The Royal Order: Gravity Falls

3: The Expedition

Stanford ran through the hall to meet his partner at the door, his boots thumping against the creaking wooden planks of the shack's floor. The two opened the door to the shack, and a glistening white expanse greeted them, with umber pines rising from the drifts, their dark green needles sprinkled with snow caught in between... "Wow..." Fiddleford breathed, warm mist exhaled in the cold air. "Sure looks nice out here when it snows." Ford shrugged nonchalantly. "Eh. It's a nuisance having to shovel through, though..." he complained. He had gotten used to the sight of snow since his arrival a few years ago, and it no longer had quite as much of an impact on him as it might have then. Ford walked down and trudged through the snow past his porch, carefully avoiding deeper patches and staying on firmly packed snow to create a pathway towards the forest, knowing that less snow would fall there as the pine trees sheltered the ground. As brilliant as he was, Fiddleford didn't seem to understand his partner's careful pathway, and in his excitement simply tried to run off the porch through the snowdrift, eventually falling into a shallow pit of loose snow. He scrabbled at the bank, eventually able to pull himself out. "BrrRRRrr!" Fiddleford complained, trudging through the cold blanket to where his partner waited in the forest clearing. Ford looked back and smiled a little amused. "Common, Fiddleford. I know you're nervous, but there's no need to get cold feet." He chuckled. Fiddleford put on a pouting expression. "VERY FUNNY," He huffed, crossing his arms both in annoyance and as an attempt to warm himself. Ford handed his partner his own thick brown lab coat, "Stay here and keep warm, I'll be right back." He said, running through the snowdrift back to the shack and disappearing inside. A few moments later the scientist re-emerged with a green and yellow-stripped sweater, and a fresh white lab coat. "Here, put the sweater on first and then the coat will help trap the heat." He instructed. Fiddleford did as his partner said, and once he was warmly bundled the two continued along their journey.

Stanford held his leather journal in his hand, scratching down his daily journal entry, 'Today F and I have decided to take a break from our pet-project and explore the unknown...'  He glanced up at Fiddleford, who was trotting ahead of him steadily. 'Gravity Falls is home to many strange and bizarre creatures, and the prospect of finding one and studying it intrigues me. Imagine the look on-'  He scribbled out the name after habitually writing it- 'HIS face when he found out; his nerdy-six-fingered brother... a millionaire!' Anger and regret filled Ford's chest, forcing him to shut his journal with a loud 'SNAP!' of parchment and leather. Fiddle turned around, "Stanford? What's wrong?" Ford shook his head, cleaning his glasses. "Uh... its nothing. I'm just hasty I suppose." Ford covered. His partner nodded, continuing their trek through the snow-patched pathway between the trees. But Stanford thought of Stanley again, and his brother's idiotic jealousy that cost him the chance to attend West Coast Tech... and then looked back at Fiddleford. 'I suppose if Stan hadn't ruined my life, I never would have met my best friend...' He realized.

Fiddleford suddenly saw a blur or brown race between the snowy trunks, and he halted, Stanford bumping into him. "Woah!" Ford yelled as he fell back, readjusting his glasses and brushing snow off his journal. "Fiddleford, watch where you're going!" he snapped, and Fiddleford moved his hands warningly, eyes wide behind his spectacles. "T-there's something out there..." he stuttered. Ford was instantly alert, quietly scrambling to his feet and flipping to a blank page in his journal. "What is it? Where?" Fiddle's eyes scanned the snowy pines, and he gasped in fear as he once more saw the large brown shadow flit through the trees. "There!" He whispered, and Ford just barely caught a glimpse of the furry thing as it flashed behind the trees. He sketched what he had seen in the journal, and Fiddleford looked over his shoulder to add in a few details he had noticed as well. When Ford had finished, the unmistakable shape of a large ape like creature ran across the pages. "Bigfoot." Ford grinned excitedly, "We actually just saw the legendary BIGFOOT, McGucket!" The assistant smiled as well, and a look of amazement at the discovery entered his eyes. "Jumping banjos! B-but no one will ever believe us!" Fiddleford said, "And we only got a glimpse, there just ain't enough evidence to prove..." Ford looked at his partner in exasperated amusement. "Of course there will be doubters, but the important thing is, you and I got to see this thing in person." Ford smiled, scratching the name 'Bigfoot' at the top of the sketch, adding a small note in the right hand corner, 'More evidence and analysis needed.'

Ford shut the book and looked at Fiddleford again. "Lets keep moving! Maybe we'll find some fallen spacecraft next!" He laughed, running through the trees. Fiddleford followed his friend, "Wait for me!" He called.