Prince Pyro (Expanded AU)

'' Prince Pyro appeared in the original Smurfs cartoon series in an episode during Season 5 - he was only known as The Gnome Prince. In Numbuh 404's stories, he is given a direct name based on his appearance and personality.''

Background Information
His father was always neglecting him, which lead him to believe that food was more important than he was as his son. At one point, Greedy Smurf was brought to them with promising cooking skills, which his father liked. Seeing how this would only further the problem in their relationship, Pyro wanted nothing to do with Greedy and tried to convince his father to let him go.

Unfortunately, his words fell on deaf ears, so he crossed paths with Greedy and found that he was a much more caring creature than he had first thought. Since he was willing to listen to him talk about how father, he decided to help Greedy escape. In order to do so, he cornered his father with two options: "It's me or food." After some struggle (and advise from Papa Smurf when he arrived looking for Greedy), the king chose his son. From then on, their relationship has gradually strengthened and he has the Smurfs to thank for it.

Relations
Pyro has several individuals whom he is particular fond of, all of which he developed relations with before falling in love with Glacia.

Ripple the Woodsprite
Since childhood, he has known Ripple as an on-again, off-again companion; when they first met, he was the main target of many of his thoughtless pranks. For the first few weeks they always upset him, but finally he learned to laugh at himself and even picked up a few tricks to use on other people. Despite the distance in their relationship preventing them to grow closer, he respects the Woodsprite and only knows what he has been told of his past.

He was kept in the dark of him losing his best friend years earlier, but he always knew that he had never fallen in love, nor had he given females a chance. To a certain degree, he agrees with his philosophy about women getting in the way of a boy's carefree lifestyle - however, Pyro also believes that women humble men. He later realizes that there is a thirty year age gap between them, so their life experiences and perspectives will often differ.

He actually feels quite a great deal of sympathy for Ripple, always subconsciously aware that something was troubling him, but could never coax the information out of him. He wishes they were closer, but accepts reality as it is, though it is bittersweet from his point of view.

Dorgone the Wood Elf
His true best friend is Dorgone, and they met by accident one day while Pyro was headed home after having a quick chat with the Pussywillow Pixies - literally, they ran into each other. When they looked at each other, the Wood Elf apologized immediately and bowed at the sight of his crown. Then he tried to leave, but the prince stopped him, wondering why he seemed afraid of him.

Dorgone explained that "his type" of race was always taking advantage of the elves, usually making them their servants or worse, causing a set fear to be instated. Pyro was outraged by this, especially having witnessed his own father commit such crimes before, so he made a point to him that he was no such example. Naturally, he was questioned, so he invited him to his kingdom to put an end to their races' differences - he believed full-heartedly that Gnomes and Wood Elves are perfectly capable of achieving peace.

Thanks to their teamwork, peace was accomplished and has been maintained; since then, Dorgone is always the first person he tells anything too even after hooking up with Glacia.

Meeting and Relationship with Glacia
He first hears of the gnome princess when his father tells him she and her parents will be arriving with interest in creating ties between their kingdoms. The thought of meeting "some random girl with a tiara" - as he puts it - doesn't appeal to him, so he stays in his room during their visit.

He is reassembling his fishing rod when he hears footsteps coming from the hallway and decides to investigate - he can tell it's someone new based on the pace of each step (slow). He opens the door and steps out of his room to discover - to his astonishment and agitation - the gnome princess his father had told him about. He asks what she is doing.

"Counting the roots," she says. He informs her there are twenty-two, not including the one with the split end, and he points to it above her. When she pesters him with conversation, he reluctantly confesses that in times of boredom he focuses on details and interior decor, but he withholds the fact that he was fixing a broken rod in his room.

To his disinterest, she manages to keep him talking until their parents find them and she has to leave; he is about to return to his room when he hears her whisper that she hopes to meet again. When she's gone, he flat-out tells his dad he won't follow up with her - he is instantly bombarded with protest. He locks himself in his room for the rest of that day and doesn't come out until the next morning. For days on end he is nagged by his father, the soldiers who had met the princess, and even his personal servant to reconsider - fed up from the pressure, he breaks down and promises them he will send her "a stupid letter or something if it'll shut [them] all up".

The next morning he hastily writes and rolls up a scroll, attaches it to a carrier sparrow, and sends it to her kingdom after a quick reminder from his father. Then he leaves their cave and ventures out on a walk to be alone with his thoughts; majority of which is ranting to himself about how unfair it was being forced to chat up a girl he barely knew. By the time he returns, he finds the same sparrow with another scroll tied to its foot, so he reads it and asks her to meet him by the pond near Pussywillow Hollow.

Several days later he heads out to the pond with two fishing poles and gives one to her - he is shocked that she has never fished before, so he feels obligated to teach her. He explains how to hold the rod, watch the bait on the line while it's in the water, and - most importantly - to be patient. He's appeased somewhat when she says she is naturally a patient person, but he initially keeps his thoughts to himself when they cast off.

They talk softly, sitting on the bank, and pass the time watching the fish nibble on their lines. Eventually she asks for his name to which he replies, "Call me Pyro," and he learns that she is "Glacia": he admits it's a pretty name. At sunset they call it a day, having caught a few fish each, and he allows a second meeting to take place.

Intimacy
About half a dozen more get-togethers come and go, and finally he realizes that he can't get her off his mind, but when he hints this to his personal servant all he hears is some mush about him liking her. He sternly reminds him that he can't stop thinking of the princess because she is so "ditzy", and it's annoying - he's not surprised that his servant doesn't believe him, so he sends him out in a hurry. However, he decides to talk to a few friends before she sees him again (having overheard his father talking about an upcoming party her parents will be throwing).

He seeks out his childhood companion, Ripple, and is told not to worry about getting involved with a girl; knowing that the Woodsprite had never fallen in love before, he turns to another friend. Dorgone, his best friend, advises him to listen to his heart and not his head when it comes time to cross that bridge - "Do you see yourself being with her or not? You'll know when the right moment comes," he says. Still not convinced, he asks the Smurfs for help and winds up hearing the same things from Papa Smurf.

When he finally returns home and settles down in his room, his servant comes in with a gift from the princess: a crystal with a note attached that reads, "I bet this would make the coolest hilt piece..." He tosses the paper away and examines the crystal in his hands while his servant dares to ask about their relationship. At first he tells him it's none of his business, but when he is persistant, the prince sighs and ultimately admits he is unsure of his feelings: "I don't really like her, but she's always on my mind...I can't make heads or tails of anything right now, so leave me be." His servant disappears, and then he attaches the crystal to his sword hilt, thinking nothing more of it that evening.

A month later he attends her parents' Summer Solstice Extravaganza and subtly hints to his new hilt decoration when he sees her. She persuades him to leave the crowd after a few minutes and they end up behind the palace where she confesses a growing admiration for him. Hearing this - especially with her holding his hands and looking at him with a flirtatious smile - his heart picks up and he tries to get rid of the lump in his throat. He beats around the bush, putting together some story about being unsure of his feelings, and is easily silenced when she pecks his cheek and returns to the party.

Through the remainder of the evening he goes back and forth on his answer and remembers Dorgone's advice about listening to his heart, but he doesn't hear it at first. Frustrated, he wanders near a rosebush and counts the buds and blooms - twenty-two, not including the one rosehip. Suddenly he understands what it means and searches the crowd for Glacia.

At the close of the celebration and everyone leaves, he catches her attention before his father leads him out. He glances at her parents, clears his throat, and uneasily asks her to be his girl - she says yes and her parents look joyous, so he relaxes and embraces the princess before going home. Since then, they have been going steady.

Wedding Bells for Prince Pyro
About four years after they meet and hook up, Pyro asks Glacia to be his wife with her parent's approval, and his father's blessing. He plans to meet her by the pond where they went fishing on their first unofficial date and brings a pole for her which he has adapted: the hook is switched with one that is more magnetic. He has a beautiful ring kept safe in a velvet-lined box inside a strong, waterproof case.

They sit by the bank, leaning against each other, until she feels something heavy on the end of her line and reels it in. When she sees the box, he takes it off the hook, opens it, and takes a deep breath; then he gets down on one knee and says, "I've been waiting for this a while now, and I think now's the time to ask a very important question..." She blushes as he works up the courage to say, "Princess Glacia, will you marry me?" He is overjoyed to hear her shout yes several times followed by a loving embrace.

Royal Husband and Wife
This section will be broadened soon!

Season 11 Episodes
Prince Pyro appears through various episodes as a background character, either with the Smurfs, Princess Glacia, or the Woodsprites. To be further elaborated later!

Appearance
Pyro has lightly tanned pale skin, standard black eyes, and a thin figure; his ears are pointed and he only has four fingers like the Smurfs. His rustic red hair has slightly choppy bangs, minor sideburns, and the rest is shoulderblade-length sweeping always to one side. He wears a lavender tunic that has a yellow crest on his chest, a dark violet collar and short sleeves, and a matching thin belt containing his sword against his right hip (indicating that he is left-handed). His leggings are lavender, shoes are dark violet, and he is taller than his girl (about 5'4" in human American measurement).

Voice Actor(s)
His voice was unknown on the show, so the best educated guess - as far as a match could go - would be Michael Bell. He voiced Johan and Handy, so it's safe to assume he could reach a middle ground and have also voiced the Gnome Prince originally. It is also quite possible that Phil Proctor (King Gerard) did his voice originally, considering the striking similarities between their tones and inflections.

A modern voice actor would most likely be Zac Efron, who is known best for his voice behind Ted from The Lorax (2011).

Trivia

 * His sword was never shown being pulled from the sheath at his belt, so the design is the same as Johan's, excluding the hilt and handle.
 * He may or may not meet Johan, and Peewit in Season 11 - the idea of him helping them when Mystico turns them into Goblins has been disregarded. It is also undetermined if he will meet Falla at this time.