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When Teahu awoke, it was to the cold press of wet sand against his cheek and the tug of waves against his ankles. Groggy and facedown on the beach, he tried to remember how he had gotten here.
It came back to him in flashes like lightning. The long voyage from his island. The argument with his chieftain. The storm. The rogue wave. The canoe’s mast splintering. Then there was only the dark and unforgiving sea.
Teahu cracked his crusty eyes open, sand and salt clinging to his lashes. The sky was a heavy, featureless grey, giving little indication of whether it was morning or afternoon. With a groan, he rolled over and sat up, sending several curious shore crabs skittering back to their burrows. He was alone on the coarse black sand beach, surrounded by fragments of shattered wood and long streamers of greasy green seaweed. Neither his chieftain nor his shipmates were to be seen.
Had any of them survived?
His gaze trailed down the beach, following the line of other washed up wreckage. There were no other bodies to be seen, dead or alive. But… there! Were those footprints? Yes, those were definitely footprints--several sets in the wet sand that lead into the dark, palm-shaded interior of the island.
Had they abandoned him here?
Teahu stood, not bothering to brush the sand from his tangled hair. He was sore, his legs bruised and his arms strained. There were shallow cuts on his forearms, stinging with the salty air. But otherwise he was unhurt. Approaching the footprints, he took a closer look. There were at least four different sets that he could see. Teahu was no tracker, though, and with so many overlapping, it was hard to really know how many of his shipmates might have survived or how long ago they might have been here. Had they left before he had washed ashore? Or had they seen him laying there and left him anyway?
Had the chieftain told them what he had done?
Teahu found no answers in the shifting sand. Frustrated, he kicked at the tracks, scattering dirt in all directions.
He looked up and down the curving shoreline, hoping something useful had floated ashore. But it was nothing but hull fragments and tattered scraps of woven sails. No food, no water, nothing to help him escape this place. No, there was nothing here for him.
He turned his gaze inland. Tall coconut palms swayed invitingly on the fringes of the beach, but beyond that tall chestnuts and tropical hardwoods formed a shadowy canopy that concealed all that lie beneath it. Thorny brambles and tangled vines clung treacherously to the trees, an undergrowth of brush promising to tear at his bare legs and entangle his feet.
Teahu didn’t like the look of it, but his options were limited. He could not just stay here on the beach; the storm had likely pushed them leagues away from any known navigational routes. He could expect no rescue from the beach.
Reluctantly, Teahu stepped into the foreboding forest and the darkness folded around him like a fisherman’s net.
He had not gone far, but the sea quickly faded to a distant, muffled roar and was replaced by a heavy silence. No welcoming songs of birds and insects greeted him here. The air under the canopy was thick and pervasive, somehow hotter than the windswept beach and soaked through with a stagnant humidity. The smell of decay was strong here, and his feet sank deeply into the damp peat of the forest floor. Each breath he drew felt labored. Even when the trees became more widely spaced, the forest somehow became more oppressive, filled with deep and opaque shadows, instilling a deep sense of claustrophobia even in a man accustomed to the close confines of a voyaging canoe.
There was something wrong with this forest. There was no sound, no sign, yet Teahu felt as if there were eyes upon him. Some keen gaze peering out from every shadow, observing his every tenuous movement as he pressed deeper into the jungle. No matter what he did, he could not shake the feeling of being watched.
Was it an animal laying some ambush for him? Was it the canoe’s crew? Or some evil spirits haunting this accursed isle? Did they know?
The weight of that invisible gaze dragged at his shoulders, but he had no choice but to keep going.
He was on edge, dread building with every step. And when the sound of voices broke through the forest’s ominous silence, Teahu felt his heart stutter and his blood run cold. Just as the voices approached, he scrambled to the flimsy safety behind a thick chestnut tree trunk.
“--you’re gonna love it! It’ll be a feast!” a loud, brassy voice announced, with a hearty cheer at stark odds with the forest’s unsettling atmosphere. “Coconuts for days! Did I tell you about how I created coconuts?”
It wasn’t a voice Teahu recognized, certainly not one of the crew he had sailed with. He dared risk a quick glance around the tree trunk.
The speaker was a strange man, taller than most and thickly built. The sleek layer of fat he bore was deceptive, but could not conceal the powerful muscles that lay beneath the heavily tattooed surface. His every movement betrayed a raw power that no mortal man could possibly wield. And had it not been so immediately evident from that alone, the massive, intricately carved fishook slung casually over his shoulder would have destroyed all lingering doubt.
This was Maui, the demigod of legend.
And walking beside him was Manoa, the chieftan who knew.
Teahu shrank back behind the tree, desperate not to be seen yet equally desperate to hear what was being said.
“Yes, yes, you told me twice already,” Manoa replied, his usually patient voice showing slight strain. “And while my men need food, what we really need is a way off this island.”
The demigod’s response was flippant and dismissive. “Leave? Already? But you just got here! And there's so many other stories to tell!” He clapped a hand on Manoa’s shoulder, hard enough that Teahu could hear the slap from his hiding place. “Feast first, then you can leave!”
“But we don’t have any way to leave!” Manoa said, frustration evident. “Can’t you just help us build a new canoe?”
“Of course, of course!” Maui brushed off cheerfully. “But first, join us!”
They were walking out of sight, voices growing more distant.
Teahu slipped from behind the tree and followed, keeping his distance and sticking close to the shadows.
“You don’t understand,” Manoa insisted. “We have to find--”
“Did I tell you yet how I found fire for you mortals?” the demigod interrupted, then continued without waiting for an answer. “Well, in those days you mortals just ran around in the dark… eating everything raw. Really, how could you guys live like that?” Arrogant and incredulous, the demigod laughed. “Well, luckily for you, Maui--demigod of the wind and sea, hero of man!--was there to help! First, I--”
Maui went on and on, filling the formerly silent forest with his boasting. Manoa could hardly get a word in edgewise.
“--and when Te Pō saw the flame was gone, the old hag screeched like a trapped rat! You should have seen it--”
Without warning, the demigod looked back, glancing over his shoulder. Heart skipping a beat, Teahu stopped cold, certain that he had been spotted. Something about the look in Maui’s eyes made the hairs on the back of Teahu’s neck stand up. For all his jolly laughter, there was a distant, vacant look in his dark eyes. For a moment that seemed to last forever, his breath froze in his lungs. But then the demigod only grinned a toothy smile and kept going.
“--and I did it all for you! So, you’re welcome!”
“That’s great, but--”
Manoa’s protest was cut short by another clap on the back, this time pushing the man forward along with Maui. “C’mon, don’t be such a party pooper! There’s time for that later.”
Teahu hung back as Maui led the chieftain into a wide open clearing. Strangely, despite the lack of trees, the clearing was still deep in thick shadow. What time of day was it anyway? Was it night already?
“Now, you just wait here,” the demigod instructed pleasantly, though his gaze was tilted firmly upward rather than on Manoa. “I’m going to go round up your crew to join you.”
Maui stared upward a moment longer, a beatific smile spreading on his face. Then he turned and disappeared back into the forest, thankfully not passing by where Teahu was hiding.
Teahu let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.
He had heard many tales of Maui--the demigod’s great deeds were known far and wide--but this was not exactly what he expected. There was something off about the look on Maui’s broad face, some strange glint in his eyes, an unusual tilt to his overly-wide smile.
Teahu did not know much about demigods, but he knew how to read people--it was what made him such an exceptional thief--and there was something not quite right about the Hero of Man. There was something--
“Well, well, well… what have we here?”
The profound rumble of this new voice shook Teahu to the bone. He crouched deeper into the ferns where he was hiding, eyes going wide as they peered back towards the clearing.
Something was moving. Something big.
The darkness of the clearing shifted, indistinct and yet all around. Then pinpoints of light began to pulse to life, blue and purple speckles that thickened and elongated into stripes and soft fields of glowing color in four massive pillars surrounding the clearing like bizarre, bioluminescent tree trunks.
Teahu followed the line of the trunks up… and up and up and up.
His jaw fell open. They were not trees at all. Their colorful patterns slowly melded into something much larger. They were legs--legs of some giant creature .
Then a monstrous grinning face melted out of the darkness, glowing lips stretched wide over gleaming white teeth. Wicked, mismatched eyes tilted like crescent moons. Long antennae, streaked with flashing pink, dangled above.
Teahu’s heart beat faster, blood pounding in his ears. Every instinct screamed to run, but his legs felt like jelly and refused to work, rooting him to the spot. Then that terrible smile curled into something gleeful and altogether malicious. Breathless and petrified, Teahu prayed to all the gods that it would not land upon him.
But he had forgotten about Manoa.
The chieftain stood in the clearing, staring in open horror as the monster revealed itself.
Then the monster spoke. “My my, this little human is a ranking one,” the creature said, words dripping with scorn. “Must be a big deal back wherever you came from, huh? Eh, Big Deal?”
Teahu saw Manoa brace, back stiffening with wounded and stubborn pride. “Why, you foul creature, you--”
The monster interrupted, snide and challenging, “If you're going to insult me, at least look me in the eye, little man!”
And Manoa, too proud not to rise to the bait, looked.
“You are naught but a… a….”
The chieftainʻs words faltered. He seemed lost, staring into eyes that blazed and flashed with bright color and light. Even from the side, Teahu noticed that there was almost a subtle rhythm to the flicker of color in those inhuman eyes. A pattern echoed in the pink lines tracing slowly up the creatureʻs antennae. Together, it was something distracting that somehow managed to both set his teeth on edge and feel quietly soothing. Teahu felt a subtle dizziness wash over him and blinked rapidly, trying to shake it off.
Then he happened to catch sight of Manoa again. The chieftain was staring up, directly into those pulsating eyes. His own eyes were glassy, seeming to be focused on some vague middle distance.
“Why donʻt you come closer, little human,” the monster suggested in a low croon.
And, inexplicably, Manoa did. He took several long steps forward, moving at a slow, deliberate pace.
Teahu stared in disbelief. What magic was this? What wicked enchantment?
But it was no magic. As he watched the chieftain's slow progress towards certain death, some long-forgotten memory resurfaced. Teahu had not always been a thief. Had he made better choices in his youth, he might have ended up a spearfisher like this father. And while that road had been long abandoned, he still remembered diving amongst the colorful reefs, teeming with strange sea creatures.
It was there that he had witnessed the dance of cuttlefish, whose pulsing colors and flashing patterns could cause fish to freeze in their tracks. He had watched those cuttlefish hypnotize their prey before snapping it up in their tentacles.
Just as this monstrous crab was drawing the chieftain ever closer.
"That's right," the monster went on in a shockingly irresistible voice, "just a little closer. Almost there. Everything you ever wanted is just a few steps more."
And Manoa walked willingly forward, one fatal step at a time.
When the attack came, it was faster even than the lightning strike of a cuttlefish's tentacle. A great glowing claw the size of an outrigger canoe scythed out of the darkness, plucking the hapless Manoa from the ground in the blink of an eye.
Even then, caught in the grip of the massive pincer, Manoa did not seem concerned. There was no fear on the chief's face, no tension in his limbs. He hung limp and unresisting in that grasp, eyes locked upon those of the monster.
The creature stepped forward now, further into the clearing, and its shape became clear. It was a crab, shaped like the kaveu that lived in the forests of his home island, but of unfathomable size. And no coconut crab of his home had ever had such an expressive--and smug--face.
The crab monster looked over its catch, turning the unresisting man this way and that. It plucked delicately at the chief's adornments with its other claw. "Red feathers, yellow feathers," it commented, though it received no response. "Must be royalty! " The smile grew wider, drawing back into a mocking sneer. "All the sweeter."
With a precision at odds with its immense size, the crab tugged at a trinket strung around Manoa's neck--a polished disc of precious paua shell on a thin sennit necklace. "Ahh, such lovelies are wasted on humans!" it declared.
A quick jerk pulled the pendant free, snapping the cord easily.
The monster reached back, over its shoulder, and only then did Teahu see what lay upon the creature's vast and arching shell--treasure! Treasure beyond any man's wildest dreams. Pearls the size of coconuts, slabs of polished shell whose golden nacre was lit an eerie blue by the creature's bioluminescence, and other items of strange, foreign providence that Teahu could hardly even name! And it was into this heaping pile of treasure that the crab nestled Manoa's shining pendant.
If Teahu could get ahold of even a handful of those treasures, he would be set for life! Maybe he could--
The crab shifted its massive bulk, attention returning to its captive.
“Carrying such finery! You really did think you were something special, didnʻt you?” Then the creature laughed, a derisive chuckle. “And you might have been…"
The crab brought Manoa closer to its face, glowing lips parting in a terrifying smile.
"But, here you're just a light snack.”
And with that, the monstrous crab dropped Manoa into its cavernous mouth. There was no sound. Even seen at a distance, Teahu could have sworn that the chieftain’s face was frozen in a placid, euphoric smile as he disappeared into that terrible abyss.
Teahu found himself likewise frozen, equally afraid to stay here in hiding or to flee the scene. All thoughts of stealing treasure evaporated. Terror gripped him, a deep abiding fear that shook him down to his bones. He had been afraid before--afraid of being caught out at stealing or discovered in a scam--but this was something entirely different. This fear came from somewhere ancient, buried far below all the petty worries that accompanied daily life. The primordial horror of both being hunted by some larger beast and having all one’s agency stolen--the very things that separated humans from other animals, all stripped away.
Teahu felt very, very small as he hid, shaking like a leaf, in the bushes.
So when there was the crack of a broken branch, somewhere behind him, it was all he could do not to scream.
And it was a lucky thing he managed to keep silent, because the demigod was returning along the narrow footpath. The forest rang with his cheery voice, laughing and telling all the same stories once again. He was not alone, either. Maui was accompanied by more of Teahu’s former shipmates.
There was Kai, the ship’s wayfinder, and Hanoa, who had tended to their supplies. And following behind them was a very familiar face, Ke’ala, the fresh young man who had spotted Teahu during the evening watch. It was Ke’ala who had discovered what Teahu had taken from the hold in those moonless hours.
Teahu shrank back, pulling deeper into the shadows, even though it was largely unnecessary in the cloying dark. He now knew what was waiting for his hapless shipmates and, knowing this, he surprised himself by the callousness of his own thoughts. After all, with Ke’ala and Manoa gone, there would be none who could attest to his crimes. If he could just escape this island, he could likewise escape any repercussions. If he could only…
The darkness shifted in the clearing once more. That same heartstopping baritone voice was once again filling the night with sadistic glee.
Teahu ducked his head, covering his ears and trying to drown it all out, even as that voice sent shivers down his spine. He kept his eyes determinedly averted, desperately avoiding the flashing, hypnotic gaze that was currently lulling his former companions into a lethal trance.
The monster was toying with them. There was no avoiding the awful sounds, the taunting jeers and viciously playful jabs at the three men whom Teahu had sailed with. Then the terrible empty silence as they were, one by one, devoured by the monster.
It was in this ringing silence, the somber wake left behind when all the other men were gone, that he heard the monster speak again.
"Well done, Maui man," the crab addressed his collaborator in another smooth croon. "You bring me such lovely gifts. Not like the old days, hm? The humans used to bring you gifts. Never I! Nothing for Tamatoa!" The crab's words were light and airy, but there was an undertow of bitterness and jealousy dragging them into darkness. "But now? Now you bring humans as gifts to me! " A ringing note of triumph, a cruel and gloating sneer. "How's that feel, Maui? Leading them to their demise? You thought they didn't love you enough, yet they trusted you to lead them right to me . How will you ever earn their love back now? When they find out what you've done? "
The demigod did not reply to any of these biting words. Curious, Teahu uncovered his ears and turned to peer through the ferns once more.
Maui stood in the clearing, but his jovial manner was gone. Instead, there was a rippling tension building in his heavy frame as the crab went on. Illuminated by the cool glow of the monster's markings, Teahu could see the whiteness of Maui's knuckles as they gripped his legendary fishhook. Maui's gaze was drifting, edging away from the monster and towards where a small spatter of blood darkened the ground.
"Maaaaaui," the monster called again, a silvery beckoning that even Teahu found himself drawn to. "Look this way, Maui. Nothing to see over there."
But Maui was reluctant, shifting his weight from foot to foot.
"I…" the demigod began, with an uncertainty like that of a lost child. "Wha…? Tama…?"
"Shh," the crab soothed. "Your old buddy Tamatoa is here, don't you worry about a thing. Just look here."
Still, the demigod hesitated. His confusion was growing thinner, a flicker of recognition was building in otherwise empty eyes.
"Tamatoa? What… What have you done…?"
For a flickering instant, a look of fear rippled through the crab's face. But then it was gone, as fleeting as water in a stream.
A careful claw reached out, gently but firmly turning the demigod to face the crab. The enormous eyes flashed, glowing color pulsing in slow, calming patterns.
The demigod's stiff shoulders relaxed, the clenched fingers loosened around the hook.
"There you go," the giant crab praised. Despite the outward appearance of self assurance, there was a hint of relief in the sonorous voice. "Isn't that much better?" Maui did not answer, so the crab continued on. "Of course it is."
Any trace of concern was gone and the gleeful smile was back in its place. "Little Maui," the crab mocked. "Thought you could spurn your old friend Tamatoa, did you? Called me a monster and left me here? You thought you were so much better than me. And now look at you, obeying my every whim."
And Maui was doing just that, it seemed. The brief flicker of resistance had dissipated.
"You know, Maui man…" the crab went on, a clawtip held thoughtfully at its glowing lips. "You must want this. Otherwise, I doubt this little trick--" The giant eyes flashed brightly. "--would work on you. Deep down, beneath all that fractured armor, you must want to see them slaughtered." The shining smile took on a darker character. "You despise them, don't you? The humans who abandoned you, dumped you in the sea. The humans who will never love you enough. It hurts, doesn't it? Being abandoned? Rejected? "
Each word was sharp, keen to cut deep. And yet, Maui did not react to this abuse.
"And so now you bring them to me. And I do what you can't." The monstrous creature laughed. "Do you even know how long it's been? How many humans you've willingly led here?"
Maui did not reply, eyes vacant again and staring with something almost like adoration at the gloating monster.
The crab lowered its voice to a theatrical whisper. "Hundreds, Maui. More than you can count."
And still Maui did not reply, smiling placidly up at the monster.
"And you'll bring me more still. Matter of fact…" The crab smiled, a dark and sinister rictus that sent a sudden chill running through Teahu. "... you're going to bring me one more right… now."
The terrible pulsating gaze suddenly shifted, landing with deadly accuracy upon Teahu. And as it fell upon him, Teahu's blood turned to ice in his veins. His heart skipped a beat and, utterly petrified, he was rooted to the spot.
The crab smiled, teeth flashing. "You missed one."
That was all it took. Maui was upon him in seconds, otherworldly strong hands like ironwood bands around his arms. And Teahu found himself carried bodily into the clearing to stand before the great grinning beast.
"A sneaky one, huh?" the monster observed, amused. "Let's see what else you might be hiding."
Then the strong hands of the demigod were running over him, dispassionately and methodically searching. There was no escaping them, no resisting. And, inevitably, they found what he had been hiding. Maui, eyes still glazed, held up Teahu's prize like an offering to the gods. The precious artifact he had stolen from the chief and had led to his washing up on this godsforsaken island gleamed dully in the otherworldly light cast by the monster's glow.
The crab leaned down with a greedy leer, stalked eyes craning to get a better look.
"My, my, my," the monster crooned as it deftly plucked the treasure from Maui's outstretched hand. "Looks like someone has exquisite taste."
And then the smile returned, baring teeth streaked with blood once more.
"And speaking of taste…"
The eyes flashed, brilliant color returning to fill them. Shivers of light ran rhythmically along the creature's antennae.
Teahu tried to look away, averting his eyes. But a broad hand wrapped around the back of his head, even as another gripped his arm and held firm against his useless struggles. Maui's grip was inescapable; and his head was tilted roughly back, forcing him to stare up at the giant crab's flickering lights.
He couldn't look away.
He still tried, even while tightly restrained. But then there was something so mesmerizing about those flashing eyes. Those shining markings that traced tracing the huge face. The soft glow of the creature's claws. The shine of its treasure. The slow pulsing stripes running down the long antennae. It was…
It was…
It was beautiful.
Even as he inwardly clung to the horror of his situation, Teahu felt the tension leave his shoulders, a new warmth that seemed to spread throughout him. It drove the terrible cold away, wrapping around him like the rising tide of a calm, warm sea.
With this peace descending upon him, he stared upward at Tamatoa. He truly had never seen anything so beautiful. How had he not noticed before?! He tried to say as much, but he found himself unable to do anything except open and close his mouth wordlessly.
"There is nothing to fear."
(Yes, there is! a voice cried within him.)
His frantic breathing slowed, settling into a steady rhythm. He relaxed into the comfortable warmth within himself. There was nothing to fear. He just needed to…
"Come a little closer."
(No! Run! Run now!!)
Drawn like a moth to flame, he came a little closer, moving as if in a dream. The steely grip on his arm fell away, but he hardly noticed. He was carried forward by a power that seemed not his own, as if invisible strings were pulling his limbs.
And the eyes still pulsed and flashed. He had to come a little closer to them. To bask in their glow.
"That's right, come here."
(Run!! Before it's too late!!)
It seemed as if he was watching this happen from outside himself. He could see his body striding clumsily, almost drunkenly, towards the monster. He could see it, but he could do nothing to stop himself.
Did he even want to stop it? All the turmoil had left his thoughts, replaced by a comfortable placidness. He had never felt such peace.
Something closed around his chest, cool and unyielding. The chill began to return, creeping into his bones while the distant sense of danger and fear swirled around him. But rather than dispel the warmth, it mingled with it. Adrift in these turbulent seas, he felt as if he were floating with the current. The weight lifted from his feet and he was suspended in the air.
And as he was lifted high above the ground, he stared still into those incredible eyes as they grew closer and filled his field of view. Filled his mind.
That small, inner voice of warning howled again, but it was nothing but a background murmur in his mind. He could not understand the words. Lost in those eyes.
It was then that he knew he was doomed, on a deeply instinctual level. The splintered shard of his mind that remained his own--the part that still knew fear--was silently screaming. But overwhelming that was the peacefulness, a blissful inevitability. How could he be afraid in the presence of such magnificent splendor? How could he shy away from those incredible eyes when he felt so privileged to be in their presence? Those eyes were focused completely upon him. Only him!
Then there was another voice, a third voice. He could hear it, though it sounded as if it was far away. Words lost to the wind and drowned by water. It sounded confused, agitated. He paid it no mind. It was not important when those eyes held him captive.
There was no need for agitation now. It wasn't important. Forgotten were his troubles with the chieftain. The thing he had stolen was irrelevant, he didn't even remember what it was. He did not worry about how he would get home. He did not worry about anything at all.
His body was relaxed, hanging loosely. He did not see the ground, so far away beneath him. There was no fear, only willing acceptance of his fate.
Then the gaze was broken, the eyes lost their hold. They looked away, wide and surprised. The comfortable warmth vanished like water pouring from a broken pot. But by then Teahu was already falling. He knew he had seconds only, before he was enveloped in the darkness of the monster's jaws. But in those seconds, time slowed to a crawl.
In far too close detail, he could see streaks of blood staining the creature's glowing white teeth. The metallic tang of it was sharp in the air. They grew larger and closer approaching with what seemed like terrible slowness. There were hairline cracks in the teeth, chips in their enamel illuminated by the blue and pink glow of the monster's lips, shining blinding bright.
The dreamy calm was shattered. Now, terror flooded through him instead, a tide so overwhelming that it stole his breath away. He tried to scream, but no sound came out. His arms flailed, desperate to catch hold of something--anything--to save himself. He grasped frantically, but touched nothing but empty air.
He fell in helpless horror. There was no stopping it, this terminal descent.
And then he heard a ringing cry of pure rage.
"Tamatoa! You bastard! I swear, you will pay for this!!"
There was a flash of blue light, a scything of a hook through the air.
For the briefest of heartbeats, hope surged and Teahu thought he was saved.
But then time sped back up.
And all was darkness.