A Slime Woman and a Child (Friesha's note 12)

"That's my mother! Don't harm her!" the little boy shouted as he passed by me and went towards the beast. "Mother, I'm here now."

The gigantic water slime lowered down to him and appeared to have hugged him as it slightly wrapped itself around him. I then lowered my staff to show no harm, yet still careful.

"So that's your mother?" I asked him out of curiosity (I mean who wouldn't?). "You are aware that's a slime right?"

"Of course I am, I mean who wouldn't notice?" was the little boy's response. He then shifted his attention back to his "mother" giggling as it somehow caressed his head.

"Mother, I just picked delicious starberries for us to eat," he began talking to it exactly how a child would talk to his mother. "I picked up a whole lot you know, we might not be able to eat it all. Haha!"

Just then, the slime started to move it's whole body near the little boy. It looked like the slime was being sucked into one single spot, compressed, and took a human form. About five seconds later, the once river looking slime began to mold it's whole body into a beautiful woman completely, with clothes and hair.

"Mother" the little boy immediately hugged her which in return, it hugged him back. Silently, it held him on the air and spun three times before placing him back on the ground. Immediately after, the sound of rushing water can be heard from a distance. That moment, water came fast filling up the huge dry river left by the slime. In just a matter of seconds, the river looked completely normal.

"Hey kiddo, sorry to ask but how is this thing your mother?" I bluntly asked him. "Just now it was a humongous water slime."

Instantly, the woman-looking creature hugging the little boy looked at me with frightening eyes.

"Now now mother, everything is alright," the little boy said as he jumped down from his 'mother's' grasp. He then turned towards me and said, "You must be thirsty, right? That's why you went here to where mother was."

"Yes, I was and still am," was my reply.

"Then come with us at home, we have clean water there."

"No need, I mean there's water here now."

"Ah this river? The water tastes funny here. You might not like it."

"No need to worry, I can withstand any water," I said as I went to have my water bag filled.

Just when I was about to lower my water bag down to be filled, I sensed something weird with the river's realea. Closing my eyes in analysis, I sensed realea particles from unknown combined chemicals mixed with the water. The particles were too concentrated, I almost puked.

"Is the water polluted?"

The little boy was a little bit in a distance with the woman when he turned back and shouted, "Kind of!"

I stood up and closed my water bag in dissatisfaction. The little boy which somehow saw my reaction shouted again, "Would you like to come with us then?!"

Seeing I was left with no other choice, I took my things and followed the pair to their house. It was a small brick house on top of a slope where trees were slightly far apart. From up there, the river below is very visible. Maybe that's how he saw me and immediately went down. I traced the trail of the river to where it came from and saw in a distance, a large castle. "Maybe that's why the water..."

"Hey! You coming?" was the voice which made me notice I was already far behind. I then looked away from the castle and into the pair leading me to where clean water was.

As we got closer, I noticed the house was quite worn out. From the outside, the walls had a few large cracks. The windows had holes on them. Vines were attaching themselves all over the house as they bore their flowers. When we arrived, the little boy hardly managed to open the wooden door.

"Now, come come!" he welcomed me into his house while the woman-looking creature was still staring daggers at me.

Feeling a chill run down my spine, I replied a, "Could I just wait here for the water? I don't want to be disturbing you two."

"Hm? Are you really okay with that?" he said poking his head out from a distance inside the house before he went back to whatever he was doing.

"Uh-huh! Very okay," I stared back to the woman in response.

After a few clattering from inside, I heard a faint' "okay!" voice from the little boy. I then looked at the woman staring at me (or the deepest part of my soul) with both curiosity and amazement. I never truly expected a slime to be able to take an entirely human form, plus to take care of a human child.

Slimes are mostly vicious beasts with the best interest of devouring live organisms to dissolve inside its body. According to the books I have read, only in rare cases does a slime be docile and wouldn't harm others. Most of all, this slime was a lot bigger than those in the books where the sizes are mostly about twice that of a human. This slime was huge enough to pretend to be a river, about a hundred (or a thousand) times bigger than those in the books.

She (if it was even a she) just stood there silently staring at me with those cold dull eyes. Her appearance completely that of a human; long golden hair tide to a ponytail, clean villager clothes with a flower design on the hem of her dress, and those beautifully colored red lips like those of a freshly plucked blood apple. Her eyes, although were blue, looked dead, the only thing that stood out of her beauty. Perhaps this was the appearance of the boy's real mother.

Just when I was about to have enough of her piercing stare, the little boy finally came out with a huge water barrel, about half his size. His small body struggling to maintain its momentum as it sways from side to side, leaving a trail of droplets on the floor. Immediately, the slime woman got hold of the water barrel for him and placed in in front of me. The little boy then opened the barrel and scooped up water using a cup and extended it to me.

"Here, water."

"Ah, thank you..." I took the cup from him and drank the water, which felt very thirst quenching. "It's a bit sweet, delicious."

As I continued drinking, the little boy took my water bag and filled it with water. All the while, the slime woman was watching the little boy with such gentle eyes, and giggle at times when water would spill to the boy's face. Watching her made me remember of my own mother's eyes when she used to look at me struggling to get the flames out of my staff.

"All done!" the little boy then handed the water bag to me. "Here!"

Just when he handed the water bag to me, "Ah, wait a while!" he stood up and dashed inside his house. After about ten to fifteen seconds, he came out with a handful of starberries on each hand.

"Here, in case you might get hungry on the road," he then extended one handful of starberries to me. The other one is probably for his 'mother'.

As I was to take his offer, I instead held tight on my staff and swiftly waved it behind me. Just in time, I blocked a poison arrow away and immediately stood a fighting stance. At that moment, the slime woman embraced the startled little boy tight in her arms and looked at the exact direction I was looking. There emerged to our eyesight human soldiers, fully equipped with armor, they marched towards us in huge numbers.

"There is the beast! Slay it!!"

"We the royal nights of Pheremoor kingdom demand the head of the terrorizing slime beast!!"