The God and the Thief

Seperation(24)

Dipper POV

The second journal took me 2 months to get through.

After Bill found me at Wendy's house and took the first journal, he hadn't sought me out again, not even after Wendy moved me to the abandoned gas station her and her friends found a few years back.

I kept up my letters to Caption Lowsmith, none of them I had him share with anyone. My Grunkles, from what I've heard, have still been searching the forest even after the other search groups stopped going out with them. I don't know if they're looking for me or if they're looking for Bill, either way I doubt they will find either of us, no matter how much sleep they lose.

I was starting to think Bill left, when I finished the journal I went out looking for Bill in the forest. I went at night with my fingers crossed that my Grunkles would not be out looking that late. But even as I went in the direction I remember the cabin being in, after at least one hour or two of searching I couldn't find it so I gave up and went back to the gas station.

A week went by after I finished the journal, I was starting to get bored, Wendy would come and spend some time with me, even stayed the night in the old office with me a few times but it wasn't something that ended my boredom.

So against Wendy's suggestion I started going out in the forest at night, I found my way to the statue and would stay there, rereading and rereading the journal he left with me.

This journal was vastly different, even his speech was off, and felt even more old timey. And even though I recognized a few of the creatures listed he still talked about them differently, more in depth about how they looked and interacted with him. More like he was studying them inside of cataloging them like he had in his later jurnal.

Even after finishing decoding I couldn't put it down, it's fantastic, I've seen some of the nocturnal creatures around, one would scrabble by my feet or in the bushes at the side of my eye line and I'd skip right to their page and read about them again.

I am however disappointed that the last half wasn't dedicated to his daily life like it had been in the first journal I read, he just had too much to write about the creatures in this one, not enough space for personal journaling. I still would have liked to know how he lived back then.

Maybe I should ask him, but that will have to be tomorrow morning.

Bill POV

I hate this kid's grungles, they're damn persistent and won't leave us alone.

I've been chasing them around for weeks yet they won't let me be. They know Pinetree isn't staying with me yet they won't stay out of my forest.

The kid won't either. He comes almost daily now, he doesn't stay long but if it weren't for me he would have been caught by his grunkles. I debated letting them find him but the image of the red handprint on his cheek kept flashing in my mind, I can't let them get their hands on him again.

I won't go through that again.

I had gotten my journal back from him with all his notes in it. He had almost covered each page with his own little stick notes and scraps of page covered in how he decoded it and what it actually says in english.

"This is a mess." I huffed, but still, I read all of it, every description he even kept notes on where he messed up and how he reculated to get back on track. I had to hand it to him, he's damn smart. I'm almost positive it took him a year, maybe two, to finish with all I had written, I could see the differences in his handwriting as he aged.

But still, simply reading from him was getting boring. Hell I did even realize I had gotten used to talking with someone again until he left.

"Billllll!!!!! I'm not dooonnee give it back."

Hands landed ruffly over and over against my chest as I held the thing of interest high over my head.

"You have to read faster, I need it back now!" laughter bubbled up behind the words and fell out of the crooked grin plastered over my face.

"If you didn't make it so hard to read than I would!!"

"But that's the fun part."

The hitts let up and the hands came to rest on my shoulders.

"You're such a pain!" The voice like sweet honey melted over my skin with it's soft playful wimpers.

"Come little pup let's go on a walk." hands over his, the journal lost from focus.

"I'm not a dog!!" more laughter.

Honey sweat laughter.

The sun had gone down and I was far from home, once again I had dozed off while wondering around, keeping an eye out for those peskie old men and I knew part of me was looking for him, wondering if he'd simply show up and what I would do. Would I hide again, would I go back to following him around from the tree tops. Or, would I simply talk to him, say hi maybe, or maybe, maybe finally I would tell him the speech I have mulled over a hundred times. We left off on poor footing and it didn't help how I had reacted to him stealing from me again.

He's just so much like him. Has he come back to me? Is this really my Milo? Or is he simply a new boy, someone new, the fates have places in my path, a new distraction.

Something lashed, a light bouncing off something out the corner of my eye. I spun on my heel to face it, but it was gone, All I could see was what the light bounced off of. Waiting a moment with eyes wide open to see if whatever it was would happen again. But after a few seconds nothing happened, was there even a light or am I so old I'm seeing things?

The light or whatever it was had bounced off my statue, I'm not sure how I had gotten here, I must have walked here on instinked while zoning out.

The statue was an odd little thing and I truly used to hate it but now that it's covered in greenery and half submerged in the ground, it was kinda endearing to me now.

But what was even more endearing and slightly shocking was the shaggy haired boy passed out against a nearby tree.

"Ah! You're definitely a strange one." I muttered standing over him.

"You shouldn't sleep out on the ground, we have a bed, with blankets and soft pillows you know." I chastised, but I was simply laughed at.

"Ya I know, but nature is so beautiful, I could live the rest of my life out here without ever needing to go inside again!"

So much like him.

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Oops sorry for the wait! But I'm really trying to bring together their relationship soon, I didn't mean for it to take this long. But hey I can't help it, I love slow burns!!