Diversion To Urasha
Chapter 17

As James and Crystaline walked towards the cliff, James glanced backwards. The others had all gathered by the boulder as Crystaline had instructed. As he continued to walk, James watched as the plumes of purple dust billowed up around his ankles. The ground was hard and dusty.

Silence loomed over James and Crystaline like a bad cloud. James wanted to break the silence, to strike up conversation with her. He just had no idea what to say. The fact that he knew that she was in a foul mood really didn’t help matters.

The cliff was getting close now, and as James’ eyes assessed the tall rocky structure in front of him, he heard the little pattering of footsteps running up behind him. James halted his footsteps, turning around to face the little chugga who had followed him. “Chugga-Chugga? What are you doing over here? You’re supposed to be with the others.”

Crystaline’s footsteps stopped too. She turned to face the chugga. She looked angry. “Get back over there!” she hissed, much to the surprise of James. He’d never seen her lose it at Chugga-Chugga before. The lil blue guy was always the exception.

The poor little creature gave a nervous little whimper. It didn’t move.

“You heard me!” Crystaline continued, her voice slightly louder and sterner. “Go to the boulder, now!”

“Crystaline!” James intervened, trying to placate her. He felt sorry for the little chugga whose eyes were now glazed with tears. “Is it so bad that he comes with us?”

“What kind of idiotic question is that? He can’t climb. It’s too dangerous.”

James turned to the quivering chugga, stroking him gently. “It’s okay, little guy. She doesn’t mean it. She’s just thinking of you. Please go back to the others, I know you can understand me.”

The chugga looked into James’ eyes, its mouth trembling. Then it looked over to Crystaline, as if awaiting a response from her.

Crystaline kicked at the ground, creating a cloud of dust. “Go!” she yelled. “Stop following me everywhere I go, for crying out loud!”

Chugga-Chugga let out a heartbreaking little whimper, and then he turned and ran towards the boulder, rejoining the others.

James was still crouching. He looked up towards Crystaline. She was watching the little chugga with such a guilty expression on her face. James stood up, rubbing the dust off his trousers. “That was a bit harsh,” he lashed out.

Crystaline sighed, continuing with her walk towards the cliff. “It was for his own good,” she mumbled.

James was glad when he and Crystaline were finally stood at the base of the cliff. “So, this is it?” he said, listening to the comforting sound of the trickling water up above him.

“Are you sure you’re capable of climbing this?” Crystaline didn’t look convinced.

“Yes,” James promised, eyeing the grooves in the rock-face which he would use. It was true, the climb looked undesirable, but James wanted that water. He needed it. “We don’t have to climb the whole thing anyway. We just need to get to that flat part there, it’s where the water is.”

“I agree,” was all Crystaline returned with.

Thankfully, the climb wasn’t too hard. The rock-face had enough holes and bumps which James could use to ascend the thing. Occasionally, however, the odd bit of rock would break free from his grasp, forcing him to flail around for a new bump to grab hold of.

James was relieved when at last, he’d climbed the thing, reaching that first flat level. He watched as the water trickled down the cliff face like a tap. “Perfect!” he chimed, pleased with his replace.

James removed his bag from his shoulders as he and Crystaline approached the water. “I reckon we can get all three of these containers completely filled.”

Crystaline merely held out her hand. “Just pass me the containers,” she hissed.

Feeling slightly ruffled, James passed Crystaline the first container, watching thirstily as she filled it up.

“The next one,” Crystaline ordered, swapping the filled container for the empty one.

James felt the heaviness of the filled container in his hand, as he watched Crystaline’s impassive face. He was tempted to guzzle down that entire container right now. Although he was sure that Crystaline would not approve of such a selfish action.

As the second container brimmed full, James noticed several small rocks, trickling down from the upper part of the cliff. Both he and Crystaline paused, searching the rock above them for any sign of sounds or movements.

“Anything?” James asked her.

Crystaline shook her head. “No, just give me the last container.”

James complied, searching Crystaline’s expression for a reason for her foul mood. “I don’t get this,” he eventually whispered.

“Get what?”

“This. The way you’re being today.”

“And how am I being exactly?”

James shook his head, trying to summon the confidence to speak up. “I don’t know, Crystaline. You’re just not being you. Who I really think you are. You’re acting like you did when I first got here.”

Crystaline raised her eyebrows incredulously, handing James the final filled container. “You’re saying I’ve changed?” she scoffed.

James nodded, placing the bag back on over his shoulders. “Yeah, I think you have. Think back to that night when you first rescued Chugga-Chugga, you’d have never shouted at him like that.”

“I was thinking of him! He couldn’t climb this cliff!”

James bowed his head down shyly. “I know,” he agreed. “But it’s not just that. Yesterday you were fun, and today you’re mad, you’re angry, you’re hurting.”

Crystaline looked as startled as she was exasperated. “Hurting?”

James looked bravely into the eyes of Crystaline. “That’s right. That’s what this is, isn’t it? You’re hurting over your mother, over your father, what he...what he...” James stopped to look into Crystaline’s blazing eyes. A searing hot flame was beginning to incinerate its way through those beautiful golden irises of hers. Instinctively, James began to back away from Crystaline, towards the cliff’s edge.

“What?” Crystaline whispered, her rage flaring. “What did he tell you?” Her words were a shout this time.

James held his hands up placatingly. “Crystos just told me some things, that’s all. He worries about you, Crystaline. He’s torn. He wants to help you, but...”

“But what? What does he want to help me with exactly? My brother has no right shooting his mouth off about matters which don’t concern him. And you!” Crystaline prodded James’ chest with her finger, “You have no right to even mention my mother or my father. Do you understand? My life is of no concern to you. My pain, is of no concern to you.”

James felt the cliff’s edge with his foot. He stopped, feeling Crystaline’s aggressive body leaning right into him. Would she push? Would she push him right off that cliff?

“CRYSTALINE!”

James and Crystaline looked horrified, each staring momentarily into each other’s eyes as they began to fathom the sound they’d just heard.

“Crystos...” Crystaline whispered, as she and James both turned to face the cliff’s edge. It wasn’t just Crystos, they were all there, running frantically towards the cliff. Yelling and pointing at something up on the cliff behind them. With their bodies still interlocked together, James and Crystaline turned to face one another, their mouths both gaped wide open, as they heard the terrible thud landing right beside them. Both James and Crystaline gave one little grimace, before turning their heads to face what had just landed right next to them.

There, with its wings digging into the cliff was the creature, the massive, threatening yellow eyed creature. James studied the bright red, luminous triangular crest of the being’s head, and then those glowing red streaks on the flying animal’s wings. The streaks were like blood, bright blood, which signified danger.

The animal’s mouth opened, unveiling a black lacerating tongue surrounded by razor sharp teeth. The thing screeeeeeeched! Flapping its ginormous wings and raising its tall green body into an aggressive stance. James wanted to open his mouth, to ask Crystaline what the giant winged creature was. It reminded him of a dinosaur, a pterodactyl - an alien pterodactyl. James could not even summon the strength to speak, and he knew that Crystaline was probably suffering from the same problem. He could feel the her heart beating wildly against his chest, her eyes watching on in horror as four more creatures landed, and dotted themselves around at certain points on the cliff.

The lead animal’s eyes locked onto James’, and for a moment, James wondered if just his stare would be enough to scare the creature away. Instead of scaring the animal, James saw only its temper flaring. The creature’s mouth opened and shrieked, writhing its body into a position ready to strike.

James felt Crystaline catching her breath next to him, sucking out her words from the air. “Gersher,” she whispered, her grip tightening around James, as she began to pull him and her closer to the cliff’s edge. “RUN!”

That was it - James’ body sprang into action in sync with Crystaline’s, as he and her began their descent from the cliff. James could hear the sounds of yelling, of screeching, of wings flapping and of rocks falling all intermingled together to create a sound: the perfect definition of chaos.

As James continued to climb his way down the cliff, he couldn’t help but notice that the rocks all around him were getting bigger. As he jumped free from the cliff, James was horrified to see boulders upon boulders of heavy rocks, plummeting down towards him and his friends. “ROCKSLIDE!” James yelled, seeing Crystaline jump to the floor five or so metres to his side. James had no idea what he should be doing next, so he just sprinted, following Crystaline as she dodged the falling boulders.

“James!” Phil had yelled, running towards James as if his very life depended on it.

Seeing the others all bounding towards him, James outstretched his hand, ready to leap towards his friends. He felt his first step, then his second, then...then he saw it. James saw the massive gersher flying directly for the disbanding group. “Look out!” he yelled, only he was too late. The ginormous creature crunched its talons into Phil’s shoulders, lifting him several feet into the air. As James ran for his captain, he could see the man struggling and writhing in midair, endeavouring to free himself from the wicked grasp of the gersher.

Zach had doubled back for his captain too, throwing rocks at the screeching beast, and James, he was almost there now.

CRUNCH!

Something had slammed into James, sending him slicing through the air, until he landed back down on the ground. It wasn’t a boulder, it was one of them, one of those gershers.

Crystaline felt the sharp talons latching onto her shoulders. She felt her body being carried from the ground. Crystaline had to react now! She slammed her fists into the gersher’s feet, twisting and pulling on the creature to try and free herself from its menacing grasp. With one last heavy slam of her fists, the creature let out a blood curdling screech, dropping her from its lethal talons. Crystaline landed on the ground with a moan and a thud. When she looked up to gather her bearings, Crystaline was nauseated to see a gersher diving right into her brother’s ribs. Avoiding the path of another falling boulder, Crystaline clawed at the ground to fight her way back up onto her feet so that she could go and help her brother.

As Crystaline ran with all her might to reach her brother, she noticed Morcees and Borcees struggling against the creatures. One was attacking Morcees, and Borcees was running back to help his friend. Crystaline had to reach her brother now!

James dived straight into the cliff base, just about succeeding to dodge another relentless attack from the gersher. He had no idea where Phil was, where Zach was, or where anyone was, for that matter. As James freed his body from the cliff, craning his head around in search of anyone, James was sickened to see that very same gersher he’d just dodged slamming right into Crystaline.

Instinctively, James ran towards the attacking gersher and Crystaline. He knew how merciless that creature was. He’d been dodging an uncountable number of attacks from the winged beast after all.

As he ran towards Crystaline James watched in horror as the gersher dealt blow after blow of unrelenting attacks to her ribs. Whenever she got up, the flying beast would swoop in and attack her again.

James pushed on harder, his eyes widening in horror when he saw the baby blue chugga intercepting the gersher’s next attack on Crystaline. As James ran as fast as he could, he didn’t know whether to look at the bodies of Chugga-Chugga and the gersher rolling around on the ground, or Crystaline’s shocked reaction to the whole ordeal. She was just stood there, paralysed on the spot. James noticed a dark shadow falling upon Crystaline. When he looked up, he saw the massive boulder plummeting through the sky. Crystaline didn’t even realise that she was about to be crushed by this boulder. She wasn’t even moving! “CRYSTALINE!” James yelled, desperate to draw her attention to the boulder. He watched as she stared up at the boulder, still unmoving. C’mon! he willed his legs, he had to get there, to push Crystaline out of the way. The boulder was close, but so was he, just one more push! James enveloped his arms around Crystaline, feeling the bottom of the boulder just missing his hair by millimetres, as he and Crystaline fell uncontrollably into the hole on the side of the cliff. Still wrapped around Crystaline, James felt his and her’s bodies rolling away into the darkness. Then, with one final thud, the pair landed, both of their minds knocked out into complete darkness. The boulder sealed the cave shut.