Hey, fellas! Back already with another new chapter! :D
Bit of a heads-up though, I did have to change a few things up a bit when making this one.
Last chapter, I've mentioned in the ending facts bit that this chapter will feature both the faeries and twins having lunch and then a scene where Mabel and Bluebell will have a scene together, but however, because I wanted to get another chapter done before June ends, I've decided to split this chapter in two, with this chapter showing a bit more personality from the three other faeries I've introduced in the last chapter, and the next one starring Mabel and Bluebell on its own, as to hopefully make it more meaningful when the two have their little chat.
In addition, I've made a bit of a mistake while giving Oak's grandfather a name. His old name, Sequoia, that I've called him in the last chapter, was more in relation to redwood trees, so to make it more meaningful and fitting, the name was switched from Sequoia to Quercus. I've made a little notice at the end of the last chapter in regards to that slip-up. My bad… :(
Anyways, with that out of the way, let's commence with Chapter Five, shall we?
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 FIVE: A LUNCH AND A LECTURE
When Rosemary, Sage, and the twins arrived back at their idyllic village to meet up with Wattle and Bluebell, they were amazed at what they saw when they arrived at the village's outdoor eating area (which was mainly a few flat rocks nestled in a grassy knoll, sheltered under a large, blue-leafed oak tree).
Presented on large wooden plate that was sitting on a large, flat rock was a steaming, freshly-cooked dish of vegetable medley, consisting of onions, red peppers, broccoli, carrots, zucchini, basil, and celery. Each vegetable introduced in the meal had been slow-roasted to perfection and were all carefully mixed together, giving off a fresh, varietal, and salivating aroma all across the village. The twins found themselves unexpectedly drooling at this bountiful and well-crafted meal shown before them, to where Wattle, the faerie that was half-responsible for cooking this masterpiece, simply gave them both a smirk upon seeing how enraptured they were.
"If you mates think looking at this food's pretty good, then you'll go ape when you taste it!" Wattle confidently remarked with a sly wink.
Dipper and Mabel didn't need to be told twice about that! They soon both sat upon some smaller rocks as seats, each picking up a wooden spoon before they both took their first bite of Wattle's food.
And it was then when the twins had entered Nirvana.
The perfect, succulent blend of fresh, roasted vegetables stewing around in their mouths sent their taste buds in a tizzy! If the twins weren't already into vegetable medley before this day, they were certainly hooked onto this certain dish now! Dipper and Mabel had already scarfed down half their meal before Rosemary, Sage, Wattle, and Bluebell, whom were all joining in to share this delicious lunch with the twins, their enthusiasm being enough to make the four faeries laugh merrily.
"Dipper, Mabel, slow down, dears!" chortled Rosemary, "You both don't want to get stomach cramps!" Wattle sat back in his seat with interest.
"Crikey, I knew my cooking was good, but not that good!" he commented through his chuckles as the twins blushed in embarrassment by how barbaric they must've seemed while eating before they hastily calmed themselves down. Dipper gulped down a wad of chewed celery and peppers in his mouth and nervously smiled at the faeries below him.
"Uh...heh-heh, sorry, guys…" he said with a blush. Mabel, meanwhile, looked just as apologetic as her twin as she tried swallowing away bits of vegetable still caught in her mouth so she wouldn't choke by accident.
"Yeah...sowwy…" Mabel added, her mouth still full of food. As the twins continued chowing down without a care (though more civilly, I might add), the rest of the faerie group were about ready to join in on the meal when they soon met with three extra visitors that were also enraptured by the scent of Wattle's dish.
The arrivals turned out to be Snapdragon, Ivy, and Valerian, the three faeries that had just finished practicing archery with Oak a couple of minutes ago. They were both feeling a tad bored after their training until they smelled the delicious meal from afar before deciding to check it out. It came as a delightful surprise to both ends once the threesome discovered the humans in the area eating their lunch with Rosemary and the other faeries, whom in return, all smiled upon spotting the faerie trio approach them.
"Ivy, Snapdragon, Valerian!" Rosemary greeted with a joyful grin and tone. "Nice to see you all!"
The trio returned her warm welcome with friendly waves. "H-Hey, Rosemary, everyone!" Snapdragon replied with a tiny stutter.
"Sorry we've been away for a bit." Ivy put in, "Commander Grumpy-Wings was putting us through the wringer with more dumb arrow shooting…" Rosemary chuckled softly and shook her head. That sounded like Oak alright.
"It's okay," she assured nicely, "We've actually being showing our new friends around the village on a little tour!" The three faeries smiled up at the humans, whom in turn ceased their gorging to notice their new arrivals down below. Rosemary turned back towards the twins with a soft smile.
"Dipper, Mabel, I'd like to introduce the both of you to Valerian, Snapdragon, and Ivy, some friends of ours!" smiled Rosemary, gesturing to each faerie kindly. The three faeries waved up at the twins with big smiles.
"H-Hello!"
"Nice to meet ya!"
"How's it…*yawn*...going?"
The twins happily returned the faeries' greetings with a pair of friendly hand waves. "Hello there!" they both chimed together.
Suddenly, Ivy then swooped up to Dipper's level and instantly grabbed his right hand, giving it an enthusiastic and vigorous handshake. Dipper yelped and warbled upon being shaken so suddenly by the faerie's surprisingly-capable strength. Ivy then flew over to Mabel, giving her the same bumpy handshake as well. Mabel squealed for a second before Ivy happily introduced herself.
"Welcome to our lil' neck of the woods, fellas!" she whooped excitedly as she ceased her handshake on Mabel, "I trust this visit's treating ya guys well?"
Dipper clenched his stomach and let out tiny belches in his hand. Eating tons of food and being shaken up like a martini afterwards wasn't exactly a good combination. "Urp, uh, yeah...very mu-much so…" gurgled Dipper, managing to not upchuck his lunch instantaneously.
However, just as his stomach was settled, something that Ivy mentioned before suddenly sprang up in Dipper's mind.
"So, uh, you guys were doing archery? You mean, like what Oak does?" he asked in concern. Snapdragon nodded "yes" gravelly.
"P-Pretty much…" he sighed, "Oak's been attempting to teach archery to most of us h-here in the village as a way to protect ourselves from danger...though w-we really aren't the fighting type…"
"I think he's mostly worried you both might try and pull a fast one on us during your stay here…" added Ivy, prompting the twins to frown sadly.
"But we wouldn't do such a thing!" insisted Dipper. Mabel nodded.
"Yeah, we love it here! We wouldn't hurt you guys or ruin your home!" she assured sadly. Valerian gave the twins a calm, assurative, though sleepy smile.
"Hey, chillax, friends..." he calmed down with a sleepy, but supportive voice, "We know you wouldn't do anything bad, guys…*yawn*...oh, excuse me...it's just Oak being Oak as usual…" Ivy smirked lightly.
"Which means that he always acts like a big, ol' butt whenever he shows up!" she snickered in her usual, feisty manner. Mabel let out a little guffaw in response, while Dipper managed to choke back a tiny giggle. Even Rosemary and the other faeries couldn't help but chuckle at Ivy's statement.
Afterwards, Dipper's tone and face began to look more apologetic. "Still, I'm really sorry about all that Oak does to you guys...living with him must be a nightmare…" he commented softly. The other faeries simply smiled reassuringly up at the towering boy.
"I-It's not your fault, Mr. Dipper…" Snapdragon shyly replied with a small, but thankful grin, "Oak's always been the kind of faerie to act all b-brutish and such...I'm sure h-he means well, but still...he always makes m-me so nervous!" Ivy giggled cheekily at the peach-and-orange faerie.
"Everything makes you nervous, Snapdragon…all the time!" she reminded playfully, nudging his arm lightly, "Remember when you've been harboring a fear towards frogs for some time?" Snapdragon shivered in fright.
"Ivy, I've seen what those things to do flies! One wrong move and I'd be caught in one of their tongues in a millisecond!" he countered pathetically. Dipper then raised a curious eyebrow down at Snapdragon.
"Wait, you're always nervous? Beg pardon, but why would you have to be so nervous around this place? Your home sounds like paradise to me!" he asked gently. Snapdragon blushed a shade of pink that matched his tunic color and rubbed his right arm awkwardly.
"I dunno...sometimes being a f-faerie can have its disadvantages, you know? Being so small and fragile...coming across danger can be inevitable to u-us whenever h-humans can be involved…that and being around Oak nearly all the time, i-it can b-be stressful!" Snapdragon explained with his occasional stutter throughout. Dipper gazed in sympathy, nearly forgetting about that one glaring flaw.
"Oh...I see what you mean…" he murmured pityingly. He may have only known Snapdragon for less than five minutes now and he was still somewhat surprised upon seeing a faerie so riddled with anxiety, but then again, it sort of made sense to him. After hearing about what happened to the other members of the faerie clan (namely being Lavender and Bluebell), whether they have been injured or wound up passing on, so to speak, Dipper knew that being a faerie the size of your palm can really have its downsides in life.
The thought of that suddenly made Dipper feel even more sorry for the faeries' sake.
He then leaned down a bit closer towards Snapdragon and, as carefully as he can possibly be, brought up his index finger and gently began rubbing Snapdragon's back with it in assurance. It felt sort of strange to Snapdragon, having a large finger rub his backside, even if it was in a gentle motion, but even so, it helped him slowly feel more reassured either way!
Dipper then looked down at him and gave him a kind smile. "I'm very sorry that you have to feel like this sometimes, but you really don't have to worry about us, Snapdragon…" he soothed, "Mabel and I aren't going to bring any harm to you, your friends, or your home. Scout's honor...right, Mabel?" he asked, turning towards his other half as he finished rubbing the faerie's back.
Mabel beamed and nodded affirmatively. "Yeppers! Nothing to worry about, Lil' Snappy!" she confirmed with two thumbs up. Snapdragon's already-pink blush soon began to shine a healthy shade of cherry red upon hearing that playful nickname, and unfortunately, the snorting laughter from Ivy next to him wasn't helping his surprised nerves either.
"HA! 'Lil' Snappy'!" she chortled playfully, giving Snapdragon a hearty slap on the back, "Good one, Mabel! Maybe I should start using that now! Hee-hee-hee!" Snapdragon spluttered and subsided into silence; he knew Ivy was only teasing, but there were times her rambunctious and wild-spirited nature can really rile him up at times, even if her teasing was meant to loosen him up in the end.
Dipper, understanding the timid discomfort Snapdragon was going through now, could only give the faerie in question a consoling grin. "Well, anyways, you really shouldn't need to worry about us, Snapdragon. All we want is to see what your home was like and how you faeries live and work here...trust us, we ain't gonna do anything to hurt you guys…"
Snapdragon smiled in relief. "Well, that I know about, M-Mr. Dipper…I-I know you and your sister are g-good people..." he said reassuringly, his tone hushed slightly. Dipper held back a tiny chuckle.
"Well, I appreciate you saying that, and please, there's really no need for formalities. Just 'Dipper' will do…" the brunette boy assured with a friendly smile, which Snapdragon slowly, but graciously accepted and returned before Dipper spoke up again.
"And well...if it helps you in any way, Snapdragon, I'm kind of a nervous wreck at times myself…" he admitted without any hesitation or humility in his voice whatsoever. Snapdragon seemed beside himself with surprise at that revelation.
"You!? N-Nervous?" he gasped, "How can y-you be so nervous about things y-yourself!? You're not small or d-docile like us!" Dipper shook his head and gently grinned.
"Maybe not," said Dipper thoughtfully, "But us humans can still get into trouble ourselves. Just because we're bigger than you or your friends doesn't mean we're immortal. We can still get hurt in some way, too."
Snapdragon's eyes widened at the sound of that; he hadn't realized that even humans can be just as fragile as he or his other faerie friends are. "Oh, my…" he whispered in shock, but Dipper simply shot a smile of reassurance down at him.
"But, it's not all that bad, really!" he stated, "I still got a loving family and group of friends here that will always help me out and protect me throughout whatever happens in life…" He then looked over to Mabel and gave her a tender, sincere smile.
"Especially with my twin sister beside me…" he proudly proclaimed. Mabel's cheeks blushed bright red as she returned his genuinity with the biggest, warmest, sisterly grin she could ever give to her brother. They both continued smiling at each other for four more seconds in blissful silence until Dipper turned back towards Snapdragon.
"And the same applies to you, Snapdragon. You still have a loving group of friends here that care for you just the way you are. And well, even if Oak can still be a grouch to you, at least you still have these guys, right?" he asked, looking at the rest of faeries below him.
Snapdragon slowly turned his head back towards Ivy, Valerian, and the others, whom were all smiling fondly back at the easily-worried faerie, as if to prove Dipper's point. The peach-colored faerie soon felt himself slowly but surely smile back in response. Sure, there can be times where his nervousness can elicit playful barbs and innocent teases from his friends, but in the end, the other faeries still saw Snapdragon as a friendly, loyal, and true friend, in spite of his cautious and worrisome personality. Even Ivy, who always loved to tease Snapdragon for being a scaredy-cat, still adored her closest friend to bits and would never dream of losing him, ever.
The thought of that soon brought a small, proud smile upon Snapdragon's face.
"I guess you have a point there, Dipper…" Snapdragon admitted in his softest tone ever, his voice free from any stutters, "Maybe I'm just being too precautious is all…" Dipper grinned in understanding.
"There isn't anything wrong with being a bit precautious once in a while…" Dipper insisted with a tender smile, "It just helps you become more aware of things is all...Mabel and Rosemary can already tell you have much of a worrywart I can be…" His reply was met with a pair of playful smirks, courtesy of the aforementioned females Dipper has referred to.
"You, a worrywart, dearie?" gasped Rosemary with a mock-innocent tone, "Perish the thought!" Ivy rolled her eyes and snickered softly.
"Just what the world needs: Two Snapdragons…" she commented jokingly, prompting some of the faeries to giggle softly.
Mabel sniggered delightfully. "It gets even worse when you see him at home!" Mabel mused matter-of-factly, "I live with him all the time, so you know I have to endure his stutters and him being all sweaty and scared and junk!" Dipper rolled his eyes in defiance.
"Please, Mabes, I'm not that bad!" he replied, but Mabel only shot him a knowing grin, waggling her finger at him.
"Oh, really?" she sweetly pondered, "So, when you were scared that when I was dating a zombie during our first summer here, that wasn't being precautious?" Dipper scoffed lightly at that memory.
"It's not like that was a 'zombie' in the first place…" he countered smugly, fully knowing about Mabel's old boyfriend "Norman" was, in actuality, just a group of gnomes in disguise instead of being a zombie. The other faeries in the background watched the twins prattle on about their past memoir with confusion.
"Z-Zombie?" gasped Bluebell.
"Gnomes?" uttered Sage.
"What the bloomin' heck are these fellas goin' on about?" Wattle asked under his breath, perplexed.
"Search me…" shrugged Valerian in return.
The twins then ceased their comradery to notice the strange expressions the faeries were giving them before Dipper coughed awkwardly, realizing that these faeries probably don't know what they were talking about. "Ahem, okay, so, yeah...I guess I can be too precarious as well…" he admitted with a soft smile, "But, it's for good reason. We always search for mysterious things like monsters and creatures and other oddities the Falls has to offer, so Mabel and I always have to keep a close eye out for any dangerous things lurking around!"
The faeries gasped and whistled impressively at Dipper's proclamation, with Mabel following up with a proud nod of her head.
"Yeah, it's kinda like our calling or whatev's!" Mabel brushed off boastfully..
Ivy chuckled softly. "Well, we may not have monsters and stuff here, but you should still see how overly-cautious Snapdragon can be sometimes, even when its for simple things!" she snorted with Valerian nodding slowly next to her.
"Indeed…" the sleepy faerie piped up dozily, "One time, Snapdragon wound up fortifying his home with extra wood and ropes because of some bad weather passing through…" Mabel raised a confused eyebrow.
"What's so bad about that?" she asked.
"It was only a small rain shower that lasted ten minutes. It wasn't like a hurricane or a tornado passing through or anything…" Valerian added knowingly. Snapdragon looked away in mild embarrassment.
"Still never h-hurts to be cautious…" he uttered timidly. Dipper softly chuckled.
"No, it does not…" he agreed, "But...try not to let your worries cloud your mind too much, okay, Snapdragon?" Snapdragon smiled brightly up at Dipper and nodded in confirmation.
"I'll do m-my best, Dipper!" he answered back with sincerity until then, his tone and face began to deflate into sadness, "I just wish Oak would f-feel the same way…"
The other faeries began to look silently despondent upon mention of their more burly and untrusting ally. "Yes, well, Oak can tend to be...well...old-fashioned and strict about rules sometimes…" Rosemary murmured, looking very glum. The twins gazed in concern.
"Isn't there any way you guys can talk some sense into him?" Mabel piped up in concern hopefully, only to get a scoff from Ivy in return.
"Pssh, fat chance! Guy's as stubborn as a mule…" huffed Ivy, crossing her arms.
Valerian nodded sadly. "I'm afraid it's true, friends...we've tried to discuss to him that not all humans are bad, but…*yawn*...he just won't listen to reason…" Dipper slumped forwards in thought.
"There has to be something we can do...I don't want you all to be living in fear for the rest of your lives!" said Dipper worriedly. The faeries smiled graciously up at Dipper for thinking about their safety.
"Dipper, sweetie, we aren't living in fear…" Rosemary assured, "It's just how Oak acts is all. In some way, he too can be overly-precautious for our own protection as well…" Her statement was then followed up with a small scoff, courtesy of Ivy.
"A bit too precautious for our liking, if you ask me…" she half-bitterly remarked softly, eliciting a shush from Sage in return.
"The point is," Rosemary continued without a beat, "you two shouldn't need to be worried for us. I mean, yes, we all can let our curiosity get the better of us, but we all have learned to take more care when venturing out of the village as well."
Sage nodded in agreement. "We do appreciate that Oak does care for our safety, but sometimes he can, like, be a bit overboard, you know?" Mabel and Dipper looked down at their half-eaten meal gravelly.
"We see what you mean…" Dipper muttered, remembering the bow-and-arrow Oak had been carrying around upon their first encounter. Wattle shot the two a small smile of consolation before things can get too somber.
"Just don't let that bloke get to ya guys, okay? We'll handle him should things go sour…" Wattle assured tenderly.
Dipper and Mabel both nodded and smiled thankfully down at the faeries, both proud to know that they all have their back. Rosemary smiled back at the twins in such a sweet, motherly manner before she suddenly remembered that they were all still in the middle of their lunch. She then quickly turned to Ivy, Snapdragon, and Valerian with an inviting grin.
"Well then, would you three like to join us for lunch? It would seem like Wattle's made enough vegetable medley to feed the whole village!" Rosemary offered sweetly. Wattle nodded and smiled brightly.
"Yeah, we've been talkin' for so long, we don't want this food goin' cold!" he chortled. Ivy beamed excitedly.
"I thought you'd never ask!" chortled Ivy as she sat on a small rock next to Sage, "I could smell this stuff even from across the village!" Snapdragon and Valerian both happily agreed as well as they too sat down beside Ivy, ready to enjoy a hearty lunch after training.
Dipper, who then happily resumed munching down on a piece of broccoli, simply smiled down at Wattle. "Wattle, we just gotta say, this meal is beyond superb!" he praised with sincerity, "We haven't had a vegetable medley this good since...well...ever!" Mabel nodded so fast that her head felt like it'd pop out of its socket.
"Yeah! It's almost as good as our parent's home-cooking!" she commented. Wattle smiled modestly at the twins.
"Aw, nothin' to it, ya blokes!" he replied appreciatively, "I can't really take all the credit, though. Bluebell was a real big help preparing this meal after all!" Wattle's compliment caused the quiet Bluebell to blush bright red and to give him a tiny, pleased smile in return.
As the picnic was met with more friendly banter, jokes, stories, and chatting between the humans and faeries, none of them knew that their little lunch would wind up having an extra guest very soon...
Elsewhere, not too far away, as the twins and group of faeries were all busily chatting amongst themselves over their meal, another certain faerie was seen floating around in hopes to find something to eat. He passed by many other faeries that were either busy chatting with friends, doing their chores, playing around, or tending with the local fauna and animals, but neither side really bothered to say "hello" as of yet. This faerie was simply too busy trying to get something to snack on, but nothing seemed to be coming to mind on exactly what he wanted. He didn't feel like having fruit or wheat or syrup today, so maybe something vegetable-related might suit his fancy.
It was then when the scent of Wattle's fresh and scrumptious food hit him like a ton of bricks
"Ooh, that smells real good…" he said to himself, the food's odor enough to actually enough to bring something of a smile upon his stony and chiseled face, "Wattle's out-done himself once again."
With his mind made up, he then fluttered his wings at a quicker rate before he whooshed down the lane, following the heavenly smell wafting around him. Maybe they'd be willing to share some food with him?
"And so...hee-hee-hee…" Rosemary chortled amidst their meal, telling the twins about a past story that occurred in the village, "that moment when Wattle tried to tame that squirrel, you should've seen him zooming around the village while still grabbing onto its tail! He was like a rocket flying around at high speeds!"
Dipper and Mabel broke into rambunctious laughter at such an amusing story, along with the other faeries as well, though their laughter was more good-hearted than of mockery. Even Wattle couldn't help but chuckle himself, taking that past incident with utmost stride.
"Eh, what can I say? I guess animals aren't my forte...at least you got Sage here to handle the lil' buggers better than I can!" he tittered between chewing his food. Sage nodded and chuckled.
"That's because I've had more experience than you, dude!" she commented playfully before looking up at Mabel and Dipper, "Us faeries here, like, each have a role to play in the village, whether it's tending to our home, the local fauna, and even the wildlife that, like, lives around us!"
The twins ogled with interested smiles. "Is that so?" Dipper grinned. Valerian smiled slowly.
"Yep, Sage and Snapdragon help take care of animals, Bluebell and I tend to the flower gardens, Wattle scavenges and grows food, and Ivy helps collect stuff like pollen, cotton, flower stems, petals, and leaves so we can fashion that into food ingredients or clothing…nothing beats working together as a…*yawn*...loving community after all!" he explained with a sleepy smile on his face.
The twins were impressed by how productive and close-knit of a society these faeries were. However, Dipper looked confused. "Then, what does Rosemary do around here?" Rosemary gave him a tiny grin.
"Well, I guess I'm something of a jack-of-all-trades kind-of faerie here…" she admitted shyly, "I tend with animals, planting flowers and food, collecting items, cleaning around the village...many different things here really! Whatever keeps me busy, you see?" Dipper nodded impressively.
"That seems to be a lot on your plate there, Rosemary…" he said with a mild hint of worry in his voice, but Rosemary simply smiled in reassurance.
"Not really…" she stated, "I always love to work and to help out as much as I can around my home. The other faeries here pretty much see me as something as a natural-born leader…" Dipper smiled softly.
"I'm not surprised!" he chuckled, "Everyone seems to love you here in the village so very much!"
Mabel beamed brightly. "Yeah, you're kinda like their mom because of how kind and understanding you are!" Rosemary's face went more red than her hair color, but her smile never felt her face for even a second.
"Ohh...you two are just too much, you know that?" she cooed softly, touched by their sincerity. Then, Mabel herself had a question to ask.
"So, uh, what does Oak do here anyways?" she asked. Ivy smirked.
"Aside from being a big ol' jerk, he usually tends to be like Rosie here…" she answered, nodding back at Rosemary, "Always doing a little bit of everything…"
Snapdragon nodded. "H-He's also the strongest faerie out of all of us, s-so he also handles construction work, like building or repairing our homes a-and other buildings…" he explained.
"He's essentially our main foreman…" Wattle added. Dipper frowned softly.
"With muscles like those, I can imagine…" he murmured before another question popped in his mind, "So, wait, you all said he's something of your leader as well?" he then asked. Sage shrugged lazily.
"Sorta…" she answered, "Like we said, his grandfather Quercus used to be one of our leaders along with three other elder faeries, and because Oak looked up to him so highly, he thinks that, like, he would be a great leader just like him." Dipper blinked in confusion.
"Leaders?" he asked. Rosemary nodded softly, her face wrinkled with wistful sadness.
"When we first migrated here to America from Europe, we had four ancient elders that led us on our trek for a new home, being Quercus, Ulmus, Salix, and Betula. They all hoped for us to receive a more peaceful home in America rather than Europe, which was why they led us and our ancestors here for a better life…"
Dipper and Mabel stared silently. "A better life…?" Mabel whispered in fright. Wattle nodded gravely, his face consumed with grim sadness.
"Let's just say our old home had a bit of a run-in with some unicorns…that's why we had to jump ship and leave for America..." he muttered, not wanting to explain the full explanation of his answer. Dipper's eyes widened at the mere mention of that certain species.
'Unicorns…' he gasped internally, remembering that Journal #1 explained how faeries and unicorns were described as one-sided enemies. Perhaps some magical unicorns back in Europe must've done something bad to the faeries' previous home to warrant them to leave their country, but as not to cause any heartbreak or trouble, he and Mabel didn't press the issue any further by asking why or how.
Ivy, meanwhile, exhaled as she reflected upon these events, remembering one little loophole regarding unicorns in general. "And considering when we found out that Gravity Falls also harbors unicorns here as well, then that plan surely worked well in the end…" she bitterly recalled to herself.
The twins cringed and frowned at the sound of that, remembering Celestabellebethabelle and her cronies fully well. However, the faeries' story seemed to strike a chord within the twins, their hearts broken to bits from hearing such turmoil that the faeries had gone through, even if their explanations sounded vague at best. Dipper and Mabel felt the need to shed a couple of tears upon seeing the faeries look so forlorn and low-spirited, something that seemed foreign to these usually sprightly and sweet creatures.
"W-We're so sorry that had to happen to you, guys…" Dipper quietly said after seconds of sad silence, "We didn't know you and the others went through so much trouble back in your home…" Rosemary wiped away a lone tear of her own and gave Dipper a miniscule, yet appreciate smile.
"It's not your fault, you two…" she assured softly, "I suppose that's just par for the course for the life of a faerie, I guess…" The other faeries solemnly nodded in agreement with her, but Dipper was thinking otherwise.
"B-But, it's not fair! You guys shouldn't be hurting like this!" Dipper tried to reason, "You guys don't deserve to lose your home or your leaders and friends! You guys are the kindest and most innocent creatures we've ever met in the Falls!" Mabel nodded sadly, agreeing with Dipper's statement.
"You all are the sweetest little guys ever and...and…" Mabel added morosely, her tone filled with hurt as she tried to piece together some reassurance of her own, but instead, all she could think of doing was to just give the faeries what they might need.
A warm, comforting hug.
"Ohh...come here…" she sighed sadly, reaching down to gather up all seven of the faeries in her hands as carefully as humanly possible, and then brought them gently up to her torso, letting them embrace her soft sweater in hopes to make them feel comforted in any way.
And luckily, it seemed to be working as the faeries found themselves blissfully sinking into Mabel's green sweater, all soon forgetting to feel sad as they snuggled against Mabel as she gingerly held them in her arms, rocking them back and forth as if they were Mabel's own children.
Dipper smiled fondly at such a loving moment shown before him, but he still felt quite upset for the faeries. If losing a few of their friends due to humans or any other sudden occurrence wasn't enough, they also had to deal with losing their ancestors, their leaders, and even their homes? Plus, also having to come across unicorns on top of that!? That wasn't fair at all to the faerie clan!
But before he was planning to put his two cents into the matter, his thoughts were interrupted by a surprise visitor
"Excuse me."
A familiar, but unexpected voice cut in through the comforting scene, causing the twins and faeries to pause their little moment to see who was apparently joining in right now. Although, judging by who this certain faerie was, the shock and fright etched across their faces was perfectly justified.
"O-Oak, what a n-nice surprise!" Rosemary greeted with a stunned stutter just as Mabel quickly released her embrace and set the faeries free from her grasp.
Sure enough, Oak was seen slowly hovering towards the group with a blank expression on his face. He scanned the area carefully, looking towards the other faeries, the still-fresh meal that Wattle had cooked placed on the rock table, and then up at the nervous and silent humans looming above him.
Oak squinted his eyes up at the twins, but without his sights off of them, he still answered back to Rosemary. "Yes, well, I smelled something of a good meal here and I wondered if I could join...though I didn't assume we're having the humans partake in this as well…" he grumbled softly.
Everybody else's reactions seemed to vary upon hearing that, with expressions ranging from fright (Dipper, Snapdragon, and Bluebell) to uncertainty (Mabel, Sage, Wattle, and Valerian) to annoyance (Ivy). Amongst the group, no one aside from Rosemary bothered to give Oak anything of a smile (although Rosemary's smile seemed more forced and nervous than anything). Oak, meanwhile, didn't seem too deterred from the lack of a warm reception.
The twins practically wished they could turn invisible right now, as not to have Oak leer at them like fresh meat, even with the faeries now protectively fluttering in front of them in case something goes awry.
Rosemary coughed nervously and tried her best to give Oak a friendly smile. "W-Well, we figured why not share some of our food with the humans, then?" she tittered with a stilted smile, "Uh, perchance would you like to j-join us, Oak?"
The rest of the faeries (as well as the twins) winced and ogled with incredulousness at Rosemary, all vastly confused to why on Earth she'd bother to invite Oak to their little get-together like this. They all certainly knew that Rosemary, being the charitable and hospitable friend she was, would never try to act rude or unwelcoming towards anyone, not even someone as brash as Oak.
Oak cleared his throat awkwardly, his sights still locked on the duo of humans sitting before him. As much as he still didn't trust the humans around his home, he was getting hungry and Wattle's meal did smell very good. Looks like he's going to have to brave through this lunch with the humans around, it seems.
"Very well then…" he eventually declared at Rosemary, whom simply clapped her hands and smiled softly.
"Excellent! Maybe this'll be a chance for you to get to know the humans better? You know, to see that not all of them are bad?" she offered innocently. Oak rolled his eyes in response.
'Unlikely…' he thought to himself with disdain. Rosemary, seeing how upset he was, still tried to keep things uplifting.
"Trust me, Oak, this will be good for you...you and the twins. You'll get a chance to understand humans better and the twins can now feel comfortable around you. It'll be a great learning experience for you both!" she exclaimed assuringly before she turned back towards the others behind her.
"Am I right, everyone?" she asked kindly, hoping to elicit a positive reply in return.
The rest of the group frowned, all unsure about this whole ordeal. The faeries didn't want Oak's presence to make things uncomfortable for the humans, whom in question were both looking quite frightened and nervous upon having the blunt and gruff faerie nearby them. However, the other faeries didn't want to make things awkward or heated between Oak and themselves, so they had no choice but to say "yes" to Rosemary.
"Y-Yeah, sure…"
"O-Okay, yeah…"
"Sure, man...I guess…"
Even the twins - still feeling on-edge during all of this - decided it best just to follow with Rosemary's idea, lest not to upset anyone, but they only replied with timid nods instead.
Everyone else still tried to sound accepting and assuring about this, but traces of concern and fright were still present in their voices. None of them verbally opposed to this, however, as not to upset Rosemary or arouse suspicion from Oak. Ivy, naturally, was the one who was most upset at the prospect of having a grumpy-guts like Oak hang with them.
'Dang it, Rosemary, we love you and all, but why do you have to torture us like this!?' she griped in her mind as Oak quietly nodded at Rosemary and carefully took a seat next to her, grabbing a few vegetables from the plate for his own to eat.
Dipper watched Oak down below with wide, watchful eyes. He trembled uncontrollably for a split second, sweat glistening off his brow and chocolate-colored locks. Mabel, on the other hand, actually did managed to attempt to smile, but even a fun-loving go-getter like her was still nervous to be around Oak as well.
Oak, having just helped himself to a decent-sized portion of celery, onions, and peppers, began to eat and savor Wattle's food, though with the addition of the Pines kids a few feet away from him, he hadn't time to relish in the warm and delicious taste of the meal. Right now, he could only give the twins suspicious looks in-between bites of his meal as he kept his head aimed down towards said meal, causing the twins to feel more uncomfortable by the second.
Rosemary, worried that maybe her idea to try and get Oak and the twins to get along may wind up going off the rails, decided that maybe some conversation will get things going.
"So, uh, Oak…" Rosemary started with a sugary tone of voice, "Perhaps you'd like to tell Dipper and Mabel a little bit about yourself?" Oak gulped down a piece of celery, not really bothering to look away from his food to answer directly at the twins.
"I handle construction and I made sure these faeries don't get squished by humans." Oak replied curtly, "End of story."
Rosemary winced at Oak's short, sharp answer, especially after noticing the twins flinch in response. "Come on, Oak, you can do better than that!' she urged as hopefully as she could, trying to keep the forced smile on her face, "Tell the twins about what you like to do."
"Not get flattened by a human…" came the stoic reply. Rosemary's hopeful smile twisted into an annoyed frown; she was really getting fed up with Oak's sour attitude.
The other faeries looked just as exhausted as Rosemary was, in spite of them all also feeling as nervous as the twins. "Oak, there's no need to be a big ol' grump, mate!" assured Wattle, "Just say 'hello' to these mates and things'll be hunky-dory!"
Oak rolled his eyes and let out a groan, eventually deciding to just go along with this and get it over with. "Okay, fine, then…" he finally sighed, now fully turning and looking straight up at the twins with a tired expression.
"Ugh, hello, Mipper and Dabel…" he greeted boredly, right before Rosemary elbowed him in the stomach due to his mispronunciation, "Ouch!"
"It's Dipper and Mabel…" she corrected in a harsh whisper. Oak rubbed his stomach and let out a sigh. He really wished he should've stayed home right now.
"Fine...hello, Dipper and Mabel…" he repeated with using the human's proper names. Wattle smirked lightly and nodded.
"Okay, good, that's a start. Now, then," he instructed, gesturing up at the pair of humans now, "Dipper, Mabel, say 'hello' back." Dipper and Mabel gulped in unison, mustering the courage to give Oak something of a friendly hand wave.
"Uh, h-hello…" uttered Dipper feebly.
"N-Nice to meet ya…" added Mabel afterwards with a stammer. Wattle chuckled both at the humans and his burly faerie leader.
"Heh-heh, see, mates? You're communicating now!" he congratulated with a smile. Oak slumped in annoyance, taking another bite of his food.
"Hoo-rah…" Oak replied in a lazy tone. The twins both didn't respond, only frowning frightfully in return as they continued to silently eat their food.
The rest of the faeries all looked at each other, in hopes to find some way to get Oak and the twins to get to know each other better, but so far, they all seemed to be drawing blanks. Oak wasn't in the mood to fully engage himself with the humans, and the twins in question were too beside themselves with fright to even dare to speak down to Oak. Even poor Rosemary was at a loss on what to do right now.
She noticed her other faerie friends beginning to feel a bit antsy while they tried to enjoy their lunch. Sage and Valerian both looked glum and deathly silent, fiddling about with their food akwardly. Wattle still tried his best to keep a positive smile and aura, but even he began to feel his grin falter from the awkward atmosphere. Ivy could only cast Oak an annoyed and exhausted frown subtle enough for him not to notice.
And lastly, Snapdragon and Bluebell both shivered nervously out of fear of being part of this situation, so much so that they wound up emitting tiny particles of faerie dust from their pastel-colored bodies, with their jittery wings kicking up dust around them. A few specks of dust began freely wafting up to Dipper, managing to get sucked up through his nose. As soon as that happened, Dipper flinched like mad as a massive spike of discomfort occurred inside his nasal passages, granting him only one way to relieve himself from this sudden irritation in his nose.
To sneeze like he'd never sneezed before.
"Ah...ah...ah...AH-CHOO!"
Dipper let out a loud, echoing sneeze that startled the living daylights out of the other faeries, even including Oak! Luckily, Dipper managed to turn his head away from anyone as not to let them contract any germs, but his sneeze was still loud enough for practically anyone in the village to hear him. Mabel, whom was sitting closest to Dipper, was so shocked by her brother's louder-than-usual sneeze that she accidentally stumbled off of the rock she was sitting on, landing on her back with a thud. Rosemary gasped in horror.
"Oh, my stars, Mabel!" she cried, "Are you okay!?" Mabel let out a soft groan as she quickly got right back up, rubbing her back.
"Yeah, I'm okay…" she assured, sitting back up on her rock seat, "Didn't expect Dipper here to sneeze so loud…"
Dipper hastily wiped away his nose of any remaining residue with a tissue that he'd managed to snag out from his backpack, shaking his head to get his senses back into working order before nervously smiling at the others. "Uh, sorry, guys...guess some faerie dust must've slipped into my nose…"
Snapdragon and Bluebell both frowned apologetically, the dust they have emitted now fully evaporated from the air. "S-Sorry, i-it's our fault, D-Dipper…" confessed Snapdragon, "Us faeries can t-tend to expel too much faerie dust a-at times…"
"I-It's something that c-can't really be helped…" Bluebell squeaked sadly afterwards. Sage exhaled softly, brushing away some excess dust flown onto her dress.
"You're telling me, girl…" she sighed, "That was, like, a gnarly sneeze…"
"Yeah, I nearly felt my heart stop for a sec, mate!" added Wattle. Dipper blushed in embarrassment.
"Y-Yeah...sorry about that, guys…" he sighed. Oak then suddenly huffed to himself, leering towards Snapdragon and Bluebell seriously.
"Just be careful when you two starting emitting that stuff. Our faerie dust is not something that should be spread around all willy-nilly. Somebody could pick up the scent and track us down here at our home, or even try to keep some of the dust for themselves." he stated warningly, leaving only both Bluebell and Snapdragon to feel quite sorry for themselves.
"Sorry, Oak…" they sadly replied, their heads and wings limping downwards in shame. However, Oak's words seemed to have piqued Dipper's curiosity.
"W-Wait...why would anyone else want your faerie dust?" he asked in worry. Oak sighed as he picked around with his food.
"Our faerie dust is versatile stuff, kid…" he grunted importantly, "It can be used for many uses: potions, food, elixirs, even for lethal narcotics as well! On the off chance somebody with an evil or sketchy background gets their hands on a faerie to drain it of any of its dust, they can use that stuff to whatever they like. Sell it on the black market for riches, create dangerous potions with it, use it as a toxin if they wanted…"
The twins gasped in surprise at that. They knew faerie dust must be powerful stuff when it was all said and done, but they hadn't known that there was such a high market for said dust. Just then, something crossed Mabel's mind, in regards to when she last handled faerie dust last summer in the Falls.
"But...doesn't this stuff act as a sleeping potion against unicorns though?" she asked softly through past experience. Oak managed to give her an affirmative nod.
"Yes, which is why the faeries and the unicorns have held a grudge against one another for so long." he gravely responded, "Those horned freaks have been a thorn in our side back in our old home, and now, to find out there's other unicorns here in the Falls? Pssh, well, that's just perfect! As if we need to deal with anymore creatures to hunt us down…"
Upon hearing that, the twins froze in utter surprise at that last remark. For the longest time, they thought the only things faeries had to deal with were unicorns and humans! Who else would try and capture or hurt these faeries?
"What!? Who else would want to hunt you guys down!? You are all just so innocent and sweet!" Mabel asked in worry. Oak scoffed softly.
"Bounty hunters, warlocks, collectors, seedy merchants...whoever decides to try and sell us or our faerie dust for profit, really…innocence doesn't really count for anything in this hard-edged world..." he explained gruffly. Dipper raised an eyebrow in confusion; that didn't sound like something he read in Ford's Journal.
"That's funny...according to the 'Journal', it says that you faeries don't really have many enemies around here aside from just unicorns…" he pondered before a loud scoff snapped Dipper out of his thoughts.
"Well, apparently, the guy who wrote your 'Journal' must not know that much about faeries then, huh? Pssh, but then again, not all humans know about how we truly feel anyways..." he grumbled self-righteously.
Oak's comment certainly succeeded in irking Dipper quite a bit; he disliked it very much when people talk down to his family members and friends like that, and as far as Dipper knew Grunkle Ford was one of the most smartest and innovative individuals he knew. His face morphed into that of an unamused frown, but for the sake of not making a scene, he just civilly stayed quiet in the end.
His sister Mabel, on the other hand, was more vocal regarding Oak's snide remark.
"Hey, our Grunkle Ford knows about everything, you big bully!" Mabel snapped defensively, "He's written so many mysterious things in these Journals and you better-MMPH!"
A hand suddenly and hastily placed over her mouth was enough to quiet Mabel's rant just before she was ready to jump out of her seat in annoyance, thanks to the quick-thinking Dipper as he glanced nervously down at the unamused Oak below them. Dipper let out a fearful chuckle, his cheeks blushing in embarrassment.
"Uh, heh-heh, s-sorry about my s-sister here...she can get a smidge t-too excited about s-stuff is all!" Dipper stammered, trying his best to cover his sister's tracks in order to let her simmer down. Mabel huffed indignantly with her mouth still clamped shut by Dipper's open palm before she gently removed out over her lips.
"But, Dipper!" she quietly tried to defend her actions, "He insulted Grunkle Ford! We can't take that sitting down! It isn't nice!" Dipper winced and exhaled in defeat.
"I understand, Mabel, and I totally agree with you." he reasoned with an equally-soft octave, "But, we can't arouse any trouble between us and Oak, in case he tries to cause trouble with us while he still distrusts humans! Just...try and let it go for now, please? For me, sis?" he then pleaded softly towards her, a sad look on his face.
Mabel gazed into his eyes forlornly. Part of her was still upset that Oak would insult one of her beloved family members like that, intentionally or not, but still, she didn't want to upset Dipper in the process as well. So, for the sake of keeping things copacetic, she settled down back in her seat and did her best to calm her frayed nerves, though with a hurt frown spread across her face.
Soon, after an episode like that the group all found it best to simply continue on with their meal, not bringing up anymore touchy subjects that may arise conflict between the twins and the faeries, namely Oak.
Everything was more quiet and less comfortable now since Oak had arrived. The twins kept their sights away from Oak, and Oak tried to do what Rosemary and be as loose as he can, but it proved to be useless as the twins still found his presence unnerving to them. The other faeries were just as nervous as the twins, and they weren't sure of what to say or how to react, so all that was left of them was to simply just eat and pray things wouldn't go more out of hand then it did already.
As of now, there had been no more plans or attempts of coaxing Oak and the twins to try and get them all closer as friends.
Rosemary, meanwhile, also tried her best to keep a strong and positive atitude throughout all this, but after witnessing a scene like that happen before her, she found it quite hard to stay positive as she simply ate her lunch in silence. Somehow, she knew she'd wind up having to have a lecture with Oak at some point today.
It wasn't too long until most of the vegetable medley had been eaten up, only leaving scraplets of half-eaten veggies onto the plate after everyone has had their fair share of food, leaving them all full and satisfied.
*BZZT!* *BZZT!* *BZZT!*
Just then, a soft buzzing noise could be heard in the area, just barely faint enough to still be heard amongst the group. Wattle seemed to be distracted from his food by the odd sound and began turning his head in all directions to find out where it was coming from, but he seemed to be spotting nothing instead. Rosemary noticed his friend's bafflement.
"Everything okay, Wattle?" Rosemary asked after swallowing a piece of onion in her mouth.
"I'm hearing some sort of buzzin' sound here, but I dunno what the heck it is...I don't see any bees or flies here…" he explained, still looking around for the source of the noise. Dipper and Mabel both raised an eyebrow at Wattle, confused about what he was talking until then, the noise was carried off to them.
Luckily, it didn't take long for Dipper to know what exactly that buzzing noise was coming from. "Oh, wait now, I think that's my phone ringing!" he exclaimed, putting down his fork and now quickly grabbing his nearby backpack, shuffling about inside for his phone.
Wattle gulped down the last bits of his meal and tilted his head, an odd look wrinkled on his face. "The bloke carried a whole telephone with him during this trip?" he asked curiously. Oak, looking just as baffled, huffed unimpressively.
"I knew humans were strange beings…" he muttered softly to nobody in particular. Valerian smiled reassuringly.
"I'm sure it was for a good reason..." he countered as logically as he can be, "They've been searching around for our…*yawn*...home for nearly all day so it makes sense to bring along a telephone in case somebody calls them while-"
"Aha! Found it!"
The faeries turned their utmost attention back to Dipper just as he managed to retrieve his phone in his bag. However, much to the confusion and surprise to the faeries (sans Rosemary and Sage), the phone in question looked much more different than how they originally expected.
This phone was smaller, flat, square-shaped, had a glass screen on it, and had a plain-colored case covering the device for protection. The faeries leered at the object with both awe and utter perplexity. Seconds ticked silently by until one of them bothered to say anything.
"What on God's green Earth is that thing!?" Oak cried in shock, but he hadn't gained an answer as Dipper quickly turned on the device and winced softly to see who exactly was calling him.
"Oh, crud…" he sighed softly. Mabel gazed at her brother with concern.
"Everything okay, Dip?" she asked. Dipper turned back to her.
"It's Grunkle Stan…" he sighed, looking at the Caller ID on his phone, "I better answer this quickly. Keep the faeries company until I get back, okay, Mabes?" he asked softly. Mabel nodded and smiled.
"Sure thing, bro-bro!" she chirped. Dipper smiled in gratitude and stood back up, walking a few feet away from the group to answer his call in peace. Just as Dipper was of earshot, the faeries, stunned and beyond confused, looked up to Mabel with weird looks on their faces.
"What was that kid playing at!? That ain't a phone!" Ivy cried out in astonishment. Mabel giggled her most giddiest giggle and gave the faeries a cheerful smile.
"Oh, yes, that was!" she correctly mused, now scrambling into her own backpack to fetch her own smartphone. She soon found it in no time and happily brought it out for the faeries to see. Naturally, her phone was much more vibrantly-colored and sparkly in contrast to her brother's plain-looking phone.
"Ta-da!" Mabel rang out happily. The other faeries gazed in awe at this futuristic-looking contraption; they've never seen something so modern before. Even Oak was somewhat intrigued by this strange device, though he'd never admit to finding interest in a human-made gadget though.
Ivy, meanwhile, still seemed to have her doubts. "I still don't think that thingy's meant to be a phone…" she stated disbelievingly. Wattle nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, kinda looks like a paperweight to me…" he stated. Bluebell shivered with both nervousness and engrossment.
"It's not going to h-hurt us, is it?" she whispered shyly. Mabel shook her head.
"Of course not!" she assured, "This is just what most phones are like nowadays, except they can fit in your pocket now!" The faeries, while still impressed with such an innovative little machine, still had their doubts.
"I dunno...l-last we were told, phones had wires and dials a-and were hooked inside of houses and stuff…" explained Snapdragon, "That thing looks n-nothing like a normal phone." Sage and Rosemary, whom were both unfazed by this, simply sat back in their seats and chuckled at their friends' reactions.
"Actually, it technically is, dudes…" Sage defended with a small smirk, "Mabel said that that kind of phone is basically a modern upgrade of the telephone, but like, a mobile version as well, man…"
Rosemary smiled and nodded in agreement. "Indeed!" she chirped, "Such a nifty little device, too! She showed us it while she, Sage, Dipper, and I were on our little tour of the village." Mabel nodded excitedly.
"And you can do so many things with it, too!" stated Mabel as she turned on her phone to her main screen, showcasing a multitude of apps on it, "You can call and text friends, play games on it, go on social media, watch videos, and even date people on these lil' apps on it, too!"
The faeries gasped and murmured to each other about all this; a telephone that can basically do anything? That just seemed impossible to think about, but still, as the saying goes, "times are a'changing". Oak, in spite of his mild interest, scoffed at such an idea of something as simple as a phone being so advanced for its kind.
"Games? Date people? What kind of witchcraft is this!?" he exclaimed dubiously. Mabel guffawed.
"Ha-ha-ha! It's no witchcraft! It's technology!" she replied, "Just the times moving forward and all that junk!" Just then, an idea swam in her head, causing her to smile wider than ever!
"Ooh, you know what this means!?" she sang out excitedly. The faeries looked at each other, unsure of what Mabel was meaning by until she then unexpected scooped them all in her arms while fiddling around on her phone for one of her most favorite features.
The camera app.
"SURPRISE SELFIE!"
*SNAP!* *FLASH!*
"Oh!"
"Gah!"
"Oof, my eyes!"
"Ah, geez!"
Before they knew it, the faeries found themselves temporarily blinded by a flash of white light from Mabel's phone, causing them all to feel dizzy and light-headed, their pupils all shrunken to the size of chickpeas. As Mabel gently let them go from her arms, they all fluttered back onto safer grounds, trying to shake away the fuzzies and blurriness from their eyes as Mabel giddily began searching for the selfie photo in her smartphone's gallery.
"Whoo-hoo!" gasped Wattle, his big eyes spinning like mad, "That was a big flash there, mate!"
Ivy furiously rubbed at her own eyes as to hopefully get rid of any floaters and flashes. "Tell me about it! I thought I nearly went blind!" Oak growled softly, trying to get his mind cleared as soon as possible.
"What'd I tell ya? Witchcraft…" he muttered negatively. Mabel, now seeing the dizzy reactions of her faerie friends, smiled sheepishly.
"Eh-heh...sorry, guys. Must've accidentally had the flash on by mistake…" she replied with a shy chuckle before she then presented her phone's screen back at the faeries. "But, hey, check this out!"
The faeries all shut their eyes and recoiled a bit, as if to expect another flash of light to nearly blind them again. But when there was no sign of a flash, they all bravely opened their eyes once more only to have their eyes bulge out in wonder upon what they saw on Mabel's phone.
"It's a photo of all of us!" Bluebell squeaked out in amazement.
Indeed, shown proudly on Mabel's smartphone was a freshly-snapped selfie picture of herself and all her faerie friends all together. Granted, it wasn't totally perfect due to the faeries' surprised and staggered faces shown in the picture, in contrast to Mabel's sunny and brace-filled smile, but to Mabel herself, it looked like a masterpiece!
The faeries took a longer gander at their photo and all clamored in amazement.
"Dude, it's like looking in a mirror!" awed Sage.
"Rosemary's right! This is a nifty device!" commented Wattle.
"Did I always have that pimple on m-my nose?" asked Snapdragon worriedly at his picture. Rosemary nodded.
"Indeed, such a marvellous little thing!" she said, now giving Oak a knowing grin, "Not bad for something made by humans, eh, Oak?" Oak rolled his eyes and crossed his arms as to pretend he didn't care, though he secretly still was mildly impressed.
As the faeries kept yapping on about their impromptu selfie, Mabel beamed sweetly down at them, glad to share such a nice moment with her new, small-in-size friends. 'I'm totally gonna save this picture in my phone forever…' she vowed in her mind.
But while the faeries kept admiring their group photo, Dipper had arrived back, having finished his phone call with Grunkle Stan. Mabel looked back towards him with worry.
"Everything okay, bro?" she asked. Dipper nodded and gave her a small smile.
"Yeah, Stan's just wondering when we were ready to head back home. I said we'd be heading back around two or three more hours from now…" he explained. Mabel gave him a thumbs-up, but the other faeries (barring Oak, of course) seemed downtrodden at this news.
"You'll b-be leaving us?" Bluebell asked sadly, her eyes beginning to well with tears. Sage sighed softly.
"I'm afraid they'll have to, Bluebell…" she confirmed just as glumly, though she understood the situation better than Bluebell did. She fluttered up to her to give her a warm side hug, "Big dudes gotta get back home at some point today…especially before it gets real dark, man..."
Oak scoffed to himself, his expression still sour as he gazed upon the sad-looking faerie group. "Pssh, good riddance…" he grumbled extra softly to himself so nobody can hear.
Rosemary noticed how upset her friends were looking, and even though she was somewhat sad herself at the news, she still hoped to find the positive side throughout all this and wanted the others to see that as well.
"Don't worry, everyone!" she rallied hopefully, "They said they still have some more time to mill around here before they have to leave later, so let's just let them have some more fun until dusk falls then! Besides, if all goes well, they can come back to the village another day if they like!"
The twins and the faeries beamed in rapturous excitement at this prospect! The fact that their new humans still being able to hang with them a little bit longer brought such joy and cheer into their hearts.
Oak, however, didn't share their feelings.
"WHAT!?" he yelped out, his eyes boggling out in horror and shock. But his protest was drowned out by cheers and hollars so loud that they practically echoed around the village, causing many other faeries in the area to look in confusion at the scene.
The faeries began soaring and twirling around the twins with glee, kicking up fresh faerie dust in their wake as the twins giggled in amusement at the little creatures' excitement. "That means we get to hang out for a little while longer!" whooped Wattle.
"We got so much more stuff to show you both!" exclaimed Ivy. Oak spluttered in disbelief as he watched the faeries fly around like happy houseflies.
"Hey, wait, don't I have a say in this!?" he demanded, but like before, nobody bothered to answer back to him as Snapdragon piped up over the buff faeries' statement.
"Rosemary, can Dipper come with us to the watermill? We have to show him something beautiful!" he begged with easily the biggest smile he'd ever made. Rosemary giggled amusingly.
"I don't see why not! That is, if Dipper's okay with it?" she replied, looking up to the easily-nervous boy kindly. Dipper smiled gently and nodded.
"Uh, sure thing!" he answered, prompting Snapdragon, Ivy, and Valerian to squeal and laugh happily, all now grabbing Dipper's right arm to drag him towards the watermill. Dipper gasped from being tugged at so hardly, but couldn't help but join in on their laughter as the three faeries enthusiastically pulled him away and out from the eating area.
"Oh, you're gonna love what we're gonna show ya, Dipper!" cheered Ivy with vigor.
Oak growled at the three faeries dragging away Dipper and shook a fist at them. "Hey, hey, watch where you going! Make sure that human doesn't step on something...or someone, you hear!?" he barked out sternly as Dipper and the three faeries were soon out of sight.
Mabel giggled delightfully at seeing Dipper get whisked away by his new friends, not even feeling upset at being left behind. But before she could do anything else, a tiny voice rang up directly at her.
"Uh, Miss Mabel?"
Mabel raised an eyebrow and looked down at her feet to see shy, little Bluebell gently tugging at one of her knee socks to get her attention. She smiled down sweetly at the faeries, kneeling down to get a closer look at her.
"Heya, Bluebell! What's up?" she chirped, Bluebell timidly had her head pointed down, but with her eyes still looking up at Mabel. She hemmed and hawed gently, arms crossing behind her back.
"Uh, Miss Mabel, i-if it's not too much...could I...uh...hang with you for a little bit...i-if that's okay with you?" she proposed in the softest voice ever made. Mabel beamed warmly.
"Why, of course, you can!" she cheered welcomingly, "I always love hanging out with new friends! What do ya wanna do?"
Bluebell's blushing face managed to make something of a tiny, sweet, though timid smile nonetheless as she flew up at Mabel and gently grabbed Mabel by her left hand. "I know of something in the village that you'd might like to do, I-I'll show you!" Bluebell offered with a hushed, yet excited voice.
Mabel giggled at the faerie's glee. "Well, lead the way!" she encouraged, and that's what Bluebell did as she gingerly led Mabel away from their perch and towards one section of the faerie village, leaving only Rosemary, Sage, Oak, and Wattle behind in the picnic area.
Wattle and Sage both chuckled at how enthused Bluebell was just a moment ago before looking up at the mostly-finished meal up on the rock. "Well, we'd better clean up this mess then…" deduced Wattle with a happy sigh as he turned back to Sage, "C'mon, shiela, let's pack up some of this stuff and see if some of the animals might want some of these…"
Sage nodded and smiled. "Sure thing, man…" she agreed as she and Wattle began gathering every bit of leftover vegetables to feed to the local animals later. As they were doing this, Oak, feeling rather frustrated about being ignored multiple times, could only grumble softly to himself as he turned towards Rosemary with an annoyed frown.
"I'm guessing this is also part of your plan, Rosemary?" he asked exhaustively. Rosemary gave Oak a sly, smug grin, as well as an innocent shrug.
"Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't…" she mused, "Not my fault out friends can be over-eager whenever we have guests here…"
Oak rolled his eyes. "Rosemary, we never have guests here." he reminded, "We concealed ourselves away for a reason, you know?" Rosemary crossed her arms and flashed a winning smile at him.
"Well, perchance the twins' visit here may prove to you that we should have guests here more often?" she considered with a sweet voice. Oak grimaced and exhaled in exhaustion.
"I still don't like the fact that we got humans scampering around our village. It'll be like a bull in a china shop with those two stomping around here!" Oak huffed softly. Rosemary shook her head and smiled.
"Well, you don't know that!" she replied knowingly, "Now, come on, Oak...there's no need to be a stick-in-the mud! The twins promised they'll be as careful as can be, and so far, nothing bad has happened yet, right?" Oak snorted crossly, especially after seeing Rosemary shoot him a playful, eyebrow-wiggling expression.
"Feh, the day's not over yet, remember? They might still wind up stepping on something...or someone, God forbid…" Oak reminded once again. "Also, I hope you weren't serious about those two ankle-biters coming back again!?"
Rosemary's expression turned into one that radiated pure seriousness. "Of course I do...the other faeries and I trust these two humans to not cause any trouble to us, so why wouldn't we have those two back in our home again? They're both just the sweetest pair of kids I've ever met!" Oak rubbed the temples on his head, letting out a defeated groan.
"I'm telling you, Rosemary, all the abundance of curiosity and trust that all of you faeries carry will bite us in the rear one day…" Oak gravely stated, "I took on a role as this clan's leader to try and keep you all safe from humans, not so you all can galavant off like nothing bad can happen!" Rosemary waved off Oak's reminder with a hearty laugh.
"Oh, please, Oak...you know very well we don't deal with any of that matriarch / patriarch nonsense here anymore! It'll just lead to hostilities, conflicts, and disagreements...and personally, us faeries should be able to express themselves freely as Gaea intended..." Oak gave Rosemary such a strange look upon hearing that.
"It's not about being hostile or anything like that!" Oak announced slowly enough for Rosemary to understand, "It's making sure you lot don't try and kill yourselves by wandering outside our home. I'm trying to protect you all here, especially since we've lost our four elders!"
Rosemary nodded, but still stayed firm. "And I appreciate you looking out for us, Oak, I really do. But, sometimes you just have to learn to let loose and open your mind a bit more..." she advised gently with a thin smile.
Oak simply stared at Rosemary as if she'd grew two more heads. The day he'd accept humans as a whole would be the day Hell froze over and seeing Rosemary before him act so sly and rebellious really brought him over the edge. He practically wasn't sure how else to react or what to say. But luckily, he didn't need to say anything else as Rosemary gently grabbed his hand, causing him to look into her big, shining, hazel-colored eyes.
"Now, Oak, I understand that you miss your grandfather Quercus. We all do and we also miss Salix, Betula, and Ulmus as well. And I know you want to make sure we stay safe, but hiding from humans until the end of time isn't going to help anything. Quercus was a great leader, and I have no doubt you can be too, but however, you need to learn to be more accepting towards others. Quercus and the others accepted everyone for who they were and they've never held any grudges towards anyone, whether they were faeries or humans…"
Oak listened intently to Rosemary's words as carefully as he could, his dour expressions softening a bit upon mention of his long-lost grandfather. He stood there silent and glum as Rosemary continued on.
"The only reason I feel that we don't need a leader anymore is because the other faeries should learn to think and fend for themselves...to be more independent. So far, we haven't had a bad human encounter happen to us since Bluebell ran into that one human last summer, and so far, things here have been going smoothly. There's been no sign of any unicorns, hunters, or even monsters around our home in a long, long time. I understand you want to be protected, Oak, but sometimes, you can be a bit too overboard when doing so. We don't need to resort to archery or violence to protect ourselves, you know..." concluded Rosemary in a levelled, yet sorry-sounding tone before adding one last note in the end.
"I only want the humans to have a fun time here...not to feel intimidated by you...hopefully soon, you'll realize that these humans are here to befriends us...not hurt us…"
And with all of that said and done, she was ready to leave Oak with his own thoughts to attend to her own business while the twins were off having fun. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have some begonias to water in the south gardens..."
Rosemary then lifted her nose in the air and promptly fluttered past Oak on her way towards the village, but not before letting the brash faerie in on one final little detail.
"Oh, and Oak, dearie?" she asked, "If you don't mind, I expect you to apologize to both Dipper and Mabel for inadvertently insulting their Grunkle like that before they have to leave today." And with that, thinking that she has bested Oak for now, she left the picnic area to tend to her own affairs, now leaving the maize-colored all alone at the moment.
Oak stayed quiet and was beside himself with a feeling that he couldn't quite describe himself.
Grief? Sure. Annoyance? Possibly. Regret? Maybe.
All these emotions were building up and were mixed around inside of Oak like somebody making a martini. Overall, Oak didn't know how to react to what had just occurred between him and Rosemary. Sure, it figured she'd still want the human to continue hanging around their home, but even so, Oak still was adamant about the Pines twins being around him. They were so tall and heavy-footed, while he himself was just a little faerie, no taller than a mere soda can, even with the fact he was quite strong for his size.
Plus, there was the subject about his grandfather, Quercus. Oak had always looked up to this faerie with great admiration for as long as he had lived. Quercus was as strong of will as he was of heart. The same could be said for the other faerie elders, Salix, Betula, and Ulmus, and while Oak certainly shown the other three co-leaders with as much genuine respect, Quercus was what Oak aspired to be back when he was young: a great leader that helps to protect all of his fellow faeries from any opposing trouble.
But the difference between Oak and his grandfather was that Quercus trusted humans, even going as far as to have a strong fascination with the species.
Oak, meanwhile, does not share that feeling at all.
Admittedly, Oak still wasn't sure if he could still trust any humans at this point...let alone these humans roaming about the village. There may still be a possibility where he could be swayed into thinking that maybe the twins could be innocent enough, but regardless, the chance of this pair of humans coming back to their home again after today really didn't sit well with him at all!
Heck, he's barely hanging on now as we speak!
But still, Oak didn't want to wind up coming across Rosemary's wrath at the same time, so now, all he could think of doing was to just get some much-needed rest after nearly a whole day of fretting and trying to keep things in the village running like clockwork.
"It would seem like I might have a lot to think about…" he sighed out to nobody in particular, the only response that he got was the soft whistling of the summer winds whooshing through the trees above. With nothing else to do for now, Oak decided it best to head back to his home, the idea of a nap sounding like wondrous in his book right now.
Today was surely brewing to be rather eventful for Oak, and it seemed like it wouldn't be ending anytime soon…
TO BE CONTINUED…
Another day, another chapter! And as usual, another set of factoids regarding this chapter!
-As revealed, the faeries are now shown to have had past leaders, with four of them named and revealed to have names (all Latin names for different tree species to keep with the theme of having the faeries named after plant life), i.e. Quercus (for 'oak", hence the name change I've made from Sequoia), Betula (for "birch"), Salix (for "willow"), and lastly, Ulmus (for "elm"). Out of the bunch here, Quercus will be more pronounced on terms of Oak's personality and goal, with Oak in general aspiring to be a great leader like Quercus, though with having the faeries only seeing him as bossy and brash, it'll be quite a challenge for him to live up to his grandfather's legacy. The exact fates that befall these elders, including Quercus, shall be revealed in a later chapter.
-As you can see, the faeries are given a bit of backstory as to why they've moved to the U.S.A. from their old home in Europe, due to some as-of-yet unrevealed events involving unicorns. More on that will be shown in later chapters, but I still wanted to give you guys a little taste as to why exactly the faeries are here in Gravity Falls in the first place.
-I had hoped to showcase more of Oak and Rosemary's relationship, whereas Oak believes that the faeries should still have a leader to guide them away from danger (though with a more strict and stern outlook) and where Rosemary thinks that the faeries deserve to be free-thinking and free-spirited instead (even though even she can agree the faeries can be too curious to a fault). Basically, Rosemary's hoping to show the good side about humans to Oak through the means of Dipper and Mabel's presence...although Oak still doesn't seem convinced yet.
Next chapter's gonna be in up in July at some point, where we will see Mabel and Bluebell share a little talk with each other that'll regard one glaring issue b/w them on a certain topic involving Bluebell's past occurrence with a certain shady shyster. Anywho, thanks for reading and supporting the story so far and I'll see you all in Chapter Six, "Mabel's Confidant"!
~Thunderbyrd