Come Wayward Souls

Wirt

The boy's head cracked on the forest flood and he lay sprawled on the ground, bruised and bloody. Dipper dropped to his knees beside him, rubbed his back and helped him sit up. He spluttered and coughed, slowly sitting up and clutching his chest.

"Th- thanks," he said in a strained voice. "Thank you so much, um..?"

"Dipper," said Dipper, blushing.

"Wirt," said the boy, holding out his hand. Dipper clasped it, but suddenly Wirt was pulling him into a hug.

"Thank you," he whispered. "You saved my... You saved me."

"No problem," Dipper said awkwardly as they broke apart. "Um... So, are you okay?"

He looked at Wirt properly now, full in the face. He already looked less pale. His dark hair was tangled and tiny pieces of leaf and branch stuck into it all over the place. His face was scratched and bruised, and a trickle of blood- thankfully no longer tree sap- ran from the corner of his mouth. Wirt wiped it away with the back of his vine-encased hand.

"I think so," he said quietly. "I feel really weak. I know it was very almost too late."

"Can you stand?" Asked Dipper anxiously. "We both need some rest before we talk. We should get out of the open, find somewhere sheltered to sleep until morning."

"Good idea," Wirt agreed, but when he tried to stand, he swayed and his legs buckled beneath him. He needed Dipper to support him; this wasn't easy, sinse Dipper was about three heads shorted than Wirt.

They slowly made their clumsy way to a huge fallen tree blocking the path, against which they stumbled and finally sank down to sit against it, leaning back on the thick, smooth bark of the tree which they first ensured wasn't an Elderwood. Dipper collected some broad leaves and dry moss, and tried to cover Wirt in them, who looked even more drained and exhausted than before after this short journey. Then Dipper raced back to the river he had seen earlier and collected some water in a large cupped leaf. He carefully helped Wirt drink the cool liquid. The poor boy choked and spluttered, trying as hard as he could to keep the water down, but it was clear he was struggling.

"Thank you, Dipper," he repeated, over and over again. "Thank you."

Dipper just wanted to ensure their safety, which was clearly now joint. They were responsible for each other, and the only thing he knew fot definite in this bizarre forest was that he wasn't going to let anything more happen to Wirt.