Mountains

Chapter Three


The night came far sooner than either one of the two lost souls could have expected. One minute Dipper and Wendy were trying to burn soaked, rotting wood, and the next they could barely see each other in the blanketing darkness.

The stars were not out that night. Every light was obscured by the endless layers of cloud, even the moon. The two ended up using the keychain flashlight from Dipper's pack to practically illuminate their every move. They shared the apple that Wendy had brought along for dinner, chewing it slowly as though they could make believe it was larger than it actually was. After the slightly bruised fruit was eaten up, Wendy finally broke the awkward silence.

"We have to make some sort of tent," she murmured quietly, opening up her sleeping bag and tying a corner to a low branch of a tree. The young detective at her side brought an armload of heavy stones and placed them neatly on the other corners, pulling the unzipped insulation taut. He undid his own bag and handed it to her.

Wendy gave him a small smile in the darkness before knotting the drawstring of his sleeping bag around another branch, pulling the rest over the gaps they had left with her's. Dipper grabbed another three stones and pinned the corners to the ground. They now had the most pathetic tent in history, but it would serve for a night.

The lumberjack girl tied their packs up in another tree before taking off her boots at the entrance to the sleeping bag tent. She crawled inside, Dipper on her tail, and settled at the base of the tree. He curled up a few centimeters from her and pulled off his hat, using it as a pillow. She grinned sleepily at him before removing her uncomfortably damp flannel and doing the same.

"Sleep well, Dipper," she mumbled to him. Her body suddenly quivered with the cold, and she winced.

"You too, Wendy," he answered sleepily.

Gradually, the silence took hold of the small nook at the foot of the great tree. The night wore into blinding darkness, but still neither of the two friends could fall asleep. As a matter of fact, Wendy felt more on edge than she could recall in her life. Her body constantly prickled with the dropping temperature, and she could feel her fingers starting to twitch anxiously. She knew this feeling.

Staring through the darkness, Wendy could just barely make out the outline of Dipper's form. He was still huddled in a tiny ball, but didn't look as cold as her. However, the speed of his breathing betrayed that the young detective was still very much awake.

She sighed and turned back onto her back. Reaching out, she pulled her flannel back on. She could go without a pillow, but it was so cold by now that her arms felt fiery and frozen at the same time. She needed to stay warm.

Dipper doesn't have any kind of long-sleeved clothing with him, Wendy reminded herself. Even so, as she looked back at his quivering form, he didn't seem to be in any visible discomfort. She considered moving over to give him a small hug or something, just some sort of contact to keep him warm, but he might not like that. Especially after she had "rejected" him during the whole shapeshifter incident.

Another forceful bout of shivering took hold of Wendy's body, and she clenched her teeth to keep them from chattering. She needed to stay strong. The night was only going to get colder, after all, and she didn't need to favorite admirer to think she was weak.

Ten minutes passed. The temperature plummeted further. Dipper was still holding out ok, but Wendy was so frozen by now that she couldn't feel her fingers. Being skinny had its major disadvantages, she realized too late. She stared across the makeshift tent again to where the tiny boy next to her rested. He still didn't look any closer to falling asleep.

Twenty minutes. Wendy's teeth had started to chatter. The goosebumps on her arms were so numerous by now that her skin felt like a toad's. All the feeling in her toes, despite her socks, were officially gone. She wanted to take down one of the sleeping bags and crawl inside, but she didn't want any animals or monsters to get them.

Thirty minutes. The lumberjack girl was growing as desperate as a half-frozen fifteen year-old could be. The tree didn't provide much warmth, and she had pulled her wet flannel around her as tightly as possible. She had even removed her trademark hat, using her incredibly thick hair to cover her ears, and tried to keep her exposed hands warm with it. She was centimeters from just reaching over and pulling Dipper against her like a ragdoll, but she had a bit more respect than that.

Thirty five minutes had passed when Wendy realized that her breathing was starting to speed up uncontrollably. Every shallow breath just made her lose more heat, and her heart rate was beginning to soar as well. She'd read about hypothermia on the internet before, and knew all about prolonged exposure and symptoms. The slow, icy gusts of wind that passed through the holes in the tent and around her bare lower arms weren't helping her case at all.

Forty five minutes and she couldn't take it anymore. Wendy very slowly moved across the fifteen centimeters that separated her from Dipper and tapped his subdued body with a hand. He stirred and looked up at her, the minuscule amount of light filtering through the holes in the ceiling reflecting on his eyes.

"Um…" she whispered in a hoarse voice. Her brain was working so slowly. "Uh… can I... Just, you know, sleep here?"

Dipper stared at her for a moment, a look of surprise and slight worry on his face. She heard the pine needles shifting as he moved his hand over to her arm, instantly flinching back as he felt how cold she was. He obviously knew what was going on. She wasn't trying to get comfortable, she was literally losing body heat so fast that she needed to be near him for survival purposes.

"Uh, sure," he replied, his teeth clacking together. Wendy felt a prick of relief knowing she wasn't the only one with a problem with the temperature. However, she hesitated, worrying that he would be uncomfortable. He seemed to notice her anxiety and quickly added, "It's fine."

Finally settled with the confirmation, Wendy slowly crawled over to where Dipper was huddled in a ball. She slowly lowered herself to the ground, wrapping her arms sluggishly around the tiny boy. Warmth spread throughout her entire body as she cuddled up against his back. He was far more comforting than she expected, as his skin seemed to radiate the wonderful heat itself.

She couldn't help but let out a sigh of contentment as she snuggled her face into his hair. He seemed surprised at how relaxed she was, but quickly brushed it off and let himself go limp. The lumberjack was still in awe of how he managed to maintain his warmth, especially with bare arms. Soon, she found herself drifting off into sleep, listening to the sound of her friend's breathing.

Wendy's sleep was full of fragmented dreams; flashes of warmth and cold, drowning in rivers she couldn't see, clouds turning into mighty spirits and pouring deathly water down upon her. As soon as she would think that she had one, it would slip away and a new and more confusing one would take its place. Her head was spinning, and as the night wore on, she felt as though she were losing all feeling in her body. However, as she approached dawn, she began to hear a faraway voice calling her name.

"Wendy… Wendy…"

"Ugh… Yeah?" she muttered, squinting. There was a bright light shining above her, stinging her eyes. She reached a hand up and tried to shield them, only to find the blinding brightness seemed to burn through her fingers.

"Wendy!"

The lumberjack felt a sharp, stinging pain in her arm and jerked her body upwards. Black slammed down around her, except for where someone was shining a tiny keychain flashlight onto her face. Wendy let out a low moan and fumbled around, accidently hitting herself with her hand. She recognized the person with the light as Dipper.

A loud sigh of relief echoed through the makeshift den. "Oh… Oh thank god, you're ok," the boy whispered, dropping the light into his lap. The next moment, she felt his almost painfully warm arms around her in a tight hug.

"C'mon, get offa me," she mumbled, trying to move. Her limbs just didn't seem to want to go the right way at the moment. She smacked the tree she had been leaning against and her leg before she finally managed to get a hold of Dipper's vest. Surprisingly, though, she didn't feel as though she had the strength to push him away.

A look of concern overcame the boy's face. "Wendy, you're really, really cold," he murmured, touching her wrist. "And it's hard to feel your pulse."

"I'll... be fine," she responded, slightly slurring her words. Why did she feel so tired? She had just gotten quite a bit of sleep. Surely she should have more energy than this?

"Wendy, I think you have hypothermia," Dipper fretted.

"I don't have… have… hypothermia…" the lumberjack denied, shivering violently. "I'm… totally fine… just go and… get some breakfast… I'm hungry…"

Dipper, however, wasn't listening. He had left the tent, and she could hear the sounds of his footsteps receding into the woods. Maybe he wouldn't mind if I took a little nap while he was away, Wendy thought to herself, licking her slightly blue lips. I am awfully tired

Before she could properly carry out the thought, her younger friend burst back into the tent with a small book in hand. It wasn't that ratty old journal he was always carrying around, but a smaller paperback guide of some sort. The boy held up the flashlight and started flicking through the pages, muttering under his breath, "Hypothermia… hypothermia… hypothermia treatment…"

Wendy tried to tell him once again that she most certainly did not have hypothermia, but the boy managed to beat her to it. "Ah, found it!" He stopped on a page completely filled with text, his eyes scanning over the documents the way an eagle would watch a mouse. Did he really read that fast, or was he just skimming? He probably wasn't, considering the way his face went from determined to uncomfortable to fearful. He finished the page and sat up, moving over to where his friend was kneeling and to her surprise, reached for her flannel.

"Gah, Dip, whataya doing?" she asked, swatting his hands away. However, the boy was not deterred.

"Your flannel's soaking wet," Dipper replied. "It's making you colder."

"I'm not... cold," Wendy weakly insisted, though ceasing her feeble attempts to stop him. The young detective folded the flannel up and placed it at the edge of the makeshift tent, glancing back at the book. He looked up at the sleeping bag ceiling and shook his head, standing up to undo the strings holding it together.

"It's almost dawn anyway," he reassured himself as one sleeping bag was detached. He tugged the fabric down before removing his vest and crawling over to where Wendy was sitting. However, he hesitated, his entire expression changing into an awkward one. Shifting from foot to foot, he announced, "Ok, so I kind of have to share body heat with you. Um, that ok?"

"Fine," the girl replied, closing her eyes. "Just... lemme sleep…"

"No!" The loud command jarred Wendy out of her attempted dozing. "You can't fall asleep! You're going to get sicker!" The boy was frantic, his eyes wide with fright and worry. For the first time since she had woken up, Wendy felt a pang of anxiety in return.

"Ok, Dip," she mumbled, lifting an arm and allowing him to snuggle up against her skinny body. He pulled the heavy sleeping bag over both of them and wrapped his arms around Wendy's midsection, much the way she had done to him last night. She could feel the incredible warmth through his shirt. It was so soothing, so relaxing. She was definitely going to have a hard time staying awake.

Meanwhile, the boy had picked up the book again and gazed back over the page he was on, tiny flashlight in hand. Without letting go of his friend, he grabbed one corner of the sleeping bag and tugged it underneath them both. Wendy stared at him blankly until he started to zip up the zipper, pulling the dry walls of the bag around them like a cocoon. When he reached the top, he pulled a piece of string out of his pack and tied the tiny bit of metal in place, so that the sleeping bag wouldn't unzip accidentally.

"Dip…" Wendy found herself asked, her voice very quiet. "What happens if I fall asleep?"

Dipper turned back towards her, dropping the book and letting his arm retreat back into the sleeping bag. As large as the cocoon of warmth was, his arms were limited to the options of being pinned to his sides or wrapped around Wendy. He chose the latter, finally seeming to acknowledge her question. His expression was a mixture of sad and uneasy.

"You probably won't wake up," he answered after a moment, his words barely more than a breath. Wendy shivered, not from cold this time. She knew exactly what he meant.

The two lay in a lukewarm bundle until the gray light from behind the clouds blanketed the landscape. It was obvious Dipper was trying not to fidget as they grew more and more exposed in the light, but his friend remained limp and exhausted. Her eyes had grown dull despite the warmth of the boy cuddled up next to her, her entire frame nearly lifeless. Her skin had gone a reddish-pale color that nearly screamed her condition out to the whole world. Dipper felt terribly alone. For the first time ever, he was seeing his friend both physically and mentally vulnerable, in need of care. He was almost in shock.

A cold wind blew through the bleak area, the light from the sky making it feel all the more colder. Wendy moved for the first time in hours, clenching his arms and letting her teeth chatter. He tightened his grip around her in hope it would start to bring the health back to her icy skin.

"I'm hungry," she murmured, pushing her freezing cold nose into his hair and shifting a bit. "I think… we have granola bars… in the bag."

Relieved that her ability to speak seemed to be returning, the young detective nodded. "I could go out and get them-"

"No, no, stay here," Wendy mumbled. "I'm… not that hungry. I can wait."

"Ok," Dipper replied. He could ignore the gnawing pain of hunger in his stomach a little while longer, surely. He blushed as his stomach rumbled in protest. However, for the first time in around twenty four hours, Wendy chuckled loudly.

"Maybe you should… try to catch something," she suggested, slowly relaxing her body again. "You… obviously need to eat."

"Only when you say you're warm enough," he replied, feeling his ears grow hot. Survival could prove to be a bit more embarrassing than he had previously thought. The lumberjack seemed to contemplate his words, her dull eyes narrowing a bit.

"A few more minutes," she decided, leaning into him and closing her eyes. Dipper nodded in agreement and stared up into the brightening sky. With the plan made, he echoed her words.

"A few more minutes it is."


A/N: And I have finally picked up this story again! Dude, Dragon Pines took way longer than I thought it would. If you haven't read it already, please go do so.

Just so you guys know, I did use a website to find out the symptoms of mild and moderate hypothermia, I didn't know all this on my own. Also, next chapter probably won't be as fluffy, (or my crude idea of fluffy, anyway,) but it will have slightly more action and humor. Until then, peace out, and please review!