He didn't know how long Mabel had been crying. It could have been minutes or hours until she fell asleep, using his wet fur as a living pillow. But for Dipper it had felt like days. He couldn't remember when Mabel had cried that hard- he didn't even know if she had ever cried like that before. Every one of her sobs caved a hole in his chest, leaving him hollow and numb inside. He had a loss of words; there was simply nothing he could have said to make her feel better, so Dipper was silent. All he could do was stay by her side while she cried in his fur, petting him without noticing it until her mind finally let her calm down, resting in a dark warm silent sleep.

The same didn't apply to him.

Dipper's mind had wandered through the night guided by nothing but Mabel's soft snores, his gaze wandered to the triangle shaped widow, he finally drifted into sleep, watching the stars above them while the Big Dipper reflected itself on his fur, the moon shone brightly through the yellow window.

The small deer watched the smirk of the golden moon watching them, before he disappeared into the darkness.

Dipper forgot that it was new moon tonight.

The warm light of the next day woke him. Dipper blinked, irritated by the hard surface beneath him, something was breathing in his ear, making it flicker back and forth in irritation.

'Mabel?' He frowned, the red traces on her cheeks and slightly swollen eyes made him remember why both of them had been sleeping on the floor. Dipper sighed, before the lump in his throat got too big to breath and he struggled to free himself from Mabel's death grip. Her head fell to the floor with a heavy "knlock" that made Dipper flinch, but his sister didn't so much as stir in irritation, now resting directly on the floor, drooling slightly on the wood while her butt was still halfway up not matching her new position. The deer frowned, he couldn't carry her to bed, but he couldn't let her sleep like that either, so Dipper stepped over to her bed to grip her pillow and blanket with his muzzle, but the oversized white cotton ball of a pillow disabled his vision while he got back to her. He needed to lift his head high in the air, so that the avoided getting tangled in her blanket. Her snores were guiding him, before he let it fall down were the sound seemed to be the loudest. But when Dipper looked down he saw that Mabel was nowhere in sight, well-hidden underneath her bedding. He raised an eyebrow when she curled up to herself underneath her blanket tent.

'Well, at least she's warm now.' He grinned, slowly moving out of the room cursing his loud hooves echoing on the floor.

There was no chance that he would be able to get more sleep.

Dipper sighed and carefully made his way down the stairs- which he absolutely hated by now. At least he had been able to hold himself with his hands, but with them now gone it was a risky act that got his balance out of place with each step.

The house was dark and silent, even Waddles was still sleeping on the cold kitchen floor.

Dipper could feel how his throat was going dry, he wasn't able to breathe once his last hoof contacted the floor.

He shivered, - hell, he really should have woken Mabel up.

The silence of the Shack was eating him up.

The feeling of being looked at crawled under his skin.

'Stay calm, it's just a house!' But Dipper looked around, all windows were closed and the door stood mighty and firm in his way, he would never be able to open it.

'I'm locked in.'

'Your're not, Mabel and Stan are there just please don't -'

Too late.

"MEEEAAAH!" With a distressed bleat Dipper jumped around the rooms in a panic, overtaking the slightly annoyed voice in his head.

'Well there goes that.'

His deer brain let him flee into the kitchen, only to find the firm door steady in his way, closed just like the windows around him. Dipper however bounced against the wooden door, he rammed his antlers against this unbudging enemy which still block his way out. The small fawn let out a desperate bleat rising to scratch it, attacking the door with his antlers, only to let his head rest against it when it still wouldn't give in.

Dipper's breath hitched in his throat while exhaustion drained his panic filled body. He closed his eyes to take one heavy breath.

'I need to get out'

He bit his lips, shaking his head until a glimpse of light suddenly caught his attention.

The cat flap.

Of course! Stan had just put it in for Waddles only to find that the Pig was just too big for the tiny hole in the door. But it still could work for him. Dipper swallowed, glad that at least a part of his human mind was back, but his instincts were still driving him out, so he carefully stuck his head out of the flap, the hatch was pressing his ears down, but his muzzle twitched at the smell of fresh air. Dipper stuck the first of his forelegs out, just to be followed by the other. His upper body was already outside, but when he tried to let his butt follow, it happened.

He was stuck.

'Damn it' Dipper grumbled, he could feel his cheeks flushing underneath his fur, while he struggled to get out running widely with his hind legs scratching the floor before they got tangled with themselves. Dipper huffed, resting his head on the floor beside his legs, while his ears brushed his neck in annoyance. But he could already feel how his spiking heart beat was pumping the panic back into his system just seconds away to flitch the switch back into deer-panic-mood.

Dipper bit his lips, carefully placing his hind legs on the floor and pushed.

'Come one...'He pleaded, his white tail was flickering inside the house but the cat flap still wouldn't let him free, so he pushed harder stemming his front legs against the door when he could feel his body moving, slowly, inch by inch until the cat flap suddenly spat him out completely.

"MEAH!" With a shirking bleat the small fawn tumbled out of the door, rolling head first in the grass before he stopped laying on his back, all four leg up in the air.

The clear blue sky greeted the blinking deer, the sun was rising over the mountains and the fresh air washed the panic out of his body.

He was outside, finally.

Dipper took a deep breath, turning to get up from the ground shaking the stress from himself together with the cold morning dew.

He took an annoyed glance back at the door and looked up at the widows.

' I just hope no one did see THAT!' He grumbled, but the rest of his family seemed to be still sound asleep.

The fresh grass was calling him for breakfast, but Dipper ignored his bubbling stomach. If his mind was driving him outside he could still do something useful with it. He still remembered the look in Mabel's eyes when he told her that he lost her sweater- she told him it didn't matter but that wasn't true, not for her and certainly not for him.

He would not disappoint her this time, not again.

He would get it back.

That's how Dipper took off into the forest.

He didn't see that single eyed yellow bird that had watched how he got swallowed by the darkness of the woods.

It was time to have a little fun with his favorite pine tree.

Bill smirked, he still remembered the gunshot that had resounded in the woods just minutes before, followed by the smell of blood.

Oh yeah, this was going to be hilarious.

The wood and his noises welcomed him like an old friend.

Even when his ears and head flickered and jumped at every noise- he could still breathe much more free than back inside the house. Dipper let out a sigh.

It was clear that this wasn't a good thing.

The little fawn swallowed with a shake of his head.

He had no time for overthinking this matter now, not that it would be of any use anyway, so back to business; searching for the sweater.

'But how?' Dipper frowned. He had no Idea where he had run to yesterday, once he came to his senses again, he was already in the middle of the woods, neither the Shack nor the sweater in sight. If it wasn't for his knowledge of these woods and the strong sense of Stan's aftershave that always hung in the-

'That's it!' Dipper's ears peaked up at the idea.

'If I can sense Stan then I might as well be able to track down my own smell.' Dipper raised his muzzle in the air, trying to identify the different smells surrounding him. Wood, grass, flowers, earth and the mushy smell of old leaves that covered the ground. He huffed, maybe he needed to be near to the ground, just like the blood hounds the police used for their work. So Dipper leaned down, sniffing on the ground while he walked further through the forest, his tail flickering back and forth in concentration.

The small fawn didn't see the confused glanced of the two squirrels that even stopped fighting over their nut at the sight of the strange fawn that sniffed the ground like trained German Shepherd. But that deep in his own search Dipper also missed that there were other figures already on his trail, stalking through the woods with heavy guns ready to shoot, while a golden shadow watched them with increasing excitement.

The two creatures were moving through the woods, one in an all green camouflage outfit, the gun clenched in his arms, while the other only wore a green jeans mixed with a nearly too bright red flannel shirt. He was not just bigger but also broader than his jumpy little friend, with his red hair he could be one of the Corduroy s, wearing a little dump smile while he shared his food with the overweight dog at his side.

The blonde skinny man before him, was sneaking through the forest, jumping at every new sound. His nerves were tense, his fingers firmly placed on the trigger of his heavy gun. He had heard about the strange, unholy creatures these woods harbored. A branch cracked beneath his feet, making him stop, hearing into the silence when suddenly a damp breath whispered beside his hear made him jump.

"Nate?"

The trigger got lose and the shot echoed through the woods. The smaller hunter bit his lips, heat was creasing his cheeks before he turned around to his friend.

"WHAT? What do you want Mark?!" He questioned in an angry voice, but the redhead just blinked, before he looked down to the dog who looked up to them with a begging glint in his eyes.

Mark answered him with a shrug, rubbing the back of his head in thought.

"Our food is gone, maybe we should head back to the Diner and-"

"No!"

Nate cut him off with a growl.

"I won't leave this place until one of those creatures is lying dead beneath my feet!" The smaller hunter protested loudly. He didn't see the smirk in the eye of the strange triangle shaped tree hole.

'Just what I wanted to hear.' Bill hummed, watching the two hunters with growing joy and excitement.

The "Nate" meat ball was poking his overweight friend in the belly with the barrel of the gun, scowling.

"So you stop babbling about food or else-"

Again a rustling noise made Nate's finger slip and the gun went loose.

The missile hit the ground not even near the rabbit that was looking at them, startled before it blinked, running back into the thicket, passing Bill's tree. The Demon's features darkened before the dangerous sparkle came back to life.

'If you want something done- then you'll have to do it yourself.'

The triangle smirked, before it dissolved into yellow dust, wandering up to the man to form nebulous once again behind the hunter's back, smirking down at him before he passed the fleshy meat, gaining control of the human body.

Nate twitched for a second, eyes closed, before he opened his eyes.

Yellow, golden and shining.

A slightly too bright smile was curved beneath the blond hair.

"Let the hunt begin."

Dipper let out a heavy sigh, lifting his head form the ground to look at the rising sun. He must have been out here for an hour or two already, Mabel and Stan must be awake by now and he still had no idea where his sister's handmade sweater could be.

'Face it Dipper, you're a deer not a hound.' He grumbled, taking a look at his surrounding when he spotted the clearing before him, green, lush and so promising delicious that it made his stomach murmur. Dipper bit his lips, before he shrugged carefully approaching the green spot between the trees.

He could also eat breakfast out here and search a little more before he hurried back home.

Because what harm could a little break do, right?

"Right, my deer- just a little closer."

The cracking voice of Nate made his fried shiver by his side. It sounded off, wrong somehow and that he targeted the fawn before him also made the bigger hunter itchy, while the dog was already at Nate's side, food long forgotten by the sight of actual living prey.

Mike however felt off by the strange hunt.

"That's just a fawn dude. I thought you were looking for some magical creatures- shouldn't we-"But Nate cut him off with a growl, eyes glittering dangerously in the golden sunlight.

"Shut the fuck up!" But the surprised and confused glance of the other meat bag beside him made the demon frown, he rolled his eyes, before he looked back through the sight, watching his target come closer while he spoke up again, making the human beside him shiver.

"You never know if one of these creatures is a treat, until it turns on you." He smiled, enjoying the fear radiating form Mike, he could sense his heart rate spiking up while he spoke.

"But it- it's just a fawn."

"That's what it want you to think. It might just be an illusion. You'll never know if one of these creatures is by your side, until it rips the flesh off your face!" Bill smirked, breathing in the fear and enjoyed the sound of the weapon that the heavy man beside him just made ready to shoot.

'You'll never know...'

For Dipper, it was suddenly harder to move than before.

The clearing was as inviting as deterrent.

He was halfway there, the warm sunlight was already stroking his fur, but his ears were moving in alarm, twitching in every direction while he left the protective shadow of the woods.

Everything in his deer body told him that something was wrong, that he should be anywhere but here.

The clearing was calm, too calm he just knew it.

But Dipper swallowed, shaking his head in annoyance.

'I must stop believing this stupid body.' He told himself, taking another step into the light.

'Nothing is dangerous about this. Not this meadow, nor Mabel or Stan.' Dipper let out a relieved breath, before he took the last step out of the woods, he calmed his still shivering body down.

He wasn't a deer.

He wasn't in danger.

"Meah."- 'You're safe.'

"And again, you're wrong Pine Tree."

Everything happened too fast from that point.

Dipper hadn't even finished his self-reassuring breath when suddenly a young hunter was standing before him. But it wasn't just the heavy gun in his hands that caught the fawn's breath, or the hunters standing before him, ready to shoot, or the dog that flashed his sharp white teeth at him, but the younger hunter's face.

The smile that waited for him, above the black endless eye of the barrel of the gun.

A smile, stretched too wide with teeth too sharp, that reflected the golden yellow glint of his eyes where only one should have been.

Dipper could feel his body going rigid, the flight or fight mode gluing him to the ground below, like a deer in the headlights under the hunter's murderous grin.

'Bill.'

But the realization came too late.

The demon's finger twitched at the trigger, his fangs glittered dangerously with a final smile.

"Run my little prey, run."

A shot, pain, blood and nothing but cruel laughter.

The sharp eco of a gunshot made the wood around her tremble. The painful bleat mixed in between made the birds flee and made her nearly drop her axe.

'What the-?'

Wendy frowned, hunters weren't unusual in these woods, but the fact that it wasn't even hunting season at all, made her suspicious. She sighed, shaking her head in annoyance while she got back to work, she needed to hurry if she wanted to be ready for more signature-hunting after her work for her dad. The red head huffed, smashing the sharp tool through the next pile of wood, but the bitter taste wouldn't leave her lips, when the strong barking of a hound confirmed her suspicious.

'Those people will never learn!'

The female Corduroy bit her lips, and tried to ignore what was happening behind her back. She would have been the first one to kick these dump asses, but with Dipper's fate in the back of her mind, she needed to work.

Wendy swallowed the image of Dipper full deer-y was still giving her the creeps and his reaction to them yesterday had made it clear that they needed to hurry.

Because if they don't, there wouldn't be much of Dipper left for them to save.

Dipper's vision was fading.

His deer instincts left his side this time -knowing full well who was behind him- it was sheer panic that made his body move.

Yet.

Blood was running down his shoulder, everything beneath his elbow was numb, blocked out by the burning hole that the missile had carved in his flesh. He didn't know how, but it seemed like his leg was still moving. But the fact that he began to tip more often couldn't be a good sign.

Dipper could feel his body shutting down while the trees were rushing past him.

Life was leaking out of him with every drop of blood that was to be swallowed by his fur.

He was running out of time.

'No!'

Dipper screamed, but nothing but a shrill bleat left his lips.

"MEEEAHH!" - 'HELP!' Again his call was useless, they won't hear him, they couldn't.

Because his human speech had been stolen from him by the night.

He was a fawn.

An animal.

No one would help him like that.

A small branch made him stumble again, his vision was black for a second so he tripped in the dark, his deer mind kept him going while the human part of him still couldn't accept his fate.

'Please, this can't be...'

He swallowed, but the blood that he suddenly tasted on his lips made him nauseous all over again.

His ears twitched, the barking came closer.

But the hound was just herald of his death.

'Bill'

Dipper closed his eyes, forcing his short legs to run even faster while branches and bushes were ruffling his fur cutting his skin beneath.

The smell of blood seems to suffocate him, taking away the last of his hopes together with his already fading mind.

The world around him became darker with every second, his field of vision shrinking up to a small patch surrounded by black nothingness.

Barking again.

They were coming closer.

'No!' Dipper tried to scream, but his breath cut off as he stumbled over a dried out rest of a stream.

They were going to kill him.

He was going to die.

'Technically you're already dead.' The voice in his head spoke to him, tried to lighten up the mood to find some dark humor in this situation, but Dipper knew he was right.

His eyes started to burn, the last of his vision turned black when one final tip made him fall.

He smashed the soft ground just when he reached the hillside of the wood, so his body twisted and rolled down, before landing against the sharp stones at the foot of a steep cliff.

He had reached a dead end.

Dipper knew it the moment he struggled himself to get back on his feet.

A film of blood was running down his temple, red was glowing before his eyes, his front leg had stopped moving completely now.

He was as good as dead.

"MEEAA EEAAH!" – 'Mabel, Stan! HELP!"

But cruel laughter was all he got as an answer to his desperate bleat.

White teeth where smiling down while his voice was leaking with pure joy.

"They can't hear you my deer. No one can."

Dipper's breath hitched in his throat, his ears were lying flat on his head by now while he just starred up into the black threatening barrel of the gun, before the hound jumped at him.

Tugging his teeth in Dipper's body.

New pain, new blood, new wounds.

That was until Bill ordered him back with a force no human would ever be able to hold over an animal.

"That's enough."

Dipper winced when the cold voice of the Demon resounded in his ears again.

"Leave him for me."

He could see Cipher's golden aura radiating from the blond hunter. Neither the hound nor the bigger hunter by his side seemed to register the pulsing wave of fear radiating from him, or the too sharp teeth under the too wide grin.

Mike was looking between the fawn and his friend with growing curiosity. The dog on the other hand wasn't able to focus on anything other than the shivering prey before him, the barking beast was just held back by its collar by nothing but Bill's pinky.

It was his way to toy with him.

He was holding him back just for Dipper to see what was coming, to watch the barking and growling hound before him, that hung with his front legs in the air in power against Bill's grip, his fangs flashing in anger.

The small deer pressed himself against the rock at his back, the sharp edge of the stone was cutting into his ribcage. Dipper turned around, the cliff seemed to be as unconquerable as before, but the former boy had no other option.

So Dipper began to climb, he tried to push himself up, struggling with only three legs but his deer hooves just weren't made for climbing like that. When a small pebble beneath him slipped it made Dipper fall back down, right at Bill's feet.

The Demon raised an eyebrow, the flicker of annoyance rushed over his borrowed face showed that the hunt was already over.

"Well time for the best part of it!" Bill smirked, lowering the gun so that his small Pine Tree was looking straight into the black deathly void.

Bill watched how the fawn tried to push himself back on his feet, only to stumble back on the bloody ground like before. A cruel smile stretched the demon's lips, while he stroked the trigger with a purr.

"Come on Pine Tree, let me end your pain."

Dipper looked back up from his puddle of blood, his heavy eyes went wide for a second before they finally closed themselves as the second shot went loose.

"Time to say goodbye."

His world became dark.

The dumb barking hound was giving her a headache, Wendy growled, wiping the sweat from her temple when suddenly voices from behind her made her body go rigid.

A small shadow was rushing past her, about hundred meters away, but even from here she could clearly see that the animal must be hurt.

The redhead frowned.

'They can't even kill something right away.' She growled watching a faster shadow moving behind the animal, just held back by a small leash, while two hunters followed on its trail.

But one word, mixed between hitched breaths made her blood run cold.

"Are you sure that's not really just a fawn man?"

The other hunter didn't answer but Wendy had already heard enough, the shock nearly let the axe slip from her hand.

'A fawn? God no... they can't mean-'

Wendy's heart dropped as she remembered the piercing bleat from before.

'No!' Color drained for her face, as she stumbled through the woods, following the distant voices while hear breath hitched in her throat.

'Please don't let it be him... please!' Wendy swallowed as she jumped over a fallen tree, she couldn't even remember if she ever had been sacred like this in her entire live. And when the two men finally spoke up again, her heart clenched in her chest.

"There! There it is! Go unleash the hound!" The blonde hunter shouted. A second later, barking resounded in the woods, making her shiver while a startled bleat guided her direction.

But not just hers.

The hunters were on their prey's trail again, so that her run became a race she couldn't win. Wendy's legs burned already, the axe got heavier in her hand with every step she took until she finally saw him.

The little animal had reached a dead end against crag, she watched the fawn's wobbly legs, trying to climb up the sharp rocks. The little deer tried his hardest not to fall, but one of his front hooves was covered in blood and seemed barely unusable, but he tried anyway, until one of his hooves finally tipped, making him fall down with an panicked shriek. Wendy was about to step forward to him when something else got ahead of her.

The hound.

A monster of a dog, with light brown fur, snarled at the small deer, whose eyes had gone wide at the sight, before the hound sunk his sharp wide teeth into the fawn's warm flash.

The deer screamed, but Wendy was frozen in place.

Her heart jumped in her chest, attempting to escape her rib cage in sheer panic.

Pictures of another carnivore, big and red furred, were flashing before her eyes.

The big red wolf enjoyed the hunt, enjoyed the smell of fear and panic in its prey's blood, until it dug its teeth into the flesh.

She could smell, nearly taste the blood of-

A cruel order from the smaller hunter cut off her inner voice.

He called the dog back, ordered him to stay by his side, blood dripping from his snout while he watched the fawn trying to escape again.

The laughter from the blond hunter made her hair stand up, she could hear his treating voice without knowing what he was saying, he lowered the gun into their prey. Wendy's gaze slipped over the panicked and bleeding fawn, whose chest was waving in heavy breaths, when one of the hunters began to speak again.

The echoing voice made her blood run cold while his words trembled inside her.

"Time to say goodbye."

His finger moved on the trigger.

But that was her call.

She jumped out of her hiding spot with a ready shout.

"Don't you dare!"

Wendy's grip on her axe tightened when she finally stepped before the deer, throwing her axe in the direction of the hunter, just as the man pulled the trigger.

The bullet rushed beside her head with a sharp noise, creating a hole in the grave rock.

While her axe stuck in a tree right beside the shooter's head, who looked at her in surprise, before his face moved to a much more annoyed expression.

"This is not your matter Red, so you better leave now." He grumbled, pointing the gun at her.

"Go search for another cuddly toy and leave the deer to us." But Wendy didn't say a word, or even look at them, she just took a few steps forward, tugging her axe back out of the tree, to face the smooth and sharp metal in her hand.

"You know guys, this could go one way or another. First option: You leave now, and I'll give you a head start to drive as far as you can before I tell the police that you're hunting without permission. The second option would be that we all stay here to discuss this properly... but I promise you, next time this little sharp thing won't miss its target."

"What! You little-" The heavy hunter begun before the second man stopped him.

The blond hunter looked at her for a while, so that Wendy could feel the cold radiating unnaturally from his body, before a dangerous smirk made her shiver again.

"Fine." He smiled, taking a step back- to his friend's surprise.

He held his hands in an inviting manner, but his grin and his too sweet voice betrayed him.

"You can have what's left of him." He smirked, looking back to the half dead deer by his feet.

"But I'll promise, you can't save him." Bill announced with a smile.

"Not now, not ever."

And with a last cruel bout of laughter, he finally turned to leave, followed by his friend and dog before they vanished together in the woods, leaving Wendy alone, so that she finally turned over to approach the small fawn, that laid on his side by now, bleeding from the shot and the dog's bite, covering the ground with a dark red carpet. Wendy swallowed, her cold fingers reached out for the animal while her voice shivered in her throat.

"Dipper?" The deer blinked, his eyes going in and out of focus but Wendy clearly recognized his gaze and the style of the fur on his head.

"Okay, that's definitely you.

She placed a hand on the shot wound, making Dipper wince in protest.

"Ah man that looks nasty..." But still no words left his lips, making her worry increase even more.

"Dipper? Come on dude, talk to me please!" The fawn's muzzle twitched, but all that came out of his dry throat was nothing more than a shy bleat.

"Dipper?" Her voice trembled while she watched how the eyes of her friend got heavy until they finally closed themselves, his breath got shallow and unsteady.

Until it stopped.

"No!" Wendy whispered.

"No, no, no, no, no, no!" Her blood ran cold in her veins.

"Please man, stay with me... please!" She grappled the small furry body of her friend, holding it close to hers, but there still wasn't any sight of life at all. Tears were streaming down her cheeks by now.

Tears on a Corduroy's face, but she didn't even noticed it. She carried Dipper's deer body close, it hung limp and cold in her arms, all bloody and-

"No!"

Real salty tears on a Corduroy's face, while she whispered his name one last time.

"Dipper!"