Taniwha Story

Rawiri And The Paua

Long ago Rawiri, the taniwha roamed the calm Pacific Ocean off the coast of
the Bay Of Plenty. It was midnight and the full moon was shining brightly
down on the gleaming water, illuminating the tiny plankton drifting soundlessly
 through the water.

A small cave sat beneath the sand and the sea life.  This cave belonged to
Rawiri the taniwha, guardian of Paua. Coming out to hunt Rawiri glided through
the water looking for fish sleeping on a tiny coral reef. The moonlight was
shining on Rawiri’s  pale green back. Rawiri swam happily over her beloved
Paua reef. Hundreds of Paua shells stuck firmly to the bottom of the rocky reef.

After finding some kai moana (sea food) Rawiri headed slowly back to her
cave with a full stomach to sleep, the glowing Ra (sun) started to rise, advancing
steadily into the crisp air. The day passed and Rawiri was not disturbed and
slept peacefully.

The next day after the taniwha had gone hunting and gone back to her cave, she
was woken by a scraping sound. “What is that sound?” cried Rawiri. She slowly
drifted towards the entrance of her cave. The sight was horrible to Rawiri.
“Kau, they are taking my precious Paua!” Rawiri watched in horror as divers
began taking her Paua. Her gleaming, diamond shaped eyes widened  as she
continued to watch.

The divers had small but sharp dagger like knives and were hacking angrily
away at the shell of the Paua. They smashed the knife down quickly between
the sturdy rock and the hard shell of the Paua, taking them one by one, putting
them in a fish net bag hanging round their waist. After about fifteen minutes the
divers were gone.

Rawiri made sure that the divers were gone she came out of her cave and looked
down at her sad looking reef. There were big gaps that bared the dark grey rock
underneath. Some of the Paua was cracked and it left sharp shards of shell all
over the reef. “They must not come back,” cried Rawiri. “My beautiful reef has
been destroyed,” she shouted.  

“I have to come up with a way to stop them from taking my paua,” she thought
to herself.

Rawiri thought all day about her plan and at night she put it to action. Rawiri
was going to stop the divers herself. She was going to be in hiding until the
divers came and she was going to scare them away. The next day she was
awoke and headed to her hiding spot. Hiding in some long seaweed swaying
with the soft current in the ocean, her body was tense with nerves and excitement.

Fifteen minutes passed Rawiri heard a splash like thud and lots of tiny bubbles
surrounded two figures that's outline was easily seen by the sunlight behind them.
Out of the bubbles and descending down to the paua reef were the same two
divers that were at the reef yesterday. Their flippers beating at the water making
it ripple. Their kahurangi and pango wetsuits keeping them warm from the cool
water,  fish net bags were dragging behind them as the water passed swiftly
through them. Quietly, waiting in the shadowy seaweed Rawiri was ready to
make her move.

Once the the divers had started hacking away at the paua again Rawiri swam
swiftly from the seaweed, right up to the two divers. When they saw the green
and blue taniwha they froze like statues. One of the divers was held a dazzling
paua shell and then  it dropped and floated quickly making the soft rays of
sunlight make the beautiful colours dance though the water.

The divers made what sounded like a screaming sound, but it was muffled
by the water. After seeing Rawiri the divers fought each other to swim to
the surface. But Rawiri was too quick for them she was waiting at the surface
already. The divers screamed again and swam away from Rawiri but Rawiri
was not going to give up. She kicked hard at the water, pulling the the water from
the surface into a little whirlpool. She swam after the divers who were swimming
towards Rawiri’s cave.

Rawiri saw what was going on and kicked her tail even harder and she
swam under them and blocked the entrance to her cave. Her cave went deep
under the seafloor. It was surrounded by soft coloured coral and tiny fish
swimming around. Her cave was dark and murky, looking in all you could
see was thick blackness. The divers who were in such a hurry to get away
from Rawiri they swam in to the depths of the cave without a doubt.

Rawiri swam through the entrance of her cave silently searching for the divers.
Rawiri’s bright diamond eyes were could see clearly through the night like
darkness. She could see the divers and they were fumbling helplessly, with their
arms stretched out feeling with rough rocky walls. Rawiri decided to wait and
see what they would do.

Rawiri had a dazzling, beaming paua necklace hung from sharp piece of rock
out from the wall and the divers were getting nearer and nearer to it. That was
it for Rawiri she swooped down at, giving them such a fright it left them quaking
in fear. After recovering from their shock they swam up breathlessly and as they
swam up they saw a tiny droplet of sunlight breaking through the darkness.
Seeing the light made then swim faster and faster and the droplet of light was
getting bigger and bigger.

Rawiri gave chase after them but the diver were already out of the cave and
were swimming swiftly towards the surface of the water. Rawiri decided to
stop chasing them because she thought that they would not come back after
seeing her.

It had been over a week since the divers had come to the paua  and Rawiri
was happy to not have to protect her paua again. Her paua reef was growing
massive now more and more paua were coming to cover up the boring bare
rock. Rawiri’s paua reef was never disturbed again.

• Hannah