The creature smashed Tamatoa into the ground. The crustacean tried desperately to force himself to stand, but he simply didn't have the strength. Pathetic, he thought to himself. Absolutely pitiful. He winced, not so much out of pain, but out of the shame he felt about his current state of weakness. I am the most beautiful, most powerful being in all of Lalotai. I am supposed to be better than this. I'm not supposed to be bested by such a hideous creature… Tamatoa closed his eyes, giving up on fighting back. He knew it was pointless. Tamatoa, why are you so useless? As the creature aimed to lash him again with a tail, he suddenly heard it screech in pain. Opening one eye, he saw Moana jabbing her javelin into the creature's back, disorienting it for a moment. Tamatoa immediately scrambled to move while it was distracted by her, basically dragging himself with his good claw to a nearby rock structure and huddling underneath it. He retreated almost entirely into his shell after turning to watch this new development.
Moana drew back her javelin, jumping off of the monster and swiftly rolling to the side to avoid the swing of its tail. Being small has its advantages. "You'll pay for that, human…" The creature snarled angrily. It reared back one of its legs to strike her, but paused when it heard the call of an oncoming hawk. Maui divebombed the creature, slashing at its face with his talons. The monster recoiled at the sight of the demigod. Deciding that this wasn't worth the trouble, the centipede-like being scurried away, leaving the three alone. With a blue flash, Maui returned to his humanesque form, giving Moana an annoyed look.
"See?" Moana said, casually twirling her javelin. "That wasn't so bad."
"You're lucky that monster was a coward." He retorted. He then turned his attention to the crab, who had been eyeing them suspiciously from beneath his temporary shelter.
Cautiously, Moana took a few steps in his direction, still far enough away so that Tamatoa couldn't reach her. Not knowing what exactly to say to him, she simply asked, "Umm… Are… you okay…?"
Tamatoa's eyes narrowed with hostility, and his only response was a low, weak growl. But he didn't dare move towards her with Maui around. He cast the demigod a wary glance to see that Maui had been watching him in the same manner. Tamatoa wouldn't stand a chance against him like this, not only weak from his injuries but from hunger as well. Feeling trapped, he remained perfectly still underneath the rock structure, turning his attention back to Moana.
Moana frowned, not entirely sure how to help him or how to make this less… awkward. She turned to Maui and asked, "Could you find some fish? He's probably starving."
Maui seemed skeptical. "And leave you alone with crab cake over there? I don't think so."
"I promise not to get too close to him," she tried to persuade him. "and besides, it's not like he could pose much of a threat right now, anyways." She then raised an eyebrow.
Maui thought about it, considering the points she was making, and finally agreed. "Fine." He said. He then turned to the crab, brandishing his hook threateningly. "I can use my hook now, crab. Try anything and I'll take off another one of your legs." He warned the creature before transforming into a hawk again and flying off.
Tamatoa watched him go, seeming a bit more relaxed after he left, but only just. Again, his attention turned to Moana.
Moana shuffled her feet awkwardly, still unsure of what to do or say. She noticed that the look in the crustacean's eyes had turned from one of annoyance to one of sheer anger. Not that she could blame him, of course; it was kind of their fault that he's in this position in the first place. But she had hoped he would at least be a little thankful that they helped him. Oh, well.
It was strange to see him so quiet. The small amount of time that she had spent with the crab before was filled with endless chatter and singing from his end, but now he just seemed so… silent. Withdrawn. Moana turned her head slightly, trying to get a better look at Tamatoa's injured side. No wonder it was so hard for him to move, she figured. Though the limbs on his right side were still in one piece, they appeared to be badly injured. The missing leg on his left side probably made it even harder for him to move like this. Moana started to walk a little closer, eyes so fixated on his injured claw and legs that she almost didn't notice when he snapped his left claw at her. She jumped back, taking that as a warning not to get any closer. Sighing, she sat in the dirt several feet away from him.
After a few more minutes of awkward silence, Maui flew back with an abnormally large fish in his clutches, dropped it in between Moana and Tamatoa, then flew off to get another.
Tamatoa, much to his dismay, visibly flinched in fear at Maui's sudden appearance, and almost immediately relaxed again when he left. Moana frowned slightly upon noticing this.
Great, Tamatoa thought to himself. Like I need her judgment now…
Moana started to stand up again, earning another weak growl from the giant crab. Biting her tongue, she tried to push the fish closer to him with her javelin, careful not to make any sudden movements. Tamatoa eyed the fish, remembering how hungry he was. He then narrowed his eyes at Moana.
She paused at this, analyzing the crab carefully. She continued pushing the large fish closer to Tamatoa until she was sure he could reach it, then took several steps back.
Tamatoa shot her another suspicious glance, then started to pull himself up a bit to get closer to the fish. Eyes still on her, he grasped the fish with his claw, nimbly pulling it towards himself. Seeing Maui return, the crab immediately shrank back as far as he could under the rock structure.
Maui landed, turning back to his usual form and slinging the next fish over his shoulder. "Any trouble?" He asked Moana, who shook her head in return.
Satisfied, he threw the fish in front of Tamatoa. "Good. Didn't want things to have to get ugly." He said casually, shooting the crab a warning glance.
Tamatoa, though clearly on the defensive, glared at the demigod in return before hungrily picking at his two fish. His movements were frail and slow.
Maui laughed a bit at the sight of this. "Wow, there really IS something wrong with you. I've never seen you eat that slow."
The crustacean cast another dark glare at Maui, clearly not in the mood for his teasing, but couldn't really do anything about it, so he simply continued eating. It felt so good to finally have some food that he didn't mind their presence as much right now.
Moana pulled Maui over to the side, whispering to him, "We can't leave him down here."
Maui folded his arms, not liking her insinuation. "Are you suggesting we bring him back to the surface? Haven't we done enough?"
"What if that thing comes back?" She speculated. "Or some other monster?"
"It's Lalotai, Moana. Monsters will be monsters—" He paused when they heard a thud. Turning around, they saw that Tamatoa started sneaking away, but stumbled and fell, thus making the sound. He quickly shrank back under the rock after his attempt failed, cursing himself under his breath.
Moana turned back to Maui, one hand on her hip as she gestured to the crab. "Need I say any more?"
Maui gave Tamatoa one more side glance, sighing. It was definitely abnormal to see him this… pathetic. Even he was starting to get a bit concerned, seeing his former friend like this. "… Okay. You're right." Maui agreed. He still didn't like the idea of having the decapod around them, but he was starting to understand why Moana thinks that would be better than leaving him down here.
The two of them neared the large crustacean, who watched them discreetly. Moana spoke in a gentle voice. "We're going to help you, okay…?" Tamatoa simply scoffed at her attempt to reassure him. She exchanged glances with Maui. The demigod stepped forward, lifting his hook. This earned a reaction from the crab, as he shrank back as much as he could and weakly muttered, "D-Don't…!" God, why did he have to stutter? He hated sounding so feeble.
Moana blinked, surprised to finally hear him say something. Maui raised his hands nonthreateningly and said "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. We're going to help. Honest."
The crab scoffed again, narrowing his eyes distrustingly. "Right. That's why you threatened to take another leg off. And she's just down here to hear more stories about my prowess, right?" He asked sarcastically, gesturing to Moana. She still couldn't believe how weak his voice was.
"Look," Maui stated starkly. "You don't really have a lot of options, here. Either you trust us just this once, or we leave you to the other monsters. Your choice."
Tamatoa hesitated, glancing around at the surroundings. It's true that the monsters of Lalotai were merciless; he should know. He is one. Taking much time to consider his options, he eventually let out a quiet, defeated sigh. "Fine..." He murmured.
Lifting his hook again, Maui morphed into the largest bear Moana had ever seen. Probably the only bear she had ever seen, come to think of it. He was only about a quarter of the size of Tamatoa, but due to his super strength, that shouldn't be a problem. Acting as a sort of crutch, he carefully hoisted up the monster's weakened side, Tamatoa grimacing at the pain.
They walked slowly as they left the ravine, Moana casting quick glances at the injured crab the whole way back. His shell had lost much of the treasure that had covered it; she was surprised that so much still remained, to be honest. He seemed to notice the lack of treasures as well, as he kept casting longing glances at the dropped artifacts. It seems as though he would have loved to recollect them as they were walking back, but he needed to use his claw for support right now. The moment he saw Moana staring at him, he averted his eyes from the treasures that used to be his, focusing on the path ahead.
Moana sighed quietly, knowing that he valued his treasures like they were a part of him. It must be terribly frustrating to have to walk past all the lost pieces with no way of getting them back right now.
In an attempt to get on the crab's good side, she started to pick up as much of the treasures they passed as she could carry. Maui knew what she was doing immediately and chuckled under his breath. Tamatoa just looked confused and suspicious all at the same time. He didn't like people touching his things. But he couldn't do much about it now, especially with the shapeshifter around.