In a bind

It all had happenend in a flash, as the previous stillness was replaced by the turmoil. The scale had violently claimed the life of a cub for itself, leaving the wolf behind all alone.

Even as it tried to run to the scale not willing to accept the abhorrent reality, it was still unable to reach the scale or me. It smashed its body continuously into the invisible wall which separated it from the scale, even as it drew blood, it just did not stop.

In its madness, it had lost the last bit of its rationality, all that was left was an empty husk fueled by the desire to see its cub.

Destined to watch from afar, the lights from its eyes faded and only an eerie emptiness remained in their stead. Beneath all the rage and bitter hatred lied a deep sense of sorrow and anguish, which was as unrelenting and unforgiving.

Feelings, like these, were not silent. They devour you from the inside out, eating at you reminding you over and over, consuming your very mind. This is what was beyond the anger. Such a loss would bare its fangs at the deepest core of one's soul.

Plagued by visions of what was, terrorised by the thoughts of what could have been. It all accumulated into a nightmare lasting a lifetime.

Grief like this was something I could not even begin to imagine, putting it into words was nigh impossible. To truly understand it, I will have to experience such devastation myself.

Otherwise, my empathy can only emulate that state of mind. This is my perspective or it is rather my interpretation of what the wolf is ought to feel. In the end, I can only guess what the wolf must be going through.

From close or from afar, it was nothing more than pure speculation. Without being in its shoes it would continue to stay that way. Emotions were still as mysterious to me as they always had been.

Thinking anything else would have been yet another disillusion I put myself under. Life just did not work like that, it had never been without any easy. Or I never had the chance to consider me to be one of those who had that kind of luxury.

A privilege like this is something one had to be born into, which in itself is a gigantic game of chance, to begin with. The hand that I had been dealt, was a really good one, many would do their utmost. even go as far as to kill to receive it.

Though all that fortune, I never found the happiness that it should bring with it. In hindsight, I never deserved to have an easy life, but nobody has any say in that matter. No one can influence this, not a single soul has any right in all of this.

Life does not work that way, we are all too insignificant in the grand scheme. But despite our starting point being predetermined, it is on everyone themselves to make the most out of it.

That is the sole principle, in which we are all equal. Still, I was just about to learn just how shallow my thinking was when a higher power was involved.

The wolf who had struggled for its life just a moment prior was suddenly enveloped by golden chains. It had been incapacitated and in the blink of an eye, it had become as unmoving as its cub.

These golden shackles deeply tore into the flesh of the wolf and began to drag it towards the scale. The chain was clad in a golden hue and gave off a noble aura. Unlike the scale itself, it did not appear cheaply produced nor did it its design seem to lack any originality.

Extended from the very bottom of the scale, they shot out at an inconceivable speed directly towards their target. Escaping its grasps seemed like an implausibility.

Tiny, insignificant, meaningless in front of it everything seemed unimportant. Any thought about standing a chance against it was laughable and utterly ridiculous. Neither the wolf nor I can resist that onslaught.

It was mere luck, that I was here standing at the sidelines, while the chains had befallen the wolf. Strangely the wolf seemed rather calm as its fate had already been sealed. All the anger and despair had vanished alongside its freedom.

Its gaze was directly aimed at me, within its pleading eyes lied some sort of longing. Regardless of its content, it was about to end in disappointment. I could not live up to any expectancy it placed on me.

Because the scale itself was in full control of everything and I was merely a spectator. Besides helping the wolf out and potentially making the scale my enemy? No thank you. My hands are tied in this matter.

With all due respect, this was above my paygrade and considering the fact that I am not receiving any recompensation in the first place, it was questionable why I should care in the first place.

Despite its pleading eyes, I had not forgotten about the fact, that it wanted to turn me into mincemeat just minutes prior. Pleading eyes can not erase that fact. Nor can I safely ignore the actual location as well.

This space in front of my eyes was the real mystery in all of this. Not only could the weird cheaply-looking scale be found in it but also recently deceased monsters. Aside from the recently added chains, I have no clue what in the world is going on in this place.

The chains themselves are rather simple, their function is to surround a target and limit their mobility. Afterwards, the target is dragged to the scale itself in order to accomplish another objective.

Judging by the recent development I suppose the wolf needs to be prepared before it can be absorbed. If my hypothesis is correct, then I am quite intrigued by how a being full of good and bad is turned pure again.

The method for the cub had been rather direct and calling it visually pleasing would raise some other serious questions. Though every last bit of the cub had been absorbed by the scale in a nearly ravenous fashion. After enjoying such a scrumptious feast it had laid its eyes on the wolf.

Eyes might have been the wrong term since I can not find anything remotely similar on the scale itself. The lack of visionary organs did not stop it, from aiming at the wolf with pinpoint accuracy.

in the meantime, the wolf had finally arrived at its destination as its body was flung less than kindly onto the right side of the scale. To no one's surprise the weight was enough to push the right scale to the ground.

Though normally some sort of counterweight was needed for the scale to function properly. As tradition dictates, I had spoken too soon and a bad premonition overcame me. Sadly the chains had been even faster and I found myself in a binding session of my own.

Being in such a situation was a weird feeling, as I could clearly move my body on the outside, yet It felt like something on the inside of me was constricted tightly. Before I even got the chance to ponder on what was about to occur to me, it had already begun.

A haunting scream came from the other side of the scale as the wolf began to slowly dissolve. It was pain that seemed unbearable and something you would not wish upon your worst enemy.

The pity I felt at that moment did not last long because I was made painfully aware of what role I was playing in this scenario. All of the dissolved matter was slowly transferred to me.

These small lumps of what used to wolf entered me without any problem and it all went downhill from that point onwards. Because the small particles invaded this very part of me and all the soiled matter was left behind.

I had become a human purifier, which in itself did not sound all too bad, but this process was ravaging me on the inside. I had felt a lot of pain, even if it had been the product of my own mind, but this was utterly worse.

Trying to put it into words was the only way I could rationalize it and subsequently endure it. All of this was easier said than done because the assault had barely begun. More and more pieces were coming closer to me in order to rid themselves of their stains.

Seeing the product of my hard work being absorbed with relish by the scale in the corner of my eye did not make things much easier for me. Yet again, I was reminded of my status as a mere tool used at their leisure.

The illusion of my newfound freedom merely lasted a few hours, before it had been thoroughly destroyed again. How often do they intend to show that down my throat? It is easy to lament my fate, but quite frankly I had better things to do than feeling sorry about myself.

One of them was hoping for my torment to end soon, sadly there was a lot of the wolf left, that had yet to be purified. In the future, I will become a vegan. Eating a small fruit, would not cause me so much pain.

This reasoning was sound and everyone who said anything against it was probably right, but I did not care. Although on second thought, it was not the meat itself that was the cause for all of this, merely the act of killing was responsible.

As long as I did not kill the target, I could eat as much meat as I wanted. Hurray, I was saved from the fate of becoming a vegetarian and vegan alike. Loopholes saved yet another day.

Weirdly enough the pain had already disappeared, now it just felt dirty and unclean, which was not a big deal since I was already covered in guts and whatnot on the outside as well. Having a soiled soul was also of no concern to me, it had been far from pure either way.

I had no idea why the pain was gone without a trace, but I did not want to speak too soon yet again. As it would probably return in a heartbeat if I use the wrong combination of words. As of now waiting was the only thing I could do.

To pass the time I decided to test how I could reach the precious meat of the wolf I had just killed. The lifeless body still had all that delicious meat stored inside of it and I really did not want to let it go to waste.

There was no way I could access the meat through the hard skin or I might as well bite into the granite. I had no toll I could use to penetrate its hide nor could I reach my precious meal by targeting destroyed orifices anymore.

Seems like I did not have any other option than using the wolf to help me in this endeavour. Its razor-like teeth would surely be able to penetrate its own skin without a hitch.

Removing the sharp teeth was not easy, but a lot more feasible since I could target the soft flesh the teeth were embedded in. With a lot of patience and even more cursing I finally managed to grab myself a really good one.

It felt big and sharp and therefore was a suitable tool to get me to my desired food. The process that took place inside of my eyes had yet to stop as more and more stuff was refined and purified through me.

Therefore I just focused on the task at hand and rammed the teeth into its corpse over and over again until I broke through the layer of fur. I felt elated to finally find something edible in this hell hole.

Biting into its flesh was truly bliss, I had finally consumed something good. This is how it was supposed to feel like, not the fake crap inside of my memories. I had nearly forgotten how good meat really tasted.

At this point in time, everything else had become secondary and I tried my best to savour every single bite. It is the small things in life that make a difference and I did not know when I could eat such a meal in the future.

With everything being uncertain, it was all up to chance what will happen in this crazy world. I know that things were unsanitary, but that was currently something I ignored to not destroy the moment of peace and serenity.

There was nothing better in the world for me than this meat that I was currently holding in my hands. Nothing in my entire life filled me with this much happiness.

I had no idea, how much food I will consume but I had no plans on stopping any time soon. However, the decision was not mine to make as the circumstances would dictate that.

There always was that one thing, that would ruin such a perfect moment and I had a hunch that the troublemaker was the scale this time around. " I called it" I would have loved to proclaim this out loudly though the scale did not wait for me to actually do so.

After the wolf had finally dissipated, with no traces left of it, another wave of anguish overcame me. My entire body began to heavily spasm and I dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

I had felt that kind of convulsion one time before and it was not something I looked back fondly. The time when I went through the flame that cleansed me caused something similar in my body. It was still tolerable as of now, but I was in for so much worse.

Luckily I had just eaten beforehand so that I will not starve to death all too soon. Locating water will be the next thing I will have to do. But the monster was a ray of light to me because even these wolves will need to drink in order to stay alive.

As of now staying here was not an option, because wolves are animals which act in a horde. The existence of a cub destroyed my chances of it being just a loner. There still might be more cubs in this close vicinity, but I was not too keen on finding them.

Gritting my teeth, I tried my best to move my body, although it seemed unlikely that I was able to leave this place in the state I am in now. Quite pathetic If I am honest, I should be able to force myself to continue onwards, but I fail so miserably already.

Sighing I crawled forward to grab more meat of the wolf. IF I can not move, my muscles, then I will at least force the food down my throat. I need to focus on something else in order to deal with the upcoming pain.

I will not become a victim of this cheap scale. For now, it is just mindless chewing and biting on tasty flesh accompanied by a strong wave of pain over and over again.

What has my life become? I will most likely never know.