Gravity Rises (S2)

HW: Part Seven

This was awesome.

But it would be more awesome if Ford would pick up the pace.

Dipper and Ford trekked through the winter forest, pulling the mostly empty sledge behind them. It didn't take too much effort right now, especially with two people. Their harnesses were connected to a cord that fastened underneath the sledge to help them pull it along. Dipper could barely feel the weight! He could go way faster than this!

"Dipper," Ford said in exasperation, "this is not a race."

"It kind of is," Dipper said. "We're racing to get the fuel before the Order finds us. C'mon, Grunkle Ford, let's go faster!"

"We need to pace ourselves, Dipper, or we'll be exhausted by the time we make it to the minotaurs. Or get so tired that we won't even make it at all. Slow down."

"We'll be fine! This thing doesn't even weigh very much."

Ford sighed. "It doesn't feel like it does now, but it will later. We need to conserve our energy."

In Dipper's experience, conserving energy only led to being super hyper later. But okay, fine. When he was bouncing off the walls later, he'd remind Ford that he asked for it.

They continued at their maddeningly slow pace. At least it wasn't entirely boring out here — there were fairies flitting around, small creatures like gnomes and jackalopes scampering through the snow, and some larger creatures roaming through the trees in the distance. At one point, Dipper saw a far-off creature that looked like a troll with mushrooms growing out of its shoulders. Ford saw it, too, and stopped momentarily.

"That's a gremloblin," he said quietly. "Let's wait here for a moment and see where it goes."

Now that he mentioned it, the creature did match the descriptions Ford had given in his stories yesterday. Dipper had to fight to keep still in the wake of the renewed energy that raced through him. This was so cool.

The gremloblin didn't notice them, and it seemed content to continue on its merry way. Dipper and Ford resumed pulling the sledge, and Dipper checked over his shoulder every couple seconds to get a glimpse of the gremloblin.

"You said they show you your worst nightmare if you look into their eyes, right?" he asked Ford.

Ford nodded.

"Woah. That's crazy. Did you ever look into a gremloblin's eyes? What did you see?"

Ford coughed. "That's not something you would generally ask someone, Dipper."

"Not a stranger, yeah, but we're family! Family shares things like our deepest darkest fears."

"Well, I don't," Ford replied shortly.

Wow, this guy was pretty good at killing conversations. It did not escape Dipper's notice that Ford did not actually answer either of his questions. He sighed and kept walking, his eyes roaming the forest for something else to watch.

There weren't supernatural creatures everywhere, though — they'd go fifteen or twenty minutes with no sight of anything moving. But they still saw enough creatures for Dipper to keep his camera at the ready. He got some decent pictures, too.

"Dipper, perhaps you should keep your stun gun on hand instead of that camera? We might get ambushed at any moment."

"I don't see anybody," Dipper said. "Not one bit of purple."

Ford sighed. "Just. . . stay alert, all right? The longer we go without seeing an Order member, the more chance there is of running into one. Or two, since they seem to like going around in pairs." He paused. "It is strange that no one has attacked us yet."