A/N: I wasn't a Smurfs fan as a kid. I was aware of it, but was never exposed to the original series. However, after seeing a snippet of Smurfs 2 while flipping through channels, I became interested and did some research, all of which ultimately led me to watching The Lost Village in full. And I can totally get why it stands where it is. Why it did better than the first 2 films. And why it holds the reputation it does today. All of which I will save for the Author's Note at the end of this chapter.

Since I'm not a die-hard Smurfs fan, apologies if I get any of the facts within this fic incorrect, like how their village structure operates, exactly how much 'smurfing' is used, etc. This is all just for my fun writing ventures. And if you enjoy it, that's a bonus!

Timeline-wise, it occurs directly after the events of Lost Village. Leave a review if you wish, letting me know what you like and don't like. I always enjoy reader feedback; it lets me know what the general public likes to see, especially for a franchise that I've never ever touched before.

And at the time of writing this intro, I realized that it's only a few days before the 5th anniversary of this movie. Five years…well, better late than never.

The Storm Within

Chapter 1 – Here Comes the Storm

April 5, 2022 – November 21, 2022

"Isn't this just totally the greatest?" Smurfblossom babbled a mile a minute at the dining table while stuffing her face with cake at the same time. Maybe it was the sweetness of the dessert, but the vibes of enthusiasm radiating off her aura were enough to tell the world that she was lost in another of her blissful hazes, one that made the pink blossom pinned to her hat bop about in sync with her joyous overflow. "I mean, making one new friend is already smurf-tastic enough. But who coulda' guessed that we would make friends with a hundred new Smurfs in less than a day?!"

Seated to her left was Smurflily, who had a similar smile as she followed her friend's gaze around the feast that was well underway. The girl with the lily pinned to her hat simply let Smurfblossom blow out hyperactive steam as the whole ordeal continued to fall within the fabric of the bubbly Smurf's brain. "It is pretty exciting," she agreed calmly. "But remember to breath, Blossom. We don't want to overwhelm our new neighbours. First impressions are important, you know."

Smurfblossom laughed out loud, spitting crumbs everywhere. "You're seriously asking me to smurf my energy at a time like this?! Just feast your face with all this food! It's like this village is an enchanted dimension filled with the secrets to stomach fuel! I feel like I'm gonna smurf! Would that be too much? Would it be uncool if I smurfed right here, right now? What about you, Stormy? Ya feelin' what I'm feelin'? Tell me you're feelin' it!"

Both girls turned to their right where the third member of their group – a girl whose hat was unique from the rest with protective earflaps and a four-leafed clover – was quietly chewing on a sarsaparilla muffin. Her short-cut blue hair was rather unkempt compared to her companions, and she wore a purple shawl over her dress and a wristband made of tightly woven leaves on her left wrist. Her narrowed eyes and stiff stance were a direct contrast of Smurfblossom's wound-up state.

"Whatever," Smurfstorm said in her typical flat voice.

It was convincing enough, because Smurfblossom giggled and went right back to talking. Smurfstorm was glad; within their dynamic group of Blossom the Beauty, Lily the Brains, and Storm the Brawn, she wasn't much of a talker.

There were two hundred Smurfs all-told. Following Smurfette's revival, Papa Smurf had ordered Chef and Baker Smurf to throw together a massive celebratory feast. In no time at all, long tables had been set up in the centre of Smurf Village and laden with towering piles of colourful food, many of which the female Smurfs of Smurfy Grove had never tasted before. Smurfstorm wasn't a stranger to trying new food. Being an outdoorswoman like herself meant that she often needed to choke down unusual delicacies or quite literally anything that would pass off as food. Admittedly, this stuff tasted far better than the twigs and leaves she had been trained to eat.

At the head of the next table over, she saw Smurfette eating her meal while surrounded by a knot of Smurfs including Papa Smurf, Smurfwillow, several boys of the village, and several more girls of the tribe, all of them hammering a million questions at her. Storm herself had a few things she wanted to say to the blonde Smurf, particularly an apology for her harsh treatment upon first meeting, but she figured that there would be time later. Besides, there were too many Smurfs hogging her attention right now and making quite a scene.

In fact, she could see activity unfolding everywhere with the clatter of utensils and laughter of Smurfs mixing into the din. There was even a boy gnawing on the end of a table. Weird.

Scattered discussions were presently floating around the tables. Stuff about whether Gargamel was going to ever be back, how terrifying it had been to be captured by a hideous and ugly creature over fifty times their size, and what on earth a sarsaparilla was supposed to be. The boy Smurfs were busy mingling with the girl Smurfs, all looking just as astonished as Hefty, Brainy, and Clumsy had. It made sense, Storm thought, given they had only ever known a single female Smurf for most of their life. But of course, it would be a far bigger shock for the girls, who had quite literally for all of their life never met a boy before. And it was clear to Storm that her sisters were way keener to get to know their male counterparts, involving methods that were a little more on the touchy-feely side.

Smurfstorm was probably the only girl who was not partaking in these outlandish kinds of greetings and introductions. The day when you saw this rough and tumble warrior giggle uncontrollably would be when Blossom decided to no longer break out in that annoying song of hers. Simply put, Storm was not going to let loose just because she was meeting new Smurfs. Even though everyone in this village was clearly on the same side and most of the boys had been welcoming towards her, she kept her trusty bow and quiver of arrows close. Just in case.

"Have you ever seen so many boys before in your life? I haven't!" Blossom continued to gab away. "There's just so many of them! And it's still fun to say…'Boy'. 'Boy'. 'Boy!' Boy-eeEEEeeeee!' Ha ha ha!"

Boys. That's all Storm seemed to hear about ever since they started eating. Sure, she was fascinated by these blue blobs, but not that much. Her tribe had encountered many strange creatures and lifeforms over the years, so why were these any different? Yeah, discovering a new kind of Smurf was unheard of until recently, but not that amazing, right?

The way some of the girls were acting was starting to creep her out. While many of them were simply happy to meet and greet, there were a few who were acting a little too giggly for Storm's liking. Her ears, despite having the added protection behind those earflaps, felt like they were bleeding from all the constant squealing, a little like when the first three boys had stepped into their territory yesterday, but cranked up to the next level. Her distain was further manifested when Smurfjade and Smurfclover stopped by with empty plates to sample treats from their table and she caught snippets of their exchange thanks to their not-so-quiet whispering voices:

"Did you see the boy with the pencil tucked on his ear? He's such a cutie!"

"Speak for yourself, Jade. I want find the one with the feather in his hat again. Everything he says is in rhyme! Whenever he talks, I feel like I have beetles in my stomach!"

With a mental facepalm, Storm looked away, only to land her sights on Smurfmelody laughing with the boy named Harmony Smurf about who knows what. And they were sitting way too closely together.

She groaned audibly, unwilling to believe this was happening. It just wasn't proper. Smurfwillow had raised them to be warriors. Independent self-sufficient survivors fully capable of distancing themselves from the outside world and fight whatever dangers lay in the forest. It was the keystone of their life-training, especially hers. And here were her own sisters dropping their guard to fawn over these blue blobs called boys. So unprofessional.

But even Smurfwillow was displaying a weird affection towards the boys' leader Papa Smurf. Smurfstorm just couldn't get it.

All in all, she just didn't feel like partying like the other Smurfs, but there were much bigger reasons why that was. She felt…well, she didn't know exactly what she was feeling. Too angry. Too confused. Too…sad. Sad that they had lost their home. Upset with herself for failing to protect her village from Gargamel. But she kept all these feelings locked inside, masked by a firmly stoic face that refused to let anyone see the mess of emotions brewing inside her, or realize that right now, she felt like completely breaking down and crying over all their misfortunes…

Despite this though, Storm wished that she could loosen up like the rest of her sisters. Though she would never admit it, a part of her locked deep down yearned to be able to smile so casually and maybe even get along with these boys. But her hardened reputation forbade her from just dropping her guard like that. And the storm within her stomach wasn't helping.

"Stormy? Smurf to Stormy?"

Storm blinked. Pulled out of her ruminations again, she looked at Blossom and Lily, both of whom were staring right back at her with amused expressions. "What?" she asked.

Blossom giggled. "Which do you think is better: 'bro' or 'dude'? 'Cuz they're both hilarious! We should write a book about all the new words we're learning just to stay on track. I bet I could fill it in less than a week!"

Clearly, Storm had not been missing out on anything important.

"They're both stupid," she grumped.

"Also," Blossom continued, not hearing her at all, "Lily and I were thinking that the boys are kinda cute. What's your take on that?"

Such a dumb question made Storm scowl.

"Why would I think any of them are cute?" she snorted, saying that last word with tremendous disgust that made her want to gag. Mushy words like that had no business being in her vocabulary. "They're not cute. They're just boys."

Lily took a slow sip of her raspberry juice. "Well actually, Storm, I'm starting to see what Blossom means," she said thoughtfully. "They are rather cute. And so sweet too. Did you see the way Handy offered me this chair before we ate? It made me feel so…so…"

"Weak?" Storm offered scathingly. She recalled the Smurf boy named Handy doing that earlier and still couldn't stomach down the scene.

"No," Lily replied, now looking a tad giddy. "I felt…well gee, I'm not even sure, to be honest. It made me feel kinda warm and fuzzy inside."

"Warm and fuzzy," Storm repeated in a very disdainful tone, as if those words described some sick disease.

"Yeah, I guess," Lily shrugged. "No one's ever offered me a chair before."

Feeling the last of her patience empty out, Storm rubbed her face in frustration. "What's the big smurfing deal?" she groaned. "They're just boys, they're nothing special. They're way too different from us. Why are all the girls suddenly losing their smurf now? That Gargamel freak probably wiped out half our minds in that fishbowl."

Blossom and Lily both shivered as the nasty memory came forward. Storm herself felt a bit shaken from her own words.

"You know, Stormy, they're not that different from us," Lily corrected kindly. "Everyone here is a Smurf. They're unique in certain ways here and there of course, but I'm sure once you get to know them, you'll see that we're all very much alike."

"Maybe you should talk to that boy named Grouchy," Blossom suggested. "He's just like you!"

Storm ignored her. "Whatever. I still say they're are too weird for me." She stuffed the rest of her muffin into her pouting mouth and chewed on it in an aggressive manner.

"Hmmmm – what's goin' on over here?"

An incredibly annoying voice rose much too closely to her ears. Storm whirled around and to her shock came face to face with an enormous pair of eyes: one of the boys had somehow sidled up next to her with a pair of binoculars aimed right at her.

SMACK!

In a flash, Storm's fiery instincts snapped, making her foot shoot forward and kick the boy's binoculars clean out of his hands and landing 90 feet across the street with an audible crack. Nosey Smurf was left with outstretched hands and a stunned face.

"None of your business, ya parasite, now BEAT IT!" Storm barked at him so loudly that her voice alone seemed to knock him to the ground.

Nosey gulped and crawled away. "Well…alright," he mumbled quietly.

Storm watched him go and huffed loudly. "Unbelievable," she snarled.

She turned to face Lily and Blossom, both of whom looked shocked. Several of the other girls nearby were also staring at her. But one growling glare from her was all they needed to look away and resume eating as if none of that had just happened.

Lily frowned. "Storm…"

"What?" Storm snapped at once. "He started it!"

"I guess," Lily said, sounding quite conflicted as if she didn't know whose side to take here. "But you could have been a little nicer to him. Oh, I hope you didn't hurt him too badly."

Storm crossed her arms. "Well, newsflash, Lily: I don't do nice. And if that peeping twerp knows what's good for him, he won't be smurfing those binoculars again. Why should I be nice to Smurfs who aren't nice back?"

Blossom managed to put on a small hopeful grin. "They're not all like that, Stormy. I mean, okay, that was kind of mean of him. But the rest of the boys are really nice! It's too bad you were out doing recon. Otherwise, you would have seen Hefty and Brainy pranking each other all the smurfing day…it was a riot!"

"Wait a minute," Lily suddenly said, "what about Clumsy? You were out smurfing the whole time with him! Surely you two got to connect at least."

Caught off-guard for once, Storm stared at her before letting out a dry chuckle. "What, the klutzy blob? You're joking right?"

Blossom gasped dramatically and her forkful of Smurfberry souffle clattered to the table as her hands went flying to her open mouth. "Oh my geez to petes, I forgot all about that! You actually smurfed the whole afternoon one-on-one with a boy!" she burst out. "What was it like, Stormy, huh? Are you friends with each other? Are you seeing him again? What happened between you two?!"

With Nosey Smurf clearly out of their minds, both Blossom and Lily were now staring intently at Storm, who in turn glared with narrowed eyes at the ridiculousness of this ordeal.

"Nothing," she snapped, trying to keep her voice down as other Smurfs sitting nearby were sure to eavesdrop on this. "Absolutely nothing happened. We ran into Gargamel's stupid bird, shot it out of the sky, and headed back. That clueless boy just barged into my space and…"

"But Clumsy didn't barge into your space," Blossom interrupted with a big silly grin. "You made him come with you, remember? We all saw you pluck him onto Spitfire's back yourself."

"And when you two came back," added Lily, "Clumsy was flying Spitfire, not you. So something definitely happened during the journey. You don't let just anyone smurf command over your dragonfly."

Even though her steely eyes were darting between her friends through mere narrowed slits on her otherwise unchanged face, Storm's mind was working frantically to come up with a good excuse so they could end this conversation right now.

"Well…that pesky dodo was hot on our tails, so I told him to fly us so I could save our butts from becoming airline snacks. After that, he just kept smurfing the reins," she finally responded in a low tone so only they could hear her.

"But that doesn't mean anything," she hastily added with a glare. "So cut the smurfless jibber jabber, will ya?"

Blossom was clearly trying to hold back a fresh round of squeals or even her favourite song that Storm found very irritating, but never said out loud. Luckily, the bubbly girl managed to restrain herself and settled for a swift salute. "Aye aye, Sergeant Stormy Cloud," she giggled.

Storm rolled her eyes. Folding her arms, she scrunched up into a grumpy ball; she had dodged the arrow this time. For how long, she didn't know.

"And for your information, Blossom, I am not friends with him," she spat derisively. "Besides, even if I wanted to see him again…which I don't," she scowled in clarification, "I doubt I ever will. There's a bazillion boys here who all look exactly the same. Picking him out of this crowd would be like smurfing a needle in a prickled pear patch." She blew her blue bangs out of her face and looked away in a huff.

And right there and then, her eyes immediately landed upon someone. Way at the end of their long table, serving as a waiter tonight as he tried to remove empty plates and bowls and replace them with fresh desserts from the wooden trays he was carrying, which wobbled precariously in his trembling hands, was Clumsy Smurf himself.

The irony of all this slapped Storm so hard that she almost yelled "Oh come on!", but managed to restrain her tongue at the last second. Her mouth remained silent, yet her eyes stayed locked on the boy.

She was right. Clumsy looked exactly like the other boy Smurfs who didn't wear different clothing like Handy in blue overalls or the one dressed like a mime. But there was something about him that seemed to make him stand out. It wasn't the fact that he kept tripping like he had two left feet. Perhaps it was his hat, which seemed to constantly slip over his eyes and made him have to keep pushing its brim higher up to see clearly. Or maybe it was the subtle hunch of his back, as if preparing to duck for a crow flying too low that could knock him over. Maybe it was the way his eyes grew two times bigger when he was nervous or how they would dart about, as if alert for signs of danger. Or it could be his hands that always seemed ready to grasp a weapon for protection, even though Storm highly doubted Clumsy owned anything of the sort. All they had now was a large tray loaded with a Smurfberry pie that was bound to wind up in someone's face if he held it for too long.

Whatever it was, it had just enabled Smurfstorm to instantly pick Clumsy out from the sea of two hundred Smurfs and this revelation hit her like a falling rock.

"Storm, are you listening to me?"

Lily's voice made her realize that she had zoned out yet again. Storm snapped back to reality and nervously pushed back her messy hair. "Y-yeah," she stuttered, hoping that they hadn't caught her staring at that boy. "Uh, what were you saying?"

"I was saying that it wouldn't hurt to at least try to be friendly with the boys," Lily said. "Because I have a feeling we're going to be seeing them much more after this, since it doesn't look like we'll be able to go back to the Grove. Gargamel knows where it is now."

A sharp pang of sadness struck Storm in the chest once more. This time, there was guilt too.

"We're probably going to need their support more than ever," Lily continued, now in a more serious tone. "I'm not asking you to become best friends with them, and I know making friends isn't totally easy for you anymore. But just try to be…well…less intense with them, okay?"

Smurfstorm looked at her and said nothing. She loved Lily to death and would do anything for her. Besides, apart from Smurfwillow, Lily was the only one in their tribe who really knew how to calm her down.

Then she glanced at Blossom, who smiled and nodded encouragingly. While Blossom could be overbearing with her good cheer that directly contrasted her moody nature, at no point had Storm ever regarded Blossom to be beneath Lily. They were both her best friends.

Though every part of her being absolutely did not want to do this impossible task, she knew this much: her sisters meant the world to her and they would always be her top priority. One wrong move in her life long ago had sprung the birth of her commitment to make it her sworn duty to defend her tribe and village at all costs till the very end.

So whenever any one of them had a request, Storm always set out to fulfill it…no matter what.

"I guess I could smurf it a shot," she finally muttered.

Lily smiled a silent thanks. Blossom showed her gratitude by throwing her arms around Storm in her signature bone-crushing hug. "We know you can do it, Stormy!" she gushed. "And we'll help you! 'Cuz we're in this together!"

The tough girl rolled her eyes, but surrendered herself to the moment with a tiny smile. If her sisters were happy, then she was happy.

Over Storm's shoulder, Blossom spotted Clumsy, now trying to carry three trays: one in each hand loaded with stacks of empty bowls and spoons, and one perched on top of his drooping hat with a Smurfberry pie. He was stumbling and swaying in unsteady fashion as he tried to keep his cargo balanced, wincing nervously as his feet navigated down the passage between the tables. And by great coincidence, he was walking straight towards the three girls.

Blossom, bless her innocent heart of gold, longed to see what Storm would do if she were to encounter Clumsy immediately following her promise to mellow things out.

"Alrighty, Stormy, here's your first test," she said, pulling away and keeping Storm's sight on her so she would not see Clumsy heading their way. "Turn around and say hello to the nice boy smurfing towards us."

Storm dragged out a heavy sigh, but decided to give her best effort. Might as well start somewhere. Hoping it wasn't that Smurf who just lost his binoculars because of her, she shifted her body around to greet the boy Blossom had pointed out.

Then everything happened at once. A frantic and familiar yelp suddenly pierced her ears, followed by the loud clatter of dishes crashing to the ground and the sight of Clumsy landing flat on his face a split-second before a Smurfberry pie rocketed straight for her…

KER-SPLAT

Her vision was instantly filled by an explosion of cream and berry juice that nearly knocked her out of her chair. Caught completely off-guard, she was suddenly surrounded by voices ringing everywhere.

"Yikes on bikes! Ms. Smurfstorm, I'm so, so sorry! I-I-I didn't mean to…I mean, when I saw you…I…"

"Clumsy, run!"

"We'll take care of this, just go! Go!"

"Clumsy, just trust us, you need to get out of here now!"

The same yelp and then the loud pitter-patter of feet dashing away fast. It wasn't until she heard even more feet approaching her did Storm finally reach up and wipe the sticky stuff out of her eyes. Then she felt someone maneuvering some kind of material across her face and was able to make out Lily and Blossom frantically trying to clean her off. Other girls were also there, and all of them were talking like the wind.

"Smurfstorm, breathe in and out. Breath in and out," Smurfhazel instructed.

"He didn't mean to smurf you with the pie," Smurftulip sped-talked. "He just tripped, that's all!"

"It wasn't his fault, Stormy," Blossom begged, her once-cheery face now livid with fear. "It was an accident, I swear!"

Storm stared at them all, sitting there like an idiot with the remains of pie dripping in pathetic globs from her face. "What happened?" she asked dumbly.

Lily gulped. "Clumsy was walking towards us, but he tripped just as you turned around and the pie he was holding smurfed right into your face," she explained.

"Talk about bad timing," Smurfholly groaned, holding a plate up like a shield.

"He said he was sorry," Blossom whimpered desperately. "Please don't be mad at him, Stormy!"

With her vision no longer obscured, Storm started to piece together her surroundings. Lily and Blossom were each holding napkins absolutely smothered with white cream and purple juice. There were bowls, spoons, and three trays scattered all over the ground. Her two best friends and several more girls were all staring at her anxiously, no doubt preparing for what was surely going to be one of Storm's signature temper tantrums. When she was angry, no one was safe. No Smurf hit her with a pie and got away with it.

Storm looked around at them. "What are you smurfing about? I'm fine."

Lily looked stunned. "Wait, you're not mad?"

"No."

"But that boy just smashed your face with a pie," Smurfhazel blurted out.

Storm shrugged. "So? It was an accident."

Blossom's eyes were as round as mushroom heads. "Who are you and what have you done with Smurfstorm?" she blubbered. "Maybe Gargamel did wipe out our minds after all."

As her friends chattered in confusion and Lily led her away from the table to get cleaned up, Storm said nothing. She had a lot to think about.

A/N: Let's discuss the movies.

Design and animation-wise, it's not rocket science to see why people were disgusted by those live-action/CGI hybrid predecessors. Because holy moly those are some creepy character designs. The more simplistic style of Lost Village with its beautiful animation and stunning visuals that feel like they were taken directly out of the comics should have been the chosen look from the start. My honest opinion is that if Lost Village had been the one shown on the big screen as the first new face of the Smurfs, the overall image of Smurfs would be a lot more favourable to the general public and die-hard fans, instead of being tainted by the hybrid movies and now seen as just a joke. I think it's because of the disappointment from those films that there are very few people out there these days who have any faith in the current owners to handle the Smurfs properly and instead see it as another mediocre cash-grab because nostalgia.

From an animation standpoint, Lost Village is absolutely stunning. There are so many sequences that are just brilliantly animated, the biggest one that comes to mind is riding the enchanted river. I've seen people state that the animation is bland, which I don't really get at all. The visuals are nothing short of beautiful and are definitely the most wowing aspect of the film. The reveal of Smurfy Grove, in my opinion, is the movie's token cinematic moment with an amazing score that assists in the awe factor. The faults of this movie all lie in the writing. The plot has a very weak pace. There's a lot of needless dialogue and narration, not to mention the frustratingly large number of moments that completely mess with the tone. The girls' village is introduced way too late in the film and the ultimate conflict of the story was barely focused on. The unbalanced use of screentime and the many plot holes are also harming factors, leaving this movie feeling very poorly thought-out. All the elements for a cohesive, thrilling story are there, but they're crafted together so poorly. It's a shame really, because the premise on the surface sounds exciting and this very easily could have been the next epic movie that would be known as the kick-off for the Smurf's new breath of life.

BUT…none of this feels cheap. Unlike both the live-action films which feel like lazy pandering hashed-out cash-grabs, this one actually has a clear directive. The creators did a ton of research and extracted so many details from their source material when writing and animating the film, even digging up the most obscure references that only the most dedicated fans would notice. It all showed promise, but was let down by bad elements. Regardless though, it's still a solid film and far more enjoyable than either of the hybrid films. At least it's actually a story about the Smurfs, not human characters we have never met nor care about. After Lost Village, I watched a few episodes of the 2021 series, and I'm pleased to see that the animation style and characters remained mostly consistent. I'd say that this was an intentional decision in order to not alienate or confuse the audience. To a degree, I see Lost Village and the subsequent TV series as their way of retconning the 2 failed movies out of relevance to make way for one that's a little more respectful towards its source material (although I do wish the choice of English VAs of the show wasn't terrible). It's their way of assuring us that those hybrid movies are no longer a thing, and that Lost Village plus the TV series are what we will be following from here on out.

This story took shape because I got a real kick out of Smurfstorm and Clumsy. They were such an interesting foil and I wish there were more scenes focusing on them. Jack McBrayer, as he always does, crafts his character into such a fun one with the emotions right to the brim with every scene he's given. Smurfstorm is also brilliant. Who doesn't love the badass action girl with the no-nonsense attitude being buddied up with her complete opposite? For all my Wreck-It Ralph readers, it is not that hard to see how I just look at these 2 characters and instantly get vibes of Sgt. Calhoun and Fix-It Felix (whom Jack coincidentally also voices). I find it so fascinating how both pairs share a near identical relationship. And that fascination turned into a piece of fanfiction. Smurfstorm was definitely the standout newbie of the movie, and some of my bigger complaints with it lie in the fact that she should have had a bigger involvement in the climax to pay off all the build-up she got throughout the second half. I actually have a lot more to say about Storm, but that's a discussion for the next chapter.