Killers

This was written as a script (as you will soon see) that was intended to be the basis for a video, and I didn't change the wording or anything, just added italics and stuff to make it look all nifty. Soo...anyway.

Cast

Talon- the guildmaster of assassins in Sanctuary, a secret society of thieves and killers located in an extra-dimensional church adjacent to the city of Mandratha. Talon is a fairly tall albino elf with characteristically large ears. He appears mostly in silhouette, however, from his office in the guild. He is very sneering and pretentious. . . very confident in both his abilities and those of his employees.

Fleece- the anti-hero of our story, a high ranking assassin under Talon’s employment and the only human to ever gain acceptance as an assasin (except Lester, maybe?) into Sanctuary, due to the elves’ haughty nature. He is skilled and confident yet easy going. Actually, killing puts him in a good mood, and he likes to use poison. He is marked by a tell-tale scar running across his nose from cheek to cheek.

Stirge- the unfortunate recipient of Fleece and Talon’s attentions. He recently deserted the guild and made off with an object of some importance to Morachi, Talon’s brother. This has made him the object of some contempt to a guild which rarely forgives those who leaves its walls. Stirge is a human who was employed as a thief under Morachi’s command. He is currently hiding in the outskirts of a ruined city, believing he has escaped the attention and the wrath of the assassins. . . he is wrong. . .

Scene 1

Setting is Talon’s office. He is seated at a desk and is silhouetted from behind by a large cathedral-like window. He is telling Fleece the nature of the hit and various details about Stirge. Occasionally the camera sweeps back in order to catch Fleece, who is seated in front of his desk. Scene is as black and white as possible.

If possible, camera travels down a torchlit hallway. Only muffled voices can be heard. A door appears and opens to the scene- just in time to catch the punchline of a joke.

Fleece: . . . So the chief says "Death by Boola Boola. . ."

Both: Guffaws of laughter.

Talon: (hunched over laughing with face in hands) Goddamn- how do you come up with this shit? (more laughter)

Talon: (shuffling through various papers and scrolls while giggling and wiping eyes) Anyway, Fleece- finally catch up on your sleep? (doesn’t really care).

Fleece: I suppose. . .

Talon bursts into another spurt of laughter before shutting up.

Fleece: Listen, Talon-I could be getting more- can we just get on with this?

Talon: Yea, yea, yea-yank them reins-would’ya. (shuffles and finds what he needs)

Fleece: Any word on Morachi’s mother? (making small talk)

Talon: Well, we know she’s down south with- Here we go! Ok, ok, you remember Stirge, right?

Fleece: The thief?

Talon: Yea, the human we signed on a few months back.

Fleece: Sure, I remember ‘em. Didn’t he resign or something?

Talon: Well, not exactly.

Fleece: I don’t follow.

Talon: He skipped out. . .

Fleece: and. . .

Talon: And he also made off with the last hit that we arranged for ‘em. . ..a slightly valuable item that Morachi’s been trying to get his hands on for years. It’s called the Egg of Corbetton. . .a heavily jeweled artifact forged in the shape of an egg. Go figure. Morachi suspects it to be magical in nature.

Fleece: Well that’s not too bright. . . If Morachi wanted it so bad, why didn’t he go after it himself? He is the so-called King of Thieves you know. . .

Talon: Watch it. . .

Fleece: What?

Talon: Never mind. . .

Fleece: Listen- if you guys are gonna keep hiring these low rent pickpockets and thugs from the backstreets of Mandratha, then you need to stop bitching about their performance. . . they’re only human, you know. . .

Talon: We happen to be very selective, Fleece -even elves make occasional mistakes. (laughter from both.)

Fleece: Yea, well for elves you two sure-

Talon: Can we get on with this?- I mean I hate to interrupt your little elf bashing session but we both have work to do- after you I’ve got to get Luse in here and make his life hell, too.

Fleece: Fine. . .

Talon: What?

Fleece: Nothing. . . So why did we get told that Stirge resigned?

Talon: You think Morachi wants the whole guild to know he got burned by some human? Crow, Fleece- thought you were smarter than that. . .

Fleece: I don’t know why I try. . .(Fleece lights up a black cigarette)

Talon: Listen-this is a delicate operation we’re running , not everything that happens here can be common knowledge. And why do you smoke those nasty ass black cigarettes?

Fleece: Yea, I know the guild’s a complex organization, and I smoke these cigarettes because I happen to like black cigarettes- besides, these things are rare, the company that made them went defunct years ago, I just happen to know a guy who can still get a hold of them. . .

Talon: Yea, well you’re the only one. How did the Southampton hit work out?

Fleece: Crow, Talon- can we get on with this. . .please?

Talon: (perturbed) All right- we want you to track down Stirge-we need the Egg before he learns how to use it. . . and he needs to be excused from life-show no mercy on that poor bastard-Morachi wants it to hurt.

Fleece: Sure. . .

Talon: Is there a problem, Fleece?

Fleece: No.

Talon: Really? - don’t lie to me you little scarfaced bastard. (Lights up a cigarette.)

Fleece: Yes, really-I’m just in a bad mood so leave me alone.

Talon: Fine. Well. Serendeh, our beloved mute mage, managed to locate him this morning-the item he stole disturbs the fabric of magic- so it was a little hard to get ‘em. Once we pinpointed the anomaly it was cake.

Fleece: Where did you get that sword? (pointing to sword on wall.)

Talon: It’s from Nippon- are you listening to me?

Fleece: Yea- you were talking about cake. . .

Talon: Bastard. . .So- you want to know where he is or do you want to spent the next eight years tracking this guy the hard way?

Fleece: I doubt it would take that long. . .knowing that stupid ass he’s probably hiding out in some ruined city. . .

Talon: Actually, he’s on the outskirts of E’nakops, which is a ruined city. If you didn’t know already, its about forty miles south of here. . . I don’t have a clue why he’s not in the next continent by now, he’s had a few weeks. . .

Fleece: If he made it this long he probably thinks he’s safe. . .that makes it more fun. . .

Talon: You’re so Bad Ass- you know it. (very sarcastically)

Fleece: Screw you. . .How am I getting paid for this anyway? If this is a guild hit, that means you aren’t getting paid for it either.

Talon: Don’t worry about that, Morachi will cover it- He pays well for revenge.

Fleece: You want me to leave now?

Talon: After you’ve prepared, of course. . .

Fleece: Gee, thanks. . .’preciate it.

Talon: Did you have anything else to do before you left?

Fleece: Naw, not really-see you sooner than later. Oh, and Talon-This is really starting to sound like a comic book story. . .

Scene 2

Fleece sits in a candle lit room- his dorm at the guild. He smokes, paces, and drinks- in general he prepares himself for the hit. After calming down he begins to slowly get dressed in the trademark black regalia of the assassin’s guild. He checks his weapons, puts on his ankh, and heads for the door. As he wraps things up he answers a knock at his door.

Fleece: Yeah . . .

Lusiphur: Hey, Fleece- Have a good one. . .

Fleece: Thanks, Luse. . .have fun with Talon...

Scene 3

Fleece goes downstairs to the antechamber and lights another black cigarette. There, another silhouetted elf sits on a thronelike chair. This is Serendeh, the mute archmage that teleports the assassins to where they need to go. He will be doing so for Fleece momentarily.

Fleece: O.K. Serendeh-you know the score. Teleport me to that bastard.

The camera moves from Fleece and focuses on Serendeh, who makes a mysterious motion with his hand. This is followed by a bright flash of light from the direction Fleece was standing. When the camera moves in that direction, Fleece is gone.(Cheesy pan effect.)

Scene 4

This scene opens with a wide shot of an old stone bridge. The camera moves in and slowly enters underneath it. It pans around and a flash occurs from the direction it was just facing. The flash gets the camera’s attention. It comes back around and we find Fleece standing there in the shallow creek, leaning up against the wall, finishing that black cigarette he lit previously.

He flicks it into the water, and the camera follows it down. Then Fleece notices something, recent footprints on the walkway near the creekbed. They head off in one direction . . .

Scene 5

Fleece gets to show off his tracking ability through woods and rocks. After a few minutes he sniffs the air- catching the scent of a recent fire. He heads of in that direction. He kneels on top of a cliff and looks down on the scene below. . .

Scene 6

Stirge has been traveling for several weeks. He recently reached this ruined city and is preparing to continue his escape. Apparently, he has met with some trouble along the way, as his left bicep and shoulder are wrapped in bloody bandages. He stokes the fire and lights a smoke from a glowing ember. He shuffles through his knapsack and pulls out a beaten tin cup. He then takes a few steps toward the creek. He sets his cup next to him and reaches toward the water to wash off his face. The camera zooms in and passes over his shoulder to focus on the cliffs behind him.

Scene 7

Fleece has been watching Stirge from above on the cliff. As Stirge occupies himself with grooming, Fleece takes advantage of the distraction to bound down the cliff very skillfully. He comes to rest in a crouch and draws his blade as he views his surroundings (the scene the contest photo shows). He then begins to approach Stirge very slowly.

Scene 8

Stirge finishes dressing his wound and washing his face. He reaches for his cup and dips it into the creek to fill it with water. Fleece is still approaching. . . Stirge glances around and raises the cup to his lips. As he prepares to sip his water, the camera zooms in close as he notices with wide eyed expression the butt of a black cigarette (in this story, Fleece’s trademark) floating in his cup, at which point one of two things immediately happens (depending on editing of film and effectiveness of footage) :

1.) Stirge is violently yanked backward by Fleece, who pulls him to the ground and holds a blade to his throat.
2.) Stirge quickly backpedals and turns toward his weapons. He dives for them and finds a black boot on top of his things. He follows up the leg and finds a smiling Fleece attached to them. (this is the most probable scene)

Stirge: Oh. . .SHIT!!!

Fleece: Yeah. . .

What follows occurs regardless of which option is taken.

Fleece: You know what I’ve come for Stirge. Where is the Egg of Corbetton?

Stirge: (scared shitless) Fleece! Just wait a sec’. I’ve got it.

At this point Stirge reaches into his shirt and produces the mysterious Egg. Fleece makes a motion to reach for it and Stirge smiles. There is a sudden power surge that knocks Fleece off of his feet. Apparently Stirge has learned to use the powers of the Egg (which will depend on the effects we have available.) He reaches for his weapons and advances on Fleece while he is stunned. . .

Scene 9

What follows is a choreographed fight scene between Stirge and Fleece. As both I as well as the actor playing Stirge are expert swordsmen in real life (I’ve been studying and practicing swordplay since I was 13, he since 17) the fight will prove to be entertaining. It includes numerous kicks, shoves, disarms, and throws, with Stirge eventually ending up dead and floating downstream. Fleece approaches the dropped Egg, glances upon it, shakes his head in disbelief (that something so small has been worth so much trouble) and reaches for the ankh at his neck. . .the camera pans around and he is gone. . .

Fin