"One day when we were out clearing rocks, she whispered to me that she was planning on starting a rebellion, and did I want to join. I told her yes, and later that night we met with some other prisoners who were part of the rebellion. Days later, we revolted. "

"And you escaped? " Stan asked.

"Well, most of us did. " Ford explained, looking at the floor. "Some—didn't make it. Either they were recaptured or—shot. "

Up on the landing, Dipper sat with his eyes closed. So much death! How on earth did Great Uncle Ford not come out worse off? Dipper shivered.

"When we were safely away," Ford continued, many just headed for their homes. The young lady and I had nowhere to go—so, we travelled the land together. "

Stan couldn't help but grin. "Eh—this 'young lady' have a name? "

He noted that his brother blushed. "Erm—Leila. Her name was Leila. "

Upstairs, Dipper bit his lip. Was? He hoped that Great Uncle Ford just meant that he and this Leila were no longer in the same place…

"We-travelled together for quite a long time. We would get food at abandoned farms, and it was easier finding shelter with two people looking. I don't—I don't know how long we travelled. "

Stan looked confused. "So—you're sayin' there was no way to measure time? "

Ford shook his head. "No. There were no clocks, no calendars—and there wasn't even a sun or a moon. The sky was just a red haze with dark—I guess what passed for clouds in that dimension. "

How strange that must have been—and how disconcerting. Dipper thought.

Below him, his great uncle continued speaking.

"One day I—I started to feel a strange presence. I could swear someone was following us—and I became very wary. Leila asked me what was wrong, but I didn't want to alarm her so I said it was nothing.

"Quite some time passed, and I continued to feel the presence. I was glad when Leila and I found what had appeared to be the aftermath of a skirmish—we—took some weapons from the bodies. The gun I found was broken, but with the pieces from other guns and weapons I was able to rebuild it. "

Stan blinked. Like Dipper upstairs, part of him marveled at how much death his brother had seen, and yet here he was, appearing sane. No wonder he was having nightmares. The other part of Stan thought, Yeah, figures you would figure out how to take a bunch of other dimensional weapons and put them all together so they worked…

"So—that's—that big gun you carry around? "he asked aloud.

Ford grinned just slightly. "Yep—it hasn't failed me yet. "

His tiny grin disappeared as soon as he'd finished speaking.

"The—presence became very strong one day." He continued. "Leila and I had been out—gathering food, when—I suddenly couldn't find her. When I finally did, she—she was slumped over by a broken wall—it looked as though she was crying. When I came over to ask what was wrong—"

Ford started shaking, and Stan became alarmed. "What, Sixer? " he asked, getting off of the couch and on his knees in front of his brother. "It's okay, you can tell me."

He put his hands on his brother's shoulders, and could feel his shaking. A tear dropped down Ford's cheek, and then one dropped down the other.