The Green and the Violet

Waterfalls Elephants & Confessions

  As the pair traveled through the jungle, whether from the trees or on the understory, following a gentle brook, they caught glimpses of several of the forest's inhabitants, large and small, including a family troop of Western lowland gorillas foraging in the sunlit clearing surrounded by bamboo shoots, led by an imposing silverback; various tropical birds singing and soaring through the canopy; the faint, shadowy silhouette of a black leopard stalking among the undergrowth for antelopes or wild pigs, two cubs following in tow; they even caught sight of the shy and elusive okapi, a zebralike animal closely related to the giraffe, according to Chris.
  The sun was sinking lower as they moved into the next clearing. Aviva and Chris were momentarily blinded by the sun's rays as they left the leafy curtains of the jungle behind them. Adjusting to the light, the spectacle that greeted their eyes was a waterfall cascading from the side of mossy cliffs, water emptying into several streams that meandered into a crystal clear watering hole, its waterways teeming with dozens of elephants.
"¡Increíble!"exclaimed Aviva.
"African forest elephants!"cried the creature adventurer in an excited whisper. "A whole different species from African plains elephants like Thornsley. They're much smaller than their savannah cousins; around 6,000 pounds; to better allow them to move through dense jungle. While plains elephants range through the open grasslands and savannahs throughout most of Subsaharan Africa, forest elephants are only found here, within the rainforests of Central and West Africa."
Their size wasn't the only difference that set these pachyderms apart from the grassland giants the pair knew well; their ears were considerably smaller and rounder, but still the shape of their native continent. And the tusks of these animals were straighter and pointed downwards; The tusks of a nearby bull were exceptionally long, almost reaching the ground. The rest of the group consisted of younger bulls, and several females with their offspring, which was still smaller in number than an average herd of savannah-dwelling elephants.
One inquisitive calf strolled up to the pair, while still under the watchful eye of his mother.
"Ay, qué lindó."cooed the inventor as the baby elephant started to curiously sniff the strange creature before him with his wobbly trunk, poking her nose on the process, earning a giggle from the human.
"He must be only three weeks old."observed the Kratt in green. He then felt a light shove as the calf butted his head on the creature adventurer's leg, prompting him to laugh in amusement.
"Inquisitive little guy, isn't he?"remarked the inventor.
"Yeah. We're probably the first humans he's ever seen–Aghhh!!!" Chris felt himself falling forward as the elephant calf playfully rammed him from behind, sending the Kratt in green splashing in the mud. This prompted Aviva to laugh until something rather unusual caught her eye.
"Wait. What's the mother elephant doing?" Aviva pointed to where the forest elephant cow began to wade knee-deep in a stagnant pool before dipping her trunk in the water. What came next was an explosion of bubbles before the trunk resurfaced, with a trunkful of what appeared to be mud. The cow then brought the contents into her waiting mouth.
"I don't believe it!"exclaimed Chris, picking himself off the ground. "She's digging for mineral-rich clay." Seeing the inventor's confused glance, he continued while scanning the cow's stomach with his Creaturepod: "See how she's blowing bubbles with her trunk? She's blowing away at the mud and silt to get at the clay. Many of the plants she eats are toxic. The clay underneath has medicinal properties, and by eating that clay, she neutralizes the toxins in her stomach and enriches her blood. "
"Oh, I get it."said Aviva in understanding, "It's just like how chimpanzees swallow certain leaves to kill stomach parasites."
"Or what happened during the Huge Orange Problem adventure, when Huge-O taught us the knowledge of the Bornean rainforest."added Chris, smiling at the memory. "If Martin were here, he'd call this clearing 'Nature's pharmacy'."
All around the watering hole, other elephants were mining for clay, as the youngsters ran between the legs of the adults and played together, spraying each other with their trunks and holding head-butting competitions, testing their developing strength. It wasn't long before other animals came out of the shadows and stepped into the light of the clearing; mild mannered forest buffaloes, red river hogs and even the normally skittish Bongo antelope who seldom wander outside the shelter of the forest all came to enjoy the fresh grazing and salt licks the sunlit clearing had to offer.
"Magnífico."murmured Aviva, marveling at the enchanting sight, completely oblivious to Chris reaching for something in his backpack. She squealed in shock as she found herself showered by a sudden torrent of water and clay from behind.
Wiping the mud off her head, the inventor turned around to see Chris in an Elephant Power Suit, trunk stained brown, laughing his head off.
"You are so gonna get it."growled Aviva, gray eyes narrowed in a mock glare as she held a mud pie in her hand, ready to take revenge on her assailant before hurling it at the green pachyderm, hitting him dead in the face. His shocked expression was enough for her to laugh hysterically.
After a brief moment of shock, a blaring war trumpet sounded as the Kratt in elephant form charged forward, spraying the inventor in another cold shower of mud and water. Aviva quickly took cover behind a nearby elephant to avoid another onslaught. Pressing a button on the M.I.K strapped to her back, Aviva then held a robust gun similar to the one wielded by Gourmand, only instead of dough or batter, it was loaded with muddy cartridges. Needless to say, Chris' eyes widened in shock and mild horror as she sprang out of cover, her shoulder mounted weapon fully loaded; he had become more wary of firearms since the poacher incident.
"Y–You wouldn't."stammered the green elephant, hoping it was a bluff.
"I would."she replied with a devious smile. BANG!
The green elephant was send flat on his back by the sheer force of the shot, splattering in the mud.
"Now we're even." Those words had barely left Aviva's mouth when she felt an unexpected blast from behind. Turning around, gun held ready, her deadpan stare melted into a warm smile as she spied the same elephant calf from moments before.
"Aww, hi sweetie."she chirped, lowering her mud-blaster.
"I guess he wants to play too."remarked Chris with a chuckle. The words had hardly left his mouth when a torrent of water assaulted his face, followed by a well aimed mud pie to the same location.
A water war of titanic proportions erupted in the middle of the river clearing as the pair drenched each other continuously, laughing, screaming, trumpeting and shouting idle threats at each other. It was enormous fun, especially with the playful calf splashing them both, and drew a lot of bewildered looks from the other creatures watching nearby.
   After clearing his goggles of mud from a recent attack, the green elephant dipped his artificial trunk in a nearby pool, sucking up a trunkful of water. Once it was full, Chris unleashed a powerful torrent, gushing nonstop at every point of the compass, hitting everywhere within a trunk's radius. The only target he hit, however, was the baby elephant who simply gurgled in amusement and sprayed him back. Aviva was nowhere to be seen.
Chris scratched his head with his trunk."Huh. Where'd she go?"
"Gotcha!"
Before he could move, Chris felt a mud pie collide with the back of his head, and in that moment, something landed on his shoulders, scaring him half out of his wits, sending him landing flat on his stomach splattered in mud.
From atop his back, Aviva laughed uncontrollably at her aerial assault, while her 'victim' was coughing and blowing mud out of his trunk.
"What the– where did you come from?"asked the creature adventurer in disbelief.
"Let's just say Tusky here gave me a lift."replied Aviva once her laughter subsided.
"Who?"
The inventor pointed to an older calf, likely a teenager, who trumpeted in answer. Aviva must have climbed upon his broad back in order to surprise Chris from above. The younger calf soon joined Aviva in torturing the green pachyderm by adding his two hundred pound heft to the dog pile, sitting on him.
"I can't breathe.."gasped the Kratt in green before feigning annoyance, rolling his eyes. "Get off of me!"
"Do you surrender?"asked Aviva, barely able to wipe the smirk off her face.
"Not a chance–AGHHHH!!!!!!" Chris' boast was cut short as Tusky showered the trio in a sudden gust of cold water. The inventor giggled, using her hands in a vain attempt to shield herself from the torrent.
"Okay, okay. You win. You win. Can you please get off me now?" Aviva obliged. The young calf, however, seemed to be comfortable with his green cushion and began to lay on his side. Luckily for the green elephant, Aviva whispered something to Tusky's big ear. The young bull seemed to understand and gently nudged the baby off of the living pancake. He then began to lead the playful calf back within the herd where their mother waited expectantly.
"My back."mumbled Chris after rising to his feet with a little help from the inventor, who chuckled. "Deactivate!" After briefly being enveloped in a green flash, the young Kratt returned to his proper form. By his side, Aviva waved to the two elephants as they rejoined their herd.
"Bye Tusky! Bye Squirtle!" The pair trumpeted in answer.
"Squirtle? Really?"asked Chris incredulously, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh c'mon! That's the perfect name."pouted Aviva. The Kratt in green chuckled. He always thought it was cute whenever she pouted, crossing her arms.
Before long, the sun began to sink below the canopy. The elephant cows began to gather their offspring before disappearing among the trees in surprising silence. Not even the twigs snapped under their feet. The bulls followed suit, though they wandered the jungle alone.
Once the forest elephants had moved back into the jungle's green depths, the pair stood by the base of the waterfall, washing away the mud and clay off their clothing and hair as they were showered by the cascading water from above.
"Can I ask you something?"said Chris after a period of silence. "Well, since we're in the shower together–"began Aviva teasingly before being cut off by Chris.
"I'm serious!"exclaimed the Kratt in green with a slightly embarrassed laugh, prompting the inventor to laugh at his facial expression, which was almost bright red.
So," began Chris after regaining his composure. "What is it you find in me that's so appealing to you? Is it my dashing good looks?" At this point, he violently shook his head dry, forming his characteristic spiky hair before attempting a suave smile.
"Dream on."deadpanned Aviva mockingly, giving him a light shove. "Though it doesn't hurt that you're kinda cute." She emphasized her point by playfully ruffling his hair.
   Chris then went on rather seriously, briefly turning from her:"All jokes aside, I'm just not quite sure what it is you see in me; I mean, I haven't exactly been very lucky in my love life growing up; I'm a little new to all this. Even Martin's a natural charmer compared to me; no girls have ever been that interested in me enough for me to even pursue a relationship, I think."
"I was. For quite some time actually."answered the inventor earnestly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You're really smart, handsome, funny. You're sweeter than any other boy I've met. Not to mention you're also very brave. You're not afraid to stick up for what you believe in or to protect what you hold dear, no matter the consequences. I sometimes wished I had that kind of courage."
"You do. All those times you saved me and Martin from all sorts of sticky situations? That takes someone with a great deal of bravery. If you were any braver, you'd be a lioness." That statement earned a blush from the inventor. "And that's one of the many things I like about you."
"Really? Is there anything else?"asked Aviva flirtatiously, batting her eyelashes.
"That's easy. You're insanely smart; I mean none of this would even be possible without your brilliance. You're very caring, talented, tenacious. A lot of fun to be around. It doesn't hurt that you're also really beautiful."
"Really?" This time she was genuinely shocked. Apart from her family, no one had ever told her such words.
"Believe me. I've seen so many things in the creature world that can take one's breath away," here he cast a loving glance at the inventor before he finished, "but none more so than you, Aviva."
Visibly moved by his confession, Aviva inched closer to the creature adventurer until they were only just inches apart. She then pulled Chris in a tight embrace, much to his surprise.
"I love you."whispered the inventor, burying her face on his shoulder.
"I–I love you too."replied the young Kratt, returning the embrace before his eyes widened as he felt Aviva's lips pressed against his own;however, he eventually relaxed into the kiss and began to return it. The kiss was slow and sweet, lasting until both had to part for air. Breathing heavily from the need for oxygen, both Chris and Aviva stayed close enough so that their foreheads touched as they gazed into each other's eyes, stormy gray meeting hazel brown, forgetting all else— until a familiar ringing broke the spell.
"The Creaturepods!"exclaimed the couple simultaneously before racing out of the water, to a pile of rocks where they left them. The inventor reached hers first.
"Where are you guys?"came Koki's voice through Aviva's Creaturepod. "It's almost sundown."
"Oh, we're uhh.. in the center of a big jungle clearing."answered the inventor awkwardly.
"Send is us the coordinates and we'll be on our way."replied Chris.
"I sent our coordinates to you lovebirds hours ago."deadpanned the technician.
"You did?"responded the Kratt in green sheepishly before checking his device. "Let's see, the Tortuga should be just–" just as Chris was glancing at his GPS, Aviva froze his hand while pointing at the far end of the clearing. "Umm Chris? They're right over there."
  And indeed, the terrapin aircraft was parked just across the series of streams, its turquoise shell blending almost perfectly with the surrounding vegetation. Had all the lights been off, they likely would have missed the H.Q in the fading sunlight.
"I guess we should get going."said Chris after a moment of awkward silence.
"Yeah."replied Aviva as she began to walk back to the Tortuga. But she didn't get far as she stopped abruptly as though remembering something. "Oh, one more thing."
"Yes?"
The inventor answered him not with words, but with a passionate kiss on his lips, much to Chris' surprise. She parted abruptly, giggling at his bewildered face.
"Thank you so much for my first date. I had fun."
"First date? Oh, right umm..sure. Anytime Aviva." For the first time in his life, Chris was at a loss of words. Another giggle.
With that, she continued on her way.
  Watching her go, the Kratt in green heaved a sigh of pure bliss before following her back to the Tortuga. This was one day he'll never forget.
**** And that concludes this short story. I hope I did okay with that one and that you readers enjoyed it. Y'know, I've noticed the surprising lack of creature adventures or anything animal related written on this site these days and personally it makes me kinda sad; especially being a dude whose first love is the natural world, and that's one of the many reasons I enjoy watching WK. P.s I think I should also mention that I was inspired by an episode of Planet Earth with writing the forest elephant encounter and the facts about them are true (and I should know, considering that elephants are my favorite animals..). And don't worry; I'm not finished yet.. ;)