wayfinder

“Hello! I’d love to say yes, but we’re not actually doing the stick n’ poke with needles, due to sanitation, but we’re doing the design in permanent marker,” they told her ruefully. But whipping out a business card, they presented it to her,

“But if you’d like to draw up a stencil we could do it in marker today and then make an appointment to get the actual tattoo done! I’m Pascal Chaplin, head artist of Sunburst,” they told her proudly.

Moana’s lower lip jutted out in a pout as the artist explained their false advertisement. However, her eyes lit up as it became clear that what she wanted was still possible. “I mean, I’m not the best artist, but I can give it a shot? You’ll have to draw up a better copy of whatever I do.” Ideas began swimming in her head. Though she was getting it on a whim, she wanted whatever image she chose to have significance and purpose. 

“Pleasure to meet you, Pascal,” she smiled, taking a few moments to come out of her head and back into the conversation. “Sunburst, huh? I’m assuming that’s one of the tattoo parlors around here. I like the name. It comes off as less of a stereotypical scary tattoo parlor and more... bright. Fits for what I want, at least. What kind of tattoos do you do most often?”

Pas peeked over the shoulder of one of their employees, who was showing a customer how to do one of the new stick and poke tattoos that the shop had bought for the spring festival. Pascal raised their head and took a deep breath, grinning into the sunlight, reveling in the warm breeze. They picked up a pile of the tattoos from the box and waved them in the air,

“Stick n’ poke tattoos!”

She quickly tracked down the source of the voice and tapped them on the shoulder. It was about time Moana made a permanent decision that wouldn’t cause chaos. “Hi, uh, just wondering, are those kits for us to do our own? Or are there premade designs?”

Settling back into her home in Swynlake after Christmas at her father’s hadn’t been easy, but it had been made somewhat easier by the gifts her father had given her, and the gifts she had from her mother, too. With money burning a hole in her designer pocket, she had headed out to the high street in Swynlake to see if she could find anything to treat herself. It was hardly likely - Swynlake’s little shoppes were nothing on the couture boutiques in London and Paris, but she was sure she could find something.

English weather was perfect for her fair skin, but not for her outfits - it was only a matter of time before her scarf worked itself loose of her neck, flying away in front of her, wrapping around some unsuspecting individual. “Be careful with that!” She called - not particularly ladylike, but she could be forgiven as she trotted towards the other. “Be careful! It’s Givenchy.”

Moana exited the shop with a huff. She wrapped herself up in the warm jacket she had stolen from Maui’s closet while he was in class, and turned to tackle the next place over. The lack of Now Hiring signs in the windows was starting to become unsettling for the islander. Moana could and would do anything an employer would ask of her. The problem was simply getting employed. So far, she’d only heard negative responses. Just as Moana had begun to reach for the door of her next attempt at earning a wage, she found herself blinded by soft fabric. The other’s girl’s words were in vain. Moana wrenched the item away from her face and turned towards the voice.

“Givenchy?” Moana repeated, unsure if she had heard the other girl correctly. She looked at the item crumpled in her palms and then back to the blonde with a slightly concerned expression. “I, um, I’m pretty sure it’s a scarf.” 

Looking around the town, Elena couldn’t help but smile a little. Now that she’d finally settled in, she was hoping to maybe make some friends and even get a job in hopes of settling in here and learning more about the culture of Swynlake. Despite everything going on back home, Elena knew she was also going to be acting as an ambassador for Avalor on the world stage, and if Swynlake could prove to be a potential trading partner, then perhaps she could get more out this trip then what her family had anticipated.

She pulled out a map and decided to walk into the first establishment she could find. Deciding to put her best foot forward, the princess tapped the closest person she could find on the shoulder. “Hello there! I’m sorry if I’m interrupting something, but I was wondering if you happen to know any places that might be hiring? I just got here to Swynlake and I’m trying to learn my way around.” she explained, her chipper demeanor never wavering.

Moana, not wanting to wander too far from the campus that had temporarily become her home, decided to stop by Chippamunka for a bite to eat. She was in the middle of a bite of spinach puffs when she felt the light tap on aher shoulder. Swallowing the rest of her sizeable bite and wiping away the crumbs from her lips, Moana turned to face the stranger. 

She, too, appeared to be far from home. Her words confirmed Moana’s assumption. “Oh, uh, I’m so sorry, I’m new here too,” she said. Her heart felt heavier as she said it. Moana hated denying people help, even if there was no way she could give any. As always, Moana’s facial expression did little to hide her disappointment. 

“I could help you look, maybe?” Moana offered, expression lightening as the wheels turned in her head. Perhaps that wasn’t such a bad idea after all. Moana didn’t want to mooch off of anyone while she was here. If she got a job, it would be a considerate move. The only problem was that she didn’t know how long she’d be staying in Swynlake. Still, it couldn’t hurt to look around, and it would definitely be a nice change for Moana to be helping someone in this town rather than begging for help. “Yeah, actually, I think I saw a few hiring signs around. We’ll see if I can find my way back to them.”

Maui’s smile softened as Moana’s own face did, he chuckled a little at her obvious surprise though. To be honest, he was surprised at himself for offering. It’s not like he was embarrassed about the mess–he was a boy after all and boys were messy and she should know that, but, his dorm was a little living area and two bedrooms, one on either side. The bathroom was communal, as was the kitchen down at the end of the hall. Maui, the island, didn’t make a whole lotta money and he was here on their dime–so, no, he didn’t get the fancy ass, nice, almost apartment-like dorms.

He got the moderate to decrepit ones. And he was on the middle floor too, people below him were noisy, people above him were noisy, people on either side and across from him–they were noisy too. 

Moana was probably used to the gentle quiet of the island. It had taken Maui a little while to get used to it–to be honest, he still wasn’t used to it. And Moana, he wasn’t fooled, despite her rebellious nature, she’d probably had a nice house–clean and quiet. She’d had money to buy more food whenever she wanted, she wasn’t scraping coins together to make enough to eat twice a day. 

He was embarrassed about his lack of, well, much of anything at all really. 

Still, he wasn’t gonna let that show, pfft. He’d offered, so he was gonna stick to it, and he was gonna make sure she found somewhere proper to stay too, and that if he had to scrape coins together so the both of them could eat, well–he’d do that too. 

Chuckling, Maui dropped his hand from her head, putting it down on her shoulder and turning her towards his dorm. “Yeah, yeah, no socks or underwear, got it. I can do my own laundry for your information. And, ‘course I’ve got plenty of blankets this place is the fucking tundra.” His hand dropped off her shoulder as they began strolling.

“My place isn’t far, no where around here really is.” 

Moana let out a small squeak of surprise as he turned her, but started in that direction without a moment’s hesitation. She sped up and lengthened her stride to stay by Maui’s side. “That’s good to hear. I don’t really know what I was expecting, but I kind of thought the rest of the world would be much bigger than I’m used to. Not that I’d mind that,” she explained as her eyes wandered to the signs for the shops along the street. It was an odd feeling. Everything around her was entirely unfamiliar; everything but Maui.

It was a good feeling, too. Refreshing. Freeing. No longer was she under anyone’s watch. Of course, that came with an incredible amount of responsibility, but Moana had always been a fairly responsible young woman despite her rashness that would sometimes get the best of her.

“What are the people like here?” Moana asked as she peered into the window of the restaurant she and Maui were passing by and saw some people out to dinner. The accents she’d heard just standing on the street had been so diverse that she knew it’d be a difficult question to answer. Still, there had to be something these people shared if they all settled down in the same place. “What about magic? I know this is a place made for Magicks, but are all types of magical abilities accepted? Believed in?”

These were more selfish questions. As one problem was solved, even if just for a day, Moana’s mind had already wandered to another. Who could she trust with the knowledge of her abilities? Would more than just her grandmother help her? What if no one believed her if she did decide to open up about them? She had no way of proving her connection with the ocean, it just… happened.

If no one believed her, things would be the same way they were on the island, with everyone ignoring the fact that Moana /knew/ something strange was going on but no one was willing to invest in her without proof. She couldn’t go through that again.

“Oh, not so far,” Nala answered. She looked down the street and pointed at a tall building about a block from where they were now, then quickly gripped at the crutches again. “I live right over there, sixth floor up. There’s an elevator, thank Allah,” she said with a little smile. “If you don’t mind going a bit slow, you can walk with me.”

And Moana, sweet girl as she was, nodded and so Nala started up again. Thankfully this pause had given her time to regain a breath and rest her tired muscles (though the good thing about having a broken knee? Her arms were looking better than ever these days). 

But as soon as Moana asked about how she broke it– Nala felt all that peace shift inside her again, sliding away. She wanted to lie. She could tell Moana some grand story, something impressive and worth it, that painted Nala as the hero she wanted to be. I saved a cat. No, I saved a kid. 

But Nala knew better. 

She chuckled a little sadly. “Er, it’s pretty embarrassing. See, we had a bad storm here couple of months back and I was in this flooded ice cream parlor, trying to wait it out… and I, erm, slipped and smacked it nice and hard. Broke into several pieces,” Nala explained. 

“I can handle slow,” Moana told Nala with a grin. “Until recently, my life has been going by at the pace of a snail. You know when you finally make that leap you’ve been dreaming about and suddenly everything’s happening so quickly that you can barely comprehend it? That’s kind of what it’s like for me right now. Slow might be nice for a few minutes.”

She followed right by Nala’s side as the woman tackled the sidewalk on her crutches. While crutches were probably easier to get around on here than her home, they still looked like no fun. But, as Moana wouldn’t want anyone’s pity, she didn’t offer Nala hers. She seemed tough enough to handle it. Even if she had been bested by an ice cream parlor. 

“Ooh, ouch,” Moana said, scrunching up her nose at the thought of the pain Nala must have gone through. 

Stitch didn’t register the girl’s discomfort with him handling her hair. Instead, he sat on a nearby bench, his head still reeling from the rush of memories. “Month, I think.” He said, looking up at her. “Don’t know own name. Only know name doctors call me. Call me Stitch.”

Moana followed him as he went towards the bench, her curiosity taking priority over how freaking weird this situation was.  “A whole month without knowing who you are? Not even your name... wow. Where do you live? How do you get your money? Is anyone helping you figure out your past, Stitch?” Moana asked, questions stemming from one another in rapid succession. Someone had to have taken notice, have given their help to this poor man. If not, even if so, Moana had just added another task to her Swynlake list. It was rare that she could let things go unsolved, and with a mystery as insane as this, she just had to offer her assistance.

Despite her ignorance and her privileged, Maui had a grudging respect for Moana’s tenacity. He always had. When they first met, he’d been out on his boat, cresting waves easily as they came. The water had been relatively calm, but that hadn’t stopped Moana. She had wanted to surf, so dammit she was gonna surf. Maui had watched her, his fishing abandoned (which was fine with him, he found it boring anyways). She had fallen off her surfboard maybe twenty times before Maui decide to paddle his boat closer.

It was that ridiculous determination that had drawn him to her in the first place, saying to her dryly: Isn’t the definition of madness repeating something the same way and expecting a different outcome?

Man, had he gotten an earful for that one. 

He was expecting the same here–for Moana to puff up and get annoyed with him and punch him in the bicep and grump about being about to “do it herself” and she “didn’t need him.” So, when instead, she got a little smaller and spoke a little softer, Maui’s head cocked to one side.

This wasn’t what he had expected from her and it made him wonder: what had happened? Obviously something had, otherwise she wouldn’t be thousands of miles from home in this tiny little town. Much to his annoyance, he felt the first little flicker of worry come alive for her. They’d known each other less than a year–had met a couple of weeks after his birthday, but she’d become kind of an annoying, but dependable staple in his life for a couple of months. 

He had a duty to help her–probably would’ve even if he wasn’t Maui, Demigod, Hero to All. 

“You can crash at my place,” Maui offered genuinely, holding her gaze for a moment before he smiled wryly. “You’re gonna have to clean though, because the place is a mess.” He put his hand on top of her head and rolled his wrist around so her head moved.

“But I’ve got a couch, so, no problem if you wanna crash for a night.” Or a couple days. He smiled bright at her.

“I know it’s not going to be easy to find some- wait, what?” 

Moana shook her head, sure she’d heard him wrong. Yeah, they were friends, but it’s not like she ever stayed over at his house or invited him to dinner. They were the odd sort of friends that just happened to cross paths and somehow, despite the fact that they both got on each others’ nerves a fair amount, it worked. It was the kind of friendship where she could expect his help finding somewhere for her to stay, not expect him to offer up his own place.

She watched his face closely, wanting to be sure he wasn’t playing some sort of trick on her even though she highly doubted he could be that cruel. Nope, it was real, and her face softened as it settled in. She would be okay. Of course she would be okay. Even if Maui hadn’t offered her a place to stay, she would have been okay. This just made things a lot easier. And less stressful, since she knew she could trust him. Come to think of it, she had a lot thank him for. That was the one thing that she wouldn’t like about this, the little voice that told her she owed Maui big time. Ugh. 

And then, of course, the catch came. She brought that upon herself, making the offer before she knew who she’d have to be cleaning for. She could picture the horror now. Who knew what kind of mold was growing in his pile of old socks? If he even had a pile. 

When he reached for her head, there was little the girl could do. She rolled her eyes and whacked semi-gently at his hand, even though she knew it would have little to no effect. 

“Don’t make me regret asking you, just about anyone could be a hero here,” she snorted. Although she teased, it was clearly more playful rather than malicious. Her whole attitude had lightened, actually, as most of the stress and weight of the day had been lifted by the fact that she now would have a roof over her head. “Okay, I’ll make your room spotless, with one condition. I’m not touching any dirty socks or underwear. That’s all on you, demigod or not. And you better have an extra blanket saved for me. It’s freezing.”

“Speaking of freezing, let’s get out of here. I think my fingers are about to fall off. How far away is your place?”

Moana. 

Now even Nala’s bad mood could not dissaude her curiosity any longer. She felt herself perk up again. The stranger’s kindness helped too. Moana had a sweet smile and a kind heart– Nala could feel that right away and it made her warmer inside, her own smile coming more naturally. 

“Nice to meet you Moana,” said Nala. “I’d shake your hand but– crutches,” she said and gestured to them with a self-deprecating grimace, though she bounced back fast after that, beaming again. “Listen, do you want to… maybe come up to my apartment with me? I can write you down some directions and helpful numbers for your stay, if you’d like. Or you can call the Duckling to see if they have rooms available, so you don’t have to go all the way down there,” Nala offered. 

And so I can have some company, she thought to herself. But that would make her sound like a pathetic, lonely person– which Nala was not, thank you. 

A light chuckle escaped her lips. “Nice to meet you too! I appreciate the thought. Maybe we can share that handshake by the time we get you settled back on your couch,” Moana graciously accepted the offer. 

She hadn’t seen a reason to hesitate. At this point, she had to put at least some faith in the kindness of strangers. A kind and diplomatic stranger on crutches hardly posed a threat. If Moana got some numbers, names, or any pointers, she would be far better off than she was now. Maybe this woman had an up to date YellowPages book and Moana she could get the right address to find her grandma! Besides, there was no harm in making an acquaintance along the way. 

Rhiannon wasn’t one for panicky people period. It was a hassle, and she didn’t really want to bother with it. But Rhiannon, ever the opportunist, was always willing to help a beautiful woman. Men could go fuck themselves for all she cared, honestly. They dominated the world still. They could get their own aid. She had no interest in that. She did have an interest in this beautiful young woman, who Rhiannon was certain she hadn’t seen in town before.

“Of course! I’d like to think I’ve come to know this town fairly well. I can show you where to go.” She smiled at the young woman, putting warmth into her words, as that typically put humans at ease. It was a shame really. Rhiannon had never been one who liked to put a lot of inflection in her tone. At least not as much.

“I’ve been living in town for a few months, yes. But I was actually born in Ireland. Your name is beautiful….can I ask where you’re from?” She added, shaking the woman’s hand gently before she moved to turn and start guiding the young woman in the direction she had wanted to go.

Someone who knew the town well? Moana couldn’t be luckier to have had this kind woman approach her. “Listen, Rosalie, you have no idea how grateful I am. You’re the first person all day who took notice of me. And, sorry for the way we met. I swear I’m not usually this desperate,” she promised with an embarrassed half-smile. The other woman’s smile reassured her, though, reminding Moana that she’d volunteered to help despite how annoying Moana’s begs might have been.

Her eyes lit up at the mention of Ireland. “Really? Ireland? That’s one big island. What’s it like there?” Moana’s mind raced as she followed along at Rosalie’s side. She let the woman lead her while still managing to be a step ahead. Even her stride was faster at the thought of adventure and how much of the world she had left to explore. 

Moana let her thoughts wander a bit more before snapping back to attention.  “Oh, thanks! My name kind of gives it away. I’m from Hawaii. Maui, if you’re looking for specifics. We get lots of tourists from around the world, which is silly when you think about how boring it can get when you go inland. Anyway, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone from Ireland before. Maybe it’s too long of a journey to cross the globe. I liked it, though.”

“Scent of Hawaii.” He said, the last word coming out much slower, as it seemed to be a new word for him. “Forget everything. Doctors take memories.” He said. He reached out and stroked the girl’s hair gently. Then he took a lock of the girl’s hair in his hand and brought it to his nose, inhaling deeply. After a moment, he sighed and let the hair drop. “No more.”

Um... WHAT? It took Moana a few moments to register what he’d said, and it was going to take far longer for her to even begin to understand what it meant. She knew things might get weird around here with the magic and all, but she was nowhere near prepared for this kind of crazy. When he reached out and touched her hair, her confusion and discomfort were clear on her face. “Uh, yeah,” she said, dragging out the word while her voice rose a few pitches higher than before. “So, um, how long have you been wandering around like this? Without any memory, I mean.”

Kim’s family had made her check reservations at places around down about a million times before they visited so this was kind of right up her alley. “Oh yeah, there’s the Tipton down the road. It’s a pretty nice hotel. My family’s stayed there. Decently priced and everything.” The redhead was a planner, and honestly too type A to not know everything about this town, even if she’d only been here a few months. 

The redhead was a little concerned, the girl didn’t look anywhere near ready for the winter. “I could totally take you there if you’d like. I don’t want you to wander around in the cold by yourself and get lost.” She gave a bright smile to the girl, tucking her hands into her pants pockets.

“The Tipton? That sounds like it might work! Is it a chain? I feel like I’ve seen one of those back home,” Moana thought aloud. “I’ll look into the place and see what offers they have.”

She couldn’t hide her smile at the girl’s offer. “Really?” she asked brightly before her mind started to wander more. “Wait a minute, I wouldn’t want to be a burden if you’ve got something else to do. I’m pretty good with directions.” 

Still, it would be nice to have some company and guidance. Maybe Moana could get the Swynlake inside scoop from the ginger. “I won’t complain if you do join, though,” she finally added. “You seem like a person who knows what they’re doing.”

Nala would normally be not just cheerful, but buoyant in spirit– curiosity lighting up her eyes as she wondering what could have happened to this poor girl to have unraveled her plans. She’d wonder if she was here to stay or passing through– if maybe she was a tourist or if she knew anyone in town. She’d ask where she’d come from, though judging on accent alone, she knew it wasn’t England. She had no idea what that language that she had spoke either. And normally– Nala would want to know.

But all that felt exhausting. Nala’s armpits were still so sore from using her crutches and she wanted something to eat. Those were her concerns. 

“Oh, sure,” she said anyway, because she was still Nala and she knew she had to be helpful. “Sure, yes– we have several places in town, depending on your budget. The Snuggly Duckling’s quite affordable, a bit small though. The Tipton’s probably got rooms… though with the holiday…’ she frowned. 

Would they have rooms? What if they were all booked?

Moana nodded along, taking mental notes of the locations the woman listed, specifically the Snuggly Duckling. Moana could deal with small. After feeling like she’d been cooped up her whole life, a small room would be nothing as long as she had somewhere to explore outside of it. Plus, affordability was more important than Moana wanted to admit to herself. Without her family to help her out, she had the wallet of your average jobless teenager. She was going to have to figure out her situation, and fast. 

“Thank you, really,” Moana said with a genuine smile. She suddenly felt the urge to help the woman who had so kindly listened to her. Even if her help wasn’t necessarily wanted. “I don’t know if you’ve heard about this trick, but I had a friend back home who wrapped towels around his crutches to make them more comfortable. I’m Moana, by the way.”