Chapter Two: Planning

No!

Moana disappeared into the clouds.

Maui had almost gotten there. Only a few feet away from saving Curly. But then, she was suddenly gone. Why did these things always happen to them? Along with growing dread, guilt filled him. He thought back an hour ago on the boat of how he had yelled at Moana when she was trying to convince him not to sail back to Motunui. How rude he'd been to her, when her longing for needed adventure was obvious to anyone. Would Maui's rough words be the last thing Moana remembered about him?

No. No, it wouldn't. Because he'd save her before that stupid bird did anything to harm her. He would. He was a demigod, after all. No dumb bird could stand in the way of Maui, Shapeshifter, Demigod of the Wind and Sea, Hero of Men and Women. No one could.

He screeched as he flew into the cloud cover. At first, he was unnerved. Where was Moana? But then, pulsing relief into his body, he spotted her. She was smacking the bird with her oar. If Maui was in human form, he would have smiled. This was the Moana he knew.

"Let- me- go!" his friend roared at the bird, hitting it in the face. The monster tried to bite it in annoyance, but Moana was too quick. "Lunatic! Agh!"

I'm coming, Moana, Maui promised, though Curly couldn't hear him, soaring forward. I gotcha.

Maui gave a battle cry (or caw) and started to fight the bird. He scratched at it with his talons, drawing blood, and nipped at the thing's tail, causing it to screech in pain. With Moana's oar slaps and his claws, it seemed like they was winning the battle.

As soon as we're out of this, Moana, you owe me a big thank you. And I'll return that with an even bigger 'you're welcome'. He chuckled smugly in his bird form. He had this in the bag.

But as soon as the thought crossed the shapeshifter's mind, the tides turned. The other bird, realizing that Maui was trying to protect the girl it had taken, spun around as Maui started to scratch it again. It held Moana out in front of it as some sort of barrier between them. Maui was too surprised to stop himself from moving. His talons ripped across Moana's forehead, drawing three deep lines of blood.

Maui stared in horror.

Oh.

Gods.

All he could think about for a heart-stopping second was how much that must've hurt.

Oh, Moana, he cried in his head. I'm so, so sorry.

Insulting his friend was nothing. Shoving her around, tossing her off a boat once or twice, was no big deal. The two had always at least given each other a bruise or two, or made each other mad by making fun of something about them. It was the kind of brother-sister relationship that they couldn't avoid when they spent nights on the ocean together. But he never truly hurt her before.

Until now.

Blood dripped into Moana's eyes and she gave a sort of painful groan that made Maui's heart wrench. He wanted to switch back to human form, take Moana away from this- this beast, and punch the living daylights out of it. No one hurt Curly. Not on his watch.

And no one did.

Because, his friend- the only one who had continually forgiven him for all of his prideful remarks, faults, and errors- wasn't hurt because of someone else

She was hurt by him.

Curly, I'm so sorry. Please- I didn't mean to hurt you…

"Maui…?" Moana grunted. "Ugh."

She didn't speak after that, which made Maui crow in panic. Alarm arrested all other senses, and he was mentally calling, Moana! The demigod also didn't like the way her grip loosened on her paddle, indicating she was experiencing enough pain to lose part of her consciousness.

As stunned at the predicament as Maui was, he wasn't able to stop the giant bird from cackling in triumph and vanishing with Moana into higher clouds. Maui howled in distress. His best friend's life was in the hands (or claws) of a monster bird. Maui had never felt so helpless. He had stolen fire from a dangerous goddess, pulled islands out of the seas, created coconuts out of pure eel guts. He was famed throughout the islands. Maui had always believed he could do anything. He was invincible, after all.

With a thud in his heart, he couldn't stop one thought from running through his mind.

But Moana isn't.

Sure, he knew that Moana was mortal. She would eventually pass. It didn't bother him at first. His first impression of her was that she was a stuck-up princess who thought she could demand anything she wanted. But, as time went, she proved that she was nothing like that. He grew to care for her. From time to time, he'd think about that in perhaps as little as seventy years, Moana would be gone, and he'd continue living. On and on. And on. And on. Till the end of time.

He didn't like to think about, but when he did, he always satisfied the thought by thinking, Well, Curly's not gonna go away anytime soon. We've got time for those future quests to return gods' hearts and steal magical items from deranged crabs.

He had always thought that was true. Until it wasn't.

Wherever the bird was taking her, it wasn't good. His friend was in danger of being killed way sooner than she was supposed to die. This had Maui on edge just thinking about it. No more sails with Moana. No more pushing her off the boat, only to be splashed back by the ocean. No more battling monsters. No more waking up not with a sense of hopelessness he had had while stranded on that island for so many years, but a sense of purpose. Joy.

How could that be taken from him so quickly?

Maui realized that he'd been flapping in midair for awhile while his thoughts of horror washed over him. Moana and the bird were gone. He'd never find them in these clouds, and even his sensitive beak couldn't sniff them out. He was lost.

I need a plan, he grasped. I need to get Curly back before she gets eaten by that thing.

As much as it pained him, he turned and flew back down to regroup his thoughts. The demigod was greeted by a gust of warm air he had missed while soaring through the clouds of coolness. Maui quickly found his boat- our boat, he amended- and landed.

He changed back into human form and started to pace the floor of the boat, running over frantic ideas in his mind.

"Need to find Curly… then… then I'll… no, that'll never work… I wonder if… no… but if I turn into a… gah, stupid, of course you can't do that!"

Maui hated to admit it, but…

He was pathetic at planning.

It had always been Moana who had created the plans. Made the last minute decisions. She wasn't brilliant, no, but she was pretty smart. After all, she was preparing to become the chief of Motunui. She needed to be fierce, yet gentle, strong, but have smarts, selfless, but not idiotic. And Maui had to say that she was doing a pretty good job at handling all of those.

Tap tap tap.

Maui froze. What was that? Something tapping his boat? He shook his head. No. Just his fried imagination that was trying to produce an idea for saving Curly.

Tap tap tap.

Gods, what was that?

He turned and looked around, but he only saw the vast sea stretch around him. He squinted in the horizon. Or, he remembered as Moana called it, the line where the sky meets the sea. Stupid Moana. She really was a hopeless princess who didn't know the difference between a lanalana and a kawelewele.

He felt something gnaw at his heart when he thought of her. Flying far away from him. Wounded. Headed towards her probable death.

Maui began to pace again. He had to save her.

Tap tap tap tap-

"Agh!" Maui yelled, finally snapping under his bubbling concern. "What is that?"

The sounds started again and Maui followed them. He found that they led in the storage cellar under the ship where Maui and Moana would store their food and supplies while they traveled. Curious, Maui lifted the door and looked inside.

He jumped back in shock, then leaned back in once recovered.

"Heihei?!"

The chicken gave an undignified squawk. Maui picked him up from the cellar and placed him on the ship to walk around, and it did. It started to walk. Maui had continually tried to fatten the diseased-looking bird up, but it was so dumb that it wouldn't even eat the food Maui tried to give it. Despite Moana's many, many protests concerning the demigod eating her pet, Maui felt he was still a growing boy. After all, he was eating for all of the tattoos on his body. That made a demigod hungry, and when his tattoos didn't get the nutrition they wanted… well, let's just say tattoos could still give him wedgies, even if they were just magical imprints of ink on his muscles.

"What are you doing here, Heihei?" Maui wondered aloud.

Heihei continued to walk over to the edge of the ship. In fact, it didn't stop. It would've fallen right off if not for Maui grabbing it and placing it next to him.

Maui glared at the chicken. "You're a stowaway, I'd bet."

It gave another squawk.

"Couldn't stay away from your hero, Maui?"

Screech.

"I thought so." Maui paused, turning over what he was saying in his head. He buried his head in his hands. "Oh, great. Now I'm talking to a chicken. A. Pea-brained. Chicken. What have I, the great demigod Maui, come to?"

Heihei pecked at the wood, then gave a third crow.

Maui couldn't believe it. "Are you mocking me? Look, chicken, I've been here thousands of years, traveled overseas, wandered through lands you would be supper in, and done more than an idiot like you could've done in ten thousand lifetimes. And here, I'm trying to think a way of how to save Moana, but you just stand there, trying to eat the floor! I'm waaaay better than you! Smarter! Stronger! Handsomer! You're just a chicken!"

Maui panted after he'd released his rage at the events that had taken place. He was just so… frustrated. So frustrated that he had vented his anger on a chicken.

There was a sentence he never thought he'd say.

"Look, Heihei," he said. "Sorry. But Moana's been taken by some bird freak. And, I-I accidentally hurt her. But it was an accident, I swear! Thing is, she's in a lot of danger right now. I'm going to get her back. I will. I just need a plan…" He looked up, a trickle of an idea flowing in. "Hey. You're a bird, like the one that took Moana. As an insider to the bird business, any ideas?"

Heihei looked up and stared at Maui for a second. The demigod was surprised. Did the chicken actually have an idea of how to save Moana?

But then Heihei let out a screech and began violently pecking the bottom of the ship. Maui groaned. "Knew it. You're a lost cause, you know that, chicken? I hope you never have children, they'd never be able to depend on…"

His eyes flashed as he trailed off.

"That's it! That's why the bird took Moana! To feed its chicks! In my hawk form, I could probably sense a nesting ground nearby if I flew close enough… oh…!" Maui grinned, excited. He was finally getting somewhere. Even his tattoos danced in animation. Especially his Moana tattoo. He grabbed his magical fish-hook, then turned to look back at the chicken, who was still nibbling the wood. "Thanks, Heihei! Maybe I won't eat you after all!" But then Maui thought over his words.

"Huh… nah!" he decided. "Well, maybe not today. Eat up that food down there, chicken! I think I'll be ready for a nice meal tomorrow after saving your master!"

Maui gripped his hook, determined. He'd find the nest, rush in, grab his friend, and get out. It wasn't much of a plan, but he was running out of time. He'd just have to wing it. Gah, what was it with his bird jokes today?

Shaking his head, Maui willed himself to become a hawk. Before he turned into one, he felt a comforting touch on his upper chest. He knew his Moana tattoo was hugging him to say good luck. He smiled as he transformed, but he wished the real Moana was here to hug him instead. Suddenly, he was a bird. He lifted his wings and flapped them so he rose in the air.

Don't worry, Maui thought as he sped through the cloud cover, letting his instincts take hold of him. He would find his friend. Because he would never, ever again abandon Moana. Not now. Not ever. They were family now. Ohana. They would stick together.

Maui's heart lifted as he sensed something ahead. Something promising. His feathers ruffled in the wind.

I'm coming for you, Curly.

So, how was that? Better than Chapter 1? Worse? I hope you guys are liking it so far. If you do, please review, like, or follow! Every time you do, it goes to my email, and when I see it, I nearly squeal. And I never squeal. Thanks so much, everyone! You are what keeps me writing.

Well, I think that's it for me tonight. I'm yawning right now. So. Tired. Thanks to anyone who read, reviewed, followed, liked, etc.! Love you all!

Night!