Wild Kratts - A Sick Kratt

Chapter 2: Denial

The Kratt bothers were wandering through the forest, amazed by it's magnificent beauty, surrounded by it's enchantment. The sound of leaves rustling, squirrels chattering, insects humming, and the attention-grabbing rustle of animals. The two creature adventurers were looking around, their feet shuffling through detritus, keeping their eyes peeled for any cool creatures they might encounter.

The long-standing silence was suddenly broken. "Hey, Chris..." Chris turned to his brother with a raised eyebrow.

"What was that back there?"

"What are you talking about?" Chris asked with fake confusion.

"You know, like how this morning you were acting all funny and-" He was suddenly interrupted by a gasp of excitement from Chris.

"Martin look!" He pointed at a certain direction before running toward what seemed to be a creature of some sort. "A blue-eared kingfisher!"

Martin came over to see the marvellous little bird. "Would you look at that little blue guy! I'm gonna name him... Blue-bird!" He declared happily, a smug look on his face.

"This bird is only found in Asia, mainly in dense shaded forests where it hunts in small streams," added Chris, showing off his knowledge of natural science and biology. The flying fellow took off just then, leaving the bros all by themselves.

"Catch you later Blue-bird!" Martin waved goodbye to their newfound friend.

The brothers went back to exploring their surroundings, wondering what other fascinating animal they could stumble upon next. But something else caught Martin's attention; he noticed that his brother was slowing down a little while rubbing his head, moaning for a few seconds.

"Chris, you okay bro?" he asked, carefully approaching his little brother, feeling a bit concerned.

Alerted, Chris regained himself almost instantly, looking up at his older brother reassuringly,

"Yeah, I-I'm fine Martin, no worries." He continued marching by his brother's side with the same pace from before, ignoring the unpersuaded look on his face. Martin couldn't shake the feeling that his brother was hiding something, but couldn't figure out what it was.

A few minutes had passed, and the Kratt brothers were still on the move, but then stopped right in their tracks when they heard a startling sound coming from above their heads.

"Chris, what's that?" They looked up to find a very familiar creature: a proboscis monkey. But it wasn't just any proboscis monkey.

"Schnozzle!" They both yelled out simultaneously, recognizing their monkey friend from a previous adventure.

"Great to see you again Schnozzle, you haven't changed one bit!" Martin was busy talking to their old animal friend, enjoying it's uniqueness and special characteristics.

Everything was going perfectly fine until-

Cough. Cough.

Martin turned to his brother, eyes widened by the unexpected scenario. Chris let out a few coughs, enough to fill his bother with more concern than ever.

"Chris, you alright bro?" Martin tried to touch his brother in order to examine him, but was unable to when he avoided the touch.

"It's fine Martin, cough, I'm fine really, cough..."

Martin wasn't buying it. "Bro, here. Just, let me check on you..." He got closer to his brother who was taken aback, stepping backwards and intending not to be touched. Why?!

At this point, Martin was fed up. "Chris, what is the matter with you? Why won't you let me make sure you're fine?!" he raised his voice, which triggered his little brother.

"I already told you, I am fine!" His own voice sounded even louder, but still cracky.

"No you're not!" Martin shouted even louder. "Ever since this morning, you've only been acting weirder and weirder. I know you're lying!"

The two of them were too busy disputing, that they haven't noticed themselves approaching a river current that was unfortunately right behind Chris.

They stopped when they heard the loud and intense burbling of the stream. By the time Martin finished his last sentense, Chris turned his head to find himself standing near the edge of the river, then he looked back at his older brother, growing paler with fear.

Martin noticed this, acknowledging the danger of the situation, so with a deep breath, he calmed himself down.

"Chris, I-" But before he could say anything else, Chris started swaying uncontrollably much to his brother's horror, his legs were shaking, his eyes were closed shut. Martin ran over to him in an attempt to steady him, but he was too late...

"CHRIS, NO!" he cried out as Chris hit the water with a SPLASH, getting dragged by the current in no time. Martin ran along the stream, trying to spot his brother, panic overtaking him.

"CHRIS, HOLD ON!" he yelled out once his brother's head popped out of the water, gasping for air.

"Martin-... Gasp, hel-..." The strong current was too overwhelming, and Martin was pursuing his brother at full speed when something in the distance caught his eyes.

"Oh, no..."

This was not good.

A waterfall was up ahead, and Chris was heading right towards it, if he doesn't save him in time... NO!

He refused to even think it. He will save his little brother, he just knows it.

He had to act fast. Luckily, an idea came to his head; he reached for something from his bag, a climbing rope wich he designed as a lasso in less than seconds. He ran past his brother, then stopped not too far from the deadly waterfall.

This was it. He couldn't afford any mistakes.

He swung the lasso in the air then threw it at Chris the moment he popped back out of the water, successfully getting the loop of rope wrapped around his torso. But he wasn't triumphant just yet; his little brother was only a few meters away from his doom. So with all of his strength, he pulled Chris while battling the current's force. The stream was strong, but Martin's love for his brother gave him all the power he needed.

"Chris!" Martin yelled out as his brother landed in his arms, then dragged him away from the stream, a traumatic experience he was sure to never forget.

He layed his brother on the grass next to a tree, then untied the rope and took off his suit to help him breath better. Seeing that he was unconscious, and no signs of breathing, he went straight for CPR. He started chest compressions that lasted for not more than ten seconds.

"C'mon, stay with me bro," his voice cracked.

Just as he was about to do mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, his brother flung up coughing out water. Martin rubbed his back comfortingly, and as soon as he was done, Chris passed out in his arms, breathing fast and heavily.

Martin looked down at his little brother, holding him close to his chest, feeling mixed emotions; he was scared, tired, angry with himself, but mostly...relieved.

His brother was in his arms. He was wet and cold, but he was safe and sound.