I own nothing from Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix, or Disney.
Chapter 21: Motonui Part II: Lolotai
"Um...guys?" Kairi asked as she pointed at something approaching. "Is it getting foggy or is it just me? And...is that a ship?"
"Kakamora," Maui muttered.
"Kaka-what?" Moana asked.
"Murdering little pirates," he answered.
"I'm not too sure," Aqua said.
A massive ship came out of the fog, and the sails had a symbol that the off-worlders were too familiar with.
"Heartless!" the heroes exclaimed.
"Heartless?" Moana repeated.
"They're monsters that steal people's hearts!" Sora answered.
But, these were a new type they'd never seen before. They were small and looked like coconuts, with little arms and legs. Their eyes were yellow, like all the rest.
"Huh...they actually look kinda...cute," said Moana...but then, they drew angry faces on their shells and put on armor before they took battle poses. "...Forget I said cute."
"We've gotta fight, and get out of here!" Aqua exclaimed.
"Agreed!" Maui got to work on the canoe. "Tighten the halyard, bind the stays!"
Sora, Kairi and Riku hurried to do the same, but Moana just stood where she was, confused...
"Wait, can you even sail?" Donald questioned.
"I-I am self-taught...?" Moana replied, weakly.
"Oh, we are in TROUBLE!" Axel shouted.
"Keep sailing, we'll handle this!" Mickey told them, before he, Riku, Yuffie, Aqua and Terra jumped over to the Heartless boat.
"Take this!" Aqua shouted as she used a Blizzaga Spell to freeze some of the Heartless.
Riku jumped over to the left part of the ship and Mickey went to the right, then they began to quickly take out several Kakamura Heartless. Some of the Heartless shot rope arrows at Moana's canoe, holding it back, then the large ship seemed to split off into two smaller boats!
"Oh, are you KIDDING me?!" Axel questioned. "They break into different ships?!"
Yuffie threw her big shuriken, cutting the ropes holding Moana's canoe back. Some of the Heartless fired some pink feathered blow-darts at the heroes' boats! They managed to avoid, block or deflected them, except Goofy, who got hit in the leg.
"Oops," he slurred as he fell onto the wood.
"Ah phooey," Donald grumbled.
"Hey Sora, I've got an idea!" Axel said. "Guys, head on back!"
Riku, Yuffie, Mickey, Aqua and Terra jumped back over to their boat as Axel moved over to Moana's canoe, gently shoving Maui aside as he went to the back. Catching on to what he was thinking, Sora went over to the back of the other boat, where he and the pyro began to rapidly spin their keyblades around, like speedboat propellers. They lowered them into the water as they spun, making their boats dash away from the Heartless boats! And for good measure, the two key-wielders launched powerful Firaga spells that incinerated the three Heartless ships!
"Yes!" Kairi cheered. "Way to go, we got 'em!"
"WHOA!" Moana exclaimed. "You roasted them!"
"Okay, nice work," Maui admitted.
"Alright big guy, what's our heading?" Yuffie asked
"East, to the lair of Tamatoa," Maui replied, checking the stars and turning the canoe. "If anyone has my hook, it's that shifty-eyed bottom feeder."
Sora, Kairi and Riku also made sure their boat went in the same direction.
Moana jumped over to their boat, and begged with enthusiasm, "Teach me to sail!"
"You want us to teach you how to sail?" asked Sora.
"Yes, please!" Moana answered.
"...That might be a good idea," said Kairi as she noticed a small scar on Moana's foot. "I have a feeling that the last time you tried it ended in disaster."
Moana's eyes widened before she looked down at her foot.
"Heh...yeah..."
"It's called wayfinding, princess," Maui corrected. "It's not just sails and knots; it's seeing where you're going with your mind. Knowing where you are, by knowing where you've been."
"First of all, I'm not a princess," Moana told him with a glare. "I'm the daughter of the village chief."
"Same difference."
"No, it's not!"
"If you wear a fancy dress and have an animal sidekick, you're a princess."
"That's a bad stereotype!" Kairi scolded him.
"My point is, she will never be a way-" Maui jolted, then fell limp on the canoe. Turns out as he was being condescending, Yuffie found a blow-dart still stuck to the boat, and handed it to the ocean, who proceeded to stick it in Maui's rear.
"Really?! Blow dart in my butt cheek?!"
By now, everyone burst out laughing.
Riku hopped over to Moana's canoe and moved the collapsed demigod away from the back,
"I'll handle steering this one."
"Thanks," Moana said, then turned to Sora and Kairi. "Okay, lesson one, hit it!"
"Alright, pull the sheet," Sora instructed.
"That's this rope, right here," said Kairi, holding the sheet rope, which Moana pulled, causing the sail to open up. "Yeah! Good job! Not too hard, though. Ease up on it a little."
Which she did.
"So, what's your story?" Terra asked.
"What do you mean?" Moana replied.
"If you're the daughter of the chief, why would he send you out here?" Aqua added.
Moana looked downcast and sighed, "He didn't; the ocean chose me, and my Gramma Tala encouraged me...on her death bed..."
Everyone went quiet.
"...Oh, my goodness..." whispered Kairi. "We're sorry, Moana..."
"It's okay," she replied. "Growing up, I was expected to be the next chief, and yet, I always felt a call to the sea. But my father always said, 'No one goes beyond the reef'. Even when I suggested it when we weren't able to catch any fish because of the growing darkness, he refused to listen!"
"Ah, so he's a coward," Axel surmised.
"No!" Moana shouted. "It's just..." she sighed. "When my Dad was my age, he snuck out with his best friend on a canoe...but...they got trapped in a storm and his friend drowned before he could save him...that's why he..."
"...So that's it," Sora said. "He's trying to protect you and all the other islanders from the same fate."
"Exactly," Moana replied.
"Still a coward..." Axel muttered, causing Kairi to elbow him in the side. "Ow! Kairi!"
"Shush!" Kairi shushed.
"When Kairi, Riku and me first left our home, we got separated," Sora said. "But you know what? I didn't give up and run back home. I met new friends and I kept searching until I found them again."
Donald and Goofy nodded at that.
"Really?" Moana asked.
"I can kind of understand why your dad would be afraid," said Sora, "And I understand that he wants to protect his people, but he shouldn't let that keep them from surviving."
"That's what I said," she replied. "But still, he refused to listen. And then I learned the best thing about my people; our ancestors were voyagers. They sailed across the sea, finding new islands all over the world, but they still kept our home in their hearts and minds. Gramma showed me some boats as big as this one in a cave."
"Sounds like your Grandmother was the only one who remembered what your ancestors were," Mickey commented.
"Why'd your people stop voyaging?" Goofy asked.
"Because of Te Ka and the growing darkness," Moana sighed. "Boats stopped coming home, so the Ancient Chiefs sealed the boats away in the caves...and we forgot who we really are."
"So, in other words, your fault," Axel pointed at Maui.
"Hey!" Maui shouted.
"Well, it is," Axel muttered.
"So, how'd you find Te Fiti's Heart?" Aqua asked.
"When I was a little girl, the ocean opened a path for me to walk along," Moana explained. "It even brought the Heart to me, and for all these years, my Gramma kept it until I was ready. *sigh* She and I were the only ones that believed in Te Fiti's Heart, and that restoring it was the only way to save our island. If not for her death, my father would've burned our ancestor's boats...destroyed what we really are..."
"I hate to be harsh Moana," Riku began. "But if your father was still so pigheaded about the ocean, and couldn't see what would truly save your people, then..."
Moana looked away, but she knew what he was trying to tell her.
"Maybe your dad will come to his senses," Sora said. "In the meantime, let's get Maui's hook and get the Heart back to Te Fiti!"
Once it was nighttime...
"Okay, lesson two," Kairi instructed. "Measuring the stars..."
"Hold out your hand, like this," Riku said while holding out his hand with his thumb extended, and Moana copied him.
But, she kept doing it, never having her hand in the right position.
"You're measuring the stars, not giving the sky a high-five," Sora reminded her.
"Oh, right," Moana chuckled sheepishly.
"Lesson three, the water," Kairi instructed. "Check if the current is warm. If it is, you're going the right way."
Moana reached her hand. "...Oh! It's warm!"
"That's good!" Kairi exclaimed.
The next morning, Mickey and Maui were steering while everyone (Except Terra) slept.
"How do you know how to wayfind?" The demigod asked the mouse king.
"I've done my fair share of adventurous things," he replied.
"That right?" Maui asked.
"Yeah, I've seen a lot out there," Mickey answered. "Some things I shouldn't have seen..."
"Land ho!" Terra announced.
Soon, the group saw a giant rock that was jutting out of the sea.
"What is that?" Kairi asked.
"At the top is the entrance to Lolotai," Maui answered. "Where Tamatoa dwells."
"Lolotai, the Realm of Monsters?!" Moana questioned in slight fear. "We're going to Lolotai?"
"No, WE are," Maui gestured to himself and the off-worlders. "You stay behind with the other chicken."
Sora scratched his forehead, subtly flicking Maui off. Even Mini Maui didn't think that was funny.
"Oh come on, that was good," Maui lamented.
"Just climb, asshole," Riku told him, as he and the others climbed after him.
What Maui didn't expect was for Moana to follow them.
"Need a hand?" Kairi asked as she held out her hand to her.
"Thanks," Moana replied as she kept climbing, "But I got this."
As they kept climbing...
"I still don't get why the ocean chose you," Maui commented. "You're what, 8, can't sail; obvious choice."
"I'm 16," Moana corrected. "But it chose me for a reason."
"And you really need to learn some manners, pal," said Kairi.
Maui just scoffed in response.
They made it to the top, but didn't see the entrance.
"Uh...so where's the entrance?" asked Goofy.
"It only appears after a human sacrifice," Maui said grimly.
"You better be joking," Terra warned him.
"I am!" Maui laughed. "So serious."
Then, he blew away all the sand, revealing a large stone face on the ground.
"So this is it?" Aqua asked. "How do we open it?"
"Lemme try something," Sora said before he held his Keyblade up to it.
A keyhole appeared on the nose, then a beam of light shot out from the tip of the blade and connected with the keyhole, causing the mouth to open, revealing a very long drop.
"Wow, normally it takes an incantation," Maui sounded impressed, then he jumped down. "CHEE-HOO!"
"Alright, see you guys down there," Axel said before he jumped. "COWABUNGA!"
"YAHOO!" Yuffie screamed as she jumped, then Riku followed suit.
Sora went next, then Kairi, Aqua and Terra.
"A-HOO-HOO-HOOEY!" Goofy cried as he jumped, followed by Donald, Mickey, and finally, Moana.
The group fell for a very long time into a dark void. Then, through some water in the middle of a spiral of bubbles, till they came to the bottom, which was through the bottom of the water. Once they landed, the group found themselves in a dark world with mountains of coral and strange plants...and bats with multiple eyes were flying around!
"Whoa...!" Sora whispered. "And I thought the Realm of Darkness was creepy!"
Moana fell on top of Maui, then bounced down some cliffs.
"MOANA!" Kairi called in worry.
Sora jumped down after her, followed by the others.
"Oh well, they're dead," Maui dismissed them.
But, he was wrong; Moana was hanging upside down, wrapped up in the tongue of some fish monster.
"AAAH!" Moana shrieked.
"I got you!" Riku shouted as he cut the monster's tongue off...and it was still wriggling!
Once they hit the ground again...
"Ew, ew-ew-ew-ew!" Moana grimaced as she got out of the tongue, and was about to make a run for it.
Till Aqua stopped her, "Wait, we need to be more careful."
"She's right," said Sora. "This is a realm of monsters, isn't it? Who knows what kind of creatures are roaming around in here?"
"You mean like THAT?!" Donald asked as she pointed to a sloth-like creature with four arms.
As it came towards them, an air geyser blew the creature up into the ocean above!
"Well, that works," Mickey laughed.
"Hey guys, look," Axel pointed inside a cave entrance.
Inside it was a large pile of shining, sparkling treasure, and at the top was Maui's fish hook.
"Maui's hook...!" Moana whispered in awe.
"Yeah," Maui grinned, only for Moana to punch him in the face. "UGH!"
Axel put his hand over his mouth, trying to keep from laughing. Even the others were trying to hold back laughter.
"Sorry, I thought you were a monster," Moana stammered as Maui picked her up by her head. "This Tamatoa really loves his treasure, huh?"
Then he dropped her next to Donald and Goofy, "Stay, all of you."
"Uh, no," Sora replied. "That's not how this works."
"You don't tell us what to do, Mr. High-and-Mighty," said Kairi. "We're in this together."
"Whatever, but you can't just walk up there and take it," Maui countered.
"Really, cause that's what I'm doing!" Axel called from inside the cave.
Everyone gasped and almost rushed in after him, where he was already climbing up the pile of treasure.
"Axel, what are you doing?!" Moana exclaimed.
"Trying to get this Tamatoa guy to show up," he answered. "I'm sure we can handle him."
Maui sighed in frustration, "Okay, just keep him distracted while I sneak over to get my hook."
"Mickey, Yuffie and I will go with you," Aqua said.
"Any advice?" Terra asked.
"Get him to talk about himself," Maui told them. "He loves bragging."
"You two must get along," Riku commented.
"Not really since I pretty much tore his leg off," Maui said.
"You what?!" Moana questioned as she turned around, but Maui was gone!
"Maui?" Kairi called, then the ground began to shake!
The pile of treasure lifted off the ground, causing Moana to slip off it, but a giant crab claw grabbed her!
"Moana!" cried Kairi, and sure enough, a giant Coconut Crab with a missing leg soon emerged from the ground.
"Well, what have we here?" he asked with a crooked grin, his teeth speckled with golden barnacles.
"Put me down!" Moana shouted.
Turned out the giant pile of treasure was part of the crab's shell.
"Ugh, a human? What are you doing down here, in the Realm of Mons-"
Moana kept looking between his eyes, not sure which one to focus on.
"Just pick an eye, babe. I can't concentrate on what I'm saying if you keep- No, pick one, PICK ONE."
"Hey, uh, are you Tamatoa?" Sora called.
The crab noticed the others on the ground, "Ugh, more of you? And two anthropomorphic animals? Why are you all here?"
"We, uh, just had to meet you," Kairi responded.
"Yes, exactly!" Moana continued. "We mortals have heard tale of the crab who became a legend, and we were wanted to know how you became so, crab-ulous?"
For a moment, it looked like Tamatoa wasn't buying it, glaring at the girls suspiciously,
"Are you trying to get me to talk about myself?"
"Oh, no..." Sora whispered.
"Because if you are," Tamatoa began...before he grinned, "I will gladly do so!"
"Huh?!" Riku, Donald and Axel exclaimed.
"In song form," Tamatoa flicked a big piece of gold into the water above him, making gold sparkles light on the walls, like from a mirror ball.
"Well, Tamatoa hasn't always been this glam
I was a drab little crab once
Now I know I can be happy as a clam
Because I'm beautiful, baby~"
Maui gasped as he ducked down behind some rocks.
"Did your granny say listen to you heart?
Be who you are on the inside?
I need three words to tear her argument apart,
Your granny lied!
I'd rather be shiny!
Like a treasure from a sunken pirate wreck,
Scrub the deck and make it look shiny~!
I will sparkle like a wealthy woman's neck,
Just a sec
Don't ya know~?"
He looked up and saw some fish swimming above him.
"Fish are dumb, dumb, dumb
They chase anything that glitters (beginners!)
Oh, and here they come, come, come
To the brightest thing that glitters
Mmm, fish dinners~"
He then looked at Moana, hungrily.
"I just love free food,
And you look like seafood!"
But before he could bring Moana to his mouth, one of his legs was hit with something hot!
"OUCH! Hey!"
"Don't even think about it!" Donald threatened, waving his staff.
"Hey, crabcake!"
Tamatoa turned around and saw Maui standing on his back...holding up his hook!
"I am back," he said before he kissed his hook. "It's Maui Time~!"
Tamatoa gasped in horror, accidentally dropping Moana, but luckily, Riku caught her.
"What do ya say, little buddy?" Maui asked his Mini Self, who changed into a hawk. "Giant hawk? Comin' up! CHEE-HOO!"
He spun his hook around and transformed into...a fish, not a giant hawk.
So, he tried again, "CHEE-HOO!"
He then turned into a shark, iguana, caribou, bug, pig, then back to himself.
"Uh...those were anything BUT a hawk," Sora commented.
Tamatoa's eyes turned cross, like they were looking at each other, then started singing again,
"Well, well, well
Little Maui's having trouble with his look
You little semi-demi-mini-god
Ouch! What a terrible performance
Get the hook (get it?)
You don't swing it like you used to, man~"
Then, Tamatoa began to swing Maui around, beating him mercilessly!
"Though, I have to give you credit for my start,
And your tattoos on the outside,
For just like you, I made myself a work of art,
I'll never hide, I can't,
I'm too shiny~!
Watch me dazzle like a diamond in the rough,
Strut my stuff, my stuff is so shiny~!"
Sora and Riku went to help, but they were soon knocked back by one of Tamatoa's legs!
"Send your armies but they'll never be enough
My shell's too tough~"
He used one of his legs to pull Maui away from his hook as he tried to crawl toward it.
"Maui man, you could try, try, try
But you can't expect a demi-god
To beat a decapod (look it up)~"
He then dragged Maui across the wall and slammed him to the ground.
"You will die, die, die,
Now it's time for me to take apart
Your aching heart~"
He then closed the cave ceiling, causing his face to glow in creepy colors as his voice sounded a bit more demonic.
"Far from the ones who abandoned you
Chasing the love of these humans
Who made you feel wanted~"
He pulled some of Maui's hair away from his back, revealing a tattoo of a woman tossing what looked like a child into the water.
Moana and Kairi silently gasped at this.
"You try to be tough,
But your armor's just not hard enough,
Maui! Now it's time to kick your hiney!
Ever seen someone so shiny~?"
He then pinned Maui against the wall, again, and he also pinned down Sora and Riku to keep them from getting in the way.
"AGH!" they cried.
"Soak it in 'cause it's the last you'll ever see
C'est la vie mon ami
I'm so shiny
Now I'll eat you, so prepare your final plea
Just for me~"
Moana tripped on something and fell, then saw her hands were covered in some glowing green goo. This gave her an idea.
"You'll never be quite as shiny
You wish you were nice and
Shiny~!"
Tamatoa picked up Maui and threw him into his mouth, where the demigod struggled to keep the giant crab's teeth from crushing him.
"HEY?!" Moana called, making the crab turn to her. "I've got somethin' shiny for ya!"
Tamatoa turned around and saw Moana holding up the Heart of Te Fiti!
"Moana!" shouted Riku. "Are you crazy?!"
"The Heart of Te Fiti...!" Tamatoa exclaimed as he spat Maui out.
"Want it, so badly?" asked Kairi. "Go get it!"
On that, Moana threw the Heart away, causing Tamatoa to chase after it!
Terra grabbed Maui's hook, while Axel and Goofy helped the demigod to his feet. Everyone regrouped and headed for the exit.
"What about the Heart?" Riku questioned.
"He can have it," Moana opened her pendant, revealing the real Heart. "I've got a better one."
"But wait," Sora began, "If you still have the Heart, what did Tamatoa get?"
Tamatoa laughed as he dug up the Heart of Te Fiti...or so he thought.
"Wait, wait, what is this?" he asked as he took a closer. "Oh, I see, she's taken a barnacle and coated in bioluminescent algae!" He then crushed it and began to chase after the group! "Come back here!"
They hurried over to a small volcano, and just when Tamatoa was on top of them; a water geyser shot them up into the ocean above, and knocked the giant crab on his back!
"THANKS FOR THE SONG!" Yuffie called.
"Uh, glad you liked it," Tamatoa blushed a bit.
The group blasted out of the ocean's surface, back to the island they were on. While in the air, Maui grabbed his hook, then turned into a pig, fish, iguana, then back to himself, before everyone landed in the sand, hard.
Donald's top half was buried in the sand, leaving only his butt and legs sticking out. Goofy was sprawled out on his back, and got the wind knocked out of him when Mickey landed on his gut. Aqua landed on top of Axel, who landed on top of Terra, painfully. But, Sora, Kairi, Riku and Yuffie had the most embarrassing landings.
Kairi landed on her back, then Sora fell face first into her...cleavage. Riku landed with Yuffie and top of him, and they'd accidently...locked lips.
"MMPH!" Yuffie let out a muffled cry of surprise, causing Riku to gasp before he quickly jumped to his feet.
"Oh, jeez!" he cried.
Kairi looked down at Sora, and they both blushed.
"Whoa!" Sora cried as he sat up. "I-I'm sorry!"
Kairi sat up, still blushing, "I-it's okay..."
"Whoa, we're alive!" Moana jumped to her feet. "We're ali-WHOA!"
Everyone turned to see what startled her; Maui currently had a shark head and fins for his arms and hands.
"Listen," He started, not knowing what he currently looked like. "I uh, appreciate what you all did down there."
"Uh...i-it's fine," Moana said, trying not to sound too startled.
"It took guts, and uh..."
Moana nodded and kept humming "Mhm", trying not to laugh.
"I'm sorry," Maui stopped. "I'm trying to be sincere for once, and it feels like you're distracted."
"No, no, pfft, no way," Moana tried to dismiss it, but she was struggling not to laugh.
"Uh...Maui?" Kairi asked. "You...um...you have a shark head."
Maui looked at his hands, seeing that they were fins and felt around his head, before he groaned.
"What?" Moana questioned, laughing. "Does he have a shark head? Because I-"
"Look, the point is," Maui continued, kicking a stone away. "For a bunch of kids and walking, talking animals, who had no business going down there; you did me a solid. Except, I couldn't even beat the crab, so chances of beating Te Ka...bupkis."
"Hey, don't think like that, Maui!" said Sora.
"Yeah, you can't give up, now," Riku added.
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