Diversion To Urasha

James shot up from his bed, throwing off the sweat ridden bedsheets. As he sat there, his dewy chest heaved inwards and outwards. It was that dream again, that same awful nightmare. How had it happened twice? On two consecutive nights? James’ heart stopped as another horrifying thought hit him. How had Crystaline been in both nightmares? James hadn’t even met her this time yesterday.

James decided that he could no longer keep this to himself. This nightmare was starting to get too weird, and so he decided that he had to confide in the one person he could talk to on this whole darn planet - Lottie.

James burst out of his room, knocking frantically on Lottie’s door. To his relief, Lottie opened the door, looking completely dumbfounded.

“James? What are you doing?”

“Can I come in?” he panted in return.

Lottie allowed James into the room. He sat on her bed, scratching at the back of his head nervously.

Lottie sat down beside him. “James, what’s going on?”

James looked at his best friend, taking in her innocent, harmless little face. The thought of her being in any kind of danger was way more than he could handle. He was riddled with panic. Yes, it had just been a nightmare, but there was something very peculiar about it. It felt real. “I er, this is gonna sound stupid.”

“I’m listening.”

“Remember yesterday morning? At breakfast? I’d had a bad dream?” James grabbed both of Lottie’s hands, looking intently into her green eyes. “I had that exact same nightmare just now. Like, what the hell?”

Lottie pursed her lips together, looking confused. “Okay, I’m still not understanding what the problem is. Recurring dreams happen all the time.”

“No, no, no,” James implored. He was desperate for his best friend to understand him. “You’re not getting it. Crystaline was in both dreams.”

Lottie looked as if she’d been about to make another rational comment. She stopped once she realised that James had made a valid point. “Okay, that is a little strange seeing as you hadn’t even met her yesterday morning, right?”

“Right,” James nodded, pleased that Lottie was finally getting it.

“Anyways, this dream must be pretty bad if it’s got you all riled up like this?”

James closed his eyes. This was the part he’d been dreading. He now had to tell his best friend that she was the main character in his nightmare. To James’ surprise, when he recounted the nightmare to her, Lottie took it pretty well. She didn’t even look remotely alarmed. Instead, she just looked to be taking it all in calmly.

“So, let me get this straight,” Lottie begun. “You didn’t actually see Crystaline’s face the first time?”

“Well, no, not exactly. But it was her, I’m sure.”

“How can you be sure, James? You didn’t even see her face. Dreams are funny things. You probably saw someone who looked like her, then because you actually met her yesterday, you were finally able to put a face onto the mystery woman in your first dream. That basically just brings us back to the recurring dream thing.”

James held his head in his hands. Lottie was right, and now he felt stupid for bursting into her room. He felt stupid for even letting the nightmare get to him in the first place. It was just a dream, after all. Although he felt daft, James also felt much better about the whole thing. It was funny that, Lottie always had this knack of making him feel better. “Thank you, Lotts. I was just being a wuss, I see that now.”

“I wouldn’t say that. Dreams do kinda project our actual lives. You’re obviously stressing about this whole fricking ordeal these Urashans are putting us through.”

“They saved us, Lotts. We don’t exactly have a choice. We do kinda owe them.”

“Really?” Lottie gasped incredulously. “They rescued us. Okay, fair. But then they decide to endanger the lives of you, Phil and Zach to retrieve a petty little stone. It doesn’t make sense, James.”

Lottie was right, as per usual. It didn’t make sense. Nevertheless, this was the way it had to be. “I don’t like this any more than you do, Lotts. But this is the way it’s just gotta be. I am going out there into the wilderness, and I am going to find that stone.”

James and all his fellow comrades had met Crystanaphy, as instructed to do so by the king. She’d then taken them all to meet King Cryston at the training grass. The training grass was the palace’s equivalent to a garden. The purple grass was kept neatly short, whilst the area had plenty of beautiful looking plants and seats around its perimeter.

As soon as he had met with the king, James had noticed the absence of one person in particular, Crystaline. James had assumed that Crystaline would participate in the sworsha training if she was going to be leading the exhibition beyond the city’s walls. Crystos was there, as expected, along with two other Urashans James had not met before. It turned out that Morcees and Borcees would be joining them all on the hunt for the healing stone.

The king had explained that Prince Crystos would be leading the sworsha training session. He’d then invited Lottie, Lisa and Karl to choose a seating area to watch from. The king and Crystanaphy then went onto choosing their own private viewing spot.

As he waited for Crystos to speak, James eyed the silver sunlight, admiring the silver glow it gave to the purple daytime. It looked kinda cool.

“Welcome, everyone,” Crystos had rather nervously begun.

To James, it had become strikingly obvious that Crystos was a shy man. He wasn’t the type of guy who enjoyed drawing attention to himself.

“Morcees and Borcees, I know you are both familiar with the sworshas, but seeing as you are accompanying us on the hunt for the stone, I need you both to participate today.”

As James took a sideways glance over to the Urashan pair, he noticed the disgruntled looks on both of their faces. It was obvious they didn’t want to be here. They reminded James of two errant children who’d decided to play up and cause mischief. James hoped that he wouldn’t have to train with either of the two once he’d acquired his weapon.

The sworsha was a lot more awesome than James had been expecting. Crystos had handed James, Phil and Zach a weapon each. As he held his weapon, James admired the silver cylinder. It was smoothed down to a perfect shine, and cool to touch in the same way metal was. The sworsha was weighty, but not too heavy to handle. As it turned out, this cylinder was just the weapon’s handle. The sworsha had a blade, which extended from the cylinder like a sword would, once its user instructed it to do so. The weapon also had three electrical currents. One was red and deemed far too dangerous to use. One was blue, but too dangerous to use during today’s training. The other was purple, and would be used in today’s training, without the blade. Purple electricity was enough to cause pain without causing any actual damage. It was strictly used for training purposes and would be useless in actual combat.

Perhaps the coolest thing about the sworsha was its link to its wielder’s mind. James would control this weapon by simply thinking to activate its blade and its electrical current. Or, in today’s case, James just had to think of the purple electrical current. The weapon had one small button which acted as a lock. Crystos had explained that one could easily become carried away during a battle, causing their sworshas to run wild. The lock ensured that the weapon stayed on a particular setting.

“There are six of us here,” Crystos went on. “Captain Harper and I will pair up with one another to train. Zach, you’ll be with Borcees, and James, you’ll be with Morcees.”

James’ eyes reluctantly shifted over to the silver eyed Urashan. Morcees had a wicked little grin on his face. Of all the people James could’ve been paired up with, Morcees was the last person on his list.

The tall, slender Urashan led James over to their own patch of grass. Morcees’ hair was similar to Crystos’, combed back neatly and shining against the silver sunlight. The man had black facial hair which exemplified his strikingly white teeth. He had a nasty little grin on his face as he set his sworsha purple.

“I’d better remember to switch the safety lock on,” he cackled. “We wouldn’t want this getting out of hand, would we?”

James thought purple, watching as the violet current extended from the sworsha’s handle. The sworsha reminded James of a sword. Unfortunately for James, that meant that he was about to get his arse completely and utterly kicked. James had been trained to fight, yes. He knew how to handle himself, and he definitely knew how to handle a gun. Handheld human weapons were mostly guns. Swords were medieval, and not something which most space warriors were even trained to use. James decided that he was going to give this his best shot, nonetheless.

Before James had the time to react, Morcees lunged at him, striking him with the sworsha. James fell to the ground, clutching his sides in pain.

“Hah!” he heard Morcees laughing from above. “Get up, Human! Show me what you’ve got!”

James groaned, rolling himself back up onto his feet. Morcees was sniggering away, and he wanted to give this cocky idiot exactly what he deserved. James ran at the Urashan, swiping his sworsha through the air. Morcees stuck his foot out, tripping James. Instead of giving James the time to get up, Morcees struck him with his sworsha. James rolled on the grass. This was going to be a long day.

Unbeknownst to those busy sworsha training, Crystanaphy had left the training grass, only for her niece, Crystaline to replace her. Today, Crystaline was wearing her usual black costume. Only this time, its collar was plain, black, ordinary. Not subtly golden like yesterday.

As Crystaline met her father, her eyes failed to join the meeting. Both father and daughter stood together, silent for a while as they observed the training taking place in front of them.

Cryston eventually broke the silence. “Is it done?”

Crystaline’s face was straight, as emotionless as she could make it. “Yes, Father. He has agreed to your terms.”

The king sighed. He did not look pleased, but instead he seemed pained. “Very good, very good,” he whispered. “It’s a shame I can’t give any words of praise to those humans.”

“They’re useless,” Crystaline agreed. “Crystos is the only one training well out of the lot of them. Then again, Morcees and Borcees are just a pair of useless idiots.”

The king finally smiled, chuckling lightly. “I can’t disagree with you there. I keep on asking myself why I allowed those two to join this mission. You, on the other hand. You’re my most valuable asset. You could go out there, show all those males how it is done?”

Crystaline grinned, her eyes fully meeting her smile. “Watch and learn, Father, watch and learn!” Crystaline walked over to the three training pairs, swinging her unactivated sworsha around as if it were merely a toy in her hand.

“What do you call this?” Crystaline had halted the movements of everyone. “I have never seen such an incompetent bunch of idiots training in all my life.” Crystaline looked towards Crystos. “Apart from my brother, of course. He is the only one training well out of the lot of you.”

James could feel his heart throbbing uncomfortably fast. Crystaline was here, but how? He hadn’t seen her arrive at the training grass. James could still feel the zinging pain all over his body. It reminded him of the fact that he’d been too busy getting beaten up to even notice what was going on around him.

“Crystaline!” Morcees cackled. “How nice of you to join us at last!”

“Well, Morcees, what choice do I have? You’re not exactly doing a good job of things, are you? Your partner is learning nothing.” Crystaline looked across to James. “You,” she said, reeling her forefinger towards her. “Step forward!”

“Me?” James answered, trying to play dumb. He really didn’t fancy sparring against Crystaline. He felt uncomfortable just being in the same room as her.

“Yes, you. Who do you think I mean? Don’t be such an imbecile.”

Crystaline replicated James’ sworsha, locking it safely, and holding it carelessly to her side. “Now, firstly, I want you to hold your sworsha how you think you should hold it just before you’d make a strike.”

James raised his arm slightly, holding his sworsha mediocrely to his side.

Crystaline sighed, exasperated. “Really, Morcees? You didn’t even teach him how to hold his weapon. I bet Borcees was just the same, useless as always.”

James watched as Morcees and Borcees, both shook their heads, clearly riled by Crystaline’s words. Neither of them had the audacity to argue back though.

“You hold it like this,” Crystaline instructed, holding her sworsha firmly with both hands, raised level with her shoulders. “When you make your initial strike, you need it to be powerful. You need it to make an impact. Two hands are twice as powerful as one. You only use one hand once the battle has commenced, when you need a little more skill and agility.”

James nodded, placing both his hands around his sworsha, raising it just like Crystaline’s.

“Better,” she said. “Now I want you to run at me, strike at me with all the power you’ve got.”

James stood there, mouth wide open, not too sure what to say in response to Crystaline’s instructions. Hitting a woman, it was just wrong, wasn’t it? “You want me to hit you?” he asked.

Crystaline’s mouth formed into a smile, a smile large enough to make her golden eyes squint a little as she chuckled, amused by James’ caution. “Oh please! I know what you’re thinking, what you’re assuming. I can handle whatever you have got, trust me.”

James was still unsure, this still felt wrong. “I’m not sure if I want to.”

“Why? Because I’m a woman? You think women are incapable of taking a hit? Of fighting?”

“No, not if you were fighting another woman. As a man, it just feels wrong to strike at you.”

“James,” Crystos’ voice sounded, taking James aback a little. “Just do as she says. The more you protest the more you’ll wind her up. She can handle whatever you have got. Just do it.”

James found his eyes wondering over to his captain, perhaps looking for some form of advice on the situation from this unlikely source. Phil gave no meaningful look or words which would indicate what he thought that James should do. James glanced back over to Crystaline, unsurprised by Phil’s lack of helpfulness.

Something inside James made his arms tense up as he raised his sworsha into the air, ready to strike at Crystaline. Without even realising it himself, he was running at Crystaline, his sworsha raised to hers. James felt the force of the two sworshas colliding. He heard the thunderous electrical crackles, and then he felt himself flying through the air again, hitting the grass with quite a thud.

“Is that the best you’ve got?” he heard Crystaline taunting at him, coaxing him to get back up and fight. Maybe he had been holding back a little? Maybe Crystos was right, maybe Crystaline was stronger than he’d thought? Able to take a hit? Well, a collision to her sworsha, at least. As long as his weapon made no contact with Crystaline herself, this could work. James got up, taking a deep breath inwards, bracing himself for his next move. This time he would make sure that he did not hold back. This time, he would show Crystaline and everyone watching exactly what he was capable of...yeah...yeah! James grinned, feeling the adrenaline coursing into his body, thanks to his newfound confidence. This was going to be his moment.

James held onto his sworsha tightly, running hard at Crystaline, until the two sworshas crashed together with another thunderous crackle. For a short while, the two of them sparred. James was pulling out moves he never knew he had. Crystaline seemed to be enjoying the spar, egging James on as they went, until suddenly, out of nowhere, James was dealt a painful blow to his legs. Once again, he was sent flying into the air, and back down onto the grass. He was about to quickly get back up onto his feet, only this time, he was beaten to it and was pulled up onto his knees by Crystaline who was grappling him from behind, her sworsha turned on its side, raised as if to cut off his head.

“You really think you’re anywhere near good enough to beat me?” she hissed.

James could feel his body trembling as Crystaline’s grip tightened around him. Her breaths were heavy, and her grasping hand was shaking, he could feel it. To his horror, James realised that Crystaline’s sworsha was blue now, and there was...there was a blade in amongst all that electricity. What was she doing? For a single short moment, James’ heart stopped beating. He felt terrified of what Crystaline was about to do. Then there was the king, stood in front of him, shaking his head disapprovingly at the woman grappling him. To his relief, James felt Crystaline loosen her grip on him, though her hands were still trembling, and her breathing was heavy still.

“You’re too slow, Joyce. If you don’t train harder, you’ll leave yourself open to be killed out there.”

James sighed a big sigh of relief as Crystaline’s sworsha vanished. She let go of him and stood on her feet. James felt too numb to move, and he could see that Crystaline was unable to quite calm her heavy breathing.

Crystaline looked over to her brother. “They are useless, Brother. Spend time with each of them. Morcees and Borcees couldn’t train a single soul even if their lives depended on it.”

Looking shocked by the recent turn of events, Crystos was unable to respond to his sister.

With a troubled expression on her face, Crystaline walked away, until she was completely out of sight.

James felt bodies suddenly gathering all around him. He felt Phil’s and Zach’s hands helping him back up onto his feet. He heard Lottie muttering profanities after Crystaline, as she rushed to James’ side.

“Are you okay, James?” Phil asked.

“Yeah...yeah, I’m fine,” James lied.

The king stood over the group of humans, speaking in a sickeningly calm voice. “Now now, what is all this fuss about? You didn’t really think that my daughter meant any harm, do you?”

“She nearly took his head off!” Phil shouted angrily.

“She would have never carried out such an aggressive attack. Crystaline was merely helping young James. The way he was fighting, he was useless. He had to be shown that there are dangers out there. He had to be shown that he must take this training more seriously.” The king looked over towards Morcees and Borcees. He had a bitter expression on his face. “Furthermore, you two cretins are dismissed from today’s training. You’ve both been useless. Crystos, it is up to you to spend time with each of the three young men. Now, back to it. None of you have long. You all set off tomorrow.”