This was not how normal mornings usually go. At least not in Gravity Falls.
Dipper rubbed his half-awake eyes, wondering if he was still sleeping. Looking inside their kitchen again, he found that, no, this was not a dream. Not daring to inch any closer, he chose to observe from a distance. Dipper stared at it.
It stared back.
Alright, this certainly isn't normal, thought Dipper as he reached for a broom several feet away. This is supernatural, and I might be the first one who will experience this. His hand found his objective and he moved it forward, in an attempt to poke the thing.
A whoosh and a dull thud next to his ear proved two things: a) this thing should not be disrupted and b) it had good aim. Further study should be led.
Dipper let go of the broom and inspected the doorway. It had several metallic knives of some sort stuck in it. Dipper raised an eyebrow on their queer shape and proportions, before turning back to the thing. A torn hood covered most of its face, but he could make out two glaring orbs of red.
How interesting.
###
Dipper struggled to keep his balance as he managed to walk to the kitchen door without dropping any packets. Heaving a sigh of relief and dumping them at the entrance, he turned to face the thing. It was deceptively humanoid, but Dipper was not exactly sure — the cloak concealed most of its anatomy, what if it had crab pincers for arms?
It continued staring at him with mild interest before its attention shifted to the pile of goods on the floor. Dipper followed its gaze and shook his head, remembering his original purpose. He dug out a simple loaf of bread and waved it in front of the thing.
"So. I guessed you were hungry so I brought some of Grunkle's secret stashed food. In return, just let me come closer, okay? I'm thirsty and I'm not drinking out of the bathroom sink."
The shining pair of eyes blinked. They continued to stare.
"Uh… Let me explain again," Dipper thought for a moment. How to explain it simpler? "I will," He pointed at himself and then emphasized at the loaf in his hands. "Give you some food. And you," Dipper pointed at the thing. "Will let me examine you and come closer. Understand?" Miming the walking action with his fingers, Dipper pointed at it again.
More staring. Then—
Was it nodding? Yes, it was, it seemed to jerk his head the slightest bit, did that mean… Was he allowed to come through?
Dipper scratched his head. Guess we're doing trial and error. He extended the sacrificial loaf of bread before him and inched forward. So far so good, he hadn't been stabbed yet. Halfway through the way, the bread disappeared from his hands. Dipper looked up, surprised. Did the wind push it off? Did it fall on the floor?
His gaze turned to the thing. Oh, he thought as the lost bread registered in the thing's pale hands. It had snatched it away apparently, though Dipper had no idea how did it manage from such a distance.
The thing inspected the offering. As if making sure there were no tricks, it tapped on the bread. Deeming it worthy, the creature unstuck the previously thin pieces of string that were somehow attached to the bread (so that's how it grabbed it, huh) and lifted it up to its hood.
Crunching sounds ensued. In less than a minute, a whole loaf of bread the size of Dipper's arm disappeared, leaving only crumbs behind.
Dipper watched, enthralled. When the thing looked at him again, he came to a conclusion. Shuffling back to the doorway, he grabbed more items. The creature perked up, watching him with even more intensity.
"Alright, so this is the deal. I give you more food and in exchange, you're gonna let the hood down." He pretended to take off an imaginary hood.
The creature surveyed him, balancing out its options. At last, it gave another jerk of its head.
And again Dipper went, this time holding a packaged bag of chips. The thing scrutinized him, and Dipper wondered how did he even manage to get a deal. The creature looked bigger and stronger, and yet, it was obeying.
He opened the bag, a small pop echoing across the room before handing the chips to the creature. In a split second, it grabbed them before scanning the food again. Dipper did not back down, pulling up a chair from the table a respectable distance from it.
It hesitated. A deal was a deal, though, and in the next moment it threw aside its cloak and gazed warily at the boy.
Dipper squealed.
###
In the one hour they were alone, Dipper managed to learn a whole entire megaton on the creature. The creature was a human for one, with sharp aristocratic face features and long tresses of black hair kept in a ponytail. If Dipper had to guess age, he'd say that the human was a teen, sixteen or older.
But that did not explain other things, such as the red glowing eyes that later faded to usual black
Or the deeply seasoned hardness behind his eyes.
Or the fact that he did not utter a single word ever since Dipper found him.
Perhaps he was deaf? That would explain the lack of understanding of the most common language.
But when he asked for his name, the stranger did try to mutter syllables. That lead Dipper astray. He tried again, this time louder.
"What's your name?"
Silence followed. "Dipper Pines." The said boy motioned at himself. Then he pointed at the stranger. "You?"
The teen blinked in understanding, before giving a bow as he muttered something. Fluttered at such display of high respect, Dipper laughed the slightest bit.
He tried to repeat. "Itachi? No last name?"
Itachi tensed.
"Oh, um, if you don't want to tell it's okay, I understand." Dipper waved his hands, feeling as if he overstepped his boundaries. "But it's nice to know you do have a name."
Itachi turned his head to the side, relaxed and easygoing. He probably did not understand half of the things Dipper said, guessing only by intonation and gestures. His eyes fell on the now exposed side of the head, which for some reason, seemed to look darker and… wet?
Dipper gasped and scrambled to his feet.
"Ohmygodyou'rebleeding! Come quick, we gotta look you over, follow me!" How could he not notice? That looked like a lot of ouch. He grabbed one of Itachi's sleeves and found a hand. Itachi stiffened. Dipper did not notice. He somehow managed to force Itachi after him, unaware of the amount of sharp dangerous weapons that happened to be in Itachi's hand.
Itachi quickly hid them a moment later, before the younger boy could notice, though. Dipper dragged him up the stairs, into a corridor and coming to a door. He opened it with ease and pushed Itachi in, closing the door behind them. He then proceeded to open a cabinet and take out the first aid kit that Soos was so helpful to provide.
"Now," He turned to Itachi, a wad of cotton in one hand and antiseptic in other. "How are we gonna do this?"
They had to clean off the blood first. Since it was a head wound, the only way they could do this without getting everything else wet was to turn on the shower and stick Itachi's head in. The wound was not deep and the skull had protected most of the head, but it was still bloody. It seemed to be a few hours old, dried blood sticking to Itachi's hair and scabs starting to form over the wound. They did not take Itachi's cloak off though, the raven shaking his head no when Dipper asked.
When the warm water poured gently on Itachi's head, Dipper expected him to scream or at least give a grunt of pain. The only visible sign that it did hurt was Itachi's dilated pupils and the barely seen clenched jaw. Otherwise, he stayed perfectly still, allowing Dipper to wash the wound throughout.
The procedure went over before either of them could notice, Dipper anxious to get it over with and stop the pain. Digging out a clean towel out of another cabinet, Dipper handed it to the raven. Then he opened the med kit.
Turning back to Itachi, who by that time was slowly drying his hair, Dipper showed him the antiseptic and explained what was he going to do. Itachi nodded, his hand momentarily reaching for empty space next to his hip. Dipper shot a questioning glance but left the matter.
He walked up to Itachi. Getting the hint, the raven squatted slightly and let the younger boy dab the wad of cotton around the injury. Done, Dipper took out a bit of bandage and together, they somehow managed to tie it around Itachi's head.
Dipper clapped his hands together. "That's it! Change the dressing every day until it heals and it should be okay!" He said.
Itachi murmured something, bowing again. Dipper guessed it was a 'thank you', though he was still embarrassed with such formalities. Then Itachi looked him straight in the eyes, brows crossed and lips tight, dead serious.
Dipper cocked his head. "What is it?" Raising one eyebrow, he wondered what did the raven mean. "Something you want to tell me? Want more food?"
Itachi hesitated, seeming to decide against it. Dipper blinked, before waving his hands. "No, no, it's okay, tell me! You need something maybe? Like uh, sleep? Do you want me to find you a bed?"
Itachi frowned, obviously not getting a single word. Then he sighed and dropped his cloak. At first, Dipper did not notice anything. Itachi wore navy blue mesh armor with a simple white belt around the waist and dark blue pants. The clothes were obviously tattered with tears in lots of places, as well as caked with blood and mud.
And then Itachi turned around, exposing the angry slash from his shoulder to his mid-back, badly bandaged and facing a high risk of getting infected.
Dipper fainted.
