#also hes got a great lower voice that would be fitiing for rock

[samuyed]

🧁

[onceuponadisembo]

Up and out - Chapter 1

When Maui abandons Moana in the fight with Te Kā, he cleverly goes to Lalotai to start another one with Tamatoa.

AO3 link. FFN link. dA link.

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In which Tamatoa helps Maui up

Maui liked to think he had an answer for everything. So when he found himself standing in the sand surrounded by rocky Lalotai flora, bits of gold scattered at his feet, and Tamatoa inexplicably lying upside-down on his back, he found himself not liking it at all when – adding to the many things he already did not have an answer for – the crab also had to ask him why he was there.

“What happened to you?” he blurted for a reply, which made Tamatoa sputter so much that he rocked back and forth on his gilded shell.

“You didn’t see it?” said the crab, incredulous.

“See what?”

“See what!” The crab was aghast. “See me! You did this. You happened. You and your little human when you bravely ran away – happened. What happened to your little human, little Mau-eee!”

Maui lowered his hook. “That’s none of your business.”

Tamatoa scoffed and stopped trying to shrink backwards into his shell. “Excuse me but I think it’s absolutely my business,” he retorted, pressing his claws to his chest. “She lured me upside-down with the Heart, and you lured her to me as bait. Oh, don’t think I don’t know your game,” he said when Maui started to scoff in turn. “What did you do, tell her I wasn’t in?” With one eye fixed on the demigod, he twitched the other to glance around the clearing. “So, where is she now? Finally got tired of you?”

Now Maui started to scowl. “Shut up.”

“Dead, then?”

He must have flinched because something changed in Tamatoa’s face. Then the crab jeered, showing a great many vicious-looking teeth.

“You have nowhere to go,” he said, giddy with glee. He jabbed a hairy claw at Maui. “That’s why you’re here!”

Maui pasted on a grin to rival Tamatoa’s, refusing to look the least bit upset. Just to sell it, he squared himself, too, and jutted out his chin. “I came here to fight, actually.”

“Oh, did you, now?” drawled Tamatoa before trying (“hup!”) – and failing (“oof!”) – to roll back onto his front. He cleared his throat. “Are you, um, going to help me up first? At least?”

When Maui did not reply, the crab grimaced before hastily making a show of rolling his eyes. “Augh. Be that way!” He shrugged and shifted, deliberately slow and lazy. “Go on, then. You with your powers and me on my back. I’d say we’re almost evenly matched-”

A giant claw snapped out at Maui, but he was ready. Swinging out of the way, the demigod darted and shifted through a whirlwind of bedazzled limbs and glittering treasures while the crab growled in frustration.

“Will you please stay still so I can catch you? It's…not easy…to spot you…from…this…angle!”

Something knocked into his hook and Maui’s heart lurched. Sickly violet light surged up his arms, crackling and flickering. A few short manoeuvres later, another claw missed him by a hair and he very quickly realised what a bad move this whole thing was. He did not know just what that hit from Te Kā had done.

Tamatoa lashed out a leg, catching Maui off-guard. Stumbling and scrambling, he scuttled over it as a bug and transformed again before the crab could crush him into the dusty floor.

“Aw, poor Maui,” cackled Tamatoa as the demigod staggered, crunching his toes on one of the crab’s larger trinkets. “Did I trip you?”

Enough games, Maui decided. Sidestepping another thrashing limb, he launched himself up over the crab, changing midair into a hawk, and Tamatoa squealed, scrabbled and flailed.

WHAM!

The flashing Lalotai landscape blinked out to blackness before fading back in, stunningly bright and even more garish than before.

“Oh,” said Tamatoa. “Oops.”

Groaning, Maui tried to sit up. Then he tried again. He struggled, alarm rising as he flopped against the ground, over and again, muscles like jelly and unable to breathe. The rumble of Tamatoa’s gloat echoed somewhere up above, and Maui realised to his horror that he had – completely without meaning to – become a fish.

The demigod changed back, dodging another blow just in time. He brandished his buzzing hook, which was slowly beginning to whine. This was not good.

“Clum-sy!” sang the crab. “Is that how you lost them, Maui, man? You’re here with no Heart and no human. I can guess where you went. And I can guess that you failed.”

He shouldn’t be here. Maui fought the noise that clouded his head. This was not good, this was wrong, it was all wrong, this fight was wrong, his hook was wrong, he was. All. Wrong. Sand clung, scratching, to his skin. Hair was in his eyes – his hair – sticking to his sweat – running down his back – when had it come loose? He blocked and he ducked, the powers in his hook erratic, and he knew it wouldn’t hold up. He knew he couldn’t keep up.

Tamatoa’s voice echoed through the shouts and clashes. “You know,” it boomed, “for someone who likes humans so much, you’re incredibly careless as to what happens to them.”

Careless.

A brilliant shower of sparks burst across the hook where the crab scraped it with his claw, filling Maui’s vision. The demigod went cold.

For a fraction of a second, he went deaf and he went blind.

Then he saw that laugh on Moana’s face. A look of joy she would never wear again. He saw the stars he taught her to measure – stars she would never see again. She would never again splash in the Ocean, or challenge him at fishing, or fuss over that hopeless, hopeless chicken she cared so much about, not if she went ahead without him, which he knew – of course – she would, because what else was she going to do?

Careless.

And he saw Te Fiti, burnt and barren. He’d taken it all from her – her bold and beautiful colours, the tart scent of fruit and flowers, the calls, the songs, the chatters, from the breeze that bloomed in her warmth to the shade that striped her sun-soaked sand. All the love she’d had for her creatures, all she’d shared to make up what he and countless more others called home, all gone, all because of him.

He had done this. He had happened.

He didn’t know how his hook ended up at Tamatoa’s eye, but there it was, neatly curved around the outstretched eyestalk, with his fists at the other end clenched too tightly, painfully tightly. There was a ringing in his ears. An urgent tugging at his shoulder, where his tattoo was moving. He ignored it. When he spoke, his voice came out through his teeth and it was the ugliest sound he had ever heard.

Carelesscarelesscare-

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he spat, anger swelling each word until they jostled to be the first out of him. “You don’t know ANYTHING and you don’t get to say anything about mortals or me, or anything at all. Ever again. Except to tell me why I shouldn’t take your eye this time.”

A hush.

There was an unbearable, almost audible stillness. The air itself was holding its breath. Then, like a distant cloud darkening all too swiftly into an ocean storm, a growing horror turned Maui’s stomach as it dawned on him exactly what he’d just said. His mouth twisted with the taste of it. His skin crawled and he hated it, hated the way he sounded – hated himself. Here he was: a hero who hurt more than he helped. He tried to think of a way to change the subject, to excuse himself or take it all back – couldn’t he do anything right? – but when he looked up, dreading Tamatoa’s reaction, he saw that the crab was blinking rapidly, his attention… elsewhere.

“Maui…” he said uneasily.

And suddenly the demigod was terrified.

“What happened to your hook?”

Maui was all at once aware of the knot in his gut, of the rasping in his breath. It scratched his throat. And he couldn’t seem to keep his arms steady – the fractured fishhook wobbled dangerously.

“Don’t ask me that,” he begged. “Don’t.”

But he could not stop Tamatoa tracing the edge of the weapon with his gaze, or moving his free eye closer to the cracks. “Burns,” the crab mused, and Maui had to bite back a whimper. “And little bits of shiny… Is this – obsidian? Oh, Maui.” He looked up, his expression pained. “Why did you have to go back?”

Maui clenched and unclenched his jaw, unsure if he wanted to answer. Then he heard himself whisper, “It was spreading.”

Tamatoa’s face was blank. “What was spreading?”

“The darkness,” stammered Maui, “the…”

“What darkness-”

“There was a curse!” Maui said, much louder than he had intended. “When I- when I took the Heart.”

Seeing Tamatoa open his mouth, Maui forged on before he could interrupt again. “Whatever summoned Te Kā, it didn’t stop there. It’s infected the ocean. Islands are dying. Fish are leaving.”

Tamatoa gasped. “Fish!”

“We were trying to get to Te Fiti. We were going to fix it. But Te Kā – she was in the way.”

“Oh-” The crab made a noise that sounded oddly sympathetic. Then he pursed his lips. “And your friend?”

It took a moment for Maui to realise he meant Moana. He started to shift from foot to foot. “She won’t stand a chance.”

This time, Tamatoa said nothing. And in the heavy silence that followed, Maui had never felt more alone.

He heard the blood beat in his ears.

“I left.”

And the wave of guilt hit him and he choked on his own words. Useless. No, but he had to do it. He couldn’t help her. Gods help him, he was drowning, his salt-coated throat on fire, every breath laced with fluid, fighting the urge to double over and sink to the ocean floor. No, get a grip, get a grip. He squeezed his eyes shut. What was wrong with him? No, he would help himself. He would- he would- Why couldn’t she have stopped when he’d said? But that wasn’t the problem right now. She hadn’t asked him to come here. She hadn’t asked for any of this. Now that was done and now it was too late, too difficult, too dangerous and he didn’t know how to fix it because now, his hook- now, Moana- now, the curse-

It hurt. Somewhere in his chest, it hurt and he couldn’t think, and it felt as though he would burst if he did not let it out, let his legs give out and roar loud and raw enough to scare himself, enough to fill his ears and exhaust his lungs and hollow out his heart. He wished he would crumble, piece by pathetic piece, until every last speck of him was lost to the cold and bitter wind, until he felt nothing more – was nothing more. Oh, what had he done? He did not care. He did not care at all.

Maui barely heard Tamatoa speak, trying hard as he was to hold on to himself. He did not dare breathe nor move.

“Um… Maui, man,” the crab had said. Maui opened his eyes. He still couldn’t see a thing – it was all very blurry.

“I don’t know what you’ve got going on up there,” ventured Tamatoa, surprisingly gently, “though I get that it’s a lot, don’t get me wrong, but…are we going to do this all day?”

“…Huh?” Maui’s head started to hurt as well.

“I mean, we can, if you want.” Tamatoa shrugged delicately. “You’re the one with the hook. But I’m getting a little bit of a cramp, you know? In my eye? So I thought we could maybe switch to the other one for a while. If you don’t mind.”

A wild urge to laugh took hold of Maui. Wow. He was going mad. How had it come to this? He glanced at his hook, at Tamatoa’s eye, and winced. “No, I… I don't…” He shook his head, blinking away the haze. “I can’t be here. I need to think.”

Carefully, he loosened the hook, stepping back from Tamatoa. A long-suffering sigh rattled from the crab. Then, with an almighty heave, he spun on his shell, swept Maui off the sand, and caught him between his pincers.

“Ha-ha!” he crowed.

“No!” Maui bellowed. His heart dropped to his stomach while he watched his hook clatter to the ground. Panic seized him by the throat and he grappled fruitlessly with the claw. Stupid, stupid! He was fighting a monster – an unpredictable, power-crazed creature who had a grudge against him. How had he forgotten that?

The crab brought him up to his face, close enough that Maui could see the bumps that made up his skin. His humid breath enveloped the demigod as he spoke.

“Do you- Do you know-” the crab began, and then he paused, eyestalks wobbling. “Maui. Maui, man. Stop that kicking, come on, how’s that going to help?”

Maui made one last effort to prise apart the pincers at his ribs, which only made the crab squeeze harder, until he gasped for air and gave up, letting his head loll against the shell. As Tamatoa relaxed his grip in response – still not enough for an escape – it occurred to Maui that he really had no business being alive. He had been alive for several lifetimes, blessed with gifts beyond anything anyone could wish for, and had nothing to show for it. If he’d only been allowed to grow up as a normal boy – if the gods had not found him – if they had not saved him – Oh, what difference did it make? He’d thrown it all away, chasing after mortals, trying to prove to himself that they had been wrong, that he was wanted, that he did matter – still, he never truly believed it. Why did he do that? Why was he like this? He never learned. And now he never would, because it was all over.

The crab had won.

Tamatoa’s eyes spun. “Wha-?”

In a way, he felt relieved. The crab was right. There was no more help for him. There was no more pretending to be brave, or pretending to be strong. He was tired of it.

“Do one thing for me?” he said quietly. “Can you skip the gloating, just this once? Or leave it until… after?” He steeled himself when his voice gave out, forcing himself to look at the crab. “After you eat me,” he clarified.

“Eat you?” Tamatoa spluttered and recoiled. “Now?”

Somewhere in the numbness of it all, it occurred to him that this would not go painless or easy, or anything like he could hope it would. Then again, almost nothing ever did.

The crab hesitated. “Do you…want me to?”

Maui tried to think about it. But he did not know. He tried to go with what he felt was best, but he had forgotten what that felt like. The ache in his chest had dulled, so there was that. Though it wasn’t gone. It was all he felt, in fact.

“I’m dead either way,” he replied at last, with a finality that should have scared him. “Can you get on with it?”

“And why would I?” Tamatoa jolted him with a shake. “Presumptuous, much? Just because I tried to eat you last time doesn’t mean I’m going to do it every time I catch you. And you’re no fun like this! What am I supposed to tell the other monsters?”

The crab ranted on, wildly waving his claws (and Maui) in the air, and the demigod took the time to rest from thinking for a while. Taunts didn’t matter to him now; he had no more ego to bruise. Then he started noticing how uncomfortable it was to be shaken about like this. Then he wanted Tamatoa to stop.

“So you're…not going to eat me?” he said, interrupting the crab, who had now moved on to the subject of fish.

“No! And don’t ask me again or I promise I never will!”

Maui felt a flash of annoyance. Of course. Just his kind of luck. “Then let me go.”

“Oh, you make it sound so simple. Where would you go if I did?”

Where would he go?

He’d been away for a thousand years. The people he used to know were long gone. He belonged nowhere now.

“Back,” he blurted before he realised what he’d said.

Tamatoa wiggled his antennae. “Back where?”

To the island. To his own banishment. Where he would see, face and live with no one but himself for all the rest of time. It was more than he deserved.

“To Te Fiti,” he said. “To try again. Moana, that girl with me… she’s tough. Smart. She could still be there, when I get there. We could figure something out.”

The crab’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t believe that.”

“What do you want?” Maui exclaimed, losing his patience. “You’re just going to lie here and shake me until you talk me to death?”

“No…!” said Tamatoa, somewhat defensively. “I’m going to lie here and shake you and… talk. Until I know you’re not going to do something we’re all going to regret.”

At first, Maui did not know what he meant. Then he understood, and heat crept up the lines on his glowering face. “I don’t need you to help me.”

“Oh! You don’t? I didn’t ask, but that’s good to know, that’s very good!” Tamatoa’s voice was high and gratingly chipper. “Maui’s got it all together! Look at Super Maui, jumping down into Lalotai. Starting fights and then immediately losing. Making me think he’s got a death wish when it’s really all part of Clever Maui’s clever plan, oh, you trickster, you!” He tilted an eyestalk, curious. “Why did you come down here?”

Maui leaned in as close to the eye as he could.

“Kill me,” he said, and watched the crab’s face change from smug to puzzled to alarmed. “Or let me go. I am not doing this with you.”

Tamatoa shifted. “C'mon, man…”

Maui slammed his palms on Tamatoa’s claw. “Stop,” he said, anguish cracking his voice. “You can’t fix this by talking at me. Do you think it’s that simple? I messed up, bad, and every minute I’m here it’s getting worse. I can’t stop it. I wish I could tell you different, but you’re wasting your time. Don’t you get it? I’ve already failed!”

Tamatoa’s eyes were wide. Maui took a breath and kicked his dangling feet. His back was getting sore. He wished Tamatoa would put him down.

“I’m not a hero,” he finally sighed. “Not anymore. I’m sorry.”

Amazingly, the apology only seemed to irk Tamatoa. He flopped his arms to the ground, making an exasperated noise, and Maui forgot his dilemma for just a little while because his world had quite literally flipped upside-down.

“I’m not sure if you have this figured out,” said the crab as Maui yelped, “but eating you won’t get me back right-side-up.”

Just as suddenly, he tossed Maui through the air into his other claw, and the demigod found himself facing up again, dizzy from all the turns.

“Eating you means even if I do manage to get up, I’m going to slowly starve to death once we all run out of fish because of that curse you-”

“Hurrh!” said Maui in response to a jab in the solar plexus.

“-unleashed. What, you didn’t think I noticed?” (Maui was thinking that he was going to be sick.) “I used to get plenty of fish. Good fish. Now it’s just passable fish, and that’s not enough! Do you know how long it’s been since my last moult? Do you know how many I need to grow back my leg? Do you know how tricky it is to hunt and dance like this? Do you?”

Tamatoa eyed Maui pointedly, and Maui, stunned, realised that he fully expected an answer.

“Uh, v-very,” he stuttered. “Many! Many. Very many?”

“Close enough. I can’t expect you to be precise; you’re not a crab.”

Tamatoa drifted off, murmuring something about his love for dance before going quiet. After a minute, he looked back to Maui. “What were we talking about?”

“Uhhh, you were going to let me go.”

“Oh right, I was…” The crab faltered and scowled. He squinted an eye at Maui. “You think you’re so clever.”

It had been worth a shot.

“Well, guess what, mini-god,” Tamatoa hissed. “Of course, I’m letting you go! Okay? I don’t want you here! I’ve got a lot going on, my own stuff to deal with, and I don’t have time for a fight. Or whatever this is. So you don’t get to come and waste my energy to distract you from your problems. Those are up to you. I can’t help you. Not by eating you, anyway. And obviously I’m no good at helping any other way because I don’t know how, and what makes you think I owe you any favours? You owe me!”

“What!” Maui squeaked.

“I found your hook.”

“That doesn’t-”

“That doesn’t nyeneneh,” babbled Tamatoa. “I get it! You’re not going to listen to me. And I don’t blame you. I don’t exactly tend to have your best interests at heart. But you already have that silly little cartoon on your chest, and here I am, trying my best-”

“Hold up – What did you call Mini-Maui?”

“What? Silly? And little? You can’t say I’m wrong there, you named it Mini-Maui! Aww! What’s wrong is it’s definitely smarter than you.”

Maui spluttered. “Was that an insult!”

“Ooh. I don’t know. Maybe if you’d ask your cartoon-”

“You just- Don’t call him that!”

“But it is a cart-”

Maui swung his leg and managed to kick the pincer holding him, which he immediately regretted because it hurt him a lot more than it did Tamatoa.

“Wow, okay. Honestly, I don’t know why you’re mad. You’re pretty cartoony yourself.”

“Stop using that word! I am not a- a-”

Tamatoa brought him down scarily close to his barnacled teeth.

“Whoa!” Maui promptly resumed his struggling.

“How about you stop clowning around and then I’ll stop, how about that?”

“Okay! Don’t-”

“You fly down here trying to pick a fight and what am I supposed to do? I had to get you before you got me, it’s basic self-defense, but now I see you’re not even trying.”

“What do y-”

“What,” continued Tamatoa in a voice full of emotion, “what even was that- that horrible thing with my eye?”

“What thi… oh. Ah.” Maui stopped kicking and cringed. “Sorry about that, bud-”

“Oh ho ho, sorry about that, bud! We are not friends! How- What- Did…” Tamatoa’s gaze clouded over and he went very still. Then, with a mix of utter bewilderment and incredulity, he squawked, “Did you just say you were sorry?”

“Uh. Yeah?”

“Oh.”

Now Tamatoa made a face. A strange, twitchy face that had Maui suddenly wondering if crabs like him could sneeze.

“Okay,” said Tamatoa. “I’m a little thrown off here. Because I was going to make you feel bad, you know? And now I can’t.”

“That’s not how… You can still, uh…”

The crab tilted his head, face crinkling up in non-understanding, and Maui decided not to further sabotage himself by explaining.

“For what it’s worth, I do feel bad. I mean it. I shouldn’t have said that. The eye thing, I mean.”

“No, no,” said the crab magnanimously, “don’t apologise. I’m not even going to be mad over a clumsy threat like that.” He paused. “Okay, I am mad. But I’m still not going to eat you. Know why?”

“Look,” pleaded Maui. “I get that you’re not. You don’t ha-”

“No need to answer! I’ll tell you why.” Tamatoa adjusted his grip and the demigod braced himself for another wildly-gesticulated rant.

“I was saying – sit up, man – I mean, I know you can’t sit, but you know what I- D'you know what your problem is, Maui, man?”

Maui rubbed a hand over his face. “You say that like I have just one.”

“I mean your biggest one. Your most important one.”

“Is it you?”

And with that, Maui got shock of his life when the crab’s face lit up in a jagged smile.

“It’s nice to hear I’m the most important,” said Tamatoa, absolutely delighted.

“Uh-”

“But we all know that.” Tamatoa waved his free claw. “No, you never listen, that’s your problem. Okay, you listen to me sometimes – but that’s not the point! My point is I’ll bet your hook that little… tattoo on your chest has been berating you, all day. But here you are. You know what to do. You just don’t listen! It’s- it’s stupid! If I’d said to myself- if I’d said, ‘Hmm. I need to go get some treasure so I can be shiny,’ but then I didn’t listen, what then? Where would I be?”

“Probably not on your back,” Maui muttered, and Tamatoa gasped like he had never been so insulted in his life.

“Can you not?” he said snippily. “If you’re going to be upset, that’s okay! If you say you’re not a hero, yeah, whatever. There’s no need for you to be anything! I’m only asking you to do things. Because right now you’re not doing anything, and it’s eating you – it’s eating you up inside – you don’t need me to do it!”

Tamatoa heaved a heavy sigh. And when he spoke again, Maui realised he sounded different. Tired. A little uncomfortable. And very, very careful.

“This is as difficult for me as it is for you. Don’t make it harder than it has to be.” The crab looked him in the eyes as best he could. “You think just because I want to, I’m just going to kill you. Yeah, I get it, that’s totally something I’d do. Though that’s not going to help me at all, is it? And it’s not going to help you.”

Maui caught his reflection, battered and – he shuddered – painfully vulnerable, in the crab’s mismatched pupils. He nearly looked away. But the eyes themselves held no judgement nor cruelty, not this time. Only a complete earnestness so overwhelming, it did not matter what the crab said next because, for one fleeting moment, Maui was back in another time, in a very similar place, with someone he’d gotten along much better with – long, long before mistakes made, wrongs done and actions deemed unforgivable. A someone he’d thought he would never meet again. Watching Tamatoa pick through his fallen treasures on the ground, a strange, sad longing burned in his heart for things he could never have back, and it came out as a tremor in his voice.

“What if I’m too late?”

Why are you helping me? was what he really wanted to ask.

“I don’t want to mess this up again,” he said instead.

Tamatoa stopped his scraping and looked at Maui. Stared, actually, until the demigod started to squirm.

“What are you-”

“You’re not comfortable,” said Tamatoa suddenly. He sounded surprised. “Here, let me…” And to Maui’s own surprise, the crab loosened his grip, using his other claw to help him into a sitting position.

Perched at the edge of a pincer, Maui gingerly massaged his ribs and glanced up to offer a word of thanks, which was when he found out that Tamatoa had moved him right up next to his face.

“Gah!”

“Listen,” rambled the crab while Maui tried desperately to regain his balance. “You don’t have to go back if you don’t want to. Not even because I asked. It’s a lot, up there – and it’s a lot to ask. The world will take care of itself, one way or another. You have to look out for you. Stay here, if you want. Or go – wherever you want. It’s okay. We could- we could have another fight. If that’s what you feel like. At least until you’re ready to try something else.”

Maui clung to the pincer, still trying not to fall off. “Uh. I. Uh. Th-th-thanks?”

What was he supposed to say to that?

“But I’m not- it’s not- that’s not what I meant. You’re forgetting Moana. She’s just a human. And I left her up there all by herself.”

“Oh.”

Tamatoa hmm-ed awkwardly and tapped his massive chin. “Okay, well… You were right, you know.”

Maui clambered up to a more secure spot on the claw. “What do you mean?”

“You said your human friend was smart. And you were right. Technically, she beat me.” And the crab gestured to his upside-down self, wiggling his legs in the air. “How did you find her?”

“She found me.”

“Oh, my condolences to her.”

“She was looking for me!”

(“Why would she do that?”) Maui was pretty sure he heard Tamatoa say under his breath before loudly exclaiming, “Oh, so she’s smart and lucky!”

Maui snorted. “You don’t have to try that hard.”

“Okay, I won’t. So while I can’t say you won’t mess things up again, I can say it much more confidently for her!”

“Wow!” Oh, that stung. Though he did tell him- no, but he didn’t have to say that!

“Ha, thanks, that’s really reassuring,” said Maui, not quite managing to keep the hurt from his voice. He would have walked away, if he could only have stood up without falling over. “Why do you even bother helping me?”

“Because I want to,” said Tamatoa, suddenly serious. He poked Maui in the chest. “What do you want to do?”

For the longest time, they said nothing while Maui looked at his hands, the ground, the sea. A short way behind him, he heard the deep gurgle of a geyser grow into a roar. He knew. Somewhere in his heart of hearts, he had the answer all along. And it scared him to face it for what it was.

Slowly, Tamatoa lowered his arms, dragging his free claw along the sand.

“Maui, man, I wish I could,” he murmured, “but I can’t tell you it’ll be alright this time. I know that’s what you want to hear: you’ll know what to do, you won’t mess it up, you’ve got it now. But how would I know?”

Maui slumped. He understood. Still, he couldn’t help feeling like something had sunk within him. Then he gasped, sitting up as the crab went on to say, “I can’t tell you how things will go, if you go up there, but…”

Tamatoa had picked up a treasure. But not just any treasure…

“I can tell you, if you do go back…”

The crab held the fishhook out to the demigod.

“You won’t be by yourself, up there.”

-:-

A short while later, Tamatoa lay in the sand, feeling pretty good about himself up until the moment he realised that he was still stuck on his back, having completely forgotten to get Maui to help him up.

“Augh!”

It was too late now. Maui was out of Lalotai, flying back to his clever human, ready to pick up the fight against Te Kā. But it was fine. Nothing to worry about. It was going to be fine.

“Maui, man, you better be fine. I swear if you die up there I am so going to kill you.”

————–

Important note: I hope it’s understood that as much as Tamatoa tries to help out here, he is still Tamatoa, and someone like the Tamatoa in this story is very likely not the best person to turn to when you’re going through some heavy stuff. The world is full of many others who will try their best to be there for you when things are difficult. I’ve been through times when I felt there was no point in anything, and I was lucky that I had some understanding people to turn to. And even though they did not necessarily know the best way to help me out, even though they could not actually do anything to make things better, I can’t imagine how things would be without them. Please if things aren’t going well for you right now, please hang in there, don’t blame yourself, and treat yourself as kindly as you can. We all experience pain differently, for different reasons, and they are all valid. And though I can’t possibly understand completely what the world is like for anybody else, I really think there’s a lot to like in sticking around.

[pirate-autobot]

The Stowaway: Chapter 6

When a kakamora accidentally winds up on Moanas boat, she and Maui have no choice but to bring it along their quest.

For real, take down Te Ka!

Rummaging through the boat, Moana found thread and a needle. That should help patch the sail. It was a start to what needed to be fixed. Kaco helped retie one of the poles and double checked the storage compartment for leaks.

Moana soon realized she didn’t have enough thread to patch her sail. Kaco noticed her frantic searching. It unwrapped the binds from its feet and wrist, threaded them through the needle, and sewed the rest of the holes in the sail shut.

“You’re sure it's strong enough?” Moana asked

Kakamora are pirates, but we also know how to make do with what we have. Kaco tapped and banged a response.

“Good. Thank you Kaco.” Moana responded

She pulled the sail tight. It caught the wind and propelled the boat forward. Kaco stood at the front. After last night, it had a lot of things on its mind. 

Questions over who it was bounced around the coconut shell. If it does go back to the kakamora ship, will it just go back to being a number? Just another coconut? Did it have to?

Did it want to?

Kaco liked being Kaco. It didn’t want to be a number. It didn’t want to steal or be mean. Being a pirate felt exciting, but it also felt cold. But being nice felt warm. 

I am not a number.

I am Kaco.

It looked back at Moana. Should it tell her about this new revelation? They did have bigger things to deal with. With every second they sailed closer to Te Ka. Closer to the fire demon. Kaco turned.

What happens if we win? Kaco tapped on its shell

“I will return to my island, my people and family, and you can go back to yours.” Moana said seriously

What’s it like? Kaco asked

“The people are friendly, and a little old fashioned. There’s lots of forests and coconut groves. Its green, big, and beautiful.” Moana said wistfully

I understand why you want to save it. Kaco said before turning back around. Moana sighed and smiled.

“I am Moana of Motonui. Aboard my boat, I will sail across the great sea, and restore the heart of Te Fiti.” She said seriously, “For my island, for my friends, for the world.”

And so they did. After a whole day on the water, they sailed back to Te Fiti. Back to Te Ka. Ash fell around them like a light rain. While Kaco climbed the mast, Moana put Hei Hei in a basket, closing the rooster into the storage compartment.

“Ready?” Moana asked

Kaco answered by putting on its war paint, drawing an angry sharp toothed expression. Moana tied her hair in a bun. 

“If we make it past the barrier islands, we’ll be safe.” She said

Kaco nodded and climbed the mast to the top. It growled, seeing lava boiling on the barriers. Moana tightened the rope in her hand and sailed the boat closer.

Te Ka arose. She hissed and growled at them. Kaco hung onto the mast, knowing what was coming. Moana ran to the bow and jumped down on it, quickly steering the boat away along the edge of the barriers to a hole within them. Te Kas fist landed in the water. With a shriek she pulled it back out as it hardened. She glared at Moana before her hand was restored.

Incoming! Kaco banged. It slid down the mast, hanging onto the base as a fireball was thrown at them. The wave tossed them, but they were not sunk yet. Te Ka crawled to hover over the hole. She looked through the smoke, but did not see the boat.

Moana quickly turned them back around to sail to another hole. She pulled on a rope and lossened the sail, getting more speed out of it. Te Ka yelled. They were just entering through the crack when an explosion sounded overhead, sending rocks tumbling around them. Moana fell forward. The heart fell out of her necklace and skittered across the wood. Kaco dove for it. It slipped out of its fingers.

Hei Hei caught it in his beak.

“Hei Hei!” Moana yelled in relief and shock. As their boat shook, Hei Hei juggled with it in its beak. Kaco ran to the rooster before he could swallow the heart. The kakamora carried the chicken, which carried the heart, back to Moana.

“Nice work you two!” She said, putting the stone back in her necklace.

Kaco hung onto her leg with one arm, while the other held Hei Hei. They were almost through. Rocks kept falling.

At last they made it to the other side of the barriers. Moana breathed a sigh of relief. An explosion behind them capsized the boat.

Moana climbed up onto it, struggling to turn the boat around. Kaco grabbed the rope to help, placing Hei Hei in a basket for safekeeping. They looked up at Te Ka. She reached a hand for them, arm stretching over the water. Moana shrieked. Kaco grabbed her leg.

A shriek of a hawk sounded above them. It was Maui as a giant hawk! He flew forward. Briefly changing back to normal, he used his hook to cut off Te Kas hand. 

“Maui!” Moana said happily

Cheehoo!

Kaco jumped up and down in excitement. Maui flew to their boat, smiling. Moana smiled, feeling close to tears.

“You came back!” She said

Maui shrugged and looked down at his tattoos. Mini Maui nodded and crossed his arms.

“But your hook! One more hit,” Moana started

“Tch! Te Ka’s going to have to catch me first.” Maui responded. All eyes turned to the demon in question. Her hand reformed, glowing white, then yellow, then bright orange.

“I got your back chosen one!” Maui said as he flipped the boat back over with his hook, “Go save the world.”

“Thank you.” Moana said

“You’re welcome.” Maui said

With a yell, he turned into a beetle and flew to Te Ka. Moana pulled the ropes to sail.

Something ripped. The sail fell limp. The top was ripped off from the mast.

“No!” Moana yelled

I got this! Kaco banged. It grabbed the end of the sail, climbed the mast and used its headband to retie it.

Maui turned into a whale. The splash caused Te Ka to fully solidify for a moment, and the wave sent Moanas boat further forward. Kaco stayed at the top of the mast, holding onto the sail.

Don’t look back! Kaco banged

The kakamora enjoyed Mauis distractions. The Demi-God bit Te Ka as a shark, then ran along her shoulders as a lizard. She tried to catch him, she almost caught him, but he squeezed through her fingers and turned into a hawk. He cut off her right hand.

Te Ka screamed in pain. Then she noticed Maui on her left arm with a shark head. He jumped up to cut off her left hand before turning into a hawk. But Maui was smacked out of the sky. He changed back to normal, landing on a rock. Te Ka turned her attention back to the boat.

Must go faster, must go faster! Kaco tapped and banged

“I’m going as fast as I can!” Moana shouted up to the kakamora

“Moana!” Maui yelled

Te Ka threw a fireball at them. The ocean lifted a wave to stop it, but the water only slowed it down. It crashed just behind the boat. But the force was enough to send the boat and its occupants flying into the water.

The ocean carried Moana and Kaco to Te Fiti safely. Kaco steadied itself and looked back at Maui with Moana.

“Get the heart to the spiral!” Maui yelled

Kaco looked up at Moana. And Moana looked down at Kaco. It took on step away from her.

Go, it said. The kakamora backed away to the water.

“Kaco, what are you doing?” She asked

Helping, came the response

Kaco jumped into the water, swimming towards Te Ka. It stopped and banged its hands in the water to get its help. The ocean complied and carried Kaco. The kakamora drew a mocking smile with a tongue sticking out of it on its face. It banged on its shell until Te Ka finally noticed it. She watched it angrily, and tossed small fireballs to attack it. The ocean tossed Kaco into the air and submerged it, helping it avoid certain death. Kaco was suddenly thrown onto the rock Maui was on.

“Not bad.” Maui commented, “But it wasn’t enough.” Te Ka turned her attention back to Te Fiti, to Moana.

No, Kaco tapped 

Maui looked down at his hook. One more hit, was it worth it? Did he have a choice? Te Ka formed a fireball in her hands. Kaco climbed onto Mauis shoulder.

“You sure?” He asked

“For... Moana.” Kaco said, with its own voice in actual words. If the fate of the world wasn’t at stake, Maui would have been surprised.

Maui ran forward and leapt into the air with a mighty yell. His hook glowed as he swung it.

I’m not nothing

There was a bright light, an explosion.

Te Ka was forced back into the barrier islands. Maui was thrown back onto the rock. His hook was destroyed. His shoulder was absent.

He glanced around the rock.

“Nut head?” He asked 

He looked into the water. Two halves of a coconut floated just below him.

“No.” Maui whispered, pulling the halves out.

Moana was at the top of the mountain. Te Ka was rising once more. Maui dropped what was left of his hook and put Kacos shell at his feet.

“TE KA!” He yelled

He chanted and danced, banging on his chest, doing a haka. Te Ka raised her fist to end the Demi-God.

Bu-bump! Bu-bump!

Moana, held the heart over her head. The stone shined brighter than ever. Te Ka froze, mesmerized by the bright glow. Maui could do nothing but watch the girl walk down the mountain to the water.

“Let her come to me.” She said

The ocean surged and parted waves to the barrier island Te Ka positioned herself on. Moana took a few steps to the sand. Te Ka screeched and crawled on it.

“I have crossed the horizon to find you,” Moana sang

Maui picked up the coconut shells and was ready to jump into the water. A wave raised and shook side to side in a ‘no’.

“I know your name,”

Te Ka was desperate, angry. She could hurt Moana!

“They have stolen the heart from inside you,”

Moana walked to a rock. One of Te Kas fireballs that hardened and cooled in the water.

“But this does not define you,”

A cloud of smoke and fire followed Te Ka. When she stopped, it floated forward around Moana. Te Ka towered over the girl.

“This is not who you are,”

The smoke cloud dissipated. Te Ka froze in front of Moana, her lava cooling. She lowered herself to her level.

“You know who you are.”

Moana touched her forehead to Te Kas. 

“Who you truly are.” She whispered. The demon closed her eyes, lava hardening to black stone.

Moana placed the heart where it belonged, in the spiral on Te Kas chest. Instantly, the spiral glowed bright green. Plants and flowers broke through the rock. The plants spread, with the rock breaking free from Te Kas face. From Te Fitis face.