Hurtling through the air, Maui watched the water rise quickly up to meet him as he descended down into the depths of Lalotai. He barely had enough time to catch hold his breath as the cold sea water splashed around him, and violently sucked him down into the bright world below. The muscles in his chest began to clench as his lungs felt like they were about to burst from the pressure of holding his breath for so long.
At the last moment the surface of the underworld broke beneath him and Maui took in a gasping breath as he uncurled himself to land on a knee and an outstretched arm.
"Did not stick the landing this time," Standing with a flourish he flipped his hair and looked around him to make sure nothing was waiting in ambush, "Oh well." He rolled his shoulder and palmed his massive fish hook in one hand, gripping it with the other.
"Time to pay Tomatoa a visit," Maui laughed. "Are you ready little guy?" He looked down and saw the little Maui tattoo performing his own haka dance.
Crouching down Maui made his way through the world of bioluminescent wonder. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust, the bright colors appearing fuzzy around the edges. He couldn't let his guard down, just because he was a demigod doesn't mean nothing could not hand his back side to him.
A screech came out of no where from behind him and he ducked down against a giant barnacle cluster. Above him giant bats swooped down a few feet to his right to attack a smaller monster that reminded Maui of a walking jellyfish. Keeping low he crawled down the path until he knew he was out of sight, and stood up right picking up his pace.
The last time Maui had been down here was to get his hook back after a thousand year banishment with a girl child, non-princess, Moana. He felt the smile creep across his face and rubbed his chin where she had punched him before. Now her permanent fixture was on his pectoral, and he would look down every once in a while to see her tattoo version wave. However, lately, the inked Moana would disappear leaving nothing but her boat, causing Mini Maui to sit, and anxiously worry. In general, Maui didn't worry. He knew his tattoos, how they would do their own things and this was nothing out of the normal.
Except lately.
At first when the girl would return, she would smile for only a little while. Now the smile was gone. Her wave became half hearted until that finally disappeared as well. It wasn't until that she was gone for stretches of time that Maui realized how long it had been since he had seen his curly haired friend.
Years had felt like only blips of time for him. Maui was not aware of the time because he was not affected by it. Now he was paying the price of concern and wonder. Wondering what Moana was doing, concerned for her safety. She had to have been old enough to run her village as chieftess.
Which meant she had suitors.
Maui stopped dead in his tracks, staring at a giant spiked beast in the distance, each of its steps causing the underworld to tremble.
"Is she old enough for that?" Maui looked around him, not really in the present, thinking about how young she was last time he had seen her and how he wasn't too sure if he liked the thought of other men, boys, whatever, hitting on her. Someone had to protect her.
Maui felt a nudge on his bicep, and he looked down at the little tattoo who had a expectant look on his face. The inked Maui made a gesture of the sun, passing by quickly, representing time.
"I know little guy, but how do I go back after being gone for so long?" The words came out softly. "Besides, we need to do this first," Maui interjected, brushing the thought of Moana to the back of his mind. Little Maui palmed his face.
Tomatoa's lair loomed in the distance, and Maui creeped forward little by little, trying to save all of his fighting energy for the giant coconut crab. The giant conch shell had been fixed from the destruction of his and Moana's last visit, the hole covered by more artifacts and treasures. But when Maui looked inside, the home of the crab was empty.
Maui held the hook across his body, ready for anything. Except he was greeted by the large hole in which Tomatoa buried himself. Slowly, Maui creeped up on the pit, hook high and ready to strike.
Thousands of coconut crabs scurried up the sides and around his feet, Maui yelled and swung his hook left and right, down upon the hard shells of the crabs that were in his vicinity. But they kept coming. On and on he kept swinging, sweat pouring down his face until he finally turned himself into his hawk form and flew up and out of Tomatoa's lair. He soared to the nearest vent and quickly turned back into his human form before he was jetted up and out of Lalotai.
Sitting on the surface of the water Maui swam quickly towards his canoe, his mind racing.
"We have to help the humans, buddy," He sputtered as he climbed on top of the canoe and began lowering the sail, " With Tomatoa gone, and who knows where, monsters are free to roam." Sucking in a large amount of air he quickly exhaled into the sail, jetting himself forward.
"We have to warn Moana."
Thank you for reading. I understand this chapter is a little dodgy but I promise it will get rolling! And more will be explained!
