The Goblin's Admiration/Part 1

The forest fountain's sheen existed only by the moon's light when the wind whispered through the trees high above. Leaves rustled on the branches, but one was plucked off at the stem's weak spot and fluttered down below; it landed at the foot stand of the pedestal nearby. In the night before dawn, the golden goblet glinted like the snide wink of a gentleman's eye when he catches sight of the fairest maiden. A gust of wind made it shutter, but it proved heavier than it appeared to be, standing its ground without fail.

Suddenly, a creature soared through the underbrush and dodged an oak tree before tiring and glided up to the fountain's edge. A thin figure contrasted by shadow and partially enveloped in white moonlight shook her head and rested, brushing off some dust from her clothes. She had long bangs and short dark hair, a dainty cap, light skin, and eyes as black as the evening sky; she would be beautiful if not for the fur-tipped pointy ears, fangs, and pig snout.

She believed this when she saw her reflection in the water, and her curly rat tail, wings, and long sharpened feet further contributed to the bitter feelings. Otherwise, she couldn’t reject the light grey dress that matched her hat – besides, she knew she was thirsty.

She took hold of the goblet by the stem and leaned over the edge of the fountain, dipping it into the frigid waters. Just as she brought it to her lips for a sip, the ripples enlarged, becoming waves, and then rose around the fountain in a cyclone. Fearing this, she dropped the cup and backed away without taking her eyes off the watery display until it settled down.

Once she thought it was safe to approach again, she did and noticed a shady figure perched on the tallest crystal: she suspected they were cursed by the nature of the fountain. When they lifted their head, she discovered it was a male with similar features as her – on that note, she concluded they belonged to the same species.

He hopped down in front of her and caught her eye, and he seemed just as surprised to see her as she was to see him. She studied him as he did her: long black hair - slightly wild and unkempt – matching eyes, wings attached to hands with long fingers, a long crooked tail, feet just like hers, and clothes she guessed were a shade of yellow. Based on his face, too, she estimated his age to be quite old; perhaps in the middle of his lifespan if not a tad over it. Compared to him, she felt quite young.

After a few minutes of silence passed, he glanced over his shoulder and huffed, picking up the goblet between their feet.

“If I never see this fountain again it’ll be too soon,” he muttered. Then he raised it in both hands only to thrust it down over his leg, snapping it in two with a shattered glass sound erupting abruptly. It made their ears twitch, and then he tossed one piece against a tree - it smashed to pieces – and the other disappeared in the bushes behind the female. He sneered as the pedestal vanished into thin air: “Finally, I’m free of that unbearable curse!”

"Who are you?” she asked, crossing her arms. He stood up straighter and rested his hand on his chest.

"My name’s Mystico,” he said, “What’s yours?” She hesitated to respond which prompted him to add, “Come now, you must have one.”

"Wha – Vira,” she replied agitatedly. “And I noticed that you’re the same race as me, but so far you’re the only one I’ve seen around here. You the last one or am I just not looking in the right places?” She hadn’t expected him to become restrained, so when his eyes cast down with disappointment, she softened hers a little more.

"A few centuries ago when I got out of that fountain, I went straight home and found out that what used to be my birthplace was abandoned. Since then, I’ve accepted my fate as the last Goblin,” he explained. A flash of hope appeared in his eyes as he continued, “But with you, things could be very different. I know I may not look like much, but with your help, we could restore the species.” He reached out and touched her arm. “You know.”

At his approach, a feeling of disgust and anger overtook her, so she growled at him with her ears turned away. Instead of backing away, he snarled in return and lifted his arms in a challenging stance, opening his wings to appear bigger too. To this, she bared her fangs and claws; despite this, he never cowered. In the blink of an eye, he pounced and tackled her to the ground, but just when he thought he had her, she flipped him onto his back and pinned him down.

"I don’t need you barging into my life, Misty, so beat it.”

She let go and leapt over him, brushing herself off as she strode away, but she added over her shoulder, “The ‘I’ in Vira stands for ‘independent’ just so you know.”

"Yeah, and the ‘V’ stands for ‘vicious’,” he grumbled as he stood up. He shook his head and took to the air. As he veered through the trees, a thought struck him. “Hmm. It’s a long shot, but maybe the little blue people can help me persuade her…” He shrugged and figured it was worth a try, so he made his way towards the village. “With any luck, I’ll be there by morning."

. . .
The following day proved to be partly cloudy with a chance of rain by the time most of the Smurfs got up and started working: Papa, in particular, was tirelessly preparing a spell for Clumsy when he heard a knock at the door. He stood up and walked over to it, smiling at the sight of Smurfette and Sassette holding flower vases with daisies in them.

"Good morning, my little Smurfs,” he said, gesturing for them to come inside, “I see you’ve finished arranging flower vases for the village. They look smurfy!” Smurfette entered and went straight to the back window beyond his experiment table, careful to avoid the corner.

"Why thank you, Papa Smurf,” she replied. She placed the vase on the window sill and stepped back to admire it, taking pride in her work. “Doesn’t it smurf so nicely right there?”

"It certainly does, Smurfette,” he agreed. He looked at the Smurfling still in the doorway and asked, “Who does yours go to, Sassette?”

"It’s for Clumsy, Pappy Smurf,” she stated, “and there’s more in Handy’s cart outside.” She pointed to a contraption behind her which contained at least three dozen other identical vases with various bouquets of flowers ranging from tulips to chrysanthemums to roses. The sight of it allowed him to estimate the amount of time and effort the girls had put into their job, and it made him proud.

"I’m sure that every Smurf will love these decorations for their homes,” he added. At that moment, Smurfette shrieked and they looked. “What’s wrong, Smurfette?”

"A monster, Papa Smurf – I just saw it!” She pointed out the window, shaking in her heels. Then a head poked in through the doorway.

"Hello, Smurfs,” the old Goblin greeted suspiciously. The trio gasped at the sight of him and Papa exclaimed, “Great Smurfs, it’s Mystico!” With a sly smile he revealed more of himself and continued. “That’s right, I’m back – again.”

“Worried wombats, what’re you doing here?” Sassette interjected, “You’re supposed to be in that fountain where we left ya."

"And that's exactly where you're going!"

Mystico turned around and realized that he was surrounded by other Smurfs, but the one who’d spoken was Moxette. He recognized her as the courageous female who imprisoned him last time, but instead of fearing her, he simply straightened up to appear unafraid of them. Even when they closed in on all sides, he stood his ground.

"I’m not here to terrorize you,” he announced. Moxette especially filled the gap between him and the crowd – he wondered if she had something more against him than just causing trouble previously – so he found himself with his back to the wall of Papa Smurf’s house. He tried to get on their good side. “Let me explain – let me explain! I’m here for your help!”

"I say we smurf him outta the village Brainy style!"

"Yeah!"

The energy exploded; Mystico had no choice but to scale the wall to avoid being captured. He crouched down on the roof near the chimney and watched as Papa Smurf took control with his arms up.

“Wait, my little Smurfs!” he bellowed, “I think he’s telling the truth. He’s not harmed us yet, and I say we give him a chance to smurf before judging.” The crowd gradually mellowed out, but they noticed that Moxette took her sweet time as Clumsy stood at her side. With a moment’s hesitation the Goblin hopped down, relieved when everyone stepped back, and began to explain his situation.

"Last night, I was freed from the fountain,” he started, keeping a watchful eye on the purple-haired Smurfette, “and it was by a female Goblin – the first I’ve seen in five centuries. But when I offered we be mates, we tussled and she left. I don’t know how to get through to her is all, so I’m asking for your help.” He felt vulnerable now, especially with everyone staring at him – angrily, sympathetically, and apathetic alike – but then Sassette approached him.

"Well, it wouldn’t be very smurfy of us not to give you a hand, Mr. Mystico,” she said with a smile, “I know the Smurflings would be happy to help!” She glanced at her friends who, just a second ago, weren’t thinking the same; when she looked at them, though, they agreed. “See?”

"Maybe I should’ve gone to Ripple first…” he whispered to himself. The little girl grabbed his hand and tugged him towards her friends as she added, “Come on! We’ve got lots to do before you see that girl again!” The other Smurfs snickered at him as he was led away: needless to say, Moxette wore a smug grin, which drove him up a wall.

. . .
Hours later, the Smurflings and several other compassionate Smurfs had learned about Vira and given Mystico advice about how to approach her: some said to be more confident with his advances while others suggested being more cautious, Harmony told him to sweep her off her feet with music, Poet believed poetry was best, Hefty insisted that brawn would catch her eye, but Smurfette assured him that girls respond to romantic gestures the most positively – “whatever form it comes in so long as it’s about her,” she said.

Mystico nearly collapsed from all the information, but before he could, he noticed Moxette by the Smurf Well fiddling with some string and hauled his exhausted bones to it. He sighed and leaned over the side, letting his arms hang inside, reaching for the water far below. Finally she addressed him.

"Havin' fun yet?"

“Fun?” he retorted, lifting his head, “This is madness! How’s a guy like me supposed to remember everything? I can hardly stay on me feet let alone on my toes chasing down this girl I just met yesterday!” He paused and pulled his arms back up too, lowering his voice a decibel or two. “I get the feeling you’re enjoying my misery.”

She smirked and showed him the string formation in her hands: it looked like a bat. She fiddled some more until it became a heart, and then she turned and trailed away, whistling the La La song. He rolled his eyes and shook his head, leaning back into the Well, overwhelmed by the complexity of her and the other Smurfs – compared to them, he felt so misplaced.

“Silly Goblin, lying around – you’re no Lazy Smurf and I should smurf you don’t become him.”

This startled him; instinctively he pricked up his ears and he outstretched the fingers from his palms in an alerted position. He found Brainy standing at his side with a disapproving frown and his hands behind his back, shaking his head as if he knew better. He continued.

"You should be reciting the excerpts I wrote in my book, A Goblin’s Guide to Getting the Girl by me, Brainy Smurf, to assure you won’t accidentally misquote. Such genuine passages should never be taken lightly and as far as I’m smurfed, you’ll have a great deal of trouble winning over Vira if you spend your time smurfing about rather than reading my brilliant works.”

Mystico let his arms rest at his sides and waited for him to finish before trying to speak. Luckily, Brainy was done, so he allowed a moment of silence to pass before acting; without a word, he raised his arms and turned the Smurf into a Goblin. Then he walked away as if nothing had happened. He didn’t bother to acknowledge him as he called after him, demanding to be returned to normal.

"He still talks too much," he snickered to himself.

. . .
Sometime later, he, Moxette, and Brainy (now back to normal) were walking through the forest in search of the female Goblin; they had covered what they believed to be equidistant to a human jousting arena, but according to Brainy, it was “fourteen-hundred smurfs in the wrong direction each time.”

The only reason he was tagging along with them was thanks to the incident earlier in the village, and Papa Smurf thought it would be best if spent some quality time together to get to know each other. So far, Mystico was getting to know Moxette much more than their chatty complainer and, to his surprise, he found he was starting to warm up to her.

"There she is,” Brainy stated confidently, overlooking a berry bush. They joined him.

"Brainy, that’s just a rock shaped like her,” she corrected, mutely adding, “Genius…” before proceeding towards it. She crossed her arms and turned towards him, standing by the large rock with an eyebrow raised apathetically. The four-eyed Smurf studied it, blinked, and then straightened his back.

"I knew it all the time,” he assured them. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head disapprovingly at him. Mystico snickered, joining her side, prompting Brainy to ask, “What’s so funny?” They glanced at him and she shrugged him off, merely gesturing to continue their “aimless wandering” as she put it.

"And this is what I deal with every day,” she whispered to the Goblin. They trailed behind the other Smurf – although, they knew better than to let him lead.

"Does he ever learn?” he asked.

"Nope.” The smirk on her face portrayed both scorn and frustration; he noticed but hesitated to inquire her thoughts. After a minute, he braved it: “Pendant for your thoughts?”

"Sometimes I just wonder if, well, maybe…” she paused, uncrossing her arms to hide her mouth with one hand to ensure Brainy wouldn’t hear even her muffled words, and continued, “…Maybe I would like him if he wasn’t so unsmurfy, you know?” At first he thought she was joking, but she fell mute and he quickly realized she wasn’t: he had no suitable response. With nothing more to say, they caught up to Brainy and steered him in a new direction.

. . .
Vira, sleeping peacefully in the pocket of an oak tree, twitched now and then as she dreamed: a memory made her wiggle her nose and curl her tail. A bird twittered nearby, jubilantly and heartily, causing her to wake. She blinked a few times and turned her head towards the little robin with a groan.

"Can’t a girl get a few minutes of silence?” she grumbled, sitting up. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, stretching her arms away from her body, but suddenly a twig snapped below. She froze with wide eyes.

"Who’s there?” At the first sign of movement in her peripheral vision, she hugged the branch and growled, staring daggers at – much to her surprise – Mystico who briefly caught her eye.

"Hello again,” he called up to her.

"Oh, it’s just you,” she replied in a bored tone, rolling her eyes. She sat up and crossed her arms and legs, watching him sternly with her tail curling and uncurling. “What do you want?”

"Come closer and I’ll tell you,” he answered.

“No thanks.”

"I mean you no harm.”

"Don’t care.”

"Just come down here, okay?”