Once upon a time in an enchanted forest, there lived a magnitude of magical creatures. The smallest and kindest of these were the Smurfs; Blue and standing at just three apples tall. In their equally tiny village of mushroom cottages, these blue sweethearts go about their day singing joyfully as they build, bake, and spread smurfiness to their neighbors. On this day the village is filled with singing, dancing, and the sounds of hammering as the Smurfs prepare for the Spring Festival. The strongest smurf, Hefty held down a beam of wood as Handy Smurf hammers it in place. The two smurfs had been assigned to set up the stage that showcased the music groups. The two stop their work when they hear a honey smooth voice.
"Hello, boys."
Hefty turns around, loosening his grip on the beam. The heavy piece began to lean towards Handy; The iron brace around it not hammered in completely.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Hefty, I said hold it down!" cried Handy as he grabbed the falling beam. Hefty snapped out of his lovestruck gaze and grabbed it.
"Oh, sorry about that." Hefty replied sheepishly. Smurfette giggle as the strong smurf blushed.
"So silly, Hefty. I just wanted to see how you guys were smurfing. All this building must be tiring. If you want, I could make you guys some lemonade and cookies."
Handy replies, "That's nice of you Smurfette but we still have a lot of work to do, and it might be a while before-"
"We'd love to. One break can't hurt."
"But Hefty, we still have to finish the frame and we only have a few days before the festival."
"Oh, I don't mind waiting. The stage is important. In fact, I have to work with the smurflings on their musical practice today." Smurfette said fluffing her hair.
"How is that going anyway?" Handy asked. "I heard that Sassette has a...,"
The two male smurfs shivered like they felt the bite of winter. " Solo."
Smurfette rolled her eyes. "Come on, now. She's not that bad just a little rough and I've been giving her some lessons."
Hefty and Handy looked at each other nervously.
The female smurf's sweet eyes sharpened into an outraged glare. "Hey, what with that look? I'm a good teacher! Right?"
Before they answered, a large commotion of shouting interrupted them.
"Sassette! Come back! AUGH!"
The trio felt a shock of terror at the cry of pain uttered by Papa Smurf; A phenomenon that spread to the other smurfs as well. Every smurf dropped everything and ran to the edge of the village. Papa Smurf was standing close to the tree line. His body shook as he took in quick breaths. A hand was pressed to his right eye. Brainy, ever the Papa smurf fan, leapt to his aid.
"Papa Smurf, are you ok!? What happened?" he asked pulling the elder smurf's hand away.
Brainy and the others gasped when they see the beginnings of a bruise forming around the elder smurf's eye.
When he spoke, heavy breaths interrupted each word.
"Sassette... We... need to find... her."

Sassette ran. She didn't care where she was going. She just needed to get away from the village. Away from him. Her head still span with all this new information. She didn't understand it. All these years. All this time. He lied to her. He changed her. Everything was a lie. The village. The Smurfs. Her own mind. It was all a lie. A wave of nausea hit the poor girl as she thought of all that she was and how it was all fabricated and tinkered to be just 'smurfy." She was so distraught she didn't notice the leg until she ran right into it. She landed on her backside and looked up; Her heart stopped mid beat. She stared at Gargamel's apprentice as he had been in the process of what looked to be removing his clothes. The two stared at each other; Silence dominated the normally noisy woods. The young teen's face began to grow red.
"Oh, smurfberries. Here we go." she thought as she got ready to run.
Then Scruple dashed towards her. But instead of grabbing her he shoved her until she tumbled out of the bush.
"Get out of here!" the teen cried. Sassette sat on the ground, confusion rooting her to the spot.
Did Scruple just... tell her to leave?
The smurfling laid on the grass as the thought settled in; Just realizing that she was completely out of breath. She took in deep breaths as tired to calm her tiny heart. When she had calmed down, she sat up and scanned the area. She didn't recognize this part of the woods and it certainly wasn't anywhere near the village; A sigh of relief escaped from her. The chance of any smurf finding her here was slim. This was good. She was safe.
Then the teen came out from the brush. Sassette goggled in amazement at his outfit. He had baggy pants with deep pockets, an equally baggy violet hoodie, and his trademark hat had been replaced by a black beanie.
"Smurfing sandworms! Where did you get such smurfy clothes?! I've never seen anything like that!"
Scruple snapped his head to the ground and frowned. "You're still here? Go home already, you little runt. I'm busy."
He walked past her and Sassette jumped up and followed him; a curious smile creeping on her face.
"Busy with what? Does it have to do with those strange clothes? Did you make them? I didn't know you knew how to sew and how come you don't want to capture me? Won't Pappy Gargamel be mad? Are you...?" The little smurf continue to ramble on with questions as the teen boy increased his pace wanting to escape the small creature. After a few minutes he stopped and shot a venomous glare at her.
"AGHH! Shut up already! God, you're so annoying! I don't want to capture you. How many times do I need to tell you!? Just take the hint and get lost!" Scruple snapped.
With frown, Sassette crossed her arms.
"Geez, you don't have to be so rude. I just thought that since you didn't want to do evil stuff we could just talk" she said.
The teen cocked his brow at her. "Talk? You wanna... Why?"
Sassette peered down digging her toes into the ground. "Well, it's just... I want... I've always wanted to know more about you, Scruple and this is the first time that I've seen you do something so... unlike you. What's going on? Does this mean that you're good now?"
Scruple sighed and scratched the back of his head. "It's complicated. I just... Look, Sassette we've been doing this for years now. We try to capture you to eat or turn to gold or... whatever hair brained scheme Gargamel comes up with. And for what? Just to get even. To get rich. Immortality? Why are we doing this? I don't think even Gargamel knows anymore. He'll give me a lot of reasons but I honestly don't care anymore. I'm just so tired of people trying to mold me. Gargamel wants me to be his trusty lackey. The wizards at school wanted me to be this diligent pupil that doesn't question them. And when I go against them, they tell me who I am and what I'm good for. I'm just... so sick of it."
Sassette felt something in her spark. She could relate.
His eyes went from weariness to surprise as he seemed to remember who he was talking to.
"What the... Why did I tell her all that." he thought. Then he shook his head and continued walking again.
"I'm just... gonna do my own stuff for a while."
Sassette followed him and they shortly came to a large oak tree. It had a large knot hole in the center that glowed a pale green; The sight made her gasp.
"Grombling gophers! What's that?"
Scruple sighed heavily. "You're not gonna leave me alone are you."
The young smurfette smiled. "Not until I see where this goes. So, what's up with the tree?"
"This is something I was playing around with. Despite him bragging so much about being a great and mighty wizard, Gargy isn't exactly that. Hell, he's not even an average wizard,
Sassette squeaked at the swear making Scruple smile softy.
"I realized that like a year ago and started teaching myself when Gargy didn't have chores for me to do or wanted me out of his hair. It wasn't easy. His old spell books are all worn out and missing pages. But I was able to make it work. Once you learn the basics, you can do a lot. One of them talked about how to make portals to transport objects to places as far as other kingdoms. There was more but the writing was all waterlogged. Probably from when Gargy tried to give Azrael a bath. I started messing around with it. Tweaking energy and fluctuations here and there and something weird happened."
Sassette's eyes glinted. "What was it?"
"I made a portal to not just another place but another world."
Her mouth fell open. "Really?!"
The teen nodded as his heart swelled with pride at the girl smurf's amazement. "It took a lot of fiddling, but I got it eventually. The world on the other side is pretty amazing too. The clothes. The people. The music-"
He stopped when the little smurf grabbed his leg. "Please, let me come with you. It sounds smurf-tastic!"
The boy frowned as he pulled her off. "No."
"Aw C'mon! Pleaaaaase! I'll be so quiet you won't even no I'm here. I'll do whatever you say! Pleaaaaaase," She gazed into his eyes with her signature puppy dog stare.
Scruple returned it with a hard glare. "That cutesy stuff doesn't work on me."
The two faced off; Cuteness versus a wizard-in-trainings black heart. As the seconds ticked by, Scruple began to squirm. His heart melting at the small girl's teary big eyes. He relented with a defeated hiss.
"Aghhhh. I'm going to regret this," Then he picked Sassette up and placed her in his hoodie pocket. "You do exactly as I say. No talking. No moving. No poking your head out until I say you're clear. Got it?"
Sassette nodded nestling inside. Scruple turned to the tree, The portal's glow pulsing like a heartbeat. He took a deep breath and stepped inside it cool depths.