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A wanna-be Knight, a curious klutz, and a girl with a dragon begin an epic adventure |
Note : Due to size limitations, this script has been divided into two parts. Likewise, the formatting looks a little awkward on the website. However, the formatting is correct in my version of the script. Note to my readers : This excerpt is taken from a feature length family film I have been working on. It is still a work in progress, although the storyline is complete and the screenplay is at about 90%. I have yet to come up with a suitable name for the film, as well as the Evil Wizard character. So, no, his name isn't actually Evil Wizard, I assure you I can be a little more creative than that. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy reading this delightful little journey to the land of Camelot... EXT - THE WATERING HOLE - DAY Bartleby the Squirrel walks over to the small lake, finding a shady spot to relax and enjoy his acorn. He looks around as he takes a bite. Across the lake, under a small cliff, there is a deer. She’s getting a drink of water. Thinking she heard something, she looks up, her ears perked. She decides she was wrong and goes back to drinking. A few seconds later, a pebble splashes into the water next to her head. She looks up again, startled. ALISTAIR (O.S.) Do you really think you’re any match for the likes of me? Several more pebbles begin to rain down, most landing in the pond, some bouncing off the deer’s head. She gets annoyed. CID (O.S.) Give me your best shot, Knight! ALISTAIR (O.S.) You wouldn’t survive my best shot. CID (O.S.) Try me. ALISTAIR (O.S.) You asked for it! There is a brief moment of silence. The deer finds herself getting curious. CID (O.S.) Wait, hold on. What are you - Cid SCREAMS, and soon comes falling from above, landing in the pond, splashing the deer. In Cid’s hand is a small, wooden battle axe. He looks sheepishly at the angry deer. CID Sorry. She snorts, upset, and runs off. Bartleby is amused. Alistair screams his WAR CRY as he leaps off of the ledge, a wooden sword held above his head in attack position. IMAGINATION Both boys are in full armor, with real weapons. Alistair lands in the pond, bringing his sword down on Cid’s head. Cid blocks the attack with his axe, and the two lock eyes. ALISTAIR Surrender! CID Never. Camelot will be mine! Cid puts a foot in Alistair’s chest and shoves him off. Alistair falls onto the grass. Cid stands up, water pouring out of his armor. Alistair glares at him, embarrassed and angry. ALISTAIR I will never let Camelot fall into the hands of filthy pond scum like you. Cid looks grossed out. CID Pond scum? That’s nasty. Alistair lunges to his feet, swinging his blade. REALITY Several yards from where the boy’s are battling, a girl named MORGAN sits on a boulder, watching. She dresses like a gothic fairy princess, and has a sarcastic, almost menacing look in her eyes. Seated next to her is her pet dragon, STUZZ, who is currently distracted by a passing butterfly. MORGAN Look at those morons Stuzz. Stuzz looks away from the butterfly, turning his attention to the boys. They are battling with their wooden weapons, in regular clothes. MORGAN That is not normal. They watch as Cid takes a swing with his axe, missing and falling to the ground. Morgan rolls her eyes. MORGAN Idiots. IMAGINATION Cid gets to his feet and swings his axe at Alistair’s neck. Alistair ducks and thrusts his sword into Cid’s abdomen. Cid looks at him in disbelief. REALITY Morgan watches Cid hold the sword to his side, pretending he was stabbed. He grunts and stumbles in an overly dramatic display. His feet are getting close to the edge of a hill. ALISTAIR (arms up in victory) The mighty knight of Camelot vanquishes his foe yet again! Cid steps on some loose dirt, his foot slips. He feels himself falling backward, holds his hand out to Alistair. CID Ally, help! Alistair reaches for him, but he’s too slow, and Cid falls backward, down the hill. Cid falls end over end down the hill, grunting as he bounces off a boulder. UP THE HILL Alistair rushes to the hill, nervous, looking for his friend. ALISTAIR Cid! He scans the forest, but the trees are too thick to see anything. DOWN THE HILL Cid is still rolling down the hill, but he soon reaches the end, where he comes to a stop face down in a puddle of mud. He doesn’t move. UP THE HILL Alistair is still scanning, Morgan and Stuzz come up behind him, also concerned. ALISTAIR Cid! Are you okay? There is no response. MORGAN Where did he go? ALISTAIR (irritated) I don’t know. Down there. What kind of stupid question is that? Morgan can’t believe her ears. MORGAN Did you just call me stupid? Alistair snaps his head to look at her, about to say yes. Then he realizes how foolish that would be. ALISTAIR No. I’m saying the question was stupid. MORGAN Yeah? Well I’m not the idiot that knocked his best friend down a hill, am I? (rolls her eyes) I’m not the one that thinks he’s some kind of legendary knight. ALISTAIR I never said I was legendary. (beat) Yet. MORGAN I can’t believe you believe in all that Camelot nonsense. It’s not even a real place. ALISTAIR It is real. And one day I will serve on the Round Table. But right now - He turns his attention back down the hill. ALISTAIR (continuing) I have to go find my friend. DOWN THE HILL Cid stirs, and lifts his face out of the mud. He is in a lot of pain, and it takes him a second to get to his hands and knees. Spitting mud back into the puddle, he wipes it out of his eyes and looks around. He is very disoriented. CID What happened? He looks around at all the trees as he slowly gets to his feet. CID Ally? Alistair? He listens for a response. CID Morgan? Anybody? He looks around, there is no sign of his friends. CID Where are they? He rubs his head as he begins to make his way through the trees. CUT TO: EXT. FOREST - DAY Bartleby is following along the braches, high above Alistair, Morgan and Stuzz, who are searching for Cid. ALISTAIR Just because nobody has seen it doesn’t mean it’s imaginary. MORGAN Well then where is it? ALISTAIR I don’t know! But it’s out there somewhere. Morgan is just teasing him at this point. MORGAN How do you know? He stops, getting upset. ALISTAIR I don’t know. Just drop it. He storms off. Morgan looks back at Stuzz. MORGAN That kid’s weird. Stuzz snorts, nodding. CUT TO: EXT. ELSEWHERE IN THE FOREST - DAY Cid is walking around, exploring the forest. He climbs over a boulder, between a couple of trees, and arrives at a clearing. The is a small cabin there. Cid looks at it curiously. CID That’s strange. He slowly walks up to the cabin, looking around for the owner. He gets to a dusty window and looks inside. THROUGH THE WINDOW The cabin is completely empty. BACK TO SCENE Cid seems confused. CID What? Nobody lives here? He looks around, but there is nothing around to suggest an occupant. He suddenly gets very excited. CID Nobody lives here! He rushes around to the door and opens it. INSIDE THE CABIN Cid walks in, looking around, mouth hanging open. He crosses the living room slowly. CID Wow. He wanders into the bedroom, which is also empty. He walks across the room to a closet door and opens it. Inside the closet there is a LONG, DARK stairway leading deep into the ground. Cid’s eyes widen. CID What is this? He starts down the stairs. He is nervous, but his curiosity is stronger. The further he goes, the darker it gets. Soon he is in complete darkness. There is a sudden CRASH, and the earth SHAKES, as if something very heavy just fell from the sky. Cid puts his hand on the wall for support, scared. There is a second thunderous CRASH. CID Whoa! What’s going on? He listens, and after a moment there are FOOTSTEPS coming from upstairs. Cid looks up at the ceiling, and very nervously starts backing down the stairs, deeper into the darkness. CUT TO: EXT. FOREST - DAY High angle view of the forest, scanning for Cid. Alistair hangs HIGH above the ground, clutching to the top of a very tall tree. He is looking out over the land, and the further he LEANS, the more the tree BENDS. ON THE GROUND Morgan is looking up at him. MORGAN Ally, get down here right now! He’s ignoring her, she is getting angry. A FEW FEET AWAY Stuzz has turned his attention on a WORM that’s inching its way across a leaf. MORGAN (O.S.) Don’t make me come up there! Stuzz licks his lips as he gets ever closer to the Worm. Stuzz’ mouth begins to open. The Worm sees him and SCREAMS in terror, it’s eyes widening. It tries to squirm away. Alistair can be HEARD SCREAMING as Stuzz chomps down on the Worm. Just before he gets it, Alistair falls from above, landing on the dragon. They both go to the ground. The Worm stops running when he sees this and starts laughing. Stuzz sits up, hurt and embarrassed, looking at the ground. Alistair just sits there, pouting angrily and rubbing his head. The Worm is laughing so hard it’s crying. Morgan backhands the Worm and sends it flying into a tree. She rushes to comfort her dragon. MORGAN Oh Stuzzy, are you okay? He looks up at her and nods with a grunt. She kisses his forehead and he cheers right up. She glares at Alistair, who gets defensive. ALISTAIR What? I slipped? She continues to glare. ALISTAIR Hey! I fell out of a tree! I’m hurt too! She continues to glare. Alistair crosses his arms in a huff. ALISTAIR Humph. Stupid dragon. CUT TO: INT. CABIN - DAY Back UPSTAIRS, a SPIDER is walking across the floor. It suddenly looks up in terror and makes a weird little SQUEAK noise as DANTE, a quick, mean, evil looking BAT flies down and eats it. He chews his food as he glides back up through the air, onto the shoulder of the EVIL WIZARD. The Evil Wizard’s tall, thin frame is very snake-like, and his eyes have the look of pure evil and extreme intelligence. As he makes his way across his cabin floor, he gets the feeling he is not alone. His lips curl in anger as he moves toward his secret stairway. He gets to the open closet door. EVIL WIZARD Odd. This door wasn’t open when we left, was it Dante? Dante shakes his head slowly, an evil grin spreading across his face. Evil Wizard gets an evil grin of his own. EVIL WIZARD Good. He walks to the open door. CUT TO: INT. CABIN - BASEMENT - DAY IN THE BROOM CLOSET Cid is crouched in the dark, hiding behind a scattered stack of books. He peeks nervously through a crack in the door, listening as the FOOTSTEPS echoing down the stairwell grow louder. CID (whispering) Alistair, where are you? There is a LOUD SHRIEK, causing Cid to lean up against the wall, frightened. OUTSIDE THE CLOSET The basement is a CREEPY, occult lair, with an altar adorned with skulls. Dante flies though the doorway of the stairwell and swoops around the room, looking for the intruder. The Evil Wizard follows him through the door and stops, his eyes carefully scanning the room. Dante lands on his shoulder. He perks his ear up and listens carefully. EVIL WIZARD Show yourself. INSIDE THE CLOSET Cid remains still, terrified, trying not to even breathe. OUTSIDE THE CLOSET Evil Wizard starts across the room, his eyes still searching. EVIL WIZARD I know you’re here. I can feel your fear. Dante looks around, determined to find the intruder, but it seems like nobody is here. EVIL WIZARD (to Dante) Maybe he’s gone. Dante looks around, angry. EVIL WIZARD I know you’re disappointed. Here. He reaches into his pocket. He pulls a big fat bug out and tosses it across the room. It hits the floor near the closet. Dante gives chase while Evil Wizard grins and watches the door, he knows somebody is in there. INSIDE THE CLOSET The bug runs into the closet, chased by Dante. Cid is terrified to watch the bat fly right in front of him, but Dante doesn’t notice him. Dante tackles the bug and the two roll into a bunch of cans, knocking them over and making a lot of noise. Dante sits up, holding the bug by the neck. He smiles hungrily and opens his mouth, the bug scared to death. Cid closes his eyes. In the darkness, a horrible CRUNCH is heard. OUTSIDE THE CLOSET Evil Wizard is at his altar now, looking through a giant book filled with ancient text and terrifying pictures of demons and skeletons. Dante walks out of the closet, happy and rubbing his fat belly. He halfway walks, halfway flies over to his master, then flies up, perching on the edge of the book. He looks down at the pages, and although he has no idea how to read, but he can tell it’s evil, and he smiles. Behind them, across the room, the closet door moves a little. Dante doesn’t notice, but Evil Wizard does, and a smile spreads across his face. Cid crawls out of the closet, staying low and desperately trying not to get caught. He keeps his eyes on the man. He stops quickly, his pant leg caught. He turns to look and sees it’s stuck to a horn coming off of the face of a monster carved onto the leg of a table. He kicks his foot to get loose and turns to continue. Dante is right in his face, and he lets out an awful SHRIEK. Cid SCREAMS and jumps up, his flailing arm knocking a bunch of stuff off of the shelves. CID Get away! He swings his arm at Dante, but the bat dodges his hands and flies around his head. Cid twists and blocks, trying to swat the bat away. Cid gets all turned around and finds himself face to face with the Evil Wizard. Cid screams. The wizard laughs. CUT TO: EXT. FOREST - DAY The search party is still wandering through the forest. ALISTAIR Cid! MORGAN Cid, where are you? Bartleby is up in the trees, looking around too. POV from something lurking in the trees, slowly moving toward them. ALISTAIR Cid where are you? BACK TO SCENE Alistair turns to Morgan. ALISTAIR Where is he? Morgan looks ahead, lost. MORGAN I don’t know. This forest is huge. POV It’s getting closer. MORGAN Maybe he went home. ALISTAIR You think so? MORGAN (shrugs) Maybe? BACK TO SCENE Ally looks at her, upset she isn’t more certain. He looks around, squinting to see as far as he can. Bartleby, whose gaze begins to wander, sees something that causes his blood to run cold. He can’t take his eyes off it. POV Stuzz sees it too, and he’s frightened. It’s coming closer, and he tries to warn his friends, but all he can manage to do is make these strange gasping sounds. ALISTAIR Yeah, I suppose. BACK TO SCENE Stuzz is desperately trying to warn Morgan about the BONY HAND reaching out to grab her shoulder, but he’s still too frightened. The hand touches her. She turns to see who is touching her, and looks right into the DARK, EMPTY eye sockets of a SKELETON. She SHRIEKS and jumps into Stuzz’ arms. He does his best to look protective, but he’s not a very good actor, and his fear is obvious. Alistair puts himself between his friends and the skeleton, his wooden sword drawn in true hero fashion. Nobody seems to notice that the skeleton is dressed exactly like Cid. ALISTAIR Back off, vile fiend! The skeleton seems amused and confused at the same time. SKELETON (Cid’s voice) Vile fiend? He takes a step toward Alistair, but gets the tip of the sword pointed right at his neck when he does. ALISTAIR I’ll slice your head right off if you take one more step. The skeleton doesn’t seem too scared. MORGAN You are aware that thing’s made out of wood. He shoots her a nasty glare, as if she spoiled some big secret. ALISTAIR Shut up! The skeleton pushes the sword away and steps toward Alistair. SKELETON Ally, knock it off. I have to tell you what I saw! Alistair is suddenly very confused, as are Morgan and Stuzz. Bartleby looks like he figured it out. Morgan slowly walks away from the protective arms of her pet, and approaches the skeleton slowly, cautiously. MORGAN Cid? CID (confused) Yeah, what’s going on? ALISTAIR Cid? What happened to you? CID That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you, but you keep sticking your sword in my face! ALISTAIR Well I’m sorry if I didn’t recognize you but under the circumstances I think it can be forgiven! CID What are you talking about? ALISTAIR What am I talking about? Your flesh is missing! You’re telling me you haven’t noticed? CID My what? Cid nervously lifts a bony hand up in front of his face, and for the first time realizes what’s become of him. INSERT Jeffrey the rabbit is in his rabbit hole, sitting down to a nice, relaxing cup of tea. He’s about to take the first sip when a terrible, blood curdling SCREAM echoes throughout the forest, scaring the bejeezus out of Jeffrey. He jumps out of his seat, his cup of tea flying across the room. BACK TO SCENE Cid is in shock. CID What did he do to me? His friends are staring at him, still unable to believe their eyes. MORGAN Who? ALISTAIR Yeah Cid. Who did this to you? CID I don’t know, some creepy old guy… in the cabin… with a bat… ALISTAIR Where is this man? We’ll hunt him down and make him turn you back to normal. MORGAN Well, not normal, but Cid. CID I don’t know where he is. In a cabin around here, somewhere. I don’t know. Cid looks around, lost. CID I was in the cabin, then I was just… here, in the forest. ALISTAIR Well come on! We’ll find it. Alistair starts walking, trying to get his buddy’s spirits up. ALISTAIR It’s around here somewhere. MORGAN Where? Alistair stops and looks at her, impatient. MORGAN We’ve been searching this forest for hours now. I haven’t seen a cabin. Cid is uncomfortable with the whole idea. CID Don’t worry about it. ALISTAIR We must make him change you back! CID What do you expect to do if we find him, Alistair? Threaten him with your wooden sword? Morgan laughs. MORGAN I know! (making fun of Alistair) Let’s go to Camelot and see if Lancelot can help us! She laughs, as do Cid and Stuzz, but Alistair LOVES the idea, a giant smile on his face. ALISTAIR Of course! That’s brilliant! Morgan gets nervous, regrets saying it already. MORGAN Um, I was joking. Alistair doesn‘t hear her. ALISTAIR Why didn’t I think of it sooner? He scans the forest, wondering which way to go. Morgan turns to Stuzz, scared. MORGAN He does know I’m joking, right? Stuzz shrugs. ALISTAIR So it’s decided! He walks up to Cid, puts his hands on his friend‘s shoulders. ALISTAIR Don’t worry my friend! We’ll have you back to normal in no time! Alistair struts away, confident. Cid looks at Morgan, very nervous. CID You had to go and mention Camelot, didn’t you? He walks away, following Alistair. Morgan looks at her dragon. MORGAN You knew I was joking, right Stuzz? Stuzz nods. She watches the guys walk off. MORGAN Do you really think it exists? DISSOLVE TO: EXT. FOREST - DAY The group is making its way through the forest, Bartleby still following from the branches above. He is leaping from tree to tree, but his attention is too focused on the kids, and he doesn’t notice the branches stopped coming. He freezes in midair, feeling around for a branch, too frightened to look down. Finally he peeks, and shrieks in fear as he suddenly plummets. The kids walk through the last few trees and come to a large clearing. They walk a couple steps away from the trees, looking around. Bartleby falls in the b.g., hitting the ground with a thud. The kids don’t notice. They are on the bank of a pretty wide stream. As Alistair surveys the stream, he spots a bridge about fifty yards away. There is a MAN IN ARMOR sitting on a boulder next to it, and he looks pretty BORED. ALISTAIR Look, we can cross there. Cid looks nervously at Man In Armor. CID I don’t know, Ally. That guy doesn’t look too friendly. Alistair seems confused. ALISTAIR What, him? He double checks, in case he missed something. ALISTAIR Nah, he doesn’t look so tough. Cid looks at Morgan, nervous. She rolls her eyes at him and walks away, followed by Stuzz. Cid looks embarrassed and follows. Bartleby, dizzy and rubbing his head, follows them, stumbling a lot. A MOMENT LATER The Man In Armor rises to his feet as the group approaches. He is a GIANT man, FIVE TIMES the size of Alistair. Alistair doesn’t seem to care, he walks right up to the man and looks him right in the eyes. ALISTAIR (very rudely) You want to step aside, sir? We’re in a hurry. Man in Armor chuckles. Alistair waits, but Man In Armor doesn’t say anything. Alistair looks back at his friends. ALISTAIR Who is this joker? They shrug. ALISTAIR (as he turns back) Look friend - The Man grabs him by the collar and LIFTS him off of the ground, bringing him to eye level. Alistair scowls at him. MAN IN ARMOR Nobody crosses my bridge without paying the toll. ALISTAIR Toll? (he laughs a little) You want me to pay a toll? MAN IN ARMOR If you want to cross my bridge. ALISTAIR Who do you think you are MAN IN ARMOR I think I’m the owner of this bridge. ALISTAIR Well, if you don’t release me soon you’re going to be the owner of a splitting headache as well! The Man In Armor starts to LAUGH, releasing Alistair’s shirt. The boy falls to the ground, landing flat on his backside. Alistair scowls up at the man, ready to teach him a lesson. Cid steps up, upset. CID Hey, man, what’s your problem? The Man In The Armor holds up a sword bigger than the boy, and Cid quickly stands down, running to hide behind Stuzz. The Man flashes an arrogant smile. MAN IN ARMOR It seems to me you’re the one with the problem. Alistair gets back on his feet, and gets right back in the man’s face (or waist, I suppose). ALISTAIR We are on a very important mission! We must get across this bridge. MAN IN ARMOR I’ll tell you what, kid. You beat me in a fair fight, I let you and your friends pass. Alistair grins, pulling his little wooden sword. The Man In The Armor laughs at the sight of it, uncontrollable, hysterical laughter. Morgan puts her face in her hands, embarrassed. MAN IN ARMOR Alright, then. Let’s begin. The Man is trying unsuccessfully to regain his composure. Cid peeks out from behind Stuzz. CID Hey! That’s not a fair fight! MAN IN ARMOR Quiet kid! Cid quickly gets back behind Stuzz. MAN IN ARMOR This is between me and your little friend here. He gives Alistair a rude little push, knocking the kid back a couple steps. Alistair gets right back in the man’s face, showing no fear. Morgan looks impressed. ALISTAIR What’s your name, sir? MAN IN ARMOR Shut your stupid mouth, that’s my name. (beat) Now are we going to fight or not? Alistair sneaks in a quick swing, catching the Man off guard. He hits him right upside the helmet. POV - MAN IN THE ARMOR Everything is VIBRATING, there’s a loud RINGING sound. The VIBRATION slows down, and the double vision goes away, and Alistair is grinning. RETURN TO SCENE The Man In The Armor is very angry. He punches Alistair right in the gut, and the boy falls to his hands and knees. Alistair GASPS, trying to breathe. The Man is LAUGHING hysterically. Stuzz and Cid look terrified, completely useless. Morgan decides she’s had enough. She steps right up to the Man, a dark, eerie glimmer in her eyes. His arrogant smirk fades as she gets closer, as he looks into her eyes, terrified. MORGAN Now you listen to me you overgrown, pathetic pile of rusted tin. She uses Alistair as a stepladder so she could get face to face with the Man. MORGAN Here’s what you’re going to do. She jabs an index finger right into his chest. MORGAN You’re going to apologize to my friend and get out of the way, or else I’m gonna find out if your face is able to squeeze into the business end of my dragon over there! She points at Stuzz to illustrate her point. The dragon seems confused, and looks to Cid for clarification. Cid leans in to whisper something into his ear, something the dragon is not pleased to hear. MAN IN ARMOR (very quickly) You can pass. He steps aside, clearing the way to the bridge. MORGAN (sweetly) Thanks. She hops off of Alistair’s back and skips onto the bridge. The Man extends an arm to Alistair. MAN IN ARMOR Sorry. Alistair looks up at the man in disgust, unwilling to accept his help. He slaps the man’s hand aside, and it hurts a lot. ACROSS THE BRIDGE Alistair, Cid and Stuzz catch up to Morgan several feet later, and the young girl is quite pleased with herself. ALISTAIR You know, I had everything under control back there. MORGAN Yeah, whatever. She flashes a sarcastic grin. MORGAN I just didn’t want to be there all day. ALISTAIR Just stay out of my business next time. He walks ahead, angry. MORGAN You’re welcome! He holds up his hand. Morgan gets a shocked look on her face. Stuzz and Cid are shocked as well, Stuzz quickly covering the boy’s eyes. Alistair walks into the forest. CUT TO: EXT. FOREST - LATER THAT DAY The quartet is traveling through the forest. Bartleby is still following, watching them from the branches above. They are filthy, covered in mud and grime. They look absolutely exhausted, and Morgan has a displeased scowl on her face. MORGAN (muttering) This is ridiculous, the forest is no place for a lady, that’s for sure. My clothes are ruined, my feet are sore, - The boys roll their eyes as she speaks. They’ve obviously been listening to this for a while. MORGAN (continuing) - you guys are really starting to stink and… and… She trails off, her focus now on something else, something shocking. The boys notice she’s distracted, and follow her gaze to something amazing. A huge smile spreads across Alistair’s face. ALISTAIR (in awe) Camelot. Ahead, in a giant clearing in the trees, a giant, majestic castle stands there like it owns the place. Bartleby rubs his eyes in disbelief. Morgan is cynical about it. Cid is just uncomfortable with this whole situation. Stuzz just stares, jaw wide open. CID That could be any castle. ALISTAIR But it’s not. It’s not just any castle. MORGAN Look, I don’t care if it is! I’m cold, I’m wet, and I’m all slimy. All I care about right now is a bath. CID And some food. I’m starving. His friends look at him, confused. ALISTAIR Cid. You don’t even have a stomach. Cid looks down at himself. Apparently, he forgot. CID Oh yeah. Morgan is already halfway through the clearing, walking toward the castle, Stuzz nervously following. He seems to sense something. MORGAN Well let’s go then! The boys head after her. CUT TO: EXT./INT. CAMELOT - SECONDS LATER The castle is absolutely massive. It’s giant stone front is so big, in fact, that they are unable to see the rest of the castle from here. They arrive at the ridiculously tall doors and stare up at them in awe. MORGAN It’s so big. ALISTAIR It’s glorious. Alistair reaches for the door. Cid seems nervous. CID Hold on. I’ve got a really bad feeling. ALISTAIR (dismissive) A bad feeling? Come on. Alistair pulls open the giant door. ALISTAIR This is Camelot, my friend. We are completely safe here… As Ally finishes his sentence, his expression changes to that of disbelief and his voice trails off. Then he stops completely, just staring. His friends come up behind him, sharing his expression. MORGAN What happened here? For the first time we see the inside of the castle, and it is in ruins. It looks as if a massive earthquake struck the castle. Walls have crumbled, stairs have fallen, everything is destroyed. The kids look around the room in shock. ALISTAIR Hello! (beat) Is anybody here? They look around the silent room, waiting to see if he’ll get an answer. He doesn’t. ALISTAIR (very concerned) What’s going on? CID Maybe it’s not Camelot. Maybe it’s just some old, broken castle. ALISTAIR It is Camelot. I can tell. Look around you. It’s just like the legends. I’ll bet you the Round Table is around here somewhere. Alistair starts searching frantically. CID If it is Camelot, than where is everybody? The Knights would never have let this happen. ALISTAIR Don’t you get it? Something is wrong. Something truly terrible has happened here, and I’m afraid Arthur and the Knights are in trouble. GUINEVERE (beautiful, angelic voice, O.S.) It’s true. Alistair whips around to see where it came from, and can’t believe his eyes. GUINEVERE stands atop the broken stairs, her elegant white dress torn, a bleeding wound on her forehead just beneath her crown. Without even realizing it, Alistair has gotten down on one knee, his eyes locked on this woman. MORGAN (nervous) L-Lady Guinevere? GUINEVERE It all happened so fast. Dragons from the north brought evil to our door. There were terrible blasts of fire. Men were getting injured everywhere. Arthur… She drops to the floor, sobbing. Morgan rushes to her side, comforts her while looking to Alistair for a plan. Alistair tries to look tough. ALISTAIR Don’t worry my lady. We’ll rescue them. MORGAN What? CID What! Stuzz makes the sound one would make if they couldn’t talk, but wanted to say “What?”. ALISTAIR Yeah. We can do it. GUINEVERE You are kind, but you don’t know what you’re up against. This man has powerful evil. He will destroy you. ALISTAIR I am not afraid. CID I’m pretty afraid. MORGAN Yeah, I’m not loving this plan either. ALISTAIR It’ll be fine. We’ll have the element of surprise. He’ll never see it coming! GUINEVERE I’m afraid I must agree with your friends. This is far to dangerous. I can’t allow you to do this. CID (thrilled to hear that) You see. We can’t help. Come on Ally. Let’s go back to the village. Let the grown ups know what happened. They’ll be able to help. ALISTAIR They won’t believe us. Nobody believes in Camelot anymore. MORGAN When they see we have a walking, talking skeleton with us, it should be fairly easy to get them to believe anything. Stuzz nods in agreement. Alistair can’t believe his ears. ALISTAIR (mutters in disgust) Cowards. GUINEVERE It is not cowardice to leave the job in the hands of someone more capable. Alistair doesn’t appreciate her choice of words. ALISTAIR Capable? CID Come on Alistair, we have to get home quickly. ALISTAIR (still on Guinevere) Capable? Morgan grabs his arm. MORGAN Let’s go. We need to send help. ALISTAIR (still on Guinevere) I will be a Knight one day. I will show everybody how truly capable I am. He glares at her, determined to prove her wrong. CUT TO: EXT. CAMELOT - DAY Alistair storms through the door, back outside the castle, his friends jogging to keep up. MORGAN She’s right, you know. Alistair stops short and turns, getting right in her face. ALISTAIR She doesn’t know me. She doesn’t know what I can do. MORGAN Yeah well I do, okay. And I’m telling you, she’s right. Cid gets in between his friends before one of them gets hit. CID Come on, Ally. We don’t know who this guy is. At least if we go home we can bring greater numbers. ALISTAIR You’re serious? You want to just go to the village, and hand my glory over to someone else? MORGAN (accusing) Glory? I thought it was for Camelot? ALISTAIR (freaking out) It’s all about Camelot! Don’t you get it? This is my chance. If I rescue the Knights, if I rescue the King! Can you imagine? That’s automatic knighthood. MORGAN You’re nuts. Besides, Guinevere told you to go get help. CID Yeah! You’re on a royal mission. ALISTAIR If I do that, all I get is a pat on the back, maybe a party. MORGAN She forbade you from going! ALISTAIR Oh please, she didn’t mean that! That’s like, a liability thing. Insurance and stuff. Come on, do you really think we have that much time? They are in trouble, and if this guy’s as bad as Guinevere says he is, than they probably don’t have much time. CID And what are we going to do when we find him? Do you think he’s really just going to hand the prisoners over? ALISTAIR No, but… we’ll figure that out later. Right now, we have to find them. Cid gives up. CID Fine. But where do we look? ALISTAIR I don’t know. Alistair looks around the forest, hoping to find a sign or something. Morgan rolls her eyes. MORGAN Okay, look. I think this is a totally stupid idea, okay. Just wanted to let you guys know that. Okay? That said, Guinevere said that ‘Dragons from the north brought evil to our door’. Cid and Alistair exchange confused glances. ALISTAIR (annoyed) What does poetry have to do with anything?” MORGAN ‘From the north’ She looks at them, hoping they will understand. They stare at her blankly. MORGAN ‘Dragons… from… the… north.’ More blank stares. She can’t believe it. Then, at the same time, they both seem to get it. ALISTAIR Oh, the north! CID The north, of course! The boys look at each other, realizing they are both faking it. They look back at Morgan, lost. Fury rises in her eyes. lips curl into a twisted snarl. Stuzz lowers his head, nervous. MORGAN Head north, you idiots! Birds scatter from the trees. The two boys look at her, shocked. CID (wondering what her problem is) You didn’t have to yell. ALISTAIR (snaps) Yeah, what’s the deal? The guys walk away from her, ashamed. She rolls her eyes and glances back at Stuzz, who is cowering behind a tree, peeking out at her. MORGAN (grumpy) Let’s go. She turns back to the boys, who are still walking off, alone. MORGAN You morons are going east! |