As Ty sat at the edge of the stream playing through his infinite options, a handsome male deer appeared slowly on the other side of the stream to get a drink. Ty's eyes widened and he had his answer.
As the gorgeous buck dipped his snout into the water majestically, resplendid with a large rack of antlers, 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 fine buck. "I want you to get smarter."
The deer lapped at the stream gently and then raised his antlered head back as if in shock. The expression was a rough approximation of what a human might make, but the animal seemed genuinely surprised at seeing his own reflection, as if he was noticing it for the first time. He waved his head from side to side, studying his own features in the mirror of the water, and seemed to go wide eyed.
"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 buck's neck lowered and he seemed to wince as his brain literally grew inside of him. Information, intellect, personality, and reasoning soaked into the animal's mind at a fantastic rate, swelling it larger inside of his 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 handsome 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 his brain swelling up was painful, he was raising in intelligence by the second. He remembered his life, knew what he was, relived all of his experiences and learned from them. He felt emotion... a tremendous rush of emotion, and gained the ability to problem solve. To make tools. To manipulate his environment. He could understand humans and their speech... his mind was overflowing with new things. The buck dipped his head low to the ground and his back legs suddenly shuddered and collapsed. His eyes were closed, his brow was furrowed. It was too much! It was too much for him! He had hit sentience and still the overwhelming enlargement of his mental state continued relentlessly, catapulting him past a mere animal.
"Theeere..." Ty snuck in closer, gently placing his hand on the deer's side, seeing the pain he 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 his weight and he fell to the ground with a thud. His front legs covered his head, as it to relieve the pain, and the throbbing intensified. He could think, feel, and reason. The buck took a huge breath of air in, as his mind resolved itself. And finally, exhausted, he untensed and seemed to melt into the ground, taking steady breaths in and out.
Ty kneeled down with wide eyes next to the transformed deer and gently placed his hand on the back of the deer's thick neck. He noticed the animal's skull seemed a little more swollen above his 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 buck was now as complete a person as a human being, as intelligent and resourceful as a man, and able to choose and think as he pleased. The feeling was euphoric. Slowly, his eyes opened. The soft brown pupils looked up towards Ty, then widened. Weakened, throughly exhausted, the buck couldn't have raised himself to run even if he had tried. But the young human's pleasant smile was sincere and without malice.
"It's okay." Ty reassured the buck. "Just rest. Take it easy. That was pretty intense, huh?"
The buck responded by snorting softly, his version of a sarcastic chuckle, and the corners of his mouth pulled into a slight grin, the muscles now programmed to mimic the expressions of a person.
"Sorry it hurt so much. I didn't know it would be so bad."
The buck seemed startled at this and suddenly raised his head. He stared at Ty and his eyes went wide. This was the person who had changed him. He knew he had changed. He remembered being a simple dumb animal just minutes earlier, his 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 he 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 his lack of clear speech. His mind was racing but his tongue and throat couldn't keep up. It hurt to talk like this.
Unable to speak as clear as he'd like, the buck showed his appreciation regardless. He raised his muzzle to Ty's cheek and ever so gently reassured the young human with a gentle nuzzle. When he drew away, his eyes were half weepy and softened. The emotion was clear as was what he 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 buck's side, placing his chin over his shoulder and caressing the animal's neck. "You're welcome. I'm glad you like it, boy."
The deer melted against the affection and smiled happily from his vantage point on Ty's shoulder. "Srro..." The buck began. "Wrat... youggh... droo wirthh mreee?"
"Wanna be my pal?" Ty responded, smiling warmly.
The deer raised his head and stared at Ty with a grin, nodding enthusiastically and clacking his antlers.
"Aw, cool!" Ty rubbed his new friend's forehead gently, amazed at the whole thing 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 buck winced slightly as a deep pulling in his neck made itself known. "Uuughhh...." He tried experimentally, and felt the changes progressing to the back of his throat. His tongue began tingling. "It... it'sshhh..." He blinked at his slurring, then waited a moment more. "It... it worked!" The buck turned to Ty's gaze in amazement and let out a beautiful laugh. "It! It worked! It worked!" He repeated, laughing wildly. "I can talk! I can actually talk!" He tried raising to his 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 buck let out a happy sigh. "Okay." He giggled. "I feel... I feel incredible!"
"That's good." Ty nodded. "Mind if I keep going?"
"Oh, wow!" The buck shook his head. "No, go ahead. It just keeps getting better and better every time you change me." He paused and came to a sudden realization. "Hey... hold on. Do I have a name? Do *you* have a name?" He turned to Ty with a smirk. "You should really introduce yourself. You know... since we're friends and all."