Gravity Rises (S1)

VV: Part Four

Both twins were determined to get away from the Museum and go out into the forest. They couldn't escape, however, for quite some time. After their chores, on that first day, was dinner. Melody stayed past the closing of the Museum, prepared the meal, and ate it with them; she didn't seem to understand why the air between Ford and the twins was suddenly so frosty. But Mabel couldn't bring herself to look at the man, much less talk to him.

The next day — their first full day in Gravity Rises — was far too busy for the twins to sneak out. A huge busload of tourists arrived that morning, and Mabel and Dipper were forced to act as crowd control for the masses. (Mabel discovered that she would rather clean a thousand museums than have that responsibility ever again.) Then, once the chaos had finally died down, the day was practically over.

The day after that was more chores. It wasn't until the third day of the twins waking up in the Museum attic that Melody declared they'd had more than enough, and they deserved to actually enjoy their winter break, don't you think?

Finally. Finally, after three days of mind-numbing work — three days of torture as they longed for their chance to explore — the twins could leave. They could get out of the Mystery Museum (which quickly ran out of mysteries if you were stuck inside of it for three days) and blaze a trail through the forest.

So they blazed away.

They didn't dare tell Ford what they were doing or ask for supplies. Instead, they bundled up as best they could in their winter gear and, with the loud swishing of their snow pants in their ears, slipped from the Museum.

Once outside, they felt an immediate chill from the winter air, but this did little to dampen their enthusiastic mood: Both Dipper and Mabel felt better than they had in days. "Let's go find a fairy!" Dipper crowed, and Mabel was too happy to even shush her brother. With a quick glance back at the Museum to make sure they hadn't been overheard, she followed Dipper to the back of the building and into the forest beyond.

Soon, the twins found themselves in deep snow that took a lot of energy just to walk through. Energy was something that, in the present moment, both of them had in great supply; still, their progress was slower than Mabel had expected.

Dipper practically bounded through the trees, seeming uninhibited by the deep holes of snow that formed with each step. "What else do you think we'll see, Mabes?" he asked, turning around and attempting to walk backwards and falling on his backside.

Mabel helped him back to his feet (which was not an easy feat in this snow). "Anything," she said with a grin. "We could see anything out here."

Despite this optimistic reply, though, they didn't see anything supernatural. Not for a while. Mabel tried not to get anxious, for there was still plenty to see. The surrounding forest was beautiful: The mid-morning sunlight slanted through the trees and formed dappled shadows on the undisturbed snow. But there were no magical creatures or even normal animals. The winter forest seemed as empty as it was beautiful.

"Where do you think everything is?" said Dipper. Mabel winced a bit at his volume — probably, everything was hiding from them, because they were being so loud.

"Maybe if we're quiet, we'll see something," she said. Dipper pouted at this, but Mabel wasn't paying attention to him. Instead, she looked down at the compass in her hands. The compass — a must-have for any adventurer — was a birthday present from her parents last summer, and she was glad to have it with her. As beautiful as this forest was, it was also cold, and she had no desire to get lost in it.

The morning passed. The twins continued through the trees, their enthusiasm slipping a bit with each labored step. No creature, magical or mundane, showed itself. It wasn't too long before Mabel, making her way over to a nearby tree, called for them to stop.