Dipper's immediate reaction to the swarm of gnomes that had suddenly appeared was to scream. He'd thought he'd outgrown that slightly girly response, but apparently not. He ducked into a youth roll, avoiding most of the barrage, as they had been aiming for his position at the tree. They scrabbled in an animalistic way, and soon he was having to exert much of his attention to keeping the almost rabid gnomes away as they tried their best to overwhelm him. Oh the times when he wished he had a leaf blower handy. Dipper had never seen so many gnomes at once. The last time he had seen any had been two summers ago, when they'd made another attempt to propose to his sister. They had dealt with them quickly, and sent them scurrying back to the woods.
But then, they'd had tools with them, and the help of Wendy and Soos. Dipper couldn't face this many of them alone. The creatures swarmed around him again, and soon they were clinging to his legs, impeding his movements. The last straw was the one that came flying at his face, clawing at his cheeks and sending him toppling to the forest floor with a shout. He kicked and fought, but soon they had his limbs restrained. He could feel them starting to lift him, letting out a panicked call.
"Hey whoa whoa what are you doing?"
The little men, while still preventing his movement, had lifted him up onto their shoulders, and seemed about to start marching into the woods.
"Hey! STOP." He began to struggle with more intensity, but for such small men they had an iron hold.
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out in the clearing, jolting both the gnomes and Dipper. Their hold on him disappeared, and he found himself thudding to the ground, his unprotected head painfully impacting the root-covered floor. The gnomes were chattering in distress, unaware of where the shot had come from. Another blast sounded in the air, and one of the 'strange tourists' from earlier that day stepped out from behind a tree.
"Next shot I won't miss." he stated in a gruff voice, his blue eyes hard.
With squeals of terror, the gnomes fled, skittering off into the woods an all fours, like an animal would. Dipper sat up and raised a hand to rub the back of his head, noting the beginning of a headache. Both men had entered the clearing, and seemed to be surveying the surrounding area for more of the vicious garden sculptures. As they did so, Dipper began to compose himself, straightening his jacket and trying to fix his disheveled hair. He snatched up his hat from where is had fallen off in the scuffle, thankfully not lost like his after first encounter with the tiny race.
He had just gotten to his feet when the two men finished their scan of the area. They both turned their attention on him, wearing puzzled expressions. It seemed they intended to question him, but Dipper jumped in before they could speak.
"Who're you?" he asked, unable to help his eyes from drifting to the firearms in their hands. The shorter one scoffed, as if they should be the one asking questions, but his taller friend seemed more reasonable.
"I'm Sam, this is my brother Dean. You're... Dippy, right?" Dipper mentally smacked his forehead.
"Dipper, actually. Dipper Pines. Might I ask what you two are doing out in the woods this late at night?"
Dean looked immensely insulted, and took a threatening step towards him. "You're asking us that when we just saved your ass from a horde of, of garden gnomes?! We could ask you the same!"
But Dipper didn't hear his accusation, as something had just dawned upon him.
" Oh crap! Mabel!"
Sam and Dean had arrived just as the kid from the shop had been knocked over by the swarm of little men. Their shock at the strangeness of the situation had prevented their immediate intervention, but when the gnomes began to carry him off Dean had regained his wits enough to fire a warning shot with his pistol. The gnomes jolted, acting more like spooked animals than anything else, and a few harsh words and another shot sent them fleeing, melting back into the dark pines.
They kept their attention on their dark surroundings a moment longer, before turning their attention to the victim of the rabid gnome attack. The kid had gotten up, looking a bit worse for wear but surprisingly unfazed. Scratches were scored across his cheeks and legs, but nothing too significant. If it were possible, he seemed more surprised at their presence than the gnome attack he'd just been rescued from.
"Who're you?" he asked. Dean's thin patience with the strange situation was already wearing thin. He snorted angrily, but Sam gave him a condescending look, and answered the question, finishing with " You're... Dippy, right?"
Dean realized after a moment that he couldn't even remember the kid's name. 'Dippy' frowned, correcting Sam.
"Dipper, actually. Dipper Pines. Might I ask what you two are doing out in the woods this late at night?" Dean frowned.
"You're asking us that when we just saved your ass from a horde of gnomes?! We could ask you the same!"
But much to his displeasure, Dipper ignored the question. A wide-eyed look crossed his face, and he half shouted, "Oh crap! Mabel!" before taking off into the trees. Dean swore, and with a shared look of exasperation, the brothers tore off after Dipper.
The two of them were barely able to keep with Dipper. For being a kid, he was sure fast. He traversed the dark woods with a practiced ease that even their own extensive experience with chasing dangerous creatures in the dark couldn't match. It took a strained leap from Sam to get within arm's reach of the teen. He grabbed Dipper's arm, jerking the boy and forcing him to turn around. Sam could see the blind panic in his wide eye's, and relaxed his grip to something more gentle.
"We're not here to hurt you. We want to help. What's wrong?" He kept his voice even, hoping it would get through Dipper's anxiety. He took a deep breath, as if to stabilize himself, then met Sam's eyes.
"It's my sister. Those guys might be going after her."
"Where is she?"
"Back at the Mystery Shack."
"Wouldn't it be faster to take the car?" Dean had arrived, taking the break to noisily catch his breath. A comment about Dean's level of fitness lingered on Sam's lips, but the kid before them took precedence.
"I-I know the way back. We're almost there." Dipper replied. Sam released his arm, clapping a hand on his shoulder.
"Lead the way."
Dipper lead them through the woods at a slightly slower pace, but still what one could consider breakneck speeds. He couldn't transfer his knowledge of the local terrain to the Winchesters, and their little party was punctuated by the occasional curse courtesy of Dean. Soon the forest was lit by more than the moon, and they found themselves approaching the back of the tourist trap they'd visited earlier.
Clear of the woods, Dipper bolted up to the back porch, calling for his sister. Sam and Dean were slower to follow, quickly surveying the yard for any kind of menacing shadow. The woods were quiet save the buzz of insects and average nighttime fauna, and their only mishap was when Sam nearly trod on a goat. It brayed at them, then leapt into the shadows.
"I dunno about you, but I don't see any gnomes. Seems we're the scariest things out here." Dean said dryly, tucking his pistol back into the back of his pants. "Let's head inside."
Sam poked his head inside the door, instantly relieved to find Dipper's sister chattering away in the dingy dining area. She was fussing over his scrapes and bruises, mouth running a mile a minute as Dipper tried to both bat her away and respond to her.
"- see I thought they had given up last time when we- oh! Who're you?" She cut herself off as she caught sight of the Winchesters. Dipper took the moments distraction to escape.
"They scared off the gnomes! They might be able to help us."
She gave them a critical eye, pursing her lips and scrunching her nose.
" Were you here earlier today? I think I remember you from the gift shop. Aren't introductions in order?"
She shoved a hand out and gave them a big smile.
"My name's Mabel, and you've already met my dorky brother, Dipper!"
Sam took her hand, momentarily surprised at her strong grip.
"I'm Sam Winchester, and this is my brother Dean."
The moment was interrupted when the red head he had seen the other night in the diner came sauntering down the creaky stairs. In her hands was a first aid kit, probably for the intent of cleaning out Dipper's cuts. One of her finely shaped eyebrows rose at their presence.
"And this is Wendy!" Mabel said, giving the red head a grin.
"Friends of yours?" she asked the twins. Dipper shrugged, and slouched into a worn yellow armchair. He pulled out a notebook in a fashion that seemed weirdly familiar to Dean, and started scribbling into the worn pages.
"They saved Dipper from the gnomes!" Mabel exclaimed.
"Oh, nice."
Wendy opened the first aid kit and began to swipe at Dipper's scratches with disinfectant, making him wince. Dean, his attention now split between his need to know what the hell was going on and the new distraction of a hot woman suddenly being in the room, was glad when Sam spoke up.
" We'd like to know, what was that?" The three citizens of the Oregon town shared a look, discomfort evident on their faces.
"It's kind of late tonight." Mabel dodged the question. "Why don't we meet up at the diner tomorrow? That way we can have more time to chat, and we won't risk waking Grunkle Stan."
At the mention of the grumpy man, who must have been the same 'Mr. Mystery' who ran the over-priced tour, Dean became aware of the occasional loud snore reverberating through the walls.
"Yeah, we could probably convince Stan to let us out for lunch. If not, we could just sneak out, he wouldn't notice it anyway." Wendy supplied with a grin at the twins, as if sharing some kind of inside joke.
"Fine." Dean grunted. " Just don't try to bail on us. We know where you live."
A slightly concerned frown graced Dipper's face, but both Mabel and Wendy chuckled. Slapping one last Band-Aid haphazardly onto Dipper's arm, she stood and addressed Sam and Dean.
" Do you guys need a ride back to your car?" she jingled her own keys, and then strode out the door, not looking to see if they were following. They tagged along, following her out to a beat-up pickup truck parked in the lot empty save for a car in worse condition.
During the ride, they found out that she'd lived in Gravity Falls most of her life. She lived with her three brothers and her dad, who was nicknamed Manly Dan and was well known for being the manliest guy in the area. She'd made this comment not moments after Dean had been staring at her, and Sam recognized it as a hint to back off. She'd known the twins for four years.
"You're still working at the shack, right?" Sam said. She nodded.
"It's not the best pay, but I like hanging out with Dipper and Mabel. There's never a boring day with those two around."
Much to Dean's displeasure, their trip in the ysoon came to the end, as they had found where they'd left the Impala. After giving an impressed whistle at the Chevy, which heightened Dean's image of the girl even further, she bid then farewell.
" Might see ya tomorrow then, if we can pull off our escape successfully," she said before driving away into the dark.
Traveling through the woods at a surprising speed for their small limbs, the fleeing gnomes soon returned to the location at which they had decided to regroup with the rest of their brethren. In the clearing, a group of them were currently making attempts to form a small gnome-monster. The small formation tottered, and the gnomes fell to the ground with grunts and cries of surprise.
From his position off to the side, Jeff, the leader of the gnomes, ran forward shouting, "No no no! You have to coordinate! Carson, you're supposed to let them know what to do!" He continued to reprimand the other gnomes, but was soon distracted by the appearance of his colleagues that were significantly lacking a teenage captive.
"Where's the kid!?" he shouted at them, and their only real reply was to nervously shuffle. Jeff had always been the most unique of the gnomes, being the most vocal. Their society worked much like a bee-hive, with the queen making the decisions. As their society had been lacking a queen for quite some time, Jeff had adopted the role. He was a good commander, but nothing could replace the coordination wrought by the commands of an actual queen. Finally, the quieter gnomes relayed the event, each speaking a fraction of a sentence.
Jeff tugged angrily at his hat, stamping his stubby limbs on the soft forest floor.
"That stupid kid, keeps getting in our way!" After another minute or so of his tantrum, Jeff turned to his fellow gnomes, who were onlookers to the familiar scene.
Pointing to a section of them, Jeff commanded, "Continue the watch, we'll just have to wait for another chance. And next time, get me before you make a decision!" The group scurried off, to make another attempt at a task they had failed to achieve for the past four years.
I edited a section of this chapter quite a bit in an attempt to make it flow a bit better. Please excuse any inconsistencies caused by this change, should you find them!
Hope you enjoy! And thanks for the reviews : )
Missa