𝐀 𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 | 𝑰𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊 𝒖.

| 002 |

...

Very well, let's do this one more time.

 
Dipper was a boy who could be categorized as normal. He saw himself as someone sensible. And of course, it wasn't his fault that the place he was in was so strange that when he spoke aloud about what was happening, everyone looked at him oddly, even though it happened right in front of their noses.

 
Of course not.

 
The sight of something moving made him nervous; it was midnight, and he had only gone down to the kitchen for a glass of water.

 
For heaven's sake, had an intruder broken in? Or worse, a small, two-headed monster from that journal he found in the woods?

 
Dipper shuddered when the small lump made a kind of croaking sound that sounded very similar to a... crow.

 
"What...?" he murmured, approaching the light switch.

 
The image of a crow lying near one of the corners welcomed him. Dipper would have sighed in relief if it weren't for the strange eyes of the creature.

 
They were red with strange symbols. The bird croaked at him, though it didn't sound like it was trying to scare him away; still, he took a step back.

 
The bird remained still, almost as if it were stunned or surprised by something. Perhaps it had hit its head when it accidentally entered the house, though he didn't believe a magical creature could be so foolish as to let something like that happen.

 
It would be illogical, and yet he had a magical creature in his uncle's house. Dipper would be laughing if it weren't for the presence of the crow.

 
Now that he looked at it closely, it seemed small and thin. Very thin, in fact; perhaps it had hurt itself when it fell and couldn't catch something to eat on its own.

 
He felt a bit of compassion when he thought about that.

 
'It must be hungry...'

 
Dipper —with his steps trembling— approached one of the drawers in the kitchen to take out some snacks that his sister had left there. He mentally apologized to Mabel, but the crow seemed hungry; he just hoped it wouldn't eat him.

 
Armed only with a bag of nachos and a bag of cookies, he approached —his steps still trembling— to the small animal that fluffed up as if trying to scare him away. Or maybe it was just trying to look bigger to intimidate him.

 
When he got close to the crow, he crouched down despite the sounds it was making; it seemed like it was trying to drive him away... or was it trying to communicate?

 
With somewhat trembling hands, he opened the package, letting the cheesy smell of the nachos fill his nostrils. Still on edge, he put his hand into the bag to take out some of the snacks.

 
Dipper wanted to close his eyes, but the nerves of being pecked by the crow wouldn't let him.

Even with his shaking hand, he brought it closer to the bird so it could see the appetizing contents; or at least he hoped the nachos would seem appetizing to it and not his fingers.

 
He held his breath when the bird looked at him before turning its attention to his hand. It seemed to study the nachos as if searching for something suspicious. But then it seemed satisfied when it didn't find what it was looking for; this time, with more confidence, the crow approached his hand.