First Mate

Chapter 1

      Mabel Pines desperately lunged forward, only to be restrained by her two great uncles. "Dipper! No, you can't take him!" Mabel shouted at the crowd before her. She was vaguely aware of the other man being dragged away beside him, and the flock of officers dragging them both away, but in that moment, all that mattered was her brother. He was all she could see. He struggled against the strong pairs of arms that were holding holding him back, and with great difficulty, dragging him farther and farther away from her. He was being torn from her once again, and once again, it seemed as though there was nothing that could be done about it. Panic flashed in his eyes, like that of a wounded animal being dragged by a pack of predators to a den, where death surely awaited. In a sense, that's exactly what was happening. The moment their eyes met, Mabel froze. Dipper froze. The world froze. The realization that this may very well be their last glimpses of each other hit them like a merciless, pitiless blow to the stomach. Their mouths agape, the only sound they could hear was the eyes of the other, screaming to stay, to escape somehow, to be together and fight this together.
      A burlap sack came over her twin's head, and in an instant, Mabel snapped out of the hypnosis, and Dipper continued to struggle like his life depended on it, somehow even more vigorously. A river of tears began their flow from her wide, stinging eyes without a sound. She never tore her eyes away, not when they hit him to force his surrender, not when he was shoved into the ground, not when the ropes came around his torso like a constricting snake, not when he was thrown into the back of a carriage and driven away. She couldn't bring herself to tear her eyes away, even after they were all out of sight, and it was just her, Stan, and Ford, standing there in disbelief in front of the lonely shack in the woods.
       Stan, whose eyes were fixed on nothing, slowly ran a hand through his stone-gray hair. "I... I just can't believe... He's just a kid, how can they take him like that?" he said quietly. Ford opened his mouth to speak, but was rendered speechless. Mabel spun around to face him, a newfound fury in her heart. "Gruncle Ford, how could you?! How could you do this to him?!" she said, wanting to claw him apart with her bare hands. But she lost all her strength, her will to fight. Her knees buckled, and she fell to the ground with a loud thud. A tear fell from Ford's eye. "Mabel... Y-you can't possibly believe this is what I intended to happen... I never thought Dipper would be taken like that. I never meant for him to-!" he attempted to explain, unable to say the next word, but his niece was having none of it. "Oh, you didn't intend for this to happen? Then what the hell did you think would happen, Ford? Did you think when they came for Bill, they would just overlook his first mate? Not just his 'first mate', his lover? Did you really believe they wouldn't suspect him of, I don't know, witchcraft? Or any excuse to send him straight to the gallows? Well, don't worry. I definitely forgive you, Ford. After all, you didn't 'intend' for any of this to happen!" she spat bitterly, staring at the ground and gripping the grass as she spoke. Stan crouched beside her, placing a hand cautiously on her back. "Mabel, sweetie, let's just go inside and try to figure this out, ok?" he said gently. She snapped up, slapping his hand away and looking him straight in the eyes. "Don't even talk to me, Stan! You let Ford do this! You're just as guilty as he is!" she practically screamed, tears streaming down her face, then snapped her gaze to Ford. "If you think I can ever, ever forgive you for this, think again. You're both horrible!" Her words pained her as much as it pained her uncles, but she couldn't stop herself. She scrambled away from them, from the shack, as though she could escape the events of the past hour if she ran far enough. She barely registered the two voices calling after her. All her focus went into the pounding of her feet against the ground. One foot in front of the other, dodge the roots, around the trees. She ran until these thoughts drowned out the sounds of grief screeching in her head.  She ran until every inch of her body screamed for oxygen, and she had no choice but to collapse onto the grass, the world going black before her.

      She found herself in a clearing some time later, eyes squinting against the blinding white light of the sun. She slowly brought her hand above her head in an attempt to block it out. It was a beautiful, clear day, completely out of sync with the grief-stricken twenty-two-year-old who just lost her twin, her only brother, laying on her back in the middle of some field in the vast expanse of dark green surrounding it. Somewhere, miles away, he was locked up in a dark cell, awaiting a trial that would surely never come, while she was free. I can't just sit idly by while Dipper is condemned to die, she thought to herself, even if it's the last thing I do, I will see him liberated from this whole mess, with his true love by his side. Even if it meant taking his place, I have to do something!
      With these thoughts driving her, she rose to her feet, then ran off in the direction of the shack.

___________________________
(AN: Fear not, it might be a little confusing right now, but I already have part of chapter 2 written, and I'll get it published as soon as I can.)