"Dude, I didn't even get to order any pie." Dean complained as he slid behind the wheel of the Impala.
"Life doesn't revolve around your stomach Dean." Sam replied, one eyebrow cocked. The Pines twins had ran out prior to their leaving, taking off in their rickety golf-cart before they had even left the diner. Dipper had even left his journal in his rush to return to their great uncle's house. Sam currently held the notebook, flipping through the carefully maintained pages. He held it up, catching Dean's attention soon after he'd pulled out of the parking lot.
"Remind you of anything?" A grey look crossed Dean's face.
" I pray to whatever god is out there those kids don't turn out to be hunters Sammy. It's a tough life."
Dipper's notebook had struck a chord in both brothers' memories. Memories of nights in dingy motels, lying in bed or watching stupid cartoons on television while their father hunched over his own monster record. Their contents might host a largely different range of creatures, but it was a spitting image of their father's journal. The journal of an experienced hunter. Neither of them would ever wish that kind of life on anyone, let alone a 16 year old. The rest of the ride was passed in a contemplative, and slightly uncomfortable, silence.
When they arrived at the Mystery Shack, Stan was disappearing into the museum with another group of gullible tourists. Sam and Dean snuck into the shop to find Wendy slouched at the register, her muddied boots crossed on the counter and magazine in hand. She gave them a smirk, and then nodded her head to the door labeled 'Employees Only'.
"They went in there. Go on in," she said, before returning her attention to her magazine. The two of them pushed open the creaky door and passed into the kitchen section of the house. Mabel was lounging in the tattered yellow armchair, and Dipper was frantically tearing through the room.
Sam held up his journal.
"Looking for this?" A relieved look passed his face, and Sam handed it off to him. Content that he had his notebook, Dipper returned to the kitchen and sat at the high table, soon followed by Mabel. Flipping through the pages a moment, he tugged loose a folded piece of paper. Setting the journal aside, he unfolded it, revealing a marked up map of Gravity Falls. Unlike the touristy map they had picked up at the motel, this one had a decent cover of the area. Along with the average lines and marks depicting roads and major landmarks of the town, handwritten notes and marks covered the page. Dipper trailed his finger over the page, before stopping at a large red X.
"So we're here," the pointed to another spot on the page. "And this is where we first met the gnomes."
"Well technically I was the first to meet them, in the cemetery." Mabel piped up. Dipper nodded.
"We saw them a couple other places, but I've been told they live in the forest in general."
Dean, who had leant against the table in order to get a better look of the map, asked, "Who'd you hear that from?" Dippers eyes cast downward, and Mabel began to giggle once again.
"Well?"
Dipper shrugged. "The Manotaurs told me. They've told me a bit of stuff about the creatures in Gravity Falls." Sam gave him a look.
"I thought you said you didn't like them?" A slightly disgruntled look passed the teenager's face.
" I, um, well... Look, they're just kind of jerks. I don't really want to talk about it." Sam took a moment to realize that a very faint blush was coming over his face, as if reminiscing about an embarrassing moment. Mabel seemed unfazed by Dipper's sudden gloom, and began to prod him in the stomach.
"You're just jealous because they have more chest hair than you."
"No I'm not!"
"You are! You are!"
This then devolved into a tickle fight, but resulted in an alleviation of Dipper's foul mood.
"So what's the plan for gnome catching?" Sam said, deciding to bring the conversation back to their biggest current issue. He looked pointedly at Dipper, who had seemed to be conjuring up a plan when he'd run off.
"Well," he started," I was thinking that if they're split up, it might be easier to confuse them, right? So we find some way to set a trap, capture one, then... go on from there! I guess..."
He petered off, a slightly embarrassed look now on his face. It was partially obvious he hadn't thought it through.
Dean spoke up, " How 'bout we take care of the trap. We're more experienced in pulling things out of their hiding places. We just have one thing to ask of you..."
When Dean had asked for Dipper to do something, the last thing he expected was to be used as bait. But then, here he was, walking aimlessly through the woods, awaiting the possible gnome ambush to come his way. If they even showed up. Had the creatures been more intelligent, Dipper would have worried that they would pick onto his unnatural behavior, but it was unlikely unless Jeff was also in the vicinity. Where he normally walked at a speedy pace through the woods, he was now hardly moving, lingering near where Dean, Sam, and Mabel were hiding. They were prepared this time, with less of a chance of Dipper's being carried off.
Now that he had knew of the threat, Dipper's eyes couldn't help but be drawn to each shadow, every unnatural movement in the trees around him. Where he was usually absorbed in his own thoughts, his entire being was alert to the probable chance of attack. So, when an animalistic squeal made itself heard behind him, he easily dodged out of the way of the clumsy ambush. They were in a smaller amount than their previous attack, and seemed more out of sync than before. So when Sam and Dean emerged from their cover with guns blazing, their minor semblance of control fell to pieces.
Despite the brother's not actually aiming for the creatures, as per a request of the twins, the gnomes were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Their terrorized confusion allowed for Mabel to easily capture one. Soon the rest of the gnomes had crawled away, leaving only one, currently enclosed in a sack clutched in Mabel's hands.
"Huh." Dean said, looking around the now empty clearing. "That went well."
Sam received the sack from Mabel, securing the opening with a length of rope.
"Should we head back to the shack?" he asked. Mabel nodded.
"I think that'd be better than staying in the woods."
Dipper returned to her side, saying, "What, afraid they might kidnap you again?"
She smiled and returned the banter, "They seemed more interested in you this time! Maybe they're looking for a king this time."
They continued their joking argument through the car ride in the Winchester's supposedly fancy car, though Dipper didn't see what was so important about it. That was one 'guy' thing he'd never become invested in. He much preferred the riddles he was faced with in Gravity Falls, or learning about the various lore and legends that were abound in the internet. When Dean had made the spiel about the importance of the car, Dipper had caught the slight roll of his brother's eyes. It seemed that Sam shared in Dipper's lack of investment in vehicles. They returned to the shack, but on the possibility of running into Grunkle Stan or any of the tourists with their hostage, they opted for remaining in a nearby clearing in the woods.
Wendy had managed to trick Soos into watching the shop for her and joined the rag-tag group, interested in seeing a gnome when it wasn't attempting to claw her eyes out. They stood in the clearing, positioned in a loose circle so as to discourage their gnome from escaping. Also for that intent, each had some sort of blunt weapon, provided by the strange Winchester brothers. The sack was untied and tossed into the center of their gathering. The gnome struggled to get out of the coarse fabric, and soon a red-capped head appeared out of the opening of the bag. It shook free of the rest of the enclosure, revealing a shaggy grey beard, slightly offset eyes, and buck teeth.
Dipper let loose a groan beside her at the sight of this gnome. Mabel, on his other side, also sported an uncharacteristically glum expression.
"What's wrong?" Wendy asked, elbowing Dipper in an attempt to cheer him up.
He pulled a hand over his face, then muttered quietly, "That's Shmebulock..."
Laughter built up in her chest, and after a moment of trying to contain it she let loose in a burst. Sam and Dean looked at her questioningly, and Dipper's forlorn expression only deepened.
"What?" Dean's gaze whipped between them and the gnome, who was still acting out of sorts. Dipper moved his hand to cover his mouth, saying with more clarity, "He's not the most... competent gnome."
The last encounter they'd had with the gnomes, which Wendy had happily been a part of, they'd seen more of the individual personalities of the gnomes. Jeff had been further revealed to be the only competent one there. The rest had held an intelligence level base with one another. Shmebulock had been the exception. His actions gave image to one of slight brain damage. Although he could follow orders with only partially sub-par accuracy, he had fewer original thoughts than his smarter hive-minded brethren. Dipper's lack of enthusiasm at the sight of him spoke wonders on how useless he would probably turn out to their cause.
Dean, who'd taken to staring at her chest or ass when he thought she wasn't looking, took a step toward the creature. It squealed and tried to escape, but was quickly swept up into the air. He hung suspended from the back of his shirt, clawing at the air and snarling. Dean shook him a bit, and he stopped his animalistic act with a short mumble of "Shmebulock..." Dean glanced up at the group around him.
"So how're we going to use this little bastard?"
Heyo!
Sorry for the late update, I know its been a couple weeks. I've been crazy busy adjusting to college life, and the Wifi connection has still been hit or miss. Luckily I procured an Ethernet cable, so I've got access to slightly more stable connection :) I will try to keep with the every weekend update schedule, but if not then at least every 2 weeks or so. College is a whole new crazy experience; just today I got locked out of my dorm (even though I had my key) by a faulty door knob. Fun!
Hope you enjoy the chapter!
-Missa