Maui landed gracefully to the ground after the long drop down to Lalotai. It had been several months since he last came here, but not much seems to have changed. Looking around, he tried to remember which way it was to Tamatoa's lair, then began to walk.
When the demigod finally reached the cave, he entered quietly, not seeing the crab. He must have stepped out or something. He decided to stick around in the cave until the crustacean returned.
A shimmer of light caught Maui's eye from a large pile of gold and treasures that he didn't remember from last time. Curious, he wandered over, plucking an artifact from the pile and examining it. "What's all this…?" He wondered aloud. Just as he was about to put it back to pick up another one, the pile rose from the ground at a shocking speed, and smashed into Maui with extreme force, knocking him on his back.
With a ferocious snarl, Tamatoa lunged on top of the deity, pinning him to the ground with one claw and preparing to strike with the other; however, he froze immediately after recognizing who it was.
"Maui?" He realized, backing off to let the visitor get back up. "What are you doing here?"
"I said I'd come by again, didn't I…?" Maui said as a rose to his feet, shocked at how much the crustacean has grown. Tamatoa was almost as tall as he was now. "Wow, look at you! You weren't kidding when you said you had a lot of growing to do!"
Tamatoa gave the deity a confused look, unable to comprehend why he had bothered coming back. "Uh… Yeah, I guess. This is still nothing much, though." He tilted his head slightly. "I wasn't really expecting to see you again, man."
"Yeesh, I should have came back sooner! I need to start visiting more often while I'm still taller than you!" Maui laughed, then raised an eyebrow. "Why weren't you?"
"Well, I… didn't think you had any reason to come back." Tamatoa said with a blink.
"Sure I did!" Maui grinned, casually leaning on his hook. "I wanted to see how my new crab buddy was doing!" As he said that, he pat the crab on the head.
Before the extremely puzzled crustacean could react to the pat, Maui circled around to admire Tamatoa's collection of treasures. "So hey, looks like you did find a way to fancy up that shell of yours!" He snickered. "Where'd you get all this stuff?"
Um. This is weird. 'Buddy'? 'Visit'? Tamatoa could have sworn he made it clear to Maui that that's not how things work down here. Why couldn't this thick-skulled deity understand that?
… And why was Tamatoa feeling happy to see Maui again? That's the part the crustacean understood the least right now.
He quickly snapped back to attention when he realized he'd been asked a question. "Oh. Uh. Well, I… was thinking about the sun, and it made me remember about a trove of sunken ships filled with shiny things that I used to explore…" He glanced at Maui's tattoos, then back to his face and continued, "… I liked how they looked, so…"
"Well, it's creative, to say the least!" He chuckled, putting the treasure piece he picked up back on the crab's shell. "And hey now, a trove of sunken ships?" Maui repeated with intrigue. "Sounds cool. You should show me. Maybe you've got some Kakamora ships down here."
The hell is Kakamora? Why is Maui so confusing?
Quiet for a moment, the crustacean suddenly narrowed his eyes and smirked slightly. "First thing's first. I told you not to come back down here unless you got a new tattoo to show me, so pay up."
"Ha, you got it, crab cake." Maui replied as he flexed his arm, showcasing a tattoo of the demigod defeating what appeared to be an octopus-like monster.
Tamatoa lightly traced over the tattoo with a claw, tilting his head slightly. "What's so special about beating up some dumb squid?"
"Not just any dumb squid," Maui chuckled, "but the last remaining monster from that geyser. Not to mention the strongest. Defeating that one signifies putting an end to that whole mess. And hey! Since you helped me out with quenching that thing, you're also to thank for the new tat!"
Oh. That's… kind of cool.
"Well, you're welcome, then." Tamatoa replied, imitating Maui's arrogant 'you're welcome' smirk from before. "Anyways. You wanted to see those boats?"
Maui kept his word. His visits to the crab became much more frequent over time, usually around once a month, but sometimes even more than that. The crustacean had grown much more comfortable around Maui, and had even stopped minding his teasing, though that could have something to do with how he actually asked Tamatoa if he found it too offensive at some point; the fact that the demigod actually cared enough to make sure he wasn't overstepping boundaries made the crab realize that he didn't really mean any of it. He had even started picking on the shapeshifter jokingly in return, mostly commenting on how short he was after outgrowing him.
Tamatoa still wasn't sure why he looked forward to these visits. He was convinced that it couldn't be because he was starting to like the demigod; that would be absurd. Perhaps he just found it interesting that he could behave so casually with another being without any repercussions. That kind of thing never happens in Lalotai.
Their days were often spent exploring new areas of Lalotai, with an occasional trip to the trove of ships so Maui could help him get decorations for his shell. Many of their discussions involved Maui trying to explain to the crustacean how humans acted with each other, and how it was a far more pleasant way of living than Lalotai's ways. Tamatoa didn't understand a lot of it, but he listened nonetheless. He wanted to understand, or at least try to.
On one of their trips to the shipwrecks, Tamatoa noticed something unusual. Maui had gone down to one of the wrecks that Tamatoa couldn't get to properly due to his size, him being at least fifteen feet tall at this point, but the demigod's hair got snagged on one of the broken pieces of wood as he was collecting valuables for the crab. Annoyed, the shapeshifter grabbed a nearby vine and tied his hair up in a bun, absentmindedly revealing the tattoo on his back while doing so.
Tamatoa's eyes perked up slightly upon noticing this unfamiliar picture. Though Maui was a fair distance away from him, the crab could make out an image of what seemed to be a female human throwing one of their young into the sea.
Odd. Tamatoa couldn't see mini Maui anywhere in the image, so what could the deity have possibly done to earn such a strange tattoo?
… And why had he hidden it all this time? If there was one thing he knew about Maui, it was how he loved to gloat about his tapestry of victories.
Maui, oblivious of the fact that he had left the tattoo exposed, walked back towards the crab with a treasure chest in one hand as if nothing was wrong. "Here you are, my friend!" He beamed, holding the chest of valuables out to the crab.
Tamatoa glanced at the box, not as captivated as he would normally be by it right now. He plucked the chest out of Maui's hand, placing it on the ground for now.
Maui, confused as to why the crab didn't seem enthusiastic about the find, frowned. "Is something wro—Hey!" The deity exclaimed in surprise as the crab picked him up, turning him around.
"What is this?" Tamatoa asked, tapping the unfamiliar picture with a pincer.
Maui's eyes widened as he realized his mistake. Biting his tongue, he tried to reach to his bun to let his hair down, but Tamatoa pulled his arm away with his free claw.
"Drop it, crab cake." Maui growled.
Tamatoa blinked, even more curious now. "I thought you were proud of your tattoos. What's different about this one?" He inquired, inspecting the design. "And why aren't you even in this picture?"
"I said drop it, Tamatoa!" Maui snapped, the sudden hostility in his voice startling the crab.
"I… Okay." Tamatoa complied hesitantly, not wanting to upset the deity further.
The walk back to the lair was awkwardly quiet, neither of them looking at each other. Tamatoa still couldn't understand what he did wrong, and Maui couldn't shake the feeling of wanting to say something. Anything.
Upon returning to Tamatoa's home, the crab went over to one edge of the cave, emptying the treasure chest of its contents so he could sort through them. Maui stood near the entrance, watching the crustacean with a look of confliction.
"… I am in the picture." He said finally, catching Tamatoa's attention. The crab glanced over at the deity with intrigue, saying nothing, but clearly wanting him to continue.
With a sigh, Maui turned around so Tamatoa could see the tattoo again. "I'm the kid."
Tamatoa slowly walked over to him, examining the image once more. "I don't understand." He said confusedly, trying to figure out what sort of conquest this could possibly symbolize.
Sighing again, Maui explained, "I was born human. My parents, they… threw me into the sea."
Tamatoa tilted his head, frowning slightly. "Why?"
"They just… they didn't want me." He shook his head; even Tamatoa could tell this was painful for him, though he couldn't really tell why. Parental figures in Lalotai did things like that all the time. They don't really care about their young like humans do, so this expectation Maui seemed to have of his parents loving and caring for him was a foreign concept to the crustacean.
Nonetheless, Tamatoa did know that that's what is expected of humans. So, he thinks he can get why Maui might be upset. However, he also started to realize something else… "That's why you try so hard to please the humans, isn't it?"
Maui looked away, quiet. "… The gods saved me and made me who I am now. I might as well put my power to good use."
"… Hm." The crab took a step back, looking over Maui for a moment. "… Well, it's your parent's loss. They missed out on a decent human being." He concluded simply, turning back to his treasures.
Maui blinked, surprised. Tamatoa wasn't the type to outwardly praise someone else. "… Thanks, Tamatoa." He said with a weak smile.
If only that reassurance was enough.
The crustacean could tell it wasn't.
He tried time and time again to assure the demigod that he was worth more than the actions of his parents, but he just couldn't find a way to say it that made sense.
The void inside of him was just too vast to be fixed so easily.
Monsters aren't meant to comfort. It just… doesn't work.
Over the years, Maui had started visiting less frequently; his main obligation was to the human race, after all, and Tamatoa seemed to understand. From what Maui could tell, at least.
The crustacean had been growing more egocentrical as he became prettier and larger, since the other monsters of Lalotai had started to fear him. Now that he posed an actual threat, he was treated with what Lalotai might call "respect". But even though he acts like a pompous jerk a lot lately, Maui could still tell the crab used it to hide insecurities he just didn't want to face.
Maui started to wonder how much he even meant to the crab anymore. He seemed to care more about collecting shiny things and improving his status rather than their friendship. Though, he gave him the benefit of the doubt, since he knew it was difficult for the crab to express emotions in a way Maui could understand.
One day that stood out in Maui's mind was the time he walked in on Tamatoa with his grandmother's half-devoured corpse.
The demigod walked into the lair expecting the crab to be napping below his fish pool or something, but when he instead saw the half-eaten carcass of a giant coconut crab, panic gripped him. "Tamatoa?!" He gasped. This crab was much larger than he remembered Tamatoa being, and seemed to lack his shine, but his first assumption was still that this corpse might be his friend. Panicked, he darted into the cave to make sure, and let out a breath of relief when he saw a smaller crustacean sorting through a pile of artifacts near the back of the cave- well, he shouldn't say small. The decapod had to have been at least twenty-five feet tall at this point.
Tamatoa glanced over with a skeptical look upon hearing the demigod's arrival. "You look like you've seen a ghost, man." He remarked nonchalantly.
"What the heck is that about?!" Maui exclaimed, gesturing to the giant carcass.
Tamatoa gave the thing a disinterested glance before turning back to his trinkets. "Just a body, Maui. Grandma shouldn't have been here in the first place."
"That's your grandmother?!" Maui gasped, horrified. "Why would you kill—Why would you eat your own grandma?!"
Annoyed, the crustacean turned to face Maui. "She would have eaten me if I hadn't. Stop acting like this is your first time in Lalotai." He replied coldly.
Maui should have expected as much, but… even in a place like Lalotai, it shocked him that anyone would do that to their own grandparent. He couldn't blame Tamatoa for defending himself, but he couldn't quite look at his friend in the same light after that incident.
Tamatoa only began to take notice of Maui starting to distance himself some time after that event. Was it because he ate his grandmother…? No, that couldn't be it. He'd started becoming a little distant even before that.
So what could it be? Was he intimidated by the crab now?
No, that couldn't be it, either. Maui doesn't let monsters intimidate him. Perhaps Tamatoa was just too good for the demigod now.
… No. He knew that wasn't true. Tamatoa always considered Maui to be the better half out of the two of them. He was basically the crab's role model, after all… though he would sooner die than admit any of that to him.
… Tamatoa was scared to lose him. Sure, they've had their fair share of spats, but…
... He probably had better friends to spend his time with, huh. He is Maui, demigod of the wind and sea, hero of men... and Tamatoa is just... some monster. Of course Maui would prefer his own kind.
...
He didn't bring up these concerns with his shapeshifter friend, of course; couldn't have Maui thinking he was clingy or dependant on him. That would be unacceptable.
Tamatoa would just have to value what time he did get to spend with Maui a little bit more.
One of their next visits was spent venturing into an area of Lalotai they hadn't yet explored; it was a dark, marshy area cloaked with trees and vines. Luckily, Tamatoa's bioluminescence acted as a good source of light.
Looking around, Maui asked, "What do you think could be down here?"
"Who knows?" Tamatoa responded, brushing away some bushes in their path. "Could be anything. My guess is as good as yours-"
The crustacean paused suddenly, his antennae quivering for a moment. Maui glanced back, wondering why the crab had stopped. "What's wrong?"
"Shh," He hissed, looking around with narrowed eyes. He could have sworn he sensed the presence of another. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw what he had thought to be a vine rise from the marshy ground and start to move towards the demigod.
Reacting quickly, Tamatoa grabbed Maui, pulling him out of the way of the thing's strike and placing him on his shell. Maui gripped his hook tightly, causing it to glow a brilliant blue. "Any kind of monster you've encountered before?" He asked the crab.
Tamatoa shook his head as he backed away, not recognizing what he could see of the beast to be anything he knew. Both Maui and Tamatoa's eyes widened when they saw a large, dark mass rise from the ground, composed of a swarm of vine-like appendages that moved like snakes. The creature was far taller than Tamatoa, and seemed to have one glowing green eye instead of a face.
The pair had faced off against many monsters in their travels before, but none quite like this one. "Looks like we're in for a challenge…" Maui commented, raising an eyebrow. "You up to it, crab cake?"
"Oh please," Tamatoa scoffed, "You think I would let an ugly beast like that get the best of beautiful moi?"
With a snap of his claws, the crab tore off an oncoming vine, causing the creature to snarl in anger. Maui shifted his form to that of a hawk, darting at the beast and slashing it with his talons.
The creature smacked Maui out of the sky in retaliation, but while Maui had it distracted, Tamatoa barreled into the thing, knocking it over. "Good hit!" Maui called as he took back to the air.
"Naturally." Tamatoa crowed, keeping his eye on the creature as it rose again. The monster wavered from side to side, its large eye scoping out the crab's treasures. It seemed entranced by the glow they gave off. With one swift movement, a tangle of vines shot at the crustacean's shell, snagging some of the valuables.
"Oooh, you should not have done that…" Maui smirked, knowing how the crab detested thieves.
With an enraged snarl, Tamatoa lunged at the creature, chopping off the vines that had his possessions. The beast let out a shrill caterwaul, retracting its appendages in response. The crab, not willing to let the creature off so easily, continued tearing at any part of the beast he could grab.
Maui's eyes widened when he realized their situation was worse than expected. "Tamatoa, stop!" He called, flying down to cut off the crab from making another hit.
"What are you doing?!" The decapod hissed, snapping his claws together. When Maui gestured to the beast's dismembered limbs, Tamatoa realized what he meant. "… Oh."
The vines that had been torn off the creature had started forming a second entity, making spasm-like movements as it reconnected with the big creature. The monster's eye flickered, almost as if it was laughing at the pair.
"Maui, its eye." Tamatoa whispered, watching the beast with disdain.
"Good idea. I'm on it." Maui launched himself at the creature, aiming his hook at the thing's eye. Before the demigod could make the hit, the creature smacked him out of the air again. Its focus seemed to be on Maui now, dead-set on defending its sensitive spot.
Tamatoa tilted his head slightly, an idea forming in his mind. The crab darted over to Maui and stood over him, angling his shell carefully to produce optimum shine. The creature, unable to see Maui from behind the crab, became distracted by the glow of the crustacean.
"That's right, eyes on me. I'm far more pleasing to look at, no?" Tamatoa smirked, slowly moving to the side to give Maui an opening while still holding the attention of the strange creature. Maui moved slowly at first, not wanting the thing to notice him again or catch on to their plan. He shapeshifted into a snake, stealthily slithering up the creature's appendages to get close to the eye
However, just as Maui was about to deal the final blow, the creature realized the unfamiliar snake crawling near its eye and let out a bellow as it yanked the demigod off of itself. It pinned the demigod to the ground, wrapping its vines around his neck and starting to strangle him.
Reacting quickly, Maui changed shape again, slipping free from the creature's grip in the form of an otter, and cursing under his breath due to their plan failing. The creature, furious now, continued to lash at Maui. Though he dodged the attacks well, he couldn't get proper aim at his target while it wasn't distracted.
Tamatoa sighed, knowing what he had to do. He plucked a clawful of treasures off of his back, then turned to the beast. "Hey!" He shouted, getting its attention. Tamatoa threw the glowing items to the ground, the creature's pupil dilating as it watched them scatter in the mud. Forgetting about Maui, the beast darted to the ground, greedily snatching up anything it could find with its several appendages.
Seeing his chance, Maui ran at the monster with his hook in hand, and with one mighty swing, stabbed the monster in the eye.
The thing let out a blood-curtling scream, all its limbs spasming dangerously. "Go, go, go!" Maui shouted as he jumped onto Tamatoa's shell, the pair of them fleeing the swampland while they still could.
Upon returning to Tamatoa's lair, the exhausted duo plopped down to rest in the sand, and Maui had already started laughing about the encounter. "Now that tops any monster we've seen so far in Lalotai!"
"Ha," Tamatoa smirked, turning one eye to glance at the demigod. "That's nothing. A real challenge would be Mana'aihue."
"Oh?" Maui said as he sat up, curiosity piqued. "You think I, Maui, couldn't take on this 'Mana'aihue' of Lalotai?" He returned the crab's smirk.
"Oh, you would lose so hard." Tamatoa replied, both eyes now on Maui. "Mana'aihue is a stealer of powers. All he'd need is one touch of your precious fish hook," the crab plucked the fish hook from beside Maui and raised it into the air for dramatic effect, "and he'd have access to aaall your shapeshifting capabilities, mon ami." The crustacean put the hook back down, snickering at the deity. "You wouldn't stand a chance."
Maui rolled his eyes, chuckling. "I doubt that. Besides, I bet with my crab buddy by my side, we could take on any monster down here. Let Mana'aihue try, but we'd win!"
"Well, Mana'aihue is only a rumour, man. But I am a pretty awesome teammate." The crustacean responded with a wink. "Don't know where'd you be without me."
The two shared a quick laugh, then went quiet for a while. Maui liked moments like this when the crab was in good humour. It made him remember why they were still friends, which is something he's forgotten far too often.
"… Sorry you had to throw away some of your treasures." Maui apologized.
Tamatoa shrugged slightly. Sure, he was irritated about having to do that, but it shouldn't matter too much in the long run. Maui's life was more important. "Don't worry about it. I'll replace 'em."
"… You're a good guy, you know that?" Maui said suddenly.
"Of course! I'm strong and great, just look at me!" Tamatoa boasted in response, gesturing to himself.
"Not like that. I mean on the inside, too." The demigod replied.
Confused, Tamatoa glanced at the deity again. "What do you mean?"
"I mean you're better than the others down here." Maui explained with a smile. "Because you don't just care about yourself, y'know? The other monsters couldn't care less about anything but their own survival. You told me that. But you're different. In a good way."
Tamatoa went quiet, taking in his friend's words. He couldn't explain it, but that… meant a lot to him. "… Thanks, Maui."
Author's note: The rest of this chapter will be recapping their fallout in more detail as a bonus section, and is not actually being recapped again in the actual story.:)
The day was cold, a chilling breeze blowing through the Realm Of Monsters. Tamatoa, about thirty feet in height at this point, had just returned from a scavenging trip, and was sorting through his new findings as he usually did. He paused, however, when he heard a strange sound from his cave's entrance. Turning his head, he looked around. "Maui?" He called, thinking it was probably just his shapeshifter friend. When the crab got no response, he became suspicious. Rising to his feet, his eyes darted around the cave looking for any sign of movement. It wasn't unusual for other monsters to occasionally wander into his home, so the crab figured this was probably something like that.
"Show yourself." He growled, paying particular attention to the shadowy parts of his lair. If someone was hiding, those would be the most likely spots to go. He started to walk forwards, but as he did, a roped spear shot across his path, forming a tripping wire as it sunk into the ground.
"What th-?!" The crustacean started to back away, but as he did, another spear with rope was launched from behind, causing the crab to trip and stumble. With a growl of frustration, the crab regained his footing and snapped the ropes with his claws to get them out of his way.
As he was dealing with the ropes, two humans darted out of the shadows, one holding a shark-toothed club and the other with a bow and arrow. The archer shot an arrow aimed directly at the crab's face, but Tamatoa shielded himself with his claw, wincing slightly when the weapon struck. His confusion was immediately replaced with anger. Pulling the arrow from his claw, he snarled at the archer and kicked him to the ground. "You've made a mistake by coming here…" He growled hatefully, stepping on the attacker before they could recover from the kick and crushing them.
This earned a cry of anguish and rage from the one with the club as he charged the giant grab, smashing his weapon into Tamatoa's leg. As the crustacean raised a claw to finish off the second attacker, he felt a sudden sting of pain shoot through his neck and hissed.
Turning his eyes to look at the source of the new attack, he was three other humans atop his shell, one of them driving a spear into his neck as the other two had started piling some of his treasures into a sack.
Thieves.
Narrowing his eyes, Tamatoa speedily spun around in a circle, causing the intruders to fly off his shell. He wrenched the spear out of his neck, too angry right now to react to the pain. He snatched the human that had been smashing his leg in his claw, though he kept his eye on the two that had been stealing from him.
"So. You come down here to the Realm Of Monsters expecting some kind of benefit? You have the nerve to waltz in here and try to steal from me?" He hissed as he snapped the spine of the one he was holding, killing him instantly. The remaining three humans watched, horrified, as the crustacean carelessly discarded the body. "How incredibly stupid."
Shakily, one of them scrambled to pick up their fallen comrade's club off the ground and launched it at the monster, but Tamatoa simply batted the weapon aside with his claw. He picked her up next, making her suffer the same fate as the second human, then turned to the last two.
They tried to run, but Tamatoa grabbed them before they could get away, one in each claw. Narrowing his eyes to slits, he watched the pair struggle in his grip. "Tell me, you filthy wretches… Was it worth it?"
No response. Just terrified stares.
"P-P-Please l-let us go…!" One of them begged fearfully.
Tamatoa cocked his head to the side, considering it for a moment. "Hmm… So you can come back here with more of your people to attack and steal from me? I don't think so."
Just as he started to tighten his grip on his last two victims, an angry hawk screech came from the entrance. Before Tamatoa could do anything, Maui shot at the crustacean, shifting to his normal form and striking the creature with his hook, knocking him backwards and making him release his grip on the pair of humans. The survivors rushed over to a corner of the cave, watching in shock.
"What are you doing?!" Tamatoa growled as he recovered from the blow.
"What are you doing?!" Maui snarled back, furious. His eyes widened when he saw the three bodies scattered around the cave, and his hook took on a full blue glow. He gave Tamatoa a horrified and enraged look. "You did this?!"
"What was I supposed to do?!" The crab hissed, standing his ground. "Let them raid me?!"
Blinded by rage, Maui darted at Tamatoa and struck him again with his hook, knocking him into a nearby wall.
Dazed from the second hit, Tamatoa struggled to get back to his feet. When he saw the demigod coming in for a third blow, instincts kicked in; the crab bashed Maui with his claw, sending him flying across the room. The crustacean started to panic. He did not want to fight Maui.
Unfortunately, Maui wanted to fight him.
A flash of blue illuminated the room as he took on the form of a hawk again, flying at the crab full-speed.
Tamatoa tried to retaliate, but Maui was too fast, changing form time and time again as he dealt painful blows to the creature. The crab felt a rush of anger and confusion all at once, hurt that his friend would do this to him. With a swift swing of his claws, Tamatoa finally landed another hit on Maui, knocking him to the ground. As Maui was stunned, the decapod growled, "Why are you defending them?! They attacked first!"
"Bullshit! They wouldn't do that!" Maui spat hatefully, rising to his feet again. He felt another shot of rage go through him as he glanced once more at the bodies, facing the crab again. "You greedy bastard! You're just like the rest of those heartless monsters!" Trembling, he tightened his grip on his fish hook. "All you care about is yourself!"
Tamatoa took a step back, shocked. Did he really mean so little to Maui that he would sooner degrade him, that he would sooner side with his attackers than believe him? "Maui, that's not t—"
He was cut off by a flash of blue as the shapeshifter flew at him again, slashing at his face with sharp talons. Tamatoa shielded himself again with a claw, and tried to kick the hawk as it flew by his limbs. Maui landed atop one of his legs, turning back to his regular form and hooking his weapon around the limb. "This is for killing my people, you beast!" He snarled as he wrenched the hook through his leg, taking half of it clean off.
"AGH!" Tamatoa cried out in pain, stumbling due to the shift of balance and having to drive his left claw into the ground to stop himself from falling. His vision blurred slightly from the intense pain, but he could see Maui walking over to the survivors, helping them up and leaving with them.
Tamatoa wanted to call out to his friend, wanted to say something, anything, but just… couldn't.
Just like that, everything fell apart. Tamatoa didn't eat that night. He wasn't normally one to discard free food, but for some reason, staring at the corpses in his cave made him lose his appetite.
He didn't move that night, either. Just cradled his injury and stared aimlessly at nothing as Maui's words repeated over and over in his head.
What did I do wrong…?
What was I supposed to do…?
… Is this what I get for not conforming to Lalotai's ways?
It must be.
I was a fool. Of course this couldn't work. I should have known better.
I can't believe I actually thought a monster could be friends with… That we were…
…
I'm not enough.
I need to be more.
I need more.
My treasures can't leave me, after all. I just need…
something more.