One day Māui followed his mother to the underworld in search of his father, Makeatutara, who mistakenly performed the baptismal rituals for Māui's birth improperly, making it certain that he would die, so Māui decided to overcome death by facing his ancestress Hinenuitepō. Makeatutara instructs that she can be seen as the red flashes of sunset. His companions vary from version to version, usually being either his brothers or a group of small birds. To defeat Hinenuitepō, Māui had to crawl through her vagina in the form of a worm, and climb out through her mouth. Unfortunately, one of his brothers, or one of the birds named Pīwakawaka, bursts out into laughter at the sight of Māui beginning the task which wakes Hinenuitepō, who crushes him with the obsidian and pounamu teeth between her thighs.