Hawai'i Talks Story [Countryhumans and Statehumans Oneshots]

Reuben

Onee-he-ow*, as she introduced herself to me, is a beautiful young woman with long hair flowing down to the backs of her knees, and she lets it hang freely.

She communicates with few words, and all in her own tongue. I do not blame her for this, as I do not believe she has ever seen white men before. Her countenance is stern, and she seems to dance as she steps. [...]

She is the island itself, as she is ruled by her own chief, distinct from the rest of the islands. The natives of this land treat her as a sort of goddess figure, staying out of even her shadow for fear of bad 'mana'**.

*Niʻihau, written as it was by the men who came with Cook. 

**Power.

The Journals of Issac Spyridon, crewmate of Captain James Cook, Dated February 2, 1778. Annotated by Anela Kīhene, of the Ahupuaʻa Research Fund.

—

Niʻihau was the first child of the Hawaiʻi of old, and she was a young woman of great beauty, grace, and mamona. She was a surfer, a weaver, a warrior. She was well liked by many of her siblings, especially those of Kauaʻi, and was considered the pillar of what an ahupua'a was to be.

Issac Spyridon, one of the few European men who met her in all her glory, wrote in an uncompleted journal about her, and it is considered the most comprehensive account of an ahupua'a to this date. Some believe him to have been the paramour of Niʻihau, at least for a time in Hawaiʻi from February of 1778 to February of 1779. Of her, he wrote that she was "obviously the daughter of her father, stern, stout, and transcendent in countenance."

The next Niʻihau was not Niʻihau alone, but the unification of Niʻihau and Kauaʻi that formed in response to the island of Hawaiʻi all falling under Kamehameha. Most refrained from calling him by that name, as they remembered the mark it left when the lovely Niʻihau died.

Most simply refrained from calling the Kingdom anything at all besides "Pua", so the young Niʻihau and Kauaʻi was simply referred to as "Keiki".

"Wai'awa, what will this achieve?" the child said, his voice filled with annoyance at it all.

"Pāpā and the Little Aupuni are coming, and I invited them." Wai'awa said, patting her little brother's head affectionately. "You know how Papa loves this island."

The boy sighed, and looked forward, his arms crossed. "But you had to invite me too. You know what I think of... the little problem."

"Oh hush Keiki, you are such a quiet thing usually, and this is what you wish to speak out about?"

"You believe yourself to be a god, I do not believe so."

If I wanted to be told what I am doing wrong, I would have talked to Hilo or Nanakuli about it."

"Hilo was dumb."

"Yes, he was. But his inability to speak didn't stop him from complaining." Wai'awa said, before sighing. "Niʻihau a me Kauaʻi, child, you are so paranoid."

"You do not need to speak to me like I am your child." The boy said, sulking a little. "You know I am not."

"I see you as one, sort of. You're only a young boy, Nii. Be still, it's alright. It is the Makahiki, and you and Papa have so much to talk about, don't you?"

The boy sighed. Makahiki, something the boy knew was necessary, but nonetheless hated and loved all the same.

— Later that Day—

"I still don't like that you brought her." The boy said, and frowned. He kept his eyes averted from him, as was tradition, and didn't dare to even look at the face of his father. "Especially not now. What if someone hurts her? Then it's blood on your hands."