Gravity Falls: The return of Bill Cipher

-CHAPTER FIFTEEN- Towards the crystal

Early the next morning Ford took his airhorn out of his backpack and blew it loudly.

'Seriously Gruncle Ford, not again,' Mabel complained.

'Dipper I'm sorry, no jet engine,' Ford apologised with a huge smile on his face.

'Yeah, right,' I said, not hiding the fact that I was super annoyed. 'What's for breakfast?'

'We can have some more dead birds. It's your favourite,' Pacifica answered.

'No, please. No!' I yelled.

Mabel looked at the two of them.

'Spill. What's with the dead bird stuff?' she asked.

'Alright, I'll tell you, because I know you will nag me if I don't. Since we escaped the confines of the cave, Pacifica shot birds for us to eat. I refused every time. Luckily, she also picked some edible berries.'

Mabel looked at Pacifica.

'I'm surprised that you can tell the difference between the toxic and non-toxic variety,' Mabel said.

'Dipper thought the same thing. My parents forced me to take survival classes and at the time I thought it such a wase of time, but I've changed my mind,'

'Good for you, Pacifica. I don't have dead birds, but there is some cereal in the cabinets,' Ford said.

'I'll take the serial,' I said.

Everyone grabbed a bowl and ladled cereal, milk and sugar into it. We ate in silence.

After we had finished our breakfast, we restocked our food supply. There were many small streams and lakes in the forest, and water would not be a problem.

'Is everybody ready to continue?' Ford asked.

We nodded.

'Ok, here's the plan for the rest of the journey. The crystal is inside a cave and as far as I could decipher, the entrance lies at the bottom of the mountain. The texts called it Death's Head Mountain, which in my mind suggests that the rock formations most likely represent a human skull,' Ford said.

'Sorry to interrupt, Gruncle Ford, but I hope you have an extra flashlight or at least batteries for one. My flashlight died inside the cave and we had to use the oil lamp. Pacifica also needs a sleeping bag.'

'I do have extra batteries, Dipper.' Ford rummaged in a wooden chest and came up with an old sleeping bag. "Will this do?'

Pacifica nodded, taking the item and stowing it in her backpack.

'Anyway, after we find the crystal, we will head back the same way. Are there any questions?' Ford asked.

Nobody answered.

'Let's be off then,' Ford said.

Everyone grabbed their backpacks and filed out the door. Ford locked the cabin.

                                                                 ***

A few days later, we were in sight of a mountain that looked skull-like. Eighteen hours of walking, and we stood in front of the cave.

'Finally, we're here. Let's make camp for the night,' Ford said.

'Well, looks like we'll have to enter a cave again, Pacifica,' I said winking at her.

'Yeah, and you should watch out for creepy crawlies,' she teased.

'Shut up, Pacifica,' I said, and she giggled.

Pacifica gathered firewood and made a campfire. Everyone was surprised, but I merely smiled. Ford cooked hotdogs and cast-iron beans for them. We sat around the campfire and chatted for a while before heading towards our sleeping bags.