Camp Falls

Chapter 3

"Ruby,"I said,"Please tell me you're almost done,"

"Ugh,no,"she said,frustrated,"it's not working I don't know..."she quieted down,which is very unlike Ruby,but she did,"Lloyd,what is that?"

"I-I think it's that thing,"

"What thing!"

"That thing!"I said,"That thing Old Man Manderson told us about,"

She looked at the bent up paper clips in her hand and at the lock.

The ape gave a kind of primitive grunt and began to reveal itself in the light a bit. Something shimmered on the hand of the ape.It looked like a ring,Old Man Mandersons ring.The dude wasn't completely insane.

We both stood still in terror as the ape slowly revealed itself.Ruby and I abandoned the idea of getting through the gate and made a run for it. The ape grunted as it followed us through the trees. Its beady eyes in the dark swiftly jumping from tree to tree. We found a rock to hide behind but that's when Ruby realized she'd dropped Cornelius.

"We've got to get him back!" Ruby begged.

I kept telling her it was too dangerous and that we should stay here and wait for rescue, if there even was any rescue. Ruby then looked down in a depressing manner.

I didn't want Ruby to be sad all week over a snake, but I also didn't want to risk dying. Finally I gathered up enough courage and made a run to grab that stupid snake. The ape quickly jumped down from a tree, happy to see its prey come out from hiding. I grabbed Cornelius and tried to run but tripped on a log.

The ape was about to kill me, I thought, and it was all because of Ruby's stupid snake that was always going to hate me either way.

Just when the ape was jumping at me, it got hit in the head with some kind of grappling gun and it was flung into the shadows of the forest.On the other end of it was none other than Mabel Pines. Dipper was next to her. "Come on! I know a place where we can hide!" He yelled. RuRe by and I followed them. Still amazed at my luck, I handed Cornelius over to Ruby. "You owe me," I said to her and she agreed, happily clutching Cornelius. "What were you guys doing out the camp!" Dipper exclaimed.

"I don't think right now is the right time for scolding Dipper,"Mabel said,"we're being chased by an ape thing!"

"What even is that thing?"Ruby exclaimed

"It's the Agropelter, I read about it in journal 1,"Dipper said,"Ford also told me about it,"he added.

Journal 1? Ford? What were these things? But I didn't have time to ponder because just then the Agropelter flung some small logs at us. It angrily shrieked and began hitting its chest with its long,spaghetti-like arms.

Mental note to never eat spaghetti again.

Dipper lead us to a little cave that we ducked into just as the Agropelter was at our heels.

"What are you guys doing out here!"Dipper exclaimed,"I thought I made it pretty clear that you guys were strictly forbidden from leaving the camp,"

"We didn't know that was why we shouldn't leave,"said Ruby

"I shouldn't have to tell you guys why!But if you really want to know why I didn't,that's because I didn't want to scare everyone!"

"Look,"Mabel said,"what's important is that you guys are safe and unharmed,as for the rest,just...don't sneak out ever again because... because it could end differently next time."

I agreed,Neither Ruby nor I wanted to become Agropelter food any time soon. "I'm gonna go explore," said Dipper, probably a way to escape the awkwardness. I wanted to join Dipper but I felt like that would be weird and so I just stuck with Ruby and Mabel.

Little did I know Dipper's exploration would result in something way bigger.

While Mabel was teaching Ruby how to knit, I was watching to see if the Agropelter was gone, eager to leave the cave. I couldn't really see anything and I thought that the coast was clear but Dipper was still out exploring. He soon came back hastily stuffing something in his backpack. I told him that the coast was clear. He looked to see and agreed that the coast was clear.

We each slowly got out the cave and began walking back to camp. Mabel and Ruby were ahead of Dipper and I .

"I'm sorry for getting mad at you guys, not going to lie,Mabel and I were like that when we were younger,"Dipper told me.

I said it was fine and that we didn't mean to cause so much trouble. Dipper smiled and said ,"You know, you remind me of me when I was your age, always venturing out and looking for monsters."The leaves in the tree rustled. Dipper stopped me and listened closely.

Right as he was about to warn Mabel and Ruby, the Agropelter jumped down from the trees right in front of Dipper and I.

He grabbed me by my arm and ran. The Agropelter was chasing from the ground now. I heard grunting and shrieking. But it wasn't the Agropelter that was making those noises, it was Mabel and Ruby. What were they thinking? I thought. The Agropelter turned their head to Mabel and Rubys direction and began to charge at them instead. I now understood that they were distracting it. "Come on, where is it!" Dipper said as he rummaged through his backpack. I saw a book with an eerie triangle creature in the middle of it. "I got it!" Dipper exclaimed.

He pulled out a flashlight with a small crystal fastened to the front and pointed it at the Agropelter.After a few smacks the flashlight blazed to life and the Agropelter,caught in the ray of light shrunk until it was the size of a large mouse.Dipper placed it inside a large glass jar with holes in the lid and tucked it under his arm.

"Been looking for this thing for a while,"he said

"Did you just..."I examined the tiny Agropelter that I could've sworn had been at least 10 feet tall a few seconds ago,"Did you just shrink it?"

He smiled,"Height altering crystals.You can find them in the forest,I'm pretty sure that's why the Agropelter was so big in the first place though."

I picked up Old Man Mandersons ring which was gleaming on the forest floor.

"Guess the old guy wasn't completely mental after all,"I mumbled

After we made it back to camp I promised myself that it was going to be a very long time before I tried to sneak out again,hopefully never.I was not going to keep risking it.