For the past few days, an unusual pattern kept repeating itself. Particularly, with Wendy.

The Cipher twins slowly grew to notice that their redheaded friend has been vanishing into the woods for hours, before returning to the shack in the dead of night. As her friends, they were understandably concerned by this. And as this routine of hers continued, their worry grew to great lengths.

"You think something's wrong in the forest?" Will questioned one morning, to his brother.

Bill shrugged, his arms resting on the kitchen table. "Hell if I know, Wendy has always been a mystery."

"You think we should ask her?"

"Even if we did, what help would we be to her?" He remarked. "I'm not much of a nature guy."

Will nodded in agreement. "True, remember when you punched that squirrel in the face?"

"He stole my lunch bar, and he had it coming!" Bill snapped.

Before the conversation could move on, the window to the kitchen suddenly flung open. The frame was filled with red hair, as Wendy struggled to crawl in. A second later, she toppled to the floor.

"Ow," She said, before standing up and leaning against the table.

"Hey, Wendy," Will greeted.

Wendy blinked at him, dark rings surrounded her eyes. "Oh, hey Will, didn't see you there..."

"What's up with you, Red?" Bill demanded.

"What do you mean?"

"For one thing, I've seen you climb through windows with much more grace," He noted.

Wendy shrugged him off, taking a sit by the table. "I was up late and had little time to sleep, no big deal."

Will eyed her with concern. "You been like this for some time now. Is there something wrong?"

She frowned. "No, what made you think that?"

The blue haired boy pulled out a chair, and sat beside her. "Since you're the Spirit of the Forest, we thought that something might've happened to burn you out like this."

Wendy's frown deepened, and she bit the nail of her thumb nervously. Eventually, she said with a sigh. "The forest is fine. The truth is...I've been hanging out with some friends."

Bill regarded her with skepticism. "I thought the only friends you have here are us, and those Pine twins."

Wendy bumped his shoulder softly. "Believe it or not, I'm pretty popular around the woods," She said, cheekily.

"So, who are these friends of yours?" Will asked.

She explained. "They live in the mortal realm, and they always been there for me ever since I earned my role as a Guardian."

"Why haven't we met these randos?" Bill remarked.

Wendy sighed. "Unfortunately, I barely have the time to hang out with them, since I'm always busy. Which is why, I started meeting up with them at night, since at least then, I get a break from being the Spirit."

"Why didn't you tell us earlier?" Will pointed out. "You're our friend, we don't mind you having fun once in a while."

The redhead smiled warmly. "That's a relief, because the gang and I are actually suppose to meet up tonight and..." She paused, and then a spark ignited in her eyes. "I have an idea! You two should join us!"

Both twins stared in surprise. Will looked at her with uncertainty. "Are you sure?"

"Heck yeah," Wendy beamed. "You'll finally get the chance to meet them, and hey, maybe you'll like each other."

Bill drummed the fingers against the table in thought, and nodded. "Sure, it's better than doing nothing in the shack."

"But, we're only kids," Will said, nervously. "What if they think we're lame?"

"And by we, you mean you," Bill corrected.

Wendy gave him a smack in the head, before addressing Will. "My friends are usually welcoming...though, they can be a little hardcore."

Bill snorted. "Trust me, they never heard of the word hardcore until they meet me."

"Is that so?" Will taunted. "You may be a tough guy, Bill, but you still have a soft side."

"Since when?" His brother shot back.

The blue haired boy smirked mischievously. "Remember the Lamby Dance?"

Bill's eyes widened.

"What's the Lamby Dance?" Wendy questioned.

"Will, I swear to--"

"When we were young, Bill would put on a little dance to cheer me up whenever I was upset," Will explained, ignoring his brother's death glare.

Wendy grinned. "That sounds so cute!"

Will nodded in agreement. "It was. He would even put on a little lamb costume and sing about grazing, I still have the pictures if you like to see them."

"Show me," She said, eagerly.

"Delete that from your memory!" Bill shouted, furiously.

Both laughed hysterically, while the blond flushed. Eventually, Wendy stopped and gave both brothers a bright expression.

She made the motion of zipping her lips. "I'll make sure to keep the lamb dance a secret from the gang. So, you both agree to meet them?"

Bill tossed a look towards Will, and the younger twin nodded shyly. "I guess it wouldn't be too bad..."

"Great," She said, standing up from the table. "They'll will be arriving in a few hours. For the time being, I'm gonna nap on your couch."

Then, she left the kitchen, leaving the two boys alone. Almost immediately, Will's eyes widened in panic.

"What did I just agree on?" He breathed. "If Wendy's gang is as cool as her, there's no way we can impress them!"

"Again, I think you meant you in this situation," Bill retorted. "Also, learn to relax once in a while. For the first time, we're not battling demons, and finally get a chance to experience what a normal friend group feels like."

Will processed this, and then slowly relaxed. "You're right, maybe this could be fun."

Bill scooted closer to him, and wrapped an arm around his brother's shoulders. "Of course it will. Now, let's get you changed out of that nerdy outfit."

"This is the only outfit I own, Bill."

"And it looks terrible. Thank me, later."

❇❇❇

As the sun dipped into an afternoon sky, the Cipher twins were waiting on the porch.

"So, what do you think Wendy's friends are like," Will asked his brother curiously, as the soft breeze drifted through his hair.

Bill twirled a leaf between his fingers nonchalantly. "I dunno, but I get a feeling they'll be as weird as Red."

The blue haired boy looked at him up and down. "Is that an insult or a compliment?"

The blond grinned in his direction. "Knowing me, there's no telling which," He said, flicking the leaf in Will's direction.

Will batted the leaf away when it landed in his lap, and was about chastise Bill for it, when a light rustle in the bushes made him pause. Both brothers directed their gaze to the forest, for a moment, fear pumped through their veins as they expected another threat. However, they immediately relaxed, when a pair of familiar faces revealed themselves.

"Hey, guys!" Mabel smiled, bounding towards them with a hop in her step.

Dipper didn't greet them as enthusiastically as his sister, but that was expected of him. Instead, he gave them a curt nod.

"What are you guys doing here?" Bill questioned.

"Checking on you, of course," Mabel said, brightly.

"And we're looking for Wendy," Dipper noted.

Will frowned. "Why? Is something wrong?"

The male brunette shook his head. "Not for now, but we only want to discuss important matters to her, specifically regarding our powers."

Bill stood up from the porch, dusting off his shorts. "That'll be a problem, since she recently invited us to hang with her friend group."

The Pine twins took this in surprise. Mabel was the first to reply. "Really? I heard she had friends in the mortal realm, but neither Dipper or I met them..."

"You think we can join you two?" Dipper asked, suddenly.

Bill narrowed his eyes at the other. "What about these important matters you been going on about?"

Dipper rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, his cheeks dusted pink. "I'm sure it can wait. We are also Wendy's friends, after all."

"Yeah, sure," Bill remarked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Oh hush," Dipper snapped at him.

Meanwhile, Mabel was sitting beside Will, hugging the boy's shoulders in excitement. "This is great! A chance to make new friends. Though, I wonder if Wendy will let us."

"She cares about you two, of course she'll let you," Will reassured. "Also, if you squeeze me any harder, I think you might dislocate something..."

"Oops, sorry!" She said, releasing him.

Will breathed in relief, on the same time when another figure appeared in the clearing. The sweep of red hair was unmistakable, and Wendy smiled at the brothers. Her face lit up even more, upon seeing the Pine twins.

"Just in time, you two!" She exclaimed, running up to them.

Dipper blushed madly, and cleared his throat. "Hey, Wendy, we heard you were meeting your friends and..." He trailed off.

Mabel finished the sentence on behalf of her brother. "We were wondering if we could join you."

Wendy released them, and gave them a warm look. "Duh! Of course, you can." Then, her eyes darted to the forest. "And, here they are."

They all followed her gaze, as the rustling began once more. Then, forms pushed through the bushes, and stepped into the orange haze of the descenting sun. Shock masked their expressions, as the newcomers were revealed to be animals.

There were four of them, and they were all huge. The first one was a buck with large antlers, and beside him was a blond wolf with bared fangs. Moving on, there was a slim black bird with long purple plumes flowing from it's head and tail feathers. The bird was perched on the last animal, a rather large bear.

Bill finally snapped out of his dazed trance, and said. "Red...what the hell?"

"What?" Wendy questioned.

"Are you running a petting zoo or what?" He remarked, gesturing towards the animals.

Wendy smirked, placing a hand on his hair. "Just watch..."

Bill grimaced, but listened to her. As the group watched, almost immediately, the creatures before him began to change. They shrank until they were of an average height, pelts melted into skin and clothes, and they stood on their two legs. The group of animals, were now teenagers wearing pelts.

Bill's eyes widened. "What the f--"

Will nudged him silent. "Language."

The blond glared at him, before whirling towards Wendy. "What the heck just happen?"

"They're Changelings," Wendy explained, indicating to the group. "People that take the forms of animals. Surprising, eh?"

"Wendy!" The boy with blond hair exclaimed, whom recently had been the wolf.

The rest of her friends rushed forward to greet her, and Wendy gave them wide smiles. "Hey dudes. I want you to meet my pals."

She gestured to the Pine twins. "You already now these goofballs."

"If I knew you guys could turn into fluffy creatures, I would've exercised my hugging muscles!" Mabel beamed.

"She's not one for first impressions, unlike this guy!" Dipper said, then he pointed to himself with his extended thumbs, only to be received by awkward silence. "This guy..."

Bill facepalmed. "I almost feel sorry for you."

Wendy moved on, pointing to the brothers. "And these two are Bill and Will," She said, then turned to the boys. "Guys, I would like you to meet the gang."

She pointed to the blond teenager and the boy with sleeve tattoos. "This is Nate and Lee."

The two punched each other, laughing. Meanwhile, Wendy moved on to the girl with purple streaks in her hair, who had a phone that wasn't noticed earlier.

"And this is Tambry."

"Hey," Tambry said, without looking up from her phone.

Wendy then gestured towards a round boy with brown hair. "And this is Thompson, who once ate a ran over waffle for 50 cents."

"Don't tell them that," Thompson whined, in a nasally voice.

"And..." Wendy paused, looking around. "Hey, where's--"

"Wendy!"

The new voice made everyone turned to the towering trees, and saw a form perched on one of the branches. Before anyone could question, the figure jumped down and landed, and stepped out of the shadows. And there stood a young man with black hair, piercings, black leather pants, and a lean figure. It looked like he had been wearing a tight dark hoodie, that had been sliced in half, revealing his bare chest, which had a tattooed stitched heart on his pale skin. Lastly, he had a bow under one of his arms, and a quiver of arrows hung over his shoulder.

Bill squinted. "Who's this Hot Topic weirdo?"

"Oh no," Dipper breathed.

"Robbie!" Wendy beamed, running to hug the newcomer.

Robbie's mouth was hidden by the collar that surrounded his neck, but it seemed that he was smiling. "Are you the same person? There's less twigs in your hair than when I last saw you."

Wendy nudged him playfully. "Shut up, bro. Anyway." Then, she turned to the brothers. "Guys, this is Robbie, he's a Guardian of the mortal realm like me."

"Cupid of Broken Hearts," Robbie said, smugly. He slung an arm over Wendy's shoulders. "Also, who are these runts?" He pointed towards the Ciphers.

"Nice. Real nice," Bill shot back, sarcastically.

"I-I'm Will," The blue haired boy stuttered. "And this is my brother, Bill."

Robbie removed his arm from Wendy, and approached the boys slowly. Will froze, when the taller narrowed his eyes at them.

"These are mortals," Robbie sneered.

Bill glared. "Wow, you deserve a cookie for figuring that out."

"Bill!" Will chided, then turned to Robbie nervously. "He didn't mean it, he just likes jokes, and jokes are hilarious. Haha-- please don't kill us!"

Robbie was silent for a moment, before roughly messing Will's hair. "Whatever, kid."

Once his hand was removed, Will smiled weakly. "Hehe...Ow."

Then, Robbie turned towards the Pine twins, a look of recognition and contempt brushed his features. "Long time, no see."

"Hey Robbie! You remember me?" Mabel asked, excitably.

"Of course...you're Girl Dipper, right?"

"Um, close enough."

Dipper glared daggers at the Dark Cupid. "Oh, I definitely remember you, Robbie Valentino."

Robbie glared back. "Good."

Will scooted closer to Bill nervously. "I sense tension."

"I know," Bill started, then a wide grin masked his face. "This is going to be fun to watch!"