The Year Of Rain

Beginning of the end. Part 1. Let's go catch some bugs!

He looked at his phone, a long sigh escaping his lips. No signal again. Great.

Tired and saddened by the lack of contact with the outside world, Dipper let himself fall down to the wet, stone floor, his back supported by a rock behind him. When Grunkle Ford told him that he wouldn't be able to talk to anyone while exploring the caves, he really meant it. Dipper didn't believe him at first and even if it was true, he didn't see the need to announce anyone about his absence. After all, Ford said the trip wasn't going to take more than two-three days. It wasn't anything serious, just go and visit a small island where a friend of his resided, an old, retired marine man. He wanted to go see him, as he hadn't received word from him for quite a while. Of course, the twins were more than eager to accompany him along with Stanley, the call of adventure being too sweet to resist.

How foolish. He should have let (Y/N) know what was going on.

The moment he set foot on the shores, he was bewildered by the island, the beautiful, alluring mystery, woven so gracefully into its ambience. It was like a hand was reaching out to him, to guide him through the layers and layers of secrets that were all around them, from the stark white sands and the strange, never-seen before rocks, so out of this world. In the distance, he saw what looked like a monolith, strange carvings adorning the stone, figures he couldn't quite place, a strange melody echoing from within.

Mable was already running around, being her usual self, ogling at the weird rocks, talking about what pretty bracelets and earrings they could make. She had gotten into crafting again as of late, with more passion than her brother ever saw, making accessories out of anything that she could get her hands on, paper, food, old, broken scraps of metal. For a while, she had abandoned it, in favor of other hobbies such as social media, acting, singing, studying on how to become a snow-fairy, where that came from no one knew. Neither lasted for too long though, her interest changing faster than even Bill could keep up with. Speaking of the devil...

"That bastard better not burn down the shack when we go back." Grunkle Stan mumbled under his breath as he took what little baggage they brought along.

"Why on Earth did you even agree to his bet?" Ford asked, still trying to wrap his head around his sibling's reasoning, despite his numerous attempts, telling himself to let it go.

"Hey, we have to deal with his garbage-spewing mouth every single minute of the day. We deserve at least two days off, alright!" Stan argued, before putting a hand around his twin's shoulder, rubbing the fingers on the others. "And if there's a bit of money that can be made on the side, that's all the better."

Everyone facepalmed themselves at that point. Did he seriously believe that?

Perhaps they should have taken Will instead of leaving him there to keep things in order. Poor boy.

"What?" Stan asked, looking at them.

"Nothing. Let's go. I want to check on Mathias and see how he's doing." Ford said, heading over to the lighthouse in the distance.

"I'll follow you in a second, Grunkle Ford. I need to do something first." Dipper said, running to one of the rocks, from where he could get a better view of the sea and the island.

Without wasting a second, Dipper immediately pulled out his phone, ready to dial (Y/N). In his mind the well-known cliché was already playing. She'd ask where he had been, how he was doing. He'd make her guess where he was and when she would get it wrong, he'd reach out his phone, close to the whirling waves, the song of seagulls and the whispers of the island. He was going to marvel in her excitement, describe to her the beach, the pale sands, the eerie atmosphere, the delicious feeling of danger and adventure. He could hardly wait to share those with her. Much to his disappointment, it all crumbled to dust as soon as he glanced at the screen, the icon displaying the lack of signal feeling like a punch to the gut. So much for his moment of cheesy teenage romance.