The slime can take over another creature's body

You walked with the slime in tow for a while, making sure to pay attention to your surroundings. After all, you never knew when a wild monster would jump at you. In the meantime, you tried to talk to your little companion.

"So, little guy. Can you understand me?" you asked.

The slime jiggled in response.

"Is that a yes or a no?"

The slime still responded with the same movement.

"Huh, okay then... Guess it's not going to be that easy to communicate with you. Maybe once we make a pact we can understand each other better"

After a moment of silence, you continued your conversation with the slime, "by the way, I'm sorry for slapping you earlier. I hope you forgive me"

The slime still bounced slightly, and you were not entirely sure if it really forgave you. If your hands weren't busy holding onto the bear skin, you would be petting the slime like crazy right now. You had tried to befriend some slimes before, but they lack sentience to even understand the concept of friends. You hoped more slimes were like this one, more cute and cuddly friends for you to play with.

Suddenly, you noticed something and stopped. The slime stayed still as well, noticing the change in your behaviour. Thanks to your ranger sub-class, you had enhanced senses and you could feel something approaching. You strained your ears and heard some light growling. It sounded like it was coming from the bushes in front of you. You dropped the bear skin on your hands, preparing your bow. You picked up some of your still usable arrows from the bear's carcass before you started walking back, but there were only several of them and they would not hit well. Still, it was better than nothing. With an arrow nocked on your bow, you aimed at the bush. However, you were not prepared with what was coming.

"...Pochi?" you muttered softly.

A grey wolf came out from the bushes, growling softly. You shook your head, snapping yourself out of the stupid thought. It was clearly a different grey wolf, especially when seen through your eyes. After all, you had spent a long time with Pochi, you knew him better than anyone.

Still, your aim faltered. Your grip on the arrow loosened, and your hand trembled slightly. You couldn't bring yourself to attack the wolf. You knew it wasn't Pochi, but you still could not shoot it. The wolf noticed your hesitation, and it took the opportunity. It suddenly ran and pounced on you, a jaw filled with razor sharp fangs launched straight at your neck. You barely managed to dodge it and fell to the ground, your bow and arrow escaped your grip.

Then, the wolf turned around to face you, barring its teeth as if grinning. You pulled out your hunting knife, but there was no way the small blade could protect you. You gritted your teeth, cursing your own weakness inwardly. Pochi would have been disappointed in you for mistaking this wild wolf as him.

Just as you started to brace yourself for the bite, you saw a small blue blob jumped from behind the wolf and landed on its back. It seemed the slime was flung away from your shoulder when you fell to the ground. The wolf seemed confused, trying to turn around to see the thing on its back. However, the slime didn't give it any chance to react and quickly jumped forward and engulfed the wolf's snout. The grey wolf yelped and tumbled backwards, trying to dislodge the slime from its head. But the slime held on, not letting the wolf's struggles to affect it. The wolf whimpered, falling on its side and trashing around wildly, its front paws twitching and scratching at its face.

You gasped in surprise, not sure on what to do now. You thought the slime was trying to suffocate the wolf, but after several moments, the slime started to shrink. No, to be precise, some of it got into the wolf's mouth and nose. The slime kept going until it disappeared completely into the wolf. At that point, the grey wolf convulsed violently on the ground, before gradually calming down a few moments later, only twitching occasionally.

You were, understandably, quite freaked out by what you just witnessed. Never in your years of exploring and hunting have you ever seen a slime did such a move to defeat another creature. Did it successfully kill the wolf? Maybe the slime was more dangerous than it seemed. You gripped your dagger tightly, wary of the motionless grey wolf who was lying on the ground in front of you.

Then, the wolf began to stir. It raised its head and looked around until it had found you. The two of you locked eye contact for a few moments, and you strangely did not sense any hostility from them. The wolf slowly moved, its body trembling a little. You were ready to defend yourself, kind of, but you had a feeling that it would not be necessary. The wolf sat upright, panting a little with its tail wagged left and right. Then, it yipped softly at you.

"...what is going on?" you finally muttered in confusion.

You were very puzzled and weirded out by the wolf's sudden change of behavior. One moment ago, it was trying to kill you. But now it was acting like an obedient puppy. You tried to make sense of this weird turn of events. Then, you remembered the slime that saved you, and it finally clicked in your mind.

"Is... Is that you, little one?" you asked tentatively.

The wolf yipped again, as if affirming your question. It stood on its four legs and took a step towards you. You tensed a bit, but soon relaxed as the wolf showed no signs of attacking you. Slowly, the wolf walked up to you and rubbed its snout on your abdomen. The wolf licked your hand, as if asking you to pet it. You obliged, slowly rubbing its neck and head, just like how you used to pet Pochi. The wolf seemed happy with your gesture, rubbing itself against your hand.

"Um, are you really the slime I've been traveling with?"

It was still hard for you to believe what had just happened, but it was the only explanation you could come up with. The wolf stared at you, before yipping once.

"Uhh... yeah, this is a little hard to accept. I mean, you're a wolf now! I've never heard of a slime taking over another monster's body before!"

The slime, now a wolf, cocked its head a bit. It looked like it didn't even understand why you were so surprised. You sighed, deciding to save the questions for later.

"Well, you saved my life, so thank you," you said as you patted the wolf's head.

You were still unsure about the situation, but you felt safer with the wolf... err, slime, around. Besides, you still owed the slime for saving your life. Hopefully this would not end up horribly wrong with your body taken over by this slime. You shuddered for a moment with this morbid thought, but quickly tried to think positively.

"Think you can help me carry the bear skin? My arms are getting sore," you then asked the slime.

Pochi used to help you carry extra baggage, so the skin had been both a hassle and a safety hazard since you could not use your bow to defend yourself. The slime nodded its head, seemingly understood the assignment. You smiled at it, thanking it as you put the bear skin on the wolf's back and secured it with some rope. Then, you picked up your bow and the rest of the bear's meat before walking back to town, your new slime / wolf in tow.