I am experiencing writer's block over another story I have going right now, so I thought I'd start on another idea I had. This story takes place after the events of the series. The smurfs have made it back home from their time travels (the ninth season always annoyed me immensely, especially when they never made it back home, so I decided to remedy that), and have returned to their normal lives. Not that that will last long...
I don't own the smurfs, but if I did, Handy would be the star of every episode .
Chapter 1
"Is that everything Handy?" Hefty called up through the trees. Handy looked down from his spot on the needle covered tree branch as he took a quick mental inventory. Hemp for rope, the new trees from Timber, pine needles, tree sap...
"Not quite," Handy replied as he made his way back down the tree. "I still need oak leaves. If we get those I'll have enough building supplies to last me the rest of the month." He, Hefty, Smurfette and Brainy had been out gathering supplies for Handy's upcoming inventions since early that morning.
"Does that mean we have to go all the way to the Great Oak?" Brainy asked in that nasally voice that always made Handy grind his teeth. No smurf, except for Clumsy, ever got along with Brainy, but Handy had a particular dislike of the bespectacled smurf. "We've been out here for hours! If you ask me—"
"We didn't ask you Brainy," Smurfette informed him. She pushed her long blond hair out of her face and frowned at Brainy. "Handy is always repairing things for us; it's the least we can do to help him!"
"Yeah!" Hefty added as he helped Handy pile the pine needles onto the already overflowing cart they had brought with them. "So smurf up! Great Oak, Handy?" he added.
"'Fraid so," Handy said. "The Great Oak has the best leaves in the forest, and the invention I have in mind needs the best supplies." The four smurfs started to walk in the direction of the giant tree. As they walked, Handy thought about his next invention. He had decided long ago that he wanted this invention to be a surprise for every smurf. He hadn't told anyone what it was—not Hefty, his best friend; not Papa Smurf; not even Marina, when she had come to visit, for he had something in mind for her too.
Marina—even now, more than six years after he had first met her, his mind still went fuzzy and his heart still seemed to beat twice as fast when he thought about the beautiful mermaid. It was so unsmurfy that he had found his true love, only for them both to realize that as much as they belonged with each other, they could never belong to each other's worlds. Well, never mind, Handy thought. If I can get this to work, it won't matter that she can't walk on land and I can't breathe under water.
Handy was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't notice the strange shape plunging down from the sky until Hefty grabbed his shoulder and pulled him behind a tree; Smurfette had done the same to Brainy. He snapped out of his lovesick thoughts very quickly. "Hefty, what-"
"Look!" Hefty said softly, pointing to the shape. Staring upwards, Handy realized that the strange form hurtling downward was what at first seemed to be an elderly human woman. But he had never seen a human, not even a wizard or witch, glow with purple fire, or cry tears of what looked like liquid amethyst as she fell earthward.
But even that was not as strange as what he saw in the sky above her. Just above the trees was what seemed to be a carriage pulled by horses; it too was glowing—only its glow was crimson, and the horses weren't real horses—they looked more like fire versions of the NightMares found in Morphio the Dream Demon's world. Atop this was a tall, dark haired man who was also shining with the bizarre red glow. He called after the woman, in a voice that was surprisingly cold for someone with so much fire, "What a shame. Such a powerful Gift, and no one to pass it on to. Farewell, my dear!"
A second later, there was a great thump. The woman's fall had ended. The man laughed, lifted an arm—and vanished. Smurfette gasped.
"What—in the name of smurf—was that all about?" Hefty said after a moment. He was unusually pale, and he wasn't the only one—Smurfette and Brainy were both two shades lighter than usual, and Handy was sure that he wasn't looking too healthy himself. He certainly felt—odd.
"I don't know—I've never seen a human glow like that," Handy said softly. He "But—but we should see if there's anything we can do to help that human." He started to walk in the directions that the woman had fallen, but Brainy grabbed his arm and pulled him back.
"Help her?!" he cried. "Handy, she's a human! You know what humans try to do to us, and she could be dangerous!"
"I—I know she could be dangerous," Handy replied slowly. He felt as though he was being physically dragged towards the strange glowing woman. "But I—I just have this feeling—I'm going to go see if she needs help!" Without another word, he shook Brainy's hand off his arm and took off through the forest.
"Handy!" Hefty shouted. Handy didn't even look back. Hefty turned to the other two. "Come on, we better follow him!"
***
Handy reached the woman and stopped short. She was no longer glowing the way she had been when she was falling—it had dimmed to a pale violet light. She lay flat on her back on the forest floor, eyes closed, long gray hair spread out like a fan around her head. Handy's stomach reeled as he saw the arrow. It was glowing with dim red light, and was buried in the woman's chest. She was alive, but only just—her breathing was uneven and ragged.
As the other smurfs drew level with Handy her eyes fluttered and opened. The smurfs were startled to see that they were the exact same shade as the dim glow now surrounding her. They would have been lovely eyes, had they not been so bloodshot and teary.
"Can't go...yet," she gasped. Her voice was lovely too, despite how gasping and breathless it was. "Need to...pass it on...Matthew..." She tried to sit up, but she was too weak.
"Um..excuse me..."Smurfette said. "We—" she stopped as the woman's head jerked towards the sound of her voice.
"Who..." she gasped. Her eyes found Hefty, Brainy, Smurfette—then fixed on Handy, staring until Handy wanted to move away from her...but he couldn't. He was rooted to the spot.
"Oh...thank Heaven..." she said. "My...carrier..." and with a sudden swift movement at odds with her apparent weakness she lunged sideways and seized Handy. That snapped him out of his trance in an instant.
"HEY! Let me g-" he fell silent as the woman's glow traveled through her body, up her arm, into her hand—and, much to Handy's astonishment, into his own body.
The forest, the other smurfs—all vanished. All that he could see was that bizarre purple glow. And then the woman spoke, and it seemed to Handy she was speaking directly to his thoughts.
"Listen to me, little blue creature," she said. Her voice was much stronger in his mind than it had been out loud. "My name is Esa, Esa of Elm Peak. My family is one of the few ancient lines to hold a magical ability called the Gift. You must find...must find..." her mind voice grew weaker. "Find...Matthew of Elm Peak...he is...Gift-less...he'll know what to do...good...good...luck and...thank you." The glow began to fade.
Handy found he could speak. "Wait! What are you talking about?" he cried, but the woman was slipping away. He stretched out a hand as if to stop her, and realized his hand was glowing purple. He started to tremble. "Why me?" Abruptly the glow faded. He was back in the forest. Esa's body lay before him. She was gone, her eyes glazed and chest still. Handy looked at his hand again. It still glowed with that plum coloured light. It wasn't just his hand either; his entire body seemed to be glowing as though lit from within with some strange purple lamp. It felt odd, like water boiling just beneath his skin, but it at least it didn't hurt.
"Ha-Handy?" someone whispered. Handy turned to see Hefty, Smurfette and Brainy staring at him. "Handy," Smurfette said softly. "What—what just happened? You're..." she slowly crossed the forest floor and laid a hand on his arm. "You don't feel any different," she said uncertainly. "But..."
Handy shook his head. "I don't really understand what just happened myself," he told her. "Let's...let's forget the oak leaves. We should get back to the village and ...maybe Papa Smurf can tell us more."
"What about the woman?" Hefty said. "We shouldn't just leave her here."
"We can get the other smurfs," Handy said. "And maybe we can find some way to give—Esa—a proper burial."
"How do you know her name?" Brainy demanded.
"She told me," Handy replied. "I guess you just didn't hear it." He didn't want them to know that she had seemed to be speaking from within his own head.
Suddenly the entire forest seemed to be spinning, and standing seemed like far too much work. Handy sank to the ground and put his suddenly heavy head in his hands.
"Handy, what's wrong?" Smurfette cried, as Hefty rushed to Handy's side.
"I..." Handy wasn't sure what exactly he was going to say, but it didn't matter; one moment he was looking at the other smurfs anxious faces, and the next the world had gone black.
Black, with a hint of purple.
This isn't the best thing I've ever written, but I didn't want to write it to improve my writing skills; I just had an idea that needed to be put down in writing. I will be continuing this story, though I'm not sure exactly when the next update will be; I'm rather busy at the moment preparing for a university audition. I'll try to update soon though, I promise!
