For the next few days that turned into a week, Moana continued with her wayfinding lessons and was quite pleased with his progress. He learned different knots and how to use the rigging, and even how to use the oar as a rudder. Though he was currently unable to multitask with both his hands, Moana assured him that she didn't want him to worry about it right now.
Another day passed, and Moana spied a familiar island. A towering, imposing island. Its mere presence cast an intimidating shadow as the canoe passed by.
Keoni got chills just laying eyes on it and saw Moana experience a similar reaction.
"What... is that place...?" He hesitantly asked, shifting closer to her.
"Lalotai." A wave of anxiety coursed through him.
"The realm of monsters...?!" He exclaimed. She nodded.
"Don't worry, I don't venture any closer than necessary." She conveyed some extra details about Lalotai that she had left out from her prior retellings of her story. The various monsters that she had encountered besides Tamatoa were frightening, she even told him about nearly being eaten by some giant frog-like monster, which was then chomped on by an even larger predatory plant.
Though frightened by the thought of Lalotai's existence, Keoni couldn't deny he was now mildly intrigued by her descriptions of the creatures she encountered.
"What else could be down there?"
"Creatures that I don't think we humans are meant to see." She finished.
Picking up on the fact that she didn't want to talk about Lalotai more, he shifted the conversation.
The remaining days were uneventful and consistent with Moana's teaching, if a little boring at times. She expressed her delight in seeing how quickly Keoni was learning, even teasing him that he was becoming just as good as her, though he refuted such a claim.
And then, as if a cruel joke inflicted upon them by the gods, just days away from Motunui, a massive storm was seen brewing over the horizon. The waters around the small canoe became choppy, throwing the canoe like it was a toy in a bathtub. The echo of lightning striking and the resounding roll of thunder sent chills down Keoni's spine.
Moana knew Keoni was afraid, and she made no attempt to quell his fear, as she was worried herself. But as long as they worked together and communicated, she knew that they would be safe and unharmed.
Immediately she instructed him to start securing the sail to the mast and checking the rigging. He then put their belongings and supplies in the hull below, ensuring the trap door was shut.
Holding her hand out, she brought Keoni to where she sat with the oar held tightly in her fist.
"We've got this." She assured with a confident smile. He couldn't quite mirror it, but attempted to look braver than he felt.
Blown about by fierce, roaring winds and crashing waves, together, Moana and Keoni kept the canoe mostly upright. The cold raindrops pelted their skin, and Keoni felt ripples of pain course through his shoulder even as he tried to not use his left arm, but the current conditions made it challenging to avoid.
The canoe breached a towering wave up ahead, and as they broke through the freezing water, flashes of memories came through Keoni's mind. All of his fragmented memories of his village's exodus. The sheer strength of this storm was eerily reminiscent, and his heart began to pound.
The echoey shouts of men calling to each other from boat to boat. The cries of frightened children as their mothers attempted to soothe them.
"CHIEF! THE STORM IS TOO STRONG!" Came one man. In the distance, a massive wave arced and crashed onto a medium-sized boat, capsizing it, and sending every soul on board to the depths of the cold, dark void below. In another direction, lightning flashed, striking the mast of another boat, and creating a fierce fire that managed to spread despite the crashing waves.
Keoni remembered his own palpable fear, clinging tightly to his mother and sister as they sheltered themselves on the canoe that they shared with three other families.
"KEONI! WE NEED YOUR HELP!" Someone shouted from the mast, attempting to secure the sail before it was ripped to shreds.
"W-what?" Keoni meekly choked out, "I don't know anything about boats!" He called back to the older individual.
"WE'LL SHOW YOU! JUST GET UP HERE!" With a few encouraging words from his mother, Keoni anxiously stood, struggling to find his balance as the boat rocked and swayed about.
Suddenly, a wave came over and knocked Keoni to the deck, but he barely managed to brace himself, blinking seawater out of his eyes as he got back to his feet. He heard a shout from overhead, seeing a rope fly down towards him. He held his hand out, ready to catch it, but the wind blew the end of the rope around, preventing him from getting a secure grip.
"C'mon Keoni!" He said to himself, waiting for the rope to swing back in his direction. He dove for it, and finally grasped it as tightly as he could, the wet fibers rubbing against his palms.
"I got it!" He called out. But his victory was short-lived, when suddenly, a brilliant flash of lightning landed only meters away from the boat, temporarily blinding Keoni as he stumbled backward, rubbing his eyes.
"KEONI!" A voice shrieked. But he couldn't see, he stumbled around, realizing it was his mother's voice calling for him. He attempted to follow, but her voice was overcome with the sound of another wave coming in for the landing He heard her call out to grab her hand, but as he blindly reached for her.
The next thing he knew, pain struck his face with an icy hand as a wave crashed directly onto him, aggressively sending him overboard into the freezing black void. His back also exploded in pain as he smacked the surface of the water, the sheer force of it knocking the wind out of his lungs. He flailed around, trying to swim, and opened his eyes, but it was nothing but dark and empty all around him.
Flashes of lightning dimly lit the ocean around him, and he used every bit of his strength to reach the surface, but the weight of the water was too great.
A sinking feeling became all too real for him, realizing any attempt to survive this was a lost cause.
His family was gone.
His village was gone...
And now, he was too.
As he allowed the sea to take him, he could still hear the echoey screams of his mother calling out for him.
"KEONI!"
"KEONI!"
"Keoni!"
That wasn't his mother.
"Keoni!"
Blinking tears out of his eyes, he refocused and brought himself back to reality. What was more painful? The pain of what he'd lost? Despite telling himself that it wasn't worth ruminating on, he found himself falling into the habit.
Centering himself, he realized that the memory of his trauma had psychologically blocked out the experience of the current storm. The last thing he remembered was joining Moana's side to support the oar and keep control of the canoe. But now, he became aware of the fact that the storm was passing, and the clouds were brightening up as the sun peeked through.
His vision refocused, seeing Moana was now in front of him, her figure illuminated by the sun behind her, giving her an ethereal golden glow. She was kneeling before him, holding his hand in hers. Then she reached up another, tenderly wiping tears from his cheeks. She didn't need to ask what had broken him, she knew.
Through a hiccuped sob, Keoni fell into her embrace, ignoring the sharp ache of his shoulder. She cradled him, running her fingers through his hair.
"It's okay... You made it through." She whispered. In her mind, she saw it as a last test of his strength to face the trauma of his past. The lasting impact was yet to be seen, but she was certain that it would do some good. But knowing better, she did not push it.