Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else

Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters

"Help!" screamed a smurf as he came running back into the village, "Help me please!"

The alarm was sound as smurfs from all over the Smurf Village came running to the pleading smurf, they were horrified to see him gripping a bleeding bite wound on his forearm. Hefty does his best to assist the injured smurf by clearing a way towards Papa Smurf as Smurfette scrambles to locate a First Aid Kit, "Papa Smurf!," called Hefty as he walked into his house with the injured smurf crying like a baby, "Your called upon once more."

Papa Smurf was sleeping at the table with his face lying on it, when Hefty came in with the bleeding smurf he shot up immediately and assess the situation. "Good smurf, what happened?" he asked as he was stunned to see so much blood being spilled onto the floor.

"A fellow smurf seems to be bitten by an animal," claimed Hefty, "Came smurfing into the village like crazy awhile crying."

Papa Smurf pulled up a chair for the injured smurf to sit on as other smurfs surround the home, worried about the injured smurf's condition. "Now let's see it my little smurf," said Papa Smurf as he cheers up the smurf.

The bleeding smurf let's go of his forearm and shows the full scale of the bite, it appears to be infected as the skin around it had already begun to turn into a blackish red color. The bite was smack dab on the middle of the smurf's forearm and it doesn't appear to be from an animal, it was oval shape and due to the visible teeth patterns on the lining the bite – it seems to have been made by a humanoid.

"Who bit you?" asked Papa Smurf as he does his best to hold in his fright, "What bit you?"

"Wild Smurf," said the injured smurf.

"Which smurf are you?" asked Hefty.

"Dabbler," he sobbed.

"You mean Wild did this to you Dabbler?" asked Papa Smurf as he gazes at the bite some more.

"He just, came out of nowhere... like a monster," explains Dabbler as he wiped away his tears, "He doesn't appear to be all smurfy, his skin was all gray. After he smurfs me, I didn't stop to ask him why he bit me. I just ran about a kilometer before reaching the safety of the Smurf Village, I'm not sure if he followed me or not."

Smurfette finally came in with the First Aid Kit, she sat it on the table as Papa Smurf opens it up and pulls out some gauze. "This might sting," said Papa Smurf as he picks up a bottle of Smurfberry Wine and pours it onto the bite, Dabbler yelps in response as Papa Smurf wraps the bite with the gauze.

"Are you going to be okay Dabbler?" asked Smurfette worriedly.

"I think so," said Dabbler as he flexes his hand, "It could have been worse, he could have ripped my arm clean off."

"Mind if I escort you back home?" asked Smurfette.

"Sure, thanks Smurfette," agrees Dabbler as he gets off the chair.

Smurfette takes Dabbler's hand and led him outside, leaving Hefty and Papa Smurf alone inside the mushroom house. After staring at the blood on the floor for about a few seconds, Papa Smurf looks up at Hefty who was staring back at him. "Something doesn't feel right Hefty," he says, "Besides today, when was the last time we heard from Wild Smurf?"

"About three weeks," said Hefty, "Chernov often goes out to see him once in awhile but has said nothing about him, you think he'll know more about this?"

"Something in my heart is telling me not to confront Chernov about this," says Papa Smurf, "Due to his track record, I don't think it would be a good idea."

Chernov is not an ordinary smurf, he stands 4 apples tall and his skin is grass green instead of sky blue. Instead of wearing white clothes, he wears camouflaged ones instead. He also has a head full of brown hair, his tall body is extremely lean awhile the others smurfs are pudgy. Chernov plays the Scientist role in the Smurf Village, he is basically a Chemist but is also known for his work on biology.

Meanwhile, the green smurf in question was busy tending his very own garden. His house is located near the body of water that borders the Smurf Village, which is quite dangerous due to the chemical experiments that goes on inside his house. Dabbler turns out to be his next door neighbor, Chernov turns out to be the only one who understands Dabbler well.

Seeing him with Smurfette and the bandaged bite wound peaked his curiosity, he puts down his plowing shovel and walks over to Smurfette and Dabbler just as they reached the front door. "What happened Dabbler?" asked Chernov as he points to the bandaged arm, "Looks like you've been bitten by a wild animal."

"I had," said Dabbler, "It was that bad."

"If you need anything, I'm here for you." said Chernov, "If that bite becomes infected, don't keep it to yourself and tell me or Papa Smurf. Okay?"

"Yes Chernov," said Dabbler, "Thank you for your concern."

"Of course Dabbler," said Chernov," Your welcome."

He turns back around and heads back to tend his small garden, Dabbler and Smurfette looks on as Chernov picked up his plowing shovel and resumes breaking up the clots in the dirt. Everyone in the village knew that Chernov is almost always angry and almost never happy on most days so they often steer clear from him, just to avoid his wrath. But he has proven to be quite caring and generous as all the other smurfs, a little to caring one might say.

"Thanks Smurfette," said Dabbler.

Before Smurfette could say your welcome, he opened his front door and walked inside. Once he closed it behind him, Smurfette was left speechless as she stared at Chernov's flue gas stack chimney that towers over his house. Standing around 60 centimeters tall, it was the tallest thing in the village. Smurfette doesn't mind seeing the chimney, she needs something to look at as she tries to digest Dabbler's mysterious behavior.

"Still a jaw dropper, isn't it." said a voice.

Smurfette was surprise to find Chernov standing next to her, as if he came out of nowhere. "No it's not about your smokestack Chernov," said Smurfette, "It's Dabbler..."

"Don't worry Smurfette, I'll keep an eye on him since I know how to work with his depression." said Chernov.

"Okay Chernov," said Smurfette, "Bye."

Smurfette walks away as Chernov looked onward, he turns around and head back into his house where he fires up his blast furnace. This soon cause black smoke to spew out of the tall chimney and into the sky above, indicating that Chernov is working on smelting Iron Ore.

Dabbler stayed within his house for the rest of the day, all the smurfs wondered what he's doing in there. It didn't take long for Dabbler to sprang a fever, along with other influenza symptoms. He crawled up into his bed, too weak to get help. When night came, everything went silent in his house.

TO BE CONTINUED...