Chapter 14: Injured
TWO MONTH LATER
In time the friendship between Hefty and Toughette returned back to normal. First thing in the morning they would go for a jog then afterwards they would work on their daily chores together. As soon as they finished their chores, both of them would play a combative sport.
This morning started out no different. Hefty and Toughette got up at the crack of dawn to do their normal workouts; push-ups, sit-ups, lifting weights, and stretches. After they met at the watering well to head out for their morning jog along the path in the woods. During their jog, a noise suddenly caught their attention.
"What was that?" Asked Toughette. She stopped jogging in order to hear the noise more carefully.
"I'm not sure." Hefty responded, stopping beside her. "Lets go check it out."
Both of them carefully walked up to the bush and pushed through the leaves to see Gloria talking to Phoebe. Instantly, Hefty and Toughette know that they are up to no good. In order to get a better look they slowly crept closer. Toughette tapped Hefty on the shoulder before pointing up to a nearby tree.
"I'm going to climb this tree to get a better look." She whispered.
Hefty nodded in agreement. He stayed where he was, downwind from Phoebe.
Gloria dug her shovel as deep into the earth as she could make it go. With an upward thrust, she was able to pull up more dirt making the hole she is digging deeper.
"I'm almost there, Phoebe. Just a couple of more inches, and we will have the Scepter of Faith." She cackled as she kept digging.
"Meow." Phoebe snobbishly replied while licking her paws.
"Scepter of Faith? This can't be good." Toughette muttered to herself high on a tree branch.
"I know this has to be the spot," Gloria groaned. "The kid that sold me this map said it is a guaranteed find."
"Too much like Gargamel." Hefty chuckled quietly to himself still hiding safely in the bush.
Gloria pushed the shovel into the earth once more only this time she felt something solid. "Ah, finally." She crowed.
"Meow?" Phoebe perked her ears forward in interest as her master dug into the dirt with her bare hands, and pulled out a medium size box.
"See Phoebe. I told you." Gloated Gloria as she pulled out a snake-like stick from the dusty old box.
"Well, I'll be smurfed." Hefty muttered.
Toughette leaned forward to get a better look at the scepter on a small branch. But she didn't realize that it wasn't strong enough to support her weight, and it snapped.
"Whoa!" She yelped as she struggled to regain her balance, but by then it was too late. Gloria and Phoebe spotted her.
"Toughette!" Hefty warned. He instantly got an idea on how to help Toughette when he saw Gloria put the scepter down by the box to investigate the smurfette in the tree.
"Oooh, what do we have here? Looks like a smurfette. But not just any smurfette, its Toughette." Gloria cooed. Toughette let out a huff, and crossed her arms. "I wonder where that boyfriend of yours is?" The witch said teasingly.
"Boyfriend?" Toughette asked questionably.
"Yes, that Smurf I've seen with the bunch of you last month." Gloria made an evil grin.
"Oh him? He's not my boyfriend." Toughette quickly waved off in a bashful manner. "More like just a friend." She noticed that Hefty was sneaking towards the scepter, so she played more into a distracting role. The only problem was that Phoebe is climbing the same tree Toughette is on. Toughette had no clue the cat was stalking her.
"Say, Gloria, how many witches does it take to make a potion?" Toughette joked.
"Why you little… I outta…" Stammered Gloria as she tried reaching the tall branch to grab Toughette, while the young smurfette stood gloating down at her.
"Hey, Gloria!" Hefty called out from behind.
Gloria turned and gasped when she saw what the Smurf held above his head. He stood mockingly by the cliff where the river flowed down below. Hefty made sure he was not too close to the edge. For if he didn't see how high he was then he wouldn't react in a panic.
"NO! Give back my Scepter, you little blue rodent!" Gloria lunged at the smurf.
"Oh, I'm sorry does this belong to you?" He smirked before tossing it over the cliff.
"Nooo!" The witch screamed as she ran passed the smurf and dove into the river below the cliff after the scepter.
Hefty shook his head and chuckled at the silly human witch, and her behavior over in inanimate objects. As he turned to Toughette, whom was still in the tree, he saw yet another danger.
"Toughette! Look out!" He shouted and pointed for her to look behind her.
The golden haired smurfette turned her head to see Phoebe's claws coming down towards her. Toughette managed to leap back in time, but the sight of Phoebe's claws brought out her fear of needles. She started to panic, and inched backwards on the branch. Phoebe hissed as she inched forward getting closer to the young smurfette. A crackling sound came from the tree branch. Suddenly, both Phoebe and Toughette fell towards the earth.
Toughette lands hard, knocking her out cold. Phoebe on the other hand, lands perfectly on her feet. When the grayish-blue cat turned to see Toughette lying on the ground, helpless, Phoebe took this opportunity to have a smurfette-snack. Phoebe licked her chops as she carefully stocked closer to her pray. She stops when something grabbed her tail. Phoebe spun her head around to see Hefty tugging at her, forcing her to back away from Toughette.
Phoebe went to swing her claws at Hefty, but he ducked then threw a punch at her nose. Shocked, Phoebe rubbed her sore nose before retreating into the woods. Hefty let out a deep breath of relief, but knew it wasn't over yet. He ran up to check up on Toughette's condition.
"Toughette?" He whispered as he rolled her over to see if she would still be alive. Toughette fluttered her eyelids a few times, but did not remain conscious long enough to respond to Hefty.
"Hang on Toughette, I'll get you back to the village where Nursette and Mama Smurf can help you."
Hefty carefully picks her up into his arms and ran as fast as he could back to the smurfette village. As he ran through the village, every smurfette stopped what they were doing to see Toughette in his arms. They grew worried when they noticed that she appears injured. Hefty didn't stop running until he arrived at the clinic.
"Nursette! Open up! We have a medical emergency here!" He hollered at the door as a crowd of smurfettes gathered curiously to see if their sister would be all right. When Nursette did not respond right away he got nervous, so with one hard kick he knocked the door wide open. The kick nearly took the door right out of its hinges. Nursette nearly leaped out of her skin when the door almost hit her in the face.
"Sorry about the door," Hefty apologized. "But Toughette is hurt. Where is Mama Smurf?"
"Quickly, bring her to the bed." Nursette ordered. She then turned outside and pointed to the closest smurfette. "Cowgirl, go get Mama Smurf!"
"Right." Cowgirl said with a nod. Without further hesitation, she ran off to Mama Smurf's home.
Hefty carefully set Toughette down on the bed. He studied her features as she lie peacefully. Her breathing had become so shallow that it appeared that she wasn't breathing at all. He worried that she might not make it. Guilt fell over him. He began blaming himself for not being closer so he could catch her as she fell. Hefty reached down and gently moved a few strands of golden blond hair from Toughette's face. It was at that moment that he realized how beautiful she really looked. Underneath that toughness was truly a delicate smurfette. He snapped back to reality when a blue hand touched his shoulder.
"Why don't you go wait outside, Hefty, Mama Smurf and I will take it from here." Nursette said calmly.
Hefty turned to see Mama Smurf rushing into the room. Seeing that he won't be much use standing around, he decides to cooperate and leave the clinic.
"I'm sure she will be alright, Hefty." Mama Smurf said reassuringly.
Hefty nodded before leaving the clinic. He walked passed the broken door, thanks to his kick. With a sigh, Hefty sat down on the bench just outside of the clinic. He made a mental note to fix the door later. Right now he would wait until word is given on Toughette's condition.