Fortunately, the smurfberry bushes were as magical as the Smurfs feeding on these fruit, and they grew fresh fruit all year round. A bad thing about them was that there was no good place to make a base or a hideout near the bushes, so they had to wander a long time to get supplies. It was obvious how much the eternal winter frosts and huge amounts of snow made the journey difficult for the creatures about the size of three apples.
The nearest four smurfberry bushes were close, only a hill remained to overcome. The hill maybe didn't make an impression on humans, but for a Smurf it was a real obstacle.
The wind blew straight into their faces, making their eyes produce as many tears as possible in order not to dry out. It didn't help much, and the tears quickly dried up or formed icy patterns on their cheeks that irritated their blue skin and caused pain.
Sassette couldn't even express in words just how cold she was, how tired and hungry she was, how much her legs ached from the wandering, the cold and the exertion. Hadn't it been for the fact that Handy was holding her hand and stubbornly walking forward, the Smurfess would have stopped a long time ago and frozen to the ground, or even fallen on her face, and would have never got up again.
Why couldn't she have stayed in the hideout? After all, she wouldn't go anywhere, wouldn't provoke anyone, wouldn't destroy anything. She would have wrapped herself in a ball, covered with blankets, and fallen into winter sleep. Of course, the Smurfs didn't hibernate, and the redhead lamented the lack of that ability. Yes, she would probably never wake up again, but she didn't see much sense in further existence anyway.
At least, that's what she told herself in times when it was really bad. The journey for food was difficult, yes, but it was still not enough for the girl to indulge in such depressive thoughts.
"Chilled Chihuahuas! I'm about to lose feeling in my feet!" she stammered, barely trailing her feet.
Her whining wasn't helping Handy, who was also already exhausted. Certainly her words were also of no use to Farmer, who took the lead in the expedition as usual. If the red-haired Smurfess thought her complaining made anyone feel better, she was very wrong. Both Smurfs had a massive heartache when they had to hear every day how bad she felt. Sassette must have known that, since she wasn't stupid.
"Just a few more steps!" Farmer replied, trying to shout over the howling wind.
Had Farmer looked back, he would have breathed a sigh of relief, having seen that they had already walked most of the hill. However, the Smurf would also have seen his companions walking slower and more unsteadily.
Fortunately, they had found winter outfits that hadn't been frozen, otherwise they might not had survived in that icy land. Warm capes made of thick wool surely helped to keep a little Smurf from shivering uncontrollably in the frosty wind.
Nevertheless, Farmer risked a glance behind him out of the corner of his eye and stopped. Sassette stood firm in the snow and cringed as hard as she could, not letting herself be dragged on. The distance between the two of them and Farmer had widened so much that there was no chance they would hear him shout, even if Farmer screamed his guts out.
"Come on, Sassette, there's not much left," Handy insisted, rubbing her hand between his. "We just need to get to the top and we're here."
"I know, but I can't," the girl groaned.
Farmer gave up on further climbing with some difficulty and carefully made his way down to them. "Hey." The Smurf leaned over Sassette, put a hand on her shoulder and shook her slightly. "Can you continue?"
The redhead firstly shook her head, hiding her face from them. She gently moved her feet until she was able to lift them up and down just enough to climb along. She raised her head hesitantly and nodded barely noticeably, extending her free hand to Farmer. The boy wrapped his hand around hers and he and Handy started to walk again. The Smurfess was half walking, half letting herself be pulled like a sack of potatoes.
Eventually they reached the top of the hill, where the same white landscape greeted them. The trees miraculously still held their roots firmly in the ground during the storms that hit the forest every day. Between them, in close proximity to each other, stood four smurfberry bushes covered with a small amount of snow. The location was favorable to the plants, the trees protected them against the wind and excessive snow.
"We pick as many as possible," Farmer ordered, then let go of Sassette.
The trio approached the first bush. Each of them carried deep baskets for smurfberries on their backs. The fruit picking was carried out in a hurry, not only due to unfavorable weather conditions, but also due to possible dangers. More than once, the eternal enemy of the Smurfs had found the source of their diet and tried to remember the location of the bushes and set various traps nearby.
Every now and then one of the adults paused in the picking and looked around suspiciously, ears straight and on tiptoes. In the open air, at least one pair of eyes must always have patrolled the area so that the group could react quickly in danger.
Something cracked nearby, a huge branch fell and drowned in the fluffy snow, scaring roe deer feeding somewhere in that area. The Smurfs looked around hurriedly, there was nothing to be afraid of, the group finished berry picking.
"When are we going to the village?" Sassette asked during supper.
That day, they hid in the hiding place nearest to the four bushes, where they planned to spend at least three days. It was an old tree, the trunk of which was almost empty. Almost was a fitting word as there were a lot of pits, so the place was a great hideout. The largest space served as a shelter, the remaining pits were only useful when Azrael was lurking around the area.
Sassette was sitting closest to the fire, playing with a dry stick in her hand as she waited for her portion of supper. The girl watched closely the adults pouring the collected smurfberries into one of the pits.
"We shouldn't be going there now," Handy answered. "We were nearly noticed by Gargamel recently. The area around the village isn't as safe as it used to be."
"Nowhere is safe anymore," Farmer noted, putting a few berries into the smaller basket. The Smurf stopped at the exit and said softly. "Twelve."
Handy nodded, his eyes never leaving him as Farmer left the hideout. Sassette could see the blond's lips moving as he counted silently to twelve. This was a code. When one of them left, he threw a number indicating the time in seconds he would spend outside the hiding place. The method had only made Sassette convinced that the forest had become a very dangerous place, when even going out for a moment could have ended tragically.
Farmer returned with the number twelve. The smurfberries in the basket looked different - they were no longer covered with dirt and fragments of leaves. It took exactly twelve seconds for the Smurf in straw hat to wash the fruit in the snow.
The brown-haired boy crouched down next to Sassette, letting her take three berries from the basket. The redhead impaled them on the stick and hung them over the fire. The tips of the flames barely reached the round berries. The Smurfess watched her supper with a spark in her eyes, and a few drops of saliva leaked from the corner of her mouth.
Farmer and Handy quickly joined her by the fire and took a few smurfberries for themselves. One trip for the fruit allowed them to survive for about a week. Of course, the Smurfs didn't eat only the smurfberries, so it happened that the trio had been returning to the village or searching around the village to find and take something edible from there.
"Let's wait another week," Handy spoke after a long moment of silence. "After a week, we'll explore the area around the village. Until then, we can manage with what we have here and in the burnt beech."
Farmer nodded slowly, keeping eye contact with the blond. The brown-haired sat cross-legged with a hunched back, and rested his chin on his clasped hands. Since there had been only the three of them left, the adults couldn't establish a hierarchy between themselves because neither of them trusted himself enough to feel confident in a leader role. So they had chosen a partnership, and Farmer always gladly listened to Handy's ideas and advice, as he considered the other Smurf a much more appropriate leader.
Handy, however, had an identical opinion about Farmer. He didn't feel good in a glorified role and even though they usually carried out the blond's plans, in crisis situations he strongly consisted in the brown-haired boy's ideas.
"We ought to eventually pay a visit there and do some cleaning," Farmer muttered. "We should transfer everything useful to our hiding places, and get rid of destroyed objects."
"I think it is our duty to take care of our family as well," Handy added gloomily. "I don't want them to stay in that frost forever, it's not right. The three of us managed to survive somehow, so it's in our interest to say last goodbyes and show respect to the others."
Sassette sniffed, her thoughts returning to the memorable day they had returned to the village to find it frozen. They had found other Smurfs, dead from freezing. In some cases, the parts of their icy bodies had broken off to smaller parts. The Smurfess could hardly stop the tears that the memory had created. She sniffed again and wiped her face with her sleeve.
"I think we can say goodnight to today," the blond murmured and brought his arm around her shoulders, pressing her lightly to his side.
"Okay." Farmer nodded and stood up. He stretched and left the fire to take a metal pot from one of the pits. "Forty," he muttered, catching eye contact with the other Smurf.
When Handy nodded lightly, the brown-haired Smurf went outside to gather some snow, which after melting and heating would serve them as water for bathing.
There were days when the ears could take a rest from the everlasting howling of the wind. On such days, the sun was shining and although it didn't cause the air temperature to rise, it certainly added its charm to the landscape and gave a positive energy for forest inhabitants.
On such days, the Smurfs were eager to leave their hideout and wander in search of food, patrol the area or simply use the more favorable weather to the fullest.
Sometimes, their plays outdoors devoted from typical Smurf entertainments, the games resembling animal dido. Thanks to that, the surviving trio was getting rid of the stress associated with survival.
Farmer was on the lookout. For this, he had chosen a great stone on a slight elevation from where he could see the area perfectly well. Various things could happen on the edge of the forest, sometimes it seemed to be much safer place than the forest, but in many cases the field area reminded the Smurfs that a danger was lurking everywhere.
Handy jumped out from behind the snowdrift and climbed on the cut tree trunk. There was a single hut, a fence and a backyard on the horizon line. Smoke came out of the chimney. The boy was watching the building with interest, forgetting about the play.
A moment later, a bit further, Sassette's head poked out from under the snow. The redhead looked around cautiously, and when she spotted the blond, she giggled quietly and disappeared in the thick layer of snow again. She walked slowly about a meter until she reached the trunk. She leaned out from under the snow, unnoticed. Handy was standing with his back to her, so everything went according to her plan. For a moment, her eyes were following the Smurf's tail which was swinging right and left. Seconds later the redhead jumped with a speed of an arrow and threw herself on the furry tail.
Unfortunately, she missed her prey. The blond did a surprisingly fast dodge, making the girl jump over the trunk and land on the other side of it. Her dissatisfaction was suppressed by laughing Handy, who jumped into the snow behind her and the game began again.
Farmer, who was watching them closely, couldn't stop a light smile that crept on his face. Handy and Sassette were jumping between the snowdrifts as if they were ferrets excited by the winter season.
Not only the Smurfs were romping on the field that day. The sharp eye of the brown-haired boy noticed a group of rabbits, bravely traversing the white plains. The long-eared mammals were heading along the village toward the town. Farmer had never been in the town, but he had heard a lot about urban life from the Smurfs who had had the chance to visit human settlements. Handy and Sassette counted as those lucky ones who had been to the town.
Suddenly, the Smurf's ears caught a disturbing sound, coming from the forest. It was very quiet and the playing blue duet didn't hear the sounds slowly approaching the fields. Alarmed, Farmer threw a quick look toward the upcoming noise. What he saw opened his eyes and the brown-haired Smurf jumped off the stone in panic.
At the same time, the first boar ran from the forest, and a moment after it there was the next one, and then another one, and more wild pigs ran behind them. The Smurf whistled sharply to the other two, ordering them to remove themselves off the boars way and hide somewhere safe.
The boars were followed by a pack of dogs, the predators barking and growling, trying to catch the weakest individuals. The sounds of horses and shouting humans echoed through the forest.
Farmer hid quickly between the stones, nervously looking around for his companions. Poor Sassette climbed on the trunk at the last moment, because a moment later, in the place where she had been standing, there were only fresh traces of the boar left. Unfortunately for her, one of the dogs took a clear interest in her presence and walked toward her, teeth bared.
The terrified redhead jumped back into the snowdrifts with a squeal, and Farmer ran toward her. A powerful dose of adrenaline gave them energy to fight for life. The dog bit into the snow between them and began to shake its muzzle aggressively, surprised by the frosty fluff between its teeth. The brown-haired Smurf used that moment to grab Sassette's hand and ran back to the stones.
The dog chased after them, guided by their scent.
"Hurry up, Sassette!" Farmer urged her, but at that moment he tripped over a protruding root of some plant and they both fell, giving the dog an advantage for a second.
However, before the predator could kill them, Handy cut its way, whistling and smacking his lips to attract the dog's attention. The blond was the most agile of the three survivors and was always distracting animals from Farmer and Sassette in such situations. His plan never failed, and so this time the dog changed its way and followed him toward the trunk.
Meanwhile, the brown-haired Smurf got up from the ground and pulled the Smurfess with him, barely giving her time to stand steadily on her feet. Sassette was getting dizzy with too much stimulus, she was scared, stressed, sore and confused. When Farmer pressed her into the pit between the stones, she already didn't remember those dozen or so seconds of running, as if they had never happened. Her brain also failed to register the words of the adult Smurf.
"Don't you dare move from here!"
The brown-haired boy jumped out of the snow and climbed the stones, observing the situation. The boars ran along the field, and the dogs were tearing apart two of the weaker individuals in the middle of the field. The horses and humans were approaching there, except for one man who was ineptly trying to get the dog more interested in chasing the Smurfs to listen to his orders.
The dog was jumping around the trunk, barking and growling furiously, slaloming and snapping its muzzle around.
Farmer was trying not to panic, he folded his hands around his mouth and shouted. "To the stones!"
In all the chaos, he hoped that Handy had heard him. He couldn't stay in view and watch, so he slipped into the snowdrifts and joined Sassette, who seemed to be recovering from shock.
They both listened for a while, but nothing changed. The dog was still barking, humans were still screaming. Only after a longer moment the barking began to come from different direction, first it moved away, but quickly started coming closer and closer.
Breathless Handy burst into the pit with a maddened gaze and without hesitating pushed Farmer and Sassette deeper into the pit. Behind his back fangs appeared, there was a growl and saliva flew out. The dog tried to shove its muzzle between the stones, and when its efforts were of no avail, it tried to grab one of the Smurfs with its paw. But even its paws were too big to fit in the pit.
The approaching human steps woke mixed feelings in the Smurfs. A human was able to drag the dog away from them, but they could become interested in what had distracted the animal from the desired target, and that also meant trouble. "Come on, leave it already!" the man grunted, pulling the dog by its collar.
The four-legged hunter gave up after a few jerks. The dog ran to join the rest of the pack, and the human's footsteps faded away.
Only then did Farmer dare to take a breath.
It was never good or bad. If someone had asked Farmer, he would have said that during the eternal winter days, he divided the days into more fulfilling or less fulfilling. There were no perfect days or only hopeless ones.
That afternoon, however, was extremely hopeless, because on their way back to the hideout, the trio had found traces of Gargamel, Scruple and Azrael. Their traces indicated that the wizard had been carrying something large and heavy with him, which greatly disturbed the adult Smurfs.
"Stay here," Farmer said firmly as they entered the hideout. The brown-haired was staring at Sassette seriously as a sign that this was no joke and there was no room for any arguments.
"Where are you going?" she asked, frowning.
"We will check what Gargamel is planning and whether it has anything to do with us," Handy replied hastily. "If we don't get back before sunset, you can start to worry."
"Even if we don't return until then, under no circumstances dare you leave the hideout," the dark-haired added warningly. "There's a possibility that something not dangerous will just stop us and we will be late."
The two Smurfs left their hiding place quickly, leaving concerned Sassette standing in the center of the main room with an uncertain expression.
The road to Gargamel's hovel was well known to the Smurfs, more than once the creatures had had to sneak in to save their companions, find the right spell or ingredient, or steal or retrieve an item. This time, the fresh traces marked the route of the wizard, his apprentice, and his cat.
On their way, Farmer often looked up toward the sun, wondering if they would return to Sassette before sunset as promised. If not, the girl would began to worry or, worse, leave the safe hiding place in the tree and go searching for them. If she did, and got in trouble, it would be their fault.
The boys wondered how Gargamel had managed to unfreeze his hovel. After all, it had been frozen, as had been Mother Nature's house. It was one of many mysteries they had yet to solve, and the key of which could help them save the world from eternal winter. The hovel stood in the middle of white nothingness as if nothing had happened, and the air inside the hovel was for sure more pleasant than outside.
The Smurfs climbed onto the windowsill and rubbed the glass with their hands. At the moment, their priority was to find out what Gargamel had been looking for in the forest, what he had found and taken with him, and what he would use it for.
At first glance, the inside of the hovel looked the same as it had every time they had visited. It was quite dark inside, and the space wasn't filled with much furniture.
Gargamel stood with his back to the window and flipped through pages of one of his books, Azrael was taking a nap in his basket in the corner, and Scruple was sweeping the floor. The red-haired boy was making a pile of leaves which Farmer's sharp eye recognized immediately. "Sarsaparilla," he whispered.
"What does Gargamel need sarsaparilla for? Humans don't eat it after all."
"Humans don't, but we do."
"It's not enough information to come to any conclusions," Handy said. "If I remember correctly, humans use different parts of the sarsaparilla to heal themselves. Gargamel may also need it as an ingredient for some potion."
Farmer narrowed his eyes, never taking them off Scruple as the boy was throwing the leaves in the garbage can. "Apparently they didn't need the leaves..."
Meanwhile, inside the hovel, the bald wizard was complaining under his breath, unable to find the spell he was so stubbornly looking for. Scruple noticed this, the redhead finished sweeping the floor and threw the broom in the corner, scaring Azrael off. The cat meowed shrilly and jumped to the very ceiling, clawing into the wooden beam.
"What are you searching for, Gargy?" the wizard's apprentice asked casually as he approached his master.
"I'm telling you, Scruple, now I know!" Gargamel shouted in frustration. "This time everything will go according to my plan, but out of spite I can't find this recipe!"
"Why do you need that stupid recipe anyway?"
"Don't you understand, you fool, that those stupid Smurfs eat this grunge? Now all I have to do is gather the right amount of those disgusting smurfberries and their bush fragments, and our problem with these blue gremlins will finally be over!"
"Oh, you'd give it up already," Scruple groaned. "It's always Smurfs and Smurfs! Better figure out how to fix the weather!"
"May I remind you, you goof, that we owe our winter break to you!" Gargamel pointed a finger at the boy. "One of my books describes how to make a potion that will allow me to finish off that blue trash once and for all! I just need to find the right chapter!"
"Oh no," the Smurfs muttered.
It didn't look good. Unfortunately, the boys had no idea how to stop Gargamel from carrying out his plan, they didn't even know how this mysterious potion was supposed to work.
"Let's go back to Sassette," Farmer decided. "The sun will go down soon. We'll come here tomorrow and see what we can do about it."
When the brown-haired Smurf withdrew from the windowsill, he slipped slightly and hit Handy, who fell forward and struck his forehead hard against the window pane. This caught the attention of the arguing humans and Azrael, the cat hissed malevolently and threw himself on the windowsill.
Both Smurfs jumped into the snowdrifts in panic. There was so much snow that Gargamel and Scruple had no chance of spotting them, but Azrael had the advantage. His sensitive hearing and sense of smell allowed him to track his victims without any problems.
"The Smurfs! Azrael, get them!" Gargamel yelled as he pushed Scruple toward the door.
The tom was the first to get outside and immediately disappeared into the snow. Gargamel and Scruple ran outside the hovel and looked around aggressively. However, they didn't have the slightest chance of catching the Smurfs, whose height gave them a huge advantage. So they could only rely on the cat.
Farmer and Handy ran as fast as they could, choosing a difficult road, full of small spaces in which Azrael could get stuck or injured enough to give up the chase. The tom, however, was relentless, deftly dodging and jumping over the obstacles, snorting from time to time.
The Smurfs decided to split up and Farmer turned sharply right at the nearest tree to hide. Their standard plan was the only thing that came to their mind right then. The brown-haired hoped to wait three minutes, then follow the cat's footsteps and assess the situation.
Azrael paid no attention to the Smurf in green pants, focusing on one target. Handy decided to try to mess with him in the bushes, where the twigs were thin, but strong and bushy. He could have easily immobilized the cat there, and the predator would have only made his situation worse by injuring himself with sharp twigs while struggling.
The Smurf made a very high jump, appearing over the snowdrifts, and landed on the first bush, then made a series of agile jumps between the twigs. He heard satisfying noises from behind him that meant that Azrael let himself be dragged into the trap. The situation turned out even better than he had initially thought. The tom wasn't stuck for good, but on the horizon a fox appeared. The canine was moving slowly, on bent limbs, staring at Azrael.
Handy hid as much as he could in the bush and watched. It took a moment for Azrael to notice the fox before it could throw itself at him with its teeth. The poor cat screeched in terror and in a sudden rush of adrenaline he managed to break free from the twig maze. The cat jumped to escape, and the fox chased after him, not paying the slightest attention to the Smurf.
The blond sighed in relief, then looked around. The area was getting darker with each passing moment. The boy realized with concern that the sun had already disappeared behind the horizon line.
Sassette stared anxiously at the sky, the sun had vanished a few minutes ago. The redhead was poking her head out of the hiding place as discreetly as she could. If they hadn't returned before sunset, the girl had every right to start worrying. Besides, she very much wanted to leave the hiding place and begin to search, which was against Farmer's order.
The Smurfess wrapped her cape tightly around her body and looked around slowly, taking her first hesitant steps in the snow. It seemed the world was turning one shade darker with every blink of her eyelids, which only intensified her inner panic.
A light, but cold wind was blowing, gently swaying the branches of trees where owls were sitting. The flying predators were observing the area, hooting loudly. Sassette was afraid they would take her as a nice supper instead of some rodent, and she had no chance of escaping the owls.
In addition, the redhead was afraid to speak, because it would only attract the attention of all the creatures within several meters or even kilometers, and she had no idea who else was lurking in the area. Since eternal winter had embraced the world known to her, nature had stopped being friendly to the Smurfs. Any animal could be an enemy if it wished to be, so the trio avoided contact with all forest dwellers, farm animals and domesticated pets, just in case.
She walked through the snowdrifts with careful steps, listening and looking around. Without jerky movements, she slowly and hesitantly put her feet down. Snow crackled under her light body, the sound seemed to be unbearably loud due to the silence, broken only from time to time.
New snow had already covered the traces from before the darkness had taken over the forest. Actually the snowfall had increased so much that the traces behind Sassette were very quickly covered.
"Buried Butterflies," the Smurfess stammered, hugging herself. Maybe the boys were nearby and couldn't find the right way? "Hello?!" she called out, but only an echo answered her. "Guys! Where are you?!"
After a few minutes of walking and calling out, the girl hung her head, sniffling. The rules were clear, if Farmer and Handy had promised to come back before sunset and they hadn't come back, something bad had happened to them. The problem was that the Smurfess had no idea what might had happened to them, where they were, or if they were still alive.
Her desperate calls reached the ears of someone who knew her well. As Sassette was going further and further away from the hideout, shivering with cold and terror, sharp eyes watched her every move, and their owner silently followed her step by step.
"F-F-F-Farmer!" the Smurfess continued, heading toward Gargamel's hovel, or so she thought. "H-H-H-H-Handy!"
Thanks to the full moon, the girl was able to observe her shadow, which spread over the snow in front of her. The shadow trembled no less than she did, but something was wrong there. After a moment of watching, a larger shadow appeared, falling over her figure and swallowing her own shadow.
Her heartbeat picked up speed and intensity until her entire chest hurt. The Smurfess turned in slow motion, first with her head, then with the rest of her body.
Azrael's yellow eyes stared at his victim. The tom looked furious, one of his ears was bleeding. The predator bared sharp teeth and snorted aggressively, forcing Sassette to take a few panicked steps back. The tears redhead had bravely held back for some time were now racing down her cheeks. "Help," she stammered uncertainly as her back touched the bark of some tree.
She was trapped, that was for sure. She had gone out after sunset and walked away from the hiding place. Farmer and Handy were Smurf knows where and they had no idea that their protegee was about to be torn to shreds by Azrael.
"Somebody help me!" she finally screamed, hoping that someone would decide to save her.
Her legs suddenly lost all strength and she sat down on the snow, huddling and waiting for the worst to come. Azrael raised a paw and claws extended, the cat opening his muzzle wider and wider.
Neither he nor Sassette expected a snowball that hit the predator right in the head, just behind the injured ear. The tom hissed in rage and turned his head in the direction from which the snowball had flown.
A few meters away, on a fallen tree, Handy was standing and tossing another snowball in his hand, ready to throw it on the cat again. His serious expression informed the tom that the Smurf wasn't joking and came to save the red-haired Smurfess. "Remember me, meower? I introduced you to a certain fox. It asked about you just a moment ago," the blond growled and threw the snowball at Azrael. "It said it would be glad to chew on your other ear!"
This time the cat avoided the snowball, let out a feral squeak and rushed toward Handy. The Smurf immediately disappeared in the snow to draw the cat as far as possible from Sassette and their hideout.
Sassette didn't know whether to sigh in relief or worry about Handy's fate. She didn't have much time to think though, as Farmer appeared out of nowhere and yanked her to her feet by her cape. Without a word, he grabbed her hand and pulled her along as he ran toward the hideout. The girl couldn't feel safe yet, the brown-haired boy was surrounded by such an air of hostility that she expected at least a lynching for leaving the shelter.
Farmer pushed her roughly inside. "Stay here," he barked and ran out into the frost.
He didn't have time to deal with the disobedient Smurfess at the moment. Handy was leading Azrael further and further away from their hideout, but also from Gargamel's hovel and the area generally known to them. It could end tragically, the dark-haired Smurf had to act and think quickly so that Handy eventually returned home safely.
The desperate Smurf took a shortcut. In the moonlight he could see Azrael breathe down Handy's neck. There was no chance that he could outgo them or cross the path with them, he was far to slow for that. But he had to try something, because the trio's survival depended on it.
Handy tried again to lead Azrael into a tight space where the tom could get stuck long enough for the Smurf to ran away and return safely to the hideout. Unfortunately, the predator wasn't that stupid, he didn't fall for that trick the second time.
The blond cursed quietly under his breath, jumping out from behind the bush. It was bad luck that he jumped straight onto a cliff and slipped off it, then landed on a frozen lake. Azrael jumped off the hill just behind the falling Smurf, but before appearing on the lake he had collided with some branch, because he looked more scarred than a few minutes earlier when he landed on the ice. He also seemed to be favoring one of his hind legs.
They were both focusing on themselves for a moment, trying to keep their balance on the smooth ice. Farmer crouched down carefully and began to walk slowly down the first hill. He kept his eyes on the frozen lake, as if he was afraid that if he took his eyes off it, even for a second, something bad would happen.
Azrael clawed on the ice and rose slowly on trembling limbs to a standing position. When he found the right position and balanced his body correctly, he turned his hateful gaze to his prey. It was enough motivation for Handy to immediately get back on his feet and run ahead on the ice. Badly for him, the cat had a massive advantage on ice and, though Azrael slipped at the same time as him, he swung his paw powerfully, the paw together with claws hit the Smurf's back with great force, pushing him out of the way.
The ginger predator fell on one shoulder, he slipped on it across the rest of the lake until he fell on the shore and hit his injured hind limb against a root of one of the trees.
Under the influence of the impact, the blond half flew over the ice, half slipped on it, changing his course uncontrollably, and finally fell into one of the snowdrifts, leaving a dark trail behind him.
Farmer, who was watching the whole thing gasped as he saw the traces of liquid that terrifyingly reminded him of blood. Suddenly forgetting his safety, he quickly ran off the cliff in the direction in which Handy had disappeared between the snowdrifts. The brown-haired paused only for a second when he spotted Azrael standing on his limbs. The cat was limping on two legs, he looked at the Smurf once, confused, then slowly limped toward Gargamel's hovel.
Taking this as a sign of surrender, Farmer sighed in relief, then ran the last few meters to Handy. Before he got there, the blond managed to dig himself out from under the snow and stood unsteadily.
"Handy!" Farmer shouted, running toward him. The Smurf kept repeating to himself that everything was fine, but the condition of his friend standing in front of him told him otherwise.
The Smurf in blue pants was limping, trying to move his right hip as little as possible. But that wasn't what worried Farmer the most. A torn cape, on which a darkening stain was forming, and dark drops that ran down and colored the snow at Handy's feet. The faint glow of the moon made it possible to identify the color as dark red.
The boys didn't speak on the way back. The blond pressed his body against Farmer, shocked, aching and weakening with each passing moment due to loss of blood and the freezing weather. He fought hard not to give up and stay awake. With gritted teeth, he stubbornly trudged with the brown-haired Smurf to the hideout.
In the hideout, Sassette got up from the ground as soon as the adults burst in. Farmer was furious, it was clearly noticeable. He quickly helped Handy calmly slide down to the ground, and then he immediately strode toward Sassette. He grabbed her shoulders, slapped her across the face, then shook her violently. "You want to kill us?!" he screamed, glaring at her. "We told you to stay in the hideout! You don't speak smurf?! Why aren't you listening to what is said to you?!"
At first, the redhead was too shocked to react to it in any way. It was only when Farmer stopped shaking her like a rag doll that the girl began to cry again. "I'm sorry!" she squealed, panicked. "You weren't coming back and I thought that something had happened to you! I didn't want anyone to get hurt! Really!"
"But that's exactly what happened! And it's all your fault! If you had been sitting politely in our hiding place, as I told you to do, it would have never happened!"
Sassette wasn't the only one crying, the adults were shedding tears themselves, working the dangerous situation off. Farmer's frustration began to subside only after a few minutes of hollow silence. During that time, the poor Smurfess retreated into the corner and sat down, pressing her knees to her chest. She knew that Farmer was right, it was because of her that Handy was injured.
The brown-haired boy ran his hands over his face, sighing heavily. "You could at least apologize properly," he muttered grimly.
They spent the next minutes in silence, neither of them paying attention to the others. Handy and Sassette didn't move an inch, while Farmer bustled about the hideout. He lit a fire in the center of the room, then took a large pot and went outside. He didn't bother giving them a number, he didn't have the strength to think right now. He filled the pot with snow quickly and went back inside. He hung the pot over the fire and took another with him out.
Another minutes had passed, four pots hung over the fire. The dark-haired Smurf bent over kneeling Handy and carefully took off his cape, then unbuckled his straps and took his sweater, leaving his upper body naked.
His and Sassette's eyes saw deep lacerations running along the right shoulder blade and arm. The blond wrapped his arms around himself, shivering from cold and exhaustion. He looked scared and angry, angry with himself for having gotten caught by the cat.
Farmer took a rather large stick from one of the pits and cleaned it thoroughly in one of the pots. Then he did the same with one of pieces of cloth, twisted it and tied a knot at one end of the stick. He leaned the stick carefully against the wall and left it for later. He put all the pots on the ground. "The water's not hot, but it's just the right temperature," he said quietly, standing over Handy.
When the other Smurf nodded lightly, watching him out of the corner of his eye, the brown-haired boy spilled the contents of one of the pots on his back. Handy hissed sharply, closing his eyes tightly and gritting his teeth, letting a few tears escape from under his eyelids. Farmer splashed the water from another pot on him, trying not to respond to his friend's discomfort. He felt terrible about the situation, but he knew it wasn't half as terrible as the next thing he was going to do.
"We can't just dress it, these wounds are too deep and extensive," he said, reaching for the towel. As carefully as he could, he wiped up Handy's body. His hands trembled at the thought of what he planned to do. "I'm sorry," he muttered when the blond hissed in pain. "I'm going to have to burn your wounds," he said in a weaker voice that broke with each syllable.
Sassette was sobbing softly, covering her face with her hands. Handy's tail curled up into a ball, it was the only sign of his anxiety. The Smurf held on bravely and nodded again.
The stick, forgotten a few minutes ago, was again in Farmer's hands. The Smurf took a shorter stick from one pit, washed it quickly in the water, and then held it close to Handy's face. The injured Smurf stuck the stick in his mouth, biting lightly on it.
The cloth at the end of the longer stick was immersed in the flames. Farmer stared at the torch he had created, lost in thoughts. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sassette put her hands to her ears. The girl was mentally preparing herself for the terrible procedure. However, for some reason she couldn't take her eyes off the boys. Her mind told her to watch as if she was subconsciously trying to punish herself for breaking the ban.
"I'm sorry," Farmer whispered, leaning over trembling Handy. Deciding to get right to it, he brought the flame closer to the wound and pressed against it.
The shorter stick didn't help much. A horrible howl filled with agony spread through the old tree. No Smurf had ever made such a frightening sound before, no Smurf had ever heard such a sound before.
Sassette pressed her hands against her ears with such force that she felt as if she was about to crush her skull. Nothing helped her drown out Handy's screams. At least she was sitting in the far corner and could try to block out the sounds. Poor Farmer had no such possibility.
The dark-haired Smurf felt disgusting while deliberately hurting his companion. The thought that he was doing it for their sake didn't help him. He moved the torch lower, revealing the burned part of one of the wounds. It didn't look professional, but it certainly wasn't too bad. The skin melted and conglutinated, unfortunately there were some serious burns that couldn't be avoided.
One thing was for sure, it was the worst thirty minutes of their lives.
The fire crackled not merrily after being fed with the cape and the sweater. There was no point in pretending that those clothes could be sewn up and used again. Well, Farmer could have cut them and turned them into useful rags, but he thought that the sight of both garments would too often remind them of the whole tragedy.
The Smurf also had thrown the torch into the fire, as well as the short stick on which there had been marks of Handy's teeth. One look at the other Smurf made the brown-haired boy want to cry. He would never be able to wipe that image out of his mind. The torch in his hand, pressed against his friend's body. His screams, crying, terror, pain, suffering.
He could feel Sassette's gaze on him. Now that it was over, he felt guilty, felt bad about hitting her and treating her so harshly. Of course, she had done the wrong thing, broken the ban, and gotten them in trouble, but she had done it because she had been worried. She couldn't have predicted that something bad would have happened because it had been the first time that blood was shed.
When he looked in her direction, their eyes met for a brief moment. The girl sniffed, made a weird soft noise, and turned her back to him, pressing her forehead against the wall. It only hurt Farmer more. He understood that the redhead needed time, so he let her spend the night in the corner.
He sighed heavily and moved away from the fire, closer to the wall, picked up his blanket from the ground and crawled next to Handy lying huddled in a ball.
He wanted to lay down close, to make him warmer, but even the blond showed no desire to be close to him. "I'd rather you didn't sleep with me tonight," he whispered, his voice trembling, not even turning his head toward Farmer.
The brown-haired frowned, feeling another twinge in his heart. His eyes were glazed with tears, and so were Handy's, but neither of them knew it. The boy moved away reluctantly, respecting the blond's decision. He himself wouldn't have wanted to sleep with himself tonight.
Taking a place in some distance from his companions but remaining between them, Farmer wrapped himself in the blanket and rested his head on the ground. He had a feeling that no one in their hideout would sleep at all that night.
Inspiration came from the episode: "Scruple and the Great Book of Spells"
If there's someone very interested in this one-shot and AU, I'll gladly write and publish the whole AU story.
Notes:
In my story, the Smurfs look different than the originals. They are still small creatures, but their silhouettes ar more humanlike shaped, they also have long ears, similar to the elves, but not entirely elven, flattened noses like the Na'vi from Avatar movie, hair of various colors (Farmer = brown hair, Handy = light blond hair), full clothing and long tails, similar to cat's or monkey's.
I decided to create another word to describe a female Smurf, because "Smurfette" is already being used as a name for a character and it'd feel weird for me to use it also as a word. So that's how the word "Smurfess" was born.
