Full chapter title:
Into the Woods (to Find Hyleoroi)
Norman was shellshocked; he didn't expect Dipper to agree so readily, so when he did- he found himself at a loss for words.
"Really?" Norman asked, brain slowly shifting back into gear.
"Yeah, Norman-" Dipper was leaning towards exasperation, "get over here. Bring the van if it's not too much trouble, we may need to go visit... some old friends." Dipper said with a tint of irritation before a sound in the background caused Dipper to utter a quick, "Hold on, Norman- What, Wendy? Oh, okay. Good idea. So, Norm, nevermind about the van; Wendy said she can go home and get her truck and she can take us all to the course."
"The course?"
"Long story, uhm..." Dipper sighed, "I'll explain when we get there. I hope you are of the open-minded sort."
"Have to say I am," Norman grinned a little, then his face fell when he looked at the door to Greg's room. "I'll wait on the porch, on the railing."
"Be there in about a half hour, and I don't know how long we'll be out so bring some stuff to eat and drink, a jacket, whatever you need. Tell Wirt it may be a while, but to call you if he gets worried. I'll keep our phones charged. See you in a bit." With that, Dipper hung up.
The abrupt end to the phone call left Norman in a daze as he explained the situation to Wirt (who was less than pleased that his cousin was digging into such a dangerous situation, but respected his cousin's judgement). Wirt reluctantly agreed to let Norman go as long as he kept Wirt updated. And so, Norman Babcock packed a backpack filled with a few sandwiches, a couple bottles of water, his phone, a spare set of clothes, his multitool, and his handheld camcorder that he always kept in his pocket (should a perfect filming moment arise).
Always the boy scout, he could hear in his mother's voice whenever she'd see Norman overpacking for the sake of preparedness.
Probably would've made a good one if he had actually signed up like I told him to and stopped watching those crappy b-movies and went outside once in a while, his father always muttered back to her.
Norman always pretended he couldn't hear them.
O-O-O-O
When Norman was saying his goodbyes to Greg, he heard the front door of the inn open and shut; quiet words were exchanged, so quiet, that Norman only caught a bit of it before he left Greg's room to meet the girl in the lounge. The girl's voice, which he now realized could only be Wendy's, caused him to edge closer quietly so he could hear them better.
"-well I have been thinking about it and-" A female voice spoke quietly, then drifted off with the breeze through the windows, her words faded in and out with the gusts of soft wind.
"Yeah, I know, it was a dumb idea but what else could I do? You know... with-" Wirt's voice was clearer but lowered when he realized he was speaking too loudly to be considered a whisper.
"He's hot on the trail, what do you expect me to do? Play it off?"
"Well, how about you decide-" Wirt's voice cut short when he saw Norman rounding the corner. Wirt's expressionless face became a smile, "There's a Wendy here for you, she says the twins are already outside. "
Norman nodded, adjusting the backpack strap on his shoulder before acknowledging Wendy with a nod, catching the last few words between the two as he opened the screen door leading outside.
"This conversation isn't over." Wirt whispered emphatically, bordering on anger.
"Same to you, Wart." Wendy whispered pointedly, tapping his arm with her palm before following behind Norman.
Norman felt the tension and weight in the air lessen as they got in the truck, squished against Dipper's side. He decided that due to the atmosphere in the room from before, he would not bring up what happened inside the house.
"You know my cousin?" Norman asked.
"Yeah," was Wendy's only answer, followed by the action of her turning up the radio.
No one in the car spoke a word, or even sang along to the music, until they reached their destination. They each were lost in their own separate inner turmoils besides the threat of a murderer on the loose.
O-O-O-O
"Why are we at a mini golf course?" Norman asked with genuine concern as they all poured out of the car and headed towards the abandoned entrance.
"I hate to say it, but this is the only source I have that doesn't want to kill us that also happened to get ahold of a cell phone." Dipper admitted, "Just so you know, this is where that open-mindedness I mentioned before comes into play."
"If you say so," Norman said quietly to himself, watching in awe as Wendy cut the padlock off the gate with bolt cutters.
The sound of the lock falling didn't surprise Norman as much as the complete lack of reaction to the situation was. The thought of the event Mabel had mentioned before, Weirdmaggedon, made Norman wonder if the event had really desensitized the twins to potentially-criminal activity. Norman didn't realise, but his heart began to beat faster in excitement and anticipation, he missed the action that event with the witch had thrust upon him.
Yet, despite the minor deterioration of the golf course, cobwebs, and its overgrown landscaping- it looked almost exactly the same to the Pines twins. Dipper took out his phone, dialed a number, and began to follow the sound of a ringing phone to its source. Wendy, making an excuse to see if there were any noteworthy vending machines to break into, left the three to their work. Mabel was the first to introduce Norman to the Lilliputtians as she let them know it was safe to come out. Crawling out of their respective holes, the small creatures stood before the three teens in droves. Their respective costumes remained the same but were caked with a thin layer of dust on each of them.
"A Norman, hm? Why'd you bring an outsider, Pineses?" An older Lilliputtian asked, using a golf tee as a steadying cane. Norman wordlessly associated this particular 'Puttian as a real life equivalent of Gollum.
"If I had known about the course closing, we would have asked better questions about the murders going on. Either way, you must know something about what is happening here."
"If you had visit, you would know more than you do now. " a younger Lilliputtian pouted.
Norman caught sight of a dark look in Dipper's eyes as he opened his mouth to speak, Mabel spoke before Dipper could manage a response. "We had a lot going on at home, we wanted to come but we couldn't."
Dipper's eyes lowered to the ground as he slipped his hands into his pockets, "Regardless, we need intel on this. Suggestions would be helpful, seeing as you aren't giving us much to go on."
The young 'Puttian who spoke up before raised a small pointing finger in the direction to the east woods, "Find the nymph Hyle, she is the watcher of the woods- she sees all. She may be your best chance at a beginning to the thread you must unravel."
"Hi-lee?" Dipper asked, "Am I saying that right? Anyway, how did I not hear about her from Grunkle-"
The young 'Puttian scoffed, "Yes, Hyle; you did not read about her in the journal because she is a Watcher, Pines. She does not interfere with humans, let alone make herself known to them, she merely oversees the care of the woods. However, I believe she will make an exception just this once considering the grave nature of the situation. Bring to her a small natural offering that speaks to you and place it at the base of a tree beside the brook, she may come to you if she feels your intentions are sincere."
Mabel immediately ran in the direction where Wendy had gone, the two boys scarcely thanking the 'Puttians before chasing after Mabel. When they caught up to her she was excitedly telling Wendy that she had been right as a child, that nymphs did exist. Wendy smiled as Mabel reiterated the conversation Wendy had missed while the redhead had been kicking an old vending machine in hopes of getting the only snack left within it- a package of peanut butter crackers. Wendy ate said crackers as Mabel spoke.
"Well alright, then," Wendy wiped off her mouth with her hand. "Let's get this show pony on the road, we can look for offerings on the way to the brook. It's almost a mile walk from the entrance to the woods."
Wendy closed the gate entrance as Norman and Dipper jumped into the truck bed while Mabel choose to sit in the cab with Wendy. Once Wendy had gotten into the truck and left the parking lot, Norman asked Dipper why he wanted them to sit in the back away from the girls.
"Norman, did that freak you out at all? The Lilliputtians, I mean."
"Considering Mabel mentioned something on the bus about her boyfriend turning out to be a bunch of gnomes, I don't know what I expected. Honestly, I didn't know if you guys were telling the truth about that Weirdmaggedon thing... but I can feel pain when I pinch my arm, so here we are. I have no doubts you were telling the truth now, and on top of that creatures I thought didn't exist apparently do in numbers large enough to have their own census- and I am not that freaked out." He paused, clicking his tongue. "Surprisingly."
Dipper nodded, "That's good. Good... so you're still on board?"
"I've dealt with the weird side of things before. I'd believe in almost anything." Norman's tone and body language betrayed his apprehensiveness.
"What do you mean?" Dipper asked, confused.
Norman opened his mouth to speak when he saw an unfamiliar spirit standing beside the road as they sped past. Face bare, head shaved, the phantom man stood wordlessly Norman's mouth closed and a petulant frown crossed his features, "Maybe another time."
Norman pulled his knees to his chest, laying his face on his knees and exhaling softly. Dipper sighed but did not press the subject, pulling on the ends of his own hair.
Dipper watched in frustration as Norman's eyes seemed to monologue silently, imperceivable words projected in them. Dipper missed being a kid where no one his age had the capacity for abstract or complex emotions; relationships, friendships, and kinships all seemed so much easier in the days where thoughts were spoken aloud and made apparent. He missed the simplicity (borderline monotony) of it all, because now everything seemed too fragile and high maintenance. The thought of his parents almost crossed his mind before he squelched the thought with what he may want to bring as an offering.
Realizing he was overthinking the situation, Norman turned his thoughts away from whether or not to tell Dipper his past and knocked on the window of the cab. He watched as the girls paused their conversation for Mabel to open the window slide.
"What's up, Norman?" Mabel asked.
"The Weirdmaggedon thing you were talking about on the bus, could you tell me the story?" Norman asked, eyes not pointedly avoiding Dipper's but instinctively.
"Dipper can tell you more than I could. Like I said on the bus, I was in a fantasy world for a lot of it, Dipper can tell you more." Mabel looked to Dipper who stared off into the distance, "Dip, can you tell Norman about Weirdmaggedon?"
Dipper shrugged, looking to Wendy, "Do we have enough distance to do story time?"
Wendy shook her head, "Now isn't the time, we got more pressing matters to attend to. Do it on the drive back to the Shack, that drive should suffice."
Dipper nodded, exhaling sharply, "You heard her."
Norman muttered a 'sure' under his breath in disappointment as they neared their destination.
O-O-O-O
After the truck was parked and they all stood at the entrance to the trail, a sense of foreboding fell upon the group. This sense of foreboding was not due entirely to the sound of birds making noises akin to screaming from the depths of the woods, but the sound surely added to the uneasy vibe the group was feeling. Dipper was the first to step onto the sloping path, sidestepping slowly downward to avoid falling. He motioned to the others, each taking a turn to make it down safely. Wendy cleared her throat after a short silence.
"No one really goes in this part of the woods anymore, most of the trails got washed out in the big flood but if my memories of Gryffin Scouts are correct then the brook should be in this direction, then we take a right around the abandoned hut and should be close by there."
"Gryffin Scouts?" Norman asked, "Is that like Eagle Scouts or something?"
"Kinda," Wendy shrugged, walking behind with Norman as the twins plowed ahead. "Gravity Falls created the Gryffin Scouts as a co-ed experience to mix the principles of the two. The mayor back in the 80s couldn't stand that we didn't have a local boy or girl scouts troop that was balanced in teachings- equal parts survival training and homemaking skills- so he made his own. Eventually the other troops all died out after they joined the Griffins, and the rest is history."
"What are some of the things you learned in Scouts?" Norman asked, picking up a rock that he spotted on the ground broken perfectly in two halves. The rock seemed to call to him, not realizing how tightly he clenched it in his fist.
"Well, we learned cartography, sewing, cooking with minimal ingredients, astronomy, self-defense fighting, and other things like that."
Wendy watched the twins look high and low for an offering, then noticed Norman watching his broken rock thoughtfully in his hand.
"Seems you already found one that spoke to you," Wendy said aloud, "why that?"
"I don't know," Norman admitted, "I felt like I saw myself in it somehow... Maybe I'm just partial to broken things."
Norman said the last sentence with a flatness in his voice, but his face changed when he realized he'd said it aloud. The air thickened and silence fell between the two, Norman picked up his pace and paced closely behind the twins who now each had an item in their hands. Mabel had a wildflower, multicolored and beautiful with hidden thorns along its stem; Dipper had a piece of bark that had a perfectly circular hole the size of a dime in its center.
Wendy pulled her hair back into a ponytail as her thoughts turned to her conversation with Wirt: how much did Norman know? But more importantly, what would he do about it if he knew? The last thing the situation needed would be someone interfering at such a delicate time.
Wendy's thoughts were interrupted by the sight of a butterfly, a stunning blue and was right before her eyes. She reached out her hands and captured it between her palms, careful to avoid squishing its fragile body. The walk to the brook seemed to go by quickly once they reached the abandoned building. They stopped to sit on the porch covered in ivy, all taking a moment to rest.
Norman opened his bag and ate a sandwich, Dipper asked for one, which Norman gladly gave him. The break passed in what seemed like peaceful moments, despite the vastness of the woods. When they proceeded to move again, it was Mabel who spoke first.
"So, Norman," Mabel started, taking care to tread carefully on the uneven ground. "You go to school with us, right? I think a friend of mine has film class with you, she mentioned having a partner named Norman so I guess that was you, huh? She said you two did a ghost mockumentary."
"Oh, yeah, Maxine... it was her idea. I just filmed it, found the location, and did the editing." Norman insisted, "She acted in it, wrote the script, made props; I just had to show up."
"That's not what she had told me," Mabel grinned, eyeing Norman behind her. "She said you made her look like a real person. She said she didn't take it seriously but you turned it into something totally sincere."
Norman blushed, smiling to himself, "Well, I had a lot of free time."
"Did you compose the music too?"
"I wouldn't say that, but I did put in a few guitar plucks and piano notes that I recorded at the Music Emporium. I'm not very good at playing instruments but I didn't want there to be silence. There wasn't much sound in the building we recorded in." Norman's smile softened at the memory, "It was the first time someone chose me at a partner instead of 'ending up' with me. I've never been good at making the first move for that kind of thing."
"Really?" Dipper asked, to which Norman let out a quiet affirmation.
Wendy stopped ahead of them, her shoulders tensed, "Guys, I think we're here."
They all stood at the brook, a beautiful tree next to the bank with large white flowers growing on its branches. One after the other, the group placed their trinkets at the foot of the tree.
After a few moments of silence, an ethereal silhouette emerged from the trunk of the tree. Although seemingly sexless- her skin with the texture and colored patchwork of bark, hair of leaves, and eyes like sightless opal- she had curves in places to suggest her feminine nature. Her thin fingers reached out as she bent to retrieve the offerings from the forest floor, her hair-like greenery falling in front of her face as she inspected the objects in her hand.
Hyle looked to Wendy first, her voice airy with the calm of the brook that seemed to surround them. "Of all the things you could have brought, I find your choice very telling, Miss."
"Why do you say that?" Wendy asked, watching the nymph's smile with suspicion.
"You have chosen to ensnare a thing of innocence and beauty and brought it to me as a gift. You too, young lady," Hyle turned to Mabel. "You have doomed the life of that flower for a moment of savoring it's beauty. I find it very naive of you two, if not sad that you do not cherish more-"
"I do!" Mabel blurted as Wendy watched her boots in shame, "I do cherish it, but I know that I felt a connection with this flower. This one. So I bring it to you as a reflection of myself, because I know that I am sacrificing something I love and offering it to you as a show of good faith. So you can understand where we're coming of when we ask our favor of you."
"Before that," Hyle smiled, impressed, then she turned her attention to the boys, "Dipper, you brought a piece of bark with a hole for the eye to see. Is there something you wish to see more clearly? Never you mind, young man, you will know in time once you listen to the sounds around you."
Dipper had the expression you would expect, one of impatience at the stalling, but did not speak up in favor of respect.
"Norman, what a curious boy... Now, ask me what you wish to ask. I can see you are in need to know, and your friends seem ready to take action."
Norman took a shaky breath before looking into her white eyes, "The murders happening, the deaths, what do you know about them?"
Hyle's expression darkened as her voice took on an edge of warning, "The beast that stalks the woods of Gravity Falls, it is new and not native to this land. For that reason it is especially dangerous, do not seek out the beast if you value your lives."
"We don't have the option," Wendy piped up. "Have you seen it? How can we get rid of it?"
"It runs on four legs with teeth like daggers and claws the length of your hand, and its eyes are black as a moonless night, it howls as if it is in dire pain. If you choose to pursue this beast, know that you are choosing to risk your life." Hyle spoke quietly, her voice sharp.
Mabel looked at her brother, sharing a look before looking directly into the eyes of the Nymph and smiled in confidence, "I don't know about Norman or Wendy, but we Pines twins never back down from a fight."
"I'm not backing out now," Wendy defended, crossing her arms.
"Me either," Norman sighed, "Now, no offence... but if we're done, we should head back. It's going to get dark by the time we get back to town."
"You're right," Dipper turned to Hyle and bowed slightly, hoping it expressed his respect thoroughly enough. "Thank you, Hyle, we really appreciate your help. Hopefully we'll be able to take care of it and spare the lives of others in town, stay safe."
"You too, young ones. May fate smile upon you, in spite of what lies ahead." Hyle's final words a whisper as she bonded herself back to her tree.
"Is it just me or did that sound really foreboding?" Dipper asked.
"Don't think about it too much, let's get back before it gets dark." Wendy urged, jogging ahead as the others followed suit.
A.N.
Thanks to my dear friend who proofed this chap before it went live. Readers, thanks for hanging in there. If you have theories or commentary please engage in the comments.
~deathbyinsomnia
P.S. Again, this was uploaded to wattpad about 2+ weeks ago due to my inability to get on my actual computer to upload it here.
To stay updated, I suggest following my wattpad account under the same name.
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