"It's getting away!"
"Not on my watch!"
"Run, Run, Run!"
Wendy swung the scoop-net wildly, but missed her target by several inches.
"Dude, it's coming your way!
Dipper jumped off the log, making a swing mid-air, and his aim was perfectly right.
"Gotcha!" - He quickly but carefully grabbed the net so that the insect wouldn't fly away. Wendy was by his side only a couple moments later.
"Nice catch, buddy!" - she shouted.
Younger boy was breathing heavily, but totally amused by the haul. He grinned at her widely.
"Thanks! I wouldn't make it without your help!" - he said, retrieving a plastic jar with a screw cap from one of the countless and spaceless pockets inside his vest.
"Oh dude, it's no big deal," - she waved off. - "Especially compared to fighting ghosts or monsters underground. So, what's up with this bug?" - she asked while Dipper was pulling the bug out of the net and placing it inside the jar. - "Now that the excitement of the chase is wearing off, this is just a blue firefly to me. Although, running around with the net was fun anyway," - her gaze drifted away, - "Ah, I love it here in the forest," - she murmured. - "It's so calm here. Just when you need to get rid of stressful thoughts..."
"Wendy, do you have stressful thoughts?" - the boy asked distrustfully.
"What? No, I don't. Tell me about the bug, dude."
Pines shrugged and decided not to delve into the matter. He lifted the jar to the eye level, so both of them could have a closer look at the creature they had to chase across the woodlands. The insect was sitting perfectly still inside it's prison, only moving it's antennas from time to time. It was beautiful, actually, with azure wing-cases and slightly glowing light-blue abdomen.
"Whoa!" - Dipper exhaled.
"Yeah, cool," - Wendy agreed quietly. - "But don't tell me you're just planning to nail it to a cardboard and stare at it for a week."
"No, I have better ideas," - the mystery hunter reassured her. - "According to the journal, if you give it some water with sugar and vanilla and then specify a place, and tell it to the bug, and it will fly there! And naturally, you can follow it and go there yourself."
"Dude!" - ginger's eyes widened. - "Now that's the stuff! Running around swinging the net was worth it. Just imagine, where it could get us!.. I wonder if there are more bugs like this around?"
"I doubt it," - He shrugged. "The journal says these are rare... And they are one use only, also."
"Figures. So, now that the bug is yours, what are you planning to ask?"
"I'll ask it to get me to the author, of course, what else?" - Dipper grinned. Then his smile became less confident. He lowered his head and murmured for himself: "Or I could ask it the way to your heart, but what's the use..."
"I can hear the things you say under your breath, remember?"
"Awwww!" - he didn't. - "Look, I'm sorry! It just kinda slipped off my tongue. I won't bug you with it anymore, ok? No pun intended, by the way."
She chuckled at him.
"Don't be like this, i'm not mad at you. At all." - she said. - "However, don't you think that asking a bug for help with my heart is not a very good thing? You should find a way to my heart yourself. And if you ever plan on getting help from someone, it should be me. And no insects interfering."
Young mystery hunter twitched.
"Wha- what do you mean 'it should be you'?" - he questioned. Wendy looked into the distance.
"In order to build real relationships, both must contribute. If at least one of the couple is not interested, then the whole thing is stillborn. So, if you want real relationships, you should involve me, and we should both be working on it. Together."
"Together" - he sighed. - "I see your point. So what, are you willing to help? Or you're just saying?"
"Didn't suppose you need help at this point," - she murmured with a low voice "Alright, I'll give you a hint. The path to my heart... You are walking it."
Dipper dropped the jar.
"What do you mean?" - he asked agitatedly, unable to contain his feelings. - "Am I walking it right now?"
"You've been walking it since we met. Slowly, but surely."
"Wendy, you're not just... trying to comfort me, or something?"
"Dude, you know me better than this. Or at least you should, by now." - Her answer was somewhat dry.
"Yeah, right," - he picked the jar up. - "So, you really mean it?" - She nodded. He felt his heart rise, but it fell again just a moment later - "But... how long is this path? How exactly slowly am I walking?" - he lowered his head.
The girl shrugged.
"I don't know, Dipper." - she said. - "This questions are a whole lot more difficult than the previous one. About the length of the road and your speed - I don't know, honestly. But something tells me you are not going to turn away."
"I'm not planning to," - he confirmed, and suddenly smiled - "because I'm sure that if I make it, in the end it would be more than worth all the trouble."
"Oh, yeah. On that, we can agree."
"Besides, the way itself is not half bad by far, especially if we consider movie nights the part of it."
"You bet they are a part, man. Speaking of which, have you seen 'Giant man-eating shrimps?'"
"What?! Even the title gives me chills! Just what year was this movie shot?.."
"There you are, dudes!" - exclaimed the voice from behind the trees, and a few moments later Soos entered the marge. He was barely catching his breath. - "Did you get it? Oh, you've got it! And I tripped over a log, and couldn't catch up with you afterwards..."
"And where's Mabel?" - asked Dipper.
"I was stuck in a raspberry bush!" - Yelled Mabel from behind Soos. Her expression of pure delight, as well as a great number of twigs and leaves stuck in her hair and a copious amount of raspberry juice on her face, were all the evidence they needed.
"Now, let's get back to the Shack!" - said mystery hunter. And then an unsettling silence fell upon them. They all looked around - "We know the way back, right?" - he inquired.
"Achem," - Wendy rubbed the back of her neck. - "I- I've never been to this part of the forest, actually. Or at least i don't remember..."
"I know a way back to the raspberry bush i was in!" - Mabel was clearly not terrified with the thought of getting lost in the woods.
"Yeah, Mabel, very helpful," - retorted her brother.
"Dudes, the forest around there is giving me creeps!" - complained Soos.
"We were chasing the insect for quite some time, come to think of it," - pointed out the ginger. - "We must be far from the trail by now. Ok, let's see."
For nearly half an hour they were searching the forest for any signs of a trail that brought them there. But it was in vain. Even Wendy's pathfinding skills didn't help her find a way back. Finally, they stopped, confused and slightly worried. Except for Mabel, of course.
"If we get lost in the forest, I vote we resort to cannibalism!" - she shouted excitedly. - "I've always wondered what my brother's brains taste like! And there's so much of the stuff, we would be able to sustain ourselves for weeks!"
"I'll take this as a compliment, Mabel," - muttered the young mystery hunter, - "although our current situation suggests otherwise." - He lifted up the jar with the bug, and retrieved from his vest pocket a small bottle with the solution of sugar and vanilla he prepared beforehand. Glancing from the jar to the bottle and back, he finally let out a heavy sigh. - "This is about the dumbest failure I've ever had."
"Don't be so upset, dude," - Wendy cheered him up. - "This hunt was fun, actually. And today, I hope, you've learned something you won't easily forget."
"Learned?" - immediately asked Mabel. - "My bro-bro found time to study even while chasing bugs?"
"I learned how important it is to mark the way back from field operations in a poorly known territory," - Dipper smiled. He knew, even without looking, that Wendy made a motion of zipping her lips while nobody watched her. - "Now, would anybody please help me open the jar without letting the bug out?.."