Chapter 9: To Taking Back, Part 1
Flashback
1504 – HIGH IN THE MOUNTAINS OF EUROPE
"Hefty, Toughette! Have you two gone crazy?" Brainy shouted at them in desperation as he spun them around to face him and Brainette. How could Hefty and Toughette make such a bargain with a demon? If Papa Smurf were here, he would surely disapprove of this decision.
Hefty looked deeply into Brainy's eyes and said, "No matter what happens, Brainy, always protect the smurflings. They're the ones that matter the most."
"B-B-But…" Protect the smurflings? How?
"This is the only way, Brainy. Sacrificing ourselves will ensure that you all are going to be safe from Asmoday." The strong smurf explained, handing his staff over to his bookish brother.
"You don't understand. We can't survive without you two!" Brainy cried, he began to break into heavy sobs.
"Yes you can. Have a little faith," Hefty replied, withholding his own tears. He placed his hand on Brainy's shoulder in a gesture of brotherly reassurance.
"No, we lost so many loved ones already this year. We don't want to lose you two as well!" Brainette said tearfully.
"We will always be with you, Brainette. Stay strong, ok?" Toughette told her bespectacled sister softy. At the same time, she forced her staff into Brainette's hands.
Brainette was so stunned that she was unable to think of the words she wanted to tell her tough sister. She just stood there with her mouth hung open, and tears running freely down her face.
"Sentimental goodbyes are really pointless," Asmoday groaned, rolling up his eyes, "I accept your bargain, and I am obligated to fulfill my end, but you must fulfill your end first!"
Asmoday stood up from his throne and released a strange, dark energy from his fingertips aiming right at the strong duo. Before Hefty and Toughette has a chance to react, a sharp pain struck them in the back. The pain only lasted a moment before their bodies became numb. Darkness filled them. They could sense absolutely nothing else. The only thing they heard was total silence. Nothing surrounded them now...just an empty void…
Brainy and Brainette watch in horror as the crystals materialized from the ground, up. Quickly, the bodies of their siblings were incased in dark, unbreakable semi-transparent mass. Unlike the petrified, frightened look on the faces of smurflings still trapped in their crystallized forms, Hefty and Toughette appear to be sleeping peacefully.
"Hefty…?" Brainy was not sure if all of this could be real. He reached up to touch his brother's face, but felt the hard, smooth surface of the crystal that kept Hefty prisoner instead.
Brainette reached for her sister too, and like Brainy, she found that she can only feel the crystal. The intelligent smurfette never felt so alone before. She always felt distant from all of her other sisters back in the Old Smurfette Village, but now, she really was alone, and it scared her.
"I suppose I should fulfill my end of the bargain now." Asmoday sighed loudly, with a hint of regret.
He aimed his bony finger towards the smurflings. The same dark energy shot out from this finger to four crystallized smurflings. An eerie wind blew inside the cave, and in no time the smaller crystals began to melt away, freeing the smurflings from within. As the smurflings slowly came out of their dreamless sleep, they begin to move. With a yawn, they each stretched out their limbs. Their faces gradually turned from the expression of petrified terror to that of a confused, perplexed look as they glanced around their surroundings, not understanding how they got there.
"Smurflings!" Brainy and Brainette cried out as they rushed toward the bewildered youngsters, dropping their siblings' staffs and reaching out toward them.
"Brainy? Brainette? What's going on?" Nat said in a whimper.
"Yeah. Where are we?" Slouchy asked, looking totally baffled.
"I-It's ok now, smurflings. We will be getting out of here soon." Brainette whispers into their ears in a shaky tone as she gathers Nat and Slouchy into her arms and hugs them tightly.
"Brainy? How did we get here?" Snappy asked, as Brainy pulled him and Sassette in close for a hug.
"Are you ok?" Sassette wondered, realizing the older smurf was shaking.
"I don't know." Brainy answered with more honesty then he could ever know.
"You have what you bargained for; you putrid worms now leave!" Asmoday growled pointing to the exit of his cave.
"Wait! You didn't free all the smurflings yet. There are still the babies!" Brainette cried out. She pointed toward Babette and Baby Smurf in the corner, still frozen within the dark crystals.
Brainy was outraged. "Hey, what's going on here? The bargain was that you would free the smurflings!" He spat angrily. He quickly released Sassette and Snappy, ran over to where he dropped Hefty's staff, and grabbed it. Suddenly feeling a rush of braveness in him, he made a stance in front of Asmoday to indict that he was ready to fight if necessary.
"I did free the smurflings. I may be a demon, but I keep to my word." Asmoday calmly replied, with no effect to Brainy's action.
"No you didn't free all of them. You didn't free the babies!" Brainette shouted. She too rushed to pick up the staff her sister gave her, and took a stand beside Brainy, looking as bravely as she could.
A broad cocky smile formed on Asmoday's tight face.
"Your fellow smurfs said nothing about baby smurfs being apart of the bargain." The demon told them with an evil chuckle.
Brainette flinched, and Brainy groans inwardly. This is why smurfs should never make bargains with demons, Brainy mused to himself, wishing he could have warned Hefty about this before his foolish behavior ended him being in suspended animation.
"Bargain?" Sassette whispered to other smurflings. None of this seemed to make sense to any of the youngsters. Nat looked over his shoulder, and with a stunned look on his youthful face, he pointed silently in a particular direction. That was when they really began to notice, with tremendous shock, Hefty, Toughette, and the babies trapped inside some kind of crystal form.
"Oh, no! What happened to them?" Sassette gasped in horror.
"That's not fair!" Brainy shouted, still wielding the staff, "The babies are smurflings, too!"
"NOT IN MY WORLD! Now leave, while I'm still in the mood to obligate my end of the bargain!" Asmoday bellowed.
"What happened, Brainy?" Snappy finally spoke up, "Why are Hefty, Toughette, and the babies in some kind of crystal?" He looked at Asmoday, "And who is this ugly guy?"
"They made a bargain with me, you little bug," Asmoday said coldly, "In exchange for your freedom, they sacrificed themselves to be in your place. And as for the fact you are having difficulties remembering me or the reason why you are here in my home," he sneers, "well, let's just say the effects are only temporary. All of your recent memories before I imprisoned you in my crystals will return. Now leave! Your very presence sickens me!" Asmoday pointed his finger straight in the direction of the exit.
Brainy and Brainette look at each other and have to acknowledge that they do not have the capability to fight the demon by themselves. Very reluctantly, they back away from Asmoday. Brainette and Brainy Smurf took the youngsters by their hands and headed out of the cave. The intellectual smurf and smurfette feel almost empty inside, as if they were leaving piece of themselves in the cave.
"Brainy? Brainette? Where is Puppy?" Nat broke the long silence as they all walk down the hill.
The adult Smurfs froze, unable to say anything. Tears instantly swelled up as they remembered watching Puppy take his one last breath. How were they going to explain this to the smurflings? Even if their memories have somewhat been affected after being trapped in the crystals, they still knew that Puppy was still alive.
"Come on Smurflings. It's a long walk back to the cave." Brainy said with a quiet sigh.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
Each of the four smurflings could do nothing but kneel and cried heartbrokenly at the gravesite of where Puppy lied peacefully. Just like as Asmoday said, they are now beginning to remember the first time they met the evil demon and what he did to Puppy. Nothing seemed real anymore. Puppy is gone. Hefty and Toughette, along with the babies, are in the hands of Asmoday. Not only that, it left just the smurflings, Brainy, and Brainette …alone and homeless.
Brainy sat by himself on the same rock Hefty once sat the other day when his brother told him of Puppy's tragic condition. The bespectacled smurf stared blankly at nothing in particular on the ground. His mind raced with images of what happened over the last few days. He appeared on the verge of crying again, but this time it seems he wanted to hold back the tears. The words - "Always protect the smurflings. They're the ones that matter the most" - kept ringing in his ears. Brainy will never forget the look he saw in Hefty's eyes. It seemed the strong smurf was afraid. Afraid of what though? Afraid that he would not be able protect them. Protect the smurflings. Brainy pondered over that phrase. What could he possibly do to be as strong as his brother was?
"If it makes you feel any better, Puppy went peacefully in his sleep." Brainette told the grieving smurflings, trying to be as reassuring as she could under the circumstances.
Sadly, her words did not bring much comfort to the smurflings. More tears fall ever faster.
"What are we going to do now?" Nat choked, wiping his tears and looking back to Brainette and Brainy sitting a few yards from them.
Before Brainette could think of anything to say, Brainy lifts his head and stands up.
"We are going to survive. Not only that, but we are going to find a way to get Hefty, Toughette, and the babies back to us. That is what we are going to do!" He said in a tone of seriousness that none of the other smurfs ever heard before.
"How do you purpose we do that?" Brainette squeaked, "We are only three apples high. How are we supposed to go up against a demon in order to get our friends and the babies back? Not only that, if we do try freeing our friends and the babies, the demon would surely become offended and give him a reason to attack us again!"
"We'll do what ever it takes, Brainette," Brainy stated firmly, "A smurf has to have a reason for living. Back in the Old Village the mission of life was clear. Help maintain order and organize a peaceful way to exist comfortably with the other smurfs and our neighbors in our vicinity. Now we are out here in the world, defenseless.
We have no permanent home to fall back on if trouble should come at us. We have to learn to defend ourselves. We have to start using our brains to come up with solutions to our dilemmas!"
Brainy paused for a moment before looking around at the others. "Before I used to depend on Papa Smurf to come up with a plan, but that is not possible now," he announced grimly. "We have to start growing up, and depend on each other to stay alive. Right now, in order to get Hefty, Toughette, and the babies back with us, we need to find any books that would have vital information on demons, especially Asmoday. We must discover his weaknesses and any magic spells, as well as any emblems that would help us get rid of him, and free our friends and the babies! I don't care how long it will take us, but I guarantee they will be returned to us!" Brainy said with a sense of finality, slamming his fist into his other hand for emphasis.
Brainette and the smurflings stared at him. This was certainly a new side to Brainy; even he feels the change in himself. For a moment, there was nothing but silence between the six remaining smurfs.
"I'm with you, Brainy," Brainette finally concured, nodding her head in assent.
"Us too," Sassette declared with a nod as well. The other smurflings likewise nod in silent agreement along with her.
"So what's our first step?" The bespectacled smurfette asked.
"The plan may sound simpler then it really is, Brainette. What we will do…we will travel from town to town, collecting any information in books on Asmoday!" Brainy ordered seriously.
The others look to each other before accepting the plan.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
Many years had gone by, and the six smurfs travel from country to country, town to town, and visited as many libraries they could find. Their journey had them going through Ireland, Scotland, France, Spain, Italy, Romania, and Greece.
Now and then, with Nat's special talents, the smurfs were able to acquire help from certain animals which were willing give them rides to where they wanted to go, enabling them to cover great distances.
They managed to locate a few books on the demon, Asmoday, but they only mention his name, his evil deeds, and especially on how to summon him. Such information the smurfs did not need - they wanted to get rid of him.
As more years went by, a total of 140 years to be exact, the smurflings no longer were smurflings but young adult smurfs. The four of them still practiced the defensive techniques that Hefty and Toughette had taught them right up to the day they first encountered Asmoday.
Over the time each of the smurfs had changed their wardrobe slightly, although, their style are similar to the clothes they once wore. The smurfs started to wear soft sole shoes, which made it a lot easier, and more comfortable to travel while wearing them.
Sassette still wore the color pink in her usual tom-smurf fashion. She traded her white smurf cap, however, with a pink one to match Brainette to signify she had grown up.
Nat, of course, continues to keep his yellow straw hat, but he started to wear a white t-shirt with his brown overalls. Besides his training in defense, Nat studied to be a medic. Being a compassionate Smurf, he always had a huge knack for caring for any injured creature.
Snappy still wore a yellow shirt; he began to wear a yellowish-brown pair of pants, and black shoes. Snappy focused in studying defense methods with Sassette.
Slouchy wore his favorite red shirt, and brown pants with white shoes. He still wore a 'slouching' white cap. Slouchy preferred to help with assisting Brainy and Brainette in researching information on Asmoday, rather than practicing combative methods.
Brainette wore her usual pink with a pink dress, and light pink jacket. She no longer wore her hear in pigtails, instead, she began putting her hair up in a single bun.
Brainy had started growing a reddish-brown mustache and beard in a goat-T style. He still wore a white cap, but he had taken to wearing a red jacket, red pants and a white shirt.
By 1664, the smurfs stopped in a field where smurfberries are grew wiled. Even though their mission was very important to rescue their friends and the babies, a smurf must eat in order to keep up their strength.
Being that smurfberries were their main diet, they made sure to pick enough for the long winter ahead. Nat took this opportunity to grab seedlings in order to grew their own crop eventually.
The smurfs were so absorbed with picking the berries that they did not notice a young human male in his mid 20's walking along a path across the meadow. He stopped once he noticed the six smurfs picking smurfberries. The young man gawked in surprise. He had walked down this path for many years, but this is the first time he has ever seen a single, live smurf - little alone six.
"Whoa, smurfs...!" The young lad declared, not realizing that his voice was loud enough that sharp-eared smurfs heard him.
The six smurfs nearly jumped out of their skin. Thinking out of pure instinct, the smurfs bolted for the woods for cover.
"Wait! Stop! Please don't run!" The man cried out to them, thinking desperately in order to get a chance to talk to them. "I know Homnibus!"
The familiar name brought all six smurfs to a screeching halt, and they turn to the young man in disbelief.
"How could you have known Homnibus? He has long left this world almost a hundred years ago!" Brainy questioned the lad, looking at him rather sceptically.
"Well, I didn't mean it that way actually," The young man sheepishly admited, "My grandfather was his apprentice, my father studied under my grandfather, and I'm currently studying under my father. I have read all of Homnibus's books, so in a way, I rather know that great man. There were many books of you, the smurfs. I often dreampt I would get to meet some of you. In one of his books he mentions that most of smurfs had died from a deadly disease, and that some of them barely survived it."
He pauses for a bit as if just realizing something. "Are you six the only survivors?"
The smurfs glanced at each other before returning their gaze back at the young human.
"In a matter of speaking, yeah." Sassette nodded quietly.
"Wow, I still can't believe that I am actually seeing all of you!" The young man exclaimed, looking almost giddy.
"Well, actually there are four more," Slouchy blurted out, "We are on a mission to try and free them from a demon named Asmoday."
"Slouchy!" Brainy turned sharply to him and gave him a scolding look. Slouchy responded by staring sheepishly at his elder.
"Asmoday?" The man pondered for a moment, then smiled. "There are books from Homnibus's collection that talk about Asmoday, and spells to defeat him."
All the eyes of the six smurfs lit up like a Christmas tree when they heard that. All of those years searching, and finally, the information they have been looking for was close. The young man notices this excitement in their faces and kneels before them.
"You smurfs wouldn't want to see these books, would you?" He asked carefully.
Without giving it a second thought, all six smurfs cried out, "Yes!"
Catching herself, Brainette shook her head and in order to revert to a neutral expression. "That is, if we are not imposing on you." She said, looking at the young man.
"Nonsense," the young human laughed. "I'm betting my father would like to meet all of you too."
Each of the smurfs took a deep breath before agreeing to the human's offer.
"Alright!" The man cheered. As he got up to lead the smurfs back to his place, he turned to them to say, "By the way my name is Joseph. What's yours?"
OoOoOoOoOoOo
"Before I show you the library, I want to show you something else." Joseph stated, as the young human lit up a candle. The small light illuminated most of the room.
"This little fella came to our family's possession just after King Gerard passed away." Joseph took the candle and placed beside a glass case. Inside the case, the Clockwork Smurf stood motionless. The wooden android did not seem to acknowledge the presence of the other smurfs who gathered around to gawk at him.
"I'm afraid he doesn't work anymore," the young man sighed in a solemn way, "All of his gears are so old and brittle that even if they were replaced he would never work the way he once did in his day."
"Well at least he is still in one piece on the outside." Brainy nodded, trying to lighten up the mood a little.
"I bet Handy Smurf would just cry seeing his creation like this." Sassette whispers in an emotional tone.
"Seeing Clockwork like this makes me think of Hefty, Toughette, and the babies." Nat sniffed, holding back his tears.
"All the more reason why we need to keep searching for a way to defeat Asmoday so we can get them back!" Brainy said resolvedly.
Joseph nodded. "I understand. Come, the library is this way. We may have a few books you can look up," he spoke, and led the smurfs out of the room.
As they passed the big doors into the library the smurfs' jaws drop open in astonishment. The room was stunningly huge and has about a hundred wall-to-wall bookcases full of books of all sizes.
"Well, here they are." The young human said proudly.
When the smurfs heard Joseph say he had a few books, they did not expect a room that could fit at least three smurf villages inside.
When Joseph notices the smurfs' dazed expressions he looked sheepishly. "Now, I can't seem to remember which ones contained information on Asmoday, but I think it's over there near the back of the library." He told the smurfs, pointing to the farthest end of the room.
"This could take a while." Brainette commented with a look of dismay.
"I never said it would be easy, Brainette." Brainy said, looking seriously into her eyes.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
The next few years went by, and the smurfs have managed to find some new information about the dreaded Asmoday. Joseph and his father, Morgan, had convinced the smurfs to stay with them in the castle. With their treasures from the Old Village they had left in the cave, the smurfs feel more at home with their human friends.
Over the years, the smurfs have grown to trust Joseph and Morgan, not to mention Joseph's wife Emily, and nine-year-old daughter, Jenny. Other family members and servants that lived in the castle treated the smurfs with fairness and admiration. For the first time in years, the smurfs felt like they were part of a family.
In 1682, the smurfs resumed searching through the books once more after their many adventures with Joseph and his family.
One warm afternoon Brainette pulled back from reading one of the spell books. She reached up and with one hand, she took off her glasses and with the other, she released her hairpin that kept her hair up. With a shake of her head, Brainette's brown hair came loose and floated down past her shoulders.
She sighed and scratched the back of her head where her bun used to be. As she placed her pink-rimmed glasses back on her face she notices Brainy sitting on a large book not far away, and he was watching her.
"What?" She raised her eyebrow suspiciously at him.
Embarrassed at been caught, Brainy gave a bashful grin before responding. "Nothing, you just look nice with your hair down. That's all."
"Very funny..." Brainette grumbled, not really believing him.
"No, I'm serious. You really do look nice with your hair down," Brainy said sincerely, "It reminds me of the Blue Moon Ball you smurfettes hosted each year in the Old Smurf Village."
"You never said anything before…" Brainette trailed off, feeling unsure of how she should feel about his remark.
Brainy looked down. "I'm sorry if I didn't say anything before. I was an entirely different smurf back then." He quietly admitted.
"Yes, we all were." The smurfette responded with a small smile as she gently pushes back a few strains of her dark brown hair away from her face.
"I can't believe we are 317 years old already." Brainy shook his head in disbelief.
"Indeed. Time sure flew by when we were wandering from country to country." Brainette commented in a half joke. She walked up to Brainy, and sat down beside him.
"I sometimes wonder if all of this is worth it," Brainy regretfully admitted, "What if there is no other way to beat Asmoday." He gave Brainette a look of dismay, "Hefty, Toughette, and the babies would be doomed to be prisoners in those hibernation crystals forever."
"We will find a way, Brainy. Nothing will make us quit now." Brainette attempted to sound confident.
"I never, in all my years growing up in the Old Village, did I fight so hard for anything," Brainy shook his head again with a sigh. "The only thing that I had to struggle for was to gain respect and appreciation from the other smurfs!"
"You got that now, Brainy." She told him reassuringly.
Brainy looked into her wide, expressive eyes. He could not help but become transfixed with the way her soft brown hair perfectly framed her round blue face. The pink-rimmed glasses seemed to give her much more mature appearance.
Beautiful and smart, Brainy thought. Natural copper highlights in Brainette's chestnut brown hair seemed to sparkle in the light. This makes her all more smurfier in Brainy's eyes.
With no control of his own hand, he reached up to touch her hair. Brainette did not try to stop him as he ran his fingers through the soft tresses on her head. She closed her eyes and leaned her head into his hand.
Obviously, she is enjoyed his touch. With Brainy's other hand, he wrapped his fingers gently around hers as he continues to stroke her hair.
"That feels nice." She purred contently.
"Yeah?" Brainy whispered near her ear.
The sound of someone clearing their throat interrupted their moment. Startled, Brainy and Brainette turned to see Snappy and Slouchy looking over at them from the other books where they are reading themselves.
"Do you two mind? We are trying to read here." Slouchy said in a mock serious tone, pointing at the page he is trying to read.
"Yeah, why don't you both go get a room or something?" Snappy added with a smirk on his face.
Brainette shook her head in exasperation before turning back to Brainy. "Cheeky young smurfs, aren't they?"
"No kidding." Brainy sighed, trying not to smirk. Snappy and Slouchy could no longer hold in their laughter, and roll around on the floor, chortling loudly.
"Oh, grow up you two. Your 235 years old already!" Brainy lectured, trying to maintain a serious, mature tone.
"I think they should be punished anyways." Brainette suggests with a mischievous grin.
"Yes, I think you are right, Brainette." Brainy declares, and then addresses the snickering smurfs, "Boys, how about an extra hour for your defense practice this afternoon?"
Snappy is not at all phased. "Suits me fine," he threw up his arms with a grin, "All of this reading is starting to give me a smurf-ache."
Slouchy, on the other hand, flinched at the thought of defense practice. "Not me," he said with a slow shake of his head, "I'd rather keep up in the research if it's all the same."
"Bookworm!" Snappy snickered again.
"Naw, I just don't like fighting. It's just…unsmurfy," Slouchy answered seriously.
Brainy frowned. "Hefty and Toughette taught you smurfs how to defend yourselves for a reason." He lectured the younger smurfs. "Now you never know what kind of trouble we can run into. In fact, we have already run into all sorts of situations that needed the skills Hefty and Toughette took the time to teach you."
Abashed, both Slouchy and Snappy bow their heads in respect for their defenders that sacrificed their freedom for theirs.
"Hey smurfs," Sassette called out as she entered the library with a tray filled sandwiches and fresh fruit.
"We made lunch - anyone hungry?" Nat added, also walking in with a tray of four glasses of smurfberry juice.
"That actually sounds like a smurfy idea." Brainy nodded happily, "A brief break sounds like something we all can use. Let's eat."
OoOoOoOoOoOo
It took the smurfs almost three years, but the smurfs finally found a clue that could defeat Asmoday - The Beetle Gem. It was located in one of the temples of Egypt.
They left the castle, leaving their human family to protect their treasures for them while the smurfs journeyed all they way to an ancient town called Bubastis. Following the description and the directions found in an old book, they found a ruin of a priest's temple.
Deep inside the old temple they were able to find the one-half of the Beetle Gem, although it was not easy at first, digging it out from its hiding place beneath. Before leaving Bubastis, the smurfs found a clue where to look for the other half. The clue that told them they must travel down the desert to Cairo, the home of the Sphinx.
In order to avoid heat stroke the six smurfs travelled during the night and camped under the shade of their tents during the day. One night just before the sun was about to raise the smurfs realized that they were actually much closer to their destination than they thought. Therefore, they did not feel it necessary to set up their tents and try to sleep through another hot day. Instead, the smurfs decided to brave the blistering morning sun by walking all the way to the Sphinx roughly five miles.
Brainy, Brainette, and Snappy walked rather briskly in the front, while Nat and Slouchy walked casually behind them. Straggling Sassette took up the rear, mostly due the lack of sleep she has been having the last few weeks. She hated trying to sleep when the weather was too hot, and late night walks were not helping much either. Sassette was so tired; she uses her staff as a walking cane in order to keep her from toppling over from exhaustion.
It so happened that when she leaned upon her staff, she somehow pushed it deep into the sand. Almost immediately, a large scorpion popped out from the sand. It instantly went after Sassette.
The large golden sand color arachnid lunged forward with one of his large, well-developed claws. It went to grab Sassette's arm, but was only able to snip her long sleeve, and scrape her arm. The movement was so fast that it caught Sassette off guard.
She shouted, as she fell back on the ground. Terrified, Sassette noticed the sharp, needle-like venomous tip of its long tail coming straight down at her. Quick thinking on pure reflex, she rolled over to one side just as the scorpion plunged the poisonous dart tip right into the sand where she had lain.
Both Snappy and Nat, heard her yell, and came running to her rescue. Together they jumped in to try to steer the desert predator away from their female companion.
"Easy there, our desert friend. We are only passing through..." Nat said, trying to reason with the scorpion.
"Careful Nat! I don't think this thing is interested in becoming friends!" Snappy cried out slapping the scorpion's tail away from his nature-loving brother.
Without thinking twice, Slouchy came running, picked up Sassette's staff, which she had dropped in panic, and uses it like a spear. He jabbed the scorpion in between its eight eyes. Being that the staff has a blunt tip it did not pierce the hard shell of the scorpion, but that did not mean that the scorpion could not feel the force of the jab.
The arachnid shook its head a few times then chattered angrily before retreating quickly over a nearby dune, leaving the smurfs alone under the hot sun.
"Wow," is all Slouchy could say, stunned at his own action. He hated anything to do with violence, and yet, he could not stand idly by and watch that dangerous creature hurt his friends.
"Good job, Slouchy." Snappy cheered as he slapped his friend hard on the back. Brainy and Brainette came hurrying over to join them, concerned but relieved that the four young smurfs were no longer in danger.
"So, Slouchy, you still think that Hefty and Toughette's lessons were unsmurfy?" Brainy whispered near Slouchy's ear, with a hint of sarcasm in his tone.
Slouchy looked up at his older brother with a sheepish grin. Brainy smiles proudly at him before walking ahead of everyone.
"Come on, everysmurf," Brainy ordered, squinting anxiously toward the lightening horizon, "We are almost at the Sphinx, and I don't know about the rest of you, but the sun has barely risen and I for one, feel like a roasted smurf already."
Nat and Snappy reached down to help Sassette back up to her feet. They walked on each side of the redheaded smurfette during the rest of the walk to the Sphinx.
The six smurfs eventually arrived at base of the Sphinx. There they found a stone plaque with something written on it.
Sassette leaned forward for a closer look at the writing. She began to read the riddle out loud. "I help carry a large body from one end of the earth to another. I give the body ability to stand tall and reach for the sky. What am I? Hmmm..." As she pondered this, she absent-mindedly touched the deep scratch on her arm. After a brief moment of though, Sassette came up with the answer. "I'm a foot."
"Very good," Brainy cheered approvingly to the redheaded smurfette.
"Hey, riddles always were my specialty, remember?" Sassette winked at him. Brainy smiled proudly at her, letting her know that he indeed remembered.
There was some kind of hieroglyphics under the riddle. Brainette pushed the image of brick indicated in the plague and a door opened.
"How's your arm, Sassette?" Brainy asked the redhead smurfette, noticing how she was still rubbing her arm.
"It's sore," She answered him honestly.
"In that case you better stay up here. It looks like it could be very dusty down there and I don't want your arm to get an infection," The older smurf suggested.
"Ok." Sassette replied, looking a tad nervous.
Nat raised his staff up and spook. "I'll stay with her, Brainy. She looks like she could use medical care on her arm, and I can patch her up while you four get the other half of the Beetle Gem!" He offered.
"Alright," Brainy nodded approvingly. "We won't be long. You two better set up a tent. We will camp here during the day before heading home tonight." He said, leading the way for the rest of the smurfs into the Sphinx.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
"Hey I think I found something!" Slouchy called to the others from the other end of the room.
He had just stumbled upon a rusty color clay chest shoved somewhere in a corner under the stone plaque. Noticing some kind of markings on the surface of the plaque, he reached over and with one hand; he carefully wiped away a heavy layer of dust off the lid while holding up a burning torch with the other hand. He stopped quickly when the dust rose into air, so much that he pulled away coughing.
"Careful Slouchy, you'd better let me do that." Brainette barked.
She stepped in as she pulls out her little brush used especially for archeological digs. With light sweeps, she cleared the surface well enough to read the inscription carved into the rock.
Brainette squinted in order to read the faded writing. Her smile started to spread slowly across her face at what she discovered. She turned swiftly to the other smurfs. "It's in here!" She cheered.
Brainy tries not to get too excited. They have had so many disappointments with dead end searches. He walked over to one end of the rusty color clay chest under encrypted stone plaque. With a single motion of his hand, Brainy instructs Snappy to come and grab the other end of the chest.
As the two smurfs heaved the lid up, and then gently placed on the ground.
"Slouchy, bring the torch over here." Brainy called out eagerly to the young smurf. Slouchy did as instructed, and held the torch high enough to give Brainy a clear vision of what is in the box.
With a triumphant smile, Brainy the object they had been searching for. He reached in and pulled out the other half of the beetle with a sapphire gem on its back. Brainette pulled out the first half of the beetle with a ruby gem and held it up against Brainy's half.
"Now all we need to do now is go back home and figure out how to use and control the magic from these gems." Brainette told him with a smile.