Hello, people! Okay, before we get started, I would like to announce something: If you haven't noticed already, I have changed the title of the story slightly. It is like that because I have realized that too much goes on in this entire plotline that I need to separate it into two stories. This, so far, is part one: The Law of the Life Givers.
As for people who have won free wishes, you will have until the end of the second part of the story, whose name I will not say until later in this story. You would need to understand a few things before I put up the title and synopsis. Review time.
Benny- Yes sir, you are correct! You get your second free wish from this whole story! Anyway, I'm glad you like the Drakonai so far. He won't be appearing until the second part of the story, but I think there's another you'll really like.
Don't let Favian fool you: He may look like a harmless tortoise, but he's got a lot of strength under his shell, along with many secrets. Biquette…well, I'm gonna let you guys find out for yourselves what happens to Biquette.
flowerpower71- (chuckles) I'm glad you enjoyed Nanu in this story so far. I hope I'm doing her character right, at least by you. I think I really showed how tough she is when she fought off that Shadow Hound.
SmallSunshine- I'm starting to think that everyone here loves how more and more Creatugos are appearing in this story. I'm glad, though, that my updates are putting a smile on everyone's face.
Chloe- Ichabod and Morgana are really kind Drakonus, so you'd figure how they were overthrown? You'll find out soon enough, not to mention why they're there in the forest.
Zinka17- Jo was there, she just really wasn't mentioned, so I guess I can see why you didn't think she was there.
Candy Girl- Oh, yes. Hefty's gonna be in plenty of chapters.
The Smurf Reaper- Thank you, oh great Smurf Reaper. I will not disappoint you.
LULLABY1LOVE- I'm glad you are enjoying this story so much. Disclaimer time!
I only own Crafty, the Creatugos, Drakonai, Almia, Angel, and Benevolent. Noctuma is owned by Benny, flowerpower71 owns Livy and Nanu, CartoonCaster21 owns Jo, and Sapphire777 owns Misty. Bye!
"So, you both are co-commanders in the CPPF, eh?" Xavier asked Nanu and Misty.
"You bet," Nanu yawned, settling herself on the grass. "For two hundred and fifty years."
"And you, Ginger?"
Misty's ears flattened on her head and she narrowed her teal eyes as she replied, "What?"
"Oh boy," Crafty breathed out, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"What? What'd I say?" Xavier asked.
"Crafty! Did you hear what he just called me?!" Misty snapped at the Smurfette.
"I heard him, Mist," Crafty boringly replied.
"And you know how I get when people call me that!" She stomped a paw on the ground.
Xavier smirked, "What's the matter, Ginger? Ya don't like the name Ginger?"
He grunted as Misty pounced on him, pinning his paws with hers. With her teeth bared, her eyes still narrowed, and her ears still flattened on her head, she growled, "Don't call me Ginger?"
"Don't worry. I won't," Xavier grinned, pushing himself up, knocking Misty off of him so that he was pinning her down as he tauntingly finished, "Ginger."
"If those two kiss, I'm gonna smurf," Wittette stated in disgust.
"You said it," Grouchy cringed.
"Yeah, get a burrow, you two!" Gutsy teased with a laugh.
"What? NO!" Xavier stuttered, quickly getting off of Misty so the two could get to opposite sides of the crowd that was around Ichabod and Morgana.
"It is a great pleasure to meet you both, King Ichabod and Queen Morgana," Papa said kindly to his guests. "I must ask though, if you are indeed royalty, why are you not at home now?"
Pain instantly crossed the expressions of the Drakonai, setting down their glasses of mint tea and shifting uncomfortably in the grass they sat on. They looked at each other and then to the Smurfs, Smurfettes, Creatugos and humans.
"Something terrible has happened, as Favian has already said," Morgana answered. "We came here because we heard Crafty was here."
Crafty, who was sat next to Gutsy of course, blew out a breath of air, "I already know what you're going to ask. All I can say is I have no idea what could be wrong with him."
"Oh, but there must be something you could do," Morgana begged, clasping her claws together. "You know him better than anyone else."
"You do realize though that the instant I walk into your palace, he'll roast me alive, right?"
"No, he won't!" Ichabod reasoned. "Crafty. You know we wouldn't ask you to do something you couldn't do. I will admit it: Growing up with you at his side constantly, I don't see how he turned out like this, but if anyone can do it, you can."
"Are any of you Smurfs following this?" Hefty whispered to Wooly and Jokey. They simultaneously shook their heads.
"I think I do," Affectionette answered, she sitting down next to Scaredy, who was shaking only slightly and shyly holding her hand. "Not long after Crafty disappeared, Noa went absosmurfily insane. He's Morgana and Ichabod's son, prince to the throne in Drakoi. I think they want her to talk some sense into him so that they can get their throne back."
"I don't understand," Johan said, finally understanding the situation. "If you truly are the king and queen, why not just order your guards to apprehend the one who took your kingdom in the first place?"
"That's the first thing we did," Ichabod shrugged, "but when we did, they wouldn't listen. It was as if they were under a sort of enchantment. We couldn't gain any control over them! They banished us and we've been searching for Crafty ever since."
Crafty narrowed her eyes at them suddenly, "Who told you I was here, again?"
"Uh…well, about that," Ichabod laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "You see, we got help from one of your friends…he said he had picked up your trail a few weeks after you disappeared and we followed him, but we got separated."
"Who, though? Who? I have plenty of 'he' friends that doesn't even include these guys," Crafty gestured to the Smurfs.
"That would be me," a familiar Russian voice spoke.
"SNAKE!" Livy shrieked, leaping into Johan's arms as Ipati recoiled back, using his tail to cover the sides of his head.
Everyone clasped their hands over their ears as her screech pierced their ear drums like a thousand spears.
"Will someone please SHUT HER UP!" Ipati hissed out, wincing at the female's loud and panicked blabbering.
Jo immediately slapped a hand over Livy's mouth, finally silencing her. Everyone took their…appendages off of their ears in relief, but right after Livy was silenced, Puppy, Wild and Feralette arched their backs, growling at Ipati in distaste.
"I have no time for you creatures. I have business to take care of," Ipati waved his tail at them, only for Feralette to bite down violently on it.
"YOWCH!" Ipati shook his tail, trying to shake Feralette off. "Heel, you mongoosian Smurfette! Sit! Stay! Anything but bite!"
"Feralette, stand down," Crafty firmly ordered.
Feralette released her jaws from Ipati's tail and thumped to the ground, growling at the cobra before stalking off and lying down next to Crafty.
"How many times am I going to be bitten by that woman!?" Ipati hissed. "That has to be eight-fifth time she's done it!"
"Ninety-seventh, actually," Crafty corrected, petting Ferlatte's golden hair.
"Ah, always the smarty pants Smurfette, aren't you?" Ipati raised a non-existent eyebrow, his lavender eyes gleaming only instead of intimidation, it was with humor. "Not enough to outwit me."
"I had plenty of wit when I tangled you up in that flower patch," Crafty retorted with a smirk.
"What flower patch? What happened?" Jo asked, looking back and forth between the Smurfette and the cobra.
Ipati sighed heavily, "You had to bring unwanted memories."
Favian chuckled fondly, "I remember that day. It was the day you both first met."
A group of young Smurflings ran through what looked like a sort of hot and humid tropical forest. There were four Smurflings in all.
First, there was Crafty. She wore her white shirt with dark blue overalls and a light blue Smurf hat. Her dark brown hair, instead of being in a braid, was in a low ponytail.
Next, there was Explorette. All to say about her is that she is the child version of her self in every way. Her black hair was in a ponytail, she was in her explorers outfit, etc.
Finally, there was Affectionette. Her blonde hair was longer than now as an adult, reaching down to the middle of her back and had not yet gotten the slight curls at the ends. Nonetheless, she was still incredibly cheerful and kind all the same.
"Come on, it's right over here!" Explorette shouted, waving to her sisters to follow.
"Explorette!" Affectionette gasped. "Not that I don't like flowers as much as the next Smurfette, but can't we slow down a bit?"
"Come on, Affectionette! Where's your sense of adventure?" Crafty laughed, easily keeping up with her adventurous sister.
"Here it is!" Explorette skidded to a stop in through a bush. "The flower patch is right here."
"Whoa," Crafty and Affectionette gaped.
Before them was a large patch of tropical flowers, all different colors, sizes, and species. A lot were on the ground, but a good many of them were on the surrounding rocks and vines.
"These'll be perfect to give to Mama. Her Smurfday's coming up soon, you know," Affectionette said.
"Good idea, Affectionette!" Crafty ran into the grove of flowers.
Affectionette and Explorette grinned and rushed about into the flower patch.
"Mama will absosmurfly love these," Affectionette said, picking some purple orchids. "Purple's her favorite color."
"I thought it was green," Explorette quirked an eyebrow, climbing up a vine to gather blue Smurfberry blossoms.
"No, that's Silky's favorite color," Crafty said, observing what looked like coiled up tree branches. "These would do great for my lifter."
Affectionette giggled and Explorette rolled her eyes, "Crafty, you and your inventions."
Affectionette's eyes suddenly widened and she began to tremble. Explorette quirked an eyebrow and looked to where she was looking.
"MAMA!" They shrieked, running out of the flower patch for their dear lives.
Crafty stopped pulling at the spring-like wood and lifted her head to stare at where her sisters had ran.
"HEY! Where ya guys smurfing to?!" Crafty yelled, but they seemed to be too far away to even hear her. She just shrugged and continued to tug at the stubborn branches. Unknown to her, the grasses rustled as something seemed to move right towards her.
"OWW!" Crafty cried as a dark shape lunged at the thick end of the tree branch, snapping it off and sending the Smurfling tumbling backwards.
She sat back up and shook her head before noticing that the coiled up branch was free and lying on her lap. She smiled and got to her feet, taking the branch with her.
"You're welcome," An unknown voice rasped.
Crafty looked up, only to see the tallest creature she had ever seen. Thin, but still tall. The serpent before her looked down at the Smurfling, his lavender eyes seeming not normal. They seemed more feral and not in their right state of mind.
"Oh, thank you," Crafty said to the cobra. "It was nice of you to do that."
"Of course. Say, would you like to play a game?" the cobra asked, the last part sounding awfully ominous.
"Okay," Crafty smiled, ignoring the uneasiness she felt. "I'm Crafty. What's your name?"
"Ipati, little one," Ipati said. "Do you know of the game 'Predator and Prey'."
"No," Crafty shrugged. "Is it like hide and seek? Or tag?"
"Yes yes, tag. It is much like tag, only the one who is it must tackle the 'prey' to the ground," Ipati explained, a hungry glint in his eyes.
"Yeah!" Crafty threw her hands up in joy. She then threw herself at Ipati, making him grunt harshly and down into the flowers.
"You're it!" Crafty giggled, pushing herself up off of him and running into the flower patch.
Ipati spread his hood wide and hissed, darting right after her. Many times Crafty eluded the cobra and his strikes. After a few minutes, Crafty suddenly darted right behind him, jumped over his back, and went around. Unfortunately, Ipati wasn't in his right state of mind and, instead, went under his body and back around through the circle he had created.
He stopped and gagged, looking down and seeing that he had made a knot out of himself and cut oxygen out of his lungs. He squirmed and gasped on the ground, flattening the flowers as he tried to untangle himself.
"Ipati? Are you okay?" Crafty tilted her head, approaching the cobra. "You don't look good."
Ipati merely used his tail to point frantically at the knot in his throat before his eyes shut and he went limp.
Crafty casually looked around and perked. She climbed up on a vine nearby and crawled out onto a not-too-thick, not-too-thin three branch and jumped down while holding onto it.
Just as she predicted, she landed right on the lump that was Ipati's knot. She took the tip of the tree branch and stuck it into the little space that there was and held it there. She slowly backed up until her feet were touching the ground before-
FWAP! She let go of the tree branch and it and Ipati went flying way up in the air. She followed the form of the cobra as he went up. And up. And up.
"Whoops," Crafty stated.
Fortunately, a few seconds later and just as she predicted, Ipati landed flat in front of Crafty. Also, as predicted, the knot in his throat was gone.
"Uggh," Ipati blinked his lavender eyes, now seeming a lot more clear, focused, and alert. "Why did you do that?"
Crafty shrugged innocently and childishly replied, "Mama always told me that if a knot's not in a rope, it's not a good one, especially when it's in hair. They hurt when you brush them," she winced slightly as she rubbed her hair.
Ipati suddenly looked her up and down before asking, "What are you, anyway? You don't look like a mouse."
"I'm not a mouse, silly! I'm a Smurfling!" Crafty giggled out.
"What is Smurfling? And why are you blue?" Ipati said.
"You're funny! I like you!" Crafty giggled again, hugging Ipati on the snout. Ipati looked at her unsure before shrugging (as best as a snake could, anyway) and closing his eyes, pressing his snout into the Smurfling's body.
"Man, those were good times," Crafty smiled, shaking her head in amusement.
"Mama never did forgive Ipati for trying to eat you," Wittette said.
"How can I?" Mama humphed. "He tried to eat my baby!"
"I outwitted him, didn't I?" Crafty pointed out.
"And nearly killed me, too," Ipati grumbled.
"I just can't believe you got your tail handed to you by a toddler," Jo snickered.
"I was hungry, I was tired, and her adorableness threw me off, okay?!" Ipati hissed.
"He ain't wrong," Gutsy pulled Crafty close to him and licked her cheek. "Yer very adorable."
"Is that really all you have to say? Adorable? I thought you loved me!" Crafty pouted and turned away from him with a huff.
"Oooh, you're in trouble," Jo crooned while all the others laughed.
"What? No! I meant...uh," Gutsy rubbed the back of his neck before replying, "I just mean it's only one thing about ye. Dere's so much more te you den yer adorability-"
Crafty interrupted with a chuckle as she turned to him, "Smurf, you're dumb. Thank smurfness that you're so lovable," she pressed herself against him and wrapped her arms around his waist. His shoulders sagged with relief and he wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
Morgana and Ichabod looked at them strangely, then at each other, and then at Papa and Mama. Ichabod asked unsure, "Are they always like this?"
"Yes, are they?" Mama turned to the elder Smurf with an arched eyebrow.
"Like you wouldn't believe," Papa chuckled.
"One time Gutsy tried to steal Crafty's hat like she does to him from behind, and she ended up flipping him over and onto the ground," Livy said.
"Talk about a knockout," Ichabod grinned. "Way to go, Crafty!"
"Not to be a wet blanket here, but could we please get back on topic?" Xavier asked.
Ichabod cleared his throat and continued, "Yes. Well, Ipati had said something about how she was cursed by the Rod of Reminiscence and so we decided to follow him."
Crafty's eyes snapped open and they darted to Ichabod worriedly as Papa asked, "Well why did you come now? Ipati came here nearly three years ago."
"That's where it got strange. Ipati said that she was close and told us to wait at our home camp on top of that mountain," Ichabod pointed and everyone turned to see, in the far distance, the peak of a tall mountain. "He left and...well, he never came back."
"That's because that Smurf bit me," Ipati pointed a tail at Wild Smurf, who growled lowly at him, "that Smurf stabbed me," then at Wooly, "that beast slashed me," he accused Xavier, who flattened his ears and bared his teeth in a growl, "and my tail was tied to a tree by those blue mini 'Craftys'!" he finally pointed at the Smurflings.
"She has taught us well," Snappy smirked, giving Nat a high four.
"Wow. They put you through a lot, didn't they?" Morgana chuckled.
"Oh! I have not even begun what they've done!" Ipati hissed indignantly. "Not even a day later, I get beaten snout to tail by a winged-Smurf! And to put cherry on top of all of that, I wake up and about to get Crafty when he shows up!" he directed a glare straight at Gutsy. "I have fought countless enemies but they've never been Scottish and I never will fight Scottish men. Have you seen how vicious they get? They kill for their girlfriend!"
"Whoa, whoa!" Gutsy shouted, pulling away from Crafty and marching right up to the cobra. "How dare ye call'er me girlfriend!? She's me fiance, ye numptie!"
"OWWCH!" Ipati drew back as Gutsy threw a punch at his snout. "See what I mean?! I already got my tail beaten by Smurfs and a fellow Creatugo, I was not about get myself killed for Crafty! Our friendship is not worth that! No offense, Crafty."
"None taken," Crafty waved a hand nonchalantly.