Author's Note:

Hello Readers and little children of all ages….Guess who's back?

That's right Caitlin and Camille are back for another round baby! This is the sequel to The Captain and his Cabin Boy story; The Twin Rubies.

Now for those who haven't read the first story, you can go ahead and click on my user name and find The Captain and his Cabin Boy on my stories list. I recommend it it's a good read and it's a pirate AU of Gravity Falls. Lots of mystery and adventure and very interesting to read.

For those who have read the previous installment, I am very excited to show you guys what Camille and I have created. As always this was done by Role Playing with Camille as Captain Bill and I (Caitlin) as Dipper Pines. Also we'd like to thank kit Kat for the amazing idea that got us going for the story. Cudos to you kit Kat *salute gesture*

Make sure to Review, favorite, all that good stuff if you enjoy this chapter or the story.

So without further adieu, here is the first out of many chapters for The Twin Rubies.

Happy Reading!

~Chapter 1: Lessons~

After their adventure on Isle de Rosa, Captain Bill Cipher and Dipper Pines returned to the Golden Eye with a bag full of treasure in hand. And they returned out to sea once more. Dipper had a big smile on his face glad that he was back on the ship and his new home.

Bill walked up behind Dipper, putting a hand on his shoulder with a big grin. He breathed in the fresh air as the wind whipped his hair around wildly. "It feels great to head back to sea," he said. "Don't you think Pine Tree?"

Dipper looked up at his captain, matching his grin. "It sure is, sir," he replied. He looked at the sea blue water "I think we can both agree that the ocean is far better than land."

"Aye!" Bill agreed, giving him a rough pat on the back. "That it is!"

Dipper winced a bit but kept the grin on his face "Aye." He breathed out.

Bill exhaled deeply, looking out at the sparkling ocean.

Dipper glanced up at Bill smiling to himself. He began to think of the past few days with him on the island how they grew a slight connection. Then he remembers Bills surprising secret "Captain..." He whispered

Bill heard the tone in his voice and looked down at him curiously and raised an eyebrow in question.

"...You need to know how to read, sir." Dipper whispered so that the other crew members wouldn't hear but him.

Bill started in surprised and slapped a hand over his mouth. He looked around quickly to make sure no one heard, then hauled Dipper with him into the captains quarters.

Dippers eyes widened slightly and shuffled his feet when Bill pulled him inside. He placed his hand on Bills arm and tried to pull his hand away from his mouth.

Bill swung the door closed quickly when they got in and let go of Dipper. "Okay, rule one about..my predicament. Never, and I mean NEVER, speak about it in front of my crew." He huffed.

Dipper turned to face him and he nodded quickly in understanding "Yes sir." Dipper said

Bill put his hands on his hips and leaned back, letting out another nervous huff. He ran his fingers through his mop of blonde hair and grinned at Dipper. "So you think you're up to seriously teaching me how to read and write?

Dipper smirked at him and folded his arms "I'm up for any challenge, Bill," he replied "The question is are you up for it?" He teased

"Oh-hoho!" He chuckled with a grin. "I'm up for any challenge!"

Dipper laughed "We'll start by writing ok?"

Bill nodded and grinned, excitement beaming on his face, and for a moment, he looked young. Like a child almost, a child on Christmas morning.

Dipper smiled at his excitement and jumped into a quick run going over to Bill's desk. He took out his pencil that he use for writing in his journal and got a piece of parchment that lay scattered on the desk

Bill took a seat in his large chair and kicked his feet up onto the table, leaning back and lacing his fingers behind his head. "So where do we start?"

Dipper began to write the letters from the alphabet in order "First off you need to know what the letters look like and sound like." he replied as he continued to write it. He soon finished and turned the paper around, pushing it to Bill.

Bill leaned forward and peered at the paper. He furrowed his eyebrows together and said "That's a lot more than I thought there would be"

"Don't worry they're just letters," Dipper said and walked around the desk and stood by Bills chair. "It's not as complicated as you might think. Here," Dipper pointed at the letter A. "That's A, it makes an "Ah" sound." Dipper explained.

"okay.." Bill looked at it closely.

Dipper continued to explain each letter and occasionally used words for examples. Like for B, Dipper used Bill's name to pronounce it better and D for his own name.

Bill scratched his head and listened intently

After about ten minutes of explaining each letter, Dipper wrote the lower case versions for each one. "These are just the lower case letters of the upper case ones," Dipper explained. Then he gave the pencil to Bill "Here you try now."

"Wait there's another set?" Bill exclaimed as he took the pencil. "I was just getting the hang of these ones!"

Dipper laughed "They mean the same thing," Dipper explained. "Just smaller. Try writing each letter. I prefer right hand but you can do whatever." Dipper shrugged

Bill balanced the pencil in his right hand thoughtfully. "Is there a difference?"

"Left hand I think you write over your words," Dipper replied crossing his arms over his chest. "And right hand you cans see what you're writing."

Bill paused before wielding the pencil in his right hand. "Alright, I'll stick with this one then"

Dipper grinned and sat on the desk, letting his feet dangle. "Try to copy the letters on the page."

Bill began writing intently, focusing in on the pencil, watching it leave marks on the paper. "Like this?"

Dipper watched intently and had a slight smile on his face "Good job. You're getting there," Dipper replied. "Just relax and write at your own pace."

Bill massaged his temples. "This is much harder than I thought it would be" he admitted.

"You'll get the hang of it," Dipper assured him. "It was a challenge for me as well."

"How did you learn?" He asked peering at him curiously

Dipper looked at his eye and fingered his hands together "I wrote my name down...that's how I got the hang of it..." Dipper replied

"Can I see your name?"

"Sure." Dipper nodded and he took the pencil from Bill. He pulled the paper to him and began to write his full name carefully.

Bill leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. He tilted his head curiously as he watch Dipper write.

Dipper wrote his full name out and on the paper it said "Dipper Pines". He put the pencil down "That's my name."

Bill slid the paper close to him so he could try and read it better. He then slid it back. "What does my name look like?"

Dipper picked the pencil back up and wrote down Bill's name on the page. "I don't think I know your last name, Bill..." Dipper suddenly realized.

Bill leaned back. "I don't have one" he said, his tone of voice changed. Before it was light hearted (as usual) but now it was low and warning Dipper not to ask further.

Dipper bit his lip at the sudden change and decided to drop it quickly. He pushed the paper to Bill "Well here's your name..." He muttered

Bill looked at the paper with interest. He traced his fingertip on the letters that spelled out his name. He smiled softly. "It looks nice"

Dipper smiled at him and rest his hands behind him on the desk as he looked at him. "Can you read it?" He asked making sure.

"Yeah I actually can!" He exclaimed excitedly

Dippers smile went brighter "That's progress, Bill! Good job." He congratulated his captain.

Bill did so, and they continued to write for a long period of time (he even doodled a crudely drawn Pine tree at one point) before bill finally became exhausted. "Alright, " bill said, letting the pencil clatter onto the table as he held his cramping hand. "Lessons over. "

Dipper sighed feeling exhausted in a way from teaching him how to read and write. "Aye I agree," Dipper says and smiles at Bill. "Good work today, Bill." He complimented.

"Aye! " He said, enthusiastically giving him a two finger salute. "Now get your ass out there and get to work mate"

Dipper grinned and did it back to him. "Aye aye, Captain!" He exclaims and runs to the door that led outside.

Bill smiled and leaned back in his chair, unaware of what was about to take place as the door slammed shut behind Dipper.

"Well well," a man on the deck said when he saw Dipper exit the Captain's quarters. He was a middle aged man with average weight. His beard reached his chest in a gnarly mess. He raised his bushy eyebrows at dipper and wrinkled his bulbous nose. "Captain's boy sure took his time with the Captain. What were you two talkin' 'bout in there?"

Dippers eyes met with the tall and broad man and he shrunk back a little bit. Dipper thought for a moment as he remembered what Bill had said to him to keep the lessons between them. He turned his glance up to the mans eyes "Nothing of your concern, mister," he replied.

He blinked in small surprise at Dipper and elbowed a lanky looking fellow next to him. "Hey Pete, did you hear that? Little Captain boys got secrets! " He snickered. The man turned around and grinned at Dipper, revealing blackened teeth. "Secrets with the Captain? He actually speaking about himself to you? " he asked excitedly.

Dipper glared at the both of them "You lads known him longer than I. What makes you think he would tell a boy like me?" He cocked his head to the side.

"You tell us, " the burlier of the two said, walking over to Dipper and leaned down, invading his personal space as he spoke, his breath tickling Dippers nose. "What made the Captain trust you more than us? You're no more than a pet the cap'n just so happened to pick up from the streets." he mocked

Dipper clenched his hand into a tight fist as he looked at the buff man in front of him. A pet? Is that really all he's got? Dipper took a breath before saying "I led him to gold. He finds value in me...that's what he really wants." He bites back

The man paused and stood up, looking down at Dipper in irritation. "You're right, that's all he wants. So what's the reason he taken such a liking to a runt like you? " he said as the other crew members began to flock closer to the two, curiosity reining them in.

Dipper was starting to feel a slight fear to them. But he managed to keep his chin up and look proud to what he was doing. "I tend to be quite likable from my past experiences." He half lied. He sorta knew he was likable but he never experienced being apart of a crew such as this.

"Like you stole Mommy's bloomers for the boys? " a shrill voice called out and chorus of rumbling laughter came from the crew members

Dipper was getting angry now at them. Why couldn't they just leave him alone? "Nothing like that no..." He said slowly reaching the point where he was close to growling.

The man put a large hand on his shoulder and grinned dangerously at him. "Oh come now, we are only poking fun." He said, his time of voice telling him otherwise

Dipper yanked his shoulder away from the mans hand "I've no time for fun. It'd be best if we just got back to work." Dipper suggested not wanting to go deeper into this dispute.

The man glared down at him, leaning down until they were nose to nose again. "I don't think it's your place to tell us what to do." he growled as the growing crowd behind him began to grow restless with excitement

Dipper wanted nothing more than to just run away from the fellow crew member. But he had to prove himself that he wasn't a weak boy that they see him as. Bill knew he wasn't one since their past experience...but now the greater challenge was staring right in front of his face. "Aye you're right on that one," Dipper replied staring directly into his eyes, not moving one muscle. "But I rather not disturb the Captain with this ridiculous setting. Imagine what he would say if this got too far..." Dipper inwardly smirked at his choice of words.

A burly hand grabbed dippers collar roughly. "Are you threatening me? How dare-" the man was cut off when the sound of a door bursting open and smacking hard against the outer wall, silencing the jeering crowd. "What in the ever living hell is going on out here? " a harsh voice pierced through the air as the crew member hastily let go of Dipper.

Dipper winced at the sudden pain of him grabbing onto his shirt and the next thing he knew, he was on the ground quicker than he expected. Dipper rubbed his chest while he propped himself up on his arm. He had a look on his face of complete surprise and somewhat relieved that he wasn't beaten to death by the crew.

Bill stepped out and stood over Dipper with hands on his hips, however, he wasn't looking at him. He glared with fiery eyes at the crew as an awkward silence filled the air, the man who started the whole scene had melted back into the crowd. "Well?" He snapped, making everyone flinch fearfully.

"We were only rough housing is all cap'in, no harm was done" a timid voice called out.

Bill looked down at Dipper, still pain on his face. "Can you stand? "

Dipper looked up at Bill, having his fear finally show in his eyes. Not to Bill. But to the men who stood before him. Dipper nodded slowly "Aye, sir..." He whispered and slowly got up to his feet.

"Good, " he nodded, and he looked back at the crew. "Listen up! " He barked, making everyone jump. "If I find this happening again I will be happy to tie bricks to your feet and send you to the bottom of the ocean with knifes in your eyes without so much as batting mine. Got it? " he said, a few members lifted their hands to their faces fearfully in response.

Dipper did not listen to Bills threats to the crew. Instead his mind was elsewhere thinking of how close he was to getting beaten if it weren't for Bill to save him. He felt his heart ache in his chest and he placed his hand over it. Dippers face fell as he didn't look at the crew or Bill. He just stared at the wood on the ground.

The crowd slowly dissipated and mumbles could be heard. Bill turned on his heels to storm back to his cabin but he caught a glimpse of dipper still on the ground clutching his chest. "Pine tree" he snapped, voice less harsher than before but still fairly harsh.

Dipper flinched when he heard his familiar nickname from Bill and he shifted his gaze up to him. "Y-Yes, sir?" Dipper stuttered

Bill stared for a moment down at Dipper before speaking again. "Come with me, " he said and headed back to his cabin, leaving his door open for him.

Dipper nodded slowly, now starting to feel sick to his stomach. He obeyed his Captain's order and followed him back to his quarters, shutting the door behind him.

Bill sat down on the edge of his table and crossed his arms. "You want to explain to me what happened out there? " he asked coldly.

Dipper faced him looking up into his eye, his face evident of how afraid he looked. "I...I came outside...to find a man looking down at me..." He began "He started to ask questions about what we were talking about...I told him nothing sir." He added quickly.

Bills facial expression remained the same. "And?

"And..." Dipper paused for a moment "He called me a pet...a runt that you took a liking too...it got me angry." He reluctantly admitted "More of the crew members came and I told them to stop and just go back to work...that's when he grabbed me." Dipper felt his chest absentmindedly as he continued to look afraid.

Bills face finally broke down and he rubbed his temple. "I was afraid this would happen." He groaned.

"What that they would turn on me?" Dipper asked "I did nothing to them!" Dipper snaps and shuts his eyes tightly.

Bill looked in surprise at Dipper. He didn't say anything in response, but watched the boy curiously.

Dipper tried to take deep and calming breaths. But his hands were starting to shake and he hid them behind his back so Bill wouldn't see how much he was breaking down. "I...I should go..." Dipper said softly and he walked to the door.

Bill knitted his eyebrows together as he watched him leave in silence. He shook his head, trying to dismiss the feeling that whatever was bothering Dipper, it was more than just the events that just took place with the crew.

Dipper exited the Captains quarters as he hung his head and walked silently across the deck. He felt as though something was weighing him down. But he didn't know what it was. He wrapped his arms around his body to hold himself together.

A few men jeered at him, but none moved to attack as he exited the cabin for a second time that day.

Dipper slowly but surely walked down the steps that led below decks and walked to his own cabin room. He shut the door behind him and pulled out his six fingered hand journal with the number 3 on the front and tossed it onto his bed. Dipper rubbed his eyes tiredly thinking maybe he just needed sleep. He hadn't really slept ever since their adventure in the cave. So technically a few days. Dipper sighed and he quickly jotted down a few things in his journal before putting it under his pillow and laying down on top of it. He pulled the covers up, closing his eyes drifting into a deep sleep.