Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 2 - 2 | Page 145

The Rulers of the Seas
St Stephen's College Preparatory School, Wu, Timothy - 12
In the early 1400s, these pirates were legends. A fleet of ships sail from China, the seven voyages by the
Ming Treasure fleet, they carried cargoes of gold, silk and other precious items for the staff on the ship to
give away. The people they meet were always unexpected , they have met peaceful people and have also
fought with hostile armies, or deal with nasty pirates or more, they gave away some and kept some when
they needed to use the military forces and weapons to fight the horrific ones. They have gained themselves a
name in history and China truly "ruled the seas".
I was apart of that legendary ship once, I will never forget that time when we battled the army of
France. I still remember it like it was yesterday, it was midnight, and the rain was pouring down as hard rock
falling from the sky aiming for the ship the hardest it can. I was petrified as it was only my second adventure
with the ship and I am still getting used to it. We quickly sailed at the closest land possible and an army of
French solders met us there. I was young and I had loads of energy so the ship captain set me as the frontline
and we charged against them easily defeating them and soon we were expecting to see more. I was filled
with excitement after seeing what we were capable of. It was so dry cause it was September at the time, the
leaves on the yellow trees were falling on us as we were trying to find a shelter to hide in. We hear the
France army chattering and the leaves on the ground shivering super loudly. We were only one voyage of
the Ming Treasure Fleet so we could call for backup but it was impossible because we were only in a small
little shack and we could not locate to map to find where they are now. I wasn’t capable of controlling by
temper so did some of my shipmates. I was only scared cause I was one of the youngest ones of the voyage.
The France army finally looked inside the shack and we started attacking, it was a massacre, blood was
splattering everywhere and all I did was sitting there and firing, not worrying about anything, just firing. At
that point I have realized what I have gotten myself into, my heart was beating as fast as it can go, but as this
point we have finally defeated the French army. It was over, we left and never got back.
But there were times where we could’ve done things way easier, we were sailing to the dock of
Japan, the weather was gloomy and so we quickly docked and the boarder control there was so much nicer,
they welcomed us with warm hands as a translator steps up. “We are here to give you guys some gifts, we
do no harm it is from the emperor of these voyages, we are only pirates, the most humble of the pirates,”
our leader quickly said. They told us to enter and we started to scatter the floor with gold and emerald and a
lot others. Their king came out and thanked us personally by gifting us the finest Japanese silk jacket. We set
back off in the sea after eating supper and that day was unforgettable as we could see the different cultures of
the world.
I soon retired after 15 years with the ship, but this was the most remarkable experience for me and
I will never forget it.