The mattress was lumpy, and there was a hole in the ceiling. Dipper gazed out of it wistfully, before realizing he couldn't sleep. He just wasn't tired enough. He grumbled, and sighed, and went back downstairs, and outside. He saw Wirt, hard at work, gathering wood. "Could I help you? I can't sleep." Dipper said.
Wirt nodded, and handed him the smaller of the two axes. "Gather twigs and small branches, and do not stray from the lantern's light."
The shorter one nodded. "Right..." He began to scour the ground, picking up any wood he found. When his hands were full, he returned to the light of lantern, and placed them beside it, where Wirt had begun a pile.
Wirt worked hard at big branches, cutting them into sizable pieces, and putting them in the pile. He always kept an eye on his precious lantern, no matter what he was doing.
Dipper began to work up a sweat, and get more tired. He finished another handful, and went to put it with the rest. He sighed, not really knowing what he was doing, and tripped over the lantern, exposing its inside to the cool night air.
Wirt's expression went from disbelief to anger in half a second. He began to shake, his entire body, and Dipper crawled backwards, on his butt.
Branches or roots seemed to reach up from the ground, going around Wirt's legs, up his torso, down his arms, up to his head. They branches out all over his body, and Wirt's eyes rolled back as they did.
Still shaking, his eyes closed. The branches that gone to the sides of his head branched out like deer antlers.
Finally, the change stopped, as he opened his eyes, to reveal black swirls, with white light glowing through them. He reached down, and picked up the lantern, his branches or whatever disconnected from the ground.
Dipper was frozen on shock, on the ground.
A deep voice escaped the taller boy's lips. "You shouldn't have done that, child."
The cowering boy shook. "W-Wirt?" he stuttered, eyes wide, fear potrayed in every aspect of him.
The pale creature in front of him cracked a smile. "No... I am the one you call... The Beast."
Dipper suddenly started moving. He stood up, and started running in the other direction, as fast as he could. It was hard, he was so tired. Why had he let Wirt guide him? It was a mistake, Wirt was the Beast after all...
"You just can't get enough of me, can ya?" asked a voice behind him he knew all too well. Dipper let out a pained groan.