Chapter 3 – Storm in the Sky

This really is the only way to travel.

Such a simple statement somehow never failed to rise to the forefront of Smurfstorm's mind whenever she took to the skies on board Spitfire. Way up here, above the tree tops, away from the shackles and frustrations of her life on solid ground, isolated with just her dragonfly and no boundaries to hold her back, the girl felt so free.

The wind whistling through her hair seemed to have a way with freezing all the storms that raged within her head, saving them for another time. The rush coursing through her veins whenever she signaled to Spitfire to fly at max speed could only be found up here. This was where Storm could truly be herself. Her special place. For as long as she could remember, being as high up in the world as possible allowed her to see and know her surroundings without herself being seen, giving her a sense of control. Up here, it was just her and Spitfire.

But tonight, she had a little extra company. Clumsy rode behind her, just like their first flight together during the recon mission. But unlike last time, he had a cheery smile on his face. It might have been because he was no longer a stranger to riding Spitfire or that his confidence in flying was firmly established by this point. But it was probably because Storm was steering them in a gentle flight instead of the harsh maneuvers of mission-mode.

"I don't quite believe I've ever seen our forest from this elevation at this time of night before," Clumsy marveled, gazing in awe at everything he could see. "It's amazing!"

Storm grinned devilishly. "Lefty, you haven't seen anything yet."

Driven by the urge to show off a little more of what a lifetime of dragonfly training had done for her, she tugged the antennae in her fists. Catching her signal, Spitfire beat his wings faster, taking them higher up towards the tufts of idling clouds. Clumsy gulped nervously at the sudden climb, and quickly wrapped his arms around Storm's waist to for support. Storm's eyes widened at the touch, but she didn't order hands off. She let him do it, remembering that any one of her sisters who rode with her would also need to do the same to prevent a long drop to earth. The way he held her was just like her and –

Thunder

Suddenly, her mind went blank. Out of nowhere, the scene had changed: she was sitting where Clumsy sat and her own hands – smaller and stubbier – were similarly wrapped around the waist of an older Smurf girl who was piloting Spitfire…young Storm squealed and giggled in delight as a long blue braid of hair flapped in the turbulence, tickling her nose…

Storm snapped back to reality. Stop thinking about that, she thought to herself over and over, trying to focus on the blur of the clouds as they rushed past at rapid speed. Thankfully, her mind was wiped clean as they finally penetrated through the fluffy layer. Storm smiled with relief, for they had entered a whole new world that she was very familiar with. Flying above the sea of blanketing clouds, they were now under a royal-blue sky speckled with millions of stars.

"Wow," Clumsy gasped, his eyes and mouth wide open in wonder.

That seemed to sum it up.

Storm leveled them into a gentle glide above the clouds. Spitfire's wings were beating so fast, yet so smoothly that they were just a blur of sparkling orange in the pale blue light, creating a shimmery pattern in the sky that mingled with the atmosphere's beauty. With fluffy clouds rushing below their feet, the moon's soft glow basking over them, and the gentle hum of Spitfire's glittery wings, she breathed in deeply as she felt herself relax.

At long last, Storm was starting to feel better.

Somehow in this place, she began to realize, it didn't seem to matter that she was miles away from the Grove. This world would always remain the same. Closing her eyes, she began to let her memories take her back to a happier time, to years past when Blossom and Lily would join her on these late-night flights to relax after long days of training. The trio of best friends would sail freely through the skies, enjoying their time together. And on their most peaceful nights, Blossom would sing her 'flying song' as she called it and Lily would turn it into a duet. It wasn't one of the wild tunes that Blossom would sing in an overexcited beat, but an unusually softer song with a more touching melody. Storm never sang along, but would instead listen to the pair let their voices loose and secretly let the mood overtake her. And though it had been many years ago since she had last heard this song, she could still remember it clearly.

From the moment that we breathe the life in to circle 'round the sun
Each of us has to find a way to be just what we're meant to become
There's a magic in the everyday, but often we forget
There's a power in the gift of love when it's love that you least expect

And you crawl until the day you stand to stumble once again
Walk until you lose yourself, desperate to be set
And you run until you run away before you realize

That all you really ever had to do was spread your precious wings and fly, fly, fly, fly

Every one of us who sees the faith learning how to shine
Everything needs room to grow rising up to the warmth of the light
But there's a magic in the everyday that often we forget
There's a power in the gift of love when it's love that you least expect

And you crawl until the day you stand to stumble once again
Walk until you lose yourself, desperate to be set
And you run until you run away before you realize

That all you really ever had to do was spread your precious wings and fly

As the echoes of Blossom's song gently wafted through her mind, Storm spotted a grassy mountain top that was taller than the rest, peeking out from the clouds below. It looked inviting, so she gave Spitfire's antennae two gentle tugs and he responded by bringing them down into a smooth landing on the soft grass.

Storm slid off her mount to her feet, but before she could look around, she heard a familiar panicked yelp behind her. Clumsy, who had stumbled after dismounting Spitfire, was now precariously on one foot about to hit the ground.

But he was stopped in mid-fall by a strong hand that swooped in and grabbed his wrist. Clumsy blinked in surprise and stared at his saviour. Storm couldn't resist shooting him a teasing smirk.

"Well, I'll say this much…you boys sure live up to your names. Especially you."

Clumsy blushed profoundly, but Storm chuckled as she pulled him back up effortlessly and plopped his feet firmly down to earth. She then walked to the topmost point of their mountain to take in her surroundings like the scouting warrior she was raised to be. The clouds hovered below her, but she could still make out a sparkling stream that seemed to cut the land in two, with more rocky terrain on one end and wide-open fields on the other. The biggest, bluest moon you'd ever seen was directly ahead. It wasn't nearly as impressive as Smurfy Grove of course, but was decent.

"Not a bad place," she observed.

Clumsy came up alongside her. "It is a pleasant little settlement," he said proudly, running a hand up to adjust his drooping hat once again. "Safe, secure, isolated from the outside, and comes with a charming view of the sunset when the forecast is just right!"

Slightly amused by his speech, Storm sat herself down on the grassy ledge, leaving her quiver of arrows looped around her shoulder, but placing her bow down by her feet. She felt secretly pleased when Clumsy took a seat next to her. Spitfire yawned a mouthful of smoke, curled up behind them and went to sleep.

For a few quiet minutes, they said nothing. They simply took in the night sky and the perfect universal view of the moon that made this scene look quite like an illustration plucked from a child's fairytale book. While pitch black under the natural cloak of nighttime, everything lay illuminated in a mysterious blue glow. Storm and Clumsy were no exception; they seemed to be bluer than ever.

Stealing brief sideways glances at her whenever he felt it safe to, Clumsy couldn't help but notice the scars Smurfstorm bore along her neck, arms, and lower cheeks. All their moments together back in Smurfy Grove had been filled with intense flying action and the horrors of Gargamel's evil lair. But now it was just the two of them in this calm atmosphere, and her scars seemed to shine in the night. Clumsy, however, decided it was safest not to point them out.

"You know," he said idly, "never in a million years would I ever have guessed I'd be a dragonfly sort of Smurf. Did I tell you that we encountered a great flock of them on our way to your village and one of them mistook me for one of her eggs?"

Storm looked at him and smirked. "That's not hard to believe. Dragonflies have an obsession for small, cuddly things. Think of them as a magpie going after the shiny stuff. Guess you fit the bill."

Her response made Clumsy laugh. "Well, I'm not so sure that dragonfly in particular would think of me as such now if we met again. Certainly not after poaching one of her eggs."

Storm frowned. "Wait, you stole a dragonfly egg?"

"Well, not really stole…" Clumsy tried to explain. "When Gargamel found us in the Forbidden Forest, he smurfed it into my hands, see. But the dragonflies didn't take it too kindly, no siree bob."

The girl stared at him and then let out a dry, sympathetic chuck. "Rule number one about dragonflies, Lefty. Never mess with their eggs. You'll be more charred than a piece of smurfed toast when they're through with you."

"Don't have to tell me twice," he shivered from the memories of scorching fire inches away from his tail while his feet ran at top speed. "That mama dragonfly's fearsome friends nailed that message into my noggin like a mailbox in the grass! Still, there was one comforting thing that came out of that near-death experience."

"What's that?"

Clumsy grinned. "It was the first time I ever caught anything in my life! If I could make just one catch like that during the Smurfball tournaments, oh, that would be beyond smurftastic, I tell ya! Maybe then, I wouldn't be the last one picked when they're putting teams together…let alone be allowed to play at all."

Though she wasn't quite sure what Smurfball was, Storm assumed it was one of their sports. She liked sports. Being a warrior like her meant that athletics were a walk in the park. Back at the Grove, there wasn't a ball she couldn't catch, hoop she couldn't dunk, target she couldn't shoot with an arrow, or point she couldn't score. Nearly every competition they had invented was hers for the taking.

Not that she actually competed like she used to…she was too busy working now. She eyed Clumsy with interest.

"So you really are the clumsy one, huh?"

Clumsy smile dropped slightly, yet he kept what remained up in a sad sort of way. "It's all in the name," he said with a half-hearted chuckle. "Every morning I stumble out of bed and wind up greeting the floor. At lunch, I either drop at least more than a few smurfberries off my plate or knock someone else's right off the table. And you know the ol' phrase of falling into bed at night? Well in my case, that's quite literally the case. Oh! And whenever we prepare the Blue Moon Festival or any sort of party really, I'm politely told to quietly keep out of the way. It's just a safety issue for the good of every Smurf, you see…don't want anyone winding up with too many bruises or fractures thanks to me."

You'd think Clumsy was listing off all his greatest life achievements by how thoroughly such details were explained. But Storm could clearly tell that he was not proud of any of these things.

"That's sounds terrible," she said bluntly.

Clumsy pushed his hat from over his eyes. "Well, it's not all that terrible," he said with a very forced smile. "I mean, there are some perks to being the clumsiest Smurf alive. I keep my good pal Handy employed by repairing all the things I break. I know I can rely on the rest of my friends to snag me when I fall. And everyone is so accustomed to my clumsy antics that they don't mind in the slightest! Baker keeps on making his world-famous pies to replace the ones that I accidentally knock over and Painter is always happy to paint another picture when I mistakenly walk into his easel…and…and…even though I never get to partake in any of the games held during Smurf Field Days, I can still support and cheer for my friends on the sidelines…far away from the action. It's fun! Well…not tons of fun, but it's had its moments…kinda."

He grinned meekly at her. "You know what I'm trying to say?"

Storm raised an eyebrow at him, not buying this at all.

And he got it. He knew he wasn't selling whatever charade he was trying to present. Clumsy's smile faded away completely now. "Okay. So it's not all that much fun," he mumbled in defeat. "If I'm really being honest here, sometimes I wish I could be the very opposite of who I am now. Not-Clumsy Smurf. Just once, I'd like to make it through a whole day without smurfing up."

A strange, heavy feeling began weighing down Storm's stomach; it took her a moment to realize that she was feeling sorry for this boy.

"Well…at least you have friends who look out for you," she offered.

"That's true," he agreed, once again half-heartedly. "But perhaps they're why I often feel this way. Everyone here is so used to my antics that it's like second nature for them to help me out. I wish I wasn't such a burden on everyone here. Life is just no smurf through the park when all you're doing is stumbling, tripping, and getting into everyone's way. Always needing another pair of hands to set you back up is just a reminder of how little I can do on just my own. But it's the way I was brought into this world, I guess. Being clumsy will always be Clumsy Smurf's thing in life."

Clumsy let out a very unhappy sigh as he hugged his knees to his chest. "It's just one of the joys of being me," he finished, plopping his chin on his knees to gaze out to the moon above. Storm, however, kept looking at him and felt the pit in her stomach drop heavier.

One prominent thing she had quietly taken notice about these boys was how closely linked they seemed to be with whatever their names were. Hefty was the strong one. Brainy was smart in a very nerdy and annoying way. And Clumsy was always clumsy? Where did that leave Smurfette? And what about those other names she had overheard throughout the day like Handy, Painter, Grouchy, and Chef? It was such a bizarre concept for her to get her head around. Storm couldn't imagine how this would fare out in the tribe. What would she be named? She didn't even want to think about that. What about Blossom? Would she be given a name like…Smiley? And only be good at being cheerful and bubbly? Would Lily be named Kindly? The girls of the Grove were skilled in everything, not just one trait. They could fight. They could cook. They could lift weights. They knew math. They could build emergency shelters out of whatever materials nature gave them. Storm could shoot precise arrows and track down a predator from a mile away, but if she got a rip in her dress while out on a mission, she could sew it back up no problem. She and the girls knew how to do all kinds of things, yet the boys only seemed to be good at one.

But that definitely wasn't the case with Clumsy, she realized. She had seen with her own blue eyes today that Clumsy wasn't only clumsy.

"You sure this isn't…a psychosomatic thing?"

Clumsy took his eyes off the moon to look at her. "Pardon?"

"You say you're clumsy, but are you sure that's not just stuff in your head?" Storm asked, trying to be as nice as possible.

It didn't work. Clumsy frowned at her, looking almost hurt. "In my head? Haven't you gotten to know me at all today, Smurfstorm?" he asked in a slightly accusing tone. "Walking into my mailbox? Landing a pie in your face? That's not your typical Smurf, no ma'am! There's only one Smurf alive who can mess up so badly and get away with it only because everyone knows he can't help it, and he's sitting right next to you right here right now. I'm afraid I'm a lost cause. I'm only destined to be clumsy and no more."

Tired of seeing him so miserable, Storm frowned right back at him. "Yeah, you're more accident-prone than other Smurfs, but that doesn't mean you're completely tied to that," she countered roughly. "Even a clueless blob like you can be more than just clumsy, you know."

Clumsy visibly backed off by her sudden retort. The way he was looking at her showed Storm that his brief distain was replaced with a look that could only spell desperation to hear more. "Like…like what?" he asked.

Even his voice came out desperate.

"For starters, how about fact you flew Spitfire with no trouble today?" Storm answered without hesitating, gesturing to her snoozing mount. "Do you realize how long it takes to learn how to fly a dragonfly the way you did? Years of practice, brutal training, and tons of burns. But you managed to do it on the spot, even when you claimed it wasn't your thing. A little sloppy, sure, but you kept us in the air so I could deal with Birdbrain. It would have been way harder for me to take that thing down and fly at the same time. You didn't fall off, you didn't crash us, and you kept us from getting eaten by that feathered twit. Pretty impressive."

Clumsy opened his mouth, but Storm cut him off.

"Would I shock you if I told you that lighting my arrows on fire was not only genius, but a tactic I've never ever used before?" she challenged. "Spitfire's fire has been with me all this time, but I never thought of using it. It's so obvious, I'm almost jealous I didn't think of it first. And then you were a part of Four-Eyes' plan to bust us out of that cage. Didn't work, but only because that stupid cat saw us. You didn't smurf up once during all that."

"Well, I…I suppose," Clumsy said slowly.

"So boom, there you go," Storm finished triumphantly. "All stuff you can do without clumsiness being a part of it."

There was a brief pause as Clumsy looked at her in astonishment; his eyebrows had disappeared into the brim of his hat. "Well gee, I uh…I guess I didn't consider that. It does seem out of my ordinary looking back," he mused, scratching the back of his neck.

"Exactly," Storm spoke in a gentler tone, even throwing in a tiny smile. "Your name may be Clumsy, but I don't think you're clumsy…not all the time anyway. It's one of your quirks, sure. But you're not giving yourself enough credit for what else you can do besides that."

Feeling just a little playful all of a sudden, she reached up and bonked her fist lightly on Clumsy's head, making his hat fall slightly over his eyes. "You got a good noggin up there, even when facing certain death. And if what I'm sayin' doesn't make a smurf of sense, just know this: you impressed me today, Lefty. And it ain't easy to do that."

Clumsy pushed his hat back up to reveal eyes that were wide open as he quietly soaked in her words. "Golly, when you put it that way, Smurfstorm…I suppose perhaps I can do some things without even knowing after all."

Listening to him closely, Storm could tell that Clumsy was starting to feel better about himself, so she pressed on. "Every Smurf is good at more than one thing," she breezed. "You might think that your thing is just being clumsy, but I say it's more than that. Just gotta believe in yourself, ya big oaf."

Clumsy blushed. He fiddled with his fingers before gazing up at the moon. "To be perfectly honest, I've felt for so long that I've always been destined to be the most useless Smurf in our village. I guess that shattered my belief in being able to do anything right."

His words could not help but tug at her heartstrings just a little. "No Smurf is ever useless," she said resolutely. "Take it from me, Lefty, 'cuz it's something I had to learn the hard way. Every Smurf brings something. Big or small, we're all important. Your village needs you for just who you are."

Very slowly, a smile on Clumsy's face began to take form; combined with the light of the moon, his whole face seemed to shine brighter than ever. "Well, thank you Smurfstorm! That really means a lot coming from you," he said gratefully. "No one's really told me that before."

Storm could detect the sincerity in his words. "Not even Smurfette?"

"No, not really. All my friends have just sort of accepted me for who I am and have gotten used to giving me extra attention…and a wide margin of space," he said as he pushed his hat up higher yet again.

And like all the other times before, Storm couldn't help but notice that signature gesture of his. She was finding herself growing oddly interested in watching him do that.

"Still though, I meant what I said a moment ago," he told her. "Everything you said about me being more than just clumsy…coming from the Smurf I look up to is just, well…moving if you know what I mean. Why, I almost feel like a new-born Smurf who can do anything now! I feel like I can take on the whole world! Well, maybe I'll start off small at first…like just an apple tree to kick things off, or…"

Storm's smile had been gradually stretching bit by bit as she listened to him talk in better spirits, but it suddenly disappeared completely when she caught on to one particular detail in his speech. "Hold on," she interrupted him. "Back it up there, Lefty. Did you just say you look up to me?"

Song used: Precious Wings by Tatyana Ali