Chapter 1: Elegance of the Sea

A merchant ship sailed across the vast sea. It seemed to be headed towards an archipelago south of the vessel's origin, the kingdom of China. A man wearing a simple blue zhiduo stood at the helm of the ship, gazing at the lightening blue waters, his long black hair tied back into a half-ponytail. 'Sir Yao,' a man in similar garments had approached him, bowing. Yao turned his head and nodded, 'yes?'

'We are nearly there, sir,' the attendant informed him. Yao nodded at the attendant, 'Thank you for notifying me.' The former bowed in respect once more before leaving Yao to continue surveying the scenery.

He was headed towards an island civilization with whom his merchants had traded with a few times. There were reports that the 'country' had such lush greenery and beautiful features; that was the reason he had wanted to visit, and why he had woken up before dawn and was now gazing intently at the horizon. He quickly spotted a landmass up ahead – their current destination. He could not discern much of the features until the great landscape swelled into view. A multitude of various trees, a vast stretch of ivory sand, a few splashes of colour in the form of flowers, and the dark silhouettes of avians setting-off into the rising sun – it was like a massive painting akin to nothing he had seen in quite a while. The Chinese man clutched onto the railings of his craft, leaning over the water to take in the entire sight.

He suddenly caught notice of a different shadow in his peripheral vision – a girl standing on the pristine shores. Yao immediately turned his attention to her. She seemed to be looking at him, smiling as his gaze fell on her. Yao raised his hand in acknowledgement, still leaning over the blue. She hastily turned around and disappeared into the dense green foliage. He blinked, doubting his still sleepy eyes, but before he could completely register what had just happened, a voice rang through the boat, stating that they were to be docking soon. The still-confused Chinese visitor straightened up and prepared his belongings, getting ready to disembark.

Yao stepped off the junk onto the shallowest end of the water, his sandals quickly filling with sand and saline water. He sighed, bending down to remove his footwear, also dampening his garments. He trudged forward onto the beach, examining his surroundings. The island was amazing from afar, but it was even more breath-taking close-up. 'We will be returning for you later after we are through with the trade, your highness,' one of the merchants told him. Yao nodded in reply, 'I see. Take your time then.' The merchant bowed before ordering his crew to continue. The man clad in blue watched as the ship ventured towards another island. When he whirled back at the view, he spotted a girl running towards him – the same child whom he had waved to earlier. Now that he could see her clearly, she looked no older than 5 years of age, yet he felt that she was much older than that. Flowers whiter than the sand adorned her raven black hair that framed her petite face. She was wearing a plain dress that seemed to be made of native cloth.

She approached Yao, beaming at him and holding up a garland of the same flowers that decorated her hair. Yao looked at her, 'for me?' He asked, gesturing towards himself, trying to make it clear to her since he was speaking a different tongue. She nodded, the happy expression never leaving her face. The foreigner bent down and took the garland from her, 'Thank you,' he said, about to put the garland in his bag. She grabbed his hand, stopping him, 'no.' He glanced at her, 'what is it? What is wrong?' The girl moved his arm away from the bag and close to his face, 'Smell it first!' She chuckled, gently pushing the white stars in front of his nose. He took a whiff of it and smiled, 'it smells wonderful!' Truly, it did. The little girl then took the length of flowers and placed it around his neck, 'Now you will too!' She laughed. Yao blinked at her, surprised, but laughed along with her, patting her head.

She seems to be quite a jovial girl, Yao thought, but I wonder why she's out here without her parents. Wait, how does she even understand what I'm saying? How can I even comprehend her words?

But before he could ponder on that, the child took his hand and attempted to pull him away, but because of his bowed posture, he ended up falling, face first, into the sand. 'Aiyah!' He exclaimed as he pushed himself off the hot sand. 'I am sorry!' The girl knelt down and covered her face, half-giggling, half-apologizing. She tried to help him into a sitting position, 'are you hurt?' She asked him, still trying to stifle her laughter. 'I-I am fine,' he said, spitting out a volume of sand. He noticed that she was waiting to see whether he would be offended if she began laughing, or not, so he chose to relieve her and began chuckling. In an instant, she echoed his laughter. Yao quickly stood up, brushing the sand off his clothing. The girl followed, seizing Yao's hand yet again. She began tug on his hand, stepping forward; the older nation merely allowed himself to go along.

They walked along the gorgeous beach. Every so often, he would see a cluster of shells, or a scuttling crab, but they continued on in silence until Yao decided to break it.

'Where are your parents?' He finally asked after they had walked a fair distance. She stopped and looked at him, clearly puzzled, 'I don't have any,' she began, smiling nonchalantly, 'do you?' She inquired. He stared at her in surprise, 'Ah, well, no. I don't,' he replied truthfully. This child is an orphan? 'Who takes care of you?'

'Everyone does,' she chuckled, 'what about you?' She returned the question.

'I have 'siblings,' but I usually look after them, not the other way around. But I guess you could say that everyone looks after me, too,' Yao grinned at the thought. 'Wow!' She chimed enthusiastically, clapping. Questions seemed to occupy her mind, so she continued to interrogate the older stranger. Yao indulged her, for she was quite amusing to watch. Something suddenly struck Yao, and before she could ask another question, Yao interrupted her, 'How is it that you can understand me?' The thought had been nagging at him ever since she had first spoken to him.

'What do you mean? Shouldn't I?' Her dark eyes looked up at him, confused. It was so endearing. 'A-Ah, well, I'm not sure,' Yao replied, 'it's just that I'm not speaking your dialect. It also startled me that I can understand you.' 'Are you not supposed to?' She said, tugging on his sleeve. 'I-I – never you mind it,' Yao said, bending down and patting her head. He suddenly felt his stomach grumble, signalling that it was time for lunch, 'Would you like to eat something, dear?' He asked, removing his bag from his shoulder and laying it on the ground. The girl nodded eagerly, 'Yes!' She nearly jumped.

He laid a long piece of cloth on the sand, took out a few containers and utensils, and set them on the cloth. He sat down, motioning for her to rest too. She obliged, excited. He gave her a plate of noodles and a pair of chopsticks. Staring at the two strips of wood he had handed her, she asked, 'what are these?' 'Ah, right, here. . .' With Yao demonstrating to her, she quickly understood and was using them with ease in no time.

'Mmm!' She squeaked as she took her first bite. 'I'm glad you like it,' Yao chortled, swallowing a chopstick-full. 'It's great!' She declared before continuing her meal. As she ate, Yao decided to question her more. 'Why are you allowed to roam around if everyone's looking out for you? How old are you anyway?'

'I usually just play around with the other children. But I heard that you traders were coming, so I wanted to go see the boats before they arrived!' She said with a curious twinkle in her eyes, 'and I'm –' she seemed to chew on what she was to say for a moment before she finally spoke, 'it may not show, but I am really quite old. Would you believe that I am actually older than the elders in the village?' She glanced at him, doubting whether he would accept it, or merely laugh at her. 'You are?' Yao asked in disbelief. She nodded slowly, masticating her food. There was only one explanation for it, and it was that she wasn't an ordinary child. She was just like him.

'You are the personification of this archipelago, are you not?' Yao gently asked, thinking that she may not yet know. 'Personification of. . . What?' He was right – clearly it confused her. She merely beamed at him, bewildered, continuing to devour her food. Yao put down his bowl and reached into his bag.

'I shall explain,' he resolved, taking out a map.

'So I am . . . this country?' She confirmed, taking in what Yao had elaborated on. 'Yes!' Yao smiled, applauding. 'Ah!' She grinned happily, learning that she had grasped it all. She turned to the map Yao had, 'so this is. . .' she began, her finger hovering over the paper, 'you?' She fingered a large landmass on the mainland. Her mentor nodded, 'Yes, very good! That is I, China!' He continued to praise her. 'China. . .' She pronounced, finally learning his name, 'You are China!' She called him jubilantly.

'Aiyah!' He quickly shouted, realizing he had forgotten to ask for her name, 'what is your name, dear?' He ruffled her hair slowly. 'I don't have a name,' she murmured, despondent at the fact that she did not have a name like he did.

China eyed her, 'no name, eh?' he said, rubbing his chin. 'I will give you your name then!' He nodded, placing his fist on the palm of his other hand. What would be a suitable name for a child like her? Something with a beautiful meaning, something adorable –

'I have it now!' Yes, it was perfect. She stared at him in anticipation.

'Your name will mean 'Elegance of the Ocean,' he paused, waiting for her reaction. She smiled at him, signaling that she liked it.

'And your name will be. . .

Ma-i.'

The story of the 'Country of Ma-i,' a pre-hispanic Philippine civilization. Records of it were present in Chinese annals and was logged into the Sultanate of Brunei's royal records.

I took me quite a while to begin this, seeing as there aren't many records from before the 1500s. It also took me a while to locate China's proper attire. The Chinese traded with Ma-i around the time of the Jinn and Yuan dynasties.

I hope you like it. :)