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A 16 year old boy stepped out of the driver’s side of an old, navy blue pickup truck. Standing at 5 feet 8 inches tall, he wore a pair of black high-top sneakers, dark blue boot-cut jeans, and a red flannel zip-up hoodie which he left unzipped to show his black tee shirt with a white pine tree on it. His sister had insisted that he needed something with his symbol from the Cipher zodiac on it after he traded hats with Wendy, so she ordered him a bunch of those shirts for him to wear. His dark brown, shaggy hair fell freely around his head, and his face was adorned with a thin framed pair of round glasses. All those late nights of reading and/or gaming had pretty much destroyed his eyesight. He still had a slightly wiry build, but that could often times be deceiving. Years of being out on these kinds of missions had built him up a decent amount of practical muscle under his seemingly small frame.
“Thanks again for agreeing to come help me out with this on such short notice, Pacifica.” He said as he closed his door.
Out of the passenger side door, a 16 year old girl stepped down to the dirt of the forest floor, standing only an inch shorter than Dipper. Her long, blonde hair was twisted into a tight braid that fell behind her, with curtain bangs across her forehead. She kept her makeup to just “the necessities” as she usually ended up sweating a lot when she came out with the Pines twins. She wore a dark purple faux-leather jacket over a solid black tank top, a tight light blue pair of jeans, and black combat boots. She wasn’t really the biggest fan of the boots, and she didn’t particularly like having her hair in a braid either. But she’d gone on enough adventures with Dipper and Mabel to have learned from her past mistakes. Long, flowing hair was a great way to get grabbed by whatever might be chasing you, and shoes with heels are a great way to trip over rocks, or tree roots, or really anything that’s even slightly higher than ground level.
“No problem, Dip. You know I love doing shit my parents wouldn’t approve of.” She lightly nudged his arm with her elbow.
He chuckled. “What do they even think you’re doing right now?”
“All I told them was that I was going to hang out with a friend, and that I’d probably be sleeping over.” She replied. “Technically, not a lie. Also, I’m staying over at the Shack tonight.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll text Mabel now and have her set up an air mattress for you.”
“So, what’s wrong with her? You said she wasn’t feeling well. You know, I’ve gotten pretty good at making chicken noodle soup. I could make her some tonight.” She offered.
Dipper chuckled a little harder this time. “I don’t know how much soup would help her, but I still might take you up on that offer.” He smiled over to her, which was met with a playful glare. “Grunkle Stan let her have some beer last night. Well, some beer turned into a lot of beer, turned into several shots of Fireball, turned into whatever she could get her hands on. Needless to say, she was not in the best shape to come on an adventure today.”
“Oh, my God!” Pacifica giggled and shook her head. “That girl needs to learn some impulse control. How come you guys didn’t just go tomorrow then?”
“Stan and Ford are heading back out on their boat next week, and Ford needs what we’re about to go get to finish modifying it.” He explained. “He’s trying to build a teleportation engine on to the boat, so it won’t take them weeks to get to new areas of weirdness.”
“Teleportation!?” Her eyes went wide. “That’s actually possible?”
“Well, not yet.” He corrected. “So far, none of his tests have been successful. Any time it’s come close, his power source would blow up. That’s what we’re here to find. According to Ford, there are some crystals deep in this cave that hold seemingly infinite amounts of energy.”
“So, why didn’t he just start by using the crystals in the first place?” She asked.
“I…uhhhh…” he furrowed his brow and tilted his head. “That’s a great question actually. I’m not sure.”
They both chuckled for a moment before Pacifica spoke. “Well, we should probably get going then. We’re burning daylight.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” He dug into his tan canvas backpack and pulled out a flashlight before slinging the bag over his shoulders. “Let’s go.”
They entered the cave and walked in silence for a few minutes before Dipper finally broke it. “So, how are your parents doing? Still as horrible as I remember?”
“Well, they’ve gotten slightly better, but they’ve still got a long way to go.” She explained. “They still expect perfection from me in both my school life and around all their friends. They still expect me to marry myself off to one of their friend’s sons. Pretty much the only freedom I’ve been granted was them being more lenient on letting me go out with friends, but that really only matters when you guys are in town. All my old friends from private school are more like my parent than I realized, so I don’t really hang with them anymore.” Her voice got quiet as she finished her thought. “It’s…a really lonely 8 and a half months when you guys are gone.”
Dipper put a hand on her shoulder. “Yeah, I feel that too. When we’re back home, all me and Mabel want is to be back here. I mean, I’m lucky to have her with me all the time, but, besides her, my best friend back in Cali is my history teacher.”
“Pfffft!” She laughed. “Of course you’re friends with your teachers.”
“Hey, he’s a chill dude!” He defended. “Anyway, Mabel and I have already decided that, as soon as we graduate, we’re moving out here.”
Pacifica’s eyes lit up. “Really!?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t w- oof.” He was cut off by Pacifica throwing her arms around his neck and burying her face into his shoulder.
“Thank God.” She mumbled into his hoodie. “I’m not sure how many more of these school years I could take.”
Dipper tentatively wrapped an arm around her waist. While they were pretty close now, hugs from Pacifica were usually given to Mabel rather than him. “Well, just 2 more to go. Think you can manage that, Paz?”
“Yeah…yeah I can.” She began pulling back from the hug. Her hand ran down his arm, and her fingers grazed his for just a moment. “Umm…sorry about that.” She chuckled softly as she apologized. “That was just the best news I’ve gotten in a long time.”
“It’s fine, Pacifica. I don’t mind getting hugs from you. Brings me back to that night with the lumberjack ghost at the manor.”
“Oh!” Pacifica suddenly remembered something as they continued walking. “Speaking of that night, guess what my parents have stopped doing?”
“Exploiting and ignoring the less fortunate for their own financial gain?” Dipper guessed sarcastically.
“Ha! Fat chance on that one. They stopped using that damn bell. Finally realized it doesn’t work on me anymore. Thanks to someone,” she nudged his shoulder, “giving me the strength to stand up to them.”
“I didn’t give you that strength. It was always there inside you. I just helped you bring it out.”
She was grateful that she was walking slightly behind him, so he couldn’t see her cheeks developing a subtle pink hue. “Well, either way, you made me a better person that day, and you still continue to help make me a better person. I don’t know how I can ever repay you for that.”
“You don’t need to repay me for anything, Paz.” He stated firmly. “Just you being around is enough. I really enjoy spending time with you.”
Pacifica didn’t respond. She was too busy trying to hide the huge smile that had appeared on her face, and wiping a tear from her eye.
“Although…” Dipper started. “That chicken noodle soup did sound pretty good.”
Pacifica burst out into laughter. “Oh, my God! You’re the worst!” She pushed him hard in the shoulder, causing him to stumble to the side for a moment. “Will you ever shut up about the damn soup?”
“Hey, you’re the one who originally brought it up! Now you’ve got me curious about your cooking abilities.” He confessed.
“Fine, fine. I promise I’ll make you some at some point this summer.” She relented.
They walked for a while longer, mostly just making small talk about school or jobs that they’ve tried. Eventually, they came across something interesting. There was a long, smooth stone that seemed to be lying next to the cave wall. On the rock were several glowing crystals, some red, some blue, and a couple of purple ones as well.
“Are these what we’re looking for?” Pacifica asked.
“Uh, I don’t think so. One sec, hold this for me please.” He handed her the flashlight and pulled out a journal. “Hmmm…says here they should be pink, so this must be something else.”
“Damn. Can’t be that easy I guess.” Pacifica said. “Can we sit for a minute? My knees are killing me.”
“Yeah, I could use a break too.” Dipper agreed.
They both sat down on the large stone. Dipper put the journal back in his bag and pulled out a metal water bottle, taking a big drink from it. “You want some?” He offered the bottle out to Pacifica.
She hesitated a moment, just staring at the bottle, but decided that her and Dipper were close enough that she didn’t mind the idea of sharing a bottle with him. “Yeah, thanks.” She took the bottle and handed the flashlight back to Dipper.
“You know, Paz,” Dipper said while she took a drink, “I’m kinda surprised you took so well to adventuring with us. I never would’ve guessed you’d love it so much back when we met.”
“Neither would I. 12 year old me would be appalled by the decisions I’ve made since then.” She admitted. “It really changed after the manor ghost. It was terrifying while it was happening, but, when it was over, I found myself missing the adrenaline of it all. Whether it was from the actual ghost hunt, or just from defying my parents, I wanted more.”
“Yeah, the adrenaline can be…intoxicating.” He had a big grin and was staring at the ceiling, seemingly reliving some of his favorite adventures.
“Why did you call me, anyway? Instead of someone like…that redhead from the gift shop. She’d probably be better suited for something like this than I am.”
“Oh, Wendy? Well, partly because she’s on a camping trip with her family right now, but mostly it’s because you were the first person that came to mind when I needed a partner.” He explained. “And you’re plenty suited for these adventures! I can’t even count the times you’ve gotten me or Mabel out of a sticky situation.”
“That’s true.” She laughed. “I always seem to be getting you guys out of trouble. Though, sometimes I get you into that trouble in the first place.”
“Eh, life’s boring without getting into a little trouble here and there.”
They both laughed together for a moment, until they were interrupted by the stone they were sitting on beginning to shift around. The pair quickly got up and moved to the other side of the tunnel, Dipper returning the bottle to his backpack. The rock stood up on 4 thick legs. It had what appeared to be a flat shell-like cover on its back, and a large clubbed tail with crystalline spikes on each end. It only stood at about 4 and a half feet tall, but it was easily 8 feet long from head to tail.
“Dipper, what are we looking at?” She whispered.
“It almost looks like an ankylosaurus, but completely made of stone and crystal. Maybe it’s some kind of construct? Pieces of stone being controlled by a dino spirit? I’m not really sure.”
The dinosaur swung its tail toward Dipper, shooting out one of the crystals, but he managed to dodge out of the way of the attack.
“Run! That way!” Dipper shouted.
They began charging down the tunnel, but the creature was giving chase. It moved fast for something that easily weighed over a ton, slowly gaining ground on them with each thunderous step.
“We can’t outrun it, Dip! What’s the plan?”
“Gimme a sec! I’m working on it!” He hadn’t brought any equipment for combat, so he was frantically searching the walls for an escape route. “There!” He pointed the flashlight at a point on the wall. “That passage will be too narrow for it to follow! Ladies first!”
Pacifica rushed ahead of Dipper to make sure she left him enough room to get in when he arrived. It was a bit of a tight squeeze for her, but she managed to make it in. Dipper got there a few seconds later. He had to quickly slip off his pack and hold it next to him in order to make it through.
The dino bashed its tail against the opening a couple times, making the walls shake a little each time. It eventually accepted defeat, letting out a low grumble, and laid back down against the opposite wall.
Dipper and Pacifica breathed a sigh of relief as they finished shimmying through the tight gap.
“Well, there’s your daily dose of adrenaline.” Dipper joked as he tried to catch his breath.
Pacifica giggled. “No kidding. It’s exhilarating. We need to be more careful about where we sit next time though.”
“Very true.” He agreed. “But now that we’re away from that, it should be smooth sailing from here.”
As if karma itself was mocking him, the bulb in his flashlight flickered before shutting off completely, leaving them in pitch black darkness.
“Damn it! Come on!” He smacked the head of the light against his hand, causing it to briefly turn on, before immediately going back off. “Well, this is useless now.” Pacifica heard him unzip his pack, throw the flashlight in, and zip the bag back up. “Paz, can we use the light on your phone?”
“I…kinda left my phone in your truck.” She admitted. “I broke my phone last time we went out, and my parents were not happy about having to buy me a new one.” She explained. “Why can’t we use yours?”
“My phone doesn’t have a flashlight.”
“What do you mean? All smartphones have a flashlight.”
“I don’t have a smartphone.” He flipped open his phone, and Pacifica could see a dim glow from the tiny screen of a device that seemed ancient by today’s standards. He closed it and put it back in his pocket. “That’s not gonna be much use to us.”
“So, what do we do?” She asked.
“Well, we don’t want to get separated in the dark.” He reached out toward her. “Here, take my ha- AHH! Sorry, sorry, sorry!” He quickly recoiled his hand. “That felt way too soft to be a place my hand should be!”
“Dipper! You dirty dog!” She jokingly chastised before switching to a more sincere tone. “It’s fine, Dipper, it was an accident. I’ll let it slide this time. Here, I’ll find you.” She reached out in the darkness for a few seconds before she found him. “Aha! That’s a shoulder which means down here is a…hand.” That last word came out as a breathy whisper.
No one spoke as they held each other’s hand. Both of them were very grateful for the darkness in this moment. Neither knew it, but they were both just staring down at the area where their hands connected.
“We should…umm…keep moving.” Dipper finally said, breaking the silence.
“Yeah…uh…lead the way.” She said softly.
Dipper carefully began making his way forward, keeping his free hand against the cave wall to make sure he didn’t run straight into it. The silent tension remained most of the way through the hall, only occasionally broken by Dipper warning Pacifica of something she should step over.
After a long while of being lost in his thoughts, Dipper was snapped back to reality when he went to put his foot down, but it didn’t find anywhere to land. “Woah! Stop, stop, stop!” He shouted back to Pacifica.
She had to pull back on his arm to keep him from toppling over. “What’s wrong Dipper? What happened?”
“The ground just seems to end here.” He began carefully feeling around the edge with his foot. “Seems like it’s almost a straight drop down to who knows where. Which means-” He cut himself off to let out a frustrated sigh, “Which means we have to turn around and go the other way.”
“Are you sure there’s not a way over? Maybe it’s just a drop on that side.” She carefully stepped over next to Dipper to examine it herself. However, her added weight seemed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back, as the ground beneath them cracked and fell away. Pacifica let out a small scream as the teens began falling.
Dipper’s body flew into autopilot, pulling Pacifica close to his chest. He put one hand on the back of her head, and got his other arm around her arm and waist, which allowed him to take the brunt of the damage on their way down.
They bounced off of walls they couldn’t see for a few seconds, before landing on a steep slope that sent them rolling down. After a few more seconds of tumbling, they were spat out into an open cave that was lit by a pink glow coming from the walls and ceiling. They rolled a little as they hit the ground, Dipper ending up on his back, while Pacifica was still tightly held to his chest. After a moment on the ground, Dipper loosened his grip on her, laying his arms beside him on the ground.
“Thank you, Dipper.” Pacifica said, not yet moving off of him. “Turns out you make a pretty good pillow.”
“Yup.” He groaned. “Anytime, Paz.”
She placed her hands on the cave floor next to his shoulders, and began pushing herself up. She froze though, when her striking blue eyes met his warm hazel ones. They just stared at each other for a long time, their breathing becoming shallow. “Dipper,” she began apprehensively, “what are you thinking about right now?”
He gazed up at the sight above him. A beautiful girl boring into his soul with her eyes, the pink light surrounding her made her look like an angel. “I’m thinking…” he quickly glanced down to her mouth before immediately returning to her eyes. His next words came out in a whisper, as if part of him was afraid to let the words out, “that your lips look really soft.”
A small smile grew on her face as she began blushing. “You care to test that theory out?” She asked playfully.
Almost instinctually, his hand moved to the small of her back, and he applied a little bit of pressure to push her back down toward him.
She happily accepted the invitation, putting her full weight on him again. She rested a hand on his cheek as their lips locked for the first time. The kiss was warm and passionate for all of the 10 seconds that it lasted before she pulled back. “Well, what’s the conclusion from our experiment?” She smiled down at him.
“They definitely seemed to be very soft, but I may need to run a few more tests. For scientific integrity, of course.” He began chuckling.
Her smile turned into a smirk. “I think that can be arranged.” She said as she moved back down for round 2. They hungrily made out with each other for several minutes, before Pacifica once again broke the kiss, this time she began laughing almost manically. She sat up and put a hand on her forehead, resting her weight just below his stomach as she continued to laugh.
Dipper looked up at her confused. Was this some kind of prank? It seemed kind of far to go just to embarrass him. He worried that the rug was about to be pulled from beneath his feet.
“Oh, my God…my parents are gonna fucking kill me.” She managed to get out between laughs.
Dipper’s smile returned and he joined her in laughter. “Yeah, but you love doing shit your parents wouldn’t approve of, right?”
She finally began to calm down from her laughing fit as she began standing up. “That’s very true. Come on, let’s get moving. If we get out of here soon enough, maybe we can ‘run another test’ back in your truck before going to the Shack.” She winked as she held out a hand to help him up.
“That sounds like an excellent plan.” He grunted as she hoisted him to his feet. He finally dragged his eyes away from Pacifica and examined the room they were in. He stepped up to a cluster of crystals growing out of the wall, and took a close look. Inside the gem, he could see what looked like tiny pink lightning bolts bouncing around.
“Well, is this it, Dipper? They certainly look like they hold a lot of energy.”
“I think I know a way to test it out.” He pulled the flashlight out and dumped the dead batteries into his backpack. Pulling out a screwdriver, he pried one of the thinner crystals out of the wall and slotted it into the flashlight. He clicked it on, and the flashlight lit up, illuminating the room even further. “Haha! Perfect!” He pulled out a plastic grocery bag and pried a large crystal cluster from the wall, tying the bag and securing it in his pack. “Let’s get out of here.”
“So, now that we can see where we’re going, does that mean we have to stop holding hands?” Pacifica asked playfully.
“Oh, absolutely not. Get over here.” He held his hand out to her, and the couple laced their fingers together as they made their way back through the cave systems.
It was a dark drive to the Shack. They had spent quite a while down in that cave (and “running tests” in the cabin of Dipper’s truck), so they stopped at Greasy’s for some food before heading back. Arriving back at the run down building, they found all the light were off, everyone having already gone to bed. Dipper had texted Mabel to let everyone know they were safe, so no one was left waiting up for them. Pacifica headed off to the bathroom to get changed, and Dipper headed straight up to the attic. There was an air mattress in the middle of the room with a pillow and a throw blanket on it. Mabel was already fast asleep, lightly snoring away, so Dipper quickly got changed in the corner before crawling into bed. He laid on his back and closed his eyes. After about a minute, he heard the attic door open, then quietly be shut. He heard Pacifica set her overnight bag next to his backpack, then expected to hear her crawl onto the air mattress. Instead, he felt a pair of eyes staring down at him. Looking up, he saw his new girlfriend crossing her arms and glaring at him impatiently.
“What’s wrong?” He whispered.
Pacifica just raised her eyebrow at him, like it should be obvious.
After several seconds, Dipper finally understood. With a soft “Oh.” he reached over with his right arm, and pulled up the corner of his comforter.
“There we go.” Pacifica smiled as she climbed into bed. She rested her head on his shoulder and put a hand on his chest as he pulled the blanket back over them. “I hope you don’t mind being my pillow for the second time today.” She whispered.
“Wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.” He kissed the top of her head. “Goodnight, Paz.”
“Night, Dip.”
The young couple dozed off, enjoying the warmth of each other, and the thrill of the start of something wonderful.