Chapter Text
Summer had just ended for the little island of Gravity Falls, and a pleasant autumn was starting to settle in, giving the entire town that rested on it a warm feeling, since the fireplaces were all lit, and the tailors had been generous with the amount of padding in the clothes they had sown for the season.
The town had also just found a sense of peace, since a sort of war had just died down between them and the sirens that plagued the islands around them. A few other groups had tried to settle on the smaller islands, but were forced out by the angry sirens, who would kill and eat anyone who came to close to the water.
Gravity Falls however, had thrived, since they were lead by great hunters, Stanford Pines and his twin brother Stanley Pines, who had been elected their leaders. They heavily fished out the sirens around their island, and made sure to send a message to the rest of them that if they dared come too close, they would be hunted.
A few cases of missing persons would be reported here and there, which kept everyone on their toes when they came too close to the water, but overall, everyone felt safe under the protection of the Pines twins.
Dipper Pines, their great nephew, and his twin sister, Mabel Pines, trained under them, and worked hard to follow in their footsteps so that they could keep running the island once they were old enough.
Their parents had been lost to the sirens when they were very young, when the fighting between the two was the most intense, and the sirens would find ways to lure people from inland to the water. Soon after Ford had killed off two of the lead sirens though, the fighting slowly died down, and it was just then coming down to what felt like a complete halt.
The day that proved them wrong was a fairly warm one, one that had nothing incredibly remarkable about it, except for it was one of the days that both Ford and Stan held a type of class for the young adults on the island, to teach them about hunting and defending against the sirens.
“Dipper! Get up you lazy bones!” Mabel bounced up and down in front of Dipper’s bed, trying to wake him from his heavy sleep. She was much more excited about the class, since she was a prodigy at it all, and she was completely fearless when it came to the water and the sirens.
Dipper, on the other hand, was not as nimble and quick as his sister. Sure, he was smart, and could recite facts as if he had an entire library in his head, but the actual, physical hunting part was not his forte. “Can’t I wait like, five more minutes?” He had stayed up all night reading about other mythical creatures, trying to rid his mind of the many ways to kill and skin a siren.
For some reason or another, he didn’t harbor a hatred for the creatures like the others did, and preferred to learn about them and their culture, rather than how to cut them open.
“No! We’ve got to eat breakfast, do a few chores, then head to class! We’re actually going out to the beach today!” She flung the blanket off of him, determined to wake him up before she left the room to start her day.
With a groan, Dipper reluctantly rolled out of bed and got dressed, not particularly looking forward going out to the beach. He avoided it whenever possible, since he didn’t really like being out anywhere near the sirens were. They were fascinating, that was for sure, and he would love to know more, but they were killers, and he knew he wasn’t a good enough hunter to fight them along side others without ridicule. Going by himself was fine enough, but he didn't need the humiliation of others watching him try to defend himself.
His footsteps echoed through the hall of their large manor as he made his way down into the dining area, where his family sat at the round table, all enjoying the breakfast the cook had prepared.
“Morning Dipper!” Ford greeted him warmly as he set down his fork. “Are you ready for some more training today? We’ve got quite the lesson planned!”
Dipper scratched at the scruff growing on the sides of his face, something that had seemingly grown over night when he turned eighteen, and shrugged. “I suppose so.” He sat down at his place, and nibbled at his food. Something in his gut said today was not going to be his day for siren hunting.
“C’mon kid, don’t be so down! You’re getting the hang of it!” Stan smiled and pointed at him with his fork. “You’re probably just a late bloomer like Ford was. Took this bastard years to be as good as he is now!”
“Stan! Language,” Mabel giggled. Everyone chuckled, since Mabel herself was anything but lady-like when it came to language. Catch her in the right mood and she’ll write you a dictionary of curse words with her mouth.
Dipper kept his head down for the rest of his breakfast, and hurried to do what little chores he had for the day.
Though they had servants, Ford and Stan still thought it was good for them to do some house work, and always told them that if they were ever mean to the help, that they would lose the ability to use their services.
Dipper generally worked closely with their head workman, Soos. That was his nickname of course, but he insisted that everyone call him that, just like Dipper asked that everyone call him Dipper.
“Mornin’ Dipper! Ready to fix up some stuff around the place?” The plump man was in the basement, getting a few of his tools ready for the day.
“Sure. What do you need me to do?”
As Soos rattled off a small list of chores, Dipper thought about what he was going to do about the beach. He would be scolded if he skipped out, but he knew the others in the class would make fun of him if he went.
Once Soos had told him what needed to be done, he wandered back upstairs to the main floor, and began his tasks of fixing one of the ornate, golden door knobs on one of the many doors that lined the walls in the hallway behind the main staircase, painting over some of the chips in the white paint between the marble pillars that decorated the entry area, and adjusting the portraits throughout the house.
One of the paintings was of his parents, and he stood and stared up at it for a moment. The fight between the sirens and the humans had been a bloody one, and he was hoping that the silence that had settled among both of them would continue, though it would be nice if the silence were a more peaceful one.
After he finished, he found that he still had time to mentally prepare himself for class before he would be forced to go out to the beach. Mabel would likely make him to go a little early with her, so he didn’t have the choice to stand in the back of the group, nor would he be able to avoid Ford when he would ask for a volunteer.
He groaned and ran a hand through his brown hair, trying to relax a bit. He was just going to have to suffer through it, and ignore the snickers and taunts of his peers.
Just as he thought she would, Mabel came bounding over to him while he was sitting on the stairs, and tugged at his arm.
“To the beach! Let’s go Dip!” As she tugged, her light pink dress swayed with her, and moved against the stairs, creating a noise Dipper couldn’t stand.
“Alright, alright! Just… can we not be right up front? You know how the others are to me.” He stood up and adjusted his brown vest, and fixed the rolled up sleeves of his white undershirt. “I’d rather not go through that today.”
Mabel huffed at him and raised an eyebrow. “I thought you didn’t mind the taunts? And besides, the bastards only spout them because they’re jealous. No one has one on one time with Ford and Stan like we do. Now come on!”
Dipper followed her reluctantly, keeping his head down as they walked from the middle of the island to the only stretch of beach that didn’t have rocks along it. The beach wrapped the strawberry-shaped island, and the only spots people ever ventured to was the clear stretch towards the northern top part of the island, and the docks, which were closer to the south of it.
The sand was always softer than Dipper remembered, and he actually took a second to enjoy the warm feeling of it between his fingers.
As if the universe didn’t want him to enjoy himself, a few of the others joined them. One of the guys that was just a bit older than he was, Robert, or as he liked to go by, Robbie, immediately set his sights on Dipper, and was ready to pick on him.
“Hey, pretty boy, what makes you think you’re going to be able to keep up with the rest of us, huh?” The black haired man kicked some sand at him, which enraged Mabel.
“Mr. Valentino, do you not know to respect your betters?” she snapped.
“No one as uncoordinated as he is, is seen as a ‘better’ in my eyes. He can’t even set a trap without trapping himself.” He crossed his arms over his black undershirt, then chuckled at his own joke.
The group behind him laughed, and Dipper felt his face getting hot.
“Don’t listen to him Dipper, remember what I said earlier?” Mabel put her hand on his shoulder to comfort him, but he shrugged it off and turned away from everyone.
“Whatever, I’m going for a walk.” Before she could protest, Dipper stormed off along the beach, mumbling under his breath.
After a little while of staring down at his feet while walking, Dipper found that he had made it all the way to the cliffside of the island, where the beach bent inward and a wall of rock reached up to where the highest point of the town sat.
It was the perfect place to be alone, since not many people would want to brave the sharp rocks, or being alone on the beach.
Dipper had never had a problem being alone on the beach, the very few times that he had been anyway. They were all peaceful and filled with blissful silence. Well, as silent as a beach could be anyway.
This was just like those times; running away to have time to himself. He hadn’t been to this particular hidden place before, but he mentally marked it so that he knew it was a good place to come back to, should he need it.
He sat against a rock, several yards from where the water splashed onto the sand, and stared out into the sea.
It wasn’t long after that he heard a strange humming sound that made him jerk his head around. No one was on the beach with him, so where had the noise come from?
“ Oh my dear, come see my love, come feel my embrace. ” A smooth, deep voice began to sing a love song, and it made Dipper’s heart begin to pound against his ribcage.
“Hello? Who’s there?” He stood up and looked around again, catching a glimpse of gold in the water.
“ Come with me, I can show you my heart, with my love for you, we shall never part .”
The voice was beautiful, but Dipper couldn’t see where it was coming from. He felt a coldness on his legs, and realized that he was walking into the water.
A pale, nearly white haired man surfaced from the water, his eyes large and golden, and his hand was reaching out to Dipper, who mindlessly took it and let the man help him deeper into the water.
Shit, shit, shit. Dipper had seen and heard enough to know exactly what was happening, and mentally began to panic. His body stayed remarkably calm, since the siren’s voice was keeping him subdued, but he could feel a headache coming on from the amount of cursing and internal screaming he was doing.
Even though he had been told that sirens were ugly, horrible creatures his entire life, the creature in front of him seemed like anything but those things.
His angular features, the way his light blond hair swayed with the water, and the small, golden scales spotting his arms like freckles, all seemed more like that of an angel than a monster, and it made even his internal panic subdue a little. He had never seen one before, so it was strangely a little exciting to see one up close.
Just as Dipper felt the water reach his mouth, he heard another voice call out for him.
“Dipper! Where’d you run off to?”
The siren suddenly yanked him forward, and pulled him to one of the large rocks, where it pulled him out of the water and leaned him against the slanted rock. It was on top of him, holding both of his arms down while it listened to the people on the beach.
Dipper’s limbs felt numb, but he still tried to move out from underneath the creature, hoping that he could get out of its grasp. He let out a small whimper as he felt the rough texture beneath him rub at his back in a painful way.
It glared at him and bared its shark-like teeth. “Hush,” it snapped. The voice it used that time was harsh, and not nearly as smooth as its singing voice.
“I swear, that kid needs to learn to take a joke.” Robbie’s voice sounded behind on him on the beach, and Dipper almost called out to them, but couldn’t un-clench his jaw.
“Whatever Robbie, you just need to be nicer to him. It’s not cool when you tease him like that. You know he is Ford’s nephew, so I wouldn’t get on his bad side like that.” That was Wendy, the girl that usually stuck up for him when Robbie or others poked fun at Dipper.
Hearing her voice made him realize that he really should force out some noise, to try and warn them that a siren was there.
The siren’s eyes snapped to him when Dipper opened his mouth to yell, and he could see it panic for a moment when it realized both of its hands were busy holding him, so he couldn’t forcibly hold his mouth shut.
Or, so Dipper thought. The siren didn’t even think twice before it leaned forward and pushed its mouth onto his, keeping him from yelling out to the others.
As horrible as it was, Dipper felt himself relax into the kiss, since the siren was surprisingly really warm compared to the cold water.
Once the others could be heard walking away, the siren moved back and stared down at him. “You’re related to Ford ?” It spat Ford’s name out like poison and sighed when Dipper meekly nodded. “That’s just fuckin’ great. I can’t kill you without invoking his wrath on my people, but I can’t let you go either since you’ll likely run crying to him.”
Dipper could see the siren mentally fighting with itself, and he thought for a moment on how he could get himself out of the situation. “I-I won’t tell anyone.”
Its eyes fell back on his and it raised an eyebrow. “Oh? And how do I know that, hm?”
“I won’t tell anyone, on the condition that you meet me here again tomorrow, and the days following, to tell me more about your people. I really want to write about you, and get the side of you that isn’t all murder and hatred.” Dipper gulped and felt hot under the siren’s stare.
“And how do I know that you aren’t just trying to trap me? Or use the information I give you against us?” It tightened its grip on his arms and snarled again. “You’re blood to Ford, I can’t see myself trusting you.”
Dipper nodded. “I’m not much like him, honestly. I would much rather write about you than try and kill you.”
It raised an eyebrow and Dipper could feel its grip loosen. “So, you won’t tell anyone of this, if I tell you about me?” Its tone seemed to lighten a bit, and it almost seemed amused.
“Yes. Well, not you, like personally, but sirens. I want to learn about sirens.” God he was hoping that it would say yes. He really wanted to know more about how they lived, how their lungs functioned, and anything that would help him see the side that was scientific. He was done seeing them as the monsters that killed his parents, and rationalized that if he could see them in another light, then it would somehow lessen the sadness they had caused him.
A smile spread on its face and it laughed. “Geez kid, I thought you’d be more formal than that. Here I was, thinkin’ that I needed to put on my strong face, and you’re sitting here admiring the fact that I live underwater.”
The siren’s attitude seemed to switch entirely, and it made Dipper give it a quizzical look. “Uhm, yes?”
It laughed again and let go of his arms, slipping into the water. “Fine. Tomorrow. Same time, same place. If I see another human besides you, I’m going home and not coming back. Same goes for traps; none of that.”
Dipper let himself fall into the water as well, and held onto the rock as he nodded. “Of course. I-I’ll see you then, I guess?”
It tapped him on the nose and rolled its eyes. “See you then. Pine Tree.”
“Pine Tree?” Dipper asked, but was met with the siren’s tail flicking water at him as it swam away.
He stared after it for a moment, and watched it’s golden shine disappear into the murky water. “What a creature,” he chuckled.
Really, he should be shaking, and terrified of what had just happened, and mortified that he had invited the thing back, but instead, he was excited. To see it up close again, to hear its stories; it was exciting to think about.
Dipper pulled himself out of the water and shook his head, letting his semi-long hair flip around, hoping to dry off a little bit before making it back to the others, who had likely started to think he was hiding from embarrassment.
The group was gathered on the beach, some looking fired up, and others looking a bit pale. Mabel was a mix of both, and Ford and Stan looked more angry than anything.
“Uh, hey, s-sorry I kinda just ran off.” Dipper’s voice made everyone turn to face him, and they all looked a little shocked. “What’s wrong?”
Ford stepped forward and looked him up and down. “You’re soaking wet. And your arm’s bleeding. Where’ve you been?”
Dipper looked down and saw that the siren’s claws had dug into his forearm. He almost chuckled at it, since he completely hadn’t notice the pain while looking up at the siren’s golden eyes. “I-I was walking on some rocks and slipped into the water. My arm must’ve caught on one or something.”
“Come here,” he motioned for Dipper to step forward.
He gulped and did as he was told, hoping that Ford wouldn’t somehow see that he had almost been eaten by the siren.
Stan and Ford both looked over Dipper’s face. He knew what they were looking for. A person’s pupils would be dilated and unresponsive to quick movements after they had been under a siren’s spell, so he made sure to blink regularly and dart his eyes around to the others in the crowd.
“Hm. Well, I suppose you’d better head home then to change into some dry clothing. We were about to go on a hunt, since usually people who go into that cove don’t come back. Be careful next time you run off.” Ford patted him on the back and Dipper didn’t hesitate to walk away quickly after agreeing to be careful.
More waves of excitement went through him as he thought about how the next day was going to be both incredibly amazing, and intimidating. The siren was a beautiful creature, and he had no intentions of turning it in. The information it could give him could go towards a better understanding between humans and sirens, and hopefully make it so there would be no future wars.
When he got into some dry clothes, he got his field journal out and sat at his large, oak desk. He had kept the journal blank, in hopes of finding the perfect thing to write about, and was glad that he had done so. The sirens would be the perfect thing to study, and he had lucked out by accidentally buying himself leverage over one.
He wrote down the description of the siren that he had seen, then sat back and admired his detailed description of the creature. “I can’t wait to see you again, golden siren.”