As Ty sat at the edge of the stream playing through his infinite options, a beautiful female whitetail appeared slowly on the other side of the stream to get a drink. Ty's eyes widened and he had his answer.
As the sinewy doe dipped her snout into the water gracefully, all soft fur and sleek lines, Ty concentrated on the animal deeply. He felt his power burning through him and deep down knew he could do whatever he pleased to the unsuspecting deer.
"Smarter." Ty repeated in his head silently, focusing on the lovely doe. "I want you to get smarter."
The deer lapped at the stream gently, unaware of the human's watching eyes, and then raised her head back as if in shock. Her wide eyed expression was a rough approximation of what a human might make, but the animal seemed genuinely surprised at seeing her own reflection, as if she was noticing it for the first time. She waved her head from side to side, studying her own features in the mirror of the water, and seemed pleasantly surprised.
"Ohmigod..." Ty whispered. "It's working." He concentrated harder. "That's it!" He thought. "You're aware of your self. That's a great start! Keep going. Keep getting more intelligent."
The doe's neck lowered and she seemed to wince as her brain literally grew inside of her. Information, intellect, personality, and reasoning soaked into the animal's mind at a fantastic rate, swelling it larger inside of her skull, causing a little bit of discomfort as it grew. Ty, awed by the unfolding process, carefully approached the somewhat incapacitated deer, sinking into the small stream up to his ankles as he crossed to the other side.
"That's it..." Ty whispered. "Your mind is growing. Keep going, my beautiful deer. Keep growing smarter. You're getting as intelligent as a human being."
Indeed, the deer was following Ty's direction. Though the throbbing pain of her brain swelling up was painful, she was raising in intelligence by the second. She remembered her life, knew what she was, relived all of her experiences and learned from them. She felt emotion... a tremendous rush of gentle feminine emotion, and gained the ability to problem solve. To make tools. To manipulate her environment. She could understand humans and their speech... her mind was overflowing with new things. The doe dipped her head low to the ground and her powerful back legs suddenly shuddered and collapsed. Her eyes were closed, her brow was furrowed. It was too much! It was too much for her! She had hit sentience and still the overwhelming enlargement of her mental state continued relentlessly, catapulting her past a mere animal.
"Theeere..." Ty snuck in closer, gently placing his hand on the deer's side, seeing the pain she was in. "Just a little more, almost there. It's almost over. You've got just a little farther to go."
The deer's back legs surrendered her weight and she fell to the ground with a thud. Her front legs covered her head, as it to relieve the pain, and the throbbing intensified. She could think, feel, and reason. The doe took a huge breath of air in, as her mind resolved itself. And finally, exhausted, she untensed and seemed to melt into the ground, taking steady breaths in and out as she lay in a groggy daze.
Ty kneeled down with wide eyes next to the transformed deer and gently placed his hand on the back of her slim neck. He noticed the animal's skull seemed a little more swollen above her eyes, perhaps a little taller as well, and realized this must be to house a much bigger brain. Ty gently stroked upwards, rubbing the top of the deer's head, and marveled as the animal let out a pleased sigh.
The pain relented, faded, and vanished forever. The doe was now as complete of a person as a human being, as intelligent and resourceful as a man, and able to choose and think as she pleased. The feeling was euphoric. Slowly, her eyes opened. The soft brown pupils looked up towards Ty, glazed over in post-transformation stupor, then her eyes widened. Weakened, thoroughly exhausted, the doe couldn't have raised herself to run even if she had tried. But the young human's pleasant smile was sincere and without malice.
"It's okay." Ty reassured the doe. "Just rest. Take it easy. That was pretty intense, huh?"
The doe responded by snorting softly, her version of a sarcastic chuckle, and the corners of her mouth pulled into a slight grin, the muscles now programmed to mimic the expressions of a person. She nodded very gently.
"Sorry it hurt so much. I didn't know it would be so bad."
The doe seemed startled at this and suddenly raised her head. She stared at Ty and her eyes went wider still. This was the person who had changed her. She knew he had changed. She remembered being a simple dumb animal just minutes earlier, her entire life having been a pointless cycle of eating, sleeping, and mating up until now. Then this happened. Then an amazing thing happened. The deer spoke. Not with a voice like a human's, but with a deer's vocal chords. It was rough and raspy, and clearly took a great deal of effort, but she managed. "Ihhht... okraayyyy." The deer gargled.
"Oh, wow!" Ty practically leapt into the air in excitement. "You can talk! Are you okay? Do you like what I've done?"
"Freel... gurd." The deer struggled again, somewhat annoyed with her lack of clear speech. Her mind was racing but her tongue and throat couldn't keep up. It hurt to talk like this.
Unable to speak as clear as he'd like, the doe showed her appreciation regardless. She raised her muzzle to Ty's cheek and ever so gently reassured the young human with a gentle nuzzle. When she drew away, her eyes were half weepy and softened. The emotion was clear as was what she wanted to say. Thank you so much for this.
Ty blushed deeply, amazed at the sudden burst of affection, and gently hugged his arms around the doe's side, placing his chin over her front shoulder and caressing the animal's neck. "You're welcome. I'm glad you like it, girl."
The deer melted against the affection and smiled happily from her vantage point on Ty's shoulder. "Srro..." The doe began. "Wrat... youggh... droo wirthh mreee?"
"Wanna be my pal?" Ty responded, smiling warmly.
The deer raised her head and stared at Ty with a grin, nodding enthusiastically and confidently. This was now her pet human. She had decided.
"Aw, cool!" Ty rubbed his new friend's forehead gently, amazed at the events that had unfolded. "Can I change you some more?"
The deer considered this carefully and then gently nodded. "Yyress... jurrssstt.... dornt tahk minnndhhh awrayyy..."
"Oh, no!" Ty raised his hands defensively. "No, no! I promise I won't take your intelligence."
The deer let out a relieved sigh and then nodded. "Thhreeenn changgggue... okrayyy."
"Great!" Ty rubbed his friend's back. "Let's start by making that whole talking thing easier for you, shall we?"
Ty concentrated again and focused on the deer. "Let's give you a human voicebox. And strong vocal cords. And reshape your tongue a little so you can speak properly."
The doe winced slightly as a deep pulling in her neck made itself known. "Uuughhh...." She tried experimentally, and felt the changes progressing to the back of her throat. Her tongue began tingling. "It... it'sshhh..." She blinked at her slurring, then waited a moment more. "It... it worked!" The doe turned to Ty's gaze in amazement and let out a beautiful womanly laugh. "It! It worked! It worked!" She repeated, laughing wildly. "I can talk! I can actually talk!" She tried raising to her legs and shook uneasily before falling back down with a thud. "Still pretty weak, though."
"It's okay." Ty reassured him. "Just relax. It's not every day your brain grows and you get to be able to talk. Just chill."
"Ahhh..." The doe let out a happy sigh. "Okay." She giggled. "I feel... I feel incredible!"
"That's good." Ty nodded. "Mind if I keep going?"
"Oh, wow!" The doe shook his head. "No, go ahead. It just keeps getting better and better every time you change me." She paused and came to a sudden realization. "Hey... hold on. Do I have a name? Do *you* have a name?" She turned to Ty with a playful smirk. "You should really introduce yourself. You know... since we're friends and all."