Author's note: Before you is the first part of the Bermuda Falls AU, a pirate take on Gravity Falls that is set in the dark and mysterious waters of the Caribbean Seas. I grow up with the wonderful games of Ron Gilbert and the Scumm Bar, like Monkey Island (which help me came up with this story) but I'm also a great fan of Treasure Island (in its many versions), so the result is what you see. I also want to thank Tim Powers and his wonderful novel "Stranger Tides". Collaborations are more than welcome. Thank u all, mateys, and welcome aboard!

"Sometimes, when it's quiet, I can still the monkeys"

1. Shiver My Timbers

17…

Deep, deep in the Caribbean Sea. Cruising the blue waters, full of white foam, dolphins and fish. People find remote islands and built their lives there, unawares of all the dangers around them. As of late, I should be finishing my memories and preparing dinner, gazing at the stars on the ocean just like any boy my age, dreaming of great adventures and listening to Father's pirate stories in the safety of our bedroom. Yes, that should be the ticket. Unless you're me.

You might be surprise when I tell you this, but my life during the past few days has been anything but quiet and dreamy. Why? Well, you can have a look yourselves. I'm running from a bunch of cannibal little men wearing skulls and seashells for helmet, in a vegetables cart with no weapon whatsoever. And I'm pretty sure if we don't get eaten, we might as well crash. No big deal. At least I hope so. We might get out of this island after all.

My name is Dipper. The girl about to puke is my sister Mabel. You may be wondering what we're doing in a rickety cart, fleeing from a creature of unimaginable horror. Well, rest assured, there's a perfectly logical explanation. Let's rewind, and I shall tell you.

It all started two weeks ago…

We grew up in the quiet British colony of Virginia, up north. Our parents weren't exactly sea lovers, to tell the truth. Our grandfather was the one who loved getting on ships, telling us stories and singing shanties after a few rounds of grog. It was him who told us about the Caribbean and the mysterious Bermuda Triangle. According to his tales, ships tend to disappear in this waters as if they never existed. The reasons weren't clear. Grandpa Sherman spoke of monsters, ghost pirates and something called the Watch Tower, the last thing that the lost ships could see before disappearing. Apparently, Grandfather's two brothers disappeared thirty years ago in those waters and the only survivors of that voyage were the ones who talked about the peculiar light house that 'came out of nowhere'. It was just a myth, or so did Father said. He insisted that our great uncles just died in a storm, but I wasn't entirely convinced. Nor was my sister Mabel, who loved to join Grand Father in his tales about buccaneers, sea snakes and giant squids while I wrote them all down.

That was all two weeks ago, when our parents decided to send us to England, to the safety of a relative's country house, via Providence Island. Such strange arrangement was due to the recent buccaneer attacks around our village and because the trip was far too expensive. So, we packed our backs and boarded our ship. Mabel, my upbeat and ever positive twin was excited about to meeting some real sailors and seeing dolphins, so she spent the whole trip trying to hitch members of the crew and other passengers. I got bored most of the time, although some of the sailors did told me some of the most infamous legends in the Caribbean like the mysterious Red Death that lurks around the waters of the La Balise in Louisiana or strange legends like the Eel's Nest, an errant "maelstrom", that had swallowed fleets in its jaws. I took note of all of them, hoping that one day I could publish my memories with this stories. Mabel found no interest in that. All she cared about were mermaids, dolphins, and handsome sailors. She's only twelve, just like me, but she made up her mind long ago to be married with her true love. Heh! Talk about myths.

Little did we knew that we were about to enter the very tales that Sherman had told us so many times. I wish it didn't have to come this, I really did. I wasn't born to be playing hero, or maybe I was and didn't knew. Not sure. What I do know, it was dark when the watchman announced that he could see the coast of Cuba. The lights of La Habana were dim but a good sign to all the sailors in the Caribbean. I was dog tired, ready to go back to my hammock, while Mabel had made her way into the bowels of the ship, where the animals slept. During the last two days, she had set her eyes and heart on a small piglet and was determined to save it from the cook's knife. I thought it was pointless effort, but I didn't wanted to argue with her. I was too tired to do so, when a deafening whistle caught our attention. A large explosion hauled many of the sailors over board and the few remaining were unprepared. We were under attack! The few officers that were left ordered me to run down stairs to find my sister, while they tried to fend away the buccaneers. I didn't have to think about it twice. I sprinted towards the keg room and looked for Mabel. Didn't took me long as she was curled right next to the said-pig.

"MABEL! This isn't time to be cuddling! Seriously! Why aren't you upstairs with our things! Why? We're under attack, for George's sake! We have to get out of here! We have to… Mabel!" I screamed and she gave me a clueless look.

"We're what now?" she was still too sleepy to piece things together.

"Mabel! There isn't much time! We have to get out of here! We have to…" we both heard a loud bang. One of the members of the crew felt down stairs like a rag doll and Mabel jumped in panic, with the piglet in her arms, screaming her lungs out. "Mabel! Not so loud! There's pirates on board! If they hear us…"

"We will fight them, do Shish kebab with them and swam on dolphins to the coast!" she barked.

"Mabel, are you crazy? This is isn't one of Grandpa's tales!" I replied angrily.

"But it could be" for some reason, Mabel wasn't afraid. I wasn't either. I was beyond afraid. I was somewhere between bedwetting and a near death experience. I really wanted to have my sister's courage, but somehow I knew we were hip deep into real trouble. A high-pitched voice sang a too familiar shanty.

"Fifteen men on the dead man's chest—

...Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!

Drink and the devil had done for the rest—

...Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!"

A colorful parrot had made its way into the bowels and was singing the pirate's favorite song. That couldn't be good. I tried to pull from my sister's arm but it was too late. A large man came down the stairs and looked at us.

"They're here, capt'n!" barked the sailor and a dark figure with an eye patch came down to meet us both. I held my breath, knowing that our quiet journey had just taken a dark turn.

"Lookie, lookie. What have we here? A couple of scallywags. Can't wait to see how much I have waited for this, Mr. Soos. We finally got our treasure!" the black captain of the buccaneers leered cruelly while the parrot sang on his shoulder.

"Shiver my timbers, shiver my sails,

Dead men tell no tales"

You were expecting Dipper and Mabel to just arrive at the Caribbean? And enjoy their stay with Stan, right? Well, you thought wrong. This two are going to get into one big mess! That's for sure!

Reviews are welcome as well as suggestions. What is chasing our heroes at the beginning of the story and what do these pirates want with the twins? What is the Watch Tower? Will Mabel and Dipper escape from their captors?

More to come!