ARIANNA: An Original Screenplay Read online

  FADE IN.

  EXT. COAST - GREY AFTERNOON

  Ocean waves strike jagged rocks.

  The cold waters rising and breaking with a steady ferocity.

  FEMALE NARRATOR: “Across the endless

  waters there were other lands, other people,

  but to the men, women and children of

  Centuria the great waters that surrounded

  them were not the borders of one land, but

  the borders of the universe.”

  In the sky above we make out two moons.

  CUT TO.

  INT. CAVE - NIGHT

  Campfire.

  FEMALE NARRATOR: “In the beginning

  they were scattered.”

  A tribe of men and women, Caucasian, cook meat and share stories.

  FEMALE NARRATOR (CONT'D): “But as

  generations passed they became one.”

  Cave wall, a child draws a picture of families working the land.

  DISSOLVE TO.

  EXT. FIELD - SUMMER DAY

  Villagers tend to their crops, their clothes and tools reminiscent of a late Iron Age community.

  FEMALE NARRATOR: “They were bonded

  by one truth.”

  EXT. CAPITOL - SUNSET

  Medieval buildings, houses and markets.

  FEMALE NARRATOR: “A belief that

  maintained peace and prosperity for all of

  Centuria.”

  An enormous Royal Palace sits by the coast.

  FEMALE NARRATOR (CONT'D): “That

  all were descendants of the first line.”

  INT. GRAND HALL - PALACE - NIGHT

  Courtesans laugh and dance.

  FEMALE NARRATOR: “All a reflection of

  a greater whole.”

  EXT. COURT YARD - PALACE - NIGHT

  Food is shared.

  FEMALE NARRATOR: “The Great Spirit.”

  A peasant child smiles, pressing his forehead against his father's.

  CUT TO.

  EXT. VILLAGE - WOODLANDS - NIGHT

  A group of men sit around a fire and share a pipe.

  FEMALE NARRATOR: “But in the Southern

  Realm came whispers. Voices that questioned

  all they knew.”

  One of the men blows smoke into the air, the smoke drifting by the moons and stars.

  CUT TO.

  INT. MARKET TOWN - SOUTHERN REALM - MORNING

  A young man, blond and blue eyed like all in the Southern Realm, preaches to a crowd, speaking in a foreign language (Southern).

  YOUNG PREACHER: (subtitled) “We praise

  the Great Spirit! We worship the Great Spirit!

  But why do not truly search for the Great

  Spirit?”

  A old woman in the crowd shakes her head and turns away.

  YOUNG PREACHER (CONT'D): “Consider

  for a moment that HE is not within us but out

  there.”

  He holds his hand to the sky.

  YOUNG PREACHER (CONT'D): “Why are

  we celebrating ourselves when we should be

  celebrating HIM?”

  More people walk away but an equal many remain, nodding their heads in agreement.

  CUT TO.

  INT. TEMPLE - SOUTHERN REALM - NIGHT

  Men and women dressed in black kneel, their heads low.

  FEMALE NARRATOR: “The people of

  Southern Realm began a new form of

  worship.”

  Part of the ceiling is removed, the stars and moons visible above.

  FEMALE NARRATOR (CONT'D): “They

  no longer saw the Great Spirit in the souls

  of their fellow man, nor even in themselves.”

  A priest touches the sides of his forehead and raises his hands to the sky.

  FEMALE NARRATOR (CONT'D): “They

  were all His creation. The creation of Kalaar.”

  CUT TO.

  EXT. MARKET - CAPITOL - DAY

  Followers of Kalaar are confronted by locals.

  The few guards present struggling to maintain order.

  KALAAR FOLLOWER: (accented) “His

  Words have come to us! All must change

  their ways and see His light or be lost for all

  eternity!”

  The people of the North "boo" and jeer, throwing rotten vegetables.

  CUT TO.

  INT. THRONE ROOM - PALACE - DAY

  The King sits, overwhelmed.

  FEMALE NARRATOR: “The Great King,

  descendent of the first line, pleaded for

  unity.”

  A Kalaaron follower kneels before him and offers a scroll.

  FEMALE NARRATOR (CONT'D): “But

  the people of the Southern Realm demanded

  the laws of Kalaar be the laws of all

  Centuria.”

  The King looks down at the scroll and rejects it.

  CUT TO.

  EXT. BATTLEFIELD - BORDER - DUSK

  The soldiers of the Northern Realm, armed with swords and spears, stand ready.

  FEMALE NARRATOR: “Centuria was torn

  apart.”

  Across the border the black clad army of the Southern Realm.

  FEMALE NARRATOR (CONT'D): “What

  followed was a darkness that took the lives

  of thousands.”

  The armies charge at each other, steel into flesh, cheers into cries, blood onto land...

  We pan away to the night sky as the battle rages.

  DISSOLVE TO.

  EXT. VILLAGE HUT - SOUTHERN REALM - NIGHT

  A young women stumbles out her home, crying.

  FEMALE NARRATOR: “An end finally

  came when a new darkness swept the

  Southern Realm.”

  The woman trips and falls, coughing up blood.

  INT. VILLAGE HUT

  Two children, aged 3 and 4, lie dead by the fire.

  FEMALE NARRATOR: “Disease.”

  CUT TO.

  INT. ROYAL COURT - PALACE - DAY

  A new King listens to his advisers.

  FEMALE NARRATOR: “Centuria reached

  out to their fallen brothers.”

  EXT. BATTLEFIELD - BORDER - EVENING

  Emissaries ride off into the Southern Realm.

  FEMALE NARRATOR: “But all who crossed

  the border never returned.”

  CUT TO.

  EXT. MARKET TOWN - SOUTHERN REALM - NIGHT

  A rat scurries past a dead body.

  The entire town deserted.

  FEMALE NARRATOR: “To the people of

  the north the silence of the south was the

  silence of a grave.”

  CUT TO.

  EXT. BATTLEFIELD - BORDER - EVENING

  Fences are erected, the Centurian forces turning away and leaving with a few left behind to stand guard.

  FEMALE NARRATOR: “The Southern

  Realm was soon forgotten.”

  Across the battlefield the bodies of the fallen Southern soldiers are left to the vultures.

  FEMALE NARRATOR (CONT'D): “And

  the people of Kalaar were never seen again.”

  FADE TO BLACK.

  WESTERN PROVINCE, SOUTHERN REALM. FOUR MONTHS AFTER THE ARMISTICE

  FADE IN.

  EXT. FIELD - COAST - NIGHT

  Bare feet stagger across dead soil.

  A SKINNY BOY of 14, dressed in little more than rags, picks around for food.

  He coughs, balancing himself on his staff.

  He staggers to the cliff and looks up at the night sky.

  His face is pale and sunken.

  He lowers his head, turning to leave, but then
stops.

  He notices his shadow stretched out before him.

  He slowly turns around and stops.

  A single star shines brighter than all the others.

  The staff drops from his hands.

  The starlight begins to pulsate.

  Behind him men and women from his village approach, all weak from disease. The weakest amongst them crawling on their hands and knees.

  The boy raises a hand, shielding his eyes as the light intensifies.

  A woman carrying a dead baby shakes her head, tears in her eyes.

  An older woman besides her also begins to cry.

  CRYING WOMAN: Great Father...

  An old man drops to his knees and weeps like a child.

  WEEPING MAN: (subtitled) He has not

  forsaken us... He has not forsaken us....

  All of the villagers are now on their knees, touching the sides of their foreheads and raising their hands to the light.

  CRYING WOMAN: Praise Kalaar!

  The light spreads, slowly consuming the dying people.

  The boy closes his eyes and smiles.

  FADE TO WHITE.

  FADE IN.

  EXT. OUTSKIRTS OF WOODS - SUNSET

  Wild flowers.

  A 9 year old girl stands alone.

  She reaches down and picks out of the flowers, holding the white petals to her nose.

  A shadow passes from the side.

  The girl, NAIYOO, turns her head and sees a woman in her mid 20s approach.

  Both have the same pale blonde hair and fair blue eyes.

  NIMUE smiles, gesturing with her hands as she talks.

  NIMUE: (subtitled) Sundown is approaching.

  Naiyoo offers her the flower.

  Nimue smiles again, accepting the gift.

  She lifts the deaf/mute child into the air and kisses her cheek.

  NIMUE (CONT'D): Such a kind daughter I

  have.

  She carries her back to their simple wooden shack.

  EASTERN PROVINCE, SOUTHERN REALM.

  1 YEAR LATER

  CUT TO.

  INT. SHACK - NIGHT

  A small fire burns. Nimue tucks Naiyoo into their small bed.

  NIMUE: A man came through Shihana this

  morning. From the west. He spoke of great

  miracles.

  Naiyoo reads her mother's lips.

  NIMUE (CONT'D): (smiles) It is no longer

  the young that are being spared. The

  sickness is leaving us all.

  Nimue stops and looks up at the ceiling, tears forming.

  NIMUE (CONT'D): He heard our prayers.

  Naiyoo touches the sides of her forehead and raises her hands.

  Nimue smiles, kissing her forehead.

  NIMUE (CONT'D): Yes my love. Praise our

  Great Father.

  She tickles the white flower under her nose and gets up.

  NIMUE (CONT'D): Get some sleep.

  Naiyoo rolls onto her side, holding the flower to her lips.

  CUT TO.

  EXT. SHACK - NIGHT

  Nimue takes in the air, resting back against the shack.

  She looks up at the night sky and pauses.

  Glimpsing a tiny object.

  She steps forward, trying to get a better view, but its already lost behind the clouds.

  She pauses again, curious, but then lets it go.

  CUT TO.

  EXT. ROAD - NIGHT

  Horses charge past. The riders cloaked and hooded.

  CUT TO.

  INT. SHACK - LATE NIGHT

  The fire dies down, Naiyoo asleep in her mother's arms.

  Nimue's eyes slowly open.

  The horses can be heard.

  She slowly stands and looks to the window.

  Naiyoo feels her movement and also wakes, rubbing her eyes.

  She turns her head and sees her mother putting out the fire.

  Naiyoo squints her eyes, leaning forward to read her lips.

  NIMUE: (low) Go back to sleep.

  Naiyoo turns to the window.

  Nimue kneels beside her and turns her face away.

  NIMUE (CONT'D): Wait here.

  EXT. SHACK

  Nimue steps out, hugging herself from the cold.

  The riders dismount.

  Nimue holds back by the door and politely bows.

  NIMUE: Good evening my brothers.

  The riders slowly approach, coming into the moonlight.

  Nimue stops.

  They all wear steel masks with thin eye slits.

  INT. SHACK

  Naiyoo slowly looks out the window, her mother's back to her.

  NIMUE (O.S): Shihana is a short distance

  south.

  EXT. SHACK

  She points down the road.

  NIMUE: Just return the way you have come,

  there is a crossing.

  The riders remain silent.

  Nimue steps back, nervous.

  INT. SHACK

  Naiyoo leans forward, unable to read her mother's lips.

  NIMUE (O.S): You must not stay. The

  sickness is here.

  EXT. SHACK

  She bows again and backs away.

  NIMUE: Kalaar be with you.

  INT. SHACK

  Naiyoo climbs down from the window as her mother returns.

  NIMUE: Go back to sleep.

  Nimue turns around and stops.

  Two of the riders have followed her in.

  Naiyoo looks up at her mother, more confused than afraid.

  Nimue looks away, making sure Naiyoo can't read her lips.

  NIMUE (CONT'D): (beat) Do as you wish.

  Just let my child go.

  A third masked rider enters.

  Nimue watches him walk past her and approach the fire.

  NIMUE (CONT'D): What is it you want?

  He fans the flames and waits until the small room is lit up.

  He then turns to Naiyoo.

  The other two riders move in on the little girl

  NIMUE (CONT'D): No no...

  Nimue pushes the riders back and grabs Naiyoo. They're almost out the door when the other two riders block their way.

  NIMUE (CONT'D): NO!

  Naiyoo is ripped from her arms.

  NIMUE (CONT'D): What are you doing??

  She dragged to the far side of the shack while two of the riders lie Naiyoo on the bed, face down.

  NIMUE (CONT'D): Please no!

  One of the riders holds her steady while the other turns her face towards the light of the fire.

  NIMUE (CONT'D): In the name of Kalaar I

  beg you!

  Naiyoo makes eye contact with her mother, tears rolling down her cheek.

  The riders brush back her long hair and use a cloth to clean the left side of her face.

  NIMUE (CONT'D): Do not hurt her! Do not

  hurt my child!

  The rider by the fire takes a satchel from his belt and removes a small needle.

  Naiyoo's eyes widen.

  NIMUE (CONT'D): NO!

  Nimue breaks free from her captors and leaps forward.

  NIMUE (CONT'D): LEAVE MY CHILD

  ALONE!

  She's halfway to her when she stops still.

  Naiyoo freezes.

  Nimue tries to speak but no sound leaves her.

  The rider behind her removes his knife from her back.

  Naiyoo watches as her mother drops to her knees. The masked men already working away on the left side of her face.