Maui

Chapter 2

The Ta'Kle Temple was a beautiful and massive building, standing roughly at twenty feet. It was completely made out of rock and marble, built by the best architects in the Pacific islands. Two large openings in the rocks served as windows, providing extra spaces for air and light to enter. The temple was situated inside a large crater that could only be accessed by flight. Maui soared towards the temple with great speed, letting the wind flow through his soft light-brown feathers. With a loud screech, Maui shapeshifted back to human form, landing in front of the temple's entrance. A statue of Tangaloa stood at the doors, greeting the Demigod with a silent smile. Maui walked inside, smiling and waving at hundreds of monks walking around the temple. Some children excitedly ran up to and greeted Maui as he walked past the school with a pep in his step. This great temple became the Demigod's home after the priestesses adopted him as a child. Most of the monks were wonderful people who dedicated their lives to taking in and raising orphaned children with love. Except Jerry. He was a jerk.

***

Maui walked towards the temple's main sanctuary, eyeing one of the priestesses sitting on a bench while writing something in a booklet. She was a elder priestess well past fifty and yet her bright and lively face betrayed her old age. She had sensed Maui's presence and looked to the side, watching the Demigod walking towards her.

"I never seen you write inside anything other than a scroll." Maui said with a grin. The priestess smiled as she stood up.

"So, our big Demigod returns from slaying a monster. How was it?" The priestess, who's name was Kamala, asked. Maui raised his left arm, revealing his new tattoo.

"Oh, wonderful! That nasty Kraken won't be destroying anymore villages for sure." Kamala said, clapping her hands. Mini-Maui leaned on his fish hook while smugly grinning. Maui chuckled lightly at his tiny counterpart's expression.

"Yeah. Monsters got nothing on me! So, what went down while I was gone?" Maui replied. Kamala sighed, sitting back down on the bench.

"You have no idea. Akela started throwing up like crazy after eating a whole bucket of raw oysters"

"The kids challenged him to a raw oyster eating contest again, eh?"

"Yep."

Maui couldn't help but laugh at the thought of his history teacher giving in to peer pressure by kids and taking on a ridiculous challenge that would totally mess up his stomach. Maui was just about to comment on Akela's hilarious mistake when two more priestesses approached Kamala.

"Kamala, Father Kaipo requests our presence. We have to get ready for tonight's liturgy." Said one of the priestesses. Kamala patted Maui on the shoulder before closing her book and standing up to follow the others.

"We'll talk more tonight, Maui. Don't get into any sort of trouble while I'm away." Kamala said with a smile while walking off. Maui simply stood up as she left his sights.

"Yeah, you too." He said, turning to the temple's exit.

***

Maui sat on the beach situated in the far north of the temple, flinging several rocks at the ocean in boredom. After throwing the last rock into the water, Maui leaned back against a tree with a heavy huff.

"Welp, I'm very bored. How about you?" Maui said, earning a nod from Mini-Maui. As Maui overlooked the ocean, he could hear several somewhat inaudible footsteps drawing closer to him. Maui turned around, noticing three boys and a girl walking towards him. They all looked to be around thirteen years oldMaui couldn't help but laugh at the thought of his history teacher giving in to peer pressure by kids and taking on a ridiculous challenge that would totally mess up his stomach. Maui was just about to comment on Akela's hilarious mistake when two more priestesses approached Kamala.

"Kamala, Father Kaipo requests our presence. We have to get ready for tonight's liturgy." Said one of the priestesses. Kamala patted Maui on the shoulder before closing her book and standing up to follow the others.

"We'll talk more tonight, Maui. Don't get into any sort of trouble while I'm away." Kamala said with a smile while walking off. Maui simply stood up as she left his sights.

"Yeah, you too." He said, turning to the temple's exit.

***

Maui sat on the beach situated in the far north of the temple, flinging several rocks at the ocean in boredom. After throwing the last rock into the water, Maui leaned back against a tree with a heavy huff.

"Welp, I'm very bored. How about you?" Maui said, earning a nod from Mini-Maui. As Maui overlooked the ocean, he could hear several somewhat inaudible footsteps drawing closer to him. Maui turned around, noticing three boys and a girl walking towards him. They all looked to be around thirteen years old, though one of the boys seemed to be a bit older. Maui immediately grinned as he stood up to greet the approaching children.

"Hey, hey, hey! There's my favorite kids! What's up, guys?" Maui exclaimed excitedly, exchanging soft playful punches with the three  boys.

"Man, you should've been at the school today, Maui! We were knee-deep in a big canoe race. You wanna know the best part? Me and Mele won the race!" The tallest boy, Ipo, said with glee.

"Yeah! We were awesome!" The younger girl, Mele added.

"That's my boy and girl right there! I knew you guys could do it!" Maui said, rubbing Ipo's and Mele's hair affectionately.

"So, what are you guys up to now? Getting ready for tonight's mass, huh?" Maui asked.

"Yeah... it's a big bummer too because we really wanted to go out to the beach today. Now we gotta spend the next four hours getting ready for some stupid ceremony." Keoki replied, crossing his arms in frustration. Maui cocked an eyebrow as one of his mischievious grins slowly creeped up on his face.

"Who says we can't have a little fun before the ceremony?" Maui said, grinning.