Wonderer's Wish World: An Empty Land

Mabel's Missing?!

As Kipo left Kai's house, she wondered what time it was. Kai didn't seem tired at all, and neither was Kipo, but she should probably be going to bed soon. Like the clearing, she still woke up at the crack of dawn, so she didn't have to worry sleeping in, but getting only a little bit of sleep wasn't fun... Maybe she could go for a run to tire herself out?

However, before she could start forward, another person emerged from the darkness, and nearly scared Kipo out of her skin.

"Kipo!"

"GAAAH!" Kipo shouted, jumping back before she finally saw who had called out. She breathed out a sigh of relief, and winced when her loud cry echoed off of the buildings. Oops...

Well, there was nothing to do about it now, so Kipo turned to the newcomer, who looked just awkward as she felt about the noise. "Oh, uh... hey, Dipper. Sorry for yelling, I was just a little surprised."

"Oh..." Dipper paused, clearly feeling embarrassed himself. "That's what that was. Well, sorry for startling you. I was just wondering whether you knew where Mabel was."

"Mabel?" Kipo thought back. "She was in the kitchen last I saw, why?"

Dipper huffed, but it sounded more amused than exasperated. "That's the first place I decided to check, and she doesn't seem to be in there anymore."

"Oh," Kipo realized. "So that means she could be almost anywhere in the town now, right?"

Dipper sighed, and Kipo giggled. "Pretty much."

Kipo looked over the town. It wasn't too big, but Mabel had a habit of finding places that Dipper would never think of.

"Do you want me to help you out?" Kipo asked, and Dipper shrugged.

"Sure," he said. "Any ideas?"

Kipo opened her mouth, and her mind went blank. "...No, sorry."

Dipper frowned. "Oh... well... I guess we could go around and just look for her then-."

"Oh, wait!" Kipo suddenly cried. "Last time she was working on her... her... milk chocolate inedible sandwich? She said she was going to paint it!"

Dipper suddenly brightened. "Perfect! So to find Mabel, we just need to go to the place with the paint she uses...... I have no idea were that is."

Kipo frowned. "Oh... me neither."

Dipper sighed. "Dangit. Our only lead and we have no idea what to do with it! I mean, it's Mabel we're talking about, for all we know, she could get her paint from an invisible wizard in her closet."

Kipo's eyes widened. "Wait... really?"

Whatever Kipo was expecting, it really wasn't: "Well... yeah."

The two thought in silence for a second, looking around the town. Now that Kipo really thought about it, where in the world DOES Mabel get her paint from...? Kipo never saw a craft store or anything like that...

"Maybe we should just do what you said before," Kipo eventually spoke up. "Walk around and hope that we find her?"

Dipper shrugged, and the two of them started forward again. "We should probably go to the kitchen again," he said. "And check if they are any clues there."

Kipo agreed, and the duo started off towards the Hangout Spot together.

Well, despite Kipo and Dipper's best hopes, the kitchen was empty when they got there, or in any other place in the building. Mable clearly hadn't come back.