Diversion To Urasha (Space Era Book 1)

by Laura Hopgood

  “Hey,” she gently whispered, trying to appear as unthreatening as she possibly could to the baby blue chugga in front of her. “It’s okay, you’re safe now.”

  The chugga’s eyes dropped to the ground, nervously glancing back up to Crystaline in an unsure manner.

  Crystaline continued to watch the chugga, smiling warmly at the creature as if it were a baby she had just managed to rock to sleep.

  “Borcees,” she whispered, “I need your bag.”

  “What for?” Morcees hissed, exasperated.

  Crystaline turned to face Morcees, her expression maddened, and her teeth gritted.

  “I’m not asking you. I’m asking him. Borcees, I won’t ask you twice.”

  Hurriedly, Borcees removed his bag, handing it over to the princess. Crystaline delved her hand into the bag, taking from it a bright red piece of fruit. She held the fruit in her hand, proffering it out to the baby chugga.

  The baby blue chugga took a tentative limp forwards, sniffing Crystaline’s offering. Then, in one, swift sudden movement, the fruit was gone, consumed by the hungry little chugga. Its eyes lit up with appreciation as it licked its lips with its pale pink tongue.

  Crystaline grinned, pleased with the chugga’s acceptance.

  “We’re taking him with us.”

  “What?” Morcees was even more exasperated than before. “You can’t be serious?! After what just happened, what that thing attracts? I don’t think so.”

  “Well luckily it’s not up to you, Morcees.” The princess retaliated back. “I am going to find us all a resting spot, and this chugga is coming with us. Like it or not, it’s my choice.”

  “So you can carry that thing, can you?” Morcees scoffed.

  Crystaline’s face dropped, her expression losing hope.

  “She won’t need to.” James took a supportive step to Crystaline’s side. “I’ll do the carrying.”

  Ignoring the horrified expression on Phil’s face, James turned to Crystaline, his eyes momentarily locking with hers. The princess looked shocked, but also...also thankful? Filled with gratitude. This made James’ heart smile.

  “Be gentle with him.” Crystaline pleaded, watching as James wrapped his big strong arms around the injured chugga. “If ever he gets too heavy, just let me know and we’ll rest.”

  “Or I’ll take a turn to carry him.” Zach’s expression was soft, his tone completely sincere.

  Crystaline’s lips curled upwards, smiling appreciatively at the two humans in front of her. She turned to her brother expectantly, and with reluctance, Crystos offered his strong arms should he need to use them.

  ***

  To James’ relief, it hadn’t taken Crystaline long to find a new bunch of furleaves to rest on for the night. As the young space warrior had carried the chugga, his arms had begun to feel as if they would literally drop off under the chugga’s weight. The thing was heavy, too heavy really for one man to carry. James would not let this show, he would have endeavoured to carry that chugga all night if he’d had to. Luckily, he didn’t have to, luckily, James could rest his tired arms.

  As soon as he reached the new camping spot, James had gently placed the chugga back down onto the forest floor, leaving the creature in the caring hands of Crystaline and her brother. The two siblings spent time collecting dead foliage to craft a bed for the injured little creature.

  Crystaline and her brother had managed to find a resting spot with an unusual, rectangular waist high boulder. Perhaps this boulder was Urashan-made, created for a similar purpose or maybe even a seat of some kind? Either way, the princess and her brother had capitalised on the find, padding out the boulder with the foliage to create a comfortable bed for the injured creature.

  Once the bed had been fully prepared, strong Crystos had hoisted the chugga up onto its hospital bed for the night. The creature was extremely well behaved, only giving the occasional nervous little whimper here and there.

  As Crystos left his sister’s side to light the fire, James felt a sudden impulse to join Crystaline and the little chugga. Perhaps he could be helpful? Once Crystaline began work on healing the little creature, it might begin to struggle? Maybe, maybe Crystaline would need someone to hold it down? Someone to calm it? To comfort it? James’ decision was made. Off he went to join Crystaline.

  “Hey, er, do you need a hand?” James shyly asked, approaching the princess tentatively.

  Crystaline stopped rummaging through the bags for healing supplies, eyeing James with caution.

  “I’m fine thanks. Go and rest with the others. Crystos has just started the fire. You should eat.”

  “So should you.” James protested, ever so softly. “But I know you’d rather stay and help this animal, and so would I.”

  “You’ve done enough already. You carried him all the way over here, remember?”

  “And what about when you start cleaning him? What then? He might struggle? You might need someone to restrain him, for his own good. Please, Crystaline, I want to help.”

  Crystaline eyed James for another few moments, endeavouring to work out his intentions. Eventually, the princess sighed, giving in to James’ request.

  “Fine. But don’t touch the chugga unless I say so, okay?”

  James held up his hands,

  “Only on your orders, Princess, I promise.”

  As Crystaline watered a fresh white cleaning cloth, James watched attentively, admiring the princess’ deft movements as she prepared her healing utensils. Within only a few short moments, the princess made first contact with the chugga’s biggest wound, a long thin gash on its abdomen. As James had expected, the poor chugga shrieked, writhing in agony as the princess tried to cleanse its injury. Instinctively, James placed both of his hands on the animal, restraining it, speaking comforting words to try and calm the injured creature. As he felt the chugga’s breathing slowing underneath his soothing hands, James looked up to the princess, his eyes meeting hers. Oops! He had touched the chugga without Crystaline’s permission.

  “Sorry, I er...”

  “It’s okay, can you continue to hold him into position for me?”

  “Sure!” James beamed, only too happy to help.

  As Crystaline worked the cloth all over the chugga’s pale blue body, James noted two vertical slits running adjacently up the animal’s spine. He wondered what they were.

  “Hey er, what are those? Those lines?”

  Crystaline gently trailed her dainty forefinger over both of the slits.

  “You mean these?”

  “Yeah. What are they?”

  “They’re something useful which will grow one day.”

  “Grow? You know a lot about these chuggas, don’t you?”

  Crystaline nodded.

  “Chuggas are a dearly cherished species among my people.”

  James’ mouth gaped open, smiling in fascination and admiration for the Urashan princess.

  “Oh yeah? I’d love to hear why.”

  Crystaline paused from her cleaning, eyeing James with scrutiny.

  “It’s a long story.” she mumbled, shyly looking down at the chugga.

  “Well I’d love to hear it.” James tenderly coaxed, his eyes not leaving the princess’.

  Crystaline returned her gaze to James, eyeing him with caution. It were as if the princess were weighing up her options, deciding whether or not to share her story with the young space warrior. After a few more seconds, the princess’ soft lips parted.

  “It all started way before my time with one of my Great Grandfather’s. Crysteich was a wonderful man who went onto become such a truly wonderful king. The story of how my people came to cherish the chuggas began with him. As I said, it’s a long story. Are you sure you want to hear it?”

  James grinned, eager for Crystaline to begin her tale.

  “Of course I want to hear this. I’ll wait up all night if I have to.”

  Crystaline’s lips formed a returning grin, her finger gently caressing the chugga’s back as
she began her story.

  “Crysteich was a huge lover of creatures, and often, particularly in his younger days, he would venture out here, into the Urashan wilderness to be at one with nature. On one particular occasion however, when he was about my age, and Prince of Urasha, my relative found himself a little lost. Usually, he was more than capable of finding his way back home, but on this particular day, Crysteich had lost track of the time, and nightfall was approaching him fast, too fast. I guess you could say that my relative became a little fearful, a little panic stricken. He knew that the Urashan forest was a very dangerous place, particularly at night.

  As he scrambled his way through the forest, his anxiety increased, and so he lost his focus. He failed to take proper care of his footing, until eventually, he suffered a nasty fall, injuring himself terribly. He broke his foot, and he suffered a head injury which knocked him out cold for a while.

  When my relative eventually awoke, nightfall had arrived. Dazed, injured and disorientated, Crysteich couldn’t even move. His body just drifted him in and out of consciousness, taking him through the entire night.

  When my relative finally properly awoke, it was daylight, and Crysteich’s senses began to return to him. He realised what danger he was in. His foot was broken, causing him such an agonising pain. There was no way he could travel through this forest alone. The thought did occur to Crysteich that his father, King Crystic, would send out aid, guards to locate him. However in such a dense and untraveled forest, my relative knew that there was little hope of them finding him.

  Crysteich had always recalled just sitting there, tilting his head back defeatedly as he rested it on a tree trunk. He’d remembered that moment, that moment when the chugga had first caught his eye. Crysteich had been afraid, very afraid. He had never ever seen a chugga before, and the creature was big enough to harm him, especially in his injured state. I should imagine that the chugga looked a little like our friend here. I know it was blue, and male.

  Anyway, instead of attacking my dear relative, the chugga just laid down next to him, not even budging at all. Feeling both terrified and puzzled, Crysteich eventually summoned the strength in his arms to move. He began to slide his body away from the chugga, stirring the creature’s attention straight back to him. For a while the creature and my relative were immobilised, looking directly into each other’s eyes. A few moments later, the chugga was gone, invisible amongst the trees. At this point, my relative was completely dumbfounded. Had he, in his injured state, frightened off the creature?

  After a few more minutes of wondering, Crysteich’s question was answered for him. No, he had not scared the creature away, for the creature had returned to him, carrying a piece of bruc in its mouth. Even more astonishingly, the animal was offering him the food. With reluctance, my relative accepted the chugga’s offering, feeling his body refilling with strength and energy. Crysteich was never a greedy man, and as he watched the chugga lie down beside him once again, he offered the creature the last half of his bruc. The chugga accepted rather willingly, amusing my relative and filling him with warmth.

  That morning, Crysteich had laughed at himself. You see how innocent our friend over here looks? Well Crysteich’s chugga was just the same. It was a friendly creature, one who had already helped him greatly. Tentatively, my relative stroked the creature, and much to his relief, the creature purred out its return to him.

  Just as Crysteich began to wonder if he’d ever move, the chugga rose, tugging gently on the prince’s arm. Once again, my relative was momentarily dumbfounded. What did the creature want now? The thought did occur to my relative that the animal might be trying to eat him. But then that theory just didn’t make any actual sense. The creature would have killed him by now? Not offered him food? And besides, its tugs weren’t even painful. So what else? What else could the chugga want? My relative understood then that the creature was once again trying to help him. It was trying to move him. Looking all around him for inspiration, Crysteich studied the trees all around. He didn’t want to be dragged the whole distance, and so my relative pulled himself up onto his good foot using a nearby tree. Apparently, the chugga was delighted at this point, jumping up and down, gleeful that Crysteich had understood it.

  From that very moment, a special bond had formed between Crysteich and the chugga. The little animal had slid itself underneath my relative’s armpit, and Crysteich had bent over to meet the little creature, appreciating the support that the animal gave him as he limped his way through the forest.

  All in all, Crysteich spent days with the chugga. Every day, they would walk some more, and then they’d have many moments of much needed rest. The chugga was always careful to lead Crysteich through areas where both food and water were plentiful. Another thing that never ceases to amaze me, is that the chugga always led Crysteich into areas teeming with ganzar plants and furleaves, just in time for nightfall. It knew of the dangers of the Urashan wilderness, and it wanted to protect both itself and Crysteich from those dangers.

  Now I must mention here, that unbeknownst to Crysteich, his father had indeed sent out a search party to look for him. The men searched for many days and many nights, but still could not find Crysteich. A week later, they were forced to return to their king empty handed. A heartbroken Crystic could only conclude that his son was dead. He had no choice but to call off the search.

  Meanwhile, and once again, unbeknownst to the king, the chugga and Crysteich continued to slowly travel through the forest. Only this time, both friends were beginning to weaken. The chugga in particular, had deteriorated very rapidly, and the thing looked close to death. My relative was devastated. He had always recalled that feeling of powerlessness. He’d never ever felt so powerless in all his life. That chugga was his friend. The creature had helped him, sought out food and water for him, and now, now Crysteich had that responsibility. The prince had to become the leader, the carer, the gatherer. He gathered fruit, bruc and water, but none of it was of any use. The chugga just kept on growing weaker and weaker, until the next evening, the thing died, taken by death.

  My relative suffered that night. His heart was heavily broken. He had lost a friend, a very good friend, his best friend, and what was even more incomprehensible was the fact that the chugga had given its life for him. In protecting him and making sure that he was okay, the chugga had not been okay, and now it had died. My relative spent that night weeping over the chugga, unable to move himself away from the carcass of his best friend. He recalled that its lifeless body was rather strange. Slowly, it had swelled up and had grown in size. After creatures pass away, it is not uncommon for their bodies to swell up, and so, at the time, Crysteich thought nothing of this rather strange phenomena. He just sat with his back leaning on a tree for the night, watching as his best friend swelled right beside him.

  As night turned to day, Crysteich had watched as the unobstructed sky up above had become paler and paler. The prince took another look at the body of the chugga beside him in this new light. His chugga friend had given its life to try and keep him alive. That sacrifice, had it all been for nothing? Would it be right to just give up and die out here? Crysteich felt his heart pumping the adrenaline back into his body, no, no, definitely not. His chugga friend, his best friend. It had not died for nothing. He would find his way back home, he would never ever give up, and once he returned home, he would live each day, not just for himself, but for his best friend too. Crysteich lifted his arm up and gripped onto the branch of the tree he was leaning on. With all his might, he pulled himself back up onto his foot. Yes, my relative could only use one foot, but he would get home, he would use the trees for support, he had to. Crysteich took one final look at the dead chugga, the pain returning to his heart. He shed one final tear for his friend, and then he left, deciding that he would call this creature a ‘chugga’. He didn’t quite know why.

  My relative spent several hours battling against the odds to stay upright. He used the trees all around him for support. Yet someti
mes, the support was not enough, a branch would give way, or his arm would feel too weak to grip onto it. Nevertheless, Crysteich was not going to give up, he couldn’t. Willpower to go on was all that the prince needed. He had that, he had that need to go on coursing through each and every vein in his body. That need and that willpower got my relative through the forest, forcing him into a new realisation. The chugga had been leading him out of the forest all along, back to the city’s wall. Yes, it had taken them days to get there, but he’d done it, Crysteich could see the city wall! Feeling the elation coursing through his body, the prince took a careless step away from the trees, falling flat on his stomach as his support had disintegrated away from him. Realising that he’d made a stupid move, and that he faced a new difficulty of actually reaching the city wall, Crysteich rolled over onto his back, wondering if the tiny remnants of energy left in his body would even be enough to reach that wall. It was so cruel, to come so near yet so far to the city.

  As Crysteich lay, facing the clear sky up above him, he noticed something alarming hovering through his vision. Something was up in the sky, and it was sinking closer and closer to the ground. Feeling suddenly terrified and preyed upon, the prince sat himself upright, dragging himself against the cold gritty ground. As he felt his hands cutting open, he could hear the creature landing behind him. He could even feel the wafts of air from the creature’s wings hitting his fearful body.

  Feeling suddenly defeated, Crysteich halted his dragging, turning around slowly to face the creature that stood behind him.

  What my relative saw, was not what he had expected. It took him a while to realise, or recognise his friend. He noticed how the creature looked so familiar, with that same shade of blue, that same playful face. Those same sparkling eyes, and even the way those eyes would look straight back into his own eyes, with what? Love? Affection? The chugga had grown, tripled in size at least, and maybe even quadrupled. The thing was massive, with a huge wingspan to match.

  As Crysteich stared at the rather tiny looking piece of bruc in the chugga’s mouth, his heart leapt into action, forcing his body to hop up onto his good foot, and to dive into the creature, his arms fully prepared to embrace the animal. The chugga met with Crysteich’s arms, supporting the prince once again.