This story takes place after Season 8 and before Season 9.

Lights, camera, action!

The forest that surrounded Smurf Village was bright and active in the afternoon daylight, and the weather seemed to be just as nice. All the creatures that inhabited the area were taking advantage of the lovely day, including the blue skinned residents. One certain Smurf was searching for rocks while dragging his grumbling brother along. Clumsy Smurf was on a mission. He was going to find the perfect rock to match the perfect day. Every rock he'd ever found reflected how the day he'd found them had been, and he was determined to find a lovely rock that matched such a lovely day. Brainy Smurf did not share his determination or desire. As the bespectacled Smurf grumpily kicked aside another rock, it was very clear that he also did not share his brother's cheerful demeanor. In fact, some days it was a wonder that they were even related to one another!

"Gee Brainy, this sure is a pretty rock. Golly, do ya think it belongs to someone else?" Clumsy asked, holding and looking at a milky smooth rock that looked more like a pearl than stone. His best friend only rolled his eyes and continued to grumble under his breath for a minute. Brainy finally sighed, rolled his eyes once again, and opened his mouth. The last action alone was usually enough for their other brothers to either walk away or get ready to kick a certain someone to Kingdom Smurf.

"Clumsy, Clumsy, Clumsy, if that rock really belongs to someone else, they wouldn't just leave it on the ground for anyone to take. Besides, even if it does, they obviously didn't like it enough to keep it with them or try not to lose it. As I always say, finders keepers, losers weepers. Why, it smurftantly makes sense, because…" By that point Clumsy wasn't listening. Even though he always tried to pay attention to his best friend, he was currently faced with a moral dilemma. If the rock DID belong to someone, then it would be stealing, and Clumsy wasn't a thief. On the other hand, Brainy did have a point. Besides, if Brainy said it was alright…Well, he wouldn't lie to Clumsy, would he?

"Well, if ya say so…" Clumsy smiled again at the strange rock in his hands. He turned around, heading back towards the village. Brainy simply sighed in relief and walked back with him, the autumn leaves crumpling under both their feet. Both failed to notice the cave opening a ways behind where they found the rock.

Neither noticed the red glowing eyes that appeared and then followed them as they left either. Hmm, they shouldn't have done that.

In a different part of the forest, where the air was cooler and murkier, where there was nothing but compact earth and dirt, and where few animals dared travel, was another Smurf with a love for Mother Nature's harder pieces of rock and stone. Miner Smurf sang to himself in the lonely dark, swinging his pick against the stony cave walls by dim candlelight. He would start his coal delivering system when the winter months came, but until then he was back at work doing what he always did: Collecting rocks and metals that were in the tunnels. But what he wouldn't give for some company. Miner knew the others didn't really like working with him, given the atmosphere he normally inhabited. Honestly though, it was nice to have someone to work with and someone to talk to. Oh well, no one was going to come by today. Greedy had already stopped by earlier with lunch, and the cook couldn't really spend any time away from his kitchens as it was.

"Oh my darlin', oh my darlin', oh my darlin' Smurfette…" He sang the familiar song, each word echoing around him against the rocky walls.

"Ye are lost and smurf ferever, dreadful sorry, Smurfette." He wondered briefly as he sang and swung if anyone ever listened to the other lyrics, or if they only heard the chorus. Their loss, he supposed. Miner abruptly stopped singing and swinging when a large white mouse smurfed by, squeaking. That was odd. Such large creatures rarely ever dared enter the dark areas Miner frequented, and he'd certainly never seen one this far underground.

"Smurfin' Begorrà!" Despite the fact that the wind hardly ever touched the tunnels and cave, a strong gust of wind whooshed by and blew his candle out. Another oddity.

Miner fumbled around for a match he knew he should have taken with him but didn't. Looked like he was done for now. He'd get back to work after getting one of the matches he stashed near the surface. So he thought, at least. Like his two brothers, Miner failed to take notice of the red eyes that had been watching him. He did, however, notice the glow they gave off. Stiffening, he turned towards the source of light only to be tackled to the hard ground.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGG!" No creature heard his screaming, as even the mouse was long gone.

"Papa Smurf, I've never heard of or seen anything like this before in my life!" The leader only hummed and continued his examination, frowning deeply. He finally sighed and turned away, still frowning.

"Neither have I, Dabbler, neither have I. Now Miner, would you please describe the encounter once more? Maybe I've smurfed something." Said Smurf was currently sitting up on an examination table. He looked more or less alright, save a few scratches… and a wiggling flat pink thing on his face in place of where his nose would normally be.

"Well, I was mining like I normally do, when all of a sudden a mouse rushes by. Oi figured that was weird enough, but before Oi could do anything, my candle blew out and Oi saw these two red glowing eyes. Then whatever they belonged to tackled me. Oi managed to smurf away to run to the surface and back here to find out Oi have dis on my face." Miner explained, gesturing at his face by the end with a confused and worried expression. "Could ye detach it now, Papa Smurf? Oi don't exactly like having a squished worm on my nose." Papa Smurf almost winced at that last part, and looked his son's face over once more.

"Miner… I don't smurf that's something on your nose. I think it IS your nose." Both Dabbler and Miner swung their heads over to him, Miner's jaw on the floor and Dabbler's eyes the size of saucers. "Watch. Miner, please try to scrunch your nose up." Miner did so, the pink wiggling substance on his face scrunching up accordingly. "I was afraid of that."

"B-but how?" Miner was now holding his knees up to his chest, his eyes not once leaving what was apparently his nose. Papa Smurf only sighed in response, still examining it. He froze up suddenly, and then started to pace, muttering wildly under his breath. Miner looked nervously over at Dabbler, who only shrugged back, equally confused. Neither knew what it meant, but it couldn't be anything good. Their father finally stopped pacing and turned to them.

"I know what that is. I'll need Nat to reconfirm my suspicions, though. Sit tight, both of you." Papa Smurf quickly left the mushroom, heading off to find Nat. Dabbler looked at Miner questioningly, and Miner only shrugged back. They both stayed quiet for a moment, looking at anywhere but each other. Dabbler and Miner rarely talked to each other normally, mostly because of where Miner almost always was and how healthy he stayed.

"Why do ye think he needs Nat to look at this? He's only a Smurfling." Miner asked, the question hanging in the air. Dabbler bit his lip and continued to look away, but the silence seemed to get to him.

"Um… Miner? I know you don't spend much time 'up here', but even then you must have seen SOME animals." Miner scratched his head, but ended up shrugging.

"Besides that mouse, Puppy, Feathers, and the occasional squirrel, Oi haven't." Dabbler looked away again and bit at his lower lip. Miner didn't like the sudden look of pity he would get when Dabbler did look at him. It was never good to have a doctor pity you.

"Miner, seeing as how even Papa Smurf isn't sure, I can't really smurf you anything and be sure it's the truth. I can give you a tip though: Pray that I'm wrong. PLEASE." Okay, this was bad. Miner racked his mind for other animals he'd seen, but besides seeing Azrael once or twice, he couldn't think of any. The door opened suddenly as Papa Smurf entered with Nat. The Smurfling jumped up in the air after glancing at Miner's face, his mouth moving but no words coming out. Nat cautiously walked over, in what seemed to be shock, and cautiously pushed Miner's "nose". Miner reacted accordingly immediately straightening up and yelping in pain. Dabbler winced and closed his eyes, muttering something under his breath. Nat blinked, dazed, and turned to Papa Smurf. The red-clad elder only nodded, and Nat proceeded to faint, collapsing onto the floor in a jumbled heap.

"Miner, I'm afraid I have some bad news." Miner gulped, worried. What had happened to him? "Miner, the nose you have right now is a mole's nose. Although, not one from around here or one that I've ever seen, which is why I wasn't able to smurf you an answer without confirmation." Miner didn't hear anything past the "mole's nose" part however, as he too collapsed into a dead faint.

The slightly-over-a-hundred Smurfs that inhabited the Smurf Village crowded round the large Mushroom their leader used as a pedestal for announcements. Rumors were running rampant as to the cause of the meeting, but there wasn't much anybody really knew. Vanity had seen Miner run by earlier, but he didn't really see or hear anything. This did not stop any of the speculation going around, and soon everybody had heard at least a dozen different theories. However, before anymore could be spread, Papa Smurf stepped up, and everyone quickly quieted down. No one, save three worried Smurflings, noticed a shaky pale Nat slink into the crowd. He was quickly mobbed by his three best friends.

"Some of you may have seen Miner rush into the village earlier, and the cause of that is also the topic of this meeting." The whispers and mutters came back full force. Their leader raised a hand and they all became quiet once more. "This was because of a… mutation, and it is possible that it's contagious." This time the crowd seemed about ready to stampede, shouting and hollering up a storm. It took much longer than last time, but Papa Smurf managed to quiet everyone without losing his temper. "One of the reasons I'm telling you is because I don't want anyone disturbing Miner, and I would also like for everyone to take the necessary precautions, just in case." He stepped off the mushroom and tried to walk back to his hut, but was detained by numerous Smurfs who had many, many questions. The top four questioners were Vanity, Nosey, Reporter, and Smurfette. The others only asked one or two questions, but those four seemed to have millions.

"Papa Smurf, what exactly is this "mutation", and how exactly could it be contagious?"

"Did he catch it from someone else? Was it a spell? Does that mean the metals he mines are also contagious? What can we do? How do we do it?"

"Is Miner alright Papa Smurf?"

"Just thinking about getting ill is ruining my fabulous complexion. It wouldn't dare mutate me, would it?"

"I'm not allowed to say, most likely direct contact, no, no, possibly, just be careful, pay attention to your surroundings, he seems to be, and I'm afraid it would." Papa Smurf tried to wade his way through the jumbled rush of inquiries, and had backed up to his mushroom by the end. The leader quickly shut the door behind him, locking it. He rubbed his tired eyes and looked over to where Dabbler was. The doctor was sitting right beside Miner, the latter still unconscious.

"Why'd you tell them that? We both now that whatever it is that changed Miner, it isn't contagious. Otherwise, the whole village would have caught it by now." Dabbler's eyes never left the ground, but Papa Smurf could practically feel the raw emotion behind the words.

"It could still be contagious, and because of that, you should really stay away from Miner. You don't want to smurf what he's got, do you?" Dabbler's head snapped up, his eyes narrowed.

"You're one to talk. Pardon me, but you've had more contact with him than I have, and yet you just went out in front of everyone. IF it IS contagious, then everyone will have caught it. It isn't anyway. We know some creature caused it." Papa Smurf just shook his head. Children could be so stubborn.

"Like you said, it probably isn't airborne. One can catch diseases from creatures as well, which is probably what happened to Miner. You and I seem to have been rather lucky having not caught whatever it is he's got. I don't want you to smurf your luck, and I wish for the both of us to remain safe. It's not like I'm abandoning Miner, I just have to quarantine him for everyone's, including his, safety. You're also at risk Dabbler, and I don't want to smurf you get ill either." His child only sighed in response. After a minute, Dabbler got off the examination table and walked towards the door the expression on his face grim.

"Fine. Good luck with the quarantine. Remember how the quarantine of Hefty with his Yellow Hate Disease went? I can only hope the same doesn't happen this time." Dabbler opened the door and quietly shut it behind him, a flood of sound and noise filling the room as he left. It only returned to its muffled state when the door finally closed with a loud click.

Outside Dabbler had to run from what was nearly a mob of Smurfs, all asking questions.

"Dabbler, what's smurfing on?"

"Is this disease serious?"

"Did Gargamel cause this?"

"Was it Balthazar or a different enemy of ours?"

"Where's Miner being quarantined?"

"Are you currently carrying the same disease?"

"What's Papa Smurf smurfing about this?"

"Will Miner recover?"

"What if it's already too late?"

"What CAN be done about thi-" Dabbler ran into the infirmary and shut the door behind him. He glanced around the room for a second, and then quickly covered the windows and barricaded the door. Letting out a sigh of relief, Dabbler placed his head against the door. However, he nearly jumped into the roof when someone suddenly sneezed behind him. He span around to see Sickly there, sitting on one of the examination beds.

"Sickly, what on earth are you doing here?" Dabbler sounded irritated, but he had a rather concerned look on his face as he asked. His sibling simply sneezed in response, the Smurf looking flushed and drowsy.

"I figured you better quar-quaren-qua-ACHOO! Quarantine me as well. I always get sick first, and if this thing is cont-contagi-cont-ACHOO! Contagious, then I've probably got it. I smurf really under the wea-under the weath-under the-ACHOO! Sick." Sickly sniffed and clutched his arms, swaying slightly.

"Sickly I'm sure you're fine. Well, I mean, your obviously NOT, but I don't think you've got what Miner's got. Either way, you better lay down." Dabbler shuffled through a basket he had near the table, and pulled out a ratty-looking blanket. He winced at its condition, but handed it over to Sickly. The sick Smurf quickly wrapped the cloth around him, his eyes becoming unfocused. It wasn't two seconds later when he fell over onto his side, his body shaking. Dabbler jumped again at the sudden action, and then rushed to put his hand on Sickly's head. It was WAY too hot, for one thing, and Sickly seemed clammy and in pain. One second later he had his brother in his arms, takin him to a far more comfortable bed. Sickly couldn't be taken to his house, not with the mob still out there. The sight of Sickly would cause a mass panic, and would probably end with more than a few Smurfs getting hurt. Good thing Dabbler had practically moved into the infirmary. This meant that in a corner, far away from any windows or the door, was his bed. For the moment, it was going to be Sickly's.

The sick Smurf seemed to subconsciously burrow into the blankets. The atmosphere seemed almost calmer as Sickly snoozed on, his shaking and shivering slightly diminished. Such an atmosphere was shattered by the sudden loud banging from all sides of the mushroom, mostly at the door and windows. Sickly tossed and moaned in his sleep, and Dabbler's temper had reached its limit. He removed the items piled behind the door and rushed through, yelling angrily.

"WILL YOU ALL GO AWAY?! I HAVE A SICK SMURF HERE, AND I DON'T NEED YOUR CONSTANT QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS TO SMURF THEM ANY SICKER!" It was only after his rant finished did Dabbler realize what he had just revealed. The number of Smurfs seemed to grow by the second, all of them seeming much more curious and angry than before. Each called for quarantining Dabbler and his mystery patient, and they all questioned about whether the sick Smurf was Miner or not. No one had forgotten a similar incident and, no matter how long ago it had been, refused to see a Purple Smurf repeat.

"The infirmary's infected too! We have to sanitize it!" Dabbler immediately knew what they meant by that. If you wanted to sanitize something that had been infected or in contact with disease, you burned it. They were going to burn the infirmary! Many rushed to take lanterns from their homes, none listening to Dabbler's pleas. In less than a minute, the mushroom was surrounded by 20-something Smurfs that had lanterns at the ready. Dabbler stood in the doorway shocked at his brothers. He realized, in horror, that they viewed him and Sickly as infected as well. They wouldn't… They couldn't! Was no one thinking?! Where was Papa Smurf? Why wasn't he doing anything?!

Far away from the village, and even farther away from the humans, was a set of caves that had once been inhabited by an Imp named Hotap. Papa Smurf, wearing a mask, gloves, and surrounded by a weak protective magical shield, carried Miner deeper into one of these caves. The magic it took to create even the weak shield was physically painful and quite a strain to create, but it did the job. Even with Miner's head lying on his father's chest, the magic was able to stop and deflect any germs or viruses. He dropped his son gently on the hard floor, gasping slightly. Papa Smurf wasn't as young or strong as he used to be, that was for sure. He would have to be strong for this, though. This wasn't like the last time he had to quarantine someone, but last time Hefty hadn't cared because he couldn't. Miner would care, and that would make this much harder. Miner started to stir, moving and groaning slowly. When his eyes opened, however, he seemed to know where he was and reacted almost violently. Miner jumped up and looked around feverishly, his eyes finally falling on Papa Smurf.

"Why're we here? The last thing Oi remember was…" Miner's eyes darted to his nose, the very sight making his eyes widen. "Smurfin' Begorrà."

"Miner, we're here because of that. You could be contagious, and as much as it smurfs me, I have to quarantine you." Miner looked panicked, shaking slightly. His eyes were still wide and they showed the confusion and hurt he felt.

"What?! But... It was some creature that smurfed this, not some disease. Ye know that!" Miner seemed ready to bolt for the hills.

"Miner, calm down. You could have caught a disease from the creature and that's what caused this, and even if it's not a disease, it could still be contagious. I don't want you to cause harm to the others or yourself, no matter how unintentional. What if the Smurflings caught it? Or Baby? Would you be able to smurf with yourself Miner? I have to do everything I can to make sure we are all safe, even if it means quarantining you." Papa Smurf hugged his son, his eyes watering slightly. "I don't want to smurf this, but I don't want to see any harm come to you or the others more." Miner felt numb all over. This was a nightmare. It had to be. He nodded his head anyway, satisfying Papa Smurf. Unfortunately, Miner knew by the pain he felt when his father left that this was in fact very real. As well as incredibly terrifying and mind-numbing.

Back in a much more cheerful and pleasant part of the forest was a group of Smurfs on a nature hike. The sun was almost done setting, encasing the forest in orange and red-ish light. There were more Smurfs on this nature hike than normal, and the reason for that was because this time the nature hike had at one point gone near King Gerard's palace, and that meant seeing the boy-king as well as Clockwork and Clockwork Smurfette. Nanny and Grandpa would have gone anyway, as would Tracker, but the chance to see Clockwork again was what convinced Handy to go along, and he convinced Hefty as well. Nat and Papa Smurf had started off with them, but Dabbler had come early on and gotten Papa Smurf, who later retrieved Nat. Why those two were needed was unknown, but everyone more or less shrugged it off. Clockwork and Clockwork Smurfette had been more than happy to see their creator again, and had even joined their friends on the trek back to the village. They were going to stay for only a few days, but they were over the moon about it, as was Handy. He spent the rest of the trip back conversing excitedly with his two "children", as they were. The other Smurfs could only hear Handy's side of the conversation, but it sounded like they were having fun.

"It makes you wonder what they're actually smurfing about, doesn't it?" Hefty said to the other Smurfs, a good distance away from the inventor.

"It certainly does, young 'un, it certainly does." Grandpa Smurf chuckled as he watched his grandson talk to his inventions. Tracker smiled, but stopped dead in his tracks not a minute later. He sniffed the air once. Twice.

"Do you smell that?" Everyone either shook their heads or tried to sniff and then shook their heads. "It smells like… smoke. Yes, I'm quite sure I smell smoke. It seems to be coming from-" He stopped short to hack. "Sorry, I caught a whiff of Sloppy's home. Which means that the smoke is coming from the village!" Well, if that didn't get everybody's instant and undivided attention. Quite a few of them remembered the time Snappy sent fire to the forest, and that had been very unpleasant. There was a very big chance however that there was just another bonfire being held in the village. Maybe something that was worth celebrating had occurred? Unfortunately, that was unlikely. Highly unlikely. There was a much higher chance that one of their enemies had somehow attacked the village and set it aflame.

Hefty was the first to dart towards the village, followed by Tracker, Handy, the Clockworks, and then by Grandpa and Nanny. It became quite clear as they got closer that this was NO celebration. Yelling could be heard amongst the crackling flames. When they got into view, however, it was clear that this wasn't the cause of one of their many foes. No, there were numerous Smurfs taking the fire from lanterns and then using it to burn the infirmary! A number were busy arguing with the head of the Smurf fire brigade, and more than a couple were detaining a flailing and hollering Dabbler.

"He just has a fever! A FEVER, smurf it! NO, Sickly's in there! STOP! LISTEN TO ME!" A rather large crowd had gathered nearby, but none seemed to be doing anything. Grandpa and Nanny looked at each other, each shocked and worried. What could they do without being stopped or held back? Clockwork Smurf had a protective arm in front of his companion, scared for her safety in the face of a fire so large and hot. Clockwork Smurfette seemed equally afraid of the flames, if not a bit miffed at Clockwork's possessive attitude. Handy and Tracker were both actively holding Hefty back, trying to keep him from rushing in. Before anyone could act, their leaders voice practically echoed through the village, his voice taking on a thunderous tone.

"WHAT IS SMURFING ON HERE?!" To say that the culprits were terrified was an understatement. The few that were detaining Dabbler promptly unhanded him and more or less ran for it, and the others quickly dispersed. The fire brigade quickly got water onto the mushroom, Dabbler being the first to rush in despite the smoke and the steam. He searched the area franticly, not able to see much with all the ash in the air. Hearing Sickly's weak coughs and hacking helped, but he still felt it took far too long when he finally did find his sick brother. Some Smurf was definitely going to get it, that was for sure. Dabbler managed to carry Sickly's body out, but almost collapsed once they exited. The smoke and ash was in his eyes, in his nose, in his throat… It felt like it was everywhere, and it burned.

The little nature hiking group had rushed forward with the crowd, each horrified and outraged. Hefty quickly took Sickly from Dabbler's arms and leaned him up against a nearby mushroom. He also gave him a few good smacks on the back to help get the smoke out. Papa Smurf glared at the perpetrators, easily spotting them in the crowd from the soot on their clothes and the sheepish expressions on their faces.

"Well?!" He stated, none answering his question. Dabbler staggered forward, leaning up against some non-burnt remains of the infirmary.

"Everyone kept coming to me with more and more questions, and their constant interruptions kept me from properly helping Sickly. I snapped at them to be quiet because of the sick Smurf in the infirmary, and they took that to mean that I was keeping Miner quarantined in there or someone else who was infected. They wanted to 'sanitize' the infirmary, as well as me and Sickly." He kept an icy gaze on the guilty, although the severity of his anger was blunted by the wincing he did due to the ash. Papa Smurf's gaze turned murderous. He put out a hand and pointed to the ground right in front of him. All of the involved Smurfs came forward, albeit reluctantly. Their leader glared at each and every one of them, finally coming back around to the beginning of the line. The two Smurfs he saw there he never would have suspected in a million years, although before he wouldn't have suspected the others either. Willpower and Pushover stood at the beginning, each looking at the ground and scuffing their feet like the others.

"Pushover?! Weakling?! Do you two have any explanation? Or did you decide to turn your smurfs off in order to act like humans?" Pushover just muttered something, but Willpower looked Papa Smurf in the eye. He looked regretful and embarrassed, but that wouldn't fix anything.

"Well, e-earlier you made it sound like whatever it is Miner's got was a-another disease, a-and the last mutating one that warranted quarantining was the Purple Smurf Disease. Ev-everyone was worried that this was going to be a repeat. None of us were thi-thinking, and I'm s-sorry I did anything at all." The others in the line nodded guiltily, muttering apologies. Papa Smurf sighed. He supposed that this was, in part, his own fault. He should have clarified more instead of leaving them in the dark. He turned his eyes onto the crowd that stood before him.

"Ever get the feeling that you're missing something?" Handy whispered to Hefty and Tracker, all of to whom this was making very little sense.

"What about the rest of you?" Multiple Smurfs' eyes locked onto his. "What these Smurfs did was wrong, but just smurfing aside and letting such deeds be committed is just as bad, if not worse." Many comments and excuses rippled through the large group. One's that ranged from "I hate not doing anything!" to "And risk getting burned alive by these crazies?" showed how varied the understanding of his statement was. "Those of you who caused this, know that I'm very disappointed in you. You will all help Farmer tends to the fields for four months straight." Cries of dismay rose at the punishment. "For those of you who smurfed nothing, remember what your indifference almost caused. That should be punishment enough. Everyone, we'll deal with this in greater detail tomorrow. Until then, get some sleep." The mention of sleep was enough to send many cheering and running for their beds. It was quite late, the moon had already risen overhead and the forest was now dark in the night.

As everyone quickly fell asleep, red eyes moved through the village undetected. Several houses were entered and more than one Smurf was glared at. The red eyes slipped away as the golden morning sun rose over the leafy tree tops, a peaceful village soon to be encompassed in panic.

Sunlight poured in a certain inventor's window. Handy yawned as he woke up, still bone tired from the other night. Despite needing to sleep, he had spent several more hours just talking with the Clockworks. They were currently sleeping in the workshop, insistent to let their creator have his hut to himself. He chuckled as he thought of the many things they had conversed about. He told him of many invention plans and possible upgrades that they may find handy, and they in turn told him about inventions they had seen pass through the kingdom. He told them about some of the wacky adventures the village had gone through, and they told him of daily life at the castle.

As Handy stretched, he realized that he had yet to tell them about Marina, or Maria about them. A dozen different scenarios and possibilities ran through his mind. Would she reject them or despise them? Would they hate or fear her? Would Marina see them as abominations and him as a madsmurf? Would they think he had lost his mind and view her as an overgrown fish? None of these possibilities were very nice to think of. He'd ask Hefty and a few other Smurfs about what to do later.

Groaning, Handy walked over to a bucket of water and a mirror, and he proceeded to wash his face. Man, did he ache! Mid-wash however, he noticed something and quickly stopped. He looked at the small mirror on the wall and down at his hands, and then looked back up at the mirror and down at his hands again, and repeated this step several times. Finally, he raised a shaky hand to his face.

Handy's screams were not the only ones that smashed the serenity that had calmly enveloped the village.