#who named her Motonui

[booklover223]

MINOR SPOILERS IN THE TAGS FOR MOANA 2

Seen Moana 2 and I’m not gonna lie I was crying basically the whole movie BUT that doesn’t mean anyone else will cry through (almost) the whole movie like I did there were a few factors that made me personally cry throughout the damn movie

1. I am a very VERY easy crier and it’s gotten worse as ive grown older

2. Everything in the movie makes me miss home (I grew up on O’ahu and had to move because it’s too expensive in Hawai’i)

3. The movie was a surprise gift and I didn’t know we were gonna go out and I had taken half an edible, which makes me MORE emotional

[zabchan]

Oh no I did mean you about your fics! Yes I agree with everything you said and actually yeah now that you mention it Dwayne probably would not love that lol. However I totally believe this movie will continue Moana’s independence in her new mission. I think after the first one I’m just really interested in if Maui meets the villagers on Motonui? Does simea meet him? Do we find more about his upbringing? It only hit me with the first trailer that Moana’s parents weren’t thatttt old but I’ve gotta see how tui reacts to seeing Maui for the first time :) okay rambling over for now. I’ll stick around here (and ao3) to see what becomes of this awesome movie’s fandom that hopefully grows a bunch!

SO!

from the interviews and trailers, I wanna say one of the biggest themes in moana 2 is gonna be Community. There's a word in the Japanese trailer specifically- "Nakama" - that grabbed my attention.

Nakama is often translated in anime subs as 'comrades' or 'friends' or even 'teammates'. That's close enough but there's a level of nuance that doesn't quite have a one for one equivalent in English. 'Found family' might be closer. It's very common in sentai shows like power rangers, sailor moon, etc. It implies a level of shared purpose, experience, fondness. The Squad. This is what I think moana's next journey is gonna focus on.

Moana has had the love of her community her whole life, and of course she's always been close to her grandmother, her pets, her mother and even her father-despite their disagreements on voyaging- but in her grow-up montage we don't see her have friends her own age. She's had no siblings to relate to up til this point, and she seems a bit distant from the other children. her obsession with the sea alienates her over time. She delights in the old stories that frighten the other children. While her family weaves baskets, she makes a toy boat. The other kids draw their island, their fales, moana draws a canoe.

She's often breaking out of the group, sneaking off to the sea. its not til puberty, after Tui's 'raise the island speech' does she start feeling getting into the communal activities & musically starts singing along. Then she bonds with her island as their Taupou, their 'closest-English-equivalent-princess'. In Samoan tradition, the Taupou is the highest ranking unmarried (virgin) woman, usually the high chief's daughter and is expected to be the role model for all her peers, surrounded by a retinue of kins-women as chaperones and confidants.

But Moana, if she has one, constantly gives hers the slip to hang out with another social misfit: Tala the village crazy lady. Even when we see Moana doing her princess rounds among the villagers there seems to be a bit of professional distance- we don't get anyone else's name, no inside jokes, playful banter. Its not like anyone is malicious or antagonistic towards her, and their polite smiles do seem genuinely fond- her people cautiously trust her with their problems, gazes torn between her and chief-safety-net Tui, and accept her suggestions gratefully. She teaches dance to the younger children who clearly adore her, but its not quite the same. These are Moana's People, her family-but not really her friends.

and we can tell that by how moana acts with the friends she does have. She and grandma Tala deliberately spend quality time together, they share interests (the sea) and hobbies (dance, storytelling). they joke and splash and lean on each other. They do Hongi (familial forehead touches), they walk arm & arm. They share confidences, in jokes, concerns. She sings her troubles to pua, and he's right by her side when she sneaks aboard the fishing catamarans. he comforts her when her dad yells, listens to her wanderlusting laments, enables her exploits. It takes a near death experience in the lagoon to keep Pua from her side at sea.

Maui is an even better example. Circumstances force them together, its true, but the trials of their quest soon see them bonding. They laugh, they tease, they banter, they share triumphs and tears.

Its certainly not an instant friendship. it starts out downright antagonistic- Moana goes into their meeting making demands of him. She uses her Chief Voice. She addresses him by formal titles, possibly speaking as one Aliki to another, as the wronged party in a dispute. She's trying to borrow an authority she's not fully bought into yet. She may have been born to the role, but that's not really how she identifies herself internally. Maui even calls her on it later.

As Maui navigates them to Tamatoa's lair, post kakamora escape, post tentative world-saving bargain, Moana is impressed by his prowess. Swept up in the moment, she enthusiastically commands Maui; "Teach me how to sail!"

Given how awkward her follow up is, I don't think Moana throws her princess privilege around like that naturally. At home she's always outranked by her parents, and while she perhaps doesn't see as much trouble as she might for sneaking out of communal chores, Tui & Sina are not shy to correct her. It doesn't seem in Moana's usual nature to be so demanding- part of why she had to practice her 'board my boat' speech so hard before she actually met Maui. "Fake it til ya Make it" is still in play here.

but Maui makes it abundantly clear that even if he didn't instantly see through her posturing, the authority she's trying to conjure wouldn't work on him anyway. In our world's mythology, technically Maui is also Ali'i (royal). Not only was he born to a chief, of a line of chiefs, his eldest brother is a chief. Depending what island you ask, he's got several godly blood relatives. In many myths he earns his own chiefdom (despite being the youngest son), and spawns several royal descendants. On Tonga, Samoa, and eventually Hawaii, many if not most Kings claim some Maui-the-island-raiser ancestry. Heck, there's a not 0% chance Maui IS one of Moana's ancestors. (many, many, many, many generations removed. Like if Genghis Khan showed up today and someone from San Francisco tried to slap a child support suit on him. )

but even if they're both technically Ali'i, Maui considers himself well divorced from all that. He's loathe to accept authority of any kind, even from the Gods themselves. A tried and true coping mechanism for any immortal whose already lived several times over normal human lifespan, he distances himself from the humans he helps. They are Mortal, Moana is just some Mortal, royal or not, and he does NOT take orders from them.

"Princess." he says, derisively. Dismissively. In Maui's stories, princesses are passive objects. They get saved, they get given as rewards, often times they get tricked into revealing secret treasure. Even his mother, (in the stories where he's on good terms with her), is mostly there to provide quest objectives. Maui might be a giant pain in the ass to his biological brothers, but at least they get to participate in a feat or two.

Moana at this point may or may not know what a princess is. The cultures that inspired moana's creation had kings and princesses at some points, but Motonui is either not big enough or doesn't subscribe to the whole king-ship deal. Their high chief still picks coconuts with the farmers, weaves baskets, cooks poi. Tui himself doesn't fish because Trauma, but he coordinates with fishermen on the ground- err, beach. The Motunui Ali'i are pretty well grounded. (lol)

but Moana can read tone just fine. Maui is saying "princess' dismissively. He defines it dismissively. On the climb to lalotai he defines it again, "staying home, kissing babies". A ceremonial, figurehead role.

Moana immediately denies being one. She continues to take offense to Maui's attempts to shoehorn her into that definition. She is the Future Chief. She is doing this for her people, dammit, and she's not gonna take the bench on this one. She may still be expecting that Maui is gonna be the one solving the problem, hasn't quite imagined herself taking the lead solo yet. but there's no way she's missing out on either helping out or making sure Maui sticks to their deal. There will be nothing passive about This Princess.

Anyway, I've rambled on too long already, you know most of the rest. Moana comes out of the adventure a hero in her own right, drawing on skills and strengths of her own to win the day. Her empathy, her quick learning, her parkour skills and even their friendship becomes part of Moana's heroic arsenal. She ends the movie on a far more equal footing with the living legend she has befriended. She knows who she is. She knows where she came from, and can see a little ways into where she's going. She's ready for a new chapter.

So here we are at the beginning of Moana 2. Moana has spent 3 years a badass. its looks like her latest trip she did just with pua and hei hei, but the abundance of other boats in the lagoon suggests theres been other more populated trips. She inspires a cultural revolution. She has a fan club. She has a new baby sister to role model for.

[LOOK AT MOANA'S LIL FAN CLUB EEE SO PRECIOUS]

and it seems like the one person who might relate to all that has been AWOL. (in the japanese trailers at least, there's notes of 'where has Maui been all this time'? SPOILER: probably kidnapped by matangi).

when Moana gets a divine vision quest to seek out new peoples, at first we see her try to go alone. She doesn't wanna put anyone else into harms way, she says. Its a long way, she says. but her mother insists that Moana doesn't have to do it alone this time. She needs a crew.

and thus, how i come to my conclusion. The next step in moana's journey is expanding her friend circle. Moana knows who she is as an individual. She's had one-on-one best friends (tala, pua, maui, possibly even that new little sister). She's had and lost mentors. She is solid in her family ties, and on a larger scale, the love of Her Island. But she hasn't really had the in-between step. A Small But Dedicated Crew.

I think Moana 2 is about the birth of Captain Moana & the Argonauts

I think 'Squad Goals' is the next part of Maui's journey too. Maui started the franchise a lone wolf and immediately after the heart quest was done he was back on the Lone Wolf track. Which seems to have gotten him in some trouble. In one trailer he argues with mini-maui,

"I don't need Moana to come rescue me!"

....

"-AGAIN."

Dwayne Johnson talked about in an interview that the kind of masculinity he wants to convey thru Maui is how its ok to ask for help. Its ok to rely on other people. You don't have to do everything alone. but of course, that's easier said than done. It'll be a learning curve for everyone involved.

And I think itll be a fun one to watch!

im excited.

ill try and answer some of your other questions in another post, as this one is already TLDR

[donnetellotheturtle]

Siren

Chapter 6

Varian didn’t like that Hugo was so quiet. He had his suspicions on what Hugo was. He only wondered why he wouldn’t just tell him.

“….Im not an idiot, you know.” Varian said after a couple long hours of silence. Hed figured Hugo would break it eventually, but the blonde didn’t, leaving Varian to be the adult and broach the topic.

Hugo looked at him. “I never said you were.”

“Youre a siren.”

Hugos face paled. He didn’t say anything though, so Varian continued.

“The late night trips back on the sundrop…You smell like the sea. Not in a bad way…I actually really like it…your blood is silver. And when you’ve been out of the water for too long, you were about to die.”

Hugo bit his lip. The sick feeling was starting to settle in again.

“I have a lot of questions…”

“Don’t expect me to answer.”

Varian sighed. “Youre still not going to open up to me.”

Hugo glared. “Oh sorry you figured out what I am and you expect me to suddenly be an open book? Hell no hairstripe.”

Varians baby blue eyes bore into Hugos. Hugo looked away before the guilt started eating at him more.

“Hugo. My mom was a mermaid.”

Hugo turned.

Varian smiled a little. “I guess you noticed that my singing voice wasn’t exactly…normal.”

Hugo was speechless. He didn’t know how to react to this information.

“So do you have-“

“The tail? No.” Varian chuckled. “No gills either. But besides the singing, I can hold my breath for a long time. Though I think that comes from my dad teaching me not from my mom…”

“Can you swim?”

“why do you think im a sailor?”

Hugo took a deep breath. “….what was her name?”

“Ulla.”

“Ulla?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“…..That was the name of my moms research partner. She disappeared a while ago.”

“Huh.” Varian chuckled. “Small world.”

Hugo curled up, starting to feel worse. “Shit…”

“Hugo, you need to tell me how you called for help. And what they’re going to do when they get here.”

“…I…I don’t know exactly. But they’re going to bring down the ship after rescuing us.”

“So theyre all going to drown?”

“Is that a problem?”

Varian hesitated. Hugo raised an eyebrow. “Goggles, they kidnapped us and are going to force us to kill ourselves trying to shut down this thing on Motonui. Plus with what they’ve done to you in the past, I’ve half a mind to do it myself.”

“Aw…you do care.”

Hugo playfully punched his arm. “it’s only cause you’re half siren.”

“Nah I think you started caring way before that…I saw that look when I gave you your glasses.”

Hugo blushed. “I um…”

“I care about you too.”

Hugos face went bright red, before he hacked out a cough. When he pulled it away, silver blood was on his hand. That…that was not a good sign.

“We need to get you into the water.”

“I-If we could just hold out…Donella and Cyrus should be here soon…hopefully.” Hugo coughed more. His chest hurt.

“We don’t know when they’re going to get here. We need a solution now.”

“I could…I could try to sing?” Hugo shrugged.

Ruddiger made a chirping sound. Like an alert. There was a crash up top. Then yelling. It was like they were being attacked but it didn’t indicate that there was another ship. In fact it sounded like just one person. Then it went silent for a moment.

The door opened. Varian looked up and to his absolute relief, his aunt was there.

“Adira!”

“it’s time for a jailbreak!” she sliced the lock open, then bent down to Hugo, who raised an eyebrow at her. “oh kid doesn’t look too good.”

“Hes sick! He needs sea water quickly.”

Adira made a face that Varian couldn’t figure out. Then she looked up at Varian. “Grab Ruddiger and let’s go.”

Hugo tried to get out of Adiras grip as she lifted him bridal style. It made his stomach churn.

“How did you know-“

“Who do you think sent him? Come on, freckles.”

Varian followed his aunt up top. Everyone, including Andrew, were unconscious.

“Holy shit Adira.” Varian mumbled.

“I didn’t even touch them. Come on. Before they wake up.”

Adira casually walked with Varian to the makeshift bridge she had on her own boat. Varian let out a sigh of relief at being away from Andrew, then frowned at seeing Hugo, who was hacking up a metaphorical lung.

Adira removed the bridge and casted off, getting as far away as they could as quickly as they could.

“Adira, he needs sea water. Right now or he’s going to die.”

Adira looked down at the blonde. “Right. I’ll take care of him. You go get changed.”

“But I want-“

Adira just gave Varian a look. Varian pulled back. “…please be careful with him.”

“Don’t leave me alone with this crazy lady!” Hugo tried to wiggle out of Adiras grip but it was like steel.

“Ill be right back.” Varian chuckled. “and she won’t hurt you. Right Adira?” he looked up at his aunt.

“Of course…We’re just gonna have a talk.”

“A talk or a talk?”

Adira shrugged. “We’ll see where it takes us.”

“Adira!” Varian glared.

“Fine. A normal talk.”

Varian nodded, satisfied, and walked below deck, Ruddiger on his shoulders. He had his own room there. Adira put down Hugo, then locked the door behind her nephew, just in case. She didn’t want him seeing what she was going to do.

Hugo was splashed with sweet sweet ocean water. He took the deepest breath that he had in days. His stomach settled. It felt like he could breathe again. It took a few coughs but his throat eventually came back to normal.

But when he opened his eyes, She had a sword pointed at his throat. God this job sucked.

“Okay Siren.” She said simply. “Start talking.”

Hugo grimaced.

--

Varian was relieved to finally be in safety. Still, on this ship…it was like walking into a memory.

He remembered the last time he was on this ship. 14 and grieving over a father who wasn’t dead but not able to be with him anymore. This was the last spot he had seen him up and moving and talking and truly alive. Not just a meat sack unable to talk to him.

Varian took a deep breath, going into his room and taking off his clothes, changing into one’s that Adira had set out for him. He went over to the water basin and cleaned his face hair and hands. The rest of his body could wait for later.

He looked in the mirror. When did he start looking so much like his dad?

Ruddiger sat on Varians old bed, and made a sound to get Varians attention. The boy looked over to him. “So Adira sent you huh?”

He just nuzzled Varians hand as he sat down the bed next to the raccoon. Varian chuckled. Then noticed a cheese platter on his bedside table. He smiled and shared them with Ruddinger.

He was worried about Hugo, sure, but he also knew he could trust his aunt to take care of him and make sure he was safe.

So for now, he let himself relax. He let himself settle into his childhood bed.

--

Not far from Hugo and Adira, a large wave appeared. Hugo immediately knew.

“Cyrus.”

Adira stopped, looking at the pirate ship in the distance that was swallowed up by the monstrous wave. For a moment, Adira thought it was coming for them. Then it calmed as if it never happened.

Adira put her sword away as there was a large splash and Cyrus was on the ship, over Hugo, grabbing his face.

“Ow, ow Cyrus! Stop it!”

Cyrus, a large man soaked in sea water, wearing armor as if he’d been ready for a fight, was examining Hugos face.

“They didn’t hurt you anymore than you needed right?” He asked.

Hugo chuckled, and then threw his arms around Cyrus. Cyrus breathed a sigh of relief. “You dumbass don’t ever scare me like that again.

“Cyrus.” Adira said simply.

Cyrus turned, then smiled. “Adira. It’s been a while.”

“Ten years.”

Hugo let go of the bigger man as he stood. “…you two know each other?”

Adira nodded. “the only reason he didn’t drown this boat too. Good work by the way.”

Cyrus chuckled. “Just taking care of this one.” He ruffled Hugos hair, who grumbled in response. “He sent me a blood message.”

“my conch shell is back on the sundrop.” Hugo muttered. Adira relaxed a bit.

“I apologize for my previous behavior.” She sheathed her sword. “But since you’re Cyrus’ son…you get a pass. For now.”

Hugo blushed. “I’m not his…”

Cyrus just looked at him. Hugo smiled a bit.

She came over and unlocked the door, opening it only to find Varian tumbling out. She didn’t look surprised. “Hey freckles.”

Varian chuckled. “Hey Adira…what’s going on?”

“Your boyfriend here is with an old friend of mine.”

“Hes not my boyfriend!’” Varian and Hugo yelled at the same time, both of their faces going red.

Cyrus and Adira looked at each other, and chuckled.

Cyrus then looked at Hugo. “You look sick. Come on, let’s get you into the water.”

“….can we talk about the mission?”

Cyrus nodded. “Donellas not far. We can talk about it with her.”

Varian frowned softly, looking down. Hugo saw him and smiled. “I’ll be back in a bit, sweetcheeks.”

Varian blushed hard. “Hugo!”

Hugo winked, and he and Cyrus jumped into the water.

Adira looked at Varian. “God you’re just like your dad.”

Varian cocked his head to the side. “What do you mean?”

“Both of you fell in love with sirens.”

Varian blushed deeply. “I’m not in love with him! He’s my friend!”

Adira ruffled her nephews hair. “Yeah. That’s what your dad said too.”

< >

Read this on A03!

[atarahderek]

Let’s talk about shipping: Moana and Zootopia

Zootopia and Moana are two of the more popular CGI entries to the Disney animated canon. They came out the same year, with Zootopia beating Moana out for best animated feature at the 2017 Academy Awards due to the fact that Zootopia dealt with some sensitive topics of modern day society while Moana more or less played it safe with the plot and subject matter. Both were buddy films depicting an unlikely friendship between a strong female protagonist and a comical but troubled male deuteragonist. And despite the fact that both films ended with each friendship pair remaining just friends, shipping inevitably happened. Nick/Judy (the ship name of which I don’t actually know) and Moana/Maui (called Moaui or Hooked Wayfinder) are both quite popular ships among Disney fans. Like all non-canon ships, they have some controversy surrounding them, mostly regarding whether making either pair an official couple would subvert the storyline, character development or message that were established in canon. For that reason, the issue of shipping in each fandom has created two main camps: Those who do and those who don’t. Those who don’t tend to stand firmly by their assertion that it would be detrimental to make Nick and Judy or Moana and Maui a couple. They prefer to treat each pair as platonic life partners, in part because their being so would avert the standard Disney coupling tropes. Especially in the case of Moana and Maui. Fans will sometimes ship one pair but not the other. In that case, the shipped pair is much more commonly Nick and Judy, as they are ship teased by the film’s writers and directors, and their interspecies relationship would make them stand out somewhat in the context of their story, especially with one being a predator and the other being prey. Moaui is shipped less frequently because fans don’t find as much payoff in that couple in terms of progressivism and virtue signalling. Basically, Moaui is just too plain vanilla for them, and they seem to think that’s a problem.

To those people, I say you just lack imagination. A couple doesn’t have to be a token to be interesting. Héctor and Imelda aren’t a token couple, but they’re quite interesting, and all of you will admit it (more on this later). Also, vanilla is delicious, so there.

As far as chemistry goes, Nick and Judy are identical to Moana and Maui. Both pairs start off as antagonistic to one another and eventually develop a true friendship over the course of their first adventure. Both even endure a plot-mandated friendship failure, a staple of Disney and Pixar films these past several years. Both end their films as good friends and nothing more. And both leave the future of their relationships entirely up to fan interpretation. Which is why I say that if you do or don’t ship either pair, more power to you. I can understand why you do or why you don’t.

For my part, I’m in one of the smallest camps; I ship Moaui, but not Nick/Judy.

I have two primary reasons for not shipping Nick and Judy:

They don’t need to be a couple. Zootopia is a modern metropolis identical in almost every way to American society. It is a melting pot of every mammalian species and culture in the world, with relationships of every type represented, including one that is both interspecies and same sex. So tick off the diversity box, those of you who are keeping score at home. About the only type of relationship we don’t see is between a predator and a prey species, but there’s absolutely no reason Nick and Judy must be that token couple. There is no pressure on either of them to find romance, be it in one another or in someone else entirely. For all we know, both are asexual and aromantic (I very much doubt that, but it could happen). And in the context of their society, there’s no reason they should be in any kind of relationship. Making them a couple wouldn’t really add anything to their characters or impact their society in a way that would be unique from any similar couple impacting it. Nick and Judy are free to remain best friends. And I like them better that way. That’s not to say there aren’t some adorable pieces of shippy fan art out there, as well as ship fics that are quite good. But I just don’t see any need to ship them myself.

Their careers get in the way. Nick and Judy are partners on the police force. And as long as they work in the same precinct, it’s best that they not become romantically involved. This is standard workplace practice for most police departments, because romantic relationships can get in the way of field work. Many other employers discourage couples from working in the exact same area as well. My employers actually go out of their way to assure that siblings, parent/child pairs, and couples never work in the same house. Allowing people who are that close to work just as closely could potentially lead to conflict, divided loyalty, distraction or, worst of all, an enemy exploiting the relationship. All of which could compromise a case or put lives in danger. If Nick and Judy were to start working separately in different precincts, then I could see them safely developing a relationship with little or no risk to their careers. But as things stand now, it’s just better that they don’t become romantically involved. Any story where they did would have to address this issue and find a realistic resolution for it.

I really have one primary reason for shipping Hooked Wayfinder, and it’s basically the opposite of my first point for not shipping Nick and Judy. And it focuses mostly on Moana herself:

Moana will get married someday. And in my opinion, Maui would make the best match for her. I already explained the relationship dynamic that they would have in an earlier head canon meme I wrote. I believe Moana and Maui’s marriage would be one of political and social convenience, and they’d treat it like a friends-with-benefits situation. As heiress to the position of Motonui chieftain, Moana would be expected to strike a good match that would establish her as a strong leader with a lot of influence, especially when dealing with any other people whom the people of Motonui meet on their voyages. And because Moana’s people have been declining in population, Moana will be expected to have kids and keep the line of chieftains going strong. Basically, Moana’s situation is almost polar opposite to Nick and Judy’s situation. There is a lot of pressure on her to marry and have kids, and it’s downright unrealistic of her to not end up married with a family. Her cultural context won’t allow her to pull a Merida (even in Merida’s case, she was granted an extension of time and the right to choose her suitor; she is still obligated to eventually marry). But this is Moana we’re talking about. She wants to prove herself as a leader, and she would not be the type to tolerate an obligatory husband stealing her spotlight. She needs a man who will support her as her people’s leader, who will be there to act as added muscle if someone challenges her (but only if she needs him to), and who will generally let her be herself. Maui is the only man she knows who would be willing to do all of that. Yes, he’s hammy, but he wouldn’t steal Moana’s thunder as a leader. Just as a performer. And Moana can live with that. Moana would definitely take the lead in the relationship, as her position as chief allows her to do that, even over a demigod. Maui’s been absent for the last millennium and was the cause of their recent problems to begin with, so he doesn’t carry a whole lot of authority with Moana’s people. Marrying Moana would actually give some of that authority back to him. But he would still be her second, not the other way around. True, they are no token couple, but they are still an interesting one. It’s unusual in media to show the wife as the one who is front and center in the relationship without making her seem naggy or otherwise unrealistic. 

A good example of such a couple is Héctor and Imelda from Pixar’s Coco. Yes, Imelda has a fiery temper, and can come across as nagging or the type who would treat Héctor like a whipped puppy (Ernesto almost certainly accused Héctor of being such at some point). But in every single one of their interactions as a couple (when they’re not estranged, that is), it is shown that Héctor and Imelda are nothing but the best team a married couple can be. She’s the alpha to his beta, but she doesn’t nag him or treat him as subservient in any way, form or manner. And he fully supports her out of genuine love and not a trace of fear. He is completely dedicated to her, even though she played a not-insignificant role in his nearly being forgotten. They are just as compelling as a couple as they are as individual characters.

But those two are also more traditionally romantic (i.e. sappy). Moana and Maui wouldn’t be that type of couple. Maybe they’d wax romantic every now and again, but their focus would be on their relationship as a leadership team. They’d bicker and joke much the same way siblings would. They would definitely be family, and they would definitely enjoy the more carnal aspects of their married relationship. But they wouldn’t be singing cheesy love ballads to one another or making out in front of the kids (unless it was to very deliberately embarrass them). Their marriage wouldn’t cause them to lose any of the chemistry they had in the film, and would actually add an interesting component to that chemistry. They would have a relationship unlike any seen in Disney so far, and I think it could really add to their characters and their storyline.

In the case of either movie, I would be just as content with a Zootopia sequel that made Nick and Judy an official couple as I would with a Moana sequel that made Moana and Maui an official couple--so long as it’s done right. I don’t think any fan would be happy if either of these power teams became strangled by the red string.

[ariliki]

► basics;

Full Name: Ariana Aiali’i Waialiki Age: 20 Birthday: February 18th Sexual Orientation: Biromantic bisexual Relationship Status: Single Religion: Idk Occupation: Student

► background;

Place of Birth: Hometown: Motonui Education: Auradon Prep ► physical;

Faceclaim: Courtney Eaton Eye Color: Chocolate Brown Hair Color: Dark brown Height: 5′10 Weight: none ya Tattoos, Birthmarks, Scars, etc: A chicken on her her right tibia

► relatives;

Mother’s Full Name: Moana Waialiki of Motonui Mother’s FC: Bic Runga Mother’s Status: Alive Mother’s Occupation: Chief of Motunui Siblings: N/A

► relationships;

Ex-Significant Other(s): I dunno Reason for Separation: Who Knows Current Significant Other: none What They Look For In Others: Looks, fun, ability to hang

► personality;

Positive Traits: Kind, level headed, caring, generous Negative Traits: Competitive, spacey, melodramatic, tempestuous 

► misc;

Hobbies: Cooking, surfing, playing sports, martial arts, taking pictures First Book They Read: Where the wild things are Favorite Book: American Gods Favorite Music Artist: Harry Styles and Hozier Favorite Subject: Enchanted Oceanography Pets: Hei Hei the chicken. Habits: Bouncing out of her seat, momming others, coming up with new drinking games, daydreaming, blurting out everything she’s thinking

[mycreativewritingworks]

What if Ariel meets Moana and Moana doesn't know her power.

Scene: Princess Ariel and Moana’s meet up.

Moana And Maui boating in the Ocean but suddenly the strong Storm comes.

Maui: Moana, I saw the dark cloud coming to us. What we are going to do?

Moana: Go Hurry! Find an Island to anchor our boat.

But the land is to far from them and their boat was now in the middle of the sea, distressed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.

Moana: Maui help!

Maui Transform in to a Whale ) but suddenly he could not save Moana and was swept away by the strong waves

The Water drops on Moana’s face and she woke up and ask “Where Am I?” . A beautiful girl but with a green fish tail appear in a front of her and says “you are here in a Cave, You are Save now.” Moana shook, and ask “ Who are you?” And a beautiful girl replied “ I’m Ariel, Princess of Atlantica and you? What’s your name?” Moana replied “ I’m Moana, from Island of Motonui, but princess Ariel what happened why I’m here in a Cave? Where’s Maui?” Ariel replied “ You are here because I save you, your Boat was swept by the strong waves and I don’t know where is Maui now”. “Hope he’s Ok” Moana whispered.

The storm is gone, Maui searches for moana in the ocean using his power to transform into different kind of animal he suddenly found the cave Where Ariel and Moana are there.

Maui: Moana, I’m glad that your Alright

Moana: Thanks for Ariel, she saving me.

Ariel: You’re welcome Moana!

Maui and Moana Back to the Island Motonui.

[francesderwent]

Moana and Catholicism, Part I: desire and vocation

The story opens when our young protagonist, constantly at odds with the authority figures with whom he/she grew up, finally breaks free of the ties which have bound him/her and pursues the longing of his/her heart.  After facing much adversity and going through a great adventure, he/she finds that the fulfillment of his/her desire is real and has been the answer all along.  The protagonist is revealed to have been a kind of chosen one, his/her rebellion at the outset of the story is vindicated, and a new form of life is inaugurated.

Described like this, it doesn’t seem that the desire-to-vocation narrative is all that rare.  Plenty of modern films are about the importance of following your desires, being true to yourself even when the whole world doesn’t understand - in fact, it seems to be one of Disney/Pixar’s favorite narratives, featuring in a major way in A Bug’s Life, Mike Wazowski’s arc in the Monsters movies, Ratatouille, High School Musical, and now Moana.  There’s a reason the main takeaway from Frozen was the solitary song “Let it Go” - we’re tired of managing our desires as we’ve been taught to do, and when we give them full rein we want to believe we can accomplish amazing things, like building a giant castle out of ice or creating a sentient snowman.  We hope for the revelation that we were right all along, and for the people who questioned us to be relegated to the wrong side of history where they belong.

But the narrative I’ve been describing so far is not about call or vocation so much as it is about progress.  Destiny, qua destiny, is always about moving forward in this worldview; it’s about rejecting what is given in favor of what can be worked for or won, and this rejection is a choice which is largely self-motivated - there is no higher power granting “chosen one” status, the protagonist is the hero simply because they’re braver, smarter, or in some way more forward-thinking than everyone else.

But this is not nearly adequate to describe the narrative which is played out in Moana.  Moana, as a whole, is shockingly anti-progress, or at least non-progressive, which allows her story to genuinely say something about desire and vocation: the task Moana finds herself drawn to is is not one that she creates for herself, and her journey leaves nothing behind of her former life.  Rather, Moana is about the call and the return.

First, let’s examine basic plot structure.  If we look at her motivations and actions, Moana reveals herself to be a different kind of rebellious princess than Ariel or Jasmine.  While we see Moana turning again and again to run to the water in the opening sequence, she isn’t trying to leave, as becomes evident in the next couple of scenes.  She’s actively trying to be a good successor to her father, and she wants to incorporate sailing past the reef into that given task.  She isn’t trying to reject her responsibilities, she’s only chafing against what seems to her to be an arbitrary restriction preventing her from flourishing in the life she’s already living.  And additionally, her father’s objections to her desires are not based on a refusal to consider new ideas, but out of a wish to spare her from a painful experience like one he had chasing the same desire.  Even when she disobeys her father to set off on her quest, it is because she wants to preserve the way of life on the island, and it is at the instruction of her grandmother, who is a kind of higher authority (“I’m his mom, I don’t have to tell him anything”).  Furthermore, Moana’s choosing to return to her island at the end of her quest is not a surprise - she only leaves so that she can come back, all that she does, from the very beginning, is for the sake of home.  Overall, Moana is an extraordinarily mature and responsible protagonist, there is nothing of the “rebellious for the sake of being rebellious” in her.  

Moreover, although in the beginning of the film it appears that the desire for the horizon wells up within Moana mysteriously and without cause, the whole point of the “How Far I’ll Go” recurring theme seems to be to show that this is not the case.  The first time we hear the theme establishes what the desires are, the reprise signals that the reason she has the desires is because she was chosen by the ocean for a greater purpose, and the third instance of the theme in “I am Moana” shows that this call is not at odds with the rest of her identity, but rather founds it.  She can be both the girl who loves her island and the girl who loves the sea, because she was chosen for this greater purpose.  (The line “And the call wasn’t out there at all, it’s inside me” still gives me some trouble, but if you interpret it along the lines of “my self and my vocation are not at odds” and not “I give myself my vocation”, then I think it works, barely.)  This kind of narrative is extremely rare; I can only think of one or maybe two other films where desire is so clearly tied to something given rather than something chosen, and it’s one of the factors which makes Moana so Catholic.  The emphasis on the connection between desire and being chosen, and her committing to follow the call even when her immediate desires and fears conflict with it - this is what keeps the “follow your heart” narrative from being shallow or relativistic.  

The theme of call and return is brought to bear again in an overt way when Maui teaches Moana wayfinding.  “It’s not just sails and knots; it’s seeing where you’re going in your mind, and knowing where you are by knowing where you’ve been.”  It may seem like a little thing, but it’s oddly one of my favorite points in the movie.  The fact that all three stages of the journey - origin, present state, and end - are explicitly included is sneakily anti-progress.  Progress reduces the three stages down to two: there is the “this” and the “next after this”, and each is absolutely relative.  In a series of A, B, C, D, E, etc, each one takes a turn at being “this”, and then “next after this”, each one doesn’t understand itself based upon its relation to the others except to automatically assume each “next” is better than the “this” that came before it, and the series can never end, because it’s not going anywhere.  There is no end, there is only another “next after this”, which will itself eventually be replaced, so there can never be any existential rest.  With the three stages presented in wayfinding, on the other hand, there is a clear goal in mind the whole time.  And, where you are at present is defined and understood both by its relation to where you’ve been and where you’re going, not in the sense that you know you’re doing better because you’re no longer where you’ve been, but that you understand your place based on its relation to the larger journey.  The line that Moana repeats throughout the film is a perfect example of this: “I am Moana of Motunui. You will board my boat, sail across the sea, and restore the heart of Te Fiti.”  She is defined by her home, her goal is clear, and all that she does in the meantime is shaped by both her origin and her end.  

The most extraordinary example of this theme, however, is in the discovery of her people’s origin early on in the film.  Moana rushes out of the cave exclaiming “We were voyagers!”  The fact that she had a name for it means that she already had some concept of that kind of life; she already knew it was logically possible for her and her people to build boats and leave the island.  In fact, some part of her may have desired this.  If this were a different movie, she would simply have left the island successfully on her first go, become a master wayfinder more or less on her own steam, and upon her return everyone from Motonui would have just gotten on board with the new world order of voyaging: this is what progress looks like.  But she doesn’t even consider the possibility that this is what life could look like until she learns that this is what life once was.  Her pitch to her father is that BECAUSE they were voyagers, THEREFORE they can be voyagers again.  It is not a rejection of tradition which allows her to pursue her destiny, but a return to a deeper form of tradition, which is further symbolized by her mentor figure being her grandmother rather than someone unrelated to her or even one of her parents.  

So, at the heart of the film lie two discoveries: true origin, and given call, and Moana’s desires speak to both.  There is something like Aristotle’s causes at play here: when she knows where she came from (daughter of the village chief, descended from voyagers: efficient cause), and where she’s going (to restore the heart of Te Fiti and save the world, final cause), then she knows who she is (formal cause): “I am Moana”.

What does this have to do with Catholicism?  Well, the interplay between call and origin revealed in desire is one of the major themes of Saint John Paul II’s catechesis on human love, aka theology of the body.  JPII writes that our desires speak to our “original experiences”, our metaphysical-existential memories of what we were made for and what we were supposed to be before the Fall.  We tend to think that those desires are pointing to the things right in front of us, and that those lesser things, like a quick trip past the reef, are going to satisfy our desires.  But ultimately our desires point us beyond that to our intended destiny, to cross the great ocean, to give the whole of ourselves in love and in pursuit of a vocation.  Thus, desire should not be repressed or rejected, rather it must be deepened.  Go to the root of desire, and there you will find rest.  And we’re able to aim so high because this is what we were made for in the first place, this was always the plan.

There are absolutely tensions within the film between the Catholic-vocation narrative and the modern-relativistic-individualistic-progressive narrative, but I think the main themes are actually Catholic, with the progressive bits being the aberration.  And even with the tension, the fact that Moana’s call is given to her rather than chosen and that tradition is taken as something normative rather than something to be thrown off, this film has some great Catholic themes that you’ll be hard pressed to find elsewhere.

Next: Moana, Eden, and the culture of life

[3431jessica]

A snippet of Chapter 13, It’s Arranged.

Note that Maikai (which means handsome) will be Maui’s new name while he is in disguise.

“Maikai, I know we’ve just met, and I don’t expect you to answer this honestly. But have you ever feel helpless watching something terrible happening, but you don’t exactly know what to do to change it?”

There was a contemplative silence before he answered.”Yes, I suppose. Why?”

“Do you… do you plan to do anything to prevent that from taking place?”

“At first, I didn’t. But then I realize, that trying and failing isn’t a mistake, but it’s a big mistake to fail to try. So, I did.”

“What do you mean?”

“You see… I-I am an orphan,” he began with voice faltering in reluctance, as though he was afraid to share it out loud. “I spend the majority of my life in the sea alone, feeling lonely and unwanted. Throughout my life, I covet other’s affection, attention and acceptance…sounded so sappy I know,” he chuckled humorlessly.

“But then, I let those craving controlled me, deluding me that I am only worth of other’s approval if I was doing amazing deeds and saving lives from peril. I was so obsessed with becoming the hero, and then I made a terrible mistake. I betrayed someone’s trust, well… many people actually,” he revised, lowering his gaze in definite remorse.”And my action haunted me for a very long time. People began to despise and mock me. I fell into the hole of loneliness and felt my life worth absolutely nothing. I thought I would be like that forever until I met this girl.” A ray of positivity entered his voice, and he smiled dreamily.

“She was… she was a remarkable woman, and she… uh, well..-”, he paused, flicking his sight on her apprehensively and clearing his throat before resuming his story.” She befriended me and helped me to see my past mistake, made me feel like I could be a better person despite what had happened before: my unfortunate background, my past transgression, and every misfortune. She restored my confidence and courage to make things right, I owed a lot to her.”

In a moment of silence, Maui risked to steal a glance, just wanted to see how Moana react to his revelation.

“Well, what happened to her?” Moana raised her brows curiously. There was something very moving on the way he narrated his story, as though - this girl, whoever she was - must have meant the world to him.

Maui quickly tore his eyes from her, worried that Moana could read the rawness of his emotion that suddenly became tangled in a confused knot.

“We parted ways, eventually,” he replied. “She was destined for greatness, while I was…. well, my path is….different. I knew it wouldn’t be right to force our fate, to ask her to be with me, so I left her to her responsibilities while I departed… to… to look for answers.”

Truthfully, his heart was instigating him to tell her more, to expound her the truth - this was his chance to modestly confess her feeling for her - but he didn’t - because deep down, he knew his answer was in front of him: Moana.

Moana stared at him, she was almost tempted to press more information from him, but she felt such audacity would only do bad than good. They have just met after all.

“I met someone who changed me like that once, too,” she replicated his intonation. “I always doubted my calling to be the Chief my father wanted me to be - I found it hard to fit into the mold of tranquil island life, then… inexplicably I met him. I’d never thought we’ll be friends at first - he came across as self-loving yet adventurous, charming but crazy person. But once we did, things began to change. I began to accept myself, my calling… discovering my deepest desire and discerning my dream,” her lips fell into an easy smile.”And I began to see something I couldn’t see in him before: he is a kind, selfless and very much a loyal friend, and it’s been the greatest privilege to know him.”

“You are talking about the guy that give you that right?” Maui looked pointedly at Moana’s jade pendant. Instantly, her demeanor changed, but not towards the direction Maui had predicted.

“My fiance?!” Moana blinked completely shocked. Subsequently, her brows curled viscously in undisguised hatred. “Of course not!” she exclaimed. “He just wanted to marry me for the sake of vengeance, a savored conquest! How could you even think of that?” Moana blustered full of spite, remembering her inescapable destiny in the hand of her own fiance.

“Uhm, dunno… “ Maui cowered slightly, didn’t expect Moana sudden angry tirade over the mention of her handsome husband-to-be. “I bet he is a noble chief himself right?” Maui added, coating his sentence as if he wasn’t knowledgeable about the whole truth.

“He is,” Moana replied dryly.

“I thought... a valiant, beautiful girl like you would make an excellent companion for a nobleman like him, not to mention you’ll be the latest addition to his list of accolades - a match made in heaven.”

“What?! You think I am sort of an accessory or something?” Moana snapped caustically, her sentence seared with heat. “You have no idea what he had put me through,” she began hyperventilating, clearly outraged. “He was an accomplice of a man who wanted Motonui to surrender under his reign by using me to force my father into subjugation - he even planned to kill..-”

“Yes?”

“Ugh, forget it,” Moana buried her face in her palms, feeling it burning in shame. She shouldn’t be yelling at the stranger like this, throwing her entire vocabulary and nearly told him the entire saga of her life after her unwanted betrothal. What could she possibly gain (and the stranger to benefit) from telling her story anyway? Is not like Maikai could magically fix all her problem.

[tornrose24]

Only a Voice part 9 (A Moana fan fic AU loosely inspired by the Little Mermaid)

In which Moana finally meets Tamatoa. Also I posted ahead of time because it was Tamatoa tuesday.

Note that this can also be found on fan fiction.net under the name HolyMaiden24

There was a dark laugh as a cloaked figure stood behind the writer who was tied into a chair. Strings of pearls and rope were tied around her wrists to the rests and she stared at them in confusion. “See, I can’t take any chances with you like with your precious readers.” The figure reached out and rested his hand’s on the writer’s shoulders. “Consider yourself lucky I didn’t do anything worse.”
“Uh...” The writer frowned at the ‘binds’ “I know this isn’t as bad as decapitation by the moon from Majora’s Mask but this is just awkward.” She cringed “Seriously, string of pearls for rope? Ugh, and then I keep forgetting that you’re a Disney character, which makes this a lot more weird.” The figure laughed. “In a good way sweetheart!”
“What happened?!” The writer demanded. “I thought we had a truce! And I feel betrayed!” She frowned as a genuinely hurt look was on her face. “I mean, I thought we were becoming friends! And why do you call me ‘sweetheart’?” She asked. “In fact, why did I write out that you would call me ‘sweetheart’ that one time?” “Oh you mean the A/N version of me?” The figure laughed and the writer shot him a confused look. When he pointed, she turned around to see another version of Tamatoa in the human form she imagined him and he was also tied up in a similar (but more sparkly) manner. “I took care of him too.” He added. “Explain why there was a version of Maui’s little friend playing video games and also knew who I was.” The A/N Tamatoa asked her in an annoyed tone. “And can you explain WHY I’m a human?” The writer groaned. “Oh this’ll give me and the readers a headache with the reviews.”

“Well, off to pay a visit to the little human.” The cloaked figure laughed at the readers before looking at the writer. “By the way.... I realize you’ve been trying to restrain yourself from me despite allowing my other self to give away love to the readers. I understand why, you don’t want to be THAT kind of fan.” “No, I am not THAT kind of fan and I am aware that you aren’t MY kind of guy, even if I do like characters like you.” The writer snapped before she realized something. “Wait, what did I just say?” The figure laughed as he patted the writer’s head. “Oh you silly little human, I know you can’t resist me.” He then went off. “Have fun with the denial.” The writer just stared in dumbfounded disbelief before staring at the A/N Tamatoa. “He’s... kidding, right?”

My sadistic side really enjoyed this chapter. Now I’m not trying to make enter an angst phase in this story for the heck of it. Imagine being a teenager who is going through a really difficult time, in addition to having to deal with a lot of pressure of the difficulties of adulthood and that is the painful reality that is happening here. It was also interesting for me to do something new and explore the other sides of such issues within the family and how these events are effecting them, but of course this is a story where things are about to get MUCH worse. Speaking of which... As stated before, I wanted to keep the description of Tamatoa’s human form to a minimum, with the exception of a few key details. This is so that you, the reader, can envision your favorite humanized version since there are so many awesome ones out there to use (I know I have mine on tumblr and deviantart (also, its under the name tornrose24 if you need to take a quick look), but I’m curious to know which version you opted for in the reviews). Of course there was one thing I had to include in his description no matter what because I don’t think Motonui would be an easy place to maneuver around without it (especially without a walking stick). Yeah, sorry about that. So I did some alterations to some recognizable songs. The first song might be unfamiliar because I changed most the original lyrics but if you know the song Suppertime or its reprise from Little Shop of Horrors...well, you’ll see. (it’s one of the best broadway songs in my opinion, not to mention downright creepy). And in case a select few of you are wondering, no I didn’t use ‘Goodbye Moonmen’ from Rick and Morty or ‘Mermaid’ from Flight of the Concords as fitting as they would have been. Sorry. :(

Chapter 9: The lure of the Siren When night came there was a strange quietness upon Motonui. Even the sound of the ocean in the distance seemed to have dulled down to the point that its calm nature was missing. It was only if you were more aware of your surroundings that you would notice this, yet most of the villagers were in a hushed excitement for the visitors that would come tomorrow and the fun that the events would bring. Only a select few dreaded the day that was to come, yet one resident held a special kind of fear for her role. Grandma Tala finished her drink in silence before turning to see her granddaughter huddled under the protection of the tapa that depicted Maui in all his fierce glory. She had her head bowed and her arms were drawn into her body as her arms were around them in a tight grip to the point that she looked like an unmoving rock. Her injury was cleaned, treated, and bandaged up, but nothing could be done to fix the pain within the girl. Pua sat by Moana’s side and looked up at his human friend with sorrow and whined as he wished there could be a way to cheer her up but he didn’t know how. Tala sighed as she set the drink down. She would not let her son be anywhere near his daughter for the time being as there was too much anger and heartbreak for them to be in each other’s presence. Normally she would be more than happy for Moana to come spend a night with her, but this was not a happy visit. “I don’t think I can smile when I dance.” Moana finally spoke in a pained voice while she was still curled up. “I can’t think of a reason to. Not after what has happened.”
Tala wished that she could posses all the knowledge of the world, for sometimes there was no true way to comfort someone so that they could be happy before the sun rose up the next morning. She knew that feeling when her husband died and it took awhile for her to smile again, but she knew that what Moana was going through was something entirely different. Her soul had almost been crushed completely when the boats were about to be destroyed by her father’s hand and she was going to lose a friend as a result. Worse yet, she had to experience the pains of not only growing up, but the heavy burdens she knew her future would bring in her role as a leader. “I saw you leave Motonui on that boat, but I did not say a word about it.” Tala finally spoke as she tried to find a way to help the girl. “I could not see you clearly but I could feel your happiness as if you were beside me. I had prayed that the gods would make that dream come true, and they did.” “But now its a tainted dream.” Moana looked up and revealed how utterly miserable she was as well as a slight redness in her eyes from crying. Even now it looked like she was trying to hold herself together. “I thought this would be the best day of my life, but when I remember what happens after I go back to the island, I’ll always remember how badly it ends. Even the best part of today had to be taken away from me by father.” Moana let out a small, bitter sigh. “I don’t think I’m meant to have happiness.” Moana confessed. “I’m always kept from the things I want more than anything and if I get one taste of it then I’m punished for it. If people try to help me, then they get punished. And now I am expected to play a part and smile and dance as if nothing happened.” She closed her eyes. “I feel like I’m suffocating because I want to be a leader for my people, but I don’t think I could be able to live up to their expectations. I don’t know if I’ll ever find a husband that I would like or if I’d even be able to have a child to continue the line when that day comes. I’m drowning and this time there is nothing that can pull me out or save me.” “I’m scared, Grandma.” Moana looked at her grandmother with quiet despair in her brown eyes. “I’m scared because I will always have to make sacrifices whether I want to or not. I can’t make my own choices because its like fate has something in store for me and I don’t know if I want it. I don’t know if I can wear a smile for a mask for the rest of my days.” Tala stared at Moana before she took a breath. “So you think you don’t have a choice in what you say?” When Moana shook her head, she continued. “Sometimes there is no telling what the world wants us to do or what fate has in store.” Tala told Moana. “We can’t change the past and we can’t always correctly predict the future. We can’t decide to be born into the life we find ourselves in, and the given circumstances limits our options, but we do have a choice. We can chose to stick in the same spot forever or we can get up and try to move on. You can make the most of what life offers, you can fight your way out, or you can let someone else decide your path. You can stay on this island or you can leave–” “I can’t!” Moana cried. “I can’t abandon my people and yet I��!” She gave up and sighed. “Not a lot of people in my life have ever considered what I want, especially considering who I’m destined to become. And yet, of all the people who gave me that freedom to have that one day to be out at sea was someone who could have easily taken it away from me. Someone who took a serious risk for my sake.” “Ah yes, the one who cannot speak.” Tala smiled knowingly. “But why would you think that way of the one who you tried to get away from through trickery and who you could not stand? I thought you regarded him as arrogant and–” “He is!” Moana confessed as she threw a hand out. “And he treated me like a bratty child when I acted like one! Yet–” She dropped her hand as she thought about her friend. “The more I spent time with him, the more I could really see him. Arrogant, smug, and a bit of a trickster, but...” She pondered over her words as well as the man on her mind. Had her opinion of him changed that much? “He went against father’s wishes to make my dream come true and I can’t think of too many people who would be willing to do that. It took me awhile to really know him, but I could see someone who could be fun, reliable, incredibly daring, adventurous, and determined. Someone who listened and who didn’t treat me like a Chief’s daughter, but as a regular girl, and was willing and patient enough to teach me all I wanted to know. There is more to him and I want to know more about him, like what he used to do. If I could have another day on the sea with him, I would take it in a heartbeat and not just because it would mean that I would have that day on the sea once more. And if it was in my power, I would do anything to pay him back for all he did. I’d even give him his voice back if I knew how to do it.” And in truth, she almost wished it were possible that he could stay in her life a little longer or at least that he could come back to visit her. If he was to leave her life forever, she doubted that she could ever forget him that easily. “And its all my fault that he’s going to be sent away.” Moana sighed. “For all he did, he gets banishment as repayment and I can’t do anything to stop it or say goodbye. I don’t think I even gave him a thank you hug in all the time I knew him.” Come to think of it, did she ever have a chance to do that? She verbally thanked him, but she never expressed it in the gesture that would have meant so much more and would tell him everything that she would not be able to say. Tala frowned as she thought some things over. “Would he be worth defying your father?” She finally asked. Moana looked up in confusion as Tala added “Some people and causes are worth defying all odds. Some sacrifices are worth making and no matter how large your foe may be, you can overcome them by being your true self as well as being true to yourself. Remember what I said about having a choice?” Moana was about to ask her grandmother what she really meant when they heard footsteps coming towards the fale. Afraid that it was her father, Moana hurried to one corner of the room while Tala got up with her cane and went to move the entrance aside. “May I speak with you alone?” It was her mother and she sounded desperate and lost. “Its about some things that happened today.” “I will in a second.” Tala nodded and walked to Moana where she knelt beside her. “Remember, if you really don’t feel up to dancing tomorrow, you can always claim illness at the last moment.” Tala whispered to Moana. “It works every time.” She then raised her voice as she got back up. “Would you like me to bring anything back? Some fruit perhaps?” Moana shook her head before turning to Pua. “I’d like to be alone for a bit, Pua.” She told him. “Could you go with Grandma?”
Pua was reluctant to do so, partly because he didn’t want Moana to suffer alone, but also because he sensed that there was something wrong in the air. It was as if there was a strong force, like a large amount of mana that was compressed all together and stuffed into a coconut shell that could barely hold it in, but it wasn’t comforting and he had no idea what it was. “Please?” Pua reluctantly left Moana and followed Tala out of the fale as his concern for his friend won over his concern for the strangeness in the air. He hoped that Moana would have some time to clear her thoughts before they got back. Moana watched as Tala and Pua left and she could see a row of torches outside that illuminated the black darkness in their welcoming glow. When the entrance fell, she could see the lights from the torches through the tapas as well as the designs upon them. She turned to the tapa that she was originally under that depicted Maui–that intense gaze and those barred teeth made her think of her friend’s moment of anger from earlier–and she recalled her dream with the mysterious woman. So long as you are by the ocean or within it, it will protect you from a certain danger.” The words rang in her head but they only made her annoyed. “What good was being safe near the water when all it did was cause me trouble?” Moana asked the tapa of Maui before turning around to look at all the tapas. “What could can any of you be to me now?!” She demanded with a scowl as she walked around the room and shot accusing looks at the characters. “I can’t overcome my foe because he wishes to control my future! I can’t just abandon my people, no matter how much I want to leave! I’m not a hero like some of you and I don’t have the power like the rest! I can’t save my friend and I can’t save myself!” She felt like she was suffocating again, like she was choking on something unseen. “I know father will still try to burn down the boats.” She felt herself going into a panic. “I let our heritage be destroyed because of me! I let one person get in trouble because of me! I just can’t get out of the dance because of how much it means to me! I’m expected to do things that I don’t know if I can or not, I’ll always have to mask my real feelings–” She was drowning in her stress and she tried to swim back up in an angry outburst. “No one cares about what I want! Why would any of you start caring?!” She cried out to the characters. “Do any of you understand how I feel?! I can’t be the person–I don’t want to be–I–!”
She didn’t know what she wanted anymore. “I don’t know what my true self is.” She stopped at the tapa of Tamatoa and collapsed under it. “I can’t–” She felt her tears coming. “I can’t–” She curled herself into a ball again and tried to calm herself as her head bowed into her knees. She was terrified and she wanted out. She didn’t want tomorrow to come and she wanted to defy all odds but she had no clue how. She couldn’t be true to herself and she had no idea who she was anymore. All she knew was that she was just a stupid, selfish little brat who couldn’t do anything right. Moana started to sob as her tears came flowing out while the ball of stress was still locked inside her body. The light from the torch outside illuminated the tapa Moana was in front of and it revealed all the sinister details that made up Tamatoa who was right above her. Yet an ominous shadow of a figure from outside walked forth and stopped in front of the tapa and covered up the character on it. The shadow blocked Moana from the light, trapping her in its darkness, and as she continued to sob, the shadow waited for a few seconds. “Hey little princess hello...” A smooth, yet deep sounding voice sang out from behind Moana. Moana ceased her crying as she took in the voice through her stress filled mind. “Wh-whose there?” She sniffed as she slowly raised her head and acknowledged that she was not alone. “You’re looking glum as can be...” She never heard such a voice before; it had a smooth, calming quality and yet there was an odd seductiveness about it that made you want to hear more.
“Hello?” Moana’s voice rose in strength with her demanded as she began to forget her concerns. Who was outside the fale and singing as if it was for her and her alone? “You’re looking mighty sad.” The voice continued to croon and it was at this point that Moana finally got up, but the figure retreated away from the tapa as if he sensed what she was doing. “It’s so plain to me.” Moana wiped her tears off her face as she walked over to the entrance to the fale and opened it to see an almost human like figure in strange cape like garments of dark greens and browns that completely covered him from head to toe and slightly dragged upon the ground. He took one of the torches off the ground and proceeded to walk away from the fale with a strange staggering movement as if his steps varied between normal and uneven. “Well if you need a friend,” He continued singing as he went about his way “I got a hand to lend.” Curious as to who this strange singer was, Moana watched as he got farther away before she went over to also grab one of the torches. She watched as he headed his way on a side trail that lead somewhere near the mountains and forested area of the mountain in that strange walk of his. Could he be her friend? No, she was positive that couldn’t be what his actual voice sounded like (and she wasn’t sure if he did escape) but she felt compelled to follow this man who didn’t sound like any of the men from her village. No man she knew of possessed a voice that seductive or that unique. If truth be told, any distraction was a welcome to the girl and this was a very interesting one. “Come on, come on,” He sang as if he knew she was following him as he got further and further away into the darkness of the night with only a torch to guide him. “Come on, come on,” And follow him she did, away from her grandmother’s fale. “Come on, come on.” His singing continued to make Moana forget her troubles from earlier that day and her sadness turned to a burning curiosity. She wanted to know who this person was while at the same time she was drawn to his voice, which seemed to numb away her inner turmoil. “Poor unfortunate soul,” He sang another song. “In pain, in need. This one longing for their freedom, this one longing to escape, and do I help them? Yes indeed.” Moana was barely paying attention to his words as she continued following this strange figure farther and farther away from the village. It was easy to follow him due to his limping movements and his torch which he held as far away from him as possible, yet she was unaware as to where exactly he was going as they continued. Moana wanted more than anything to see the face of the one who possessed such a voice. She already had to go through many years wondering about the face of the voice she tried her hardest to remember. If her savior’s voice had been like a warm day with the sun at its highest point in the sky and was deep and full of life, then this voice had a strange playfulness about it and a smoldering quality, with a rich depth unlike that of the ocean. Eventually he changed his song again that practically radiated with confidence. “Well Tamatoa hasn’t always been this glam,” He crooned. “He was a drab little crab once. Now he knows he can be happy as a clam, because he’s beautiful, baby.”


“Did your granny say, listen to your heart?” He continued as his voice picked up in volume. “Be who you are on the inside?” I need three words to tear her argument apart: your granny lied.” Moana became aware that they were now somewhere between the forests and the mountains as he continued in a more upbeat, show-offish manner. “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!” For a brief moment Moana was reminded of her friend’s earlier smug behavior and felt convinced that if this man wasn’t him then these two would probably get along. In that moment she felt a twinge of regret and she completely missed part of the man’s song. When she came back to reality, she only heard “-they chase anything that glitters! Beginners! Oh, and here they come, come, come, to the brightest thing that glitters!” At this point the man stopped at a small dead end of an area where the earth rose up to serve as walls, though one wall was low enough that you could see the tops of the nearby trees. There were some plants and a few boulders and rocks, yet there were a few torches already placed here and there to give the area equal illumination. It was here that the man hummed the rest of the song and he thrusted the torch in between a few boulders and Moana stopped a few feet away to see what he would do. He cracked his head to one side and took the odd garment off before quickly throwing it away as far as he could as if he hated it and he let out a deep sigh of relief. He made to roll his head for a moment but then he paused for a second when he seemed to be aware that someone had followed him. “Well, well, well,” He sang with a low, amused tone as he turned around to face Moana, who almost flinched in surprise and even backed away a few steps when she realized that he was now fully aware of the fact that she followed him. This man was not ordinary in appearance. His clothing was unusual in that the vibrant colors were impossible to create with any ordinary dyes, nor did they look natural. His adornments included strange looking objects and materials that flashed and shone in the light of the fire and he even wore them as accessories. His appearance was so peculiar and flashy, yet so other worldly, that Moana had no idea if she was standing before a warrior, a lord, or even one of the gods. When she looked down, she realized why the man walked so oddly–he was missing part of a leg on one side and he was wearing some sort of prosthetic unlike any she had ever seen as a replacement so that he could be able to walk like a normal two legged person. “What have we here?” Moana looked up when the stranger asked in an amused and eager tone of voice. His talking voice was slightly different than his singing voice as he had specific accent that was more prominent and made the emphasis on some of the words come out differently than what Moana was used to. “I thought I heard someone following me.” He flashed the girl a strange grin that revealed a set of crooked teeth as he walked over to her. “I didn’t expect that it would be the young princess of this island herself!” He then bowed before her in a dramatic flourish, his upper body bending low as far as he could and his free arm extending completely out to the side. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness!” “I–uh–” Moana felt a little unsure as to what was going on. “I’m not a princess.” She told him with a slight awkwardness. “I’m the Chief’s daughter–I’m afraid isn’t the same thing.”
The stranger let out a strange scoffing sound. “Aw, it doesn’t matter.” He got up and rolled his eyes before walking towards her. “From what I know, the titles are all the same.” He then did something Moana didn’t expect when he got close enough– he reached out and took her free hand with an almost light as an air hold and extreme carefulness. It was as if he was barely touching her and was trying to avoid completely grabbing her hand as if doing so would break it and he lowered himself slightly to her level as his other arm went behind his back. “Enchante, mon princesse.” The stranger gave Moana a wide, yet oddly charming smile before he raised her hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it. It was such a sudden gesture that Moana had no idea how to react, yet she felt herself blushing at the contact of his lips against her hand. She couldn’t deny that there was a strangely charismatic nature about this man, despite his other oddities. “Was that too forward?” The stranger flatly asked with a frown after kissing her hand when he saw the blush, yet his eyes hinted at a pleasure towards her reaction. “You’ll have to forgive me.” The stranger continued as he lowered her hand from his face and he looked into her eyes. “I know that’s not the traditional greeting around these parts, but I’m a collector and I tend to pick up more than just treasures when I go out and about in the world. Its quite educational and some of the things I find are beyond your wildest imagination.” Moana heard his words but she was looking at his eyes–they were a beautiful shade of deep blue, like certain parts of the waters around Motonui, yet his left pupil was slightly larger than the right one. She wondered how that was possible (an injury or something he had since birth?) and she missed hearing the stranger brag about his career as a collector until he finally said: “Hey, babe?” The stranger’s unique eyes narrowed in annoyance. “Just pick one to look at.” “Sorry!” Moana shook her head with a cringe of embarrassment and focused on his face altogether. “You must get easily distracted a lot, don’t you?” He asked as he finally let go of her hand and he stood back up. “Granted I can’t blame you since I’m impressive looking to begin with and I know I got a nice set of eyes.” He let out a smug smile at this as he gestured to himself with a dramatic flourish. “I actually quite enjoy the staring, so I forgive you for stalking me.” “Wha–?! No, I–!” Moana didn’t know whether to be offended or not by his earlier words but she didn’t want to embarrass herself either, nor did she want to seem offensive (she did notice that he was missing a leg after all, in addition to the differences in his pupils). “I mean I did follow you,” She stammered “But that was only when I heard you singing and you were covered up and–and you are a great singer!” She quickly added before she could offend him. The man’s face dropped in confusion for a second. “Wait... you actually liked the singing.” “Yes.” Moana smiled a little after making that recovery as she moved her torch in her other hand. “I’ve never heard a voice like yours. I was feeling depressed about some things that happened but I forgotten all about them now, so thank you.” It was true, she did forget her troubles. The stranger stared at her in disbelief before he let out a smile that felt a lot more genuine then the others. “You mean it?” He laughed in delight. “Thanks, mon princesse! The last time I sang, I was told to shut up!” “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” Moana frowned as she wondered how that happened. He was a great singer, so it couldn’t have been because he was terrible. “Yeah, well he got what he had coming to him!” The stranger’s following laugh was now more out of amusement but there was an odd thing about it that felt wrong and almost mean spirited. “Actually it was kind of ironic, now that I think about it!” His laughter died down for a moment and the humor in his eyes vanished. “You know its almost funny.” He mused as he suddenly became lost in thought. “There was a time when I thought my voice alone could make others see some sort of value in me. In fact it used to be my only favorite thing since it could make others happy.” His eyes became melancholic and he paused for a few moments to turn his head around to try to look at his back for some odd reason. “And then you find out that no matter what you do, all people care about is what’s outside and whether or not you’re–” He quickly shook his head and that smugness returned when he moved his head back to the confused girl. “But hey, why should others care about how you feel, right?” He closed his eyes as he cupped his chin with one hand. “Its not like it’s more important than politics, preparations, appearances, or why the sky is missing some stars at night.” The stranger opened his eyes and let go of his chin to wave his hand out. “Though I can see quite a lot above our heads right now.” He looked up for a second. “I wonder how they shine like that.” One part of what he said was oddly specific and yet it caught Moana’s attention all the same. “You know that Maui’s constellation is missing too?!” She asked. “Tell me,” She stepped forward. “What do you know about it? Why has it vanished?”
“Oh?” The stranger seemed rather interested in her reaction. “So you hum–” He was about to say something but then hummed it instead before changing his words ”–you noticed that, didn’t you?!” His eyes then narrowed at Moana as his mouth turned into a smirk. “Question, O daughter of a Chief–well, its more like a personality question. Not one of the annoying kinds, like what your favorite color is!” He waved his hand but then he paused again. “Jewel tones.” He quickly threw it in as if he considered the answer but then he waved his hand again. “Anyway, its something more meaningful like...” His smirk deepened as his voice lowered to a strange, ominous tone as he leaned in towards Moana “What would you say if Maui turned his back on the human race and left them because they all took him for granted?” Moana stared in disbelief. What kind of question was that? “No,” She shook her head. “No he wouldn’t do that!” She denied this. “We appreciate all that he has done for us! We tell his stories and they inspire us even today! He wouldn’t just leave us like that!” That couldn’t be why the constellation vanished because Maui was said to genuinely care about the well being of humans. It just wasn’t a good enough of a reason. The stranger was taken aback by this but then he let out an odd snorting sound mixed with a laugh. He tried to hold it in yet he covered his hand as he snickered at Moana’s reaction and she thought she heard him mutter something behind it. “Oh sorry forgive me, something about that reminded me of something amusing that has to do with an old friend.” He shrugged and waved his hand again. “So despite all the less savory tales about him, you honestly believe that Maui is still a hero to you all? That he won’t get upset because one or two humans took advantage of his generosity over the years? You really think he is selfless enough to care about the feelings of at least one human if he goes missing, let alone if he actually does exist?” His words struck a small blow into Moana’s heart but the anger she held came back. “You probably know as much about him as you know about me!” The man stared at her and was taken aback by her outburst but then he shook his head as he threw his hands out when he shrugged. “Like I said, mon princesse–it was just a personality question.” “Of course I know enough to know that you were hiding a few secrets of your own and that you got in a lot of hot water with your daddy earlier today.” The stranger added as he walked around Moana, who was forced to turn around to follow him. “You are a little like me in a way–you can’t stand being like the others and being trapped and unable to do your own thing is suffocating you. You know that you were meant to shine and someone is trying to keep you in the dark. I know you have dreams and goals, mon princesse, but you can’t for reasons either beyond your control or because someone tells you not to do the things you want. And I’ve experienced enough to know that being selfless isn’t going to help you in the long run.” He gave her a sideways glance. “Trust me, I’ve been there and done that. I’ve been lied to before by someone close to me about how inner beauty can get you by in life. Unlike all your subjects and your family, I can give you a way to get off this island as far as you’d like to go.”
“What do you mean?” Moana asked as something in her head was screaming that something wasn’t right. “Well, if you do everything exactly as I say, you can get off this island before tomorrow night.” The man shot her an incredibly wide eyed look and a mischievous grin–the effect didn’t make him look human and it started Moana for a moment. “You see, I can guarantee that the way things are going, you are going to be stuck here miserable and forever doing what everyone wants you to do instead of the other way around. Now if you are willing to ignore the ‘voice’–” His features relaxed back to normal when he used his fingers with one hand to make air quotations on that word “–in your heart and give in to being a little selfish, you can free yourself and get what you desire the most. And all my ideas and back up plans, mon princesse? Every one of them gets you right off the island.”
“So what do you say?” He stopped and held a hand out to her. “Want to free yourself from all these people and get off for good?”
Moana stared at the stranger before staring at the hand. She wanted so badly to get off the island after all that happened, yet this was all too good to be true. “Why exactly do you care about what I want?” She asked. “Why me, of all people? I don’t see how this benefits you.” “Hey, I recognize a real diamond in the rough when I see one.” The man told her. “You got out on a boat one time, but it wasn’t enough, was it? Don’t you want more of that? To be part of that world?” He gestured out to where the sea was. “Even if one can almost drown in it or if there are a bunch of storms and monsters down below, I can’t blame you. The ocean gave me a heck of a time when I tried to get here but its better out there, take it from me.” Moana hesitated and she was about to ask what the man wanted from her when she realized something. How exactly did he know about the boat and her dad being angry at her in the first place? How did this man get on the island without anyone being aware of him? Wouldn’t someone have told her and her grandmother? And how did he– He mentioned drowning. Moana paused and looked at his garments and at the strange objects he had that seemed to shine in the firelight. There were not many objects she knew of that could do that and fact some of these strange objects shone so well that the shine was almost a brilliant white. Something shiny hit her in the eye earlier today and it wasn’t the sun. The angle wasn’t correct and she wasn’t looking at it, so you would have needed something reflective to have the light bounce off. Then it hit her like a rock to the head. “You,” Moana gasped as she held a hand to her mouth in shock. The man raised an eyebrow at her and, despite her warning scream in her head, she let it out “You were the reason I–!” Then Moana realized that the man had deliberately lured her away from the village. He knew where to find her and he had something in mind when he got her away when she was all alone. In fact this area had been set up as if he was expecting her to come to him. She was beginning to be afraid. “I...I just remembered that my grandma will be looking for me.” Moana avoided the stranger’s gaze as she tried to walk backwards away from him. “In fact I think there might be some people out around this area tonight.” She lied with a straight face. “Maybe I could come by tomorrow instead.” She turned around and was about to walk away when she heard the man approach her and grab her free arm in a painful squeeze. “You know its very rude to walk out of a conversation that hasn’t ended yet, babe.” The man’s voice came out in a warning hiss before Moana turned around to face him. “Weren’t you taught better than that?” The stranger’s pleasantries faded and his eyes narrowed at Moana, who now realized that despite his impressive appearance there was something about this man that was wrong. She was just too distracted by her issues and his showiness to see it. She couldn’t put her finger on what was wrong with this man, but there was something hiding behind the grandiose surface and within his eyes. Her grandmother’s warning on how appearances could be deceiving could not have been more effective in any other situation. “You were the reason I was blinded on the boat today!” She trembled as she yelled out her accusation. “You caused that to happen and I almost died!” She narrowed her eyes at the man before her. “Did you tell my father about me being out on the sea too?!” She demanded. “Who are you and what do you really want with me?!” The look of embarrassed surprise in the man’s eyes was all Moana needed to know the answer. “Oh ho, aren’t you a clever one.” The stranger scowled as annoyance flashed in his eyes. Moana slowly stepped back as the man got closer to her as he kept his hold on her. “I’ve yet to meet your daddy, so no I wasn’t the reason why he found out, but he’s getting too curious for his own good at the moment. The thing is, you have no idea what you got yourself caught up in and I’m afraid I’m going to have to resort to a drastic measure.” He made as if to take something out of his clothes. Moana took no chances–she waved the torch between her and the man as hard as she could. The man recoiled in terror from the torch as fast as he could and almost stumbled backwards but by then she made a run for it. The man groaned in annoyance as he regained his balance before running after the teenager. “Why did I forget the bloody fire in her hands?!” It was almost as if the person who brought fire to the humans was still around her! Moana ran as fast as she could as she tried to figure out where she was and how close the village was with her fire in her hand. She might have a chance to outrun the stranger since he had a handicap (it was not the first time she took advantage of something like that), but she had no idea what it was that he really wanted with her and she didn’t want to take any chances. “GET BACK HERE!” The stranger yelled as she heard him coming. “I SWEAR IF YOU DON’T, I’LL MAKE THIS MUCH MORE DIFFICULT FOR YOU!” Moana chose not to respond back as she ran as fast as she could. Her injured leg was still recovering and was protesting against her actions, but she ignored the pain. A part of her wished there was someone by her side to help her, but she also felt confident that she could find the village. If she was close enough or else she could see it, then she would yell for help. At the same time, if she yelled for help, he would find her based off the sound of her voice. She once swore to never let herself be kidnapped again and to be ready if something happened, and now that was going to be put to the test. “I MEAN IT, YOU GET ONE CHANCE TO COME BACK!” He yelled again. The voice that was once so pleasant was now a cause of alarm and fear. “DON’T BLOW IT, BABE!” Where was she?! She thought she knew this island by heart and yet the darkness made it unfamiliar to her. Any moment the stranger could find her and already it seemed that her insides were starting to hurt from all the running! She knew that there was a freshwater pond and a waterfall close by if this pathway was familiar in the light of the torch. There was also a set of rocks she could hide behind over there if she was careful, but that meant that she would have to sacrifice her light. It was the only give away to her location and although she was afraid of doing it, she had no choice. The stranger sounded as if he were getting closer to her. She wished deep down that there was someone by her side and she wanted to scream but she couldn’t. Her heart was pounding and adrenaline was kicking in. She could barely even feel whatever she was stepping on underneath her as she ran for her life. Finally she found the small, narrow pathway that lead to the waterfall and she ran into it. When she finally saw the waterfall and the pond that turned into a stream that headed to her village, she glanced at the rocks, before hurling the torch into the waterfall. She quickly darted right to the rocks and crouched behind them where she was forced to wait. The darkness that she once feared could now become her greatest ally in this time of distress. “BABE!” The man sang. “WHERE ARE YOU BABE?!” Moana closed her eyes and covered her mouth as her body shook out of fear. Her breathing was already heavy from the hard work and it would be a give away to her hiding spot. Don’t find me, don’t find me, don’t find me. She pleaded. The footsteps slowed down and they got closer and closer to the waterfall. Moana held her breath. Her family and her friends raced though her mind as she feared what would happen if she was caught. The footsteps stopped. Moana pleaded to the gods to divert his attention away from this area. The steps then sounded as if they were retreating until there was a silence. Moana looked up to see that there was nothing out there; the sound of the waterfall cascading down into the pound was the only thing to break the silence. It seemed that the darkness was truly her ally for once in her life. With a huge sigh of relief, Moana got up from her hiding spot and held her face in her hands as she walked around the rocks. She would need to be extra careful getting out of here and she would have to alert the village about the stranger. She needed to get help and she needed to hide in a place where there was a lot of people. Moana took a few moments to calm herself down and she took a few deep breaths before she lowered her hands and opened her eyes to face the waterfall... and let out a strangled gasp of horror as her heart stopped. Staring right back at her was a large and incredibly monstrous face. She couldn’t make out what it was supposed to be, but it had intense colored markings of garish pink and dark blue on its face and somewhere illuminating the silhouette of its mountain of a head was a bright light blue glow. There was also pink and black colored antennas above its eyes–white eyes that were huge with a small dot of purple in each one and they were staring right at her. The water of the waterfall made the face ripple and distort a little, which only made the overall effect even more sinister. Moana took a few steps back before turning around as quickly as she could, only to come face to face with the stranger she had been trying to escape from. But now there was a big change in his appearance–the stranger also glowed in the darkness like the monster in the waterfall. All the peculiar adornments and accessories that he wore now glowed with that same light blue and he too also bore the blue and pink markings on his face. Even the whites of his eyes glowed as their blue color turned into the bright purple that belonged to the monster. Moana gasped in terror as she turned to try to get away before she found herself facing the monster in the waterfall again. She then hesitated as she stared up at the monstrous face and then realized that there was supposed to be a wall of earth and rocks behind the waterfall and there was nothing behind the stranger to cause that reflection. “What... what the...?” Moana gasped as her eyes widened while she tried to make sense of what was going on in her state of panic. The monster’s eyes narrowed at Moana and the purple of his eyes changed colors–one became light blue and the other became a garish pink. At the same time, his mouth grew into a big grin to reveal his white teeth which were as crooked as those of the one behind her. “Oh, babe, babe, babe.” The monster’s mouth moved, but the voice that spoke out belonged to that of the stranger. Moana turned around–her eyes wide with fear–as the man grinned and his eyes also changed like those of the monster’s. He took out a strange necklace with a purple shell with golden flecks that gave off a faint glow and he held a hand out to her. “You really shouldn’t have seen that.” In her panic, Moana made to run as fast as she could around the man, but he grabbed her when she was close enough and slammed her into one of the walls of earth that trapped her in this area with him. The strength behind the move was far more powerful than that of a normal human being and the force against the wall was enough to almost knock the air out of the young girl. While she was stunned, she fell to the ground and struggled to catch her breath as the man came and bent down to her level. Moana cried out as the stranger grabbed her neck with one hand, and forced her back up to her feet against the wall. Moana tried to scream but his hold was too tight to the point that he was almost chocking her; she tried to kick at him, but he kept his distance as if he expected it to happen. Instead she was forced to try to pull his arm away from her with her hands and she tugged as hard as she could, but it was futile. “I can’t believe you are the only thing in my way, but I can still use this to my advantage.” The stranger growled as he glared at Moana, who now tried to scratch at his hands while kicking at him. He then smirked as the hand that held onto the necklace flipped it in the air within the safety of his grasp before it was dangling down low between his fingers and thumb. “You humans with your embellishments to stories.” The stranger continued with a chuckle as he raised the necklace in front of Moana’s face. “Of course there are ways to make them real if you have the right possessions on hand.” “Wh–” Moana struggled to snarl at the man. “What are you doing?!” “Ever seen one so shiny?” The man sang as he waved his free hand and the shell of the necklace waved back and forth in front of Moana’s eyes. “Soak it in because it’s the last you’ll ever see.” Moana made to pull to the side, yet the man kept his hold and forced her off the wall and into a position that forced her to bend her knees as she furiously tried to pull his hand away as hard as she could. “Ces’t la vie, mon ami, I’m so shiny!” He sang in a dark cheerfulness as the glow of the shell grew and Moana tried her hardest to break free. “Now I’ll claim you so prepare your final plea, just for me.” He almost begged it as if it gave him pleasure. Against her will, Moana’s eyes were being drawn to the shell of the necklace that seemed to wave in time to the beat of the tempo of the stranger’s song. The more it glowed, the more she was drawn to it and her struggles were slowing down as the whites of the man’s eyes and the eyes themselves shifted from blue to pink and back again in a crazed manner and his grin widened. “You’ll never be quite as shiny,” He taunted Moana as her head began to throb and the browns of her eyes were slowly being taken over by a milky purple color. “You’ll wish you were nice and shiny!”

In back in the safety of the village, Sina slowly approached the fale of the man who could not speak with a basket of food in her hands. Tala followed her close behind with Pua by her feet and she could only let out a sigh and shake her head when she saw that there was already someone guarding the entrance to the fale with a club in their hands. “Maybe its better if I never tell them.” Sina quietly confessed to Tala as she looked down at the basket. “Maybe I’m not pregnant after all and it was a false alarm. Its not going to make things better.” She wanted so badly to tell Tui that she was positive that this was why her body was behaving so strangely lately (there had been so many signs and one of the women who helped deliver newborns that she confided in earlier was also convinced about this), but now it just felt too early to say. In fact, there could not have been a worst time for a feud to strike to prevent her from letting her family know. “It won’t unless you can help mend the bond between father and daughter.” Tala advised Sina. “If Moana chooses to stay with you tonight, please watch over her, will you?” Sina asked. Tala could only walk up to her daughter-in-law and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She carefully patted it before walking away. “Good night, Sina.” “Good night.” Sina responded with a weak smile before heading to the fale and Pua followed after her. When the guard looked up, she held the basket out to show why she was there and he nodded and parted to the side; Sina nervously went inside to see what her husband had done. The man had been tied to one of the central beams that held the fale up. A rope had been wrapped a few times around both his stomach and the beam he was pressed up against and his hands were tied at the wrists to the point that they allowed some comfortable movement, but they still kept them bound together. He had been forced to the ground in a sitting position and he was slumped over in a dejected manner to the point that his head hung low and his hair hid some of his face from view. Sina hated the sight and she wished that her husband hadn’t gone to this extent. She walked over and set the basket down close enough so that he could reach the food. “I’m sorry, I can’t find a good enough reason to excuse why my husband did the things he did.” Sina tried to apologize for something she knew she had no control over. He didn’t look up to indicate that he heard her, which made her lose more of her confidence. Even Pua tried to bump his head into the man’s leg, but he didn’t bother to notice Moana’s little friend. “I’ll see what I can do for you in the meantime.” Sina tried to say. “If it were in my power I–” There was no point in saying anything that could give him hope at the moment. She would give him an empty promise if she did. She sighed again and got up to turn around but stopped. She wanted to say something–anything–to cheer him up or give him closure, but she didn’t know what to say. It was only when she made it to the entrance and Pua followed her that the man finally looked up at Sina. She didn’t see the look of regret in his eyes before the light from outside vanished and he was stuck in the dark once more.

Sina later found her husband lost in thought as he looked at the strange golden brown object in his hands in their fale. She already knew the story behind it, but that wasn’t her concern. “You say that earning trust is important, but isn’t Moana’s trust in you as her father just as important?” Sina asked as she was determined to follow Tala’s advice. “You are afraid of losing her because of what happened in the past, but there are other ways to lose her forever. Could you imagine what would of happened if you did burn down those boats?” Tui turned his head to look at his wife, but he did not respond. “If I was in her position, I would have left the island and never came back.” Sina hardened her gaze. “I try to avoid picking sides and to help the two of you see the other’s views, but you went too far this time, Tui. Moana is also my daughter and I care about her happiness and well being. You cannot burn down those boats or else we could lose her for good.” Tui looked as if he wanted to answer but he could only force his eyes away from Sina, who was angry at this. At least her husband could be able to talk, so this was not excusable. “Can’t you at least let her say goodbye to her friend?!” Sina demanded. “I don’t want her to hate you Tui, but you have to at least make an effort to show that you aren’t the heartless father she thinks you are! What do you think will happen to her when he leaves the island?! What will happen if you choose to burn down the boats when the visitors leave?! What will happen to this family?! Do you think she would want to sleep in her own home with us ever again?!” “Eventually she will forget what happened, Sina.” Tui could only say. “Oh and like you didn’t forget your friend or your father?!” Sina yelled. It was at this point that Pua crawled away as far as he could from the argument. “Why would you bring them into this?!” He demanded. “We can’t forget the people who leave strong impressions on us!” Sina threw her hands out. “Especially those we were close to! So unless you try to find a way to fix this situation, you’ll be at risk of making Moana think that you were a horrible father to her when you were alive! She’s not going to have us in our lives forever!” Sina added. She had to stop herself from saying anything that could make the situation worse. She wanted to tell Tui that she wanted to be able to go to the other islands herself, that Moana might view the man who could not speak as a better father figure than Tui was when she looked back on those lost to her, that maybe his friend would not have appreciated how Tui was ‘honoring’ his memory. She needed to get through her husband’s stubbornness and make him see before her family was ruined forever. Sina glanced at the object in Tui’s hands. “You should return that back where it came from.” She advised with a scowl. “They say its bad luck to take something that belongs to the gods and I would not be surprised if that belonged to one of them.” “Its dark out and we won’t have time for that tomorrow.” Tui countered. “The owner lost it and they would have come for it if they knew it was missing.” “Then I guess you better not burn the boats.” Sina countered. “Because if you’re suspicion is correct, then we don’t know what will happen if the owner is not a friendly being.” Meanwhile a certain teenager was stumbling through the village as if lost in a trance. The moment she saw the Chief’s fale, she paused for a moment to take it in before she straightened herself up and headed towards it with more natural steps. Inside the fale, Pua sensed Moana approaching and he hurried out to greet her. The moment he finally located her coming towards the fale, he stopped and all he could do was stare in confusion. Sina sensed why Pua had left the fale and she stepped out to see her daughter looking at one of the many torches. “Moana?” Sina asked as she went to approach her daughter. Strangely enough, her daughter was dressed in an unusual skirt and top that was composed of a strange hue of magenta, with touches of blue and yellow. Even the clothing was somehow adorned with blue–green stones around her neck and what looked like rows of pearls upon the skirts. There was a string of pearls on top of her head like a crown and the only thing about her attire that did not change was the bandages around her injury. “Moana?” Sina asked again. Moana finally looked away from the fire and her eyes seemed to have a strange look in them like she was somewhere else. “Mother.” Moana nodded with a strange stiffness and a small smile. “Are you feeling well?” Sina was concerned and found herself holding her hands together. Was Moana still suffering and was this the result of it? She also wanted to know where Moana got that dress, but she was more concerned about Moana’s well being. Moana broke into a slightly wider smile as she straightened her back. “I’m perfectly fine.” Moana nodded and spoke in a strangely upbeat tone as if everything was perfectly natural, but there was still something about her that seemed restrained. “I just don’t think I can sleep here tonight. I think I’ll sleep at grandma’s instead.” Pua frowned from where he was as he looked over Moana. Something was wrong about her besides her outfit, which wasn’t exactly her style–there was a strange air about her that didn’t feel natural. He trotted over to her to see what it was. “I understand.” Sina nodded with a frown as she tried to hide her worries. “I know a lot has happened and I understand if you need to be away from your father for a bit.”
Moana’s smile twisted for a second and she flinched at the mention of her father. Sina saw the intense flash of anger in her daughter’s eyes, but to her it felt perfectly understandable since she wasn’t happy at Tui herself right now. “I would like that very much.” Moana admitted. At this point, Pua approached his companion and when he tried to push against her leg, she didn’t acknowledge him by looking down or petting him like usual. “Well... I’ll see you in the morning.” Sina turned around and left, feeling horrible that she didn’t have any other way to fix the situation before tomorrow morning. And who knew what would happen tomorrow while each member of her family was supposed to act like everything was ok? Moana turned around and ignored Pua, who tried to paw at her leg with one of his feet. She went on and walked away without even looking down. Pua immediately regretted leaving her alone. He was offended that she didn’t notice him, but he could tell something was wrong because this behavior wasn’t like Moana. He knew something had happened when he left her alone and it had to do with that strange atmosphere from earlier. He had to be extra careful so that he could figure out what was going on and what had happened to her. And that meant that he could not afford to let any of the villagers put him in an enclosure with the other animals. Moana continued walking and when she passed by the fale of the man who could not speak, the person with a club moved in front of the entrance as if she was going to try to enter it. She only stopped to look at it for one second before glancing back at the fale where her father was. The mask broke as her forced smile darkened into an angry glare and her eyes narrowed at it. What he did today was unforgivable. She would not let him get away with what he had done. Did he want her to be the perfect daughter? Oh she would give him the perfect daughter tomorrow. She shot her angry look at the person in front of the fale and they almost stumbled backwards in surprise at how intense her gaze was. Satisfied, Moana continued on her way.

Somewhere not too far from the village, the stranger Moana encountered stood by one of the torches he stole as he examined his arm. It was a very human like appendage made of flesh and bone instead of a hard shell and when he took the princess’ hand to kiss it, it wasn’t a claw that was holding her hand and his sense of touch had been heightened to the point that he could actually feel her skin. He had taken a drastic measure in order to make sure that the human wouldn’t get in the way. Granted the ocean had been dead set on keeping him off this island and it was one heck of a struggle for him as it tried with all its might to drag him back into its hold until he finally managed to get completely on the island and away from it. He knew the ocean was going to give him trouble. It was partly why he couldn’t go after the girl when he had his earliest possible chance, because that entity seemed really invested in the current events and it wasn’t on Tamatoa’s side. Of course, he knew he couldn’t blend in the way he was, which was why he had the foresight to make a back up concoction that didn’t last as long as Maui’s was, nor did it have the ingredients that took the demi-god’s voice or tattoos away. He was not a magical being but he wasn’t kidding about how going out into the world would be educational because he picked up quite a lot in the vast ocean besides treasures. He lucked out in learning how to turn into a human, but he never had a real need for that until now. The moment he had taken the concoction, it was one of the most physically painful experiences of his life next to the loss of his leg. It was like he was being compressed and something was pushing against him, forcing certain body parts to retreat into himself and he had to bite down on one of the many trees to keep himself from screaming before it got too big for him. Even his insides changing was agonizing and especially when his posture was changed so that he would have to stand like a human. He wasn’t claustrophobic but he suddenly had a good idea what it was like when that happened and there had been a lot of cursing in addition to the screaming. He wasn’t sure if Maui got the better end of the same deal or not at this point. It took the once mighty crab a while to get used to the changes, including learning to move like a human, the change in perspective, and a whole lot of other things that were incredibly disorienting to him. Even learning how to readjust holding onto objects took some time and luckily he had enough while he was still observing and forced to hide in an (unflattering) set of rags to cover the splendor and shine of his human form from the unsuspecting mortals. Being in this form was interesting, but it wasn’t enjoyable if he couldn’t show it off, if he couldn’t see his proper reflection as it currently was, or if it had to come with immense pain with the initial change. Also he wasn’t able to get his missing leg back, which was a huge downside. He did grow a little fond of the human princess and he did appreciate her sincere compliment on his singing. It was disorienting in the fact that he didn’t have to do anything to force her to his eye level (and it had been years since he was large enough to be at eye level with a human) but he had been convinced that she seemed to like him and that he had impressed her by being himself. It was a blow to his ego that the only reason why she was comfortable around him at first was because he was a mortal like her at that point and it did prove his point that outer beauty was all that really mattered in this world. However it did make him wonder what the heck she was able to see in Maui if his body had been damaged by the spell, in addition to losing his voice. But somehow she figured out enough to force Tamatoa to take a drastic measure. It wasn’t a big loss because, from what he understood what was going on, he did her a huge favor that was also going to work in his benefit. As long as the princess was away from Maui, Tamatoa’s victory would come to pass and it looked like the stakes were raising much higher for the demi-god than ever before. He was even considering stopping by and gloating his victory over the voiceless man, just to add more salt to the wound. Tamatoa laughed as he took a fish that he stole from the village (it would help with swallowing down some of the concoction that he needed to take to continue hiding from the mortals and to stay away from the ocean) before he bit down on the once living creature and ripped it apart with his teeth to eat it raw. Its insides spilled out and some of it went down his chin before he wiped it away with the back of his hand (even as a human, the taste was still the same to him). It wasn’t fresh or still alive like he would have preferred, but beggars can’t be choosers. Tomorrow would be the final sunset and now it was a matter of waiting. In the meantime, Tamatoa now had a sure way to keep the princess away from the demi-god until it was too late for either of them to come to their aid.

Moana continued walking until she was near a torch that showed her that her grandmother’s fale was close by and it was here that she stopped. “So you want to get off the island, babe? Well the easiest way to do so is with this.” The voice of the stranger echoed in her head from before he left her to go off and vanish. Moana moved her hand so that she could reach for the back of the top that went with her new dress and pulled out a strange object that the stranger had given her. It was beautifully crafted with purple colored tones of some sort of material that felt like hardened tapa cloth and it had pearls spiraling around it, yet the top part was made out of purple coral that had been smoothed down so that it was safe to hold onto. “It doesn’t matter how you use it. There are many ways you can use it, but each one guarantees a one way trip out of here. Do whatever you like, but I do have one recommendation.” Moana grabbed the top end and pulled the object out of the beautiful sheath before she could hold it out to look at it. In her hands was a carefully crafted dagger made from the bone of an undersea animal that had been carefully sharpened to the point that lightly touching it would cut someone and the ends were jagged on one side. A bit of rope tied the topmost and blunt end of the blade onto the coral handle, and the blade itself it was long enough that it could cause serious injury if plunged deep enough into a person’s body. “At the very moment you stop dancing for everyone tomorrow–the moment you stop giving them the person they want to see–go ahead and go after the one person who held you back.” Moana turned away from the torch to face her family’s fale and glared at it. Without any light around, her eyes glowed with a faint purple which was the only clue to the fact that someone had casted a spell upon her. Compassion, love, forgiveness, guilt–they had been suppressed in the spell that was controlling her. Instead there was a numbness that dulled down her sorrow and stress, but there was a certain anger that had been amplified in the spell and was patiently waiting to erupt like a volcano. “Go ahead and kill your daddy, mon princesse.”

Now is the time to start being afraid since the nods to the original Little Mermaid are starting to become more obvious. I didn’t want to do the ‘hypnotized into marriage’ that was in the original Little Mermaid film because it didn’t fit with what I was going for (though I can imagine how Moana would react to both that and who she almost got hitched to if I did) though in some ways I see that this was a lot darker. And kind of ironic considering what’s happened to Moana (I do get some Te Ka vibes from this corrupted version of her). I admit that this... isn’t the first time I’ve had a character endure a similar fate/spell, or a strange character referring to the heroine as ‘princess’ a lot (looks at ‘Hyrule Warriors Warped’ for a second with a nervous laugh). Of course this is getting to the point where I can’t make Moana the damsel in distress forever. It feels wrong to me that I am doing this to her when she was able to save herself and Maui more than a few times in the movie. I wonder how many people thought that I would make Tamatoa be able to actually hypnotize Moana through voice alone. *laughs* Actually I wonder how many fans were won over by the act he was giving Moana (hand kissing and all) before the cracks in the disguise began to develop. I was kind of inspired by ‘Poor Unfortunate Soul’ by Serena Valentino for that one scene near the end where Tamatoa was observing his human form (there is a scene in the book where Ursula observes how Eric is first drawn to her human disguise under her spell). However I’m NOT going to make Tamatoa a sympathetic antagonist or someone who ‘needs to be fixed’ by someone. I don’t know his whole backstory and while I can only make a guess that it wasn’t a pleasant one, this is a guy who almost ate Moana in the original film and tore into Maui over his own insecurities. Plus I enjoy writing out a good antagonist when I get one. And with that, we enter the climax chapters of our story. Its a race against the final sunset at this point and while I need to do a little more research to make sure I get my facts right on a few things, I aim to give you guys something that feels unique as well as familiar.

“Thanks.” The writer rubbed her wrists and thanked A/N Tamatoa for helping her get free. “Your story self is weird as all heck, you know that?” She took out a special device and stared at two special buttons on her laptop that said  ‘outtake’ and ‘fourth wall hammer.’ “Rgh, I want to use these and I had some good ideas, but I should wait a little longer!” The writer frowned in frustration. “Especially considering what might happen next. It won’t be as satisfying if I use them now.” “So,” A voice asked. “ARE you that kind of fan?” The writer turned in confusion to the A/N Tamatoa who grinned at her. “Do you want a little adoration from me? This chapter was updated on Valentine’s Day.” He reminded her. The writer felt herself panicking as a blush went to her face. “Uh... what?” She stammered. “Uh, no I don’t know if–look I admit that I can develop crushes on fictional characters like everyone else but I’m realistic enough to not fall under the delusions of–And I doubt I’d have a crush for you if you existed in real life, but–” “Oh gods, you stupid little idiot.” The A/N Tamatoa huffed as he knelt down beside the reader and grabbed her hand. “Here you go.” He took it and kissed the back of it. “Is that all?” He asked in a low and very suggestive voice. The writer’s blushing intensified before she collapsed back to the ground with a thud. “Wh... what is going on?” The writer continued to stammer in her state of confusion. “That happened. That actually happened. Why did that happen?! I thought I was above this!” She cried out. The A/N Tamatoa laughed as he turned back into his crab self. “Ok, seeing you act like that was worth it.” He turned to the readers with a grin. “Oh, would some of you readers like some appreciation from me too? Your adoration alone is good enough for Tamatoa.” “I’M GOING TO FIND MY REAL LIFE COUNTERPART AND KILL HER!” The writer screamed.

[dragonkeeper19600]

Tamatoa Headcanons (Part 2)

Don’t worry, this one won’t be nearly as long or involved as the last one.

Tamatoa doesn’t actually know Moana’s name. (It’s not like anyone ever said it in front of him.) He would, however, recognize her if he came across her again. 

His eyesight is pretty good, but since he’s so big, he tends to miss details on smaller objects (like, say, humans). His sense of smell, on the other hand, is excellent, despite him, um, not actually having a nose.

His spit is sticky. Don’t look at me like that. This is how he sticks things onto his shell, sucking them first before placing them in just the right spot. Before you call me a weirdo, this trait is actually based off of the habits of real life decorator crabs, who chew organic material (such as sponges) in order to attach them to the velcro-like hooks on their shells.

Incidentally, this means that you might not want to put your mouth on that hook, Maui. You may not know where it’s been, but Tamatoa sure does.

He sometimes uses the surface of the water shimmering above the hole in his lair as a mirror, checking out his own reflection. 

His breath is truly awful.

He’s also not a neat eater by any means. It’s not a problem if the meal is something small, like fish (or, uh, people), but when he devours something big enough, you would not believe the debris. It’s like Sea World. There’s a splash zone. And the sounds.

He did eventually shed his shell in order to get up off his back, tearing away the underside of his carapace with his claws before emerging like the world’s worst butterfly. He then slithered like a horrible octopus into his lair where he holed himself up for several weeks and waited for his skin to harden again.

He couldn’t hunt during that time because he had no claws, and the fish would no longer come. All he had left was his shell. So he ate that. Yes, all of it. To this day, he’s still coughing up sparkly shit.

Eating his horde essentially made him shiny on the inside. This irony was not lost on him. He found it very lame. 

Consuming his shell increased his size, so by the time his carapace had hardened again, he was even bigger than before. He also grew back his leg while he was hiding in the dark.

So, to recap, by the time he had finished molting, he had regained a limb and was bigger than ever, stripped bare, and mad as hell. Surely that won’t be a problem.

By the way, I saw Moana again this week, and I realized that some of things I had presented as “my headcanons” were in fact canon bits of info from the film that I had just kind of forgotten. For instance, my point about the Darkness increasing monster activity was actually confirmed by Tala, who said that the monsters that swarmed after the Heart was stolen were responsible for the disappearances of Motonui ships. I feel like there was another example, but I don’t remember what it was.

I don’t know if slip-ups like these are cool because “Ooh, the filmmakers and I are on the same page!” or lame because “You stupid idiot, that was actually in the movie!” Oh, well. 

[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.

[hogwartsanimated]

About

Name: Tala Kauati

Character/Film: Gramma Tala from Moana

FC: Rena Owen

Gender/Pronouns: Cis Woman | She/her

Age/Year: 64

House: Ravenclaw alumni

Blood Status: Pureblood

Career

Occupation: Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Employment Length: 15 years

What they are Like: In a long line of eccentric heads of the school, Tala certainly takes the cake. She seems to be a rather mysterious force that shows up at the oddest times and the oddest places, ready to drop whatever wisdom is needed in a particular situation. Other than that, it’s very hard to track her down and she’s very rarely ever in her office–or anywhere that people can find her. Yet somehow, she’s managed to keep the school in tip-top shape. She’s very progressive for a headmistress and believes that everyone deserves an education and a second chance, no matter where they come from or who they are. This doesn’t mean she’s a pushover, however. Very few have seen the Headmistress truly angry but those who have advise never to do anything that might incur her wrath. In that regard, the school remains safe and productive under her watchful eye.

Personality

Positive: Wise, optimistic, supportive, progressive, independent

Negative: Stubborn, rebellious, nosy,  mischievous, perhaps too forgiving

Biography

For being as popular a Headmistress as she is, there isn’t much that’s actually known about Tala. Most know that she hails from the island of Motonui in Polynesia, though why she left and why she didn’t go to the Island Academy of Magic is a mystery. In her childhood, she just showed up at Hogwarts, was sorted into Ravenclaw, and proceeded to be one of the best and brightest that the British school had ever seen. Although she returned to her island after graduation, she gladly and graciously took the position of History of Magic professor at Hogwarts when it was offered to her.

There was probably no more an exciting class than Tala’s History of Magic. She made what many would call boring stories fun and exciting, expanding the curriculum to include more than the Eurocentric perspective. Her courses included legend and myth alongside the “proven” history, which ruffled the feathers of many traditional elites, but she never let it get her down. Her fiery spirit carried her through, and she had a rather successful career at Hogwarts.

Of course, she never forgot where she came from. She had a special portkey made so that she could travel back and forth between Hogwarts and Motonui. There, she raised a family and remained part of the community while still working halfway across the world. Over the decades, she worked her way up the ranks as Head of Ravenclaw house and eventually, Headmistress. Now, she takes care of the school, her island, her family, and her students with unbridled passion and fun. It doesn’t seem like she’ll be slowing down anytime soon.

She insists you call her Headmistress Tala. Most students have forgotten what her last name even is.

There isn’t a single secret in the castle that Tala doesn’t know. You may think you’ve kept it well, but somehow the Headmistress always seems to find out. She isn’t one to show her hand though, and often doesn’t let people know that she knows unless necessary.

Her son Tui chose not to go to Hogwarts, instead sticking with the revered Polynesian Island Academy of Magic. Tala never held it against him, though she hopes to see her granddaughter at her beloved Hogwarts.

She’s known for grand entrances, especially at events like the Welcome Feast, as she always follows behind her famous Giant Manta Ray patronus, symbolizing the immense joy and protection she has for the school.

Played by: NPC

[heyahaele]

For Nicole

Whose name she does not recognize

With curls like the redhead Scottish princess'

but fancies the artist  with long magical gold hair

or the tribe princess of Motonui 

With a heart bigger than all she'll ever physically grow

Do not be drowned by the world's words

Listen to the quiet there is a whisper inside you 

swim your way back out  into the clear

Do not wonder when your life begins

for it is not a level, age, or place

it is when you make it happen 

You have in your hands the brush and paint

to take on the universe and design it as you should

Do not settle for five words and two syllables

for everything you are and will become

is worth far more than pretty will ever be

And remember the sun beautiful without audience

As it shines and gives warmth  to all who embrace her

So should you 💓

[tornrose24]

Only a Voice part 8 (A Moana fan fic AU loosely inspired by the Little Mermaid)

This can also be read over at fan fiction.net under the name ‘HolyMaiden24.’

I… don’t want to say anything this time because I think it might already speak for itself.

EDIT: I accidentally wrote the title as chapter 7 instead of 8. It took me THIS long to see the mistake and fix it.

“Hello?” The writer called for Tamatoa as she held her sword out. “You know I saw this video about crabs molting and it was actually pretty cool. You know you could just take your stuff off the old shell and attach them onto the new one.” No response came out... at least for a moment. “I WON’T DO IT!” The crab’s voice echoed out. “Ah, I knew it!” The author tried to look for the voice but couldn’t see where he was. “Anyway,” She turned to the reader. “If you are still reading this over at tumblr-and yes this is the tumblr version of the A/N-thank you and I hope the wait for this chapter has been worth it.”

If there was EVER a time I wish I had a map of Motonui, this would be one of those times. Also you can tell that I REALLY love giving visuals in readers minds when I get to certain moments that need it the most.

Also I find it amusing that no one is asking about the design of the tattoos for Maui’s human form or why his... err... skirt of leaves (?) changed into a real lavalava. I had the two smiling faces on his shoulder mirroring each other to reflect his trickster nature, his easygoing nature, and the fact that there’s more to him than the eye can see. The circle and the fish hook like patterns was a hint to his true identity as a warrior while the water is a nod to his origins in the ocean. The skirt changing thing... was due to magic. Yup, just magic. Ok, this was a chapter that I had to take time with. Here we go!

Chapter 8 The hand of fate “It had to be around here somewhere.” Tui said to himself as he approached the location where he thought he heard the strange sounds from last night. If it was not anywhere near the village then it had to be somewhere on the other side of the island, beyond the hills and near the ocean. As he and the others searched the grounds, he tried to think of what could have caused such a commotion. “Chief Tui?!” A man yelled out. “You might want to see this!”
Tui felt his heart stop for a moment as he raced towards the man’s voice. He could hear the others following suit as the man continued to yell “Right here!” “What did you find?!” Tui demanded as he found the man in a large clearing. However, as he approached the man, he saw that it wasn’t a clearing at all and it it were then it would be because several trees had been knocked over. Well, not exactly–some remained upright, but there was still a strange pattern to the destruction that didn’t make any sense. “It continues all the way to the ocean!” The man pointed towards a trail of fallen trees as the others gathered around to observe the clearing. “None of these trees are old enough to have fallen on their own.” A woman bent down by one of the fallen trees where it had snapped in half. “This one is still too young.” Tui examined the area around him. If he had to make a guess, this clearing was at least five or six regular sized fales large in both width and length, but it could have easily been more. “Keep examining the area for anything suspicious or out of place!” Tui yelled as he hurried to follow the path of destroyed trees and plants that lead all the way to the ocean. When he saw what was on the other end, he had to stop in disbelief. This area was very sandy and filled with rocks, but there was a huge indent in the sands and there were trees that appeared as if they had been uprooted and tossed clear across to different ends of the beach. Stranger yet was that the holes that were left behind in places of the trees were very deep as if whatever had gotten to them pulled them clear out, roots and all. “What on earth?” Tui wondered out loud. There wasn’t a storm last night and this was clearly not the work of a normal human being. He was tempted to say that perhaps a large ship had snuck onto the island, but that didn’t seem possible as he couldn’t think of any sort of ship that could have managed to go clear into the island by several hundred feet or so and break down so many trees that easily. He looked around again until he noticed that there were some spaces in the ground where there were even more indents, though they were much smaller in comparison to the larger one. When he looked down into one of them, he saw that there was a strange shape about them, like the holes started out wide but then got to a small hole or indent at the very end. Some of them were shaped differently as if the maker had been dragged towards the ocean. “What do you think?” A woman called out to Tui. “Give me a moment!” Tui held a hand up as he backtracked and examined the pathway of fallen trees, or to be more specific, the ground around the trees. He could see more strange looking holes in the ground and they all went in a similar line to those in the sands. “Is there a pattern of holes on that end of the clearing?” Tui pointed to the other side. A man went over to check and after a few minutes, he yelled “Yes!” Tui went back to the end of the clearing that was in the woods and looked around. The damage ended at this specific point, but why? What on earth could have caused so much destruction? If it was an invading tribe, they certainly left a strange warning for what was to come. Or was it something else?
Tui was afraid to find out what it was that caused this. Whatever it was that came from the sea and ended at this point was not a natural force of nature nor did it feel human. “Keep on the lookout for anything suspicious and don’t tell the others in the village just yet!” Tui yelled to his group. “We need to keep searching this area for anything else that could hint at what happened here!” “And you three.” He pointed to a trio of women. “Examine the beach as carefully as you can and let me know if anything seems out of place.”
“We will.” One of the women nodded as she took up her spear.

It had nearly been an hour since Moana had sailed away from Motonui and while she hadn’t gotten too far away, she could still see her island in the distance. Here was a spot where she and her companion could enjoy the ocean where there weren’t as many waves to deal with and were things could be peaceful. Occasionally Moana would help make the time easier by offering to sing songs passed down by her people for her companion, who allowed her to. At one point she recounted the tales of Matai Vasa, the earliest known Chief of her people and a man who was known to be quite courageous and wise as well as a great leader to his people. According to the tales, he was one of the best known wayfinders in history and was supposedly the one who lead his people to Motonui. What she didn’t know was that her companion had met the man in his life and he could confirm those stories to her. Matai Vasa wasn’t the sort of man who wanted to head into danger for the fun of it like Maui did, but he was a lot more daring than most other humans (that and that he was a pretty fun guy to hang around with). Moana had finally taken a break from sailing the boat ever since she first left the island and she moved away from the sail to face her companion, who seemed at ease out on the waters. She had taken a glimpse of him now and then during her sailing and she had seen that he seemed quite happy to be off the island for a brief time. He was clearly not one who could stay in one place for long, and though he stared out at the sea with happiness, he would also look up at the sky with a curious longing gaze. As for Maui, he felt relieved to be finally off the island after three straight weeks. He wasn’t sure if he ever stayed in one spot for that long, but it was nice to just be out on the sea again. However, he found himself wishing that he had his hook back and that he could take to the sky or even to the sea like he used to. It didn’t feel right to be unable to have that ability for that long. “Do you miss where ever it is that you come from?” Moana asked as she moved towards her companion and sat beside him. He looked at her for a second and then gave her a curious shrug and waved his hand in a strange manner. “You know so much about me and yet I know so little of you that I don’t even know your name.” Moana confessed. “I knew you had to have experienced a lot before arriving to Motonui and that you may of had a lot of stories to share if you could.” Honestly, it was really unfortunate that he wasn’t able to share anything about himself that he couldn’t demonstrate. There was so much to him already from what she had observed and yet she didn’t even know his actual name. “Maybe I could guess your name!” Moana realized with a grin. “If you give me a clue, then maybe I could–” But the man cringed and shook his head. “Wha–but why not?” Moana was stunned but the man shook his head again and held his face in one hand as he stared at the sky. If Moana knew his name, it would raise suspicion on its own, but considering her concerns about why his constellation was missing, Maui knew that she would not take it well if she figured out the truth. And she would unintentionally make things much worse if he was not able to answer why he was in a mortal form until it was too late. “Are you someone on the run then?” Moana wondered. “I mean I don’t know what happened so I could only guess and–I’m sorry.” She realized her error and she grabbed her arms and bowed her head in shame. “I’m being too nosey, but I really want to understand who you are. You turned against my father’s words just to make this a reality for me.” Moana gestured out to the sea as she looked upon it. “I can’t think of anyone that brave or that reckless who could do that.” She didn’t see Maui shoot her a slightly offended look at her words. “Well, I mean besides my grandmother.” She added. “If I was not the daughter of a Chief or if I had been born into a different family, I would do this as often as I could.” Moana began. “I would go out and explore as many islands as I could. I would try to go out as far as possible and see what else is in the ocean or if there were places that were far beyond my wildest dreams.” She smiled. “Maybe that would be taking it too far if the space between islands are already far enough as they are.”
“So, I want to say thank you.” Moana turned to Maui. “Thank you for giving me this gift, even if it was just for one day. I will never forget it for as long as I live.” She meant it with all her heart. Of all the gifts she had been given throughout her life, this one was now one of her dearest ones yet.
All Maui could do was turn his head to see the young girl who looked so radiant with her happiness and he wished that he could say how much he enjoyed his brief time with her too. Going off to help others and fight monsters was always exciting, but there were little moments like this that he rarely got. Moments where one could just hang out with someone and do something fun or just take in the things that most would take for granted. It was true that he was still struggling as to whether or not he had been too hasty about the turning into a mortal thing. There were times where he thought about what would happen if he did succeed but those thoughts were uncertain until recently. If he had been mortal, he would do anything in his power to make sure that the girl could become the best Chief known to mankind, but he would also make sure that she was granted more days out on the sea instead of keeping it a secret. If he had his voice back, he would support her on her behalf and he would make absolutely sure she would know all there was to wayfinding that he couldn’t convey through gestures so that her old man would stop worrying and let her live out her life. And dying of old age would be a lot better than whatever unsavory story the mortals would tell instead (and there were a few versions already that made him cringe whenever he thought about them). He would rather that his life ended on a high note than at a bad one. He wished he knew what it was that could make the change permanent. So far he had bonded pretty well with Moana to the point that she felt like a genuine friend–someone he could trust and who knew how to brighten a person’s day–so now it was a matter of what she had to do to put an end to this. She wanted to get to know him (even though he was pretty sure she saw enough of him to have an idea of what he was like) yet she made no indication that she wanted him around. What exactly was it that she had to say or do in order for him to turn human for good? Did she have to just ask him to stay on her island? Moana noticed how low the sun was getting at that point. If she made it to the island in time, then the sun would not set for awhile yet. “It looks like we need to head back pretty soon.” She noted with regret. She didn’t want this time out at sea to end all too soon but she had to go back before the others started to worry. “We better hurry.” She informed her companion, who hoisted himself back up and held his hand out to Moana. Moana observed his hand for a moment and was reminded how how it was large enough to grab her head (nowadays it just seemed really funny to her). When she lifted her hand and was seconds away from touching his own, she thought about the contrast between the two of them yet again and how her own looked so small. She shook her head and finally placed her hand in his own and as he gently helped her get back on her feet, his other hand cupped under her arm to give her more support. She turned her head and was about to thank him when she looked at the hand under her arm. His fingers had curled around her arm and it was so amusing because it was like she was a little kid again since his hand covered up a huge portion of her arm. Her arm... A memory came to her. This hold was oddly familiar to her because it was like he was aware of his own strength and was trying not to snap her arm like it was  a twig. There was a hold similar to this, where the hand felt large and there was a careful gentleness about it. The only time that ever happened was when– “I hope you get to go back out on the ocean, kid. It likes people like you.” That warm friendly voice from the past came back to her, followed by his laughter that echoed in her mind. Moana continued staring at the hand that held onto her. When she realized she was staring at it for too long, she shook her head and gently moved out of her companion’s hold before she went back to the sail. Slowly and slowly the island approached and she kept her place at the sail, yet her eyes continued to gaze to the man sitting on the boat in front of her. The man who saved her all those years ago felt so huge when she hugged him and her companion looked as if he could of had a similar body type. Of course the man who saved felt like a giant to her nine year old self and this man didn’t seem as large, but he might as well have been to the currently teenaged Moana. Even what she could have barely seen of her savior almost matched up to the appearance of her voiceless friend. The way her savior joked and talked was so specific that she had a feeling that the man before her would have also spoke like him since the personality seemed to fit him. Finally there was the fact that her savior had supported her in her desire to go back out onto the ocean and the man before her did the same. He seemed more than willing to help her with this after she shared her story to him. Could it be possible that this man was the one who saved her all those years ago? Had the ocean answered her wish to see him again? She knew that without his voice there was no guarantee, but he had to answer her one way or another. One person tried to think over the other’s identity while the other tried to figure out how the other could finally turn him human before it was too late. They were lost in their thoughts and soon the boat managed to reach the reef around Motonui. The sun was getting lower at one end of the sky and in an hour’s time it would be at the point when the colors of one end of the sky would get dark while the other would lighten up. It was at this point that Moana knew that she had to stop being afraid. All she needed was one response to indicate that her companion was the one who saved her after all. She didn’t care who or where he came from, or what he had gone through, she had to know. If he was the one who saved her, then she owed him big time. If not then it didn’t matter because of what he had done for her. “There’s something I need to know.” Moana began and when she saw that her companion was looking up at her, she continued. “I find it strange that you wanted to help me right after I told you what happened to me all those years ago. I was unable to see back then, but I’m not stupid. I can put pieces together if I can see them right in front of me.” Her friend seemed a little taken by surprise at what she had to say if the way his eyes widened was any indication. This was it–now or never. “I need you to answer me this as honestly as possible. I don’t want you to lie to me because I will pick up on it and I need to know the truth.” Moana took one final breath and asked the burning question on her mind. “Are you the one who saved me when I was a chi–” What happened next was unexplainable or was perhaps some trick of fate. As if the sun had been thrusted right at her face, Moana’s eyes were exposed to a sudden brightness that made the world turn white. Moana let out a cry of fear as she found herself blinded by the painful brightness and flinched away to one side as she accidentally pulled the sheet and felt the boat tilt at an off angle. Even if it never came out, Maui still yelled out ‘MOANA!’ as he made to get up and stop the girl from going overboard as she held her hands over her eyes. He caught her just in the nick of time and was about to grab the sheet to change the angle of the boat when he saw a wave come towards them. There was no way he could pull the sheet in time. Moana tried to open her eyes, but there was so much pain and a repressed memory came to the surface of when she had been blinded as a child. She could feel that panic come back and she could have sworn that it was a kakamora that was holding onto her. “No!” Moana panicked with a cry as she tried to pull away from the tight grasp, unaware of the wave that was coming towards them. The wave came down upon them with a crash and when the boat tipped over too far, Maui lost his grip on Moana and she fell into the ocean. Moana swam underwater in a panic as she felt herself get swept away. In the meantime, Maui frantically looked around to try to find Moana and when he did, he did not hesitate to jump into the ocean after her. The pain in Moana’s eyes died away as she opened them to see the ocean around her as well as the dangers of the ground in the from of many rocks and coral reefs. When she looked one way, she could she her slightly blurry looking companion swimming towards her and she hurried up to the surface to take a breath. The moment she had a chance, she swam as fast as she could towards him but her vision was still trying to get back into focus. The moment it finally did, she saw another wave was about to crash down upon the man. He himself was aware that it was coming and swam as fast as he could. “LOOK OUT!” Moana screamed, but it was too late and not only did the wave swallow him up, but she found that the currents sucked her right back into the water and it barely gave her enough time to take a breath. She found herself being tossed in the water and was unable to locate her companion as she was taken deeper and deeper into the water and towards the bottom where rocks and coral formations rose high enough to pose a threat to those who were unlucky enough to get so far down. Moana wasn’t aware of the coral she was about to approach, but when she felt one tear through her lower leg, she found herself unable to prevent the scream that came out. She already lost too much air and she struggled to try to swim back up, but it was hopeless and she felt the pressure of the water against her body as it demanded to have air. Moana’s body soon could not take it anymore and she found herself opening her mouth underwater again against her will. As she felt the water enter her body, she only had enough time to see her companion desperately try to swim as fast as he could towards her. She could only thrash about as the water filled her insides until her world turned dark.

The first thing she became aware of was that she was coughing up water and had only one second to open her eyes to see the color blue before she shut them again. Moana took a few moments to compose herself before she could even dare open her eyes. She almost drowned this time. Or maybe she did. She didn’t know what happened to her, but all that she knew was that she was soaking wet, laying on wet sand, and was no longer under water. Also there was a nasty stinging sensation on her leg that hurt to no end. Moana was so terrified about what had happened that she was shuddering where she lay. She was also afraid to open her eyes and see nothing but darkness after that strange whiteness blinded her. She could sense that someone was nearby when she reached a shaking hand out, she could feel the now familiar hold of a hand much larger than her own. It still had the gentle grip but this time it was shaking too as if the owner was getting over his own shock. She felt her companion help her sit back up and she pressed one hand against one of his arms to prop herself up. She was terrified to open her eyes and not see his face–she did not want to relive that memory once again. Yet when she felt one of his hands gently rub up and down one of her arms in a reassuring manner, she finally opened her eyes. Moana saw that her water drenched companion let out a sigh of relief, but there was a deep concern as well as a ghost of a fear in his eyes. Clearly he was terrified as to what had almost happened to her and the relief died away to a pang of guilt before he finally moved away from her. She was about to plead for him to come back when she realized something odd about their surroundings. There was a wall of water behind her companion. Not a waterfall, but it was as if the world tilted and the water was in front of her instead of below her. Moana looked around and sure enough she was surrounded by water while sitting on a spot of wet sand and rocks. She could see though it and see coral and a few fish and when she looked above, she saw the water extended high over their heads. There was also an opening large enough to reveal the sky that was due to change its colors pretty soon. Was this a dream? Did she really die and go onto an afterlife? None of this should have been possible. “Wha–?” Moana couldn’t believe what she was seeing as she looked down at the barrier of water again. She looked at her companion, who seemed oddly calm about the situation and seemed more interested in her reactions. “What’s going on?” She asked before an odd thought struck her. “You aren’t doing this are you?”
The man gave her an odd look of disbelief before shaking his head no and pointed to something behind her. Confused, Moana turned around to see that the wave of water escaped from the barrier and was heading towards her. For one moment she thought the spell would break and that they would be consumed by the water, but the barrier stayed exactly as it was. The wave of water stopped a few feet from Moana and as she watched, it tilted at an angle. She then realized that this wave was acting like the one from her dream with the woman. The wave that came from out of the ocean itself. But wait a minute–if this wasn’t a dream, then what if the stories were true?
“Did... you save me?” Moana asked. The wave nodded. A thought came to Moana and she asked almost shyly “Are you the ocean?” The wave nodded again. Moana let out a small gasp. “You... you’re alive.” She then fully realized what was going on. “You’re the ocean and you’re alive.”
The wave seemed to ripple a little as it reached to Moana and dropped down on her head in a playful manner as if it wanted to pat her head. It only made her head wet, but she didn’t care. “All the stories about the ocean,” Moana struggled to get up and stand on her injured leg while the wave moved away from her. “My grandmother was right.” She was in awe at this new information. “You can hear us when we talk to you. And when we dance in you, you are dancing with us.” Maybe not like in the dream, but it might as well have been. She stood up to face the wave that represented the ocean and reached a hand towards it. In response, the wave moved over and rested part of itself on the palm of Moana’s hand as if accepting a handshake. In that moment, and fear Moana had gained after nearly drowning had vanished in an instant. As impressive as the sight was to Maui, it wasn’t the bond that was developing between the ocean and Moana that was on his mind. He had a sneaking feeling something like this would of happened when it came to someone like her, but what amazed him was why and how the ocean knew that Moana was going to drown. Why did it react the way it did to this one mortal out of all those who could have easily died in its hold? The wave gently lead Moana to the wall of water and she followed it with a slight limp. She found herself less afraid of the water then she had been not that long ago as she watched the fish swim in front of her and she reached a hand out until it broke through the water. “I can’t be dreaming this.” Moana whispered. “Not if I can feel you.” She felt compelled to enter the ocean. The wave even seemed to beckon to her as in invite. And without warning, she took a deep breath and jumped into the water. She could feel the change in the water and no longer was it a tempest, but it was calm and it felt as if it were embracing her. She could feel it gently brushing against her and when she opened her eyes, she could see herself floating within it as her hair rose up all around her in gentle waves. Even if her leg still hurt and was bleeding, she chose to swim through the water and explore as much as she could while occasionally twisting around to see what else there was. Down in the ocean there was an ethereal beauty that couldn’t be found in the world above and the light of the sun reflected upon the water and cause it to ripple and shine upon whatever it touched. The moment she needed air, she popped her head into the barrier to take gulps of it before quickly remerging back into the water. She had no desire to stop any time soon and wanted to keep floating for as long as she could. She wanted to do the things that a human could not do upon land, like float above the ground and dance over it. In fact that was almost what it looked like to the one who watched her from within the barrier. She looked as if she were dancing as she swam in the water with an almost natural grace that she didn’t display that often. She almost looked like a water spirit or an ocean goddess when she was within the water. The currents picked up Moana and guided her through the waters so that she wouldn’t have to use her leg so much. As Moana realized what the ocean was doing, she smiled and allowed it to carry her around the barrier. She waved to get her companion’s attention and she smiled when he turned around to wave back before she allowed herself to show off and flip forward in the water. That’s when Maui realized something. The ocean was what brought him to Motonui and not just out of accident; it remembered what happened when he saved Moana and it knew how much she loved it. Somehow it must have known that they needed to meet again and maybe it had a big reason besides helping the girl fulfill her wish. Pretty crafty if you ask me. He thought with a brief scowl at the ocean. As if the ocean heard exactly what he thought, a burst of water shot right at him and sprayed him in the face. He did not expect it and he even found himself coughing out some of the water after he had flinched away from it. ‘Are you serious?!’ He mouthed after he recovered from the shock. Moana continued to swim in the ocean and around the barrier while occasionally taking breaths of air when she could. At one point she found herself turning to face her companion, who finally stood up and walked towards her until he was just a foot away from her. One stood in the air and upon the ground and stared at the other, who was floating in the water and was at eye level with him. For once it seemed that it was the girl who was secretly a powerful being and not the man who was watching her. She truly looked as if she belonged to the ocean now then when she was on the boat as she floated in the water and her hair moved around her in gentle waves. Yet also in that moment, both of them seemed to be equals to each other, despite the obvious contrasts in appearances. Moana took a moment to dunk her head forward to get more air before retreating back. She then reached out her hand with a smile and Maui couldn’t help but return the gesture and accepted it. She half expected him to pull her out of the water when his hand bursted through and held onto her own, but he didn’t and they just stared down to see that they were holding hands in the water. Finally he himself took a deep breath and stuck his upper body into the water, where they only had a few seconds to look at each other under water. Moana almost wanted to laugh when his hair went backwards and then flowed out in front of his face before it settled back down, but the smile she had was more than enough to show what was on her mind. For those few seconds there really wasn’t a need for her to use any words to convey how strange this time under the ocean had been or how incredible it was at the same time to her companion. Finally Moana swam towards Maui and hooked her arms around him. He took that as the cue to take her out of the water before she needed air and he held her in his arms before taking her out of the ocean. As her companion moved away from the wall of water, Moana took a breath and glanced back to see the wave reappear and wave to her. Moana couldn’t help but move one of her arms so that she could wave back with a smile. The wave nodded as if satisfied before it retreated back into the water, which began to seep from the bottom of the barrier and reach towards their feet. That was definitely their cue to get ready to swim back up. As Moana wrapped her free arm back around Maui, he realized that she was slightly touching his upper back as she had her arms around his neck. What was so odd was that the touch should have been painful, but it wasn’t. Not anymore. Instead the touch felt comforting.

At that point, the sun had gotten low enough that it wasn’t ready to set, but the sky at one end of the world was getting dark. The other side was already turning into shades of pinkish orange and light blue. Tui had yet to find anything strange upon the island besides the odd phenomenon from earlier. He was sure that he was being paranoid but he could not explain what had caused the damage without any logic behind it. What had come upon the shores of Motonui that could cause such a thing and what if it was somehow still here? What danger could it pose if that were the case?
“Anything?!” Tui yelled to his men as they walked up the path that would soon lead them back to the village. “No I’m afraid not.” One of them told him. “Or maybe thats a good thing.” “Provided that the others didn’t find anything else.” Tui muttered under his breath. “Uh, Chief?” A woman called out. “There’s a boat in the reef and it doesn’t look like one of our own.” In a moment of panic, Tui hurried to the woman’s side and she pointed to a spot down below where they could see a boat on the water. It was not a fishing boat, but it was the kind that was ideal for going out on the ocean and there was some sort of marking upon its sail, like a spiral. “Could it be a visitor?” The woman asked as Tui continued to watch the boat and tried to figure out who it was that was on it and why it was heading to the island. The closer and closer it got, the more he could make it out until he recognized both passengers. Especially the one who was sitting at the front end while the larger one was at the sail. Most of Tui’s fears had vanished and were replaced with anger at the sight of the smaller passenger on the boat. He had a feeling he knew where that boat came from as well as why the boat was out on the ocean.

Moana waited until her companion got the boat completely on dry land in the cave before she got up to get off the boat, but the moment she landed in the sand, pain shot through her injured leg again and she let out a cry as she collapsed into the sand. Moana hissed and took a breath of air as her companion approached her and knelt down to examine her leg. The wound wasn’t horribly deep, but it was a pretty nasty gash and quite a bit of blood had come out. Still it could be treated in time for tomorrow, though there was no knowing if Moana would still be in pain or not if she used it for dancing. “Its ok, I’m fine.” Moana tried to reassure her companion as he examined it. “I can get it treated.” He shook his head in disapproval and covered his mouth with his hand. This was not good. There was no way either of them could hide this without a good excuse. Worse, this happened because he had been unable to save her and if the ocean hadn’t been there, she would have been dead. He probably would have died too since by the time he would have reached the girl and got her to the surface, he himself would have drowned. His body didn’t have the stamina it used to have to be able to pull that off. He wouldn’t have cared if he died, so long as he got her back to safety, which was why the ocean acting the way it did had been a blessing. ‘What happened?’ He mouthed to her as he looked her in the eye. “Something bright got in my eye as if I looked into the sun.” Moana tried to explain. “And then I couldn’t see for a few seconds. I mean my eyes are normal now, but–” She grimaced with regret. “–I was terrified that it was happening all over again. The blindness, the drowning... it all came back and I–” Maui put his hand on her knee to stop her before she could let the trauma get to her. Well no wonder she had been so terrified even after he managed to revive her–she was forced to relive that nightmare again. There was no way she would want to go back to the ocean after what happened–no sane person would. Moana sighed as she put her hand over her companion’s. She knew he was trying to comfort her and maybe he could sense what was going through her mind, but she could easily see how guilty he felt about what happened. “This was not your fault.” She tried to reassure him. “I was careless and I lost my composure. I’m the one whose to blame, not you.” “I don’t know what happened, but I’m not going to let this get to me and change my mind about the ocean anytime soon.” As Maui looked up at the girl, she smiled at him. “Next time I’ll be a lot more careful about sailing on the ocean.” Her optimism felt so sudden and yet seeing that she wasn’t going to back down so easily made Maui smile back in relief. It reminded him of why he liked this girl to begin with–stubborn, yes, but she was braver than most other humans and determined as heck to boot. “There won’t be a next time.” The last voice either of them expected to hear echoed out in the cave. Moana’s eyes widened in horror and her heart came to a stop as she and her companion turned their heads to see Tui several feet away from them, along with a huge group of villagers–some of which were carrying spears and one person held a burning torch. “I told you to never come here.” Tui slowly began with a deep scowl as he walked towards Moana and Maui. “I told you not to get on a boat and I warned you that trust is something that is not so easily gained back. And yet I find you here going against everything that I had told you. Do you not understand what you have done?!” Moana had no idea how to act or what to say as her worst fears came to life. “And you!” Tui turned to Maui. “I gave you my trust as well! I expected you could keep my daughter safe and I had expected that you would obey my wishes, yet you allowed her to talk you into this! Do you not even feel remotely ashamed about that?!” Even though he knew he was in hot water, Maui could only give Tui a flat look of annoyance. ‘Do I look like I can answer you?!’ He mouthed as he pointed to himself. “I told you never to let my daughter get on a boat and yet I saw the both of you doing exactly that not too long ago!” Tui’s voice raised. “Do you have any idea what could have happened out there?! To my only child?! What was going through your mind?!” Neither of them dared try to answer. Especially considering what almost happened out on the ocean, including events that would not have been easy to explain. “I’m beginning to wonder if there is a reason you came to this island.” Tui continued as he recalled the sight of the ruined trees from earlier. “Perhaps you had intended to get close to my child and kidnap her for some dark reason. I try to avoid making enemies, but perhaps you are hiding a secret–”
“He wasn’t trying to do that!” Moana protested in anger as she finally stood up to face her father. “I told him about my desire to sail and what happened to me all those years ago! He could have denied teaching me how to sail to prevent this from happening, and yet he didn’t! I couldn’t have made it out there on my own without his help!”
Tui felt his heart stop. “How long has this gone on?” “Longer than you would think.” Moana confessed. “If anyone is to blame, then its me. Its not his fault.”
“So you told him the tale that I forbade you to tell–”
“It did happen!” Moana threw her hands out. “Why can’t you believe me?! You say we are a peaceful island and yet you cannot deny that I couldn’t see or that the one who saved me was not from this island! Danger can always come when we least expect it!” She took a few steps forward and when she felt the pain in her leg, she let out a hiss and a wince that alerted Tui to the distress and his eyes gazed downward to see the injury. “What is that?” He demanded. “How did you get that injury? Was it from being out on the ocean?”
Moana cringed. “Do you even realize how important tomorrow is for you?!” He demanded to her. “You are a representative of your island and it is expected that you will dance for Chief Hoani–”
“And why should that be important?!” Moana yelled in annoyance. “I am alive and I could do more besides dancing if I am unable to! I could sail to his island and spare him the visit instead and yet you want to keep me here instead! I love dancing and I know how much it means to us, but I can’t do that forever! I want to be useful in other ways besides just saying my input and making calls to–”
“Because this is one of the earliest possible chances for you to find a future husband!” The world stopped for Moana when she heard those words. What? Did she hear that correctly? “Wh–what did you say?” Moana could barely let the words out. “Hoani is coming with his younger brother, who is only a few years older then you in addition to a handful of his own men.” Tui finally told Moana the thing he had intended to keep a secret from her ever since he let all of Motonui know about the visit. “One of your responsibilities as a leader to your people and to your family is to find a future husband who will not only aid you, but also continue the family line like I had to and my father before me.” Moana felt herself step back a few feet as this news sank in. “You have not shown any known interest in any of the men on this island, and I understand if they do not meet your approval, but eventually you will have to choose someone to marry. You can’t delay this forever Moana.” Tui warned her. “Otherwise I will one day have to select one for you.” “I’m not ready for courting, let alone marriage!” Moana protested. “I’m not an adult yet and my heart isn’t something to give away that freely! And I’ve never even met Chief Hoani, let alone his brother! What if he is horrible?! What if they all are horrible?! I couldn’t marry someone like that!” Tui was getting annoyed. “I can’t guarantee what sort of person this man will be like, but he will not be the last suitor to come your way. You have to grow up and accept reality. This isn’t a tale where you can do whatever you please–life doesn’t work that way. You have to accept responsibilities as part of your future as a Chief, even if they are ones that you hate!”
“I never asked to be a Chief in the first place!” Moana yelled in anger. “You think your word is always the right one but it isn’t! You can’t decide my future, who I can or cannot marry, and you have no right to decide what happens to me when you are gone! Maybe you and mother should have produced more children in case something like this ever happened! Or maybe you are just too afraid that I’ll die like he did because I love what you hate!” The tension in the room was growing alarmingly fast, but now a strong blow had been dealt. All eyes watched to see how Tui would react now. As his eyes burned in both fury and hurt, Tui made a strange gesture and two of the woman came over towards them. “Keep a tight hold on her.” “What?” Moana was confused by the command. “Father what are you doing?”
“Something I should have done a long time ago.” He went over to get the torch from the man and everything clicked for Moana. “NO!” Moana yelled as she ran to stop her father, but the two women caught her before she got close enough and she found herself unable to escape from their grasp. “No you can’t! This is our heritage! You can’t destroy them!” As her father accepted the torch, she tried to break free but it was no use as the women refused to let go. “Its a heritage that has been a great danger to us, even when we have no use for it.” Tui merely responded. Moana felt herself about ready to cry. “Please!” She begged. “I promise I won’t ever go out on the ocean again, just don’t destroy the boats!” She couldn’t lose this part of her identity and her people did not deserve this just because of her one day out on the sea. She would give anything to keep this from happening and she would even submit to her father’s wishes if that was what it took. “Please!” She desperately begged again. “Anything–I’ll stay here forever and never look at the ocean again! I won’t even go to the other islands!” Tui stopped for a moment as his daughter broke down into submission all too suddenly. Everyone could see all too well how much the boats meant to Moana and how deep her love ran that it shook some to their core. “Please.” Moana begged as she gasped for air and felt herself about ready to sob. “Father please don’t do this. I promise I can be the daughter you want me to be, just don’t them away from us. Don’t take away our heritage.” “Maybe this is going too far, Tui.” One of the men who was a bit more sympathetic told Tui. “We may still need these boats.” Tui took a deep breath. “I’m not taking this risk ever again.” He walked towards the boat that Moana loved above all the others and which she had rode upon not that long ago. “NO!” Moana was now screaming as she realized all her pleas and her sacrifices were for nothing. “STOP!” She couldn’t stop crying out. “FATHER STOP! SOMEONE PLEASE STOP HIM!” But her father didn’t stop and the torch and its deadly flames was moving closer to the boat. No one dared make a move to come to her aid as they were too afraid to disobey their Chief. But the one person who wasn’t from Motonui did come to Moana’s aid. Just as Tui was approaching the boat, Moana’s companion suddenly leapt up and, without warning, ran up to the Chief and punched him hard in the face before taking the torch from his grasp. Before anyone could react, he turned around and, with all his strength, hurled it right into the water where the flames died upon impact. Moana stared in shock as she realized what just happened, as did quite a few others. Tui felt as if his jaw had almost been torn clear off as he recovered and looked at the man who dared defied him despite the requests he had been given. Although Tui could hear some of his people coming towards him, his eyes were locked with the one who injured him. As Tui locked eyes with the man before him, he almost felt afraid of him despite his own building anger. He had never seen this man be so angry and though his unusual appearance did not match his personality, it might as well have in this case. The way the man was panting like an animal, the way his brows were scrunched up in pure anger and the way his narrowed eyes burned at the Chief almost made him seem inhuman. It was only one small sample of how dangerous the demi-god trapped in the mortal man’s body could be when he was pushed too far. Fury wasn’t even the right word for what Maui felt–it barely scratched the surface of how angry he really was. He knew he had no real place in the world of mortals or this family’s issues but what Moana’s father was about to do and how much it affected Moana was going too far. Maui knew that what he just did was one of the dumbest things he could have possibly done while stuck on this island, but he didn’t care if it meant that he could prevent Moana’s heart from breaking. She did nothing to deserve the sight of seeing so much as one of these boats get burned down to ashes or to completely submit to her father’s wishes. The man before him wasn’t a Chief to him at this point but was instead a heartless idiot who could bring his people to ruin with his stubborn nature. The two men locked eyes until Maui felt someone whack him over the head and he was forced to the ground by two of the strongest men in Tui’s group. They grabbed his arms and jerked them up his back in an extremely painful manner and they forced him to stay kneeling on the ground until Tui could give the order. Tui himself recovered and knew what had to be done. “The day after tomorrow, you will leave our island and never come back.” He glared down at Maui, who looked up at him with that intense look of anger still in his eyes. “Until then, you will be tied up in your fale and will be carefully guarded.” Tui looked to Moana. “And I will not have my daughter go anywhere near you from now on. You have been too strong of an influence on her and I will not have her set you free behind my back. If she does, then I will have to give her an appropriate punishment.”
Moana let out a gasp of horror as she realized what was happening. She did not expect her friend to aid her after all that happened and now he was paying the price for stopping her father. She would never even get a chance to say good bye if her father had his way. As the two men forced Maui back up, they lead him towards the entrance to the cave but Maui only had enough time to lock eyes with Moana. Moana was caught off guard by how angry her friend had become, in addition to being horrified at what he did in placing her wishes before his own. He almost looked like a monster from one of her grandmother’s tales when he became furious (more so when she had hurt him that one time), yet when they locked eyes with each other, his anger died in an instant, his features softened, and the tension in his face vanished as he saw how broken and miserable she had become. He himself wished he could reassure her and comfort her, but they both knew that it was helpless now. ‘I’m sorry.’ Moana felt herself about ready to cry as she shook her head and mouthed the words while the women let her go to help the men take her friend away. ‘I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to–’ ‘Its ok, its not your fault.’ Maui tried to mouth back to her before he was forced to turn and couldn’t face her anymore. Moana saw her father come to her out of the corner of her eye, but she didn’t care what he had to say anymore. Her sorrow and her anger were too much to bear his coming words as she turned towards him. He was going to take away their heritage despite how important it was to them and now he took away one of the few people who understood her, was going to punish him, and was denying her even a small chance to be with him for one last time. He probably would even go as far as to find another torch and burn down the boats, no mater what she did. He didn’t even care what she wanted anymore–he only saw her as something less then a human who didn’t have a right to control her future. “I hate you!” Moana sobbed as her hands tightened up into fists. “I wish it was you who had died instead of him!” And before her father could say anything, she ran towards the water that he hated so much and leapt into it. “MOANA!” Maui could hear Tui yell as well as the following splash and he knew what happened. He let out a sigh and closed his eyes as he gave into his fate. He would never regret what he did, but now he realized that he really had lost more then just one final chance to be with her. If Hoani wasn’t made aware of his existence (and ratted him out) then even on the day he was finally freed, it wouldn’t have mattered if he could easily escape much earlier than that. He did not want his friendship with Mona to end like this and he could not face her with the truth if he was going to fail and change back. He didn’t think that waiting until he could turn back into a demi-god so that he could get her off the island was even an option anymore. “COME BACK!” Tui yelled, but Moana swam against his protests and her injured leg. She didn’t stop swimming to the waterfall no matter how much she was called to go back. It was only when she made it past the waterfall that she let herself cry her eyes out and her tears could mingle with the water of the ocean.

Sina smiled as she saw her husband come towards the village and ran towards him with every intent to share what was bound to be some good news, but she came to a stop when she saw how remorseful he seemed. “Tui?” Sina asked. “Is something...” her voice trailed off when she saw a group follow him and none of them seemed happy but what really shocked her was that two of them were holding onto Moana’s guardian as if he were a prisoner. For some reason he looked miserable and the strange melancholic look in his downcast eyes only raised questions. One of which was where on earth was her daughter? Tala soon joined Sina and when she was able to pick up what was going on, she let out a disheartened sigh. Of all the horrible luck, it figured that a price would have to be paid for Moana to be happy for one day; if only she had seen this coming. Instead her family had been torn further apart then it already was. “Chief Tui.” Tui finally turned his head to see the three women he sent out earlier to explore the ruined beach. He walked away from the group and deliberately avoided Sina’s questioning gaze until he came to the three. “We found something strange on the beach.” One of the women took a large bag out and handed it to Tui. “I don’t think this is a natural object.” Tui opened the bag up and peered inside to see a strange yellowish brown thing that reminded him of a scale of some sort of fish or lizard. He glanced back to make sure no one could see him and opened the bag up and took the object out. When it was exposed to what was left of the sunlight, it seemed to have an appealing sheen about it like sunlight shining upon water. It almost reminded him of a pearl, but there was something to this object that made it more beautiful to behold. “What do you think it is?” One of the women asked. “It looks almost like a part of an animal’s scale.” Tui finally confessed in a whisper. “But I can’t tell what kind. He tapped the object and it felt a lot more durable then a regular scale and also heavier. It had a stone quality about it, but it was too well polished to be a regular stone. “Tui.” One of the fisherman came up to Tui and he turned to face him. “We might not have enough fish tomorrow. In fact I don’t know if we will have much for a day or two.”
“What do you mean?” Tui asked. “We didn’t catch as much. In fact there was some spots around the island where there weren’t any. Its like someone came and beat us to it.”
Tui paused before looking at the scale like object again. “Or what if it was something?” He felt a little concerned. He was wondering if the strange man had a connection to all of this–there was still a small chance, but now it was growing unlikely. Whatever this was in his hand had been broken off of whatever it belonged to. Of whatever it was that came to the island. If a large creature unlike any he could imagine had come to the island, then hopefully all it wanted was to get food. He hoped to the gods that that was the case and that it had left the island for good. He already had too much to deal with as did a few other people on this island.

Moana cried on her spot at the shore near a cliffside and some trees and rocks, and the waves did nothing to comfort her this time. Her tears fell and she could not stop herself from sobbing. “I’m so sorry!” She cried to her silent friend. “I should never have told you about myself!” She held her face in her hands. “I should have never–I should have–” But she couldn’t finish her sentence as she chocked on a sob. None of this was fair. Her father and what he did, her friend being punished for what he had done–why did someone have to be punished when she tried to accept the blame? Why did they expect her to do so many things to please them or to support her people without considering what she wanted too? Was it that wrong to be even a little selfish? For one day of happiness, she had to have everything that was so wonderful about it taken away from her in an instant. “I wish you took us far away from Motonui instead of saving us.” She told the ocean. “I wish I never loved you so much, then none of this would have happened.” She just hurt so much, in body and in heart. She wanted to curl up and be somewhere alone where the world couldn’t find her. She almost wished that the ocean had claimed her instead of saving her if it lead to her father discovering the truth. She wanted to ignore all her duties just this once, run away as far as she could, and never look back. She felt too powerless to do anything anymore. Unknown to Moana, a large, dark shadow was watching from a cliffside as he leaned against the rocks to look down at her. He was covered from head to toe in a garment of tattered cloth like material of browns and greens that blended into the background of the island. The robe like garment even had a hood that was drawn over most of his face, but he was still able to peer down at the sad child below him as he played with a brightly colored coin like object in his hand that could reflect light off its surface if you held it to the sun just right. And if you had a few more, you could angle them so that the sun could bounce and shine off them and hit someone in the eye like he had done on the girl down below him not that long ago. What Tui had feared hadn’t left the island. In fact it had hidden itself and had observed quite a lot, including the Chief’s precious daughter who was at a very vulnerable state. If a powerful force of good came to the island without anyone realizing it, then another, more ominous one had also come and it currently had one thing on its mind, which was crying and unaware of the great danger that would soon come to her. “Poor child,” He quietly mused in a voice that had a certain accent. “Feeling all miserable and guilty of things beyond her control, no doubt.” He gave Moana a dark grin as he bared his slightly crooked teeth at her. “But don’t worry–Tamatoa here has a way to fix the heartbreak when he gets the chance later tonight. And nothing is going to stop me from paying my respects to a princess.” He growled as his grin widened at the thought of what was to come.

Oh boy, where do we begin? I feel really horrible for what I did to Moana. It almost killed me when I had to write that scene out in the cave. It was one heck of a roller coaster for her (I was inspired by Caribbean Blue by Enya for the water dance, and yes I’m aware that has nothing to do with the Pacific) and at this point she is more like Ariel then Maui is. I don’t think gold was a well known material or valuable in the Polynesian region (unless I’m getting my facts wrong). Even in the film, I couldn’t buy that gold could exist anywhere except maybe under the ocean at that time, which is why Tui doesn’t recognize it. Then again Tamatoa didn’t earn the title of being a collector for nothing. I’m pretty sure Maui would have gotten a worser punishment for what he did but so far I can’t see what the penalty would have been. I’m still sticking with his current punishment since it works for this fan fic. Ironically what he did was a bit of wish fulfillment on my part because–lets face it, how many Disney movies involve a main character’s precious object or collection getting destroyed? I’m not convinced that Moana would of had the luck of going single forever or having much choice in who she would marry as the Chief’s daughter back in those days. From what I learned, courting in that culture isn’t the same as dating and she would of had a lot of restrictions to deal with. I’ve seen variations in Polynesian culture where the man has to impress the girl’s family with gifts or the parents would choose the suitor for their daughter, or both man and woman would need approval from each other’s families. You couldn’t even have physical contact with your loved one in public if my research was correct. And while the prince in the original Little Mermaid was also expected to visit a princess and marry her, everything worked out well for him (but not the mermaid). Not so much for Moana in this case. Poor girl REALLY needs a hug. Unfortunately for her.... yeah, lets just say I’ve been looking forward to the next chapter for a really long time. Speaking of... Oh hey, I’ve been looking everywhere for you after you – Wait... what... WAIT A MINUTE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THAT–?! .... .... ERROR ERROR ERROR .... .... AUTHOR NOT FOUND .... There is a silence and the comforting words of the writer are absent. Darkness.... Just darkness.... You wonder what lays ahead. Maybe you are so sure that you know what will happen next... or maybe you don’t. And yet there is a pair of eyes watching you in the darkness. You then remember that these familiar eyes were not meant to be friendly. The laugh that echoes out does nothing to reassure you.

“You really should have seen that coming.” The figure who was covered in the strange cloak was still looking down at Moana but he didn’t turn to face the reader. “Or maybe you did. I don’t care, I found it funny either way.” “You know I almost pity you all. You are the only ones who know what is going on and you are the only ones who could save your precious little princess down there.” He pointed before letting out another laugh. “Well isn’t that a shame! You honestly think you know what is going on and what might happen next and yet you can’t stop me!”
“As for your... author.” He waved his hand. “Oh she will still respond to you as if I didn’t do anything awful to her. Leave a nice review or a note behind because if there was ever a time to leave a review, now would be a good time. We are dying to know how you felt about this chapter.” “Maybe if you are lucky I’ll answer it too since I know how much some of you adore me despite... well, you know. Sadly anything you do won’t be enough to stop me, so don’t even try to have any wish fulfillments and pretend to attack me before I get to the little mortal. Don’t try to act like a hero and save the girl, or even try to help out your little-semi-demi-mini-god. That wall between you and Tamatoa is rock solid right now and it’s not going anywhere.” “Also don’t try to ask what I got planned. No one likes to be spoiled and lose the impact of a good moment when it comes.” “So until you find out what I’m going to do with that mortal down there that you all so love, go and relax. Enjoy whatever is going on in your life or go back to your work like the good human you are. In the meantime, leave the hard work to the writer and me to...” He looked down at Moana and he grinned at her again. “Let’s... just say that there will be 90% less Maui in the next chapter.” He let out a deep chuckle. “See you next time, you funny little mortals, because I’m going to enjoy what comes next.”

[tornrose24]

‘Only a Voice’part 7 (A Moana Fan fic AU loosely inspired by the Little Mermaid)

As always, remember that this can also be read over at fan fiction.net under my other name ‘HolyMaiden24.′ I always appreciate a good review or pointer if I made a spelling error.

Anyway, this is the chapter where things start to get adorable, complicated, and ends with the beginning of my idea of a platonic version of ‘Kiss the Girl.’

Somewhere where it was really dark, Tamatoa was in bioluminescent form and he was waiting as the writer (who was covered in green bioluminescent markings and a bunch of green jewelry) recounted something as she sat on his shell and cleaned her sword off with a rag. “Long story short, Mickey sent Sora, Donald, and Goofy to stop me, so one died.” She concluded. “And yes that was a Kingdom Hearts reference. Anyway, say you wrote a book and you want to get published. Would I try to sponsor myself through inkshares, kickstarter, or just go ahead with a self-publishing website?” “I honestly have no idea what you are talking about and I think you have other matters to attend to.” The crab responded as he pointed to the reader from beyond their screen. “And yes, I was referring to you specifically.” He told you. The writer looked up in confusion before she smiled and waved at you. “Oh hey, sorry! I got pretty busy cleaning the tomatoes off my sword.”

“So as per usual the A/N is different depending on which version you are reading. I’ve noticed I’ve had a bad habit of missing errors so be ready to call me out if you see any. Any way, one of my reviewers over at Fanfiction.net asked Tamatoa how he was able to do half of the things he could like picking something up, considering his size and all, and if it gave him issues. His response was it takes a lot of practice and lots of free time. Of course it gets harder the more he grows.”

“And then he demonstrated with a cage that he made himself out of bone and ropes, which was used to do the following–”

-????- “Come on, come on!” Moana snarled as she kept smashing the button on her controller while she, Belle, Rapunzel, and Mulan were playing Super Smash Brothers. In fact, all of them were so engrossed in the game that they failed to see a cage come smashing down upon them and the TV. “What the heck?!” Belle screamed as the girls quickly realized what just happened. “No, no, I refuse to let this happen!” Rapunzel yelled out. “I DON’T WANT TO GET TRAPPED AGAIN!” “Uh, who is that?” Mulan pointed at what was outside of the cage. Moana took a look and felt her heart stop when she recognized the culprit. “ARE YOU SERIOUS?!” She yelled up at Tamatoa. “IS THIS FOR WHAT HAPPENED BACK THEN?!” “See Enigma?!” Tamatoa gestured to the cage with a flourish while the writer went from cleaning her sword to typing on her laptop. “Good enough to trap a few princesses!” “Well not for me!” Moana yelled. “Let us out!” She demanded, but her foe merely laughed and strutted away from her and her friends.

-Back to the A/N-

Yup, Mini Maui is still around and kicking! My knowledge of sailing is painfully limited so I had to do the best that I could. Also, if I get any of the hand gestures mixed up with actual sign language, I apologize in advance for that. The lyrics are from the song ‘Innocent Warrior’ from Moana, if no one catches on to it.

Chapter 7 Upon the ocean It was getting closer and closer to the long awaited day and the people of Motonui were getting more caught up in preparing for the visit. Even so there was always a guaranteed chance that you would notice something had changed if you paid attention to a certain interaction between two of the people on the island. Another thing you would have noticed a little more so was that Moana seemed to be a bit more confident in herself and looked a little less overwhelmed. “I think we are about done.” A woman showed Moana some tapas that were getting close to being finished and would replace some of the old ones in the community fale. “Though I don’t know if we will have enough time to make new ones for trading or not.” “Why don’t we focus on replacing the old tapas?” Moana suggested. “If you would like to make some to trade with, why not keep them on the small side?” She suggested. “There’ll always be next time.” “We’ll consider it.” The woman smiled. She watched as Moana hurried off and was followed by her silent companion who had watched the future Chief interact with the women at the tapas. “Well at this rate at least the community fale will look good as new.” She joked to a friend who was painting on a design for a tapestry. “How are we on the coconuts?” Moana asked Talia as she and the others tended to the harvest. “Well the new grove is still growing and we might need to wait for a bit for these ones to ripen up.” Talia noted. “Father also wanted me to tell you that the taro roots will be ready in time, but it wouldn’t hurt to let some of them grow a bit more.” “Ok, that’s good!” Moana beamed as she hurried off to the fishing fale. “How are we?” She asked the fishermen as they counted the fish. “Do the fish keep switching places on everyone?” “They still give us a hard time, but I think were doing just fine.” One of the men showed Moana a spear with a familiar looking head. “It’s thanks to your friend over there that they can’t get away from us that easily.” Moana turned to her companion, who just gave her a smile. “It does look as if the fishes wouldn’t be able to slip away from the spearheads.” Moana admitted before turning back to facing the fishermen. “Remember that we don’t want to scare them all off. We will need to get a bunch more before the Chief visits, so maybe try to get as much as you can on the day before?” After Moana waved to the fishermen and made to go off to her next task, she turned to the man beside her. “You’ll have to show us how you make those.” Moana began. “I could see that the visitors would want some and that would make trading easier. Plus I doubt you would want to make more than you’d like to in your free time.” She quickly added. The man gave her a careful look before shrugging. In truth, he wasn’t entirely willing to pass on all his secrets but maybe he could make a small exception. It was later on after Moana helped watch over the children at her grandmother’s fale that the man pulled her aside and began to lead her to the cave. Tala paused in her story telling to watch the interaction and when she was pleased to see that there was not going to be a repeat of what happened last time, she continued the story. “You’ll show me now, right?” Moana asked. When the man nodded, she let out a big grin and had to keep herself from bursting out in excitement, otherwise that would get them both caught. In the secret cave that was far from prying eyes, both of them had to learn that limited communication was not going to make teaching easy. Fortunately neither of them were willing to let this get in the way of things since they had done a more than decent job of interacting with each other up to this point. Maui watched as Moana held up the oar. “So could you make a sign for each part of the boat and then just let me know if I get anything mixed up?” He nodded. “So what would the sign for this be?” She held the oar out. He gave her a childish smirk and mimicked paddling the oar in the ocean, which made her feel a little foolish. Still it was more obvious and already the easiest to remember. “Ok, that made sense.” Moana glanced at the sail before looking back to him. “Uh... and the sail?” He made a fist with his hand. “And I suppose the waves would be...” She did a waving motion her her hand that bobbed up and down like the waves of the sea and he accepted this with a nod. “Uh...” Moana frowned as she looked at the extra parts of the boat that she was not as familiar with like the large pole in front of the sail. “I... I don’t know what that is.” She admitted. “I don’t know what the ropes can do either.” She felt embarrassed. “I mean I think I heard something once or twice but I don’t know.” Maui eyed every part of the boat. The halyard, the shroud, and the sheet would be tricky to ‘explain’ unless he actually showed her how they could be used. If he encouraged her to try to ask someone about the terminology then it would raise questions which neither of them wanted. He went ahead and moved behind the boat, forcing Moana to watch in confusion as he moved it into the water with the same ease as two men pushing a similar sized boat into the water together. “We aren’t going out into the ocean just yet, are we?” She asked.
He shook his head no and didn’t stop until the boat was completely in the water. When it did, Maui gestured for Moana to get on and she was more than happy to do so. It felt wonderful to feel the boat rock back and forth under her feet again, no matter how short it would last for. Maui grabbed the sheet and handed the end that was laying on the boat to Moana. She waited to see what he would do and when he gave it a pull, she saw that the sail moved in one particular direction. “Ok, so this helps with moving the sail.” She quickly picked up on this with a smile. “So just do a pulling motion for this one?”
Maui nodded with a smile; maybe this wouldn’t be as hard as he thought after all.

Sometime in the dead of night, Pua snuck into Maui’s fale, which was not too far from Chief Tui’s fale. The fale did not have much in it, except for one sleeping giant of a man, a few spear heads that he had made, some coconut shells with scrimshaw upon them, and hidden behind a few baskets was the necklace of animal teeth that he had first sworn before he stopped wearing it on his first day on Motonui. Pua had a sneaking suspicion that Maui stopped wearing it because it would have made him look a little familiar to those who saw his image, but that was not his concern and instead he went to the sleeping Maui, whose head was flopped over to one side and whose left arm was exposed to the open air. Pua walked over to the shoulder and waited to see if the strange tattoo from before would reappear. Sure enough, the strange grinning symbols on the shoulder shifted and parted to make a large circle and revealed a smiling figure that looked a lot like Maui. In fact it was the same figure Pua saw the day before. The figure waved and moved to the side to show a young Moana and Pua playing upon Maui’s skin. So what was left of the tattoos did remember Pua; when the miniature version of Maui pointed at the tattooed version of Pua and back to the actual Pua, the pig nodded to confirm that they were also one and the same. Mini Maui pantomimed pondering something with a hand cupped over his chin and a few question marks popped around his head before he pointed to his host, then pointed to a smaller version of the original tattooed version of himself, and then finally pointed to a non-tattooed version that looked identical to the current appearance of his host. Relieved to see that someone that could communicate with him would give the much needed answers, Pua nodded. Mini Maui nodded back as the smaller versions of the two versions of Maui, Moana, and Pua were absorbed into the ink and a crowd of cheering people rose up from the bottom of the circle. Mini Maui gained tattoos upon himself to represent the demi-god before he had been changed and he acted out as if he were excited and enjoyed the people’s praises. But as the seconds passed, the people continuously vanished and were replaced by more people and the excitement in Maui’s face died away and he began to frown. The ink shifted and showed Maui talking to a Chief, who pointed to a few monsters off in the distance. Maui took out his fish hook and when he approached the monsters he bashed them repeatedly on the head in a comical fashion until the monsters hurried away in fear. Maui approached the Chief with a smile of pride, but then the Chief merely smirked, turned away to his people, and they all left Maui alone. Maui had a very offended look on his face as he dropped the fish hook to the ground, but the offense died away into dejection and he turned away with a sad look in his eyes. A cloud then appeared over his head that showed the more human like form within it. From what Pua could gather, Maui seemed to be tired out by something, but he had been taken advantage of in the past and was not acknowledged for what he had done for that Chief and his people. So why would Maui be thinking of himself as a human? Did he want to become one? The ink then swirled together and this time it showed a rather unexpected scene, as Maui’s smaller incarnation was in the company of a giant crab that looked more than familiar to Pua after seeing his image one time too many. What did Tamatoa have to do with Maui being a human? The tattoo version of Tamatoa moved his mouth as if talking and another version of Maui appeared, along with one of the humans. An arrow pointed at Maui before pointing at the human, then it pointed back to Maui, who then turned into the more human version that was currently asleep. Ok, so Tamatoa must have turned him into a human somehow, but then the arrow pointed to a scene that was a little lower on the real Maui’s arm. It showed that Maui smiling at another human and this human hugged them before they grabbed his hand and took him away. Pua was really confused about this part and Mini Maui saw this, so he just held his hand up and gestured to Tamatoa, who slammed a large shell on the ground in front of him. Mini Maui walked over to the strange object and began drinking something out of it, before he recoiled away after a few gulps. He opened his mouth and gagged like Heihei would when heaving up a stone and something circular came out of the smaller Maui’s mouth before he collapsed into the sand and the markings that represented his tattoos vanished off his body. A great wave of water then came to take Maui away from Tamatoa, who grinned in sadistic delight as he scooped up the circular object into a shell on a necklace. Pua watched as Tamatoa vanished and the waves carried the still sleeping Maui away before setting him upon a spot of land, where Heihei appeared to peck at his head before Pua’s smaller incarnation came to find him. The tattoo version of Pua panicked and made to cry out to something and a teenaged version of Moana hurried to the scene to find Maui before she knelt beside him with a concerned frown on her face. Mini Maui woke up to mimic clutching at his throat and when the circular object appeared again, he pointed to it and then pointed to his throat before acting out as if he were trying to say something. He give Pua a shrug and an apologetic, yet hopeful smile before the characters all swirled together until they changed back into the original tattoo that had been upon Maui’s arm (the one that belonged to this current version, not the other one). Pua had a hard time gathering what was going on and somehow Tamatoa helped Maui turn into a human, but what exactly was it that came out of Maui that the crab took? Was it his voice? What did it mean when Maui hugged the other human? And why exactly would the ocean bring Maui back to Moana of all people after all this had happened? He hated that he now had more questions than before. Unknown to him, Mini Maui was also frustrated because there was a lot of additional info that would be hard to convey in a way that Pua would easily understand. This included the time limit, the bet, and just how important it was for Moana to develop a bond with Maui that would be strong enough to let him know that someone out there truly valued him for who he was. Plus he was quite fond of that spirited human girl and he was sure that Maui was secretly fond of her too, no matter how much he would try to deny it.

The days began to pass and Moana and Maui’s relationship slowly evolved into something a little more than a truce. He taught her as much as he could about sailing, yet he would not let the boat go out of the cave just yet. He even had to change up when Moana could go to the cave so that her father would not get suspicious and there were a few times where they had to sneak out in the dead of night. There were some struggles with trying to teach her without words, but the actions alone was more than enough to replace them and the more Moana was quick to pick up Maui’s cues, the more she was able to react in time to what she had to do. She had many questions about what could happen, such as if a wave were about to overpower her, and he would guide her in what to do. Some things were harder than others, but something like teaching her how to tie a knot properly and have her copy him was easier. She also learned that no matter how much she could watch the fishermen at their boats by the shore so that she could try to pick up more about sailing, it just wasn’t going to cut it; their boats were just not built the same as hers was. As Maui sat down on the boat and let his legs hang off after one of the lessons, Moana realized that the boat was once again in the water. In fact it was pretty far from the shoreline to the point that the water below had to be a good five feet deep. And her teacher wasn’t paying attention to her; one could say that he seemed rather distracted. With an evil grin, Moana decided it was time for some well deserved revenge. She quietly backed a few feet away before she ran towards Maui with her hands out. The moment he turned his head and slightly shifted his position, she pushed him right in the shoulders (she remembered to avoid the sensitive part on his back) and watched in delight as he tumbled right off the boat and into the water with a tremendous, yet satisfying splash. When Maui broke through the surface, he quickly turned around and had to move his water soaked hair out of his face to see that Moana was kneeling beside the boat and giving him a big grin with one eyebrow raised at him. He was confused as to why she had done this to him until he realized she was in the same position he was when he threw her into the sea. Oh so that was it. She wanted revenge for that little incident and took her chance when he was distracted. When Moana saw the man in the water give her a deep scowl, she dropped her smile and wondered if she took it too far again. She gulped as he let go of his hair before he swam towards her and she hoped to the gods that this would not ruin their agreement. Instead, Maui reached out to grab Moana by the leg and pulled her right into the water alongside him. Her splash was not as spectacular as his own, but it was still just as satisfying to him. When it was her turn to brake through the surface and move her hair out of her face, Maui let out a hilariously amusing grin at how utterly shocked the teenager looked. When she realized what he had done, Moana could only let out a laugh and slapped the water to splash a wave right at him. Maui took this as an invite to a fight and he splashed a larger wave back at her and even though she was hit by it, Moana did not back down from the challenge and an epic watery showdown ensued. Unfortunately it probably was not as epic as it seemed, but it was the fun that counted. Moana could not stop laughing and even between splashes she could tell that the man was also laughing, even if she could not hear it. A part of her wanted so badly to know what that laugh was supposed to sound like, yet the other part just wanted to let go and have fun. It was only then that she stopped seeing this man as an unwanted guardian or just a teacher who she still had a hard time trusting to not tell her father about her lessons–instead he became a genuine friend. Maybe he wasn’t the exact kind of friend most would picture for someone like her but she didn’t care.

At night when Moana tried to measure the stars, Maui had to correct her position so that she had her arm straight out and her fingers were joined together, before standing beside her to do the same. Her hand was so much smaller and more slender than his own hand, yet it was starting to get some calluses though not quite as much as his own. The way was his own hand was shaped was so unusual compared to most other men to the point it almost didn’t seem human-like, yet was clearly ideal for certain tasks and hard labor. Moana smiled at the sight of her hand and his own against the night sky, but as she measured the stars, she thought about the missing constellation. Perhaps her companion knew something about it? “Have you noticed that Maui’s constellation is missing from the sky lately?” Moana asked as she glanced at him. “Grandma noticed it and–” Maui was alarmed by this question and looked up at the sky and every part of it that surrounded him before looking up as high as he could to see if it was over Motonui, but it wasn’t. That was not good. Nope, not good at all. “So you’re concerned about it too?” Moana asked as she dropped her hand. “I don’t know why it vanished, but I hope nothing bad has happened to Maui.” She frowned. “I mean some people still think he’s just a story and some think he is still alive. I think he does exist, but I really hope he didn’t do something to anger the gods. I know he did some things that were not favorable in some of the stories–including the ones we can’t exactly tell the children.” She winced at the memory of some of those tales. “But some of us still look up to him despite his faults.” “He’s done so much for us–maybe more than we could have asked for–that I’d hate it if his legacy ended on a bad note. Actually I got inspiration from him when I sent those kids upon you so that I could get away.” She chuckled as she grew thoughtful. “Someone who is both brave enough to face the worst of situations and smart enough to figure out a situation in a small amount of time... we need more people like that in this world.” Moana didn’t see Maui look away, nor did she notice the look of guilt in his eyes. Normally such words would be taken as praises and would give him an ego boost, but it didn’t this time around. She was giving him way too much credit than she realized. Maybe he took the human race for granted after all this time. He had been focused so much on seeing them as a whole and was constantly trying to do everything for them to get their approval that he kept forgetting that there were those who had still believed him in and were not expecting him to constantly outdo himself for their sake. And just to twist the knife further, it figured that he got in this mess in the first place because he felt that the appreciation the humans had towards him was not entirely genuine as it used to be and wore off throughout the ages. Yet here was proof that someone still remembered and believed in him, even if she didn’t know who he was. He hated being regarded as just a story instead of an actual person at times, so this confession meant a lot to him. Except he was sure that that Moana would be more than upset if she ever found out the truth about why he was the way he was now and even more so if he lost the ‘little’ bet he made awhile back. “But maybe its just off season and the stars will come back.” Moana tried to reassure herself. “Maybe the constellation is elsewhere, right?” The longer he stayed as a human, the more there would be at stake. He could not bring himself to disappoint Moana if she had to learn the truth and yet... When exactly did it get to the point that he had grown to care so much about what one human out of an entire race felt about him? Why would the idea of disappointing her more than an entire race of mortals scare him like this? All he knew was that he couldn’t abandon her now just because he was terrified over what consequences he would face. He could at least fulfill her wish before he had to make a decision in the future about whether or not he would need to leave this island and spare themselves from a tragic end to this irony.

More time began to pass and Maui counted as it went from eight days, to six days, and eventually it got to the point where he had three days left, as did Moana for when the Chief would come to visit. He tried to avoid thinking about the future and instead just try to focus on the present. He did what he could and helped Moana get the coconuts they needed, or the fruit from other plants. He showed her exactly how he made the barbed spears, though it was easier said then done and she ended up nicking herself a few times. He also watched as she talked about making a proper enclosure for the animals with a few villagers and agreed on double reinforcing some parts of them. “Just keep that rooster in a basket though, he’d peck his way out of the enclosure if he knew what he was doing.” A man pointed and sure enough Heihei was pecking at some rope that was slowly becoming undone by his sharp beak. “I’ll think on that.” Moana promised as she picked Heihei up and carefully petted his feathers. The rooster made no protest to this and enjoyed the petting while it lasted. Maui allowed Moana to show him around the island and the forested areas as she talked about the island and the history of her people as well as a little about herself. It was in the forest where she was allowed to be more adventurous and he could only watch in amusement as she took a large leaf and used it to slide down one of the oddly angled trees over a big ditch. She offered the leaf for him to do the same thing and he did– except his weight made the leaf snap in half and caused him to fall into the ditch and she had to watch as he crawled back up. “I swear I didn’t mean to do that on purpose!” Moana apologized, but there was a smile on her face. When she felt something grab onto her ankle, she looked down to see that her companion was holding onto it with a very sneaky smile while keeping his head turned to the side as a respectful precaution. “Oh no, don’t you dare do that again!” Moana began. “No I said don’t!” She laughed when he tugged on her ankle, but he did not even try to pull her into the ditch. “Maybe next time you can get back at me when I deserve it!” Moana herself oversaw everything to make sure that her village was presentable and that they had enough food for their guests, in addition to having enough goods to trade with. Everything was becoming a giddy whirl as the Royal Marae and the community fale were both completely cleaned and presentable, the coconuts were being picked, and everything else was coming into place. The dancing lessons for the event was going along well and her own dancing was getting better and better with each passing day as she tried to find more time to practice on her own. She took inspiration from the ocean to keep her movements slow, steady, yet fluid and graceful, and those who saw this picked up on the changes. “She’s going to be beautiful.” A healthier looking Sina smiled at Tala as they watched Moana dance outside the community fale. “I don’t know what you said, but she’s improved so much.”
“Oh, I think she found inspiration where she needed it the most.” Tala chuckled. “Her confidence is also playing a big role in all of this.” She looked to the man who could not speak and watched as he smiled on in pride at Moana. “Though I think some additional help around here has somehow played a part.” The music ended and Moana was greeted with applause. She couldn’t help but curtsey to her audience and let out a smile as her mother walked towards her. “You will make us all proud.” Sina smiled. “Even our ancestors would find this enjoyable to behold.” “I hope it will be as easy as this one time.” Moana nervously laughed, but Sina put a hand on Moana’s shoulder. “Allow the music and the spirit of your soul to guide you.” Sina advised her daughter. “Do this and all of Motonui and the people of Chief Hoani will see you for who you are on the inside.” “I hope I don’t reveal too much!” Moana laughed. Meanwhile Maui frowned from his spot because something about the name of the Chief sounded familiar, even if it might have been mentioned in passing before. Did he know a Chief that went by that name? He had met several in his time, so why did this one scream out at him? Actually, wasn’t there a Chief he had met that mentioned this island some time ago? “That is a gift for the family of the Chief of Motonui! I did not promise that to you as payment for protecting us from those monsters!” If there was ever a time that Maui’s heart could stop for longer than a second, now was it. He felt himself get cold as the memories came back to him of what happened the night before he decided to turn into a human. Oh gods, of all the things that had to happen to make this even more difficult for him, it had to be because a certain cheapsake that he stole from had to show up on the island on his last day as a human. And how many were coming? Nineteen? Who else would recognize him?! It didn’t matter how much scarring had happened to him or how much else of him had changed because they would recognize him in a heartbeat! There was no way they would be stupid enough to think he was someone else, unless a miracle could happen. Moana turned around to face her friend with a smile but then frowned in concern when she saw how troubled he looked and hurried off to who knew where. “I’ll be right back.” She told Sina and hurried after her companion with Pua close behind. “Is something wrong?” Moana asked Maui as soon as she caught up to him. “You seem troubled by something.” Maui hesitated and turned around, but he could not bring himself to just shake his head and continue on like nothing happened. Instead he looked out to the ocean and tried to figure out why on earth he was brought to Motonui of all places if he was going to go on this massive guilt trip and face a more than likely enraged Chief from another island. One word was all that was needed to be said in order for everything to come undone if he was present for the event. It all just built up into a frusterated anger that he was struggling to contain. He had no idea what it was that he wanted now and he had to be denied one more day because fate had to be a magnificent jerk to him. Moana herself couldn’t think of exactly what would upset the man before her (especially if he couldn’t flat out say it). “You would let me know though, right?” She asked. Whatever was going though his mind was all too clear in his eyes and whatever it was, it was causing him a great distress.
She could only watch as he opened his mouth as if to say something, but when he remembered that he couldn’t, he could only turn around and walk away. She watched as he briefly ran his fingers through his hair with one hand and pulled it up for a few seconds before it dropped back down. However, it was long enough for Moana to notice something rather odd. She had stopped paying attention to the man’s scars a long time ago, but there was something about some of the few on his back that had changed. The scars used to look so horrendous and yet some of them were losing their discoloration and were looking closer to his natural skin tone now. The one hidden under his hair particularly looked less like a patch of an uneven, jagged terrain of flesh and was starting to look a little closer to the ones on the rest of his body. Moana chose not to think on this and turned away as she wondered what could be done to help her friend. She had no idea that the man was heading to his fale and she would never learn that the moment he was inside, he would let out a violent series of voiceless yelling and cursing that would go unheard to all. All she knew was that if there had been a way to know what was troubling him, she would try to help him in a heartbeat.

She didn’t recognize this part of the island. The rocks, the trees, the flowers, the plants–everything was different, yet the sand and the ocean looked the same. Moana glanced at her surroundings as she tried to figure out what sort of dream this was. As she kept walking, she thought she heard a woman singing in the distance, so she hurried towards the source. When she finally got close enough and hurried around a large rock, she was met with a strange sight. A woman garbed in white garments, and who had long flowing dark hair with a crown of flowers upon her head, sang as she danced knee deep in the ocean like Moana’s grandmother did. What made the sight so strange was that a wave of water from the ocean had risen up to her chest and appeared to be dancing alongside her. “Ou mata e matagi,” The woman sang as she gracefully waved her arms about. “Ou loto mamaina toa.” Moana couldn’t dare to stop the woman with her own questions. Instead she watched in awe as the woman and the wave of water danced together in harmony. “Manatu atu. Taku pelepele.” The woman raised her arms in the air, but then the wave shifted out of sync and tilted at a strange angle. “I have heard much about you, young one.” The woman suddenly spoke out to Moana. Moana heard a strange cracking noise and she turned around to see that a fale similar to her own grandmother’s appeared right behind her as if by some sort of divine magic. Drawn to the fale, Moana walked towards it and pulled back one of the tapas so that she could enter it. Much like her grandmother’s fale, the tapas were tapestries of gods and monsters, but each one was moving upon the surface as if they were alive. From the creation of the world, to the great eel that lead to the coconut tree, they replayed their own stories for Moana to watch. But then, as if they sensed her presence, the characters all stopped moving on the tapas. All except one figure that was crouched in front of a rock with his hands over his eyes as he rocked back and forth on his feet. Moana walked to this one and when she got close enough, the figure sprang up to reveal himself as a young child before he ran off to the side of his tapa, disappeared, and then reappeared in the next one. She watched as he cupped a hand to his mouth to call out for someone as he walked around but then noticed the eight eyed bat that was in front of him. He moved as if he noticed something behind the creature and when he yelled at it, something small quickly fell out from behind it and landed on top of the child’s head. It was a small coconut crab no bigger then the child’s own head, though he still seemed to require wearing a specific protective shell before he could develop his own. “Is that–?” Moana realized that the crab looked more than familiar to her, having seen a larger version of him more than once. If the crab was who she thought it was, then did that mean that the child was who she thought he was? The boy laughed as he took the crab off his head and lifted him up into the air for one minute. Even the crab seemed to be laughing in joy as he was held up in the air before the boy set him back down. Moana continued to watch as both the younger versions of Maui and Tamatoa hurried off to play and search for treasures hiding within the other tapestries. “If only I had seen what was to come.” The woman’s voice lamented as if it were right beside Moana. When Moana turned around to try to find it, all the images had vanished off the tapas, save for one where a much larger version of the crab now bore a dark grin as he told something to the boy who was now grown up into the version of himself that Moana knew best. She watched as the demi-god’s teeth began to grit down in anger while the crab moved closer and closer towards him and continued to say whatever he had to say until he towered over him. “Instead a cycle of revenge has begun.” Moana turned to try to find the voice, but instead she saw another tapa with the crab and the demi-god. Except this time it took a dark turn as an enraged Maui was shown ripping off one of Tamatoa’s legs with a large hook with all the force that he could summon up. Moana could only stare in horror as the limb came off and the crab let out what should have been an agonized scream while Maui seemed to come to his senses and realized what he had done in equal wide eyed horror. “Why would you show me this?!” Moana turned around to try to find the woman. When she couldn’t find her, she hurried outside to see the woman standing near the ocean instead of within it. Now that she was facing Moana, the girl could she that she looked strangely like her own mother and yet not quite. Her mother did not have the same vibrant green colored eyes that this woman had. “I chose not to interfere with current events as what has happened has been of his own choosing. Yet something has changed and I will not be able to reach you in time to stop what is to come.” The woman apologized. “What are you talking about?!” Moana demanded as she threw her hands out. “Does this have something to do with Maui’s missing constellation? I’m only seeing images, but they aren’t enough! I don’t know what Maui and Tamatoa’s falling out has to do with any of it!” The woman could only turn to the ocean as a pillar of water rose out of it. “So long as you are by the ocean or within it, it will protect you from a certain danger.” She held her hand out towards the pillar of water, which moved closer towards her. “If you stray too far from it, you will meet a terrible fate.” She turned back to Moana. “Heed your grandmother’s words, my child–appearances can be very deceiving, so trust with your heart. Only you and you alone will have the power to end it all.” “I don’t understand!” Moana cried out in frustration. “I can’t be by the ocean when I am needed to be in the village! How does that help me?! And what is it that must end?!” A hand grabbed Moana’s arm in a painful manner and she felt herself be pulled towards the fale, but the fale had vanished and instead the hand pulled her as far from the ocean as possible. Moana tried to look back to see who grabbed her, but instead there was nothing but darkness to greet her before it swallowed her whole. “Remember my words, Moana.” The woman called out one final time. “Remember who you truly are.”

As Moana tossed and turned in her slumber, Tui got up and headed outside to get some  much needed air. “Just a few more days.” He reminded himself as he ran a hand over his face as he faced the mountains and the forested area that was behind the village. “I won’t even have to tell her. The last thing I need is to add onto the stress and–” He heard a strange rumbling sound off in the distance that made him stop what he was doing. It was a strange sound that was somewhere far off, but not close enough to be anywhere near the village and it was too dark to tell where it was coming from. He heard it again and this time he detected that it was coming from somewhere near the northeastern side of the island. He shut his eyes to try to focus on the sound and he could have sworn he heard another faint sound, like a stick cracking in half. No it was like many sticks were cracking in half. He paused for a moment and waited in anticipation when the sounds ceased. Should he alert someone to go get help or wait to see if he was imagining things? He opted for the latter and waited for a long time, yet nothing happened. “Perhaps it was just my mind playing a trick upon me.” Tui tried to reassure himself, but he was not entirely convinced. He needed to take a group out to where he thought he heard that sound, but he would have to be careful about it. He didn’t want to cause any panic amongst his people if something was amiss and he was already developing a bad feeling in his guts.

The next day, everyone was ahead of schedule or had just managed to make ends meet in time to have a little more free time. Even Moana found that she didn’t have much to do besides help the children with her dancing and oversee the final preparations, but she couldn’t help but wonder about the dream. She wondered if perhaps her grandmother would be able to tell her. “Moana!” Her father called to her as she finished the dance lesson with the children and she turned to see him approach her. “I see that you have done a fine job thus far.” He smiled at her. “It has been difficult but I am glad to see that you have pulled through.” “Thank you father!” Moana beamed with delight. “I’m going to be exploring certain parts of the island for a bit.” Tui told her. “In the meantime I think you have more than earned some time to yourself. So long as I see you come home by sundown.” He added. “I will!” Moana smiled. “One more thing.” Tui added. “Just be careful alright?” “Yes!” Moana waved and didn’t think too much about her fathers words as she watched  her father walk towards a small group of men and women before she turned back to her students. “Are you sure you won’t tell her?” One of the women asked Tui as they headed towards the mountains and forests. “It would be a good part of her training if your hunch is correct.” She pointed out as she examined her spear. “The last thing I need is to raise alarm amongst my people.” Tui confessed to her as he allowed his happy masquerade to drop. “I don’t know what it is that I had heard, but I fully intend to investigate before we take action. I want as much of the island explored as possible before it is time to head back.”
“Suppose it was just one of the gods having a bit of fun.” One of the men laughed. As Moana finished her lesson, she walked off as Pua joined her again and she tried to think of what else could be done to occupy her time when she felt a hand grab her wrist. For one second she recalled the dream and the mystery hand, but when she turned to see a certain friend, she smiled in relief. “Oh, guess what?!”  She exclaimed. “Father gave me some time off today starting right now!” She looked at him again to see if anything had changed besides the scarring, but the only thing that was different was the green lavalava he wore when he first came to the island. Knowing that Moana had free time pleased Maui a little bit as this was perhaps the only chance he would get to bring her out into the ocean before it was too late. He let go of her hand and began heading towards the secret entrance to the cave. “Where are you going?!” Moana asked as Maui made a gesture to follow her. She obeyed and wondered if he was going to lead her to the cave for another lesson.

“So what will you teach me this time?” Moana asked as Maui pushed her boat back into the water again. To her confusion, he paused in his task and pointed to the waterfall with a smile. She titled her head in confusion at this, but when he handed her the oar, she then realized what he had in mind. “You mean–?” Moana couldn’t believe this. “You’re actually going to let me go out into the ocean?!” When her friend nodded in confirmation, Moana felt her heart begin to race. Was she truly going to go back onto the water after all these years without anyone to stop her? “You’re not joking with me are you?” Moana asked. “You’re not going to stop me at the last minute and–” Maui tossed Moana the oar and she quickly reacted by grabbing it before it could fall to the ground. She stared at the oar, which now felt as much as a part of herself as her own arm. “I’m actually going to go out onto the ocean.” She whispered in awe. She let out a laugh and hurried to the boat to push it out into the water. “Are you coming Pua?” She turned to the pig, but Pua shook his head and stayed as far from the water as possible as he wasn’t exactly ready to join his human friend out on the ocean just yet. The moment the boat was completely in the water, Moana didn’t stop pushing until she was knee deep in water and she could hop upon it. Maui immediately hurried to catch up and get on the boat at the moment the girl took the oar and began to paddle towards the waterfall since he knew that she would probably try to go off without him in her excitement (not to mention he still felt compelled to watch over her as the last thing he wanted was her dad to get a heart attack if he wasn’t by her side). Moana didn’t stop paddling and she only briefly acknowledged that Maui had joined her and was sitting a little farther up on the boat now. She had become so focused that the moment she saw a flash of red pop out of the canoe part of the boat, she almost wanted to let out a scream and drop the oar. The flash of red was only Heihei, who somehow wondered all the way into the cave and was stuck in the large compartment inside the canoe. He tilted his head in confusion at Moana, but she quickly grabbed him as carefully as she could and gently tossed him across the water. “Sorry, but maybe another time Heihei!” Moana apologized as the rooster flapped his wings until he had landed right at the shoreline beside an amazed Pua. She turned around to get the oar and started paddling closer towards the waterfall while her passenger shot an amused smirk at the bird. Moana didn’t stop paddling and not even when the boat finally broke through the waterfall that poured water over her. It was only when she could finally see nothing but the blue sky and the ocean ahead of her did this dream truly begin to feel real, and yet she still kept paddling so that she could get as far away from the island as possible. She only briefly looked back to see how close she was to the village and began paddling the boat away from it until she could finally get up to free the sail so that the wind could catch it and allow the boat to glide through the water at a faster pace. Excited to see the wind blowing against the sail, Moana became lost in the moment as she hurried to paddle the boat farther out as it went across the water. Gradually the waves ahead of her got bigger, but the boat was able to surpass each one, which also gave her a rush of adrenaline as she went over and up each one and she felt her insides roll around in excitement. Finally the largest wave came and it was the one that marked the difference between staying within the reef and going completely out into the ocean. She held her breath as it came towards her and she prayed that her boat would make it. It had to, it was built for this very purpose! Slowly the wave came and just when the boat was close enough, it shot upward as if it could take Moana into the sky and in those few seconds she knew what it was like to be a bird. Seconds later the boat went over the wave and came crashing down with a tremendous splash. Realizing what she had just done, Moana got up and turned around to see the last of the wave vanish to reveal that she was now facing the island that she had grown up in with only a reef between the two of them. There was no ground or shallow water below her, but the wood of the boat and the ocean holding it upright. The wind was blowing against her and the boat but it felt comforting instead of annoying. She finally felt free with nothing to hold her back this time. Thrilled at what she had accomplished, Moana let out a breathless laugh as she threw her arms out and just let it all her excitement come out in her joyous outburst. She took it all in–the scent of the ocean, the feeling of moving without actually walking, the sun down upon her and the sound of the waves–it was all that she wanted and more. Meanwhile Maui just smiled and watched Moana as she was caught up in her excitement. He had no desire to try to disrupt her because not only was he trusting her to take over the boat by herself, but because that pure joy on her face was a wonderful sight to behold. She was following what was in her bloodline for many generations–something that had to be contained for way too long–and just seeing that she was truly meant to be out on the ocean made him feel a little proud that he was able to help her accomplish her dream. He wasn’t the only one who was happy for her though. Only one person on the island saw Moana’s boat and she knew without a doubt that Moana was on it, but she didn’t try  to stop her granddaughter in any way. Tala beamed as she caressed the pendant part of the necklace around her neck. The blue shell and the gray spiral was a perfect reflection of the ocean that Moana was now a part of. “Thank you for listening to my prayers.” She thanked the gods for finally granting Moana’s deepest wish. Had Tala been given even a hint of what was to come–had she been aware of the long chain of events that first began the night before, or what would happen when Moana would return to the island–had she known exactly what would be at stake, she would have called out for Moana and yelled at her to not be out on the waters for too long. Had she told Moana to come back before the sun would be low enough to change the colors of the sky to darker hues on one side of the world while turning it to lighter hues on the other, then she would have had the earliest and maybe only possible chance to prevent what was to come. Instead Tala smiled and returned back to her fale, unaware that the powers of fate would soon come crashing down upon them all like a great wave.

Sha, la, la, la, my oh my, look at the boy–oh wait that doesn’t count this time. Its funny how there are things I’ve considered tying into the story and then I’m all ‘Ok yeah, totally doing that after all then’ and the end result makes Maui suffer even more than he needs to. On the other hand the water fight was my personal favorite of the scenes to write out in this chapter. Unfortunately, Moana and Maui might get one or two moments of fun together in the next chapter before everything goes horribly downhill. I’m not even going to deny it if you guys are getting an idea of what is going to happen in the next chapter. One of the things I’m annoyed about in the original film is what the heck was the deal with Maui and Tamatoa and why the latter’s leg got torn off, in addition to the fact that Tamatoa knew exactly what Tala must have told Moana. Ironically I was working on a ‘what if’ fan fic about Tamatoa’s past before this one and some of those ideas have made a cameo here so far. So I’ve done five or so chapters this January, but I need to slow it down as I don’t want to ruin the quality of this story. I actually need to go back and edit some chapters that REALLY need it and rushing these chapters out may of had something to do with that. Because of how important the next few are, I may need to limit myself to three or even two chapters a month (and trust me, these will be the good chapters. I’ve been looking forward to them for a reason). So I got some interesting news for those of you who wanted this fan fic to have a little more ship tease involved. I will be doing a special one shot called ‘Ocean’s Duet’ and it can be regarded as canon to this story if you want it to (and it would take place during this chapter), so keep your eyes out for that. And now this way I can make all my readers happy while giving something exclusive to the shippers. I’m STILL holding to my rule of no full on romance until Moana is of age in that one shot, but hopefully what I can provide will be good enough... for now. Anyway, I need to see how the princesses are holding up. -*???*- “You should probably hurry it up before Rapunzel goes insane.” The writer watched from the shadows as Mulan cautioned three familiar looking Disney characters while she and the other three princesses were still trapped in the well designed and rather heavy cage. And who was outside the cage ready to help them? “Ok, on the count of three!” Hercules cautioned as he, Wreck-it-Ralph, and Maui were crouched down at the bottom of the cage. “One. Two. THREE!” They all lifted the cage up long enough for the girls to escape before tossing it aside. “Oh thanks a lot you guys!” Belle sighed in relief. “I was worried someone wouldn’t come to help us in time!”
“And that’s my cue to leave.” The writer decided. “But first... HEY!” She quickly popped out of the shadows and alerted the Disney characters to her. “I totally ship you with Elsa from Frozen!” The writer pointed to Ralph, who was insanely confused at this. “I have something similar to say about you guys, but not all of my readers want to hear it again!” She pointed at Moana and Maui. “Also one last thing!” She pointed at Belle. “The live action remake of your movie better be good! I’ve been looking forward to it for ages!” And with that, the writer ran for her life before any of them realized that she was part of the reason why they were all there to begin with. “Wait a minute.” The writer looked around in confusion as she realized someone was missing. “Where did he go?” “Hey Tamatoa?” She called out, but there was no response. “Uh... fish dinners!” She yelled out the part of his song that was now a meme on YouTube. Still no response. “Oh, this isn’t good.” She gulped.

Also, for those of you who cared about who was who while playing Super Smash Brothers, Rapunzel was Yoshi, Mulan was Link, Belle was Robin, and Moana was Greninja.

[tornrose24]

Only a voice, part 2 (A Moana AU fan fic inspired by the Little Mermaid)

Note that this fan fic can also be found on fan fiction.net under my other name (HolyMaiden24). See notes for more details.

Note that in this AU, everyone is out voyaging. The heart of Te Fiti was never stolen, but there are still dangers in the ocean. However there are still reasons as to why Chief Tui doesn’t want Moana out on the ocean, as you will learn pretty soon. Now I, like so many others, am not super familiar with the Polynesian cultures, but I will do my best (and thankfully I own a copy of ‘The Art of Moana’ to help me somewhat). If I ever write something that goes against the culture or is not accurate, please let me know. Something important to keep note of: fale- a type of house. They vary in apperance and some can be used fro ceremonial or religious purposes (from what I understand). tapa- this was a type of ‘cloth’ made from a certain tree. Those tapestries in the beginning of the film were made with these (again, from what I do understand). Hoani- a Maori name. If it is not accurate I will use a different name.

Quite a few years had passed since Moana had been kidnapped by the kakamora, but that itself was a minor occurence compared to what else was occuring around the southern seas of the world. On an island somewhere close to Motonui (and yet not quite) a certain catastrophe was about to occur as the sun was setting as a large bird crashed through the roof of the Chief’s fale. A number of the villagers and the chief himself immediately responded to the occurance and when they made it into the fale, there was one huge hole in the roof of the fale, but it was nothing compared to who was inside the building. “I didn’t think something as precious as this could get in the hands of humans, but I guess you guys find your ways.” A muscular man who almost seemed to be as large as a mountain with a series of tattoos on what seemed to be every inch of his body commented as he held up a necklace in one hand while the other held a large fish hook over his shoulder. If it wasn’t the tattoos that showed his accomplishments, then it was the fish hook that gave away his true identity. “What is it supposed to be for, a wedding present or is this a ceremonial trinket?” He asked as he held the necklace up. It was a beautiful necklace with carefully woven fibers holding together pecies of shells, bones, and a very lovely red stone that would clearly shine under the right lighting. “That is a gift for the family of the Chief of Motonui!” The chief snarled as he took a few steps closer to the man. “I did not promise that to you as payment for protecting us from those monsters!” “Yeah, true.” The man nonchalantly began. “Except I don’t recall you giving me the supplies I asked for as payment. That was all I asked for, and yet you decided that even something as simple as that wasn’t worth giving away. So unless this is a big deal to you guys–which it isn’t–then I’ll take it from you guys as a reminder not to cheat someone out of a deal ever again.” He looked up at the roof. “Plus you now have some much needed lighting in this place, so it wasn’t that bad of a trade off, right?” The chief yelled out in fury as he took a spear from one of his men and charged at the large man. He sighed as he lowered his hand, swung his hook out, and the markings upon it glowed with a blue light. Within moments his form shifted to that of a large brown hawk that not only knocked the chief to the ground as he turned around, but he charged through to the ceiling, dodged quite a few spears that were sent up at him, and made a second large hole in the ceiling when he made his get away. It was quite a nice addition to the archetiecture, he thought to himself. “GET BACK HERE, MAUI!” The Chief yelled at the hawk as his men tried to help him up. “I WILL TELL THE OTHERS WHAT YOU HAVE, DONE, YOU HEAR ME?! YOU CAN’T TAKE WHAT WASN’T PROMISED TO YOU!”
The hawk let out a laugh as he flapped his wings and got away from the island as fast as he could. “It’s always the ones who talk big that I don’t have to worry about!” He spoke to himself. The bird flew to a boat that was hidding behind a large rock and it was there that the bird changed into a man who dropped onto the boat and quickly undid its binds to one of the smaller rocks. There was still a smirk on the man’s face as the wind blew into his wild mane of dark hair, yet his brown eyes had already lost their mischeviousness that he was sometimes more known for over his heroic feats. “Heh,” He paused long enough to look at the necklace, which held no true value for him other then serving as a reminder that those people didn’t really appreciate all that he had done for them. How often did that even happen anymore? He had helped humanity for so long that they were taking his services for granted. “Even their ‘thank yous’ are getting hallower than an empty coconut.” He mused as he was able to let the sails of his boat go and the wind quickly took him away from the island. When was the last time he could remember a ‘thank you’ being so sincere and full of appreciation? Unknown to him, someone had been watching everything that had happened from start to finish. From Maui’s success with driving the monsters away to the instant he had escaped, as well as the moment he was denied a reward. Honestly, the stupid look of offense and shock he had on his face when that happened would make a good memory to laugh at for many decades to come. With a deep chuckle, he sank down into the depths of the ocean as he began to see that there might be something that could work to his advantage. And finally get the revenge he so rightfully desired.

“Alright, that was wonderful!” A sixteen year old Moana clapped her hands together after finishing the dancing lesson with her young students. “You all are going to be amazing!” “But none of us dance as wonderfully as you do, Moana!” A little girl exclaimed. “When the Chief and his people from the other island come to visit, you will be the best dancer of us all!”
“And you will look so pretty in your ceremonial attire!” Another girl beamed. “You’ll be the most beautiful of all the ladies!” Moana let out a laugh as Pua came to brush against her legs. “I wouldn’t make claims like that, but I appreciate it!” She picked Pua up and waved to the children. “Bye!” She then gently grabbed one of Pua’s front feet and playfully waved it at the children. “‘Bye-bye!’” She pretended to say on Pua’s behalf. “Bye!” “Bye, Moana!” Moana smiled as she walked away. “You’d think that for once we would get to go to the islands and perform for them instead.” She told Pua as she turned to the ocean and let out a sigh of longingness. “If only father would stop being afraid and let me go.” She had only one time out on the ocean and she never forgot it. Yet she wanted to trully experience the ocean and feel the wood of a canoe under her feet and the wind blowing through her hair. Getting kidnapped, fighting for her life, and getting blinded was not the same as that. “You remember when we got to be out on the ocean, don’t you Pua?” Pua let out an uncomfortable grunt. “Yeah, those things did want to make you their dinner.” Moana agreed. “Ever since I was found that night, father became very adamant that I wouldn’t go near the shore without someone by my side, let alone anywhere near a canoe.” Moana reflected as she continued to walk towards her grandma’s fale. “I told the story and he didn’t believe anything other than that I was out at sea.” She frowned. “I know it has been many years since his friend drowned in the ocean, and I know he forbade me and mother to leave with him since he fears that history will repeat itself. But I wish he could trust me enough to at least let me learn under someone! How can I be the future Chief if I am not allowed to go to the other islands, Pua?!” When she briefly turned away, she could see that Heihei the rooster was trying to peck at a bush for reasons that could only make sense to him. “Any day now, he’ll walk right to a cook and serve himself as our next meal.” She chuckled. She had done everything to save Heihei, but with each attempt to speak on his behalf, it seemed the dumb bird gave the cook a new reason to prep him for dinner. She almost wanted to know what went on through Heihei’s head but she doubted it would be anything enlightening for her own benefit. She glanced back to the ocean as she continued her walk. She thanked the gods that her blindness only lasted for a short time and that she could enjoy the sight of the ocean in all of its beauty. She couldn’t explain it, but... “I feel like each time I look at the ocean, it keeps calling to me. It wants to appologize for what almost happened to me.” She mused. She had tried to double her efforts to respect the ocean since then and sometimes she talked to the water when no one was looking. She prayed that it would guide her father on safe voyages and that one day it would do the same for her when her time would come. “Perhaps I am going to be the next village crazy lady.” Moana laughed. “Maybe I should learn a thing or two about that from Grandma Tala. She would glady welcome a successor.” Grandma Tala was in her fale when Moana found her and the eldery woman was once again recounting tales of monsters and gods to a group of young children. Moana set Pua outside and walked right in as Grandma Tala finished up another story. “And that is why our days are long and productive.” Grandma Tala was obviously recounting a tale about Maui slowing down the sun. “With the aid of his magical fish hook, Maui helped us grow our crops and give us time to enjoy the rest of the day.” “And without his help, we would surely be lost in darkness and grow hungry.” Moana chimmed in, causing the children to turn around to face her and the old woman to smile at her granddaughter. “Maui has faced many monsters and many dangers that most wouldn’t dare try to face.” Moana smiled at the tapa that depicted the demi-god and the animals that he shape shifted into. Some of his stories were among her favorite tales that Tala herself told to her. “All he has done has been on our behalf because he is very fond of mortals. It would be good fortune if one were to ever meet him, and yet because he takes on different forms we could go through our whole lives not knowing that we have seen him. No matter how many versions of his tales are told, he will always be remembered as a hero to all. I know that I myself would love to have his daring and cunningness in the most difficult of times.” Moana admitted with a chuckle. “But Maui isn’t always nice.” A boy told Moana and all the children looked at him. “My dad said that he likes to trick people to get what he wants and sometimes he’ll try to do impossible things to boast about just because he can.”
“Yeah, didn’t he rip off a monster’s leg one time for no reason?” Another boy asked as he pointed to a certain tapa. Moana turned around to see that the particular tapa depicted a giant monster crab. The crab’s face looked a little comical, and yet there was a sinisterness about him that made it clear that he was not to be taken so lightly. “Tamatoa?” Moana approached the tapa and placed a hand on the crab. “Well, he is one of the most dangerous creatures in all of Lalotai. Some actually think he was once a great warrior or a lost member of a royal family who was either cursed or came back as a crab. He loves treaure more than anything in the world and he will decorate himself with them like they’re jewellry–” A few children laughed at this. A crab who loves to wear treasures? What a silly thought! “–but he also uses it to attract his prey.” Moana recounted as she turned to the children with a big grin. “The shinier something is, the more he’ll want it, so you better make sure you don’t have anything like that on you!” She pretended to snatch at them with her hand as if it were a claw, causing a few children to recoil away from her. “He might think ‘Oh, what a nice looking bracelet’! Perhaps I shall take it off that cute child’s tiny wrist!’” She spoke in a deep voice when she pretended to be Tamatoa and she did the motion again to the nearest little girl who let out a giggle and playfully patted Moana’s hand away. “‘Tamatoa must have every shiny, sparkly thing that he sees!’” Moana growled in delight. “He was also once a good friend of Maui’s.” Grandma Tala added. “Both were equally prideful and loved to boast about their accomplishments until one day they had an arguement and Maui tore one of Tamatoa’s legs off. No one knows what the arguement was, but even to this day, Tamatoa has not regained that leg. It is said that he is waiting for the chance to have his revenge on Maui for his loss.” One of the boys scoffed. “So? He’s just a dumb crab!” “A big crab!” Another boy reminded him. “But be warned children.” Grandma Tala added as her voice took on a sinister tone. “For they say that Tamatoa had become so obsessed with making himself beautiful with his treasures to compensate for his ugliness, that he is not as sane as he once was. He even started to develop a taste for humans just to keep gaining more trinkets. There is no telling just how much further he would go to accomplish his goals. Remember my children– outer appearances and great accomplishments are fine and all, but they mean nothing without what is important on the inside.” She looked directly at Moana when she said those last words, as if she was trying to tell her something. “And appearances can be very deceving.” “So we won’t go near any shiny things.” A girl decided. “We’ll be safe.” “Except there is one final trap to be mindful of.” Moana couldn’t help but add. “He loves to use his voice to attract his prey if the treasures doesn’t cut it. They say his singing is as beautiful and hypnotic as he is ugly and selfish, so should he ever sing to you, it might already be too late!” She pretended to be Tamatoa again as she creeped towards the childen, her hands curled to resemble claws, and just when she was about to strike–
“For Te Fiti’s sake, I would think that you would make a better story teller than a chief!” “Ah!” A startled Moana broke her act and she turned around to face Chief Tui. “Father!” “Son!” Grandma Tala chuckled before turning to the children. “That is all for today, but I hope you remember that story for the sake of the future. Farewell for now.” The children got up off the floor and waved to the Chief and his family before they hurried off to go out to play. “If not a storyteller, then perhaps a crab.” Tui mused before turning to Moana with a smile. “I hear that you’re dancing is coming along well; keep up the good work, but remember that there is still so much that needs preparation before Chief Hoani comes.” He told her before walking away from the fale as Pua scrambled to get inside. Moana frowned as she walked up to Grandma Tala and the tapa of Maui. “I could do so much more for Motonui besides dancing for the other Chiefs and talking with them. If only he would let go of that fear of losing me.” Moana spoke as she placed a hand over Maui’s fish hook. If only she could have it, so that she could turn into one of his creatures and get away from here for at least one day. She envied the demi-god more than she ever had in her life. “He’ll learn eventually that you must go out into the world to learn as much as you can.” Grandma Tala told Moana. “I want to be there for my people, but sometimes wish I could be as free as Maui.” Moana said as she looked at the demi-god, who seemed so fierce in this depiction on the tapa and yet so much like the trickster they said he was. “I sometimes wish I never went back to Motonui when I had been taken away.” She closed her eyes. “I know what they all expect of me, but I would give anything to be on the sea and live out more stories. I want to have both land and sea be part of my life without losing sight of who I am.” Tala understood her granddaughter’s frusterations perfectly. She had prayed to the gods that fortune could favor her family and she wished that Moana could find her happiness like Tui did with his people and with his family. She decided to change tactics and asked Moana “So you still haven’t learned who your rescuer was then?”
“All I know is that the man seemed so smug about what he had done, and yet there was a strange lonliness about him.” Moana admitted. “I still remember that voice and how full of life it seemed. Everything is is vague but that if I ever heard that voice again, I would know it was him, no question about it.” “Sounds like a man with his head at least partly attatched to his shoulders.” Grandma Tala chuckled. “But don’t worry, Moana,” She placed a reasuring arm around the girl. “If the sea knows how much you love it, I am sure it will one day take you back. Maybe one day I’ll see if there can be a way to get you off this island again if all doesn’t turn out the way you wanted it to be. I want to see you live out a happy life, even if it is not the same as the life you dreamt of.” Moana smiled back. “Thanks Grandma.” The two walked out of the fale, but they didn’t notice that Pua was staring at them in frusteration. The pig then turned to the tapa of Maui and let out an annoyed grunt. It took him awhile to figure out who Moana’s rescuer was until he had sat through some of the tales of Maui and took a long look at the fish hook and the bird on the tapa. He knew that both the demi-god and the man who had saved him and Moana from those–ugh–pests, were one and the same. He wished deep down that there was a way for Moana to know that it was Maui who had saved her and who she had hugged that night. She didn’t notice any of his previous attempts to let her know, and she laughed them off if he wasn’t chased away by someone. Pua knew she would have liked it if she knew the truth.

Somewhere on a lone island in the dead of night, Maui stared at the useless necklace as he reflected on his accomplishments and tried to remember how long it took for the people to appreciate all he had done. It was a rare sight to see the normally upbeat demi-god seem withdrawn or a little depressed and he wanted to have his privacy for that exact reason. Yes, he had done many a great thing for the mortals. He pulled up islands, slowed down the sun, fought many monsters, and all of these feats were shown to the world in the form of his many tattoos. He was infused with this ocean and its myths as much as the gods were and he was a part of the world of humans in all but their lifespan. It was a never ending cyle. They would love him for all that he did for a few years, and then it would be like he never did anything at all to begin with. Then something would come up and then he would have to help them again, then they’d praise him, yada, yada, yada. It was really tiring to go through this. Every, single, generation, of humans. What else could he do to earn their love and adoration? He hated being stuck in-between two worlds sometimes. He knew for a fact that he didn’t want to be a god, due to the responsibilities (he knew for a fact that he would probably be the last person considered for such a position and it would not have been so fun if he couldn’t get to do whatever he liked anymore). Sometimes he wanted to retire and go back to being a human, even if a short lifespan scared the heck out of him. He felt something whacking against the left side of his chest and he looked down to see a smaller tattooed version of himself trying to get his attention. “What?” he demanded bitterly. The tattoo of himself–or Mini Maui as he refered that tattoo– pointed to something and he watched as a scene of a previous rescue played out on the left side of his chest. It showed the little girl and the pig he saved from the kakamora some time ago and it showed her reaching out to him, despite being unable to see at the time. He almost felt sorry for her back then, but her joy at her adventure was enough to quit the pitying. Mini Maui smiled at the girl and hugged her in a big embrace for a second before she was absorbed into him and the rest of the scene vanished. “Yeah, I remember the kid.” Maui said. “But she didn’t know it was me who saved her. I wouldn’t be suprised if she already died by now.” Another reason why it was not so fun being immortal. Almost everyone died before him, including too many children that he had met in his life. He sighed as he set the necklace aside and gazed upon the moon. “Don’t know if she would have wanted me around if she knew what she was getting herself into.” There was that one final problem- he was a danger to mortals as there was no telling what danger he would bring to them. Maui then realized that someone or something was right behind him while he had been distracted. He mentally cursed himself as he made to grab for his hook when that person spoke. “What’s a matter, little Maui? Not having fun saving those mortals you so adore?” Oh. Heck. No. He knew who it was. If it wasn’t the accent, then it was the tone of the voice–condescending, scheming, sinister when the owner so desired, and dangerous if used to lure a certain kind of prey–that gave him away. “I saw what happened on that island. Pretty ungreatful of them if you ask me. I would have done more then scare them and steal them blind if it were me, but why bother, right?” He laughed. “What do you want?” Maui demanded in a careful tone as his hand inched towards the hook. “Oh, I just want to know what is going on through your head right now, Maui man. Are you ready to give it all up and stop helping them? You can’t fight in every battle and save every one of those simple, fragile humans. Why should you if they turned your back on you once before?” Maui grabbed the hook and he heard the voice take a sharp intake of air. He probably remembered what happened the last time he saw that hook. Slowly the demi-god turned around and came face to face with a creature who almost shone in the moonlight thanks to the amount of treasures that somehow stuck to his shell. His eyes would have been considered a lovely shade of blue to anyone else, but one pupil was dialated and both eyes squinted at Maui with a careful gaurdedness that almost matched the smug smile on his face. Maui could also see out of the corner of his eye that the giant crab was still missing one of the legs on the left side of his body. “So what do you want to get off your chest, mon ami?” The crab grinned wide enough to reveal crooked teeth covered in barncales (much like his ‘chin’ if that was what it could be called). It never ceased to amaze Maui as to why such a voice as that could belong to something so... unappealing in apperance (and that was putting it kindly). “I mean that figuratively, of course, I don’t know if I want to see your tattoos come off your body. That would be a weird sight to see, but I digress. Ol’ Tamatoa is all... well I suppose I don’t have actual ears,” Tamatoa let out an unpleasant chuckle. “But I’ll still give it a listen.”

And now his Crabuloussness... err... the reason that some of you probably wanted to read this... ehh... Ok, yeah I’m fond of Tamatoa and he finally showed up. I’m a sucker for characters like him (you might already know that if you read my Zelda AUs) but... man is his song AWESOME! I wish he was in the film longer! Disney, please let him show up in a Moana short! You did shorts for Frozen and Tangled and they both featured antagonists from those films! Or at least give us a Moana musical instead of a Frozen musical, I’d give you my money for that! Poor Moana has no idea what she’s going to get trapped in the feud between Maui and Tamatoa *laughs*. My favorite part of the whole chapter to write out was the story-telling. I read from one particular article that the name Tamatoa is a name that came from a warrior and was also used within a certain Royal Family.... and that one reviwer in the article was very offended that Disney used that name for one of the antagonists in the film. As much as I like that name now, I can understand why that would seem offensive. That’s why I was inspired to add that one odd bit in the myth behind the character in this AU. Anyway, for those of you who are already making parallels, Pua IS meant to be like Max from the Little Mermaid, since he was the only one close to Eric who knew who Ariel was. Ok, I’ll shut up now. Let’s see where this goes and I don’t know if I can make a Tamatoa version of the song ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls’ but I can try to write out something that feels similar to that if its not a song.