Chapter Three: The Girl

~Kat~

"Drop him," the girl repeated as she slowly stepped up to face Gargamel. Her long blonde hair blew in the slight breeze, and her dark blue eyes were as calm and serious as the gaze of a wolf. She wore a dark green cloak that hung awkwardly over her shoulders, a slightly ragged brown tunic, black pants, gray riding boots, and fingerless leather gloves. She stood confidently, as if she took on thugs like Gargamel every day. Even though Gargamel was trying his best to look threatening, I could tell he was just as startled by girl's appearance as I was. Even Azrael seemed uneasy as he yowled and nipped around his master's heels.

"Of course I'm not going to drop him! He's my prize! Besides, these stupid little Smurfs have been torturing me for YEARS! I need them!" bawled Gargamel. The girl simply rolled her eyes and gave a nonchalant flick of her head, causing her cascade of golden locks to scatter like sunbeams. "I didn't say to throw a temper tantrum. I said to DROP him. Besides, Smurfs are little kids' cartoon characters from the eighties! You're not a time traveler too, are you?" the girl asked cynically.

"No, not particularly," Gargamel responded vaguely. "But I do need these happy, puny Smurfs for my diabolical potions. Besides, I have more reason than ever to destroy them now if they're going to survive into the future!" "You're not saying that Smurfs are real, are you? I don't like to call people psychos for no reason, but I'm afraid that you're one if you think that a tiny bunch of animated blue pixels are going to destroy you," the girl cracked.

"Well…I suppose if you put it that way, I am something of a 'psycho'," Gargamel admitted. "But I'm still not going to give you this Smurf for no reason! Unless perhaps you have a good price for him in gold?" he added hopefully. Gargamel had always been as poor as a church mouse, and I could see that he savored the opportunity to gain a bit of cash. "Hmmm…well, I don't have any gold, but I have five bucks on me right now. Is that a decent price for a six-ounce imp?" the girl smiled. She was giving him a sly glance, as if she were trying to manipulate him into making the best deal possible.

"Uhh…sure! But what do you mean by 'bucks'? Do you mean silver? Or copper?" Gargamel questioned. "No," the girl replied curtly. Gargamel gave her a puzzled look and scratched his balding head. He was silent for a few moments, but he was muttering to himself thoughtfully. "Hmmm….sounds like an awfully good deal…perhaps I should make it…no, Gargamel, you should go home and take the Smurf with you; she's probably trying to commit a robbery of some sort…but still…"

"Good then. Hand over the…toy, and I'll give you your money. Deal made," the girl demanded. She held out her hand impatiently and waited for Gargamel to comply. Azrael mewled and scratched at his master's leg, warning him about the suspicious trade. As usual, Gargamel paid no attention to the wisdom of his feline familiar. "All right! Here he is, the despicable beast. I might warn you that he's a bit stupider than most, but he should probably be competent for your spells and potions. Well, see you soon!" Gargamel said cheerfully as the girl dug into her pocket and handed him what looked like two shriveled, crumpled green leaves.

"Good. Enjoy your money," the girl grinned deviously. Gargamel stupidly looked down and realized that he had been duped. "Hey, you! Get back here with my Smurf! That wasn't a fair deal at ALL!" Gargamel shrieked. He ran off after the girl like fire with Azrael groaning at his heels. However, the girl was far faster than he was. She scurried up a tree with lightning speed and nestled herself in one of the higher branches in ten minutes flat. Meanwhile, Gargamel seemed to have forgotten how to brake. He slammed into the tree like a wrecking ball. He slumped to the ground like a deadweight. Azrael mewed in frustration and slapped his face with his paw. He scrambled up the tree after the girl, but she stuck out her tongue and leapt to another branch.

Azrael chased her for a while, but each time the girl evaded his clumsy attempts. Finally, Azrael decided that he had had enough of the girl's cheeky games. He tensed his muscles and soared over the twigs, claws outstretched like a monster. "Nice try, kitty cat," the girl teased. She lightly jumped to a higher branch and stuck out her tongue at Azrael just before he fell on top of his slumbering master. The girl waited anxiously for a few moments, waiting to see if the evil duo would wake up. However, it was clear after a couple of minutes that both of them were out like a light. I was pretty sure that they'd both be comatose for at least a couple of hours.

After the girl had determined that Gargamel and Azrael were totally unconscious, she slid down the tree and trotted towards me. I shrank back, afraid of being seen by the human. It wasn't long before her lean frame towered over me like a skyscraper. I shut my eyes and crouched as low as I could in the grass. I knew it was the end if she found me too. I was certain that she was a sorcerer like Gargamel, or at least an apprentice. What other reason would she have for insisting that Gargamel give Clumsy to her?

You can imagine my surprise when she gently laid Clumsy on a bed of moss next to me. "Here's your little friend. I'm so glad that that guy was such an idiot. If he wasn't, then I would have had a much harder time getting him back," laughed the girl. "W-what? You're not going to take him away from me?" I gasped in shock. The girl shook her head. The smile that she gave me glowed as brightly as her sun-lit hair. "Of course not! I couldn't stand to see the poor thing looking so helpless in the hands of that moron," she explained. She looked around the forest furtively before kneeling on the ground and whispering confidentially. "Besides, my mom liked Smurfs back when she was a kid in nineteen eighty-something, so she bought a bunch of Smurf DVDs for me when I was five. I'll admit it wasn't my favorite cartoon-I'm more of a Total Drama Island person anyway-but it was pretty cute for an old show. I don't remember you, though. Are you like, a new addition or something?"

"Well…I guess I'm sort of new to the whole Smurf Village," I responded. I wasn't sure how this girl would react if I told her that I used to be Gargamel's servant. The girl nodded, looking a tiny bit excited. "Really? So how long have you been in the village?" she inquired curiously. "Ummm…only a year or so. I used to be Gargamel's servant until I was ninety-eight, but that's a long story….please don't think I'm evil! I'm not! I love my family and my cat and my friends-I'm not bad at all! So please don't-"

"Relax! I don't think you're evil," the girl reassured me. "I actually think you're pretty cool for a Smurf. Errr, what's your name?" "I'm Kat Smurf. And you?" I replied. "I'm Rose Hart. I'm a time traveler, really, and I was actually coming here to get some info for a medieval history report," she said, looking somewhat embarrassed. "But then I saw you and that other guy in the woods, so I thought I should stop and help. It just didn't seem right to leave you and your little brother in the hands of a weirdo like him…whatever his name is."

"Gargamel. And his cat is Azrael," I answered back quickly. I ducked behind my dark brown bangs to hide the fact that I was blushing like a sunset. Did Rose really think that Clumsy was my little brother? I often liked to think of him that way because of our close bond and his sweet, childlike ways, so I suppose it was an easy mistake to make. Still, there was something about Rose's misunderstanding that made me feel incredibly embarrassed.

I guess Rose must have noticed, because she let out a snicker and said, "Guess he isn't your brother, huh?" "He's just my friend! It's not like we're related or anything!" I protested, still feeling the heat dancing across my cheeks. "It's okay, Kat; I understand. It's just-I haven't seen Smurfs in a while, so I can't remember all the relationships and stuff like that. Forgive me." "Don't worry, Rose. I get it," I said back shyly. Rose must have sensed that I wasn't over the whole 'little brother' blunder yet, so she decided to switch the topic. "So….you guys actually have a village hidden in the woods and all that? That's awesome. Oh, and is Handy Smurf real, or is he like, dead or something? I know it's been a while, but he was my favorite when I was a kid, so I thought maybe I'd ask…"

"Oh, he's still alive and smurfing, all right!" I chuckled, relieved to be talking about something that wasn't awkward. "In fact, I'm actually his apprentice! I get to help him build things and stuff like that. It's neat. I was actually looking for some wood for him with Clumsy when Gargamel started chasing us.""Epic!" Rose commented. I was a bit surprised that she was so interested in Smurfs. In my experience, only really young children believed in them, and if someone was talking about Smurfs at thirty years of age, they were considered to be a lunatic. Despite that, it was cool to have a girl around my age (in human years) show interest in my people.

Rose and I were so busy gabbing away that we didn't give Clumsy a second thought. All of a sudden, a tiny cough rent the air. Rose halted mid-sentence and looked about uneasily. "Did you hear that?" she asked. "Yeah, I did. Who do you think it was? I hope it's not THEM…"I faltered. I squeezed my cat tail for reassurance. If it was Gargamel waking up, then I wished that they wouldn't notice us and go someplace else.

The cough sounded again, louder this time. The sound drew my eyes towards the ground, where I noticed Clumsy twitching slightly. I gave a sigh of relief and plopped down on the moss next to him. "Phew. It's only Clumsy. I think he's smurfing up," I laughed in relief. Rose cocked her head to the side, as if she wasn't sure she'd heard something properly. "Clumsy? That name seems strangely familiar," she muttered uncertainly. She scratched her chin and looked up above the treetops as if seeking an answer.

"Well, you probably saw him in the show or something," I shrugged. I gently shook Clumsy by the shoulder, trying to encourage him to wake up. "Hmmm…I guess you're right. There was something I hated about him, though. I just can't remember what it is," Rose replied tensely. "Really? Well, maybe it was something made up by the humans. There's no way you could possibly hate Clumsy! He's so sweet and nice and funny….and he likes animals like me!" I argued.

Rose remained silent for a few more moments, unconvinced by my argument. Suddenly, a light of revelation lit up her fair face. She slapped her forehead as if she had forgotten something perfectly obvious. "Oh! THAT'S what I didn't like about him! He was the stupid one!" she blurted.

I opened my mouth to defend Clumsy, but just at that moment, his eyes started to flutter.