Please Carry Me Home | A Wild Kratts Disney Au Fanfiction | Chapter 1
“You WHAT?!”
Chris sighs out of annoyance and rubs his temples.
“So let me get this straight, you bucked Martin’s friend Lance because of what?”
“he looked funny.”
“That’s not a good reason!!” Chris exclaims.
The stag, who Chris had given the name “Buck” a few weeks ago, does his own version of an eye roll at Chris’s comment, which Chris definitely doesn’t appreciate.
Many different creatures are sitting around the window of the cottage to interact with Chris, the man in question waiting for his friends to return back from their work in the mines at some point in the evening.
Berry, the squirrel who’s been hanging out with him throughout most of this insane adventure he’s been on, chitters a little bit at him and causes Chris to immediately swing around to face him.
“OF COURSE NOT!! Berry, having someone steal your acorn stash is obviously not a good reason to have Buck buck them!”
Berry pouts at that response and Chris groans, rubbing his forehead with his hands as all of the animals nearby continue to look at him and mingle amongst themselves.
One of the birds sitting in the tree right outside of the window, a young bluebird sitting near his parents, glances over to the side and spots a shadowy figure heading in their direction.
He attempts to tweet out an alert to Chris and the other animals, but before he can he realizes that the figure has already arrived.
The animals quickly move out of the way as the figure arrives at the window, hiding behind the large tree right outside and watching from afar.
Chris glances up again and immediately jumps in surprise at the sight of a haggard, hunched-over old woman in a long hooded black cloak in place of the animals who were just there a second ago.
Her appearance is slightly unsettling to Chris for some reason, however he can’t quite pinpoint why, so he decides to just ignore the feeling.
“Hello dearie,” The old woman says, her voice slightly raspy as she speaks. “All alone on a day like this?”
Chris blinks and takes a quick look around, realizing that all the animals who were just with him a second ago are gone. He lets out a long sigh and looks back up at the old woman. “...yes.”
“The…little men who live here, are all away?” She asks, looking around from her spot at the window.
“Yeah, they’re all off at the mines working,” Chris replies, “I’m just here to visit. Is there anything I can help you with?”
The creatures that had been interacting with Chris just minutes before all watch from afar as he interacts with this lady, confused as to how he doesn't seem to find her very disturbing. Berry, who ran outside as soon as the old lady first showed up, watches much more intently than the other creatures, sensing that something is a bit off.
“uh, berry? you might wanna take a look at this,” One of the rabbits pipes up, turning Berry’s attention away from Chris and the creepy old lady, to the sight of a couple vultures sitting in a nearby tree.
Berry freezes and grabs the other creatures’ attention, causing them all to notice the vultures as well. They’re leering at their lunch, patiently waiting for the death of whatever it is they’re after, which the creatures realize as they follow the direction of the vultures’ stares, appears to be Chris.
“Here, I have a few apples here along with me,” The old woman says, pulling a bright red apple out of the basket slung over her arm. The animals look back and forth between the vultures and Chris with the creepy old lady in horror, immediately realizing what’s about to happen.
Before the lady can continue, however, Berry and a bunch of the birds who’ve been watching the scene play out in front of them all jump down from their hiding spots in the tree and begin swarming the old woman, making her drop her basket full of apples as she attempts to shoo them all away from her.
Chris quickly runs out of the cottage and runs over to her to help.
“Shoo! Shoo! What the heck is up with you guys?!” Chris exclaims, shooing Berry and the birds away from the woman himself.
The birds all fly back over to the tree they were previously sitting in, Berry scurrying along up after them, and Chris shoots them all a glare before checking on the old lady they had all just attempted to swarm.
She’s picked the apple she was about to offer Chris back up, frantically trying to dust it off with her sleeve.
"I’m so sorry ma'am, I have no idea what's gotten into them, they never act like this normally,” Chris says, checking to make sure that the old lady’s okay. “Are you alright?”
Berry glares at the lady as she pauses for a sec, appearing to be planning her next move as a smile quickly reappears on her face.
Suddenly she gasps dramatically and clutches her chest, acting as if she’s on the verge of a heart attack or something similar.
“OH!! MY HEART!!” The old woman loudly cries, falling backwards slightly making Chris catch her. “My poor heart, take me into the house, let me rest, please!” Chris helps the old woman into the house as best as he can, his hands on her shoulders as he helps her walk. He leads her through the door and throws one last glance back at the animals outside, giving them a quick glare before turning to head in after the old woman and get her some water. He shuts the door behind him and the animals quickly run over to the closed window, watching as Chris runs to get some water from the pump at the sink while the old lady sits down, a wicked grin appearing on her face as soon as he turns around.
Berry bolts down off of the window sill, chittering something at the other animals before running off, all the other creatures quickly following him.
The animals all run and fly as fast as they can away from the cottage and towards the location of the nearby mines, speeding away to go find those dwarves. They aren't letting Chis go down without a fight.
Running back over to the old woman, Chris hands her the glass of water he just got for her and she drinks it heartily, practically chugging it before sighing as she finishes the glass and handing it back over to him.
“Thank you, dearie,” The old lady says. “Please, for your kindness, take this.”
She pulls out a vibrant red apple out from under her arm and holds it out to him.
“The best apple from my most recent harvest,” The old woman says. “No charge, it’s a gift.”
Chris smiles and happily takes the apple from the old lady’s hands.
“I’m glad I could help,” Chris cheerfully replies.
Chris glances down at the apple in his hands, grins, and takes a huge bite out of it, not noticing the dark smile that’s slowly appearing on the old woman’s face. For a few moments after the bite, everything is fine.
And then those moments pass.
Chris suddenly notices a painful burning sensation in his throat and panics, gagging as his hands go to his throat and the apple in his hands drops to the floor.
What’s happening?! Is the apple stuck in his throat?! Is he suddenly allergic to apples or something?!
The pain is in his chest too now, and it hurts. Chris gasps and falls down onto his knees, his legs suddenly giving out beneath him as he grabs onto his stomach and winces in pain.
He looks up at the lady who gave him the apple for help, but to his horror, just sees her looking at him with a wicked smile on her face as she watches him suffer.
And that’s when Chris realizes something. She wanted this to happen.
He isn’t suddenly allergic to apples, this lady is trying to kill him.
Chris’s eyes widen as he comes to this realization, and he quickly begins to cry out for help.
“MARTIN!!! JIMMY!!! I NEED HELP!!” Chris cries desperately.
And then it dawns on him as his entire body slowly begins to ache with pain, that Martin and Jimmy aren’t there. That he’s completely and utterly alone with nobody but the old lady who gave him that damn apple in the first place close-by.
Does that stop him from continuing to call out for help anyway? Absolutely not.
“HELP!!!” Chris screams, his voice straining from the effort. “MARTIN!! JIMMY!! SOMEBODY!! HELP!!!”
He descends into a coughing fit as soon as he finishes that round of yelling, tears beginning to prick his eyes as his lungs heave.
“aviva...? koki...?” Chris whimpers. “...anybody?”
…
Nothing.
Chris gags as the pain flares up some more, feeling his blood boil as the apple melts inside his body. It hurts. He feels like his body is on fire and all he can do is sit there as the pain continues.
Chris slowly begins to feel woozy alongside the throbbing pain in his chest and throat and panics.
Oh god. He's dying, he's actually dying. He can feel his breath beginning to slow involuntarily and he can't stop it.
He tries to call out for help again but no words come out, not even raspy ones. The old woman continues to watch him as he struggles, a dark smile on her wrinkled face as Chris inches even closer to death.
Everything hurts. Everything hurts. Hot tears spill down his cheeks as he tries to hold on to whatever strength he has left.
He doesn't want to die.
His breath catches in his throat and he gasps, the images of his friends flashing through his mind. Aviva, Koki, Jimmy, Martin. Oh god, Martin.
None of them are here, not even the animals who he had just been talking to are close-by anymore. It’s just him, and his killer, all alone.
Oh god, he's dying alone.
Nobody is coming to rescue him, nobody is coming to help. Even Martin, who's always come whenever he needed him, isn't coming. He's alone. He's alone, he's alone, he's alone.
His lungs feel raw, his body is aching, and he can already tell that he's getting close to slipping into unconsciousness. He lets out a sob and begins to shake uncontrollably, only able to cry out for help in his mind.
He's...cold. So, so cold.
"mart'n... help... me..." He cries out faintly, his eyes rolling into the back of his head and his body falling straight towards the floor, the world around him finally fading to black.
{For @wildkratts99's Disney Au}