Chapter Eleven: The Salamander

Silence and Stardust followed closely behind their mentor as he led them to a secluded hut on the far side of the camp, though it was still close enough to the camp center. One that was heavily guarded and every apprentice was told not to go anywhere near this part of camp. Now, Mountain was leading them there. Though they didn't get why. All the two apprentices knew was that they were here for something important.

No words need to be spoken between the hutt's guards and their leader, they merely stepped aside to let them pass. Mountain pushed aside the thin flaps of leather that hung in the doorway as he stepped inside, silently beckoning the apprentices closer.

Once inside, the Silence and Stardust were greeted to what could only be described as a makeshift incubator. A stone lined basket sat atop a table and above said basket was a bright lantern, heating up whatever was inside the basket. The stone lined basket was covered by a small blanket of leather, hiding whatever was inside from view. Mountain walked up to the stone lined basket and gestured for the two to come closer. The pair of apprentices trotted forward obediently, their curious gazes locked on the stone lined basket as they got closer.

"What's in the basket?" Stardust dared to ask, attempting to peak into the gaps between the thin leather and the basket.

"You'll see soon enough, Star." Mountain replied simply, "Today, you two will be given the most important task of your apprenticeship." He announced, the apprentice's interest growing by the minute, "You have both been chosen to take care of a very important creature we discovered. We were lucky to have gotten our hands on it before the Clan of Unity." The smurf explained to them, as he stepped behind the table the basket sat on.

Silence too attempted to peer into the tiny gaps between the thin blanket and the basket, "So, what is it?" She asked curiously.

Mountain softly smiled at the apprentice's growing curiosity and gently pulled the basket to him, "We've been calling it the Salamander." He told the two, "When this creature is full grown it will be a very powerful asset to us." The smurf spoke as he uncovered the basket, "And it will need caretakers, we chose you two as a way to teach you both about responsibility and because you're the oldest of the current apprentices."

Silence and Stardust rounded the table to peer into the stone lined basket. And curled up inside the basket was a tiny lizard and it was clear why the basket it was kept in was lined with stone. Its scales were as black as coal, or some sort of pitch black stone in fact that's what it appeared to be made of at least. It's whole nearly flat, chubbyish body was made out of coal and constantly cooling magma that bubbled along its spine and legs, that seemed to constantly ooze magma and cooled almost instantly the moment it touched the air.

"Whoa!" Stardust breathed in awe at the tiny creature, causing it to stirr from it's seemingly comfortable slumber.

The salamander uncurled it's little flat body, its swirling amber, obsidian eyes closed as it stretched itself out. It let out a silent, tired yawn, revealing a magma filled maw of sharp obsidian teeth. And upon closer inspection, it appeared the creature's tongue was made out of pure lava. Sloshing, and constantly oozing like the bubbling magma boils on it's back. It's long orange tail and long three toed claws that both looked like it had just been forged from hot metal in an open furnace, curled fluidly as it stretched out. The little lizard opened those amber, obsidian craters and looked up at the three creatures that stared down at it, tilting its head curiously at the apprentices that stared back at it in awe. Silence let out a soft "Whoa" as she stared into those beautiful swirling amber, obsidian pools.

"Wow!" Stardust exclaimed, looking up at her mentor "This is the little guy we get to take care of?"

Mountain nodded, "Yup, you both have to keep an eye on this creature. You'll feed it and help train it when the time comes" He explained to them.

"Oh boy! This is going to be so much fun!" The hybrid exclaimed, bouncing up and down excitedly, "Can I call them Sally?" She asked her mentor expectantly.

Silence, however, was quick to object. Seeing the creature scowl at the idea of being called that, "Maybe not Sally. How about Sal?" The little smurfette suggested, with a shrug.

Stardust hummed thoughtfully and was about to decline the name when the little creature let out a gurgling croak of approval. Well, couldn't say no to that, "Well, he seems to like the name."

"Sal huh?" Mountain chuckled, "Interesting name."

"It's a perfect name!" Stardust replied, attempting to reach into the basket and pull out the Salamander so she could give the creature a hug. Only for Mountain to immediately pull her away from the stone lined basket.

"Oh nope!" Her mentor exclaimed as he pulled the hybrid away, "Don't pick it up, it could accidently burn you."

The creature also shot her a quick glare as it sunk into it's stone lined basket and curled itself back up, clearly finished with introductions and wanted to go back to sleep.

"I think Sal's tired anyway." Silence pointed out as she watched the Salamander curl its body back up into a tight ball. It almost looked like a ball of coal that was just cooling down from inside a furnace, the magma in between its coal black scales softly glowing with each breath the creature took.

"Yes, it does seem to be quite tired." Mountain said, peering into the basket to have a look for himself. Seeing that the creature was trying to sleep, he picked up the thin leather blanket and covered the stone lined basket, "Now, since you both will be taking care of the Salamander. You both will sleep here." Their mentor told them, gesturing to the room around them.

"You're giving us this hut?" Silence questioned, looking around the room.

"To make it easier to take care of the salamander." Mountain replied, "We speculate it'll be a high maintenance creature during his first few months." He explained to the apprentices before adding with a smile, "I trust you two can handle it?"

Stardust nodded, pulling Silence close to her in a single armed hug, "Of course. The two of us can handle Sal, what do you take us for? Irresponsible wartmongers?" The hybrid boasted proudly.

Silence giggled in agreement as she attempted to struggle out of Stardust's grip, "Yeah, we can handle this little guy. No matter how high maintenance he may be."

"I know I can count on you two." Mountain chuckled, "Now, while the Salamander is sleeping you two might want to start moving what you have here before it wakes up."

The apprentices nodded excitedly as they dashed out of the room to do as they were told.

Silence stared out at the great expanse of mushroom shaped houses that stretched out before her, happy to be sitting on her favorite perch once more. While spending time with the smurfettes was fun, it was actually nice to be back in the village. It was calm here, there was a soft breeze in the air that made the leaves and branches softly sway and rustle and the birds that sang along with the warm breeze, it was the best of nature's music. A beautiful never ending symphony that was always calming to listen to.

The smurfette drew in a breath as she leaned back against the tree's trunk, closing her softly glowing pools to listen to the symphony. Holding her spear on her lap, her legs gently crossed. Happy that she was finally no longer having to deal with a near constant stomach ache. Though, the longer Silence merely sat there on her favorite perch, the more she realized just how bored she was!

She felt useless! She shouldn't be just sitting here, she should be doing something useful. She had vowed to serve this clan in any way she could and she was just sitting there, doing nothing but listening to the breeze! The smurfs had already started on their chores, she should be offering her help instead of listening to the never ending symphony.

Silence stood up and placed her spear against the tree's trunk for safe keeping, before jumping down onto the ground below. She gave herself a moment to stretch before making her way down the hill to the village. Watching everyone carefully to see if there was anything she could help with.

There didn't appear to be anything to do upon first glance, in fact it seemed almost everyone was nearly done with what chores had to be done that day, most were just finishing up. Perhaps Papa or Grandpa had something for her to do. The two were usually working on spells or potions this time of day. Maybe they needed someone to gather ingredients for them? It was better than being useless.

Without a moment's hesitation the smurfette made her way over to the mushroom shaped house towards the edge of the village she was currently staying in and found that both Papa and Grandpa were outside talking to Smurfette, who was currently holding Baby.

"Hey guys." Silence greeted the four, who turned to her.

"Oh, hello there, Silence." Grandpa greeted back with a light wave, "Did you need something?"

"I was just looking for something to do, is all." Silence replied, with a light shrug "I was wondering if you had any errands that needed to be run?" She asked, hopeful.

"Well, we were already planning to go out and gather some ingredients from the forest." Smurfette told her, as she pulled Baby's thumb out of his mouth absentmindedly, "And we do need someone to take care of Baby while we're gone."

Babysitting huh? Not exactly what she thought they'd ask her to do, but at least it was something to do. Besides taking care of this tiny smurfling couldn't be that hard, she had taken care of something much more high maintenance. Baby wouldn't be that big of a problem.

"I can keep an eye on the little guy while you're gone." Silence offered, "I've taken care of smurflings and what not before."

"That'd be great Silence." Smurfette smiled, carefully handing the smurfling to her, "Okay so, his diapers are in the house, he's got a specific cupboard full of them, Greedy and Baker have his bottles so if he gets hungry go to them." She explained quickly, wanting to make sure Silence knew, though the ancient smurfette already knew most of this, she knew Baby's routine by now, "His crib is in my place, so if he gets tired feel free to go in and lay him down." Smurfette told her and was about to turn to leave but paused to add, "Oh, and if he gets fussy when you lay him down for his afternoon nap, just have Brainy read to him. It always makes him fall asleep."

Silence nodded in understanding, "Got it, Diapers are in there," She gestured to the mushroom house next to her, "Talk to Greedy and Baker if he gets hungry and talk to Brainy if he won't sleep. Don't worry, I got it covered." She reassured the smurfette who sighed.

"Sorry, I just want to make sure he'll be okay without me." Smurfette told her with a chuckle.

"Believe me, I get what you mean." The ancient smurfette replied, "Don't worry, I'll take good care of him." Both she and Stardust had that feeling during the Salamander's first few months.

"Right, I know you will." Smurfette said with a breath, "Alright, we should be back before sundown." She told Silence before turning to start their search for herbs and other ingredients.

Silence shifted her softly glowing gaze to the little smurfling in her arms, who stared back up at her, quite curious as to what they were going to do now. The ancient smurfette held Baby in front of her and gave the smurfling a friendly smile.

"Well bud, looks like I'm your caretaker for the day." She told Baby, who giggled with excitement as she cradled him again, "Now, it may have been a few million years since I've actually taken care of a childling but I don't think you'll be that high maintenance, right bud?" She questioned, knowing full well she wouldn't get an answer.

Now the question was, what should she do with him? She needed to do something that he'd find fun, or at least something to keep him occupied until his nap later. Well, babies liked playing with toys, maybe Smurfette had Baby's toys in her house. And perhaps she could bring him up to the hill where her perch sat, he'd still be in the village and she figured he might like the view.

With her plan decided, Silence made her way to Smurfette's place to find Baby some toys to bring up to the hill with them. It was a good thing she knew where it was, then again even if she didn't she could tell whose house was who's. Smurfette's place looked like a flower field exploded, there were flowers and small bushes everywhere. And the whole house was covered in different shades of pink. From the walls, the roof, the door, and even the curtains, it was all pink, with the occasional magenta and white.

Upon stepping inside, it was not much different. The whole room was different shades of pink. There were a few pieces of furniture that were a few shades of purple. Her softly glowing gaze swept the room, she found the white painted crib that Smurfette was talking about and right beside it was a little toy chest. Silence set Baby in the crib for a moment so she could look in the toy chest for something to bring with them up to the hill.

The chest opened with a shrill squeak, apon peering inside she found that there weren't that many toys inside. There were a few plushies, some blocks and many toys that were made to make noise. And there was even a toy guitar, she figured Harmony must have given Baby that.

She picked the blocks out of the toy chest, figuring that the blocks would be easier to carry along with Baby. She also grabbed a stuffed orange and white kitten out of the chest before standing up. She placed the few toys in one of Baby's blankets to hopefully make it easier to carry before going to pick up the little smurfling, who was holding a little rattle. She guessed he wanted to bring the rattle along too, alright then.

With both the blanket of toys and Baby in hand she walked out of the overly pink house and headed to the hill. And once at the top she set Baby by the trunk of the tree and laid the blanket down on the ground before spreading the blocks about it. The little smurfling was quick to climb on the blanket and start playing with the blocks.

Silence sat against the tree trunk and watched as the baby smurf played. It really had been awhile since she had babysat a childling, smurf or otherwise. Though her most memorable of babysitting jobs had been with Sal, back when he was younger and couldn't talk much. Mountain hadn't been kidding when he said that the Salamander would be high maintenance. Sal had a habit of spontaneously setting things on fire when he was younger, especially when he was angry.

Keeping an eye on a creature like Sal was chaotic at best. Random things being set on fire for seemingly no reason, magma spouts when he was hungry, puking up lava when he ate too much, or having to keep him warm when he suddenly cooled down to dangerous levels on rainy days. Yes, that little Salamander had caused her and Stardust his fair share of scares over the years. Thankfully, Baby couldn't puke up lava or anything along those lines.

Silence was brought out of her thoughts by said tiny smurfling, she glanced down to find the little one attempting to climb onto her lap with the little kitten plushie in hand. The ancient smurfette chuckled as she helped the childling up, "Well hello there little one," She cooed, "Done playing with your blocks?"

The only reply she got was a simple baby gurgle as he played with the orange and white kitten plushie. "You like that plushie, Baby?" Silence asked, not expecting much of an answer.

Baby seemed to nod as he happily giggled, once again taking the plushie and mumbling what she thought sounded like 'kitty cat' in his baby gibberish. It was pretty cute to watch. Reminded her of the times when she and Stardust would watch Sal play with his little stone ball when he was younger. Sal loved playing with objects he could push around or straight up destroy. She missed watching the little guy play, heck she missed the little guy in general. She sighed deeply and softly shook herself out of her thoughts. She could not get upset, especially in front of Baby.

Unfortunately however, Baby seemed to have noticed she looked a bit upset. He softly tilted his head curiously as he spoke, "Sad?" He tried to ask.

Silence sighed, "I'm alright, little one… just missing a friend is all." She replied.

"Fwiend?"

Silence nodded, "Yeah, I had a friend I used to care for and I miss him."

"Who?" Baby asked curiously.

This smurfling liked to ask a lot of questions, his big greenish-blue pools were filled with interest. She supposed she had to tell him something, she didn't want to accidentally upset him and he was just a baby, she supposed that telling him a little bit about Sal couldn't hurt. So with a breath, she began to explain.

"We called him Sal. He was a tiny lava lizard my clan called the Salamander." She told him, prompting him to babble excitedly, wanting to hear more, "He was quite the little trouble maker when he was young. He'd sometimes set things on fire for no reason and had a habit of accidently gorging himself and he'd puke up a bunch of lava afterwards." She chuckled softly, "He loved playing with these little stone balls that we made for him. We even had a small stash of them because he had a tendency to melt them." The smurfette's expression dropped, however, "He's gone though. I lost the little guy a long time ago…"

Baby glanced down at the kitten plushie that sat lazily in his lap, before smiling and once again presenting the plushie to her again, hoping it would make her feel better. Silence smiled and accepted the little orange and white kitten plushie. It was soft, it felt like an actual sharptooth pelt. Well, kind of, the feel was a bit off but it was barely noticeable. And the plushies face had a pair of yellow button eyes and a little sewn on nose. It was quite cute actually.

She shifted her softly glowing gaze to Baby, "Thanks bud." She said, giving the little smurfling a hug, "Say, you wanna hear more stories about Sal?" She asked the childling after a moment. To which Baby nodded excitedly.

The ancient smurfette chuckled, "Alright then, now where to start?" She murmured under her breath, "Oh, I know. The first night I cared for Sal, I was trying to feed him and he let out a mighty sneeze." She chuckled at the memory, "There was lava all over his table and he nearly set the house on fire."

The next half hour was spent telling story after story of her memories of her old friends. From meeting Sal to all the trouble they had gotten into in their youth. And Baby listened to each story with interest, up until he fell asleep, however. Silence trailed off when she noticed the little smurfling had fallen asleep, he was adorably curled up around that little kitten plushie he had been holding the whole time, absentmindedly using her as a living pillow. She didn't mind of course as long as he was comfortable, it was getting close to his nap time anyway. She supposed it would be best to take him to his crib so he could sleep more comfortably.

She stood up slowly, wanting to be careful as to not wake up the sleeping smurfling currently cradled in her arms as she carefully made her way down the hill. She decided to come back for the rest of the toys later, once Baby was resting in his crib. She didn't want to accidentally drop anything on her way to Smurfette's house.

Silence stepped carefully as she made her way down the hill. Not wanting to accidentally trip and fall with Baby in her arms. The smurfette had only made it halfway down the hill when she felt something bump her in the back. She stiffened at the sudden bump and quickly turned, to find the blanket and toys that she had brought to the hill were enveloped by a soft blue glow, floating closely behind her, following her down the hill.

"What the…?" Silence stepped closer to the floating objects. However, when she got closer to the toys, the soft glow evaporated and the toys fell to the ground. In that same moment, Baby woke up and began to cry.

"Hey, it's okay" Silence softly cooed, gently rocking the little smurfling to calm him down, "Everythings alright, I'm right here… Everythings fine." She told him uncertaintly, as she stared at the toys and blanket on the grassy ground.

The smurfette cautiously stepped closer to them and carefully moved a block with her foot, making sure it wouldn't move. It didn't, of course, but she just had to make sure. That was odd, probably the strangest thing she'd witnessed since waking up. She wasn't sure what caused the toys to float like that. Did things like that happen often around here? Was that normal? Maybe she should talk to Papa about this strange event.

For now however, she needed to get Baby to Smurfette's place so she could lay him down. And perhaps stop by Baker and Greedy's for one of his bottles. She took a moment to look back at the toys, to make sure they weren't floating behind her again before turning to make her way down the hill.