Apprentice {Gravity Falls}

Slice of Life

"Grunkle Ford! Grunkle Ford wake up!"

Ford squinted his eyes open, "It's five in the morning, my boy. Go back to sleep."

"No, Grunkle Ford! I swear I saw something. We have to check it out, come on," Dipper exclaimed, dragging Ford out of bed with childish enthusiasm. Ford sighed.

"I'll get up, give me a moment..." he gave a tired smile as he stretched. Dipper beamed and exited the room.

After a while, Ford headed towards the kitchen where Dipper was reading from their journal. The boy had a note pad and furiously scribbled at it, clicking his pen a few times every so often. Ford began to make coffee.

"What are you writing?"

"Okay, so the creature I saw. I'm not sure exactly what it was. But... I do have a theory! I think it's a wolpertinger. A wolpertinger is similar to a jackalope, with one major difference. It has wings. Now, the unknown creature looked very similar to a jackalope, but it was flapping it's wings. If it were a jackalope, it wouldn't have wings!"

Ford listened as he sipped on his drink. Soon enough, another voice could be heard.

"Ugh, what are you nerds doing up so early?"

Ford and Dipper turned to the entrance to see Stan rubbing his eyes.

"Morning Stanley!"

"Morning Grunkle Stan!"

Stan wordlessly grabbed a mug for his own coffee and filled it up, "Just like my soul..." he mumbled to himself, making it black and bitter.

Ford raised a brow, "You're going to need a lot more sweetening if you really want it to be like your soul," he snickered.

Stan gave a fake hurt look, making Ford smirk. "Anyway, what are you guys doing up so early?"

"Ask him," Ford motioned towards Dipper.

"Alright, Poindexter's apprentice. Why are you and Sixer here awake?"

"We're gonna track down a wolpertinger!" Dipper exclaimed, showing Stan his notes. Stan glossed over them, skimming some of the words. "It's similar to a jackalope, but with wings! I swear I saw one! Cool, right?"

Stan nodded, "Yeah, cool. Well, I'm gonna open shop! Earlier it is and more people to scam!" He exclaimed, exiting the kitchen and turning on the lights to the shop.

"Stan!"

Stan peeked his head back into the room.

"Do you want breakfast?"

*   *   *

After the three ate breakfast, Stan went to actually open up shop as Dipper talked about some of his theories about the creature.

"I think nature wise, it would be similar to a jackalope. Although they're not from the same species, they may be from the same family. The only real difference is it's wings. Although, that's from a glance. The jackalope is quite violent, using it's antlers as weapons and self defense. However, the wolpertinger may be calmer,"

"What makes you say that?"

"The wings!" Dipper exclaimed, "Wings are very delicate on most creatures. If the wolpertinger is violent, it could damage the wings. Though, take into consideration, less violent than the jackalope. Not completely harmless!"

Ford nodded, "Okay, let's find one and find out, don't you think?"

"Yeah!" Dipper nodded following Ford out the door.

After a while of walking, Ford started to talk, "Where did you see this creature anyway?"

"Last night. I was up late because of..." Dipper trailed off, "Anyway, I was up and I heard something and I glanced out the window to see what it was. At first I thought it was just a jack rabbit or jackalope because I could only see the outline. But, the porch lights were activated by it's movement and it flew away," Dipper explained.

"In that case, the creature should live near by," Ford commented.

Dipper nodded.

After another while of walking, Ford and Dipper entered a small forest clearing. Ford was about to keep walking, as nothing was there. A tug on his trench coat stopped him.

"Grunkle Ford, look,"

Ford looked up to see bunches of wolpertingers in the trees, resting in the branches.

"Amazing. If only we could get closer-"

As Ford said that, one of the creatures flew right up to them and landed by their feet. The two froze in place. Were the wolpertingers violent? Would they be attacked?

The wolpertinger began to... nuzzle Ford's feet? Ford watched on as the anomaly was gentle. He leaned down to pet the creature, feeling how soft it's wings were.

"Is it safe...?" Dipper asked nervously.

Before Ford could answer, a few more flew up to Dipper. Dipper cautiously reached out a hand to feel the anamolies. His nerves were quickly calmed when he felt it's fur.

Suddenly, one of wolpertingers flew to the center of the clearing. Under a bush located there was a small group of-

Dipper covered his mouth and stars formed in Ford's eyes, "They have babies!"

Dipper did some sketches in their journal as Ford looked at the creatures. Their offspring didn't have antlers, only wings. Dipper suggested the antlers haven't grown in yet, given their age. They continued on with their notes until-

"We should start making our way home, son," Ford commented, "Don't want to be home after dark. Stan would have our skin," he reminded.

Dipper glanced up to see the sun setting, "Oh, I guess it is starting to get late." He didn't realize how long they spent with the wolpertingers.

Ford and Dipper walked in the door to be greeted by Stan.

"I was just going to look for you two," Stan commented. "You guys sure come home late, but as long as you're safe, I guess there's nothing wrong with it," he shrugged and left.

"We'll do more with the wolpertingers tomorrow. Get some sleep, my boy."

Dipper smiled, "Night Grunkle Ford," he called, heading up the stairs.

Ford smiled to himself, "Night, son."