Chapter Text
Winter managed to make it down to the floor of the mysterious hole and made it next to the twins with somehow no problem and no help needed. Dipper then came over next to her as he held the lantern even though there seemed to be some light from above even though it was very faint. Winter’s eyes scanned the surrounding area, flora seemed to be present down here but the area was mostly rocky besides the plants that were alive. She saw the entrance in front of them that led into a cave with railroad tracks and a cart going into the entrance. All of a sudden thought the ground started to lightly shake under them causing Winter to look down, her eyebrows shooting up in concern.
“Uhhh…guys what's going on?” Winter asked in a shaky voice, looking over at Dipper who currently looked too calm for her comfort.
“3…2…1…” He counted in a more steady tone than Winter’s voice held, then, as if on cue water shot up from the ground from the geysers that were around the entrance to the cave. This released the pressure the ground was feeling and stopped the shakiness of the ground.
“Woah….” Winter muttered under her breath, she took a step closer to a geyser. She got a little bit sprayed with water but it didn't bother her too much. “Cool, geysers underground!”
“Yup! Who knew some old church could hide all of this underneath it,” Dipper added with amazement in his eyes as he gestured all around them. Winter snickered at his barley-contained amazement of this place.
“Yeah, it seemed to be mine? At least, by looking at the way it's set up,” Winter pondered as she walked towards the cave's entrance.
“Yeppers, you would be correct Winter!!” Mabel piped in as she walked up to her. “It’s abandoned now just like the church! It still has remnants of items and the rails are still intact,” Mabel summarized, until she had a thought. She smiled mischievously to herself at her own idea before she grabbed a hold of Winter's hand and ran inside with her, leaving Dipper in shock.
“Wha-what! Hey!! Wait up!” He called out to them as Mabel cackled while dragging Winter like she was just dead weight to her as Winter tried to keep up with Mabel’s pace.
“No way bro-bro!! You'll have to catch us first, just try to stop us before I reveal to her the secret of this place!” Mabel yelled back in a sing-song tone with a giggle. Dipper groaned as he ran to catch up with them but tripped over a rock in the pathway and fell face first. Mabel heard his fall from behind and just cackled like a maniac, but Winter on the other hand stopped in her tracks and looked back at him on the ground. Her face crunched up in sympathy at the sight as she pulled away from Mabel and walking over to him, Winter bent down and offered a hand to him as he looked up at her. Dipper seemed to have a confused look on his face but then it shifted into a grateful smile as she took her hand and stood up with her.
“You okay? I'm sorry I didn't know Mabel was just gonna grab onto my hand like that and drag me along through here,” Winter asked as she folded her hands in front of her body.
“Nah it's all good, kinda embarrassing though I tripped over a damn rock….” Dipper muttered before Winter pushed him lightly with her hand and added an eye roll to how he answered her.
“Tch, what? Please I could care less you fell, I'm just glad you're okay dork,” Winter answered and gave him a confident smile. “How ‘bout this: I walk with you instead of just letting Mabel drag me along again, since there's something you're clearly passionate about showing me first!” She proposed, she crossed her arms while waiting for a response from him.
“Uh- yeah sure that sounds sooo much better than trying to chase after you,” Dipper agreed with an awkward laugh, he started to walk again and beckoned Winter to follow along with him. “So…you won't like, tell anyone that I pathetically fell over a rock right??” He interrogated as he walked with an anxious and worried look to his expression even as he tried to play it cool.
“Well, I won't if you don't want me to, I'd be more worried about your sister saying something though since she did hear you fall down,” Winter clarified to him with a more calm look to her. On the other hand though Dipper silently got more anxious at the idea of his sister telling people that he face planted, Winter didn't seem to understand his anxiety though and she couldn't help but ask: “You good dude? Y'know it's just a fall it's not even that bad?”
“Winter, you don't understand, it's just so embarrassing okay? Literally tripping over a rock that could've easily been avoided? And the mere idea of people laughing at that? Ugh it just gives me a sick feeling,” Dipper attempted to explain as he looked over at her with a slightly hopeful expression because he did want her to understand what he meant.
“I mean, Dip, it's not really that bad, yeah sure people would laugh if Mabel were to tell someone but I don't think it would be in the way of making fun of you just….in the way of thinking that falling down is funny y'know? Like they're not going to blame you for falling down over something,” Winter tried to reason with him, but Dipper was more stubborn than to just take her word for it.
“Well, how would you know that everyone is different,” He argued back to her reasoning, Winter opened then closed her mouth like a fish gathering water before letting out a sigh.
“You got me there,” Winter admitted in a softer voice before adding. “But y'know, it's not always the greatest to assume the worst, even when it's a possibility, you could at least try to find the good side of situations but you can still be prepared for the bad side without being extreme about it.” Winter wrapped up, she gave him a reassuring smile about the situation. Dipper looked over at her and dramatically huffed.
“I’d hate to admit it, but you're right, I know I overthink stuff but sometimes I can't help it,” Dipper admitted with a half shrug, he looked at her as he said those words before averting his eyes back to the ground and continued. “If it makes you feel better, I'll at least try to take your advice.” He entertained her by letting out a groan like he was only reluctantly agreeing to take her advice. Winter snickered at his antics before they heard shouting that sounded like it was coming from up ahead.
“C’mon slowpokes!! Hurry up there's something going on here!!” A girl's voice that sounded like Mabel came from ahead as Dipper and Winter picked up the pace to get to the center of the cave where Mabel already was.