Balance of Wolves and Justice

"I don't believe in good and evil."

"But you're a white wolf?" I asked.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean anything."

"So what does it mean?" I asked, squinting my eyes at the female wolf. She had jet black fur with two white markings. One was a crescent moon shape on her forehead, and the other was a line running down from the side of her mouth. The male wolf was black all over with red eyes that seemed to glow every time he growled at me. He also had some sort of scar on his face.

"It just means that I'm not evil," she replied with no hint of mockery in her voice. "It doesn't mean I'm good, or kind, or merciful." She closed her eyes for a few seconds before opening them again. "Remember when we were in the forest and you were bleeding? The black wolf said he could help me get better. Well," she cleared her throat, "he was right." Her eyes looked a bit sad as she continued talking. "He did help me get better, but he also gave me some of his darkness so that I could fight against the people who hurt us when we were babies." Her eyes began to well up with tears as she admitted this to me. "He gave me darkness so that I could destroy them, but it didn't really work out like that."

"How many people have you killed?" I asked quietly. Natalia's head jerked in my direction as if I'd slapped her across the face. It'd been over six months since our meeting in the woods where she saved my life and we had become friends, but now it felt like we barely knew each other at all.

"I... erm..." she stammered. "I lost count after ten people died because they worked for the people who killed my parents." Her words made my blood run cold and my heart heavy in my chest. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose both your parents at such a young age and have to live with that pain until you die yourself.

"But why do you want to kill these people? What's their crime?" I asked softly, hoping to make Natalia feel better about herself somehow even though nothing would ever change what she had done or how many people she had hurt along the way.

"They knew about the attack on our house," she whispered as if someone was listening in on our conversation. "They knew about everything and they did nothing about it." A single tear rolled down her smooth cheekbone before falling off onto the floor below us where we sat together on top of a roof one night after school ended for winter break.

Thirteen people were killed before Natalia was captured by the same group responsible for her parents' deaths. They locked her away in jail as they devised a plan to cover up their wrongdoings against innocent families. Natalia called upon her White Wolf side to aid her escape—but the freedom was short-lived. The group caught up to her and attempted to extract information about the Black Wolf, who helped her and killed thirteen more of their members before being captured himself. Hurt and betrayed by Natalia leading them directly to him, the group held her hostage and shot her twice at point-blank range.

Yet, through the Black Wolf's help, Natalia survived, and he remains alive as well. Although the White Wolf is gone and the identity of the Black Wolf is still shrouded in mystery, tension persists between the two sides—seemingly an eternal battle unless one emerges victorious. The world continues to watch, uncertain which side to support, urgently waiting for a conclusion so that the war may cease, peace can be restored, and losses can be acknowledged. Permanent paths are not yet chosen, but time is running out as this war carries on relentlessly.