AN: This is an original one-shot/first chapter that I'm posting in honor of the five-year anniversary of Gravity Falls. I hope it shows how much of an impact the show has had on my life and my writing, and how the idea of a magical place in the woods is such a perfect setting for a story - something I wouldn't have known without Gravity Falls to show me. So, based off the Anti-Gravity AU and the show Gravity Falls, I give you Ambient Valley.

As the sun rose over the emerald pines of the Payette Forest, everything was perfectly at peace. Birds chirped and hopped between the tips of the pointed trees, greeting each other and stretching their wings in the bright sunlight. Pine needles swayed softly in the morning breeze, waving at and welcoming in the new day. It was a perfect summer day in The Middle of Nowhere, Idaho.

Until one pine tree shuddered and bent, sending a flock of offended birds screeching into the sky.

Penelope Asher grabbed at the next bough, hauling herself up through the tree. The tree rocked under her weight, but she moved with the trunk and didn't falter. Her bare feet found each branch and planted themselves solidly onto the wood.

She quickly reached the top of the pine, swaying back and forth with the narrow tip. She grinned up at the clear blue sky. "Good morning, world!"

The world sang back at her.

The birds she had driven off wheeled around her head, some finding new trees to settle in, others taking the opportunity to go for a nice flight. Penny reached up a hand and laughed as the birds' wingtips brushed against her fingers.

The laugh turned to a screech of surprise as one of the birds dove at her.

It was a big woodpecker, and there was murder in its eyes. It swooped down at Penny, who cried out and ducked beneath the trees branches. Her eyes raked the boughs of the pine tree until she found it: a nest, where four baby birds huddled together, chirping softly.

"Sorry, Mama Bird!" Penny said, scrambling down the tree before the woodpecker could get to her. She stopped halfway down the tree and looked up just as the mother woodpecker settled into the nest and gathered its chicks close to it.

Penny hadn't meant to cause any distress. But these things happened, and all the chicks were safe. She shimmied down the rest of the tree trunk and landed on the forest floor, her feet slapping the dirt.

She walked along the forest floor, slipping her toes under the pine needles strewn across it, enjoying the sunlight that streamed through the trees and listening to the sounds of the forest.

"Penelope! Penny, where are you?"

That voice certainly wasn't a sound of the forest. Penny turned and jogged towards it. "Over here, Dad!" she called once she figured she was in shouting distance. Her father's voice carried a lot farther than hers.

It was only a minute longer before she saw him. Terry Asher was standing with his huge arms folded, grinning down at her. "There you are! Where'd you go?"

"I just went to say good morning to the forest," she said, skidding to a stop in front of him. "I accidentally upset a mama woodpecker, though."

"Oho," said Terry, "be glad you still have eyes."

"I sure am," Penny replied.

Terry reached down and picked an errant pine needle out of Penny's red hair. "Now listen, Mrs. Hutchinson wants your help again — "

Penny moaned.

Terry raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry," Penny said, "it's just that she talks forever and expects me to sit still and listen. And she tells me I should brush my hair more. And she smells like skunk."

Terry chuckled. "This may be a bit more exciting than listening to her stories," he said. "There's a tree that is in danger of falling into a shallow part of the river, and she wants to see if there's anything that can be done to prevent it. She's afraid of the river getting trapped behind a tree trunk."

"Why does she want to interfere?" Penny said with a frown. "Everything will work out."

Terry patted Penny's shoulder with a thick, calloused hand. "She just gets worried in her old age. Likely the river will agree with you, but it'd be nice to go help soothe her worries."

Penny wasn't much for soothing, especially crazy old ladies like Mrs. Hutchinson, but she couldn't refuse her dad. "Fine," she said. "But if the tree's fine with it, then I'm not doing anything to mess with it."

"Of course not," said Terry. "Just go see. When you get back I'll have something to eat, alright?"

Penny saluted and ran off towards Mrs. Hutchinson's cabin. She would've dawdled, dragging her feet and dreading reaching the old lady's cabin, but she was hungry, and the faster she got this over with, the better.

The forest was still alive with the sounds of morning cheerfulness, but now it felt obnoxious to Penny. "I can't play," she said to no one in particular. "I have to go help a crazy old lady remember that the forest doesn't need her help."

As soon as it left her mouth, she felt bad for how mean it sounded. Mrs. Hutchinson was just trying to look out for the river, she knew. It was the river that had saved Hutchy's life — something that everyone who stayed around long enough to hear her stories knew. Hutchy's connection to the water was the same as Penny's connection to the plants, and if this situation was dangerous, it would need both of them to fix.

Still, Penny doubted that anything needed fixing.

She could see Hutchy's clearing up ahead. Without slowing down, she grabbed at a nearby tree and used it to sling herself around the corner, shooting into the clearing. Then she skidded to a stop as she nearly collided with Mrs. Hutchinson.

"Oh, dear," Hutchy said, putting a hand to her heart. "You startled me. You have to be careful in this forests, you know, or you might fall and hurt yourself."

Penny refrained from glancing at the scratches that already laced her arms and instead forced a smile up at Hutchy. "My dad said you needed my help with the river?"

"Oh, yes," Hutchy replied. "This way."

Penny followed Hutchy towards the Salmon River, wincing at the maddening slow pace at which the woman walked. Mrs. Hutchinson always said she was "spry, for an old lady," but that didn't make her any less painfully slow. Penny could've run back and forth from the river four or five times in the time it took them to get there.

"It's right here," Hutchy finally said, indicating a large spruce that stood on the banks of the river. It was tilted over, its roots curving up from the riverbank and back down into the wet soil, where the water brushed at them as it passed.

"You see, it's going to fall any day now," Mrs. Hutchinson said. "I don't know if the river can take it. I want you to ask the tree if there's anything we can do to help."

Penny bit back her annoyance. "Okay." She looked up at the tree. "I need to climb it to get a good connection."

This was a lie. Penny just wanted to get off the ground — and away from Mrs. Hutchinson.

She reached up for the nearest branch and pulled herself into the tree, scraping her feet against the bark as she scrambled for a hold.

"Be careful, dear," Hutchy called. Penny made a face to herself and climbed faster.

The higher she climbed, the more she relaxed. It was quieter up here, more peaceful. Penny climbed up to the very top of the tree, looking up at the sky for a moment before settling onto one of the branches.

Then she put a hand on the trunk and listened.

At first, she didn't feel anything. No fear or anxiety. She closed her eyes and felt a little deeper into the tree's mind. There it was, a few layers beneath the calm: a curiosity. The tree was idly wondering when it might fall.

Penny listened for a moment, still unable to find any fear. Which was just as she expected. The tree knew it might fall, might die, but it wasn't worried. It knew it was just another part of the natural order.

Penny pushed a few of her thoughts gently into the tree. The trees didn't think in words, so Penny just sent the idea, the feeling, of what she wanted to say. Did the tree want her to help it prevent it from falling?

The tree pushed back, its thoughts lapping up on hers in a warm greeting. It was fine, thank you. What happened would happen.

Was the tree worried that it would block the river? Penny asked.

The tree sent back its equivalent of a laugh. The river always found a way, it replied. It would bore holes into the tree's trunk until it had plenty of passages through. Besides, the tree might hit the opposite bank and not even block the river. No, everything was fine, but the tree was grateful for Penny's concern.

Penny smiled and patted at the tree. It was no problem, she sent. They were going to ask the river as well; did the tree think the river would say the same thing?

Oh, yes, the tree thought. The river never worried about being stopped.

Penny thanked the tree and pulled her thoughts back into her own head. Then she sat back against its trunk, deciding to wait up here for a while before climbing down and telling Hutchy what it said. After all, it was such a lovely day in Ambient Valley. It'd be a shame to —

What was that?

Penny stood up on the branch and leaned forward, hanging onto the tree trunk with one hand. She stared out at a nearby cliff, one she could just barely see over from this height. Something was up there. . . something that didn't belong in a forest.

She'd only seen a few in her life, so it took her a moment to recognize it.

It was. . . a bus.

That's right, there was a small road up on that cliff. A dead-end, scenic road that looked out over the forest. Penny had climbed up there before to see the sights. She could see over the tops of trees until another mountain curved upward and blocked the horizon. She couldn't see her tree house or Mrs. Hutchinson's cabin, or any of the other homes of the people scattered across their corner of the Payette Forest. Which was for the better. Wouldn't do to tourists scrambling all over Ambient Valley.

So then what was a bus doing here?

Penny watched as fuzzy, distant shapes got out of the bus. She had to go see what was happening here. Forget trees falling into rivers — here was something actually important, actually potentially dangerous.

She clambered down the tree.

She dropped out of the branches a good while before the bottom, landing with her knees bent and waiting for the shock to travel up her body. Then she straightened and turned to Mrs. Hutchinson, who once again had her hand on her heart.

"The tree's okay," Penny said. "It's not worried or anything. It doesn't mind dying, and it thinks the river will be fine."

"Oh, alright," said Hutchy. "I haven't talked to the river yet — "

Penny wasn't really listening. "Well, I'm happy to help, don't mention it. Gotta go, bye!"

And she ran off before Hutchy or her own guilt could stop her.

She dodged around trees and leapt over logs until she found herself at the base of the steep cliff that led up to the road. Penny scaled the steep incline on hands and knees, positioning herself so that if she slipped, she'd slide down into a tree that would stop her fall. But the cliff wasn't straight up-and-down, so she made it up just fine.

She stopped as soon as she could hear the bus engine.

"You sure this is it, kid?" asked a voice.

Penny crept sideways along the cliff, just below the peak, until she was behind a thick log that was deliberately placed as a roadblock. She peeked up above the blockade and got her first good luck of the bus and its inhabitants.

The bus looked like the others she'd seen: unnaturally bright pictures painted on the sides that were faded and covered in fine dust, dirt, and traces of mud that climbed up the sides, topped with dark and dirty windows. Despite the mark of the forest on it, it was still the most colorful thing around.

The people, however, were a little different. There were only two: the bus driver, a pot-bellied man with a baseball cap on his head and a bored expression on his face, and a tall teenage boy with curly black hair that fell into his eyes. Penny stared at the boy. The only teenager she'd ever known was her sister Hannah, and that was years ago. Hannah was long gone, an adult in a big city. This boy, though. . . this boy was right here, only a few yards away from Penny.

"I'm sure," he said to the bus driver. He looked out across the cliff with a sigh. Worry lines crinkled around his eyes. "This is where I'm visiting."

Penny nearly fell off the cliffside.

Visiting?

She gripped at a root and kept her head down.

"If you say so," the bus driver said. There was a pause. "Man, it sure is pretty out here."

Penny's mind raced. Nobody visited Ambient Valley. Nobody knew that there was anyone to visit. At least. . . no one was supposed to.

"Yeah," said the boy who somehow knew about their home, "it sure is."

Penny peeked up at him again. He was looking out over the forest, a wistful expression on his face, his black curls fluttering in the breeze. Who was he? What was he doing here?

Penny didn't know what was going on, but as she stared at the boy, the stranger, she knew at least one thing.

People didn't just come visit Ambient Valley.

~~~~~~~~~~

Isaac wished he could stand up confidently, his hands on his hips, and gaze over his new domain with the air of someone who knew what he was doing.

But that was the last thing he could do right now.

So instead, he stared out at the Middle of Nowhere and wondered how he was going to get through this.

"Well, I guess we should get your luggage," said the bus driver. The man's beef jerky breath carried on the breeze over to Isaac every time he talked. "You're sure this is the right place?"

"Positive," Isaac lied. "My grandma's cabin is just over that ridge." He actually had no idea where any cabins were, and he certainly didn't have a grandma out here. He didn't have any family out here.

The bus driver took this as a good enough explanation and ambled back over to his bus, where he bent down to open the luggage compartment that ran beneath the seats. Isaac followed as the bus driver undid the latch and pulled down the door.

"Finally!"

Isaac and the bus driver both jumped back. Something — someone — rolled out from the luggage compartment out onto the road and jumped to their feet. "Ah, sunlight! Fresh air! I may be claustrophilic but that was a long ride, even for me!"

Isaac stared.

"Dani?"

Danielle Newton, Isaac's little sister, stood on the road in front of him and crammed a piece of gum into her mouth. She looked around as her jaw worked and, after a few moments of silence, snapped a bubble. "Pretty."

"Dani, what in the name of Galileo are you doing here?" Isaac demanded. "You're supposed to be — "

"Oh, come on, bro," Dani said, cocking out a hip. "Did you really think I would let Mom and Dad send you out here all alone without your favorite twin sister?"

"We're not twins," Isaac said automatically. And they weren't; they were a year apart. But Dani liked calling them twins.

"So I snuck along," she said casually.

"Snuck along — Dani, this isn't — " Isaac stopped himself, glancing at the bus driver. "Never mind. We'll talk about this later."

"Alright, young lady," said the bus driver, "get back on the bus and I'll take you back to Yellow Pine."

"No way," Dani said. "I'm staying right here with my brother. Thanks, though. I liked your luggage compartment."

"Uh, thank you," the bus driver said slowly. He shook his head. "Never mind. Get on the bus."

"She's staying," said Isaac.

Dani and the bus driver both swung their heads to look at him. A grin spread across Dani's face.

He shouldn't have said it. He should've just sent her back. But that would mean being alone. Alone to die here in the forest before he could even find the people that supposedly lived here. No, if Dani was here, Isaac wanted her along.

He didn't want to be alone.

"If you try to force me back on that bus," Dani said, "I'll run off into the forest and jump through the trees like Tarzan and you'll never find me."

"You probably won't," Isaac agreed. "She's the best hider you'll ever meet."

Dani grinned wider and stepped towards her brother.

The bus driver looked between the two of them. Then he put his hands up. "Fine, but don't you blame me when your parents find out."

"We won't," Dani promised. "We'll tell them we forced you to drive away at knifepoint, if you want."

The bus driver was looking more and more like he wanted to get out of there. "Um, no, that's fine. Do you even have a — ? Never mind, I'll just — um, here are your bags."

"I snuck some bags on too," Dani said cheerfully. "Here, let me help you with those."

The bus driver unloaded all the bags, positioning himself as far away from Dani as possible. As soon as the cargo was off his bus, he got back on, pulled the bus around the circular dead-end, and drove away, leaving a cloud of hasty exhaust in his wake.

Dani put her hands on her hips and watched him drive away. "Nice man," she said once he was out of sight. "It's always good to have another irresponsible adult in this world. Too few of those these days, you know?"

"Yeah," Isaac said, "it's nice to know he can sleep at night after abandoning two teenagers in the middle of nowhere."

Dani put an arm around her brother. "But isn't it the nicest middle of nowhere you ever saw?"

Isaac had to admit that it was. And it was a lot prettier now that he had his sister to share it with.

He pulled away and looked Dani in the eyes. "Do Mom and Dad know you're here?"

"They will as soon as they see my note," Dani said. "Hopefully it'll make them mad enough that they won't come after me. I said some awful things."

Isaac could imagine.

"Why," he started, then paused. "Why did you follow me?"

Dani raised her eyebrows. "If Mom and Dad thought they could get rid of their perfect son without losing their perfect daughter too, they had another thing coming. We go together."

Isaac stared at her as tears threatened his eyes. "Th-thanks, Dani. That's really sweet."

"You're welcome," she said cheerfully. "So." She picked up a duffle bag and slung it over her shoulder. "Where are we going?"

"No idea," said Isaac.

"Perfect! Let's go explore."

Dani handed Isaac his backpack and duffle bag and, once all their bags were secure, started off toward the cliff.

"Careful, Dani, we could fall."

"It's fine," she said. "It's not that steep. And there are plenty of trees to break our fall."

"That's what I'm worried about," Isaac said. But she was already partway down the incline. He sighed and followed.

Ten minutes, multiple scratches, and countless times that his bags snagged on a tree branch, Isaac was safely at the bottom of the cliff. Dani had reached it first, and now she stood confidently, her hands on her hips, and gazed over her new domain with the air of someone who knew what she was doing.

Dang it.

Isaac felt both a rush of gratitude and a rush of annoyance. How come Dani got all the confidence?

"There are cabins here somewhere," Isaac said, coming up beside her. "We're looking for a Mrs. Hutchinson, I think."

"Sounds old," Dani said. "Do you think we could convince her that you magically split into two people on the way here?"

"We look nothing alike, Dani. And that's rude, she could be very young."

Someone laughed.

Isaac whirled around. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Dani asked.

"I thought I heard — did you just laugh?"

"Um, no. Why?"

Isaac backed up a little. "I think there's someone else out here."

Dani rolled her eyes. "It was probably just an animal."

"No, it definitely sounded human." Isaac's voice slid up in pitch, and he swallowed to push it back down. "Do you see anything?"

"No, but I'll look if it'll make you feel better."

The siblings turned around in a circle with their backs to each other. Isaac didn't see anything. He sighed.

"Never mind, it probably was just. . . Dani?"

Dani had stopped. She was pointing up into a tree.

"I think we have a stalker," she said.

Isaac peered up. "I don't see anything."

Something flashed orange.

"There! It's a little girl." Dani took a step closer to the tree. "Hi there. What are you doing up in that tree?"

No response.

"I won't hurt you. The knifepoint thing was just a joke. I only use my knife for true Girl Scout purposes."

"I don't think that's helping," Isaac said out of the side of his mouth.

"Nonsense," said Dani.

Slowly, a figure came out from behind the tree trunk.

Dani was right. It was a little girl. Her face was grimy, her clothes threadbare and colorless. She stared at them beneath a tangled mess of fiery red hair.

"Hi," Dani said. "I'm Dani. What's your name?"

The girl stared at her with a hostile look.

"Do you know where we can find a Mrs. Hutchinson?" Isaac asked.

She nodded.

"Can you take us to her?"

No response.

"We're nice, I promise," Dani said. "Well, I am."

"Hey!"

"Do you live out here? We're gonna be next-door neighbors if you do."

Isaac found it quite evident that the girl did, in fact, live out here.

The girl stared at them in silence for a while before finally coming down. She shimmied down the tree like a monkey and hit the ground without stumbling. Isaac had never seen anyone climb a tree like that.

The girl came around the tree and stared defiantly up at Isaac and Dani. She was short, barely coming up to Isaac's shoulder, and young. She couldn't have been any older than twelve or thirteen.

"My name is Penny," she said. "What are you doing here?"

Isaac hesitated. "Um. Our parents kind of. . . sent me to live here." He jabbed a thumb at Dani. "She snuck along."

"How did your parents know about this place? Why would you come out here?"

"I don't really know," Isaac said. It was mostly true.

"Well, like I said," Dani cut in. "I'm Danielle Newton, and this is my brother." She paused and said his name in a pompous voice. "Isaac Newton."

"Dani!" Isaac complained. Dani sniggered.

Penny just stared.

"Huh. You're the first person not to find that funny," Dani said.

"Why would it be funny?" Penny asked suspiciously.

"Just call me Izzy," Isaac said hurriedly. "Do you think you could take us to Mrs. Hutchinson?"

Penny glowered. "Fine, but I just escaped from her. I'm doing you a huge favor."

"We'll pay you back somehow," Dani said.

They followed Penny through the forest. Isaac was instantly jealous of the way the small girl could navigate through the woods without running into anything. He was still catching his backpack strap onto something every time he moved.

But then, he wasn't sure it was very impressive to be jealous of a midget with tangled hair who didn't even know who Isaac Newton was.

"Mrs. Hutchinson?" Penny called after a while. "How's the river?"

Isaac and Dani glanced at each other.

"Oh," came an elderly voice, "it reassured me that everything is fine. I just get a little worried in my old age."

"Ha!" Dani whispered. "Told you."

"Yeah she does," Penny muttered. She raised her voice again. "Um, Mrs. Hutchinson? Were you expecting guests?"

"Guests?"

Isaac, Dani, and Penny came around a bend to see an old lady standing in front a small log cabin, frowning, and peering curiously at them. "Who are you?" she asked Isaac.

"I'm, um, Isaac," he said. He coughed. "Isaac Newton. And this is my sister Dani," he said quickly, before Mrs. Hutchinson could comment on his name. "We're, uh, supposed to be staying with you."

"I didn't hear about this," Mrs. Hutchinson said in surprise. "People don't come to visit Ambient Valley."

"That's what I was thinking," Penny said.

"My parents sent us," Dani said. "Well, him. I snuck along."

"Who are your parents?"

"George and Patricia Newton," Isaac said.

Mrs. Hutchinson looked at him sharply. "Patricia? What's her maiden name?"

"Um, Thompson."

Mrs. Hutchinson gasped and put a hand to her heart.

"What?" Dani asked.

Mrs. Hutchinson took a moment to respond. "Well," she said. "It seems you're my grandchildren."

Isaac and Dani exchanged alarmed glances.

"I used to be called Roberta Thompson," Mrs. Hutchinson said. "Your mother's mother."

"They told us you were dead!" Dani exclaimed.

Mrs. Hutchinson snorted derisively. "I'm sure I was, to them. So, Isaac Newton, you take after my side of the family, then?"

"If you mean that my parents don't want anything to do with me because they think I'm a freak, then yeah," Isaac said, folding his arms.

"They told him he could come here to 'learn to control it,'" Dani said. "But anybody could tell they just wanted to get rid of him."

Isaac closed his eyes and pushed down the hurt that Dani's words summoned. When he opened them again, he was surprised to see Mrs. Hutchinson gazing at him with the sadness of someone who understood.

"I'm so sorry, my boy," she said softly. "It seems your mother's fear of me passed on to you as well. Well. Come inside, put your things down. Thank you for bringing them, Penelope."

"Um, no problem," Penny said. Isaac had nearly forgotten she was there.

"I hope you don't mind me staying, too," Dani said. "There was no way I was going to abandon my brother just because he hears voices."

Isaac flattened his bangs against his forehead in agitation. "Dani, I don't hear voices, I — never mind."

"That's so sweet of you, dear," said Mrs. Hutchinson to Dani. "I'd never turn away a cause so noble."

Dani smiled. "Thanks, Mrs. Hutchinson. Or, Grandma, I guess."

"Oh, call me Roberta," she said. "Or Bobbi, if you think I look young enough for it." She winked. "You too, Penelope. I know you call me Hutchy behind my back. Roberta sounds much nicer, doesn't it?"

Penny flushed. "Um, yeah. Sorry. Thanks. Roberta."

Roberta smiled at her. "Now, you run along and tell your father about our new arrivals. Ask him if he has any extra breakfast for them."

"Oh, we're fine," Isaac began.

"No we're not, we're starving," Dani said. "Or at least I am."

"Go on, Penelope," said Roberta.

Penny ran off through the trees.

"Ah, the energy of youth," Roberta said. "Sometimes I wonder if young people perceive the world in a faster time than us old codgers."

She turned to the Newton siblings. "Well," she said, looking them up and down. "I suppose I should get to know my grandchildren, shouldn't I?"

Isaac wasn't sure what to say, so he just gave a tentative smile.

Roberta laughed. "Come in, come in, and let me have a look at you. I have years of cheek-pinches to catch up on!"

She went inside her little cabin.

Isaac and Dani looked at each other.

"I think," said Dani, "that this is going to be awesome."

She flounced inside.

Isaac wasn't sure he agreed with her completely, but as he followed her inside and took one last look at his new forest home, he decided it wasn't going to be half as bad as he thought it would be.

AN: Hopefully that was good. I would love to expand this into a full novel idea someday, but I don't have much of an idea about what it would be yet. And then I can add that to the growing list of Original Ideas to Be Worked on After Gravity Rises :P

Well, this is my way of saying thank you to Gravity Falls. I'm so happy that it's the anniversary <3