Let Me Be Your Eyes

Chapter 5-New Adventurer

Chapter 5-New Adventurer

Mabel shouts excitedly, "Aww yeeaah!" She sprints out of the room with more energy than a generator.

"What's got her so hyper?" Grunkle Stan asks as he walks into the living room, jabbing a thumb in the direction of his grand niece. The teenage girl is dashing up the stairs two-by-two to get to the attic bedroom.

Bill, who is lounging in Stan's armchair, replies with an off-hand, "She's hyped to finally go with us into the forest."

Resting against the front of the armchair is Dipper, legs crossed, arms propped behind his head. "Mabel's been begging Bill to take her into the woods ever since we brought back Cupcake. I only made it worse by telling her about the other strange creatures we've encountered ever since."

"Like Steve?" Bill inquires, referring to a reclusive giant who lives in the forest near the mountains.

"Like Steve," Dipper chuckles lightly.

Grunkle Stan scratches his chin, deep in thought. At the sound of the twin's bedroom door slamming shut, the conman questions in his rough, gravel-like voice, "Is it safe for all of you to go? I mean, sure, Bill's been out there since he could walk, but Mabel sometimes is a bit too optimistic for her own good. Plus, heck, Dipper, you're blind! You might just wander off a cliff and we'd never know!"

Dipper shoots Stanley a scarily accurate glower. "I can take care of myself perfectly well, thank you."

Bill intervenes before the two other males can begin an argument. "I'm positive all of us will be perfectly safe. Look at Dipper; he helped me take on a mountain lion the size of the Mystery Shack! And Mabel? When has her creativity never gotten her out of a jam? With me there to act as a navigator, all of us will be perfectly fine."

The elderly Pines holds the two boys in a hard stare, though Dipper can't tell and is focused in an entirely different direction. ""Be perfectly fine", huh? Just like how you two came back perfectly fine after the whole oversized cat shebang?"

Dipper groans, flopping his limbs all over. "C'mon! That was one time!"

"What about the werewolves?"

"We were okay!"

"And the scampfires?"

"... It was a little burn."

"And the Kill Billies?"

The boy throws his hands up in exasperation. "Alright, alright! I get it; we attract trouble. Just trust us when we say that we'll be fine."

Stan continues in his glaring. "No more "surprise" pets?"

"On my honor, Mister Pines," Bill answers, holding a hand in the air. "I solemnly swear that we will bring back no more surprise pets."

Giving them one final scowl, Grunkle Stan sighs in relent. "Fine. I expect you three to be back before the sun sets." Mabel enters the living room, a backpack slung over one shoulder. "Keep your brother safe," Stan mutters, clapping a firm hand on her shoulder before walking out.

Mabel raises an eyebrow at this. "That was oddly familial of him."

Clambering to his feet, Dipper shrugs uncertainly. "I guess. He mostly seemed overprotective to me, though." Bill watches this, a stony expression on his face. 'Familial? I wondered what is was like for someone to be concerned for you without strings attached...'

The blonde jumps up from, the recliner, clearing his throat before announcing, "All right, guys! Ready for an incredibly dangerous excursion into the forest of Gravity Falls?"