lalo; scene two; 6 pages

[cridecoeur]

The second completed scene in Lalo. Things begin to get a little bit weird. Believe it gets a lot weirder before the story is through. The scene after this one, for example, is really, really weird.



FADE IN

INT. CELL BENEATH Y'ROST CIET - NIGHT

Leikr is lying on a thinly padded cot in a small stone-walled cell. There are bars on the rooms one small window. He is stirring fitfully on the bed but does not wake up.

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EXT. OAPUS VERN FOREST - DAY

Leikr leads a small scouting party through the forest, most of whom are transformed to their higher forms - species or animals which look especially suited to tracking or stealth as recognizable even by someone who has only the reference point of Earth to compare to. Leikr is noticeably carrying no weapon, although he has both his mother's gun from Earth strapped to his belt, in a holster, and a black glass flute strapped to the opposite side of his body.

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Leikr tosses back back and forth on the bed.

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Leikr holds out his hand to halt his men. There is a bright body of light coming closer, visible through the trees. Suddenly fire erupts all around them, cutting them off from both escape and each other. As the fire rises and the smoke thickens, Leikr stumbles and hits his knees. He tries to shout to his men, but ends up coughing jaggedly instead. Somewhere past the fire and smoke there are the sounds of animals lowing and roaring and of men shouting.

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Leikr, on his cot, throws one arm across his eyes, making distressed sounds in his sleep. Or unconsciousness, really it's not like he just decided to take a nap in the middle of a fight.

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Leikr crouches on the ground, one hand over his mouth and nose. The only thing left protecting him from the intensity of the fire all around him is his personal shield. His men can no longer be heard. The body of light walks forward, parting the fire, until Leikr looks up to find it standing directly in front of him. It reaches out with one arm to touch him, brightness intensifying until nothing can be seen past it.

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Leikr jerks upright in bed with a harsh cry. For a moment it seems the memory of his capture still has him in its grip before he looks around at the cell and then wipes one hand across his face.

LEIKR:

(Sounding shaken.)

Ay, dios. (Oh, god.)

Leikr looks around the cell once more and then swings his feet over the edge of the cot and stands, spinning in place as he attempts to orient himself.

LEIKR:

(Quietly, to himself.)

¿Dónde estoy? (Where am I?)

Leikr looks down at himself, hands going automatically to his belt. His gun has been taken, but his flute has been left with him. He looks momentarily relieved before looking back up towards the window. He steps forward and jumps up on the cot, grips the bars on the windows in both hands and peers out.

CUT TO:

EXT. Y'ROST CIET CITY, DAY

The city, the Antysurians last stronghold, is centered around a tall, stone castle, with spires and all other manner of castle-y things (castle-y? Really?). People mill about outside, in the marketplace, most looking thin and haggard, some ill, some weak. There are guards on the streets, a containment shield arcs overhead and, basically, there's no way Leikr's would make it through all that unnoticed and alive, even if he did make it through the maze of the castle and all the other guards therein.

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Leikr, in his cell, curses to himself. He pushes back away from the bars, steps down off the bed, looks around the cell once more and then drops down to sit on the bed. He sets his elbows on his knees and drops his head into his hands.

LEIKR:

(Quietly, to himself.)

Ay, mierda. (Oh, shit.)

Suddenly footsteps sound from out in the hall and the echo of guards stomping about in chain mail can be heard. Leikr looks up at the heavy sound of a key turning in an old-fashioned lock and the door of the cell swings open. Leikr scrambles up off the bed, and one of his hands goes to his waist, automatically, hovering over the glass flute on his belt.

Two GUARDS enter and step aside to stand on either side of the door. After a moment MIELI enters. He is in his lower form as he steps through the door, but upon seeing Leikr, he begins to change. His normally pale skin turns jet black as if he's been dipped in ink, bright points of lights form on his skin, like stars in the night sky, and a crown of white horns grows from his head, studded with gems that throw color in the light. His eyes are black, with two points of light where his pupils should be.

Leikr swallows thickly, eyes darting across Mieli's face and up and down his transformed body. As he does, the stars on Mieli's skin begin to grow brighter, looking more and more like the body of light that Leikr faced before he was captured. Or, you know, fainted like a nervous maiden, and then was captured. As Mieli advances on him, Leikr seems to make a split-second decision, pulls the flute from his belt, and brings it to his mouth. He blows one shrill note to start with and the walls and floor shake, stone dust falling from the ceiling.

Once Mieli overbalances and hits his knees, Leikr switches to playing something clear but slow, almost dragging. The guards, who are on their knees, as well, look woozy and confused before they slump sideways and hit the ground, heavily. They have, to all appearances, fallen asleep. Mieli sways in place, looking as if he's about to do the same. His light is dimming and the points of light that are his pupils have gone out entirely. He falls to the floor.

Leikr pulls his flute away from his lips and rushes past Mieli, towards the door. Too soon, as a matter of fact, because before he reaches it, flames leap up across the doorway. Leikr skids to a halt and turns to watch Mieli push himself off the ground. He lifts one hand as Leikr makes to play his flute again. Leikr drops the flute with a yelp as it starts to burn his hand.

MIELI:

(Advancing on him.)

Tupqus oc. (Stop it.) Nihepus visur oc. (I'm not going to hurt you.)

Leikr braces himself by the door and screams. The room tilts sickeningly sideways. Mieli manages to lunge at Leikr and bring him down beneath him, before they both go rolling across the floor and hit the wall. He claps one hand over Leikr's mouth, muffling his screaming. Mieli collapses on top of Leikr, and Leikr goes silent and wide-eyed, as...

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EXT. WOSQUEE CAMP, OAPUS VERN - NIGHT

Mieli, as a child, fully transformed, lifts his hands towards the night sky, so the stars of his skin match those swirling overhead. Beside him stands MARAJHA, swaying slightly in place. She has flowers blooming from her dark skin and a wreath of vines crown her head, legs rooted firmly into the ground as she communes with the planet. They stand in the middle of a wring of WOSQUEE, who would all look right at home in the Deviant Moon tarot deck, honestly. As Mieli tips his head back, a fire bursts up out of the ground in front of him and he smiles as the Wosquee cheer. Then a scream pierces the night.

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INT. POD BAY, HIVE SHIP - NIGHT

Leikr, as a boy, lays on the ground, clutching his mother's clay pendant in his hands. He looks as if he's just lost a fight and badly and equally as if he's been crying for a long time. Beside him sits a SHADOW, its form streaked with color, who raises Leikr's black glass flute to it's lips and starts to play. Colorful lights flash in the air, like fireworks. Leikr sniffles, wetly, turns to lie on his stomach, and bury his face in his arms.

LEIKR:

(Shakily.)

I hate him. I'm - I'm going to kill him.

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EXT. WOSQUEE CAMP - DAY

Mieli, in his mundane form and marginally older, sits in the back of a horse-drawn wagon, looking shocked and numb. A woman wearing a skirt and peasant's blouse puts one arm around his shoulders and cradles him against herself. Mieli takes a deep shuddering breath and starts to make pained, crying noises. Behind them are the body of fallen Wosquee, who clearly have died violent deaths, including Marajha.

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INT. TRAINING ROOM, HIVE SHIP - DAY

DIOSCORUS, fully transformed, skin metal and blades bristling from his joints, turns aside a strike from Leikr with the blade at his wrist, knocking the sword from Leikr's hands, overbalancing him so he lands face-down on the ground and bringing his foot down on Leikr's back when he tries to roll away. MORPHEUS is watching them from a seat at the head of the room.

MORPHEUS.

(Coldly.)

Again.

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EXT. ANTYSURIAN FIELD - DAY

Mieli, this time clearly older, stands at the edge of a field. The crops are dying, even as he watches, going from green and vibrant, to yellow and dry. He drags one hand through his hair, looking weighed down and as if he doesn't know what to do. Behind him stand two COUNCILORS whispering and gesturing at the dying crops. He turns and walks toward them, shaking his head.

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EXT. BATTLEFIELD - DAY

Leikr stands, with his personal shield up and his flute pressed against his lips, in the middle of a pitched battle. As an enemy soldier charges him, an arc of bright light lashes out, knocking his weapon from his hand and throwing him bodily across the field. As Leikr's playing becomes quicker and higher, colored lights begin to flash around him. Suddenly Leikr's lets out one high shrieking note and his fellow soldiers seem to instinctively hit the ground. Those remaining upright must seriously regret it when Leikr closes his eyes, plays one more high note and disappears in the light. There is a side blinding outward explosion of light, and when the brightness fades, the enemy soldiers are gone, leaving only Leikr's comrades-in-arms there, pushing themselves up from the ground. Leikr lets the flute fall from his lips, and then collapses.

CUT TO:

INT. CELL BENEATH Y'ROST CIET - NIGHT

Mieli and Leikr lie on the ground shaking and panting, clinging tightly to one another. As they hold onto each other Leikr's colored lights begin to flash around them, and the stars on Mieli's skin glow brighter and brighter until nothing else can be seen for their shining. There is a pulse of light and sound, then nothing.

FADE
OUT.