Chapter 13: The Midnight Skirmish

Hefty stayed awake the entire night after Papa Smurf and others had retired to their tents. This forest was certainly different from the one he was use to. Pointy needle like things covered the ground along with a rather spiny nut that was rather large and sometimes coated in sap. Their were no crickets that night, that alone aroused Hefty's suspicion that something was definitely not right. Tuffy has been shadowing Hefty now that the village has fallen more then ever before, Tuffy was always like an annoying little brother to him, but now he stands tall and proves to be a reliable ally, even though he is not very skilled with fighting and reckless as ever. To his right stands Gutsy, Though more aged and experienced then the majority of his fellow Smurfs, Gutsy has one hell of a strong pride. Gutsy neglects his spear training often claiming he can fight better with his bare hands, but the demons that come after them now have weaponry, and they are no novice when it comes to using it.

With each victory it seems the wave of demons that follow the fallen become stronger, as though they are only angering them further by killing them off. It is unknown what these demons want, where they came from, or why they target the Smurfs. But Hefty is prepared to fight to the death for the safety of his peers. The 3 armored Smurfs stand guard of Papa Smurf's tent, despite Papa Smurf's wishes he now almost always has at least one armored and armed Smurf guarding him at all times. It seemed to be a peaceful night though until about midnight, when the moon, that for some reason has been full since the village fell, was now at the direct center of the sky. Hefty was making a round of camp, just to ensure every Smurf's safety, when suddenly he heard the sound of a huge amount of explosives go off. The sky light up and a terrible bang echoed throughout the forest. Every Smurf practically jumped up out of their tents and ran to the center of camp where Papa Smurf was immediately conducting a head count.

"My Smurfness!" Papa Smurf cries. "Where is Jokey?!"

The crowd of Smurfs immediately started screaming amongst each other, looking for Jokey.

"Is that you Jokey?!" Clumsy says, tugging on the hind belt of the Smurf in front of him.

"No you nincomsmurf! Its me! Brainy!" Brainy yells, as he turns around real quick and grabs his tail.

"Uh, gosh.. Sorry Brainy!" Clumsy says.

"Jokey?!" Hefty says, approaching a Smurf wearing the usual atire.

"Nat.." Natural says, shaking his head.

"Is that you Jokey?" Farmer says, poking Lazy.

"No… Its Lazy… What's a Smurf gotta do to get some sleep around here?" Lazy says, yawning.

Papa Smurf comes back to the center of camp with a very bright lantern that lit up the entire campsite.

"There we go.. I put a magic spell on this lantern to make it brighter, now we can save oil and see better than ever." Papa Smurf says, setting the lantern on the ground.

"It would help if Jokey wore something that made him different from other Smurfs!" Brainy yells.

"I found him Papa Smurf!" Gutsy says, practically dragging Jokey into the center of camp, who was laughing so hard he could barely breath.

"Jokey! Where were you all this time!?" Papa Smurf says.

"I just gave Gargamel the ultimate surprise!" Jokey says, roaring with laughter.

"You mean you actually?.." Timber starts to say.

"Yup! I gave him the red box!" Jokey says.

"Jokey! Of all the ridiculous things you have done, this is the most reckless! Now the demons will find us for sure!" Papa Smurf yells.

"Why?! What was in the red box Papa Smurf?! Huh? Huh? Tell me!" Nosey says, running up immediately.

"Nothing you should ever mess around with Nosey." Papa Smurf says.

Suddenly there was a rustling in the bushes. The whistle of a spear hurdling through the air, and the cut off cry of a Smurf followed by the sound of a body hitting the ground. Before any Smurf had time to react a group of demons jumped from the trees and from within the bushes and started a full out charge.

"To arms! To arms! Every Smurf capable of fighting follow my lead!" Hefty shouts, readying his Spear.

"We got a Smurf down!" Brainy shouts, as Papa Smurf and Doctor run to the scene.

Smurfs ran about in panic and shear horror. Groups of demons with all kinds of weaponry swarm the camp and attacked without mercy. Hefty cuts one down with a slash of his spear, then whirls around and jabs another one through the back as it approached Lazy. He draws his sword with haste and whirls around again, slashing a demon right down the middle of it's chest, organs and blood covered the ground were it lays. Gutsy was to his right, he wrestled a demon to the floor and proceeded to shove his knife into its throat, struggling against the strength of the demon's grip on his forearms. Timber was at the back of the camp near Papa Smurf's tent. He readied his axe and sunk it into the skull of the first demon to approach him, then he surprised another by revealing a second axe and swiftly taking it's head off. He grabbed the axe still in the skull of the first demon and threw it with all the might of woodsman and it struck one in the treetops. The demon fell from tree with a thud, the axe in it's chest.

"Stay by my side Tuffy!" Hefty commands.

Tuffy threw his spear at the demon approaching the front of him, realizing that was his only weapon he jumps up and runs right into the center of the battlefield to grab his weapon.

"Tuffy! No! Fallback Tuffy! Fallback!" Hefty commands.

Tuffy retrieves his spear and looks up at Hefty when a sword blow knocked his helmet off, with pure luck Tuffy had his spear in the air and the demon had ran into it upon trying to tackle Tuffy and was killed. The fighting continued for a good 3 hours before Hefty and his knights pushed their forces back into the forest and depleted their numbers largely, forcing a retreat. Hefty returned to camp and many Smurfs were injured but the night had not taken any casualties.

"Papa Smurf! Papa Smurf! Are you alright!?" Hefty cried, running through camp to Papa Smurf's tent.

"Oh Papa Smurf! Say is isn't so!" Brainy cried, as Hefty entered the tent.

"I'm sorry Brainy… Clumsy is in critical condition… Its best to step back and allow Doctor to work." Papa Smurf says.

"Critical as it may seem Papa Smurf Clumsy will be just fine thanks to your magic and my skills, the spear missed all of his vital organs. However, Clumsy will not be mobile for some time to come yet.. A wound like that will need a long time to heal." Doctor says.

"Oh thank Smurfness!" Brainy shouts in relief.

"I see… Well this changes everything.. With Clumsy unable to Smurf from this location during the healing process.. I suppose we will have to postpone further travel." Papa Smurf says.

"But Papa Smurf! How will we ever contact the others if we don't Smurf those pigeons?" Hefty says.

"Now, now Hefty. Patience is a Smurfy virtue." Papa Smurf says.

"Yes you are absosmurfly right Papa Smurf! As I always say, Patience is the key to every task. And a patient Smurf is a Smurfy Smurf indeed! Furthermore-" Brainy says.

"Heh, heh Alright Brainy…" Papa Smurf says.

"But Papa Smurf.. What if what happened last night Smurfs again tonight? And what if the process repeats itself every night that we stay here?" Hefty asks.

"Hefty, Hefty, Hefty… You can't always Smurf on the negative side of things! As Papa Smurf always says, "All that's Smurfy ends Smurfy" and I believe we were very Smurfy when we started out! Furthermore I-" Brainy was interrupted again.

"Actually Brainy, Hefty has made a good point! For the safety of those who can't fight I think we should Smurf ahead to Homnibus'. Hefty, you and your knights will stay behind and guard Clumsy and Doctor.. I have faith in you Sir Hefty!" Papa Smurf says.

"Uh Papa Smurf… it would seem Lazy has something of a headache and requires bed rest" Doctor says, with a smile.

"He, he of course he does! Lazy can stay to.. I don't think uh… he would be of much use anyway.." Papa Smurf says.

"But before we go.. *Yawn* I think we all should get some sleep" Papa Smurf says.

"You said it Papa Smurf" Hefty says, removing his helmet and replacing it with his cap. "Gutsy? Can I trust you to take up night duty… Just this once?" Hefty asks.

"As soon as Doctor finishes Smurfin up me wounds!" Gutsy says, as doctor bandages a small gash in his shoulder.

"Speaking of travel… Has anyone Smurfed Padre Smurf lately?" Papa Smurf asks.

"Yeah, he said something about smurfing a pilgrimage to Smurfberry Island to try to find "enlightenment" in the place where it all started." Sickly said.

"its nice he finally found himself" Papa Smurf says. " Smurfness knows I sure couldn't.." Papa Smurf adds.

All the Smurfs brought their tents together to form one big tent and began to get settled to sleep. Tailor was making his bed when Gutsy walks up behind him with a hole in his chain mail through the shoulder where he was stabbed. Gutsy did not even get to open his mouth before Tailor says: "Ah no ya don't… I don't Smurf armor". Without saying a word he walks back outside of the tent. Brainy fell asleep that night on the ground next to Clumsy's stretcher, never leaving his best friend's side. On the moment dawn showed its first light, those who were incapable of defending themselves gathered their things and continued the journey to Homnibus' home, to find the global network of communication known as carrier pigeons, the thing the Smurfs so desperately needed.