The Hunter

> *After a fearful encounter with the monster of The Crawlspace in It Came From Thrifty's, Pacifica Northwest is continuing to confront the idea of the Pines being her future. When a mysterious stranger arrives at Greasy's Diner, claiming to know Curzon Cankerblight personally - and believing him to still be out there - her resolve to stay 'normal' throws itself to the wind. The hunt is on!*
> *However, she and the Pines can't shake the feeling there's something amiss with the stranger. Could it all be a wild goose chase?*
>
>

## The Hunter

### AO3 URL

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25740550/chapters/62506531

### FF.net URL

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13664091/1/Episode-5-The-Hunter

***The Hunter*** is the fifth episode of Return to the Falls, and the second part in the arc revolving around Curzon Cankerblight.

It is preceded by ***It Came From Thrifty's*** and is proceeded by ***The Historic Horrors of Family Northwest.***

### Synopsis

Pacifica's feeling particularly tired after the events of It Came From Thrifty's, and is quickly thrown into another mystery when a mysterious stranger arrives at Greasy's Diner. Wearing a wide brim hat, a trenchcoat, speaking in an old timey manner and drinking coffee with bacon fat (apparently a traditional Oregon coffee), the stranger claims he knows Curzon Cankerblight personally, and believes he's still out there.

With Dipper forced to stay home due to his injured arm, the family are taken through another history lesson of Gravity Falls, with a trip to The Crawlspace to meet Pascoe the Cornish Knocker, who has been employed to watch Curzon for nearly two centuries - and a trip into a secret room in the Floating Cliffs' railway tunnels.

This eventually leads them to the realm of the Tree Geese - and a collision course with Dipper, who's snuck out in an attempt to find a mystery to provide Pacifica with the luxury lifestyle she's acclimated to.

### Chapter Titles

1. Trenchcoat
2. Coffee & Bacon Grease
3. Rattling Plates
4. The Meeting
5. The Entrance
6. Wreckage
7. Pascoe
8. Left Behind
9. The Hidden Tales of Stanford Pines
10. Into the Cliffs
11. The Tunnel
12. The Frantic in his Natural Habitat
13. Gravity's Peak
14. Ballad of the Tree Goose
15. Hot Pursuit
16. Attack of the Sixty Foot Tree Goose
17. The Secret Weapon
18. The Great Goose Battle
19. The Final Stand of Quentin Trembley
20. A Farewell to Linda
21. Peace

### Character Revelations

* Mayor Cutebiker is still suffering from the effects of the last episode's mindwipe.
* Pacifica apparently works 7:30AM til 3PM at the Diner.
* Candy and Grenda are not only friendly with her, but may have even been who prompted Dipper & Pacifica's relationship in the first place.
* Robbie and Tambry are still together.
* Dipper is still in a cast thanks to his arm injury.
* Stanford is unsure how to use a cellphone.
* Soos's miniature train is now in operation, though is apparently rather long suffering.
* The Grunkles have a cousin called Charlie, apparently with a few complexes and a history of flashing.
* Pacifica and Mabel properly reconcile after the events of the series.
* The Crawlspace is still destroyed, and has apparently pushed the fantasy creatures elsewhere.
* Quentin Trembley is fully aware of the town's weirdness and has connections with some of them.
* Quentin has apparently attempted to create a race of Subterraneans. By bricking people up inside The Crawlspace.
* Pascoe and Quentin have been in contact for 172 years.
* Dipper has a record of Soos's schedule.
* Ford has a 2nd and a half journal, full of anomalies he's deemed to bizarre or unproven to investigate.
* Quentin has developed a rock beaver - that being beavers with braces, apparently inspired by Mabel.
* Quentin has a hideout built from scrap from the Gravity Falls Railroad
* More historic events referenced:
	+ The 1938 Gravity Falls confectioner’s sugar blizzard
	+ The Goose Shortage of 1832
	+ The Great Mudflap Flood of 1932
	+ The UFO Sighting of 1967.
	+ The Wreck of the Gravity Falls Paddle Steamer.

* Ford used to collect two magazines: **Shaky Camera Monthly** and **‘Squatch Watch** as a child.
* The cliffs are revealed to be a secret oasis, haunted by Tree Geese.
* The multibear likes taking selfies.
* Soos has fitted Nitrous Oxide to the Mystery Buggy.
* Stan has stolen the buggy's batteries from the Tent of Telepathy. And burnt it down.
* Quentin has a record of the Northwest's historic misdeeds.
* Gompers and Waddles' marriage has collapsed.
* Quentin tames the Gooseliath and flies it across America.

### References

* ***The Tree Goose, or Barnacle Goose Myth***, was a theory for over 700 years, with variants ranging from them being born from fruit and barnacles to being a fruit themselves.
* ***Knockers,*** too, are very real pieces of Folklore from the Cornish mining culture of England.
* References are made to ***Roadside Attraction***, in particular Candy and Dipper's ill-fated relationship.
* Linda is named after the ***Lungfish*** of the same name in ***Psychonauts***.
* ***The 618 Odd Moths*** are a reference to numerous 60s bands smashed together. The author can't remember the exact ones.
* References to the Gravity Falls Fandom and its love of blaming Mabel for ***Weirdmageddon*** are referenced (and addressed)
* Quentin makes numerous references to his appearance in ***Irrational Treasure***.
* Pascoe, fittingly, greets the Pines in Old Cornish.
* Jimmy and the Oversized Cucumber is a reference to the Roald Dahl book, ***James and the Giant Peach.***
* Quentin went to the MacAskill School of Self Defence - this is a reference to ***Angus MacAskill,*** the tallest non-pathological giant in history - who was famous for his feats of strength. MacAskill was born in 1825 and died in 1865. Clearly Quentin spent some time in Scotland during this time.
* The Gooseliath shooting a beam of destruction from its mouth is a reference to ***Godzilla*** and his radiation beam attack.
* Stan's line - "Let him try, it'll be funny!" is a direct quote from ***The Owl House*** - a line said by Hooty, also voiced by Alex Hirsch.
* Grenda and Candy's otter costumers are also references to The Owl House.
* *“Come at me, you grotesque son of a bi-”* is an unfinished quote from **Batman 1989**.

### Title Cards

First title cardSecond Title Card, with Pascoe.Third Title CardFinal title card