Where am I?
The blank shape wandered the barren landscape. All was as a desert, extending forever. It walked endlessly, searching for something.
Piedmont, California
"What's with that girl? She looks so sad."
"You didn't hear? What rock have you been living under?"
"What happened?"
"Her twin brother went missing over the summer. Just vanished into nowhere. Those two were inseparable, and now it's like a piece of her soul got torn out."
The first teen put her hand over her heart. She stood up from the lunch table and walked over to the somber teen, who was fiddling with the mush of food on her plate. Mabel looked up to see a new face come over. Mabel greeted the girl with a half-smile before returning to her plate.
"Hi." the teen awkwardly said.
"Hello." Mabel replied.
"I… um…"
"Thanks for caring." Mabel muttered.
"I just don't know what to say… I guess… if you ever need anything, I'll be there to help."
"Thanks."
Mabel returned to playing with her food as the pair sat silently together.
Nowhere
Who am I?
The blank shape continued wandering the endless landscape. It came across an oasis and looked in, spotting no reflection, and tried to drink the water. It found that there was no taste or fill before the oasis vanished into a gust of sand. It stood up and started walking again.
Piedmont California
Mabel moved through the school hallways silently; most simply ignored her nowadays, sensing only a vague presence like a whisper or ghost. As she walked out of the school towards the bus, she met a familiar face.
"Hi, Mabel." the girl said cheerfully.
"Hi, uh…"
"My names Sofia."
"Sofia, right. What did you want?"
"I was wondering if maybe you wanted to hang out or do something?"
"Thanks, but no thanks."
"Well, okay… just… if you ever need anything, I'll be there."
"Okay, I'll see you around Sofia."
Mabel got on the bus and went home.
Nowhere
The shape wandered through the endless desert. It passed by the remains of a towering pyramid; broken, bleeding, and half-buried beneath the sand. It stood and watched, uncertain as to where it has seen this thing before.
California
Mabel walked into her room, ignoring her parents' attempts to speak with her. She locked the door and stumbled into her bed before bursting into tears. She shoved her face into the pillow and cried until her eyes stung. Eventually, she heard a knock on the door.
"Go away."
"There's a call for you. Someone called Keys Peers?"
What kind of dumb name is that? Keys Peers? Key Peer? Keeper?!
Mabel got off the bed and rushed to open the door. She yanked the phone out of her mother's hands and began speaking.
"Hello, Mabel?"
"It's you. Have you finally found something?"
"I haven't had any luck on the strange man, but there is some information that might help you."
"What is it?"
"Well, I went looking around the globe through the different paranormal archives. Nothing related to what happened to you, but there is some information. It's an old book that was used by some psychic. It details how one can access a place called the dreamscape."
"Huh?"
"It's the place where the unconscious mind travels in dreams. Two minds can connect through it. You need a strong connection to the person you're trying to find. That's why I can't help you anymore than sending the book your way."
"Th-thanks!" Mabel shouted into the phone.
"No problem. I'll have it sent to you. Just be careful."
"Why?"
"Don't go wandering through the dreamscape too much… the psychic who wrote this eventually traveled too far and lost his mind."
"Well, isn't that always the case?" Mabel joked, hopeful for the first time in months.
"Yeah, you'd think these writers would learn by now." the keeper replied humorlessly from the other line.
Mabel handed the phone back to her mother, clinging to the hope that she could find Dipper again.
Two days later
Mabel took the unmarked package from the van outside her house. She quickly dashed up into her room, telling her parents not to disturb her. There it was, the book of the dreamscape. Mabel began reading through the contents, eager to find out how to make contact through the unconscious mind.
To travel the dreamscape requires a blank state of mind, undistracted by the outside universe. It requires one to shut out all other powers and senses, to become one with nothing but their own mind and who you wish to see…
… I finally made contact with my brother across the seas! We've been communicating through our dreams. You must hold the person you wish to speak to in your mind. Not just their name, and not just their appearance, but who they are. What they mean to you, their ideas, their thoughts, their feelings, the way they speak, the smell on their clothes, everything. Anything that you know about them, you must remember it and hold it within your mind, then call out into the infinite dreamscape…
… I have discovered how to call others when you are awake. You must master the state of your mind, to be able to shut it down as if you were dreaming…
… I have attempted to bring others in on my quest. I have found that while others can help you reach across by combining your minds, not everyone is capable of entering the dreamscape with you. And unbelievers in the circle may hinder your efforts.
… I have found out how to access other's minds. I can harness my own mind and reach out to others. The minds can blend, and I can see the outlines of their whole being. Their path through existence, their history, their fears, all appear as if frozen into place. I must continue my work…
… the dreamscape is more wonderful than I could have ever imagined! You can enter the minds of others and see them for how they see the world. It's as if you are truly seeing through their own eyes. And you can reach outward, past the minds of humanity. I can see how simpler creatures view existence. I can comprehend the minds of lesser beings. And I can view everything at once! I can make my mind view the dreamscape of the world, a blanket of ever changing shapes throughout a barren desert…
…I will go farther than I ever have today. I will call out across the heavens and call upon the divine and those who are dead. I shall make our worlds as one through the power of the mind…
The next few pages were blank, aside from some random scribbling and drawings of unknown worlds. But then Mabel reached the end of the psychic's journey, and she felt a twinge of fear.
… it's him it's him He saw me Do not enter the dreamscape He'll find you and he showed me things I can't go on like this. No more it won't leave my head I'm sorry
Mabel put the book down and took a deep breath. If there was a chance that she could find Dipper, she was going to take it no matter the cost to her own sanity. She steadied her breathing; she moved everything out of the way and closed the blinds. She put all the distractions of the world out of her mind, and she thought of Dipper. Everything about him; his smile, his ruffled hair, his obsessions with the strange and the odd, that silly hat of his. She focused on how he gets down and depressed at times. How her goofiness always drags him out of it. She focused on that strange smell he gets when he's too lazy to shower. And she focused her mind.
Nowhere
The shape shambled around, a half-aware zombie that knew something was wrong but it could never figure out what. Then it heard a call. A shout echoing through the infinite nothing.
"Dipper!"
Dipper?... Dip… my name is Dipper.