A warm steady breeze tickled her skin, while a cold wet nose touched her cheek, making Mabel grin from the sweet good morning kiss.

With a soft smile on her lips she tried to push this wet cute living alarm away to get a few more minutes of sleep.

"No Waddle's. It's too early..." But the warm fluffy body just nudged closer to her side, making her giggle aloud at this sweet pushing behavior. Mabel blinked the early morning sunlight out of her eyes before she reached out to hug her favorite pet pig closer.

"Aww, come here you little heartbreaker." She grinned as the little body curled closer to her side but her hand stopped right before she petted it's fur when she finally recognized whose wet nose was touching her skin.

"Dipper!" She whispered, but her breath hitched upon her brother's name as she got a closer look at him.

It wasn't her deer-like brother lying by her side...but a deer.

A small, furry baby deer.

A fawn.

Her brother.

'Dipper...'

She bit her lips, pushing herself up slowly to rest against the headboard of her bed. Mabel hesitated to touch his soft fur, she wanted to avoid waking him, but she allowed herself to pet through his plushy pelt. Her heart podded painfully in her chest as her gaze wandered along the new body of her brother, her breath hitched when her eyes met the dots on his flank.

Every sign of her brother was gone...

The little fawn beside her had no traces of humanity left, but the white dots in his chocolate brown fur still showed the constellation of the "Big Dipper" which melted perfectly into his soft coat.

It was him.

Mabel had a hard time swallowing the lump in her throat, her fingers curled through his hair, she hiccupped a hidden tear when a movement suddenly got her attention. Dipper was chewing on the end of her nightshirt in his sleep. She took a deep breath, all her cuteness alarms were shrilling, telling her to hug this sweet little animal as close as possible and to never let go ever again. But the fear in her gut shouted above it, so that one single question dominated her mind.

'Are we to late?'

Her hands trembled through his baby fur.

He looked so fragile, so young, laying there on her bed.

So... small.

Mabel frowned, tilting her head to the side to observe him once again.

In fact he was smaller now.

Mabel's eyes started to burn, the edge of her nightgown was already soaked with Dipper's drool, but for now she didn't care much about that. She watched his black nose twitching in his dream, his eyelashes fluttered, but Mabel was afraid of what she might see in her brother's eyes.

She really had been thinking that it would be cute and sweet to have her fawn-tastic brother by her side. And hot chocolate with marshmallows on top, he was absolutely adorable!

But him being like that... forever?

That was a damn long time.

Besides, she still remembered when that dinosaur took Waddles, her worry and his helplessness. Her heart jumped in her throat when she thought about Dipper in that way.

But what if Bill's contract didn't work?

What if one of the towns people wouldn't sign it?

What if this freaky demon was toying with them again?

What if Dipper would stay that way?

'No. he can't.'

She was reaching out to let her fingers curl through his fur again, searching for the comforting warmth of her brother with her trembling hands.

"I-I don't know what I'm supposed to do without you Dipper..."

But the raspy whisper of his name was enough to make the young fawn stir in his sleep. The warm sunlight tickled his nose and something was stroking his fur; he instinctively leaned closer to the touch. The little deer yawed, blinking the sleep out of his eyes until he saw Mabel's face in front of him, making him remember that he had slept in her bed last night.

"Morning Mabel." He slurred, still sleep drunken. Trying to unfold his legs and arms to stretch his tired body, he asked his sister the question, but knew the answer right away.

"Do you see any new chaaAAAHH!"

Dipper jumped, his unsteady legs trembled on Mabel's bed.

He had no arms, no human torso at all.

Where his arms should be, were now his front legs.

But his front legs felt like his arms.

His front legs were now his arms, or his arms his front legs?

He tried to move his shoulder but instead one of his fore legs stirred.

Four legs. No arms. No human upper body. No deertaur but-

"No! No, no, no, no, no!" Dipper jumped out of Mable's bed, the rush of adrenalin in his veins made him forget the uneasy feeling of walking on all fours. He heard his sister calling for him, but Dipper didn't listen; his fur was standing up on his back when he finally stumbled in front of the mirror, he came to an abrupt halt when he saw the little creature that looked back.

"A-A deer."

Dipper gasped, his ears were peaking up in surprise and he watched the fawn in the mirror mimic his movements.

This was him.

"I became a full deer. A full deer, in just one night!" He could feel his heart sinking in his chest, the blood rushed loudly in his ears so that his thoughts became nebulous in his panicked state.

"No- this... this can't be happing." Dipper wanted to hide his face in his hands, but all his body came up with where his ears pinching close to his head while his tail hid between his legs in discomfort.

"Please, it can't be!" Dipper was shivering from head to toe, or rather hoof, when Mabel's worried filled voice resounded in the attic again. She was by her brother's side in an instead, talking to him in a calm voice, but Dipper seemed to be totally out of it.

"Dipper please, calm down. I'm sure we'll turn you back." But Dipper wasn't listening, so she closed the last distance between them, calling out for him again.

"Dipper!?"

But once her fingers reached out to touch his furry flank to gain his attention, Dipper's deer body jumped in panic. With a frightened bleat, his instincts shoved him into fight or flight mode, and since he was prey, there was just one option was left.

Flight.

"Dipper!" Mabel called out for him again, her heart ached in her chest while she watched her brother flee... from her.

Dipper's mind raced to the stumbling beat of his heart, his deer-controlled mind scanned his surroundings within seconds. All doors closed, no way to escape, so hide.

Hide.

Mabel's eyes began to burn when she watched Dipper's furry butt disappearing underneath the bed. She was fast to follow him before a soft whisper in her head told her to stop. She had always been good with animals, her inner voice told her to stop in order to avoid scaring the little deer any further. But this wasn't just any animal.

This was her brother god damn it! It was Dipper.

Mabel swallowed, taking one step after another before she got down on her knees to get a glimpse underneath her brother's bed and his new found hiding spot.

The cave like hideout was dark and dusty. Papers, books, a lonely sock and something that looked like it might have been part of a sandwich were keeping company with a herd of dust bunnies down there. And in the darkest corner of this dusty place, pressed to the wall behind him was her brother.

"Dipper..." She called out for him again, but he just shivered even more, eyes pressed shut he tried to shrink even further into the darkness, making her eyes burn because of her brother's fear and mistrust. Mabel's voice was near tears now, nothing but a silent whisper that finally got his attention.

"Please Dipper, snap out of it bro-bro." Dipper blinked, his ears were peaking up at the sound of his sister's voice.

"Mabel?" But while he mouthed her name the black spot of his panicked mind reminded him that it had been her all along, that he just had fled form his sister who had called out for him all that time. He had been afraid of Mabel, the very girl that even knitted tiny sweaters for mosquitos so that they stayed warm while they sucked her blood. Dipper swallowed, the dust from under his bed burned in his airways making his voice raspy.

"I-I'm sorry Mabel. I just panicked. My instincts were kicking in and I-" But Dipper was unable to finish his sentence, he still avoided his sisters gaze, watching the dust bunnies dance with each other under the breath of his muzzle. Her brother's scared voice made her frown, his words were a hoarse whisper swallowed by her darkness of his dusty hiding spot.

"I'm a deer." He breathed.

"A fawn." Mabel corrected, but Dipper ignored her, the snappy comment she had hoped for didn't happen, instead his next words made her heart arch in her chest.

"It's over, I'll stay like this forever. With the changes happening this fast, we'll never make it before..." But he swallowed the rest of his sentence, shaking his head with a raspy breath.

"It's too late."

But Mabel's voice interrupted his lost voice, her eyes still burned but her fighting spirit was back.

"No it's not." She tried to crawl closer under the slight gap, eyeing her brother with a stern look, that still glittered with the hint of banned tears.

"We're so close to break Bills deal. I'm sorry that you must pass through all of this for us, but you can't give up now Dipper. You'll see we'll make it!" She watched Dipper hesitate, before he carefully lifted his head with one ear peaked up to her.

"How can you be so sure about that Mabel?" He asked, his words filled with doubt, a doubt his sister tried to shoo away with one of her smiles.

"Cause we always do. We're the mystery twins after all. We can do anything. Now come out of there, you can't hide underneath the bed all day."

Dipper bit his lips, trying to coordinate all four of his legs in order to crawl out of his little cave, just to be picked up underneath his shoulders by Mabel who pulled him out of his hiding spot. She held him close to her, hugging her brother as tight as she could.

Dipper just blinked, his body became rigid for a moment before he gave in, leaning into Mabel's touch as best as he could, nuzzling her cheek with his own.

"It's okay Dipper." But now it was Mabel who's body shivered underneath his touch.

Dipper's ears lay back when his sister's distressed voice resounded in the attic.

"We're gonna be okay..."

The sight of the first houses of the town made Dipper shrink even further into his fur.

"I still think that it's a bad idea Mabel." He grumbled. Mabel just looked back at him, rolling her eyes at her brother's frequent objections.

"Come on Dipper, we all agreed on this." She stopped to wait for him who was walking behind her on clumsy hooves. Even though Dipper was used to walking on all fours, his missing upper body seemed to be a problem for him, especially the fact that had a hard time catching his fall without any hands or arms. The stairs were simply a catastrophe and the first thing that happened when they had left the shack was Dipper tipping over a branch meeting the dirt face first before the rest of his body followed in a tumble. The little tips of a shredded tissue Mabel had used in order to staunch his nosebleed were still sticking out of his nostrils. He gave her an annoyed look, ears flat on the back of his head.

"I did not." Dipper announced.

"It's not fair that you decided this over my head." He stamped up with one of his hooves to emphasize his words. Mabel frowned, folding her arms before her chest, raising an eyebrow and her voice.

"Dipper you can't stay home all alone." But of course her brother disagreed on that.

"I can." He assured taking a step towards her, a gesture that Mabel copied so that the two of them were arguing face to face.

"You can't"

"Can"

"Can't!" Mabel declared distancing herself from her brother. Even if it was hard for her to argue with Dipper while he looked that freaking cute, but in this case she just knew that she was right, and she reminded him of this morning's incident.

"You can't even turn a door handle Dipper, you've been freaking out when grunkle Stan accidentally locked you in the kitchen this morning." But Dipper just looked away, his deer lips pressed together as best as he could, she knew Dipper would have stuck his hands into his pockets by now if he just would be able to.

"That wasn't my fault..." He winced, making Mabel sigh to herself.

"Maybe. But you can be useful out here too. With your sweet fluffy butt, and my natural cuteness we'll gather these signatures within seconds! Just think about it as a new chance for Summer-ween."

"Yeah, just that this isn't a freaking costume Mabel! Besides, I don't think I want to find out how other people are reacting to me."

Stan and Soos' response to his new appearance had been more than enough for him.

Grunkle Stan had passed by while Mabel tried to help him down the damn stairs, but the twins stopped when they saw Stan watching them. Dipper's new deer body went rigid in the seconds of awkward silence that ticked away before Stan moved up the stairs, carefully picking him up beneath his front legs (his arms, damn it!) to carry him downstairs, putting him back down on the floor.

"There you go kid." Dipper hesitantly lifted his ears at the sound of his grunkle's rusty voice, but Stan avoided his gaze. His own eyes drifted away as he stammered an awkward answer.

"Thank you." But Stan just nodded, looking anywhere but his nephew.

'Great-' Dipper swallowed. '...-more silence.' He took a deep breath just as Stan finally spoke up again.

"So, you're a deer now."

"A fawn." Mabel corrected with a tired smile.

"A fawn, right, right." Stan's eyes darkened when he saw Dipper flinch at his comment, he forced a smile to his lips.

"Well, that means we better hurry, or soon I'll be able to open a petting zoo in the shack." Stan smirked, but Dipper only swallowed, facing the ground before his hooved feet, it felt so strange being that near to the floor while everything else was so big now. He knew Mabel didn't say it loud because it was a difficult time for him, but it was a fact that Mabel was now one head taller than him; and Grunkle Stan, the man seemed like a giant to him now. But even from down here he could see Stan's hidden worries in his features, while Mabel's face was still red from nearly crying. His heart ached as both of them tried to cheer him up.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, making Stan's brows raise up to his grey hair line.

"What for?" But Dipper stayed silent, so that it was Stan himself who responsed to his own question, eying his nephew skeptically.

"You deciding to help your friends in family at your own expense? Oh please Dipper, I thought we got over this point. It might have been a bad decision to make this deal, but well- at last your intentions were good. That's all that matters sometimes..." He grumbled with a darkening voice, making the end of his sentence deepen in his rusty throat.

"...even if things get a little bit out of control." Stan sighed, shaking his head before he laid a hand on Dipper's furry head, ruffling his fur where his hair should have been.

"So stop apologizing all day! As long as your sister is watching your furry back so you don't chew on my armchair again, we're fine." His grunkle smirked when he punched his furry shoulder.

"And now cheer up kid. You'll see, we'll break the deal as fast as you can say 'The Magnificent Mr. Mystery'." Stan laughed before he left them to prepare breakfast.

But the bitter taste in Dipper's mouth stayed glued on his tongue, because not even Stan's fake smile could make him forget his grunkle's shell shocked expression and the darkness that suddenly hovered in the old man's eyes when he first caught sight of him.

Whatever Stan told them, this was certainly not okay for him.

But of course that hadn't made him or Mabel any less of an annoyance.

Once Stan was ready with breakfast he put Dipper's plate down in front of him, making the young deer blink in surprise before he realized what it meant. It was for his new eating habits, now that his arms were missing he needed to eat from the ground, with his muzzle, right from the bowl like any other animal. His gaze wavered to Waddles when Stan placed the pig's bowl of left overs in front of him, it took only a second before he delved his snout into the bowl, making food splash all over his cheeks.

Dipper's own stomach dropped.

No way would he eat from the floor, ever.

He made an excuse that he wasn't hungry, but of course neither Stan nor Mabel had believed him, forcing him to eat, Mabel had even suggested to feed him, making Dipper flee before she was able to affix this horribly colorful bib around his neck that she had snatched out of nowhere.

But the idea to flee from them into the grassy green backyard wasn't a good idea either. The fresh green smell of the still damp grass made his stomach grumble in a demanding manner. Dipper tried to swallow the upcoming hunger down his throat, looking down at himself with a sigh. Seeing his front hooves where his arms should be still felt strange, it hadn't even been a day and yet he already missed his hands. The only tool that was left now was his mouth, because what the hell would he be able to do with this dumb little hooves? But there were simply things Dipper didn't want to do with his muzzle, tongue, or teeth.

Just- No.

Even eating was one of those things for now. It simply was humiliating, not because they might laugh at him, but because it made him feel even less human than he was by now. It made him afraid and even more aware of what he might become, an animal.

A deer, without his human thoughts or any memories of his life.

Just a blank animalistic nothing.

Dipper swallowed, folding his legs beneath him before settling down in a sunny spot in the grass; his mind drifted away while he watched the bees and butterflies dancing on the flowers around him, he wished he could see their colors. The rustling sound of wind that sung in the trees together with the birds' melodies made his troubled mind calm down in the natural surroundings. So much so, he didn't even notice the approaching figure until two hands suddenly touched him to ruffle his furry belly; all he was able to produce was a startled bleat.

But Soos only cooed at the sweet call of the small fawn in the grass before him, scratching the little deer's belly before he called out for the rest of the Pines family inside the shack.

"Aww, did you get Dipper a little furry friend?" He giggled, unable to hear Dipper's pleading answer between his bleats and laughter.

"Meeeahh-No-Soos it's meeaah!" Soos didn't recognize his voice, but tickled even harder making tears appear in the corner of Dipper's eyes, when Soos finally hid the spot that made his hind leg twitch in the rhythm of Soos' scratching. That only made Dipper bleat again, in a mixture of enjoyment, instinct, and out of tournament while Soos was laughing and looking down at the fully animal with a smile.

"Oh you're a nosy one, huh little dude?" The handyman laughed before Mabel's questioning voice got his attention as she appeared with Stan on the porch decoyed by Dippers manic bleats.

"Dipper? What's going on- Soos?" Mabel blinked, looking down at the scene before her, Soos giving her a grin, waving with his free hand while the other one was still petting her brother's belly.

"Oh hey guys!" He greeted.

"Meeaah!"

Stan cleared his throat under the loud bleat of his nephew, his eyes wandered back to his assistant.

"Um- Soos what are you doing there?" The boy gave him a smile, looking down at the small fawn again to answer Stan's question.

"Me? I'm making friends with Dipper's new deery friend of course."

"Meeeaabel!" Dipper protested, but Soos only scratched further, Stan and Mabel gave each other a look before they burst out into echoing laughter.

Yeah, and that was his first meeting with Soos.

No wonder he wasn't looking forward to meeting the townsfolk.

'Nope, not looking forward to it at all.'

Dipper sighed while they passed the first houses, there was no way out of this now anyway.

"So, where is our first stop?" Mabel snatched her page of the contract out for her pocket with a grin, holding it in front of her so that Dipper was able to get a glimpse on it too.

"The first on is... Tyler! That's cool! I'm sure he won't be much of a problem." Dipper laid his ears back, grumbling a silent "I hope so", but nodded carefully.

They heard the tiny voice of the biker before they even made it up to the doorbell.

"I know you preferred the other spot, but we agreed to chance once in a week Magda, so live with it." Mabel blinked, giving Dipper a questioning look, which he answered with a shrug (as best as he could) before they followed Tyler's voice into his backyard. They stopped once they saw who the man was talking to, his garden gnomes. The strange little man and woman wore colorful cloth and one of them looked really similar to Smebulock, but Tyler was talking to one of the female sculptures hiding a knowing grin underneath her beard.

"Besides, you're closer to Leroy here and- no don't give me that look I know that there is something up between you two, because-"

"Um, Mr.- Mr. Tyler Sir?"

Mabel interrupted his speech with the garden gnome lady, cause neither she nor Dipper wanted to know why this man thought that these little men had a love affair with each other. But once the little bicker looked at them, Dipper's fur stood up on his back ,making him hide behind his sister, his ears brushing his furry cheeks. Mabel however, stepped up to the man, clearing her voice before she began to explain their situation.

"As you may know my deer brother here made a deal with a cruel crazed up Demon, namely Bill, in order to turn the whole town back to human. But Bill tricked this foolish body beside me- of course, and now we need your help to save him. You just need to sing this contract here saying you're okay with changing back into a monster. Please?!" Dippers jaw dropped at Mabel's speech, he blinked hissing into her ear with wide eyes.

"That's what you're telling them? Seriously!"

"What? It's working." Mabel grinned, while Dipper tried to protest again.

"But Mabel-" Tyler's voice however cut him off, the man was peeking behind Mabel's back, giving him a curious look.

"So that's your brother?"

"Yup." Mabel grinned, stepping aside to give the man a better look at the little fawn beside her.

"Tyler meet Deerper." Her brother gave her a look but before he was able to argue two small hand's got a hold onto his fur covered face. Dipper gulped, until he looked up into the man's face, just to be confronted with two big sparkling eyes.

"Sooo fluffy!"

The biker squeaked, petting Dippers fur, whose mood switched from fear to annoyance, giving Mabel a look when he heard her giggle in the background before she cleared her throat again.

"So you're up for kicking Bill Cipher's butt?"

She asked, holding the contract and pen up for him to sign. Tyler hesitated for a moment, until he snatched the pen from her hand, looking one last time into Dipper's big deer eyes before he signed the contract with a determined whisper.

"Get 'em."

They had collected the signatures of the pizza guy, Toby from the "Gravity Falls Gossiper", Tambry and Tate McGucket, until Dipper yawned beside her.

"Who's next?" He questioned, so that Mable gave him a worried look.

"You okay bro-bro?" She watched her brother frown, his muzzle twitched in annoyance.

"Yeah Mabel, just tired don't worry. So who's next?" Mabel pointed in front of them, hearing Dipper groan in response when they entered the "home" of old man McGucket.

The smell of rusty metal around them made Dipper's stomach grumble in protest, while his fur erected on his back, when they walked through bits and pieces of McGucket's so called "work" but the old man was nowhere in sight.

"Old man McGucket! Hello? Mabel called out for him.

"You here?" She questioned again, looking into a hollow metal bin, making her voice echo and Dipper rolling his eyes.

"Sure Mabel, you'll find him in there." Mabel lifted her head back out of the bin with a glare.

"Oh stop arguing Dippingdots and help me!"

"Maybe he is just gone..." Dipper murmured, but still called out for the strange guy.

"Old man McGucket, it's Mabel and Dipper." He searched behind a rusty machine that looked like a mix between a tractor and an old pick up.

"Hello?" Dipper questioned into the apparently empty yard when suddenly a wet breath touched his furry ear, making it flicker.

"Hello my fawn-tatsic meal." The rusty voice made him jump, facing the toothless grin of the crazy old man.

"What-?" But McGucket broke his question while he licked his lips.

"Hey raccoon wife! Prepare the grill, we'll have baked barbeque tonight." He laughed, trying to catch Dipper, but the deer was faster and jumped away from him with a startled bleat that finally got Mabel's attention. The girl came up behind McGucket's cabin, with a grin.

"Ah! There you are!" She watched the two chasing around the place, Dipper jumped every second step but still unused to his armless body he tipped here and there so that McGucket still was fast on his heels.

"Mabel he want to eat meeeaahh!" He screamed hiding behind her mop of brown hair.

"Aww come on he's just playing with you Dipper, right oldy?" McGucket grinned, holding up two dirty bottles of liquid.

"What do you think's better, ketchup or mustard?"

"Eeep." But Mabel ignored her brother's shriek and old McGucket's comment, coming directly to the point.

"We wanted to ask you to sign this, in order to turn Dipper here back." She said, holding up the contract for the old man to see. He snatched some broken reading glasses out of nowhere in order to read the different names on the golden paper.

"There is just a little itzy bitzy tiny hook on it, itsturningyoubackintoamonster." Mabel babbled, melding the words together.

"Oh banjopolish, I'd do anything if this delicious meal would stand still for a moment." Dipper's ears twisted back in an angry response.

"God damn it old man, I'm not a meal! I'm Dipper. DIPPER, remember? The guy that brought back part of your memories." McGucket seemed to think about it before he shrugged, shaking his head to answer the deer's question.

"Nope, you can't be him. This guy was a boy, not a deerlischous goulash."

"Mabel!" Dipper pleaded, making her sigh before she stepped between them.

"Okay that's enough. You stop whining, and you stop trying to eat my brother." She announced while the old inventor frowned in disappointment.

"Not even a little tiny bite?"

"Well..." But Dipper stomped his hoof on her foot, when her answer took too long for his taste.

"Mabel!" He protested.

"Ouch. No, okay, okay. But what about you'll join us for dinner, once this is over?" McGucket rubbed his beard, raising a brushy eyebrow with a question.

"Can I bring my wife?"

"Of course, just bring her along! So- you'll sign?" Mabel asked, holding up the contract, which the man signed with his beard.

"Thank you!" She cheered, watching him scribble down his initials, poking Dipper in the shoulder.

"Yeah- Thanks." The deer grumbled, but old man McGucket was no longer listening to them, holding up the struggling raccoon in his arms.

"We need to buy you a new dress." He questioned.

The heard him talking about matching colors while they left.

"What about pink?" But this suggestion only made him curse and scream when his so-called wife dogged its claws into his face. Mabel gave Bills contract a last satisfied glance, before she folded it back into her pocket.

"Well, that went surprisingly well." She smirked, while Dipper gave her a stunned look.

"He wanted to eat me Mabel."

"Maybe, but he didn't right?" She smiled.

"That's-" But a big yawn interrupted his speech, the adrenalin from McGucket's chase vanished from his veins, so that exhaustion gained control of his body again. Mabel shot him a worried glance.

"Maybe we should quit it for today, you're looking tired bro-bro." Dipper however shook his head, yawing again.

"No, the faster we are, the sooner this is over." he slurred while Mabel rolled her eyes, crossing her arms before her chest.

"Really Dipper, you're barely awake." Dipper tried to blink the sleep from his eyes with a sigh.

"Fine, but I'll go home alone so you can collect more signatures, if that's okay."

Mabel's brows knitted together in worry, she laid her hand on her brother's furred shoulder because there was no hand for her to hold.

"Do you really think that's a good idea for you to go through the woods all alone?"

"Aw, come on Mabel, look at these deadly weapons! I may be a deer but I'm not helpless!" He announced, proudly lowering his head for Mabel to get a better look on his antlers, making his sister laugh from Dippers pretentious behavior.

"Oh, you mean defending yourself like before?" She laughed unimpressed by his annoyed face.

"That was different." He grumbled, until Mabel sighed, kneeling down to him to be on eye level with her brother gain.

"Okay bro-bro, but try to stay safe, for me?" Dipper gave her a reassuring smile, and nodded while he endured Mabel's hand brushing through the fur on his head.

"Of course Mabel, besides, it's not that far to the Shack. What could happen?"

When the twins finally separated, no one saw the smile on the lips of the hidden figure, which had followed them all day.

It was his turn now.

Finally.