Diversion To Urasha
Chapter 20

It was a feeling which James hadn’t felt in a very long time. He couldn’t even remember the last time he had woken up with someone to hold. Crystaline was James’ first in a long time. She had fallen to sleep in his arms.

James lay there, eyes awake, face-to-face with the sleeping beauty. Crystaline looked at peace when she was asleep. Her face was not rigid, tensed up with pain or anxiety. Instead her expression was calm, completely relaxed. It was a pleasing sight.

With a tender stroke, James traced his thumb over Crystaline’s pale forehead. It felt warm, soft, smooth. The fact was - everything had changed now. The aloof princess was no more. James thought of Crystaline, of how she’d been when he’d first met her. It was like she had a wall, one which she had built up around herself. As soon as Crystos had told James what was what, he had tried so hard to break that wall down. Just as the task had began to look impossible, James had done it, he’d blown that wall into smithereens, liberating Crystaline. Okay, so she would always have her issues. Crystaline might still seem desolate, miserable, but cold? Hostile? No. James knew that she would be different now. Maybe not with the others, but with him. James knew that Crystaline trusted him. She’d confided in him, connected with him. James had befriended Crystaline - that was a fact.

James’ eyes shifted to Crystaline’s stunning figure. The way that her black suit hugged her body like that, showing off her supreme frame, it was...beautiful. That was what it was. Sexy, yes, but considering Crystaline’s history, James just felt that beautiful was a better word to describe her. Not only that, Crystaline was a beautiful person, inside and out. James cared for this woman, he cared about her so much. Why? He couldn’t quite comprehend why. It was just something, something about her that made James…well, it made him not want to leave her. James winced, remembering that his stay on this planet was only ever meant to be temporary. If things panned out as planned, then James knew that he would have to leave Crystaline. James couldn’t do that, not now, not when he’d come so far in freeing this troubled young woman. James couldn’t yet work out how he would do this, but he would make sure that Crystaline left this planet with him, her brother, too.

After only a further few minutes, Phil roused from his sleep, along with Crystos. Only moments later, Crystaline, Morcees and Zach eventually awakened, too. That was it, James’ moment with Crystaline was gone - only for now.

The morning’s atmosphere was still palpable. Every bit of strain and pain could be physically felt. Morcees was understandably the most sullen of everyone. The Urashan had just lost his best friend, after all, and today was probably the first day he had ever woken up without him.

Crystaline wasn’t exactly brimming with joy either. Then again, when had she ever looked truly happy? Under the influence of the gold fruit? That was one of the only times when James had ever seen Crystaline look truly happy. That had been a moment shared not just between himself and Crystaline, but with Chugga-Chugga, too. James was really missing the little guy.

Much to James’ annoyance, Phil had already become a bit of a pest this morning. Phil had washed with James, eaten with him, as well as hounded James on his feelings. James wasn’t alright, not really. He wouldn’t tell Phil that though. As far as Phil was aware, he was fine.

It was quite a relief to James when travel eventually resumed. At least then, he could put his energy into something. At least then, Phil wouldn’t be able to pester him anymore.

James had decided to walk on at the front by Crystaline, and luckily, she seemed content with this, as if she wouldn’t have it any other way. James had been right with his morning assumptions. Crystaline had definitely softened to him, big time!

As the scene began to transform all around him, James looked over to Phil and Zach, wondering if he should ask the two of them for the water supply bag. James was thirsty, and he had no idea which bag the water was in. Deciding to focus on his surroundings instead, James decided that he would have some water later, not wishing to disturb either Phil or Zach.

The scenery was changing once again. For a start, everything looked purpler. Probably because of the light little smattering of purple grass all over the many cliffs. Then there were the trees. There was quite a lot of them, yet the trees were nowhere near dense enough to form a forest. They just decorated the rocky landscape instead, embellishing it, making it less mediocre and dull.

As James felt the muscles in his legs tiring, he could have sworn that he was walking up some hill or slope of some sort. Yet the truth was, by this stage of travel, James could see very little around him, for the foliage appeared to be growing thicker and thicker. Purple bushes covered both sides of the rocky pathway. Therefore, James couldn’t tell if he was or wasn’t walking uphill. It sure felt like it though.

Although the Urashan sun was out, shining as brightly as ever, the air felt damp, moist. As James focused on his surroundings even more, he realised that he and the others had slowly entered some kind of purple fog cloud. The air was filled with the tiniest, most minuscule little droplets of water. Or foggy steam to be more precise.

“What is this stuff?” James asked, collecting some of the condensation on the palm of his hand.

Crystaline looked at James’ hand, her expression surprisingly grim. “It’s fog.”

“I know that,” James grinned, realising that Crystaline was trying to brush off his question. “But what’s it made from?”

Crystaline sighed, “You’ll soon see.”

As the mysterious cloud of fog thickened, James began to fear that the little purple droplets of moisture might just start to turn his t-shirt pink. Judging by Crystaline’s diversional tactics to answer his earlier question, James realised that his t-shirt turning pink was soon probably going to be the least of his worries.

As the air grew even thicker, thick enough to even taste the sweet little vapour in his mouth, James was stunned into immobilisation. His companions came to a standstill just behind him. What ever he and the others were walking on top of, was soon to be no more. It just ended, as if shrouded away into another dimension by the purple fog.

“Great!” Phil rather dryly exclaimed. “Now what? I thought you knew what you were doing?”

Crystaline swivelled around rapidly, her eyes blazing into Phil’s. “I do know what I’m doing, thanks. This path is necessary.”

“Necessary?” Phil scoffed. “So, tell me, Crystaline, how do we walk on thin air? Or does the fog make us fly?”

Crystaline shook her head, exasperated by Phil’s mocking behaviour. “Go on!” she hissed.

“Go on what?”

“Walk to the edge, you’ll see.”

Phil pushed his way to the front of the group, walking alongside a rather curious James to see what lay beyond the path’s edge. Simultaneously together, both Phil’s and James’ mouths gaped open, shocked by what was in front of them.

There were rocks, lots of them. Long, tall structures scattered like pillars. Their peaks were level with the cliff at which James and Phil both stood. Then there was the substance at which the rocks were scattered over. James now knew where this purple fog cloud had risen from. It was this pool. This pool of violet...violet what? Water? No. The substance was way too thick to be water. It wasn’t even translucent. Goo? Was goo the better term to use? Whatever it was looked grim, mucky, completely undesirable to swim through.

“What is that stuff?” James whispered.

As she walked up behind him, Crystaline ignored James’ question, endeavouring to make her plans of travel known to Phil instead. “You see that next thicker rock? We each need to jump onto there first. Then we will handle the thinner pillar rocks.”

“But what? Why? I don’t like this. It looks too dangerous.”

“We don’t have a choice,” Crystaline said, pointing to something in the distance a lot further away. “We need to get to that cliff on the other side of the pool. It’s the only route I know to the stone.”

Phil shook his head, scanning the pool, the pillar rocks, and then the much more sizeable cliffs which appeared to surround the place. “I don’t get it, why can’t we just use those side cliffs over there?”

“We can use them for about half the journey. But then look, those surrounding cliffs end way before we reach our destination. Plus, we will need to get onto this larger rock first. Whether you like it or not, Phil, we are all going to need to do some jumping.”

“And if we fall in?”

“None of us are going to fall in. That’s all you need to know.”

Phil shook his head. “I still don’t like this,” he moaned.

“We don’t have a choice,” Crystaline proclaimed. “Now, who’s first?”

Zach gulped. “First?”

“To jump. To that next rock over...”

With a flash, Morcees’ dark blur of a figure rushed past Crystaline, stopping her mid-sentence. The lonely Urashan jumped, landing on the target rock with precision.

“Oh-kay,” Crystaline continued, “who is next?”

Crystos stepped forwards, nodding at his sister. Crystaline returned his nod, allowing a slight grin to break out across her lips.

Without wasting a further second, Crystos took an impressive run and jump, landing on Morcees’ rock with powerful agility. Crystaline’s smile quirked up a notch, impressed with her brother’s jump. “So, out of you three, who wants to go next?”

James eyed his destination, and then the gap which separated his cliff from that rock. “That’s a big jump.”

“Yes,” Crystaline agreed. “Big, but doable.”

“I don’t know,” Zach disagreed. “You three ain’t human. You jump better.”

“Zach,” Phil appeared a little exasperated, annoyed by Zach’s lack of faith in his own species. “If they can make that jump, then so can we. If I thought it were that dangerous, we would not be making the jump - trust me. To be honest, Zach, it looks easy. Why I bet I could even make that jump with my eyes closed.”

Crystaline raised an incredulous eyebrow at Phil. “Really?” she asked, completely and utterly unconvinced.

“Really,” Phil assured her. “But I think it’s best that I go last. To make sure that James and Zach make it over alright.”

James used this as his cue to jump. “I’ll go next,” he volunteered, looking into the eyes of Crystaline. Her eyes smiled back at him reverently. Just as James was about to prepare himself for his jump, he felt Phil’s overprotective hands gripping onto his shoulders.

“You know what you’re doing, James?”

“Of course. I’ve got this.”

“Good. Remember to get as much power into your run as possible.”

James rolled his eyes, shaking his head at the same time as he took several steps back to prepare his run. The gap between the two rocks was jumpable, James could see that, he could tell. James also knew that the jump was not without its risks, and he knew that those Urashans were a little more skilled than your average Joe. C’mon James! He willed himself, you can do this! With one last gulp of air, James sprang his body forwards, leaping free from the cliff, with his arms and his legs swimming through the air. With a thud, James landed on the the other rock, with both of his two feet still standing. James turned back to Crystaline and the other two, proud of his jump.

With a sudden bolt of nervous energy, Zach made the next leap, landing into a roll on the big bulk of rock. James and Crystos helped the brave young man back up onto his feet, clapping and cheering at his achievement.

James watched as Crystaline and Phil stood on the other cliff. They were the only ones left to jump. James watched as Phil took a ginormous run and leap, only the captain, it didn’t look as if he was going to make it. James and Zach rushed forwards, catching Phil as he clung onto the side of the rock. They pulled him to safety.

“Are you okay?” James asked, genuinely concerned.

With a red face, Phil brushed himself off. “I’m fine,” he blatantly lied.

James watched as Crystaline breezed past him, making the jump look way too easy.

“I thought you said that you could make that jump with your eyes closed?” Crystaline taunted Phil.

Phil shook his head, too ashamed and too embarrassed to make a comment back.

Ironically, as Phil had suggested, the group found themselves hopping over to the towering leftmost cliff. The tall structure was no easy beast to walk on. The rocks were too brittle, crumbling away into the purple pool of goo. Then there was the floor space, or the lack of it. James and the others had only inches to work with. It would be easy to fall off, too easy.

As James looked down at the purple pool of goo underneath him, he noticed bubbles, lots of them popping up to the surface. “Hey er...should that be happening?”

“Should what be happening?” Crystaline answered him.

“Those bubbles...the pool’s teeming with them.”

Crystaline stopped moving, her whole body was frozen in alarm. “Okay, change of plan. We need to stop sliding across this cliff. We need to climb, now, literally, we have no time to lose.”

James looked gobsmacked, dumbfounded. “We need to climb? But why?”

“Just do it!” Crystaline yelled back at him, beginning her ascent up the cliff, just as the bubbles grew louder and louder. “Don’t look back!” she added, “Just climb for your life!”

James grabbed onto the nearest rock he could replace, using it to pull his body up the cliff’s face. His hands searched for the next rock, and as he placed his palm over it, the rock began to shake, crumbling away from him before he could even hold it. The cliff! It was...it was vibrating...or something...something was vibrating, reverberating its way through the whole entire cliff. James dug his fingers into a gouge, slowly turning his head around to face whatever was creeping up behind him.

As James’ eyes reached their target, he froze, frightened by the tower of goo which was rising up above him. Inside the purple undulating mass were specks of green, lots of them, like sparks, charging their way through the creature’s body. What was that thing? Was it even a creature? James feared that it was.

Crystaline had frozen right beside James, eyeing the dangerous giant glob for herself as it continued to grow. The thing was massive, like a giant, rising at least thirty feet into the air.

A brief flicker of logic made James realise that this thing resembled the purple pool beneath it. He wondered if there would be any pool left once this creature reached its full size. James’ eyes lowered to the purple pool, noting that it was still there, bubbling away, barely shallower.

James’ eyes gazed back up towards the humungous creature. He noticed three holes, resembling the shape of two eyes and a mouth forming near to the top of the creature. The thing reminded James of a ghost, a purple ghost, made up of purple gunk instead of a white veil. The animal appeared to be growing limbs, two thick gooey arms. Then there were those green things, crusts this time, changing their positions and sizes constantly. Just what was this?

“Crystaline,” James panted, “what...what is that thing?”

Crystaline grimaced, watching in horror as the creature’s mouth widened into an impossibly huge abyss of darkness. “That,” she breathily responded, “that is a ganzar.”

Just as James began to comprehend the very word, the ginormous beast roared such a loud, deafening, reverberating roar! The cliff began to fall to pieces, suffering its first attack from the deadly ganzar. The purple gunky creature darted with such speed straight towards the cliff, plunging its entire body into the rocky structure. James fought with all his might just to hang on. It was a difficult task. The cliff would not stop shaking, crumbling to pieces, as it suffered thrash after thrash from the ginormous ganzar.

Just as James’ ears managed to fathom his captain’s yells, he tilted his head in Crystaline’s direction. She was hanging on, just like he was. Only the ganzar, it crashed into the cliff once again, breaking away the bit of rock which held Crystaline above the pool. She fell, landing straight into the purple goo. James cried after her, just as the ganzar’s arms thrashed straight above his head. James screamed in time with the monster’s deafening roar, getting out all that pain, all that shock, all that heartbreak of losing Crystaline.

James felt Phil’s strong arm grabbing onto his shoulders, endeavouring to pull him up the cliff. His captain was speaking, shouting, yet to James, his words only came out as muffled garbles.

Just above him, James heard a loud, almost deafening whoosh! Then at the corner of his eye, he saw the colour red, bright luminous red. Morcees’ sworsha was alight, set onto its highest voltage! James managed to look up into the silver eyes of the Urashan. The man was not all there, his mind completely overtaken by rage, by madness! Morcees growled, then his growl turned into a full-on scream. Zach’s and Crystos’ arms flailed desperately around the enraged Urashan, trying to keep him from his risky intentions. Their attempts of restraint were futile, for the silver eyed Urashan dived free from the cliff, leaping straight into the ganzar.

The next few seconds seemed like minutes to James as he watched Morcees slowly sinking into the gargantuan creature. Upon impact, the creature flashed green, appearing stunned for a very brief moment. Then the creature began to wail, writhing in agony as the purple returned to it. With its body still chaotically flailing around, the creature hurtled straight towards the cliff, slamming into the rocky structure with such a deadly force. James felt the rock crumbling away from him, feeling his body being released into the thin air all around him.

As James noticed the others all falling, he felt his arms moving through the air, waving about with no real purpose. This was it his mind whispered to him.

His death had reached him.