EPISODE 4 - THE SEAM BETWEEN: Part 2
A vision of the past. Some revealed business.
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continued from last time…
LAUGHING SWORDSMAN
(Pause)
Tell you what - My gut’s sayin’ you’re at the center of somethin’ fun… After I finish my business in this town, I’ll help you with your, (chuckling) ‘plan’.
[They emerge out of an alley on the far side of the street where TRIFOO is,
CHIFFON gasps as she sees him covered in knives,
We hear TRIFOO say “Alteration” again,
Then the fine red thread in front of him snaps in a flash of blinding red tinted light,
We see CHIFFON covering her eyes as the light peaks and then fades.
TRENCHCOAT MAN starts screaming,
We zoom out to see the knives that were in TRIFOO are now all embedded in TRENCHCOAT MAN, as if they were cut/pasted from one man to the other.
TRENCHCOAT MAN falls to the ground, thrashing and wailing.
TRIFOO sits down, breathing heavily, blood from his wounds still trickling. A pool of blood forms beneath him, slowly expanding.
TRIFOO
[looking at TRENCHCOAT MAN, who has fallen still]
To have to invoke Seam for the likes of you…
[looks directly at CHIFFON]
Perhaps there was some truth in what you said. I am not what I once was…
[TRIFOO slumps forward, unconscious]
CUT TO TITLE CARD: TRIFOO THE WANDERING MAGE
[CHIFFON runs to him.
Camera cuts to the dead TRENCHCOAT MAN, a lone crow lands right beside the corpse, bends over, and opens its mouth.
Some kind of strange sparkly fluid gets vacuumed up into it. As it does, the TRENCHCOAT MAN’s trenchcoat seems to lose some “life” – the color dulls, the vibrance fades.
The crow takes flight.
Cut to LAUGHING SWORDSMAN, the only one who saw it happen.]
LAUGHING SWORDSMAN
(chuckling)
Interestinger and interestinger….
[LAUGHING SWORDSMAN meanders toward CHIFFON and TRIFOO.
Fade to black.]
SCENE 3
[Outside, in an ancient looking courtyard. Ivy crawls up the stone walls, a small babbling fountain takes up the center of the space.
We see TRIFOO kneeling on some sort of ceremonial mat. In front of him, sitting on the edge of the fountain is an older gentleman. Attentive watchers will notice it is the same gentleman from the last dream sequence. TRIFOO is wearing a hoodie– but it is beige instead of the jet black shimmering material that we are used to.
OLD MAN
(sternly)
[rolling a smoke that looks just like the ones we’ve seen TRIFOO roll]
This is a very serious undertaking. Once you enter into an Agreement with a being from the Unseen, you are not of this world anymore– You will walk on the border between Seen and Unseen. No place will feel like home.
TRIFOO
[closes eyes in preparation for meditation]
Let’s begin.
OLD MAN
[lights smoke, inhales, then exhales as he speaks. The smoke drifts lazily around him through his words]
I’ll guide you through it, but I cannot help negotiate the terms. You must finalize the Agreement. Where will you seek your first Partner?
TRIFOO
[looks right at OLD MAN, there’s a roguish glint in his eye that is no longer present in the version we know]
(Pause) The Endless Desolation.
[Old man coughs on his smoke, sputtering and choking.]
OLD MAN
(Stern)
Are you insane?! No one has successfully negotiated there. Ever. It’s impossible.
TRIFOO
[devious smile creeps across his lips]
Respectfully sir, I’d like to see for myself.
OLD MAN
(sighs)
You new Order Mages seem like you want to rush to your end as quickly as possible…. As your Mentor my duty is to guide, not instruct. The Book makes that clear. So guide, I will. But I will not mourn your death should things go awry in your recklessness. Do you understand?
TRIFOO
(full on smile)
Let’s get on with it.
[TRIFOO starts awake, bolts upright then winces as the movement reopens some of his wounds.
As he surveys his body, we see he has been bandaged up, but most of the bandages are soaked with blood.
CHIFFON and THE LAUGHING SWORDSMAN are sitting near him around a campfire– they are in the woods. We know not where. Night is falling.]
CHIFFON
(pushing him back down)
Chill out. By some miracle none of the blades pierced your vitals, but you still lost a lot of blood.
THE LAUGHING SWORDSMAN
(chuckling)
If I was a betting woman, I’d say that was no miracle.
CHIFFON
(confused)
What are you saying? He moved to ensure none of his organs were hit?! There are over 70 individual wounds on his body. No one’s reflexes are that good… no one could track.. That’s impossible.
[looks at TRIFOO]
…Right?
TRIFOO
(grunting in pain as he lays back down)
[A shadow of that smile he smiled before the negotiation in his vision dances across his face. There and gone in but a moment.]
TRIFOO
I have found that the word ‘impossible’ is not as absolute as people think.
LAUGHING SWORDSMAN
(Laughing)
HAH! I knew I made the right choice.
CHIFFON
What choice?
LAUGHING SWORDSMAN
(Amiably)
Not to kill him yet.
[LAUGHING SWORDSMAN holds up the little poster she received from the crow that morning with TRIFOO’s face on it. Underneath his face it reads:
“Wanted by the King for crimes against the kingdom of Yeolden - Dead or alive - Reward: 500 gold crowns”]
CHIFFON
So when you said you had business in town….
TRIFOO
[menacing eye contact with LAUGHING SWORDSMAN]
[eye starts to glow red]
Her business was with me.
Episode 5 starts next week!