Lalotai hadn't changed since their last visit. Still teeming with terrifying creatures, though Moana seemed calmer around them now that she's gotten better at fighting, especially with her trusty new javelin. Moana and Maui made their way to the decapod's lair, the damage of their last encounter still very apparent.
"Well, looks like he managed to get himself up!" Maui stated, gesturing to the area where the crab once lay. Gold pieces were scattered about, and the dirt seemed to have been recently displaced; probably from the struggle of getting back up. "So, are you satisfied now?" Maui inquired, ready to leave.
Moana looked around, deep in thought. Her eyes went from the unsettled dirt to the wreckage of the cave. "If he got back up and was fine, why wouldn't he fix his lair?" She wondered aloud.
Maui shrugged. "Maybe he thought it wasn't worth the trouble and found a better one. Could be a number of reasons."
Moana shot him a sly grin. "You just want me to come back to Motonui and forget about all this."
The demigod shrugged again, not saying anything but confirming her guess with a nonchalant smile.
She rolled her eyes, but in good humour. She then went back to examining the surroundings, frowning when her eyes landed on the fallen treasures. "And why wouldn't he pick these back up…? It seems like he lost a lot of it…"
This part also struck Maui as odd. He knew better than anyone that Tamatoa wouldn't pass up any of his collectibles. "Okay, I admit that's a little weird." He agreed.
Moana continued to look around, then noticed what seemed to be a trail of his fallen trinkets. She started to follow it, Maui doing so as well. Moana's face twisted into a look of concern. "Judging from these messy prints in the sand and how the treasure keeps falling off, he must've hurt himself when he tried to get up…" She concluded quietly. She went completely silent when she started to hear some sounds off in the distance. Exchanging curious glances with Maui, the two of them crept closer to the source of the noises.
They reached the edge of a ravine where the noises seemed to come from. Peering over, they saw a terrifying sight.
Tamatoa was in terrible shape, barely able to stand. All of his right limbs appeared to be injured, probably from his struggle to turn himself upright. He was supporting his weight on his left claw, that seeming to be the only reason he hadn't fallen yet. His eyes were focused on a creature in front of him, a centipede-like monster with horrifyingly long spider-like legs. Its head sort of resembled that of a mantis, and its three long tails looked as sharp as blades. The creature was mostly black with some green undertones, and it was jabbing at the crab cruelly with its tails. Tamatoa tried to bat them away, but stumbled due to moving his claw and quickly had to lower it again to prevent himself from falling. He let out a low growl of irritation as the creature laughed eerily. The thing slashed its sharp tails across Tamatoa's already badly injured right limbs, causing a sharp outcry of pain to come from the crab. "Not so tough, are you?" The other creature taunted, continuing to torment the crustacean as it couldn't fight back.
Moana narrowed her eyes in anger. She didn't care if Tamatoa was a selfish jerk; she hated seeing any animal being harassed like that, especially a creature of the sea. Gripping her javelin tightly, she started to move towards the scene, but she suddenly got yanked back by Maui. "Are you crazy?!" He exclaimed. "Crab cake is not worth your life, Moana!"
"Then help me!" She retaliated, dead-set on attacking the other monster.
"No! We are not cleaning up his mess for him at such a risk" Maui refused.
Moana started to say something else, but then paused, getting a cliché idea. Her eyes widened and she shouted, "Oh, look out!" and pointed behind Maui.
Alarmed, Maui whipped around, glowing fish hook at the ready. When he saw nothing, he turned around again to see that Moana had dashed down towards the clearing. With a facepalm, Maui grumbled. "You are going to get us killed one of these days…"