theattic | THE SANDBOX

Maurice was going to have to give this kid a scolding once he was topside again.

"Step back if you can, I'm commin' down!" He turned around again and carefully backed down into the hole, sliding down the sheer wall and leaving deep grooves in the dirt with his fingers. What was this place? It didn't look like any sort of animal den he knew about...or the start of a well. Or any kind of other construction.

"No offence, man, but I used to think my hometown was a pit." He crouched down with his back to Dipper. "Climb on, see if you can reach the edge from my shoulders."

"Yeah, well...it's full of surprises, I can tell you that much." Dipper sighed, stiffly getting to his feet as he finished brushing himself off. He hesitates before walking over to Maurice, collecting both the journal and his hat.

Once that's done he climbs up with some difficulty, putting his hands against the wall of the hole so he can look up.

"Almost...can you get me any higher than this?"

"I...think so. Hang on!" Maurice stretched up onto his tip toes and dug his fingers into the walls of the pit again. He was the shortest member of his family not counting his nieces...and Carol looked like she might pass him in a few years.

"What the heck are you doin' out in the woods at night anyhow!" He glanced behind him at the other side of the pit, wondering if the slope would be easier...and hoping that there were no spiders. Mostly the spiders thing.

Dipper reached up as tall as he could when Maurice did that, letting out a sigh of relief when he felt his fingers grip onto the edge, finally.

As he started to pull himself up (with a little difficulty, due to his bruised right arm), he answered, "I was looking for something! I was gonna head back soon anyway..."

"And it couldn't wait for the sun to come up?" Maurice ducked his head and tried to get his footing on the wall, beginning to climb up himself. Dipper wasn't that heavy.

Maybe he was being too hard on the kid. "What was it?" Sure being trapped in a hole sucked, but he still didn't feel like getting the kid out made up for the daring possum rescue.

"It was uh..." He began, frowning a little as he pulled himself up and over the lip of the edge, finally able to pull himself the rest of the way off of Maurice's shoulders.

"...have you ever heard of a Jackalope? ...the best time to look for them is...at night..."

"A Jackalope?" Maurice squinted as Dipper pulled himself up and dirt fell down onto his face. "Sure! There's one at the bar back home. Ernie said he made it himself."

Now it was Maurice's turn. He squatted down and gave a mighty leap--missed the edge of the hole. He tried again, this time managing to grab hold of some stray roots that they'd dug loose. They popped and creaked as the man heaved himself topside.

"But I don't think you're gonna find any out here..."

"Made it?" Dipper echoed, turning around just in time to watch Maurice finally get a grip enough to haul himself out of the deep pit.

"...Well, they've got to be around here somewhere. The journal talks about them being in this area specifically...they're just...kinda elusive." And by kinda, he meant very. Very elusive.

Dipper sighed, pulling his hat down more securely on his head before examining the bruise near his upper arm. "This doesn't seem like it was here by accident...but it doesn't look like a trap of any sort, either."

"Yeah! With taxidermy!" Maurice brushed his shoulders and jeans off and turned to eye the journal that Dipper was holding. "This place comes with its own field guide? Anything about vampires in there?"

He had to ask!

But then came the topic of the hole. Maurice glanced down at it. It was creepy as hell in the dark. Just...a pit. A round pit out in the middle of nowhere. "You're right...if it was an animal trap, it wouldn't have been that easy to get out of...or there would've been bait or bell or somethin'...think somebody was out here digging for treasure?"

Oh, taxidermy. Well that bodes well for his search, at least. "Uhh...yeah, actually. Though I haven't met any other than you, yet."

Dipper turns to look back at the hole as well, careful not to get any closer than he already is, lest the uneven ground give way beneath him again. "I have no idea. I don't think so, not unless they had something they knew they were looking for. Plus...if they were, wouldn't we have seen other holes around by now?"

"Oh...yeah, you got a point." Unless they were really really good at finding treasure. His eyes wandered back over to the book that Dipper held. He couldn't help but wonder what it might say about him. He hadn't had the best 'how to be an undead abomination' teachers.

"What were you gonna do with a Jackalope once you found one?"

"Well...I kinda just wanted to find one to...prove it exists, you know? I hadn't actually thought that far ahead." He knew he probably wouldn't be able to catch it, and if he did he had no idea what he would do with it. Certainly not harm it in any way, if he could help it.

If Maurice had been a young, living person in a weird town like this, he felt like he'd probably want to do the same thing. He gave Dipper a broad grin.

"Just promise me you'll grow up to be the good kind of Bigfoot Hunter, okay?"

Dipper smiled a little at that, folding his arms over his chest, "Don't worry, I will. So I guess the bus hasn't shown up again yet, huh?" He asked, glad to see Maurice again, but at the same time concerned about him actually getting where he wanted to go without any further hitches.

The vampire's smile disappeared.

"No...but I did find a bus schedule. From like eight years ago." He shoved his hands into his pockets. "When it comes, it comes, I guess. I've decided to think of this as an extended camping trip."

"Hmm...well that's one way to put it, I guess. Do you know what you're gonna do in the meantime?" He kinda wishes there was...actually more that Gravity Falls had to offer for someone actually visiting, if only for Maurice's case.

Maurice shrugged. "Camp, I guess. Enjoy the sights. The woods are nice to look at even if they're full of weird holes."

Something deep in the woods went crunch. Then it went snap before the loud groan of a tree being felled echoed toward them. Maurice had opened his mouth to ask a question but shut it and whipped his head around to look in the direction of the sound.

"Who lumberjacks at night?"

"...not many people that I know of," Dipper answered with a frown as he followed Maurice's line of sight, but it was too dark for him to see anything properly in the thicket of trees surrounding them. There's Wendy, maybe, but there's no way she'd be all the way out here without the rest of her family.

"And I'm not so sure if that was even done by a person. I haven't seen anybody else other than you for a couple miles, Maurice..."

The dead man swallowed.

"I saw some college kids partying but...I don't think it was a wild enough party to cause that."

He tried to imagine what could possibly be big enough to push over a tree. Maybe it was just a bear...and a really old rotting tree. Maybe. Maybe.

"This is the part where we leave and find civilization again, right?"

"Usually." However, the pause that followed that seemed thoughtful on Dipper's part. And dangerous.

"...you don't think maybe we should check it out, do you? Just to make sure nobody got caught up in that."

Maurice didn't bother trying to contain a groan.

"Kid, you nearly died in a hole, I think you've met your adventure quota for today."

But Mauriiiiiiice.

"...Well yeah, but you came and found me. Someone else could be in the same boat right now."

The vampire's brows knitted. He huffed and sighed and shifted his weight from one boot to the other, even started to walk away, but his conscience dragged him back.

"Fine, we'll look. But only a quick look!"

Dipper nodded, gesturing for Maurice to follow as he started to walk toward the sound, away from the huge pit in the ground.

"It's probably nothing...but it's better to make sure anyway. Just in case."

And so Maurice followed the twelve-year-old into what could be a very deadly situation. He had found Dipper by calling out and it had turned okay. Maybe...they should yell and see if anyone was hurt by the tree?

Then he thought about what Dipper had told him about the woods. And the fact that the kid was out monster hunting. And the fact that he himself was also a monster. Yelling probably wasn't the best idea. Instead, he used his night vision to squint ahead as they walked. He didn't see any waving arms. He didn't see any holes either.

"Watch yer step." There were plenty of roots though and the last thing either of them needed was a broken nose.

A large shape that could easily be mistaken for a row of shrubs shifted up ahead. Wood creaked. A great, dark snout lifted into the air and sniffed two deep sniffs.

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