Smurfocalypse Chapter 40: The Smurf Council.

The day was coming to an end, and every Smurf in the port was hungry. Harmony's trumpet would lead all who followed to the house where Chef had just finished a huge pot of three sister's stew. It took several Smurf's to lift it and place it onto the kitchen floor where it would be within every Smurf's reach.

"Careful! If you spill my stew you better learn how to cook for yourselves." Chef warned.

"Relax we're not gonna spill it." Doctor said as he helped Hefty, Handy, and Carpenter carry the heavy stew pot that was taller than they were.

They safely got the stewpot onto the kitchen floor, and just in time because a line was already forming in front of it as Chef prepared the large ladle. After working with it basically all day via trial and error Chef had managed to learn to work with the ladle in the kitchen despite it being larger than the one he's used to using, and proceeded to fill the bowls he had gathered from the surrounding houses as well as this one with the warm vegetarian safe stew. The humans had themselves a decent harvest here with what little land they had in the nearby countryside because Chef was able to whip up an impressive stew with the vegetables they had left behind. These were big bowls that humans ate out of, and Chef was filling them as full as the receiving Smurf wanted. He had just made a very large amount of food without really realizing it. There would definitely be no rationing tonight. Tonight they would feast on stew. Each Smurf's stomach was growling and they couldn't wait to receive their bowl. It was the perfect meal on this cool autumn evening. Large delicious chunks of squash with beans and corn. It was a thick stew made in vegetable stock Chef made himself from scratch. They ate their warm stew around the fireplace and every Smurf was warm.

Dreamy and most of his old crew were hanging out in the upper left hand corner of the room under the staircase as though they were in their own little club. It wasn't necessarily on purpose so much that Dreamy chose a place to sit and one by one they joined him as though they were still on the ship.

"Kind of strange that Alchemist isn't joining us huh?" Architect asked.

"Yeah I thought he'd be eating with us again." Navigator said in between bites.

"You mentioned Doctor wanted to talk to Alchemist in private earlier today." Dreamy said.

"Yeah it was strange. Doctor is the last Smurf I'd want that to happen with. I hope he isn't sick." Architect said.

"He seems alright to me. I saw him earlier today gathering materials from the human's medicine place." Fisher said.

"How is the winter clothes project going Mango?" Coconut asked.

"Just Smurfy. There's a lot of human clothing we can take apart and make clothes from." Mango said.

"I'll admit I sort of forgot how to make clothes… I took repair and construction jobs to earn my current outfit." Coconut said.

"You should see Tailor and ask him to Smurf you some winter clothes Coconut." Dreamy said as he shoved a big spoonful of squash into his mouth.

"Oooh I would have, but he was busy today with other Smurfs, and I was busy today with you Smurfs…" Coconut said.

"He's not busy right now. Why not go talk to him?" Architect said.

"You don't think he'd mind on his time off?" Coconut asked.

"I really don't think he'd care." Fisher said.

"Well… Alright." Coconut said.

The adolescent Smurfette approached the center of the room where Tailor was enjoying his dinner alongside Weather and Cobbler Smurf. Hanging out with Weather Smurf was always smart for obvious reasons. Tailor needed to know how much more time he had to fill his orders for winter clothes before the temperatures dropped dangerously low, and Weather was just the Smurf to go to about that.

"Excuse me Tailor." Coconut said.

"Yes what is it? Uhh…" Tailor said as didn't even know who he was talking to.

"Oh I'm Coconut." Coconut said.

"Coconut… What can I do for ya?" Tailor asked.

A mere look at the tropical Smurfette already told him the answer. The Smurfette was dressed in a short sleeve tie dye t-shirt with a mixture of cream and brown colors and what looked to be an oversized pair of swim trunks of the same design with brown dead vines serving as a belt, and Tailor wasn't even about to get into what she was wearing on her feet. Why for all that is Smurfy would you wear shoes that don't even cover your feet?

"Well… If it's not too much trouble I'd really appreciate it if you'd make me some warmer clothes." Coconut said.

Tailor just sort of looked up from his food with a blank expression. Then he looked her in the eyes and smiled.

"Sure! What would ya like me to make ya? A nice warm dress for the winter?" Tailor asked.

He had become good at making dresses but he obviously only had a single client requesting those, and Smurfette was currently no longer in the picture so he assumed this Smurfette would enjoy one herself, but Coconut just blushed and looked down at the floor.

"Y-You mean like the ones Smurfette wears? Oh no no no I'm not pretty enough for that. I'd like a pair of pants like what you Smurfs wear for the winter and maybe longer sleeves for my shirt." Coconut said.

Tailor laughed and nodded his head.

"I assume you'd like me to copy that design on your outfit?" Tailor asked.

"Yes of course. It's my tribal markings they are very important to my Smurfs. It's how we tell each other apart and how we know we are from the village." Coconut said.

"You're going to need a pair of shoes to go with that. When the ice and snow comes your feet will freeze right off." Cobbler said.

"Wait what so you'll really make me a new outfit? I don't have to do anything in return for it?" Coconut asked.

"Of course it's the Smurfy thing to do. We can't have you freezing while we're all warm that wouldn't be right." Tailor said.

"Wow Thanks!" Coconut said.

"You will also need a coat, a warmer cap for winter, possibly some boots but cobbler will handle that. I also need your measurements so at some point I will have to get those, but I have a growing list of Smurfs requesting clothes."

"I honestly don't know how much longer I can make it! Its getting colder and colder, and even right now my legs are freezing." Coconut said.

There were Smurfs walking around shirtless currently in weather that calls for jackets she was just going to have to wait. The sad part is if Smurfette had complained like this he would have gladly moved her to the top of his list, but Coconut was far too young to charm him.

"You're not the only Smurf in need of clothes. You'll have to wait your turn." Tailor said.

"I suppose that's fair…" Coconut said.

She then waved and left the three Smurfs to return to her friends in the corner as well as her stew which was getting cold.

"So how did it go?" Dreamy asked.

"I think I'm on the waiting list now." Coconut said.

"At the very least there's no way he can forget you." Architect pointed out.

Coconut sat with her back against the wall and leaned against it after pulling her stew bowl up to her and taking her spoon. It was ridiculous watching these Smurfs eat with big spoons and bowls.

"I can't believe Alchemist ditched us. How lame is that?" Coconut said.

"I'm sure he has his reasons." Dreamy said.

Alchemist did in fact have his reasons. Tonight he would be eating with Hefty and Brainy as the three of them tried to decide how they would break it to the others that Hefty was to be the new leader. It was obviously something Hefty was meant to explain himself why else would Papa Smurf insist his current state of health be a secret? Papa Smurf was fine. As the previous conversations took place he too was enjoying a bowl of stew in the bed.

"I say we just go for it. Be direct about it straight off the bat." Hefty said.

"So you would stand up right now from your spot and just draw every Smurf's attention?" Alchemist asked.

"Are you sure you don't want to plan something first like something to say?" Brainy asked.

"I'm not so good with that kinda stuff." Hefty said.

"How will you know what to say to them?" Brainy asked.

"Let's not worry about it. It's Papa Smurf's decision not ours." Hefty said.

"But how do we convince them of that?" Alchemist asked.

"Doctor is going to hate us, but we'll have to show them proof. We can't keep secrets from them." Hefty said.

"But Papa Smurf said specifically that he wants the fact he's awake a secret." Brainy said with a wave of his finger.

"Papa Smurf isn't in charge anymore… I am, and I say no secrets. We show them proof and have him explain what's going on to every Smurf." Hefty said.

"We have to do as Hefty says if his mind is made up." Alchemist reminded Brainy.

"I know I know." Brainy said.

"My final decision is that we tell every Smurf the truth about Papa Smurf and then have him explain whats going on." Hefty said.

"Very well… If that's what you want." Alchemist said.

Brainy knew in the back of his mind that revealing every secret they had been keeping was a bad idea, but simultaneously he knew honesty was the right path to choose. Hefty must have had a change of heart and decided he wanted to address the issue with Modest with the entire village. One of many complications is that there was no proof Modest wasn't still alive while under the parasite's control. He most certainly was already dead, but none of the Smurfs know that. There were some Smurfs in the village that were actually just assuming Modest was some sort of criminal as they had not known of him before the incident. As for the two in the village that knew him personally when he was alive, Archer and Falconer were not really all that happy with how the situation was handled. The story Brainy fed everyone that night didn't make any sense to either of them. Then there was the situation with Balthazar being out for revenge. There were still some Smurfs in the dark about that as well. With all that was going on and with how fast paced their lives suddenly became again it was impossible to keep all Smurfs up to speed with what was happening without Reporter's news. Unfortunately Reporter was one of the Smurfs in the dark. He couldn't very well write a story on something he barely understood.

Hefty stood up and grabbed his spoon almost effortlessly with one hand and began to bang it against his bowl until he had the attention of every Smurf.

"Smurfs we have a lot to discuss tonight…" Hefty said as he put on Papa Smurf's red cap.

Brainy being Brainy could no longer stand it and had to run his mouth.

"Papa Smurf is awake and he is just fine. I knew all the long Papa Smurf would be fine, but noo you all seemed to think there was a chance he would never wake up. Furthermore I-" Brainy said.

"Brainy! Remember this is for me to explain." Hefty said.

This exciting information had every Smurf's spirits up, and there was complete silence in the room as they all waited for Hefty to explain.

"Papa Smurf has passed leadership down to me."

There were mixed emotions flowing throughout the crowd and murmuring began. Handy stood up almost immediately expressed his approval. Many shared the same thoughts as Handy, but there were others who were not so sure of what they were hearing.

"This sure is a Smurfy scoop, but where is your proof other than the hat?" Reporter inquired with pencil to paper as he was excited to begin writing once again.

"I will take you all to see Papa Smurf. Like I said before we have a lot to talk about." Hefty said.

Doctor immediately protested.

"Now wait just a Smurfy minute! Papa Smurf is still under my care an I don't think he should be seeing so many Smurfs at once." Doctor said.

Unfortunately for Doctor no other Smurf agreed with him, and before he could stop a single soul the entire village was inside the bedroom gathered on and around the bed where Papa Smurf rests.

"Well hey there my little Smurfs. I thought I'd be seeing you all today." Papa Smurf said.

"You mean you knew Hefty would make this choice?" Brainy asked.

Papa Smurf just grinned.

"There are quite a few things that we need to discuss together so I hope the rest of your evenings are free." Papa Smurf said.

During this meeting Papa Smurf would recap all that happened regarding Gargemel's fate, Balthazar's sworn revenge, the incident with modest was explained by those directly involved and as one might expect this immediately made Archer and Falconer dislike Timber which was something the morale of the knights certainly didn't need. Dreamy took this time to explain what he and his crew had been through to get the Smurfberries as well as officially introduce Coconut and Mango to the village. Papa Smurf had already taken a liking to Mango, and had no issue with the two of the tropical Smurfs becoming a part of the village. Of course most of what Dreamy had to say was blown off as non-sense to some Smurfs. Not even Smurfs like Architect, or Alchemist backing him up would persuade a few Smurfs. Handy decided to keep quiet about his experiences underground back in the mines. Since he is the sole survivor of that part of the story the information would remain secret for the time being.

"Hefty now that every Smurf is gathered here, and you're officially our new leader. You should form a council of Smurfs to aid you." Papa Smurf said.

"A council?" Hefty asked.

Handy immediately stood up and raised his iron arm.

"I will be a part of your council Hefty." Handy said.

It was reassuring to have his best friend support him every step of the way and Hefty smiled. He had to do the very best he could to make this work so that Tuffy's sacrifice would not be in vane.

"Take all the time you need to form it Hefty."

Just as he had assembled the greatest fighting force of all Smurfkind Hefty had to once again look to his fellow Smurfs to form a council of the greatest minds Smurfkind had to offer.