"Hello?" The writer called for Tamatoa as she held her sword out. "You know I saw this video about crabs molting and it was actually pretty cool. You know you could just take your stuff off the old shell and attach them onto the new one."
No response came out... at least for a moment.
"I WON'T DO IT!" The crab's voice echoed out.
"Ah, I knew it!" The author tried to look for the voice but couldn't see where he was. "Ok... review response time then!"
jhalpernkitcat: The real deal is better. I can stop talking about eating crabs if it bugs you. Oh lord it is not easy to write out exposition as Mini Maui–I don't think he could convey all he needed to that easily. And the water fight was fun :) I love it when the two can have fun.
I've seen that concept art, but I'm trying to keep the continuity that I started in this story before I saw it. Its still pretty horrifying (what the heck happened there, jeez Disney!) I also think Tamatoa was told something similar by his own grandmother and if he chose to ignore it or if something happened to make him claim that it was a lie, then that just makes his likely backstory all the more tragic. And yeah, I heard those lyrics which makes things interesting for what is soon to come in this story.
I had to write that bit with Tala because she would want to witness Moana get that moment she longed for. Also yes... TOTALLY not suspicious noise. *laughs*
Also, in response to your review for 'Ocean's Duet' I appreciate that you read it, even if you like the two as just friends. You are right with the parallel, though I think Tala could also be the grandmother from the original tale in some ways. Also I think The Rock was a good choice, seeing that Maui is part of his heritage and he's referred to as a sort of hero in real life. (Also, maybe shark–Maui tickling someone will happen again... or maybe he already did in the dream. I can't take that form seriously, but the tickling thing was too cute to resist. )
ChangelingRin: *laughs* Thanks! Hopefully I topped myself in this chapter!
Child of Music and Dreams: *Chuckles* Also, in response to your review for
'Ocean's Duet' that was cute but what's a stoat sandw–*looks it up* oh its a Harry Potter meal! Huh, never tried that before. Are you tempting me with food again?
Tamatoa's response to Child of Music and Dreams: Would you have rather I done something a lot worse to the girl and her companions? *snaps one of his claws* I could always eat her.
OfficialWhiteFireTheDragon: Argh, I thought I would have that joke ready by now... it would be... two demi-gods and a bad guy walk into a bar... wait, let me save that for later. Anyway I could see those two have a wonderful friendship built off being mischievous or pranking each other.
Tamatoa's response to OfficialWhiteFireTheDragon: *somewhere in the dark* Don't you dare ruin this for me! You have no idea what I'm up to!
Jazzy–Monster-5955: Aw, I kind of pictured that for a moment it was cute :). And *sings* What can I say except you're welc-" Wait are those cookies for me or to the big guy? *accepts cookies*
Tamatoa's response Jazzy–Monster-5955: *snatches cookies away with a claw, no matter who they were meant for* I'll take those, thank you. *HolyMaiden24 is not happy*
Subuku no Jess: Uh... I don't think he would do a full song. Though I have an idea where he would get close to singing it in his face. I don't know if Tamatoa will go 'Tamatoa-zilla' on us or not just yet. Also you are welcome about the platonic thing, though the only thing Tamatoa took so far was the hook and Maui's voice–nothing else. Oh, also Mulan was winning in that game and Moana was close behind. And I'll try to stay safe, but considering my track record in my other fics, I–
Tamatoa's response to Subuku no Jess: *Pops out of who knows where in bioluminescent form and scares the pants off the author* Oh you do, do you?! *grins in a flirtatious manner* I'm going to keep that in mind.
Enigma: *overly excited* VIRTUAL CUPCAKES FOR EVERYONE?! CUPCAKE PARTY TIME! Also yeah I see your point.
Tamatoa's response to Enigma: Oh you can come over anytime... or maybe you won't have to wait for long.
-TAMATOA'S LAIR-
EVERY single reader of this fan fic was in the cave eating delicious cupcakes as HolyMaiden24 tried to make the bar joke. It was dark and EVERYONE had bioluminescent paint on them since it was supposed to be the most epic of cupcake parties. Or at least as close as you can get if the owner of the place was a giant crab that towered over them and had little room to lay down for that same reason.
"Two demi-gods and a bad guy walk into a bar." HolyMaiden24 began. "They all joke about adaptations and how much get changed. Both demi-gods agree that no matter what, they are more heroic than the bad guy. The bad guy counters by saying 'At least the worst I did was destroy a building, nearly ruined my friendship with the kid, AND I had a video game movie that wasn't awful! Didn't you both do things that Disney couldn't adapt, like a dad who cheated with your mom behind his wife's back, or that you mistreated one of your possible wives in one of the many myths about you?'"
There was a very awkward silence at this revelation.
"NEEEEEEERRRRD!" One reader screamed out.
"That's the best I can do!" HolyMaiden24 protested. "And you tend to find weird things in mythology when–"
"Ok, that's enough." Tamatoa (also in bioluminescent form) stepped forward. "You took it too far and now you ruined their childhoods. I hope you can live with yourself."
Tamatoa made to turn around and leave. "Oh shoot, I almost forgot!" He turned back and, after carefully looking at the readers, found the one he was looking for. "You're coming with me, babe!" He made to carefully pick up Subuku no Jess and set the reader on his shell, but not before giving them a flirtatious wink. "Want to go scare the scales off a few monsters as a date?" He asked before he hurried out of his cave and into the darkness of Lalotai with the lucky reader riding on him.
"HEY YOU CAN'T FLIRT WITH MY READERS!" Holymaiden24 protested but it was too late. "I CAN'T SINGLE ONE OUT WHEN... aw nuts." She sighed as a few jealous readers shot her an annoyed look. "You guys'll probably hate me by the end of this chapter anyway."
If there was EVER a time I wish I had a map of Motonui, this would be one of those times. Also you can tell that I REALLY love giving visuals in readers minds when I get to certain moments that need it the most.
Also I find it amusing that no one is asking about the design of the tattoos for Maui's human form or why his... err... skirt of leaves (?) changed into a real lavalava.
I had the two smiling faces on his shoulder mirroring each other to reflect his trickster nature, his easygoing nature, and the fact that there's more to him than the eye can see. The circle and the fish hook like patterns was a hint to his true identity as a warrior while the water is a nod to his origins in the ocean. The skirt changing thing... was due to magic. Yup, just magic.
Ok, this was a chapter that I had to take time with. Here we go!
Chapter 8: The hand of fate
"It had to be around here somewhere." Tui said to himself as he approached the location where he thought he heard the strange sounds from last night. If it was not anywhere near the village then it had to be somewhere on the other side of the island, beyond the hills and near the ocean. As he and the others searched the grounds, he tried to think of what could have caused such a commotion.
"Chief Tui?!" A man yelled out. "You might want to see this!"
Tui felt his heart stop for a moment as he raced towards the man's voice. He could hear the others following suit as the man continued to yell "Right here!"
"What did you find?!" Tui demanded as he found the man in a large clearing. However, as he approached the man, he saw that it wasn't a clearing at all and if it were then it would be because several trees had been knocked over. Well, not exactly–some remained upright, but there was still a strange pattern to the destruction that didn't make any sense.
"It continues all the way to the ocean!" The man pointed towards a trail of fallen trees as the others gathered around to observe the clearing.
"None of these trees are old enough to have fallen on their own." A woman bent down by one of the fallen trees where it had snapped in half. "This one is still too young."
Tui examined the area around him. If he had to make a guess, this clearing was at least five or six regular sized fales large in both width and length, but it could have easily been more. "Keep examining the area for anything suspicious or out of place!" Tui yelled as he hurried to follow the path of destroyed trees and plants that lead all the way to the ocean. When he saw what was on the other end, he had to stop in disbelief.
This area was very sandy and filled with rocks, but there was a huge indent in the sands and there were trees that appeared as if they had been uprooted and tossed clear across to different ends of the beach. Stranger yet was that the holes that were left behind in places of the trees were very deep as if whatever had gotten to them pulled them clear out, roots and all.
"What on earth?" Tui wondered out loud. There wasn't a storm last night and this was clearly not the work of a normal human being. He was tempted to say that perhaps a large ship had snuck onto the island, but that didn't seem possible as he couldn't think of any sort of ship that could have managed to go clear into the island by several hundred feet or so and break down so many trees that easily.
He looked around again until he noticed that there were some spaces in the ground where there were even more indents, though they were much smaller in comparison to the larger one. When he looked down into one of them, he saw that there was a strange shape about them, like the holes started out wide but then got to a small hole or indent at the very end. Some of them were shaped differently as if the maker had been dragged towards the ocean.
"What do you think?" A woman called out to Tui.
"Give me a moment!" Tui held a hand up as he backtracked and examined the pathway of fallen trees, or to be more specific, the ground around the trees. He could see more strange looking holes in the ground and they all went in a similar line to those in the sands.
"Is there a pattern of holes on that end of the clearing?" Tui pointed to the other side. A man went over to check and after a few minutes he yelled "Yes!"
Tui went back to the end of the clearing that was in the woods and looked around. The damage ended at this specific point, but why? What on earth could have caused so much destruction? If it was an invading tribe, they certainly left a strange warning for what was to come. Or was it something else?
Tui was afraid to find out what it was that caused this. Whatever it was that came from the sea and ended at this point was not a natural force of nature nor did it feel human. "Keep on the lookout for anything suspicious and don't tell the others in the village just yet!" Tui yelled to his group. "We need to keep searching this area for anything else that could hint at what happened here!"
"And you three." He pointed to a trio of women. "Examine the beach as carefully as you can and let me know if anything seems out of place."
"We will." One of the women nodded as she took up her spear.
It had nearly been an hour since Moana had sailed away from Motonui and while she hadn't gotten too far away, she could still see her island in the distance. Here was a spot where she and her companion could enjoy the ocean where there weren't as many waves to deal with and were things could be peaceful.
Occasionally Moana would help make the time easier by offering to sing songs passed down by her people for her companion, who allowed her to. At one point she recounted the tales of Matai Vasa, the earliest known Chief of her people and a man who was known to be quite courageous and wise as well as a great leader to his people. According to the tales, he was one of the best known wayfinders in history and was supposedly the one who lead his people to Motonui.
What she didn't know was that her companion had met the man in his life and he could confirm those stories to her. Matai Vasa wasn't the sort of man who wanted to head into danger for the fun of it like Maui did, but he was a lot more daring than most other humans (that and that he was a pretty fun guy to hang around with).
Moana had finally taken a break from sailing the boat ever since she first left the island and she moved away from the sail to face her companion, who seemed at ease out on the waters. She had taken a glimpse of him now and then during her sailing and she had seen that he seemed quite happy to be off the island for a brief time. He was clearly not one who could stay in one place for long, and though he stared out at the sea with happiness, he would also look up at the sky with a curious longing gaze.
As for Maui, he felt relieved to be finally off the island after three straight weeks. He wasn't sure if he ever stayed in one spot for that long, but it was nice to just be out on the sea again. However, he found himself wishing that he had his hook back and that he could take to the sky or even to the sea like he used to. It didn't feel right to be unable to have that ability for that long.
"Do you miss where ever it is that you come from?" Moana asked as she moved towards her companion and sat beside him. He looked at her for a second and then gave her a curious shrug and waved his hand in a strange manner.
"You know so much about me and yet I know so little of you that I don't even know your name." Moana confessed. "I knew you had to have experienced a lot before arriving to Motonui and that you may of had a lot of stories to share if you could." Honestly, it was really unfortunate that he wasn't able to share anything about himself that he couldn't demonstrate. There was so much to him already from what she had observed and yet she didn't even know his actual name.
"Maybe I could guess your name!" Moana realized with a grin. "If you give me a clue, then maybe I could–" But the man cringed and shook his head. "Wha–but why not?" Moana was stunned but the man shook his head again and held his face in one hand as he stared at the sky.
If Moana knew his name, it would raise suspicion on its own, but considering her concerns about why his constellation was missing, Maui knew that she would not take it well if she figured out the truth. And she would unintentionally make things much worse if he was not able to answer why he was in a mortal form until it was too late.
"Are you someone on the run then?" Moana wondered. "I mean I don't know what happened so I could only guess and–I'm sorry." She realized her error and she grabbed her arms and bowed her head in shame. "I'm being too nosey, but I really want to understand who you are. You turned against my father's words just to make this a reality for me." Moana gestured out to the sea as she looked upon it. "I can't think of anyone that brave or that reckless who could do that." She didn't see Maui shoot her a slightly offended look at her words. "Well, I mean besides my grandmother." She added.
"If I was not the daughter of a Chief or if I had been born into a different family, I would do this as often as I could." Moana began. "I would go out and explore as many islands as I could. I would try to go out as far as possible and see what else is in the ocean or if there were places that were far beyond my wildest dreams." She smiled. "Maybe that would be taking it too far if the space between islands are already far enough as they are."
"So, I want to say thank you." Moana turned to Maui. "Thank you for giving me this gift, even if it was just for one day. I will never forget it for as long as I live." She meant it with all her heart. Of all the gifts she had been given throughout her life, this one was now one of her dearest ones yet.
All Maui could do was turn his head to see the young girl who looked so radiant with her happiness and he wished that he could say how much he enjoyed his brief time with her too. Going off to help others and fight monsters was always exciting, but there were little moments like this that he rarely got. Moments where one could just hang out with someone and do something fun or just take in the things that most would take for granted.
It was true that he was still struggling as to whether or not he had been too hasty about the turning into a mortal thing. There were times where he thought about what would happen if he did succeed but those thoughts were uncertain until recently.
If he had been mortal, he would do anything in his power to make sure that the girl could become the best Chief known to mankind, but he would also make sure that she was granted more days out on the sea instead of keeping it a secret. If he had his voice back, he would support her on her behalf and he would make absolutely sure she would know all there was to wayfinding that he couldn't convey through gestures so that her old man would stop worrying and let her live out her life.
And dying of old age would be a lot better than whatever unsavory story the mortals would tell instead (and there were a few versions already that made him cringe whenever he thought about them). He would rather that his life ended on a high note than at a bad one.
He wished he knew what it was that could make the change permanent. So far he had bonded pretty well with Moana to the point that she felt like a genuine friend–someone he could trust and who knew how to brighten a person's day–so now it was a matter of what she had to do to put an end to this. She wanted to get to know him (even though he was pretty sure she saw enough of him to have an idea of what he was like) yet she made no indication that she wanted him around. What exactly was it that she had to say or do in order for him to turn human for good? Did she have to just ask him to stay on her island?
Moana noticed how low the sun was getting at that point. If she made it to the island in time, then the sun would not set for awhile yet. "It looks like we need to head back pretty soon." She noted with regret. She didn't want this time out at sea to end all too soon but she had to go back before the others started to worry.
"We better hurry." She informed her companion, who hoisted himself back up and held his hand out to Moana. Moana observed his hand for a moment and was reminded how how it was large enough to grab her head (nowadays it just seemed really funny to her). When she lifted her hand and was seconds away from touching his own, she thought about the contrast between the two of them yet again and how her own looked so small. She shook her head and finally placed her hand in his own and as he gently helped her get back on her feet, his other hand cupped under her arm to give her more support. She turned her head and was about to thank him when she looked at the hand under her arm. His fingers had curled around her arm and it was so amusing because it was like she was a little kid again since his hand covered up a huge portion of her arm.
Her arm...
A memory came to her. This hold was oddly familiar to her because it was like he was aware of his own strength and was trying not to snap her arm like it was a twig. There was a hold similar to this, where the hand felt large and there was a careful gentleness about it. The only time that ever happened was when–
"I hope you get to go back out on the ocean, kid. It likes people like you." That warm friendly voice from the past came back to her, followed by his laughter that echoed in her mind.
Moana continued staring at the hand that held onto her. When she realized she was staring at it for too long, she shook her head and gently moved out of her companion's hold before she went back to the sail.
Slowly and slowly the island approached and she kept her place at the sail, yet her eyes continued to gaze to the man sitting on the boat in front of her.
The man who saved her all those years ago felt so huge when she hugged him and her companion looked as if he could of had a similar body type. Of course the man who saved felt like a giant to her nine year old self and this man didn't seem as large, but he might as well have been to the currently teenaged Moana. Even what she could have barely seen of her savior almost matched up to the appearance of her voiceless friend. The way her savior joked and talked was so specific that she had a feeling that the man before her would have also spoke like him since the personality seemed to fit him.
Finally there was the fact that her savior had supported her in her desire to go back out onto the ocean and the man before her did the same. He seemed more than willing to help her with this after she shared her story to him.
Could it be possible that this man was the one who saved her all those years ago? Had the ocean answered her wish to see him again? She knew that without his voice there was no guarantee, but he had to answer her one way or another.
One person tried to think over the other's identity while the other tried to figure out how the other could finally turn him human before it was too late. They were lost in their thoughts and soon the boat managed to reach the reef around Motonui. The sun was getting lower at one end of the sky and in an hour's time it would be at the point when the colors of one end of the sky would get dark while the other would lighten up.
It was at this point that Moana knew that she had to stop being afraid. All she needed was one response to indicate that her companion was the one who saved her after all. She didn't care who or where he came from, or what he had gone through, she had to know. If he was the one who saved her, then she owed him big time. If not then it didn't matter because of what he had done for her.
"There's something I need to know." Moana began and when she saw that her companion was looking up at her, she continued. "I find it strange that you wanted to help me right after I told you what happened to me all those years ago. I was unable to see back then, but I'm not stupid. I can put pieces together if I can see them right in front of me."
Her friend seemed a little taken by surprise at what she had to say if the way his eyes widened was any indication.
This was it–now or never. "I need you to answer me this as honestly as possible. I don't want you to lie to me because I will pick up on it and I need to know the truth."
Moana took one final breath and asked the burning question on her mind. "Are you the one who saved me when I was a chi–"
What happened next was unexplainable or was perhaps some trick of fate. As if the sun had been thrusted right at her face, Moana's eyes were exposed to a sudden brightness that made the world turn white.
Moana let out a cry of fear as she found herself blinded by the painful brightness and flinched away to one side as she accidentally pulled the sheet and felt the boat tilt at an off angle.
Even if it never came out, Maui still yelled out 'MOANA!' as he made to get up and stop the girl from going overboard as she held her hands over her eyes. He caught her just in the nick of time and was about to grab the sheet to change the angle of the boat when he saw a wave come towards them.
There was no way he could pull the sheet in time.
Moana tried to open her eyes, but there was so much pain and a repressed memory came to the surface of when she had been blinded as a child. She could feel that panic come back and she could have sworn that it was a kakamora that was holding onto her. "No!" Moana panicked with a cry as she tried to pull away from the tight grasp, unaware of the wave that was coming towards them.
The wave came down upon them with a crash and when the boat tipped over too far, Maui lost his grip on Moana and she fell into the ocean.
Moana swam underwater in a panic as she felt herself get swept away. In the meantime, Maui frantically looked around to try to find Moana and when he did, he did not hesitate to jump into the ocean after her.
The pain in Moana's eyes died away as she opened them to see the ocean around her as well as the dangers of the ground in the form of many rocks and coral reefs. When she looked one way, she could see her slightly blurry looking companion swimming towards her and she hurried up to the surface to take a breath. The moment she had a chance, she swam as fast as she could towards him but her vision was still trying to get back into focus. The moment it finally did, she saw another wave was about to crash down upon the man. He himself was aware that it was coming and swam as fast as he could.
"LOOK OUT!" Moana screamed, but it was too late and not only did the wave swallow him up, but she found that the currents sucked her right back into the water and it barely gave her enough time to take a breath.
She found herself being tossed in the water and was unable to locate her companion as she was taken deeper and deeper into the water and towards the bottom where rocks and coral formations rose high enough to pose a threat to those who were unlucky enough to get so far down. Moana wasn't aware of the coral she was about to approach, but when she felt one tear through her lower leg, she found herself unable to prevent the scream that came out.
She already lost too much air and she struggled to try to swim back up, but it was hopeless and she felt the pressure of the water against her body as it demanded to have air. Moana's body soon could not take it anymore and she found herself opening her mouth underwater again against her will.
As she felt the water enter her body, she only had enough time to see her companion desperately try to swim as fast as he could towards her. She could only thrash about as the water filled her insides until her world turned dark.
The first thing she became aware of was that she was coughing up water and had only one second to open her eyes to see the color blue before she shut them again.
Moana took a few moments to compose herself before she could even dare open her eyes.
She almost drowned this time. Or maybe she did. She didn't know what happened to her, but all that she knew was that she was soaking wet, laying on wet sand, and was no longer under water. Also there was a nasty stinging sensation on her leg that hurt to no end.
Moana was so terrified about what had happened that she was shuddering where she lay. She was also afraid to open her eyes and see nothing but darkness after that strange whiteness blinded her. She could sense that someone was nearby when she reached a shaking hand out, she could feel the now familiar hold of a hand much larger than her own. It still had the gentle grip but this time it was shaking too as if the owner was getting over his own shock.
She felt her companion help her sit back up and she pressed one hand against one of his arms to prop herself up. She was terrified to open her eyes and not see his face–she did not want to relive that memory once again. Yet when she felt one of his hands gently rub up and down one of her arms in a reassuring manner, she finally opened her eyes.
Moana saw that her water drenched companion let out a sigh of relief, but there was a deep concern as well as a ghost of a fear in his eyes. Clearly he was terrified as to what had almost happened to her and the relief died away to a pang of guilt before he finally moved away from her. She was about to plead for him to come back when she realized something odd about their surroundings.
There was a wall of water behind her companion. Not a waterfall, but it was as if the world tilted and the water was in front of her instead of below her.
Moana looked around and sure enough she was surrounded by water while sitting on a spot of wet sand and rocks. She could see though it and see coral and a few fish and when she looked above, she saw the water extended high over their heads. There was also an opening large enough to reveal the sky that was due to change its colors pretty soon.
Was this a dream? Did she really die and go onto an afterlife? None of this should have been possible.
"Wha–?" Moana couldn't believe what she was seeing as she looked down at the barrier of water again. She looked at her companion, who seemed oddly calm about the situation and seemed more interested in her reactions. "What's going on?" She asked before an odd thought struck her. "You aren't doing this are you?"
The man gave her an odd look of disbelief before shaking his head no and pointed to something behind her. Confused, Moana turned around to see that a wave of water escaped from the barrier and was heading towards her. For one moment she thought the spell would break and that they would be consumed by the water, but the barrier stayed exactly as it was.
The wave of water stopped a few feet from Moana and as she watched, it tilted at an angle. She then realized that this wave was acting like the one from her dream with the woman. The wave that came from out of the ocean itself.
But wait a minute–if this wasn't a dream, then what if the stories were true?
"Did... you save me?" Moana asked.
The wave nodded. A thought came to Moana and she asked almost shyly "Are you the ocean?"
The wave nodded again.
Moana let out a small gasp. "You... you're alive." She then fully realized what was going on. "You're the ocean and you're alive."
The wave seemed to ripple a little as it reached to Moana and dropped down on her head in a playful manner as if it wanted to pat her head. It only made her head wet, but she didn't care.
"All the stories about the ocean," Moana struggled to get up and stand on her injured leg while the wave moved away from her. "My grandmother was right." She was in awe at this new information. "You can hear us when we talk to you. And when we dance in you, you are dancing with us." Maybe not like in the dream, but it might as well have been.
She stood up to face the wave that represented the ocean and reached a hand towards it. In response, the wave moved over and rested part of itself on the palm of Moana's hand as if accepting a handshake. In that moment, and fear Moana had gained after nearly drowning had vanished in an instant.
As impressive as the sight was to Maui, it wasn't the bond that was developing between the ocean and Moana that was on his mind. He had a sneaking feeling something like this would of happened when it came to someone like her, but what amazed him was why and how the ocean knew that Moana was going to drown. Why did it react the way it did to this one mortal out of all those who could have easily died in its hold?
The wave gently lead Moana to the wall of water and she followed it with a slight limp. She found herself less afraid of the water then she had been not that long ago as she watched the fish swim in front of her and she reached a hand out until it broke through the water.
"I can't be dreaming this." Moana whispered. "Not if I can feel you."
She felt compelled to enter the ocean. The wave even seemed to beckon to her as in invite.
And without warning, she took a deep breath and jumped into the water.
She could feel the change in the water and no longer was it a tempest, but it was calm and it felt as if it were embracing her. She could feel it gently brushing against her and when she opened her eyes, she could see herself floating within it as her hair rose up all around her in gentle waves.
Even if her leg still hurt and was bleeding, she chose to swim through the water and explore as much as she could while occasionally twisting around to see what else there was. Down in the ocean there was an ethereal beauty that couldn't be found in the world above and the light of the sun reflected upon the water and cause it to ripple and shine upon whatever it touched.
The moment she needed air, she popped her head into the barrier to take gulps of it before quickly remerging back into the water. She had no desire to stop any time soon and wanted to keep floating for as long as she could. She wanted to do the things that a human could not do upon land, like float above the ground and dance over it.
In fact that was almost what it looked like to the one who watched her from within the barrier. She looked as if she were dancing as she swam in the water with an almost natural grace that she didn't display that often. She almost looked like a water spirit or an ocean goddess when she was within the water.
The currents picked up Moana and guided her through the waters so that she wouldn't have to use her leg so much. As Moana realized what the ocean was doing, she smiled and allowed it to carry her around the barrier. She waved to get her companion's attention and she smiled when he turned around to wave back before she allowed herself to show off and flip forward in the water.
That's when Maui realized something. The ocean was what brought him to Motonui and not just out of accident; it remembered what happened when he saved Moana and it knew how much she loved it. Somehow it must have known that they needed to meet again and maybe it had a big reason besides helping the girl fulfill her wish.
Pretty crafty if you ask me. He thought with a brief scowl at the ocean.
As if the ocean heard exactly what he thought, a burst of water shot right at him and sprayed him in the face. He did not expect it and he even found himself coughing out some of the water after he had flinched away from it. 'Are you serious?!' He mouthed after he recovered from the shock.
Moana continued to swim in the ocean and around the barrier while occasionally taking breaths of air when she could. At one point she found herself turning to face her companion, who finally stood up and walked towards her until he was just a foot away from her.
One stood in the air and upon the ground and stared at the other, who was floating in the water and was at eye level with him. For once it seemed that it was the girl who was secretly a powerful being and not the man who was watching her. She truly looked as if she belonged to the ocean now then when she was on the boat as she floated in the water and her hair moved around her in gentle waves. Yet also in that moment, both of them seemed to be equals to each other, despite the obvious contrasts in appearances.
Moana took a moment to dunk her head forward to get more air before retreating back. She then reached out her hand with a smile and Maui couldn't help but return the gesture and accepted it. She half expected him to pull her out of the water when his hand bursted through and held onto her own, but he didn't and they just stared down to see that they were holding hands in the water.
Finally he himself took a deep breath and stuck his upper body into the water, where they only had a few seconds to look at each other under water. Moana almost wanted to laugh when his hair went backwards and then flowed out in front of his face before it settled back down, but the smile she had was more than enough to show what was on her mind. For those few seconds there really wasn't a need for her to use any words to convey how strange this time under the ocean had been or how incredible it was at the same time to her companion.
Finally Moana swam towards Maui and hooked her arms around him. He took that as the cue to take her out of the water before she needed air and he held her in his arms before taking her out of the ocean.
As her companion moved away from the wall of water, Moana took a breath and glanced back to see the wave reappear and wave to her. Moana couldn't help but move one of her arms so that she could wave back with a smile. The wave nodded as if satisfied before it retreated back into the water, which began to seep from the bottom of the barrier and reach towards their feet. That was definitely their cue to get ready to swim back up.
As Moana wrapped her free arm back around Maui, he realized that she was slightly touching his upper back as she had her arms around his neck. What was so odd was that the touch should have been painful, but it wasn't. Not anymore.
Instead the touch felt comforting.
At that point, the sun had gotten low enough that it wasn't ready to set, but the sky at one end of the world was getting dark. The other side was already turning into shades of pinkish orange and light blue.
Tui had yet to find anything strange upon the island besides the odd phenomenon from earlier. He was sure that he was being paranoid but he could not explain what had caused the damage without any logic behind it. What had come upon the shores of Motonui that could cause such a thing and what if it was somehow still here? What danger could it pose if that were the case?
"Anything?!" Tui yelled to his men as they walked up the path that would soon lead them back to the village.
"No I'm afraid not." One of them told him. "Or maybe thats a good thing."
"Provided that the others didn't find anything else." Tui muttered under his breath.
"Uh, Chief?" A woman called out. "There's a boat in the reef and it doesn't look like one of our own."
In a moment of panic, Tui hurried to the woman's side and she pointed to a spot down below where they could see a boat on the water. It was not a fishing boat, but it was the kind that was ideal for going out on the ocean and there was some sort of marking upon its sail, like a spiral.
"Could it be a visitor?" The woman asked as Tui continued to watch the boat and tried to figure out who it was that was on it and why it was heading to the island. The closer and closer it got, the more he could make it out until he recognized both passengers. Especially the one who was sitting at the front end while the larger one was at the sail.
Most of Tui's fears had vanished and were replaced with anger at the sight of the smaller passenger on the boat. He had a feeling he knew where that boat came from as well as why the boat was out on the ocean.
Moana waited until her companion got the boat completely on dry land in the cave before she got up to get off the boat, but the moment she landed in the sand, pain shot through her injured leg again and she let out a cry as she collapsed into the sand.
Moana hissed and took a breath of air as her companion approached her and knelt down to examine her leg. The wound wasn't horribly deep, but it was a pretty nasty gash and quite a bit of blood had come out. Still it could be treated in time for tomorrow, though there was no knowing if Moana would still be in pain or not if she used it for dancing.
"Its ok, I'm fine." Moana tried to reassure her companion as he examined it. "I can get it treated." He shook his head in disapproval and covered his mouth with his hand.
This was not good. There was no way either of them could hide this without a good excuse. Worse, this happened because he had been unable to save her and if the ocean hadn't been there, she would have been dead. He probably would have died too since by the time he would have reached the girl and got her to the surface, he himself would have drowned. His body didn't have the stamina it used to have to be able to pull that off. He wouldn't have cared if he died, so long as he got her back to safety, which was why the ocean acting the way it did had been a blessing.
'What happened?' He mouthed to her as he looked her in the eye.
"Something bright got in my eye as if I looked into the sun." Moana tried to explain. "And then I couldn't see for a few seconds. I mean my eyes are normal now, but–" She grimaced with regret. "–I was terrified that it was happening all over again. The blindness, the drowning... it all came back and I–"
Maui put his hand on her knee to stop her before she could let the trauma get to her. Well no wonder she had been so terrified even after he managed to revive her–she was forced to relive that nightmare again. There was no way she would want to go back to the ocean after what happened–no sane person would.
Moana sighed as she put her hand over her companion's. She knew he was trying to comfort her and maybe he could sense what was going through her mind, but she could easily see how guilty he felt about what happened. "This was not your fault." She tried to reassure him. "I was careless and I lost my composure. I'm the one whose to blame, not you."
"I don't know what happened, but I'm not going to let this get to me and change my mind about the ocean anytime soon." As Maui looked up at the girl, she smiled at him. "Next time I'll be a lot more careful about sailing on the ocean."
Her optimism felt so sudden and yet seeing that she wasn't going to back down so easily made Maui smile back in relief. It reminded him of why he liked this girl to begin with–stubborn, yes, but she was braver than most other humans and determined as heck to boot.
"There won't be a next time." The last voice either of them expected to hear echoed out in the cave.
Moana's eyes widened in horror and her heart came to a stop as she and her companion turned their heads to see Tui several feet away from them, along with a huge group of villagers–some of which were carrying spears and one person held a burning torch.
"I told you to never come here." Tui slowly began with a deep scowl as he walked towards Moana and Maui. "I told you not to get on a boat and I warned you that trust is something that is not so easily gained back. And yet I find you here going against everything that I had told you. Do you not understand what you have done?!"
Moana had no idea how to act or what to say as her worst fears came to life.
"And you!" Tui turned to Maui. "I gave you my trust as well! I expected you could keep my daughter safe and I had expected that you would obey my wishes, yet you allowed her to talk you into this! Do you not even feel remotely ashamed about that?!"
Even though he knew he was in hot water, Maui could only give Tui a flat look of annoyance. 'Do I look like I can answer you?!' He mouthed as he pointed to himself.
"I told you never to let my daughter get on a boat and yet I saw the both of you doing exactly that not too long ago!" Tui's voice raised. "Do you have any idea what could have happened out there?! To my only child?! What was going through your mind?!"
Neither of them dared try to answer. Especially considering what almost happened out on the ocean, including events that would not have been easy to explain.
"I'm beginning to wonder if there is a reason you came to this island." Tui continued as he recalled the sight of the ruined trees from earlier. "Perhaps you had intended to get close to my child and kidnap her for some dark reason. I try to avoid making enemies, but perhaps you are hiding a secret–"
"He wasn't trying to do that!" Moana protested in anger as she finally stood up to face her father. "I told him about my desire to sail and what happened to me all those years ago! He could have denied teaching me how to sail to prevent this from happening, and yet he didn't! I couldn't have made it out there on my own without his help!"
Tui felt his heart stop. "How long has this gone on?"
"Longer than you would think." Moana confessed. "If anyone is to blame, then its me. Its not his fault."
"So you told him the tale that I forbade you to tell–"
"It did happen!" Moana threw her hands out. "Why can't you believe me?! You say we are a peaceful island and yet you cannot deny that I couldn't see or that the one who saved me was not from this island! Danger can always come when we least expect it!" She took a few steps forward and when she felt the pain in her leg, she let out a hiss and a wince that alerted Tui to the distress and his eyes gazed downward to see the injury.
"What is that?" He demanded. "How did you get that injury? Was it from being out on the ocean?"
Moana cringed.
"Do you even realize how important tomorrow is for you?!" He demanded to her. "You are a representative of your island and it is expected that you will dance for Chief Hoani–"
"And why should that be important?!" Moana yelled in annoyance. "I am alive and I could do more besides dancing if I am unable to! I could sail to his island and spare him the visit and yet you want to keep me here instead! I love dancing and I know how much it means to us, but I can't do that forever! I want to be useful in other ways besides just saying my input and making calls to–"
"Because this is one of the earliest possible chances for you to find a future husband!"
The world stopped for Moana when she heard those words.
What?
Did she hear that correctly?
"Wh–what did you say?" Moana could barely let the words out.
"Hoani is coming with his younger brother, who is only a few years older then you in addition to a handful of his own men." Tui finally told Moana the thing he had intended to keep a secret from her ever since he let all of Motonui know about the visit. "One of your responsibilities as a leader to your people and to your family is to find a future husband who will not only aid you, but also continue the family line like I had to and my father before me."
Moana felt herself step back a few feet as this news sank in. "You have not shown any known interest in any of the men on this island, and I understand if they do not meet your approval, but eventually you will have to choose someone to marry. You can't delay this forever Moana." Tui warned her. "Otherwise I will one day have to select one for you."
"I'm not ready for courting, let alone marriage!" Moana protested. "I'm not an adult yet and my heart isn't something to give away that freely! And I've never even met Chief Hoani, let alone his brother! What if he is horrible?! What if they all are horrible?! I couldn't marry someone like that!"
Tui was getting annoyed. "I can't guarantee what sort of person this man will be like, but he will not be the last suitor to come your way. You have to grow up and accept reality. This isn't a tale where you can do whatever you please–life doesn't work that way. You have to accept responsibilities as part of your future as a Chief, even if they are ones that you hate!"
"I never asked to be a Chief in the first place!" Moana yelled in anger. "You think your word is always the right one but it isn't! You can't decide my future, who I can or cannot marry, and you have no right to decide what happens to me when you are gone! Maybe you and mother should have produced more children in case something like this ever happened! Or maybe you are just too afraid that I'll die like he did because I love what you hate!"
The tension in the room was growing alarmingly fast, but now a strong blow had been dealt. All eyes watched to see how Tui would react now.
As his eyes burned in both fury and hurt, Tui made a strange gesture and two of the woman came over towards them. "Keep a tight hold on her."
"What?" Moana was confused by the command. "Father what are you doing?"
"Something I should have done a long time ago." He went over to get the torch from the man and everything clicked for Moana.
"NO!" Moana yelled as she ran to stop her father, but the two women caught her before she got close enough and she found herself unable to escape from their grasp. "No you can't! This is our heritage! You can't destroy them!" As her father accepted the torch, she tried to break free but it was no use as the women refused to let go.
"Its a heritage that has been a great danger to us, even when we have no use for it." Tui merely responded.
Moana felt herself about ready to cry. "Please!" She begged. "I promise I won't ever go out on the ocean again, just don't destroy the boats!" She couldn't lose this part of her identity and her people did not deserve this just because of her one day out on the sea. She would give anything to keep this from happening and she would even submit to her father's wishes if that was what it took. "Please!" She desperately begged again. "Anything–I'll stay here forever and never look at the ocean again! I won't even go to the other islands!"
Tui stopped for a moment as his daughter broke down into submission all too suddenly. Everyone could see all too well how much the boats meant to Moana and how deep her love ran that it shook some to their core.
"Please." Moana begged as she gasped for air and felt herself about ready to sob. "Father please don't do this. I promise I can be the daughter you want me to be, just don't take them away from us. Don't take away our heritage."
"Maybe this is going too far, Tui." One of the men who was a bit more sympathetic told Tui. "We may still need these boats."
Tui took a deep breath. "I'm not taking this risk ever again." He walked towards the boat that Moana loved above all the others and which she had rode upon not that long ago.
"NO!" Moana was now screaming as she realized all her pleas and her sacrifices were for nothing. "STOP!" She couldn't stop crying out. "FATHER STOP! SOMEONE PLEASE STOP HIM!" But her father didn't stop and the torch and its deadly flames was moving closer to the boat. No one dared make a move to come to her aid as they were too afraid to disobey their Chief.
But the one person who wasn't from Motonui did come to Moana's aid.
Just as Tui was approaching the boat, Moana's companion suddenly leapt up and, without warning, ran up to the Chief and punched him hard in the face before taking the torch from his grasp. Before anyone could react, he turned around and, with all his strength, hurled it right into the water where the flames died upon impact.
Moana stared in shock as she realized what just happened, as did quite a few others.
Tui felt as if his jaw had almost been torn clear off as he recovered and looked at the man who dared defied him despite the requests he had been given. Although Tui could hear some of his people coming towards him, his eyes were locked with the one who injured him.
As Tui locked eyes with the man before him, he almost felt afraid of him despite his own building anger. He had never seen this man be so angry and though his unusual appearance did not match his personality, it might as well have in this case. The way the man was panting like an animal, the way his brows were scrunched up in pure anger and the way his narrowed eyes burned at the Chief almost made him seem inhuman. It was only one small sample of how dangerous the demi-god trapped in the mortal man's body could be when he was pushed too far.
Fury wasn't even the right word for what Maui felt–it barely scratched the surface of how angry he really was. He knew he had no real place in the world of mortals or this family's issues but what Moana's father was about to do and how much it affected Moana was going too far. Maui knew that what he just did was one of the dumbest things he could have possibly done while stuck on this island, but he didn't care if it meant that he could prevent Moana's heart from breaking. She did nothing to deserve the sight of seeing so much as one of these boats get burned down to ashes or to completely submit to her father's wishes. The man before him wasn't a Chief to him at this point but was instead a heartless idiot who could bring his people to ruin with his stubborn nature.
The two men locked eyes until Maui felt someone whack him over the head and he was forced to the ground by two of the strongest men in Tui's group. They grabbed his arms and jerked them up his back in an extremely painful manner and they forced him to stay kneeling on the ground until Tui could give the order. Tui himself recovered and knew what had to be done.
"The day after tomorrow, you will leave our island and never come back." He glared down at Maui, who looked up at him with that intense look of anger still in his eyes. "Until then, you will be tied up in your fale and will be carefully guarded." Tui looked to Moana. "And I will not have my daughter go anywhere near you from now on. You have been too strong of an influence on her and I will not have her set you free behind my back. If she does, then I will have to give her an appropriate punishment."
Moana let out a gasp of horror as she realized what was happening. She did not expect her friend to aid her after all that happened and now he was paying the price for stopping her father. She would never even get a chance to say good bye if her father had his way.
As the two men forced Maui back up, they lead him towards the entrance to the cave but Maui only had enough time to lock eyes with Moana.
Moana was caught off guard by how angry her friend had become, in addition to being horrified at what he did in placing her wishes before his own. He almost looked like a monster from one of her grandmother's tales when he became furious (more so when she had hurt him that one time), yet when they locked eyes with each other, his anger died in an instant, his features softened, and the tension in his face vanished as he saw how broken and miserable she had become. He himself wished he could reassure her and comfort her, but they both knew that it was helpless now.
'I'm sorry.' Moana felt herself about ready to cry as she shook her head and mouthed the words while the women let her go to help the men take her friend away. 'I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to–'
'Its ok, its not your fault.' Maui tried to mouth back to her before he was forced to turn and couldn't face her anymore.
Moana saw her father come to her out of the corner of her eye, but she didn't care what he had to say anymore. Her sorrow and her anger were too much to bear his coming words as she turned towards him. He was going to take away their heritage despite how important it was to them and now he took away one of the few people who understood her, was going to punish him, and was denying her even a small chance to be with him for one last time. He probably would even go as far as to find another torch and burn down the boats, no mater what she did. He didn't even care what she wanted anymore–he only saw her as something less then a human who didn't have a right to control her future.
"I hate you!" Moana sobbed as her hands tightened up into fists. "I wish it was you who had died instead of him!"
And before her father could say anything, she ran towards the water that he hated so much and leapt into it.
"MOANA!" Maui could hear Tui yell as well as the following splash and he knew what happened. He let out a sigh and closed his eyes as he gave into his fate.
He would never regret what he did, but now he realized that he really had lost more then just one final chance to be with her. If Hoani wasn't made aware of his existence (and ratted him out) then even on the day he was finally freed, it wouldn't have mattered if he could easily escape much earlier than that. He did not want his friendship with Moana to end like this and he could not face her with the truth if he was going to fail and change back. He didn't think that waiting until he could turn back into a demi-god so that he could get her off the island was even an option anymore.
"COME BACK!" Tui yelled, but Moana swam against his protests and her injured leg. She didn't stop swimming to the waterfall no matter how much she was called to go back. It was only when she made it past the waterfall that she let herself cry her eyes out and her tears could mingle with the water of the ocean.
Sina smiled as she saw her husband come towards the village and ran towards him with every intent to share what was bound to be some good news, but she came to a stop when she saw how remorseful he seemed.
"Tui?" Sina asked. "Is something..." her voice trailed off when she saw a group follow him and none of them seemed happy but what really shocked her was that two of them were holding onto Moana's guardian as if he were a prisoner. For some reason he looked miserable and the strange melancholic look in his downcast eyes only raised questions. One of which was where on earth was her daughter?
Tala soon joined Sina and when she was able to pick up what was going on, she let out a disheartened sigh. Of all the horrible luck, it figured that a price would have to be paid for Moana to be happy for one day; if only she had seen this coming. Instead her family had been torn further apart then it already was.
"Chief Tui." Tui finally turned his head to see the three women he sent out earlier to explore the ruined beach. He walked away from the group and deliberately avoided Sina's questioning gaze until he came to the three.
"We found something strange on the beach." One of the women took a large bag out and handed it to Tui. "I don't think this is a natural object."
Tui opened the bag up and peered inside to see a strange yellowish brown thing that reminded him of a scale of some sort of fish or lizard. He glanced back to make sure no one could see him and opened the bag up and took the object out. When it was exposed to what was left of the sunlight, it seemed to have an appealing sheen about it like sunlight shining upon water. It almost reminded him of a pearl, but there was something to this object that made it more beautiful to behold.
"What do you think it is?" One of the women asked.
"It looks almost like a part of an animal's scale." Tui finally confessed in a whisper. "But I can't tell what kind. He tapped the object and it felt a lot more durable then a regular scale and also heavier. It had a stone quality about it, but it was too well polished to be a regular stone.
"Tui." One of the fisherman came up to Tui and he turned to face him. "We might not have enough fish tomorrow. In fact I don't know if we will have much for a day or two."
"What do you mean?" Tui asked.
"We didn't catch as much. In fact there was some spots around the island where there weren't any. It's like someone came and beat us to it."
Tui paused before looking at the scale like object again. "Or what if it was something?" He felt a little concerned. He was wondering if the strange man had a connection to all of this–there was still a small chance, but now it was growing unlikely. Whatever this was in his hand had been broken off of whatever it belonged to. Of whatever it was that came to the island.
If a large creature unlike any he could imagine had come to the island, then hopefully all it wanted was to get food. He hoped to the gods that that was the case and that it had left the island for good. He already had too much to deal with as did a few other people on this island.
Moana cried on her spot at the shore near a cliffside and some trees and rocks, and the waves did nothing to comfort her this time. Her tears fell and she could not stop herself from sobbing.
"I'm so sorry!" She cried to her silent friend. "I should never have told you about myself!" She held her face in her hands. "I should have never–I should have–" But she couldn't finish her sentence as she chocked on a sob.
None of this was fair. Her father and what he did, her friend being punished for what he had done–why did someone have to be punished when she tried to accept the blame? Why did they expect her to do so many things to please them or to support her people without considering what she wanted too? Was it that wrong to be even a little selfish?
For one day of happiness, she had to have everything that was so wonderful about it taken away from her in an instant.
"I wish you took us far away from Motonui instead of saving us." She told the ocean. "I wish I never loved you so much, then none of this would have happened." She just hurt so much, in body and in heart. She wanted to curl up and be somewhere alone where the world couldn't find her. She almost wished that the ocean had claimed her instead of saving her if it lead to her father discovering the truth. She wanted to ignore all her duties just this once, run away as far as she could, and never look back.
She felt too powerless to do anything anymore.
Unknown to Moana, a large, dark shadow was watching from a cliffside as he leaned against the rocks to look down at her. He was covered from head to toe in a garment of tattered cloth like material of browns and greens that blended into the background of the island. The robe like garment even had a hood that was drawn over most of his face, but he was still able to peer down at the sad child below him as he played with a brightly colored coin like object in his hand that could reflect light off its surface if you held it to the sun just right.
And if you had a few more, you could angle them so that the sun could bounce and shine off them and hit someone in the eye like he had done on the girl down below him not that long ago.
What Tui had feared hadn't left the island. In fact it had hidden itself and had observed quite a lot, including the Chief's precious daughter who was at a very vulnerable state. If a powerful force of good came to the island without anyone realizing it, then another, more ominous one had also come and it currently had one thing on its mind, which was crying and unaware of the great danger that would soon come to her.
"Poor child," He quietly mused in a voice that had a certain accent. "Feeling all miserable and guilty of things beyond her control, no doubt." He gave Moana a dark grin as he bared his slightly crooked teeth at her. "But don't worry–Tamatoa here has a way to fix the heartbreak when he gets the chance later tonight. And nothing is going to stop me from paying my respects to a princess." He growled as his grin widened at the thought of what was to come.
Oh boy, where do we begin?
I feel really horrible for what I did to Moana. It almost killed me when I had to write that scene out in the cave. It was one heck of a roller coaster for her (I was inspired by Caribbean Blue by Enya for the water dance, and yes I'm aware that has nothing to do with the Pacific) and at this point she is more like Ariel then Maui is.
I don't think gold was a well known material or valuable in the Polynesian region (unless I'm getting my facts wrong). Even in the film, I couldn't buy that gold could exist anywhere except maybe under the ocean at that time, which is why Tui doesn't recognize it. Then again Tamatoa didn't earn the title of being a collector for nothing.
I'm pretty sure Maui would have gotten a worser punishment for what he did but so far I can't see what the penalty would have been. I'm still sticking with his current punishment since it works for this fan fic. Ironically what he did was a bit of wish fulfillment on my part because–lets face it, how many Disney movies involve a main character's precious object or collection getting destroyed?
I'm not convinced that Moana would of had the luck of going single forever or having much choice in who she would marry as the Chief's daughter back in those days. From what I learned, courting in that culture isn't the same as dating and she would of had a lot of restrictions to deal with. I've seen variations in Polynesian culture where the man has to impress the girl's family with gifts or the parents would choose the suitor for their daughter, or both man and woman would need approval from each other's families. You couldn't even have physical contact with your loved one in public if my research was correct. And while the prince in the original Little Mermaid was also expected to visit a princess and marry her, everything worked out well for him (but not the mermaid).
Not so much for Moana in this case. Poor girl REALLY needs a hug.
Unfortunately for her... yeah, lets just say I've been looking forward to the next chapter for a really long time. Speaking of...
Oh hey, I've been looking everywhere for you after you had your date with– Wait... what... WAIT A MINUTE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THAT–?!
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ERROR
ERROR
ERROR
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AUTHOR NOT FOUND
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There is a silence and the comforting words of the writer are absent.
Darkness...
Just darkness...
You wonder what lays ahead.
Maybe you are so sure that you know what will happen next... or maybe you don't.
And yet there is a pair of eyes watching you in the darkness. You then remember that these familiar eyes were not meant to be friendly.
The laugh that echoes out does nothing to reassure you.
"You really should have seen that coming."
The figure who was covered in the strange cloak was still looking down at Moana but he didn't turn to face the reader. "Or maybe you did. I don't care, I found it funny either way."
"You know I almost pity you all. You are the only ones who know what is going on and you are the only ones who could save your precious little princess down there." He pointed before letting out another laugh. "Well isn't that a shame! You honestly think you know what is going on and what might happen next and yet you can't stop me!"
"As for your... author." He waved his hand. "Oh she will still respond to you as if I didn't do anything awful to her. Leave a nice review or a note behind because if there was ever a time to leave a review, now would be a good time. We are dying to know how you felt about this chapter."
"Maybe if you are lucky I'll answer it too since I know how much some of you adore me despite... well, you know. Sadly anything you do won't be enough to stop me, so don't even try to have any wish fulfillments and pretend to attack me before I get to the little mortal. Don't try to act like a hero and save the girl, or even try to help out your little-semi-demi-mini-god. That wall between you and Tamatoa is rock solid right now and it's not going anywhere."
"Also don't try to ask what I got planned. No one likes to be spoiled and lose the impact of a good moment when it comes."
"So until you find out what I'm going to do with that mortal down there that you all so love, go and relax. Enjoy whatever is going on in your life or go back to your work like the good human you are. In the meantime, leave the hard work to the writer and me to..." He looked down at Moana and he grinned at her again. "Let's... just say that there will be 90% less Maui in the next chapter." He let out a deep chuckle. "See you next time, you funny little mortals, because I'm going to enjoy what comes next."