The steward knocked on his cabin door, "Your dinner sir. You should eat before the weather hits. You'll have about twenty minutes." Li Tui glanced up from his ledgers. "Set it here please."
Tui was a large framed man, with a worried face and skin the colour of dark chocolate. His wiry, black hair was close cropped but getting a bit overdue for a cut. He had ink stained fingers, and the beginnings of a pot belly from too much time behind a desk.
The steward, a mid-caste man in a tailored uniform with shiny brass buttons, set the plate down on the edge of the desk. A clear liquid in a bowl and five large chunks of fish were arranged along with some spiced rice cakes, an essence pill was set off to the side. Tui sighed, took off his spectacles, and pressed a napkin onto his lap. He despised eating while traveling, his stomach did not enjoy all the movement, but he knew that if he didn't get something into his body he'd regret it later. As the steward left, Tui lifted the bowl and sipped at the soothing broth. The essence pill did not look to be of good quality, and would likely throw his digestion further out of balance. He sighed and took the pill anyhow.
He ate quickly, finished his tea, and stacked the dishes back on the tray. He rang the bell for the steward, there was not much time left before the storm hit.
As the steward carried the tray out of the room, the airship hit a pocket of turbulence. The floor dropped out from under the steward and he lost his footing, the dinner tray smashing to the floor. The steward picked himself up, "Are you alright Sir?" He asked Tui in a concerned voice.
"Yes, I'm fine," replied Tui. "This happens every now and again." The steward nodded, "I am sorry sir." As the steward picked up the fallen dinner items, Tui quickly gathered his scattered ledgers, packing them away in a chest. He made his way to his hammock, and settled in to wait out the storm.
As he waited, he meditated, reaching in with his spiritual sense and drawing out the essence from the pill he had just eaten. Distantly, he felt the storm hit, the airship shuddering as the wind threw it about like a toddler would a toy. Deep in his meditation, the movement did not bother him as much. He fed the essence carefully to the small sparks of qi in his dantian. When he completed the absorption of essence, Tui began to doze.
Suddenly, he was no longer in the hammock. Lights burst behind his eyes as his head smashed into the deck. He felt his teeth cut through his lip and his mouth filled with the bright coppery taste of blood. The cold awareness that something was terribly wrong flooded through him. Tui struggled to his feet. The lamp was extinguished, the room pitch black. The airship was moving strangely, in a wallowing motion. He could hear the snapping of spars and tearing of fabric.
The airship listed sharply to the port side. Tui was thrown from his feet and rolled across the deck. The world spun around him as he fought to orientate himself. A sudden lurch threw him against the wall, the impact knocking the wind from his lungs. His breath was short and ragged, pain shooting through his skull. He heard the ship creak and groan as it strained against the storm. Water washed swiftly over his ankles, he had to get outside.
He crawled forward, feeling for the door to his room. A glimpse of light through the open door helped guide him out. He struggled up the stairs, struggling to find his footing on the slick steps at a strange angle.
Outside, the deck was awash with water, the airship rolling heavily in the sea. The wind was howling. Tui staggered across the deck, the deck sloping sharply. He tripped over the railing and fell into the sea. The cold water was like a fist smashing into his chest. He fought to keep his head above the surface, but it was too much for him.
Tui's lungs burned, he gasped for air. His mind was clouded, he could see nothing with the dark water swirling around him. He tried to swim, but his limbs were sluggish, his robe was heavy. His heart thudded in his ears, he was going to drown.
When his flailing hands brushed a spar, he grasped it desperately. The long pole was floating freely, snapped off cleanly at one end. A flash of lightning lit the sky, allowing him a glimpse of the last of the airship. The vessel was listing sharply to port, the gas bag torn open and flapping. It was moving, blown away from him by the gale.
He gripped the spar tightly, using it to float. Huge swells lifted him high into the sky, then dropped him deep into valleys of water. He fought to stay afloat, the effort sapping his strength. Another lightning flash lit up the night. The airship was out of sight, there was nothing around him but the angry sea.
Tui lashed himself to the spar with his belt, his hands already fumbling and numb with cold. His head throbbed in pain. With his spiritual sense, Tui reached into his dantian for a spark of qi and began guiding it carefully along the conduit to the third meridian, located in his heart. He was not a very physical man, preferring the more cerebral existence as an auditor for the Department of Interior. At this moment he felt a pang of regret for this lifestyle choice. A bit more practice would have made this much easier.
The cold was making it very hard to concentrate, and he had little practice using this conduit. The spark moving erratically as he guided it through the pathways. Slowly, carefully, he moved the spark along, finally into his heart meridian.
Warmth crept into his chest, then spread outwards to his limbs. With the warmth came a gradual increase in strength. He clung to the spar like a barnacle, his renewed strength easing the strain on his body.
Over the howling of the wind, Tui caught the sound of the roaring of surf. He peered out over the sea, searching, waiting for the next lightning strike. The lightning came with a crash, lighting up the world. There was land! It was not far off, perhaps half a league or so.
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Tui swam his spar towards the land, the huge ocean swells pushing him in the right direction. As he approached, he untied his belt from the spar. The waves were storm-driven and huge. Tui tried to time his approach between the waves, but there was no control in this swell. A wave crushed Tui into the depths, ripping the spar from him, tumbling him, dashing the breath from his lungs. Something sharp raked his shoulder as he spun like a feather in a whirlwind. Then he was pushed up onto the sand. The water drew away from him, and he staggered up the slope before another wave could strike him.
His lungs were burning, he struggled to catch his breath. The storm continued to rage around him, spatters of warm rain pelting his face. He stumbled forward, barely able to stand, the sand sucking at his feet. He fell back onto the sand, his hands shaking uncontrollably. He closed his eyes, trying to steady himself. As he calmed, he felt his heart thumping in his chest, the blood coursing through his veins. His breathing slowed, and the pain in his shoulder drifted into the background. Utterly exhausted, he slept.
*****
Tui woke slowly. He opened his eyes and looked around. The storm had passed, but the sky was still overcast. The sun was rising, and the horizon was lit in a dull orange glow. Waves crashed gently on the shoreline, birds were waking up and filling the air with their calls.
Tui found he could move, albeit stiffly. He rolled over, groaning, and sat up. He was covered in sand. The robes which marked his high caste were soaked and crusted with grit. His shoulder was stiff and caked in dried blood. He rubbed gingerly at it and winced. It seemed swollen and tender. His lip was tender, the inside of his mouth ragged where it met his teeth. He probed it with his tongue.
He was very thirsty.
He glanced around to get his bearings. The beach ended about fifty paces from the shore, where palm trees waved. Beyond them lay a jungle of thick green foliage and dark shadows.
Tui stood up stiffly and began to walk along the water's edge. Somewhere along this beach would be some fresh water. The tide line stretched out before him, broken only by occasional rocks poking through the foam. The sand was wet beneath his toes, firm enough to make walking easy. After a half hour of walking he came upon a stream flowing lazily over smooth stones. He knelt beside the water, cupped handfuls of water into his palms, and drank deeply.
As the sun rose higher, Tui was able to get a better understanding of his situation. He was on a volcanic island, with a coral barrier reef surrounding it. The island was not large, maybe two leagues across. The rim of the caldera looked to be about an hour's hike inland. He felt refreshed after drinking the water, and he decided to follow the stream inland.
The ground became rockier, the forest thicker. Tui followed the winding course of the stream until it led to a pool. It was deep and clear, schools of fish visible in the depths. He stripped off his robes and waded in. Tui scrubbed at his skin, removing the crusty salt, rinsing his wounds with gentle fingers. He washed his robes and underwear, then spread them out on the rocks to dry. He lay back into the pool and floated on his back.
The water was refreshing, but not too cold. It felt delightful. Feeling like a new man, Tui splashed out of the pool, dripping wet again, but now feeling clean and invigorated. Dressed, he walked upstream along the rocky bank, keeping close to the water.
After a half hour of following the stream, Tui emerged from a dense canopy into a rocky clearing. A few meters ahead of him was a small waterfall. A pervasive energy filled the air around the falls, marking it as a natural font of spiritual essence. Bright purple orchids grew up the face of the rocks. Great tufts of lemongrass grew from the banks. The pervasive energy changed the plants that grew around the stream, infusing them with essence. Consuming these plants could have chaotic effects on the animals that ate them. Sometimes they grew cancerous tumors and died shortly after. Sometimes the beasts went through an awakening of sorts, and gained a strange cunning, a near intelligence.
Essence fonts like this were natural treasures, kept secret and well guarded. Families passed the locations of such treasures down through generations, like heirlooms. Carefully husbanding these resources allowed one's qi to grow many times faster than consuming essence pills. The energy from these fonts was pure, with no contamination or pollutants, which all essence pills contained to some degree.
Tui restrained himself to a quiet smile of contentment over the discovery, instead of leaping for joy like part of him wanted to.
His mind flicked back to his academy studies decades past, calculating what type of spirit formation would allow him to maximize the utility of this site, using available resources. He had never actually built an essence gathering formation before, but he had learned the theory. After all, primitive aboriginal tribes had worked some remarkable feats of essence manipulation using a combination of cowrie shells and local rocks. Surely an educated man like himself could achieve something similar.
Tui made up his mind to return to the waterfall once he had obtained the suitable materials, and continued his hike up the hillside. He was really hoping to see signs of humanity once he gained some altitude. But with the way his luck had been going lately, he honestly did not expect to. Eventually, the vegetation gave way to bare stone. The ground underfoot was dry and dusty, littered here and there with rocks and boulders. The air grew warmer as he climbed out of the trees into the sunlight, the muggy heat pressing down on him like a blanket.
Tui stood on the rim of the caldera, gazing out over the whole island laid out below him. Off the coast, the barrier reef circled most of the island. Towards the center of the island, a small lake formed in the center of the crater. Jungle surrounded it. The far rim of the caldera had collapsed, leaving a horseshoe shaped ridge, with open views to the other side of the island.
There was no sign of people. No smoke, no visible buildings. Tui felt a bubble of despair in the pit of his stomach. He was alone on this island.
A flock of wild parrots flew overhead, calling loudly. They were bright red in coloration, with black wing tips and yellow bills. Their shrieks echoed across the jungle , bouncing back from the walls of the caldera.
Tui turned his gaze back in the direction he'd come from, searching for any sign of the airship.
It had been a huge flying machine, held aloft by an enormous hydrogen gas bag and propelled by cunning formations that magnified the effect of the pilot's qi to push it efficiently through the air. The craft had been designed specifically to navigate tremendous distances, with a hull designed to be strong enough to withstand the batterings of storms, to shrug off direct lightning strikes.
He wondered what had brought it down, what had caused the crash. He marveled at his own survival, to be cast out to sea, then washed up on these shores. Tui feared for the crew and the other passengers, something he had avoided thinking about until now. Overcome by emotion he knelt down and thanked the ancestors for his survival.