A creature so big,
All covered in pelt,
A creature so big,
Whit its head high held,
A wolf on two legs,
Howls to the moon,
A wolf on two legs,
Is going to kill soon,
It is called a werewolf,
Deadly as few,
It is called a werewolf,
If you just knew.

-From “A Werewolf Howl” by Anna Turtle

        “Tch, where did she go?” she thought to herself, her long black trench coat flowing in the breeze behind her.

She’d been wandering the words near the field where the Vampire’s scent had been recently caught for hours, racking her brain to figure out where she’d gone from here.

        “You really are a stubborn brat when it comes to your hunts, aren’t you?” a voice asked from behind, or maybe above, her.

        She rolled her eyes and put a hand on her forehead, “Why the fuck are you here, blood-sucker?”

        “Because you’re an idiot and you need help – help you can only get from someone who can fly. Are you game or not?” he responded dryly.

        “Lemme guess, the Vampiress forced you into this? I can smell your hate for me from here, vamp.” She quipped.

        He grunted and nodded slightly, his wings furling and unfurling in annoyance as he landed, “Well, are we doing this or not, wolf? If we don’t, you’ll never find her scent and the Vampiress will be forced to do it herself, which will get us all in trouble. More so, a lone wolf with no clan, like yourself.” He replied, not bothering to hide his disdain, or his annoyance.

        The Huntress sighed and all but stomped over to him, holding onto him as little as needed to not get dropped off midflight, “Fine. Let’s do this, but only because the Vampiress has ordered us to, and no other reason.” She said, earning an agreeing nod as he pushed off quickly.

        “Don’t try and catch anything yet,” he said, “the Vampiress explicitly told me you’d get the best scent above the clouds, in direct moonlight,” he said, rather coldly.

        She nodded and sighed, closing her eyes momentarily and remembering a witch from what may as well have been another lifetime.

        “Mom, dad?” a younger werewolf called, shortly after they’d been caught off guard and she’d been told to run.

        “Where are you?” she called again, unsure of where she was or where she was going.

        “Come, my child; come to my cabin in the woods and we’ll find your parents together,” an old lady whose voice sounded like a frog’s croak said.

        “Mama?” the young werewolf called.

        “Yes, my child,” came the reply, “yes, come to me.”

        The younger wolf followed the sound of the voice blindly in the near-pitch black darkness of the forest. She gasped aloud at the magnificent cabin-style castle alight with fires of various colors and shapes, hurrying within at the behest of the old woman.

        “That’s it, my child,” the old woman said, “come deeper into my home and find me, your mother.”

        The young wolf frowned and began to hesitate, backing up to the door until she hit a stone wall. She turned around quickly and her face blanched as she frantically searched for the door, beginning to cry in fear.

        “Hush, my child, no need for tears or worry, your mother’s here now,” the old woman said, somewhat menacingly while popping out of nowhere behind the child.

        “Y-Y-You’re n-n-n-ot m-m-m-my m-mo-mom-mommy,” the child stuttered in between sobs.

        “I am now, you little brat. Now stop that sobbing immediately!” the Witch screamed as the child, no longer feeling stone behind her, turned and ran as fast as she could down the new hallway.

        “My house is a labyrinth of MY design, child! Halls, doors, walls – all appear as I wish them to!” she screamed at the child’s back, as she chose a wall that seemed to be made of wood with a window in it, and drew upon her werewolf strength to break through.

        “Fine, leave! But not without a final gift, a curse of misgivings! No one shall see your true ugliness for as long as you run!” she screamed before chanting in another language, “Watashi ni se o mukete,-jō ni iru hitobito no shukufuku o ukete, watashi wa anata ga anata no yō ni mieru koto ga dekinai koto de anata o noroimasu! Mesu no ōkamidearu anata wa, dareka ga kuru made wa tsuneni osu to minasa re, shinu made issho ni iru unmei ni arimasu!” she screamed, her cabin-like labyrinth of a castle and physical form disappearing into thin air as she finished her curse.

        From the moment the curse was finished, Ember fell to the ground and cried out in pain. Her long, luscious hair seemingly fell out, turning into a militaristic buzz cut. The rest of her body changing in much the same way, save for her genitals and breasts. Her beauty and curves straightened and turned bland as her looks became more boyish and, if not for her breasts, nobody would be able to tell she’s not a boy. Throughout her life, she decided to finish the look by constantly binding her breasts away, and changing her voice when necessary.

        How she managed get by in day-to-day life? She became the world’s best Werewolf Hunter, by creating her own P.I. business and tracking down those that law enforcement couldn’t find, mostly due to lack of evidence.

        That’s how she became a Hunter; she was so far renowned that the Vampiress, who Exiled the Vampire Queen, came to find her with a request for her services – indefinitely.

        “You awake yet?” came the annoyed grunt of a dog on a leash.

        “Yea, yea. Sorry; was caught up in a memory or two,” she replied as she stretched and sniffed, enjoying being in direct moonlight, “Turn West.” She said after a few minutes.

        “Huh, so the Vampiress was right.” He mumbled to himself as he flew towards the West, the moon continuing its nightly rise in the background as both creatures basked in its light.