EXT. FORK OF THE WOODS – EARLY EVENING.
A very high point in the Sporran Woods; a place where two main paths diverge. There is a gigantic sloping DROP-OFF along one side of the forest composed of jagged limestone (obviously too treacherous to traverse on foot).
Marin walks past a series of very large trees; beyond this is the edge of the drop-off, flanked by scraggily trees.
LINK is sitting on a stump near the cliff edge, his back partially turned to Marin. He is WIPING THE BLOOD FROM HIS BLADE with the fringe of his cloak.
Marin CIRCLES Link, hesitant.
MARIN
“Tell me: j— just how did you do all that?”
LINK
“Swordplay’s like anything else: practice makes perfect. It helps a little to be left-handed, too: it’s unexpected—”
Link SHEATHES his now-cleaned sword.
MARIN
“Not that: I don’t mean the fighting—”
Link LOOKS UP at Marin ‘CURTLY’; in the waning afternoon light his REDDENED LEFT EYE is more visible than normal (ie: the ‘heightened effect’ on his eye from earlier has not yet dissipated).
LINK
“What, then?”
MARIN
“H— how do you move the way you do? What you did back there with those men: how did you keep... well, disappearing, and then reappearing—”
LINK
“That’s not what I was doing, Marin. It’s impossible to disappear...”
Marin STARES at Link INCREDULOUSLY.
LINK
“...but it’s— it’s not impossible to play a few tricks on a person’s mind.”
Marin COCKS HER HEAD quizzically.
Link SHAKES HIS HEAD.
LINK
“Never mind. It’s just that, well... sometimes people’s eyes don’t always see everything that’s there. Sometimes they see too much, and sometimes they see way too little...”
Link SMILES and looks at the ground.
LINK
“...and ever since I can remember I’ve always been pretty good at getting people to ‘overlook’ some things that they really need to see. I can’t explain it; I’m just good at getting others to see way too little. That’s all.”
Marin CROSSES HER ARMS.
MARIN
“Hardly got me to ‘overlook’ you. Truth be told you damn-well made me want to shag you like a wolverine, after what you did back there and all.”
Link LOOKS at Marin with SURPRISE, unable to conceal a BLUSH.
MARIN
(smiling)
“We speak quite frankly up in Ainurad, you know.”
LINK
“I’m sure that’s true.”
MARIN
“N’er you worry, though: I know you’ve got your girl to think of. Besides, after how things ended back there you damn-well made me want to spear you like a wolverine, in the end...”
Marin SCOWLS.
LINK
“I take it that’s not another clever euphemism...”
Link SMILES.
LINK
“...knowing you, though, I’d be pretty scared either way.”
Marin is unable to prevent a small, reflexive SNORT of laughter breaking though her stony façade.
LINK
“And, anyway, it helps you to ‘overlook’ the possibility that I’m superhuman, right?”
Link slowly lets his brown cloak SLIP down his back; he is CRADLING A DEEP FLESH WOUND on his right arm. The crossbow bolt from MAN #2’s weapon (pg. _________) is STUCK skirting Link’s arm, partially PIERCING his flesh (ie: NOT cleanly embedded in his arm).
Marin GETS TO HER KNEES.
MARIN
“Ciod? Dè a tha seo?”
LINK
“Yeah: that’s exactly what I was thinking at the time. At least I think it was, anyway...”
MARIN
“You... you were hit?”
Link SMILES self-deprecatingly.
LINK
“Somebody took a shot at me with a crossbow bolt— Marin— aiming for dead-center; of course I was ‘hit’...”
Marin PRODUCES A CLOTH from her rucksack, DABBING at Link’s wound.
MARIN
“Well, I— I just though—”
LINK
“That I was superhuman; I know. Well: now you don’t, do you?”
Marin GRIPS the bolt in Link’s arm.
MARIN
“This is likely to hurt, I would think...”
Link RAISES HIS HEAD, ‘Zen-like’, and closes his eye, drawing a breath.
Marin NOTES Link’s stoicism APPRECIATIVELY; the woman suddenly YANKS the bolt from Link’s arm.
Link EXHALES loudly, but does not scream.
MARIN
“Well: that’s superhuman stoicism on you, at least...”
Marin TURNS AROUND to discard the crossbow bolt and retrieves some HEAVY WOOL cloth from her rucksack.
While Marin’s back is turned Link quickly PUTS ONE FIST in his mouth, BITING DOWN, and bears an extremely TORTURED LOOK on his face.
When Marin LOOKS BACK at Link he has quickly REMOVED THE HAND from his mouth, appearing to be DISINTERESTEDLY INSPECTING HIS FINGERNAILS; he returns Marin’s gaze with a COOL, INDIFFERENT LOOK.
Marin begins TENDING to the wound on Link’s arm.
MARIN
“You shouldn’t have stopped me, you know. You know what their plan was, did you not? They deserved to be laid low—”
LINK
“Maybe they did.”
MARIN
“‘Maybe they did’, he says? If you think they deserved it then why in the world would you—”
LINK
“Deserve’s got nothing to do with it, Marin; it wasn’t worth killing over.”
Marin SCOWLS at Link, SULKING with a POUT; the girl has been TYING OFF a makeshift bandage on Link’s arm. At these words (after a brief pause) she suddenly KNOTS THE BANDAGE down with extreme force; Link’s body BUCKS SLIGHTLY at this treatment (his face remains STOIC, however).
Marin STANDS and turns away from Link.
As soon as Marin turns away Link suddenly MOUTHS A SOUNDLESS SCREAM and GRIPS his wound with his left hand, CRADLING IT gently.
MARIN
“Tell me something, then ‘Squire’ (NOTE: MOCKING INFLECTION) Link...”
Cue a very, very brief GLITCH (less than one-second long): this one is accompanied by one very, very brief and ‘unobtrusive’ squeaking sound. This glitch is a lightning-fast flash of images; the speed of this glitch is such that it could be easily missed by some viewers. Among the very, very few images in this glitch is, at the very end, an EXTREME CLOSE-UP of LINK’S HAND, from above, holding MARIN’S HAND at the WRIST, as if Marin’s body is dangling off something (NOTE: because of the very short length of this glitch all the individual images in it, including the aforementioned one, are not necessarily identifiable by the audience).
MARIN
“...is there anything out there you’d find worth killing over, hmm?”
Link LOOKS UP from his wound with an EMOTIONLESS expression.
Cue another GLITCH, this one boarding on SUBLIMINAL in length and not accompanied by ANY SOUND at all. The only image appearing is the one of LINK HOLDING MARIN’S WRIST, appearing in a FLASH (again: unbelievably fast).
LINK
“If someone’s driven enough, I guess, then they could kill for just about anything, really...”
MARIN
“Are you ‘someone’, or not?”
Link LOOKS BACK DOWN at his wound.
Marin SCOFFS when Link does not answer. She begins WALKING AWAY.
MARIN
(muttering)
“Just what kind of knight is this, then?”
Link LOOKS DOWN, SHAKING HIS HEAD. He WHISPERS when Marin is out of earshot:
LINK
“No knight, here: just an ordinary hero, that’s all...”
EXT. FORK OF THE WOODS – TWILIGHT.
One of the paths leading down along the edge of the precipice. The sun is SETTING on the far horizon.
Link AMBLES along the path slowly. As he walks his cloak CATCHES on a COLORFUL PLANT growing along the trunk of a tree; it is a delicate-looking flower surrounded by ‘CRUEL-LOOKING’ THORNS; on of these thorns has caught in Link’s cloak.
Link EXAMINES the flower curiously; eventually he SLOWLY REMOVES the barbs from his cloak, holding the delicate FLOWER PORTION of the plant (ie: sans the thorns) in his hand.
A FAINT SIGH sounds from the other side of the path; Link SPINS around, ALERT.
MARIN is sitting on the grass by the drop-off, watching the sunset. Far away, in the distance, the OCEAN is barely visible.
MARIN
“They tell a story in the mountains— they do— about a man who cobbled shoes. He was the best at what he did— crafting superior footwear, so they say— but for all his success he was smitten by the mobys: these pesky little birds that make their nests in the mountain peaks. They could swoop about with such grace! One day the man thought: ‘what good’s a pair of shoes, anyway, if they can’t help a body move with such freedom and grace?’ That day he made a decision: he spent many a year wandering the mountaintops, following the mobys on all their migrations, scouring the land to collect their choicest molted feathers one-by-one, until he had enough to assemble his own special pair of boots...”
Link STANDS BEHIND Marin, looking at the view, and then he looks down at the girl.
MARIN
“They were winged boots, so they say. These boots allowed him to go where he pleased, whenever he pleased and without restriction. He could chase the sun itself around the sky with ne’er a bother or a worry. He could do whatever he wanted; he was free.”
Link SITS DOWN beside Marin as she finishes this last line; Marin LOOKS OVER AT Link, SMILING ruefully. She MOTIONS to the ocean with her head.
MARIN
“When I was a wee little sprout of a thing I liked to pretend that I was a sea bird. They aren’t like the mobys— they’re so radiantly white, captivating enough to a little child, anyway. I’d have dreams about them— still do, at times— flitting about in the sky, moving about with the flock, happy, my wings all bright and shining in the sun, beaming like shards of glass. Maybe in another life I was a sea bird, or maybe in my next life I’ll become one, I don’t know...”
Marin LAUGHS self-deprecatingly.
MARIN
“Childish fancy! Well, with boots I could walk on the water, I suppose...”
LINK
“Is that what you want?”
Marin’s smile WIDENS.
MARIN
“It has its appeal. But I’d settle for bein’ free.”
LINK
“You couldn’t be free in Ainurad, I take it?”
MARIN
“That a question?”
LINK
“If you want. I’d call it an observation...”
Marin BUNCHES UP HER LEGS and STARES INTO HER LAP.
MARIN
“My ‘da— when he passed— he was the last of my kin I could count on. Before that I lost two brothers to the Mountain Forest Sweat during the rainy season. And my ‘ma...”
Marin SHRUGS.
MARIN
“...well, she joined with Farore right after bringing me into this world.”
LINK
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
MARIN
“Well, not a bad way to go, at least: dyin’ to see a new life through. Better than most ways to go, you know. After all, it isn’t effortless, life here...”
Link SMILES faintly.
LINK
“Because it’s a land more savage ‘n tattered than most?”
Marin LOOKS AT LINK; she RECIPROCATES the faint smile.
MARIN
“Yes. But not without its beauty, either: I do so love it here. I suppose I cannot explain such a thing— wild love for such an untamed thing— but—”
Link LOOKS AWAY briefly, NODDING.
LINK
“You can’t explain it, I know...”
Link LOOKS BACK at the woman.
LINK
“It’s just a part of you, and that’s enough.”
MARIN
“I though Ainurad was a part of me, but my clan’s farmland left me along with my father; ‘twas my mother’s brother took me in from there. He kept me on with his family...”
There is a PAUSE. Link finally speaks.
LINK
“Charity, huh?”
MARIN
“And that’s bad enough, right?”
LINK
“You’d think so, I know...”
Marin again LOOKS INTO HER LAP.
MARIN
“It was the eventual payments, though, that made the situation ‘untenable’, so to speak. It’s true what that brigand said back there, you know, that a lass does carry ‘treasure’ wherever she goes...”
Link LOOKS AT Marin with a measure of SURPRISE.
Marin LOOKS UP at the man.
MARIN
“Urooban’s a fresh start for me, Squire Link; they’ve less a head for the soil than we mountain folk. I can make my way honestly there, and without the trappings of ‘charity’ to aid me. Whatever happens— the Golden Goddesses themselves be damned— I won’t live on another’s charity!”
LINK
“It wouldn’t do one, right?”
Marin NODS and LOOKS OUT TO SEA.
MARIN
“You saved my life today.”
LINK
“Maybe just a little.”
MARIN
“I should be grateful; I am, and I shouldn’t have snapped at you back there...”
Marin again LOOKS at Link.
MARIN
“I won’t apologize, though: lucky as I was to run into you, you’re still quite lucky to have run into me.”
Marin NODS at the FLOWER in Link’s hand.
MARIN
“That is a Deacon’s Fie lily, good Squire. Heard of them, have you?”
LINK NODS.
LINK
“Deacon’s Fie? Yeah...”
MARIN
“Barbs’re bad enough, mind you, but the venom’s in the spines. A scratch is a pain ‘n a tingling; a half-dozen knicks are a woozy, light head. A dozen more than that makes a body that’s plum out of its mind...”
LINK
“And a couple of petals mashed up in hot water makes for a wicked good cup of tea, so I hear...”
Marin COCKS a brow.
Link SMILES.
LINK
“I don’t know that from experience, mind you...”
MARIN
“You will if you go down either of those grassland paths you were planning on taking: the Fie grows thick this time of year. It’s all wound tight and bunched-up in dense thickets, like the braids in a lass’s hair. Passable, mind you, with a sword and a strong will about one; you might just clear a path to Urooban before the wintertime, but not much sooner than that...”
Marin LOOKS AT LINK seriously.
MARIN
“I know the way through, though. An’ it isn’t over—”
Marin MOTIONS TO THE DROP-OFF with her head.
MARIN
“—or around, but through. If you trust me, Squire Link, I can get you to Urooban. I can get you well on your way to Faro—”
Marin PAUSES briefly.
MARIN
“Well, to your ‘girl-about-a-girl’, as it were. Sufficient payment, I think, for services rendered. Is it not? The only question is: do you trust me, then?”
LINK
(smiling)
“Never doubt a farmer’s daughter when it comes to the lay of the land. So this ‘through’ you’re talking about: it’s not over, or around, huh?”
Marin SHAKES HER HEAD.
MARIN
“Under. But not now: not this evening. Tomorrow: fresh and bright, as it will not be that way for most of the journey. I believe that the cavern entrance is a rather difficult thing to find anyway, even in broad daylight.”
Link LIES DOWN ON HIS BACK, staring up at the STARS forming in the sky. He SIGHS.
LINK
“Chilly, tonight. Still: it’s not as cold as I thought it would be out here...”
Marin similarly LIES BACK, beside Link, also staring up at the STARS.
MARIN
“We could make a fire— if you like— or maybe it’s the thoughts of your girl that keep you warm. Hmm?”
LINK
“It’s not like that, Marin. She isn’t my girl. She could never be, really...”
MARIN
“You’re her boy, though, are you not?”
Link again SIGHS. He stares up at the stars and does not answer.
MARIN
“However it is, the lass is damned lucky to have you, if I don’t say so myself.”
LINK
“Right now she’s just damned, though.”
There is a LONG PAUSE.
MARIN
“What, cursed, you mean?”
LINK
“Something like that. I don’t know. That’s what I want to talk to Farore about...”
Marin SMILES; she suppresses a small CHORTLE.
MARIN
“A girl worth calling on a Goddess for. That’s something to have, in this world...”
Marin ROLLS ONTO HER SIDE, facing Link.
MARIN
“And a boy up to actually doing it: that’s something more, I suppose. She must really be something, this lass. Tell me about her, huh? If you only think you could, I mean. What’s your girl’s name, Squire Link?”
OVERHEAD SHOT of LINK’S HEAD as he lies in the grass, staring up at the sky.
Cue a THREE-SECOND LONG GLITCH. Most of the images in this glitch are of North Castle and the people within it, including scenes with BAGU, LINK and ZELDA. During this glitch we hear MARIN’S LINE (“What’s your girl’s name, Squire Link?”) ECHOING in the background, and then just a part of that line (“What’s your girl’s name...?”) quickly repeated by the end snipped (“...girl’s name...?”).
INT. CEREMONIAL CHAMBER IN THE GREAT PALACE (INDETERMINATE)
Immediately following the glitch is a brief OVERHEAD SHOT of LINK’S HEAD as he lies on the ceremonial stone table in the Great Palace chamber.
Link’s eyes are OPEN, however Link appears to be in the middle of REM SLEEP; his eyes move in disjointed, unsteady SACCADES and his eyelids FLUTTER.
SLOW ZOOM on LINK’S HEAD: a PURPLE BRUISE suddenly begins welling up along the left side of his head, above his eye. Link reacts by WINCING IN PAIN and CRYING OUT, but he does not appear to fully awaken from his trance.
Cue a TWO-SECOND LONG GLITCH. The images in this glitch involve scenes of Link interacting with either MARIN or ZELDA, all mixed up in a ‘competing’ montage.
INT. GREAT HALL OF NORTH CASTLE – EVENING.
A massive (football field-sized) chamber inside the refurbished heart of North Castle. The ceiling is ridiculously high up and massive columns dominate the hall. Plush purple carpeting weaves paths through the pillars and a central RAISED DAIS sits in the middle of the rectangular room. Upon this dais are TWO THRONES, one of them at dead center and another off to the side; the one to the side is far more slender and less-ornately draped than the one in the center.
At various points throughout the chamber ARMED GUARDS stand, most of them wearing YELLOW CAPES, while those closest to the center of the room wear RED CAPES.
A phalanx of WOMEN IN DARK PURPLE ROBES come milling through the chamber, all of them with their hoods up. The women surround another woman in the center of the group; this woman’s cape is slightly more ORNATE and decorated than the other plain purple robes.
A MAN IN A YELLOW ROBE patrols through part of the chamber, weaving around a darkened area of the room with many columns. He moves past several of these, TURNING HIS HEAD AROUND suspiciously.
The man steps directly in front of a column and PAUSES, looking around. After a moment he CONTINUES MOVING through the hallway.
As soon as he moves away LINK is revealed to be standing directly behind him, clad in a GREEN ROBE and LEANING CASUALLY against the column with his arms crossed. He WATCHES the man move away with DISINTEREST.
Link WATCHES INTENTLY as the phalanx of robed women move through the central part of the hallway in the far distance; the RED-CLOAKED MEN standing at the hall’s center all KNEEL, putting their foreheads to their bent knees, as the WOMAN IN THE ELABORATE ROBE passes them.
A FAINT NOISE sounds from the darkened area Link stands in; Link’s body TENSES as he hears the noise. It is loud enough to attract the attention of several YELLOW-ROBED MEN, who CALL OUT to each other with VARIOUS PHRASES to investigate the sound.
These men RUSH the area; the camera moves past SEVERAL COLUMNS quickly as the men swarm the area. At EVERY OTHER SPACE BETWEEN COLUMNS we see Link standing ALERTLY (ie: having inexplicably ‘hopped’ from space to space, undetected).
At one such space, however, a PURPLE-ROBED FIGURE is revealed to be standing directly behind Link; the camera STOPS at this.
Link GASPS suddenly; a SMALL DAGGER is shown to be pressing up against Link’s back. The purple-robed figure WHISPERS TO LINK.
PRUPLE-ROBED WOMAN
“Isn’t it past bedtime for little squires?”
Link suddenly SMILES.
LINK
“Little girls, too...”
PRUPLE-ROBED WOMAN
“You’re in an awful lot of trouble, do you know that?”
LINK
“Is that right?”
PRUPLE-ROBED WOMAN
(leaning close to Link’s ear, HISSING)
“You’d better believe it.”
LINK
“Well, that makes two of us, I guess...”
A YELLOW-ROBED MAN comes running up through the columns and comes up behind the purple-robed woman, sword drawn.
HYLIAN KNIGHT #1
“You, there: stop!”
The purple-robed woman TURNS AROUND to face the man; Link is revealed to have VANISHED, although the purple-robed woman shows no surprise at this.
HYLIAN KNIGHT #1
“Drop that dagger, you!”
The purple-robed woman DROPS her dagger onto the plush carpet.
SEVERAL OTHER yellow-caped and red-caped men swarm the area. A MAN IN A RED CAPE approaches the woman.
CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD #1
“Off with that hood! You show yourself, now!”
The purple-robed woman slowly REACHES UP and DROPS the hood from her head; the woman is revealed to be PRINCESS ZELDA.
CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD #1 ROLLS HIS HEAD, SIGHING in frustration. The man also ROLLS HIS EYES while he KNEELS, placing his forehead onto his knee.
All the other men do LIKEWISE.
BAGU stands in the lighted area of the chamber.
BAGU
“Now, you weren’t so long in Midoro, were you? Has Her Highness really forgotten the way through her own castle?”
Bagu APPROACHES Zelda, SMILING.
BAGU
“How embarrassing for Her Royal Highness...”
Zelda RECIPROCATES the smile, MOVING TOWARDS Bagu.
ZELDA
“No more embarrassing than the New Hylian Guard capturing their own princess, wouldn’t you say, His Noble Marshal?”
Bagu LOOKS at the men around him, all of whom are still kneeling.
BAGU
“Oh, one of the tasks of our Guard is to be watchful and to confront any and all troublemakers. In that regard, my lady, I think that my men have succeeded most admirably. Wouldn’t you say?”
Zelda’s smile WIDENS; she gives a conciliatory SIDEWAYS NOD.
Bagu again looks at the kneeling men around him.
BAGU
“Knights: to your posts!”
All the men RISE and, cementing their FISTS TO THEIR CHESTS, depart to various places inside the chamber.
Bagu CROOKS HIS ARM out to his side.
BAGU
“Shall I escort our lost lady to her quarters?”
Zelda ACCEPTS the offered arm and the pair MOVE OFF through the chamber.
ZELDA
“Her Highness can find her own way, you know.”
BAGU
“That is debatable, my lady...”
ZELDA
“Her Highness could order you away, could she not?”
BAGU
“True, but for the fact that one follows the orders of His Majesty and not Her Highness...”
ZELDA
“Well, consider the fact that someday Her Highness will be a ‘Her Majesty’.”
BAGU
“And Farore save all Hyrule, then.”
Both Bagu and Zelda exchange SMILES.
ZELDA
“And you are aware that I wasn’t lost, right?”
Bagu SMILES BROADLY.
BAGU
“And you are aware that it wouldn’t be the first time if you were, Highness?”
ZELDA BLUSHES, POUTING.
ZELDA
“That was long enough ago!”
BAGU
“Oh? Was it?”
ZELDA
“A decade, at least! You well know! I was three years removed from my first corset, back then.”
Bagu BLUSHES.
BAGU
“Zelda! For the Goddesses’ sakes!”
Zelda LAUGHS.
ZELDA
“It’s good to know I can still embarrass the Marshal of the Guard. I was afraid I might have lost my touch.”
BAGU
“Afraid that the culture in Midoro might rub off on you? That it might ‘civilize’ you a touch, my lady? My, my, my: such unfounded fears you have...”
Bagu and Zelda reach a NARROW HALLWAY budding off the main great hall; all the purple-robed women from earlier are there, their HOODS DOWN.
One of the women hands Zelda the MORE ELABORATE ROBE, although BAGU respectfully steps between the women and intercepts it.
BAGU
“Tell me: who were you talking to back there? Who was with you in the great hall?”
Zelda COCKS HER HEAD. After a moment she RUFFLES HER LASHES innocently.
ZELDA
“Nobody, naturally.”
Bagu COCKS A BROW suspiciously. He LOOKS AROUND the great hall behind them slowly. Eventually he FACES ZELDA with a GRUDGING SCOWL on his face.
BAGU
“Naturally, Highness...”
Bagu TURNS to the robed women with Zelda. He NODS at them while holding up the ELABORATE ROBE.
BAGU
“And just which one of you ladies happened to be wearing this on the way in, hmm?”
None of the women respond. Zelda SMILES at Bagu while gently GRIPPING at the ROBE in his hands.
ZELDA
“A different nobody, Bagu.”
Bagu ALLOWS Zelda to remove the garment from his hands; he eventually NODS politely.
BAGU
“A pleasant evening, Your Highness.”
Zelda CURTSIES, her smile BROADER.
ZELDA
“And to you, Noble Marshal.”
Bagu WATCHES as Zelda and her attendants move down the hallway. Soon a RED-ROBED MAN approaches Bagu, who TURNS towards him. This man SALUTES Bagu.
CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD #2
“Sir, I checked the barracks for curfew violations, as requested.”
BAGU
“And?”
CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD #2 LOOKS AROUND uncomfortably, eventually LEANING FORWARD.
CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD #2
(whispering)
“And, with due respect, sir: would you like to guess who’s not in their bed, tonight?”
Bagu LOOKS DOWN AT THE GROUND for a moment. Finally he LOOKS UP and begins WALKING OFF.
BAGU
“I’d guess that everything is currently in its place, Captain... for better or for worse, anyway...”
Bagu WALKS BACK through the great hall with CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD #2 following close behind, looking bewildered.
EXT. NORTH CASTLE SPRING – LATE EVENING.
A natural freshwater spring wells up within the refurbished inner portion of North Castle, surrounded by tall, leafy trees and foliage that branch out along the water’s length, stretching out for many acres across the rest of North Castle’s massive sprawl. A two-story stretch of elaborately-carved castle wall is adjacent to this; unlike the crumbling ruins further out along the water this section of the castle is obviously more well-kept and has many lighted windows.
LINK PACES about along the grass below. He stands underneath a set of particularly large ARCHED WINDOWS on the second-story above him. He briefly LOOKS UP a few times.
Link appears IMPATIENT as he paces. Eventually he SHAKES HIS HEAD, looking up one last time before SIGHING. He WHIPSERS to himself as he WALKS OFF.
LINK
“And I’m in trouble? Just who keeps who waiting, huh? Too much to expect from a ‘dignified’ lady of the court...”
Suddenly ZELDA comes crashing down into the grass in front of Link; the woman lands on her hands and knees, clumsily crashing into a small overgrowth of weeds in front of Link and DISAPPEARING inside the foliage.
ZELDA
“Ouch.”
Link SMILES.
LINK
“You know, you did that kind of thing a whole lot better when you were a kid.”
Zelda quickly STANDS UP from the weeds; she is wearing a sleeveless ‘tank top’ and knee-length skirt (all-in-all more ‘casually’ dressed, although she still wears the crown on her head).
Zelda LOOKS DOWN at her legs; she APPROACHES Link with an ‘impish’ expression on her face.
ZELDA
“Skinned knees were less a problem, back then. These days they just don’t do for a ‘dignified’ lady of the court: sticking out beneath a formal skirt.”
Zelda COCKS A BROW.
ZELDA
“Of course, sneaking out for a little moonlight stroll doesn’t do a lady either, I suppose. Do you think I should keep more ‘regular’ hours, Link?”
LINK
“Honestly?”
Zelda NODS.
Link SMIRKS.
LINK
“I think you should get a longer dress.”
Zelda RECIPROCATES the SMIRK.
EXT. NORTH CASTLE SPRING RUINS – LATE EVENING.
A deeper section of the spring lake; this area is surrounded by even more dense foliage and the disjointed ruins of ancient North Castle.
Link and Zelda WALK through the dense foliage along the water, moving side-by-side with Zelda walking closest to the water. LIGHT from small crystals embedded in both the shore of the water and in the ground beneath the water radiates out, illuminating the scene and making the stream exceedingly blue in appearance.
ZELDA
“It’s a strategic location, you know: set right between the southern coast and the Unnamed Mountain Range—”
LINK
“It’s... a swamp.”
ZELDA
“—and they can grow every manner of foodstuff in the sod, there: so many exotic fruits and vegetables—”
LINK
“It’s— it’s a swamp.”
ZELDA
“The people are so very industrious, too. And their culture is very, very—”
Link STANDS IN FRONT OF Zelda; the woman STOPS when he blocks her path.
LINK
“It’s a swamp, Zelda.”
Zelda LOOKS TO ONE SIDE, evasive, before MEETING LINK’S GAZE.
ZELDA
“Yes, it is...”
Link SMILES; he turns and CONTINUES WALKING along the shoreline. Zelda CATCHES UP to him, still walking close to the water.
LINK
“And you were there long enough, weren’t you? What did your father have you doing there, anyway?”
Zelda SHRUGS.
ZELDA
“Getting the lay of the land. Being seen around the towns; playing nice with their leaders. Just fluff: lots of hand-kissing and curtsying, that kind of thing.”
Zelda GLARES at Link critically.
ZELDA
“And yes: it was a long time. After a month I was waiting for a hero to come and rescue me. But, lo and to my surprise, guess who didn’t come over to Midoro with the rest of my honor guard to pick me up. Some hero you are, huh?”
Link SMILES BROADLY and NODS.
LINK
“And that’s why I’m in ‘big trouble’, right? Can’t fault me for that: Bagu wouldn’t let me go to ‘collect’ you. They don’t let heroes ride out on missions like that; only knights.”
ZELDA
“Give it enough time and you’ll be the greatest of all our knights, Link.”
LINK
“Yeah, well: give it enough time and the sun will dry up and die...”
Link LOOKS OVER at Zelda with a conspiratorial glance.
LINK
“...give it enough time and you’ll be a queen, won’t you, Zelda? Makes me wonder though, sometimes, just what exactly you’ll be the queen of...”
Zelda LOOKS AT Link with a surprised expression.
Link LOOKS AT ZELDA.
LINK
“Your father still needs an alliance somewhere, doesn’t he? He’s got a good foothold here on the Old Shores, but it might not be enough to reestablish the Old Kingdom; isn’t that right?”
ZELDA
“He has the New Hylian Guard for that; your swords are all the help we need—”
LINK
“No: you’re not that naïve, Zelda. You’ve always been much smarter than I am, and even I’ve figured out what your father’s going to do to ensure the land’s security. Ten-thousand of our swords aren’t even half as valuable to the kingdom as your hand is...”
Zelda STOPS WALKING; Link does likewise.
LINK
“Is it gonna be Midoro: the royals out there? Is that who you’re being offered up to?”
Zelda first LOOKS AWAY, seemingly ANGRY, but then she FACES LINK, head bowed slightly, and she SHAKES HER HEAD. Zelda MOVES CLOSER TO THE WATER, looking across the glowing spring at VINE-CHOKED RUINS across the water.
ZELDA
“No. Father didn’t let me go when I was of age, you know, and we’re not so willing to enter into that kind of alliance now, either. He wants to tame the Old Shores from here, with North Castle as the center of our power, just like it was back in the days of our distant ancestors.”
Zelda TURNS and faces Link.
ZELDA
“It’s a dynasty we’re after. If that were the case— if we could manage that— then I could stay here in North Castle forever...”
LINK
“I wouldn’t mind that. But he’s keeping his options open with these little ‘diplomatic’ trips, isn’t he? And you? You’re willing to just walk away from here, aren’t you?”
Zelda abruptly TURNS and faces the water again, SEETHING.
ZELDA
“It’s not about me, Link, or my father. We’re servants— I’m a servant— and whatever I can do that’s in the best interest of our people is the only thing that I can do. If there’s a famine tomorrow and people begin to starve what else could I do but present myself to the Royal Family at Midoro? We could easily feed our people off their surplus and keep our population alive, all in exchange for my hand; that’s a very small price, if you ask me—”
LINK
(whispering)
“Oh, I don’t...”
ZELDA
“—and what if there’s a plague tomorrow and people start dying in droves: what else could I do but present myself to the rulers of Odim, and in doing so gain the attention of their alchemists and healers?”
LINK
“You are a person, you know, and not just some ‘commodity’ to be bartered with.”
ZELDA
“I... can’t afford to be a ‘person’, Link...”
Link PACES behind Zelda’s back; eventually he APPROACHES the woman, SMILING faintly.
LINK
“Just what is it they put in the water over in Midoro, huh? Something that can make a girl so depressed and... mopey, huh?”
Zelda ARCHES HER BROW.
ZELDA
“‘Mopey’?”
Zelda also SMILES.
ZELDA
“I’d be depressed if I lived in a giant swamp, too, you know...”
Zelda FACES Link, putting her back to the water.
ZELDA
“You think I’m being too grandiose, huh?”
LINK
“Or too dramatic, at least. Yeah, you’re really overestimating your own importance.”
Zelda CROSSES her arms, smiling impishly.
ZELDA
“Is that so?”
LINK
“Oh, yeah. All these suitors you’re talking about are fighting over a prim and proper princess, you know...”
ZELDA
“Yes?”
LINK
“...and they’re not planning on getting a coltish tomboy with her own brain in her head, not to mention a set of scrapes on her knees...”
Zelda LOOKS DOWN, blushing.
ZELDA
“I am taking myself too seriously, aren’t I?”
Link NODS seriously.
There is a LONG PAUSE.
Zelda LOOKS UP, SMIRKING. She is BLUSHING as well.
ZELDA
“For Farore’s sake: did you really have to compare me to a horse, Link?”
LINK
“If the horseshoe fits...”
Zelda suddenly takes ONE AGGRESSIVE STEP towards Link, who stands his ground despite his surprise. Zelda GLOWERS at Link sinisterly; eventually ZELDA’S SANDAL-CLAD RIGHT FOOT comes up off the ground, briefly, before the girl quickly SCRAPES it across the ground twice, ‘pawing’ delicately at the earth.
Link SMILES broadly.
ZELDA
“I only act like a wild horse, you know...”
LINK
“Is that so?”
ZELDA
“You’re the only one of us that’s the real thing. A real wild beast...”
Zelda LOOKS DOWN.
ZELDA
“...but you’re also right. Maybe I do take myself too seriously. It’s hard not to, though: when I think about our people, and what could happen to them in the future— and how to give them the best possible future— I get overwhelmed. I’m twisted in so many ways! I’d make such a terrible ruler, Link. At least I think I would. With all that staring me in the face it’s hard not to be serious; but I am just a person, too, and I wish I could think of a way to remember that. To cut myself down to size...”
There is a SHORT PAUSE.
Link then SMILES AT ZELDA, warm; he slowly RAISES HIS LEFT ARM and rests his hand on Zelda’s shoulder.
Zelda LOOKS OVER at the hand on her shoulder, and then she LOOKS UP at Link with her own faint SMILE.
Suddenly Link VIOLENTLY SHOVES Zelda backward with his left arm. The girl goes careening directly into the spring lake behind them, SCREAMING, and then SPLASHING into the water and FLAILING AROUND in a shocked, undignified manner.
Link LOOKS UP, SIGHING dramatically as Zelda SPUTTERS in the water.
LINK
(whispering)
“I’m gonna get hell for that...”
Zelda SCREAMS UP at Link while flailing in the water.
ZELDA
“Y— you! You— y— you insane, demented—”
Link PACES along the water’s edge, SMILING bemusedly.
LINK
“‘Wild beast’? Yeah...”
Link KNEELS at the water’s edge.
LINK
“Isn’t it funny, though, just how much a cold dose of spring water can make you feel like a ‘person’?”
Zelda gets to the water’s edge, STARING up at Link with a livid expression.
LINK
“And I thought that horses liked water.”
Zelda continues STARING at Link angrily, but then she begins to SMILE; eventually that grin becomes UNSETTLINGLY POLITE.
Link STANDS.
LINK
“I only thought you needed it, you know...”
ZELDA
“It is enough to clear my head, I think. I certainly feel quite different, now...”
Zelda EXTENDS A HAND out of the water.
Link BENDS OVER and GRIPS her offered hand, ready to pull her out.
LINK
“Like a normal person?”
Link gets Zelda PARTIALLY OUT of the water, with the girl’s foot and knee still in contact with the edge of the waterline.
Zelda’s smile becomes DEEPLY UNPLEASANT.
ZELDA
“No: like a colt.”
Zelda suddenly uses her free hand to ‘DEADLEG’ the back of LINK’S LEG; this causes Link to DROP TO ONE KNEE, GRUNTING, after which Zelda quickly UNDOES the sheath around Link’s waist, causing his BROADSWORD to fall into the grass. She then GRABS the man around the neck with BOTH HANDS; Link’s green cloak flutters off his body and the pair quickly FALL BACK into the water together, DISAPPEARING.
Link emerges from the water, SPUTTERING and FLAILING around, undignified.
Zelda APPEARS soon after this, her head rising elegantly and slowly.
Link STOPS thrashing upon sight of Zelda; the man RECOVERS from the shock of the water and eventually SMILES at the woman, conciliatory.
LINK
“Rather beastly of you...”
ZELDA
“Quite, right?”
The woman FLOATS ON HER BACK, gently propelling herself farther out into the water with a delicate flutter kick.
Link BREAST STROKES out with her.
Eventually Zelda RIGHTS herself and the pair bob in the water, face to face.
Zelda LOOKS DOWN at her reflection in the clear water: a light coating of makeup has run from her cheeks, revealing two sets of very faint ‘TEARSTAIN’ MARKS that run from directly under both her eyes down her cheeks, much like birthmarks.
ZELDA
“You’ve gone and ruined my makeup...”
Zelda gently BRUSHES ONE HAND over one of her MARRED CHEEKS.
ZELDA
“Now look at me. Honestly!”
LINK
“Mmm: this is the only way you ever look even halfway close to decent, Zelda. No trappings, no tricks...”
Zelda SMILES WIDELY.
ZELDA
“I missed you, Link.”
Link RECIPROCATES the smile.
LINK
“Yeah.”
The pair slowly CIRCLES around in the water, facing each other.
ZELDA
“This castle’s always got enough going on to keep you occupied, right? Bagu certainly keeps you busy enough, doesn’t he?”
LINK
“He does. But this castle is a depressing shell of a ruin— no offense, my ‘lady’—”
Link performs and AWKWARD MOCK-BOW in the water.
ZELDA
“You’d be happier out on the plains, wouldn’t you? Running with the other wild horses?”
Zelda CHUCKLES.
Link SMILES.
LINK
“There isn’t much around that can make this castle bearable...”
Link gently PROPELS himself forward in the water, slowly CLOSING THE DISTANCE between himself and Zelda.
LINK
“...and there isn’t much around that can make it beautiful. The Goddesses only know how you manage to do that...”
Zelda STARES AT LINK intently.
LINK
“I missed you, Zelda.”
The pair comes close enough to each other that their noses nearly touch.
ZELDA
“Yeah...”
Link STARES AT ZELDA intently; he continues LEANING FORWARD.
Zelda abruptly TURNS HER HEAD away, looking EVASIVELY to one side.
ZELDA
“It— It’s very late, isn’t it Squire?”
Link BLINKS; he BACKS UP in the water, also LOOKING to one side.
LINK
“Yeah...”
He LOOKS UP at the woman.
LINK
“Yes, it is, Highness...”
Cue ONE-SECOND LONG GLITCH.
EXT. NORTH CASTLE SPRING RUINS – (CONTINUOUS).
Zelda stands in the thick of some foliage beside a ruined wall near the spring. Link’s green cape rests on some of the stones of this ruin. Zelda PUTS ON a sandal and WRINGS water out of her hair. A GLITTERING TRINKET on a tree branch beside her CATCHES her eye; Zelda discovers a SILVER PENDANT hanging on the tree. The pendant is in the shape of THREE INTERLOCKING TRIANGLES (IE: The ‘Triforce’ Symbol).
Zelda is SURPRISED to see this; she LOOKS UP through the dense foliage in a certain direction, SMILING.
Link is SHIRTLESS in another section of the dense foliage, busily WRINGING OUT HIS SOCKS. A SCAR is clearly visible on LINK’S STERNUM; it appears to be the FLAT END OF A SWORD BLADE, as if his flesh were seared over with a red-hot sword at some point (NOTE: This scar effectively BLOTS OUT the café-au-lait birthmark Link previously carried in the previous screenplay “THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: OCARINA OF TIME”).
The bushes RUSTLE behind him; ZELDA calls out from behind the foliage.
ZELDA
“Now, I know you didn’t ‘disappear’ yourself out to Midoro and slog through 100 square acres of swamp water to find this...”
Link SMILES as he puts on his leggings.
LINK
“Not exactly. That’d be just a little too ‘heroic’ of me...”
Link SUDDENLY STANDS and TURNS to face the bushes as Zelda EMERGES; she is wearing his long green cape around her shoulders.
She HOLDS UP the pendant.
LINK
“...but they make silver jewelry well-enough in Urar; when some of your aides came back last week I heard about that, um... little ‘tumble’ of yours...”
Zelda CROSSES HER ARMS, POUTING.
ZELDA
“Riding horses through swampland is not an easy thing!”
LINK
“And you did that a whole lot better when you were a kid, too...”
CAMERA SHOT FROM BEHIND LINK’S BARE BACK, focused mostly on ZELDA; many FRESH WHIP MARKS are visible on Link’s back.
ZELDA
“You and the other squires are being kept on tight leashes, recently; Bagu must’ve given you hell for running off to town like that.”
LINK
“No, he didn’t. Anyway, I’d do almost anything for that smile, there.”
Zelda TOYS with the pendant, SMILING, and moves closer to Link; Link, meanwhile, DRAPES HIS SHIRT over his back, leaving his back mostly covered and his bare chest still mostly uncovered.
ZELDA
“I was very upset when I lost my pendant back there; it was a gift from my mother—”
LINK
“Yeah: I know.”
ZELDA
“—and it should always feel unique to me. It’s one of the best ways I can remember her. But this—”
Zelda again HOLDS UP the silver pendant, ‘WEIGHING’ it in her bouncing hand.
ZELDA
“—this feels just as good to me: the same. I don’t know why that is, but it is.”
Zelda STEPS FORWARD, moving closer to Link; she RESTS A HAND on his chest.
ZELDA
“I guess they’re both so similar to me because they both have the same meaning; almost, anyway. My mother’s pendant was a symbol of how much one person cared for me when back she was alive. This pendant, though, can remind me of how much two people do that...”
ZELDA (very PROPERLY and CHASTELY) KISSES Link’s cheek.
ZELDA
(whispering)
“Some hero you are, huh?”
After the woman PULLS BACK from the kiss Link SMILES MISCHIEVOUSLY.
LINK
“You smell like a wet dog; do you know that?”
ZELDA
“Pots and kettles, Link...”
Suddenly the bushes behind the pair RUSTLE and a figure quickly EMERGES; a sword-wielding man in a yellow cape charges before the pair, SCREAMING as he emerges from the thicket.
HYLIAN KNIGHT #2
“Halt! Who goes, there?”
Link and Zelda take note of the man, with Link TURNING HIS HEAD QUICKLY; his RED LEFT EYE seems to reflect a ‘disproportionate’ amount of moonlight (as if, more than just by a trick of the light, it could be considered GLOWING; this is a SUBTLE effect). Zelda still has one hand on Link’s chest.
The knight, meanwhile, takes note of the mostly bare-chested Link and the princess, who wears his cape.
Both parties STARE AT EACH OTHER, unemotionally, for a very awkward time (NOTE: this PAUSE lasts for nearly eight seconds).
Eventually the knight SWALLOWS uncomfortably and, LOOKING AROUND awkwardly, he POINTS HIS SWORD in some random direction behind him.
HYLIAN KNIGHT #2
“Well, uh... think I hear a noise over there, somewhere. That bears investigating, I should think...”
The man quickly WALKS OFF. He MUTTERS UNDER HIS BREATH as he departs.
HYLIAN KNIGHT #2
(whispering)
“...more than other things, at least...”
Link and Zelda SMILE AT EACH OTHER after this.
EXT. NORTH CASTLE SPRING RUINS – (CONTINUOUS).
BAGU stalks through the foliage by the spring water with two red-caped captains of the guard behind him, both bearing TORCHES; they are followed by two of Zelda’s female, purple-robed attendants.
Bagu PARTS bushes as he walks and quickly comes upon ZELDA, who stands beside a large tree.
BAGU
“The hour is late, is it not, Highness?”
ZELDA
“Late enough, I suppose...”
Bagu WALKS TOWARDS the woman.
BAGU
“They say that Ganon eats little girls who go running off out of their beds after dark. He starts with their toes, so they say, at least.”
Zelda SMILES. She WALKS FORWARD. As she walks we can see Link’s green cape hanging on a tree limb in the background on the other side of the tree from Bagu and his party. Zelda’s body ECLIPSES this as she passes, and when that tree-limb is again visible we see that the cape has VANISHED.
ZELDA
“And what is it they say about superstitious Marshals?”
BAGU
“Oh, we have swords: we don’t bother eating toes...”
Zelda SMILES begrudgingly. Bagu RECIPROCATES.
Bagu MOTIONS to his party with one hand, RESPECTFUL, and Zelda JOINS HIS GROUP as they escort her back through the foliage.
LINK is sitting far away, on the opposite side of the spring from the group where he and Zelda first entered the water, wearing his green cloak, which blends in with the dark green foliage all around him; he is wiping grass stains off his broadsword sheath.
He WATCHES as Bagu, his captains, Zelda and her attendants make their way back in the direction of the refurbished section of North Castle. Link SMILES faintly as the captains’ torchlight disappears into the foliage, eventually RECLINING onto his back; he STARES UP at the stars in the sky and SIGHS.
LINK
“Yup: I’d do almost anything for that smile, there...”
Cue a FIVE-SECOND LONG GLITCH: laced within this glitch are brief snippets of scenes showing Zelda sitting up in her bed, her face appearing GAUNT and UNHEALTHY, appearing to be speaking with and reacting to someone off camera (the speech is echoed and garbled to the point of unintelligibility). This glitch ends with a quick progression of snippets focusing on Zelda’s face, drawing in to her EYES which, when they are in EXTREME CLOSE-UP, LOOK UP at the camera. During this glitch, too, we can hear the faint, echoing phrase “do almost anything...” several times as, each time it’s said, it OVERLAPS on itself, dissolving into a jumbled mess of sound.
INT. CEREMONIAL CHAMBER IN THE GREAT PALACE (INDETERMINATE)
The glitch cuts out immediately to reveal LINK’S EYES in EXTREME CLOSE-UP. Link SPASMS and CRIES OUT in pain; he is doused in sweat and many of the previously dried wounds on his body appear to be once again OOZING BLOOD (NOTE: it is obvious that he is only losing a faint, ‘cosmetic’ amount of blood from these wounds).
Link ARCHES HIS BACK, WINCING, and suddenly ROLLS OFF the stone table, landing in a pile of soggy, soft rubble.
Link GETS TO HIS KNEES and puts his knuckles on the ground in front of him; he quickly SHEDS his undershirt, as if he is too hot, and then BOWS HIS HEAD, staring down and PANTING HARD.
Link’s BREATH, as well as his BODY HEAT, are visible in the chamber as faint trails of STEAM; THUNDERBIRD can be seen flitting about through this steam behind him, very briefly.
Link SITS ON HIS HAUNCHES and CRANES HIS HEAD BACK; while he is in this position a SMALL, BLOODY LINE begins to form over his right chest area, above his nipple and down to near his mid-rib area; this ‘phantom wound’ soon begins LEAKING BLOOD (again: a ‘cosmetic’ amount).
When Link again RETURNS HIS HEAD to level we see that the SMALL BRUISE that has been developing over his RIGHT EYE is growing inexplicably LARGER and more purple in color.
Link CRAWLS to the MASSIVE GOLD-TRIMMED DOOR across from the table; he appears EXHAUSTED. He lies against the door, gently PRESSING HIS BODY up against the base of it; eventually he PUTS ONE EAR to the door.
CAMERA PAN around LINK’S HEAD as he listens at the door. Eventually we see a pile of rubble in the background, upon which MARIN is sitting; CAMERA FOCUS on Marin, who watches Link without speaking.
Link TURNS HIS HEAD; he LOOKS at Marin before again RESTING HIS HEAD against the door, ‘COOLING’ his forehead against the cold gold trim.
LINK
“The door will not open... it’s very quiet...”
Marin WATCHS Link without speaking; the girl eventually LOOKS OVER at the CEREMONIAL TABLE, and then back at Link.
Link NODS.
LINK
“Yeah... I know...”
Link STANDS, with effort, and WALKS back over to the ceremonial table; he once again LIES DOWN on the slab, gingerly RESTING HIS HEAD.
Link CLOSES HIS EYES; he appears CALM for a brief moment before drawing in a SHARP, PAINED BREATH.
Cue ONE-SECOND LONG GLITCH.
INT. FO-Làraich CAVERNS (the ‘coin slot’) – MORNING.
A bleak network of underground passages and tunnels, all leading DOWNHILL beneath the limestone drop-off in the Sporran Woods above. Some rare SPLITS in the cave ceiling far overhead allow faint trails of light in at very irregular intervals. Otherwise the place is almost completely PITCH BLACK.
PAN DOWN from the cracked roof and into the gloom of the cavern. During this slow pan TEXT appears (fade-in) at LOWER CENTER:
“Fo-Láraich Caverns”
This line of text DISAPPEARS (fade-out) within a few seconds.
Link and Marin WALK through a section of cavern with a split along the roof; very faint lines of LIGHT pierce the gloom and barely illuminate their path.
MARIN
“...and— long story short— that is why I was never allowed near that threshing gadget again...”
Link STOPS WALKING; he LOOKS AROUND the gloom, suspicious.
LINK
“...and why your younger brother grew up without eyebrows?”
Link continues LOOKING AROUND; eventually he FACES MARIN.
MARIN
“Well, they did grow back...”
LINK
“Do you really call that a long story made short, Marin?”
MARIN
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
LINK
“Urooban is due east, isn’t it?”
MARIN
(nodding)
“Duly...”
Link FACES FORWARD, MOTIONING with his head.
LINK
“This... is not east.”
MARIN
“It is. At least it is eventually...”
LINK
“As the seagull flies?”
MARIN
“As the snake twists; we’re in the ‘Coin Slot’.”
Marin POINTS OVERHEAD.
MARIN
“That chunk of split earth above us snakes all about this cavern’s length—”
LINK
“Not a very direct route...”
MARIN
“But a lighted one. It is most unwise to step out into the darkness of Fo-Làraich, my good Squire: this is a very treacherous and wet place, after all. Any lights one can strike do not tend to stay lit for long, and travelers left in the dark, well... they’re sure to be found in here still when the world meets its end—”
Link suddenly TAKES MARIN’S HAND and begins LEADING HER into the darkness of the cave.
Marin RESISTS.
MARIN
“Did you not hear what I just said? Without a light—”
LINK
“Forget a light. We don’t need a light.”
MARIN
“But—”
Link TAPS THE LEFT SIDE OF HIS HEAD, near his REDDISH EYE.
LINK
“‘Bright eyes’, remember? We’ll be fine...”
MARIN
“A lass has her doubts. I might question just how in the Goddesses’ holy names you could possibly see—”
Link LOOKS BACK at Marin.
LINK
“No, the only question is: do you trust me?”
Marin LOOKS AWAY for a moment, uncertain, before LETTING UP on her resistance; the pair move through the darkness of the caverns.
LINK
“You should never doubt a member of the New Hylian Guard, ‘lassie’.”
MARIN
“But a loony? Huh?”
INT. FO-Làraich CAVERNS (CENTRAL CHAMBERS) – LATE MORNING.
This section of cavern is almost totally devoid of light; Link and Marin are just barely visible as they walk through the gloom.
MARIN
“This is madness, Squire...”
LINK
“This is east, Marin. Direct, too. Each step we take is a step in the right direction.”
MARIN
(sulking)
“Feels like I’ve stepped one foot in the grave.”
Marin SHIVERS.
MARIN
“And so bloody cold, at that...”
Link, without pausing or turning around, REMOVES the brown cloak from his body and HOLDS IT OUT behind him as he walks.
Marin eventually DETECTS the garment dangling in front of her; she grudgingly TAKES it and wraps it around her body. The woman PANTS as she strives to keep up with Link.
MARIN
(huffing)
“You’re hardly sparing a second, are you?”
LINK
“Well, ‘my girl’ (NOTE: sarcastic inflection on previous) can hardly wait much longer, can she?”
MARIN
“Truthfully, now: can you actually damned well see a damned thing in here? If you’re just weaving some damned story then you truly are putting us both in the grave—”
LINK
(smiling faintly)
“Damning us, you mean? And watch your step, Marin...”
Marin immediately TRIPS over an uneven section of cavern floor; she nearly falls before REGAINING her balance.
MARIN
(sulking)
“Aren’t we a one-man spelunking team, then? Suppose there’s nothing I could do to add to this effort?”
LINK
“There is something you can do for me...”
MARIN
“Mmm? What’s that?”
LINK
“Stop trying to stare at my ass, Marin.”
Marin BUCKS, and then SNARLS; the woman TROTS UP BESIDE Link, walking abreast with him on his RIGHT.
LINK
“I’d stay back, if I were you—”
MARIN
“Your ass is not so attractive a thing that I cannot live without the sight of it, Squire.”
Marin SNICKERS.
MARIN
“Truth be told I’ve seen finer rear ends on chickens in their coops!”
Marin LOOKS AT LINK while she finishes this sentence (“...in their coops!”): when the camera switches to Link we suddenly see a GIGANTIC, GAUNT FACE behind him in the shadowy background (this face is, by itself, easily as large as Link’s body; only about half of it is visible in the shadows). The disembodied face ‘GUMS’ the air, bearing an UNPLEASANT, AMBIGUOUS expression.
As this face is far off to Link’s other side the man appears not to notice. Link LOOKS at Marin (ie: AWAY from the face and towards the camera). He SMIRKS.
LINK
“I think that says more about your own peculiarities than it does about my backside—”
Marin’s LIPS TREMBLE. The woman SKIDS to a stop; Link does LIKEWISE.
MARIN
“L— L— Link!”
Link sounds more SERIOUS, and VERY CALM.
LINK
“Yeah, I know, Marin. You can see some of them, huh?”
MARIN
“S— some of them?”
The GIGANTIC FACE’S one visible eyeball ROTATES unsettlingly; it seems to FOCUS ON LINK, briefly, before the head ‘TURNS’ in the air, apparently DISINTERESTED; it FADES from view as it does so.
MARIN
“What— what?”
LINK
“They won’t hurt you, Marin. Can’t. They probably wouldn’t want to, even if they could. They don’t care about you, or me.”
Link CONTINUES WALKING; Marin quickly FOLLOWS SUIT.
MARIN
“Th— They?”
Link NODS SLOWLY; he LOOKS AT the pitch blackness all around them, purposeful, at times appearing as if he is LOOKING at certain objects in the dark.
Marin LOOKS AROUND as well, but very confusedly; it is clear that she cannot see anything.
LINK
“They’re all around us, here. There’s lots more, too, holed up deeper in the dead-end passages off to either side—”
MARIN
“Who are they?”
LINK
“What are they. Used to be a ‘who’...”
Link SPREADS HIS HANDS to either side; we very briefly see a STRANGE, ‘HUMANOID’ FIGURE lumbering through the shadows far away in the distance (NOTE: think strange, ‘Silent Hill’-type ‘backward-walking’ movement), but it disappears almost instantly, too fast for its features to be discerned (NOTE: Seriously, it disappears VERY FAST).
LINK
“They’re ‘Hill People’. And honestly: they’re no threat to anyone. Not anyone in this lifetime, anyway. We’ve got them on the Old Shores, too, mostly in the Unnamed Mountain Range, places like that.”
MARIN
“‘Hill People’?”
Link NODS.
LINK
“Don’t know exactly why they call them that: they don’t live inside hills so much as mountains, and as for being people, well, that’s debatable...”
Link LOOKS BACK at Marin, noticing the girl’s BEFUDDLEMENT.
LINK
“Look: there must have been a great battle here, right?”
MARIN
“No—”
LINK
“No? Not ever?”
Marin COCKS HER HEAD.
MARIN
“The— the War of the Mourning Mermaid, perhaps...”
LINK
(arching his brow)
“‘The Mourning Mermaid’?”
Marin SHAKES HER HEAD.
MARIN
“It was a statue. There was this spat about an Emperor’s stature that got vandalized— it is a very long and petty story— but eventually the situation got a mite out of control—”
LINK
“A mite?”
MARIN
“Whole of the land eventually got into the fray. Tens of thousands dead, too, by the time the last sword was sheathed—”
LINK
“A fight across the whole of the Threadbare Lands? They fought here, too, didn’t they?”
MARIN
“What? In Fo-Làraich? Nonsense! Only mushrooms and slime mold fight it out in here!”
LINK
“But around here, right?”
MARIN
“The Sporran... yes, it saw some action back then. But that was half-a-dozen generations ago! All those combatants are long since—”
LINK
“No: they never stopped fighting. They just... ‘relocated’.”
Marin LOOKS AT LINK quizzically.
LINK
“You get a thousand bodies together— and all of them with their blood boiling from the heat of battle— strange things can happen. Some of the dead, once cut down, refuse to even acknowledge their own death. To them the only thing that matters is the very last sensation they remember when they were alive: the heat of battle, the terrible thrill of combat. They think they still have a job to do...”
MARIN
“To fight, you mean?”
Link NODS.
LINK
“So they do that. Forever, too. Don’t know why they choose to congregate in caves like they do. Makes sense, though, doesn’t it? Maybe the sunshine reminds them that there’s more to life than their trivial obsessions—”
MARIN
“Or it reminds them that their lives have ended?”
LINK
(shrugging)
“Yeah. So it goes: a body that’s driven enough can turn a blind eye to all the ‘trappings’ of humanity...”
Link eventually TURNS and looks at Marin; he notices the girl’s OBVIOUS UNEASE.
Link LOOKS AHEAD, searching with his eyes until he eventually MOTIONS through the darkness with one hand.
LINK
“C’mon: there’s another lighted path down here.”
Marin SHAKES HER HEAD.
MARIN
“No: I’m fine—”
LINK
“No, you’re not. And if you were you’d be braver than I am; the first time I ever saw Hill People I wet myself...”
MARIN
“Embarrassing, for a Squire.”
Link LOOKS BACK AT MARIN.
LINK
“Not too unpleasant at first: it was a very cold cavern, you see...”
MARIN
“You seem to take to caves rather naturally, though.”
LINK
“Well, you’re never alone when you step into one. I suppose I’m kinda fond of the Hill People, too. I like to think I can identify with them—”
MARIN
“On the basis of your intellects, you mean?”
Link SHAKES HIS HEAD.
LINK
(whispering)
“On the basis of our drives...”
MARIN
“You really can see in the dark, can’t you?”
LINK
(nodding)
“Yeah. Well enough, anyway. Come on: we can leave the dead to the dead, Marin. The two of us are about to do something they can’t do at all, anymore...”
Marin COCKS A BROW.
MARIN
(quizzically mischievous)
“Do tell?”
LINK
“Mmmm.”
Link PATS HIS STOMACH.
LINK
“Time for lunch.”