Whare Potae (The House of Mourning)

Chapter Ten

Author's Note: I have a merciless migraine, and I just finished a two-hour play reading as a favor to a director from another theater company. I may not be able to finish a chapter tonight, but I have really strong feelings about trying to keep to a regular update schedule, so let's see if I can pull it off...

Chapter Ten

For a terrible moment, Moana felt truly helpless in the face of the ocean's rage. She wanted to scream, to throw things at the water, to be furious and betrayed...but there wasn't time.

"We have to get to the village," she gasped.

"We're gonna have a heck of a time making it past those waves," returned Maui.
Moana just shook her head, doing her best to navigate the roiling sea, slowly but surely drawing them closer and closer to the rapidly receding beach.

"It doesn't matter," she insisted. "We'll manage it. We need to get to the village to evacuate everyone before the whole island floods. There are still a couple of boats left, and if we pack as many people as possible onto our canoe, then-!"

"Put your people out in boats right now, and they'll all drown," shouted Maui, as the noise of the crashing waves increased. "We'd be sending them to their deaths, and us too. It'd be suicide, especially with much heavier boats. We'd never make it."

Moana was beginning to feel trapped and panicky, but she did her best not to show it.

Now isn't the time to freak out, she reminded herself. You can do this, Moana. There must be a way.

"There...there has to be something we can do," she mumbled to herself, shaking her head. "Oh, I know, we'll, um, we'll build a barricade! We can build a wall or something out of the rocks on the shore, only...there isn't enough time."

As soon as she said it, she felt stupid. Of course, building a wall out of rocks was something only a child would suggest, she thought, and Moana was beginning to feel more and more like a helpless child, which was infuriating. Now was when she most needed to be a collected, competent Chief.

Maui put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"No," he agreed, "there's no time. A barricade's smart, but we're not using rocks. Luckily, I've got a better idea."

"A better idea?" Moana grinned, relieved. "Okay! I'll try anything if you think it'll actually work. What's the plan?"

"I need you to get us onto the beach," said Maui. "It's gonna get ugly, but I can't pull this off from all the way out here."

"Okay, can do." Moana gritted her teeth. "Hang on!"

Years of practice had made Moana not only a master wayfinder, but also a reasonably good navigator in the toughest of conditions, and much better at keeping her boat upright in the water than she'd been when she'd begun years ago. It was a harrowing few minutes, but dodging back and forth, shifting her weight and moving in time with the sea swells she managed to get them all the way up to the beach without either she or Maui ending up in the water.

As soon as they rode up onto the beach, Maui jumped out of the canoe.

"Come on," he shouted. "I need your help."

"But," began Moana, "the boat-!"

"Leave it!" Maui shook his head emphatically. "We won't need it...I hope."

Dutifully, Moana leapt out of the boat, which, relieved of the weight, almost immediately floated back out to sea, where she watched it smash against a rock and turn to debris in the current.