Notes: *flails around* Reviews please!
"Dibs on showering first!"
Mabel got to bathe first while Dipper sulked around the Shack for the morning still cold and even scruffier than before. She promptly locked the door and then jammed it with other objects to block the bathroom so he could not even attempt to brush his teeth.
The boy miserably had to clean the muddy trails he and his sister had left the night before whereas she scrubbed away the dirt under hot water, humming pop-band music delightedly. He glared at her almost for the rest of the day.
While Dipper busied himself with work, Mabel found herself excitedly greeting all the new arrivals of tourists and charmed them into buying merchandise. Grunkle Stan truly had an influence on the Twins.
The afternoon was just beginning when the Twin dragged her other outside, regaining her bubbly personality. She seemed to forget about what happened the night before, forgetting their screams of terror and the bumble of the golf-cart beneath them as they fled.
Actually, it wasn't really a shocker for the Pine's Twins to be chased by some horrifying creature – the first time they ever set foot in Gravity Falls they were pursued by a gnome monster, intent on marrying Mabel. The second day they went to Scuttlebutt Lake, tracked down a lake monster and then proceeded to be hunted by it. The third day Dipper was nearly impaled by a wax Sherlock Holmes as he bolted on the roof of the Mystery Shack.
Yeah, so it wasn't really surprising that she was over the trauma so fast. She was Mabel Pines – she was an unsolvable puzzle.
"Come on!"
"No."
"Please, Dipsy?"
"One, don't call me that. Two, no."
"You. Suck. Just a little walk into the woods?" The girl grabbed her sibling's arm, batting her long lashes and grinning with a perky look spreading over her face. Cringing as his sister dug her nails into his arm Dipper finally gave in, yelping as she seized him forward with so much force he tripped down the porch steps and fell into the grass.
"You're so slow! Come and catch me!" She shrilly bounced in to the ferns, her purple sweater disappearing entirely behind the wall of emerald forest.
"Mabel, wait, you'll get-"He froze as he tumbled into the verdant clearing, his sister suddenly gone like a ghost in the wind, "lost."
With a groan the brunette trailed off, making sure to be aware of his surroundings though he had mapped the woods out a summer ago and memorized it in a day. Brambles clawed at his feet and gnawed at his knees but he bit back his hisses of pain.
"Mabel? Mabel! Where are you-? This isn't a game!" He yelled, his echoing voice causing a massive flock of birds to flee from their trees in a panic, squawking at him. Uneasiness crept into his stomach because the one rule of Gravity Falls, aside from trusting no one, was to stick together. Mabel always was a rule-breaker though.
He always trusted his sister – he cared for her dearly, but she managed to pick at his every nerve. He could hear her faint laughing echo through the ravenously growing forest. Automatically, he began to quickly walk through the tall grasses, panicking at the thought of losing his sister.
"Mabel? Get back here!" He shouted, but the response was not what he expected. A ringing, monstrous roar replied the boy's call and he felt his blood freeze. "Mabel?"
There was a deafening high screech – obviously her – and the sound of rushing footsteps against the ferns and bushes. When she burst into view she nearly collided with her twin.
Mabel turned back, her mouth moving, yelling – as if talking to someone. The bushes crashed apart to reveal another figure, a boy with large, doe-like eyes, trembling in terror. If Dipper's heart could stop it would have right there, that very moment.
It was Norman Babcock, the one from his recent nightmares – the one sentenced to death for witchcraft, the one who pleaded for mercy. But how was he here?
Dipper had seen disturbing things before, he had faced monsters unlike any other, he had put himself in life-and-death situations to save the ones he loved, and he had sacrificed so much. But why did this scare him – fear rippling along his spine and his thoughts clouding with terror?
"Run!" The girl shrieked, snatching her sibling's hand in her free one while dragging the two boys behind her, storming away from the pursing beast. The words were gone in Dipper's throat as he stared at the new addition to the group, feeling unease and restlessness in the pit of his stomach.
The forest became a maze – twists and turns between the spidery black trees, their limbs reaching out like dying hands to claw at the sky one last time. The crack of twigs and undergrowth beneath the teenager's feet seemed horribly loud and they all could hear their heartbeats ringing like an alarm.
The trio ran, never stopping or looking back – the girl leading them to a silvery cave with a small entrance, similar to a mouth – gaping open. She pulled the boys in before they could squeak in protest and pressed her hands over their mouths to quiet them.
"Mabel!" Dipper hissed into the cuff of her sleeve, narrowing his eyes and focusing on lowering his heart-rate which was a drum thrumming, shaking him.
"Shh!"
A shadow passes over the entrance and the Pine's Twins cringe backwards a bit when it comes into view – the Chimera, somehow alive but not fully recovered, stumbling and baring its fangs around the clearing outside.
The beast's eyes are dazed slightly; its nose crushed forward which might prevent it from smelling the group. One paw is cut and the wound has already sewing itself back together – perhaps some magical healing powers the thing possesses. The goat head of the monster is nervously twitching while the lion snaps back at it.
It swishes its snake tail – once, twice, the serpent hissing and spitting, large and pointed fangs protruding from the side of its long mouth. The thing is horrible to say the least – and they should not have made an enemy of it.
"W-What is that thing?" Norman whispers and his voice is beautiful and melodic somehow even when he is terrified and manages to stretch his large eyes even wider. Is it bad that Dipper wants to comfort him now? Maybe reach out and take his hand in his own? His mind hesitates on the thought before shoving it away completely.
"A Chimera, the thing is a menace." The brunette half-way growls with fear and irritation.
"Yeah, we killed it yesterday! But now it's back, maybe it rose from the dead?" Mabel supplies, waving her hands up as if telling a spooky ghost story, just adding on to the new boy's confusion.
"This isn't real." The boy splutters and Dipper can't tell if he is referring to the beast or to Mabel's strangeness.
"You get used to it."
The Chimera whips around, roaring at the cave and ramming forward – hearing them. The trio screams, tumbling backwards into the cave even further. The Pine's girl shrieks and proceeds to run deeper into the cavern until her bright sweater is barely visible.
"Evasive maneuvers!" Mabel yells, diving and skittering around in the shadows of the darkness, panic making her voice rise higher than usual. Dipper immediately shuffles for his flashlight and flicks the bright beam into the creature's eyes – causing it to howl. Temporarily blinded the boy does the only thing he can – grab Norman and flee after his sister.
Lost and looking into the cave illuminated by the flashlight the teenagers slowly make their way forward, unease intertwining with the cold air. Dipper wants to say something – anything – but the words are caught in his throat.
For once the Pine's Twins really get a look at the boy – about the age of Mabel or Dipper with large dark, spiked up hair and innocent blue eyes that reflected the dazzling light. He carried himself like a baby giraffe, stumbling and straggling like a lost shadow. Norman blinked owlishly at the two siblings once he saw their gazes caught on him.
"I-"
"Normy, let me introduce you to my twin!" The girl practically shrieked before burying her mouth in the arm of her shiny purple dog sweater. Mabel jumped over to him and wrapped an arm around her brother while grinning back at the spike-haired boy. "This is Dipper! Anyway, Dipper, Norman, Norman, Dipper! He's my new friend!"
"F-Friend?" The teen wasn't looking upset or uneasy; he looked shocked that he had gained a new friend in such a short amount of time.
"Yeah. Friend, buddy, pal, chum….other word for friend?"
"Pal?" Dipper supplied softly, gaze still locked on the other boy.
"No already said pal…how bout mate? So where are you from Norman?"
"…Massachusetts?"
Mabel started, bewildered, "Isn't that in Oregon? Or am I thinking Kansas?"
"Um…Massachusetts-"
"Oh wait never-mind-"
"Mabel!" Dipper interrupted, glaring at his twin viciously while playing with the light back and forth in his hands. "You're scaring him. What I'm wondering is how did you even meet him?"
Apparently the concern did not show on his face because his sister responded immediately.
"She ran into me." Norman says quietly and Mabel continues to beam at the boy.
"Yeah, sorry again about that. I was playing hide-and-seek with-"
"We weren't even playing hid-and-seek; you just took off into the forest!" The brunette snorts, fidgeting as his journal weighed in his vest uncomfortably. "But what about the Chimera? How did you end up with that on your tail?"
"I guess the Chimera got out of the Lake or something, but it was in a small cave and it saw me – and well, I guess it recognized me or just didn't like two humans being near it so-"
"It attacked you." Dipper groans, running a hand through his bangs.
"It attacked us!" Mabel smiles at her sibling, resuming her normal attitude. Like said before - she had a tendency for willing the bad things away right after they occurred.
"You are a danger-magnet."
"Does this kind of thing happen often?" Norman finally spoke without being prompted to.
"Yes." The Pines spoke in unison, meeting each other's eyes and then burst out giggling. The spike-haired teen softened a little at the sibling's bickering, the ghost of a smile on his lips.
"So anyway – Norman, sorry about this whole escapade, we didn't mean to drag you into this. We'll find a way out as soon as possible, and then you can-"Dipper paused, "Go wherever…you're new here to town so is it for the summer?"
"How did you-?"
"We're here for the summer too!" Mabel squawked, wrapping the unsuspecting boy in a hug. He gives a short huff as she nearly strangles him.
"Mabel, put him down." Instantly she does, leaving the teenager out of breath. "Okay, once we get out we can help you back to where you're staying alright?"
Dipper has no idea what he said but Norman recollects himself and really does smile this time. "Thanks."
"N-No problem." He replies and his sister wraps an arm around him, giving a quick wink. She can already sense it – oh no. The Pine's boy shoves her off and tries to ignore how sweaty his hands are and how hot his face feels.
"You're such a dweeb! Whomp!" The brunette girl grinned widely, smacking the back of her brother's head flippantly.