Mason's eyes blinked open, and he shut them again, squeezing out the light that had infiltrated his safe zone. Waiting a couple seconds, he hesitantly opened them again. The light was less intrusive now, and he quickly scanned his surroundings. His room. How? He didn't remember walking back. In fact, he didn't remember anything. He thinks back. Walking through the woods, with Asim. Finding the uprooted tree. Then...

A flash of white-hot pain hits him, and he blacks out.


Masons eyes snap open and he shoots upright, breathing heavily. Stumbling out of bed, he moves towards the bathroom. His brow creases. 'I feel like I have something important to remember... huh.' He shrugs. 'Oh, well. It'll come to me eventually.'

He plugs in his coffee pot, and peers into the fridge. Need to go shopping soon, he thinks absently. Moving towards his bedroom, he grabs his phone from his bedside table. Glancing at the time, he notes that it's 5:30 in the morning. He doesn't have to get up until 6. Walking back into the kitchen, he hops up onto the counter and grabs the newspaper. His phone, beside him, vibrates. Mason raises an eyebrow, and picks it up. One text, from Mabel.

'Mabel: Hi Dppr! Asim wants 2 c u'

5:32 a.m

Mason smirked, thinking of his sister and that big cat. He felt bad for going to check on the cat first, but he knew it wouldn't have hurt her. It was in pain, not angry. Plus, Mabel hates being crowded when she's upset, so he figured Stan, Ford and Wendy surrounding her might be enough.

Mason: 'Haha I'll come by today. Don't let him eat the wildlife, okay?"

5:34 a.m

Mason smiled, already thinking on how to feed the enormous cat. He could go to the store in town and buy some raw meat. That should work, for now.

Mabel: kk luv u dip c u latr

5:35

Rolling his eyes, he hops off the counter. She should really work on her text talk. Padding lightly into his bedroom, and peering into his closet, Mason composed a list of what he needed to do today in his head. Shopping for food, and the meat for Asim. Check in at Sky Pass News, and say hi to Margaret. He smiles, and pulls on his pants. Buttoning his green button up shirt over the black T-shirt, he yanks his socks on and tugs his shoes on over those.

Unplugging the coffee, Mason grins. He grabs his phone, and his wallet, then goes for his keys. There not on the nail by the door, though. He frowns, and scans the room. Moving quickly towards his bedroom, he finds them on the bedside table. Huh. Strange, his phone vibrates in his pocket, and he jumps.

Mabel: Hey, coming 2 u stay there

5:43

Mason had to wonder why his sister was up at such an early time anyway.

Mason: Just you? And why are you up so early?

5:43

INCOMING PHONE CALL: MABEL PINES

Mason tapped the green button.

"Okay, really funny story, but last night I thought set my alarm to 6, but as it would turn out it was five. It's just me, by the way."

"Are driving and calling me right now?"

"Yeah, but it's this really cool thing where I connect my phone to my speaker and I don't have to hold it isn't that cool? I got my new car, like, a month ago and now I'm really good at driving. Oh, I had to get a new car because some punks took my last one joyriding and then they hit a tree but the tree was unstable and fell and then my car was crushed, just like my hopes and dreams and those kids necks-"

Mason smiled. His sister was very talkative, after all.

"Mabel?" He interrupts the inflow of chatter. "Do you know where I live?"

Silence.

"Uh, Sky Pass?" She tries, and Mason's smile grows.

"Where in Sky Pass?"

"I... I don't know." She sounds defeated. Mason smirks.

"All right, just meet me at Sunny-side up Cafe. Oh, and introduce yourself as Pine's sister. Don't tell them that my name is Mason, okay? Call me Dipper if you want. It's a running joke."

"Will do, Bro-bro!"

Mason smiled, and locked the door. He hops into his car, and turns it on. Giving it a minute to warm up, he thinks about all that happened yesterday. Meeting Asim, finding him a home, then the interesting conversation he had with his family, and driving home, late at night. He hadn't really been planning on staying out so late, but what choice did he have? Asim was pretty important now.


Hi! Please don't hate me, I've finally worked out a plot. I have spent the past 10 chapters just winging it. I don't know if you noticed, but I had no plans for this. I was making it up as I go, but now I've finally decided on a general course of action. I have also decided against any pairings.

I ordered Journal 3! I'm super excited. It's arriving next Friday, and I honestly can't wait. (I'm sorry about the shortness of this chapter, btw. I thought it was necessary.) So, I really like codes and stuff, so I'm trying out something new. Here you go! Edit: messed up the code. It's fixed now, but my pride isn't. UGH ETERNAL SHAME

2-12-6-9 | 14-18-13-23 | 18-8 | 26 | 25-12-3

The - represents a new letter. | represents a new word. Simple for now, but it'll get complex later. The key for this is M=14. N=13. Review what it is when (if) you get it! Thank you to rwbygirl, Bluefish (I'm glad you liked Ford's part. He's a personal favorite), the guest, and craftyminer. especially! I noticed you hadn't reviewd before, so I'm really happy now. Also, do you guys like Sky Pass? It's an entirely made up town.

I have a tumblr now, but I haven't put anything up yet. Huh. Any suggestions for what to do?