They walked through the woods for only five minutes when the ground grows even darker and Mabel's foot hits a shaky, hissing creature. The thing coils around her leg before quickly slithering off into the depths. Hissing herself, the brunette yanks her foot away from the spot it was in. Normally, a girl like Mabel would not be phased simply by uncertain critters coming into contact with her, but there's something about the haze of this place that seems off key. Nonetheless, she there is always something that reverts her back into her cheerful quirks if only for a little while. The sound of metal hitting metal nearly strikes literally straight through one ear and out the other. Beside her, she notices her brother jump slightly. Whipping her head around toward the source of the noise leads of their dear old gruncle who suddenly possesses a shovel. He digs it into the earth another time. The shovel makes a short-but-satisfying sound as it glides through the soil before again hitting a hard and possibly hollow, solid object. Stan then places his foot on the back of the blade and it clangs another time. Then he lowers the angel of the blade and attempts to scoop the thing out.
When that doesn't prove to work, he then brings up his free hand and calls over Dipper, "Hey, Dipper, I need you over here." Mabel watches as Dipper walks over, fidgeting nervously. She can't help but actually feel a jolt of excitement run down her body. This new update is almost enough to lift the damper on the mood of this whole trek. Stan hands the shovel over to Dipper who takes it hesitantly. "What you're gonna do is plunge the spade in as deep as you can until you can hit something when you finally turn it upwards. That way, you can just lift it out of the ground without having to do any hard digging!"
Dipper's noodle arms struggle even to keep a good hold on the wooden stem of the shovel, "But Grunkle Stan, wouldn't it be easier to just dig until you find underneath?"
"Are you kidding?" Stan's voice raises enough to echo off the various trees and mist surrounding them. He throws his arms above his head, almost exasperated. "That would take forever! Do you want to spend forever in these woods?"
"Yeah, Dipper!" Mabel chimes in. "We have to hurry up and move on. There are other things out here to see and we won't be able to see them all if you take forever over here."
Stan comes closer to his great-nephew, "Listen, kid. I'll make you a deal. You get this thing out of the ground my way, and I promise we'll go back home today." Dipper looks down at where the blade meets the dirt, still hesitating. Then he sighs and begins to dig, but only by shoving the blade deeper and deeper into the ground. He lets out a few pathetic sounding grunts as he attempts to rework the shovel through its handle out of all its stuck positions. Mabel makes a point to sit down on a nearby rock looking bored. This is obviously going to be a while. Her gruncle looks over to notice that her enthusiasm has faded away again. "I also have a job for you too, Mabel." At that she brightens up a little.
She stands up again gleefully and brushes off her skirt, "Okay! What is it, Grunkle Stan?"
Stan walks over to her, "You are going to venture off into the woods and look for the most exotic looking flora you can find. Got it?"
Mabel gives him a thumbs up, "Sure. But where exactly do you want me to go?"
Stan almost face palms, "Don't you start asking questions like your brother. Look here, it's real simple. All you have to do is start heading that way." He points off in some random direction through the trees. "Just keep going as far as you can, ripping the roots out of every plant you find. Once you think you've got enough variety, head back here. Here. Use this to collect them." He dispenses an orange, plant pot from the inside of his coat and places it in her hands. Even empty the thing feels somewhat dense. Mabel thinks it a bit impractical that Stan could fit the whole thing in his tiny, coat pocket. Then another thought strikes her. The previous thought is such an odd thought to think. She's never worried about such impracticalities before. Maybe Stan is right. Maybe she is becoming more like her brother.
Nonetheless, she is beyond stoked to go on the quest that her gruncle sends her. She gives him a thumbs up before running off out of sight and into the wilderness, "Alright, then, Grunkle Stan. I won't let you down." With a grin on her face, she dashes off deeper into the forest.
Stan watches her go proudly, "That's it. That is the girl I want to see right there." He glances back at his great-nephew struggling to push the shovel into the soil just a little further. He stops for a moment and wipes the sweat away from his forehead, panting heavily. Stan turns his attention back to him, "Hey! Dipster, hurry it up, will you? I told you I don't have all day and so we can't go back home at the end of the day if we aren't done here. So get it that damned box of truffles up and onto solid ground already."
Dipper stumbles backward in exhaustion and falls into a sitting position, "What will you do with a box of truffles?"
"It's bait for this!" a triumphant voice comes right out of nowhere. The Pines look over to see Soos and Waddles right before a pair of sharp fangs clamps down on Dipper's elbow.