The two boys trudged on through the forest. The two of them were covered in new bug bites and sweat. Both of them had taken off their jackets in an attempt to shed some of the heat.
"We'll stop here for the night." Dipper said as they came to a clearing his body shaking from what was probably a ten mile hike. Behind him, Raz fell face first onto the forest floor.
Seeing that his companion was as (if not more) exhausted as he was, Dipper decided to wait a few minutes before enlisting the boy's help to set up camp.
I should see what's around us, Dipper thought to himself. Careful not to lose track of where Raz was, Dipper began to wander around the area around them. As he walked, he made a mental checklist of what they'd need for the night.
Water? Check, He thought as he came upon a small river. The river was running at a quick pace and the water looked relatively clear and clean, so Dipper took a small drink before moving on. Now, we just need something to carry it in. Maybe I can make something out of grass like Mabel did last summer.
A little farther away, Dipper mentally checked off food as he found a small cluster of bushes with white rose-smelling flowers. On the stems were red and white berries.
After collecting a handful of berries and putting them in his pocket, Dipper walked back to Raz, only to find that the boy still had not moved from his spot. Dipper sighed and nudged Raz with his shoe.
"Go away," Raz moaned, determined not to move until the sun had set and risen again.
"Raz, come on, we need to get camp set up before the sun goes down."
Raz glanced up at Dipper. Although he was not sure, Raz got the feeling that Dipper was used to walking like this everyday, while he was used to a more flexible exercise.
Raz sighed, knowing that the stubborn boy wouldn't let him fall asleep, and pushed himself off the ground and landed on his feet, like the acrobat that he was.
"So what do we still need to do?" Raz asked.
"Not much. I found a small river nearby that we can get water from, and it's clean and tasted fine, although we need something to carry it in. If we had a water bottle we could use that, but–"
"Find a water bottle, check. " Raz interrupted. "What next?"
"Uh, we need a fire, too. One that will last through the night."
"What about food?"
"I already found some" Dipper said, reaching into his pocket and holding the berries out for Raz to see.
Rax looked at the berries, then looked back up at Dipper. He then repeated this until Raz realized that Dipper was indeed serious and that the boy wasn't about to die on the spot.
"Uh … I hate to burst your bubble Dipper, but that's Baneberry. It's kind of ... highly poisonous." Raz said, scratching the back of his neck.
Dipper yelled and dropped the berries on to the forest floor. He then proceeded to wipe his hands over his orange shirt.
"Oh man, I really thought–"
"It's fine. I only know since my Dad and I travel a lot."
"You seem rather close to your Dad." Dipper commented.
"Yeah, well my Mom drowned when I was four, so my Dad's all I have left. Now let's see what we have in here." Raz said, quickly changing the subject. He threw back Dipper's vest that was stored in his backpack and then reached in the front section.
"Score! A bag of trail mix!" Raz said excitedly, pulling out the mixture of nuts and berries, holding it up for Dipper to see. Hoping to find even better food, the boy started looking through the rest of his bag.
Across from him, Dipper had rummaged through his own pockets. He made extra sure to check the pockets that Mabel had added after he bought the vest – she made a big fit of there being no pockets and decided to sew some in herself. Like Raz, he too had a similar bag of trail mix. The words 'to my little brother' were written on the bag in his sister's handwriting.
"Wow, what do you think this is?" Raz asked. In his hands was a strange object that could only be described as a vacuum with a claw.
"It looks like you can shoot stuff with it, so maybe it's some kind of weapon?" Dipper suggested.
"Maybe," Raz said, grabbing the next item, which happened to be some small candies.
"Are they edible?" Dipper asked, staring at the almost gas-like candies inside the wrapper.
Raz stared at the candies before stuffing them inside his pants pocket. Somewhere in the back of his head a voice was telling him not to give the candies to anyone. "I don't think so," was all he said in response.
Soon the two boys were at the last item in Raz's backpack. They noticed a lot of strange items in his bag, so they created a game to guess what it was. Throughout the game they started taking bets on if the item would either something a normal person would carry around, something that they had no idea where you would even buy it, or something that a superhero might carry around.
"Has to be something a superhero would carry around." Dipper guessed, since most of the other items seemed to have that answer as well.
"No way, that was the last item. It has to be something you can't buy," Raz argued as he pulled out the last item.
The item was definitely not what either of the boys expected. In his hand, Raz held up something that looked like used to be a piece of meat in a plastic bag. The meat, although covered in a sickly green mold, was unmistakably bacon.
"Ew," the two boys said at the same time. Not wanting to look at it any longer, Raz shoved the bacon to the very bottom of his bag.. Even if he wanted to get rid of it, he still felt the unexplainable feeling that told him to keep everything he found in his bag.
"Well that made as much sense as the tiny door." Dipper commented, not wanting to even question why Raz put the bacon back in the backpack. "So, do you want to start the fire or get the water fro-"
"Fire!" Raz yelled, jumping up from where he was putting his stuff back into his bag.
Dipper blinked, not sure what to make of Raz's reaction. "All right then." He said, picking up the water bottle they had found in Raz's backpack. "I'll be back in a few" Dipper voiced, walking back to where he had found the river.
It did not take long for Raz to put together a basic campfire. Now all he had to do was light the pile of wood and he would be done before Dipper even came back with the water. He stood there in silence for a few moments, not sure what to do next. In retrospect, it would have been easier if he had something to make a spark.
"Stupid pile of wood," Raz mumbled at the fire, lightly kicking at it with his foot.
As if by magic, the campfire roared up in Raz's face, causing the boy to jump back a few feet right as Dipper walked back with the water.
"Have you found anything?" Norman asked over the walkie talkie.
"Negative." Coraline replied over the speaker.
"Agh," Lili groaned, "how long have we've been looking?"
"About an hour." Norman said, turning down the volume of his radio so he wouldn't hear the two girls bickering.
The spiky-haired boy sighed. He had already checked the library and most of the other buildings on the block. He was now standing in front of the Museum, his flashlight illuminating the sign.
Begrudgingly, the boy walked into the building only to find the lights on. But still empty, he thought. Even though they had been searching for an hour, none of them could find a living being in the small town. Or a dead one.
Turning the corner, Norman came upon an exhibit dedicated to a sci-fi movie of some sort. The weirdest thing about the exhibit was a figure in the corner. It had on a fireman's coat and a welding helmet with three green eyes. Norman stopped walking, looking closer at the figure. From his distance he could see the slight rising and falling of the figure's chest.
Norman ran back around the corner. Turning up his walkie talkie, he pressed the talk button.
"Guys, I think I found someone." Norman whispered, trying to keep his voice from trembling too much.
"I'll be right over, where are you?" Coraline's voice came through the speaker.
"The Museum, I'm by the Miner's section."
It took about 15 minutes for Coraline to get to Norman. By looking at her, Norman could tell she had sprinted her way to where he was.
After letting her catch her breath, he asked. "Where's Lili? Is she coming?"
Coraline straightened up. "No, I think she turned off her talkie. Now where is this person?"
"Over here." Norman led Coraline to the three eyed mask person.
Upon turning the corner, Coraline's face lit up in recognition. It's that boy! She realized.
"Coraline, why did we stop?" Norman whispered from behind the girl.
Upon remembering the boy Coraline reached backwards, grasping his red hoodie sleeve, hoping to find some comfort. Her eyes glanced around the room, making sure that no trap awaited the two of them. Okay, now I just need to get Norman away from here. He might not recognize the boy but I can't risk putting him in danger.
As Coraline backed up to take Norman out of the building, the two of them heard the sleeping figure stir.
Not wanting to risk having reinforcements called, she immediately grabbed the nearest object, which happened to be a mace, and swung it at the boy.
Wybie fell out of his chair to avoid the mace coming for his head. He then proceeded to grab the mace and pull it out of Coraline's hand. No longer armed, Coraline threw herself at Wybie.
Norman stood over the scene. He was shocked that one of his new friends would just ambush a random person. He hooked his arms around Coraline and pulled her away, knowing the fight would only get worse if he didn't step in.
After getting the two apart, Norman put himself between the two.
"What was that?" Norman asked, his eyes on Coraline, anticipating another attack.
"Stand down, kid." Coraline spat in a hate filled voice.
"Not until you tell me what's going on." Norman retaliated.
"Ah D-dude I don't know what this is about b-but please keep that g-girl away from me." Wybie said nervously, eyes darting between the two.
"Like hell you do." Coraline shouted and launched herself at Wybie again.
Norman blocked Coraline before she could make it to Wybie. "Coraline! Please stop!"
Coraline took a deep breath and relaxed, finally coming to her senses and realizing why she couldn't just attack the boy.. "That kid is reasonable for kidnapping us, Norman."
"Kidnapping? Coraline, you're not making any sense."
"I remember him. He was riding around on the hill top on that weird bike wearing that exact outfit. He rode toward me and that's the last thing I remember! He's the one who did all this!"
"If he's the kidnapper, then you want to explain how a boy your age took you all the way to Gravity Falls in the span of a few hours on a bicycle!" Norman shouted, finally getting fed up with being yelled at.
Coraline stopped struggling. She looked over at the boy and saw that his face had gone white, he was shaking a little, and his helmet had fallen to the ground.
"Thank you. Now can we just – ACK!" Norman was interrupted by a two ton weight knocking him to the ground. Cloth covered parts of the weight wrapped around the skinny boy preventing him from getting up.
Norman twisted his head to look at the mysterious figure. He relaxed when he saw the face of his best friend, despite the boy squeezing the life out of him.
Neil had found his friend by following the sound of arguing voices, one of which that was familiar – Norman.
"Oh My Gosh Norman You're Here You Would Not Believe What I Have Been Through Today First I Was Chased By This Really Hyper Active Girl And Then–." Neil would have kept on going but Norman decided to cut the boy off.
"Hey Neil," Norman greeted, smiling down at his friend.
Their reunion and rising questions were cut off by the crackle of the walkie talkie. "Guys, we need to meet up."
"Have you found anything?" Norman's voice came over the walkie talkie.
"Negative" Coraline responded.
"Agh, how long have we've been looking?" Lili complained into the little black box. Now that she was away from the two she could use her powers without fear of getting into trouble. Currently she was jumping from roof top to roof top on a clear pink sphere.
Although she was not a master at it, she was pretty good at her levitation power. Not as good as Milla back at the agency, but she was skilled enough to bounce long distances. When needing to go long distances she could use the power to go about 80 mph.
"About an hour," she heard Norman reply.
"Look, I know this might not be–" The voice was cut off by Lili turning off her walkie talkie. She was so sick of hearing the older girl's voice. Plus, being able to use her powers like this just felt so right. If she was at school or anywhere with normal people (and a few agents), she would have to hide her power in fear of being teased or punished by her father.
Sighing, the preteen lowered herself down into an alley only to have someone slam into her.
"Watch where you're going you–" Lili turned around to find an old man rubbing his head.
The old man was dressed in a brown pair of overalls. He had a cast on his arm and a cowboy hat. On his beard was a band aid and his eyes were off to the sides, making Lili unsure if he was even looking at her. He looked – and smelled – like he hadn't showered in forever.
"She a-coming" The man jumped up and yelled, "she coming to get us all!"
Lili raised an eyebrow.
"She's a-coming to cocoon us in her bile of schist where we shall forever stay in wait! But she won't get me. Oh no, because I have this!" The old man reached into his beard to pull out….
"An egg beater?" Lili questioned. Great, the first grown-up I meet is some crazy hobo. "Well, it was nice meeting you. Do you know if there is anyone else around here?" Lili asked in her nicest tone possible, which pretty much sounded like she was grinding rocks while talking.
"Nope. They were all taken by her. But they won't take me!" At this, the old man laughed at the sky. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to my hiding place before she comes back."
With that, the old man scurried on all fours up to the roof Lili had just jumped off of.
"Oh, if you need me just yell out my name and I'll be there faster than a bangtail on base burner!" the old man called down, grinning down at the girl in a way that even if it was friendly, it didn't quite look it. With that, the crazy old man scurried away.
"Fat chance I'd call for you even if I did know your name!" Lili yelled back.
"Ah ha! I found you!" A voice cried.
Lili turned around to see a girl with brown hair and a blue sweater pointing at her. "Okay, does everyone here just come out at night or something?" Lili cried out in frustration. She was reaching her limit and setting someone on fire was starting to look pretty good right now.
The girl blinked. "Not a clue. Do you think they might be all vampires or something? That would totally be the perfect first boyfriend!"
The girl, realizing that she had no idea who this person was decided that she should try to help her, or maybe get her to join in on the hide and go seek game she had been playing.
"Hi I'm Mabel!" She greeted cheerfully, sticking out her hand.
Lili blinked and started at the hand. "Lili," she said after a few moments, shaking Mabel's hand. "You know where everyone is?"
"Nope. I haven't found anyone here. It's just me, Wybie, and Neil. Oh, and now you!"
"Joy. So where are the rest of your companions?"
"Well. We were playing hide and go seek, but they must be really good at it. Definitely better than my brother."
Lili smiled. Even if she did not remember meeting this girl before, she felt a strange connection with her, as if they had already met before.
"Hey, I have a question. What's today's date?" Mabel asked suddenly.
"Huh? What kind of question is that?"
"An important one." Mabel replied, spinning in a circle. Her arms raised way above her head. A grin stretched across her face, showing off her silver braces.
"Yeah, but can't you just look it up or–?" Lili's eyes averted to something over Mabel's shoulder. "Watch out!" Lili screamed and knocked Mabel to the ground.
"Shit!" Lili looked up to see the teenager they had almost run over earlier that day. In his hands he was holding a weird ray gun that he had just used to fire at Mabel. Seeing that his hiding place was compromised, the boy ran out of the alleyway.
Lili and Mabel quickly got to their feet and chased after their attacker.
The teenager turned around and yelped at the sight of the two girls quickly approaching him. He turned forward and darted to the left into another alleyway. The two girls caught up with him just to see him about to reach the top of a fence.
"Oh no you don't!" Lili yelled, grabbing him with her psychic powers. "Tell me what's going on or I'll set you on fire!"
"Pfft, as if you could get anything out of me." the teen retorted.
At this, Lili threw a regular punch, stopping it short just of his face. Even if it was just a scare tactic she did get a nice "please don't hurt me" whimper from the teen.
Mabel stood there watching the scene unsure of what to say, as she uncomfortably played with her hands. . Even if she was a people person, she had no objection to Lili's scare tactics.
"Look, I'm going to ask this one more time. Tell me what is happening or else," Lili threatened, lighting her hand on fire.
"No – she'll get me if I tell you." Tthe teen choked out, kicking out with his leg.
The result was instantaneous. The teen's shoe came flying off his foot and knocked a trash can into some loose boards propped up against the wall behind them. The boards fell over onto the two girls. Lili's concentration broke as the boards fell on the two. Without her focus on her levitation, the teen was able to escape from the psychic grip. By the time they got free of the rubble, the teen had long since vanished into the night, taking his weird gun with him.
Lili heaved a sigh and pulled out her walkie talkie. She turned it on and spoke, "Guys, we need to meet up."
Night had settled across the forest. The two boys were now settled around a campfire, lost in their own activities. Dipper was once again reading his journal, leaving Raz to provide his own source of entertainment.
Raz considered attempting to get Dipper to play another game with him; after all, the two of them seemed to be getting along.
I've never had a friend before. Raz thought to himself. Back at home, his life at the circus left him with very little time to hang out with kids his own age. Anyone that Raz considered a friend would usually abandon him when they learned about his powers. The fact that Dipper still had yet to figure out anything about his abnormalities both excited and worried him.
But who knows how long I can keep that charade up. I have already lost control twice today and Dipper is too smart to not know that something is up, Raz thought. In his head, the images of him bouncing up the cliff face replayed, along with him creating the fire. After Dipper had come back, Raz had been able to lie that his Dad had taught him how to create fires really quickly. Raz could tell that Dipper didn't really buy it, just like the cliff incident.
I need to get these outburst under control. I could hurt someone if I'm not careful. And what would Dad say if he found out? Probably something along the lines of, 'Son I am very disappointed in you'. Then I would be forced to train until I passed out, Raz thought bitterly. But it's not like it's my fault I've never had any help! No one has ever tried to teach me anything about these powers and the only thing I know is that physic hand trick I learned.
Raz groaned and looked up at the night sky. Maybe I can get over this before I get back home. Maybe Dad will never know about my powers going crazy. With that last thought, Raz turned over and let his body finally sleep.
Dipper turned away from his book and glanced over at the younger boy. Although he was trying to keep his cool, he was honestly pretty freaked out now. The two of them had heard nothing since they had started walking. By now they should have at least heard some sort of search party. They were near a town, right?
There was also Mabel. They might have been drifting apart for the last few years, but Dipper couldn't help but wonder if his sister was alright. For all he knew, she could be out there as well. What if she was hurt – or worse, dead – and he had been wasting his time out here with some random kid with amnesia.
"Not like I have much right to talk. Hopefully tomorrow will be better," Dipper whispered to himself as he too turned it in for the night.
The only noise they heard before they had fallen asleep was the crackling of the pyrokinesis-created fire.
In the tree branches above, a pair of blue eyes watched the two boys.
Sorry for the slow updates. These last few years have been filled with writter's block and school. Ugh.
Anyways over this Summer I hope to sit down and work on this fic but currently I have no plans of abandoning it.
I don't own anything but the story line.
This fic is beta read by Ensignily.