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Up to a new chapter of Deerperfalls!

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Chapter 8: Of Stars and Shadows

The house was rather quiet this morning.

A little too quiet for someone who was used to two lively twelve year olds, sticking Fruit-Loops in their noses, or building a castle out of Stan-cakes. The old man swallowed, the black and bitter taste of his too strong coffee burned down his throat. Not that he could blame them for sleeping so long, he would have stayed in bed longer himself, but Bill's words still echoed in his ears.

Stan Pines gritted his teeth.

Bill truly offered them a way out of Dipper's predicament.

A contract.

A contract that involved every single citizen of Gravity Falls. The terms of the contract were as simple as they were nasty. Everyone need agree to change back to the form bestowed upon them by the cursed river, and Cipher would turn everyone back to the point before Dipper made the Deal with him; the whole town needed to sign that damn paper.

All of them need willfully agree to become monsters again in order to save Dipper.

Stan bit his lips, a grumble bubbled in his throat. Bill's laughter resounded in his ears when the triangle reached eye level with Dipper one last time before he disappeared. His single eye was stretched into a hidden gleeful smile.

"We´ll see if your beloved town will return your fawn-vor, Pine Tree. You know why people are so easy to manipulate? They do care a lot about people close to them, but if they have to decide… they´ll always chose their own fate before others. But I´m sure you already know about that, right my deer `puppet`?"

He flushed another gulp of coffee down his throat, while his mirror image looked up to him out of the bottom of the cup, swimming on the dark surface of the bitter liquid.

The Demon was right.

There was no guarantee that they would choose right.

And for sure it would need a lot of persuading to get this damn paper filled and it needed to be filled fast. Grunkle sighed, looking out of the window where the dark branches of the forest were swinging in the light summer breeze.

His eyes darkened as he remembered Dippers temper when Bill let them out of their grip, when the world faded back to normal, for everyone except his nephew.

The wood filled itself back up with colors, Stan´s gaze was still fixed on the golden contract laying in the grass below, when two hard stumps bumped him in the back of is a-

"What the-!" But the curse died on his lips as he turned around to meet the angry face of his nephew who had just pumped him with his tiny antlers. The boy´s face was red all over, little tears were hidden in the corners of his eyes and a small hint of blood was still visible in the corner of his mouth. But that wasn´t what made Stan rigid, it was the look in Dippers eyes that made his heart jump in his throat. The watery, brown eyes of the boy glittered with anger and bewilderment, his voice echoed in the forest behind them.

"WHY! Why the hell would you do something like that? Do you have any idea what Bill could do to you owning your soul?!" But his Grunkle just swallowed and avoided Dipper's gaze to pick up the contract that lay by his feet. His voice was nothing but a raspy whisper.

"I do know about that Dipper, and maybe you´re right and it would have been a dumb decision after all. Though I fear making wrong decisions runs in the family… Now calm down kid, he didn´t take it anyway, so let´s go home before it gets too dark." Dipper bit his lips, he still wanted to know why his Grunkle would do something like that, but Stan´s comment about heading home left him with a brand new question.

"How? We are still in the Mindscape, we would just get lost if we started walking around here." But the question just earned him confused glances from his family and friends. Mabel carefully made a step towards him; tilting her head, brown curls wiggled as she questioned.

"What are you talking about bro-bro? Bill´s gone, the world is back to normal, see?" She pointed to the forest behind, the sparkling crystal water and the darkening green trees, but Dipper didn´t more than blink at her statement. An unspoken fear crawled beneath his fur, making his question tremble on his tongue.

"But, it´s- everything is still all black and white!" Dipper looked around the clearing before he finally faced his friends and family again, and then it hit him.

Not only were his surroundings still like an old panchromatic film, but the faces and bodies of Mabel and the others too. Why didn´t he recognized this earlier, why hadn't he seen his sister's dark grey eyes as she looked at him with worry.

Their colors were gone… he was color blind.

"No! Please no!" He rubbed his eyes with his furry fist but the world stayed monochrome. Mabel stepped up to him to lay her hand on his shoulders, asking him what was wrong. But the missing color on his sister's grey face made him sick all over again and his weak knees finally gave in to the pressure of the past hours and days; his world finally faded from grey to black.

The employer of the Mystery Shack sighed, gulping down the rest of his now cold coffee with a shudder. He had to carry Dipper home afterwards, not that he could blame the boy; a reaction like that was to be expected after such a restless night and stressful day. The fact that Dipper had lost the ability to see in color didn´t surprise him that much to be honest, most animals were colorblind after all, but he had to admit that the timing was rather cruel. No wonder Dipper flipped when his field of view stayed black and white.

Stan groaned, rubbing his stubbly chin and scraped his chair back. Standing up to put his cup into the sink, he heard two tiny feet padding down the stairs. The old man sensed his unconscious frown, moving his tired muscles into a halfhearted grin.

"Morning sweetie, did you sleep well?"

But Mabel only yawned, seating herself in front of her bowl of cereal before her head slumped on the table, her ruffled hair curling down her cheek. Stan chuckled, filling her bowl with milk while his eyes drifted suspiciously up the stairs.

"I see… what about your brother?" The answer to his question came somewhere out of this mop of dark brown hair.

"He´s awake and in the bathroom, he is…" But Mabel bit her lips, looking up to her Grunkle before she spoke up again.

"His face changed… he´s all deer-y now. He is a super-duper sweet fur ball now but- it´s weird seeing him like that somehow." She swallowed, her gaze drifted from Stan back down to the table, or rather to the golden glowing contract laying there. Her heart did a heavy beat in her chest and her usually cheerful voice was a little too low, so that Stan´s brows knitted together the moment her words reached his ears.

"Grunkle Stan… we- we will change him back, right?" Her Grunkle´s eyes went wide for a second, before a triumphant grin made it underneath his winkled nose.

"Ha! Of course we will! We're the Pines after all! So stop worrying now, you should enjoy your brothers furriness while you can kid, once puberty hit´s him the hair that will grow on his body won´t be so fluffy anymore, you know because-" He didn´t saw Mabel`s face going from white to green, before she jumped up, to stop her Grunkle´s speech.

"Irgs! Stop, I got it, no further information needed. I'll go up to check on him." With that she fled out of the kitchen, just to come back in once more, hugging her Grunkle´s spine, earning a surprised yelp before he looked down to Mabel .

"Thank you Grunkle Stan." She whispered, before she finally let go heading for the stairway. Stan just smiled, shaking his head while he looked after her, but the chuckle died in his throat once his niece was out of sight.

He really hoped that he had told her the truth, just this one time.


"Dipper?"

Mabel peeked inside of the bathroom, catching a glimpse of her brother without his t-shirt.

But wait… wouldn't that mean that Dipper was…naked!

"Yikes!" The shriek of his sister finally made Dipper aware of her presence. A startled bleat escaped his muzzle, when he reached out for a towel fixing it on his upper body as he saw Mabel´s red face. He could feel the heat on his own face, but his new grown fur did hide his embarrassment, the only thing that gave him away was his tail, flicking in annoyance when his sister finally stepped into the small bathroom.

A few seconds of awkward silence ticked away before Mabel spoke up to him again, eying her brother suspiciously. He looked so damn cute with his deer face, that even his "angry face" was simply adorable.

"Are you okay?" She questioned carefully, but her brother only frowned and turned back to the mirror to face his furry appearance.

"You mean beside the fact that I´m changing into a deer?" His sarcastic request just earned him a light smile from Mabel, who stepped up beside him.

"Yep." She led the "p" pop on her lips, waiting for his answer when Dipper became silent again, examining himself in the mirror so that her eyes also moved over his new face again. His muzzle was now full grown, his fur color matched his backsides except some lighter shade along his eyes and cheeks, even his hair line had seemed to change his hairs were still recognizable but seemed to match his fur more and more now. She saw him gulp, his muzzle twitched before his splinted upper lipped moved to let out a hidden sigh as he spoke again.

"It´s gone…" He murmured.

"What?" Her brothers ears peaked down at her question, his eyes were searching hers in the mirror.

"My birthmark, it´s well- there is all the fur above it." Mabel followed his gaze to his forehead to see her brothers words confirmed, there was nothing but smooth brown covering her brothers skin. She bit the inside of her cheeks before she carefully requested his worried voice.

"But, isn´t that like- a good thing? I mean you didn´t even like it right?" She watched Dippers tail flicker together with one of his ears while her brother rubbed his furry temple.

"Yea- No! I mean… it´s just-" He swallowed, his chest moved when he took one heavy breath.

"You´re right I hated this stupid birth mark but- it was what makes me… Dipper you know." His eyes were searching hers in the mirror with a worried gaze.

"Look at me Mabel, it´s even unrecognizable that we are twins by now!" His words ended in a slightly angry bleat, making him frown even more while Mabel looked at him with pity. His voice was low, barely audible by now.

"It… it feels like I´m losing myself underneath this fur."

Mabel bit her lips, Dipper's words hurt deep inside her. He wasn't supposed to talk like that, they were twins after all and nothing could ever come between them, never. She crossed the space between her and Dipper, reaching around his shoulders to press his furry cheek against her own human one and forcing a grin to her lips so that her braces glittered in the mirror.

"Aw come on bro-bro, you´ll always be you, nerdy birthmark or not." She chuckled at her brother's frown, his little black nose twitched in annoyance, making her squeak in delight, when she started to tease him.

"Besides, it was hard for people to believe that we are twins anyway, I mean look at this cute face." She grinned, poking her own cheek with glittering eyes.

"Arg Mabel, I mean it!" Dipper protested, escaping her arm to cross his hands before his chest in anger, but his sister reached out for him again, looking him directly in the eyes now, her voice at least serious for once.

"Me too. You´ll always be you Dipper, and you´ll always be my nerdy twin brother. Nothing can ever change that." Mabel insisted, but the stubborn look in his sisters eyes just make her brother swallow down the lump in his throat. He had suspected it earlier, but now it became clear that Mabel obviously didn´t know what Bill had meant when he had said that Dipper would change completely. He bit his lips and shuddered, his tongue touched his palate where is front teeth used to be before he dared to form a raspy question.

"What… what if you´re wrong? What if I change so far that-"

But Dipper cut himself off at this point, the lump in his throat made it impossible to speak. Mabel could feel the hairs on her neck standing up, the sound of her brother's hollow voice made her shiver; she carefully approached him again to lay her hand on his fur covered back, petting him without his protest for once.

"You won´t."

She said simply, but the smile on her lips didn´t reach her brother as his eyes drifted from her face down to her hand, which was rubbing circles on one of his white spots. Mabel´s own gaze followed her brothers.

"But Mabel I-" But her surprised shout cut him off. Startled, he looked up to Mabel´s face again but her eyes were still glued to his furry backside.

"It´s still there…" Mabel whispered, making his ears peak up in questionably.

"What?" His sister just grinned, he watched her index finger pocking seven different dots on his fur so that his brain connected them to a much too recognizable line.

"The Big Dipper." He breathed.

"It´s still there…" But Mabel just grinned up to her stunned brother, poking him in the shoulder with her fist.

"Told you so dippingdots!" With the smile still on her lips she looked down to her brother`s backside once more before she silently snickered to herself.

"You know what that means…" She requested, wiggling her eyebrows in knowledge while Dipper gave her a confused look.

"Huh?" His ears raised in question, making Mabel giggle even more when she reached out again to poke one of his white dots.

"A part of your face is now on your butt." She smirked, when Dipper jumped in protest.

"WHAT?"

"Ha Ha, oh- don´t worry butt face, or is it face butt?" She teased, watching his little, white, fluffy tail flicker in annoyance.

"Mabel don´t call me that!" He grumbled, but of course Mabel already had a fitting answer for him.

"Okay what about nerdy butt then?"

But Dipper just groaned, shoving his sister back out of the bathroom to finish readying himself for the day.

Dipper watched them in concern, chewing peacefully at his place beside the kitchen table while Soos, Wendy and his family were debating about how to split up in order to cover as many of the townsfolk as possible in one day. They had agreed that he would stay here for now, it was obvious to all of them that he felt uncomfortable going into town like that, even though Mabel would rather him stay by her side, her grunkle made it clear that the house was at least a safe place for her brother.

"Okay, so I´ll go with Wendy while Soos and Stan are on their own, right?" Mabel requested.

"Yep." But Wendy`s gaze drifted back to her boss, frowning at his determined face.

"Even if I think someone should go with him… I don´t think his way of persuading people is even legal."

"Hey, I´m being convincing! That´s not a crime!" Stan defended.

"Yeah, yeah whatever. Hey Dipper do you have a spare one for me?" But Dipper only blinked at her question, raising an ear in confusion.

"A what?"

"A chewing gum dude." The redhead frowned. "Or what have you been chewing on for the past few minutes, cause you can´t tell me that this is still your breakfast."

"No I-" But the green taste in his mouth cut him off.

He really was chewing on something.

`But what?`

He didn´t have anything since breakfast and beside the small burp that had escaped his lips there had been nothing special- Wait a second.

That had brought the dull grassy taste back into his mouth.

He was chewing on… on-

"You´re ruminating aren´t you Dipper?"

Dippers eyes went wide at Wendy´s comment.

He forced the disgusting mass in his mouth back down his throat before he stuttered an answer to her, his tail flickering back and forth in embarrassment.

"I um- I don´t know what you´re talking about." But the redhead just rolled her eyes in annoyance, before Mabel gained her attention.

"Ruminating? What´s that?" She questioned, looking up to Wendy who was about to explain.

"Well that's a thing some herbivores have to do in order to digest their food. You see Dipper probably has four stomachs now and because of that he has to-"

"No wait I-" But another burp cut him off as it rolled up his throat. This whatever it was- cause no way he was really chewing cud, felt different from vomiting. For once, it didn´t hurt and he wasn´t nauseous while it happened, if anything it felt… natural.

`No!` A drop of sweat rolled down his temple when he gestured them to wait for him just a second in order to flee to the bathroom to spit out what was in his mouth because there was no way that he was about to swallow that, again.

He flushed the disgusting green lump down the toilet and turned around to clean his face when he saw Wendy standing in the door fame eying him with one raised eyebrow.

"You really shouldn't do that dude, it´s not healthy." Dipper only swallowed, his cheeks would have burned in embarrassment if it wasn´t for the fur that covered his face. His ears flattened against the backside of his head, while Wendy carefully approached him to kneel down to his level laying her hand on his shoulder. She could feel his warm soft fur thought the thin t-shirt while her face reflected itself on Dipper's dark wet muzzle, her voice was soft and held no hint of hidden teasing.

"I know it must be hard for you Dipper and we´re trying to help, but you starving yourself out of embarrassment is not much of a help man."

"But it´s disgusting."

"That? Aw dude, you never been near my pops after three cans of Pitt cola and a double beef jerky from Greasy's, have you? Man that's disgusting!" Dipper couldn't help but smile at her comment, carefully looking up again.

If it was okay with Wendy, and she wasn´t totally grossed out by him, maybe it wasn´t that bad.

"It´s still strange…" He murmured, but the teen just shook her head with a small laugh, picking herself up from the floor along her comment.

"Yeah like the rest of you, or this whole crazed up town. But hey, you´re talking to a former werewolf here and believe me, I know a lot about embarrassment."

"True... and I think your fleas are still missing you." Dipper smirked when he looked back up to her. Wendy let out a whistle, folding her arms before her chest in an attempt of fake hurt.

"Touché, so you´re okay now?" Dipper swallowed at her question, scratching his arm before he allowed his muzzle to grumble his answer.

"Yes… I- I guess I am." He let out a breath he didn´t know he had been holding, looking up to her again with a thankful smile on his lips.

"Thanks Wendy." The redhead just grinned, catching him in a half hug, rubbing her knuckles into his fur-like hair with a laugh.

"Always my deer."


A deep sigh escaped Dippers muzzle; he was zipping through the TV channels for the thousandth time by now and this ruminating thing was still happening even if he couldn't tell what annoyed him more, the chewing, or the fact that he didn´t noticed it sometimes. His view drifted out the window, anything was better than zapping from one black and white movie to another, but even the darkening sky couldn't cheer him up. It was past noon already the sky was about to become a warm red in a few minutes, but for him the world was just mere shades of grey, like he was in his personal little prison of the mindscape. He missed seeing in color already, everything just looked wrong like that, his sister's face seemed sick without its usual color.

The deer boy bit his lip finally turning the TV off to stretch his aching muscles. He picked himself up to look for an apple or a carrot, when the silence of the Mystery Shack crawled underneath his fur, with the old house that empty, and the background voices from the TV missing, the building was suddenly too quiet for his taste.

Too quiet and somehow also too cramped.

A claustrophobic feeling made the hair on his back stand on end, while his ears twitched in alarm, listening for any sudden noises. But Dipper forced himself to calm down, he tried to take a deep breath, blaming his new instincts for his sudden skittish state. His eyes drifted from the kitchen to the front door and back.

A short peak in the backyard wouldn't hurt, right?

He could also find some food out there, and it wasn´t like anyone could see him.

So Dipper simply took the chance to step out in the still warm sunlight, maybe he couldn't see the glittering golden light itself but its warmth definitely helped him feel more comfortable. He wandered around for a while before he reached the patch of grass he was looking for. Folding his legs beneath him to take a seat on the soft floor, he looked back towards the shack, calculating how long it would take his deer feet to reach the front door. He was used to this sort of instinct by now, because deer or not, having an escape plan was always a good idea. He let out a soft breath when he looked back down at his surroundings.

Of course he would never admit this to Mabel or Stan, but this patch of grass was simply his favorite. Between the soft grass, hundreds of daisies were growing, mixing their soft white with the deep color of the violets that had grown between them; and even if he couldn't enjoy their color any longer, his new muzzle overwhelmed him with their smell and giving him the hint that a patch of wild strawberries must be somewhere nearby.

Dipper instinctively licked the tip of his nose that twitched in attempt to sink his muzzle into the flower spiced grass; but he held himself back, picking the flowers by hand before he let them vanish inside his mouth. It was like eating berries he told himself over and over again, just that these were flowers, but at least tasty ones.

The fresh taste in his mouth made his stomach, or rather stomachs jump in delight, peace settled itself back into his rigid body while he peacefully "grazed" in the backyard of the shack. The silent whisper of the trees created a gentle song together with the different voices of the birds chirping in their branches.

Dipper couldn't know about the dark shadow that was watching him, nor about the cruel smile that showed his bright white fangs in gloomy light of the forest.


"So we´ve got Wendy´s father and her brothers, Soo´s Abuelita, Lazy Susan, the police force, Grenda, Candy and- Robby?" Dipper frowned lowering the contract, his gaze drifted to Mabel´s bed.

"Seriously? Why would he ever help me?" But Mabel smiled a knowing smile.

"He owed me something remember? And beside he´s not that bad."

"But-" But Dipper was cut off when suddenly more than words filled his mouth, his ears peaked back at Mabel's widening smile, while she watched him chew a little faster than usual in his silent anger.

"Ah ah, remember to chew every bite twenty times Dipper." Her brother just swallowed in protest, making a disgusted face.

"That's not funny Mabel, it's nasty." Mabel just shrugged.

"Maybe, but it´s also super useful! I could eat a whole pack of Gummy Koalas and then, I could eat it again! How awesome would that be?!" She giggled, making Dipper's eyebrow twitch.

`Why me?` He grumbled, laying the contract aside and flexing his fingers, itching from his stern grip on the vital paper.

He watched his furry knuckles twitch before his glance fell back to Bill´s contract, the gold glow was now hidden from his color blinded eyes. He swallowed at the mostly empty space.

Mabel had already turned to the side, her blanket covered half of her face but she was still aware of his whispered question.

"What if we're too late…?"

Mabel blinked, her glance drifted over to her furry brother, his white dots seemed to shine in the dark shadows of the night, while his face was hidden in the darkness of his fur. She pushed herself back up in her bed, tilting her head in a quizzical gesture.

"Dipper, what´s up?" She could see the shadow of her brother flinch at her question, the moonlight reflected itself in his wet nose, making his watery eyes glitter.

"There is not much left to change Mabel…" He swallowed.

"I- I´m scared."

He shivered, waiting for Mabel's reassuring answer, but the deep silence that stretched between them clenched at his heart. His fears grew inside him before a sudden jerk made his pillow vanish beneath his head, and his blanket soon followed its fate. Dipper let out a surprised bleat, picking himself up on his mattress to observe his sister, or the figure he thought to be his sister, hidden under a pile of his bedding that wiggled its way to her own bed before she slumped it down. Scrambling back down on her bed, she finally called out for him.

"Come here…" She ordered, leaving him to gulp down the lump of embarrassment that had formed in his throat.

"B-But."

"Dipper!" She insisted, making him flinch before he carefully made it up to her on skittish feet.

He carefully folded his legs beside her, laying down just inches away from his twin's face. But the seriousness of her voice was nowhere to be seen in Mabel's features, she gave him a soft smile, reaching out for his still itching hand, holding it close to hers. Her warmth felt good beside his body, and her grip lessened the tingling sensation in his fingertips, making his breathing easier. He finally felt safe again.

Mabel smiled when the tension in her brother's features finally softened. She held her brother's fur covered hand close to hers.

"You good now?"

But Dipper barley nodded, already drifting into the comfy warmth of sleep, before Mabel allowed her smile to disappear.

Her voice was too small, even for him to hear.

"Whatever happens bro-bro, we´ll make it through." She swallowed, closing her eyes; her hand never left that of her brother's.

"Promise."