The Slime Huntress (FxF)

[Soveliss]

Many people think hunters just have an absolute hatred for monster. We don't. We just have families and friends we want to protect, and while guards and patrols are very good at protecting the homelands from crimes, bandits, and incursions, Hunters take the fight to those whom attack us, and we are quite willing to work with monsters when they act reasonably. Not everyone has gotten the memo though. We do turn away a steady stream of would-be recruits because of their pathological hatred, and we pass the memo to the guards for those who display a desire to hurt others they believe they can act on against monsters without disapproval. And sometimes, some of the monsters attacking us decide on some "ironic" punishment for hunters.

My name is Stella Aria. Growing up, I've never been tall, or anything remarkable physically, and I was always pretty shy... But I've always been pretty smart. I could figure out how things worked, and I made a friend whom always protected me. And my friend always had a goal in life: to go hunting. As we were growing up, she learned I could fix small item, and even heal people... And I've developed kind of a crush on her... She made it as a huntress well before I did... And she told me she'd have me in her team whenever I'd be good enough. It took me years, but I became a Healer and a Huntress-in-training. But aside from my immediate family, I didn't know many people, so someone had figured they'd be long gone by the time anyone noticed I was missing. And that someone figured it would just be completely hilarious if a huntress was turned into a monster, considering how much we "hated" monster, and sent to hunt her own allies. And he tried to work on completely destroying my mind, breaking down my every thought... And placing odd alchemical compounds on me, as my thoughts grew simpler and simpler... And I attempted to hold on to memories of my friend whom I loved...

Slime was prowling among the stones... Slime was hungry... Slime was needy... Slime wanted to devour the very minds of those whom would hurt her Maker... Slime could easily subsist on fluids... But Slime knew minds were such a delicacy, even though Slime had never tasted them... Slime had an idea what the most delicious mind looked like... And prey entered the stony rooms... One prey was exactly what Slime knew was a delicious mind... And as the prey were separated... Slime knew she could move where Slime wanted... And easily engulfed her prey and... Prey actually liked Slime? The prey's warmth directed at Slime was much greater than the one her Maker directed at her... Slime wouldn't devour the mind of her prey. Slime would follow and protect her prey. The other prey met with her prey, and they seemed to discuss... Slime's maker didn't expect Slime to turn on him. Slime's maker had no warmth in him. She had started to devour his mind, devouring his mind would make him Slime also... His mind burned Slime but Slime forced herself to eat enough to help prey hunt Slime's Maker... And Prey hunted Slime's maker... And then... Prey adopted Slime? Prey was warm... Slime was happy. Slime would keep Prey safe. When prey quickly grew colder, Slime was afraid... Until Prey was even more and more warm! Prey spent so much time with Slime, sometimes baring tiny bits of Prey's mind... Slime knew Slime shouldn't eat Prey's mind, but it was just so tasty and sweet... And prey was getting warmer and warmer as Slime devoured tiny pieces of Prey... But when Slime tried to devour Prey's mind whole, Prey pushed Slime away, but without losing her warmth... Strange things happened to Slime as she ate... Images, sounds, and ideas formed in Slime's mind... And it all started with Prey...

It took me months to recover mentally. For my memories to return, under the gentle care of Prey... Or rather, of my friend. But here is the best way i can put it all together... Apparently, my friend has been hunting a monster responsible for many attacks on humans for a while. But my friend and her team were trying hard to avoid getting into an obvious ambush. Of course, that went out the window when he found out about Stella Aria, and had her abducted to lure my friend into a trap... My friend took the bait, but by then, the Incubus had already caused what was assumed to be irreversible damage to Stella, turning her into... Slime. But I held on to the memory of my friend, and part of me was aware that when she thought about Stella, she thought about me, during what she was convinced were her dying breaths, and even though I was reduced to quite an unthinking Slime, somehow I understood it. To my Slime's sense, warmth was how I perceived caring, compassion, love... And cold was anger, the desire to hurt, and hatred. My friend, seeing I was very "friendly" but harmless, kind of adopted me as I helped protect her from traps. Under Slime's protection, she explored the trapped cave faster than she expected... And when she found out whom Slime really was from a set of research notes, she swore to fix Slime. Slime didn't understand at first, but more time with Prey and her warmth was always good. I knew my friend was dedicated, but dammit... The more minds Slimes devoured, the smarter they became... And my friend offered me chunks at a time she could easily recover... Everything that was connected to my friend came back first, and everything connected to what these connections were connected to... Until I remembered my healing abilities in ways my friend never understood them, and remembered everything my friend had no way to know... (And I may or may not have been unable to resist taking advantage of the process to peek inside my friend's mind to know her more intimate thoughts... I never changed anything, I just wanted to look...) While I made a full mental recovery, I was stuck as a slime with no way to get my old body back. I don't mind. Being made of shifting liquid is a pretty good deal. I have many useful abilities that will help me as a Huntress... Even losing the capability to speak in any other way than through contact telepathy or slime-writing, losing the capability of carrying most equipment and needing to be very regularly fed fluids weren't big problems for me. Not after learning that my friend actually "liked-liked" me and actually had been secretly daydreaming quite happily about the idea of slimes well before I was made into one... And I'm both Stella Aria and Slime now... Prey will keep Slime well fed indeed... Also I still have mild relapses from time to time where I forget my name and call myself Slime, or think of my friend as Prey... But Prey is still the warm person Slime fell in love with even when... Even when... Slime just had a relapse hasn't she? Slime relapsing always hurts Prey, and when it happens, Slime just wants to surround Prey with warmth and tell Prey it's okay, Slime won't hurt anyone... And Prey's always sad that Slime is hurt, but Slime isn't hurt. Slime just forgets things from times to time, but there are things even Slime can't forget! Like Slime's love for Prey, or Slime's oath to protect Slime's fellow humans... I wasn't human anymore I guess, but that was just a technicality! I still had a few friends among hunters, I still had family, and even Slime couldn't forget the warmth of the prey that raised Slime and... Dammit...

This may be a bit of a crazy idea, but I would actually like to play a "huntress gets slimed, but manages to hold onto enough of her mind that, with enough persistence and care from someone she loves, she would make a full recovery...  Well, mentally at least, physically, she's still stuck as a slime, but she's okay with that!" story.