This is a slight AU taking place two years after the series ended. Mabel and Dipper are 14 going on 15. And hello to anyone who read the first version of this story, I'm sorry it was never finished, but hopefully you'll love this one as much as if not more than the first. It should have much more structure, and it will have an ending! I swear.
The forest slowly became aware of a presence. It hadn't just appeared, but rather it was as though a dense fog had been lifted. It was old, ancient even, but broken, perhaps beyond repair. Although it had once been all seeing and all powerful, it was no longer. It was in pain, agony, physical and emotional. It had been beaten, betrayed, almost destroyed, left on death's door to fend for itself with no one to aid it. It was truly, and utterly alone.
It had rained last night, a mighty thunderstorm, and some time during the night, Waddles had gotten out. Dipper was woken by his frantic sister shaking him roughly by the shoulders.
"Dipper! Wake up! Waddles is gone!" she shouted, tears in her eyes. Although Dipper was by no means a morning person, his sister's panicked state jolted him awake.
"What?" he asked, bolting upright and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"Waddles. Got. Out," Mabel said slowly and loudly as though Dipper was too stupid to understand her words. "He is terrified of thunder, but I didn't realize he'd go outside to get away from it." She was really crying now; Dipper hated to see her cry. He swung his feet out of bed and held her close.
"We'll go right now and find him okay? Grab some of his favorite snacks and I'll let Grunkle Stan know what's happening. Can you do that?" he asked gently. Mabel nodded, rubbing the tears from her eyes.
"Yeah, meet you outside Dipping Sauce." Dipper hugged her tight once more before sliding down the stair rail already calling for Stan. Mabel followed him down just as fast. She slid into the kitchen on socked feet and pulled open the fridge.
"Cheese, carrots, waffles," she listed as she threw some of the little pigs favorite things onto the kitchen counter before digging around in a drawer.
Dipper appeared in the kitchen a moment later with his rain boots on and Mabel's boots under his arm.
"Got the snacks?" he asked.
"Yup, here," she tossed him a plastic bag full of treats. Dipper set her boots on the floor and she practically jumped into them, bolting for the door while dragging her brother behind her. Stan appeared in the living room in his underwear as they sped past.
"You kids be careful! I'll stay here incase he comes back!" he called after them.
Once outside Mabel paused, uncertain.
"Lets split up," Dipper started. "You take the north, I'll take the south, we can cover more ground that way." He tossed her a walky talky and her phone. "Cell service can be weird in some parts of the woods, if you can't get through just use the walkie."
Mabel nodded in understanding and made a beeline for the trees. Dipper turned and ran the other way into the forest.
The mud was stained red with blood. A figure lay on its side curled tightly in on itself. It was a boy, no older than 14. His bright yellow hair was stained brown with mud and blood. He wore only a tattered pair of cotton paints, claw marks and bruises showing beneath the tears. His whole body was covered in wounds, but his back was particularly horrifying. Carved deep into his flesh was a zodiac, the cipher wheel. This pitiful creature was none other than Bill Cipher, Dream Demon, Nightmare Bringer, Deal Maker. Well, it was what was left of Bill Cipher, after he was turned to stone then brought back by his so called 'friends' only to torture and torment him for failing so miserably in weirdmageddon. Eventually, after 2 years, they'd gotten bored and left him, in one of those human meat sacks he hated so much, to die or be eaten by the creatures of the stupid forest he obsessed over.
Bill whimpered as he regained consciousness, all the pain flooding back to him. He dared not cry out as most of his ribs were broken. All he could do was try not to agitate his wounds, and not look like a tasty treat, but with all the blood around him and flowing from him, that was near impossible.
'Is this how i'm gonna end?' he thought to himself. 'Beaten in the …" but before he could finish his thought, a nearby bush stirred. Bill opened his eyes and uncurled slightly to see.
'I'm not gonna let some stupid animal eat me,' he thought, not really knowing where the determination was coming from. But rather than a bear or feral gnome as he was expecting, a pink pig stumbled out of the bush. The once demon and the pig stared at each other for a moment, Bill forgetting his agony for a second, before his broken wrist throbbed and he curled back in on himself, and soft hiss escaping his lips.
"Waddles! Here piggy piggy piggy!" came a call. Bill jolted in surprise, regretting it immediately when his ribs cried out in protest. Waddles gave a loud oink in response to hearing his name, but didn't take his beady eyes off the broken form in the mud.
"There you are you stupid pig, Mabel is going to be so relieved." Dipper stepped out from the underbrush and scooped up the pig, holding it under his arm like a football. He went for his phone and checked the signal. After speed dialing his sister he held it to his ear. The call went through on the first ring.
"Did you find him?" Mabel asked desperately on the other end of the line.
"Yup, got him right here," he said brightly. "Dumb thing got all the way out near the grow crystals. Lucky he didn't stumble into…" Dipper stopped mid sentence when he noticed something looking at him. One blue eye and one yellow one glowed with a dull light from the mud, and it took a second for him to work out the shape of a human form bent and broken on the forest floor.
"Dipper? Dipper!" Mabel called through the phone. Dipper ignored her, shock holding him in place.
"Hey Pine Tree," a familiar voice said, though lacking its usual malece and instead sounding hoarse from overuse. "I don't suppose you could lend me a han…" Bill's words were lost as he passed out face first in the mud.
"Mabel," Dipper said slowly and cautiously. "I think you better get over here."
"What's wrong? Is Waddles hurt?" she asked frantically.
"No, but it looks like we have a situation here." Mabel could hear the tense fear in her twins voice and chose not to question him.
"Okay, you said you're near the weird crystal things right?"
"Grow crystals, yeah," Dipper corrected her.
"I'll be right there, keep Waddles safe until I get there." Mabel hung up the phone and turned herself around wondering what the hell was going on.
The first thing Mabel noticed when she burst into the clearing was her precious pig tucked safely under her brother's arm.
"Oh Waddles!" she cried out, stepping through a very bumpy mud puddle and snatching the pink pig away from her brother, holding it close and cooing to it.
"I'll never take my eyes off you again you little angel." The pig oinked happily at the attention.
"So what's the problem Dippy? I don't see anything."
"Uh, you kinda stepped on it?" Dipper said, his eyes still glued to the mud that Mabel had walked through. Mabel, not noticing where he was looking checked the bottom of her boots.
"No, over there," Dipper turned her around and pointed. As it had for Dipper, it took her a few moments to work out what she was looking at. But once it clicked she moved to rush to the person's side, her gentle caring nature taking over, but Dipper held her back.
"What the hell Dip?" she turned on him, trying to tug her sweater sleeve out of his grasp. "Someone is hurt and you're just standing there?"
"That's not it Mabel, you don't understand."
"Understand what? That someone needs my help?"
"That someone is Bill Cipher," Dipper whispered.
"No it's not, that evil dorito died years ago."
"I don't know how, or why, but that's definitely him. He was conscious when I found him and he called me Pine Tree. And those eyes," Dipper shuddered. "It's him alright." Dipper finally let go of Mabel. He looked defeated.
The moment Mabel was free she marched right over to Bill. Setting her pig down she knelt in the mud and brushed the hair away from his face. Bruises and scrapes marred what would probably have been a rather attractive person. He breathing was shallow, every few breaths coming as a ragged weeze.
Dipper walked up behind his sister and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Lets just leave him Mabel, he'll be dead soon anyway."
"No." She stood and faced her twin.
"What?" Dipper gawked.
"I said no. He might be a really bad person but I'm not. I am not going to stand by while someone, even someone as horrible as Bill Cipher is dying. Now you can either help me take him back to the Mystery Shack, or I'll do it by myself."
"Mabel, I know you are all sunshine and rainbows, but this is Bill Cipher we are talking about! He almost killed us. You didn't hesitate to try to kill him before, what's changed now?!" He threw his hands in the air in exasperation.
"That changed," Mabel said pointing at the broken form below her. "He's a human now Dipper, and he needs help."
"This could all be a trick, and the moment you move to help him he'll kill you," Dipper pleaded with his sister. He made another move to pull her away but she slapped his hand. Dipper sighed.
"Dipper," Mabel said, her tone much softer. Dipper looked into those pleading, soft brown eyes. "Dipper please."
"Ugh, fine," Dipper gave in. He bend down and pulled one of Bill's arms over his shoulder, Mabel taking the other. Bill was just a tad shorter than the twins and certainly lighter. It looked like he hadn't eaten in weeks.
"I am so going to regret this," Dipper mutter as he and his sister trudged back toward the shack, the little pink pig waddling after them.
And there you go, first chapter finished. I am feel really good about this, what do you guys think? Any suggestions? And comments? Please review, I love input.