The wind whipped through the long hair of the man sitting at the prow of the ship. He was dressed simply, if a little ragged, his ceremonial robes long stowed underneath his bunk.

He breathed in the salty air of the rolling sea. He had never been this far from his home-indeed, never been this far out in the ocean. He was going towards the unknown West, to see strange sights and take back strange treasures.

China pulled his hair back into a ponytail and looked down at the clear waters rushing past the wooden hull. It was almost blinding, the blueness reflecting the sun into his eyes.

"I don't know why I didn't do this earlier!" he exclaimed, not caring that a few crew members were now staring at him. There was a sort of unsophisticated wildness about him, something that put Zheng He on edge. He was not used to his nation being so very…free.

The explorer took a deep breath, trying to reassure himself. It was the first day of their journey, and right after a very stiff ceremony. Perhaps he should give the man something to do, so that he would stop spooking the men…


Zheng He's log, Day 1.

Today, I tried to get my Nation to calm down by cooking something for lunch (a practice that I don't usually condone from a man of his stature, but it had to be done). When I looked a few hours later, he had roped half the crew into making wontons and was boiling three days' worth of water!

We have enough ships and provisions to last us (and, obviously, to take what we need) but if my Nation burns through supplies like this every single mealtime I don't know how we'll manage.

Oh dear, I hear screaming. He must be getting superstitious again. I told him when we set out that sea serpents don't exist.


Notes:

Today, Zheng He set out on his first expedition to other lands, basically starting the Age of Exploration about a hundred or so years before the Europeans; there are rumours that he got all the way to Italy on one such voyage.