Moana - Warrior's Journey (AU after the first film)

Chapter 10: Tamatoa's Return of Favor

Maui sailed as Moana looked at the map of where the creatures are at. Pua sat still and let his fur flutter in the ocean breeze. Heihei was still kept inside the storage, probably bumping into walls, or picking at the floor, like he always does. "According to this map, creatures at Motunui is already taken care of. But should we even trust this map? What if the creatures move to different islands?"

"Demons or creatures that used to belong on the land will go to that land, and stay on land," Maui explained, "and the demons or creatures that belong on sea would spawn in certain location."

"I see," Moana said. "We're going to Lalotai first, right? Like we agreed earlier?"

"Yeah," Maui said. "That's the closest one." Maui lied down on his back with an excited smile across his face, his eyes closed, and his hands behind the back of his head. Then his excited smile turned into an irritated frown. He got up and asked Moana, "By the way, is there a charm for Tamatoa?"

Moana flipped through the packet of charms to look for any charm that had an image of Tamatoa. "Hmm, nope. I don't think he's a forbidden creature. Even Kakamora is not even in any of the charm."

"Hmph," Maui grunted in disappointed. Then he let his disappointment go and asked Moana, "Say, how many creatures do we need to capture in Lalotai?"

"Let's see," Moana flipped through charms and searched through the map. "There are two creatures that we need to capture." She let out a short breath to relieve her excitement and nervousness. "But I really hope that we don't run into Tamatoa again."

"What do you think what happened to him?" Maui asked as he lied down again with his hands behind his back.

"I don't know," Moana replied honestly as she tilted the oar to change the direction. "We'll see. Since you can transform perfectly, you can probably face him when you two meet again."

"I hope so," Maui said. As he let Moana continue to wayfind through the ocean surface, he noticed a large tower, which was really the entrance of Lalotai. "Muscle up, buttercup! We're here."

"Whoa," Moana breathed. "You can never get used to this sight." Pua followed her. "Oh, no, Pua, you stay here. It's dangerous. It's even worse than Kakamora. Stay here and watch over Heihei." Pua plopped down next to the storage. "I'll be back as soon as possible. I promise." Moana pet him few times and started to climb the stone mountain.

"You know I can transform now, right?" Maui asked, with a bit of sass.

"Your point is?" Moana asked; returning Maui's sass back to him.

"I can transform and I can take you all the way to the top," Maui explained.

"Great idea," Moana said with a smirk on her face. Maui transformed into a giant hawk and Moana climbed up to his back. Moana whooped in excitement as she felt the wind flowing through her hair. Maui soared to top of the mountain and transformed back into a human form as Moana stepped on the entrance. Maui went to the center of the entrance. "Ah-nux! Ah-nux! Au-we! Heeeeee!" He jumped and landed hard so that the entrance open. Before he jumped into the entrance, Moana dived into Lalotai.

"Whooooo!" Moana exclaimed as she fell into the realm.

She's even braver now, Maui thought as he watched Moana dive into Lalotai. Or she's becoming more reckless... "Cheeeehooooo!" He exclaimed as he went in. The entrance shut down with a loud thud. After falling, Moana safely landed as she grabbed a vine, swung to lower vine, then to another lower vine, and hopped down from the vine where she felt that she could jump off without getting hurt. Maui landed after her. "You know, you're even braver and more reckless after you restored the heart of Te Fiti."