See You Earlier!

When Are We?

Dipper

Dipper stumbled in his landing, four legs splaying to catch himself. Where were they? He sneezed to attempt to rid his nose of the salty 1862 California air. He looked about and then sighed. "Oh, good. We're back in Oregon. ...right?"

Mabel stood up straight and looked about. "Uh... well... oh! I remember those squirrels!" She pointed up. Her grimace had been replaced with a large grin. Above them, two squirrels chattered together. "I'm an amazing matchmaker."

"Uh, yeah. Let's go back to the Mystery Shack. Hopefully we're back in our time." Dipper, still clutching the time machine, hopped forward. Mabel turned her attention on him and followed. Despite not paying attention to where she put her feet, she was able to follow without hindrance. Dipper watched where he was going. He occasionally dipped his head to avoid having his hat, or tiny stubs that would soon be antlers, getting caught on the trees.

Then, he stopped.

Dipper froze. His tail flipped up and ears perked. Mabel stopped beside him, her grin replaced by an expression of confusion. "Uh... what? What's wrong?"

Dipper didn't move. He looked about and rotated his ears and took deep breaths through his nose to sense his surroundings. "I hear something," he mumbled. He whipped his head back so quick his neck hurt. The shadows behind them shifted. Bluegrass music, quiet but sharp, rang through the woods. Two eyes, deep blue ringed red, glared at them. "RUN!" His hooves were off the ground before the thought came to him to scream.

Mabel screamed and ran after him.

Although Mabel moved fast, Dipper was faster. His long bounds, sleek muscles, and aerodynamic body pushed him through the forest faster than Mabel's small body could. He launched himself off thin roots, stuck landings on small rocks, and slid between gaps in the trees. Mabel was slowed as she had to get around the trees, land on solid ground, and occasionally crush branches or small roots in her way. Dipper hesitated only to let Mabel hop onto his back. Then, he was off like a bullet.

The cackling, mangle-toothed creature that followed them sprinted through the brush and trees like a goshawk's shadow. There was no way the Kill Billy could catch up to his juvenile, male prey. But the young female was not out of the question. Mabel cried in fear as the creature launched itself off a particularly large root, flew through a gap in the trees, and extended his spindly arms and clawed fingers at her. She grabbed the first thing she could hold–her bag–and swung. The thing shrieked and tumbled as he got a face full of glittery bag. He tumbled and shakily got on all fours. Then, he stood up and let out a large howl with grunts and hamboning to match. Another one of the things appeared before them. It clung to a branch and waited for its speeding prey to come closer.

"DIPPER!" Mabel yelled. "ABOVE YOU!"

Dipper looked up and let out a loud, crying bleat before changing direction. Mabel glared at the creature and took out her flashlight. The creature snarled in pain as the bright light hurt its eyes. The creature slunk back and glared at them as they passed. It grunted and hamboned as well. A third appeared. Only after the third time they changed direction did they realize they were being herded. "DIPPER, WATCH OUT!"

Dipper scrambled to slow himself down. Below them, the cliff of the valley fell. Miraculously, Dipper stopped just shy of the cliff. One hoof fell off the edge. Rocks and dirt defected and fell. Mabel slipped off of him and nearly fell. Dipper grabbed her and helped her take a step back. They couldn't celebrate their victory for long as one of the beasts, a few teeth broken and others knocked out, lunged at Dipper with a cry of victory. They ducked. The thing jumped clean over them, flailing its hands as it tried to get a grip, before falling off the cliff. Dipper screamed and stumbled forward. Blood gushed out of a rip in his hindquarters. More of the fiends lined up, ready to kill their prey one way or the other. The kids stumbled straight off the cliff. Mabel grabbed his watch and pulled the time tape. "We need to go back to Grunkle Stan!"