Vorm quietly watched this all. It watched as Ray sank deep into apathy. It could have talked to him to keep him grounded, but it found it more interesting to let things develop naturally. After all, like this, when Ray failed in a spectacularly miserable way on his own, it could mock that ignorant fool, and make him more dependent on Vorm itself in the future. It was a win-win.

So, Vorm kept watching as Ray went along with everything, with less and less resistance. He even minded less when the girl practiced sharing senses with him, he didn’t complain anymore, just quietly endured. Maybe it helped that the girl was getting better at it, and it was less uncomfortable for him.

One day, when the girl came back at night, she was dragging a metal box. Vorm saw the dark mood she was in, and knew this wasn’t going to be pretty. The box was just big enough to stuff Ray inside. She did so, and locked Ray in, then through the hole on the top, she poured some liquid in that burned and ate into Ray’s flesh. The poor fool whined and whimpered in pain, but it was no use. He was so stubborn, he didn’t even call out to Vorm like he used to. The box was enhanced with basic insulation, so no matter how loud the fool was, or how much he bled and smelled, the girl slept soundly.

In the morning, the girl unlocked the box, and when she opened the lid to look inside, she paled in horror. She grabbed a potion, and with shaking hands, poured it in Ray’s mouth while she started crying miserably. Vorm never understood humans. They could do cruel things then cry about it. What a wretched species. Well, not that it was unique to humans after all, but Vorm always found humans the most contradictory.

Anyway, the poor little fool was in such a pitiful, miserable state, Vorm almost felt sorry for him. Heh, almost? Why would Vorm ever feel sorry for the fool. He deserved what he got. It watched as the girl carefully took him to bathe after his wounds healed up, and dried him carefully. Then she carried him back to the bed, and soothingly hummed while gently stroking him, sending him feelings of comfort and warmth.

Vorm thought this technique was pretty effective as the dazed fool willingly buried himself in the girls arms. The fool’s mind had long escaped, and he hadn’t had a coherent thought since a few minutes after he was stuffed into the box. He was nothing more than an animal with broken instincts that sought comfort from its abuser. Vorm thought it was pretty pathetic, but not surprising. What was slightly disappointing, was that the fool didn’t call for Vorm’s help in desperation like in the past. Not because Vorm would ever feel neglected, but because it just showed how the fool’s dependency on Vorm became non-existent in such a short time.

Vorm continued to silently watch. A few days later, the fool’s spirit somewhat rose as he stared at the moon at night. Vorm wasn’t sure anymore what the fool was thinking, his mind was muddled, and he never directly sent any thoughts at Vorm to talk. The fool didn’t sleep that night, just stared unblinkingly at the silver moon, thoughts hazily floating in his broken mind. When morning came, the fool acted as he always did these days, and Vorm was sure Ray was no longer Ray.

In the coming days, Vorm saw the fool changing more and more for the worse. Sometimes, he would even wag his tail without realizing it, and cling to the girl more willingly, staring at the moon at night with lifeless eyes. One night, the girl put him in the box again, and poured the burning liquid on him. The fool this time whined and whimpered pitifully for a short while, but soon grew quiet, and suffered the pain in silence. The girl gently took care of him again the next day while crying miserably yet again. After that, the fool grew even more clingy towards the girl.

A few more days after that, Ray stopped looking at the moon. He never again looked.

A couple weeks later, the collar, that made Ray feel awful when the girl got too far away, was taken off, but Ray never realized it. He long ago forgot all thoughts of not following the girl closely.

Months passed as Ray forgot the moon, forgot Vorm, and forgot even his own name.

Vorm wondered if there was still anything that could kick some sense back into the fool as it watched him become a clingy pet. The girl was really creative in finding ways to torture the fool, who never again whined or whimpered anymore, but suffered quietly. Vorm realized the fool even started looking forward to these torture sessions as after them, the girl would shower him in care and attention. Sometimes, when the girl didn’t hurt him for weeks, the fool would find a way to get punished and hurt. Deep down, the fool probably felt that he deserved all the pain. Vorm had to say, the twisted girl and the wretched fool really suited each other.

*

Two years passed.

Ray was all grown up now, except, he wasn’t Ray anymore. Revenge? What revenge? He forgot that word long ago, there was only the girl that occupied his mind. The girl, his gentle master, his bright sun. He liked to be close to her, he liked her smell, he liked to bury his head in her arms. He couldn’t imagine living without her. Some nights, he dreamed of a long-forgotten past, but come morning, he forgot it all again, and only his bright master stayed on his mind. Sometimes, his gentle master would punish him, but he deserved it, he understood. His master didn’t want to do it, she always cried and felt sorry, so he understood. Dusk understood.

*

Vorm was in a dilemma. Now, that the fool had all grown up, the humans wanted to breed him, since he was much stronger, and prettier than the other tamed wolves. Vorm scoffed, it was only because of Vorm itself not letting the fool be truly enslaved that his growth didn’t get stifled as much. But at the end, the fool enslaved himself instead. Vorm wondered, when humans pretended to be something for long enough, they might become what they pretended to be. But then, it thought about the humans who pretended to be nice, but stayed just as rotten, and guessed it wasn’t always the case.

Anyway, Vorm was in a serious dilemma, because the fool was about to be bred. The only reason it cared was because if the fool had puppies, that had the same miserable fate, Vorm would have to listen to the fool’s whining and complaining about it for a long time when he had his senses back. A very long time. Also, if it kicked some sense into the fool now, and saved him from making puppies, he would feel immense gratitude, and grow more trustful to Vorm itself. On the other hand, if it let the fool make puppies, that would crush him even more. As the girl demonstrated, crushing and healing the fool was really effective. But then again, it didn’t want to listen to the fool’s accusations, and wailing about this in the future.

Vorm sighed as it watched the fool about to mount the she-wolf. It had hoped that some innate deep-seated resistance towards this would shake the fool up, but his mind stayed just as dull as it had been for a very long time now. So, Vorm knocked the fool unconscious.

*

He groggily woke up, confused.

“Ray, look at the moon...” He heard a commanding voice that sparked some long-forgotten memories deep down, and looked up. It was a beautiful silver full moon. He wondered why he never looked up at the moon, it was so beautiful. The silver moon… he used to look at it. Why did he stop…? His hazy mind slowly turned and turned, dazed and confused.

“Ray,” someone called… him?

His head hurt. He didn’t want to hear, he didn’t want to see the moon anymore. He wanted his master, where was she? He looked around, and saw he was left outside with the she-wolf. He was supposed to… he froze.

“Ray, look at the moon!” the voice commanded again. He was used to doing as he was told, so he looked up again. He was captivated by this silver moon. As he stared at it, the world seemed to fall away, leaving only the silver moon behind. That was all he could see, that was all to see, the silver moon. The moonlight enveloped his vision, he felt cold, but it felt good, as if the silver light was dispersing the fog that suffocated his mind, pulling him out of the haze.

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“Ray,” the voice called yet again, forcing him to remember. He didn’t want to remember, he was afraid of remembering. He felt his mounting guilt, and he fought not to remember. But he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the silver moon, and couldn’t not hear the voice calling him. It called once more.

“Ray.”

As he realized he could not ignore reality much longer, he started shaking and whimpering, no, no, no, no no…

“Ray, aw, you poor fool,” now the voice was mocking, pleased with itself. It broke through all of his resistance, and the coward had to face the old memories.

Vorm…

“Wow, you still remember my name? I am so honored and touched, considering you even forgot your own damn name.”

Leave me alone...

“Ungrateful brat. But sure, as you command, Your Majesty, the King of Cowards. I wish you many princes and princesses that you can offer up to your beloved humans as highly valued pets,” drawled Vorm sarcastically, spitting out the last word as venom. But it did shut up.

He shuddered and was forced to remember when the humans saved him and took him in. Saved him… Yes, they saved him, he would have died alone outside. But… he wasn’t alone in the beginning was he…? Who made him be alone in the first place? It was the humans… but… not the girl, the girl was always nice to him.

He would just keep following the girl, it wasn’t so bad after all. He’d have puppies and… he remembered his litter-siblings dying one by one… no, his puppies would be fine, they would… he remembered being bonded to the girl… it wasn’t… he remembered their intrusion into his soul… it wasn’t so bad… he remembered begging for Vorm to save him. A sentence came back to him unbidden. “It would be better for me to die.” It echoed in his mind. Why did he keep saying that in the past…? He stopped saying it long ago. It was in the beginning.

He wanted to run away from all this, go back to the girl, forget everything again, and just follow her. It wasn’t a bad life. But… it really wasn’t too bad, at least he was alive… but… isn’t it most important to be alive…? But…

“You call this living?” Vorm snickered. It wasn’t sure exactly what the fool was thinking, but watching his turbulent soul, it had a good guess.

He snapped YOU SHUT UP! Where were you all this time? Why did you leave? You left me all alone, what else could I have done? You must’ve had a lot of fun, watching me go against everything I had said before. Why did you even help me in the first place? It ended up being the same anyway, on my own fucking volition. You must’ve enjoyed that. You had known how it was going to go since the beginning, hadn’t you? Well, did you enjoy the show? How they broke me day after day until I abandoned everything I ever was to stay alive? To not go completely insane? He sneered.

Ray didn’t really understand where all this came from, but it felt like something he always wanted to say, but never did. He, Ray. Yes, he was Ray, and the words pouring out of him, Ray, felt natural and freeing. Ray went on.

You pretended to be helpful, but were you really? You pretended you’d stay with me, but where were you when I really needed you? I bet you even found it interesting, how my mind got all twisted up as they kept messing with, and torturing me all the time, until I became a mindless pet. Even now, I cannot not love the girl, all the torture she put me through, I just keep thinking I deserved it. Deserved it, because I’m too fucking weak, who sank into complacency, and surrendered even my mind to her. You are just like them!

Ray froze. He felt that last sentence went too far. Was Vorm going to leave now, and he’d be left all alone yet again? He didn’t even realize it, but deep down, he actually felt a bit happy Vorm talked to him. But he said all those nasty things, why would Vorm keep talking to him after everything he had said? He hated and despised himself, he thought he should go to the girl, and get punished to feel better. He sneered at the thought. How fucked up… He tore his eyes off the silver moon and closed them as he lowered his head. Maybe Vorm would forgive him? He could at least try… Vorm… I didn’t... he started muttering hesitantly. How could he even ask for forgiveness now?

“You didn’t what? Didn’t mean all that?” Vorm’s disinterested voice sounded in his mind.

Ray felt a sliver of hope, Vorm didn’t ignore him, maybe this can still be salvaged. He said enthusiastically. Yes, I didn’t mean any of that. I was just upset, forget it. I was upset at myself, not you. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it. While he felt he couldn’t blame Vorm for absolutely everything, Ray was still discontent and upset, feeling Vorm really did abandon him somewhat. But he tried to swallow these feelings to appease Vorm.

“Oooooh…” Vorm droned out, then he added, “But you did mean it.”

No, I… Ray wanted to deny it and make excuses, but Vorm cut him off.

“When did you even learn to lie? I must say, you were much more adorable as an honest puppy.” Before Ray could protest, Vorm continued, “and you were not wrong. I did find it interesting how you got all twisted and messed up in the head. You got more clingy and obedient the more the girl put you through, how could I not find that at least a bit intriguing?”

“I even kept quiet on purpose, so you wouldn’t have me to ground you, unless you called for me. Only having a girl that would torture you occasionally, and no way to escape, but death. It was mildly interesting to see how you coped. But fun? No, it wasn’t really, if anything it was boring to see everything play out how I expected it to.” Vorm explained in a disinterested voice, then added, “Oh, but you forgot one thing. I never ignored you, you just stopped talking to me. Not to mention, who pulled you out now?”

Ray was flabbergasted. He looked up at the moon again with wide eyes. Vorm… admitted to all of that? He should be angry and upset, but… a sense of relief washed over him and he laughed. You are such a bastard.

Vorm answered with a pleased tone, “thank you for the compliment.”

Being slapped in the face with Vorm’s brutal honesty was genuinely refreshing. Ray felt some trace of happiness for the first time since he lost his family. He silently stared at the moon for a while. What is it with this moon by the way?

“It’s a trait of Storm Wolves. Every Storm Wolf is intimately connected to a facet of nature. Yours is the moon,” Vorm magnanimously explained.

Ah, so that’s how it is. Ray kept looking at the moon as his mind calmed, and he thought through everything. After a long while he called, Vorm.

“Hm?”

Thank you. With that, Ray turned and walked away.

“Wrong way.”

Ray froze, then shamefully turned to another direction while listening to Vorm's roaring laughter. Strangely, it comforted him.