The Stars and The Sea

Chapter 10

In the days that followed Keoni's nightmare, most of his time consisted of resting or Moana checking his bandages and helping him readjust his sling.

Maybe it was just his brain tricking him, but Moana's gentle touch somehow seemed to ease his pain. If he felt a nerve pinched or broken bones rub against each other, her hand on his shoulder seemed to soothe it magically. And he genuinely believed he could feel his shoulder beginning to heal.

They made another stop at a small island to gather some food and to take a break from being on the canoe.

Together they made camp a bit a ways from shore but close enough to keep an eye on the canoe even if it was secured.

Sometime after midday, Keoni decided he would test himself a bit. He went to the canoe's hull and pulled out a fishing spear, tying a fisherman's knot at the end.

Moana, only a few meters away, saw what he was doing and became a bit worried that he was going to injure himself further.

"Uh, Keoni? Are you sure you're ready to try fishing with one arm?" He did glance at her but shrugged.

"I'll be fine." He replied, though his words did little to assure her. But she deduced she wasn't going to stop him anyway, so she just sat at camp, keeping her eye on him.

Some time passed by, and although Keoni hadn't caught anything, he remained patient and observant.

Then, just as he was about to spear a large fish, he was distracted by some kind of noise in the distance up ahead. Glancing up, he was taken aback by the silhouette of what looked like... a moving island?

"Uh... Moana?" He called, taking a few steps back.

"What's up?"

"What... what is that? Is that a moving island?" The sheer confusion in his voice grabbed her attention, so she sat up and peered toward the horizon and saw it too.

There was no way.

"Oh my gods," she then burst out laughing, but Keoni stood there confused.

"What's so funny?" She then relayed the bit in her story about Te Fiti when the Kakamora attacked her and Maui.

"The what-mora?"

"Little coconut men!" As they watched, the Kakamora ship, still held together by interlocking ropes, slowly inched its way toward the little island, and Keoni could now hear their shrieking and chanting.

"What in the world?" He'd never seen anything like it, and who could blame him? The Kakamora were bizarre little creatures, and Moana explained that they, too, once desired the Heart of Te Fiti for themselves.

"And what would they have even done with it?" He questioned, and Moana shrugged.

"Honestly, I have no idea. Maybe it was just about bragging rights or something. Just being able to say they had it."

The island ship got close enough to where Keoni could actually make out individual Kakamora. One pointed at the pair, and the clan started to shriek, chant, and bang their drums.

"What are they doing?"

"I think they're still mad at me for destroying their ship." Moana then pointed out the Kakamora Chief pointing his spear at them again, though she was unsure of what they wanted. Did they want revenge? It was possible. But they weren't actively leaving their ship, so maybe they were just screaming obscenities in their strange language.

So, Moana and Keoni just watched in silence, with a few chuckles thrown in, as the Kakamora slowly sailed past the island and was soon out of sight.

"Honestly, nothing should surprise me anymore, but that was just... weird." He remarked.

"Good thing we're not going to Lalotai," Moana joked, "there's a lot of weird shit down there."

"Including the giant crab obsessed with Maui's hook?"

"Especially him."

"Y'know, now I kinda wanna meet him, just for fun."

"Nah, he'll just bully you."

"I got tough skin!"

"Maui and I are the first human contact you've had in over two years, and you attacked me the moment you saw me." She countered with a raised eyebrow.

A pause.

"Touché."

With a shared laugh, Keoni decided to take a break from the spearfishing and took a seat with Moana at the little fire she started.

With night falling, Moana happily shared everything she'd learned about the stars from Maui with Keoni. As he listened, he felt a deeper connection to the stars than he'd ever felt before. Craning his neck up, he could see them twinkling brightly, with faint splashes of color from the Milky Way glowing behind.

"Y'know... even though I was physically alone on my island... I knew I wasn't. The stars gave me comfort, and I would talk to them sometimes. I don't know why or how... but it made me feel better. Knowing the gods are somewhere up there." Moana agreed.

"They are comforting. It's like you can hear them speaking... I could only imagine the stories they hold. Seeing our ancestors conquer the seas and build communities. It's beautiful... and magical when you think about it."

Moana lay on her back, crossing her arms behind her head, and continued telling Keoni about the stars and pointing out different constellations she used to navigate at night. Still sitting up, Keoni focused more on the reflection of the stars on the ocean before him. With moonlight as well, he could make out the shadows of fish swimming about in the reef.

Between the gentle, lapping waves on the shore to the soft breeze blowing through the palms behind them, it was a very peaceful night. It was cool but not freezing either. It was perfect sleeping weather.

As the fire slowly died down, Moana had fallen asleep. Not wanting her to get cold, Keoni went to get a blanket and lay it on her. Man, she was really cute, especially the way her nose twitched when she slept. He then sat back down, not feeling particularly tired himself. He knew she was completely exhausted from sailing the two of them around for the past week or so.

Maybe it would be a good time for her to start teaching him how to wayfind as well, just to take some of the stress off of her, even if she would never admit it.

As he sat there, silently watching the shore, he spied something in the water about a hundred yards from shore. At first, he thought he was seeing things, as there was a giant glowing blue figure swimming gracefully toward them.

Standing to get a better look, Keoni grabbed his club, just in case. He slowly made his way to the water, watching the looming depths.

He then caught the sound of something moving through the water, and the figure swam into his line of sight.

A brilliant glowing blue dolphin.

Incredible...

He'd never seen anything like it, and it was beautifully enchanting. It was graceful in its movements, and it almost seemed as if it wanted Keoni to see it.