Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

You slowly open your eyes.

Last thing you remember, it was dusk. You were looking through the trees into the monster settlement, trying to make everything out through the darkness. You must have fallen to the ground. Maybe one of the monsters used a spell on you? It doesn't seem to hurt, but you can't quite feel your limbs yet.

You look around. Everything seems a lot brighter. You must have been there all night. A large tree looms behind you - you can tell by its shadow. The sound of the river seems so clear, and yet so far away. A handful of buildings are in the distance, and you can tell from here that one of them's got a handful of people inside. You figure it's time you got off the ground.

But you've forgotten how.

You try to turn your head, but no matter where you look, all you see is the grass around you. You try to reach out, and there's just... nothing.

You close your eyes and pay attention to the sounds around you. You hear the wind in the trees, the flutter of the wings of a beetle thirty yards away. There's no way something like that should be possible for a human being like you.

Maybe you aren't human anymore.

You try your best to really pay attention to what your senses are telling you. You feel the air around your body. You feel it in front of your eyes, behind and around your head. You stick your tongue out and lick the dirt. You smell... nothing.

So that's what you are. A slime. Just one measly slime.

You've probably stepped on a dozen of them in the past week alone. Maybe it's some sort of punishment. You probably deserve it, after all.

This must be the monster settlement, then, and the reason it looks so bright? Your giant slimy eyes. Another quick look reveals that all your stuff is gone. No sword, no shield, no clothes. A breeze brushes past your head, and you realize you've still got your hat on. You'll hang onto that hat if it's the last thing you do.

You start to make your way over to the building. As you slither across the grass for what seems like an eternity, you wonder if you'll actually ever make it. And what will you do when you get there? You don't know who's waiting. Humans? They'll probably kill you on sight. Monsters? They'll figure out you're not one of them, and then they'll kill you.

It was bound to happen eventually, you suppose. You know it's the law that every boy in the village needs to go out and fight monsters. But you were never any good at it. Not like your dad.

You wonder if your mom will ever find out what happened to you - what you've been reduced to. It's probably better she doesn't know. You'll be dead soon anyway; better they don't know the humiliation you had to go through first.

You get whacked in the side by a wooden door and go flying four feet into a bush.

It doesn't hurt. The feeling of flying through the air was actually kind of fun. And the bush - a spiky sort of bush, the kind you've pricked your finger on in the garden - it doesn't hurt at all.

You try to look down, further and further, until you've turned them so far you're looking back into your own body. You can't tell what color it is - do your eyes not see color? - but what's very clear is that one of the branches has gone straight through your body. You're literally hanging from the bush, completely impaled by its branches. And you feel fine.

A two-legged figure approaches and pulls you off. He holds you under his arm.

"You've gotta pay more attention, kid." You can't see who's carrying you. It sounds like a woman, but you don't know if she's human, monster, or whatever else. She seems to take pity on you, though. The mysterious figure sets you down on the ground with both hands, making sure you're facing toward something. A tree, in the distance, with an opening cut in its trunk.

You look up at the tree.

You'd been counting in your head, and it had taken you the better part of five minutes to get over here. You take a peek inside. It seems cozy enough. But it's full of other slimes; a handful of small ones like you, and a big one. She's a different color from the rest, that's for sure. They don't seem to notice you.

You're not sure you want to go in. You're not really a slime, after all. You're a human. You're one of the bad guys. It surprises you how quickly you admit that to yourself. But you always kind of knew.

You notice a sound in the distance. The sound of metal striking metal. You turn around, and in front of your eyes, not ten yards away...

You know him. He's your age, but he's already faster and stronger than you'll ever be. The town's next great hero, they say. Obnoxious and unrelatable. You never liked being around him. You were scared you'd never be like him, or so you thought. As he towers over you with his sword, you realize what really terrified you: the idea that maybe you were like him all along.

But his sword is not turned on you.

At least, not anymore. He's locked in a stalemate with another human. Another boy your age, with a sword and a shield like yours.

Your old nemesis says something to his counterpart. You can't understand it - you don't speak the human tongue any longer. But the other boy says nothing at all as he slowly circles around to stand between his opponent and you.

He's protecting you.

The bully tries to protest a few times. Each time, he's met with nothing but silence. Eventually, he gives up and walks away, back through the trees.

The boy turns around. He tosses his shield and sword aside and sits down, cross-legged, in front of you. He picks you up looks into your eyes.

"Slimy," he says.

You blink a few times. You don't know how, but you can understand him.

"That's what they call me. My real name is Clay. Or... I suppose it's your name, now." His gaze drifts off to the side. "I'm the one who... took your body."

You try to pull yourself forward, one inch at a time. It's late at night, and what little body heat you have is being lost to the cold stone roads. You can see your house coming into view. You know your mom's inside. All you have to do is get there before you freeze to death.

You can see her looking through the window in the front door. She must have seen you coming. All you have to do is let her see you. She'll know it's you, won't she?

As you slither up to the welcome mat, she lets go of the door. Its entire weight falls on you and turns your gelatinous body into powder.

You wake up inside the den in the tree trunk. You've probably only been asleep an hour or so. The wind is blowing in through the open doorway, and the fireplace has died down. The other slimes are surrounding you, squishing themselves into your back and sides to get as much physical contact as they can, but when they notice you're awake they back off a little.

"Are you all right?" asks Gooey.

Just a little cold, you say. You shiver a little - almost like a vibration - to try and warm up a bit.

"You were having a vision," the mom slime says. "You couldn't hear us - our thoughts or our words. We were worried about you."

You adjust yourself to lean up against her, and do your best to explain to the other slimes what dreams are. You're kind of surprised you're still having them. Maybe it's because of how much you miss your mom.

"Why do you miss her," Gooey asks, "if she wants to kill you?"

Of course she doesn't want to kill her own son, you explain. But she didn't know it was you. She thought it was a monster trying to eat her. You remind them that you can't talk to humans anymore, so there's no way she'd know it was you.

Which is probably good, you add. If she accidentally killed her own son, it would be better if she never found out.

"What about your hat?" asks Squishy. "You were wearing it in the dream."

You had forgotten about the hat. Did she not see it? Did she think you stole it from her son? Is that why she wanted to kill you? Would she even know the door trick?

"Everyone knows the door trick," Gooey says. "First thing you learn as a slime is never stand in front of anything heavy."

You decide you're tired of other people watching your dreams, so you venture outside on your own. It's well past sunset, so the light isn't blindingly bright like it was during the day. There's only one person around here who you know can't read your mind.

The witch's house is pretty cozy. Slimy is curled up in a small bed, a lot like the one you have back home. He's under three layers of sheets and has his arms around a pillow. You can't tell if he's awake, but you feel like the proper slime etiquette would be to climb up into the bed with him.

"Who's there?" he mumbles.

You tell him your name.

He pushes the pillow aside and takes you in his arms. You can feel the warmth of his body, even through his thick pajamas.

"I'm so lonely," he tells you. "I can't read minds anymore. It's like everyone's just acting. They all seem so fake now. How did I ever have a crush on one?"

You ask about the crush.

"She's a girl in the human village," he says. "Not the one you're from - the one close by. She's your age."

You figure that must be why he wanted to be human.

"Yeah. I thought that would be enough. But I couldn't talk to her. And I didn't know humans couldn't share emotions and I- I tried to cuddle her. And she ran away from me. I didn't know humans weren't supposed to do that! I think I hurt her, and I didn't wanna make her feel bad. I don't ever wanna see her again, or I might mess up again and make it worse."

He squeezes you tightly. You can't feel his emotions directly, but his body language isn't leaving a lot in doubt. You feel bad for the kid. If only he could have just fallen in love with another slime, like all the other slimes do. If that is what they do. You don't really know.

"My mom doesn't know what to do with me," he says. "Do you think I should go find yours?"

You hesitate. Your mom is going to know it's not you in that body, and not just because he can't speak human. His mannerisms are so much different from yours. He walks different. It's hard to explain, but it's there.

Then again, your mom's pretty nice to people, usually. You hope the fact that he's got your body will be enough to stop her from dropping a door on him.

You ask him if you can come with.