Apprentice {Gravity Falls}

Too Close For Comfort

Requested by Madieiguess Tysm for the request!! ^_^

The forest of Gravity Falls should have been familiar by now. Not only did the trees surround the Mystery Shack, Ford and Dipper found themselves anomaly hunting in it at least once a week. Three journals and thirty years later new creatures were still being discovered. Somehow, the duo often found themselves lost.

This wasn't one of those times. Dipper was prepared with a GPS, or if that didn't work, a compass and a map of Gravity Falls. They wouldn't get lost, not this time!

Besides, this excursion was too important to get lost on. Ford had spotted a quite unusual anomaly he wanted to study more. He couldn't quite tell what it looked like, what it even resembled from where he was watching. He wanted to track it down with Dipper.

"Grunkle Ford?" Dipper questioned as a small shadow caught his attention, "Do you think that's...?"

The elder nodded, "I don't think it's noticed us yet. Let's follow it,"

Dipper and Ford followed the mysterious creature into the depths of the forest. They stopped at an entrance at a cave. It was dark, and neither of the two could see the inside. Dipper grabbed a flashlight and looked at Ford. He nodded, signaling to keep going.

They could no longer see the anamoly, yet the duo decided to continue into the cave anyway. Eventually, Dipper bumped into the cave's wall, "Ow! Hit a dead end!" He whined, rubbing his cheek.

"I thought this cave had an exit," Ford explained, "There shouldn't be a wall here-" the elder stopped in his tracks. He felt the stone, except it wasn't stone. It was warm and breathing. The cave wasn't a dead end. There was something else here and it was alive.

Dipper shined the flashlight right into eyes the size of a basketball. The boy was so startled he dropped the flashlight causing the whole area to light up. The creature had a round shape, almost like a hedgehog. A snount was placed in between it's two eyes. It didn't look happy, as it snorted a small blue flame as a warning and hissed. The flashlight flickered before going out entirely.

Ford grabbed Dipper's hand and made a dash for the cave's entrance as the anamoly roared and groaned. However, without the glow of the flashlight it was an impossible task. The blue flames the creature fired were too dim to help.

Miraculously, Ford had found the exit uninjured. He took a moment to breath before turning to Dipper, "Are you alright, my boy?"

He froze. Dipper wasn't with him.

He must've gotten lost during the chase. It was the only explanation. Now Dipper was all alone in a dark cave with a giant, rampaging anamoly.

"Mason??" Ford yelled, beginning to enter back into the cavern. He had to find him before anything bad happened. Unless...

No. He wasn't gonna let his mind wander there. Besides, this was Dipper. He was stronger than that.

"Grunkle Ford!?" It didn't take much searching for Ford to hear him. However, he wasn't alone. The anamoly had followed Dipper to the exit. It still looked upset.

"Grunkle Ford, watch out!" Dipper cried, causing Ford to back away. The creature took in a deep breath before emitting a radius of blue flames. surrounding it. Dipper made it out just in time.

The child took a moment to breath as he leaned back on a nearby tree. "Is... is it gone...?"

The anamoly had retreated and Ford nodded. Dipper collapsed into a sitting position, "Good..."

"You're not hurt are you Mason?" Ford asked, "I'm so so sorry, son. I can't believe I lost you, I should've made sure you were with me!"

Dipper shook his head, " 'm not hurt... just tired..."

"It was so close though... you... you could've gotten really hurt and-"

"I didn't!" Dipper exclaimed, standing up, "I didn't get hurt! I'm fine! Everything's fine!"

They were silent for a moment before Dipper continued, "It's not your fault." Ford was about to counter but let Dipper continue, "The cave was dark, the flashlight went out, and that creature was huge. It's not your fault we got separated and I'm not hurt. It's okay,"

Ford gave a hesitant nodd, "Let's try to prevent this from happening in the future. That was way too close for comfort,"

"Alright,"