Gravity Falls story; contains OC, no shipping, T for cartoon violence, concept piece.
The forest was cool, the chill seeping into my limbs as I crept along. Great crystals ruptured the ground, inundating clearings with pools of purple and blue light. This is my home, it's been my home for a long time. I've seen humans upon occasion but they rarely tread so deep into my domain. My claws leave slight marks in the treebark as I pass, letting other creatures know my borders. These two however, don't heed the warning. I've been following them for a while now, a boy and a girl, brother and sister. They're unafraid. It's strange.
I want to talk to them. I am afraid. It's strange.
"This is where I found that size changing crystal," the boy spoke, enthusiasm in his voice. His companion giggled and I liked the sound. She went bounding ahead under the shadowy boughs, coaxing her brother on faster. He puffed along behind her, clearly not as athletic. I felt sorry for him.
Darting behind rocks and trunks, I continued to pursue them. My curiosity winning out over good sense, but they were just so interesting; never had I seen humans in this clearing, especially not those willing to return. I want to talk to them but I'm afraid.
They stop and so do I, paralyzed, peering around a tree. I look at their hides, slightly pink and wrinkly in the places where they bend. My own hands, covered in well kept, shiny, black scales, look very much like theirs, only larger and a little more square. The bioluminescent veins, visible through overlaps, give my whole body a healthy dark purple glow. I know that I'm fit enough to change, but… can I really be like them? Though I've done this many times, never have I been so nervous. The brother has a book will all kinds of new things written in it, maybe I could learn what I am. I just have to talk to them.
Ever scale on my body lifts, folding in on myself, sculpting my physical appearance into a human one until not a hint of 'me' shows anywhere. The extra plates I've knit into clothes; humans wear clothes. It'd be weird if I didn't have any, right? Yes, of course it would. I can do this; I look human. Just go up and say something, introduce yourself, make a friend. Oh please, make a friend.
I coerce my feet into moving, pushing the brush aside, steady on ahead. They turn to face me, likely startled by my sudden appearance. Quick say something normal! "I- um… hi," I wave lamely, uncertainty and insecurity bubbling in my gut, "I'm Lee, nice to meet you."
"Uh, hi Lee…" the boy spoke, slipping his book back into his vest. He looked as nervous as I felt, sending one glance and then another to his sister. She shared his expression.
I need to do something, common, be normal. "So, uh, what are you two doing out here in the middle of the woods?"
"We're looking for… something that lives near here, an animal that's supposed to be super rare. Oh, whoops! Silly me, I didn't introduce us, did I? I'm Mabel and this grumpy guess is Dipper." Her voice calmed my racing heart at least. She seems pleasant. I like her.
"Mabel!"
"What?"
They squabble for a moment, turning their backs to me hunching over slightly, like that would prevent me from hearing anything. "What do you think you're doing, telling him? We don't know what he is!"
"Oh come on, Dipster, we don't know he's not normal."
"Look, between the gnomes and the merman I'd rather not chance that 'Lee' is human, okay?"
"Jus' give him a chance, bro bro. Besides he's, like, super hot."
"Ugh." He placed a palm on his face. What kind of expression is that? Palmface? What did it mean exactly?
Curious I edge a little closer and whisper, "You do know I can hear everything you're saying, right?"
The brother, Dipper, shot up in embarrassment, his face had turned red around the cheeks. Mabel laughed again and I decided that I really did love that sound. "Oh- I… um. Well," he spluttered, his sister laughing to hard to help him regain composure.
"Y'know," I just want a friend, really there's no need to panic, "it gets dark in these parts quick. Do you maybe want to stay over for the night? I've got plenty of space at home -that is i-if you want to stay at all!" I dropped my gaze, unsure if my eyes had started glowing in chagrin, and scratched at the back of my neck. People did that too, right? Right. People did both of those things when nervous or embarrassed. I'm still acting normal. You got this, you got this.
"I-I don't kno-"
"Okay!"
My eyes shot up to Mabel's beaming face, her tiny warm hands wrapped around one of mine. The physical contact wasn't something I could foresee. It took a lot of effort just to force my scales to lay flat. I swallowed, my mouth suddenly dry. Her grin was infections and soon wormed its way onto my face as well.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Dipper dead panned.
"Come with me," I said, giving her hands a slight squeeze. My strength far out classed a human's so I had to be mindful of how much pressure I applied to her wrist. She let me guide her through the woods, her brother shuffling along behind. The grin never left my face the whole way home.
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
I'm proud of my cave. It's large and spacious. The depth provides more than enough protection from the elements; wind and rain never make it far in because the passage slopes up. I dug the tunnels and most of the rooms with my own claws, decorating the walls with swirls and sigils that I don't quite understand, but I know it's the language of my kin. Dipper is particularly interested in those when he walks in. Mabel gasped a "You live in a cave?" as I replaced the wooden slab I use as a door.
"Y-yeah. But don't let that fool you, it's plenty homey. I prefer nature to television anyway." Nailed it!
"Oh? That's so cool! Y'know I'm more into nature myself," she bombasted, stepping closer. I wasn't sure why, it was making me uncomfortable.
"Lee, did you find this cave or perhaps… put these marks here yourself?"
Crap. I laugh, hoping it doesn't sound to nervous, "And how would I do that? With the wolverine claws I don't have? You've got quite an imagination, don't 'cha?"
"Oh, don't listen to him, Lee bee- can I call you Lee bee?- Dipper's just paranoid."
"It's not paranoia if someone's out to get you Mabes, and there is. Bill's still after us for foiling his plans earlier."
"Who's Bill?" It's an honest question, and I think fair. I did invite them into my home after all, I'd like to know if I should be expecting unwelcome guests in the near future.
"No one."
Gee, that's helpful Dipper. Not giving me a chance to prepare for who knows what. He's the kind that bottles everything up, isn't he? Mabel on the other hand was being a bit to expressive. Of course, I've never had a conversation with a human that lasted more than fifteen minutes so this is a milestone, but… her behavior seemed odd, even in the limited knowledge I had.
"Okay," I let the word out slowly, "do you guys want anything to eat? I've got berries, some fruit, or if you'ld like something a little more snack like, there's chips." I do my best shrug, trying to be casual about this is really hard. I'm fairly certain my hands would be clammy if I had sweat glands.
They exchanged a look, Dipper's untrusting and Mabel's… I don't know, was she nauseous or something? I blinked a few times, trying to get a hang of how human eyes worked. Eyelids are so weird. It was only then that I realized we we're just standing around in the entrance. Copying Dipper's earlier gesture, with the adjustment of palming my forehead instead of my nose, I groaned slightly. "Ugh, wow. It's been too long since I've had guests. Common in." I hope that if I walk past them briskly enough they'd forget how awkward that sounded.
The first ovular room in my nest was the human equivalent to a living room. I'd been able to find comfortable mosses, impossibly large mushrooms, and a single discarded, only slightly stained armchair to play the part of furnisher slouching around the edges. Posters that I found visually interesting dotted the walls; there was even an abstract painting. Short tunnels that lead to the other four chambers were voids interspersed along the walls equidistant from each other as well, each about two feet of the ground and a foot and a half in diameter. A tight fit, I know, but something about my scales scraping against stone felt nice.
"Make yourselves at home," I called over my shoulder. Clambering up into my kitchen tunnel. All of the passages in my home have hand and foot holds. They too sloped upward but this one was practically vertical. Digging it this way had been a pain but necessary if I wanted to do any cooking at all; didn't want to smoke myself out of my own home, now did I?
I'd collected jars, hollowed out gourds, and other objects to use as bowls and the like. storing anything that was edible in them with the only exception being things like chips or candy bags. My visitor looked to be about my age so I just guessed that they'd like something on the sweet side. The kitchen itself wasn't that large but very tall, a six by twelve foot cylinder, with all manner to food stored in alcoves half way up to the sealing. I also kept any herbs for medicine in here, it was the only place to put things in after all.
I was picking out some strawberries when I caught the muffled sound of conversation coming up from below. Dipper sounded hushed and panicked, though I couldn't make out what he was saying. Mabel's voice seemed calm, but it had a hint of sternness to it, like she was scolding someone. It would probably be best to go back down, they might figure something out if I leave them alone for too long.
*POV
"I'm telling you Mabel all those symbols are in my journal! Did you see the way he blinked? Eyelids moving all out of sync… that's not human."
"Maybe, Lee bee isn't the most normal human, but why do you got to go accusing him of being a monster. That's not right, bro bro."
I groaned in exasperation, she just wasn't getting it. Great Uncle Ford's journals had nearly all the supernatural mysteries of Gravity Fall recorded on their pages, and this was one of them. One of the more dangerous ones, anyway. I sighed and placed the book on the stone floor so Mabel could see too, "Here look at this." Mabel knelt down next to me and I read the passage allowed.
"It is my belief that there is more than one type of shapeshifter living in Gravity Falls. When I was in the deepest parts of the forest looking for the source of the size anomaly (see page 152) I felt the eyes of something on me the whole time. Upon occasion I would catch a deep purple glow out of the corner of my eye only for it to vanish when I turned to see what it was. I investigated further and found chipped black scales that had the unique ability to bend light and flex in impossible angles. The more I tested these scales the more I discovered about their inherent ability to change form. This creature, whatever it is could be anything or anyone in theory. Until I can get more data about it, I will call it a Changeling. Be on the lookout for a purple glow around a dark shadow."
A sketch next to the paragraph showed a tall, thin, vaguely female figure surrounded by a purple aura, with white, probably glowing eyes, and a gaping smile curving up to where her ears would be. This was the thing we were looking for. Great Uncle Ford needed more scales for the Anti-Bill barrier around the shack. He'd given me a sonic gun that should disrupt a Changeling's ability to transform, reverting them back to their original shape. Hopefully it would startle them enough into giving up.
Mabel stood up and huffed, "So you think that he's a Changeling, Dipper? Seriously? Why does every guy I like have to be some kind of weirdo or something? Don't you want me to be happy?!" I hate it when she shouts at me. It's unfair, I know, but this isn't right. Lee… he's not human. It's just a feeling and I need more proof but when have my gut feelings ever been wrong before. The gnomes don't count, they were still something bad, just not what I thought at first.
"Hey guys! I'm back." The overly cheery voice of our host startled me. I scrambled to grab the journal and hide it, whipping around to face him. Mabel was right about him looking human, aside from the white hair thing. It could just be really platinum blonde but it didn't seem like it. His pale hand was wrapped around a bag of chips, the handle of an old halloween pumpkin clenched in his admittedly normal looking teeth. The shift of his dark clothes didn't quite sound right to me either, but that was nit picking.
Lee jumped out of the tunnel, the metal chain on his black denim jeans clinked against the stone, and again I found myself thinking about how it didn't sound like metal or even plastic. The noise was more organic and muted than it should have been. I realized I'd been staring when Lee fixed his colorless eyes on me. "Are you alright?" he asked, his voice a little higher than before. He coughed and cleared his throat, and I could swear his blush was a shade purple. How did Mabel not see it? It was so obvious!
"Yeah I'm fine." My reply was even thankfully, not hinting my suspicions to the other boy.
"Okay." He seemed to perk up a bit, it was weird. Lee placed what he'd been carrying on the ground and bounded over to a painting. Lifting it off wall revealed an alcove with a safe inside. With a few spins Lee twisted the handle and swung the door open. From what I could see, it was filled with all kinds of random junk, little to no value in anything. Lee grabbed something I couldn't make out and carefully replaced the painting over the safe's now shut door.
He approached us with a tiny laptop and a DVD case, grinning. Mabel got all excited and I rolled my eyes at her obliviousness. She was going to get her heart broken again, take it out on me, apologize, and then I'd have to comfort her. I was getting real sick of this routine, but it was better than a lot of alternatives so I'll just have to deal with it.
\/\/\/\/\/
It was only about five at night when the movie finished, that whole it gets dark fast was rubbish, especially in the middle of the summer. Lee had fallen asleep against a giant mushroom and Mabel had stopped watching the movie half an hour ago in favor of staring at him. I rolled my eyes again. It felt like I was doing that a lot lately.
Feeling boredom and a growing sense of urgency gnawing at me, I took out Great Uncle Ford's sonic gun and began toying with the settings. At lower frequencies it was incredibly annoying but as I clicked the pitch up Lee visibly flinched in his sleep. Admittedly curiosity got the best of me and Mabel soon noticed my testing. At first I thought she was going to tell me to turn it off, instead she wanted to try.
Once the gun was out of my hands, Mabel cranked it all the way up and depressed the trigger. Lee shot off the mushroom, screaming in pain, desperately clapping his hands over his ears. "Turn it off! Turn it off!"
"Oh my gosh, Lee bee, I'm sorry! I-"
I took one look at Lee and knew exactly why Mabel had stopped talking. He looked almost like a porcupine with long, jagged-looking, black scales standing on end. As they folded back into place it wasn't a young boy, but a strange shadowy creature surrounded in a purple aura.
Lee lowered his hands and stared in horror at them. He wasn't the only one though. Each of his fingers had a claw on the end that looked like it could easily eviscerate someone, and I really didn't want it to be me.
"I told you he wasn't human."
"Dipper!" Mabel looked upset, though I just couldn't figure out why.
"What?"
Lee stood up, drawing my eyes back. Despite his flat feature, he still was expressive, and that was the terrifying part. "W-what did you do to me?" panic edged his voice, which now echoed ethereal, "I-I can't change! I-I!" He began pawing at his scales pulling them up and trying to fold them over. It was equally gross as it was fascinating. An acidic purple fluid oozed around the base of the scales and Lee hissed in pain. It makes sense if that was some kind of blood or something.
I took the sonic gun out of Mabel's hand before pulling her behind me. "So, what was your intention for bringing us here?"
"What?" Lee snarled, sounding incredulous. "I just wanted a friend, gods."
"O-oh." Well now I feel like a jerk.
Mabel broke contact with me and ran over to Lee, kneeling down next to his self inflicted injury. He growled at her when she tried to touch him. "I-I'm so sorry, I didn't know this would happen."
"That rare animal you were hunting… is it me?"
"Yes," I have no idea why I answered that.
"Why?"
"We need some scales to create a protective ward around the Mystery Shack." Again why am I saying all of this? I glanced over at Mabel and she gave me a sad look; it felt like I was sharing the same expression. "May we please have some?"
Lee glared at me and I shifted nervously. He heaved a sigh and ripped out the scales he tried to manually flip. I flinched at the sound. The slits of his nose flared open as he let out a long breath, "Here, take it and leave."
I stooped down to pick up the scales and Mabel moved over next to me. "I'm sorry Lee," I muttered, he waved off my voice, turning away. "If it's any consolation the effects shouldn't be permanent."
"Just… leave already." Lee dipped into one of the other smaller tunnels leaving a smear of glowing purple blood behind him.
I turned and made my way towards the wooden slab, Mabel on my heels. She was quite the whole way back to the Shack, and so was I. I'd only just met the guy, he wasn't even human, but he'd been kind. I wasn't even the one who pulled the trigger and I still felt awful. Mabel must feel worse.
We don't say anything when I pass the scales over to Grunkle Ford. He just nods at me.
