"Alchemist! Alchemist! Alchemist! ALCHEMIST!"
Papa Smurf jolted awake with the sound of his former name being called ringing in his ears. It confused him. No one, not even one of his Smurfs had the knowledge of his name. Everyone called him Papa Smurf.
River's Song gasped as she came out of her trance. It had taken a lot of her essence just to have the Smurf's name, and then she had to call out to him in his dream. This would prove deadly if she wasn't careful.
"Flower gleam and glow….let your power shine…." As she sang, her unusually colored hair (it should have been white at her age) started glowing until her pale skin was a healthy blue again.
She nodded, putting her hood up once more. She mustn't let herself get too weak to sing. Singing was what kept everything alive.
"His name is Alchemist," she murmured to herself, "but everysmurf calls him Papa. You must remember that."
A quiet grunt made her turn. The Smurf's only daughter, Smurfette, was sprawled out on the floor of the temple.
"Hello, young one. Come, I'll show you to your room. Don't worry, your family will be here to collect you."
Smurfette didn't know much about the mysterious smurfette, but she did learn that her hostess didn't talk much. When her hostess did, it was a question about her happiness, or a mutter, or a chant that made her hostess' hair glow. She learned swordsmanship from Chukchu, 'Mistress's Servant' as he called himself, a humble creature called a Dagroon. Chukchu had red scales, bright as rubies, and piercing emerald green eyes, but he wasn't as vicious as he seemed. He towered over his Mistress, who was actually a bit tall for a Smurf, and Smurfette but always acted like he was shorter. Smurfette grew quite found of her life in the temple, and if that moment hadn't come she would have stayed there for her whole life.
The creature made a noise, shaking its head, "No entrance."
"I'm trying to find Smurfette, my daughter!" Papa Smurf pleaded with the creature.
The door opened and the creature bowed towards an unseen force, "Mistress?"
"Let them in, Chukchu. They are clearly her family."
Chukchu nodded, stepping aside to allow Papa and his band of Smurfs to enter. The Smurfs gasped as they looked around, taking in the artitecture of the building. The floor was silver, the ceiling gold, and pillars of precious jewels sparkled in hidden light. On the far side, two hooded figures stood on a raised platform.
Chukchu lead them forward before bowing to the taller one and dismissing himself. A blue hand shot from the shorter figure's side, pulling its hood down. The maroon folds fell away, revealing the long missed golden tresses of Smurfette.
"Smurfette." Papa smiled.
Smurfette smiled, "Papa! I've missed you all!"
She made no move to walk forward as if she was cemented to the floor, "Papa, this is my host." She gestured towards the taller figure, "Mistress, this is my Papa."
Everyone but Smurfette gasped when the Mistress's hood was pulled away from her face.
"You may go, young one," the tall smurfette told Smurfette, "Nothing's keeping you."
"But won't you be lonely? I mean, you have Chukchu, but won't you be?"
"Don't worry about me, young one. I'll be alright. Go on, I think Alchemist is about ready to hug you."
Everyone stared. Confused as to who Alchemist was.
"Your papa." She corrected, "His name was Alchemist Smurf when he was your age. It's what by I know him."
Papa Smurf walked forward, "Who are you?"
A hiss erupted from behind the barred door.
"Smurfette!" The Mistress commanded, "Your station."
Before the other smurfs knew what was happening, Smurfette's cloak was on the floor and she was unsheathing a sword.
"Chukchu! We need your help! Night Dreamers!"
The ultrasonic shatter threw the Smurfs to the ground as well as killing the Night Dreamers. River's Song groaned, the fiery pain intensifing. Smurfette ran to her.
"River!" She helped her sit up, "Are you alright?"
"Yes~" she gasped, groaning in between her teeth, "No! I'm dying ."
"Dying?! But what about the temple? Who's going to protect it? I thought you said it was the last thing from the Smurf Golden Age!"
"It is….I'm old, young one. No one remembers besides me. It's futile now. The Night Dreamers...I've fulfilled my duties, probably longer then I should have. You are the truest smurf, young one. You…..remind me….of my children….."
With that, River's Song took her final breath. A chill filled the air, and a breeze ran through the open temple doors. As if it was fast-forwarded, River's Song's hair quickly turned white as Papa Smurf's beard.
"She always was a quiet mentor, I didn't really understand. I used to pass her quarters at night and hear her sing, then in the morning she was so quiet, I wanted to ask her why she didn't sing.
Flower gleam and glow….let your power shine
Make the clock reverse, bring back what was mine
Heal what has been hurt
Change the fate's design, save what has been lost
Bring back what was mine….what was mine…."
A mystical whistle-like sigh sounded, and blue, whisp-like creatures appeared.
Smurfette gasped, "The Will-O'-The-Whisps…...I didn't think she actually knew that they were real."
"Will-O'-The-Whisps, Smurfette?"
"They're….as she always put it, good Smurfs who died terrible deaths. They travel around collecting their fellow Smurfs when they die. They're here to take her."
The Whisps called again, and River's Song's body disappeared in a flash of blue, a Whisp taking its place. Although the others disappeared, River's Whisp stayed, leading them somewhere.
"Shall we follow her?"
Papa sighed, "It won't hurt."
The Whisp led them down a few corridors before stopping at a large painting on the wall. It was clearly a family portrait of a whole Smurf village. River's Song tired yet happy smile beamed out at them, her red leader's cap held a single daisy, and she was holding a newborn Smurfling.
"It's her!"
Besides her, a graying blue-bearded Smurf wore the same attire as Papa Smurf. His eyes seemed to twinkle with a long-forgotten emotion as he had his arm around River's Song. His other hand rested on the nearest Smurfling- a little girl with bright blonde hair. Besides her stood a Smurfling who had glasses that were a bit too big for him. On the Smurflings seem to go, until one. He was holding a small boulder like it was nothing, and he had a small heart on his arm.
"It says," Smurfette leaned forward to read the plaque on the bottom, "Strong, Clumsy, Irritable, Polaris, Scot, Party, Challenge, Tailor, Farmer, Natural, Slouchy….You know, I'm not going to read them all…. Intellectual, and Rose Smurfling. Papa, River's Song, and newborn Alchemist Smurf."
A/N: I don't own the Smurfs or The Will-O'-The-Whisps. Peyo owns the Smurfs and Disney/Pixar created the Will-O'-The-Whisps for the movie Brave, which they own. I only own the Dagroons, River's Song, and any extra OCs. I modified the Whisps' nature only slightly, you can call them AU if you'd like in this.
CrazyBowtielovingFanGirl out!
