The sun was setting, the sky behind the trees was no longer blue, but a combination of reds and oranges. No clouds danced across the sky, and the air was still. Ah what a beautiful day to end August with.
A young dragoness snaked among the plants, the dry branches raking against her scales, which she knew were glowing a bright amber in the setting sun. Those big holly green eyes of hers were opened into tiny slits, scanning for movement up ahead. Her ear flickered, and her nose twitched. Since there was no wind, scenting prey would be difficult, but at least the prey wouldn't smell the predator either. Hunting in dry, windless conditions such as these was a walk in the park for a young veteran like the yellow flower, but for a change she would not be the one hunting.
Behind her stood another dragon, significantly smaller than the she was, however catching up to her hight and would surpass her soon with the coming of his second year. His brilliant blue scales wouldn't provide much in terms of camouflage, but he would learn to be more quick and agile that way.
The bigger reptile purred at him, and stepped back. It was a mentor's duty to train the young everything they needed to know. They needed to know how to hunt, fly, fight and the such. And this strange dragon cub, with his strange constellation mark atop his forehead, was doing surprisingly well in running and agility, surpassing many of his young peers, however didn't do so well in strength. But now, it was time for the youngster to make his first catch.
Primrose sat down calmly on the undergrowth, her tail curling into a tight not beside her as the lithe blue cub crouched and stalked forward into the bracken, his tail snaking behind him like some exotic snake. If he had learned correctly, he would've heard the scurrying of a pheasant not too far off, and by now should smell it past the disorienting scent of the bracken.
However suddenly he leapt away, giving chase. Something must've gone wrong. Sighing loudly to herself, Primrose stood to her feet once again and picked up into a steady canter to follow the small one into the tight bushes. She could hear his paws thundering against the soft forest floor, then a hard surface. A second noise joined, one that Primrose had not heard before. Her head emerged from the plants, and her heart stopped.
She had not realised that she had lead them so close to the human road. If it wasn't for that stupid mistake, he wouldn't be out on that black tar now, determined to catch a fool's prey. If it wasn't for Primrose's stupid mistake, a huge black human vehicle wouldn't be inches away from his body.
The dragoness shrieked in panic as the monster collided with the dragon cub, causing him to scream out in pain and tumble under the wheels. It was over as fast as it started, the nightmare machine driving off without another thought, leaving behind a trail of glistening blood, shining a dark gold in the setting sun, the young dragon laying on the road, not moving a muscle under the battered blue scales.
Primrose's whole head began to swim as she burst free from the cover of the plants to whine and whimper at the cub to get up onto his paws, begging him to open his emerald eyes. Her long snout nudged his head, trying to wake up, and when that didn't work her forked tongue lapped at his marked forehead.
The dragoness didn't want to notice that some of those precious blue scales have been torn off the cub's body, leaking bright scarlet liquid that would usually be seen in prey. She didn't want to notice that those powerful wings of his were crumbled and twisted, as were his sleek long legs. She didn't want to see the open mouth with the tongue hanging limply from it, not exhaling a single breath.
She didn't want to believe that the dragon cub was dead.
Many years later, the yellow flower sat on a hill, the night around her calm and motionless. It was windless, just like on that sorrowful day thirteen years ago. The sun had already set, and now it was dark, the stars above the canopy talking brightly among themselves, looked after the waxing gibbous moon. It was almost a full moon, and it didn't have to wait long for it to become a full silver circle in the sky.
The yellow flower sat so still that nobody would know she was even there at all. The colossal wings drifted gracefully at her sides, catching the moonlight like two mirrors. Her long deer-like ears were strained for any small sound, catching out even the tiniest scurrying of nocturnal animals around her, but not paying them much attention. Two brilliantly-coloured green eyes looked up at the starry sky, coloured so vividly that it looked like they had been infected with toxic waste- that vibrant forest-green colour was not natural, at least for humans.
Below the hill was a cave opening. The entrance to her home. It had been so empty for thirteen long years, strangely loosing its sense of comfort after that tragic accident on that human road. But now it held more than one resident once more.
If only the other dragons knew that the orange dragoness had taken in two lost scaleless creatures as if they were firebreathers themselves. They were just cubs! Lost and in need of taking care of. Those strange two-legged creatures helped her, so the dragoness decided to help them in turn. But that was only partially the reason why she had stuck around them like a shadow or a curse or a guardian angel.
One of those two-legged creatures was special.
Suddenly Primrose's eyes caught out the thing she was searching for. Seven stars, significantly brighter than the rest, arranged in the pattern that Primrose loved. For the first time that night the dragoness moved, causing multiple terrified foxes to sprint away from the gigantic predator. But she had no intent on hurting the prey. Her paw lifted and touched the red diamond on her own forehead, ever so gently. All dragons bore a unique mark upon their forehead, never repeated in past, present or future, just like a fingerprint.
That constellation was his mark. Those seven stars were his identity.
He was Vesper. Blue dragon of the Big Dipper Constellation.
And now he was gone.
Or so Primrose had thought.
When she first looked at that pathetic two-legged cub in the forest, she felt nothing. But then something made her stop. She thought she had seen something on his forehead. Something oddly familiar. Something painfully familiar. So she decided to take a closer look.
There were always legends passed around them dragons, that if one of them had ever died at the hands of another species, they would get reborn into that species. Primrose never really believed in any of that nonsense, but she was a firm believer now that the living, walking proof of their truth was with her.
That mark upon the boy's forehead was the first giveaway. Then she began to see. She saw Vesper behind Dipper's eyes. She heard him in Dipper's voice. The two-legged creature even behaved like the blue dragon did. Fast, agile, yet weak in muscle strength and a felt constant need to prove himself. As Primrose spent more time with the boy, she became more and more sure, but now she was absolutely certain. Vesper was Dipper.
Reborn into the species that caused his demise.
Primrose had no idea how to feel about it. Part of her heart lifted in happiness that Vesper's spirit managed to receive a second chance at the life he was denied, but the other part fell deep, deep below the ground.
Dipper didn't remember her, or anything from his dragon past. Primrose had tried and tried again to make him remember who he used to be, or at least who she was to him, but he didn't recognise her. Not one bit. Vesper was given another chance, but he didn't remember who he was- he had started from scratch.
But would the constellation creature be given a third chance?
Dipper was fatally wounded, and although his companion had done everything he could in a desperate attempt to save him, he was dying.
Primrose couldn't loose him a second time!
What was she supposed to do? She was sat upon that wretched hill, asking the stars for help while the two that she liked to think she had adopted slept in her cave. Soundly? Not one bit. One was hanging between life and death, not committing to either, the second had cried himself to sleep.
Primrose huffed, a ring of smoke blowing out of her nostrils accompanied by a few glowing embers, and jumped down from her place atop the small hill. Her broken leg wailed, but the sharp pain died down soon after, the leg still holding straight thanks to that makeshift splint. It would take about a week for her leg to fully heal, but that was not their biggest problem as of now.
Once again Primrose pushed through the lichen, dim lights of the dying cinders dancing creepily over the cave. She snorted and sent another ball of flame towards the fireplace, causing it to burst to life once more. The golden creature winced at the sudden heat, but didn't wake. Primrose knew his pain. She just hoped he wouldn't have to suffer for ever after like she did.
She gave him a tender lick to the cheek, trying to ease off his worry, though not succeeding one bit. How could she take away someone's fear when she herself was infested with it?
Bill Cipher... that was his name, wasn't it? Primrose had heard his name in the tales the elders told. He was a being of power, wasn't he? She didn't quite remember, but what she did remember was that Bill Cipher was always the antagonist, pulling out deer teeth and manipulating animals to insanity in their own native tongues.
Primrose remembered how unfeeling and angry he was at the beginning of their journey, but now... what became of him?
She felt sorry for him.
Blood! Blood! Death! Death! It was blood! The gunshot! Gunshot! It was a loud gunshot that caused to leak blood! Blood! Red blood as scarlet as fire! Fire! There was fire!
Sign of the devil! Sign of the devil! It was his fault! His fault alone! That yellow triangle with his singe eye! That tall boy with his strange golden eyes! It was his fault! All his fault! His fault!
Danger! Danger! Danger! Run! Wherever you are! Run for your life! Run like you've never ran before! Get free! Get free from whatever danger there is! Quickly! Hastily! Get out of there!
Mabel was going insane.
You are! You are! Fight it! Fight! You must fight! Fight! Flee! Now flee! Flee!
Don't freeze! Don't freeze! Flee! Run! Get out of there! Move!
Smell that air! Smoke! Fire! Gunfire! Bullet! Blood! Sign of the devil! Sign of the devil! Fire! Gunfire! Gunfire! Blood!
Shot through the heart! Through the heart I'm telling you! Bang! Boom! There was a gunshot! One is all it took! One is all it takes! His heart is dying! Dying! Dead! Dead! Dying! Beating! Beat! Beat! Beat!
He's going to die! Die! Dying! Die! Dead!
Help him! Whatever it takes! Hide! Hide! Save them! Move! Move! Move! Move!
Do whatever it takes! Whatever it takes!
Mabel was talking to herself.
He's with him! Whoever she is, she's with him too! They're with him! With him! Him!
He took my brother away! Took my brother away! Sign of the devil! His fault! All his fault!
It's my fault! My fault! My fault alone! I set him free! He's free because of me! I shook his hand! Shook his hand! Set him free! Free! Free!
Run! Fly! Run! Fly! Flee! Don't freeze! Move!
Mabel was panicking.
My brother is hurt! My brother is hurt! He's hurt! He's going to die! Die! Die! Dying! Die! I can feel it! He got shot! Shooting! Shot! Gunshot! Gunfire! Fire! He's bleeding! Bleeding! Blood! Blood! Blood as red as poppy petals! Red! Scarlet! Ruby red! It's so red! Blood red! Blood! Bloody red! Blood! Bleeding! Blood! He's hurt! He's bleeding! He's loosing blood!
There's a bullet through his heart! Take it out! Out! Take it out now! Now! Take it out now! Out! Out! Out! It needs to be taken out! Get it out!
Bleed! Bleed! Blood! Bleed! Sign of the devil! Sign of the devil! Death! Death! It was the gunshot that caused the wound to bleed! It caused the wound to bleed! It caused the heart to bleed!
He's limp! Limp! Lifeless! Motionless! Nothing but a bloody, tattered mess! Unconscious! Passed out! Coma! He's in a coma! Coma! Coma! Dying! Death! Death! Death! Death! He is going to die! Die! Die!
Take the bullet out of his heart! The bullet! Out of his heart! It needs to be taken out of his heart! Now! Now! Take it out now!
Blood! Red! Blood! Red! Blood! Red! Blood!
This was his demise! This was my demise! One of them was going to die! And it was the other's fault! The other's fault alone! Guilt! Lump of guilt! Guilt! Shame! Blame! The blame is my own! My own! My own alone! It's my fault he's out there! It's my fault is he going to die! It's my fault he's going to die out there!
Pant! Pant! Pant! Breathe! Breath! Breathe! Gasp for air! Air! Oxygen! Get it! Breathe! He's running out of breathing space!
I don't care who it is! Who it is at all! Someone! Come help him! Whoever it is! Help my brother!
Mabel could see two golden eyes in the dark.
Please! Please! Please! Please! Please!
Help! Help him! Help! Him! Help him survive!
Mabel was crying.
Save him...
...
Save him.
...
...
Save him!
...
...
...
...
...
SAVE HIM!
...
...
...
...
...please...
Birdsong? Was that birdsong? It was birdsong, indeed. The sound you would hear at early morning, fast chirping and singing of the songbirds in the dense canopy of trees.
Dipper winced at the sound, and squinted at the sunlight shining at his face.
Wait... sunlight? Or was it firelight like it was on that horrific battlefield? Where was he? So Dipper slowly opened his eyes, his vision blurry, but clearing with every blink. A stone ceiling was above his head.
So it was just a dream. He was still in those dungeons wasn't he? Where was the sky? Or was the sky rimmed with jagged rocks? The cackling of fire could be heard close to him, so that's probably where the light came from. Where was Bill? Where was Primrose? Were they hurt? Were they alright? Were they alive?
All Dipper could do was turn his head, so he did. His eyes set on a cave entrance, where the light seeped from past the hanging lichen-curtains. For a while he blinked to adjust his eyes to the light, before he attempted to lift his head from the soft ground. His hand felt around next to him, and he found soft moss and feathers brush against his fingertips. Where was he?
Then Dipper began to struggle. He tried with all his might to pick himself up onto his feet, but all he managed to do was lift himself only slightly off the ground before exhaustion hit him and he was forced to lay down again. It was like his heart would not handle the movement. What happened to him?
So Dipper furrowed his brow, trying his best to remember all the events before his memory had cut off. He remembered the awful dungeons and the horrible feeling of lurking danger. He remembered the heat of battle and urge to flee, how he had fought desperately for his life as if he'd loose it at any moment. The bright white light of the cursed chain... the burn of dragonfire. What else did he remember? The gunshot... gunshot... his memories were inexistent past that point. Oh no...
So he was dead. Shot. He left everyone behind, just like that. How could he? How dare he? Bill and Primrose were still fighting when he last saw them... and he just went and left them behind. He left behind his sister when she was waiting eagerly for his return. How could he leave Mabel? How could he leave Primrose? How could he leave Bill?
His hand ran over his own chest, and he could feel a bump of a bandage underneath his shirt. A bullet-hole ran over his fingertips, and Dipper examined it with his touch. The bullet-hole was right over his heart, only confirming Dipper's theory that he had died.
But then a rustle broke the unsettling quietness. Dropping pawsteps on hard stone floor.
Pad, pad, pad, scrrrraape
And again.
Pad, pad, pad, scrrrraape
Dipper had a sudden flash of memory. Primrose had a broken hind leg... and she had limped even after he had put the splint on. Her back talons had scraped noisily on the floor whenever the broken leg moved.
The boy's head moved quickly in sudden hope, and saw exactly what he had been hoping for.
That large dragoness the colour of a really late sunset was slowly padding at the back of the cave, back and forth as if she was trying to walk off a certain uncertainty in her heart. There was no happiness in those green eyes of hers, and her wings were hanging limply by her sides, devoid of all hope. She looked as if someone had just died.
Finally Dipper found his own voice in his throat, and hesitated before: "Primrose?"
Like a cobra, Primrose's head snapped towards Dipper when he said her name. For that moment her face said it all. Dipper had never seen anyone express that much emotion before- it looked unreal, like something from an animation.
Before Dipper knew it, the huge dragoness pressed her ear to his chest, and he could do nothing but watch as her mouth opened slightly to breathe. Her scaly lip quivered, and she turned to hide her diamond forehead in Dipper's chest. Once again her body started to give irregular heaves, and the rest of the dragon flopped helplessly on the floor.
Dipper called her name, but stopped once he felt the wetness through his t-shirt.
Primrose was crying.
Dipper said her name again, and the dragon looked up at him. Those reptilian eyes were red at the edges, flooded over with water. But she looked beyond happy. It was a face Dipper had only seen on Stan's face after his great uncle found out that the twins were safe. It was a look of relief, like a helping hand taking an unbearable amount of pain off her shoulders.
"Are we alive?" was the first question he asked her. Her reply was a happy owl-like cry, and her forked tongue licked over his face like a happy dog's. All of Dipper's doubts were suddenly washed away. "We're alive! We're okay!"
With a heave, Primrose helped Dipper sit up despite his faulty heart. Dipper's wakening seemed to fill her with strength she didn't know she had. Next thing Dipper knew was that Primrose was passing him a wad of wet moss. He took it gratefully and drank the water it held. It was cool and freshening, easing off the hoarseness of Dipper's dry throat. It was the best water Dipper had ever drank, even though it faintly tasted of earth and very mossy indeed.
When Dipper was done drinking, Primrose offered him a limp, burnt piece of meat. It was still warm from dragonfire. He thanked her for her offering and dug in without hesitation. He hadn't been aware of how hungry he was- his stomach must've dried to the back of his spine. Now that he was finally feeding it again it gave a happy grumble and soon Dipper was asking for a second helping, which Primrose was more than glad to hand him.
"What happened?" he asked once he had swallowed a mouthful of food. "Where's Bill?"
With a huff and a snort, Primrose sat down and pointed to the left with her wing. Dipper's eyes followed her point, and he saw the limp figure of a sleeping boy in the cave shadows. He was faced away from them, golden hair sprawled all over the floor with a chest heaving up and down in somewhat unrhythmic breaths.
Instantly Dipper was hit with a pang of worry. It was no secret that Bill had not been sleeping well throughout their journey, waking up in the middle of the night because of sickness or something else. More than once Dipper had seen first-hand how Bill had stirred in his sleep, but this time it was somehow even more worrying.
"Is Bill okay?"
Primrose seemed to hesitate before shaking her head. Her two forepaws raised as she started to try and communicate through really bad dragon charades. Though Dipper did not understand some of what his guide was trying to tell him, he did guess most parts.
"So you two managed to escape, and now we're at your place," Dipper summarised, and Primrose confirmed with a nod.
What she signalled next caught Dipper entirely off-guard. "What do you mean Bill freaked out? He didn't hurt you did he?"
Bill's... 'freak-outs' hadn't gone smoothly in the past, as far as Dipper knew. There was that incident where he nearly murdered Dipper in cold blood on their journey- twice. And even further back, when he casually tried to destroy the entire dimension. But thankfully Primrose shook her great head. Was it just him, or did Primrose look entirely different now? She was still the same dragon, but something about her had changed completely- Dipper couldn't put his finger on what.
Primrose had to remind Dipper to continue eating before she explained more thoroughly. It did take Dipper a few guesses to get what her waving paws and animated expressions were trying to tell him. "So you mean Bill freaked out when I..."
He couldn't believe it, yet at the same time there was no lie in Primrose's animal voice. It seemed impossible that Bill would react in such a way. If what Primrose said about Bill's sudden out-of-character reaction was true, Dipper wondered if he ever even knew Bill at all. Maybe it was all just a trick? Bill did say that if he died, Bill would die along with him. Yeah... that was probably it.
Yet Dipper still felt concerned for him. "Are you sure he'll be alright? Does he still have his food poisoning?" It did occur to him that it was foolish to feel sympathy for a creature that had tried to kill him on more than one occasion, and that it was Bill freaking Cipher that he was worrying over, but still. Bill was his companion through and through, just as equally as Primrose was- if not, even more.
As Dipper finished his food, Primrose curled around him like a huge domestic cat, and lay down so that Dipper could lean against her scaled flank. The way the light caught her face was somehow familiar, and Dipper suddenly remembered the Mirror of Jaddrycryn back in those dangerous tunnels. The blue dragon that had appeared instead of his own reflection had the same crooked black horns and shape of snout as Primrose did, and not to mention that the eyes were also almost exactly identical.
"Primrose... I need to talk to you," Dipper decided. It would be difficult to ask Primrose about his past life, since it only occurred to him now that in order for him to be a human being, the dragon in the mirror would need to have died. And if he knew anything about the approach Primrose had towards him... it was fairly easy to guess that Primrose did not take that blue dragon's death lightly. "Down in those dungeons Bill found a mirror that showed what you were in your past life."
Instantly Primrose was intrigued. An elephant-like 'doh' sound came from her, and she waited for Dipper to continue speaking.
"Well, it did seem to do its job properly, since it did show Bill back when he was still a floating dorito. But with me, it showed a blue dragon."
All Primrose did was give him a blank stare.
"And before, you recognised my birthmark, the Big Dipper constellation. That blue dragon also had that same mark upon his forehead. I see the way you look at me, as if you're trying to see someone else in me." Dipper's voice faltered a little when her eyes left his, but he forced himself to keep speaking, even though he looked down at the ground. "And when you brought that stag, you were trying to make me recognise the dragon ways of living. You knew I was a reincarnation. That blue dragon was me."
He looked up to Primrose, but the dragoness would not look at him. Her expression of relieved euphoria had melted into grieving confusion, and she found a spider walking up the wall more interesting to look at.
The short silence between them was awful, so Dipper carried on swiftly. "I was a dragon in my past life. And you recognised my birthmark." He touched his hand to his forehead, feeling the constellation engraved into his skin. "You know who I used to be, don't you?"
Asking that question seemed wrong. That tortured gaze Primrose looked at Dipper with was unsettling to a point of creepy. Sometimes Dipper wondered if she wanted someone else to stand in his place. But asking that question would hopefully give him the answers he needed.
And thankfully it did. Primrose had given a curt nod with her head. Once again that unbearable tic of longing was back in her eyes and in her silence. She let her wings sink as she folded one talon over another. She was ready to answer Dipper's questions. It was clear that she felt she owed him at least that much.
So Dipper asked another question. "What was my name?"
Primrose hesitated, then lifted a single black talon and began to pull it across the dirt. The lines were wobbly and untidy, but still readable. Primrose had written a single word in the earth.
Vesper.
"Certainly better than Dipper," the boy laughed dryly. He needed Primrose's explanation to shed light on the dark, just like information was eventually cast on the mysteries of Gravity Falls. He had the key to unlocking the truth about himself, and maybe the answer to why he was so drawn to the supernatural more than anything else.
"What was I like?"
This time Primrose pointed her talon at Dipper's chest.
"Right. I was the same person." For some reason Dipper was slightly disappointed. He had imagined his dragon self as a badass firebreather, just like Primrose proved to be; able to set the forest alight with a single fiery breath or cause a tsunami with one thrash of a powerful tail. But Primrose started to babble in her strange voice, and Dipper could only imagine what she was saying. How fast he was, how graceful he had been in flight and in running, that despite being small and awkward and anxious, he was still a valuable beast of the forest.
Yet there was still something nagging at the back of Dipper's mind. One secret still was hidden from him, the answer to which he needed to know.
Dipper decided to ask his final question. "Primrose, who are you to me?"
He could feel a jolt go through Primrose's entire body. The long ears flattened against her head, and smoke billowed out of her nostrils. There was no sound coming from her, and for a moment she stayed absolutely still, not even the slightest hint of movement. It was as if Dipper's question had paralysed her from the horns to the tip of the tail.
"You don't have to answer if you don't-" Dipper started, but Primrose had begun to move again.
With a lash of her mighty tail, she swept dirt and dust over Vesper's name. She lifted a single glistening black talon and began to drag it over the earth.
Dipper's breath caught in his throat. No, it couldn't be.
"I'm... I'm so sorry," he apologised automatically. "I didn't know." His eyes had began to sting, the palm of his hand pressed up to his mouth. "I'm so, so sorry."
The dragoness gave him a sad look. Her nose was scaly and soft as she touched it to his forehead. Dipper reached into his own mind, trying to find any familiarity to her gentle touch, but found none. Try as he might, he did not remember any such events, and it made him feel even worse. Up until now Primrose was just his guide, the leader from the shadows- but in reality she was much, much more than that.
"I'm sorry I don't remember anything," he whimpered. He hesitated greatly before pressing himself to the crook of Primrose's wing, searching for forgiveness. He remembered when Primrose had dragged the stag back to the camp in a desperate attempt to make Dipper remember, but all that was left of his dragon memories was just an empty, hollow hole.
A long, sad purr vibrated from Primrose, perhaps of peace that Dipper finally knew the truth, even if it meant nothing at all. It was still a calming piece of mind, but still Dipper felt guilty. His ignorance was the reason Primrose was tortured. His presence was like salt on an open wound. He was still Vesper, still the same entity with the same personality and strengths and weaknesses, but without any of his memories.
Dipper hugged the dragoness tightly, pressing his face to her flank- perhaps like he'd done while he still lived as a dragon. Her purring somewhat comforted him, and Dipper wanted to believe that it was because he recognised her- but he knew deep down inside that it was because she was his guide, the light in the darkness. Somehow that made it even worse.
Once again Dipper lifted his head and read the two words Primrose had scribbled on the floor. He didn't know what to think of it at all, but there it was- written by Primrose's own paw.
"Who are you to me?" Dipper had asked. He had gotten his answer. It was there, spelled out in the mud- letter by letter.
Your Mother.
But perhaps that subconscious knowledge of blood relatives, even after reincarnation, was the thing that had drove Dipper to help Primrose out of that hunter trap in the first place. Something had connected him with Primrose right from day one, and now he knew what.
Just what did it mean now?
However through all this, Primrose seemed finally happy. She gave Dipper a reassuring lick under his hat, and her sharp-toothed smile was as warm as a hot summer's day. A soft coo came from her, one that she had never made before.
And at that something stirred in the back of Dipper's mind, something reigniting to that loving smile and that specific sound. It was less than an undiscovered experience, a mere shadow of a memory, yet it was littered with nostalgic familiarity.
"It's okay? It's okay."
It was okay. And this time it was Dipper who touched his forehead marking to hers, knowing that as a son he should greet his mother with utmost respect. It was the little things Dipper subconsciously remembered; like how to interact with beasts of the forest, how to fight weaponless and of course, how to recognise home- whether it be former or current.
Perhaps Vesper's memories were not completely gone after all.
A groan echoed around the cave, and the attention was shifted away to the sleeping ex-triangle. He had started to stir, waking up with the usual tame noise of displeasement as he always did. At first he propped himself onto an elbow and he looked around. "Crescent Moon? Where are you?" he called out for Primrose like a lost child. Primrose could hardly hold back her excitement as she crowed to him. Bill turned around to look at them.
Dipper forced himself to hold the demon-boy's gaze, made himself stare into that terrifying slitted eye. But somehow, just somehow, at Dipper's sight, his pupil had widened into convex like a glittering black onyx. Never before Dipper had seen Bill's eye in a state like this. It was unnatural for such a heartless monster to show so much emotion, but there it was, right there on Bill's face.
He still wore that makeshift red bandage diagonally across his face, covering that cut-out eye of his. But from what Dipper could see was that the wound was no longer bleeding, and that offered at least some sort of relief.
"You're alive?" Bill's voice was barely a whisper, yet it seemed to echo all around so that it came from everywhere and nowhere.
Dipper shrugged and spread his hands in a seemingly hopeless gesture. "I think so."
Bill breathed an emotionless sigh, and heaved himself up to his feet. His steps towards them were hesitant, but at the same time willing.
Before Dipper knew it, Bill was on his knees beside him, clutching onto him in a breathtaking hug as if Dipper was the last piece of warmth in the universe. Dipper just froze, mind refusing to work.
"You're heart's beating," Bill said as if this were any normal circumstances, yet at the same time he seemed... relieved.
"Ummm... Bill what's gotten into you?" Dipper risked asking, still trying to decide whether this was a bizarre coma hallucination or completely legit. It was veering towards the former, but Dipper wasn't too sure. He could feel Bill's heart beating so rapidly that it might've been a runaway train.
But Bill completely disregarded his question. "If you ever die at my hands I will find a way to bring you back and kill you myself, do you hear that Dipper Pines?" His breaths got shorter and more rapid, almost like the panting of a dog. "Do you hear that?" he repeated a little harsher when Dipper didn't reply.
"Uh... yeah."
"Good." And at that word Bill let out a huge sob.
If this hadn't been happening right before him, Dipper would never believe that of all people Bill Cipher was behaving like this. It wasn't right... it wasn't natural. To Dipper, a monster like Bill shouldn't be glowing with happiness like he was now. But then what was he?
A few moments passed before Dipper even dared to return the favour, awkwardly leaning into the demon-boy with possibly the most hesitation in his little life. But despite his anxiety, his mouth moved on its own.
"I'm glad you're alive too."
For some reason Dipper found himself sighing with relief, somehow more at ease now. Why was he okay with this? he kept asking himself, thinking about breaking apart the awkward exchange. This was Bill, the awful dream demon that Dipper had so many hostile interactions with. This was a villain, a monster, a threat.
Yet now, Bill was more subdued than anyone ever imagined him being. A tamed beast of the forest- a creature that Dipper had thought that didn't exist.
What Bill said next Dipper would never forget.
"Listen carefully, Pine Tree, because I'm only saying this once. I will protect and guide and lead and love you. I will live and fight and bleed and die for you."
Never before had Bill sounded so serious. Dipper desperately searched for a 'sike! fooled you!' hint in his voice, but found none. He couldn't bring himself up to look his companion in the face, so instead he tightened the hug.
"You're kidding, right? The god of destruction would never say such things and-"
"Shush kid," Bill shut him up with a harsh bark. "Can't you see what I'm getting at here? Yeesh. I've just sworn you an oath, and you dare think it's a joke?"
"I have every reason to do so."
Bill made a strange growling noise, but then pressed his face into Dipper's shoulder. "An oath goes bone-deep. Nobody can take back an oath, not even me. So stop being so damn blind!" At that last word, Bill's voice went around eighty pitches deeper into a familiarly haunting death-tone. However it was not the same kind of threatening. Instead it sounded rather sad.
It was a while before the silence was broken again.
"Kinda ironic for a half-blind to call me blind," Dipper said eventually. "But it may take me a while to process what the hell you just said to me. It's not everyday that the world-eating dream demon swears an oath of eternal loyalty to me, you know."
"Is this supposed to be your lame response?" Bill snapped, not knowing how to react. "Now what am I supposed to do?"
"How am I to know?" Dipper shrugged. "Wow, I've never thought this would happen. Not at all."
It was a lot to take in, so much so that Dipper felt the need to lay down and contemplate his entire life and the universe and everything. He looked to his mother for comfort and any sort of advice, but all she gave him was that pathetically adorable smile. "Grrawwll~" Primrose purred happily, pushing her own long face into the hug. She seemed now beyond happy, unable to hold back the deep laughing-like noise in her throat. Again that strange noise was so familiar that Dipper recognised it instantly, and to his own surprise he too began laughing. Dipper wrapped a single arm around Primrose's thick neck, pulling her closer.
Though it took him a while to understand what was going on, Bill too joined in. It wasn't the evil, mocking laughter of utter insanity that everyone heard from him so often, but instead a pure, innocent laugh of someone who was truly happy.
It was the first time Bill's laugh was so pleasant to hear, without the curse of horror or psychopathy tainting it. There were tears at his one working eye as he pulled away from Dipper to subside into Primrose's bulky shoulder.
And anything had been passing outside, the three wouldn't've known. They were safe in Primrose's home, the cave where no threat could find them. Laughter echoed around, so that it felt like the whole world was laughing along with them.
Their world had been burned down many times, but the ashes always seemed to house a stronger phoenix. For that moment, nothing else mattered.
Yet their journey was far from over. Gravity Falls was still waiting.
