Jadefox Monologue

The hunter waits. She is patient, silent, controlled; a perfectly tuned instrument of death. She uses the shadows to hide from the eyes of her enemies, her pelt melting into oblivion. It is a perfect night for a kill; for the moon is hidden away in its own veil of darkness and the stars are too cold and distant to shed their light onto the mountain side below. Yet, she does not flex her claws against the earth in anticipation, nor feel the rush of blood roaring in her ears. She is calm, silent, focused. The only sound that can be heard is the aching creak of the ancient pines as they bend to the will of the wind. Then, out of the darkness, comes the dim glow of a celestial being wrapped in a swath of stars. A thin halo of pure,
“But now this curse has taken him away from me, all because I made a foolish mistake. I thought I was in love with another…but he was nothing more than a shade, a trickster. He is the one who brought this curse upon us, Jadefox. He is the one who has taken our souls and marked us with the eyes of the cursed. Know this; I sacrificed my happiness so that you may live on. One day, you will have to do the same for your daughter.” As she speaks, her form begins to fade, the trees becoming visible behind her fur. Jadefox’s whole body now quivers as her tether is broken. Her eyes are no longer cold, but they are sad and filled with longing as she reaches out with her paw to touch her once living mother’s shoulder, only to have her paw pass through completely. “Wait, please! There must be more…there has to be a way to break it,
“The only way to break the curse is to speak its name; know its name, and you will have power over it.” Shadowhunter meows urgently, her gaze becoming fearful as her body slowly evaporates. “Never forget the name! Name her - !” In a flash of blinding light, Shadowhunter is eradicated from the clearing, leaving Jadefox sprawled out on the ground, the blast carrying her off her paws and flinging her against the base of a pine. Once she comes to, Jadefox is no longer in the dark pine forest, but is instead lying on the smooth surface of a rock jutting over a deep green valley below. She grunts as she sits up, her body weak and trembling as if she had been running for miles, but her evergreen eyes are now flaming with determination. She rests until the darkness clears and the sun begins to rise to the east over the valley, its light warming her cold, soulless body. She looks up to watch as the last of the stars blinks out, the glow of the sun overwhelming them, its brightness swallowing