Nothing too much to say before this chapter, aside that we now have a new faerie character that may not be so keen on having the Pines twins in his village. Will this newcomer accept Dipper and Mabel into his home, or will this trip end sooner than expected? Let's find out, my dudes and dudettes!
Gravity Falls is owned by Alex Hirsch and Disney. (I do not own any of its characters nor its properties. This is purely a non-profit fanfic made for fun).
THE FAERIES OF THE FALLS
CHAPTER THREE: OF FAERIES AND MEN
"...Oh, sweet mother of Mother Nature…" Rosemary lamented in an upset whisper. As expected, while the day earlier had been full of promise and fun, was now certainly going to take a turn for the worst…
...as evident by the stern, disapproved glare the broad-bodied, crossbow-wielding faerie that was slowly approaching the crowd of faeries before him.
All the faeries crowding around were all hushed, their faces twinging with slight fear. Having known this particular faerie and what kind of personality he has, they knew things weren't going be as fun and fancy free as they'd all thought it would be at this moment. And they all knew that he'd have a few choice words to say towards the village's new human guests indeed.
The masculine faerie didn't say a word. His hard stare was aimed directly at the pair of towering twin siblings standing around in the midst of the faerie village; his home. The home he sworn to protect and keep hidden from any violent or inconsiderate humans for many years, and of course, two of them have managed to actually find this well-secluded village regardless of how far off the grid it was.
...and he had a knowing feeling in his gut that Rosemary must've had a hand in this somehow…
The tension in the air was thick enough to cut it with a knife. Rosemary could clearly see how anxious everyone was feeling right now with this manly faerie, especially with her new human friends, Dipper and Mabel. However, Rosemary was doing her best to be brave for her friends and family. She knew this particular faerie for so long, and even with his suspicion-laced eyes fixated on the humans, she still hoped to knock some sense into him regardless.
She then fluttered up towards the approaching faerie, trying not to let his disdainful glare throw her off-guard as she mustered up an innocent smile.
"O-Oh, Oak, I didn't think you would've arrived back from patrol so soon!" Rosemary greeted shakily, an embarrassed blush crossing across her nervous grin. The recently-named Oak huffed crossly.
"Figured I arrived back early this time…" he rumbled, not bothering to look towards Rosemary as his sights were still locked on towards the Pines twins. "May I ask what are a pair of humans are doing in our village?" he bluntly replied to Rosemary, cutting straight to the point.
The sudden bout of mild hostility sent shivers up Dipper and Mabel's spines. The rest of the faeries around them began to look worried, unsure of would occur with the sudden appearance of their clan's strongest member. Sensing the fear of both the twins and her fellow faeries however, Rosemary simply stood her ground and kept smiling (albeit forcefully) to not be deterred by the rough faerie's brash demeanor.
"They are our guests, actually." she answered to him, trying to keep her tone leveled, "Their names are Dipper and Mabel Pines. They've been hoping to visit our quaint village today to do some research."
Oak groaned tiredly and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh, Lord, Rosemary...your hospitality is going to get us killed one of these days…" he grumbled to himself. Dipper and Mabel glanced back at each other and quivered. Rosemary felt her body tense up a bit and her tolerant smile begin to wane, but she still bravely kept her stance.
"Oak, dearie, I know this all may be unconventional, but please, trust me when I say that this could possibly pave the way for us faeries to gain a stronger bond with the humans!" explained Rosemary. To her dismay however, Oak seemed more unconvinced than accepting with her idea.
"'Unconventional'? You seriously thought that bringing these gargantuan humans to a camp full of tiny faeries was going to be a good idea, Rosemary?" he asked in a slightly more irked tone, "Besides, how could we bond better with a pair of 4-foot tall...things!? They could step on something without even knowing it!" Rosemary narrowed her eyes at Oak's rash accusations.
"B-But, I assure you that they mean no harm!" she insisted simply. However, Oak still wasn't swayed.
"Rosemary, you, me, and the rest of the village know about what humans get into, with the war and the pollution and all that!" Oak explained disapprovingly. Dipper and Mabel found themselves sweating profusely and tugged at their shirt collars upon that last statement. Regardless, Rosemary still came to their defense.
"But these humans are different than those kinds of humans, Oak! Honest!" replied Rosemary sincerely, her voice sounding more desperate by the second. Oak waved off her firmness.
"Pssh, at the end of the day, all humans are basically the same…" grunted Oak, crossing his arms, "At least us faeries have something of a moral compass…"
He then looked over the disheartened Rosemary's shoulder to see the humans in question giving him rather nervous and on-edge expressions. One stern and mistrustful leer was enough to cause the twins to jump and look away, both trying their best to not seem suspicious. Just then, Wattle stepped in to stick up for the humans as well.
"Oak, I'm very certain these humans really don't mean any trouble. I mean, it's not like humans can breathe fire or grow claws or anything like that!" reassured the gold-colored faerie confidently. Although, having heard what he just said, it wasn't long until Wattle looked back up to the towering twins, a small trace of fear crossing his face.
"...You mates don't do any of that stuff...do you?" he queried timidly. Luckily, a pair of subtle nods from the two helped put Wattle at ease.
"Hmph, be that as it may, Wattle…" Oak stated importantly, "I personally just don't see any reason as to why humans and faeries should be under the same roof…" Sage sighed softly and joined the group as well.
"Oak, like, there's no need to be a square about this…" she pacified in her most calmest tone, "These humans are legit harmless, I've read their auras, trust me…even with their personalities tending to ebb and flow with each other, there's still a sense of genuine love between these two humans...and that they mean no ill will to us all..."
Oak rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Pssh, you and your auras…" he grumbled to himself. Sage was certainly the most spiritual of the faerie clan, so this wasn't the first time Oak was subjected to her colorful descriptions of how life worked through her eyes. "Look, all I'm saying is that us faeries hadn't had the best track record when it comes to encountering other humans!" he finished off with a groan.
Wattle scoffed indignantly. "Pssh, yeah, sure, tell me one time, mate!" he challenged. Oak raised an unimpressed eyebrow.
"Wattle, I can tell you literally almost hundreds of times about when a faerie and a human interacted with each other, and that nine times out of ten, it ended badly for us faeries…" Oak reminded. But Wattle and the others stayed indignant. Sure, Oak was bringing up a very good point regarding the subject, but they knew right from wrong much more better than Oak can, and they knew that the twins were 100% harmless.
"Oak, please, I assure you everything will be fine!" Rosemary guaranteed as she went up to the faerie patriarch and placed a warm hand on his broad shoulder, "You trust me, don't you?"
Oak's harsh glare began to soften a bit at Rosemary's touch, but his face was still wrought with doubt upon having humans visiting his docile. "I trust you, Rosemary...it's just the humans I'm not sure about. I'm only enforcing this because I want our home to safe from harm...as well as our friends and family...that's why I'm teaching the other faeries archery as a means to protect ourselves from disaster..."
Rosemary's eyes were glazed with sadness from hearing Oak's remark. In fairness, she knew Oak was acting this in hopes to keep their friends and home safe from trouble, but even she knew that, sure, while there were certainly some humans out there were bad apples to say the least, there still exists genuinely kind, peaceful, and civilized human beings out there. Rosemary was certain Oak must know that all human aren't bad after all, she just had to give him a little step in the right direction.
But before she could say anything, Oak, who was now looking more sorrowful than stern, spoke up.
"Rosemary, I appreciate that you and the other faeries here care deeply about other creatures, and that I know you all are curious about what lies beyond the village, but I can't risk losing anymore friends to any humans...we've already lost our ancestors and I can't lose you or any other faerie here…" Then, he brought up something so suddenly that literally every faerie around him were immediately floored upon hearing his sad statement.
"...and I trust you know what happened to Lavender, right?" he asked with a low, hardly-audible tone.
Rosemary suddenly felt her protective stance was sidelined for subdued silence. The rest of the faeries in the group even managed to grow respectfully silent upon the mere mention of that particular faerie's name. Oak groaned softly, his stern nature becoming more solemn.
"It took us a while before we managed to find her," he sighed, "all squished against the window of some run-down tourist shack of a home in Gravity Falls, thanks to some human using one of those...those things they swat away flies with…"
"A flyswatter?" corrected Sage offhandedly. Oak nodded in return.
"Yes, that thing...but even so, when we found her...she was critically injured, with broken bones, broken wings, and she lost a lot of faerie dust that day…" Then, in a soft, regretful voice, he mentioned one last grieving statement regarding this upsetting memoir.
"Even our own magic couldn't save her that day…"
The faerie crowd all bowed their heads in silence, in memory of the terrible fate that befell their faerie friend that day. Even Rosemary, Wattle, and Sage all looked quite hushed and saddened by this news. Lavender, a fellow member of the faerie clan with a sparkling, puce-colored shine and complexion, was a good friend to them all, always donning a cheerful smile towards everyone. However, last summer, she strayed too far from the village and found her way to the town of Gravity Falls and suddenly wound up coming across a human.
A single smack of a flyswatter was enough to injure her greatly before a faerie scouting party discovered her and took her back home. But unfortunately, try as they might, Oak and the others weren't able to revive Lavender in time, thus costing her life at the hands of a human. And of course, Lavender wasn't the only faerie to have been slain by a human, whether it was an accident or not, as many of the faeries' ancestors have mostly met their fates towards humans back as far as when they first migrated to the States.
Lavender's fate was one of the latest occurrences of a faerie being offed by a human, and with that done, Oak put a ban on having the other faeries stray too far from the village, enough so that they wouldn't even leave the forest. period. And, as well as to never enter the town ever again to preserve the lives of the faeries then and there.
Despite all this, the faeries, while truly missing Lavender and their ancestors very much, still felt that Oak was being too harsh about judging the entire human race as nothing but violent and ignorant jerks. Even so, Oak wasn't particularly a brute himself. Sure, he took up archery as a means to protect his home and friends, but even with his grudge against humans, he wouldn't dare attack a human needlessly unless perchance if said human was fighting back.
Although, his practically-permanent stern nature only gave off an uneasy aura towards the faeries and humans, so in return, they all simply opted to keep their distance away from Oak for most of the time, as not to provoke him. As the group quietly mourned the loss of their friend, a thought occurred to Mabel, so much so that she couldn't help but to address something to Dipper.
"Dipper?" she asked quietly to her brother, who had his cap off in respect for the faeries before him.
"Yeah?"
"...Do...Do you think he's talking about the Mystery Shack?" she whispered out, almost fearfully. Dipper frowned softly. Somehow the location of what Oak was describing does sound a tad familiar.
"Possibly…" he pondered softly, "I think I do recall seeing a faerie on our windowsill last summer…" Then, his voice went low enough not to have the faeries hear him.
"...And I think that faerie was the one this Oak guy is talking about…"
Mabel gasped softly. "The one Soos squished?" she asked in an equally-gentle voice, "B-But...I'm sure that was an accident, surely!" Dipper's frown deepened and he sighed morosely.
"I don't think Oak would care if that was accidental or not…" he confided realistically. The twins simply stood there in guilty silence as they watched Rosemary now trying to knock any semblance of sense into Oak's head after everyone slowly eased away from their sad stupor.
"Oak, I know Lavender's death was unexpected, and trust me, we all miss her dearly...but still, you can't simply rule out that all humans are cruel and violent!" she stated, her tone sounding more sadder by every word she said. And unfortunately, Oak wasn't letting up anytime soon.
"I'm sorry, Rosemary…" he sighed gravely, shaking his head, "I know you and the others love to see the good in everyone's heart, but I've lost too many good friends and family to let humans simply idle about in my village. I mean, Bluebell can tell you about the experience she had when she first met a human last year. Here, maybe she can explain it better than I can..."
Rosemary winced and frowned deeply, knowing how this particular faerie can get when she's singled out from a crowd. "Oak, dear, no...don't bring Bluebell into this! You know she doesn't like it when we bring up that-"
But it was too late as Oak began calling out for the faerie, hoping to put the pieces together to this whole dilemma, much to Rosemary's fright and annoyance. "Bluebell!? Could you come up here please!?"
Just then, a certain faerie amongst the bunch fluttered past the hushed crowd of faeries and up towards Oak and Rosemary. She was a female faerie with wavy, blonde-colored hair and a blue dress. She also had a very frightened and timid expression and demeanor to boot, indicating that she really didn't like to be center of attention, especially when someone like Oak is speaking to her.
Oak narrowed his eyes and as calmly as he could be, he flew up to Bluebell and spoke to her only a father would sound like when having a serious talk with his child.
"Bluebell, was it true you have wandered outside of the camp to explore the forest last summer?" he questioned carefully. The faerie looked down at feet and nodded feebly, too visibly upset to speak. Rosemary looked on confusedly.
"Oak, what are you doing!?" she loudly whispered at him, unsure of where he was going with this, but Oak ignored her for now.
"And was it true," he continued on, "that you have encountered a human along your travels and that he swatted you once you got too close?"
The faerie gulped again. "Y-Yeah…" Rosemary rolled her eyes and flew up to the two, wanting to put an end to this before things got bad.
"Oak, there really is no reason for an interrogation. Bluebell here didn't know that that human would something like that to her. And also, I'm sure that the human didn't mean to do such a thing!" Rosemary replied, placing a comforting hand on the blonde faerie's back.
"I'm not interrogating." defended Oak, "I was simply asking her was all…" Poor Bluebell was now looking more apologetic than anything as she too put her own two cents into this conversation.
"I-It was my fault though…" Bluebell insisted shamefully, "I was looking at some pretty-looking flowers and when I saw that human pass by, I really wanted to show those flowers to him as well. I tried getting his attention anyway I could, but it was no use. I shouted at him, flew all around him, and I even tried...well…"
Rosemary tilted her head curiously. "You tried what, Bluebell?" she asked gently. Bluebell shuddered unhappily, a few tears beginning to prick her eyes.
"I...I even tried biting him…" Bluebell whispered in a low and regretful voice, the weight of her past actions making her feel so disgraced. The dumbfounded looks on Oak and Rosemary certainly didn't make her feel better. Even the rest of the faeries around them looked surprised by such an action.
"You bit a human!?" gasped Rosemary incredulously, reeling back in shock. Bluebell grew even more skittish, clearly not liking being the center of attention like this. And being interrogated by Oak of all faeries certainly wasn't putting her mind at ease.
"I didn't mean to!" cried Bluebell, "I just wanted to grab his attention...but it didn't work and instead he...he…"
"He wound up flicking you aside like a fly…" finished Oak, having got the explanation he desired. "Bluebell, I'm sorry, but that was very dangerous of you to wander off that far like that! That sorry excuse of a human could've seriously hurt you, you know. You were just lucky we managed to find you and patch you up in time..."
Even if there was nary a trace of malice or disgust in his voice, Oak's stern reprimanding was still enough to bring poor Bluebell's emotions into their breaking point. Her eyes began to water, her breathing became hitched and unsteady, and her face was wrinkled with shame after being reminded of such a gruesome event.
"I was only just curious was all!" wailed out Bluebell, now beginning to cry softly in her hands. Rosemary, despite still in shock that a faerie wound actually do something as off-putting as biting a human, couldn't help but to feel sorry for the neurotic-minded faerie and, without questioning anything, she flew up to Bluebell and gave her a comforting hug, letting her sob unhappily on her shoulder.
She patted and rubbed her back gently, shushing gently into her ear. "Shh, shh, it's okay, Bluebell...everything will be okay...it's all in the past now…" As Bluebell wept softly within Rosemary's arms, the red-haired faerie in question sharply gave Oak a rather irritated expression.
"Do you now see what interrogating others this badly can do?" she hissed lowly towards the buff faerie, as not so the distraught Bluebell couldn't hear her. Oak felt his stony expression actually soften up once more, not really expecting Bluebell to act this hysterical. But before he could say anything else, Mabel then piped up from behind.
"Uh...excuse me?"
Rosemary, Bluebell, Oak, and the other faeries brought their attention to the sweater-wearing girl. Bluebell was doing her very best to calm down in Rosemary's arms, while Oak simply gave the human girl an unamused look. "Yes, may we help you?" he grunted towards Mabel.
Mabel gulped, trying not to let Oak's glare get to her. "I-I just wanted to a-ask that blonde faerie a question...wh-what was her name again?"
Bluebell wiped away her tears, finally calm enough to speak coherently again. "M-My name is Bluebell...what did you want to ask?"
Mabel gulped softly and knelt down closer to Bluebell, trying to ignore Oak's protective stance. "Did you happen to see what this human looked like?" she asked curiously. Bluebell's face wrinkled, she pondered over her occurrence with some thought.
"W-well, he looked old and tall...he wore a black suit, a fez, and some glasses...and looked all grumpy and gruff and he smelled of prunes and cheap cologne…" explained Bluebell, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.
Both of the twins felt their skin turned ghostly white and their pupils shrink as realization hit them like an oncoming big rig. Only one person in Gravity Falls could fit that description, no doubt. And upon hearing that, they weren't sure how to respond to that without being possibly labelled as "faerie-killing assailants", especially with a human-disliking creature like Oak around them.
Mabel in particular, who was actually there when that experience had happened, seemed more afraid and shell-shocked than Dipper was. She gulped the growing lump in her throat and coughed nervously, getting back up on her feet.
"Uh...w-was there a-anybody else there t-that you saw?" stammered Mabel, hoping that she wouldn't be tipped off as someone who witnessed a faerie injury and did nothing about it. Gratefully for her, Bluebell shook her head silently.
"I don't think so...I was too busy preoccupied with the elderly human to see any others…" answered Bluebell truthfully. Mabel exhaled softly in relief, glad to have dodged a major bullet there. Dipper patted her backside in sympathy. Oak then cleared his throat and addressed himself back to Rosemary.
"Anyways, Rosemary, what makes you think these two humans would be any different to any other humans? I mean, these two are children. Last I checked, human children are overly-curious and can be quite clumsy and needy…" declared Oak loftily. Rosemary shook her head.
"Not these two…" insisted Rosemary proudly, "I can easily sense that Dipper and Mabel here both do mean well and that they absolutely don't mean to cause any trouble. They are both strong of heart…"
Oak raised an eyebrow, somewhat unconvinced of Rosemary's sincere words. "'Strong of heart', eh?" he mused. He looked over to the twins and gave them a precise and long stare, as if to scan them for anything he needs to watch out for.
Both twins felt on-edge once again, not liking how this brash faerie was looking at them. They still kept quiet and didn't bother to move a single muscle, on account of this faerie was planning to attack them in any way. In this case, Oak wasn't thinking of aimlessly attacking anyone at all (he was properly raised to not act like such a barbarian), but still, he was still hoping to keep a close eye out on these humans should do something bad. Rosemary was also wary about what Oak was doing, knowing the twins felt great discomfort over having him scan them like simple slabs of meat.
She knew that Dipper especially must be quite terrified by Oak's suspicious actions, and indeed she was right. Poor Dipper felt the need to tremble uncontrollably on the spot from being looked up by this tiny, buff archer faerie for so long. His brow began to sweat and his skinny legs felt like they were about to buckle under the pressure any second now.
Oak noticed the boy's increasing nervousness and actually managed to pull off something of a wry smirk. "Well, I suppose they'd have to be strong of heart. This boy's too skinny to be strong in weight…" he quipped, letting out a small chuckle afterwards.
Dipper's face turned bright red as he shamefully looked down at his feet. Although this certainly wasn't the first time his stature was made fun of by anyone, having a strong and bold faerie like Oak hurl a joke like that seemed to strike at his heart the hardest. Mabel frowned in sympathy and rubbed Dipper's back to try and ease his troubled nerves. The rest of the faeries noticed Dipper's abashed expression and they all couldn't help but to feel sorry for the saddened boy.
Rosemary especially looked quite heartbroken over seeing Dipper look so downcast that she was almost ready to go up to him and give him a hug out of reassurance. However, she still had to show Oak about the sincerity of the twins' visit. But before she or anyone else could do anything, Oak spoke up once more.
"Well, even if I agreed to let them stay, you said they were doing some sort of research…?" he asked stoically. Rosemary nodded.
"Yes, they're hoping to learn about our culture to document it in their Journal, was all. Nothing more…" she declared truthfully. Oak didn't seem fully persuaded, unfortunately.
"Hmph, possibly so that they can blab to everyone about the exact location to our home?" he assumed dourly. Rosemary narrowed her eyes at Oak. Her persistence was strong, but Oak was really trying her patience with this whole "humans are brutes" ordeal.
"No, this is only between them and their family, and they both promised me that they wouldn't dare give away our location." she insisted. She turned her head over to the twins. "Isn't that right, dearies?" she asked them. Dipper and Mabel, despite still a bit nervous, gave Rosemary a pair of genuine smiles and thumbs-ups.
"Yes, ma'am." both twins chimed out in unison. Rosemary smiled and turned back to Oak, who was still unswayed by all of this. Rosemary's smile dissolved into a sad frown. Sighing softly, she then reached out and placed her right hand on Oak's shoulder.
"Oak, please, just trust me on this...I'm going to be with these two all day today, so I promise I'll keep an eye on them throughout their visit. They're only visiting for the day, so I ensure you that nothing bad will happen…"
Oak carefully listened to Rosemary's unwavering promise with open ears. True, he trusted these humans as far as he could throw them, but he also trusted Rosemary as well, even if what she was saying sounded a bit sketchy to him. They've both been close friends for many years and even if they both never agreed on most subjects, they still cared for each other regardless, despite Oak's bold and stoic personality and Rosemary's overly-accepting demeanor clashing with each other.
At long last, after a few seconds of quiet contemplation, Oak finally gave his final consensus to Rosemary about her plan. He sighed heavily and rubbed his aching temples before he did something no one in the faerie village would expect him to do with Rosemary.
He actually agreed with her.
"Very well…"
Rosemary couldn't have felt her eyes grow any wider even if she tried. Did Oak - stoic, brash Oak with a grudge against humankind - actually agree to let her show these humans around their home? To be fair, she knew it was something of a long shot to persuade him to do as such, but she was still surprised he agreed to let this happen at all! The rest of the faeries in the crowd looked just as flabbergasted as well, and even the twins were stunned to hear Oak agree to all this!
Rosemary actually wound up slapping herself in the face to break her away from her amazed stupor to finally find her voice again. "E-Excuse m-me?" she stammered out, wide eyed and mouth agape. Oak groaned and looked her in the eye.
"I said, 'very well'. I'll let you show these humans around for the day, so long as they don't touch anything smaller than they are, and that they watch where they're going. I'd rather not have to deal with a smashed house or a flattened faerie this afternoon…"
Rosemary's hazel-hued eyes sparkled with hope. She was still shocked to have Oak actually let her show the Pines twins around, but her shock was more on terms of delightful in regards. Then, her joyful, face-spreading grin returned with absolute full force and the shiny aura covering her body seemed to shine even brighter than the sun as she squealed excitedly before she flew up to Oak and gave him the tightest, most grateful embrace she has ever given to anyone.
"Oh, thank you, Oak! Thank-you-thank-you-thank-you!" she gasped, cheering happily like a schoolgirl. Oak groaned from within her compacted hug, but weathered through it as Rosemary finally her grip on him. "Oh, you won't regret it, dearie! I ensure you that these humans are rightfully different than the ones you keep mentioning, I promise!"
Oak exhaled tiredly and felt his aching biceps as Rosemary fully released him from her hug. "Ugh, sure…" he groaned before his usual stern expression returned, "But just know this Rosemary, watching these humans are your responsibility. I'm trusting you to keep a very close eye on them, to make sure they don't cause havoc…" he warned in a serious tone.
Rosemary smiled in assurance. "Of course, Oak." she promised, "They'll be in good hands. You really don't have anything to worry about…" Oak scoffed to himself.
"I pray that I won't…" he groaned softly. Then, he slowly flew up towards Dipper and Mabel, a hard look etched on his chiseled face. The twins gulped and shuddered with fear upon having this faerie suddenly approach them, but they stayed silent regardless (probably cause they were too scared to even bother to say anything either way).
Oak hovered up to the twins until he was looking at them both squarely in the eyes with his own. The headstrong faerie certainly could sense fear from within the humans, and even if he wasn't legit trying to plan or do anything harmful, he still wanted to make one little thing clear to them just in case. Oak took in a deep breath and began speaking quite seriously towards the twins.
"Now, listen…" he started, keeping his voice perfectly leveled, "just because you two are guests here doesn't mean you both should go around all willy-nilly in a village made for smaller creatures. I expect the both of you to stay with Rosemary at all times and please, try not to cause property damage or any harm to my kin, whether it's by accident or not. Am I being clear with you both?"
Oak's steadfast and serious request certainly struck a chord in the twins' minds as he was met with them both giving him an affirmative, though frightened head nod. The archer faerie's frown softened and he nodded back.
"Very well then…" he replied, "but just know I'll be keeping an eye on you two during your visit." The twins gulped and shivered with fright.
"O-Of course, sir!" Dipper answered back. Mabel nodded alongside him.
"A-Absolutely!" agreed Mabel. Oak, deciding that the humans have had enough of feeling interrogated, simply felt it best to give the humans a bit of breathing room and flew back down on the ground, passing by Rosemary, Wattle, Sage, Bluebell, and the rest of the faerie clan before he starting addressing towards them again.
"Well, no need to idle around!" he ordered, "We all still have chores to finish!" And with that said, the crowd of faeries began to disperse and fly away around the village to tend with their chores once again, as if nothing has happened. With the crowd now preoccupied with their own accords, Oak turned his head back to Rosemary.
"If you need me, Rosemary, I'll be at archery training nearby the watermill. Please ensure that our...human guests stay out of trouble…" he appointed gruffly. Rosemary nodded and smiled.
"Absolutely!" she replied, "You really don't have anything to fret over…" Oak gave her a tilted frown, trying not to look uncertain over Rosemary's promise.
"Mm-hmm…" he simply mused. And with that, he hiked up the quiver slung over his shoulder and flew off towards the village's watermill to do some training. Once he was gone, Rosemary's big smile slowly deterred into an exhausted frown, grateful for having Oak agree to her plan, though tired for trying to sway him into doing so in the process.
Wattle and Sage were the only ones to stay behind as the faerie crowd had all departed away to do their chores. Sage groaned softly. "Yeesh, what did I tell you? A real square that guy is…" she commented. Wattle nodded silently in agreement.
Dipper and Mabel could only stand there in stunned silence, trying to piece together what had just happened before Mabel finally decided to address the matter once and for all.
"Wh-What was all that about?" gasped Mabel,. Rosemary frowned deeply and sighed sadly, looking back up to the twins.
"That was Oak, I'm afraid…" she explained to the humans, "He's always a rough and stern sort, always claiming to be something of a de facto leader for our clan…"
"Yeah, he normally acts this way most of the time, seeing as his grandfather was, like, one of the first faeries to travel from Europe to America to begin with. Hence why he sees himself as a leader..." added Sage mournfully. Wattle nodded alongside her in agreement.
"You blokes shouldn't take it personally…" he soothed, "He is a lil' rough around the edges, but it does come from a good heart, fair dinkum…his aura's probably just clouded up is all..."
Poor Dipper and Mabel felt sorry for the other faeries. They hadn't realized they'd have to deal with such a rude character to begin with. Up until now, these faeries looked like they hadn't a single bad bone in their body, but now after seeing someone like Oak in their midst, the twins knew they had to be careful around the faeries, and especially around Oak.
Something however crossed Dipper's mind as he suddenly remembered the choice of weapon Oak was carrying with him. He looked down at Rosemary with an incredulous look.
"Rosemary, I th-thought you said you faeries w-were strictly non-violent!" he asked frightfully. Rosemary winced apologetically.
"We are!" she declared truthfully, "But Oak insisted on using archery as a means to protect our village, perchance an intruder or a monster may show up to injure any of us…"
"That's why he goes on patrols all the time to ensure the safety of our home from trouble…" explained Wattle.
"B-But, we wouldn't harm any of you guys!" persisted Mabel. Rosemary sighed morosely and flew up to grab each one of the twins' hands in her own.
"I know you both wouldn't do such a thing, and neither do my friends." she replied, her eyes glistening with sincerity, "But even so, Oak still harbors a bit of a grudge towards the humans, regardless of their age, race, or gender…"
Mabel gingerly brought her other hand to rub Rosemary's own tiny hand on her own. "Do any of you all know the reason why Oak doesn't like humans?" she asked gently.
She then realized she must've asked a loaded question however, after seeing Rosemary's already-saddened expression twist into one of even greater grief and sorrow. The little faerie's head hung down low, her eyes slowly beginning to water. Wattle and Sage noticed their close friend's sadness and flew up towards her, with Wattle giving her a gentle hug (which Rosemary willingly and gratefully accepted and returned) and Sage patting her back comfortingly.
Knowing Rosemary was too upset to answer back, Wattle luckily filled in for her. "It's really something we all try not to dwell on…" sighed Wattle, his voice low enough to hide his already-soft-sounding accent, all while still holding her in his embrace.
Sage nodded in agreement. "Let's just say that it involves an event of when the faeries traveled to Gravity Falls many years ago…"
Even without the context of what Sage meant by that, somehow both Dipper and Mabel knew that it must be something personal to the faeries. Given Oak's stern nature towards the humans, it was clearly obvious that the faeries certainly had plenty of not-so pleasant encounters with other humans in the past, and as of now, the twins really didn't want to get on the faeries' bad sides, especially with Oak hanging around.
Before the twins could dish out another round of apologies, a tiny, timid-sounding voice piped up from behind the group.
"Umm...e-excuse me?"
Dipper, Mabel, and the trio of faeries turned around to see Bluebell shyly join back into the group again. She flew a few inches closer towards the faeries, keeping her distance away
Rosemary's warm smile slowly returned once again upon seeing this particular faerie join the group. "Yes, Bluebell? Is everything alright?" she asked kindly. Bluebell twiddled her fingers and scratched the back of her leg with her foot.
She gave the group a doe-eyed expression and spoke up in the softest voice ever heard by anyone. "Um, I-I was wondering if I could ask a question t-to the humans...i-if that's okay with them?" she asked shyly. Rosemary looked surprised for a moment before giving Bluebell a soft smile.
"Why...sure!" she agreed kindly, right before she looked over her shoulder and towards the twins. "That is, if they would like to?"
In spite of the lingering nervousness still stuck in Dipper's mind, he really didn't want to come out as rude to the others, so then, he graciously accepted Rosemary's innocent suggestion. "S-Sure, that's fine with us! R-Right, Mabes?"
Mabel, who was now faring up a little bit better than Dipper was after the whole encounter with Oak, simply gave the faeries a bright, brace-filled grin. "Absolutely!" she chirped giddily.
She then unceremoniously plopped belly-first on the ground and scooched up towards the demure, yet curious Bluebell, giving her their full attention. "What would ya like to talk about?" she asked, supporting her head with her hands.
Bluebell, however, was so surprised with Mabel's exuberance that she found herself hemming and hawing nervously right there on the spot, now too frightened to ask about whatever she wanted to ask about. Dipper noticed the faerie's behavior and leaned in closer to Rosemary, Sage, and Wattle.
"Uh, i-is she okay? Did we startle her too much?" he asked worriedly. The faerie trio simply smiled kindly at Dipper.
"Oh, Bluebell tends to be a bit shy, especially after she encountered that human a year ago. But she's still very kind and always curious about new things..." replied Rosemary with a wave of her hand.
"Once you both, like, get to know her, she's an absolute sweetheart, for real!" Sage added, with Wattle nodding in agreement.
Dipper looked back at Bluebell, whom was still looking quite timid and quiet, in spite of Mabel's friendly (if not, excitable) demeanor. A pitied expression crossed the boy's face. Being timid and nerve-wracked himself, he sympathized with this demure-looking faerie greatly and he hoped to try and make her feel like that she could talk to him and Mabel without fear.
The Pines boy then carefully knelt down on the ground right next to his sister and gave Bluebell a small, but nevertheless friendly and comforting smile.
"It's okay there, Bluebell…" Dipper soothed softly down at the blonde faerie, "I'm sorry about Mabel. She can get a bit too excited when meeting new friends, but I assure you that we're both not going to hurt you or your friends…"
Bluebell gulped softly, her eyes glimmered with hope as she kept her awestruck gaze up at the two humans sweetly looking down upon her. "...Y-You promise?" asked Bluebell in a soft tone. Dipper smiled warmly and raised up the pinkie finger on his right hand.
"Absolutely, I pinkie promi-" Dipper then paused for a moment, suddenly realizing that maybe a pinkie promise wouldn't work as well between a regular-sized human child and a tiny faerie that was as tall as his own finger. Instead, he opted to simply cross his heart and to give Bluebell a trusting grin.
"I mean...you have my word, scout's honor…" Dipper corrected himself. Thankfully, it was sufficient enough for Bluebell to calm herself down enough to feel more comfortable around the twins. She even managed to muster up something of a tiny, shy smile in return!
"Well...okay, um…" Bluebell began softly, "Uh, I-I just wanted to ask...what kind of hobbies do you two usually like to do?" The twins, not put off by her question, certainly didn't have to think long to answer back, especially for Mabel as she merrily began listing off what she liked to do.
"Whelp, let's see...I like having slumber parties, chatting with my friends, talkin' about cute boys, playing with my pet pig Waddles, singing, dancing, singing while dancing...y'know, fun stuff!" she chirped, finishing off her list with a giggle. Bluebell tittered gently to herself.
She then turned towards Dipper, expecting to give out his answer in return. Dipper coughed awkwardly and began to feel a bit timid. "Well, uh...I'm usually into book-learning and discovering new mysterious things a-and stuff, I dunno, it's really boring stuff...you wouldn't be interested in that sort of thing…"
Dipper blushed with embarrassment. He knew he wasn't as outgoing as Mabel was, and that his love for mystery wasn't widely shared between him and some of his peers (especially back in his hometown of Piedmont), but to his surprise, Bluebell wasn't seeming to be put off by Dipper's answer by any means actually.
"'Discovering new things'? Like what?" she asked, her curiosity genuinely peaked. Dipper stammered for a second before answering.
"Well...usually about all the supernatural creatures that are seen or hidden all around Gravity Falls, you know, like gnomes and shapeshifters and monsters...that kind of thing…" he explained shyly. Bluebell's eyes widened in both surprise and intrigue.
"R-Really?" she gasped lightly. Mabel nodded in agreement.
"Yep! We spent a whole summer last year discovering so many creatures and solving a lot of mysteries! It was absolute fun...though kinda dangerous, but still fun!" exclaimed Mabel. Rosemary, Wattle, and Sage then joined up with the trio after staying in the sidelines for a while.
"That was mainly the reason these two have shown up today. They were hoping to learn more about us so they could record it in their book…" smiled Rosemary. Bluebell grinned with interest.
"Oh, that sounds nice!" commented the blue-dressed faerie. Then, Bluebell fluttered up to Dipper and gently took his hand, patting it reassuringly and giving him a soft smile. "And by the way, I don't think what you enjoy doing sounds boring, Dipper. I think it sounds fun! You really shouldn't be ashamed for liking anything you enjoy to do…"
Dipper's nervous frown slowly turned into an appreciative smile, a very faint blush spreading across his cheeks. "Thank you, Bluebell…" Dipper smiled gratefully.
Then, as if to cap off how sincere she was with her earlier statement, Bluebell straight flew up to Dipper's face and without warning, she went up to his right cheek and gave it a friendly hug. Dipper was completely unprepared to having a small faerie hugging up against his face, but given the circumstance, he couldn't help but to smile and chuckle warmly. He then "returned" the embrace and gingerly bringing his index finger to caress Bluebell's backside gentle enough not to accidentally squish her by mistake. Now, it was time for Bluebell to join Dipper in on the laughter, along with Mabel, Rosemary, Wattle, and Sage as well.
The six friends all giggled happily together until Dipper and Bluebell finally released their impromptu hug. However, Bluebell still had one more question to ask.
"Um, could I ask o-one more question, though?" she asked in a more shyer tone. Mabel lifted herself off the ground and gave her another big grin.
"Absolutely!" she chirped, "What's up?"
Bluebell coughed awkwardly in her hand. "Ahem, well, uh...if I may ask...do you two...uh…"
The twins looked at each other and raised their eyebrows before they turned back to the timid faerie. "Do we what?" Dipper asked curiously. Bluebell soon summoned all her strength to finally ask her next question.
"D-Do humans...like flowers?" she finally asked in her softest voice yet. The twins blinked once in mild disbelief before Mabel broke out into yet another big smile.
"Of course humans like flowers!" she exclaimed, "Who wouldn't like 'em?" Mabel's answer seemed to reassure Bluebell to the point where her shyness made way for excitement.
"W-Would you both like to see some flowers?" she asked hopefully, beaming giddily, "I found this beautiful patch of posies close by!" Rosemary smiled warmly upon seeing Bluebell starting to open up more around the humans, but knowing that the humans couldn't really stay out for too, too long, she hoped to give the twins a little tour before anything else could happen.
"We may have to do that a bit later, Bluebell…" Rosemary reminded gently, coming up to Bluebell with an apologetic smile, "I was hoping to show Mabel and Dipper around our home to see how we live and work before it gets too dark out..."
Bluebell's joy deflated a bit at the sound of that proposal, though in fairness, she did understand what Rosemary was meaning by and tried not to sound too upset about it. "Oh...okay, Rosemary…" Bluebell replied, her eyes downcast and her smile beginning to falter.
Wattle noticed his friend's apparent sadness and flew up to her and wrapped a friendly arm around her slumped shoulders. "No worries, sheila!" he chirped assuringly, "If ya'd like, you can help me whip up a nice lunch for our new friends in the meantime."
Bluebell did manage to crack a small smile at that offer and nodded her head "yes" back at Wattle. But before the two faeries could leave, Dipper timidly called for Bluebell's attention. "Uh, excuse me? Miss Bluebell?" he beckoned gently.
Bluebell turned around and curiously cocked her head. "Y-Yes?" she asked back. Dipper and Mabel gulped softly. Another wave of guilt came crashing over them after hearing this faerie's backstory of being unexpectedly squashed by their Grunkle of all people, and they were really worried that their new friends may take it very personally should they find out what familial ties this certain human carries.
Dipper was the first to speak after a few seconds of awkward, nervous silence. "We both...uh...are really sorry that that human hurt you like that…" he apologized sadly. Mabel nodded in agreement, her facial expression contorted with grief.
"Yeah...I'm sure he really didn't mean to do that!" she insisted, even though that it was up in the air whether or not Grunkle Stan squishing Bluebell was an accident or not, "We're sorry if he wound up hurting you that badly…"
Bluebell gave the twins a small, appreciative smile. "Oh, it's okay…" she replied softly, "I'm just lucky I survived that encounter was all...luckily, all I needed was a faerie dust transfusion and some rest and then I was perfectly fine a couple of months later!" Rosemary nodded and smiled tenderly.
"We faeries heal more faster and more easily than humans when we get injured in some way..." she explained towards the twins, "Evenly so, even if we're all magical, that doesn't really mean we're immortal in the end...but still, we all just try to take it in stride…"
The twins were quite amazed that the faeries' abilities to heal so well, but regardless, they still felt a twinge of guilt gnawing away at their hearts like a woodpecker pecking away on a tree trunk. "Still, though…" continued Mabel earnestly, "we're both so sorry you went through all that, Bluebell…"
"Yeah…" Dipper agreed in a solemn tone, "you must humans are nothing but monsters, huh?" However, as both twins were half-expecting Bluebell to look more upset or angry with them, she instead gave them both a warm, forgiving smile.
"No, I do not…" she confirmed truthfully, fluttering back up straight in front of the twins' faces, "I know you both are kind and sweet children, so I know I have nothing to worry about when you two are around. Still, I honestly appreciate how worried you both are for me..."
Then, as if to make her proudly-said statement true, she then gave each of the twins a small, but reassuring peck on their cheeks. The twins' faces went more red than apples upon such an affectionate gesture, but they could only break out into big smiles and shy chuckles in the end, causing the other faeries to join in their laughter once again.
However, before any more merry-making could be done, Rosemary gently eased the group down and gave the twins a smile. "Well, shall we get this tour started then?" she asked finally, "Can't risk burning anymore daylight, eh?" The twins beamed from ear-to-ear in agreement.
"Of course!" Dipper grinned. He turned to Mabel. "You got the camera ready, Mabes?" he asked. Mabel took off the lens cap off the camera's lens and gave him a cheery thumbs-up.
"Ready, Dip-Dip!" she stated. Rosemary giggled in her hand.
"Very well! Let's set off now!" she rallied. She fluttered away with the twins in tow, leaving behind Sage, Wattle, and Bluebell. Sage turned back to Wattle.
"Wattle, how's about you and Bluebell get, like, started with that lunch? I'm gonna join Rosemary and the twins on their little tour…" she suggested kindly. Wattle flashed her a smile.
"Right-o, mate! C'mon, Bluebell, let's go!" called Wattle happily. Bluebell giggled and readily followed Wattle to his home to prepare the Pines twins' meal.
Soon enough, Sage caught up with Dipper, Mabel, and Rosemary as the group began to walk carefully around the village to learn about faerie culture, faerie architecture, and many other topics as well. As they all ambly strolled about, Dipper noticed a few faeries busily flying about, doing their work and chatting with friends down below. Some of them even noticed the twins pass by and gave them both a friendly wave and even a chipper-sounding "hello" or "how are you doing?".
Dipper admired how friendly and hospitable these faeries were. Even after the times some members of their clan wound up having...less than ideal run-ins with humans in the past, they were all hoping to still make friends with one human kind and gentle enough to reciprocate their genuine kindness with each other...
...all expect for one, that is…
With a faerie as old-fashioned and brash like Oak around, poor Dipper could feel his heart become heavy with doubt on whether or not this day would turn out well in the end. As much as he still desired to learn more about faerie culture, having Oak practically breathe down his neck made him quite uneasy. At this point, he was simply praying neither he nor Mabel would do something accidental or harsh enough to evoke Oak's hidden wrath, but he also didn't want to upset or insult Rosemary or her friends in any way as well.
'Rosemary's been nothing but kind to us since we've met...but, at the same time...I don't wanna get on Oak's bad side…' he thought sadly. He looked forward to see Mabel, Sage, and Rosemary chattering happily, all ready to finally commence with the tour. He sighed to himself and clutched Journal #3 in his hands, feelings of doubt and apparent fear swirling in his mind.
"I better just take this in stride...like how the faeries try to do in life…" he whispered softly to no one but himself.
But poor Dipper could only dwindle on that thought for a little while longer as he, Mabel, and the pair of female faeries soon began their little tour around the fabled village of the Gravity Falls faeries.
TO BE CONTINUED…
A bit of a shorter chapter this time around, but it does contain a few more important details nonetheless!
-The mysterious faerie shown at the end of the last chapter gets a proper introduction today! Oak will act as something of a minor antagonist throughout this story, as in he isn't planning to harm the twins (in spite of his highly-suspicious and rough-and-tumble persona) but he still doesn't like the fact of humans being around a tiny village made for faeries. That and he's the only member of the faerie group that's not as sunny and sweet as the rest of his clan. Basically, think of him as a grumpy dad more than anything. I was also hoping to make his relationship with Rosemary something of a "nature vs. nurture"-type connection, with Oak (nature) and his stubborn headstrongness and Rosemary (nurturing) with her motherly understanding.
-In addition, he does have a backstory that does play later into the story, with the mention that his grandfather was one of the faeries to colonize to the Falls, but it will be brought up in full detail in a later chapter, explaining where his distrust in humans came from. Basically, I don't wanna make him seem as one-dimensional as I did with Edward Viscount, my antagonistic OC from my other GF fic, "Saudade".
-Just for the sake of continuity, the faerie shown in the episode "Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons" gets a name and a bit of a personality this time around, with this chapter describing her as overly-curious, though now more frightful and timid around humans since her encounter with Grunkle Stan. As you can see, she had managed to survive her fate and had fully-recovered from meeting Stan, but however, I still wanted to make sure not every faerie that encountered a human came out great as well, so it wouldn't feel like a cop out. On that note, this also means that "Lavender", the faerie from "Land Before Swine" that Soos swatted away, wound up getting nixxed for real, just as leverage.
Anyways, Chapter Four may take a bit longer to write, what with my job changing up my schedule for the time being and the fact that I have two other stories under my belt (being another OK K.O. story and my first attempt of an Ed, Edd, n' Eddy fic) planned for release this month, but I promise that it'll come at some point in the span of a month as expected (Late May best scenario, early June worst scenario).
Until then, hope you've enjoyed everything so far and I'll see you all later!
~Thunderbyrd