The noonday sun filtered through gaps in the lush, green tree leaves, speckling the forest floor with golden light. Small rustling sounds could be heard amongst thick undergrowth, hinting that little creatures were scuffling along the ground. The air was hot, revealing that it would be a typical summer day. All was peaceful.

Two twins could be seen walking along in no particular direction. The first, nose buried in a weathered old book, muttered to himself, paying no attention to the direction he was walking in. The second was doing the exact opposite. Falling behind the first, she kept herself busy by kicking up rocks and picking beautiful wildflowers that grew on the nearby bushes. The two of them had not been following a trail, but instead were trampling over small plants and avoiding large fallen branches.

"Mabel," the first addressed the second, looking up from his book for a moment to catch a glimpse of what lie ahead of him, "Are you sure that we're going in the right direction? I can't seem to find the page on centaurs, if there even is one." The boy cleared his throat and went back to analyzing the torn book.

"I'm sure, Dipper!...Maybe," Mabel said to her brother, her tone of voice making it sound like she was rather the opposite of sure. The two had been walking for hours trying to find what Mabel had claimed to be a centaur. So far, they hadn't had much luck.

"Well, I can't find any pages on them in the Journal, so it sounds to me like you just saw someone riding a horse around or something."

"Someone going horseback riding in the woods? I've never heard of that." Mabel said doubtfully, casting a troubled look behind her, "But whatever you say Dipper. We've been out here for hours. Maybe we should head back home?"

Dipper stopped in his tracks suddenly, and his sister almost ran straight into him. Looking around with worried eyes, Dipper finally spoke, "Mabel, how are we going to get back to the Shack. I don't even know where we are anymore."

Mabel didn't reply, just dropped the flowers she was holding, and looked down. Silence hung in the air for a good few seconds, but those seconds felt like an eternity. Then Mabel finally spoke;

"Why didn't you say anything before, Dipper?" Her voice faltered mid-sentence as she tried to figure out why Dipper would blatantly ignore their own safety.

Dipper just frowned and said, "I wanted to do something you wanted for a change. You're always saying that we never get to do stuff that you want to do. Or maybe that was just you wanting to make me excited at the possibility of you finding something." He shrugged, "Either way, we're lost."

Mabel sniffled a bit, then nodded. They were stuck in a thick part of the woods, and neither of the, could see a way out. "I guess we'd better turn around and make an attempt to get out of this forest."

Dipper said nothing, just nodded. He was slightly surprised by how well Mabel was taking the news of them being lost. Though, he shouldn't exactly underestimate his sister. He'd learned that many times before, and in the face of severe danger, even Mabel could become serious. Maybe it was just the way her wiring worked. Or maybe it happened to be a fact of humanity.

After almost an hour of walking, the light of the sun began to fade and dusk fell. It became harder and harder to see as the shadows closed in, concealing anything that may have been hidden in the forest. The twins, not thinking ahead, had neglected to bring along a flashlight. More than several times in the last half hour they had tripped over scattered branches and rocks. And, as the last light of the sun disappeared, their remaining hopes dwindled.

Dipper looked up toward the sky when they reached a rather small clearing. A full moon was clearly visible amongst the twinkling stars. He sighed and sat down on a nearby rock, and Mabel did the same, sitting back-to-back with him. It was almost useless now. They'd have to stop and continue walking when dawn hit, otherwise one of them might get seriously hurt. By tripping on a loose stone or otherwise.

Ten minutes had passed, and the twins still sat in the same position on the rock. One by one more stars appeared in the night sky, and Dipper silently started to count them while Mabel fiddled with the folds in her sweater. It grew cold, the warmth of the summer sun no longer there. The two shivered, again wishing that they had brought a flashlight.

It was then that Mabel stood up, declaring that she would be gone for only a minute.

"What are you going to do?" Dipper protested, "You have to stay here, Mabel!"

"Relax, I'll be careful. I'm gonna' go out to find some sticks. Maybe we can start a fire."

Dipper was about to protest, but decided that it was worth a shot. Mabel told him that she wouldn't stray too far, and would be extremely careful while finding her way around. So she left Dipper on the rock and began her stick hunt.

The boy wasn't on the rock long before he heard a shriek, and by the tone it sounded suspiciously like his sister's. He sprang up, racing toward the direction of the scream. As he grew closer to the source, his body started to warm up and he ran on even faster.

What greeted him there was more than a terrible sight. Mabel had been cornered in between two rocks by a large looking animal. The shadows were too thick for him to see what it was, and it took all he had just to squint to see his sister.

Without making a sound, he felt along the ground for a large stone, and threw it at the animal. He could hear a dull thump and a horrific animalistic growl. Dipper threw another stone. There was a sickening cracking noise, and he could hear leaves rustling and twigs snapping. The animal had gone, probably because Dipper had broken one of it's bones, judging by the splintering crack that would make anyone's legs weak.

Dipper carefully moved closer to where Mabel lay. She had passed out in all the commotion, but seemed okay for the most part. Pushing down the panic rising in his body, Dipper sat next to his sister and waited for morning sun to rise. There wasn't much he could do without light to guide his eyes. So, as the hours went on, he tried to keep himself calm, eventually falling into a deep sleep.