Wonderer's Wish World: An Empty Land

A Study of Scarlet

"Mabel!!"

With a terrifying cry that shook Kipo to her very bone, Dipper surged forward and fell to his knees beside the shape, grasping at it with Kipo could only hang back in horror, her mind still reeling.

Mabel couldn't be... no, she just couldn't! It felt practically impossible, yet this horrible reality was pushing at the edges of her mind...

Suddenly, a breath of relief broke her out of her petrified state. Kipo focused in on the scene just as Dipper stood up, turning to her.

"It's..." his voice sounded raw, almost weak. He loosely gestured to the shape on the floor. "It's fine. It's not Mabel."

The relief hit Kipo like a hurricane, making her feel breathless and her knees knock together. A single tear dropped out of the corner of her eye. She wiped it away. "Oh... thank goodness. I-I'm so glad."

Dipper nodded. He didn't seem quite ready to speak yet, so Kipo edged into the room, nudging the object with her toe. Now that the horror was over, she could see that it was far, far too small to be a human being, even though Mabel wasn't that big to begin with. Now that Kipo was looking with a more rational eye, it was clear that the thing was very familiar to her: it was the same sandwich that had started this whole search, wrapped in what looked like one of Mabel's sweaters. It was now painted completely red, and had more of a mush state then a solid one. It kind of looked like a pile of mud, and the knowledge of where it came from just made it that much more unappealing.

But with her recent revelation, it was probably the nicest piece of art Kipo's ever seen.

"Where-?" Kipo turned to Dipper, who still looked like he was processing everything. He didn't seem able to even look at the sandwich. "Where do you think she is now?"

It was a fair question, as it was clear Mabel was no longer in the shed... Kipo rubbed the back of her neck, thinking.

"It is pretty late..." Kipo mused. "Do you think she's asleep?"

Dipper glanced at her, obviously confused, so Kipo continued.

"It could be that she came here and then went back to her house," Kipo explained. She nodded to the sweater. "Maybe she took off her sweater and went back and that's what Dib saw before. He must have just thought she was wearing different clothes."

Dipper blinked, thinking about that. Eventually, he nodded, straightening up. "O-Oh... yeah, that makes sense."

Kipo put a comforting hand on his back, and to her relief, Dipper seemed to relax, at least a little bit. He was shaking, Kipo realized.

Well. She wasn't much better. She was still kind of panicking; she could feel it in the depth of her stomach and in the back of her mind.

Kipo took a deep breath, and the two of them stepped forward, out of the shed and back to the town.

They got to the houses in only a fraction of the time that they left them. Not only where they not going in Mabel's strange, convoluted way, but they were also rushing through the streets. The scare they had early... plus the story Dib told earlier... Kipo needed to make sure Dipper's sister was alright as fast as possible, and clearly, Dipper was thinking the same thing.

Luckily, they had no interruptions this time, and got to the houses easily. Unlike with the shed, Dipper and Kipo didn't hesitate, barging into the house and up the stairs. Out of the corner of her eye, Kipo saw the sometimes beautiful, sometimes strange drawings on the wall. She paused for a couple seconds, glancing over the colourful walls, with not a spot uncovered, before quickly following Dipper up the rest of the stairs.