The last of the coconuts were loaded, filling the compartment, so Tui tied down the hatch cover. He had started early today and had beached the proa. It was packed to the gills with dried fish, packages of fermented breadfruit goop, bamboo water containers, dehydrated sweet potato and taro. All his tools, spare string, and a pile of obsidian chunks went in.

  And that was it. He was nearly ready to depart, but one vital task remained.

  His tribe had a pantheon of gods, yet Tui did not feel compelled to acknowledge them. There were gods of the jungle, the storms, and the heavens. Tui had not engaged with any of them. They hadn't crossed his mind.

  But looking out over the distant empty horizon and considering the vast distances he would need to travel brought a reminder of how small he was in the scheme of things. He was a tiny speck in the middle of nowhere, and a little help would not go amiss.

  Tui filled a coconut shell cup with seawater and poured it over the prow of his boat.

  "Tanaroa, god of the seas, please remember and look after this boat. Her name is Kaulele. Please protect her and guide her to our destination. "

  "Tarihi, please shield us from the wrath of your storms. We are your people and have been for generations. Please take this gift, offered with an open heart."

  Tui placed an opened coconut, dried fish, and breadfruit on a small raft. He floated it in the sea as the waves drew back and watched as it was sucked out into the water and then smashed by a large wave. The broken raft floated back to the beach, but no food returned. This was a good omen.

  "Thank you, Tarihi, for accepting my humble gift."

  He had discussed a number of names for the proa with his uncle and had settled on Kaulele, in his language it meant taking flight, or soaring on the wing. The name spoke to something in his soul. He was escaping from the island, breaking free from his old life, shedding his life as a bureaucrat, and flying away on his proa to find a new life.

  Moxie was off playing out of sight. The piglet had grown from constantly eating and probably weighed as much as Tui. The animal would be fine living its life out on the island. It would be best to make this a clean break.

  He braced his shoulder against the Kaulele and thrust it back into the surf. It moved differently now that it was loaded heavily with supplies. When empty, the craft skipped over the waves. Now it sliced straight through, the high prow protecting the deck behind from the crushing water.

  Tui scrambled aboard and began to pole the proa out past the breakers, firing up his third meridian for strength to help break through the surging sea.

  Over the roar of the waves, he heard a noise. Moxie was on the beach, squealing his lungs out. Tui smiled at the piglet and gave it a wave goodbye.

  Moxie clearly did not want to be left behind. He trotted up and down the beach, watching Tui move out to sea. Finally, the pig ran into the water, swimming strongly toward the boat.

  A large wave twisted the Kaulele sideways, and Tui forgot the pig as he struggled to straighten it out. If a wave caught him sideways, he might well capsize. Flipping the boat at this point would probably delay the trip substantially.

  He activated his seventh meridian, enhancing the dexterity of his feet and legs to help keep his footing.

  Another wave was approaching, and he was still at an angle. He thrust desperately at the pole and felt the proa slowly straighten. He was almost there when the wave hit, lifting the front of the boat and shoving it back toward the beach, twisting the Kaulele out of alignment once more.

  Qi thundered through his muscles as he shoved the pole against the sea floor, fighting to correct the yaw.

  And then the wave passed by, and he was through. Two more shoves with the pole delivered the proa past the breaking surf and into the gentle swells beyond.

  Tui's muscles quivered in reaction to the intensity of the strain they had been under, his lungs working like bellows as he tried to catch his breath. The sound of a grunt distracted him, the sound of something scratching the hull. There was Moxie, swimming beside the boat, scrabbling to get aboard!

  Tui had packed for the journey planning on Moxie's presence. He had only decided to leave the pig behind in the last hour, thinking he might be happier on the island. Tui hopped from the sailing platform to the hull and pulled the pig aboard.

  "I guess you are coming after all!"

  Moxie gave Tui a reproachful glance for considering leaving him behind. He scrambled up onto the platform and flopped his wet body onto Tui's bed in the shelter.

  "Hey! Get out of it!"

  Tui set up the rudder and raised the crabclaw sail, watching it fill with wind. The Kaulele surged forward, and the journey was begun!

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  The first hour was busy. Tui set the Easterly course, checked all the hatches ensuring they were still tightly sealed, and dropped a fishing line to troll behind the boat. Moxie sat on the platform watching him run around.

  And then there was nothing left to do, so Tui focused on sailing in the right direction.

  The wind blew steadily from the East, coming directly against his desired heading. This required him to regularly shunt, so he could catch the wind at an angle against his sail. The proa rode over the oncoming swells at an angle. First heading South-East, then shunting and heading North-East, but always working his way upwind.

  At first, Tui shunted every hour, which involved coming to a stop and restepping the mast. It was a slow process, and it didn't take long to get tired of it, though it was good to practice.

  He had a long voyage ahead of him, and his destination was a huge landmass to the East. There was no need to do it so often. He resolved to shunt once a day from that point onwards until there was a reason not to.

  The island that was his home, his salvation, disappeared behind him after a few hours on the water. He worked the tiller, finding a rhythm as he crested the swells.

  From time to time, he checked his fishhook, baiting it with a packet of grubs hung far out of Moxie's reach. He watched the line out of the corner of his eye for any sign of a bite.

  ***

  He was eight hours into his journey, and he was bored. It was mid-afternoon, and the hot sun was beaming down upon him. His stomach was getting queasy from the constant rocking.

  He locked the rudder onto his current heading and lay under the shelter to escape the sun for a while.

  Lying on his back did not improve the motion sickness. He watched the mast waving across the sky as the Kaulele crested another swell and slid down into the trough.

  Next to him was Moxie, also hiding from the sun, and there wasn't much room in the shelter. The pig's breath smelled rancid, roiling his stomach even further. His tongue started to feel heavy, and his saliva thickened as the nausea intensified.

  Finally, Tui had enough. He dropped the sail and brought the proa to a halt. Then he jumped into the water. The wind moved the boat slowly away from him, so he held onto a cord trailing in the water.

  There was nothing on the horizon in any direction. The water below him was unfathomably deep. In every direction there was nothingness. It was awe-inspiring and humbling. Tui was inspired to meditate, floating on his back in the middle of the sea.

  He closed his eyes and pictured himself in the nothingness, centering his mind, letting the physical drop away. The cool water sapped the heat from his skin and settled his stomach.

  There was an enormous splash as a certain pig noticed what he was doing and decided to follow suit.

  Tui didn't let any of that take away from his experience. He remained on his back, enjoying being lifted high into the air by the rolling swell, then dropped into deep valleys.

  He relaxed there for a half hour, and when he opened his eyes, he felt restored and refreshed. Moxie floated next to him, looking happy.

  He swam back to the Kaulele, pulling himself aboard, then helping Moxie. The air was still warm, and the wind blew unchanging. Tui hoisted sail and resumed the journey.

  There was a disturbance in the water ahead, a swirling school of large fish. Shortly after that, the fishing line jerked and started moving about. Working swiftly, he hauled in a tuna the size of his thigh, rebaited, and cast the line back out.

  He pulled in three more before leaving the group of fish behind.

  ***

  The waxing half-moon lit the water up with a silvery glow. Myriad stars decorated the sky. A trail of phosphorescence trailed in the wake of the proa as it made its way gradually eastward.

  The rudder was locked in position as Tui dozed, his body alert to any changes in the boat's movement. From time to time, he woke and trimmed the sail or adjusted course. When he was thirsty, he drank water or coconut, sharing with Moxie. He wasn't hungry after eating so much tuna. What he couldn't eat was salted and hung out to dry.

  He sailed for three days before an island appeared on the horizon. First, appearing as a tiny spot, it rapidly grew as he approached. Tui circled the island, looking for signs of water, but seeing none, continued without stopping.

  It seemed this was a group of islands because two more appeared before him. He fruitlessly circled the second island before spying a stream on the third.

  This was a larger island, perhaps twice the size of the island he had left. He beached the proa near the stream and tied it securely to a tree. Moxie hopped ashore, eager for some time off the boat.

  Walking on the sandy beach felt strange, a bit disorienting. It was as if Tui could feel the pitching of the sailing platform under his feet. It looked like the pig was experiencing the same thing, walking drunkenly up into the tree line.

  He filled all his water vessels and decided to spend some time ashore. It was nice having some room to stretch, to walk around.

  He didn't explore much but found some taro, which he brought back to the beach. Some salted fish and taro stew was soon simmering in the cookpot, which he ate as the sun slowly sank into the sea.

  He anchored the proa out past the breakpoint of the waves and slept aboard with Moxie. It was the first restful sleep he'd obtained since leaving, with no worries about maintaining heading to trouble him.

  He enjoyed it so much, he decided to stay another day. This was a purely relaxing day, with only a few goals to achieve. He restocked his supply of coconuts and reinforced a few spots on the sail that were fraying but spent the majority of the day tramping through the jungle. Tui enjoyed the exercise, the movement of his body, and the burn of qi through his muscles.

  He fried up some fish for a luxury dinner, relishing the crispy, salty texture. It was nice to have a hot meal. Good food was so easy to take for granted when constantly available.

  He was about to feed the last fish to Moxie when a cold feeling swelled in the pit of his stomach. It was a threatening, terrifying sensation, prickling up his spine.

  A man stood across the fire from him, gazing at him with an expressionless face, but the coldest eyes Tui had ever seen. Tui had not seen him walk up. He had appeared out of nowhere.

  His appearance was youthful, though was strangely devoid of hair on his head and face. He wore a simple robe, was barefoot, and had a naked sword stuck through his belt.

  When he spoke, his voice was raspy, as if it had not been used in a long time.

  "What are you doing on my island?"