shield. The last a staff.
Xehanort walked to the sword. His hand touching the handle gently.
A voice, silent, but there spoke in his mind. "The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction. Is this the power you choose?"
His hand drew back. Why would he make a choice that fast?
Stepping over to the shield, he touched it. "The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all. Is this the power you choose?"
Wow this, whatever it was. Thing. Wanted an answer fast.
Pulling away, he went and grasped the staff. "The power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin. Is this the power you choose?"
His hand drew back as his eyes scoured the three. Warrior. Guardian. Mystic.
The warrior. The courage sounded nice. But terrible destruction? That reminded him too much of his father.
The guardian. Kindness was nice, and he liked being kind, but not his first priority honestly. A shield did sound nice, but it felt like hiding to him. He'd rather face his problems head on.
The mystic. Inner strength. Now that. He liked the sound of that. Wonder and ruin though. Wonder was alright, but ruin sounded so harsh.
Each one held a positive and a negative to Xehanort. But it appeared that he had to choose.
Striding over to a platform, his hand reached out, grabbing the object before him.
"Is this the power you choose?"
Yes.
"Your path is set. You have chosen the power of the mystic. Now you must choose something to give up in exchange."
Seriously? He couldn't keep the others? Ugh, fine.
Shield or sword?
Which one?
How long he stood there, contemplating, he did not know. But finally, he walked over to another platform and grabbed the object.
"You give up this power."
Yes.
The object vanished. "You have chosen the power of the mystic. You have given up the power of the guardian. Is this the path you choose?"
If I didn't want to choose this path, I wouldn't have picked those things.
"Your path is set. Only time will tell where it will lead you."
Suddenly, the platform beneath him began melting away from the outside in. Xehanort ran for the middle, but the floor caved in under him, plummeting him into darkness.
"Fish pee in you all day!"
Those were not the first words Xehanort expected to wake up to.
His eyes opened to a white sandy beach. On an island that was little more than a giant pile of rock. Moana stood by what was left of their boat, glaring at the unresponsive ocean.
At least the boat seemed in tact, and both of them seemed unhurt.
"Thanks, ocean..." The boy sat up, watching Heihei strut around aimlessly.
Moana looked ready to shout at the ocean again when a loud thud caused her to jump behind the boat. "Maui?"
Footsteps. Large and intimidating, splashed toward them from out of sight.
Xehanort stood up and scrambled to the girls' side as the island girl muttered. "Maui, demigod of the wind and sea, I am Moana of Motunui. You will board my-"
"BOAT!" The boat lifted off the ground behind them, revealing a large man with tattoos all over his body. And he was holding the boat in the air... by one hand. "A boat! The gods have given me a-" Then he noticed the two kids. "AHHH!" The boat dropped from his hands.
Xehanort grabbed Moana, pulling her out of the way before it crushed them both. "Hey! Watch it!"
The man, most likely Maui, looked at them.
Xehanort helped the girl up before glaring at the man before him. The demigod who didn't look like a demigod. Xehanort thought he'd be more... regal looking. But whatever.
Moana brushed herself off, clasping her oar tightly as she cleared her throat. The boy beside her could see the fear in her eyes.
Her island. Her home depended on this one conversation.
"Maui, shapeshifter, demigod of the wind and sea, I am Moana of-"
"Hero of men."
"What?"
Maui, it was certainly him now, grinned at the two. "It's actually, Maui, shapeshifter, demigod of the wind and sea, hero of men. Go."
"I am..."
"Sorry, sorry, sorry." He 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."
"Would you let her finish?" Xehanort huffed.
Instead, Maui grabbed her oar and Heihei and began chisling his name into the wood with the chicken's beak.
"What?" The girl cried. "No! I'm here to-"
"Of course! Yes, yes, yes. Maui always has time for his fans!" He dropped Heihei and tosser her the signed oar. "I know, not every day you get a chance to meet your hero."
That did it.
Xehanort grabbed the oar from Moana and smacked the demigod on the head. "Just shut up and listen!"
"Thank you! You are not my hero. And I'm not here so you can sign my oar! I'm here 'cause you stole the heart of Te Fiti! And you will board my boat, and sail across the sea and put it back!"
There was the imposing girl Xehanort met not long ago.
However, Maui wasn't impressed by her speech. "Um... Yeah. It almost sounded 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 could have the power to create life itself. Yeah! So, what I believe you were trying to say... is 'thank you'."
"Thank you!?"
"You're welcome!"
"What!? No, no, no! I didn't... I wasn't... Why would I ever say that? I mean-"
The demigod chuckled before draping a massive arm around both kids. "Ok, ok.(2) I see what's happening. You're face to face with greatness and you don't know how to feel." His hand patted both of their heads, to both of their chagrin. "It's just adorable. You mortals never change. But I mean, you guys have to thank me! I mean I made the sky, the sun, the tides. I brought you coconuts, fire, wind. I mean I basically did everything for you. So, you're welcome!"
Xehanort liked this man less and less. Full of himself was the biggest understatement ever. However, he was so irked, he didn't realize Maui had been subtly pushing them toward a cave.
Especially since Maui was STILL TALKING. "I mean there's nothing I can't do. Well there is one thing. Float. So I think I'm going to borrow that boat of yours. So..." with a shove, he pushed the two into the cave. "Thank you!" A bolder crashed over the entrance, shutting them in.
"Hey!"
"Let us out you lying, slimy, son of a..."
"Moana!" The boy grabbed her arm, pointing at a sliver of light that cut through the rocks. "We can catch him."
"Yeah!" The two ran toward the beam of light, which streamed down through a hole in the cave roof.
Xehanort climbed up first, holding out a hand to help out his new friend. As they reached the top of the rocks, the boy boosted her up before climbing out himself.
Maui sat on the boat, and was already a ways from shore.
"Hey!" The two ran for the boat, but could only splash into the water as the waves pushed them back onto the rocky island.
Maui just laughed. "I could watch that all day. Ok! Enjoy the island. Maui, out!"
"No! Stop! Hey! You have to put back the heart!"
As the girl stepped into the water again, the giant mound of water, the same one that swept Xehanort onto her boat, sprung up, sweeping up both kids and carried them to the boat, dropping them on the deck.
"Did not see that coming..."
Xehanort, who still held the oar, smacked Maui with it. "Now will you shut up and listen to us!?"
"Exactly!" The girl stormed over to the demigod, glaring him down. "I am Moana of Motunui. This is my canoe and you will journey to-" The demigod's massive hand grabbed her arm and flung her into the water. But a moment later, the ocean dropped her back on deck. "I am Moana of Motunui-" Again Maui threw her off. Again the ocean put her back.
By this point, Xehanort just stood back, watching this happen again and again until Moana pulled the shining green heart from her necklace.
"You will restore the heart!"
"All right. I'm out." Maui stood up, his face twisted in... was that fear?
"What?"
"Um," the boy stepped closer, "What's your problem? Are you afraid of the heart?"
"What!? No..."
Well that was a lie.
"I call bull."
"Listen here, Silver-"
"Xehanort."
"Gesundheit." Maui rolled his eyes as he scooted away from Moana and the heart of Te Fiti. "Look, 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. Get it away from me!"
Moana and Xehanort glanced at each other, sickly smiles spreading across their faces.
"Get this away?" Moana wiggled the heart in her hands as Xehanort stepped toward the demigod. As soon as he was close, the girl tossed it to him.
Maui screamed.
"Oh, oops." Xehanort feigned sorrow, but could barely hide his smile. "I'm so sorry, looks like it slipped. Oh, is it too close?"
"Hey, hey hey!" Maui all but cowered away from the green rock. "I'm a demigod, ok! Stop that! I will smite you! You wanna get smote? Smotten...?"
"Please, I'd like to see you smite me. On the boat that you need to keep afloat."
That pushed the demigod's buttons. "Listen! That thing doesn't give you power to create life, it's a homing beacon of death. If you don't put it away, bad things are gonna come for it!"
Ok. That sounded like it could be slightly true. If this thing did have the power to create life, then yeah... it could be bad and bad things would probably want to get their hands on it.
"What kind of bad things?"
An arrow whooshed past, cleaving into the wood.
"Like that."
The three looked to see giant ship coming out of the ocean fog. Little creatures covered in what appeared to be coconut shells.
"What are those...?"
"Kakamora!"
"What?"
"Murdering little pirates." Maui snarled, his body tensing as he eyed the heart in Xehanort's hand. "Wonder what they want..."
The boy clutched the heart close, his own heart thudding as the creatures screeched, covering themselves in warpaint. "Uh oh..."
"Ocean!" Moana bent over the side of the boat. "Do something! Help us!"
Maui grabbed the rudder. "The ocean doesn't help you, you help yourself! Tighten the halyard! Bind the sails!" Neither teen moved. "You two can't sail!?"
"I, uh... I am self taught..."
"I only know the basics..."
Behind them, the Kakmora ship began vibrating with the sound of drums. War drums. Beating. Pounding. Signalling war.
"Aren't you a shapeshifter!?" Xehanort grabbed a rope, doing what he could to fix the sails.
"Do you see my hook? No magic hook, no magic powers!"
"Look out!" Moana pushed Xehanort out of the way of some sleep darts that punctured the wooden mast.
The boy handed her the heart of Te Fiti. "I'll try and get us moving!" He looked back at the attackers, whose ship suddenly split into two more. Arrows and darts rained down on them, and the boy shoved his friend away to keep her out of the fire.
As Moana hit the boat, the heart bounced out of her hand, landing in front of the chicken. Heihei immediately picked up the heart in his mouth.
And swallowed it.
"Heihei!?"
A scream echoed through the air, drawing nearer every second. Until a Kakamora swung into view, grabbing the chicken from the boat.
"No!"
"Maui they took the heart!"
The demigod glanced back at the attackers. "That's a chicken."
"The chicken ate the heart!" Xehanort dropped what he was doing as a harpoon shot down, puncturing their mast. "I'll get it!" The boy grabbed the oar, much to Maui's annoyance, and swung himself onto the harpoon.
The taut rope, thankfully, was fairly wide. He ran up it, using the oar to block arrows and darts.
As he reached the deck, the creatures all swarmed.
"Coconuts..."
The boy laughed, swinging the oar as he would a stave. The creatures fell before each blow as he pushed past them.
At the top of the ship stood one Kakamora with an ornate headdress, holding Heihei. "I'll be taking that." Smacking the Kakamora chief's arm, it dropped the chicken. Xehanort swung the oar, catching Heihei on it.
With a mighty fling, he sent the chicken flying off the boat, towards Moana and Maui. "Go!"
He ran for the edge of the boat and leapt off.
A moment later, he felt something hit his shoulder. A warmth spread out over him, lulling him into sleep, even as he plummeted into the bottomless water below.
He didn't even feel himself hit the water.
Nor did he see the glowing shark and the hand of rock that reached out, dragging him down into the depths.
Consciousness finally came back to Xehanort. He found himself lying on a bed of rocks in a dark cave.
Dark, except for the fire that burned at his feet.
"Ow..." He reached back, pulling a sleep dart out of his shoulder. "Stupid coconut things." His eyes roamed around the small cave.
It was nothing special. And it was not big. It seemed to be about ten feet wide. A pool of about ten feet around took up ten of the fifteen feet of length. Though, it was tall, with stalactites clinging to the ceiling.
"Moana? Maui?"
Nothing.
No one.
"Anyone there!?"
The water in the pool beside him began to bubble. He turned just in time to see a large head with seaweed and sea foam adorning the head made of a dark rock, gabbro(3). The head and body, all made of rock, took the form of a giant man with the bushy ocean beard and hair. Coral formed a sort of garland around his head.
Xehanort fell back, almost into the fire as the head leaned down, speaking in a deep voice that reminded him of the ocean roar. "Greetings traveler."
"Wh-who... wh-wh-what...!?"
"I am Tangaroa(4), god of the sea." He chuckled. "My brother, Tawhiri(5), sensed someone coming down from beyond the sky. I could sense you when you entered my ocean. You had a power I had not sensed in a long time. The Keyblade. So, I had my ocean bring you to Moana."
"You controlled the ocean!?"
Tangaroa nodded. "When my sister(6), Te Fiti lost her heart, Tawhiri and I began a search, not only for the heart, but for one who could return it. Of course, Maui was our first choice, but that stubborn boy... he refused. So we condemned him to an island. And then, Moana came. I felt the strength within her from the moment she first touched the water. I tried to bring the heart to her at that moment, but the time was not right. Thankfully, her grandmother found the heart and held it for the child."
"But," Xehanort stood up, approaching the stone face slowly, "why take me to Moana? And why bring me here now?"
"I knew you could help her when she reached Maui. He could be stubborn, so more stubborn people to keep him in check the better. And as for now... you would have perished. And, I wished for Maui and Moana to do this part on their own. This is their world, not yours, so they must bond as friends or they will fall. And, someone wished to speak to you alone."
"Who?"
The god smiled. "A man who was once a bearer of a Keyblade, like you. Though, it appears you do not have yours yet."
"I'll get it soon."
"I hope so." A new voice, a man's voice, spoke.
Out of the water jumped the glowing, ethereal shark. It changed, becoming a tall man with tan skin, and a large shark tattoo on his back. Though, the blue glow still surrounded him.
"There you are, Hoku(7)."
"Sorry, but I wanted him to hear everything before I spoke to him." The man, Hoku, turned, smiling. "Welcome boy, I am Keyblade Master Hoku. You and I have a lot to discuss..."
Dear Xay,
Your sisters have dropped out of school and have taken your place at your father's side. He has pronounced you dead... and he's scrubbed your name from most records.
But your mother will never forget you.
And I will never forget.
She's been taking me for tea, so that we can talk about you in private. She's told me about your story and all the characters you came up with. I haven't told her that I have the manuscript, but she is really sad that she can't publish the book. And she misses you. I've done my best to comfort her. I keep saying you'll come home soon, but she doesn't believe me.
Please Xay... please come home soon. Even if just to visit.
I miss you.
I miss you terribly.
Sincerely,
Venus
Sooo, Xehanort won't be with Moana for the whole thing. I thought this would be cool (and it gave me an excuse to look into Polynesian mythology).
Please review!
Footnotes:
(1) This is a thresher shark that has a long tail that they use to whip their prey and stun it.
(2) Sorry, no singing this time.
(3) Gabbro is a type of igneous rock that makes up most of the sea bed.
(4) In Māori mythology, he is the source of all life.
(5) The Māori god of storms and wind.
(6) While Te Fiti is a made up deity for the movie, I figured since she is the goddess of life, she'd be up there with the other big gods in mythology.
(7) Hoku means "night of the full moon". This is a reference to Hoku being a shark-man and servant of the Hawaiian god, Kamohoali'li. So basically it's a were-wolf reference to the fact that he was once basically a were-shark.
VAs:
Tangaroa- Kent Williams (Jura Nekis, Hatori Soma, Kibito Kai, Mr. Compress Ao Kuang, Dr. Gero/Android 20, Turkey)
Hoku- Kunewa Mook (Lilo's hula teacher)