Smurfing with the Wolves
Prologue
Deep in a medieval forest untouched by the savage hands of time, a stork flew through the chilly winter night. It seemed determined to reach its destination despite the snow whipping its face like the cold fangs of an arctic wolf. It was carrying a small bundle in its talons, which occasionally moved and sniffled.
Upon the stork's back sat a most extraordinary little being. It had a beard like a cloud, and its ancient eyes sparkled with wisdom and love. It was a vibrant shade of sky-blue and wore a red hat and pants. A tail poked out of the pants, stubby and minute like a baby's thumb.
"Come on, Snow-wing, we're almost at the village now," said the figure, yanking on the stork's reins to make it fly faster. The stork honked in reply and flapped its wings harder, increasing its speed and carrying it on through that eerily calm, mystical night.
Suddenly, a gust of wind caught the stork and its rider off guard, and it whipped them backwards through the air. Something singed the stork's wing, and it let out a cry of anguish as it slowly spiraled towards the ground. "Oh no…" whispered Papa in horror, trying to stop their rapid descent. As hard as he tried, he couldn't stop Snow-wing from falling.
Another gust of wind buffeted the Smurf and the stork, and it knocked Papa off the stork's back and into a rock. He let out a scream of pain and then fell silent. Snow-wing shrieked in horror and flew to his rider, scooping him onto his back and carrying him towards the village with as much energy as he could muster.
Papa opened his eyes just in time to see the white bundle unravel and fall on the ground below, leaving the Smurfling alone and exposed to the harsh winter. "The baby…" called Papa, but the wind muffled his words and Snow-wing couldn't hear him. "What will happen to him? Oh, why did that dragon have to attack us tonight of all nights?" But then they arrived at the village and the Smurfling was lost to view.
…
The little Smurf had waited for someone to rescue him for what seemed like decades. He was cold and bored, and wondering about his future. Would he live, or would he be a victim to winter's deathly claws?
He waited for hours, days, weeks, months. Nothing happened. He was starving and freezing, and he was convinced that he would die.
But on one particularly frosty winter morning, the unimaginable happened.
The Smurf was beginning to think that he was abandoned and wouldn't live much longer when a soft tongue licked his cheek, and warm breath melted the snow that covered him like fine powder. He looked up and found himself gazing into a wolf's wise and wondrous eyes. "Greetings, little Smurfling," it whispered, and picked him up and put him on his back. The Smurf nestled into the fur on his back and let out a happy chirp, overjoyed to be saved at last. Then he fell asleep.
The wolf walked on in the icy world, taking careful steps so as not to allow its tiny rider to fall off its back. Before long, he had reached his pack-home, and he let out a howl to his packmates: "I am here. There is a new pack member. Come, my pack, and welcome him home."
Soon, other wolves gathered around their alpha, curious to see what he had brought home with him. "What is it? Its tiny breathing is so adorable!" breathed a lovely she-wolf with fur as white as the snow and eyes like glittering blue ice. "It's a Smurfling. He was abandoned in the snow, and he would have died if I had not rescued him," explained the alpha, gently putting his blue bundle down on the snowy ground.
You can imagine the Smurf's surprise when he opened his eyes to see a bunch of wolves gazing back at him with curiosity and a bit of doubt and amusement. But somehow, he wasn't afraid. He knew these magnificent creatures wouldn't hurt him, and they were already starting to seem like his family. He cooed and smiled at the wolves, melting their hearts of ice. They smiled back, and howled into the sky: "Little Smurf of the medieval forest, welcome to our pack-home. Awaken your spirit, and run with the wolves, O little one."
Little did the wolves and the Smurfling know as they sang that one day their new pack member would have a destiny like no other, and save his kin from a terrible fate. But for now, they were happy to be together and run as one.