Orion
SUMMARY: When Dipper goes out into the woods he meets an unexpected new friend.
MAIN CHARACTERS: Dipper Pines, Stanford Pines, and Orion
MINOR CHARACTERS: Mabel Pines and Stan Pines
Dipper was walking through the woods, trying to find wild fruit to gather for the Shack since he wasn't trusted with a gun for the time being so he could hunt.
It had been a week since he started his medicine, and he and Ford just got back from their therapy session an hour before Dipper went into the woods. The family was hesitant to let Dipper be by himself, mainly Ford because of the previous suicide attempt, and were worried for him. Dipper understood where they were coming from, if it had been Mabel he wouldn't want to leave her side, but he had to alone for a little bit to be with his thoughts.
As he walked, the crisp fall leaves crunching beneath his weight, he heard a soft mew. He stops and shakes his head. Did he just imagine that? Another soft mew. Dipper looks around until he heard the mew again from above, and sure enough when he looked up at the tree he was by there was a solid black kitten on the branch, trembling and looking terrified.
"Oh my God!" Dipper exclaims, his brown eyes round and wide with disbelief. "How'd you get up there, little fella?" He looks at the tree to see if he could find a path for him to climb safely. "I'll get you down, kitty!" he calls. He beings to climb the tree, him grunting with effort and hissing in pain when his hands became scratched by the bark. After a few minutes he manages to get to the branch where the kitten was.
Dipper clicked his tongue, trying to get the kitten's attention. The kitten looks at him, its eyes were a bright yellow, and the pupil's a slit. His heart drops to the pit of his stomach… those eyes looked like Bill's, and it made him extremely uneasy as his mind flashes to Bill and his insane laughter.
The kitten suddenly walks to Dipper on the narrow branch, it making a purring sound. It rubbed its head on Dipper's hand, causing him to scream and be snapped out of his trance. However, he lost his balance and he falls over to the side, crashing to the dirt floor, his wrist screaming in pain as he noticed the instant swelling. His glasses got knocked off his face and landed beside him.
"OOF!" Dipper gasps when a small weight crashes onto his chest. He blinks the dizziness from his vision, seeing the kitten's gaze on him. It mewed softly at him and rubbed on him. "What that hell!?" Dipper shouts as he sits up abruptly, the kitten sliding down into his lap. He then hisses in pain when he moved his wrist, it swollen. Dipper couldn't tell if it was sprained or broken. With his non-injured hand he went and grabbed his glasses to put back on his face.
Something then catches his eye, a strange fur pattern on the kitten. The pattern was a bright white, standing out in the kitten's midnight black fur, almost resembling stars in the night sky. As Dipper looked more closely, he noticed it was actually a pattern. "Orion…?" Dipper whispers aloud. He then takes off his traditional pine tree hat and lifted up his tuft of brown hair, revealing his Big Dipper birthmark. "Huh… you got a star constellation too…"
The kitten's eyes light up, as if it wanted Dipper to make the connection. It mewed joyously as it began rubbing on Dipper's injured wrist, causing him to wince, but after a minute the pain subsided and when he looked at it the wrist was no longer swollen. Gingerly, he flexes it and goes through the range of motion, it having no pain whatsoever.
"I've heard of therapy animals…" Dipper comments. "But this is different…" he then gives a smile and rolls his eyes. "Only in Gravity Falls is there a magical healing kitten with a star constellation in its fur." He then stands up and picks the kitten up, cradling it in his arms. He checks the gender and it was revealed to be male. "Hello, little boy," he murmured to the kitten. "You are coming home with me, wait until Grunkle Ford sees this!"
Stan sat in the kitchen reading the newspaper, him drinking a can of Pit Cola in between articles.
The news wasn't very exciting, it never really was in Gravity Falls. He just rolls his eyes at random things that stated about raccoons breaking into garages and stealing trash. The news may be ridiculous in Gravity Falls, but he rather have that then everything in Weirdmageddon any day of the week.
Ford was helping Mabel with dinner, him cutting vegetables while she seasoned the meat to prepare it for the oven. Waddles sat by Ford, the old scientist occasionally giving the pet pig some celery and corn. The back door that lead to the kitchen opened up, causing the three Pines to lift their heads, seeing Dipper coming in with… a kitten?
"Woah, kiddo, watcha got there?" Stan asks curiously.
"Oh, Grunkle Stan!" Dipper cheers enthusiastically. He then sees Ford and greets him with the same tone. "So, I was in the woods trying to find some edible fruits and crap when I heard this little guy in a tree!" Dipper then lifts the kitten, his hands underneath its underarms. The kitten was purring and looking to the other Pines' with wide eyes.
The first thing Stan noticed on the kitten was the fur pattern. "Oh, look at that! He's gotta little star pattern like you!" Stan exclaimed, him giving the kitten a little pat on its head. "Which one is it again…?" he asks, unsure.
"It's Orion." Dipper informs his great uncle. "It's a major star constellation."
Mabel squeals with excitement when she saw the kitten. She runs up to Dipper and the kitten, causing both skittish things to jump back. "OH MY GOD IT IS SO CUTE!" she squeals, her voice going high pitch into an octave that caused the Pines men to grimace. "WE HAVE TO KEEP HIM!"
"No." Ford finally said, his voice callous. His eyes glared at the kitten, only seeing one thing. The practically glowing yellow eyes.
Dipper looked crestfallen. "B-but, Grunkle Ford!" Dipper stammers.
"Aw c'mon, Stanford, let the kid have the damn cat," Stan snorts. "It's a fricken cat, it's a lot easier to handle than a pig, that's for sure."
"I said, 'no', Stanley!" Ford snaps, he throws his hand out, knocking down the plate of vegetables onto the ground, Waddles immediately chowing down on them.
"B-but…" Dipper tried to explain. "This kitten is an anomaly… I fell out of the tree to help it and hurt my wrist… he healed it."
"Dipper, you know better than anyone else in this room why I think keeping that kitten is bad." Ford states, him still glaring at the small creature.
Dipper cradles the kitten again, seeing its eyes. He then admits, "That's… what made me fall out of the tree… but, it's harmless. Orion isn't Bill… he's a cat."
Ford sputters, "You named it?! Once you name something you get attached to it!" He pinches the bridge of his nose, rubbing the corners of his eyes. "I said 'no', you're not keeping it." He states again, his voice hard and it was bubbling with anger.
"Him." Dipper insists, his tone equal to Ford's. "Orion's a him."
Stan glances between the two. He gets up and throws the newspaper on the table and walks up to his twin. "Look, I know you think it's a bad idea… but it's just a cat… what can happen? Give it a day, Sixer." He says to Ford.
Ford gives a glare that reminded Stan so much of their father that he actually flinched. "Stanley, I said 'no' and that is my final answer." He growls lowly. He then turns to his great nephew. "Dipper, take it back to where you found it. Now."
The teenager scoffs, "Yeah, that's fair, Mabel can keep a damn pig that can eat dead bodies to get rid of evidence but I can't have a cat." He adjusts the kitten in his arms and heads for the door, both Stan and Mabel giving him a look of sympathy. "I thought you would be excited to see this cat given what he did… he's even like me with the star constellation…" Then with a hard glare to Ford he opens the door. "Well, I was wrong once again in my life. Bye." He slams it behind him, making the old wood rattle.
After a moment of silence Mabel then shouts, "Grunkle Ford! Why would you be so mean to Dipper!?" it looked like she was about to cry. "Especially with all that he had went through… this is the first time I've ever seen him excited about an animal. Back in Piedmont we had a cat but it didn't like Dipper much, and it made him feel bad thinking there was something wrong with him."
Stan then speaks up, "And man… you sounded just like Dad when we tried to bring that three legged puppy home." His eyes glaze over with the memory. "Remember that? He literally picked up the little guy and threw it out in the thunderstorm. And two days later we found it on the side of the road dead because it got hit by a car."
Ford winced at that statement. He then played back what he said to Dipper, thinking that he did sound a lot like Filbrick Pines. How he called the kitten an "it" and yelling at Dipper for naming it.
The Big Dipper and Orion… Ford thought to himself with some amusement. That's… quite a pair.
Ford sighs as he rubs the back of his head. "Okay… maybe I was a little too harsh…" he admits, his face slacking into a sad grimace.
"A little?!" Mabel screeches.
"Okay… a lot." Ford fully admits. "I'll… go find Dipper and tell him he can keep it…" He then heads out the door, calling for Dipper. But the only response was a scream.
Dipper was walking in the woods once again, him grumbling to himself angrily.
"Calling you an 'it', Orion. That's rude!" Dipper mumbles. He honestly wanted to take the kitten into town and see if someone wanted it, but something in his gut decided against it. "Maybe I can sneak you back in the house," Dipper plans. "Mabel would definitely help me with hiding you." The kitten purred in response.
As he was passing the tree in which he met the kitten, a growling was then heard in a nearby bush. Dipper starts to sweat in panic, he had no weapon and if it was demon or some other kind of supernatural thing he had no way to defend himself.
Shit… oh, shit…!
Slowly, he backs up, trying to get away from the bush. There was a snap of a stepped on twig, causing Dipper to gasp. The leaves rustle and a large canine demon steps out, its fur as black as black hole void, its fur moving like a ghostly flame. Its eyes were a bright crimson, and when he bared its teeth they were stained a rust red from a recent feeding.
Orion hisses, baring its small teeth. He then tried to swat toward the monster, its white claws unsheathed.
"NO!" shrieked Dipper, fearing that the hiss would aggravate the canine demon.
And it was. It pounced towards Dipper and he couldn't help but scream loudly. He had no way to defend himself and if he tried to run he'd get caught and torn apart. Orion suddenly jumps from Dipper's arms, causing his eyes to go wide with fear.
But as Orion's paws hit the ground, he was no longer a kitten. Orion shifted into something that was the same size as the canine demon. His midnight black fur becoming a living shadow with its bright white Orion star constellation pattern glowing, the tail fluffed out but resembling black flames. Orion's teeth had become much larger and when he bared them his hiss became a roar. His ears were parted back, and his fur was standing on end, ready to attack.
The canine demon growls and starts to circle around, Orion mimicking it. The two paced around each other, the canine trying to find a way around Orion to get to Dipper. It snapped it jaws, causing Orion to move forward in defense to try to stop the demon. The demon sidesteps and gets around Orion, its stained teeth snapping at Dipper.
Dipper screams loudly and falls backwards, his glasses nearly falling off his face, hoping someone would at least hear him. He thought to himself bitterly that after everything he had went through he was going to be killed by a simple demon.
Just as the canine went to bite into his flesh, a bright blue plasma beam shot out from nowhere and it hit the monster. Orion found the right moment to attack and went and pounced on the demon, his large, knife-like claws ripping into the canine's pelt.
Hands grab underneath Dipper's arms and pulls him away from the roaring of the monsters. Dipper turns his head to see Ford, the old man grunting with effort to get them out of there.
"Dipper!" Ford shouts with worry. "Are you okay? Did it hurt you? Where's Orion?" he started to spew many questions that Dipper wasn't following. Dipper's gaze had then turned to the fighting monsters.
"Orion's… a cat demon…" Dipper barely whispered, his eyes brimming with tears. "And… he was protecting me."
Orion roars loudly as his flank was slashed at, but he used his tail to swat at the canine, causing it screech loudly as the tail sudden fluffed up in golden flames, burning the monster. While the demon was distracted Orion once again pounced on it and pins it to the ground. It bared its teeth and roared in the canines face. The canine barked in a demented way, its voice sound like an auto tune shrill. It was suddenly cut off when Orion bites down in its neck and rips out its throat. The shrill turned into a gurgle, black blood pooling from the wound.
Ford looks to the creature with disbelief. "I… I can't believe it…" he softly says. "You… found a Creature of Grimm…"
"A… what?" Dipper asks in shock.
"They are demons that are attracted to people with a dark past." Ford explains almost automatically, like reading from a book. "They absorb all that negative energy and that's what gives them their power to transform…" As he was speaking Orion shifted back to his kitten form and jumped into Dipper's lap, purring and rubbing his face all over the boy. "I've… never met one… and this one is just a baby by the looks of it. He must've just came into existence, sensing you…"
Dipper looks to his great uncle in awe. "You're saying he was born for me?" Dipper asks.
Ford nods. "That can explain why he has a star constellation on him… that's one of your first dark memories right? Kids making fun of your Big Dipper birthmark." He then elaborates.
Dipper absently pets the kitten, it mewing with happiness. He couldn't help but smile at that statement. He then picks the kitten up and gives it a hug. "Thanks, Orion," he tells the creature. "You protected me, you're a good boy…"
Ford then gently pets the kitten on its head, causing Dipper's eyes to widen with happiness. The old scientist gives the young man a slight nod, causing the boy to jump up.
"You're serious, Grunkle Ford?!" Dipper shouts happily. "I can keep him!?"
Ford gives a smile, looking at Orion's eyes. For the first time he didn't see eyes that resembled Bill Cipher's, but eyes that looked like the moon in the night sky, round and golden. "Yes, Dipper, you can keep him." Ford confirms. Just as Dipper was about to say his thanks Ford holds up a finger. "But, on one condition," He then gives a very boyish smile, like when he got excited to play Dungeons, Dungeons, and more Dungeons. "You and I are going to study him together and learn more about his species, and what better way then back at the Mystery Shack?"
Dipper puts down Orion and gives Ford a tight hug. "Thank you! Thank you so much! And hell yeah I'll help you with studying him!"
Dipper and Orion… they are indeed a pair… Ford thinks to himself, and he couldn't help but smile when seeing how happy his great nephew was.
A/N: Hey guys! I had this idea for a little bit after seeing the AU on tumblr where Stan had met a Grimm Dog. SO I thought that maybe Dipper could have a cat and I gave these versions of Grimm a different kind of backstory.
The next short story won't be heavily be about Dipper or Ford, I'm going to give the others some stories.
Thanks for reading as always!
~Skye Hendersen~