Disclaimer: I do not own Gravity Falls

This is my The Original Mystery Twins Challenge suggested by TheAngeleofFate entry.

This story does not have any direct connection to Of Starry Pines but can certainly be tied in if you'd like.

I would like to think my Beta reader Natalie

Down in the forest

We'll sing a chorus

Hands held higher

We'll be on fire

Singing songs that nobody wrote

- Twenty-One Pilots

Stanley had never thought that the woods were a place to fear. He was a naturally adventurous child, often found either digging in the sand on the nearby beach or pretending to be a wilderness explorer with his twin Stanford, and generally getting into all kinds of trouble. However Stanley was not a very outspoken child of seven, in fact he hardly spoke at all. For all his imagined adventures and boundless curiosity Stanley was a painfully shy child, the only one he spoke to with any casualness was his twin brother and even then he still was not a boy of many words. He made his observations in the through and precise way; one would solve a difficult math problem or plan a complicatedly huge public even. He though in words and charts, in the dependable turning of the Earth, and in the steady beating of his heart. This trait made him a bit of an introvert, one more comfortable in observation than direct involvement, which did not make him many friends and tended to leave him vulnerable to the playground bullies.

Stanley had not been in school very long this year, and was already the constant target of the playground ruffians. There are always those children that you can single out as the future harassers at an early age. No matter where you may be, there are always those ready to prey on the weak, and poor Stanley and his brother Stanford found themselves constant victims. Stanford, being as small and puny looking as his brother was targeted as much as his brother, but his problem was of an opposite nature than Stanley's. Stanford didn't know when to stop talking, and sometimes what he said was not entirely kind.

Their mother despaired of the both of them, often stating aloud that together they would have made a decent socially active child but in two bodies they were hopeless. Their father, who like Stanley did not speak often, didn't seem to disagree with her either. It would have been a very lonely existence for the both of them if they hadn't had each other. Fortunately for them though, they did have one another, and clung to each other fast while trying to navigate the sea of life they had been unceremoniously thrown into.

If you have a close sibling, older or younger, you know just how comforting it is to have that love and support with you in you everyday life. You feel its presence like a strong hand resting on your shoulder, feel the intimacy of it like the brush of a dragonfly wing on your cheek, and you are never without it. The brothers were one entity that moved with single thought and spoke with single voice. Stanley never needed to struggle for words around his brother and Stanford felt to need to spew his usual word vomit. Words were never needed and it was in this way the two navigated the second grade and the event that happened in that time, that changed their perception of the imagined and real forever.

….

It was getting late and the boys were still lost. The brothers had gone off after school to explore the forest that grew around their home. This being a common thing for them to do the boys didn't think about where they were going and never considered, with all the childhood naivety it entailed, that they would get lost in the thick foliage and looming trees. So it felt like a horrible betrayal when they found themselves hopelessly lost in such a previously familiar and safe surrounding after straying from the path for a time.

"S-Stanford", Stanley forced the words from between his teeth, afraid of making too much sound in the ominous wood. " Are you sure this is the right way home I don't recognize anything?"

"Come on bro'", came Stanford's miffed reply; "if you're going to whine the whole time I'm going to leave you behind".

Of course the both of them knew that would never happen but acting aggressive Stanford's way of dealing with stress like how overanalyzing was Stanley's.

They wandered for what felt like forever, feet growing sore from constant movement and shoes that didn't fit quite right. How were they going to get out of here? Their parents would be so angry if they missed dinner. What if their parents were so angry they just decided to let them stay lost and have one kid who was better at making friends? Worst of all, what if they never found their way back home ever?

Once the sun began descending, dying the forest in an inky blackness that seemed to follow them more and more determinedly as they struggled to find their way out, the both of them began to feel the onset of panic. Neither school, nor their parents had prepared them for this feeling of hopelessness that settled onto them. They had grabbed each others hands at some point but neither cared. Eventually huddling by a log as darkness swallowed them. They had definitely missed dinner and no search party had come. They were all alone.

"Stan?" Stanley's voice was soft but clear in the forest night air.

"Yeah Lee?"

"We have each other. We always promised no matter what happened, we would be okay if we were together remember?"

"Yeah… yeah you're right." Stanford stood dragging Stanley up by the hand and when he next spoke he used his adventurer voice. "What are we doing? We can make it out of here if we stick together. Come on bro we got this just don't let go."

However, before they could set out Stanley felt something akin to an electric current zing down his spine, causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end and as he blinked, a sort of blue light flashed in his vision momentarily blinding the both of them. They both screamed in shock and pain as their eyes tried to recover from the abrupt sensory overload, and stood back to back so as to not lose each other. Stanley could have sworn he heard the faint sound of wind chimes and smelled wet earth. One his eyes readjusted Stanley let out a gasp of shock and wonder as he observed a circle of floating blue lights around them, lighting the forest with an ethereal glow, as though they were made of the light of the moon.

"What… what are they?" Stanford stared in horrified wonder at what his eyes were showing him. Stanley wasn't sure what they were but if he had to make a guess.

" Some form of tree sprits maybe, or will-o-the-wisps."

" That's stupid Stanley those are fairy tales"

" You're not supposed to use that word and no it's not!"

"Yes it is!"

"Well you asked dummy! What do you think they are then?"

Stanley, who had been about to reply with a retort, fell silent at the question. He didn't know what to make of the situation and he supposed any explanation was better than none.

"Well what do we do then? Will they hurt us if we move?"

Stanley racked his brain for any ideas. Honestly he didn't know what to do and didn't know what Stanford though he had all the answers, he wasn't that smart. Pushing aside his thoughts, Stanford tried to remember what his fairy tale books said about dealing with nature spirits but could only remember something about not killing things or risk becoming a tree. His name was already Pines, he didn't want to be more tree than that. He should have a journal to write all this information in.

" I think… if we ask nicely, they might show us they way back". Stanley couldn't be sure but it was worth a try, and deep in the forest, ears filled with musical chiming and watching the bobbing blue lights, he felt like a real adventurer, someone bigger than he was used to.

" You sure they wont eat us?"

" I don't think they have mouths."

Stanley took a deep breath and stepped towards one of the pulsing lights and took a chance.

" Hello… we're, um, sorry for disturbing you. Would you be able to show us they way out please? We just want to get home, we don't want to hurt any plants." Explaining the lack of wishing harm to the foliage seemed the most important thing to emphasize at that time.

The lights didn't move for a moment, but, just before he could get nervous, the orbs formed a line and, with the movements like that of a snake, began weaving a way through the forest slowly enough for the boys to easily follow. It was in this way that the two of them emerged from the darkness of the woods, following the woven light of the moon.

….

"You were right. As long as we're together, we can do anything."

"Promise we'll always help each other, even if we're angry or had a fight?"

"Promise Stanley, I'd miss you if you were gone. Who would get me out of trouble then?"