Chapter Text
1.
Manu shivered in the dark hut of elder Tala as her voice rumbled against the walls and the creepy tapestries.
It was not that he was afraid. Of course not. He was a very big boy, almost 5 summers old. Being afraid of silly monsters was for babies. It was just that… It was very cold. Yes.
“... and then, while prince Rata was sleeping, the terrible monsters rose from the deep! And the siblings were ready for blood!”
Elder Tala flicked her wrist and BAM! a huge tapestry fell behind him!
“AHH!” He shrieked. But it was a manly shriek though. He was sure prince Rata had shrieked too when he saw the hideous faces of Aremata-popoa and Aremata-raiva. Especially if they looked as horrifying as the ones on the tapestry did.
Fortunately for him, everyone else had also screamed, so no one had noticed him.
Well, almost everyone.
“So cool.” Said Moana with a pleased look on her face.
Manu frowned at her. The chief’s daughter was only a few years older than him, but even so she was never afraid of Elder Tala’s stories. Not even the scary or gory ones. She was weird.
“Well, I suppose we could leave it here until tomorrow,” said Elder Tala. “I’m sure you all have lessons to attend to.” Manu sighed. High time for it.
“WHAT? No way! What happened to Prince Rata?!” exclaimed Moana, standing up.
“All in due time Moana. We can continue the story tomorrow.”
“But grandma!” She started complaining, but Manu left before she could continue, or worse, convinced Elder Tala. The sooner he left the creepy hut, the better.
He should’ve probably left with his friends, but since he was still too queasy from the story, he decided to go to his favorite place in the whole island.
A few minutes into the jungle he finally found it. A small clearing close enough to walk but far enough to be left alone if he wished it. And as far away from the ocean and any monsters that could live on it. Or at least, that was the idea.
He was about to climb his favorite tree when a cold hand dropped on his shoulder.
“Ahhhh!” he backed out panicked. His yell wouldn’t go unnoticed this time, although it was not heard by a fearsome monster, but by a curly haired girl.
“Are you okay?” Moana asked softly. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I wasn’t scared.” he scoffed, even as his heart pounded on his ribcage.
“Okay, okay. Sorry.” she raised her hands placatingly. “Are you okay though? You were looking a little green back in grandma’s hut.”
“No I wasn’t!” Manu sputtered, cheeks flushing.
“Umm, yes you were.”
“Ugh, just get over it.”
“Did you not like the prince’s tale?” she just didn’t know when to shut up, did she?
“It has nothing to do with the tale.”
“Did the monsters scare you?”
Well damn. “... of course not.” Even he could recognize how bad of a lie that one sounded. She knew it was a lie too.
Manu cringed as he expected her to start laughing at him, his cheeks flushing, but when he opened his eyes, Moana was just looking at him with a crooked head.
“What?!” He snapped at her.
The girl looked down and tucked her hair behind her ear. “It’s okay, they scared me too.”
Manu blinked confused. “But… you didn’t look scared.”
The girl shrugged and smiled at him. “There is no point in staying scared. There are much cooler things than the monsters.”
Manu frowned, but before he could ask, the girl grabbed his hand and started running.
“Hey hold up! Where are we going?!” He screamed, almost tripping with his own feet.
“I'm taking you somewhere!”
“Where?”
“You’ll see.”
Manu debated asking her more, but knowing the enthusiasm of the chief’s daughter, he decided to shut up.
Soon they arrived at the beach, on the east side of the island. Manu shifted nervously, imagining the sibling monsters rising from the blue waters.
“Why are we here?” he asked, sinking his toes on the golden sand.
The girl grinned at him. “Just you wait. This is the best place in the whole island.” She stared with a smile at the horizon.
Manu copied her, with a boring expression on his face. He was just about to start complaining when something jumped out of the ocean. The boy flinched.
“What was that?”
But Moana just kept smiling.
“Keep watching.”
He reluctantly returned his sight to the ocean, just in time to see a huge whale jump out of the water, splashing majestically.
“Wow! I had never seen them so close!”
Moana shrugged. “They prefer this end of the island. I think its because the coral reef is closer to shore.”
Manu kept looking at the whales. They were truly beautiful.
“You know,” the girl started, “monsters are pretty scary. But there is so much more in the ocean to them. Amazing animals. And new, different islands. And magical beings, like the ones prince Rata met in the story.”
She turned to him with a bright grin on her face. “Aren’t a few monsters worth it?”
And looking at the beautiful creatures, and at the girl's smile, Manu supposed that maybe, just maybe, the ocean was pretty cool besides the monsters.