The Arrival

Summer in Gravity Falls was always just the right kind of warm and the sun set late into the evening with a lingering glow. These lax temperatures and bright skies were perfect for the so called "Mystery Twins" to take advantage of when looking for creatures or objects that were new or undocumented in the journal for extended periods of time, so in their free time, the pair had decided to go out into the forest one evening to do just that.

They'd been out for around three hours when it came to a point that they both concluded turning back to the Mystery Shack would be best. They might've stayed there longer if it weren't for Mabel's continuous insistence that she was bored or hungry. Or perhaps if the sky hadn't darkened surprisingly early and the distant rumbles of thunder hadn't been heard by the two. It was only around seven as well. Soos had mentioned something about a storm and lightning and Dipper wasn't willing to take any chances.

As the two headed off, faint drops of rain were beginning to fall and as they were about halfway back, it had already began to pour down. Dipper berated himself for not bringing a better jacket. The thunder getting louder was also a little concerning and he figured Stan might be getting worried at this point. His sister however, oblivious as ever, simply skipped happily through the forming puddles.

"Mabel," Dipper started, "I think we should head back fas-"

Out of nowhere, a bolt of lightning dashed across the skyline fairly close to the pair and they each let out a loud scream. Briefly, they were able to let out shaky breaths before another terrifying thing happened. Another scream was audible before several thumps followed it.

Dipper turned to his sister with wide eyes as she froze in fear, "You heard that right?"

"Yeah." She replied quietly.

The curiosity in Dipper overcame him and he put on a brave face, "We should check that out."

"What if it's a monster?" Mabel countered as her brother began to head in that direction.

"Then we run I guess. If someone's hurt we have to see, we might be able to help."

With an agreeing nod, the sweater wearing girl followed him into a clearing. The first thing the two noticed was a small colection of cracked and damaged trees. Following the trail, there were patches of fire on the ground and from that, a body lying in a shallow crater.

"Oh my god. How-"

"Whoa, did they fall out of the sky?" The elder twin pondered.

"It looks like it, they must have broken like, all of their bones."

Eyeing the form on the ground, Dipper gulped heavily and hesitantly made his way over, Mabel in tow just behind. His eyebrows rose upon reaching the body. It was a girl and she was probably no older than them.

"We have to check her pulse." He began, crouching down to take her wrist, "She looks...she looks alive but a fall from that height, we have to make sure."

Mabel nodded, a grim expression standing firm on her face. It wasn't a common expression from her and frankly, it made Dipper a little uneasy to see someone so bubbly so scared. His stomach flipped slightly as the seriousness of their situation settled in his mind, but he shook his head and place two fingers on the fallen girl's pale wrist.

They'd never been in this sort of dilemma before and he was honestly surprised Mabel was taking it as well as she was, even though she clearly wasn't comfortable. He just hoped she wasn't having an internal panic attack like he was.

No pulse had been found so far in the fallen girl's wrist and his worrying was getting worse. He felt her neck and still nothing, then he put his head to her heart and noth-

Wait.

There was the faintest of thumps from inside her chest. The beat was drastically slow...it was weak but definitely there. He breathed a small sigh of relief and Mabel spoke again.

"Is she... Is she breathing?" She whispered.

The younger twin slid a hand down his face, "Yeah, only just."

"That's good."

Dipper glanced back at the body next to him, her raven bangs where obscuring most of her face but by the looks of it, she had some cuts and bruises. Similar to the rest of her as a matter of fact. There was definitely a black eye forming though and her bottom lip looked a little swollen. They really needed to get help fast.

He turned to his sister again, "Mabel?"

"Yeah?" She replied.

"I need you to go to the Mystery Shack and get help please. We don't know what we're doing here."

She frowned worriedly for a moment and rubbed her sweater sleeves together before responding, "Okay, I'll go run to the shack and get Soos or Grunkle Stan. Don't get hurt."

"I won't. I'll stay here with this girl." He promised.

His sister nodded and raced off in the general direction of the tourist trap that was their summer home. Her hair billowed behind her as she picked up speed. If that girl died...She blinked herself back into reality with determination to get there in time.

Meanwhile, Dipper steadied his breathing and looked at the girl again. He noted her clothes appeared slightly torn in places and singed. That lightning bolt had to have hit her. But how on earth would she have crashed through the trees. She would had to have been in the sky...But that made no sense she was clearly human.

His brows furrowed in concentration and annoyance for the fact that he couldn't understand what exactly had happened here. Maybe there were more clues around. Sure, he had told Mabel he would stay there so he was only going to look in the immediate vicinity.

He searched around the broken remains of trees and came up with nothing until he went to a fully fallen tree. There was something blue draped over part of it, and a few of the object's contents were spilling out.

A bag.

Maybe it could give some form of indication as to why she was here?

He crouched down beside the bits that were on the ground and picked them up. A cereal bar and a weirdly coloured cylindrical object like a flask. Was it a flask? Either way, it was of no importance so Dipper just dropped it and the food back into the bag which he then looked at hesitantly. It would probably be a total invasion of her privacy to go looking through it...He sighed and ignored his curiosity. If she woke up, they could just ask her why she was here.

Dipper could only hope that she'd make it. The severity of her condition was alarming but he tried to think positively. Like Mabel does.

His sighed in defeat. Hell, who's he kidding; if Mabel couldn't even keep a smile how would he?

While Dipper was busy searching for clues, Mabel was bolting through the trees, ignoring any scrapes she may be receiving from the branches and the way her lungs were screaming for air. She just. Kept. Running. She had to if she wanted to help that girl.

When the Mystery Shack finally came into view, she was on the brink of collapsing, but she managed to take in a big breath of air and shout at the large figure outside the building.

"SOOS!" She yelled but he didn't seem to hear her.

She grunted in annoyance and tried again.

"SOO-"

Mabel hadn't noticed the stone that had appeared in her path and as she hadn't been paying attention to where she was going, and also the fact that the grass was slick with rain, she tripped over it and went tumbling down the small hill.

The force from her running made her fall faster so she reached the bottom in a few seconds, but it still hurt like hell. She was left lying on the soaking grass staring up into the vomit inducing spinning sky. She sat up slowly only to cover her ears and squeeze her eyes shut as a loud buzz pierced her eardrums. Her stomach flopped and a sharp sting burned her ankle.

"...bl...

...abel..

Mabel!"

The buzzing faded out and the girl in question looked up at the towering figure above her. The blurred body turned into Soos who outstretched an arm for Mabel to take. As the small brunette attempted to stand, a yelp escaped her throat before she collapsed back to the wet grass.

"Dude! Are you okay?" Soos asked in concern.

"Ow, ow ow. I think I've sprained my ankle..." Mabel winced, clutching her slightly bent foot with a tiny, weary chuckle.

"Okay, then I'll take you into the Mystery Shack and get you sorted out. Don't worry you'll be fine hambone." He attempted to reassure her but instead she freaked out.

"Wait! No, no, no! There's somebody who needs more help than me, they're with Dipper!"

"Someone else in trouble? This looks like another case for Dr Soos!" He stood triumphantly for a moment, "And yeah, I was wondering where your bro was."

"Soos, you need to go to the forest and help them! Quickly!" Mabel pressed.

"Well first I'll get you inside, you don't want to catch a cold and you need to sit down with your ankle like that."

"But this is important!"

"So is your safety. I'll be quick." In one swift movement, Soos picked her up and ran into the Mystery Shack with shocking speed. He dropped Mabel onto the sofa and was fast in putting an ice pack on her ankle.

"Mabel, what exactly was the problem with the person?"

She shrugged unsurely, "I don't really know, but she seemed kind of... critical."

The man's brows furrowed, "Critical? Um, alright, you call Stan and ask him to call a doctor, I'll be back a-s-a-p hambone."

"Oh! And we were in the middle-ish areary part of the forest." The tween pointed out.

Soos gave her a thumbs up and rushed out of the building up to the Mystery cart, then proceeded to slide into the driver's seat before fumbling with the keys for a moment and starting up the vehicle. He sped off into the heart of the forest with a look of determination on his face.

He could only hope things would turn out alright.

'Where are they, where are they, where are they!?' Dipper wondered. As time continued to pass, his anxiety of the situation grew stronger and stronger.

He had returned to the girl's side and was checking her pulse every now and again just to make sure things weren't getting any worse. Unfortunately, things weren't getting better either.

Snapping Dipper from his thoughts was the sudden sound of an engine and then a bright beam was shining in his face, causing him to recoil slightly. He let out a shaky breath he didn't realise he'd been holding in as the Mystery Cart came into view before him and out popped Soos.

"Dipper! Mabel said something was urge-Oh... " Soos stopped as he noticed the girl.

The man bent down to check over her injuries.

"Dude, looks like she got struck by lightning or something." He whispered.

"I think she did." Dipper responded with a raised brow.

Soos gently picked her up before carefully placing her laid down on the backseat of the Mystery Cart.

"Dipper, can you sit with her in the back to make sure she's good on the way?"

The boy nodded rapidly, "Of course." He took the girl's bag with him and dropped it by his feet in the Cart. As the older man got into the front, Dipper took one last look at the clearing and then they were driving away. Soos was going as fast as he could go without making the ride too bumpy, so as not to injure the girl even more.

Dipper glanced down at the bag and once more resisted the urge to snoop inside. It was tough, but he managed to ignore it for the rest of the journey.

When they reached the Mystery Shack, Mabel and Stan were chatting nervously in the living room. The pair rushed inside, Soos holding the girl in his arms.

"Mr Pines, this girl's really badly injured and-"

"Soos," Stan interrupted, "don't worry, Mabel told me what happened. Set her down on the sofa, I already called a doctor."

The girl was placed gently onto the sofa and the cushions were readjusted to make sure her body wasn't in an awkward position. While this happened, Dipper rushed over to his twin as he noticed her injury.

"Mabel! What happened?" He asked hurriedly.

"Oh, right my ankle. I tripped and fell. No biggie." She waved a hand dismissively.

Dipper shook his head, "Mabel, you need to be more careful. You were telling me not to get hurt and then this happens to you."

"Sorry Dip Dop." She frowned, "Anyway, this doesn't matter right now, there's a more important thing going on."

Just at that moment, a knock came from the front door. Dipper sighed and walked away.

"I'll get it."