Summary: Steven and the twins go on the hunt for a plaidypus
It was dark. So dark Steven couldn't see his hands in front of his face. He was surrounded by an inky blackness that seemed to seep into his skin. He felt cold, but other than that, he could feel nothing else. He couldn't even feel the ground beneath his feet. He heard his breath quicken and heard the loud thumping of his heart in his head. He felt a weight pulling him down, and he began to sink into what felt like mud.
"No!" He yelled, but his voice sounded muffled.
Then there was laughter, and it seemed to fill the space around him. It was a cruel laugh, nasally and piercing. It struck Steven, filling him with dread. As his head started to sink into the mud, he prayed he would never hear that laugh again.
Steven woke with a start, his heart pounding. What was that? Most of his nightmares consisted of old memories that had been warped, but this was new. There was someone else in his dream. Another presence, another… entity. But, that was impossible. He was the only person he knew that could wander the mental realm. So how had something visited him? Was there someone else out there like him? No, that's not possible. There's no one out there like him.
He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. Whatever it was, he would have to think about it later. He promised the twins he would help them track down something called a "plaidypus." Apparently, it was a plaid platypus, but Dipper seemed really interested in it. Whenever Steven asked where he got the information about it from, he got really quiet before answering with a simple, "oh, you know, the internet or whatever." That answer seemed a little weird to Steven, but he didn't think much of it. There were a lot of things on the internet.
Steven stood up out of bed, and started getting ready. It was his day off, which he was happy for. Sometimes talking to people can get tiring. He joined the Pines family in the kitchen, where Stan was making pancakes. Mabel was bouncing in her seat as always, excited for their adventure today. She was chattering about how cute a plaidypus would be and describing how soft she's expecting it to be. Dipper had a map of Gravity Falls laid out on the table, and was plotting out where they were going to go.
"I say we check out the pond first. Plaidypuses like water, so anywhere there is water we have to check," Dipper marked several Xs on the map.
"Good morning everyone," Steven yawned, still waking up.
"Good morning Steven!" Mabel all but yelled.
"Hey," Dipper waved his hand absentmindedly at Steven, still focused on the map. He chewed the back of his pen before marking another X.
There was a click as Stan turned off the stovetop, "Alright! Stancakes are done!"
Steven sat down at the table as breakfast was served. Dipper quickly ate his Stancakes, while still looking at the map. He was so focused, he didn't notice when some syrup dribbled onto his shirt. Mabel wolfed down the food, wanting to get started on their quest. Steven ate at an average pace. Eating too fast could be bad for you.
After breakfast, Steven helped Stan with the dishes while the twins anxiously waited for him to be done in the next room. Dipper was going over his materials again, making sure they had everything.
"Okay, we got grapes, to feed it when we find it, a flashlight, compass, the map, hammer, in case we run into any gnomes, water bottles, sunscreen… anything else we should bring?" Dipper tapped his chin, racking his brain for what other materials they would need.
"What about," Mabel reached into her bag and pulled something out, "a camera! I want to get memories for my scrapbook!"
Dipper nodded, "That's good, Mabel. Now, anything else?"
Mabel shrugged. She looked back at the kitchen to make sure Steven was still in there. She really needed to talk to Dipper about Steven. There was some weird stuff about him, but the weirdest was the softball sized gem that Mabel had seen on his stomach the other day. He was reaching for something off a high shelf for a customer, and Mabel say the pink gem as his shirt lifted up a bit.
"Dipper, we need to talk about Steven," she whispered.
Dipper sighed, "If this is about how you have a crush on him, I don't want to hear it."
He started digging through his backpack again, triple checking their materials.
"No, it's not, Dipper. It's-"
"Snacks!" Dipper exclaimed, cutting her off, "sorry Mabel, I'm going to get some sandwiches for us."
Dipper briskly walked to the kitchen just as Steven came out of it.
"Hey Mabel, you ready for today's big adventure?" Steven asked.
Mabel smiled quickly, trying to cover the urgency on her face from the moment prior, "Totally! I can't wait to pet a plaidypus!"
"Well, remember, if it doesn't want to be touched, we won't touch it, got it?"
Mabel nodded, "Promise!"
They stood in the living room waiting for Dipper to gather snacks. A silence descended upon them; for Mabel, it felt awkward, for Steven, well, he didn't even notice.
Mabel cleared her throat, breaking the silence.
"You said you are on a road trip, but where are you from?" She asked, hoping not to sound too suspicious.
Steven smiled at her, "I'm from Beach City, it's a small town in Delmarva."
Mabel nodded, "Mhm, the same Beach City as 'Keep Beach City Weird?'"
Steven laughed nervously, "Yeah, you know about that?"
"Well," Mabel pointed at Dipper as he walked through the door, "He does."
"I does what?" Dipper asks, putting an array of sandwiches and chips into his pack.
"You know that nerd blog you follow? About Beach City?" Mabel pointed at Steven, "He's from Beach City."
Dipper's eyes lit up, but Mabel could see that Steven was not amused.
"Do you know Ronaldo?" Dipper asked excitedly. Mabel knew how much he loved that blog.
Steven suppressed a sigh, "Yeah, he kidnapped me once and accused me of being a lizard person. Although, I was wearing a lizard costume. The Ge- I mean, my friends had to rescue me,"
"Woah! That's so cool!" Dipper's eyes shone with excitement.
Steven scratched his neck and laughed nervously, "Not really, I was around 13-14, so it was kinda scary."
Mabel noticed Steven starting to look uncomfortable, and she got the idea that he didn't really like the blog that much. She regretted bringing it up. Before Dipper got the chance to ask another question, Mabel butt in.
"Shouldn't we get going?"
——-
Their first stop was the pond and waterfall that was only a short walk away from the Shack. They scoured the edges of the whole pond, and even looked behind the falls, but found nothing. A small stream led away from the pond, so the group followed that, walking the trail adjacent to the stream.
Steven was glad he went with the twins. He hadn't had much time to explore Gravity Falls, and it felt nice to stretch his legs. He noticed Dipper pull an old looking journal out of his vest and turned to a page with an illustration of a plaidypus. He muttered to himself before putting it back into his vest.
"I keep seeing you pull a book out of your vest, like back with the gnomes. What is it? Steven asked, his curiosity getting the best of him.
"What book, I don't know what you're talking about, haha, book." Dipper said, a little too quickly. He was not the best liar.
Mabel rolled her eyes, "Dipper, we fought gnomes side by side with him,"
Dipper sighed. Mabel was right, Steven had already faced the mystical with them and seen the book. He deserves to know.
Dipper pulled the book out of his vest. It was an old looking journal with a gold handprint on the cover with the number 3. But what was odd was the handprint had six fingers. Dipper passed it to Steven as he started to explain.
"I found it in the words about two weeks ago, and it confirms my suspicion of all the weird things that happen in this town! Towards the end the writer appears to go mad, and then just stops writing as if he mysteriously disappeared." Dipper waved his hands in the air for dramatic effect.
Steven flipped through the journal. There were a ton of supernatural and mystical things in here… that weren't gem related! He was amazed at how many mythical things could exist that had nothing to do with gemkind. It gave him a sense of ease. That is until he flipped to the page that was about…
"Geodites! Next time we go out, we have to find those, they look really cool." Dipper looked at the page Steven was looking at. Dipper pointed at the page and started to explain things, but Steven couldn't hear. He felt himself start to get panicked, and his cheeks get warm and he knew they had a faint glow. He took a deep breath, he can't break down in front of the twins. Besides, they could not be gem related, like with everything else in the book. Steven examined the page more, and unless they were corrupted gems, they didn't sound, or look, like they had anything that had to do with gemkind. He breathed a sigh of relief. Then he noticed Mabel staring at him. He handed the book back to Dipper
"Is everything okay?" Steven asked.
Did she see me glow?
Mabel pointed at him, "I was going to ask you the same question. You looked really scared for a moment."
Steven gave a little laugh, trying to lighten the mood, "Nah, I just was trying to remember if I left the light on in my room, and panicked because I thought I didn't, but then remembered I did."
"Hm, okay," Mabel humed.
She looked forward, breaking eye contact with Steven. What was that? She could've sworn that Steven's cheeks had started to glow a faint pink. Was she imagining it? No, she was certain she hadn't imagined it. She peeked back at Steven, seeing him give back the journal to Dipper with a smile on his face. Mabel frowned, now she felt like Dipper. Everything is a conspiracy with him, and now that there was something undocumented in front of him, he wasn't even noticing. And he isn't listening to her. She needs more proof.
Dipper sighed, pulling Mabel from her thoughts.
"We aren't gonna find this thing, are we?"
Steven patted his back, "We will. Sometimes, these things take time."
He smiled down at Dipper, who seemed to cheer up a tiny bit.
"How about we check out Gravity Falls lake? By Trembley Falls?" Steven suggested.
Dipper thought for a moment before responding, "Yeah, seems a spot as good as any."
The three of them walked back to the Shack and all got into Steven's Dondai. The drive was a short one and they soon were parked at the docks. They got out of the car and continued their search. They followed a hiking path that ran alongside the lake, making sure to stay as observant as possible. Steven and Mabel started to sing songs to pass the time while Dipper stayed at the front of the group, eyes peeled. They had been walking for about an hour when they had reached Trembley Falls.
"Well, we better head back so we can check the other side of the lake," Mabel shrugged.
Dipper pulled the journal from his vest, "Wait, the journal says something about a cave behind the falls. We can crossover there."
He slipped the book back into his vest and Mabel and Steven followed him to the edge of the waterfall. Steven noticed a gap between the water and the stone behind it. They all carefully walked through it, making sure not to slip on the wet rock. They stared in awe at the cave behind the waterfall. It was very open, and looked like a secret hideaway. There was a pool of water that the waterfall fed into, that looked like it was connected to the lake outside. Dipper flipped open the journal again.
"Actually, it says the geodites are down that tunnel over there," he pointed to an entrance at the far end of the room.
Steven felt anxious about encountering one of these creatures. Were they gem related? Or was it just a coincidence that they were made of crystals? Then he had an idea. He'd send one back to the temple, and have them try to heal it. If it was really a gem, he could come back and help the rest of them. If not, they could just send it back, and he would return it back to the cave. As much as he wanted to avoid gem stuff, he couldn't in good conscience just leave a bunch of corrupted gems in the dark. He still wanted to help them.
Dipper pulled three flashlights out of his backpack, handing one to Mabel and Steven each.
"You guys ready," he asked.
Steven took a deep breath, "Yes, let's do this."
The party of three headed into the tunnel.
It was dark, so dark Steven couldn't even see his hands in front of his face had it not been for the flashlights. They were surrounded by an inky blackness that was only broken by the light. Steven hadn't ever really been in a proper cave, and this new experience seemed to calm his nerves. The caved looked man made, dug out by some unknown people hundreds of years ago, but water had seeped in, forming stalactites and stalagmites. It was cold, and Steven noticed Dipper was shivering. Mabel was wearing one of her classic sweaters, so she was fine. But Dipper was just in a vest and t-shirt. Steven took off his pink varsity jacket and handed it to Dipper. Dipper looked up at him.
"Won't you be cold?" He asked.
Steven shook his head, smiling at him, "I don't get cold very easily."
Dipper nodded and put the jacket on. They had been walking for about 20 minutes when they came to a ladder. It looked old, but sturdy. Dipper took a step towards it, but Steven stopped him.
"I'll test it."
Steven walked forward and took a tentative step on the first rung, testing its strength. When it held up, he put his full weight on it. He slowly lifted his other foot off of the ground and began to climb, going slow. When he reached the top, he called down to the twins.
"It seems fine! Come on up!"
They began to slowly climb the ladder when a rung broke under Dipper's foot, causing the ladder to break and the twins to fall. Steven was only able to grab Mabel, as she was the one who started climbing it first. Luckily, Dipper wasn't all that far off the ground when it broke.
"Are you okay?" Steven yelled down at Dipper.
Dipper groaned, but gave Steven a thumbs up.
"What are we gonna do?" Mabel asked.
Steven frowned, not sure, he could easily carry Mabel and float down, but he didn't want to use his powers. And especially didn't want Mabel to find out.
"I'm goin to go back to the lake to get enough signal to call Stan!" Dipper said, quickly turning around and hurrying out of the tunnel. Steven tried to protest, but Dipper was already gone.
"Well, poop," Mabel said.
Mabel pointed her flashlight down the continuation of the tunnel.
"We could keep going and see if there is a way out that way?" She suggested.
"No, we should stay put," Steven said.
But it was too late, Mabel had already continued down the tunnel. Steven sighed and followed. He doesn't want her to get hurt.
The tunnel seemed to shrink, the ceiling lowered and the walls got closer. Steven had to duck his head at some points. They had been walking for what felt like forever, but Steven could tell it was only about 20 minutes. Steven was ready to insist to Mabel that they turn back. Dipper should've gotten back to the a place will cell service by then, and Steven wanted to be back where the broken ladder was before he managed to get Stan there. The tunnel suddenly widened into a grand cavern that seemed to emit a strong glow. They heard faint high-pitched chirping and humming sounds, and Steven noticed the glow was coming from baseball sized geodes that seemed to scurry away from them.
"Awww they're so cute!" Mabel said, turning off her flashlight. They seemed to dislike the light from their flashlights, so Steven turned his off as well. The geodites moves closer to them, curious. They didn't seem hostile at all. And Mabel was right, they were awfully cute. The chirping got louder as the geodites got closer, inspecting what these two new creatures were.
"They don't looks scared of us, I have a feeling that these things haven't seen a human in a long time," Steven bent down and one crawled into his hand. It seemed to be walking around on crystal legs, and it's mouth opened like Pac-man, to reveal purple glowing crystals inside. Definitely not gem related. But, he did want to make sure.
Mabel picked one up and let it run over her hands, chirping happily. The one in Steven's hand laid down and started humming. Steven turned his back to Mabel as she played with the geodite. He pulled a pen and sticky note pad from and quickly scribbled 'Not sure if this is a corrupted gem. Try to heal it, and if not, send it back to me ASAP. -Steven.' He attached the note to the back of the geodite and quickly bubbled it, sending it back to the temple. Now he just had to make sure they didn't leave the room for at least a good ten minutes. Just to be safe.
He turned back around to see a geodite sitting atop Mabel's shoulders, and another on her head. She giggled as the one on her shoulder ran under her hair to her other shoulder. Steven cleared his throat, getting her attention.
"We should probably sit down and rest for a bit, then head back. We don't want Dipper to show up with help and we NOT be there."
Mabel nodded and carefully sat down, making sure the geodite on her head didn't fall. Steven sat next to her and waited. He needed to make sure she didn't see the bubble when it returned. He had to be ready.
A few minutes had passed and Mabel was throwing geodites in the air and catching them. They seemed to giggle, chirping with joy. They were so cute her heart felt like it was going to melt. She put the one she just caught down and went to pick up another one when she noticed Steven was staring straight ahead. He seemed tense, as if he was waiting for something to happen.
"Steven," Mabel asked, "Are you okay?"
Steven blinked, pulled from his trance. He looked down at Mabel and smiled, "I'm fine, just thinking about home."
It wasn't a full lie, just a half-truth. He WAS thinking about home, but thinking about the Gems and the geodite. He missed the Gems. And Connie. He really missed Connie. Hopefully she would be able to come visit him soon. He would absolutely take her here. This was beautiful.
"Oh," Mabel said. She didn't really know what she was expecting him to say. But she did have a burning question on her mind. She'd been thinking about it since the gnomes.
"Hey Steven?"
"Yeah?"
"Back when we were running from the gnomes, you mentioned how we shouldn't underestimate them because they were small. But sounded like you spoke from experience. Are their magical things in Beach City?" She asked.
Steven sighed. He knew this was gonna be unavoidable. Sooner or later, someone was going to put pieces together. But he mainly expected it from Dipper, so Mabel asking did come at him as a surprise. The best he can do is answer her question with as little information as possible.
"Kinda," He wouldn't call them 'magical,' just, 'technologically advanced,' "The small creature I was referring to when I said that, was a gem called Aquamarine. Gems are like people, but their body is made of light projected from a gemstone. Well this gem looked harmless enough, but managed to kidnap a bunch of my friends, and even tried to kill my dad. It's not something I like to talk about."
Mabel stayed quiet, processing what she heard. She thought of her next question carefully, trying her best not to ask anything too invasive. She decided not to ask about Steven's experience with gems, but did want to know…
"Are there more gems in Beach City?" She asked.
Steven smiled at her. She was just a curious kid, he couldn't blame her for asking.
"Yep, they even have their own little town. There they learn how to do a bunch of human things! Like gardening, art, blacksmithing, and more!"
Mabel's eyes widened and she almost dropped the geodite she was holding, "That's so cool!"
She thought back to her seeing the gem on Steven's body. But Steven wasn't made of light, was he?
"Are you a gem?"
Steven felt like he had been hit by a bus. His mind raced at how he was going to respond. This is what he had been trying to avoid. He wanted to be just human, but hadn't he spent almost a full year being that? He was still half gem, a side of him he started to not know how to feel about. But, it had helped him back with the gnomes, and helped protect the twins. The fact he was half gem was going to get out, he knew that. But maybe he can control who it gets out to. He took a deep breath.
"Kinda, you see-"
He was cut off by the pop of a pink bubble that formed in the middle of the room. Inside, the geodite was running around in circles before plopping down on the bubble. On its back was a note. Steven jumped and popped it, catching the geodite and the note before they hit the ground. It was still a little wet, and it shook itself before running off after Steven put it on the ground.
"What's that?" Mabel asked, gently putting the geodite she was holding down before getting up.
"I sent one on the geodites to my friend's back in Beach City to see if it's gem related and…" he read the note the Gems sent back. Looked like Pearl's hand writing, "It's not! That's neat."
Mabel looked up at him, "But how did you send it?"
"So I am a gem, well, half gem. My mom was a gem, and I have some of her powers. One of them is bubbling things and sending them to different places," Steven shoved the note into his pocket.
"Woah!" Mabel said, slack jawed, "What else can you do?!"
Steven laughed nervously, "I'll tell you, but you can't tell anyone. Promise?"
"Can I tell Dipper?" She asked.
Steven thought about it for a moment, "Only if he asks. I don't really want people to know, I just want to be human this summer."
Mabel nodded, and drew her finger across her lips, as if zipping them shut and locking them before flicking away the key.
"Okay, so I can heal people, with me saliva," Steven said.
"You have healing kisses!" Mabel exclaimed, amazed.
"Yes, but there's more," Steven smiled, her excitement was contagious, "I can float, run really fast, and summon a shield. Also, I'm super strong. That's basically it."
He wasn't about to tell her about bringing people back from the dead. She's just a kid after all.
She was quiet for a moment, "Can I see?" She asked.
"See what?"
"The shield!" She was bouncing on her feet, full of energy and excitement.
Steven chuckled, "Sure,"
His gem started to glow and then there was the shield on his arm, glowing a subtle pink. It felt nice not having to hide, like a breath he had been holding for too long had been released. Mabel gawked at its glow as Steven held it towards her.
"You can hold it if you'd like,"
She gently picked it up from where it was suspended on Steven's arm. It felt glassy and smooth, and had a nice weight to it. It was transparent, and made everything look pink when she looked through it.
"This looks so cool!"
Steven smiled as Mabel marveled over the shield. Maybe people knowing wouldn't be so bad.
"Well, we should probably get going," Steven made his shield disappear, "We have a long walk back."
"Didn't you say you had super speed, though?" Mabel asked.
"Yeah I do," Steven turned around knelt on the ground, "Get on."
Mabel squealed with glee as she got onto Steven's back and turned on her flashlight.
"Hold on tight," and with that, Steven glowed pink and the world seemed to move in slow motion. The geodites that had been running around all slowed and some were suspended in mid jump.
Running felt amazing. The rush of the air and the stretch of his legs felt relieving, like taking a walk after being cramped on a long car ride. They made it back to the broken ladder within a few minutes. Steven stopped running and looked up back at Mabel. She had the widest grin and her hair was blown out of her face.
"That was awesome!"
She looked over the edge at the broken ladder, then looked at Steven, "Didn't you say something about floating?"
Steven grinned and took a step over the edge. Mabel shut her eyes tight, expecting a rough landing, but when there wasn't immediate thud, she peeked one eye open. Steve was standing in mid air, and just slowly floating downwards.
"Wow!" She had the widest grin on her face. This was so cool!
Soon they had touched down, and Mabel climbed off of his back.
"That was epic! How long have you been able to do that?" She asked.
"Well," Steven laughed to himself, remembering his first time floating. It seemed scary at the time, but looking back now all he could do was laugh, "I was so excited about being home from a mission, and excited about eating the first handmade donut that my local donut shop was going to start selling, I jumped super high! Not on purpose, but I just did! It was so cool so I started jumping and floating around. But then I jumped a little TOO high and got stuck there all night."
Mabel bounced on her heels, "Did you at least get the donut?"
Steven smiled, "Yep! I figured out how to get down and got to the shop right when it opened!"
"Yay! Happy ending!" Mabel threw her hands up in celebration.
Just then they heard voices down the tunnel and Dipper came into view, followed by Soos with a ladder.
"Guys we're back-," Dipper called up to them before realizing they weren't at the top of the ledge anymore, "Wait how did you guys get down?"
Mabel was about to answer when she saw Soos and remembered what she promised Steven.
"Turns out, Steven's really good at climbing! But before that let me tell you about the geodites we saw!" Mabel quickly started to talk about the cavern they found as Steven let out a little sigh of relief.
"So, I'm guessing you dudes don't need this?" Soos held up the ladder he was holding.
Steven shook his head, "I think we're good."
——
After about twenty minutes, the four of them emerged from behind the waterfall.
"Do you want me to carry that?" Steven asked Soos. It looked kinda heavy.
"Nah dude, I got it," Soos responded, but it didn't seem like he had it.
"It's no problem, you've been carrying it for a while now, and I'm pretty strong."
Soos placed the ladder on the ground and stretched, his back was killing him.
"Actually, sure dude, that would be a big help."
Steven effortlessly picked up the ladder and placed it on his shoulder.
Dipper sighed, "We still haven't found the plaidypus."
Soos gave him a pat on the back, "There's always next time, dude."
"I guess so," Dipper said, looking at the ground dejectedly.
Just then, there was a rustling in the bushes and everyone froze. Seconds felt like ages while they all waited with baited breath for whatever was gonna step out of those bushes. What were the odd it was going to be a plaidypus? What amazing stroke of luck would that be? Suddenly, out of the bushes jumped a… bunny. Just a grey forest rabbit. They all released a disappointed sigh. Oh well.
Dipper took a step forward and immediately tripped, falling over. When he looked down he saw… a plaidypus! It must've crawled in front of them while they waited anxiously for what was rustling in the bushes a few yards ahead.
"Yes!" Dipper said.
It walked over and laid down on Dipper's back.
"This is the greatest moment of my life," he whispered, trying not to spook it
Mabel knelt down and started to pet it.
"It's so soft!" She squealed.
They all took turns petting the strange animal, and it was indeed the soft thing they had ever felt.
Dipper handed Steven a camera.
"Get a picture."
Steven got plenty of pictures.