"Moana ...... Moana, can you hear me? ...."

Moana's mind was completely misty and lost. This voice resonated like a distant echo .... She thought to recognize her ..... Was she dead and was her soul already trying to remember memories? She had seen bits of visions .... her island .... her parents .... Maui ..... the peace and tranquility prevailing in the archipelago, but darkened suddenly by a huge shadow and screaming over the ocean and the islands by its imposing stature and reigning terror in the hearts and minds of all .....

Eyes still closed, Moana felt her senses come back little by little, the wind blowing on her face and feeling the cold dry sand under her back. Once again, a feminine and familiar voice spoke to him, worried, urging her to wake up. Moana hardly opened her eyes, feeling her limbs completely numb and painful, to see, after a few seconds to let her vision return to normal, the face of Princess Rapunzel, leaning over her and seeming reassured to see her open the eyes.

_ "Flynn, she's waking up!" Rapunzel warned, raising her head. Alerted by the voice of his wife, the young man came running at once, while Rapunzel helped Moana to get back to her feet, the young woman moaning while her limbs still made her suffer. Rubbing her head, Moana could see the dirty and torn clothes of Flynn and Rapunzel, as well as a little further away, Captain Wagner and several crew members trying to save material brought back by the waves. Moana looked a little more, to see that they were on a large gray sand beach, bordered by what looked like a thick, dark jungle. Hundreds of debris, wooden planks and pieces of cloth had been ejected by the water on the beach. The ship was seen a little further away, broken in two, stranded on a pile of sharp black rocks. She then remembered the impact against the big rock rising above the water, and its fall in the dark waters. She thought she was going to die, but that was not the case. Her head was still hurting her but fortunately she got no serious wounds, just only few scratches.

_ "What .... what happened?" moaned Moana, recovering her strength and spirits.

_"When you fell into the water, the ship hit other rocks and ran aground and it was Tim who plunged into the water and saved your life." Flynn explained to him pointing to the young moss, standing a little further and helping other sailors to collect some still usable material. The young moss appeared to have a slight injury to the thigh.

_"He injured himself against a rock by saving your life, but he did not ask anyone to help him." Rapunzel adds. Moana did not say a word, but after making sure she was able to stand up, went towards Tim, who, seeing her arrive, was relieved to see her standing again.

_ "Mrs. Moana ...." he said, a little timidly, but grimacing because of his thigh injury that blew slightly but did not seem to work out so far. She smiled at him, giving him a little kiss on the cheek.

_"Thank you ..." she said simply, which made the young man blush. However, Moana was worried about Tim's injury.

_ "You should let me watch this wound." she advised, but the moss seemed reluctant, pretending not to suffer, but Moana was not fooled.

_ "Do not worry, ma'am." he said "There are some who have been less fortunate than me, unfortunately." he pointed to a specific spot, and Moana felt her heart tighten with anguish. Several inert bodies, some twenty or so, had been lined up on the sand and white sheets covered them. Moana guessed that these were the sailors who had no luck during the sinking. She was grieved to see some of the sailors leaning over some of the lifeless bodies and looking downcast and saddened. One of the men was crying in front of the body of what was probably one of his friends, while another was trying to comfort him with a friendly pat on the back. Other members of the crew seemed to be wounded, more or less serious. Wagner, Flynn and Rapunzel, they only carried small minor cuts.

_ "AAAAAH! MY LEG! AAAAAAH!" the voice of a screaming sailor was heard, which made Moana jump in surprise. Leaning against a rock and surrounded by several comrades, a sailor screamed in pain, his right leg having been broken against a rock during the sinking. Moana arrived and saw with horror the extent of the wound, the blood flowing and the bone coming out of the flesh. The other sailors were completely panicked, not knowing what to do. Rapunzel and Flynn came to Moana's side, and they also saw the facts. The young leader of Motunui leaned near the wounded man and examined the wound, but was forced to find that unfortunately the wound was already infected. She turned to the others, nonchalantly shaking her head resignedly.

_"There is nothing to do, he will die in a few days." she said darkly, hating herself for having to say something so horrible. Rapunzel was horrified and Flynn took her in his arms, also dismayed by such news. Wagner arrived in his turn, the air less affected by the condition of his sailor.

_ "Is there a way to move him?" he asked Moana, who, to be honest, did not think that moving him in his condition would improve his situation. Seeing her slowly shaking her head in response, the captain seemed to nod in silence, seeming to accept this choice.

_"Very well..." he said calmly, and in front of everyone else's gazes, pulled his pistol from his belt and shot on the injured sailor with a bullet in his head. The sudden detonation surprised everyone, but everyone seemed shocked at the gesture Wagner had just made.

_ "Captain, have you lost your mind?!" shouted Flynn, rebelling while grabbing Wagner by the collar, while Rapunzel remained frozen, hands in front of her mouth. Some sailors, especially Wagner's faithful men, were ready to intervene, but the captain motioned them to stay behind and retreated from Flynn's grip, without showing any regret for what he had just done.

_"I did what I had to do, Mr. Flynn. There is no room for the dead weights in this expedition." Wagner said almost morbidly, putting his pistol back on his belt. Flynn noticed that some of Wagner's sailors had laid their hands on salvaged weapons, as if they were ready to use them. Flynn resigned himself, but glared badly at the captain. However, Wagner was surprised by receiving a punch in the cheek, which made him move back. He then saw Moana, with a bad look, who was rubbing her fist after giving the blow. The men were very surprised to see that.

_ "How dare you hit a captain of the Corona Royal Navy?!" Wagner said in a more threatening tone and rubbing his aching cheek.

_ "And you, how dare you kill a wounded man without giving him a last word or a last wish ?! You have no honor or what ?!" she retorted without holding back. Flynn and Rapunzel joined her. Wagner breathed heavily, pissed off, and stood right in front of her.

_ "And what do you know about honor, you, a savage from the islands?!"

The scorn in Wagner's voice was felt and Moana showed it, remaining strong despite everything but still affected by this remark full of anger.

_"Captain Wagner, shut your mouth, it's an order!" said Princess Rapunzel, appalled by the captain's behavior and coming to support Moana. Seeing her doing, Wagner sighed, resigned.

_"At your orders ... Princess ..." he said in a very reserved, even scornful voice, what Rapunzel felt. Wagner joined his most faithful sailors and set out to collect the weapons and equipment that survived the sinking. Tim was obliged to join them by order of the captain. Meanwhile, Moana, Rapunzel and Flynn turned towards the big jungle and the large rocky mountains a little further away, some of which seemed to touch the sky. Strange and distant noises were heard in the dark depths of this forest that gave chills to the trio. A detail made them shudder even more. At the entrance to the jungle, almost like a warning, was a large rock worn by rain and weather, but shaped like a big screaming skull facing the ocean. It was almost like.....the skull of a ape.... Moana had a bad feeling, but at the same time, she felt that Maui was here, somewhere on this island.

_"All right, gentlemen, get as much material as you can and we'll get going." Captain Wagner suddenly said to his men, who obeyed and began to take materials, especially weapons and tools. Seeing him, circumspect, Rapunzel and Flynn walked towards him.

_ "Captain Wagner, what are you doing?! I have not given any orders." recalled the princess to her captain.

_ "Forgive me, princess, but we have arrived on the island as agreed, so it is our duty to the Corona Kingdom to explore it."

_"Maybe, but try to stay in your place, Captain." Flynn told him firmly, to which Wagner glared at him. Tim, the young moss, would have liked to intervene in favor of the royal couple, but did not dare to contradict his superior, and also feeling the bad looks of the other sailors on him, like silent threats. Moana had stayed further back, continuing to watch this scary skull in the shape of a screaming skull, and listening to the distant sounds coming from the depths of this unwelcoming jungle. Maui ..... where are you? ... She was asking in her mind how hoping to receive a telepathic answer from her demigod friend. Then she could see, joining her friends, that the sailors were already preparing to go exploring.

_ "In your place I would not do that, captain." Moana warned, "We do not know anything about this island that was not even supposed to exist. To go blind as it would make us more vulnerable."

_ "Captain, I quite agree ..." Tim wanted to say, but Wagner cut him coldly.

_ "You have not been asked for your opinion, sailor, and as for you, Chief Moana, know that I am here in the name of his majesty of Corona, and I will not let an unknown land intimidate me."

Moana and Wagner stared at each other, eyes in each other's eyes, each almost trying to defy the other. The captain's ignorance of the unknown and its potential dangers shocked the young woman. How could a man like that be captain of a ship? Faced with Moana's defiant stare, Wagner showed her a haughty little smile and turned to his men, preparing them for the start of the exploration. Tim, carrying a rifle to his shoulder, gave a sorry look to Moana. Motunui's young leader, frustrated, turned to Flynn and Rapunzel, also dismayed by the situation.

_ "You are the princess of your country," said Moana to Rapunzel, "try to make this idiot listen to reason."

_ "Technically, what he says is true, he was commissioned by my father to discover this island, and I'm not supposed to be here, like Flynn. We're stowaways in a way."

Moana sighed heavily and looked one last time at the group of surviving sailors, weapons in hands, preparing to leave for the unknown island. Wagner seemed confident .... Too confident, looking at the island as if he had already conquered it.

_"This imbecile will cause our loss to all ...." added Moana as a final warning.

An hour later, the exploration group had formed and walked for more than half an hour. For more security, they had chosen not to go into the thick, dark jungle, and now walked in the middle of large plains with tall yellow-green grasses, surrounded by tall trees and hills. Wagner walked in front of his men, like a conqueror preparing to lay his flag. The sailors, forty in number, were all armed with rifles and marched well grouped, watching the surroundings attentively. The least wounded could have come, but the most wounded, had been killed without hesitation, under the captain's orders, and to the great annoyance of the royal couple. Tim seemed to be suffering from his injury, but did not show it, clenched his teeth and held his rifle firmly in his hands.

Princess Rapunzel and Flynn, as members of the royal family, walked among the sailors who escorted them, even though they felt more like prisoners than anything else. Moana was walking by their side, she too, feeling almost like a hostage among these armed men. Wagner had full authority, which she did not like at all. While walking, the young woman observed the environment all around the group. The noises coming from the jungle were still going on, and she felt as if watched by pairs of invisible eyes hidden in the darkness of the trees. As the chosen one of the ocean, Moana always had that particular connection to water, but also to the rest of nature. At the bottom of her, she could feel all the majesty of this place that seemed out of time ... But she could also feel a deep ancestral anger, sleeping for a long time and ready to destroy every intruder..... She was convinced now.... They were not welcome here....

But while the group was walking, loud animal sounds were heard, as well as muffled and regular sounds like footsteps. Wagner ordered everyone to stop with a gesture, and they obeyed. Suddenly everyone was frozen in amazement at what was happening. In front of them, about fifty meters, slowly emerging from the jungle and spreading the trees in their path, huge reptilian creatures seeming to come from another world appeared. Quadrupeds, majestic, and looking very powerful, the creatures walked with heavy footsteps, emitting powerful sounds, and crushing the vegetation on their way while ignoring the group of humans who observed them.

The creatures measured nearly ten meters long, four powerful legs supporting a massive and hunchbacked body, a small elongated head. Their backs were dotted with black dorsal plates, and their tails bore four large bony spines.

Amazed, Moana advanced several steps, until reaching Wagner, and looked at these magnificent giant animals. As a precaution, Wagner gestured to his men to be ready to shoot, just in case, which made Moana cringe. Tim and all the other sailors were paralyzed between the stupor and the terror of seeing such creatures, their weapons seeming ridiculous and useless against such giants. These creatures did not look hostile, at least until they were disturbed. Rapunzel had taken Flynn's hand in hers, both unable to turn their eyes away from these creatures. Like Moana, both were fascinated.

_"It's .... It's amazing ....." Rapunzel said as he managed to articulate. Flynn could not say anything, but was in complete agreement with her. Moana says nothing, too fascinated to be able to speak. It reminded her almost the same time she had been in the underwater world of monsters, meeting supernatural creatures, including the giant crab Tamatoa. But this time, these creatures did not seem evil, only animals living peacefully on this land cut off from everything.....Another world.... One of the reptilian creatures, certainly an adult, turned his head slightly towards the humans, looking at them with a neutral air, then, uttering a heavy groan, resumed his walk without caring for them.

_ "Captain, look!" Suddenly warns one of the sailors who had been left behind in a very excited voice. All the attention then turned to him. The man seemed agitated and smiling, and holding something in his hand which he gave to the captain to show him. Everyone opened wide, astonished eyes. It was a kind of medium-sized nugget, made entirely of rock like shiny gemstone.

_ "Where did you find that?" Wagner eagerly asked his sailor, the latter indicating a large brown rock further back, having found the shining rock at the foot of this one. Without waiting, Wagner dismissed everyone in his path and rushed to the edge of the huge brown rock, looking for other gems, but failing to find them, turned to the group of men who carried crates of materials.

_ "Give me that!" Wagner ordered, as if possessed by greed, almost tearing the crate out of the hands of one of the sailors and searching in, under the watchful gaze of all. Moana, she had chosen to ignore the captain, not interested in any ore, but preferring to continue to contemplate the magnificent quadruped giants continuing their slow walk to the other side of the jungle. One of the giants, a smaller and younger, and seemingly curious, had even deviated from his path and approached, nonchalantly and cautiously, and was now only two meters ahead of Moana. The young woman, not feeling threatened, smiling, held out her hand without a sudden gesture to the young giant, who sniffed the hand of this little biped creature he did not know. Moved, Moana let him do it.

Further back, Wagner had searched the box with frenzy, and showing an almost carnivorous smile, found what he was looking for. All the others were rather surprised, even worried, to see him hold a stick of dynamite in his hand.

_ "Captain, what are you ....?" Flynn asked to stop him, but too late, Wagner lit the wick and blocked the dynamite against the rock before running for cover, which everyone did as well.

_"Captain!!" Rapunzel shouted, but too late, Flynn took her with him to keep her as far away as possible. Alerted by the screams, Moana turned to witness, horrified, the powerful explosion of the rock. The detonation made the prairie tremble and the noise provoked an intense fear in the young giant reptile, which flees towards its congeners, also panicked by the explosion. Half blinded by the cloud of dust raised by the explosion, Moana stood up, coughing, to watch with disappointment the giant reptiles, frightened, running into the jungle crushing the trees in their path. Wagner had come out of his hiding place, and seeing the rock smashed into pieces and revealing beneath its surface, other bright gems, some larger than a human head, he was euphorically laughing and brandishing his fist as a sign of victory, in the eyes of all. Seeing the stones, some of the sailors began to shout victory with him. Flynn got up, making sure that Rapunzel had nothing, which was the case, and with a bad look, went to the captain, who this time, exceeded the limits and by far.

_ "Captain Wagner, are you crazy or what? You want our death?!" said the young prince, losing his patience, to which the captain stared at him, still with his satisfied glance at his action.

_ "Thanks to me, Lord Flynn, our kingdom has just found a new land of wealth and power! Corona will only become more powerful, and thanks to us!"

However, a young woman, silent but very angry, pushed the sailors aside, and arriving in front of Wagner, punched him hard in the jaw, which made him fall to the ground. Moana, furious, rubbing her aching fist with the blow, looked at the captain who rubbed his jaw and was helped by one of his men to get up. Furious at being beaten again by her, Wagner went mad, and took his pistol, threatening the young woman. Moana, although surprised by the gesture, did not want to back down and remained distrustful of him. The other sailors took up their weapons. Flynn and Rapunzel wanted to intervene, but the sailors almost blocked them with their rifles. Tim, lost, did not know what to do.

_ "The first time, I was kind to you, but this time, I should execute you on the spot!" Wagner shouted, the barrel of his pistol on Moana, who still did not shrink.

_ "So that's why you came for? Plundering the riches of this island, but you seem to forget that it does not belong to anyone!"

_ "She belongs to the kingdom of Corona!" Wagner said, "And the king will surely decommend me for this discovery and all the things that this island will bring us!"