Relatively Smurfing/Part 1

It was on the morning following Empath's attempt to kill himself and Baby Smurf in the heart of Mt. Vesmurfius when Empath saw what his house had become after he became so upset with his fellow Smurfs that he ended up setting it on fire. Fortunately for him there were things that he salvaged from the wreckage before Papa Smurf had ordered Handy and his crew to start work on rebuilding the house. But still, he felt a bit of sorrow for what had become his own home within the Smurf Village, facing the fact that he now had to start all over again with making his house his own home and that he now had to live elsewhere for the time being. Most of his fellow Smurfs were willing to take him in, but Empath ultimately chose Brainy to be the one he wanted to stay with, if only because he was the only Smurf he was starting to feel closer to as a family member at the time.

Before Empath got settled in with Brainy, he paid a visit to Tailor's clothing shop for a personal request. "You want me to smurf you a shirt to go with the hat and pants?" Tailor said when he realized what Empath had wanted.

"Some of this smurf's fellow Smurfs have worn shirts without a problem, Tailor," Empath said. "Is there a problem you have with this smurf wanting to do the same?"

"Uh, of course not, Empath," Tailor said. "It's just that I thought you were getting used to smurfing the traditional look of a male Smurf, and if I do say so myself, I always thought you looked smurfy in just a hat and pants. I'm only curious as to what's with this change of style."

Empath looked rather reluctant to explain himself. "It's...something that this smurf does not feel comfortable telling any other Smurf about, Tailor. What this smurf wants to know is if you're willing to create a shirt for this smurf."

Tailor sighed. "Okay, okay, don't get your smurfs up in a bunch over this." He took his measuring tape out to measure Empath's upper body and arms. "You should have your first shirt smurfed by the end of the day. By the way, what color fabric would you like me to smurf your shirt in?"

Empath thought about that for a moment before he said, "This smurf would prefer something in a medium blue, if possible."

"You're in luck, because I happen to smurf that color cloth in stock, Empath," Tailor said as he looked through his closet at the rolls of cloth he had. "By the way, I could also get started on smurfing you a new suit to replace the one you had smurfed up yesterday...that is, if you're going to be smurfing that style of suit instead of the usual white hat and pants like everyone else."

"This smurf appreciates your efforts, but this smurf isn't looking forward to wearing the star-patterned suit anytime in the near future, Tailor," Empath said.

"Well, it will be here and smurfing for you in case you change your mind," Tailor said as he watched Empath leave the shop.

Tapper and Duncan McSmurf met up with Empath as soon as he stepped outside. "I'm very sorry for how the other Smurfs were treating you, Empath, with wanting you to become the savior of the village by smurfing Gargamel out of the forest," Tapper said. "Not that I think that having Gargamel smurf in the same forest as us is a smurfy idea, but I do think that the Almighty has His purpose for smurfing someone like him our way."

"The question is, what are you going to smurf now with yourself, laddie?" Duncan asked.

"This smurf has a feeling that Papa Smurf would still want this smurf to become his assistant counselor, Duncan, but this smurf doesn't feel ready to commit myself to performing that particular role," Empath said. "Besides that, this smurf still feels shameful for having involved Baby Smurf in something that was specifically meant to be directed at Papa Smurf for his...not telling this smurf that he was my real father and this smurf is his only begotten son."

"I see what you mean, my fellow Empath," Tapper said. "I have a feeling in my spirit that most of the Smurfs will still be smurfing with the revelation of this relationship you have with Papa Smurf for some time to come. We have become so used to Papa Smurf being our own Papa Smurf for so long that it seems like we have forgotten our past."

"Not me, laddie, not me," Duncan said. "I refuse to smurf go of the fact that I am the proud son of the clan McSmurf, and I wouldn't want any Smurf to make me think otherwise, even those who would dare to smurf me by the name of Gutsy."

"You shouldn't take so much offense at the name, my friend, even if some Smurfs call you that because that's what they admire in you, though I will always smurf you by your proper name," Tapper said.

"This smurf is so used to being called Empath, that this smurf couldn't think of being called anything else now," Empath said. "But still...to think that this smurf had a family before this smurf was sent away to Psychelia...it makes this smurf wonder what would have happened to this smurf and my parents if the things that happened in this smurf's life never took place."

"I honestly can't answer that question for you, Empath," Tapper said. "All I can smurf you is that you now have a life to smurf outside of Psychelia, so you should at least be grateful for the freedom that you now smurf."

"And just remember, laddie, that even if Papa Smurf is your real father and Brainy is your real brother, the rest of us will always smurf together as one big family," Duncan said.

Empath began to smile. "This smurf appreciates your help in trying to make this smurf feel at peace with myself as being more than just a member of the Smurf Village," he said to both Tapper and Duncan. "This smurf only wishes that things in the life that this smurf is now living aren't going to be so difficult from this moment onward."

"You will not face them alone, Empath, and if you're willing to let the Almighty have a chance, He will be your Shepherd to make you smurf down in green grasses and smurf you beside the still waters," Tapper said. - Later on in Tapper's Tavern, as the Smurfs were relaxing from another hard day's work, Empath was listening to Narrator tell stories about the various encounters the Smurfs had with the evil wizard Gargamel.

"This smurf is amazed at how much you know about our nemesis and yet how you manage to keep yourself out of danger when witnessing these events, Narrator," Empath said.

"Well, that's just part of my job as the narrator, Empath," Narrator said. "I can't always know for sure where I'm going to smurf next, because that's always in the hand of the creators, but it always amazes me that I manage to smurf through those events unscathed."

"To satisfy this smurf's curiosity, how much do you really know about Gargamel?" Empath asked.

"I only know what my creators let me know about him, Empath," Narrator said. "For one thing, he does have a mother who's still smurfing, and one of the things she tried to smurf is to use a money tree that smurfed a bush full of golden goodies that the Smurfs all went crazy for. Of course, we overcame our desire for the money tree and ended up smurfing the same tree back to Gargamel and his mother, who became so tempted by the tree that they smurfed with each other over who was going to smurf the tree and its coins."

"This smurf could only imagine what Gargamel's mother must have looked like, Narrator," Empath said with some amusement. "Does he have any other known relatives that this smurf needs to know about?"

"He did have an elder cousin named Argus, who some years ago had smurfed away from this world along with his castle," Narrator replied. "One of the things he did before he smurfed away was give Papa Smurf a very dangerous item called the Medallion of Poseidon, which he tried to bury deep in the ground so that nobody would be able to smurf its power. Unfortunately Brainy uncovered the medallion and had it painted gold by Painter to be smurfed as the Smurfic Games Tournament medal, and Gargamel smurfed one of Argus' books before he smurfed away, particularly the one about how to unlock the medallion's power. It was around the time of the Smurfathlon when Gargamel smurfed the ritual that would invoke the power of the medallion to cause great destruction, but it was so powerful that it almost caused Gargamel to be smurfed into the earth if Papa Smurf had not smurfed the incantation to reverse the effects."

"Are those the only relatives that Gargamel had, besides this Lord Balthazar who is his godfather?" Empath asked.

"Oh, Gargamel had other relatives that are worth mentioning, some of which we had the fortune...or misfortune...of smurfing into during your time away from us, Empath," Narrator said. "Let me begin by smurfing you about one of his other cousins..."