lalo, scene three, six pages

[cridecoeur]

Okay, so. Last time I posted about this script I said this scene was weird. I was not kidding. It features: a talking guide dog (who is psychic. that's how she talks. yes.), a singing, dancing tree, and Leikr eating a star. Pretty much in that order. I like it a lot, which should not be a surprise to those of you who know me. ANYWAYS. Scene:


FADE IN

EXT. FOREST IN THE OUTER WORLD - DAY

Leikr is lying on the forest floor, curled on his side. He is still wearing the clothes he fell asleep in. Passed out in. Maidenly fainted in? Whatever: was no longer conscious in. The forest is unnaturally silent. After several seconds, Leikr begins to stir, waking up. Upon opening his eyes, he raises his arm to shield them from the light.

LEIKR: (V.O.)

(Shutting his eyes again against the light, which is notably low.)

Ay, dios... (Oh, god...)

Leikr opens his eyes fully and, wincing, pushes himself up to sitting. He scrubs one hand through his hair and looks around at the forest. Once his location seems to register he jumps up to his feet and turns in place. His movements make no noise, either.

LEIKR: (V.O.)

(Staring around at forest.)

¿Qué... Qué es eso...? (What... What is this?)

Leikr looks up, sweeping his eyes across the forest canopy, and then turns to look once more at the trees around him, before standing in place.

LEIKR: (V.O.)

¿Donde estoy? (Where am I?)

A shadowed animal winds its way through the trees, towards him, low to the ground, twitching its tail back and forth occasionally. Leikr remains utterly unaware oh noes, as the animal comes within lunging distance and stops, bracing itself against the ground. Suddenly it lunges forward, bringing Leikr down beneath it, barking and wagging its tail. Leikr struggles to be released, but before he can even give it a good shot, the dog shoots off from on top of him, jumping about in place a few times, barking and wagging it's tail wildly. It is quiet clearly an Earth dog, an Akita Inu, with a seamy scar running from one ear and down her nose.

CUT TO:

INT. ASUN'S BEDROOM, HIVE SHIP - DAY

ASUN, seventeen, sitting cross-legged on her bed, cradles a toddler Leikr in her arms, holding him against her breast, rocking him gently. There are a few photographs laid out on the bed in front of them. Asun picks one up between her fingers and holds it up so Leikr can see it. Leikr squeals immediately and points, with one chubby finger at the dog standing beside Asun in the picture. Asun smiles, tiredly.

ASUN:

Sí, es mi perro, Yipsi. (Yes, she is my dog, Yipsi.

Asun points to the other people in the picture.

ASUN:

Él es mi padre, y ella es mi madre. Son tus abuelos. You estoy aquí. (He is my father and she is my mother. They are your grandparents. I am here.)

Leikr burbles happily and reaches for the picture with both hands. When Asun lets him have it, he kisses it, stickily. Asun laughs, a bit wetly, and drags the heel of one hand across her eyes.

CUT TO:

EXT. FOREST IN THE OUTER WORLD - DAY

Leikr pushes himself up off the ground and gets his "staring in shock" on.

LEIKR:

(Disbelievingly.)

¿Yipsi? ¿Está aqui? ¿Cómo? (Yipi? You're here? How?)

Yipsi settles for a moment, sitting back on her haunches, and tilting her head at Leikr in that quizzical way dogs have. Her tail wags and she pants, heavily.

YIPSI: (V.O.)

Estoy aqui pero no estoy aqui. (I am here but I am not here.)

Leikr jerks in shock because holy shit, talking dog, right?

LEIKR:

¡Dios mío! (Oh my god.)

YIPSI: (V.O.)

(Ignoring his outburst.)

Nos vemos pronto. (I'll see you soon.) ¡Ahorita, sígame! (Right now, follow me!)

Yipsi darts off into the woods, barking, only to circle back once she sees that Leikr is not following her.

YIPSI: (V.O.)

(Barking, continuously.)

¡Sígame! ¡Sígame! (Follow me! Follow me!)

LEIKR:

(Under his breath.)

¿Que diablos esta pasando aqui? (What the hell is going on here?)

Seeing as Yipsi is his best option for not being forever lost in woods he doesn't recognize, Leikr runs after her. She can be seen darting up ahead between trees, doubling back, occasionally to wait for Leikr to catch up. Hey, he's only got two legs, give him a break. Yipsi's barking is the only thing that can be heard in the forest, everything else is absolutely still and silent, even Leikr's tread on the fallen leaves.

Suddenly the woods start to thin out. A path becomes discernible among them, which is nice because it means Leikr can stop tripping over tree roots, and Yipsi runs full out along it, easily outdistancing Leikr.

LEIKR:

Oy, alto! (Hey, stop!) ¡Espérame! (Wait for me!)

Yipsi does in fact stop, suddenly. Not so much because she listened to Leikr (sorry, Leikr) but because the path has ended, opening up into a clearing, with a tree in the center whose park glitters green in the sun, as if imbedded with thousands of tiny gems. Leikr begins to look confused, beyond just the fact that he's lost in the woods with a talking dog. He rubs one hand across his face.

LEIKR:

(Blinking dazedly.)

Ugh. Que... (What... )

YIPSI: (V.O.)

(Jumping in place again.)

Cantas. Me cantas. (Sing. Sing for me.)

LEIKR:

Yo... Si. (I... Yes.)

Leikr tips his head back and begins to hum, with his eyes closed against the light. He opens them again, blinking, slowly, still looking dazed.

LEIKR:

(Singing.)

Arroz con leche me quiero casar con una señorita de la capital... (Rice pudding, I want to marry a woman from the capital...)

CUT TO:

INT. HIVE SHIP, ASUN'S ROOM - NIGHT

Asun sits, holding a baby Leikr and rocking him, gently, trying to get him to sleep. He is squirming in her arms, restlessly, but stills as she sings more.

ASUN:

(Singing softly.)

...Que sepa coser, que sepa contar, que sepa abrir la puerta para ir a jugar... (...Who knows how to sew, who knows how to count, who knows knows how to open the door to go play...)

CUT TO:

EXT. FOREST IN THE OUTER WORLD - DAY

Leikr continues to sing and as he does the wind begins to pick up around him. The tree sways steadily from side to side and there is the sudden sound of birds and insects, whose singing and humming seems to rise and fall with his voice. The longer he sings, the more violently the tree rocks, and slowly, a face emerges among the bark.

LEIKR:

(Singing.)

Yo soy la viudita, del barrio del rey. Me quiero casar, y no encuentro con quien: con este, si, con este, no; contigo, mi vida, me casare yo. (I am the widow of the King's district. I want to marry and I don't know with whom. With this, yes, with this, no; with you, my life, I'll marry me.)

Once the trees face emerges, she begins to shift all together, limbs looking more like arms, and her smaller branches like fingers. She tears up her own roots, suddenly, to reveal gnarled feet among them. She begins rocking rhythmically, and sings along with Leikr, then going from rocking to spinning slowly in place, dipping her branches towards the ground, then raising them towards the sky again, and bowing her own head down.

HEART TREE:

(Softly.)

Lalo. Bailas, Lalo. (Dance, Lalo.)

Leikr begins to sway in place, as the insects and birds continue to hum and sing, keeping the same tune going that he had been singing before. He begins dancing, haltingly, awkwardly imitating the trees movements.

HEART TREE:

Te amo, Lalo. (I love you, Lalo.)

The tree stops suddenly, standing in place and raises her hands to where her heart would be, were she an actual person, and not, you know, a talking, dancing tree. Jesus, what even is this. She digs the fingers of her branches into her chest(ish) and the bark begins to split open.

While this happens, a shadowy figure begins to wind it's way towards Leikr from out of the forest, appearing and disappearing at intervals. Yipsi howls and jumps in place, then stops and spins around, only to end up watching, tail wagging, as the figure emerges from the trees, revealing Mieli. He comes far enough into the field to stand directly behind Leikr. When Leikr senses him and makes to turn around, Mieli puts his arms around him and holds him in place.

MIELI: (V.O.)

Shh, Lalo. Quedas. Miras. (Shh, Lalo. Stay. Watch.)

Mieli keeps his arms around Leikr as the tree digs her fingers further into her chest until it splits open to reveal a star where her heart should be. Or is. The star is her heart, basically. Yeah. She pulls this little star from her chest and holds it out to Leikr until he takes it up in his hands. He stares at it for a moment, not looking as if he knows what to do, and Mieli leans forward until his lips are right by Leikr's ear.

MIELI:

(Whispering.)

Te lo comes. (You eat it.)

As if in a daze, Leikr brings the star to his lips, then swallows it down. He closes his eyes and tips his head back, then looks back and the tree and opens his eyes, to reveal them shining from within. The tree puts her hands back over where her heart was, until the wound in her chest knits back together and she begins to fade away, face smoothing out, roots digging back into the ground, and branches becoming simply branches, until she is no longer half-woman, but only a tree glimmering green in the center of a meadow.

MIELI:

(Singing and cradling Leikr against his body.)

Arroz con leche, me quiero casar con una señorita de la capital, que sepa coser, que sepa contar, que sepa abrir la puerta para ir a jugar. You soy la viduita del barrio del rey. Me quire casar y no encuentro con quien, con este, si, con este, no; contigo, mi vida, me casare yo.

The wind dies down slowly and the birds and insects go silent, until all that can be heard is Leikr and Mieli breathing together.

MIELI:

(Whispering.)

Me casare yo.

Leikr closes his eyes and leans back against Mieli, bringing his hands up to grip Mieli's arms, until Mieli turns Leikr around in his arms and kisses him.

MIELI:

(Whispering, against Leikr's lips.)

Creces. (Grow.)

Leikr tips his head back again and transforms, slowly, his hair twisting into vines, flowers blooming on his brow, skin glimmering to green bark, and his feet growing like roots into the ground. As he changes, Mieli transforms, skin darkening and stars emerging on his skin. The sky darkens with him and twin moons appear overhead as the stars begin to shine. Mieli glows brighter and brighter until nothing else can be seen for it.

MIELI: (V.O.)

Despierta, Lalo. (Wake up, Lalo.)

FADE OUT.

I am writing this surprisingly linearly, considering I usually hate doing that. Script Frenzy/extensive outlining does that for me? I guess I should say thank you. So thank you things that I have done/am doing! You are helpful.