James felt his body tensing, and his arms bristling once again. Someone else was there, behind him. Not a creature, but someone with footsteps, orderly footsteps. James cursed under his breath, begging the Universe for it to not be Phil.
As the sound drew nearer, James realised that the footsteps were too soft to be Phil’s. His captain had a habit of clumsily tromping his way through the forest. These footsteps were different…deft, soft, womanly. Crystaline! James’ insides gave another little quiver. He felt his heartbeat quickening as he noticed Crystaline sitting down next to him at the corner of his eye.
As he felt the furleave gently swaying underneath his and Crystaline’s weight, James watched as the chugga moved itself in between him and Crystaline, demanding attention from both of them. James watched as Crystaline’s dainty little hands caressed the chugga’s head. The thing purred with delight, relishing Crystaline’s touch. James couldn’t blame the little creature. There was something about that woman’s hands. He remembered those electrical impulses. The word ‘pleasant’ didn’t do the feeling anywhere near enough justice.
“Are you okay?” The princess’ voice sounded, surprising James a little.
“Er yeah, yeah I’m fine. I’m sorry, I er, I don’t usually lose my temper like that. It’s just...”
“Phil?”
“Yeah! He and I don’t get along. We never have done. I’m sorry.”
Crystaline raised her eyebrows, confused.
“Sorry?”
“Yeah, I er, I know that when you work in a team you’re supposed to get along with your teammates, or try to at least. I mean I’ve tried, but I can’t, and I know it makes things difficult for everyone else.”
Crystaline let out a bemused gasp, her lips smiling slightly.
“Difficult? In case you hadn’t noticed, there are other difficult relationships within our group. I loathe Morcees, and Borcees. Plus, I can’t say I blame you for having a problem with Phil. The man’s an idiot.”
James felt his mouth uncontrollably grinning, as he turned to the princess.
“I er, I had got that impression, you know, seen that you don’t have a lot of time for Phil?”
Crystaline scoffed.
“I wouldn’t say that I have a lot of time for anyone.”
“How about me?” James asked her, his lips trembling nervously.
Crystaline turned her gaze to James, her eyes meeting directly with his. For a while, the princess just stared into his eyes, as if searching for the answer to the young space warrior’s question. Then at last, her lips parted.
“You think I have time for you? Why?”
James shook his head, his voice chocking, and his cheeks reddening with embarrassment.
“I er…I don’t necessarily think that you have time for me, it’s just that…you make me nervous, Crystaline.”
“Nervous?”
James coughed this time, immediately regretting the words which had just escaped from his mouth. To his relief, the princess did not seem offended, not even remotely so. Instead, she looked amused? James gasped out a relieved sigh, his mouth grinning once again.
“What guy wouldn’t be nervous around you, Crystaline? I mean look at you. You’re stunning, and not only that, you’re feisty, too. You completely destroyed me when we had our sworsha fight, remember? I thought you were going to lop my head off.”
Crystaline grinned, definitely amused this time.
“Maybe I would have done?”
“Maybe,” James agreed, his grin involuntarily widening. “Then again, you’ve healed me twice. You’ll actually have a conversation with me. So sometimes, I wonder if you don’t hate me as much as you seem to hate Phil and Zach.”
“I don’t hate Zach!” Crystaline was quick to proclaim. “That man, I thought he was going to irritate the life out of me. But he’s not so bad. And you, I don’t hate you. I didn’t mean to be so harsh this morning, I didn’t mean for my words to escape from my mouth in the way in which they did last night, it’s just, I don’t have time for others, James. I don’t hate you, or Zach. I’m just not...not right.”
“You followed me all the way out here when you didn’t have to?”
“What choice did I have? Chugga-chugga was behind you like a flash.”
James stared down at the little blue creature. The thing was purring, enjoying resting its head between his and Crystaline’s knees.
“What did you tell the others? Before you left?”
“I told them to stay where they were. That captain of yours protested, thinking it best that he went after you. After seeing the way you punched him, I thought that not the case, so I followed on.”
“And you found me?” James said, eyeing Crystaline tenderly.
“Chugga-chugga found you. I found him.”
“And I found open space, with only a tree. I kinda feel a little sorry for that tree. I mean it’s out there, cast away from all of the other forest trees. I bet it feels lonely, just stood there, watching its friends all huddled together.”
Crystaline grinned, her eyes mocking James.
“That tree likes to be alone. It doesn’t need all of those other trees smothering it. And besides, that tree is no ordinary tree. I never thought I’d say this, Joyce, but you’ve actually stumbled upon something quite remarkable.”
“I have?”
“Your eyes should tell you that the tree is special. It’s not purple like the others for one thing. Focus on it, and you’ll see how it glistens underneath the sunlight. Like royalty.”
“Like you?” James whispered, eyeing Crystaline with compassion.
Crystaline sighed, unsure of her response.
“I’m not special, James. But that tree, it grows a particular fruit. The tree itself is coated in gold.”
“Pure gold?”
Crystaline nodded.
“Pure gold,” she confirmed. “Not only that, the fruit is gold too, filling its consumers with all the nutrients they could possibly need. Then there’s the fruit’s effects. Let’s just say that those effects are rather special, too.”
James was curious now, and even a little awestruck by this tree.
“Special effects? Like what? What does the fruit do?”
Crystaline’s lips curled, her expression oozing self satisfaction.
“Well, Joyce, there is only one way to find out, isn’t there?”
James’ grin grew.
“We go to the tree? Okay, so how about we race each other to it? You, me, Chugga-chugga?”
Crystaline laughed, raising her body free from the furleave in sync with James.
“Oh please! You’re suggesting we race? Even though you know the outcome of that situation? The outcome will not favour you.”
“Confident aren’t we? You’re a bit too sure of yourself on this one...Princess.”
“I don’t like the way you pronounced that word, Joyce.”
“What word?” James was trying to play dumb. He knew what he’d done.
“Princess. As if you think princess’ are weak, feeble. I mean I can’t speak for the princess’ on your planet, James, but where I’m from, we women can outrun a mere human any day. Not to mention Chugga-chugga. He’s going to destroy you in this race as well.”
“Is that so?” James whispered, realising now that no force in the entire Universe could wipe that massive smile away from his face. This banter with Crystaline, who knew? Who knew that the princess could be so fun? So massive-huge-grin inducing?
“Look, James, I am going to make this as fair as I possibly can. You can have your race, but you can also have a ten second head start over me and Chugga-chugga.”
James scoffed.
“Are you being serious? No offence, but I’d have won the race by the time you and Chugga-chugga even start. Ten seconds is way too much.”
“Five then. That’s my final offer. You get a five second head start, or the race is off.”
James pouted petulantly, his eyes and his lips grinning in mil
d defeated exasperation.
“Fine then, Crystaline, I’ll have your proposed head start. Just don’t try and murder me when you lose. I get the impression that you’re a sore loser.”
Crystaline grinned smugly.
“Oh you need not worry, Joyce, for I will not lose. You need not fear my wrath.”
James shook his head, still grinning at the Urashan princess as he found his starting position.
“So when do I start?” He called back to her.
“Whenever you’re ready. Chugga-chugga and I will soon overtake you, so don’t you worry.”
James shook his head, grinning still as he eyed his target, the golden tree. In his mind he envisioned the number five, then four, then three, then two, then one! That was it, James was off!
As he ran through the flat landscape, James felt his legs relishing in their new found freedom. The young space warrior was no longer crankily trudging his way through the dense uneven forest. Now he was running, running on open land. The release was euphoric!
As the tree drew nearer, James felt the cool breeze rushing past his excitedly, laboured, red hot cheeks. The air was soothing, just like a relaxing balm.
Noticing that the tree was only moments away, James began to feel a sense of achievement. Where were Crystaline and Chugga-chugga? Had they even started yet? The young space warrior had not been counting down the seconds in that brain of his. Could it be? Could it really be that the over achieving princess might just have to suffer her first bout of defeat this morning? Feeling suddenly spurred on by these thoughts, James pushed on harder, willing those legs of his to reach that golden tree. There it was, it was so close now, less than ten metres away? But hang on a minute? What was that, that blue? Then, then that black figure rushing straight past him? No! James thought to himself. Surely Crystaline and Chugga-chugga had not just overtaken him? Had they?
A further few moments passed, and James reached the tree, panting as he clutched his knees in exhaustion. Annoyingly, Crystaline had already reached the tree, appearing as out of breath as an athlete who had just walked ten metres. How? How had the princess outrun him like that? Then Chugga-chugga, the animal had either won the race or finished as runner up.
“Man!” James wheezed, still clutching onto his spent knees. “How did you guys do that? Who won?”
Crystaline grinned, placing her hands on her hips, proud with her victory over James.
“Well, the important thing to note is that you came last, Joyce.”
“Who won?” James repeated, still unable free his face from that wretched little grin. He hoped that Chugga-chugga had won.
“I came a proud second to a very deserving winner.” Crystaline beamed down at the chugga. The creature jumped up and down, delighted with its win.
James freed his hands from his knees, standing up straight to mock the princess.
“So you didn’t win either? We both lost.”
“No, James, you lost. I neither won, nor lost. The fact still remains, I defeated you.”
James shook his head, still beaming as he rolled his eyes at the overly competitive Urashan princess. When his eyes shifted to the regal golden tree in front of him, James’ expression changed. His mouth gaped open in wonder, awestruck by the sight of the scintillating gold fruit tree, as it shimmered and twinkled against the warm little flecks of sunlight.
“Wowwww!” James whispered, slowly inching his hands towards the tree, until they eventually met with the golden being. Quite surprisingly, the tree didn’t feel as cold as you might expect. In fact, the golden trunk was quite the opposite, warm, rubbery, resembling the other Urashan trees and not the cold metal which James was expecting.
Still feeling the inner throbbing of the tree, the young space warrior watched as the princess placed her very own hands against the regal tree. For a brief moment, both pairs of eyes met with one another, each cherishing the moment, the feel of the tree.
James’ lips opened into a gentle little whisper.
“It feels really warm. It’s not cold like I was expecting.”
As James watched Crystaline’s unreadable expression, he couldn’t help but notice his last sentence’s double meaning. On the surface, the young space warrior had been referring to the tree. However, on some deeper hidden level, James had applied those words to Crystaline’s thawing personality too. The princess could be so mercurial, so quick to change her moods. One minute, she could be so cold, so aloof, so depressed. Then the next, the beautiful young woman could be so kind, so compassionate, so playful. James loved this happier side to Crystaline. His feelings of anger, of hurt, of pain after his argument with Phil had completely evaporated away. Why? Because of Crystaline. Because of the little chugga. Today had taken a sharp turn. The road had started off bumpy, so bumpy in fact that James had veered off track, crashing into the sidelines until he found himself on a new road, a smooth scenic road with his favourite tunes blaring out all around him, bringing him joy, happiness, elation.
James lent his full weight on the tree, bowing his head in respect for this regal creature. Slowly, his eyes ascended up the tree, spotting the huge golden leaves which looked like ginormous sparkling pouches.
“Is that where the fruit is?” He asked.
Crystaline followed James’ gaze.
“Wait here,” she said, “you too, Chugga-chugga.”
Without properly answering James’ question, the princess hoisted herself up onto the tree, climbing it as deftly as an acrobatic monkey. James watched as the little remnants of leaves fell and billowed all around him, surrounding him like confetti on a wedding day. The princess’ movements were smooth, as she gently freed one of the golden leaves from its branch. Once she had a firm grasp on the handbag sized pouch, Crystaline descended her way down the tree quicker than she had climbed it. With one final jump, the princess freed herself from the tree, landing almost toe to toe with James.
Carefully, Crystaline prised the pouch open, unveiling dozens of plum sized golden balls. The fruit balls rested in their pouch just like peas resting in a pod. Only the gold fruit was prettier, sparkling under the gorgeous sunlight.
“Who’s first?” Crystaline whispered, grinning at both James and the little chugga who sat beside her waistline.
“That stuff? It’s actually edible? It’s soft? It won’t break my teeth?”
Crystaline grinned.
“Well there is only one way to find out isn’t there, Joyce?”
James eyed the little chugga, the thing’s eyes were fixed upon the pouch of fruit in Crystaline’s hands. He could even see the strings of white frothy drool hanging from the creature’s mouth.
“I think Chugga-chugga would be really pissed off if I went first.”
Crystaline’s grin grew.
“You mean to say that you’d rather Chugga-chugga tested the fruit first? So that you don’t risk breaking your teeth?”
James’ mouth gaped open, surprised by Crystaline’s ability to read him.
“That’s not entirely true...look at him, he’s gagging for that fruit.”
Crystaline shook her head, still unconvinced by James’ words as she offered a ball of fruit to the chugga. Within a second, the fruit was gone, gobbled up in an instant. The animal licked its lips, greedy for more fruit.
“Easy there, Chugga-chugga. We do want to return back to the others in one piece. One is enough for now.” Slowly, Crystaline turned to James, proffering the fruit to him.
Tentatively, the young space warrior rested his fingers over a golden piece, still eyeing the princess with caution. The little chugga had eaten a piece, so surely, the fruit was fruit? Fine to eat? Grinning again, James took the fruit, feeling its smoothness between his fingers. Gently, not wanting to squash the fruit, James gave it a little squeeze, testing to see how soft this fruit was. It felt like an apple.
Keen to understand the effects of the fruit, James held the piece to his teeth, still eyeing the princess’ amused expression as she enjoyed his caution.
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Not wanting to give Crystaline any further satisfaction, James easily sunk his teeth into the fruit, enjoying the sensation of the sweet juicy flavour bursting through to his taste buds. This fruit, it tasted exquisite! Then there was the rush, the rush of elation, excitement, adrenaline coursing its way through each and every vein in his body. James felt giddy all of a sudden, completely and utterly carefree as he watched Crystaline take a piece of fruit for herself. Once she had consumed the fruit, her eyes lit up, incinerating away that dark shell of hers until it was nothing but dusty ash, fallen, broken away around her ankles. The princess stepped away from the ash, her eyes wild with excitement.
“Shall we grab some more pouches?” James asked, feeling his body yearning to laugh.
“No,” Crystaline beamed back at him, trying desperately to restrain her own laughter. “This pouch is plenty. We must save some for the wilderness. For the other creatures. Crystos is going to flip when he sees this!”
“The others!” James laughed, “they must have been sat waiting for ages, wondering where we are.”
Crystaline gave a little chuckle.
“Do I look like I care? They can wait all day for all I care.”
James and Crystaline both giggled, with Chugga-chugga joining in with his own version of laughter.
“So where to now?” James grinned, challenging Crystaline.
“The forest is beautiful. With gold fruit eyes, it’s a dream!” Without saying a further word, the princess sprang for the forest, with James and Chugga-chugga bounding on after her.
As James re-entered the trees, he held his hands up to his face, protecting his body from the bristly trees and plants which stood in his way.
As he and Chugga-chugga continued to follow Crystaline through the forest, James couldn’t help but notice how surreal this whole experience was. He could definitely see what Crystaline had meant. The forest reminded James of a dream. A magical, spellbinding awe-inspiring dream. He watched as his surroundings just blurred together, the bright colours of the plants merging together to form new shapes, new colours. To top it all off, James could feel that his senses weren’t quite all there. His brain was unable to process thoughts and feelings like he could usually do. The young space warrior couldn’t feel sadness or anger even if he tried. He just felt cheery, elated, the happiest he’d ever felt. His body was on hyper power, churning wildly, and forcing his heart to beat rapid little flecks of pleasure into his whole bloodstream. This feeling, this fruit, it was amazing!
Diversion To Urasha (Space Era Book 1) Page 16
