Chapter 3: Return to Lalotai
"Maui, shapeshifter, Demigod of the wind and sea, hero to all? How dare you leave and never come back-"
Moana grunted as she adjusted the sheet in the direction of the sun, feeling the water with her hand as she frowned and knitted her brows in confusion,
"Tell me right now what is going on! What did you do!"
There was a snap against her skin as Mo leaned on her oar and shook her head slightly. Moana frowned,
"What, too forward? Ok then smarty, what so you think I should do?"
Mini Mo smiled and set down her weapon of choice, pulling the rope of her own canoe as she sailed across the tattoo and landed on a small island. Maui was there leaning on a coconut tree, and Mo ran and threw her arms around him. Lifting a lip, Moana adjusted course again,
"And you're calling me too forward," she grumbled, "I mean he's been gone for like two years! Do you know how many cycles of the moon that is? A lot, ok Mo? I'm not just going to go up and forgive him,"
Mo folded her arms and looked pouty as Moana shook her head,
"No. He's going to apologize, I'll give him a good yank of the ear, and then we'll try and figure out why you showed up,"
Mo seemed to sigh in defeat as she went back to her normal position, freezing in place as Moana turned back to the sea. It was relatively calm...almost too calm for Moana's taste.
"Hey ocean, is everything ok?"
There was nothing but stillness as Moana rolled her eyes at Heihei's incessant clucking in the hold,
"Ocean, if you're mad at me I'm sorry! I don't know what I'm sorry for, but I'm sorry!"
Again, nothing happened. Sighing and sitting cross-legged on the stern of her craft, Moana reached out and hit the water with her palm. Except the little splash she was expecting shot water at least 20 boat lengths ahead. Blinking in confusion as Mo reawakened to observe the goings on, Moana reached into the water again. Splashing, the water practically became a projectile, shooting some distance towards the sea and sky line,
"Ok, that was weird," Moana stated, sitting back and readjusting her course again, "hey...Mo, do you feel any wind?"
The little tattoo girl opened her sail, only to watch as it fell flat and she shook her head. Moana swallowed and nodded,
"T-that's what I thought too. So...how are we moving right now?"
Moana and Mo both looked into the water, ignoring the loose sail as the boat seemed to course itself,
"The ocean apparently knows where Maui is," Moana stated, sitting back and sticking her feet in the water, "this is so weird,"
Lifting a hand, Moana whipped around as something splashed nearby. Twisting in every direction, she looked for any kind of monster or whale, but found nothing,
"This is getting creepy. O-ocean? Was that you,"
Biting her lip, Moana looked to Mini Mo, who was lifting her arms up and down,
"You want me to try again?"
The tattoo girl nodded vigorously as Moana turned back to the water. She had been able to ask the ocean to do her favors before, but usually it didn't listen unless she was in dire need of assistance. As Maui said,
"The ocean doesn't help you. You help yourself!"
Frowning slightly at the memory, Moana stretched out her hand and held out her fingers. The water rippled a bit, but did nothing more. Carefully, Moana then lifted her arm up towards her nose, quickly losing focus as a trail of liquid came up from the ocean before falling away,
"Did you see that?"
Mo nodded as she waved her arms again and again, her own inked sea lifting off Moana's skin at her command,
"Ok, I need to figure this out. Let's...lets try again,"
Holding out her hand, Moana lifted her palm, trying to keep from screaming in both fear and excitement as the water followed her movements. Soon, the trail cut off and became a ribbon of free form ocean water. Moving slowly, it followed Moana's movements exactly without coming apart,
"Amazing," she breathed, reaching out her other hand and pushing the ribbon into a ball form, "how far do you think I can toss this?"
Mo shrugged as Moana herself twisted around, heaving the ball in her hands across the ocean. It seemed to go on forever before splashing down near the horizon. Gazing in awe, Moana looked down as Mo began to move again. She was standing on the end of her boat, waving her arms and mouthing words as the form of Ocean came to meet her,
"You think I can just...summon the ocean?"
Mo nodded her head as she pet the tiny wave of water which appeared in her tattoo before it vanished.
Moana was slightly hesitant. The ocean didn't like to be summoned, especially by her. Out of the few times she really needed the Oceans help, she usually didn't ask for it, or was in complete panic mode. Nodding though and standing from her sitting position, Moana held out her hand,
"Ocean, come to me, please,"
There was nothing, but Moana soon stepped back as her neck grew warm. Opening Tala's necklace, the stone was glowing and vibrating. Soon, the Ocean itself rose up, and stared,
"I just did that," she squealed, "you came! You actually came!"
The ocean cocked it's wave to one side as Moana composed herself. She then opened her necklace again to reveal the stone,
"Ocean, did you bring this stone to me?"
There was a moment before the water nodded,
"Ok, are you the one guiding us to Maui?"
The ocean nodded again, but a bit more hesitantly. Biting her lip, Moana exhaled,
"Is he in trouble again?"
There was nothing from the ocean, and that was enough to send Moana into a fit of worry. She knew the Demigod got into trouble all the time, but it had been two years since she last saw him! He could have been rotting away, needing help from his favorite mortal and she wouldn't even know,
"Ok, looks like it's Moana to the rescue again. Thanks Ocean. You're not...mad at me, are you?"
As a response, the wave dropped down onto Moana's head as she giggled and once again sat down to man the ropes. She really didn't have to, but it was habit to try and stay on course. She had already been traveling for a few days, and had no idea where she was actually going. Unfortunately, that question was answered sooner then Moana would have liked as a very familiar pillar island came into view,
"You've go to be kidding me!" The young chief hissed, face palming slightly, "Lalotai? That hūpō went back into the realm of monsters!"
Groaning slightly, Moana tied up her head of dark curls as she checked on Heihei,
"You'll have to stay here and watch the boat," Moana mumbled, "not like you can understand me, but a girl can try,"
Covering up the stupid rooster so he wouldn't wander off, Moana jerked slightly as her canoe came into contact with the hexagonal stones of Lalotai,
"Alright Mo, looks like we'll be doing some climbing-"
Mo shook her head slightly, lifting her arms as the water lifted her up too. Blinking, Moana frowned slightly,
"I can't do that...do you think?"
Mo nodded encouragingly as Moana exhaled deeply again and looked up towards the top of the mountain. She didn't like using the ocean to her advantage. It felt wrong, like she was using a friend against their will,
"I guess it beats climbing. Ok, I'll try it,"
Fist pumping the air, Mo took up her usual position again as Moana tied up her canoe before slipping into the water. Holding out her hands, she made the same lifting motion Mo had. To her astonishment, she began to rise into the air, slowly but surely making her way to the top of the gateway. Soon, she was deposited gently at its peak, oar in hand as her only means of defense as the water receded. Looking down at it before turning to stare at the mountain, Moana frowned.
It had been so long since Maui performed the dance to enter Lalotai, she didn't even remember any of the moves. Luckily, she didn't have too, as her oar suddenly glowed a bright blue and illuminated the hook and heart carved into its surface. Backing up, the doorway began to shift, revealing the dark tunnel into the underworld,
"What the heck just happened?" Moana breathed, watching as her oar faded and became its normal color again, "o-ok, I guess we just...go?"
Mo didn't have anything to say as Moana nodded and jumped. She kept a tight grip on her oar as the air rushed by her, and she was soon engulfed by the familiar sea. Finally, she emerged on the other side and cried out, hitting a few vines with her body as she was slowly (if not by complete luck) deposited on the ground. Glancing up, Moana stood rapidly and brushed herself off,
"Well that went a bit better then last time," she breathed, rolling her shoulders and tucking up any loose hair which had come out of her bun,
"Now to find Maui. Shouldn't be too hard as he leaves a trail of broken hearts wherever he goes,"
Mo seemed to laugh at that as Moana shouldered her weapon and began walking towards a large crevice, only to stop when an echoing voice reached her ears. It was loud and boisterous, muffled of course, but no doubt belonging to a Demigod of the wind and sea,
"That didn't take long," Moana stated, skidding down towards the dark ravine as she laid down to look over its edge. There were definitely things moving down there. But she could also hear Maui's voice,
"He must be down there," Moana stated, "looks like we really will have to do some climbing today,"
Mo nodded as Moana exhaled deeply, leaning over the cliff side to try and find a foothold. Unfortunately, the rock was too weak and gave way. Startled, Moana lost her grip and started falling, only to slow as her back hit - what felt like - water. Except it was like ice, and Moana didn't need to hold her breath. Slamming against the ground with a groan, Moana shook herself out of a daze as she glanced up.
There was a cave right in front of her. It wasn't at all sparkly or eye catching like the lair of Tomatoa, but it was an equally spooky cave. From inside, Moana could still hear Maui speaking,
"Gotta be in there," Moana whispered to Mo, who held her oar and had spread black ink on her face like war paint, "lets try the element of surprise first, shall we?"
Deflating slightly, Moana rolled her eyes and stayed low as she the cave. Hopefully she wasn't making a mistake.