The closer Buck got to Ty, it seemed the stronger the scent became. Soon enough, the sleuthing deer had crossed the highway and now found himself at the edge of a human town. Already a car with a woman and some kids had stopped, pointed at him, and thrown him some food. He had courteously put on a show for them, careful not to reveal he was, in fact, as smart as they were, but the whole dumb animal routine had been worth the practice. If he ran into the wrong humans he could just play dumb. And he was sure he could surprise them if they tried to do anything to him.
He approached the city limits, careful to stick to a row of hedges and stay low out of sight. He passed the first few houses with cautious stealth and snuck through a back alley like a ghost. The scent was growing stronger. And with his assortment of animal senses he could easily evade any humans, his sight a million times sharper, his powerful ears a venerable radar of useful data for him to analyze his surroundings with.
All this, however, completely failed him as he bumped right into a woman gardening at the side of her house. Quite literally, he had put his head down for a moment and turned a corner. And bam, there she was. At first, the woman screamed. Buck froze in sheer horror and cringed.
"Shh!" He whispered, chancing that she was the right human for him to talk to. "I'm not going to hurt you! So just... calm down. It's okay."
The woman's eyes widened and she seemed startled. "Oh God..." she said softly. "The mushrooms I did in high school... like... flashbacks?"
"I'm sorry?" Buck blinked, confused. He didn't understand. Of course deer aren't predisposed to ingesting hallucinogens.
"Wait..." The woman dropped her gardening spade. "I'm not tripping this, am I?"
"I... I'm not sure." Buck admitted. "I don't follow what you're saying."
"Stop that!" She admonished. "Stop! Stop talking, deer! It's freaking me out!"
Buck stood and did as he was told. He said nothing, though his soft green eyes stared at her puzzlement.
"Um... what are you?" The woman asked.
"I'm... a deer. An intelligent highly evolved deer. You see. Uh, people were dumping chemicals in my drinking water. And... and it did this to me. I'm looking for a young friend of mine. Can you help me?"
"I... I suppose." The woman blinked. She had no reason to question his story. Since he was truly impossible anyway. "Do... you want to, like... come inside?"
"Your home?" Buck blinked. "Uh... well, that is, I don't know if I'd be comfortable with that."
"No, just for a few minutes. So we can talk. And figure out where your friend is."
"Oh!" Buck nodded. "Oh, certainly! That's very kind of you."