[Malakai Midnight sits upon a large stone in the Groves, outdoors and comfortable. Before him on the path is a snare. Inside it, coals burn.]
MALAKAI MIDNIGHT: “Welcome to the midnight hour, my little owls.”
[He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.]
MALAKAI MIDNIGHT: “Two snakes slither along a path. It’s a long and arduous journey, of which there is no turning back. They come across the trapper’s snare and have a decision to make. The snare itself was very wide with a pitfall, in which the coals sat.”
[Two snakes slowly slither towards the snare, stopping.]
MALAKAI MIDNIGHT: “They don’t believe they can turn back. This journey has been long and tiresome. Their only way through is forward, but forward risks the trapper’s snare and almost certain death.”
[The first snake approaches the snare.]
MALAKAI MIDNIGHT: “‘I want to jump the pitfall with my entire body’, said the snake. His body was long and very thin in the middle, and its tail was very long. He tried. His head came across, but the tail remained behind, lying across the pit, and the snake could not pull it over to its neck. So, it burned there and died.”
[Malakai reaches down with a rock and caves in the head of the snake, pulling its burnt carcass from the fire put and placing it in a basket.]
MALAKAI MIDNIGHT: “Young Python, you now sit before a pit that has seen your friends fall victim. The White Bear and now The Red Falcon have tried to traverse the trapper’s snare but to no avail.”
[He smiles.]
MALAKAI MIDNIGHT: “This war of yours with The Black Panther has cost you friendships, but more than that, it has cost you lives. Yet for some reason, you persevere down the same path, not realizing that you can turn back.”
[The last snake approaches the pit, just like his friend before him.]
MALAKAI MIDNIGHT: “Like Lemmings, you just keep moving forward. The trapper’s snare isn’t a game, Python. It’s a trap. The Black Panther holding your friend hostage is… a trap. Yet you persevere. It would be admirable if not so ridiculously stupid.”
[The snake does what it was always going to do and attempts to jump the snare, only to fall victim to the same fiery death as his mate.]
[Malakai takes a rock and finishes him off, placing him in his basket.]
MALAKAI MIDNIGHT: “The only way you’d avoid the snare is by turning back, or… to separate from your tail. You see young Python, the only thing stopping these snakes from jumping the trap I’d set for them was their tails. It was caught in the fire every single time.”
[He smirks.]
MALAKAI MIDNIGHT: “The only way you survive The Black Panther and his trap is if you remove your tail. The Blue Shark and The Red Falcon… snip, snip. That’s how you ensure your survival.”
[Malakai stands up and grabs his basket.]
MALAKAI MIDNIGHT: “Or you could join me, little owl.”
[He grins.]
MALAKAI MIDNIGHT: “I could show you how.”
[Midnight begins walking away.]
MALAKAI MIDNIGHT: “We’ll have a hoot.”