Smurfocalypse chapter 79: Independence
Hefty and the knights were safe in the port having been saved by Marina and a group of mermaids. Handy was the first to see them and sprinted over to the beach to greet them. For the first time in a while he was reunited with his true love, but perhaps the greatest news of all was about to be presented to him.
"Handy we did it! Vanity and the blackhearted are dead." Hefty said.
Handy's eyes lit up with excitement. He was then joined by most of the others as Smurfs gathered around the beach to greet the knights. He was so excited by all that was going on that he hadn't even acknowledged Clockwork's broken body. Instead he excitedly ran to Marina and lifted her out of the water and wrapping his arms around her deeply.
"I missed you too!" Marina said with a giggle.
"Hefty I hate to ruin our victory, but there were casualties during the battle…" Archer said.
Hefty sighed and lowered his head.
"We lost Archeologist, liar, and Equilibrist…" Archer said with a sorrowful frown.
"I'm so sorry…" Marina said.
"Don't be! This is a glorious day! For the blackhearted will never return again!" Hefty said addressing the crowd.
Coconut and Dreamy had heard the cheering of the village from Dreamy's hut on the beach and had come out to celebrate with the others. Dreamy looked terrible. His condition was worsening, but he had lived to see a new era. The day where they would no longer be hunted by demons was at last upon them. Doctor, Secretary, and Psychiatrist were not among them. Psychiatrist was being treated for his arrow wound he sustained during the fight.
"Clockwork is looking worse for wear." Handy said.
"He fought very bravely, but you're going to have to fix him up when you can." Timber said.
"Something tells me we'll have boundless resources very soon." Handy said.
Hefty nods.
"The woods are safe to explore and work in now. Port Saint Smurf needs many resources so it's going to be a team effort, but we can do it. I believe in every Smurf here." Hefty said.
"Of course I knew you could do it all the long. I, Brainy Smurf would like to take credit for being a Smurfy advisor to Hefty. Without my tireless work he wouldn't be the Smurf he is today and-." Brainy said just before being thrown off the beach by Hefty.
"Some things just never change…" Brainy said sitting up on the street.
While Handy and Marina caught up the rest of the village returned to the walls and collected the bodies of Archeologist, Liar, and Equilibrist and took them down to the cemetery to be laid to rest. Hefty, Timber, and Architect dug the graves and Fisher and Potter carried the bodies to the graves. They simply couldn't afford to create caskets. The village needed wood and metal very badly. So they were buried as they were just like Tuffy was.
"Equilibrist was a good Smurf. I considered him my friend." Mango said sadly.
"I'm sure he felt the same way…" Dreamy said.
After burying their dead they returned to their normal lives. As the days went by Hefty noticed his craving for the Addicting Potion of Instant Health was not fading away. Hefty struggled with addiction and was constantly pestering Alchemist to make him more of the potion which alchemist responsibly refused to do. This sent Hefty into withdrawal and caused him to behave differently as all he could think about was getting his hands on that sweet liquid. This caused complications in Port Saint Smurf as their leader just simply wasn't being himself. Hefty still exercised every day, but not even his favorite activities were enough to kick his addiction. Brainy and Alchemist worked together, studying Papa Smurf's books to try to find a solution to their problem but kept coming up empty handed. Without Papa Smurf's help Hefty would just have to live with his addiction until it eventually fades away.
Timber at last was able to return to work as the forest that was once a battlefield was now a part of their territory. Timber would disappear for days and then he'd return with cart after cart of wood providing the Smurfs with plentiful resources to work. Farmer was able to return to being a full time farmer, and spent his days tending to his spring crops which were of course flourishing under his care. Tracker returned to his normal duties which meant he was going to be disappearing for days, maybe even months on end as he explored and gathered materials that he could detect with his tremendous sense of smell. Smurfroot and Smurfberries would also be grown by Farmer. They had their own field that was made specifically for Smurfberry bushes so now they officially had sustained the life of the Smurfberry in Port Saint Smurf.
They still didn't have a single member of the community who knew his way around the mines, but this of course didn't change the fact that they needed minerals from the cave. Whilst battling with his withdrawal Hefty had to try to think of a solution to their problem quickly. He summoned his council which now consisted of Doctor, Handy, Brainy, and Alchemist to discuss a solution to their problem. Mining was a dangerous job, and only Miner Smurf truly knew his way around the underground. Hefty didn't want to risk any accidents so he gathered together the smartest Smurfs he knew to see what they could suggest. These council meetings would take place for a couple hours a day for about a week until they finally all decided just to put candles on their caps like Miner did, and then venture into the cave to look for ore which they had learned how to pinpoint based off some books from the human library. Papa Smurf's death had set back their society a bit, but Hefty was doing the best he could with what he had to make things work.
Doctor was able to successfully treat Psychiatrist using the medical supplies they received from King Gerard. It also helped immensely that Psychiatrist was an experienced doctor and could give Doctor pointers. Thanks to Psychiatrist not only did Doctor become more skilled, but the knights were able to cope with the horrifying experiences they had been through. Many Smurfs benefitted from Psychiatrist's treatment and the overall health of the entire village was significantly improved as the Smurfs realized that the worst of their darkest days were gone.
Alchemist had a plethora of alchemical ingredients at his disposal now that the forest and the pond within it was theirs for the taking, but there was one ingredient he needed that he was unable to access. This ingredient was Stinkwood. Stinkwood was a foul smelling fungus covered wood that he had learned was able to be found in a specific area of the world: Stinkwood Swamp. Stinkwood bark was the ingredient to a medicine that when combined with Smurfroot could create a more powerful herbal tea which the Smurfs would need to rely on once the human medicine was gone. Alchemist was concerned that their current medicinal stock would soon run out leaving them without any medicine. Mango was right when he said that they shouldn't be relying on the medicine human's craft. Smurfs use herbal remedies to solve illness. Hefty assured Alchemist that he would have Tracker look for the Stinkwood Swamp, and based upon maps Tracker would have no trouble making the journey, but it would be a work in progress nonetheless.
March turned into April fairly quickly, and as time progressed Dreamy's condition had declined even further. Psychiatrist was sure he wasn't going to live much longer which upset the village especially Coconut. The village threw a celebration for Coconut on her Smurfday and as she wished she got to spend the entire day with Dreamy. The two of them got her flowers that she wanted and planted them around the front of her hut. However that night Dreamy's heart would give out and he would die in his sleep finally succumbing to the injuries he received at the beginning of the story.
That next morning Coconut had woken up early and had gotten dressed and went next door to Dreamy's hut to get him up and make sure he was doing alright, the daily routine of taking care of him which unfortunately today was her duty.
"Good morning Dreamy~! Wakey Wakey!" Coconut said cheerfully as she entered his bedroom.
"You can't just sleep all day." Coconut added.
But Dreamy of course didn't respond.
"Dreamy? Come on now this isn't funny!" Coconut said as she approached the bed.
"Dreamy?" Coconut asked as she shook him.
Dreamy didn't respond to being shook awake and still just laid there dead. Coconut's blood went cold as she realized just what had happened and tears filled the Smurfling's eyes.
"Omigosh! Doctor!" Coconut screamed as she ran outside.
Doctor was on a morning walk and was down by the well just down the street when suddenly he was tackled by a very shaken and upset Coconut.
"Doctor help! Its Dreamy! I think… I think he's dead!" Coconut screamed.
"I'll take a look!" Doctor said as he ran towards Dreamy's hut.
Doctor went inside and Dreamy was still laying in bed. He lifted Dreamy's arm to check his pulse.
"Doctor?" Coconut asked.
"I'm sorry Coconut… He's dead." Doctor said.
"Dead?! But how?! He was fine just yesterday!" Coconut screams.
"It could have been anything to be honest." Doctor replied.
Coconut's eyes fill with tears and she hugs onto Dreamy and buries her face in his chest then begins to loudly wail. It was a heartbreaking scene. The two of them were inseparable since they met. Coconut was feeling all sorts of negative emotions, but she mostly felt lost without him.
"Oh Dreamy! My captain is dead!" Coconut yells as she cries.
The commotion gained the attention of Mango who came inside to see why Coconut was crying only to be presented with the sad sight.
"Oh Mango! He's gone!" Coconut cries.
Mango sheds a single tear and Coconut turns to him and hugs onto him. This action shocked him, but he realized she was only a Smurfling and needed comfort in this difficult time.
"I'm sorry Coconut." Mango said hugging her back.
"I better let the others know he's gone…" Doctor said.
"No… I'll do it. Dreamy was my best friend. I'll break the bad news." Mango said.
"I understand…" Doctor said with a nod before walking out of the house.
Mango gathered his friends which were the remaining members of Dreamy's crew, and Weather and told them the bad news. Dreamy's death was hard on everyone, but the crew that braved the jungle and the sea alike alongside him were affected the most. Coconut despite the fact that she was a crying mess at the moment made a sturdy casket for Dreamy with her new tools and then Alchemist and Fisher took him out of bed and laid him inside. Then Alchemist, Fisher, Mango, and Architect lifted the casket and took it across the village to the cemetery. Navigator was comforting Coconut as they followed closely behind along with Duck. A lot of the other Smurfs caught wind of what had happened and Smurfs began to flood the streets as the crew carried out the final journey with their captain.
They made it to the cemetery and sat the casket down while Mango dug a grave. Someone had gotten Hefty and he made it to the cemetery with the others that were in the port at the time.
"Dreamy was a good Smurf… The best Smurf I've ever met in my entire life." Mango said.
"He was so strong and brave…" Coconut said.
"I'll never forget the day Dreamy saved our lives from the evil Captain Pepper." Navigator said.
"We owe Dreamy so much. Without him we would have lost Baby Smurf, and we'd have no Smurfberries." Alchemist said.
"Dreamy will live on forever in our hearts, and in the very soul of our Smurfberry fields." Hefty said.
Fisher just shook his head and then broke into tears. Tears that were shared by all the crew members. The spirit of Dreamy stood on two legs just behind Coconut. Dreamy wasn't mourning his own death he was sad because of how Coconut was taking all of this. She was a brave young Smurfling with incredible talent, and he didn't want his death to destroy her. He placed a ghostly hand on her shoulder and closed his eyes. Then suddenly he was accompanied by Witchdoctor who had appeared behind him and just rolled his eyes.
"Come on you nincomsmurf… Time to go." Witchdoctor said.
"Go where?" Dreamy asked curiously.
"To our next adventure on the other side…" Witchdoctor said.
"I can't leave her like this." Dreamy said.
"Coco will be fine. You can't just haunt this place for all eternity. Now let's go." Witchdoctor said.
"Your right… I suppose it's time we get going then." Dreamy said.
The two spirits disappear into the afterlife as Dreamy's casket is put into the grave and the crew began to fill the hole.
