Shiori Kudo: Ah ok. I haven't read or seen much of that one. Isn't the manga still ongoing though?
Tamatoa's response to Shiori Kudo: And I guess if you don't, then Maui will try to do it for you, right?
Tamatoa's response to the guest who speaks through the fourth wall: I AM aware of the destruction, but I'm not going to stop. Why don't we just let the events unfold and you'll see what happens.
Tamatoa's response to the guest who called him 'crabulous': Oh now you I like! You get me! You are crabulous yourself, so keep being your shiny self whoever you are!
Tamatoa's response to Death to Barbie 0206: Yeah good luck with that. Remember what I sang? 'My shell's too tough' so I doubt your hammer will work on me. Should have saved that for when I was still a human.
Tamatoa's response to Child of Dreams:...Yeah, I don't know if I ever will since I need to ditch the writer pretty soon. You've certainly been a very interesting reviewer, I'll give you that.
LunaiWolfWings: Uh... can't say anything about that just yet (you might like a few things in this chapter though), but I like your review and yeah he is a crab version of Facilier.
Tamatoa's response to LunaiWolfWings: *looks at hat with approval* Hmmm... nice to know that I got friends on the other side.
ProwlingAlone: Whoah! I'm flattered. I... don't know how I make it so good. How do I make it so good to you? I guess I live for this story too since I'm the one writing it. :) And you are *sings* welcome!
Key: Do not anger the not-princess of Motonui, she means business! I had to make her say that because it was too funny to pass up. There have been way too many cliffhangers than I intended with this fan fic, but I'm glad you like them.
jhalpernkitcat: Oh ok, that was an amusing tale (it reminds me of how my family used to sneak into houses that were still under construction in the neighborhood). And the thing in question was a deleted scene you can easily find on youtube if you ever go check it out... if you haven't yet.
I wanted to acknowledge the slight bait role reversal in my notes, but I felt that it was too obvious. I have to admit, I wanted to do a running joke about creating holes in fale roofs (I don't know why and maybe I shouldn't find it funny), but I can see why the 'shut up' incident is a lot funnier. Maui hasn't had issues with the shark head, so it hasn't shown up... but the first time I saw that, I had no clue what to make of it and I just couldn't take everything involving it seriously.
I aim to make Tamatoa have that balance (its always 'how would he react?' with some quirk involved) hence the reaction to the 'ruby jewel' question. I actually drew out Moana's reaction when she had that thought and I can't wait to share that when I get the chance (she has SO much regret on her face). I've been reading that fan fic and I must say that it is really interesting and I like how the author paces everything while keeping everyone in character. Though lately there are moments where I think 'yeah the opposite is happening on my end.'
Nausicaa of the Spirits: I have to agree with you, though I liked how the song was done. *grabs Heihei so that he can accept your thanks* Here you go. *Tosses him across the fourth wall.* I'll need him back by the end of this chapter.
Tamatoa's response to Nausicaa of the Spirits: Well do you want to find out how sadistic the writer can get? I trust you'll be somewhat satisfied.
OfficialWhiteFireTheDragon: Uh... The ocean has something going on, but you'll see what happens next. And... well, Moana doesn't need that. Let's just say my experience with video games and knowledge of a certain game I admit I haven't played (Shadow of the Colossus) is going to come in handy. And yeah, Moana music is SO much better than La La Land's.
Tamatoa's response to OfficialWhiteFireTheDragon: *takes the statue and looks at it* I don't think I have a speech prepared for this, but I will gladly accept it and I give you my thanks... as well as guaranteeing that I won't try to kill you if you touch this of all my treasures. And no they didn't but I totally would. Ever saw that twitter image of me attempting to steal one from the fox from the film that won for Best Animated Film that was sent to my voice actor?
Subuku no Jess: Watching the movie again helped me somewhat in how the chase scene could work and Tamatoa can adapt really fast, though he is more of a threat if he can stay in one place compared to running after you.
Yes, octopus hugs! I want a fan fic where Moana interacts with Maui in ALL his forms, because I can see a cuteness potential involved *thinks back to the shark nuzzling*. After recalling your crab Maui drawing, I had a strong feeling you would have loved what I did. I'm glad it made you happy and I would be interested in that fan fic.
Enigma: That's ok. And thank you, we are getting close to that point, aren't we? As for the Tamatoa... Uh, he's not aware of that yet, but I'll bring it up to him.
Tamatoa's response to Enigma:... Ok, you know what? Screw this, I'm not getting sued. I'm going to ditch this fan fic.
"OK you know what, I'm out of here!" Tamatoa yelled at the writer. "I didn't expect I'd get sued and I don't want to deal with what will come after this chapter!"
"Wait a minute, what?!" The writer gapped before realized what he meant. "Oh... well wait, you can't do that to my reviewers!"
"HALF OF THEM WANT ME DEAD!" Tamatoa yelled. "Though the other gave me some impressive stuff." He glanced to his shell to see many new treasures, including a hat, a statue, and stickers. "And you didn't do anything too weird with me, so I give you some respect."
"You aren't getting sued, its not canon! I even burned the charges before I could call up my semi-but not really-OC from my Zelda AU series to do it for me!"
"As amusing as this was, I'm leaving." Tamatoa turned around and began to walk away, but then glanced back. "What was your name again?"
The writer hesitated. "Uh... it's *CENSOREDFORPRIVACYREASONS*."
The crab paused before smirking. "Well so long then *CENSOREDFORPRIVACYREASONS*." He waved and then walked away.
The writer sighed as the crab vanished from sight. "Smart crab." She turned and walked away.
So I finally saw the live action Beauty and the Beast and I would recommend it. I smiled and I laughed and–argh, the long two year wait was worth it! Ten out of ten! If you saw it and didn't like it... its ok I understand.
Other than that, I'm still trying to catch those errors I missed.
This might be where that T rating finally comes in handy. Other than that, I can't say much... but this was a long chapter.
Chapter 13: Her choice
Having made her final plea to the giant wave, Moana could only close her eyes and pray that it was heard.
While the ocean had intended to use the storm to keep the fight separate from the island, it heard Moana's plea. It did not want the girl to be drawn into the conflict anymore but upon realizing that Moana's heart was completely set on her choice even in the face of danger itself, the ocean chose to obey rather than force her back home.
The wave stopped growing and split in half, causing a ripple of waves across the waters that eventually forced the boat towards the gap. When Moana heard this, she opened her eyes and watched in amazement as she was pushed through the gap where the water towered high above her like two mountains and when she completely made it through, she turned around in time to see the wave close up before it crashed back down and sent her farther out into the ocean. She hung onto the boat for dear life and when the waves finally calmed down a little, she finally took in her surroundings.
Yes, there was a storm developing but it had been much more active around her island while out here it wasn't as much, though it was enough to make the boat rock back and forth quite a lot. She even slightly glanced back to confirm this.
Was the storm created to force Maui and Tamatoa out? Or was it to keep everyone out of the fight, including herself?
She turned around to see a familiar wave of water rise up to greet her. She had so many questions for it, but she still had more important matters to attend to.
"Thank you." Moana sighed in relief. "Now–" She paused. "I... I don't have a plan." She realized with a combination of embarrassment and horror. She wanted to help but she didn't plan on how she would do it.
The wave flinched as if to say 'Are you serious?!'
"Ok, I didn't think this through!" Moana admitted. "I was focused on just getting out here, but–!" She held a hand up. "Give me a minute." Moana told the wave as she quickly thought about what to do. I don't know if I can fight Tamatoa, but I could try if I need to. I doubt I can convince him to stop what he is doing or try to appeal to him–I don't think trying to be compassionate would work on someone like him. Moana thought some more. But if the ocean gave him a hard time earlier then–
"If I can tell Tamatoa that the gods might punish him alongside Maui, he might buy it, but I'll need your help." Moana told the wave. "And if I can get Maui away from Tamatoa, could you force him away somehow? I don't know what else to do, but I'll try."
The wave remained as it was before it nodded and sank into the ocean. Off in the distance, there was a strange sound and Moana looked out to see that the ocean was opening up as a flash of lightning lit up the area. Before she knew it, she felt her boat sink into the water and found herself getting pulled down a watery tunnel. She held onto the boat as the water rushed up all around her and the sky got farther and farther away.
Meanwhile, a certain shapeshifter had been forced to let go of his opponent when the ocean began to twist and turn around him. He let out a cry of frustration as he got swept up in the currents and was forced to hold onto the nearest rock formation he could find before he found himself exposed to the open air.
"What the–?" he looked up to see that the waters had parted open to create some sort of large open area at the bottom of the ocean. All around him, Maui could see sand, but also lots of rock formations–some of which were large enough to be like small mountains–gaps in the ground, and he could see a coral reef near one of the larger rock formations. The pale sand was light enough to give the area a slight glow from what little light could reach down here and a flash of lighting turned it into a faint shade of grayish white.
What the heck is it thinking?! Maui thought as he looked up to see the cloudy sky above him. He had more visibility now, but it wasn't reassuring him. He had more creatures that he could shape shift into out of the water, but this also would also give Tamatoa a huge advantage and Maui would have little chance to recover before he could even get a chance to beat his opponent. Also the tentacle that Tamatoa squeezed down on really hard was throbbing with pain.
Speaking of which, where was the overgrown crustacean?
Maui felt a claw clamp down on one of the tentacles for a second time and he let out a yell as he felt Tamatoa drag him towards him. "Think you can still keep it up?!" Tamatoa demanded as he pulled Maui closer to him by using his other claw, which squeezed at the tentacle as hard as he could. "Because I don't think I'm the one whose struggling here!" He pulled as hard as he could to the point that it felt as if he would rip the limb off.
Despite the pain, Maui glared at the glowing crab and he shifted forms again.
When Moana saw that she had been taken to the bottom of the ocean, she felt a little concerned. It was slightly dark down here with little light from above, but she could still see her surroundings.
"I guess there's no turning back." Moana murmured to herself. She was a little terrified of facing Tamatoa in a place where he would most likely be comfortable with compared to someone like her, but she had to force that aside as she made to get off the boat. Just as her feet landed in the wet sand, she saw her oar.
She didn't have much experience with fighting, but there was one makeshift weapon she was good at using and it wouldn't hurt to take it alongside her. She grabbed it and carefully stuck the narrow end in her top which kept it securely against her back.
"I guess I might need it after all." She said as another tunnel formed and lead her to whatever it was that the ocean had created. She proceeded to walk forward and prepare herself to think and act as fast as she could. Especially since she already learned quite a bit about Tamatoa in her last encounter with him.
Last night he had lured her with his voice, choked her, and almost destroyed her personality and she really hoped that something similar would never happen again.
I am so not complimenting him if he tries singing again. Moana scowled.
As she walked through the tunnel, she kept note of her surroundings. She could feel the sand and rocks under her feet and she could see plant life in the water, but then she came to a certain formation that was sticking out of the water that made her stop.
"I've seen that coral before." Moana took a closer look. It was grayish white, sharp looking, and it reminded her of the warning the fisherman gave to his children awhile back. "Some are sharp that you wouldn't feel it and some have barbs... and pray you don't get pushed into it." She shuddered. She forgot that there were more dangers to take into account down here and she remembered her last experience with coral. Maybe Tamatoa would not be affected by it, but she didn't know if Maui would be able to withstand getting a serious injury from the coral if he was brought to that point.
As a quick test, she pulled her skirt up as far as she could to the level of the nearest coral, and slammed the center of it it through. To her shock, the coral pierced right through the fabric and when she pulled the skirt towards her, it ripped right through to create a slit that would allow her more movement.
On one hand she needed to be able to move around easier, but on the other hand she had to be really careful of her surroundings. Plus I'm not as durable as a shapeshifting demi-god. She cringed before continuing on her way; her own body would probably wear out a lot faster than his own.
She heard fighting at the other end of the tunnel and she rushed forward to find an area similar to the underwater spot from the other day, but much larger. She could also once again see two giant crabs fighting each other–their bioluminescence filling the surrounding area with light, though the small light from above and the brief flash of lightning added to it. In the brief flash of light, she was given a better idea of her surroundings, as well as seeing the creatures as they normally were, before the dark came back. She could see that both were equally matched, but Maui was the one who seemed to be struggling more than Tamatoa.
He's pushed himself so much since he first took me out of the village. Moana realized. But... She tried to think about what to do as she hurried to the nearest rock formation and crouched behind it. I can't let Tamatoa see me right now, but I can't distract Maui at the same time. There has to be a way to let him know I'm here without making things much worse for him. She glanced around the formation to watch the two push against each other.
Tamatoa shoved Maui towards the water, but when Maui saw this, he quickly changed into a shark that darted into the water and when he got far enough, he shot out and transformed into a hawk again before circling around Tamatoa and forcing him to turn around after him and try to smack him out of the air. Moana quickly darted across to another spot where she could hide and carefully watched the fight as well as take in her surroundings a bit more. She saw that she could climb up the formations if she needed to as well as run through a few holes, and she took note of the reef of coral, but she also saw that there were rock formations buried deep in the ground and some of them formed huge gaps to hide in.
Or possibly to trick something into getting stuck into.
She heard a flash and she looked up to see that Maui now transformed into an octopus and he used the form to quickly get around Tamatoa before wrapping two of his tentacles around his neck while the rest were used to try to hold onto anything he could grab. The octopus strained as it tried to keep the crab in a chokehold, but the other creature was struggling to get free, forcing him to try to wrap another tentacle around him. Moana was then granted a not so pleasant sight of a tentacle that had been pinched so hard that it suffered deep cuts and there was still traces of blood upon it.
How often does that happen to him?! Moana realized that maybe the tales were not as clean as she had imagined. How many injuries did Maui have to endure when he helped out the mortals? It was a nasty reminder of the reality of the world that she still knew so little of.
She hurried away from her spot as fast as she could to move onto another location.
As for Maui, he was desperately trying to choke Tamatoa enough to make him pass out. It would make his job much easier, but it was straining him. It can't take too long! He thought to himself as he felt Tamatoa try to kick at him, but he still tried to keep a hold on the formations. His neck isn't that thick!
Unfortunately for Maui, Tamatoa realized which tentacles were holding onto him and when he saw the injured one, he reached out and squeezed the area above the damaged spot. Maui let out a yell and unintentionally let go of Tamatoa, who bashed the side of his claw against one of his eyes.
"Nice try, mon ami!" Tamatoa yelled a taunt at Maui as he recoiled away somewhat. The demi-god panted for air and tried to think of another form to shift into but this time Tamatoa anticipated it. The moment there was a flash of blue, Tamatoa grabbed the shifting figure and, while he shifted into a smaller form, he slammed it against the ground as hard as he could.
He didn't stop there as he repeatedly slammed Maui into the ground. Because of this, Maui lost his concentration on what form to use and each slam into the ground forced him into a different form and each one didn't last long enough to grant him a chance to escape.
Tamatoa slammed Maui against the ground one last time, forcing him into the form of a shark before tossing him as hard as he could into a rock formation. The impact caused him to bounce off the rock formation and shift forms again but he fell into one of the large gaps in the ground before Moana could see what it was that he turned into.
When Moana saw that Tamatoa turned around to take a moment to catch his breath and recover, she hurried as fast as she could to the gap. She glanced at the crab a couple of times as she made her way until finally she could quickly drop down into the gap.
It was slightly darker in the gap–not to mention wet and still a little watery– but it went father underground to the point that Tamatoa would not notice her if he didn't try to aim an eyestalk down here. Not that it would be possible since the opening was too narrow to allow that. Instead Moana looked down to see Maui and was greeted with a rather... interesting sight when a well timed flash of lightning showed him to her.
Apparently the impact caused Maui to get stuck in some sort of form where he was a shark with markings from the waist down, but the rest of him was still human in appearance. It was also shown that when he hit the rock formation and the sides of the gap, it did more than scrape against his skin as some of the ones on his lower side almost looked like small bits of flesh had been torn off.
Moana winced at the sight for a moment. She didn't want to think about what could have happened if Maui had been forced into a form that combined all his transformations or if his neck had been snapped, but she quickly shook this off and hurried over to see that his eyes were shut as if he were asleep.
"Maui!" Moana quietly hissed as she knelt beside him. "Its me, you got to get up!"
He didn't respond.
"Wake up!" Moana hissed again as she tried smacking him across the face, but he still didn't budge. She quickly looked up at the gap and then went around him. She shot one arm under his own and the other latched around his neck and she tried to lift him up with some difficulty. She then tried to walk backwards and pull him away from the gap, but it was even more difficult since it was hard to hold onto him, not to mention that he felt extremely heavy. She barely made an inch with him as she thought What the heck, I thought I knocked this guy off the boat!
She gave up as she carefully set him down and went over to his side. "Maui I need to get you out of here, but I can't if you don't wake up!" She hissed as she desperately shook his shoulders. If he hadn't fallen into the gap, then the ocean could have helped her out with this. "Please!" She begged.
She then saw something move in the corner of her eye and she glanced down to see that the tattoo of Maui on the left side of his chest had came to life and was trying to smack the larger version in the chest as hard as he could. "Uh..." Moana was now used to the... unusual... but this was something new that she was not expecting. The tattoo suddenly became aware that he had been found out and he turned to face Moana and stared at her in equal shock before giving her a sheepish wave.
"Hi?" Moana waved back, which made the tattoo joyfully smile at her as if he were thrilled to finally meet her. He even leapt up and waved with much more enthusiasm, which made Moana chuckle and finally smile a little.
Meanwhile Tamatoa was trying to recover from Maui's chokehold and from when he attacked him. "I need to keep that in mind the next time that ever happens again." Tamatoa sighed before glancing around to see that Maui was missing. He narrowed his eyes as he tried to scan the area. "Maui?" He asked as cautiously as possible. There was no telling where he went or what form he would take.
Moana glanced up in alarm when she heard Tamatoa.
"Maui please!" Moana hissed as she tried to smack Maui across the face again, but he still would not wake up. "We need to get out of here!" Even the tattoo did not give up in trying to wake his host up by pounding his fists into Maui's chest, but it was hopeless. "He'll find us any second." She said to herself as she got an idea. She hurried to the shark half of Maui's body and grabbed onto the tail.
Ugh this is so weird, but I have to do this! Moana cringed as she pulled the tail as hard as she could and was able to have better success moving it in a clockwise direction so that she and Maui switched sides.
"Maui?!" She heard the sound of Tamatoa's legs coming towards them. She gasped and then began to pull as hard as she could away from the opening of the gap. "Give me strength." She quietly grunted as she pulled with all her might and gradually pulled Maui away. Even Mini Maui hurried to one of the tattoos on Maui's wrists and pushed against it to see if it would help Moana and he also tried to head to the large tattoo on Maui's stomach and slammed into it as hard as he could.
Just as Moana heard Tamatoa come closer, she pulled as hard as she could until Maui was completely out of sight. Just as she saw the illumination of Tamatoa's bioluminescence appear from above, she collapsed onto Maui and held onto him as tightly as possible.
Don't find us, don't find us, don't find us. Moana's heart was pounding as she shut her eyes, rested her head against Maui's chest to the point the top of her head was pressed up against his chin, and squeezed his shoulders. She did not want a repeat of what happened last night and she was terrified for what Tamatoa would do the moment he saw them.
A large eye glanced into the gap and looked around, but it was too large to force itself any farther to see the teenage girl holding onto the demi-god for dear life. Moana could feel Tamatoa's presence and she was relieved that her instincts in coming here had paid off, but both her and Maui were still in great danger. She forced herself to breathe through her nose as she was too terrified to let out a sound if she used her mouth.
"Where are you?" Tamatoa practically sang, which made Moana even more afraid. "I know you're still here. It's not like you to run away."
Please go away. Moana pleaded as she dared to open an eye and tilt her head to check on Tamatoa. Go away. She really wished Maui was awake as her grip on him tightened up. She almost had that sense of hugging a mountain like when she was younger, but this mountain was unable to hug her back in his current condition.
After what seemed like an eternity, Tamatoa drew back and his glow faded away as he went to look for another spot to find Maui.
Moana finally let out a sigh as she opened both eyes, but she still held onto Maui. A small part of her was still scared and desperately sought for some sort of comfort while the other, stronger part of her was trying to think but could not come up with anything.
"I don't know what to do." Moana's voice grew quiet as she squeezed Maui's shoulders again. "I'm not you–I can't transform and I don't have your strength. What could I do to help?" She shut her eyes and tried to think. They were both trapped and there was no telling when the ocean would come back to retake this area or if Tamatoa would find them.
"Where are you?!" She heard Tamatoa yell as the lightning in the sky flashed again. "If you don't show yourself, I'll go back for that human!"
There was one thing she could try, but it came with a huge risk and she would have to cast her fear aside.
"If I try to get out there, I could be able to get the ocean to help." Moana whispered as she opened her eyes. "But he'll see me and I don't know what he will do." She had to take the risk. She already went this far and she already had a few ideas to use if necessary.
But just to be on the safe side...
Moana sat up as she tore the flower and leaf bands off her wrists (both were already pretty damaged) and carefully set one on Maui before placing the other in his hand. "Just in case." She said, but in case of what though? If she had been kidnapped or to let him know she was here? Mini Maui watched this and he tried to hit Maui as hard as he could. He did not want the human to go out there and she was going to be in trouble. Moana was not aware of this and she turned to Maui one last time as she heard Tamatoa yell "Maui I swear you better come out!"
Moana closed her eyes, bowed her head and pressed her forehead and her nose against Maui's, where it stayed there for a moment. She didn't recall ever giving him a hongi and while it was far too late for that, she might as well. For all she knew, this could be the last time she would see Maui again and she wanted this moment for as long as she could. She took a deep breath as she carefully placed a hand on the side of his head and felt his wild hair under her fingers as she exhaled for a few seconds before she finally got up with renewed determination. "I'll be careful." She promised as she went to climb up the gap.
Mini Maui watched in horror as Moana crawled up the gap and he turned back to do anything he could to wake up Maui. There was nothing else he could do at this point but he would not give up until Maui would finally wake up.
When Moana got out, she saw that Tamatoa was still looking around the area. She turned to see the nearest place she could walk towards the water and headed towards it. She didn't get very far when Tamatoa finally noticed her and when she heard him exclaim a confused "Wait a minute, what?!" She turned around in alarm to see him staring at her with eyes so wide they looked like they would pop off his eyestalks. "How do you–?!" He stumbled with his words.
Just a few more steps and she could make it to the ocean. She turned around, only to see that there was a huge gap she failed to notice and she would not be able to reach the wall of water. She would barely make the leap across the distance and the ground below was so far down that she would likely break her leg or worse.
She turned around in panic as Tamatoa narrowed his eyes at her as another flash of lightning gave him a proper look at her. What do I do, what do I do?!
Then he let out a snort and laughed.
"Wait, let me guess–you turned into the human and you were going to trick me into taking you. Then once you had your chance, you would attack me, right?"
"Uh..." Moana raised an eyebrow at Tamatoa as her panic turned into confusion. Does he think I'm Maui?
"Nice try, but I can't buy that she would come all the way out here." Tamatoa chuckled as he spoke to who he thought was Maui. "You really think that after all that's happened, she would have come to help you or give herself up? A mere human whose life you nearly ruined?"
Moana fought the urge to yell at Tamatoa. If she said anything–even one word–then Tamatoa would quickly realize who she was, because Maui's voice always remained the same in all his forms, so instead she took a few steps forward while eyeing her surroundings one last time.
"So let me ask you some old questions." Tamatoa began. "You've aided these humans for so long. You are so desperate to get the love your parents didn't grant you–all they did was toss you into the ocean like you were nothing. The gods knew you would be better than all of them, and that's why they gave you your power and made you near immortal, right?"
Wait, that was the hidden tattoo that got the most damage. Moana realized as her eyes widened at the image Tamatoa was reminding her of. And was that what he meant by being human once?
"So you've done all these things for the mortals, but what have they actually given you in return?" Tamatoa demanded. "You keep helping them and yet its not enough, so what are you really hoping for? Either you're a story or you are the one who makes life easier for them. As much as you wish for it, they don't really love you. In fact how can you be sure that they aren't using you?"
Moana remembered the tapa from her dream where Tamatoa was shown saying something that caused Maui distress. Was this where she thought this was going?
"You are just wasting your time on them." Tamatoa continued. "And of course, this was the part were you lashed out and ripped my leg off if I remember correctly." Tamatoa hissed at Moana as another flash of lightning erupted above them. "And that human you are trying so hard to save? She's just like the others and she's going to die of old age like all those precious mortal children before her. She's not worth protecting or sacrificing your powers over." He glared at Moana. "So why bother fighting to the death with me?"
Something stirred in Moana as she found herself glaring back at Tamatoa. Now she fully understood everything and she found her courage as she recalled her grandmother's advice one last time.
She knew what she had to do.
Moana ran towards Tamatoa, who charged after her. She already knew how he fought, but he didn't know what she could do. Tamatoa made to swing a claw when Moana got close enough, but she stopped and when the claw passed she made to run under him.
"Oh no you don't!" Tamatoa yelled as he made to quickly turn around, but Moana looked to watch how far he would turn before quickly running off to the side and avoided his legs.
When Tamatoa saw that Moana wasn't popping up, he turned to see what she had done. He growled and ran after Moana and almost tripped over himself in the process while Moana quickly saw a gap large enough to trap one of his legs. She ran towards it and when Tamatoa got close enough, she quickly ran back, dropped into it, and hurried away before Tamatoa tried to move back to grab her but instead he felt one of his right legs get stuck inside the gap.
Tamatoa let out a frustrated yell as he made to pull the leg out, but it was too jammed down in the gap to make it that easy for him. At that time, Moana crawled out and leapt onto the leg before crawling up it. "No, no, no! Don't you dare!" Tamatoa tried shaking the leg, but Moana held on and continued on her way. He tried to reach his claw at her, but it was too far away.
Finally Moana got onto Tamatoa's shell where he still had much of his treasures. She grabbed one and threw it at his head as hard as she could, where it made perfect impact. "OW!" Tamatoa yelled as he turned to see Moana throw another treasure that hit him in between the eyes.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" He roared as he saw that Moana was using his treasure against him. "THAT'S MY STUFF!" He tried to yank free and grab Moana, but since he was trapped, he almost twisted his leg and ended up collapsing to the ground with another yell. Moana couldn't help but grin before eyeing the antennae. If I can hang on and he doesn't twitch them too much–
She ran ahead, got off the shell and climbed up Tamatoa's head, before grabbing the antennae, while Tamatoa struggled to get up.
The moment he felt that Moana grabbed one of his antennae, Tamatoa twitched it as he yelled "OH NO, NOT THAT AGAIN!" But Moana wrapped her arms and she legs on the antennae as tightly as she could, even as she felt herself getting tossed around in the air. "LET GO OF ME, MAUI!" Tamatoa yelled as she grabbed her oar and pulled it out, while waiting for the right moment. He wanted to grab his opponent but he didn't want to accidentally pinch something off that belonged to him, like one of his eyes.
The moment Moana saw the white of Tamatoa's nearest eye, she took the oar and smacked the flat side into it as hard as she could and then quickly held onto the antennae as it arched up while Tamatoa yelled out in pain. He blinked the eye like crazy while Moana carefully maneuvered herself and leapt back onto the shell.
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Tamatoa yelled as he tried to use his good eye to spot Moana, who saw that he was going to reach for her, so she quickly crawled back down off of him and tried to run to the ocean to call for help.
At this point, Tamatoa finally freed himself from the gap and he yelled as he charged towards Moana. She let out a gasp and hurried up onto a rock formation.
Tamatoa ran after Moana as she made her way up onto it, but she quickly moved so that she was on the other side of it and hurried across before Tamatoa could reach over to grab her. "GET OVER HERE!" Tamatoa yelled before he tried to crawl over the rock formation, but the moment he felt it wobble from his weight, he was forced to let go.
Moana ran down and grabbed the nearest rock she could find before looking up to see Tamatoa try to crawl up a more sturdier part of the formation. He peered an eyestalk down at her and she threw the rock at his eye, but he quickly backed away before impact was made.
What is he doing?! Tamatoa growled. Why isn't he changing shapes? He looked around before seeing 'Maui' race over around the rock formation and try to get to the ocean. He grabbed a large rock and yelled "Quit running away!"
Moana lucked out in looking back and immediately leapt to the side before the rock could hit her. Her heart was pounding and she knew that she needed to be fast. She had to stop Tamatoa but–she looked up to see another rock formation, but there was a large hole or two that she could leap through and maybe... She grinned and began to crawl up it as fast as she could. At the same time, she took a small treasure that she took off Tamatoa from inside her top and gave the crab a quick look. The moment she had her chance, she tossed it into the air and used her oar to slam it away as far as she could and, as she guessed, Tamatoa's eyes widened before he chased after the stolen trinket. She then quickly hurried up the rock formation while she still had time.
Around this time, Maui finally came to his senses and woke up. He felt a strong pain from where he had been bashed against the ground (which was pretty much everywhere), as well as a few stinging sensations here and there, though he also acknowledged that a certain tattoo was whacking him over and over in the chest.
"Ungh, what?" He struggled to push himself up when he realized he was holding something in his hand. He took a look and saw a band of crushed green leaves and white flowers woven together in his hand and as he struggled to recall where he saw it before, he saw that there was another one resting on his body.
Then it hit him–this was part of the attire Moana had worn the last time he saw her.
"GET BACK HERE!" He heard Tamatoa yell somewhere above him.
If Tamatoa hadn't gone to take Moana then–"Please tell me you didn't come back!" Maui groaned as he struggled to stand back up until he realized something was off and looked down to see why his legs weren't woking like they should have been working and saw a shark tail instead.
He let out an annoyed groan and collapsed to the ground before he could shift into his real form. Well it could have been a lot worse than this awkward (and very, incredibly embarrassing) state and he almost hoped no one saw him like this, but given that Moana had obviously found him, he realized that was not going to be the case.
Moana hurried on the rock formation as Tamatoa went after her and she was forced to crawl around the other side before dropping down to avoid getting pinched to death by the crab's claws. She hurried as he tried to reach down to get her instead of crawling over the formation and she hurried towards one of the holes. "Where'd you go?!" Tamatoa frantically looked over the backside of the formation and then moved back to look at the front side. Then he saw Moana standing in one of the holes.
He'll either reach in to grab me or reach over to grab me. Moana had to take this gamble and she waited as Tamatoa grinned at her.
The moment Tamatoa reached down and was about ready to close his claws around his opponent, Moana quickly ducked and ran back into the hole as far as she could while the claw went after her in response. Of course the hole was a bit smaller than the claw, which jammed too far in and it got to the point where once again Tamatoa found himself stuck while Moana hurried out to safety.
Tamatoa yelled in frustration as Moana crawled back up the formation and once she got to the top, she found that he was trying desperately to pull himself free.
"HOW DO YOU STILL HAVE SO MUCH ENERGY?!" Tamatoa yelled at her.
It was at this point that Maui finally got out of the gap he had been stuck in with some help from his hook, though the effort gave him some discomfort in the spot where it still hurt the most. "Quit hitting me." Maui groaned at the tattoo of himself who was desperately trying to get his attention so that he could show what Moana was planning to do.
After pushing himself forward, Maui looked up to see Tamatoa struggling to get free from the hole that his claw had been stuck in while he was glaring at Moana, who held her oar out for protection. "I THOUGHT I BEAT YOU HALF TO DEATH! AND THEN YOU'RE GOING AROUND AND SMACKING THAT OAR IN MY EYE AND THROWING MY STUFF AT ME!"
It took Maui a second to realize what Tamatoa meant. Does he think she's me?! Maui didn't know whether to laugh and give Moana some praise for somehow besting the crab or panic because Moana had come to try to help him and was putting herself in serious danger.
"HEY DON'T YOU GRIN AT ME!" Tamatoa snapped as Moana grinned and rested her oar over her shoulders. Not only had she managed to fight him, but she was also able to get some well deserved revenge. The fact that he still thought she was Maui was also pretty funny.
She still needed to reach the ocean, but she still needed to get Maui out of here. She looked to see that one of the rock formations directly lead to the ocean and just happened to be half submerged in the water. If she was really quick she could reach it in time. She gave Tamatoa one last look as well a mock wave of farewell before hurrying towards the other formation. She almost wished Maui had seen her fight Tamatoa, but she had other matters to attend to so maybe it would make a good story for later.
"GET BACK HERE, YOU LITTLE–!" It was at this moment Tamatoa realized something. His opponent had not only not transformed once, but they never said a word during this phase of their fighting. Even that smug grin on their face wasn't the one he was familiar with. He then got a strong sense that the fighter also did not fight in the way he was used to seeing.
Wait a minute... what if the little human was actually stupid enough to follow them?
"So you still can't bring yourself to finish me off, mon princesse?" He asked as a test.
Moana almost stumbled in her run and tensed up. How did he realize it was me?! She looked back in panic and saw a triumphant grin on the crab's face at the exact moment there was another flash of lightning.
Maui's hand hovered over his hook in anticipation for whatever would happen next and he ignored the furious pounding of Mini Maui's fists.
"So you did try to come help him!" Tamatoa laughed. "Wow, you are really stupid, you know that?! You really should have just killed me the moment you had your chance!"
Moana took a breath and glared at Tamatoa. "Well you're stupid because there's no telling if the gods will punish you or not for all you've done!" There, she gave him the warning. "And I am not going to be turned into something I don't want to be! Especially by you!" Her grip on her oar tightened. "You keep hurting people with your words and tearing at our insecurities, but its just your way to hide your own, isn't it?!"
Tamatoa narrowed his eyes at the human as she continued. "Plus, that spell or whatever it was you did to make Maui human... that wasn't really going to be permanent, was it?!" She demanded. The idea of it just sounded like a really cruel prank that the crab would not be able to resist.
Tamatoa let out a dark chuckle. "Do you really want to know that answer? I don't think you'll like it. It won't do you any good though since I'm still getting what I want out of all this."
"Even if you take me, it won't work!" Moana yelled. "Sooner or later, this will all come back to haunt you!"
Tamatoa just shook his head. "Well too bad babe, because no one is going to help you this time!" He then slammed his other claw onto the rock formation as hard as he could and Moana watched in dismay as it cracked with each hit. She decided not to take her chances and made a run for it before the giant crab was finally able to get his claw free.
At the same time, Maui grabbed his hook and ignored the desperate call for attention from the tattoo on his chest.
Moana ran and leapt across gaps and rocks to get to the formation she needed to get reach, but she was unaware of the flash of light down below her. She heard Tamatoa coming for her as fast as he could but then she heard him yelp in shock, followed by another yell that sounded familiar to her.
She turned around to see that Maui had woken up and had taken on the octopus form once more, which he used to grab onto Tamatoa and pull him away from Moana.
"YOU'RE NOT TAKING HER!" Maui yelled as he latched a few tentacles around Tamatoa's legs. Even as Tamatoa desperately waved a claw in the air, Maui latched another tentacle around it. He was being driven to the point of exhaustion, but he could not let Tamatoa get Moana. "GET OUT OF HERE!" He yelled at Moana. "GO!"
"IT WON'T CHANGE THE DEAL YOU MADE WITH ME! YOU'RE STILL GOING TO PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID!" Tamatoa yelled at Maui as Moana was torn between staying and leaving. If she yelled at Maui about what she intended to do, there was no telling how Tamatoa would react and she still had some distance to cover before she could reach ocean. Still, she could make it to the ocean and ask for help, so she continued on her way. Once she would have to leap across this formation to get to it, she would still have to climb up, unless she felt like yelling out to the ocean.
At the same time, Maui realized that Tamatoa was still dead set on taking Moana no matter what. He was at the point where he would not be able to win against him since his body still wasn't in good condition and Tamatoa would eventually get the upper hand. Normally this shouldn't have been a problem but Maui had pushed himself too far almost non stop for a good portion of the evening. Tamatoa already beat him up quite a lot and even if Moana did a number on the crab, somehow he was still fighting back. And if by some miracle he won, then how could he be sure that Tamatoa wouldn't try to go after Moana again?
He realized there was possibly only one way to guarantee that Moana would be left alone, which meant he finally had to make the biggest sacrifice imaginable.
"THEN TAKE MY LIFE INSTEAD!" Maui yelled.
Moana was almost near the rock formation and was about to leap across to get to it when she heard those words and felt her heart stop. She turned around in shock as even Tamatoa had to pause to take in what Maui just said.
"She has nothing to do with us." Maui panted as he kept his hold. "And I know you want me dead, so just go ahead and kill me." He shut his eyes in acceptance. He knew he would give his life for Moana and now it was at that point. Besides, wasn't this how he was supposed to die according to most mortals? To try to grant them the gift of a longer lifespan? "That's a fair trade off right?" He asked.
"No..." Moana shook her head as she realized what was happening and refused to believe it. "No don't do it. Please don't do it."
Tamatoa remained silent for a few seconds before he let out a low laugh. "You really want to make that exchange, Maui?!"
"You'd get the honor of killing me, which would be a lot more valuable then a human prisoner, right?!" Maui yelled as he knew that he had to appeal to Tamatoa's vanity one last time. "So just do it!" He yelled as he let go of Tamatoa and moved away from him.
"No, no, no, no." Moana shook her head. She didn't want him to give his life for her. She didn't want his story to end like this and all because of her. She didn't want him to die.
Maui shifted back into his true self and looked at his hook for a moment before tossing it to the side as far as his injuries could allow him to before looking into the eyes of his old friend to show that he was serious about his choice. Sorry Moana. He thought as he threw his arms out in surrender. But I promise this will all be over for you.
There was a strange peacefulness in knowing what was about to come and he could not think of anything to regret about in making this choice. Well, other than that he wished that it didn't have to come to this, but he already knew he would have to do this if that was what it would take. As long as he could save Moana, then that was all that mattered now.
Tamatoa could not believe what was happening and yet he knew that he was going to enjoy it if Maui was this serious. "Well alright then mon ami, but don't expect you'll go down that easily." He glanced to where the coral reef was. "Especially since I want to savor this moment for as long as I can." He grinned at it.
Moana took note of Tamatoa's reaction to the coral and realized what was going to happen. "NO!" She yelled and ran down the rock formation as fast as she could. She leapt down wherever she could manage and even when she tumbled onto the rocks below and felt them scrape against her, she still forced herself to get back up and run as fast as she could. By that point, Tamatoa had slammed a claw into Maui's shoulder as hard as he could and knocked the demi-god to the ground.
Moana watched as Maui struggled to get back up and Tamatoa arched his claw as far up as he could. It was very clear that he was going to swing it into Maui and send him into the coral where he would get seriously injured. She didn't know what would happen to Maui if he got thrown into it, but she didn't want to take her chances. No, please I can't let him die!
She didn't know if she was going to make it in time and she realized that even if she did, she would probably get hit instead. She didn't care though and she forced herself to try to run faster then she ever ran before.
As Tamatoa's claw began to go down and Moana was getting closer to Maui, she recalled how she sent him off the boat and into the water but this time she intended to hit him right in the center of his back. She tossed her oar aside, readied herself, and right before Tamatoa's claw reached Maui, she slammed against the demi-god as hard as she could and sent him falling right towards the ground with little resistance.
Barely a second later, Moana felt something hard slam right into her side and her rib cage to the point it felt like the air had been knocked out of her and her ribs were going to shatter.
In what felt either like an eternity or a too short amount of time, Moana was sent flying towards the wall of the rock formation above the coral reef without a chance to even scream or catch a breath of air. She felt the jagged rocks tear at her outfit and her flesh and she lost another chance to take another breath when she finally slammed against the wall. It was enough to feel like her insides were getting smashed in, along with the outer part that hit against the rock wall.
She didn't register herself falling towards the coral, nor the pillar of water trying to rush towards her as fast as it could to try to push her out of the way. Unfortunately it was not enough as it managed to only slightly push her away from the heart of the coral reef and Moana passed through before she could be completely engulfed by the water.
She did not register the sensation of something piercing deep through the right side of her body, as well as other somethings slice through part of her arm and her leg for the second time in a row, nor the erupting pain that ensued until it was seconds too late.
It hurt so much that she wanted to scream but it was hard to catch her breath and even doing so and trying to expand her body for air made it a lot more painful than it already was. In fact it was almost as if she was going to choke on her own scream.
Elsewhere, it was taking Maui moments to process why he had been knocked down by a force a lot weaker than the crab. A sickening dread came over Maui and he turned his head to see–with help from another flash of lightning–that Moana was laying on part of the coral reef as well as looking like she was in an immense amount of pain by the way her body was tensed up and how much it looked like she was trying to either catch her breath or scream. It was like something out of a nightmare and he almost thought that was the case until reality caught up to him.
Moana knocked him away and took the blow instead.
That should have been him trapped in the coral–not her.
And it was all because of both him and the crab.
Something in his mind snapped and his wide eyed horror changed as his body tensed up and he gritted and barred his teeth while his eyes narrowed in rage. In that moment, he forgot what was going on and lost his senses as he forced himself to run to get his hook and just unleash everything upon Tamatoa.
Tamatoa had wondered why the thing he hit didn't feel like Maui and then he realized what the little human had done when he saw her in the coral. Although he was stunned that the human willingly attempted to sacrifice herself for Maui he also realized with a sickening dread what was about to happen.
Maui let out a furious yell as he shifted into a large crab again and slammed into Tamatoa as hard as he could. He didn't even give the other one a chance to fight back as he also slammed a claw into his face as hard as he could before forcing him up and slamming him into the nearest rock formation.
Maui didn't have a proper thought in his head anymore as he tried throwing Tamatoa's underside into another one of the rock formations as hard as he could and with all his strength. The pain in his body was screaming out in protest, but the adrenaline inside him gave him the rush he needed to force it back. All he wanted was to flat out destroy Tamatoa in a horrible manner and make him pay for all he had done. He was more than angry for all that had happened and for it all to end up with Moana getting badly injured was too much for him to accept. He didn't care if he couldn't lay a scratch on Tamatoa, Maui was going to make the crab regret ever consider messing with Moana one way or another. All that he had done to her was now going to come back to haunt him in full force.
And judging by the particular sound of Tamatoa's yell of pain, finally Maui succeeded in piercing through part of his underside.
Moana struggled to take a breath as she looked up to see Maui out of control as he bashed Tamatoa against the rock formation and smacked him several times over without stopping before slamming his legs into his underside as hard as he could. It reminded her of when Maui hit her father but that had only been a taste of how furious he could really become. This was something entirely different and was almost terrifying.
It never occurred to her what would happen if something were to happen to her or how Maui would react, given what he was capable of.
She began to be afraid of what could happen to Maui if this was to continue because it was clear that Maui wanted his ex-friend dead and she didn't know what would happen if he succeeded. Did she only make the situation a lot worse?
She knew how the death of someone could affect a person–especially if they blamed it on themselves–and she did not want Maui to end up like her father. She didn't know if she would survive this or not, but she still had one last chance to save Maui from a similar path or something far worse.
Moana grabbed onto the coral that she had been impaled upon and she could feel that it suffered from the impact because it was wiggled somewhat, but it only made the pain inside her worse and she finally cried out. She tried punching at it, but that only caused her to suffer a cut to the hand and sent a pain in her injured side as well as her arm, which was already bleeding out a bit. If she pulled herself out of the coral, she would risk bleeding to death and there was no telling how far the coral went inside her.
Finally she took a breath and forced herself to push against the coral as hard as she could and held on as tightly as possible, no matter how much it hurt to the point that she felt herself on the verge of tears. She felt the coral wobble and she gritted her teeth down and then tried one last time to punch the coral as hard as she could. Miraculously, the coral finally gave way and snapped, freeing Moana who managed to catch her footing before she could fall into another part of the coral reef, but now there was a strong pain in her side and it was taking her all to just stand.
She tried to avoid looking down as she carefully held onto her side. Already it was bleeding a little, but the damage inside was another matter. Instead of thinking about it, she forced herself to get out of the coral reef and fought the urge to yell through the pain in her leg and when she felt one scrape against her arm. Instead she looked up to see Maui shifting forms and changed once again into an octopus, but this time he wrapped nearly all his appendages around Tamatoa's and smashed him headfirst into a rock formation before slamming him into the ground, causing him to scream out in agony.
Just as Moana finally managed to stumble away from the reef and left a small trail of blood droplets from her leg, she found herself staring in horror as the octopus used his free tentacle to wrap itself around one of Tamatoa's claws and began to pull at it, right as there was another flash of lightning that revealed just how bruised up and horribly cracked the crab's limbs and underside had became from Maui's wrath.
She suddenly realized what Maui was about to do. She recalled the dream of the tapa that showed him tearing off Tamatoa's leg and she struggled to take a deep breath as she pressed against the wound as hard as she could. All the while, Tamatoa seemed to be aware of what was going to happen and he was screaming in pain as he tried to escape Maui, but his opponent still held on with a determined glare full of a bloodlust that was too out of character of Moana to handle.
"STOP!" Moana finally forced herself to scream out with all her might and felt the pain inside her grow.
She watched as Maui's eyes widened at the sound of her voice and he stopped pulling at Tamatoa's claw while the crab still struggled to get out of his grasp. Moana struggled to take a breath as she walked closer to the fight.
"Don't–" She struggled to find her words through the pain. "Don't make me be the reason to–" She took another breath "–to do this! I don't want to be part of–" She took another breath and gritted her teeth before finishing "–this!"
She wanted to collapse but she could not as she stared at those dark brown eyes. "You said it–" She gulped. "–Yourself, right?!" She took another breath.
"You–" She then turned to Tamatoa. "You didn't say what would happen if I–" She gasped "–were to die or get hurt, right?!" She let out a weak, yet defiant laugh. "So I guess you didn't win after all!" She held her hand up to reveal the blood upon it. Why did she find this so funny? She was in terrible condition and yet she was laughing in the face of everything that lead to this point. Maybe in some twisted way she denied Tamatoa's long desired revenge at last.
Maui could do nothing but watch as Moana's words went through his head.
He didn't want any of this to happen. He didn't mean for Moana to try to take his place.
Making Tamatoa suffer might have given him a lot of satisfaction (even him dying would have had the same effect)... but it would not fix everything. What he was about to do was the reason they were all in this mess to begin with and he didn't really want to have a repeat of it again; it wouldn't fix what just happened to Moana. And when he thought about it, he didn't want to be remembered this way; he didn't want Moana to see what would happen at his absolute worst and yet it was pretty much too late.
She didn't kill Tamatoa when she had the chance, nor did she make him suffer beyond tricking him and maybe beating him up a little. She was better than either of them combined.
With this realization, Maui finally let go of both Tamatoa and most of the anger within him.
"You better hope I don't see you again for a long time." Maui calmly, yet coldly warned Tamatoa as the crab nervously looked at him while struggling to recover from the beat down. "And I don't want to see you anywhere near her or her island ever again, understand?"
Tamatoa hesitated for a moment as he stared Maui in the eye.
"I guess a human really did care about you." He finally answered before turning around and walked on shaky legs towards the other side of the area, away from Maui and Moana. Both watched as the crab eventually went through the water and into the darkness of the ocean. Maui didn't stop watching until the bioluminescence of Tamatoa was almost swallowed up by the darkness before he finally looked down at Moana, who also looked back at him.
Moana opened her mouth to say something, but her insides couldn't take it anymore and she collapsed to her knees and she winced as she tried to fight the urge to bend over the coral still logged inside her, as well as the affected area.
"MOANA!" She heard her name be yelled out in panicked concern as she used her good arm to keep herself from collapsing completely into the ground.
Maui shifted back into his real form and he was racing towards Moana with his hook in his tight grasp before kneeling beside her, even though his own body was still in pain from fighting and pushing himself too far.
"I didn't–" Moana panted as she tried to sit down as carefully as she could. "I didn't mean for that to happen, I just–" She couldn't finish her sentence when she saw the concerned look in Maui's eyes.
Maui let go of his weapon and reached down to carefully move Moana's hand away (and she winced in response) from her biggest injury and was greeted with a nasty sight; a grayish white piece of coral that looked sharp to the touch was jammed inside Moana's side near her ribcage–maybe even somewhere between the bones since the injury was somewhere between her top and skirt–while blood was trailing out around it and already seeping onto the belt and the grass part of her skirt.
"Don't take it out." Moana pleaded before looking at Maui again and grabbed onto his arm. "Please don't."
He couldn't and he definitely would not. If he did, Moana would probably die in an instant, but there was a high chance she would any way if the coral was lodged that far inside her and in that specific spot. If not now, then most likely from infection, which would be too far out of anyone's reach to clean out.
At that point his mind entered a panic as he had no idea what to do or how to fix this. And more importantly why did she come here and felt the need to take the blow for him?!
Moana then lurched forward and let out a cough before Maui could ask her and the action sent another pain in her side. The moment after she felt something wet and foul tasting escape out of her and land on the ground, she used the back of her arm to wipe her chin and mouth and moved it back to see a faint redness upon it as the clouds above parted to allow more light from the stars and from what little of the moon there was on that night.
That was not a good sign. She could see that and so did Maui whose horror was only growing worse. The coral inside her had either moved around too much and hit something vital or else the blood of that vital area was finally coming out through her mouth.
"Hang on, I'm getting you out of here!" Maui carefully forced Moana to readjust her position before he grabbed his hook and transformed into a hawk. He then grabbed Moana just slightly above her torso before also grabbing her outstretched legs with his talons and took to the sky. Each flap of the wing was a strain on the injury to his shoulder, but he fought it off.
Moana cried out as each flap of the wings to get farther up sent a jolt in her body that made the pain worse, but she still tried to hold onto the talon around her upper body as tightly as she could. She didn't bother to look down as the ocean closed in on the area they had been in and she tried to just concentrate on holding on.
Maui heard her cries and regretted choosing this form, but he had no other option to take. None of the other forms could be fast enough or be able to carry her, and if he turned into a whale he would of had to place her in his mouth and there would have been a high risk of swallowing her up in his haste to get her out of here.
The waves upon the ocean were finally calming down, but they did nothing to reassure the demi-god as he hurried to get above the water. When he was high enough, he carried Moana over the ocean and towards her home where hopefully there was still a slight chance she could get treated in time.
Or so he tried to tell himself over and over again, no matter how much a part of him was saying that it just wasn't possible.
I can not say how many concepts, ideas, and rough drafts went through my head for this chapter before I got to it. One of those ideas involved Moana hanging onto her oar for dear life over the coral and taunting Tamatoa that he wouldn't win or go after her people if she died before letting go, but I opted for something a little more meaningful and fully within her control. Whatever would happen, the setting and outcomes was always going to be the same.
I admit that I was a bit influenced by Shadow of the Colossus for Moana's fight and the setting was inspired by the final battle in the Disney version of the Little Mermaid (how could I not take advantage of that?!). And speaking of which... yeah, I had to use THAT visual gag from Moana since I was doing this particular AU.
Though I'm sensing a pattern with my writings that I need to quit. There's already been way too much stabbing in my Zelda fan fics (I get carried away at times, though some of them were canon to begin with). Moana has gone through a lot more than she deserved (a lot of the characters in my fan fics do) and I do feel horrible about what I've done.
I know what its like to get the wind knocked out of you when you slam against something too hard and it isn't pleasant because you are forced to try to ingest as much air as you can back into you, but I can only imagine how unbearable it would be if you got stabbed and you couldn't scream because you have so little air left inside you.
I didn't really want to kill off Tamatoa, even from the very beginning. Especially since he didn't do anything in the original film to earn that fate and it would have gone against the themes that it was trying to support through Moana's character. Plus... I don't think most of his fans out there would have taken that well. *looks nervously at them and nervously waves*
Of course now we need to find out what happens next and what this will all lead to. After all... I never did say this would be entirely based on one version of the story.