This/Survivors song

The /heap contains the snippets. This is all draft.

Part n + 1: Calculate ending

The soft vibrating that you feel in your bones, it is nothing more than the humming air, handsaws twanging, cats purring too many to hear. Do you have a problem with silence?

Notes:

1. Coraline is a librarian.
2. Notes may provide context, but not meaning.
3. A 'universe' is an artificial construct.
4. Coraline Henderson is dead.

Possibility .30

EXT. Midnight

The universe has been destroyed. Only nothing and approximately 3.8 billion sphinxes remain, forming a moon-sized wad around two survivors, BERTRAM and CORALINE, who are nestled in a small pocket in the middle of the lot.

The sphinxes are all purring very loudly, and occasionally rearranging themselves amidst horrible roiling.

One of them drops onto Coraline's head, making her look a bit like Batman.

BERTRAM

Good job.

Coraline glares at him from under the sphinx hat.

BERTRAM

Really, I'm impressed. I did not expect that when we destroyed the entire universe, this would happen.

Part 0: Present introductions

In the year 2028, by the Cerrisian calendar, the crown of Soravia fell, sending the kingdom into chaos and turmoil. As years pass, the ruling Houses struggle for power and influence, making alliances and sending their armies to march and engage in terrible battles. The devastation only spreads, with no end in sight.

But Soravia is large, and many areas remain almost unaffected.

But Soravia is small, and there is no escape within its shores.

Notes:

1. The story is always told from perspective. Translations are built in, even gestures.
2. This was all planned in retrospect.
3. Relative positions are absolute in their primacy.
4. Every word was chosen.
5. Sisu.

Narrow Escape

EXT. Country road; Soravian wilderness - afternoon

A small Finnish woman with light brown hair, Coraline, is fleeing unseen hunters. She's in the autumn woods, leaves blowing down around her. There's a road, though she cannot quite seem to decide whether to avoid it or stick to it. Behind her, the sound of horses and dogs and shouting men gains imminence. Slung across her back is an ornate golden staff with a large, stylised phoenix built into its end, with wings outstretched.

There is another chatter of voices, too, somewhere else, getting louder, but these are unfocused, uninterested, all around.

Everything has failed her. She is desperate, and has little hope, but still she runs, finally making up her mind to stick to the road, sprinting down its dirt pack with everything she has left, breathing hard, in and out, in and out. Every stride jolts through her bones.

She can feel her strength failing, but she tells herself, at each of the road markers, get to the next, get to the next, get to the next.

She doesn't stop.

Even as she unwillingly slows, and the world darkens, she does not stop.

Even as the dogs make the road, even as the horses clatter into hearing, even as the shouts become clear, she does not stop.

EXT. Soravian town - evening

It is earlier, a few days, still autumn. The town is full of soldiers, hanging around the bars, loitering on the streets, tenting on the outskirts. It is not quite an occupation, but almost.

Coraline hurries through, avoiding them but not. She needs a place to stay, food to eat.

She heads into an inn.

INT. Some inn - evening

It's crowded inside, more so than out, and smokey, and noisy.

Coraline heads over to the bar and finds the INNKEEPER.

CORALINE

Hey.

INNKEEPER

Get you something?

CORALINE

Meal and some vodka for the road... and I don't suppose there's any chance of a place to stay?

The innkeeper looks at her, surprised.

INNKEEPER

We're booked, obviously, but... you're travelling alone?

CORALINE

Yeah...

INNKEEPER

Hold on.

(he yells over his shoulder, toward the kitchen)

Gemma!

(he heads back, continuing)

Gemma, got a question...

He shuffles into the back room, leaving Coraline at the bar.

Coraline looks around.

It's mostly soldiers in here, too. Their insignias are one of the noble houses. One of them squeezes past Coraline to talk to another guy at the bar, and she steps aside.

SOLDIER ANDRE

Hey, check this out.

Andre pulls out a small soulstone and sets it on the bar. It's perfectly black.

The other guy, ROB, reaches out to pick it up, but then recoils from the touch.

SOLDIER ROB

Agh, what is that?

SOLDIER ANDRE

Black soulstone. Was talking to the Deathdealer, and he gave it to me. You can use them to detect Carriers even before they turn...

Coraline is holding the soulstone in her hand, staring at it in utter fascination. Her eyes have gone completely black. The voices around her have risen to a roar in her head, drowning everything else out in black, even as the stone forms an impossible brightness in her mind. It's perfect. Safe. Necessary. Needed.

The voices rise to a scream.

The floor drops away beneath her, swirling in green.

A moment later, everything is normal again. Coraline is still holding the stone, her knuckles white. The inn's loudness is nothing more than the chatter of dozens of men all crammed inside one common space. Rob and Andre are staring at her.

Coraline forces herself to drop the stone and flees in utter terror, pushing into the crowd, darting through the tables, out onto the open street. Nobody really tries to stop her, not really knowing what's going on.

The stone bounces off the floor, once, and then stops, sitting still on the ground, gleaming.

SOLDIER ROB

What, does that mean...

Andre leans down and picks up the soulstone.

SOLDIER ANDRE

She was a Carrier. The Death of Souls.

The two soldiers exchange glances and hurry out after her.

The innkeeper comes over a moment later.

INNKEEPER

Yeah, my wife thinks we can...

(he realises Coraline's not there anymore)

Where'd she go?

EXT. Soravian town - night

Coraline walks quickly, trying not to draw attention, but still hurrying as much as she can as she sqiggles down the cluttered streets, holding her staff low, looking around for anything to help, any way out.

She spots some horses, and manages to get over to them without anyone really noticing, and soon she's properly off, keeping the horse at a trot, whispering to it to be calm.

EXT. Clearing - morning

A few days have passed. Coraline is slowing now, letting the horse longer to rest, walking more along with it. She lets it graze now, as she lies down in the grass, staring up into the red-orange trees and bright blue sky above. There has been no sign of pursuit.

Clouds drift across the blue.

The wind shifts. The horse smells something, its nostrils twitching, ears following. Faint sounds drift in from the way they came. Clatter. Barking.

Dogs.

Coraline jumps up quickly, looses the horse, and mounts, hurrying it back into a trot.

She hurries now, pushing the horse harder than before, forcing herself to slow only from time to time, dismounting and walking quickly beside it. They pass through the woods covering good ground, vaguely downhill.

The horse slows further, tensing, no longer getting up to speed as the day goes on, and into the night, and morning.

The first time it trips, she heals it, placing a hand to the hurt leg and letting it mend, even as the voices rise around her.

The second time, she abandons it, continuing only on foot.

EXT. Country road - afternoon

Coraline is about to fall. She has been running too long. The rhythm in her stride is breaking down, her arms and legs no longer rising as they should. She is like the horse, but worse. She has less to trip over, though the road only barely stays beneath her feet as the trees around bounce crazily in her periphery.

The pursuers are all but drowned out by the voices.

It was a good go. A solid fight. She knows this. She accepts it.

She slows.

A young boy, NOLAN (8), steps out into the road ahead. He takes Coraline's arm just as she is about to fall before him, and pulls her to a stop, before pushing her off down a side path.

Then he turns back toward the road, just as the pursuers round the bend, and steps toward them. They slow as they approach.

The dogs avoid Nolan entirely, shying away, stopping. They do not seem to like him at all.

The DEATHDEALER leading the group addresses Nolan.

DEATHDEALER

Where is she?

NOLAN

Who?

DEATHDEALER

The woman.

Nolan stares at the Deathdealer blankly.

DEATHDEALER

Have you seen her?

NOLAN

No.

DEATHDEALER

Nobody has come this way?

NOLAN

You should have sheep. Show me to your sheep.

The Deathdealer reins his horse away, looking down the road.

SOLDIER

What?

NOLAN

Those are sheep dogs.

SOLDIER

Dammit, kid, this is serious!

They hurry on around Nolan, continuing on.

As the clatter and barking dies down again, Nolan turns back down the path to the temple.

INT. Molstead temple - evening

Coraline opens the door slowly, peering inside, then stumbling in as the heavy door closes behind her.

The temple is still, lit dimly with late sunlight trickling in through some of the high windows and candles at the shrines to the many gods around the walls. At the far end, facing the door and the other shrines, is a single large STATUE OF AZORRES, who looks nothing like Ganesha, looking down on the space.

Some offerings are laid out at its base.

CORALINE

(quietly)

Hello?

STATUE OF AZORRES

Welcome, wayfarer, to this house of the gods. You have need of sanctuary, I suspect.

CORALINE

Yes, gods... yes. Are you Ganesha?

STATUE OF AZORRES

You will be safe here. My priests will provide a place to rest.

CORALINE

But the soldiers... they won't give up. They know what I am.

STATUE OF AZORRES

They will not take you from this house.

Two priests, DAVIS and CORMITH, come over and help Coraline toward one of the back doors.

CORMITH

Here, come with us.

DAVIS

We'll keep you hidden until they leave. It'll be fine. I'm Davis, and this is Cormith.

CORALINE

Lyra. Lyra Zidane.

DAVIS

All right, Lyra. You're among friends now.

INT. Molstead temple - night

The main room is empty now, aside from Nolan, who is lingering by one of the shrines, looking strangely at home.

The Deathdealer and some of the soldiers enter the temple. They pass Nolan by, not even noticing him.

DEATHDEALER

(approaching the statue purposefully)

Where is she, statue?

STATUE OF AZORRES

Who, dear Deathdealer?

DEATHDEALER

You know exactly who I mean. We have covered the village. This is the only place she could be. Where is she hiding?

STATUE OF AZORRES

And what do you intend to do should you find her?

DEATHDEALER

You know that too.

STATUE OF AZORRES

And you should know that no aspect of Azorres would ever aid you toward that end.

DEATHDEALER

She is a Carrier of the Death of Souls! She may look like a person now, but she is cursed, and you know what will happen if she goes free and finishes her transformation. That woman will break down into a mindless monster, devouring and destroying all souls in her path, and the curse will only spread.

Surely you must see reason. She must be destroyed, now, before it is too late.

STATUE OF AZORRES

She is under my protection.

DEATHDEALER

(starting toward the back door)

I will find her. I will dismantle you piece by piece if I must.

The statue's voice changes, becoming larger, stranger.

STATUE OF AZORRES

(quietly)

You would threaten a god in his own temple?

NOLAN

I think you should leave now.

The Deathdealer turns to regard Nolan.

NOLAN

(stepping out of the shadows)

Unless you wish to lose both life and soul in one slow, agonising process.

DEATHDEALER

Really?

NOLAN

Do you intend to try me, little man?

The Deathdealer (who is decidedly not little) and soldiers stare at Nolan.

Nolan stares impassively back, not blinking.

DEATHDEALER

You will be witnessed.

NOLAN

Okay.

The Deathdealer nods at the soldiers and they all leave.

Nolan tilts his head slightly.

The Deathdealer draws his sword.

Nolan doesn't move.

STATUE OF AZORRES

Theramon sa Tgomi, stand down. If you will not listen to me, then listen to Kyrule, your own god, who has given me your name as proof. Stand down, and let this matter go. This Carrier you seek does not concern you.

The Deathdealer stops and relaxes, turning to regard the statue in surprise.

DEATHDEALER

I... understand. I will obey.

STATUE OF AZORRES

Tell your men she is dead, the matter handled before you even came. This is over.

The Deathdealer bows shakily and then very hastily leaves.

After, Nolan strolls over to the statue looking almost curious.

NOLAN

Interesting.

STATUE OF AZORRES

Very.

A day in the life

INT. Molstead Inn - morning

Coraline Dreams.

: In the dream, you are running, fleeing. The sky hangs grey and low. The ground is dull and rocky, simply there. The wind is furtive and blustery, coming in wet bursts, whistling in the trees' leaves. It's going to rain.

: A noise trickles out of the wet, a hint of warmth drifting around you. Trolls. They are hunting you. They have always been hunting you, and you don't remember any point in which they haven't been hunting you, and now they are getting closer. Dull leaves shift underfoot, muffling you footfalls, but it doesn't matter.

: You trip. You fall. You are down, underground. A passage, a tall shaft above, open to the sky, shows little light from so far. The first raindrops fall wet and heavy, but only from time to time, only on one side, thrown by the wind above.

: Down here, though, the walls are already wet. Seeping moisture hints at life within the ground, of strangeness, of alien forces silently at work, always changing. You cannot linger. You have to run. So you do, and the walls run with you. You run, and the walls change, widening the corridor, opening out into a grand cavern. Further on, jagged rock gives way to strange formations, pillars and columns, almost too precise, but right here, in front of you, is a car, some ancient Soviet model, poking its hood from the wall. It grins at you, all bumper and headlights, and says, "Whaddya know about that?"

: "I'm sorry," you tell the car, "But I can't stop. I need to keep moving. The moment I stop, everything goes horribly wrong and the trolls find me, so I need to keep moving, okay?"

: "I won't ask him," the car replies, withdrawing back into the wall.

: That's good enough. But then you realise you're stopped.

: The dream falls away.

The inn is a rustic preindustrial affair, wood and stone, with reasonably straight edges. Coraline is sprawled on her bed in a back room. Her hair is a silvery white-blonde now, and considerably longer. A fluffy tortoiseshell cat is on her face.

A bell is mounted on the wall nearby, attached to a contrapture leading back into the main room. A bottle of brandy is on her bedside table. Her phoenix staff is leaning against the wall. Books are piled up on shelves.

The voices are a disorganised chatter, roaring in the background.

Coraline shoves the cat off her head and then sits up, eyeing the cat confusedly.

The cat slides onto another pillow. There are a lot of pillows.

CORALINE

Mwaaagh?

The cat purrs.

CORALINE

Perkele. You're not one of mine. Who the hells are you, cat, and what are you doing in my bed?

The cat doesn't respond.

Coraline gets up and grabs the brandy, drinking some straight out of the bottle, and the voices die down to a murmur. Then she pulls on some proper clothes and heads into the kitchen.

The kitchen is empty, the stove cold.

Coraline grabs a chunk of bread.

CORALINE

Jess? Hello? Anyone here?

Another cat, THIMBLE, is sprawled at the base of the step into the tavern proper looking very angry, and Coraline steps over him without even paying attention.

The tavern proper is completely empty, the floor swept, the tables stacked (aside from one missing a leg and nailed to the ceiling as a rather peculiar hazard). The shutters are open, sunlight streaming in.

Coraline hurries over and closes them, grumbling.

The tortoiseshell pads over and Coraline picks her up and stomps out.

EXT. Molstead - morning

It's a bright summer morning. The sky is mostly clear. Loud birds are everywhere, on the buildings, in the trees, being loud. Some townsfolk are out and about, doing townsfolk things.

Coraline holds up the cat like a sack of potatoes.

CORALINE

(to the cat)

Any of this yours? Hmm?

The cat hangs limply in her hands. This is decidedly un-catlike.

CORALINE

(irritably)

Alternately, do you see Jess anywhere? She should be here by now.

CAT

Who?

Coraline lowers the cat and eyes her suspiciously, but then decides not to press the matter.

EXT. Molstead market square - slightly later morning

The market is a messy combination of open square with stalls and buildings around with shops, with folks pitching and buying and just passing through in a horrible mish-mash. The folks are mostly human, but a few elves and stuff are mixed in.

Coraline is still holding the cat, and now has a small HAMSTERY GUY following her very, very closely repeatedly asking her what day it is. She attempts to ignore him.

HAMSTERY GUY

What day is it?

Coraline now attempts to refrain from punching him in the face with a cat.

The hamstery guy circles around to follow her from the other side, except now he's actually slightly in front of her.

HAMSTERY GUY

What day is it?

A blacksmith, BARNEY, spots Coraline from near the smithy and scoots over, holding a scabbarded sword, just as Coraline is about to shove the cat claws-first into the hamstery guy's face.

BARNEY

(hurrying over)

Lyra! I've got this sword. You know I've got this sword. It's got your name written all over it, and for the absolute steal of a price of five silver it's all yours, all yours!

He holds the sword up in her face.

CORALINE

(pushing the sword away with the cat)

Now, look, I really don't...

She's interrupted by the hamstery guy pushing Barney aside and getting in her face.

HAMSTERY GUY

What day is it?

CAT

(hissing)

The day you die.

The cat slides out of Coraline's hands and settles around her shoulders, instead.

Barney pulls the hamstery guy aside again in order to reclaim his rightful place in Coraline's face. The hamstery guy attempts to retaliate, and Barney elbows him in the throat.

Foiled, the hamstery guy sidles off to bother someone else.

BARNEY

Five silver. Once in a lifetime deal. Just five, and it's all yours!

Coraline glares at him with the full force of Finnish Death.

Barney smiles at her disarmingly.

CORALINE

If I wanted to buy a sword, I would have commissioned one and you know it.

Barney gives her his best crestfallen look. Coraline continues to glare at him.

The cat watches curiously from Coraline's shoulders.

BARNEY

(breaking into a wide smile)

Fine, take it as a gift, then. Made for you, perfectly balanced, utter steal!

Barney bustles around her and fastens the sword to her belt, then hops back and nods.

Coraline continues to glare at where he was for a moment, and then just looks confused.

CORALINE

What?

BARNEY

Aye, yes, that's the look. Utterly dashing, the lady wizard.

Before Coraline can respond, Barney backs away entirely with a weird swagger, not unlike that of a used car salesman, still nodding, and retreats back into a bunch of passersby.

CORALINE

What... just happened?

Her hand falls to the sword, which has somehow been added very neatly to the opposite side of her belt to her bag.

CAT

You got yourself a sword.

CORALINE

Thank you, Captain Obvious. You're real helpful, aren't you?

CAT

Meh.

Coraline heads over to some various folk to ask around about Jess, though nothing really comes of it. She buys some lunch while she's at it.

After, she heads off down the road.

EXT. Molstead road - late morning

CORALINE

All right, cat, what's your deal, anwyay?

CAT

Obviously I'm a cat.

CORALINE

One that speaks. And has a sense of sarcasm. Why show up out of the blue? You even planning to stick around? Or are you some kind of alien or something trying to suck out my brain juices?

CAT

I'm a witch's cat. I needed a witch, and you seemed witchy.

CORALINE

What, did something happen to your old witch?

The cat purrs.

CORALINE

You got a name, then?

The cat purrs some more.

CORALINE

Cat, I got five cats already and I call them all 'cat', so please, something a bit more specific would be nice.

The cat stretches out a leg and sticks a claw up Coraline's nose.

CAT

Maybe.

CORALINE

(removing the cat paw from her face)

Maybe?

CAT

I'm Agata.

CORALINE

Agata. Okay. Good. Do I look like a witch to you?

CAT

(purring)

They all think you're a wizard. It's the same thing, really.

CORALINE

(she sighs)

They also think I'm from Ord.

EXT. Eslinger farm - noonish

Coraline comes up the road to find one of Jess's sisters, TEMMIE, mending the fence. Temmie stops and waves upon seeing Coraline.

The voices are getting louder again now, but Coraline just ignores them.

The cat, AGATA, trots over and rubs against Temmie's legs.

TEMMIE

What brings you these ways?

CORALINE

Hey Temmie. Was Jess coming to work today?

TEMMIE

Oh, aye. She left same as usual, hours back. Why?

(confused)

Did she not... Lyra?

CORALINE

She was here and then she left?

TEMMIE

Er, yes.

CORALINE

Right. So clearly something happened between here and there and there and... I need a new brain.

Coraline turns and leaves without saying anything more, and Agata pounces after her.

TEMMIE

Hey, hey, wait!

INT. Molstead Temple - noonish

Coraline pulls the doors open rather forcefully, causing them to swing open to either side of her while she stands there dramatically.

Agata ambles inside and sits down in front of the main large statue of Azorres, peering up at it.

Coraline hops inside right as the doors are swinging closed again and nearly gets hit in the foot by one of them, and scoots up behind the cat.

Agata swishes her tail.

CORALINE

(getting out a bottle of vodka)

Hey statue.

STATUE OF AZORRES

Welcome back, wayfarer. How are you holding up?

CORALINE

Miserably. Like a miser. I'm miser-able.

STATUE OF AZORRES

It is a difficult burden you carry.

CORALINE

What else am I going to do with it, drop it?

(she takes a drink)

I'm looking for Jess. She went missing somewhere between her parents' farm and actually showing up to work. Where would I be looking if I were looking where I ought to be looking?

STATUE OF AZORRES

You have your answer there. Follow the path between farm and town, and perhaps the clues will reveal themselves.

Coraline nods, but doesn't go, holding the bottle like a shield.

Agata peers up at her curiously.

CORALINE

(quietly)

I'm getting weaker. It's slight, but I can feel myself slipping more and more. I thought if I didn't use magic, maybe I'd be okay. It'd stop. But it's winning. Slowly it's winning.

STATUE OF AZORRES

Four thousand years and there has been no cure to the Death of Souls. You know it will not simply go away.

CORALINE

But what can I do?

STATUE OF AZORRES

Find Jess. One problem at a time.

AGATA

You're oddly intelligent, for a statue.

STATUE OF AZORRES

I will take that as a compliment, little one.

CORALINE

Cat, after some of the people I've dealt with, I'd say it's oddly intelligent for anything, really.

AGATA

I thought you were going to quit calling me 'cat'.

CORALINE

Dammit cat, I call all my cats 'cat'.

Agata peers up at Coraline imperiously.

Coraline narrows her eyes.

CORALINE

Sassmaster.

Agata closes her eyes contentedly.

Coraline scoops up Agata.

CORALINE

And seriously, thanks, statue. You're a wonderful replacement for a working brain.

EXT. Molstead outskirts - noonish

Coraline strolls back down the road with all the care of an angry zamboni, Agata padding ahead, oppressive heat and sunlight bearing down on the both of them. Heat waves rise off the road. Bugs buzz in the trees.

Coraline is now much more drunk, and the voices practically silent, drowned out by the resulting fuzziness.

She stops at a bend and sights down a footpath heading into the trees through the mostly-empty bottle, using it like a telescope with the lid off, which is completely ineffective as she cannot actually see anything through the bottom. Some of the remaining vodka splashes on her face. She blinks, putting the bottle away.

CORALINE

Damn. Alcohol is lovely in this heat.

AGATA

Smooth.

CORALINE

(indicating the trail)

There's some ruins out this way. Maybe... I dunno.

AGATA

Do you have any leads at all?

CORALINE

None whatsoever.

AGATA

Do you have anywhere you need to be?

CORALINE

Nope.

AGATA

Well.

CORALINE

Right.

They head down the path.

EXT. Elven ruins - early afternoon

The ruins are a large quasi-clearing in the woods, the only remainder of an ancient elven city. Mostly the white stone blocks and columns lie scattered throughout the ferns and grass, trees growing through and over them, with only the odd wall or pillar rising against the green, clusters of buildings now almost totally reclaimed by the forest. Only one building stands out as intact - a solitary Edifice, still sealed after all these centuries, and nearly untouched by storm or moss.

Coraline comes out on the path, looks around, climbs onto a particularly large white block, and glares out over the ruins.

An alarming amount of spider webs glare back at her from some of the trees on the far end.

CORALINE

(squinting unhelpfully)

...gogs?

A beige and gloopy PORRIDGE gloops past Agata on the ground, and she hisses at it.

Coraline hops down and heads over into the webby trees.

INT. Gog tunnels - afternoon

It's webby, and a bit messy. There's no real path at first, but then one seems to grow almost organically out of bits of web.

As Coraline and Agata progress, the webs get thicker.

At one point she sees a gog hanging off a bunch of webbing on a tree. It looks a bit like a large dog-sized spider, and appears to be asleep.

At another, she passes a tree with a large circular hole cut exactingly through the trunk, except the hole is almost as big as the trunk is, and the top of the tree is held up almost entirely by webbing. Through the hole is shoved a door.

She continues on, and the webs thicken. The trees are swathed in webbing, until everything is covered.

Ahead, the webs converge entirely, leaving only a single round tunnel, maybe a metre in diameter. At its entrance are two more gogs, also asleep.

Agata hops up onto Coraline's shoulders.

Coraline walks up and pokes one of them.

The poked gog startles and legs at the other gog, which also startles and legs back. They prod at each other a bit with legs and then slow, and then stop. After a moment they collapse back onto each other, vibrating.

Coraline scoots past them carefully into the hole and walk-crawls very awkwardly through it.

AGATA

(next to Coraline's ear)

I hope you know what you're doing.

CORALINE

I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, or what's going on. Gog aren't... this isn't what they do.

AGATA

Looks like they did.

CORALINE

Mostly they're just an annoyance. Steal some sheep. Web over a door. That sort of thing.

AGATA

Mostly.

The tunnel abruptly ends, and Coraline spills out into an oddly circular chamber, completely bound in spun white webbing. The ceiling glows with diffused light. A couple of other circular tunnels are scattered about the walls.

It is completely empty, aside from the centre. In the centre is a solitary wooden door, standing upright without a frame or even hinges. It is in perfect shape. It has a knob.

Coraline stares at it blankly for a moment.

CORALINE

I don't even want to know.

She scoots very carefully around the edge of the chamber, keeping her back to the wall, watching the door carefully until she gets to the next tunnel.

AGATA

And yet you're continuing.

Coraline gives the door one last worried look before scooting into the new tunnel and hurrying away.

EXT. Gog clearing - afternoon

This tunnel opens up into a clearing that is much less webbed over, with only odd swaths netting down from branches, and a decent carpet underfoot. Old trees tower overhead. Afternoon sun trickles down in motes of dust. It is surprisingly cool.

Coraline is sobering up a bit as they come out, but the voices are still quiet.

Gogs are all over, mostly in groups of 3-10. The nearest group are gathered around a bunch of doors, all fairly beaten up. One of the gogs pokes a door with a stick, then drops the stick and starts jumping on the door in aggravation. Another pulls a door upright and then, along with two others, headbutts it.

Coraline watches curiously for a moment.

CORALINE

You know you need hinges, right?

The gogs all freeze exactly where they are: the ones with the doors, quite a few others just hanging out in the clearing, a large group doing some sort of choreographed march around the perimeter, and also a smaller group holding up paper signs around a very confused looking JESS.

A few of the gogs in the paper signs group are also holding sticks. One appears to have been in the process of poking Jess with its stick, but is frozen mid-poke.

JESS

(also not moving)

Lyra?

Coraline threads her way through the groups of gogs, trying not to run into too many, but they don't respond even when she does.

CORALINE

You okay? Kind of need you at the inn.

JESS

Um... yeah, mostly, I guess?

Jess pushes aside the stick uncertainly, and then pushes through the sign-gogs. The signs say things like 'door problem' and 'what knob' and 'show force??', and they are all very consistently upside down. She hurries over to Coraline and collapses into the older woman's arms, sobbing.

CORALINE

(patting Jess awkwardly on the shoulder a couple of times)

There, uh, there?

Jess takes a few minutes to calm down, during which Coraline slowly pulls/nudges her toward the edge of the clearing. In the meantime, the gogs around appear to do absolutely nothing.

JESS

They kept poking me. They seemed to really want me to help them with their doors. Except they couldn't explain very well. They just have signs and broken doors everywhere, and then they ran out of paper, and I don't even know. Lyra, what is going on?

CORALINE

They wanted help with the doors, apparently.

Coraline looks around at the motionless gogs. There seem to be fewer now.

CORALINE

We should probably get out of here. If they let us.

JESS

What did you do?

CORALINE

Uh...

AGATA

She mentioned hinges.

A nearby gog collapses.

Jess jumps, and winds up behind Coraline, clinging to her shoulder.

Coraline turns around, pulling Jess with her.

All the gogs that had been behind them are gone.

JESS

What? They're... They're...

CORALINE

Meh.

Coraline marches off into the woods in what she hopes is the general direction of the ruins, or at least town, and Jess follows closely, not letting go of Coraline's sleeve.

EXT. Molstead woods - afternoon

Coraline and Jess get back out into the open woods without too much trouble, but an odd stillness follows them. A disquieting quiet.

Coraline grumbles irritably and draws her sword, and Agata climbs around onto the opposite shoulder for a better perch. The name 'Lyra Zidane' is written down the blade in flowing patterns, with engraved leaves dancing out around it. The whole design comes across in surprisingly good taste.

JESS

What is it?

CORALINE

I don't want to alarm you, but I think we're being followed.

A bush shudders nearby.

CORALINE

Definitely being followed.

JESS

Run?

CORALINE

We don't even know who it is. Maybe it's someone who could tell us which way to run.

JESS

What?

AGATA

She means to say we're lost.

CORALINE

I would never say that. But if I would, well, yeah. We're lost.

(loudly)

Hello we need directions can you help us?

The trees rustle overhead, and leaves drift down.

A scuttling skitters in the underbrush around, over the hillocks, behind the trees.

The first few gogs appear, running toward them, and then gogs are pouring in from every direction, over the ground, covering it. The trees shake, and more gogs come down those, from all sides, all around, converging on Coraline and Jess.

Jess clings to Coraline.

The nearest gog bites at Coraline, and she stabs at it with the sword.

The gog bites at the sword instead, to no effect.

Confused, the gog bites at it again, but this has no more effect than the first time.

The gog hops backwards several metres, and then all the other gogs start converging on it, streaming around the two women, grouping, building a heap, piling up, and up, and up, until they have all just sort of conglomerated into a big, quivering conglomerate.

A gog tumbles off the side and rolls away, only to scamper back to the pile and climb back on.

There is a very long, awkward pause as gog pile and humans face off. Coraline looks a bit creeped out. Jess just looks terrified, clinging to her.

Then Coraline lowers her sword very suddenly. Jess jumps.

CORALINE

Damn arm was getting tired.

(to the gog pile)

Hi. Gogs. Or whatever you call yourselves. Can you tell us which way to town?

There is a shuddering in the pile, and then one of the gogs in front hops forward slightly and pulls a stack of paper out of somewhere unspeakable.

It makes and holds up a sign. It reads, 'door problem'.

CORALINE

Really? We hadn't noticed.

The gog drops the paper and scribbles on another one, 'cannot into'.

CORALINE

(shaking her head)

No, this is not polandball.

This goes on for a bit, but it eventually unfolds, amidst many drinks, that the door problem, specifically, is that the gogs cannot figure them out. As a result, the gogs have become obsessed with doors, stuck on how to get them open, how to get past them. So they kidnap humans, learn their language and how to write things down on paper to communicate, trying to get the humans to teach them how to door. But it doesn't work. The humans don't know what they mean, and then the gogs run out of paper. So then they need to break into humans' nests again, this time to get more paper. Except they can't, because doors are in the way, and they still can't get past them. They don't have the right appendages to use the knobs. They don't have the mass to just tear them off their hinges. Covering them with webbing does nothing. So they use other means. Throw Keith in through windows when they can. Tear the thatch off roofs and drop in when they can.

But inside are also doors.

CORALINE

So... door problem.

The gog holds up the 'door problem' sign in agreement. Or possibly a new 'door problem' sign. There are a whole lot of signs on the ground now.

The pile also quivers in agreement, or something.

CORALINE

Right. I'm really not sure how to help you with this.

The gog holds up a sign that says 'open door'.

Coraline sighs.

CORALINE

Which one of you is Keith?

A gog pries its way out of the pile and holds up a sign. The sign says only, 'Keith'.

CORALINE

Hi, Keith. What are you after when you get inside a... human nest?

Keith holds up a sign that says 'paper'.

CORALINE

Because you need paper for your signs. Of course you do. Look, we need to get back to town, but we'll send some, erm... specialists out here when we do, okay? They might be able to actually do something about your door problem. Or whatever it is your problem really is.

Coraline strafes around the pile to the side, and the entire pile rotates to face her. She backs away, and the pile stays put, watching with many, many eyes.

CORALINE

Great. Could you by any chance point us in the direction of town? Human nest nests?

A gog pries itself out of the pile and holds up a sign: 'show'.

Coraline gestures for it to lead the way, and they follow it back to the road, and then town.

EXT. Molstead Inn - evening

Coraline and Jess get back to the inn in the late evening, Coraline now carrying a snoring Agata under one arm. It's pleasantly cool, and several patrons are hanging around outside with mugs. They greet the women as they approach, but then go silent as they notice the gog.

CORALINE

It's a gog.

PATRON

Um.

The gog holds up a sign. It says, 'gog'.

CORALINE

See?

The inn's door is propped open, and Coraline tries to shoo the gog in, but then it just stops and pokes at the door. And then the door prop. And then the door some more.

CORALINE

(ushering Jess inside instead)

Yeah, let's just leave it at that.

(to the patrons)

Don't do anything stupid.

INT. Molstead Inn - evening

Inside is fairly busy. Folks are all about, filling the tables, standing around, drinking. DORS, the orcan bouncer, is tending bar. He waves at Coraline and Jess cheerfully as they come in, baring too many teeth.

Another cat, ARGUMENT OF HAGS, yowls from a shelf in welcome.

CORALINE

Right, I think we need food. And then we need to get you home. You good to work tomorrow?

Jess nods.

Coraline pushes a very drunk guy off a barstool and he wanders off, oblivious. Then she plonks Jess down on the stool in his place, and dumps Agata in her lap.

CORALINE

Stay.

Dors pours Jess a drink.

DORS

I expect you've had a day. How about some poses?

Coraline heads to the kitchen to get some food, and grabs her staff while she's at it.

When she gets back, plates in hand, phoenix staff slung over a shoulder, a small crowd has gathered around one of the tables.

Dors is striking ridiculous poses at Jess.

Coraline deposits the plates by Jess and goes to investigate the crowd.

The gog is on the table. Several guys are attempting to give it beer.

The gog holds up a sign that says 'inside'.

GUY

Yeah, put the beer inside. You drink it. You getting this?

(to the others)

Am I saying this right?

ANOTHER GUY

Sure, look, it seems to get it.

The gog drinks some beer.

Coraline backs away very quickly, grabs her plate, and leaves the inn entirely.

INT. Keller's place - evening

Coraline shows up to Keller's place, still shovelling food in her face, and pounds on the door.

A moment later, KIT, Keller's apprentice (he's about 12), answers the door, peering up at her curiously.

KIT

Need something?

CORALINE

Got a job, if you're interested.

KIT

Yeah?

KELLER, dressed in stereotypical wizard robes, swoops the door open entirely before Coraline can respond.

KELLER

Miss Zidane! So good to see you again. Do come in, come in!

He ushers Kit out of the way, and Coraline inside.

Having lost access to Kit, Coraline comes inside.

Inside is rather messy. There is a stuffed moose hanging from the ceiling. Scrolls and notes are scattered across every surface. An entire wall is covered by something that looks like an elaborate chemistry experiment. Stacks of books line the other walls.

Coraline eyes the books curiously.

KELLER

So what brings you out this way this fine day, hmm?

Coraline takes another bite of her food, still eyeing the books.

KELLER

Ah, yes, I suppose I have amassed quite the collection over the years, haven't I? If there's anything you'd like to borrow, I suppose I could part... for a small fee.

Coraline painfully drags herself away from the idea of books and gets back to what she actually came here for.

CORALINE

I actually...

(she notices the moose)

Is that a moose?

KIT

Wondered that myself. Not a sheep, though. Nolan checked.

KELLER

It certainly is.

CORALINE

Why?

Kit shrugs.

KELLER

Oh, you know. You need the right space.

CORALINE

Right. I actually need to borrow your apprentice.

KELLER

(disappointedly)

But I have so much to give!

CORALINE

Unless you want to investigate a bunch of possibly insane gogs?

Keller stares at her for a moment.

KELLER

I've got research. Very important research that I must attend to.

CORALINE

Of course. I wouldn't mean to ask you to do anything beneath your station.

Keller hastily flounces off into another room.

Kit raises an eyebrow.

KIT

Insane gogs?

CORALINE

Well, maybe. There's a bunch of them out past the ruins, at least. Maybe you lot can figure out what the hells their problem really is?

Overtly, they're having problems with doors. And paper. The thing I'm really not clear on is why. They're communicative, though. Sort of. They use a lot of paper signs.

KIT

Sounds like you want Nolan.

CORALINE

Hey, if Nolan can translate gog signs, great. But you'll still need to translate Nolan, and you'll probably want to bring a sword with you just to be safe...

KIT

And I'm sure we can find a use for overloud shrieking.

Coraline shrugs.

CORALINE

Also, out of curiosity, what would Keller be likely to charge for some of those books?

KIT

More than they're worth. They're just manuals, and half of them are completely wrong.

CORALINE

Damn.

Kit pulls one out of a pile and hands it to Coraline.

KIT

Here, this one's a good starting kit. Just take it. He won't even notice.

CORALINE

Er, thanks.

EXT. Molstead - evening

Coraline escorts Jess home later, dropping off her plate at the inn and decidedly not investigating the gog table.

Outside, the voices are almost completely drowned out by the clatter of insects. Almost.

Jess is much calmer now. She glances toward Coraline periodically as they go as though about to say something, but then doesn't.

Coraline either doesn't notice or doesn't care.

Finally they get out of the town proper and onto the environs road through the woods.

JESS

I wish I could be like you. Nothing ever stops you, does it?

Coraline gives Jess a confused look.

JESS

I just froze. I had no idea what to do, but then you showed up... thank you. Thank you.

Coraline nods.

CORALINE

You want to do something, you just do... something. It won't always help, you won't always know what it will do, but if you know that doing nothing won't get you out, then try something else and figure out what will.

I used to do that too. Freeze. Not know what to do, hope it would blow over and just fix itself. Especially with people. But you get practice. You learn. You realise everything follows the same patterns, you learn how to test it and continue from there.

(quietly)

I still sometimes have no idea, though, and I put it off, don't deal with it. It just gets worse in the meantime.

JESS

You talked to the gog.

CORALINE

I talk to a lot of things. But it's often not a bad place to start.

For some reason they continue past the turn off to the Eslinger farm.

JESS

I'd like to stop at the temple first.

CORALINE

Sure.

INT. Molstead Temple - late evening

Davis is lighting candles at the shrines as Jess and Coraline enter.

Jess goes to a few of the shrines and does shriney things.

Coraline wanders over to bother Davis, standing right behind him.

CORALINE

Bother.

DAVIS

Oh, hello.

Davis looks at Coraline expectantly.

CORALINE

...that was really all I had to say.

Davis gives her an amused look and moves onto the next shrine, and Coraline follows. This one is to Kyrule, the god of death. It features a thick stone disk, with a skull wearing an elaborate filigree mask carved in relief.

CORALINE

I do love that mask. If I didn't already have one, I would do ungodly things for that mask. Hells, I might anyway.

DAVIS

I'm... not sure I should be hearing this.

CORALINE

What? It's a great mask. Lovely pattern. Very geometric. And flowy.

DAVIS

The mask of the God of Death?

CORALINE

He's got great taste.

Davis gives her a worried look, so Coraline shuffles over to bother the statue, instead.

STATUE OF AZORRES

Was that really necessary?

CORALINE

Yes.

Here's a question for you. Would it be wrong to turn an entire civilisation of a sentient species of spiders into raging alcoholics?

STATUE OF AZORRES

Yes.

CORALINE

Oh.

STATUE OF AZORRES

Were you really considering this?

CORALINE

Not particularly, but if I don't do something soon I might not be able to stop it, either.

STATUE OF AZORRES

There is a distinction between causing something and failing to stop it.

CORALINE

There's also a distinction of I live here and have to deal with the consequences, whether it had anything to do with me or not.

Jess comes over to the statue as well, kneeling before it.

STATUE OF AZORRES

Rise, dear child. You will always find solace here.

JESS

Thank you, my Lord. Thank you for watching over me.

(she puts a cake with the other offerings)

You sent Lyra for me, didn't you?

STATUE OF AZORRES

I did.

CORALINE

Normally I'd argue, but... yeah.

(to the statue)

Why didn't you just tell me where she was?

STATUE OF AZORRES

I did not know. A god may see their faithful as existing within the world, and know them how they are, but this comes with no precise knowledge of location or status. I knew that she was alive and in need. I heard her prayers and sent you the only direction that made sense.

CORALINE

You see like soap bubbles, each one an image reflected in the colours. It doesn't narrow things down, but it will amaze. Fuzzy little world.

The voices whisper in the background.

Gog handling

INT. Molstead inn - morning

It is morning. The inn is empty, much like the previous morning. The spare gog has cocooned itself on the hazard table sticking out of the ceiling. An argument is happening outside the main door.

Coraline grumps into the tavern proper holding a bottle of whiskey, staff on her back, sword on her belt, looking like a very angry videogame character. Several cats watch her from the bar as she passes: Thimble and Argument of Hags, as well as TRESS, SCOFFLE, and ONPAHANVAANLAMPI. Thimble looks particularly angry today.

Coraline grumps over to the door and tries to open it.

Coraline tries to open the door again.

Behind her, the gog holds a sign off the hanging table. The sign says, 'rote system'.

JESS

(yelling from outside)

Lyra? You in there?

CORALINE

Yeah, what's wrong with the door?

Agata pads over and peers up at the gog.

AGATA

It's called a hangover.

KIT

(also yelling from outside)

Gogs webbed it over! Hold on, I'll get it off.

CORALINE

Kit? What... voi paska.

KIT

(outside)

Licky Fire Flames!

There's a FWOOMPH outside, and a moment later, JORA, the kids' young elven sword-nanny, opens the door and peers inside, sword out.

Jora nods and sheaths the sword.

Nolan (now 11, though he's hardly grown in the meantime) and ERRY, Kit's little sister (8), are also there.

Jess heads inside and then stops, staring at the gog on the table.

CORALINE

Just... ignore it. I don't know.

The gog holds out a sign that says, 'hangover'. The sign is right-side-up for a change.

CORALINE

Get it some coffee maybe?

Jess gives Coraline a confused look.

Coraline shrugs blankly.

KIT

So. Gogs?

CORALINE

Gogs.

Coraline picks up Agata and hangs the cat around her neck like a very warm, stuffy, purring scarf.

EXT. Elven ruins - morning

Erry runs out into the ruins first and climbs up a particularly upright chunk of wall. Nolan climbs after her not long after.

Kit, Jora, and Coraline all walk in like normal people.

Agata walks in a bit behind them, peering about.

KIT

I think I see where the gogs are.

CORALINE

Yup.

INT. Gog tunnels - morning

The tunnels are empty. There is no sign of any gogs actually in the area.

Coraline and the kids come to the tree with the hole cut through the trunk, and the door shoved in it.

CORALINE

So they did that.

KIT

I don't get it. What possible purpose could that serve?

ERRY

They didn't get that something has to actually hold up the tree. Or maybe they did?

Coraline shrugs.

Jora stalks ahead, listening for something.

NOLAN

We're coming.

They continue on, into the tunnels themselves, and come to the circular chamber with the solitary wooden door enshrined in the centre.

There's a rustle in the other tunnels.

Nolan strides up to the door and peers up at it.

Jora draws her sword.

Coraline gets out her staff.

Nolan puts a hand on the doorknob.

A shiver whispers through the webbing around and overhead. The ceiling thrums.

Nolan turns the knob.

The walls tremble. Gogs poke out of the tunnel openings, peering in.

Nolan opens the door, swinging it open on missing hinges.

The vibrations in the webbing are almost constant, now, jarring, humming. Gogs climb over gogs, peering in, watching. A couple topple down into the room itself.

Behind the door is a space, empty, black, silent. Echoes drift outward, countering the hum around. Behind it is a rhythm, almost like a heartbeat.

Nolan closes the door.

Several more gogs tumble down to the floor.

NOLAN

I see.

The gogs all still around them. The vibrations cease. The humming quiets.

KIT

You do?

ERRY

In the darkness, silence waits. It's listening. It hears us, even now.

Agata pads around the door, peering at the back.

Nolan turns around slightly.

More gogs fall into the room, pushed out of the tunnels by gogs behind them.

Nolan holds up a sign. It says 'Door'.

Several dozen gogs all around them also hold up signs, which also say 'door'.

Nolan holds up another sign that says 'interminable darkness'.

A couple of gogs hold up signs saying 'talk' and 'signs' and 'alive'.

Nolan holds up a sign that says 'sheep'.

KIT

Well, that didn't last long.

There is a shuffling in the tunnels.

Some other gogs hold up signs saying 'open door' and 'darkness'.

AGATA

Oy, human. Open that door again.

Nolan holds up a sign that says 'a master'.

The gogs still and lower their signs.

Nolan turns and opens the door again.

The heartbeat reverberates against the dark. Echoes whisper.

Agata sniffs at the darkness, her ears back.

AGATA

Witch.

What do you see?

CORALINE

(coming a bit closer)

Darkness, and a door with no hinges or frame.

AGATA

Wizard, what about you?

KIT

(also coming over)

Concur with the witch?

AGATA

(shaking her head)

Close your eyes, both of you, and look properly.

CORALINE

Eh?

Regardless, they do.

At first nothing stands out, but then, without eyes, the doorway comes into focus. There is a frame, and beyond it, not darkness at all, but light. Humming. Pulsating.

The voices whisper strangely around, distorted. Something else lingers behind.

KIT

I see a frame.

CORALINE

It's bright. Alive. There's something... familiar...

Kit opens his eyes.

KIT

It hears us. Feels us.

Agata hisses.

ERRY

(shouting)

Close it, close it put it away get it away out out out of my head it's in my head it's... in...

Erry collapses behind them.

Jora hurries over to Erry.

Nolan shoves at the door, but it doesn't close.

Kit starts to walk toward it, but Coraline knocks him down and shoots at the door with her staff. The first blast disappears into the dark, so she shoots the frame, instead, narrowing the blasts, intensifying the heat, making them resonate with the same energies as the frame itself.

The frame begins to unravel, and she finishes it, slicing it to pieces with the bladed wings.

The brightness fades. The voices return to normal.

Coraline opens her eyes.

The open doorway is gone. The strange hum is gone. Only a burnt, bent, gashed door remains on the ground, torn off its imaginary hinges.

Hundreds of gogs stare silently.

Nolan holds up a sign that says 'irrelevant'.

NOLAN

You don't need to open doors. You need paper and a purpose. I will teach you.

Nolan walks over to a seemingly random gog tunnel and stares at the gogs occupying it.

One of them holds up a sign uncertainly: 'forward'.

Coraline glances over to Agata, who simply sits watching.

CORALINE

What was that?

AGATA

A teaching moment.

Kit gets up, looking confused.

KIT

What? Erry?

JORA

She's alive, but unconscious.

Nolan continues to stare at the gogs in the tunnel. Slowly the gogs in it shuffle about, and then start to get out of the way. The gogs in the other tunnels, too, begin to disperse, pouring out into the chamber and scuttling after Nolan.

Nolan heads into the cleared tunnel.

JORA

Get your sister back to town.

Jora hurries after Nolan.

KIT

I suppose we can just let him do his thing.

Kit peers after them longingly.

CORALINE

Oh, just go. See what happens. I'll take care of your sister.

Coraline kneels next to Erry and places a hand on her chest, using her healing senses to give the girl a proper go-over. Overall, she seems to be fine. There's a general sense of exhaustion and a bit of a darkness lingering in her mind, but no real sign of overt damage or anything particularly alien.

Kit runs off almost immediately.

AGATA

Well, he clearly cares.

CORALINE

He's what, twelve? What do you expect?

(she picks up Erry)

Ugh, she's heavy.

AGATA

Or perhaps you're just weak.

CORALINE

I'm definitely weak. But she's also heavy. These are not exclusive things.

Coraline tries again, this time hoisting Erry across her shoulders in a fireman's carry.

INT. Molstead temple - late morning

Coraline pries the temple door open with a mostly free hand and sidles in.

Davis and Cormith are in a corner talking to their intern, KILBETH.

KILBETH

Are you sure about that?

DAVIS

Yes.

KILBETH

Are you sure you're sure?

Davis turns to look at Coraline pleadingly.

CORALINE

Cormith! You're a real healer, right? Could you give me a hand with this girl?

CORMITH

(hurrying over looking almost relieved)

What seems to be the matter?

Coraline passes Erry over to Cormith, and he takes the girl, holding her much more gently than Coraline had been.

CORALINE

Something up in her headbrains. I didn't want to try anything for fear of making it worse.

CORMITH

I... see. I'll see what I can do.

CORALINE

Great. In the meantime I think I'm going to get myself reacquainted with your floor.

Coraline lies down heavily on the floor, sprawling across the stone.

CORALINE

(mumbling)

Hello, floor. You're a nice floor.

Davis looms overhead.

DAVIS

Are, um, are you all right?

Kilbeth looms from the other side.

Coraline lethargically holds up a thumb, and then tries to actually put it up relative to the rest of her hand, though it only sort of works due to the angle.

Agata climbs onto Coraline's chest and sits down, a paw very firmly on Coraline's boob.

CORALINE

Agh, cat!

AGATA

She's fine.

CORALINE

Well, I was, back when I could actually breathe!

Davis picks up Agata.

Coraline very hastily gets up and then nearly falls over again immediately after, grabbing Davis' arm to stabilise herself.

DAVIS

(concerned)

Are you sure you're all right?

CORALINE

I'm just tired. And blood pressure.

(she takes Agata off him)

I'm fine. Nothing to be worried about. You know the gogs in the woods had a door to horrible black nothing? Because the gogs in the woods had a door that opened up to horrible black nothing. Is that normal?

DAVIS

There are stories of Gateways opening to other realms. Often the entities beyond them are less than friendly.

CORALINE

Sure, except this was a door. Like that one.

(she indicates a completely ordinary door to a back room)

Wooden. With a knob. It had a heartbeat.

I kind of maybe slightly sort of destroyed it.

DAVIS

The heartbeat or the door?

CORALINE

The... door.

Davis nods slowly.

EXT. Granny Höhrmann's place - noonish

Granny Höhrmann's place is a cottage on the other end of town. It is suitably rustic. It has extensive flower gardens. It has grass and a small tree growing on the roof. A goat is tied to a log.

Coraline wanders over and knocks on the front door, Agata slung under an arm.

There's no response.

Coraline heads around back. Agata hangs limply.

GRANNY HÖHRMANN is sitting under a tree with a cat on her lap. They appear to be having a staring contest.

Coraline walks over and stares at both of them for a bit.

CORALINE

(finally)

What are you doing?

GRANNY HÖHRMANN

Arguing with my cat.

AGATA

Are you winning?

Granny Höhrmann looks up in surprise at Agata and squints a bit.

GRANNY HÖHRMANN

Mad Anna's cat, isn't it?

AGATA

Not anymore.

CORALINE

So you know each other?

GRANNY HÖHRMANN

Knew Mad Anna.

CORALINE

What about her cat?

GRANNY HÖHRMANN

Might be it.

CORALINE

She says I'm a witch.

GRANNY HÖHRMANN

Might be.

There's a long silence as Granny Hörmann goes back to staring at her cat.

CORALINE

So... who's winning the argument?

Granny Höhrmann frowns.

AGATA

Apparently the cat.

GRANNY HÖHRMANN

What do you think, Samaritan?

Granny Höhrmann's cat, SAMARITAN, turns to regard Coraline and Agata.

SAMARITAN

(yawning)

What is it, then? What are your knacks?

CORALINE

My what, now?

SAMARITAN

You're a witch, you got knacks. What are you good at?

Coraline glances at Agata.

AGATA

Drinking, mostly.

CORALINE

Hitting things with heavy objects.

AGATA

While drinking.

CORALINE

Yes.

AGATA

Possibly hitting things with objects drinking out of.

CORALINE

I do that sometimes too.

AGATA

I'm not surprised.

CORALINE

Still want me for a witch?

AGATA

Will you stop carrying me like a pile of logs?

CORALINE

Maybe. Depends on your answer.

Granny Höhrmann bursts out laughing.

GRANNY HÖHRMANN

Oh, you two are perfect for each other. And here me and Samaritan just argue all the time, but you... you'll spend a lifetime cracking each other up.

There's an awkward silence.

GRANNY HÖHRMANN

What's the matter? Spit it out.

Coraline puts down Agata.

Samaritan jumps off Granny Höhrmann's lap and the two cats sniff at each other.

CORALINE

Let's pretend I have much of a lifetime left. Is this where my magic is from? Do cats just... normally show up? What exactly are witches?

(quietly)

Will this... help?

GRANNY HÖHRMANN

Witches are. You're born to it, to your knacks. What you do with it is up to you, but it is yours.

As for whether it'll help you or not, I rather think that'll be up to you. Don't screw it up.

CORALINE

So it's a tool.

GRANNY HÖHRMANN

Exactly.

CORALINE

And I've got a cat who is also a tool.

AGATA

Appropriate, for you.

SAMARITAN

A cat and her witch, you're bound together. You'll share all your power and knowledge. You'll be allies whether you want to or not.

Samaritan stares at Agata.

AGATA

I chose her carefully.

Her knacks are... different. She can heal, and I bet we could kill. Anything.

Agata bares her teeth for a moment, and then it turns into a yawn. Samaritan yawns as well.

GRANNY HÖHRMANN

(to Coraline)

And Anna was all about the fire, so you might find you've some skill with that, too, now.

CORALINE

And what about our snark? We get to share that, too?

Agata's voice resonates in Coraline's mind, like the constant voices around, but different.

AGATA

(mind voice)

Always.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

Agata? How... we just talk. And nobody else hears?

AGATA

(mind voice)

Mostly.

Coraline stares at the cats.

CORALINE

Perkele. I get all the worst and best things in my life. Horrid luck. Great luck.

Ghaaah.

GRANNY HÖHRMANN

(nodding)

Sounds like life, that.

Go on and learn.

Granny Hörmann waves dismissively.

INT. Molstead Inn - afternoon

It is later. The spare gog has wandered off. Coraline is doing inn-y things, setting up for the evening, coordinating with Jess. Tress rubs against her legs from time to time, almost tripping her occasionally. Agata watches from a shelf.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

Agata?

AGATA

(mind voice)

Yes?

CORALINE

(mind voice)

Are you okay with this? With me, what I am?

AGATA

(mind voice)

I knew. Soon as I smelled you, I knew. You've got darkness in you, and secrets. But also sisu. What is sisu?

CORALINE

(mind voice)

It means a lot of things. In this case, I guess it might mean survival.

AGATA

(mind voice)

Yes. Your courage, your grit. Determination and focus, even against impossible odds. The hallmarks of a good witch. Sisukas.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

I'm going to die. I may kill a lot of others, and worse, in the process.

AGATA

(mind voice)

And when that happens, I'll find another witch.

Coraline looks up from scooting out a table.

Agata peers down at her imperiously, purring, and closes her eyes.

Part 1: Initiate precursor events

Everybody is running from something. They may not know it, and they may not fear it, but still they run. Some even run from running itself.

And yet the bullet you're running from is almost never the one that hits you.

Notes:

1. Not everything is translated from the original tongues.
2. Everything is translated.
3. Notes may provide meaning, but not context.
4. Insert metaphor as indicated in the instructions.
5. Small events gain traction. In time, they may demolish nations. Catch them as they start, and you may miss the true design.
6. This is not a kids' story.

Bounty hunter

EXT. Tree overlooking the Molstead market - morning

Autumn leaves linger on the trees, blow down the streets, into corners, curling up in little whirlwinds. The market is bustling with autumnal bustle, especially as people prepare for the upcoming Harvest Festival. A stall is occupied entirely by gogs.

It is very autumn now.

Overlooking it all, among others, is a tree. Nolan is in it, watching, unnoticed.

EXT. Molstead Market - morning

On the ground, a BOUNTY HUNTER stands in a corner, watching, waiting. Townsfolk whisper, greeting him, avoiding him.

The town hamstery guy spots him and scuttles over.

HAMSTERY GUY

What time is it?

BOUNTY HUNTER

Quarter to five, I s'pose?

HAMSTERY GUY

(more insistently)

What time is it?

The hunter doesn't respond, and heads over toward the gog stall.

The hamstery guy follows the hunter, staring at him suspiciously.

The hunter continues to ignore the hamstery guy.

The hamstery guy makes an angry noise almost, but not entirely, unlike something that would come out of a hamster, and then, finally, sidles off to pester someone else.

The gog stall is full of gogs. Gogs are piled up on the table. Gogs are behind the table. Gogs are hanging off the top. Over half of them appear to be asleep. Stacks and rolls of paper are shoved in between them, and piled underneath.

A couple of gogs hold up signs, upside-down, as passerby approach, and hold them up toward the hunter as well. They say 'paper' and 'sale' and 'give'.

The hunter stops in front of them.

The gog with the 'paper' sign holds it up at him.

BOUNTY HUNTER

Are you... selling paper?

The gog holds up a sign that says 'sell paper'.

BOUNTY HUNTER

Is that a yes?

Another gog holds up a sign that says 'paper'.

BOUNTY HUNTER

So if I want this paper...

(he taps a pile of paper)

What?

A gog holds up a sign that says 'give'.

BOUNTY HUNTER

You'll give me the paper?

RANDOM PASSERBY

(helpfully)

You give them something, and then they give you paper.

The gogs hold up several more signs, mostly repeats of what they were already holding up.

The bounty hunter places a coin next to them.

A gog slides the coin under another gog.

Another gog entirely passes him a small stack of papers.

INT. Molstead inn - afternoon

The inn is set up for the evening. Some patrons are there, doing inn patron things, drinking and socialising. The table hazard sticking out of the ceiling has three gogs on it today, one of them dangling a sign off that says 'eels'.

Coraline is at a table with a glass of cider and a sketchbook, drawing her cats: Tress loafing on the table in front of her, with Onpahanvaanlampi sitting on Tress. A book of magic and some other bits of paper are shoved off to the side.

The cook, MALLA, comes over.

MALLA

Lady Zidane, there's something dripping in one of the rooms upstairs. If you could take a look?

CORALINE

What?

MALLA

I don't know. I think it's in 2.

CORALINE

(getting up)

Alright, thanks.

INT. Molstead inn upstairs - afternoon

Coraline goes up to investigate, torch and staff weapon in hand, not really expecting to need either. Agata pads after her.

Something drips.

Coraline heads over to the indicated room and peers inside. It's a simple setup: bed, table, chair. On the floor next to the bed is a small puddle.

Another drop drips out of the ceiling and lands in the puddle with a small plop.

Coraline eyeballs the puddle, and then heads up to the attic.

INT. Molstead inn attic - afternoon

The attic is low and warm and full of things. There are a lot of boxes, and everything is covered in dust and bits of insulation. Some logs are shoved into a corner. A pile of shoes is piled up almost to the roof.

Coraline shines her torch about as they come up, hunching over to fit.

Agata trots ahead, poking about.

They head toward the general area over room 2.

Coraline checks behind boxes as they go. Shadows jump away from her torch. Wintersday decorations sparkle sharply. A broken rocking chair throws jagged shadows. Crystalised beads of pitch glitter on the rafters. A well looms up out of the gloom, a bucket on a rope spilled next to it in a large puddle.

Coraline scoots up to the well and stares at it blankly.

Agata hops up on the edge and peers inside, and Coraline half-sits and leans over and peers inside as well, shining down the narrow beam of the torch.

There is no sign of the bottom.

Agata and Coraline exchange looks.

CORALINE

It's a well.

AGATA

Apparently.

CORALINE

In the attic.

AGATA

Yes.

CORALINE

I'm not hallucinating?

Coraline looks down the well again, but it just looks like a well, so then she makes a magelight, forming the spell in her mind. When it twinkles into being in her hand, she leans over the lip of the well again and drops it in, watching as it drifts a few dozen metres, illuminating the bricked walls, before hitting water and disappearing silently.

CORALINE

Huh.

AGATA

What do you see?

CORALINE

A well. And I'm not just being snarky, either. There was no sign of this below, even though it clearly is going... below.

AGATA

There was water.

CORALINE

Well, yes, and a bucket.

Coraline rights the bucket, and then sticks the end of the staff in the puddle and flash evaporates most of it into steam.

When she looks up, she finds a large TENTACLE MONSTER staring her down from across the well. It looks like a collapsed pile of tentacles covered in eyes.

Coraline shines her torch back down at the well just to be sure that's the same as it was. It is.

Coraline shines her torch back on the tentacle monster on the other side, which is also still there.

The tentacle monster blinks a long row of eyes, in sequence.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

Agata, verify I'm not hallucinating.

AGATA

(mind voice)

That's probably really there.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

Okay. Good. I guess.

(to the tentacle monster)

Hi. I don't suppose you speak whatever this is?

The tentacle monster blinks another long row of eyes, also in sequence.

CORALINE

I don't suppose you speak? Perkele.

TENTACLE MONSTER

(in a voice not quite there, but also all around)

We speak.

CORALINE

(nodding)

Oh, good. I was worried we'd have to try signs.

TENTACLE MONSTER

(raising some tentacles)

We are fluent in multiple sign forms if that is what you require.

AGATA

She meant literal signs that you hold up. We have gogs that use those. Why are we speaking deslau?

TENTACLE MONSTER

It is the language.

AGATA

Maybe in Deslan. You're in Soravia, dumbarse. They speak Soravian here.

TENTACLE MONSTER

You appear to understand, and reciprocate.

CORALINE

We're special. Is this your well? Were you trying for somewhere else, maybe?

TENTACLE MONSTER

We were trying for sanctuary. Is this sanctuary?

CORALINE

Sure. I don't know.

Come on, then.

Coraline turns toward the door, hunching over again in order to avoid banging her head on the rafters, and gestures for the tentacle monster to follow.

INT. Molstead inn - late afternoon

The inn is getting a little busier now. Two kids, OLAF and EVERRUSCIAS, are playing swordfighting between the tables. Everruscias jumps on an unoccupied table, and slashes at Olaf.

Dors is watching from the bar, looking amused.

The gogs on the table hazard hold up signs saying 'hide force' and 'lower'.

Coraline comes down the stairs, followed by a cat and a now much more upright tentacle monster.

CORALINE

(yelling)

Oy! Get off the tables!

EVERRUSCIAS

(dodging a return attack)

But Dors said it was fine!

CORALINE

It is fine, right up until you break one! Then he breaks you.

Everruscias and Olaf look uncertainly at Dors.

Dors grins.

Everruscias hastily jumps off the table.

Coraline heads over to Dors, the tentacle monster still following. The kids stare at it in wonderment. Conversation amongst the patrons winds down as they stop and stare at it as well.

CORALINE

So this...

(she glances at the tentacle monster uncertainly)

Whatever this is wants sanctuary.

Dors rubs his chin ponderously.

TENTACLE MONSTER

The Old Ones awaken. There is no escape in the held lands.

Everruscias comes over toward the tentacle monster.

The tentacle monster blinks a long series of eyes at her down what might be its back.

DORS

Interesting language. Not one I know.

CORALINE

It's deslau, apparently. Isn't that from the other side of the planet?

DORS

Not bad, if it at least got the planet right.

CORALINE

Yeah, no kidding. Except that doesn't really help us much, since why would anyone around these parts know deslau?

AGATA

You mean besides us?

CORALINE

Bah.

(to the tentacle monster, in deslau)

Okay, so who are you, what are you, what exactly constitutes 'sanctuary', and are these 'Old Ones' likely to pose us any threat here?

TENTACLE MONSTER

We are lhjuathgn, all in one. Here there is escape, for these lands are not held.

CORALINE

So... that's a no?

TENTACLE MONSTER

Your time spans are infinitesimal.

Malla pops out of the kitchen and then stares at the tentacle monster in utter horror.

MALLA

(sinking to her knees)

What... gods, what...

CORALINE

(indicating the tentacle monster)

Found the thing causing the drip. I think.

Everruscias reaches out to poke the tentacle monster, and it reaches out a tentacle toward her. Finger and tentacle meet in the middle.

EVERRUSCIAS

Eeeee.

DORS

An alien, probably from the outer planes. Not too unusual.

AGATA

Says an alien.

CORALINE

Pfft, we're all aliens.

(to the tentacle monster, in deslau)

Okay, so we can get you set up with a room, or stuff. Just... if you ever need to come up through a well again, please don't leave a puddle on the floor, okay? It's hard on the wood.

EVERRUSCIAS

Where did you learn to talk like that?

CORALINE

I'm a witch. It's a witch thing.

EVERRUSCIAS

No it isn't.

CORALINE

Are you a witch?

EVERRUSCIAS

...no.

CORALINE

Then how would you know it's not a witch thing?

TENTACLE MONSTER

A room would be acceptable.

CORALINE

Great. Okay.

ERIK MAYER, a son of one of the town's larger families, pops in.

ERIK MAYER

Hey, Lyra. We need the council.

CORALINE

Eh? But I've got a tentacle monster!

Erik stares at the tentacle monster for a moment in confusion before recovering himself.

ERIK MAYER

It... it's important. There's been an incident.

CORALINE

Ghah, fine.

(to the tentacle monster, in deslau)

This guy will get you set up.

(to Dors)

Get the lhjuathughah... tentacle... thing a room. I don't think it poses any threat or anything, unless it wants to. But we can sort that out later. Figure out some way for it to pay, I don't even care what.

(she picks up Agata and shoves the cat at Dors)

Use this cat to translate.

Dors takes Agata and Agata stares at him.

DORS

Will you translate?

AGATA

If I must.

Coraline hurries out after Erik.

Dors holds Agata out toward the tentacle monster.

INT. Mayer house - evening

The town council gathers in the Mayer sitting room. EDINE MAYER is hosting; others present include EVERTON JAMES, DAVIS, NARAN, MOIRA, GWYNNE ENORI, MERLIJN, Granny Höhrmann, and Coraline, who shows up last and covered in bits of insulation and cat hair.

The coffee table is set up for tea, with tea, coffee, and a proliferation of cakes laid out. Some of the teacups are weirdly small. Several half-completed craft projects are stowed against the wall.

Davis is eating a cake.

Granny Höhrmann is sitting in a rocking chair in the corner with a cup of tea and Samaritan on her lap.

Coraline plonks down and starts mixing the Cerrisian equivalent of Irish coffee, pulling an entire bottle of whiskey out of her pocket.

MERLIJN

Okay, finally, we're all here, mostly.

EDINE MAYER

So what's the big emergency all of a sudden, and now of all times? Half the folks couldn't even make it what with the festival.

Why are we being all hush-hush?

CORALINE

It's not the tentacle monster, I can tell you that much.

EDINE MAYER

What tentacle monster?

CORALINE

The one that crawled up out of a well in the inn's attic.

GWYNNE ENORI

What?

MERLIJN

There's been a murder.

EDINE MAYER

Now? Who? Who would do that?

MERLIJN

Yink. The... guy who keeps following people around asking them what time it is. Feldman found him in his shed. Throat was slit, and this was... there.

Merlijn holds up a black soulstone.

Coraline stares at it.

So does most everyone else in the room.

The voices rise and twirl about.

GWYNNE ENORI

Sonmi's eyes.

MOIRA

What does it mean?

CORALINE

(forcing herself to look away)

Yink wasn't a Carrier.

Some of the folks look confused. Davis and Granny Höhrmann look at Coraline possibly a bit too intently.

CORALINE

That's a black soul gem. You get that when you try to capture the soul of a Carrier of the Death of Souls so it doesn't spread. Except Yink wasn't a Carrier. Whatever happened to him, that was something else.

GWYNNE ENORI

Right, been like that for years, Yink has.

EVERTON JAMES

What, you're saying whoever did this just left that there?

CORALINE

I dunno... maybe? He might have wanted to cover his tracks, or make it out like Yink was a Carrier even though... he wasn't...

(she shrugs blankly, trying not to look too freaked out)

I know Deathdealers often use these to track down Carriers in the first place, so if it was some sort of hunter, that would at least explain why he had it.

MOIRA

And there is a hunter in town. Rough-looking sort. Was watching the market all morning.

EVERTON JAMES

So what, he messed up?

NARAN

Do we care?

What? Might as well put it out there. Yink was nuts. Useless. Couldn't even help himself. We don't even know if he's happier dead.

DAVIS

(quietly)

That isn't our decision.

GWYNNE ENORI

But we don't have any Carriers, do we? Why is this guy here? What if he's right, even if not about Yink?

CORALINE

No, we'd know...

Except suddenly Coraline isn't so sure. Something feels off, the voices different. She shakes her head, trying to clear it.

MERLIJN

I find that unlikely.

(he sighs)

Not knowing the first thing about any of us, who do we expect this guy is gonna go after next?

GWYNNE ENORI

(horrified)

Oh gods! Nolan!

Gwynne runs out of the room.

EVERTON JAMES

So what, now he's gonna kill a kid? Where's the sense in that?

MERLIJN

What, you think it makes sense killing someone and leaving him in a guy's shed?

MOIRA

Wasn't Feldman's the one that got hit with that cow?

NARAN

Clearly it made sense to him.

EDINE MAYER

Of course it doesn't bloody make sense! What about the children? First Nolan, then who?

Coraline sighs and has at the the whiskey, and proceeds to pay no attention whatsoever to the ensuing yell-fest.

Half an hour later, it's still going on, though Merlijn at least has since gone off to go do something useful. Coraline is completely drunk, just sort of sitting in a fuzzy stupor.

Edine yells stuff.

Davis yells stuff.

Naran says something in a completely normal tone of voice which is quickly drowned out by Everton yelling stuff.

The voices are silent.

Moira looks irked.

Coraline pours her some whiskey.

A bit later, Moira looks a bit less irked.

At some point Samaritan winds up on Coraline's lap, and Coraline strokes the cat's fur.

Granny Höhrmann rocks idly, knitting.

GRANNY HÖHRMANN

(quietly)

Idiots, all of you.

Edine yells some more.

Everton yells at her.

Davis and Edine yell right back.

CORALINE

(to Samaritan)

I should do something, shouldn't I?

Samaritan purrs.

There is more yelling.

Coraline sets the cat aside, gets up, sets her whiskey on fire, and drops it on the coffee table.

The yelling takes a moment to stop, during which the coffee table gets well and truly on fire.

CORALINE

Oops.

Granny Höhrmann stands walks over to the coffee table with the deadly certainty of an iceberg, and holds a hand over it.

The fire goes out.

GRANNY HÖHRMANN

(glaring at the room)

There has been a murder. Doesn't matter who it was, doesn't matter now why. We assign a judiciary and we handle it.

Everyone just sort of stares at her. Some look decidedly embarassed.

GRANNY HÖHRMANN

Lyra, will you be our judiciary?

CORALINE

Whuh?

GRANNY HÖHRMANN

Get to the bottom of this. You know more about these matters than anyone here, so make your assessment and decide for us all.

(glancing about the room)

Lest there be more. Lest he find his Carrier whether there is one or not.

Nobody argues.

CORALINE

Right, okay.

(indicating Granny Höhrmann)

But if I wind up feeding this guy to a tentacle monster, blame her. And someone tell Merlijn we'll need the militia... something.

I need to go sober up after all of you.

Coraline rubs her head as she leaves.

Naran leans back, chuckling to himself.

INT. Molstead inn - night

The place is busy, with quite a few folks in from out of town and the outlying farms. The gog hazard ceiling table has an entire pile of gogs on it, plus two sort of hanging off it. Coraline is tending bar. Dors is making rounds ensuring nobody gets too rowdy, and striking poses at some of the patrons.

Coraline passes off another set of drinks to one of the waitresses.

PATRON

Could we get a refill over here?

CORALINE

Coming, coming.

Coraline fills a pitcher and passes it over, and adds a tick to the sheet under the bar.

Another guy, THOMAS, is at the bar when she looks up.

THOMAS

Hey Captain.

CORALINE

Yeah? What... don't call me that.

What do you need?

THOMAS

You're a captain.

The Commander sent me. We got the guy.

CORALINE

Oh! And I'm mostly coherent. What are the odds?

(she looks around at the rather busy inn)

I.. ghah.

(yelling)

Dors! Bar!

Coraline grabs Agata under an arm and shuffles out, grabbing her staff with her other hand.

Dors vaults over the bar to replace her, doing a flip, rather freaking out a patron underneath him.

INT. Militia house - night

The militia house is full of militia, who are all basically just random folks in bits of armour with swords and shovels and the odd bow and crossbow.

Merlijn greets Coraline as she and Thomas enter.

Thomas sort of salutes Merlijn.

THOMAS

Commander.

Merlijn nods at Thomas.

MERLIJN

(to Coraline)

He's in back. Davis says you're the judiciary?

CORALINE

Yeah, I don't know.

They head over toward the cells in the back. In one cell is a chair, and tied to it, the rather muscular, rough-looking bounty hunter. In the next cell is a small pile of weapons and armour.

Coraline gives him a dubious look.

CORALINE

I'm almost afraid to ask, but how, exactly, did you manage to capture this guy?

MERLIJN

Nolan dropped a rock on his head.

CORALINE

...of course he did.

BOUNTY HUNTER

Are you in charge?

CORALINE

Apparently. Who are you, why are you here, and why did you murder Yink von Jummerlund?

MILITIA GUY NORMAN

Er, Yink's name wasn't...

CORALINE

Shut up.

Coraline glares at the bounty hunter.

BOUNTY HUNTER

The name is Dalric. Dalic of Forst.

There's an empty pause while he looks at Coraline expectantly.

BOUNTY HUNTER

You might have heard of me.

CORALINE

Nope.

A few of the militia helpfully point out that they have.

BOUNTY HUNTER

I brought down the Tethremaine liche. I singlehandedly saved the Kingdom of Bourlenon. And now you're holding me here like some sort of petty criminal?

CORALINE

You murdered a guy. I think that means you are a petty criminal.

BOUNTY HUNTER

Hardly.

CORALINE

So you didn't murder the guy?

BOUNTY HUNTER

I am here for your protection! The threat he might have posed... you do not want to see that unleashed upon your village.

CORALINE

So... you did?

Coraline and the bounty hunter stare at each other for a bit.

Some of the militia shuffle about around them.

Agata belches, and Coraline drops the cat on the floor.

BOUNTY HUNTER

Do you really think you can hold me here?

CORALINE

Not really. But you're here now, surrounded by at least some sort-of-competent armed men, and you were brought down by an eleven-year-old with a rock, so for the moment, at least, could I ask you to please take this seriously?

Merlijn coughs.

Coraline sighs and leans on her staff.

CORALINE

Did you kill the annoying hamster man who follows people around asking them what time it is?

BOUNTY HUNTER

I did.

CORALINE

Why?

AGATA

Weren't you going to kill him at one point?

CORALINE

(rather unconvincingly)

No.

BOUNTY HUNTER

He was a Carrier of the Death of Souls.

CORALINE

No, he wasn't, and you know he wasn't.

BOUNTY HUNTER

The black soul was rather proof of that. Now if you'll please, I really should be going now.

The bounty hunter slips his bonds and starts to get up.

Coraline points her staff directly at him.

CORALINE

Sit down.

BOUNTY HUNTER

And what are you going to do with that?

CORALINE

I'll shoot you.

The bounty hunter gives her a curious look and sits back down.

CORALINE

Yink was not a Carrier. That gem did not come from him.

You really thought he was?

BOUNTY HUNTER

He showed all the signs. Voices, hunger, darkness. It was the early stages, but the transformation was imminent.

MERLIJN

Imminent? Yink's been like that for years.

MILITIA GUY DUSCHESK

After that thing up in the mountains. But he wouldn't talk about it. And then he wouldn't talk about anything.

MILITIA GUY GNARLY

Did we ever find out what happened? The witch... er, the other one looked into it, but...

CORALINE

(still looking at the bounty hunter)

Did you find a glowing soul gem in his things, by any chance?

MILITIA GUY GNARLY

In... oh, yeah, there were a whole bunch. I'll get it.

Gnarly scoots off toward the other cell.

Coraline watches the bounty hunter carefully while she waits, holding her staff steadily on him.

Agata washes her face with her paw.

BOUNTY HUNTER

You're the local witch?

CORALINE

One of them.

Merlijn, you did lock the cell, right?

MERLIJN

(looking a bit hurt)

Yes?

Merlijn checks the cell door regardless. It is indeed locked.

Gnarly comes back and holds out a small sack.

CORALINE

Open it.

Gnarly does so, and then dumps the contents on a nearby table. It's a pile of soulstones, several of which are glowing in prismatic pastel shades.

Coraline glances toward the table.

The bounty hunter jumps up.

Coraline shoots him, clipping one of the bars, hitting him in the leg.

The hunter falls over in front of the bars, suddenly at eye-level to Agata.

Agata doesn't move, peering at him curiously mid-paw-wipe.

MERLIJN

Lyra!

CORALINE

(to the bounty hunter)

How many people have you killed? How many times have you even been right?

BOUNTY HUNTER

(getting up)

Are you crazy, lady? What the fuck are you talking about?!

MERLIJN

Lyra, I really don't think you should be...

CORALINE

(going up to the bars, and setting the staff head against them)

Shut up. Those glowing soulgems, those are people killed, their souls trapped. Normal ones, not Carriers. In this world they would call that necromancy, and it is not used for anything good.

BOUNTY HUNTER

That's ridiculous! Those aren't... that's what soulstones are like!

AGATA

(mind voice)

He's a surprisingly bad liar. I'm surprised. Are you surprised?

CORALINE

Do you take me for a fool? I will give you one last opportunity to explain yourself, and I suggest you stop trying to lie to me.

BOUNTY HUNTER

(indignantly, to the rest of the militia)

Is this how you handle justice?

CORALINE

Leave them out of it. These men may be simple farmers and tradesmen, but they do what they can and fight to defend themselves, and are not your pawns to manipulate.

I am your judiciary. Answer my questions.

The militia remain silent. Some of the ones with crossbows raise them at the bounty hunter again.

BOUNTY HUNTER

And what guarantee of fairness am I supposed to get when one stupid bitch holds all the power?

AGATA

None whatsoever. Sucks, doesn't it?

CORALINE

Did you fill those soul gems?

There's a long pause.

BOUNTY HUNTER

Yes.

CORALINE

How?

BOUNTY HUNTER

Enchanted dagger. Stick them with it, it puts the spell on them for you.

CORALINE

Who were they?

BOUNTY HUNTER

Does it matter?

CORALINE

You tell me.

The bounty hunter doesn't respond.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

What do you think?

AGATA

(mind voice)

He's dangerous. Dangerous to you, and to others. Protect yourself.

CORALINE

We have rather fuzzy rules on murder around here, seeing as it's not something that comes up very often, so you should know that right now, my decision is kind of teetering on one thing: how likely you are to do this again. And right now, I'm not liking your odds.

BOUNTY HUNTER

Then you should kill me now.

CORALINE

Oh?

BOUNTY HUNTER

I don't think you have it in you. All this talk, but you're not going to take a life, now are you? You have someone else actually do it, because...

CORALINE

No.

BOUNTY HUNTER

(he grins, shaking his head)

Because you're just like all these other simpletons, all high and mighty with your morals, but utterly weak. Exile me and be done with it.

CORALINE

You have killed our hamster man, and others too. You admit to it, and provide no defense for your actions.

As I am your judge in this life, Kyrule will be in the next. May he weigh your soul fairly in the eyes of all gods.

BOUNTY HUNTER

(dismissively)

Please.

Coraline shoots him, this time in the chest, and he falls backwards, banging his head on the chair, collapsing in a heap.

Some of the militia act a bit surprised.

AGATA

You shouldn't doubt a witch. They tend to take these things seriously.

MERLIJN

Damn. That's not how I would have handled it.

Coraline plonks the bottom of her staff down on the ground.

CORALINE

How would you have?

MERLIJN

I... I don't know. I wouldn't have just... but a lot of other soldiers I knew would have done the same. The things you see...

CORALINE

I've seen a lot of things.

Look, I need a drink. Anyone else wants one, first round's on the house.

The militia perk up at this.

MERLIJN

Listen up, men. First thing's first...

Coraline sidles out while he directs them to deal with the mess.

EXT. Tree overlooking Molstead - night

Nolan is up a different tree now. He watches as Coraline and her cat head back down the road, then looks down at an unexpected noise beneath the tree.

Jora is standing below, looking up at him.

JORA

Nolan.

Nolan stares at her.

JORA

Please come down. I know you have your reasons for being up there, but your parents are worried about you. Come down, eat dinner with them, sleep in your bed for a night, and come back in the morning.

Nolan considers this for a moment.

NOLAN

Okay.

Nolan drops out of the tree, landing right next to Jora, his nose about two inches away from her elbow.

Jora heads off and leads him back home.

Preparations unfounded

EXT. Soravian foothills - afternoon

Days pass. In the woods, the prevailing colour is brown, with hints of fire. Long shadows dance through falling leaves. Bare twiggage crowns the sky. Brown grass rustles in the breeze.

A bear-moose nibbles on some twigs and grass, poking around, foraging. It's brown.

The bear-moose looks up at a noise, and gets an arrow through an eye.

The bear-moose stands there for a bit, and then falls over.

Several soldiers in dark armour run over to it and haul it off.

EXT. Temporary camp; Soravian foothills - afternoon

More soldiers are all about, waiting around, horses resting, equipment dropped to the ground. The bear-moose is stowed with the other supplies. The men speak in hushed voices; others stand silent.

Amidst this, two priests, DORANIS and EDRIC, are speaking in perfectly normal tones.

DORANIS

This is a bad idea. Have I mentioned this?

EDRIC

Yes. You've said.

DORANIS

Well, it's a bad idea.

Edric sighs.

DORANIS

I just want this to be absolutely clear that it's a bad idea for when it all kills us. Because it's probably going to kill us.

EDRIC

Have faith.

DORANIS

Oh, I do. I also think this is a terrible idea and we're going to die. That's all.

NURUNN, the Deathdealer leading the operation, comes up behind them.

NURUNN

Enough. You're helping nothing with this.

DORANIS

Okay. But if this kills us and we all wind up dead, don't say I didn't say so.

Nurunn gives Doranis a flat look.

Doranis raises an eyebrow.

There is a horn call in the distance.

NURUNN

(announcing to the camp at large)

We're up.

The soldiers around erupt into activity, picking up their gear, mounting their horses. A SCOUT rides in a bit later, heading straight to Nurunn and the two priests.

SCOUT

We've got the Carrier pinned, sir. Party standing by.

NURUNN

Good. Take us there.

The scout takes point as guide, leading the main group out, with Nurunn and the two priests right behind him.

EXT. Soravian foothills - afternoon

The CARRIER is a balding man with a scruffy beard and matted salt and pepper hair, pinned against the base of a tree behind him by a spiked net hooked into the wood. He struggles vaguely, but makes no particular moves to escape. He is filthy, and smells of filth. His eyes are pure black.

Several soldiers hold crossbows on him, and several others stand ready nearby. They part as Nurunn and the priests approach, the soldiers following dismounting behind them.

The horses shy away, fretting uneasily.

The Carrier hisses and strains against the netting.

EDRIC

Keepers help us.

DORANIS

Well, he's really far gone.

NURUNN

Hopefully not too far.

Doranis nods and casts a soulbinding on the Carrier, forming intricate weavings with his fingers to shape the spell.

DORANIS

Saca Miravasa.

The spell trickles over the Carrier like glimmers of heat.

Nurunn leans on the Carrier, pushing him back against the tree, an arm across the guy's dirty chest. His face is inches away from the Carrier's, and he studies it closely.

The Carrier doesn't seem to see him, and gibbers a bit.

NURUNN

Edric.

Edric passes Nurunn an amulet, which Nurunn presses to the Carrier's neck.

The Carrier stops struggling, falling back against the tree, and Nurunn fastens the amulet in place.

For a moment, the Carrier just sits there. His eyes clear slightly, bits of white showing around the edges.

Nurunn takes a step back.

DORANIS

That feels like something. Is it working?

Nurunn taps the side of the Carrier's head.

NURUNN

Anyone in there?

CARRIER

(startling)

What? Where am I?

NURUNN

You're safe. Can you tell me your name?

CARRIER

Kessel. Kessel of Trom.

(he pushes a bit against the net)

Why am I... I'm so hungry.

NURUNN

(getting up)

It's progress.

Edric hurries over, notebook in hand.

Almost as one, the horses bolt, several of those still ridden throwing their riders.

Nurunn looks around.

The woods are silent. A soldier coughs, quietly.

CARRIER

(mumbling)

So hungry...

Something clinks and explodes out of the Carrier, black and shadowy, full of hunger and voices. Nurunn is sent flying, and bounces off a tree, collapsing in a heap. Doranis throws up a ward, which flickers but holds as the darkness subsides. Edric falls to his knees, clutching his head, as do several of the soldiers. Others just stand there, arms going limp at their sides, staring slack-jawed as their eyes change, darkening.

A moment later it's gone. So is the Carrier.

Nurunn gets up quickly, drawing his sword, taking quick stock of the situation, and cuts down the turned men, efficiently moving from each to each. He stops in front of Doranis and snaps his fingers in the priest's face.

Doranis turns to regard Nurunn, looking shocked.

DORANIS

You know, I... was joking. I was joking.

NURUNN

I'm sorry.

Nurunn goes to Edric and kills him with a quick thrust into the back.

NURUNN

(calling out)

Guardians, reassemble! Those of you who remain, your mission is now more important than ever. We must refind this Kessel of Trom, and quickly.

And should you find any of your companions turned, do what you must.

EXT. Molstead market square - morning

People are setting up for the festival throughout the town and around, readying food, decorating, putting up stalls, and building up the foundation for an enormous bonfire in the centre of what would normally be the market square. Some gogs are getting in the way, holding signs. Children are running through it all, sometimes getting in the way, sometimes helping, sometimes tripping over gogs.

Coraline is seated on a stack of kegs, like an empress on her throne. It's even shaped a bit like a throne.

Agata is sitting on Coraline's lap.

Onpahanvaanlampi is sitting on Agata.

Coraline pets them both awkwardly, feeling oddly tense, not really paying attention to where one cat ends and the other begins.

Barney comes over and bows before Coraline and her keg throne.

BARNEY

My lady.

Coraline peers down at him imperiously, as do four cats.

Behind him, Keller strolls over toward the bonfire pile and throws a large fireball at it, setting it aflame.

KELLER

And there was fire!

People around stop what they're doing and applaud. Coraline gives it a couple of polite claps as well, then picks up the cats and jumps down off her keg throne.

BARNEY

Joining us now?

CORALINE

I think I'm gonna to head to bed, actually.

BARNEY

What? But it's not even noon.

CORALINE

Do you really think anyone's getting any sleep tonight?

BARNEY

Er, well, no.

CORALINE

Exactly. And I never actually went bed last night, so... yeah.

EXT. Elven ruins - afternoon

Kit, Jora, Erry, and Nolan march into the ruins, much like the previous time, but now with purpose, and geared up for an expedition. Kit has a whole bag of gear. Erry has a sack of food. Jora is heavily armed. Nolan is holding a stick, a thin branch whittled down to its core, straight and even.

Erry jumps up and climbs onto a rubble.

Kit ignores her, strolling on, taking the lead, and Erry runs after to catch up.

Nolan examines some stones as they pass, making sure they're not sheep.

They stop in front of the Edifice, tall and white and gleaming, carved and adorned with flowing motifs, though the basic architecture is fairly simple. It seems to sparkle in the shadows.

They look at it, look some more, look around, look at it some more, and then look at each other.

ERRY

Can you open it?

JORA

They say nobody's been able to open the Edifice since the Exodus.

KIT

We'll be the first. And we have it. A mystery to unlock the mystery within. It will all be mine.

NOLAN

We have a stick.

(he holds up the stick for emphasis)

It needs runes.

Nolan pokes the door with the stick.

Nothing happens.

KIT

(motioning for Nolan to hand over the stick)

Here.

Nolan passes him the stick.

Kit holds it aloft like a wand and points it about in various arcane-looking motions, generally directed at the door.

Nothing continues to happen.

Kit pokes the door with the stick.

Nothing continues to continue to happen.

Erry makes a face.

NOLAN

Runes.

KIT

On the stick?

NOLAN

Yes?

JORA

What did it say in the book?

KIT

Didn't. It's secrets. Things in books aren't secrets, or they wouldn't be secrets anymore.

NOLAN

Runes.

KIT

All right, all right, which ones?

NOLAN

(counting off on his fingers)

Fish. Tree. Hunger. Chaos. Hazard.

KIT

Seriously?

Nolan turns slightly and stares at Kit intently.

Kit quickly looks away and scribbles the runes down the length of the stick.

Kit then, hesitantly, tries poking the Edifice door again with the stick.

The magic sealing the entryway bursts into brilliant sparkles, which quickly fade. With a click, the door unlatches and opens slightly.

NOLAN

Boom.

Erry tip-toes forward and pulls the door open the rest of the way, revealing a dusty mass of darkness.

JORA

(grabbing Erry by the hood of her jacket)

Hold up. Let your brother put a light on you first.

Kit casts magelights on everyone, starting with Erry and Jora, at which point Jora lets go, Erry charges inside, and Jora draws her sword and marches in after.

Kit and Nolan exchange completely meaningless looks and head in as well.

INT. Edifice - afternoon

The entry chamber is grand but simple, with a high ceiling and dual staircases leading up to higher rooms. Doors lead to other rooms off to the sides. Elaborate light fixtures, emitting no light, hang from chains on the ceiling, aside from one smashed on the floor. An empty desk faces them. Dead plants and paintings line the walls, along with some disintegrating sofas and low tables. Stickers with ancient text and pictures are stuck to a few of them. A large pile of bones is heaped up against one of them, and dust coats every surface in little dunes, marred only by the girls' tracks.

Jora is standing at the base of the stairs, looking up, though she glances back as Kit and Nolan enter.

The door quietly booms shut behind them.

KIT

Erry?

Erry slides down a banister and lands in a dust-covered heap in from of him.

KIT

(disappointedly)

Oh.

JORA

Keep an eye on her. We don't know what we'll find, or if the place might try to fall down on us now that we're inside.

KIT

What'd you let her run in for?

NOLAN

Where are the sheep?

JORA

Why would there be sheep?

NOLAN

Kit said there might be sheep.

KIT

There might have been a lot of things. That was sort of the point.

Nolan frowns, looking about, and then fixates on the pile of bones.

NOLAN

(slowly)

Maybe... there are sheep in there.

EXT. Woods outside Molstead - darkness

Darkness. Everything is darkness. Shapes looming, careening, drifting in and about, but still, only darkness. The Carrier runs through it all, oblivious. It is only darkness, only everything, black and close, enveloping, consuming.

Sometimes there are lights, and the Carrier goes to them and puts them out, inviting them into the darkness, bringing them home.

Sometimes the shapes fade away. Movement stops, and he is alone, entirely alone in the quiet, the black, the whispers tickling the edges of the void. Then the shapes return, and the lights beckon, beckon, begging him onward.

Shapes.

Darkness.

Hunger.

Everything is hunger. The darkness is hunger, empty, necessary, comforting.

Something is out there now, and he fixates on it, feeling it calling to him with its silent delirious voice, so cold, so empty, so sweet and comforting, so hungry. It is so dark, so far, but so close, and his hunger pales in comparison. His darkness is too bright. He needs to find it, to join with it, before the darkness goes entirely...

White.

The Carrier runs on, onward through the woods, hungering, unseeing.

INT. Molstead Inn - evening

Coraline Dreams.

: It is cold. You aren't anywhere in particular, just snowy fields, rural, vague. The snow is trampled, frosted. The cat is seated by your boots, and you're not moving either, but you need to be somewhere. You need to run, but the train isn't coming, and the wind is bitter, and it's getting dark already. You need to be out of here. The trolls are coming.

: You spin around, but there is nothing there, only the wind, the voices whispering, drifting on the surface of the snow. It is cold, bitterly so, even trying to get in through your hat. You wrap your hood tighter around it.

: "Is this Finland?" the cat asks.

: "Huh?" you say.

: "Seems cold," the cat notes. "And dark."

: "I don't recall Captain Obvious being here," you say, peering around. What are you even doing here? You can't remember. The station is run-down, abandoned, the tracks covered in snow.

: "Troll," the cat says.

: It falls on you like a pile of bricks.

Coraline is lying in bed, covered in cats, staring at the ceiling, the voices rising around her. Outside is a general racket of music and singing, punctuated by cheering and explosions.

A horrible noise squelches through the walls. Coraline starts to react, accidentally jostles a cat, and decides to just lie there instead.

CORALINE

Nrrrgh, cats.

AGATA

Yes, hello.

The horrible noise squelches some more, getting louder, rattling the ceiling.

CORALINE

What the hell is that?

Agata rumbles.

Tress sticks up a paw.

Argument of Hags slides off the windowsill.

None of them answer the question.

CORALINE

You all are useless, you know.

Coraline tries to slide out from under the cats and falls out of bed.

AGATA

At least we're not drunk.

CORALINE

Perkele, cat, that was your fault.

Coraline gets up and finds herself face to eyeballs with a tentacle monster.

CORALINE

Hi. Did you know knocking is a thing? Also not coming in through walls?

That was you, right? There isn't something else in the walls. Right?

The tentacle monster blinks a long row of eyes at her in sequence.

TENTACLE MONSTER

We wish to partake of the polluted essences of fruit and flesh.

CORALINE

What.

TENTACLE MONSTER

There is an ongoing soiree.

Coraline gives the tentacle monster a blank look, and then starts pulling on some proper clothes right in front of it.

CORALINE

If you want to go to the festival, just... go? We've already got gogs, so I dunno how much weirder you could possibly be...

(she picks up a bottle of vodka and opens the door, indicating it with the vodka)

This is a door. In the future, please open it and go through it, as opposed to the wall. The gogs couldn't figure that out either, but it's really quite simple.

Ask Scoffle if you need help. Or any of the other cats.

TENTACLE MONSTER

This follows.

Coraline heads out, and the tentacle monster follows scuttlingly.

EXT. Molstead - evening

It is very noisy. The festivities have clearly been going on for awhile already. There is rubbish scattered about, and people who look like rubbish. Many are already quite drunk. Many are singing, and waving torches and fireworks. Some do not take well to the tentacle monster, avoiding it, staring, something screaming in surprise and disgust. Others do not even seem to notice. One guy gives it a bottle of shalott and claps it on what would have been a shoulder, were it a humanoid.

Gogs run through with signs, some of them right-side-up. Kids run through as well, some also with signs, some following the gogs.

Coraline scoots over toward the slightly dismantled keg throne and starts contributing to the chaos.

The bonfire, for some reason, is bright green, shooting sparks up into the sky, where they swirl and die amidst the fireworks.

Edifice

INT. Edifice - evening

Kit, Erry, and Jora explore the building thoroughly over the course of the afternoon. Erry opens everything. Jora clears each room they come to. After finding the one sheep bone in the pile (a rib), Nolan joins in, and helps open a few doors the others couldn't, fiddling at their locks, set into the walls as opposed to the doors themselves.

Much of it is offices, filing rooms, closets. Lots of desks, lots of papers, and stranger consoles too. The chairs are all broken, and not like anything they've seen. Kit sits down on the floor with some of the filing, casting spells to translate the ancient Torini script, and after the first few papers crumble in his hands, spells to preserve the paper as well, and reads with fascination what turn out to be little more than requisitions and reports, but which unlike anything he's ever dealt with.

Dead potted plants are everywhere. Nonfunctional light fixtures protrude from walls and hang from ceilings.

Erry and Nolan are in the entry chamber, facing a pair of large doors behind the staircases up. Something that looks suspiciously like a warning sign is plastered to one of them.

Erry is eating some cheese and moose on bread.

Nolan frowns at the doors.

KIT

(coming over)

According to the forms, they were trying to evacuate through here. But I haven't seen any signs of how. You?

NOLAN

In the basement.

ERRY

It's locked.

Jora comes over as well.

Nolan sticks a long wire into a hole and pushes a button by the door, and it pops open.

Erry pulls the door the rest of the way open and leans inside, illuminating a wide set of stairs down.

KIT

Well?

ERRY

I see... stairs.

Kit pulls her back by the hood and starts down in front of her.

ERRY

Oy.

The others follow after, Jora taking the lead again, sword out.

INT. Edifice basement - evening

The basement is completely unlike the upstairs. It's one large room, sectioned off by a half-height wall dividing it in two, a slit in the middle acting as a doorway to the other side. Several black screens are affixed to the half-wall, peering down on them like dead eyes. The floor and walls are bare stone, unadorned. Luggage and boxes and bags are heaped in piles, abandoned. Striped tape affixed to the floor partitions out boundaries and walkways.

There is a stale smell of not quite decomposition.

Their magelights cast jumping shadows between the piles. Kit and Jora just stop, staring.

Erry takes a few steps between the piles and pokes one uncertainly. It crumbles a bit, settling.

Nolan heads over to the slit.

Besides them, nothing moves.

JORA

In the Exodus, the elves left their homes too. Not all the cities had fair warning.

KIT

So they just left their stuff? For two thousand years? It was just... abandoned here?

JORA

A silent, sealed memorial.

Erry picks up a small stuffed moose and holds it uncertainly. Bits of fake fur fall off.

ERRY

This was someone's toy. Someone like me...?

She holds it up to eye level and stares at it.

Nolan stops in the doorway slit, and after a bit, the others pick their way over to him. Erry is still holding the moose.

The other side of the half-wall has more luggage, piled up and shoved out of the way into corners even more unceremoniously. Other bits, too, smaller bits, seem to have been simply dropped on the floor and trampled.

Rising up out of all of it is a Gateway, a huge ring set into a base in the floor, propped up with clamps and stilts. Cables stream out of it, connecting to stacks of crates nearby, and a large crystal on top of the crates is connected to it as well with more cables.

Nolan goes over to the crystal and taps it a couple of times. Nothing happens.

NOLAN

(to Kit)

Can you turn it on?

KIT

Er, I don't know. Maybe?

Kit goes to investigate.

Nolan nods and goes to stand in front of the Gateway, looking up at it blankly, turning the sheep rib over in his fingers.

Erry pokes about the luggage in a sort of fearful fascination, gathering up small things and secreting them away with her food.

Jora strolls about, checking for hazards. She glances toward the Gateway uncertainly from time to time as she does.

INT. Edifice basement - night

A couple of hours later, Kit gets the Gateway working, using the patterns built into it, redirecting the ancient flows so they resume. The magic is different now, not what it expects, but it's still magic, following similar rules. At last the crystal glows, and then the Gateway itself rumbles to life, components twisting against each other, other crystals in its frame lighting up. It settles into its new position, emitting a vague hum.

KIT

(stepping back)

Okay, I think that it's it.

Erry runs over, Jora following more sedately.

ERRY

Where'll it go?

NOLAN

We could travel to sheep.

JORA

It's late. We should be getting back.

KIT

No! We must go on!

(leaning over the crystal again)

It has to be able to connect to another Gate, but I'm seeing connections to several possibilities. Two of them even seem to be on Cerris, so...

NOLAN

Good. Do that.

JORA

Are you certain...?

NOLAN

Yes.

Nolan takes Jora's arm and steers her back toward the stairs.

As they leave, none of the doors present any difficulty whatsoever in opening, allowing them out without trouble.

Even the main door to the building simply opens at a touch.

NOLAN

For emergencies.

Part 2: Implement split

It began with a promise. It began long before that. Each twist is prefaced by a choice. Each turn presents something new. You choose how to proceed, and sometimes you choose wrong. Sometimes the turn chooses for you. Sometimes the turn chooses wrong.

On a scale of one to invade Russia in the winter, how bad is your idea?

Notes:

1. This is a children's story.
2. Contradictions belie meaning.
3. Some people will always need help. That does not mean they are not worth helping.
4. The worlds are circular. You may repeat yourself.
5. Things will become clearer as you go.

Aftermath

EXT. Molstead Market square - night

At some point everything went wrong.

There is no more singing, no more celebration. People are fled or holed up in buildings, or in some cases, dead in the streets. Gogs are clinging to the undersides of eaves like odd little bumps. The bonfire is small, now, but now other things are on fire - stalls, piles of kegs, some buildings. There are yells and screams, coming from no particular direction or apparent source.

Coraline wakes up on the ground, a bit sooty, with a headache and drying blood in her hair. She sits up dizzily, touches her head, and frowns at the blood that winds up on her hand. The voices are all around, but distorted. Echoing.

Agata is sitting next to her.

A large group of townsfolk, as well as some soldiers in dark armour, are all standing around her, staring at her. Among them is also another man, far dirtier than the rest.

CORALINE

What... happened?

AGATA

I might worry about our audience first, if I were you.

CORALINE

(getting up)

What... they're...

AGATA

Carriers.

CORALINE

(worriedly)

All of them?

AGATA

I'd suggest you do something before someone sees, but it's a bit late for that.

CORALINE

But what... what are they doing? What are they waiting for?

The Carriers all just stare at Coraline, their eyes dark and hungry. She recognises quite a few of them.

AGATA

You, apparently.

Coraline approaches a nearer, familiar, Carrier uncertainly. It's Jess, who falls to her knees before Coraline, looking up at her glassily.

Around, heads turn to follow, though the Carriers make no other moves.

JESS

(in a flat whisper)

The black... it burns...

CORALINE

(almost sobbing in confusion)

What...?

JESS

So bright...

Something is drawing Coraline to Jess. A hunger is burning insider her. She wants the girl, wants to join her, to take her, to devour...

Coraline grasps Jess's head in her hands, gently, welcomingly, firmly, not even sure what she's doing.

There is darkness, now. All around, amidst the voices, covering the world. Part of her wants this, needs it.

CORALINE

No... no!

Coraline can feel the pain in Jess, the loss, the fear, the hunger. What she cannot feel is Jess. She tries to push it all away, tries to find Jess amidst the black, the hunger, the voices clamouring louder and louder around her, but there's just nothing. It's like nothing, like pushing on solid nothing, except the nothing is pushing right back.

Coraline panics and twists it about, turning the darkness in on itself.

Jess collapses in front of her, dead.

The darkness subsides, and the voices quiet more or less back to normal.

The Carriers around Coraline start moving toward her all at once, some shuffling vaguely, others rushing forward. One trips and falls on his face. A couple jump at her, grasping, pulling at her mind, and she knocks the first one aside, spinning away from another in armour.

The dirtiest Carrier reaches for her, wrapping her in his filthy embrace, and Coraline elbows him in the stomach. This has no useful effect whatsoever. Some dirt flakes off.

AGATA

(mind voice)

Do what you did before. Take his life and turn it out.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

I don't even know how!

AGATA

(mind voice)

There is life and there is death. They are the same things. Turn them in on themselves.

Another Carrier grabs for Coraline again, holding her in place.

Something tears inside of Coraline. The voices shift, dulling, as the darkness rises once more, and she does it, she turns the life out, and the dirty Carrier lets go, falling on top of her. And the others, too, are all on her, holding, grasping, reaching, pulling, rending at her mind, at her...

A horrible noise squelches out of the ground, shaking some of the nearby buildings. It squelches further, and tentacles erupt from the ground, long and dark, ripping the Carriers away from Coraline.

The tentacle monster emerges a moment later amidst further squelching like a submarine out of an ice sheet. Dirt showers down around it. Some of the dirt falls right through it. Carriers are thrown aside. The tentacle monster grabs a couple with its tentacles and shoves them into its maw, eyes rippling out around it, devouring them whole.

Coraline scrambles away, grabbing Agata, and dodges another Carrier.

The tentacle monster grabs up a few more, devouring them as well, oozing along, low to the ground, tentacles reaching out far to grab others in the process, and trampling them as it goes. It makes a wide circle around Coraline, grabbing, devouring, smashing, leaving behind a trail of bodies and a bloody smear, until none are left standing.

It rises up like a monolith, drawing its tentacles back into itself, and moves toward Coraline.

Coraline stares at the tentacle monster uncertainly, holding Agata close.

Agata puts her ears back.

TENTACLE MONSTER

Go. Your sanctuary is not here.

CORALINE

I... you... thank you?

TENTACLE MONSTER

Go.

The tentacle monster reaches out with a tentacle and pushes Coraline away, turning her about.

Coraline runs for it.

EXT. Molstead inn - night

Coraline goes around back, trying to figure the best way in, Agata following at her heels. She starts dismantling one of the windows.

CORALINE

(quietly)

So they know. They know what I am?

AGATA

Not as such, but once things calm, word'll get around. You were out for awhile. People saw that crowd, knew something was the centre of it all. Some probably saw you walk out of it.

It's time you got on with it. Hiding, not working so well.

CORALINE

(removing the pane)

And what hit me?

AGATA

Probably someone aiming for something else.

Coraline sets the pane of glass down carefully, eyeing the cat.

AGATA

Probably.

CORALINE

Perkele.

Coraline tries to hoist herself up through the window, fails, tries again, and topples headfirst into the inn.

INT. Molstead inn - night

It is disturbingly quiet, and dark. A small trickle of light trickles back from the main room.

Coraline heads into the store room and packs up some supplies, a couple of kegs and the equivalent of a large liquor cabinet, and enough food and questionable potion bottles to crush a small child, stuffing it all into her really rather small pocket bag, pulling the inner lining out a bit in order to swallow up a few of the larger items. Somehow it all fits, and the bag gets no bigger.

In the corner is a small shrine of pretty things. Keepsakes, memories, books, reminders of home, reminders of who Coraline is and how she had gotten here: an ornate filigree mask wired to a pair of sunglasses; a dried flower woven out of grass; a bright cuddly sea-anemone; a wooden statuette of Ganesh, and with it a smaller one of a wombat in a vest. Argument of Hags is perched nearby.

Coraline tucks the things into her bag, and grabs Argument of Hags. The cat doesn't exactly resist, but clings for dear life, digging in with claws.

CORALINE

(muttering)

I know, I know, you don't like being carried, but it's that or leave you here and you've grown on me entirely too much.

Dors enters, crossbow levelled in front of him, but he lowers it upon seeing Coraline.

DORS

You going?

CORALINE

Yeah.

DORS

You take care of yourself out there. This world, it'll eat you.

CORALINE

You too, man.

Dors grins at her and turns back toward the main room.

Coraline hurries over toward her bedroom, wads up her bedding and clothes and some other supplies, and feeds those and all her books into the bag as well. Then she gets out another bag that looks much the same size as the outside and fits that into the inside of the other bag, concealing the seemingly bottomless pit within. She puts a small amount of money and another bottle in this.

Thimble is glaring down at her from a shelf.

CORALINE

(to Thimble)

I'm leaving. Come with me, you delightful meme.

Thimble continues to glare at her with his perpetually angry face.

Coraline gives him an irate look and reaches up and carries him off, and then heads back toward the window, which she proceeds to fall out of.

EXT. Molstead inn - night

Agata gives Coraline and the spare cat a long blank look, then turns away, padding off in a direction.

Coraline follows after.

EXT. Molstead - night

Nolan and Jora get back into town amidst alarming silence, and even more alarming noise. Isolated yells puncture it yellingly from time to time. Most of the noise is fire, and things on fire.

Dead people are in the streets, some townsfolk, some soldiers. Festival stuff is smashed and scattered about, along with random bits of clothing and other discarded items.

Through it all are a few folks still standing, wandering aimlessly. They are Carriers.

Jora holds her sword at the ready, giving them a wide berth.

Nolan walks up to a Carrier just sort of standing there and pushes him over.

The Carrier doesn't respond, lying where he fell.

JORA

Nolan?

Nolan hands Jora a dagger, which she tosses slightly and then stuffs in her belt.

NOLAN

Use that on them first, then kill them.

We should flee. It would be logical. Mathematical. But then we would not know what it was we fled.

JORA

Does it matter?

NOLAN

It may.

They continue on toward the centre of town.

A few of the Carriers start to follow Nolan and Jora as they pass.

EXT. Molstead market square - night

The market square is full of bodies. The bonfire is low. There is a suspicious hole in the ground, and an even more suspicious and splattery large wet streak across the ground through the middle of it all.

A small group of soldiers in dark armour are clustered about, watching the area, weapons at the ready. Nurunn and Doranis are among them, investigating.

Doranis is investigating by staring at the ground in confused horror.

Nurunn is squatting by the hole. He picks up some gloop out of it and frowns.

Nolan marches into the square and goes right to the soldiers. Jora follows slightly more cautiously, watching them carefully, but staying close to Nolan.

The soldiers point weapons at Nolan and Jora.

Nurunn gets up and comes over.

NOLAN

We were followed.

Several Carriers amble into the square after them.

A couple of other Carriers run into the square after them.

NURUNN

I see.

Jora sighs and turns around slightly, crouching down, and then jumps at the runners, slashing them with the dagger, and cutting them down with her sword, spinning around them. They reach for her as she does, pulling with hands like claws. Several of the soldiers run in and assist.

When the last one falls, Jora turns toward the ambling Carriers.

One of the nearer ones, a WOMAN, stops uncertainly before her.

WOMAN

Please. Can you help us?

JORA

(holding out the dagger guardingly)

What are you? What happened here?

WOMAN

I don't know... please, help. It's so wrong, so wrong...

NURUNN

(striding over)

They are Carriers of the Death of Souls. There is no helping them.

Nurunn unceremoniously cuts the woman down, and moves on to the other amblers and rather efficiently does the same with them.

Jora lowers her weapons uncertainly.

Nolan wanders over toward another Carrier coming into the square from a different direction, stops in front of him, and does a little dance.

The Carrier stops and stares at Nolan confusedly.

Nolan does another little dance, this time centred on the other foot.

Nurunn throws a sword through the Carrier's face.

Nolan stops dancing, turns around, and nonchalantly walks back toward Nurunn.

NOLAN

Did you learn anything?

NURUNN

Yes.

Nolan stops and stares up at Nurunn expectantly.

NURUNN

(bemusedly)

Fragments of the Black seem to temporarily inhibit the symptoms of the Death of Souls through contact.

NOLAN

And then?

NURUNN

Then it exploded.

Nolan continues to stare at Nurunn expectantly.

Nurunn stares right back.

NOLAN

What is 'the Black'?

NURUNN

An ancient relic of unknown power, safely guarded.

NOLAN

Interesting.

We're done here.

Nolan turns and heads back the way they came.

Nurunn frowns after Nolan, but makes no attempts to stop him.

NURUNN

Is that normal?

JORA

He doesn't have a normal setting. If he did, we wouldn't even... ah, feck!

(she runs after Nolan to catch up)

Nolan! Is this what you wanted the Gateway for?

Nolan doesn't answer as they continue on out of town.

NOLAN

You're not going into shock.

JORA

(slowing)

What?

NOLAN

You already are in shock.

Jora stares at him incredulously, and then leaps aside to take out another couple of Carriers.

NOLAN

Theoretically yes. We'll see if the math holds.

Exit by fortune

EXT. Woods outside Molstead - early morning

Small groups of the soldiers in dark armour are in the woods, holding a perimeter of sorts, and hunting down escaping Carriers.

Coraline nearly runs into a pair of them while trying to find a better way to carry Thimble, stumbling out into their torchlight in surprise. Agata is on her head, and not entirely awake at this point.

Thimble murrs unhappily.

The soldiers point swords at her all very suddenly.

Coraline stops very suddenly, holding up a very angry-looking cat.

The soldiers stare at Coraline in surprise, then lower their weapons. A bit.

SOLDIER DUDLEY

Watch it.

SOLDIER ECHRLATL

You got all your cats, or are you gonna need to go back for another load?

CORALINE

Yes.

Echrlatl laughs.

Dudley gives Coraline a dubious look.

Coraline starts to sidle around them.

SOLDIER ECHRLATL

(grabbing Coraline's arm)

Wait.

Echrlatl pulls Coraline close, staring at her carefully, watching her eyes, nearly squashing Thimble between them.

Agata falls off Coraline's head.

Thimble hisses.

CORALINE

(struggling, in particular to not squash Thimble)

Let go of me!

The voices rise to a roar around her, clamouring in her head, and she feels the brightness of the Death of Souls, its strange dark pull overwhelming her.

Coraline struggles even harder, trying to get away, to protect her cat, even as she needs to get closer, needs to be the darkness...

Thimble lets out a low yowl.

Echrlatl abruptly lets go, and Coraline jumps away.

SOLDIER ECHRLATL

Sorry, miss. Had to be sure.

CORALINE

(backing away)

Sure of what?!

SOLDIER ECHRLATL

There's Carriers of the Death of Souls in the area. Had to be sure you weren't one of them.

Coraline stares at them, confused, and then just turns and runs, holding Thimble close. Agata runs after.

AGATA

(mind voice)

That was close.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

I don't get it. Why didn't he see it?

AGATA

(mind voice)

Doesn't matter. He didn't.

You're getting better at resisting.

Exit by intent

EXT. Edifice - early morning

Nolan tries the door, only to find it sealed as before.

Jora goes to give the immediate area a lookout while he figures it out.

Nolan grabs another, much less appropriate, stick off the ground and very unhappily scrapes the same shapes into it as Kit had done earlier. He pokes the door.

Nothing happens.

Nolan frowns at the stick, bugs his eyes out at the runes, and then adjusts one slightly. He pokes the door again.

This time the magic sealing the doorway bursts into oddly lighting-appropriate (or lack thereof) sparkles as the door unlatches.

NOLAN

Jora.

Jora appears as if out of nowhere, and they head back inside, door sealing again behind them.

INT. Edifice basement - early morning

The basement shows no sign of Kit or Erry when Nolan and Jora get back down. The Gateway is humming vaguely, its lights subdued.

JORA

If they went through, they could be anywhere.

NOLAN

Good.

Nolan goes to the control crystal, stares at it for a long moment, and then pokes it very deliberately.

The crystals in the Gateway light up, and the hum thrums. A rippling film appears across the opening, like the surface of a bubble.

JORA

If they didn't...

NOLAN

They did.

Nolan walks into the gateway and disappears as he crosses the threshold.

Jora eyes it uncertainly, and then ducks her head and follows.

INT. Blocky structure - gateway floor

The entryway is a room of sorts, large, square, dark, and with no discernible doors, windows, or even light fixtures, nestled in a horrible pressing silence. The only features in it are another Gateway and a strange circle of glyphs on the floor. This Gateway is standing much more elegantly than the other, supporting itself, without cables, but has no control crystal.

A magelight is affixed to the ceiling.

Kit is sitting against a wall. Erry is asleep on his shoulder, the stuffed moose on her head.

The Gateway flickers to life, and Nolan and Jora come through.

Kit jumps up, knocking Erry awake.

Erry sits up, rubbing her eyes. The moose tumbles to the floor.

Jora nods at Kit, looking relieved.

ERRY

Hi.

NOLAN

Dinner?

KIT

Oh, that's what we forgot. So silly of us, after having packed everything else for this little venture.

Look, I hate to be the one to say this, but I think we're trapped. Vitoi's end. Can't turn on the Gateway from here, and can't seem to find any way out of this... room, either.

NOLAN

Really?

Erry offers Nolan a tin of cookies. Nolan takes it and starts eating them very methodically.

Kit gives Nolan an annoyed look, which slides right off like ducks.

JORA

Do we know where we are?

Kit shakes his head.

Erry looks at Nolan.

Nolan stares vaguely at a wall and pulls a leg of mutton out of his pocket.

Nolan pokes the wall. A small trickle of water is trickling down it.

Kit scuffs at the glyphs on the floor with his foot.

ERRY

Why are we here? Why aren't we home?

KIT

(glumly)

I wanted an adventure. I didn't think we'd... er...

NOLAN

Your home is gone. Your parents are dead. This is better.

KIT

Eh?

Erry stares at Nolan incredulously.

NOLAN

There was an outbreak of the Death of Souls. The Quints were killed on the spot. Mrs. Enori was turned as a Carrier and likely eaten.

There's a horrible awkward silence.

JORA

It's true. Molstead was a mess. It's good we weren't there when it happened.

KIT

You saw them?

NOLAN

No.

KIT

Then how can you possibly know...

NOLAN

Probability, previous trajectories, and sheep. Mr. Enori only survived because he would have wound up in the inn, escorting some of the small people. The less erratic ones.

Erry and Kit stare at him.

JORA

I'm so sorry.

Jora hugs Erry, and Erry just looks really, really confused.

Kit shakes his head, looking rather freaked out.

NOLAN

It doesn't matter.

KIT

(yelling in frustration)

Ghaaagh!

(taking a deep breath and continuing more normally)

We need to find a way out of here.

Nolan nods. Once.

JORA

We can't go back.

NOLAN

No.

JORA

So how do we continue?

Nolan goes and stands in the circle of glyphs.

Nothing happens.

Kit pushes him out and stands in the circle instead.

Nothing continues to happen.

Erry goes and stands in it with him.

All at once, the wall in front of them rumbles outward, swinging on a side, revealing a corridor of featureless darkness, as wide as the room they're in.

ERRY

(quietly)

You think it. You think 'open open open'. It opened.

JORA

Very good.

KIT

(peering out into the darkness)

I don't get it. This isn't Torini, but it's definitely elven...

The Soravian elves were all Torini. Even across the mainland it was mostly Torini.

Nolan marches off into the newly-discovered corridor. More circles of glyphs mark apparent doors on more expanses of wall.

KIT

Oy!

His voice echos strangely.

Kit runs after Nolan and applies a magelight to his head, and then more to everyone else's as well.

Nolan doesn't slow down, and just keeps right on going. The others follow after, passing by several circles of glyphs. The corridor turns, and Nolan simply turns with it, continuing.

ERRY

(whispering)

It's like it's dead. We're inside the body, but it's dead.

They turn another corner and hit a possibly dead end.

Nolan stops and stands in one of the circles of glyphs, and Kit runs into his shoulder.

A large wide door of wall swings open in front of them. The room revealed is full of blocks, and a particularly large block that might be a table. Nolan stares at it for a bit.

KIT

Whoever these people were, you think they liked blocks?

ERRY

(peering in as well)

No.

Kit gives her an irritated look, and goes and opens the door wall on the other side of the corridor. This room also contains blocks.

Kit steps back and the wall door closes.

They tiredly open a few more sections. Most reveal rooms with blocks, of varying sizes. One is empty. Another contains a construct of swirling shards of stone, which flies out and tries to smash Erry.

Erry shrieks at it, trying to look as scary as possible.

This has no effect.

Kit throws a fireball at it, destabilising it.

Jora smacks it with the flat of her blade, knocking some of the pieces apart. She smacks it again a few times, and it clatters to the ground in pieces.

KIT

(picking up one of the shards)

What is this?

NOLAN

Hostile.

KIT

You think?

Erry rubs her eyes.

Kit and Nolan open a few more. One of them is a small square room with a much larger than usual cicle of glyphs going around the entire room, or as much larger as a circle can inside a square.

They all pile in and start thinking random things.

ERRY

Sausage?

Kit closes his eyes and concentrates, thinking of what purposes such a room could serve, and such a place, and what would be needed. And what they need. They need a lot of things. He doesn't know what they need.

Silently the entire room begins to descend.

INT. Blocky structure - lodgement floor

Several long seconds later, the room stops, and the wall door opens, revealing yet another blocky corridor.

Erry yawns hugely and opens the wall across from them. The room inside contains yet more blocks, dozens laid out evenly, but these are long and low, almost the size and shape of beds.

Erry trods over to one and collapses on it, sinking into it a little. This meets with her approval, so she snuggles into it a bit, pulls herself on entirely, and prompty falls asleep.

Jora and the others come in as well, looking about at the really quite featureless blocks.

Jora presses on one with her hand.

JORA

Soft. These are beds?

Nolan flops across one crosswise, his legs hanging off the side.

NOLAN

(with his face in the bed, a bit muffled)

Yes.

KIT

(with considerably satisfaction)

Yessssss.

Waypoints

EXT. River Lenn - afternoon

It's a bright and sunny, if somewhat chilly, day. The river winds through the trees like an aimless jogger, low and muddy, and open. A small boat floats with the current, vaguely south. Agata is perched on the bow, and Coraline is asleep in the bottom of the boat, Thimble hunched tensely beside her.

For a long bit, nothing really happens. The boat drifts downriver under the bright blue sky, under bare branches, under late autumn fire. Agata watches carefully, eyeing hazards, putting an ear back at the odd oddity. Thimble cries unhappily.

Coraline wakes up blearily and hugs him.

Thimble burrows into her coat.

CORALINE

I'm sorry, I didn't mean...

Coraline sits up a bit, rocking the boat entirely too much at first, and then tries again, keeping herself more balanced, wincing at her sore muscles. She drinks some whiskey and looks out over the water, and the sunlight bores into her brain like an augur, drilling out of the sky, bouncing off the river. Even the light rocks at the shore are almost blinding.

She covers her eyes and immediately feels 62% better.

CORALINE

Agata, did we... was there something...?

Coraline gestures vaguely.

AGATA

Everything is perfect. Utterly, absolutely, perfect.

CORALINE

Great.

Coraline slides back down into the bottom of the boat, curling around Thimble protectively, and Dreams.

: The snow is falling wetly around you, draping a soggy blanket across the landscape, drooping off of fencelines, hanging over edges of trees and roofs alike. The town looks deserted. The tracks are as snowy as anything.

: You wipe some snow off your head and it melts in trickles around your fingers, dripping down your neck and back, slipping beneath your coat.

: There are trolls around, but they will be dulled by the cold. They don't like the wet especially. Babies' eyes. Running late. You don't need to hurry. You can afford to stop.

: You can afford to stop.

: You step onto the station porch and peer about, noting the wetness, the leaves blown into the corners, wet and frozen. The ticketing machines are rusted with disuse. The door is shut, locked.

: You try it anyway. It opens with difficulty, hinges resisting, screaking, grating all the way until it sticks, and a cloud of stale air drifts out. It doesn't want to. It doesn't want you here.

: "Down here," Agata's voice says, inside, drifting out of corners. "You'll want to see this."

: The door is only partially open, only a little. You push through regardless, squeezing past handle and frame, into the darkness full of shapes: boxes stacked in the gloom, leering frames of cabinets, drawers hanging open, spiderwebs gaping, empty. You are neither spider nor fly. It is all already over.

: The darkness hangs like a sieve.

: "Down here," Agata repeats, driftingly, distant. You follow the voice, twisting through the maze, turning the corners between stacks, deeper and deeper. It is a labyrinth, silent as the grave, stuffy. The door stops you suddenly, looming up around a corner all at once, set into a wall, ordinary, plain. Standard industry handle. Standard frame painted the same as the walls. Walls, barren, unnotable. No windows. You touch it and the surface vibrates. The paint stirs, bubbles, shifts. It is rough, but not, trembling.

: The handle turns easily.

: Beyond is only darkness, deep, looming, empty. Voices in the shadows. Singing in the depths. Echoes. It goes on and on, but there is only nothing within its depths. It goes down, but the light stops at the threshold. Darkness, darkness, darkness.

: "You'll want to see this," Agata repeats, the same words, the same voice, suddenly loud, right in front of you, all around.

: The doorway, hanging open, beckons, inviting. The darkness beyond hints at shapes, ordered columns, singing against the black, and beyond it, more.

: You almost try to step forward, but then you can't. You can't move, instead finding yourself frozen in uncertainty and fear, paralysing, pulling you down as the dream dissolves around you, pulling, pulling, pulling, reaching, grasping.

Coraline is underwater. Something is holding her, pulling her down. Hands reach for her, grasping at her arms and legs. Undead faces leer, grinning at her out of the murk. They're not all there.

It's cold. It's suffocating. She's drowning, and yet she isn't struggling.

Milky eyes peer at her curiously out of a sagging, bloated head.

Coraline pulls away and breaks the surface, coughing. The air hits like ice. Bright sunlight streams down. The river is much rockier here.

Decomposing hands pull her back down into cocooning silence. The voices trickle mutely.

AGATA

(mind voice)

You could just let yourself die. It would be easier.

CORALINE

(mind voice; vaguely)

I don't want to...

AGATA

(mind voice)

Then fight!

Coraline twists away, thrashing at the hands, struggling back for the surface, for the bottom, anything. She steps on a head and it smashes like a melon. She grabs at some rocks and pulls her way up them, scrabbling for holds, scraping her fingers, and then she's on the surface again. She kicks at the dead people, but they hold on, so she kicks some more, knocking off fingers and limbs, and pulls herself out of the water, onto a rock, coughing and shivering.

Bloated faces and bare skulls stare up at her from out of the water.

The boat is sideways, caught on some rocks nearby, with Agata and Thimble on them. Agata is dry. Thimble isn't, and is quickly grooming himself to dry off.

Coraline finally manages to catch her breath a bit and stares toward Agata uncertainly.

AGATA

Hello. Having fun?

CORALINE

Why are there dead people in the river?

AGATA

They're called drowners. They drown people. And then you get more drowners.

Coraline shivers violently, and bursts into flame. She flails a bit in a panic, almost falls back into the river, and then the flames go out all at once, leaving her mostly dry.

One of the drowners reaches a hand up out of the water toward her.

Coraline kicks it away.

Others reach for her too, grasping at the rocks, trying to climb up after her. One hand pokes a detached foot out of the water and waves it a bit. Faces stare, some little more than rounded bone.

Coraline kicks at these, too, stomping on some of the ones that get too high. She opens her bag, still secured to her belt, and pulls out the inner bag a bit, trying to find her staff.

Another drowner pulls its way up onto the rocks in front of her, and its hips and the remains of organs fall back into the river with a horrible sloughing. Coraline kicks the rest of it away.

CORALINE

(yelling in frustration)

What do you all want? Are you just trying to drown me? Is that it?

Thimble jumps away, running over the rocks to the shore.

The drowners in the water all sort of stop and stare at her. A few partially out let go and slide back in, also staring at her.

CORALINE

Hi. Do you... understand me?

The drowners continue to stare at her. A couple of them nod.

CORALINE

You don't actually know what you want, do you?

Some of the drowners shake their heads. Others just stare.

AGATA

(mind voice)

They don't normally try to follow people out of the water, either. But you're different. You even speak like Dead. They probably like you.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

Like me?!

AGATA

(mind voice)

You're their mother.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

What? No I'm not.

(aloud, to the drowners)

I'm not your mother.

Voi paska! I forgot my cat!

The drowners stare at her expectantly.

CORALINE

(panicking)

Or... did I? Did I accidentally pack her with my bedding? I didn't kill her, did I? Can cats breathe? Is there air? Agata?

AGATA

I don't know. Breathe.

CORALINE

What?

AGATA

You need to breathe too. You should do that.

CORALINE

I can't breathe, I need to get my cat!

AGATA

Really?

Coraline stops and stares at Agata.

A drowner climbs up onto the rocks by Coraline's feet and hugs her legs. A couple of others start climbing up as well again.

Coraline stares at the drowners.

CORALINE

I... I'm calm. I'm sorry. I'm calm, and I'm breathing, and the cat can wait and I'm calm and there are drowners hugging my legs.

Coraline stares at the drowners a bit more.

CORALINE

There are drowners hugging my legs.

The drowners snuggle her legs and crawl up around her.

Coraline addresses the drowners, and this time notices as her voice changes, becoming looser, huskier.

CORALINE

You all... should really go back into the water.

The drowners peer up at her with dead, rotting, and missing eyes. The ones out of the water slip back in, letting go of her, dropping off the rocks.

Coraline kneels down on the wet rocks, peering at the drowners.

CORALINE

Go back to sleep. Okay? Just go back to sleep. I can't help you.

The drowners continue to stare up at her out of the water, then slowly, first only a couple, then more and more of them all at once, sink down into the water. Mostly they just disappear into the murk, but a few fall apart entirely, drifting away with the current in pieces.

AGATA

Good. Now how about getting your boat out and making some sort of camp?

CORALINE

Camp?

AGATA

You need to sleep. Properly. Also eat. This part of the river is going to take navigating.

INT. Blocky structure - lodgement floor

It is a large, blocky room, full of blocks.

Kit and Erry are sitting on chairs (blocks) at a table (a block), amidst many other tables (blocks) in an entire room full of tables (blocks). Nolan is sitting on the table. Jora is standing nearby. They are all holding blocks that have turned out to be rations. Only Nolan has started eating any.

Erry has a block on her head.

JORA

I've secured the floor. All empty, nothing hostile here, at least.

NOLAN

And the other floors?

JORA

Not yet. We'll need to find out how many there are, clear them too. See if there's a way out, see if anything else goes anywhere. If we are truly stuck here, know what it is we are stuck with.

Nolan nods.

JORA

This one appears to be all lodgement. Probably military of some sort, very basic, but efficient accommodations and support for up to a few thousand. A lot of it doesn't work, but we do have food and water.

NOLAN

And air. For now.

KIT

Do we have any idea what it was all for?

ERRY

Blocks.

KIT

Ugggh.

(tapping his ration block uncertainly)

Are we absolutely certain this is food?

NOLAN

Yes.

Erry slips off her block and heads for the door.

EXT. River Lenn shore - evening

Coraline has made a camp of sorts, half in the trees, half on the rocks. A primitive tent is set up in the trees and full of bedding. A small, mostly smokeless fire is on the rocks by the tent opening, with a pot with soup on. Coraline is lying half-out of the tent, poking the fire with a stick, and sometimes the pot. Her bag is lying open next to the tent.

The boat is pulled up nearby.

A drowner crawls out of the river, gets up awkwardly, and stumbles over toward the camp, before tripping on a rock and falling on its face.

Coraline glares at it.

The drowner just lies there.

Later, Coraline is eating the soup, giving some of the chunks to Agata. The drowner is still lying where it fell.

Thimble pads over out of the trees and plops down next to Coraline, and she gives him some chunks too.

CORALINE

(to Thimble)

Sorry about earlier.

Argument of Hags noses her way out of Coraline's bag and sits nearby, not really paying any attention to Coraline or the tent.

A moment later, Onpahanvaanlampi also emerges, and comes over and sits on Thimble.

CORALINE

So... it is liveable.

AGATA

It's a magic bag, so it's magic. Sometimes entire families live out of them. Though some bags'll just kill anything that enters.

You got lucky.

Another drowner crawls out of the water and stares vaguely at Coraline from the shoreline.

CORALINE

Are they just going to keep doing that all night?

AGATA

Probably.

CORALINE

(collapsing into the tent)

Perkele.

Wake me if they seem hostile again.

EXT. River Lenn shore - morning

Coraline wakes up to find two drowners staring at her disturbingly closely, Agata lying on her, Onpahanvaanlampi sitting on Agata, hissing and growling at the drowners, and another, entirely white, cat she's never even seen before curled up right next to her face.

Coraline nudges the white cat with her nose, and it gets up and walks awkwardly away on three legs. The other leg is just missing.

Onpahanvaanlampi stops growling and stares at Coraline, looking affronted.

CORALINE

Don't look at me. You have me pinned down. You'll have to deal with this yourself.

The drowners drip a bit, staring. A piece of flesh falls off one of them.

AGATA

They're not hostile.

CORALINE

(irritably)

Thank you, Agata.

(to the drowners, in the strange Dead voice)

You know, you'd probably be in better shape if you stayed out the water. Just a thought.

One of them cocks its head at her curiously.

CORALINE

(Dead voice)

Also you smell.

Argument of Hags yowls a bit outside.

CORALINE

Agh, what?

Coraline pries herself out of the bedding and tent, dislodging Onpahanvaanlampi off Agata, and pushes past the two drowners. A bottle of shalott mysteriously appears in her hand.

Argument of Hags is staring down an entire crowd of drowners assembled before the tent, loitering on the shore, standing in the river, all hanging around watching the tent very, very closely. They turn to stare at Coraline instead as she emerges.

Coraline stares at them.

They stare at Coraline.

Coraline turns back toward the tent.

The two drowners that had been hanging over her stare at her.

Coraline turns back to the assembled crowd of drowners.

CORALINE

(Dead voice)

No! I'm not interested! Go away!

AGATA

(mind voice)

Not interested in what?

CORALINE

(mind voice)

I don't know! I don't care!

The drowners stare at Coraline disappointedly. A few of the ones in the river sag back into the water.

CORALINE

(Dead voice)

What?

The drowners stare at her a bit, not really doing much. One of the nearer ones kneels before her, and then others, too, rippling outward, until all of the drowners are kneeling before Coraline subserviently, aside from the ones with no knees. And the ones that fall over, instead.

AGATA

(mind voice)

Sure you're not interested? You could have an army.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

What the buckets would I do with an army? Especially of these. They can't even kneel properly.

AGATA

(mind voice)

Sheer numbers can make up for a lot.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

Right up until someone with the slightest magical know-how just up and blasts the sheer numbers in one hit.

(Dead voice)

Go away! I don't want an army! I'm sorry, but I just don't!

The drowners look up at Coraline in confusion. A few get up, also in confusion.

Coraline pulls a random nearer drowner to its feet and turns it back toward the river. It oozes a bit in her hands.

CORALINE

(Dead voice)

Just go back into the water and pretend I was never here, okay? Just go back and be drowners. In the water. And drown people. Like normal. Ignore me.

Some of the drowners start shuffling dejectedly back toward the water. Others just stare at Coraline.

CORALINE

(Dead voice)

It... would please me greatly if you all went back into the water and acted like normal?

This has an effect. The rest of the drowners get up. Several of them bow, and they all head back for the water, some of them rather rushing for it. Quite a few of them run into each other. A few of them trip and fall and just crawl into the river like thirsting men at an oasis.

A moment later, the shore is clear.

AGATA

You could have handled that better.

CORALINE

Thanks for the feedback. Do you have anything useful to suggest, or is that it?

AGATA

Well, Kyrule certainly wouldn't approve.

CORALINE

He can go suck on a cactus.

(she takes a swig of shalott)

Or maybe have some non-conversations with a pile of rotting lost puppies himself, if he really wants to.

AGATA

Tell him that sometime.

CORALINE

I might.

Coraline packs away the camp, and the cats.

When she continues downriver, using a stick for a paddle, pushing her way around rocks, only Agata is out in the boat with her.

The drowners remain under the water, almost as if they were not there.

EXT. River Lenn, outside Somn's Post - afternoon

The sky is overcast, the water choppy from a brisk wind coming low under the trees. The boat passes a few farms along the river, and mill things, and other things people build along rivers, but few people are out today.

A path comes up, heading off the shore into a stand of trees ahead, and Coraline prods the boat toward the rocks at the shore with her stick. She winds up crashing into a particularly large rock at a particularly slow speed, and glares at the rock.

Agata jumps out onto the rock.

The boat slowly turns around in current, and then wedges itself against another rock.

AGATA

It would help if you got out.

CORALINE

Fine.

Coraline gets up and tries to climb out onto the rocks and nearly falls out into the river instead, and then gets out for real slightly more carefully onto some slightly lower rocks right next to the other rocks.

She leaves the boat behind and heads over to the path, Agata bounding after.

EXT. Somn's Post - afternoon

It's is a small crossing town nestled on one of the river's bends. Some folks are out and about. Some are gossipping on porches. One guy is leaning on a post, smoking something. Horses are tied up at buildings.

People greet Coraline as she passes, and she nods and waves back, pretending to be friendly.

The pub is marked by a sign outside: 'free ale, sexy bartenders, and false advertising'. It has an arrow pointing toward the door.

INT. Pub at Somn's Post - late afternoon

It's a tired old pub, with more folks in. A sign that says 'no cats on the bar' is on the wall behind the bar, along with several other signs all over the walls, such as 'no spitting', 'food with flavour sold here' and 'your mom wants you to do the dishes', as well as a few much, much longer ones that make even less sense. Many of them feature something about alcohol, or at least food, but not all.

A Deathdealer, VARDAMAN, is at the bar. He has swords and armour and all the usual things, and long silver hair tied back in a ponytail. He also has a drink, which at the moment seems to be the single most important thing in his life.

Nobody looks up as Coraline clomps in and drops her bag on the bar, taking a seat nearby, leaving an empty seat between them.

Vardaman ignores her. Coraline ignores him. A cat crawls out of her bag. It's Thimble.

The bartender ignores all this for a bit before finally trudging over and stopping standoffishly in front of Coraline. He looks at the cat. The cat ignores him.

He looks at Coraline.

BARTENDER

Get ya anything?

CORALINE

Got any rum?

BARTENDER

Not after the incident with the Jenners.

CORALINE

Grog?

BARTENDER

No.

CORALINE

Vodka?

BARTENDER

This look like mageland to you?

CORALINE

Oh, come on. Even we stocked vodka.

You have a sign that says 'Alcohol!'. Just get me something that's stronger than ale.

Vardaman glances over briefly.

VARDAMAN

A shalott. She likes those.

Agata hops up onto the seat between them.

CORALINE

(leaning on Thimble)

I'd argue, but it's true.

Thimble licks her hair.

The bartender grunts and goes to get a new bottle.

VARDAMAN

(to Coraline)

So you're still alive.

CORALINE

I am? I hadn't noticed.

VARDAMAN

No? I could check for you.

CORALINE

Um... right.

The bartender plonks a shalott in front of Coraline.

CORALINE

(grabbing the bottle out of his hand as well)

Thanks.

Thimble leans over to sniff the shalott, and Coraline confiscates and downs it, then refills the mug, eyes Thimble, and sets it down by his tail.

BARTENDER

You're paying for that.

Coraline shoves some coins at him and the bartender takes them and leaves.

VARDAMAN

So where are you headed?

CORALINE

Uh... I hadn't actually figured that out yet.

VARDAMAN

Hmm. On the road to adventure?

CORALINE

Maybe civilisation. See if I can find a land on this godsforsaken planet where they actually do their libraries properly.

VARDAMAN

Which is what?

CORALINE

(doing a thing with her hands for emphasis)

Properly.

AGATA

Either of you lovebirds wanna see a magic trick?

Coraline and Vardaman look at Agata.

Agata belches loudly.

VARDAMAN

I got a magic trick.

Vardaman grabs his bottle of shalott and chugs it, and then disappears the bottle in a small flash of light.

CORALINE

Well, I've got one too.

Coraline mimics Vardaman's hand gestures with the bottle, and makes a ball of fire in hers, which promptly explodes all over her, Agata, and Vardaman, and a little bit over the bar, setting her drink on fire. Thimble runs away in surprise.

Agata puts an ear back.

VARDAMAN

(blinking)

Ow, my pretty face.

CORALINE

Oops.

The bartender grumps over and angrily thumbs at a sign behind him. It seems to say, 'Special offer: two drinks for the price of two drinks', but underneath is one that says 'You burn it, you buy it'.

CORALINE

I already bought it. Perkele.

VARDAMAN

And we'll buy some more, since you're here.

The bartender glares at Coraline.

Coraline glares right back, and downs her flaming mug of shalott.

BARTENDER

Fine. But don't do that again.

The bartender procures some more bottles.

CORALINE

Wasn't meaning to do it the first time.

(to Vardaman)

I'm not very good at this.

VARDAMAN

You'll get better. Practice. What were you trying to do?

CORALINE

...it might have helped if I'd known that myself.

Later, a bar fight breaks out behind them. It's mostly non-violent, but involves a lot of yelling and an alarming amount of drink spills. Coraline and Vardaman are still talking, and scooted over toward the far end of the bar to get away from it. Over here, signs on the walls seem to predominantly say things along the lines of 'I swear to drunk I am not the gods' and 'I'm not as think as you drunk I am.'

Coraline and Vardaman are rather more drunk now, and yelling over the noise of the fight.

The bartender is standing nearby, holding a shovel very prominently, blade up, watching the fight.

CORALINE

So it's this entire town, right? They rename the entire town after him because they're so grateful. They even have a damn song about him, and threw this massive party when he came back.

VARDAMAN

And he just dropped some money on them?

CORALINE

Well, it wasn't some. It was a whole lot of money, by their standards. And the Magistrate couldn't just take it back the way it'd fallen out of the sky like that, since that'd just give them all the idea to go stealing from him too...

VARDAMAN

Hah. Most would call that an act of the gods.

SOMEONE BEHIND THEM

(loudly)

IT WAS TED!

This apparently pisses everyone off, and the fight breaks out in full. People punch each other, pick up chairs, and push and shove.

Coraline and Vardaman turn to watch, and Coraline slips off her stool, getting up entirely.

VARDAMAN

Careful.

The bartender runs forward with the shovel and hits a bunch of the folks with it, swinging it around, and smacks several more. The fight starts to properly break up, and the bartender runs back after a guy still holding a chair, swinging.

He and catches Coraline in the side of the head with one of the swings.

Coraline starts to crumple, but then suddenly stops, catching herself part-way down. A moment later she's rising slowly back to a standing position, deliberately, unconcerned. Blood trickles down her face.

Vardaman pulls her back, turning her face toward his to get a proper look.

VARDAMAN

Are you...?

He stops upon seeing her eyes. They have gone completely black.

Coraline hisses and reaches out a hand with fingers like claws, and tears at his soul, trying to devour it.

VARDAMAN

The fuck?!

Vardaman shoves her away in surprise, backing into the bar, and grabs a knife out of his boot.

Coraline turns into the chaos of the dying barfight that's suddenly all around her, and grabs a random guy and devours his soul, tearing it away in faint swathes of glimmering light. It holds him up even as his legs give out under him, and then it's gone, and he collapses before her like a sack of joints.

Around them, the chaos dies down all too abruptly as a few folks stop and stare, and others run away. A few jostle. The barkeeper runs after someone else, not paying attention.

Vardaman casts a soulbinding on Coraline and runs after her.

Agata jumps on Coraline's head, perching for balance, and hisses.

Coraline suddenly stops, reaching up to touch her head, looking confused. Her eyes clear again.

CORALINE

Agata? What...?

Coraline whimpers and then crumples. Agata jumps aside.

Vardaman stops over Coraline, and elbows aside a guy who gets too close.

AGATA

(standing protectively over Coraline, her ears back)

Do not kill her! Help us, and I will explain.

VARDAMAN

Are you joking, cat?! We are in a populated area, with a hundred ways for even one Carrier to decimate the land.

AGATA

(stepping back)

Check her eyes! Tell me this is normal.

Vardaman frowns, but then kneels down and pulls back Coraline's eyelid with a thumb, putting his knife to her throat with his other hand. Her eye is indeed clear, the iris a deep dark brown.

VARDAMAN

Carriers do not revert.

AGATA

She is not a normal Carrier. She is fighting this, and she is almost winning.

VARDAMAN

Do you call that 'winning'?

AGATA

I call that getting hit in the head with a shovel. What do you fucking expect? Just get her out of here!

Vardaman gets up in time to tackle another guy with a chair, disarming him of his chair and shoving him to the floor, and then wrestles the shovel away from the bartender a moment later.

VARDAMAN

You hit a bystander, you fool.

Vardaman clonks the bartender on the head with the handle, then drops the shovel and grabs Coraline, hoisting her under an arm, and hurries out. Agata follows closely.

Folks back away very quickly as he passes, getting well out of his way.

Part 3: Query dead ends

Life twists and turns. You don't see it coming. That's the whole point, right? One moment everything looks hopeless; the next it's all changed. One little thing turns all of perception on its head.

But despair lingers. The seeds remain, buried.

Falter. Tire. Drink.

And remember.

Notes:

1. Cats tolerated.
2. Vitoi is the Cerrissian god of Dead Ends. He is the god of other things, and other things, too.
3. Relative positions are absolute in their primacy.
4. There is a map.
5. The Deathdealer has been condemned.
6. Who are you, sweetling?

Devolution into madness

INT. Blocky structure - adjournment floor

Over the course of a few days, the kids clear the floors, five of them altogether. The layouts are the same. The blockiness is all the same. Mostly rooms are empty, or full of blocks. Or partially full of blocks. Or mostly empty, but with one or two blocks.

They stop and rest at intervals, and slowly start to eat the ration blocks as they run out of their own food.

One room is full of zombies, in blocks. The zombies activate as the door is opened, sliding out of their blocks. Jora dismantles some with her sword, and Kit deactivates the rest with magic. They stuff them back into their blocks.

Another room will not open. There is a small puddle at its base.

NOLAN

This is significant.

Kit gives him an enquiring look.

Erry scuffs at the puddle with her boot.

KIT

You don't suppose there is a way out? What if this is all just a giant dead end?

JORA

What would be the point of having a giant dead end?

NOLAN

Ask Vitoi.

This isn't supposed to be.

They move on. They find a room full of disks, and no indication what to do with them. After all the blocks, they are strangely round, and even more strangely shiny, stacked in cases on shelves. Erry picks up a few curiously, holding them up to her light, admiring the colours. Kit casts spells on a few to try to find labels, but brings up nothing.

Nolan selects a few carefully, pocketing them.

They move on.

ERRY

Why don't we have magic ponies? Why aren't magic ponies a thing? I wanna ride a magic pony. It could be shaped like a giant sofa and gallop by flying around.

KIT

That's just stupid.

ERRY

No, you're stupid.

They move on, clear the rest, and as the days pass, settle in.

INT. Blocky structure - lodgement floor

They stay together, at first, talking little, doing things, doing nothing. Kit frets at his studies, practicing magic. Nolan calculates, considering sheep. Erry stays close, hugging her moose, but doesn't make eye contact.

Jora separates first, wandering off, working out, spending more and more of the hours at it, running, excercising, stretching, practicing at swords. She fashions workout clothes out of the things she was already wearing. There is no need for warm gear.

Erry wanders off and for awhile, nobody even notices. Nolan fetches her later, and makes her eat. She falls over shortly after.

There are no days, no nights, not even coherent cycles. They sleep, they eat. They come and go.

Through it all, the silence hangs like anvils.

INT. Blocky structure - gateway floor

Erry is alone, hugging her moose, staring at the Gateway, waiting for it to come on. It glows vaguely, but other than that, does nothing.

From time to time, she glances off to the side, toward the wall, as though she expects someone to be there.

INT. Blocky structure - adjournment floor

Nolan pokes at some blocks. Some of the rooms had functions. He tries them all.

In one, he finds resistance over the blocks, and pushes at it, pulling.

He turns and frowns at the doorway, but there is noone there.

INT. Blocky structure - lodgement floor

Kit is lying on a bed, staring at the ceiling, gnawing on a ration block. The others are elsewhere. There is no taste to the block, no smell to the air. No sound through the walls. He can hear his own gnawing most of all. He can hear his own breathing, and his heartbeat, and his stomach as it works to deal with the ration block.

He takes a deep breath and screams.

In another room, Erry screams in response, the sound muffled and bouncing as echoes.

Jora runs in a moment later, holding a sword, dressed in workout clothes, pale from a workout.

JORA

Kit? What's wrong?

She goes past, not waiting for a response, looking around for a threat, only looking back at Kit after.

KIT

(just lying there)

It's too quiet. It's the silence. The silence.

JORA

Stay with your sister. She'll distract you.

KIT

That's even worse.

JORA

(putting away the sword)

Get up.

Kit groans.

Jora comes over and picks Kit up, setting him on his feet.

When she turns to leave the room, he follows.

INT. Blocky structure - control floor

Nolan and Jora are in a room. A block is up against a wall. Another block is in the middle, low and blank.

Nolan is at the wall block, pushing his hands against the air over it. Screens flicker in and out of being above it.

JORA

It doesn't look like it's working.

NOLAN

This place is entirely devoid of sheep.

(he turns to Jora)

I don't think it will crush us, but we'll need to come up slowly.

JORA

A way out?

NOLAN

Possibly. Pack rations. Waterproof your bags. I don't know where we are.

JORA

How bad is it?

NOLAN

I don't know.

JORA

We need to get out.

NOLAN

Yes.

Sequestered

EXT. Soravian countryside - early morning

Coraline regains consciousness on a horse. Her forearms are bound in front of her, wrists tied to elbows and the arms between securely wrapped in what seems to be a combination of scarves and rope. She's sitting, held up by an arm across her chest under her boobs, the rider holding her close and keeping her in rhythm as he posts with the horse's trot. Her head hurts horribly, a horrible throbbing strangeness resonating through it with each shift in motion. It's almost fuzzy.

The pain almost even drowns out the voices. Almost.

VARDAMAN

Don't fucking move.

CORALINE

What?

VARDAMAN

I know what you are. If you try anything, I will kill you.

CORALINE

Then why haven't you?

VARDAMAN

Your cat says you are different. That you may be the key to a cure. It is worth risking, but only to a point.

Coraline closes her eyes, trying to block out the light, the pain, the nausea. The hopelessness sinks in like a tightness in her chest.

VARDAMAN

How long have you been a Carrier?

CORALINE

(quietly)

Since before we met. The first time.

VARDAMAN

That was over four years ago.

CORALINE

(desperately)

Yes!

VARDAMAN

How the you still alive?

CORALINE

I don't know! If I knew, don't you think I'd do something? Use it to come up with a proper cure?

Vardaman shifts his hold, switching arms. Coraline tries to turn her head, and he tightens his grip, urging the horse to slow.

Coraline cries out in pain as the whole world spins around her, and tries and fails to vomit all over herself.

VARDAMAN

Don't try anything.

Coraline collapses back against him, just trying to breathe and not be any more sick for a bit.

CORALINE

Where are my cats? Where are you taking me?

Vardaman doesn't answer.

CORALINE

Where are my cats?

Coraline catches a glimpse of another two horses, slowing a bit to the side and behind. One of them has an empty saddle, the other a pack saddle with panniers on the sides. Agata is perched on a blanket over its back, with Thimble clinging on too.

Then Vardaman directs the horse they're on back to a trot and the others fall back out of sight behind again.

AGATA

(mind voice)

We're here. Be careful. He may be able to hear us.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

So... no discussing our plans for world conquest. Definitely don't bring up the ferrets.

AGATA

(mind voice)

That would be bad, yes.

(after a pause)

He hasn't responded, but that may not mean much.

CORALINE

(mind voice, hopelessly)

I could just say his...

AGATA

(mind voice)

Don't.

EXT. Soravian countryside - morning

The horse slows to a stop, the other two horses pulling up alongside, their leads slack. Coraline looks around, surprised.

VARDAMAN

We need to rest and switch horses.

Vardaman dismounts quickly, taking Coraline down at the same time. He guides her over to a tree with a hand on her shoulder, holding the two ropes off her bound arms in his other, and then quickly ties one rope to some branches on one side, and the other to branches on the other. There is little slack, such that she cannot reach either knot.

Coraline sinks to the ground by the trunk as Vardaman goes to secure the horses and shuffle their saddles, and her arms wind up suspended up over her head by the ropes. There is barely even enough slack for this.

She leans over and pukes, though little comes up, and wipes her mouth on her shoulder.

Vardaman doesn't turn his back on Coraline for more than very brief intervals, watching her closely.

AGATA

(mind voice)

You need healing. That blow should have killed you, and the damage remains very real.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

I can't. I can't even... I don't have any energy at all.

AGATA

(mind voice)

But your voices are quieter. That's interesting.

CORALINE

(accidentally responding aloud)

Is it?

Vardaman turns sharply.

VARDAMAN

Are you speaking to someone?

CORALINE

Am I sober? I can't tell.

Vardaman frowns.

AGATA

(mind voice)

You're not drunk. I'm not sure this qualifies as sober.

The good news is I don't think he can hear us. The bad news... the bad news is the entire situation at hand. There's no plan. I'm glad he's kept you alive so far, but I don't know how long this will last. You need an out.

Coraline takes a deep breath and concentrates to get the words out properly.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

What did you tell him?

AGATA

(mind voice)

The truth. One or two things slightly divested of the truth. Something else that had very, very little to do with the truth, but was convenient. The usual.

He thinks your name is Amadi.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

It is. Sort of.

Vardaman finishes off with the horses and sits down nearby, watching Coraline. Coraline stares past him vacantly, leaning back into the tree, focusing on listening to Agata.

AGATA

(mind voice)

You're a travelling lorekeeper, who just happens to have been a Carrier of the Death of Souls for years, with no clues as to why, nor what to do about it. And yet you can resist it. You were in something of a scuffle in another town and all your stuff got stolen, but to put it rather bluntly, your pride prevented you from going back and getting it. Instead, you just charged headlong off into the hills. This is why all you had with you was a bag of coins and booze.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

My pride?

AGATA

(mind voice)

The fact that you'd deny that makes it believable.

Thimble wants to go to you very badly. And we can't just put him back in the bag because Vardaman hasn't found the real one. Somehow you magicked the inner bag to show up lumpy on the outer bag, bypassing the middle bag entirely, and yet cats can go past. Was that intentional?

CORALINE

(mind voice)

Do I look like a competent mage person to you?

AGATA

(mind voice)

You look like you're tied to a tree.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

I feel like I'm dead. But more tired. And more in pain. Dead people don't have to put up with this. Why do I?

Just put Thimble back when the Deathdealer isn't watching. Cats come and go. That's what they do.

AGATA

(mind voice)

Hmm. Maybe. Your bag's buried pretty deep. But he is watching you and not me.

Work on healing yourself. He's tied your arms like that in part so you can't use your hands to cast spells, but this isn't casting. And if this works, we might try using Mad Anna's flames to get you out later.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

And if it doesn't?

AGATA

(mind voice)

You'll probably die.

EXT. Soravian countryside - morning

Vardaman and Coraline are on a different horse now. They're heading west. Vardaman is again holding Coraline up in front of him, and keeping her from bouncing. Coraline is still trying not to be sick.

At some point the nausea becomes too much regardless, and she leans over to the side very suddenly, vomiting up a small amount of horrible liquid.

Vardaman's grip tightens momentarily, but other than that he doesn't respond.

Coraline leans back into him, breathing shallowly.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

Why do I feel so sick?

AGATA

(mind voice)

Withdrawal? I'm not a healer. Go find out.

Coraline tries to focus through the pain and general fuzz to heal herself, but whatever it is she normally uses to do this, she just can't seem to find it. Her hand twitches like she should be using it.

She can feel Vardaman behind her. She can feel the horse beneath her. Other shapes lings around too, vague, further off. She reaches into Vardaman, sensing for his hurt, for anything she can use. Overall there is very little. A weariness, gnawing and uncertain, lingering in the back of his mind. His legs and back tiring, his arms beginning to ache from the strain of holding her up. And something else, too, unlike anything she's sensed in anyone else...

She focuses on his arms, tries to sooth the ache, pushing it down, flattening it out. It fades, just as she would have expected.

AGATA

(mind voice)

Now do that for yourself.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

Yeah. I needed to see if I could do it at all, first. Me me me me me...

Coraline tries to focus inward on herself again. She's definitely there. She has a sense of that much. She tries to focus on her head, but she can't quite find it. She knows she has a head. She knows where it is, physically. But magically, with her healing senses, it seems to never quite be where she expects...

She chases it around for a bit regardless.

Suddenly Vardaman is lifting her off the horse again for another rest. It's later in the day. Birds are being loud and obnoxious around.

Vardaman ties her arms up between two trees this time. Coraline gives him an annoyed look, but still sits down, resting her head on her arm.

VARDAMAN

I am taking you to Abearanoth, the heart of my order. There, if there is help to be had, the Keepers will find it.

CORALINE

Isn't that kind of far away?

VARDAMAN

It is, but the Gateway in Soras will get us there in a matter of weeks.

CORALINE

Oh...

VARDAMAN

Will you last that long?

CORALINE

I'll be honest. I've felt better.

Vardaman gives her a look, and then goes back to tend to the horses, brushing them down, shuffling saddles, before stretching and resting himself. At some point Thimble mysteriously disappears.

Coraline goes back to trying to find her head, even as her shoulders, too, begin to ache. Her hands twitch from time to time.

At some point she falls asleep.

EXT. Soravian countryside - afternoon

They're riding again. It's later, the sun low, the wind carrying hints of frost. Coraline is drifting in and out of consciousness.

AGATA

(behind them)

Yoo hoo, mister Deathdealer guy! My human has to go to the bathroom.

Coraline startles and tries to give Agata an utterly surprised, bewildered look, except then she winds up puking instead.

VARDAMAN

Do you?

CORALINE

Er... yeah, kind of.

VARDAMAN

We'll rest, then.

They continue on a bit until they get to what appears to Vardaman a satisfactory campsite, and to Coraline just like any other random patch of woods.

Vardaman ties Coraline to a tree, tends to the horses, and then comes back over and loosens the knots to the tree, allowing Coraline considerably more slack.

VARDAMAN

Do your business.

CORALINE

(holding up her still bound arms)

I need my hands.

VARDAMAN

I will not risk that.

CORALINE

What?!

AGATA

(mind voice)

Well, that's unfortunate.

CORALINE

But I can't... my clothes...

Coraline gestures a bit toward her legs, or as much as she can with her wrists bound to her elbows.

Vardaman sighs and comes around behind Coraline, reaches up under her skirts, and pulls her undergarments down by her hips for her, trying to make it as not awkward as possible.

It is still very awkward.

VARDAMAN

There. Go.

Coraline goes and squats behind the tree, but Vardaman follows, watching her carefully.

When Coraline finishes, Vardaman goes and pulls her undergarments back up. He then ties her to a different tree again as usual.

Coraline scrunches up as much as she can against the trunk and starts sobbing.

Agata pads over, climbs onto Coraline's knees, and leans into her, purring.

EXT. Soravian countryside - night

They stop for the night, and Vardaman ties Coraline to a tree, her bound arms suspended above her head as she sits against the trunk.

Snow drifts down idly around them.

CORALINE

If we're stopping for the night, can't I at least lie down? Or put my arms down?

VARDAMAN

No.

CORALINE

Why? What would I do? Magically untie this?

VARDAMAN

There is that possibility. As long as I can see your hands, I know you are secure.

CORALINE

Glargghhle blugh. They're cold.

Vardaman wraps her arms in a cloth, tightly, and dumps a blanket over her legs. He sits down on another blanket nearby.

AGATA

(mind voice)

You showed yourself to be a mage. I guess this is the consequence.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

But I don't even use my hands for my magic...

AGATA

(mind voice)

Other mages do. Your patent refusal to do any of that is probably the main reason why you're still so bad at magic.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

It looks so stupid. And it is doable without... I don't need to waggle my hands and say funny words.

AGATA

(mind voice)

But you could. It would be easier.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

Perkele. I don't wanna.

AGATA

(mind voice)

Don't worry. I'm reasonably sure pointless stubbornness is a prerequisite for being a witch. And now it may just be your salvation.

Small escapes

EXT. Soravian countryside - morning

There is a light dusting of snow over the ground and trees, and Coraline's blanket. She wakes up cold and stiff as Vardaman unties her from the tree and hauls her back to her feet, giving her a quick pat-down. She cries out in pain as she lowers her arms.

Vardaman puts away the blanket and hands Coraline a tortilla wrapped in a paper.

Coraline gnaws on the tortilla, holding it awkwardly in her upper hand. She nearly pukes it up again, but manages to hold it down.

Agata falls off a horse.

The voices whisper in and out of the cold.

They get going again in silence, Vardaman again holding Coraline in front of him. Her arms ache fiercely.

EXT. Soravian countryside - later morning

The snow melts quickly, leaving everything brown and damp. Coraline continues trying to find her head, chasing it around vaguely, while Vardaman does all the work of riding for her. The world is vague and fuzzy, not all there.

She finds her arms and heals the stiffness and soreness in those, and that, at least, is a relief. But still her head refuses to be found.

Agata grumbles to herself on one of the other horses.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

This isn't working.

AGATA

(mind voice)

You seem better, though. Maybe you'll survive anyway.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

Better still sucks. My head bloody aches. I haven't had anything but water, and yet I still feel drunk.

AGATA

(mind voice)

Your life sucks.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

Oh, shut up.

They continue on. The day goes on. The woods break up in favour of rolling hills. Coraline watches them vaguely, wondering what they might become.

Another voice resonates in Coraline's head, like Agata's, but this one is male, someone she does not recognise.

VOICE OF KYRULE

(mind voice)

Keeper. You are summoned to the Grey Lobby. Please, follow my voice, and join us.

CORALINE

Eh?

AGATA

(mind voice)

I heard that too. Someone's in our heads. Someone else.

VARDAMAN

What is it?

CORALINE

I don't know. I thought... I thought I saw something.

(mind voice)

Who? What's this Grey Lobby?

AGATA

(mind voice)

No idea. It's definitely not a witch thing. Witches don't do lobbies.

VOICE OF KYRULE

(mind voice)

Follow my voice.

Somehow Coraline does, driftingly, doing a sort of half-side-stepping in her mind, and then suddenly she's somewhere else.

INT. Grey Lobby

The Grey Lobby is a large, grey room, with high ceilings, sort of tasteful (grey) decor, several patently uninteresting doors, and sofas, armchairs, and low tables scattered around a large open area in the centre, all of which are grey.

Coraline finds herself standing on a sofa, wearing blue. Several other folks are also loitering about randomly, a few of them heading for the centre, where a cowled man in dark grey robes is standing, his arms folded in his sleeves.

In the background, Coraline can still vaguely feel her physical surroundings - the cool morning air, the Deathdealer holding her, the motions of the horse.

Coraline hops off the sofa, stretching her arms, and rubs her wrists.

CORALINE

(loudly)

Gods bloody dammit.

A few people give her surprised looks. Coraline ignores them.

Agata jumps onto her head.

AGATA

Interesting. We cannot use the mind voice here, because it seems that is how we are here at all.

CORALINE

I want my arms back for real. This is just making me even more painfully aware than I already was how deprived I am of my arms.

A nearby WOMAN IN RED comes over.

WOMAN IN RED

Hello. You're new here, aren't you?

CORALINE

Er, yes. Apparently. Where is here?

WOMAN IN RED

Here is the City of our Lord. The Grey Lobby, our home and sanctuary as his Keepers.

CORALINE

Our Lord?

WOMAN IN RED

Kyrule, of course.

AGATA

I didn't know Kyrule was your god.

CORALINE

Neither did I. Did I? Wait, what?

The woman in red gives Coraline a curious look.

AGATA

Don't mind her. She got hit in the head with a shovel the other day. And I just don't pay much attention. She's my witch, not someone... important.

WOMAN IN RED

Oh, er, I'm sorry to hear that. Are you all right?

CORALINE

No.

WOMAN IN RED

Usually a Keeper learns of the Lobby as part of her apprenticeship, and even enters a few times at her master's side. You never did?

CORALINE

Er... I'm afraid my master died unexpectedly. There's probably a lot I'm missing.

WOMAN IN RED

But the stories are safe?

CORALINE

I guard what I know.

WOMAN IN RED

(nodding)

That is all we can do. Come, let's see why we've been called.

The woman heads toward the centre, and Coraline follows.

CORALINE

Does this happen often? Summoning the Keepers?

WOMAN IN RED

From time to time. Been a few years since the last, but sometimes they're only a few weeks off. Usually it's for some announcement or other. Sometimes there's a new story needs to be told. Those are nice.

Around them, quite a few others have also appeared in the meantime.

AGATA

(quietly, in Coraline's ear)

Died unexpectedly?

Coraline slows, hanging back a bit.

CORALINE

(muttering)

Pretty sure saying 'I actually found all this in a book I stole out of a library and never was anyone's apprentice' would have tipped her off I'm not quite...

AGATA

Not the real deal?

CORALINE

I... don't even know.

There are maybe thirty of them altogether, and they all take a bit to gather around the centre. Coraline stands vacantly next to some others, trying and failing miserably to look like a normal person with a cat on her head.

The dark-robed man, the VOICE OF KYRULE, faces them, waiting. He nods when everyone seems to be assembled and paying attention.

VOICE OF KYRULE

Welcome, Keepers. For those of you who are new, I am the Voice of the Eternal.

You have been summoned because you are all in danger. The secrets you guard are at risk. There is a plot against the Eternal, seeking to take down the known Voices within the worlds. Already, two have been killed, their murderers using means to prevent their souls passage into the afterlife we guard so dear. I do not need to tell you all, do not make yourselves known, for the secrets you guard within your Stories already warrant this. But be wary, too, of those who might seek out Voices of any kind. Should you speak for the Eternal as his Voices, know who it is you are speaking to.

A GUY IN PURPLE raises his hand slightly.

GUY IN PURPLE

Should we investigate? I mean, if we think there might be something odd going on.

VOICE OF KYRULE

Use your best judgement. But remember your priorities - guard yourselves, first and foremost.

The incidents so far have been localised to Cerris, Abaeranoth specifically, but this may not remain the case. It is not known what we are up against, and that alone should indicate the seriousness of the situation.

AGATA

(quietly)

Two isn't a very meaningful number.

CORALINE

So what is known? How were they killed? Are we certain it wasn't a coincidence that they were voices of the... Eternal?

VOICE OF KYRULE

Means were not consistent. One man was poisoned, the other's throat slit. Both deaths were quick and efficient, inflicted without hesitation. And it was no coincidence. Previous and subsequent unsuccessful attempts have made this clear.

MAN IN BLACK

Are the other Keepers in danger? The Keepers of Might and Magic?

VOICE OF KYRULE

All Voices are. The targets thus far have been Messengers, a sage, a Deathdealer First, and the Cerrissian High Priest. You are guarded for now by your secrecy, but the intent is clear.

BOY IN GREEN

They killed a Deathdealer?!

VOICE OF KYRULE

He survived. A Messenger and the sage were not so fortunate.

MAN IN BLACK

Might prevails. It could be a sign.

GUY IN PURPLE

It could be a coincidence.

WOMAN IN BROWN

It could be anything. We don't know. That's the problem.

VOICE OF KYRULE

Indeed.

Go, and be wary. As the Keepers of Stories, you guide us all. For all who may never know your names, thank you.

The Voice bows.

Several of the Keepers just vanish. A few bow back. A few loiter around, clumping up with others, chatting. A couple head toward the Voice to talk with him.

Coraline just stands there for a bit staring at the Voice dubiously.

AGATA

Somehow I think you've got more immediate problems than this.

CORALINE

Somehow I'm not even sure this applies to me. Like at all.

The boy in green comes over and stares up at Agata.

BOY IN GREEN

Are you a witch?

AGATA

Yes.

CORALINE

I'm a cat.

BOY IN GREEN

Coool.

CORALINE

Do you not have witches where you're from?

BOY IN GREEN

We don't even have magic. It's not allowed. I do it anyway.

CORALINE

Good. Be careful, though. Magic's nice, but it's not the only thing that matters.

BOY IN GREEN

Yeah? What's more important?

CORALINE

Being able to move your damn arms.

AGATA

Libraries.

CORALINE

And libraries.

BOY IN GREEN

Why can't you move your arms?

CORALINE

I'm a bit tied up. Which is actually really annoying because I've got something of a head injury and I can't seem to find it without my hands. Why the hell are hands so important?

BOY IN GREEN

You've got your hands here. Why don't you just find it here?

CORALINE

Er, that... I didn't think of that.

(she slips her fingers through her hair)

Can we do magic here?

BOY IN GREEN

Sure. It's where I practice.

Coraline gives him a surprised look, and then focuses on her head again. Suddenly it's right there. Magically, she knows exactly where it is, and she can feel the wrongness and imbalance in her brain, reaching like fingers. In a moment she rights it, with hardly an effort.

The voices flood back in the same moment, almost overwhelming.

CORALINE

Voi perkele!

Coraline sidesteps out of the Grey Lobby and back into the horrible glaring reality of her own body.

EXT. Soravian countryside - noonish

The voices are much louder here, a cacophany of noise thundering through her mind, pushing the darkness inward, overwhelming.

Coraline pushes back, focussing on the ground in front of her, the ache in her arms, trying to remember who she is, and for the moment, the voices die back. A little.

She's sitting on the ground, tied to another tree, her arms held up over her head. Vardaman is standing nearby, watching her, though his head is cocked like he's listening for something else as well.

CORALINE

Deathdealer. Deathdealer, I need my bag!

VARDAMAN

Why?

CORALINE

The bottle. It's shalott. It... it keeps the voices down. Please.

VARDAMAN

It's getting worse.

CORALINE

It's wearing off! As long as I stay drunk, it keeps the voices quiet, and I work. I function like I'm a girl.

VARDAMAN

Are you always drunk?

CORALINE

I try to. I have to. When it wears off, the blackness returns. I feel shapes, lights in the dark. It's so strong, I'm not myself, because it's so strong...

Coraline's eyes darken, a blackness spreading over her irises so that litle white remains. She clenches and unclenches her fists in her bindings.

CORALINE

(quietly, like a mantra)

No. I know who I am. I know who I am. You can't take that away from me. I'm not... this...

INT. Grey Lobby

Coraline sinks to the floor, falling on her back, and stares at the ceiling. The voices are quieter here, but still huge, overwhelming, pressing down like cloying black around all the edges of the grey. The pain in her arms is her focus, a brightness staving off the dark...

CORALINE

I know who I am. I'm me. I won't die like this.

The Voice of Kyrule kneels beside her, placing a hand on her arm.

VOICE OF KYRULE

You're Coraline. Focus on my voice, and remember who you are. Coraline Henderson.

CORALINE

I'm Coraline. I'm me. Karoliina.

VOICE OF KYRULE

Focus. Focus. You will not lose yourself today.

Coraline chokes, and the Voice draws back.

EXT. Soravian countryside - noonish

Coraline coughs again, choking on the vodka. Vardaman is holding the bottle to her mouth, trying to get her to drink. Some of it spills down her face, vibrantly cold, splashing her clothes, and then she gulps it down, chugging at the bottle until he pulls it away.

Coraline leans back against the tree, coughing. Her throat is burning, her head throbbing.

The voices waver in their loudness, and then fade as the whole world resumes its fuzz and the vodka properly hits her head.

Vardaman puts the vodka away, and then draws a sword, turning. On the blade, near the hilt, gleams a dark emblem: the skull and mask of Kyrule.

Coraline lies against the tree, exhausted.

A newcomer is staring at them, a HUNTER standing between the trees with bow and arrows.

VARDAMAN

Go on your way, friend. This is Deathdealer business, and not your concern.

HUNTER

That woman, why is she tied up like that?

VARDAMAN

That is not your concern.

CORALINE

(quietly)

Just go. He's right, it doesn't...

HUNTER

What?

CORALINE

It's all right.

HUNTER

Are you on his side?

CORALINE

I'm on my side. And my side doesn't want to see you killed over this. Please, worry about your own life.

The hunter looks between Coraline and Vardaman and then shakes his head and leaves.

VARDAMAN

Your side? What side is that, exactly?

CORALINE

(sinking back tiredly)

My left side.

VARDAMAN

Interesting you would be making jokes even now.

CORALINE

If I don't have jokes, then what in all the worlds do I have?

Vardaman watches Coraline calculatingly for a moment.

VARDAMAN

Are you still able to travel?

CORALINE

Will you carry me?

Vardaman pulls Coraline to her feet by the arms, gives her a quick pat-down, unties the ropes from the tree, and guides her back over to the horses. Coraline leans against the horse of the moment, feeling its warmth for a moment, before Vardaman hoists ber up.

AGATA

(mind voice)

He took a risk.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

I know. Perkele. I screwed up.

AGATA

(mind voice)

And what else could you have done? Secreted a bottle up your sleeve? Gotten pre-drunk and died? I'm sure that would have worked out great.

You're still alive, Names. That counts. That counts for a lot.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

'Names'?

AGATA

(mind voice)

Aren't you, though?

Madness

INT. Blocky structure - gateway floor

Erry stares at the Gateway, watching it, waiting again for it to come on. It glows vaguely, but other than that, does nothing.

INT. Blocky structure - adjournment floor

Erry walks through the dark without a light, holding the stuffed moose closely. She makes her way by memory, following the ghost of a sound of something not quite there. Laughter almost echos around her. Tiny footsteps disappear into the silence.

A light rises slowly out of the floor.

Erry shrieks and runs away.

Nolan emerges from a shaft in the floor a moment later.

NOLAN

Woogly.

Nolan turns and heads off in the opposite direction.

INT. Blocky structure - testing floor

A stack of large blocks is stacked up against a partially open wall door at the end of a section of corridor. Nolan heads back for the other end, goes into a room, and emerges a moment later pushing another block, as tall as he is.

He proceeds to push the block the entire length of the corridor, tips it up onto another block, and then heads back toward the other end again, goes back into the room, and emerges pushing another block.

He pushes this block the length of the corridor as well, and leaves it at the base of the stack.

He heads back and does this a few more times, until one of the blocks suddenly hits an obstacle partway as he pushes it down the corridor.

Nolan stops and walks around the block to investigate.

Kit is standing on the other side, looking a bit confused.

KIT

What are you doing?

NOLAN

Stacking blocks.

KIT

Why?

NOLAN

To stack them.

Kit stares at Nolan.

Nolan stares at Kit.

This goes on for a bit.

KIT

I see.

Kit clearly does not see, but turns and leaves.

Nolan resumes pushing and stacking blocks.

INT. Blocky structure - adjournment floor

Nolan is in a room holding a block under an arm. Blocks are around, forming cabinets and shelves.

Nolan selects various blocks off of shelves and inserts them into the block under his arm. Sometimes he removes them from the block under his arm. Sometimes he removes others from the block under his arm.

Nolan stops and stares at the block expectantly for a bit.

The block does nothing.

Nolan sets the block down on another block and takes a step back.

The block explodes, chucking smaller blocks in every direction.

INT. Blocky structure - gateway floor

Kit, Erry, Nolan, and Jora are in a conference room. A large block is in the middle like a table. Small blocks are around it like chairs. Kit, Erry, and Jora are all seated at the table; Nolan is standing at the head.

Nolan climbs onto the table and glares down its length.

NOLAN

(loudly)

Sheep.

Kit, Erry, and Jora all kind of stare at him blankly.

Nolan marches down the length of the table and out the door wall.

INT. Blocky structure - lodgement floor

Kit and Nolan are in a room. Jora is standing nearby.

NOLAN

Can you breathe underwater?

KIT

There's a spell for that.

NOLAN

Can you prevent dissolved gases from coming out of solution in the body?

KIT

What?

NOLAN

Can you cast spells while drowning?

KIT

I... uh... I guess?

NOLAN

Can you prevent us from being crushed by the weight of an entire ocean?

KIT

What the crap are you talking about?

(he looks up uncertainly)

Wait, you don't mean we're underwater now, are you?

NOLAN

Can you prevent us from drowning, suffering blood pressure complications, or being crushed by the weight of an entire ocean?

KIT

Uh... maybe.

NOLAN

Good.

INT. Blocky structure - lodgement floor

Jora is sitting on a block, facing away, staring at the wall. Erry comes in from the door behind her, holding the moose, and stands there for a bit, trying to figure it out.

ERRY

What are you doing?

JORA

(in Nolan's voice)

Waiting.

Erry stops, confused.

ERRY

...Nolan?

JORA

(in Nolan's voice)

Yes?

Erry comes around and looks at Jora from the front, except it turns out it's actually Nolan wearing Jora's clothes.

INT. Blocky structure - gateway floor

It's later, another time, and yet the same. Erry is staring at the Gateway again, still watching it, still waiting. But still, nothing happens.

Erry glances off to the side, toward the wall. There is noone there.

INT. Blocky structure - control floor

Kit is in a room, going through blocks, poking them with magic.

Nolan comes up to the open door and peers in.

NOLAN

I'm going to shut the door.

KIT

Whatever.

Nolan backs out and the wall door shuts.

Kit continues doing what he's doing.

This goes on for awhile.

Eventually Kit finishes off and heads to the door. He stands in the circle to open it.

Nothing happens.

Kit tries harder, actually focusing on opening the door.

Nothing continues to happen.

KIT

(yelling)

Nolan?

Nolan, this isn't funny!

There's no response.

KIT

(looking around)

This isn't funny, right? There's nothing here that would objectively qualify as funny...

Um. No, I don't think so. Okay.

Kit goes back and pokes at some of the things he was doing before again, and then goes back to the wall door and tries that. Again.

Nothing continues to happen.

Kit steps back out of the circle of glyphs.

The room bursts into light. Shapes grow out of the various blocks, forming far more affordant forms, making chairs look like chairs, desks look usable, and shelves and cabinets show up as shelves and cabinets with handles and labels and suddenly incredibly clear usage patterns. Screens light up around the walls, showing various output and controls, as well as scenes that could be almost anywhere, but moving, alive: a snowy winter forest with the ruins of an ancient city, what might be underwater in some lake, a prairie with a huge thunderstorm moving in. An elaborate chandelier appears overhead, with smaller light fixtures inset neatly into the detailed trim around the edges.

KIT

Woah.

Kit takes a moment staring around, taking it all in, and then runs around poking bits with magic and fingers, peering at various things from all angles. None of the basic shapes have changed, and yet everything is much clearer what it actually is, and how it needs to be interacted with, and he tries it all, going from thing to thing, opening drawers, swiping over consoles, turning various lights on and off. He peers at the magic behind it all, poking at that as well, trying to figure out how it works, following the flows to track the power.

He does this all very excitedly for several minutes.

Then the wall door starts to open, and it all goes out again, the room returning to its base, dark, blocky state.

KIT

Aww...

NOLAN

Did you try to open the door at any point?

KIT

Er, yeah.

NOLAN

Did anything happen?

KIT

Not with the door. Room turned on for a bit, though.

NOLAN

So if I hold it shut from the outside, it cannot be opened from the inside at all?

This is an incredibly poor design choice.

KIT

Ya think?

INT. Blocky structure - Gateway floor

Erry is staring at the Gateway, watching, waiting. It does nothing, does not come on, but still she watches. She ignores the wall. Its whispering has nothing to offer.

The gateway stands, quiet, humming, glowing.

Erry's head begins to droop, and she jerks awake and glances toward the wall.

The Gateway flickers to life.

Erry holds her moose out in front of her like a shield.

A duck waddles through the Gateway.

Erry flees.

Nolan walks in and collects the duck.

Explanations

EXT. Soravian countryside - day

The next two days pass slowly and painfully. The hills roll in and out of forests as they slowly gain elevation, continuing westward and north, approaching the mountains. Vardaman continues to hold Coraline in front of him as they ride on, tying her to trees when they rest, giving her vodka periodically with her food. He does not seem to sleep himself.

Coraline's bindings only become more painful, even as she continues to heal her arms from time to time.

For a time she avoids it, but then she slips back into the Grey Lobby regardless, just because there's nothing else she can do.

INT. Grey Lobby

It's much as before, but now nearly empty. A WOMAN IN BLACK is sprawled on a sofa, reading, a leg hanging over the side. Her clothes look oddly modern, but not, with leggings and zippers and slip-on shoes, and lots of ruffles. She looks up momentarily when Coraline appears nearby, but then returns to her book.

Agata hops onto Coraline's shoulders.

Coraline heads vaguely toward the open area in the centre. All the furniture is facing it, forming vague circles around it.

She stops at the edge, and the Voice appears beside her.

VOICE OF KYRULE

Coraline. It is good to see you well. Come, we have much to discuss.

CORALINE

How do you know my name?

AGATA

Is that your name?

CORALINE

It's a name.

VOICE OF KYRULE

It is the name by which you regard yourself.

You were right to guard the nature of your Legacy. The other Keepers, they are led to believe that all Keepers of Stories are as they are, their stories and mantle passed down from master to apprentice as an oral tradition. It is for this that their stories are incomplete, and varied, but they are also safe.

CORALINE

By which you mean they're not all stored in some book any random nutjob can walk away with.

VOICE OF KYRULE

In essence.

CORALINE

Since that's what I did.

(to Agata)

I did that.

VOICE OF KYRULE

Your book is the single exception that defines the rule, a compendium of all the given stories, the public and the real, the fragments and all the variants. Your existence as a Keeper is an inconsistency that cannot be explained without the very stories you guard, and yet of all of the Eternal's Keepers, your role is the most important.

The Keepers were created to maintain the history so that it could never be subverted or lost. They teach in whispers, and are kept hidden so they may not be hunted. But you make it all work. You are the Apostate of stories. You have the means to question, both of the faithful, and even of the Eternal himself.

Coraline raises a hand slightly.

VOICE OF KYRULE

Yes?

CORALINE

I'm a librarian.

VOICE OF KYRULE

The Apostate has often been a librarian. Someone who could find a book among many others and see its importance, and see the stories within for what they are. You were chosen by what you are and what you chose to do. You have questioned, and hunted for answers. You have guarded the stories, you have kept them secret, as well as their very nature. You have even guarded yourself, at great personal expense, when you could use your status to avoid the situation entirely.

It is more than we could ask. It is everything.

Coraline stares at the Voice blankly.

CORALINE

You know my soul's getting eaten by a horrible dark something, right? And that's the only reason I even got involved in any of this...

VOICE OF KYRULE

And yet you are involved. You are a Voice, and all faithful may heed your words. You are a Keeper, and you alone guard our most precious stories.

And should you succumb to the Death of Souls, those stories may be lost forever.

CORALINE

Well I don't bloody want to, but don't you think if that winds up happening it'll not exactly have been up to me?!

VOICE OF KYRULE

You see how important it is that you protect yourself.

CORALINE

And how am I supposed to do that, exactly? I've got this Deathdealer tied me up so securely I can't even piss right now.

VOICE OF KYRULE

Do what you must. If it comes to it, you may take his life for yours.

CORALINE

What? As opposed to just telling him? Isn't he trusted?

VOICE OF KYRULE

It is the difference between trust and security. Ense Vardaman is trusted, but he does not need to know. The more who do, the more dangerous it becomes.

AGATA

If he gets eaten by zombies, they might find out.

VOICE OF KYRULE

Yes.

CORALINE

This is crazy...

AGATA

So why haven't you stopped it? Why haven't you spoken your Deathdealer's name and commanded him to let you go, or even help you?

CORALINE

(defeatedly)

Because I feel like it'll end really badly if I do...

AGATA

Worse than this?

CORALINE

I... don't know.

AGATA

All this god nonsense aside, you're still a witch. You might be onto something.

CORALINE

Perkele.

Off to the side, the boy in green jumps from sofa to sofa, tossing around swaths of colour, which shimmer and fade behind him. He whoops, misses a sofa, and falls to the floor.

The boy jumps back up again a moment later, looking around a bit in embarassment. When he sees the Voice and Coraline looking toward him, he waves.

BOY IN GREEN

(calling out across the room)

Needs more colour!

The boy starts casting another spell, working his fingers in intricate patterns around its shape.

BOY IN GREEN

(muttering)

Dragons Burning Forceful Fire...

VOICE OF KYRULE

The Deslau mage will almost certainly die for his magic, in time.

CORALINE

But he still does it...

VOICE OF KYRULE

Wouldn't you die for your libraries?

CORALINE

A single one, probably not. Losing one library doesn't generally change much in the long run, since you can rebuild...

But libraries in general, as a concept, as a thing... yes. You take away a people's history and knowledge, you've taken away their soul.

It's when they burn their own library down that you know they're truly doomed.

The boy in green finishes off his spell, weaving in the last brilliant tendrils. It hovers for a moment, then fizzles out.

He gives it a disappointed look.

A dragon form bursts out around the boy in sparkles, moving as he does, and he immediately perks up.

BOY IN GREEN

(loudly)

Hah! I am might incarnate!

WOMAN IN BLACK

(looking up briefly)

Oh, pipe down.

CORALINE

Is Vardaman right? Would the Keepers of Magic be able to do anything?

VOICE OF KYRULE

No. It has been tried. And you already have the relevant stories, even the secret ones. Shalias...

CORALINE

She would have had to give up her soul to stop it.

VOICE OF KYRULE

And it might have worked. It also might not have. We do not know if she chose correctly, only that she chose.

The nature and source of the Death of Souls eludes even the eyes of the Eternal. This is the very heart of the problem, and why, beyond even your role as the Apostate, you are so important.

CORALINE

How... important?

VOICE OF KYRULE

Understand. Ense Vardaman is a Keeper of Might, the most honoured of all our Deathdealers. His worth is greater than all others within the worlds combined. He would have been High Priest, had his strength not been needed elsewhere.

And yet you are worth more.

CORALINE

Oh...

AGATA

So if she's so important, why aren't you helping? Why is this the first time you're even talking to her?

VOICE OF KYRULE

Do you really think we've done nothing, cat? Avenues have been explored, the slightest possibilities followed up upon. Her very life inspires hope, the potential that there may yet be something that we simply have not seen.

(to Coraline)

Do not think you have been alone. You have been watched and guarded since you first appeared in Hadrin, even before you took on the role of the Apostate. You were granted the coin as a marker, something normally only given to Deathdealers, for you showed their same strength in you.

But your existence, as Apostate or Carrier, is not something the world can know. You must act in secrecy.

CORALINE

So... basically I'm doomed.

VOICE OF KYRULE

That is very likely.

AGATA

Heh.

CORALINE

And you've got nothing I can use.

VOICE OF KYRULE

There is one possibility. It is little more than a half measure, with no indication why it would help, or if it even will. It was tried once already, and it did not work.

CORALINE

And it is...

VOICE OF KYRULE

Fragments of a dead god, slain long ago by the Eternal himself. When her form was shattered, pieces were left behind, kept as relics by the ancient priests. Some of these have been recovered, and shown unusual interactions when placed with black soul stones.

When this was tested on a living Carrier, initially he did become more lucid upon contact. Then the Death of Souls exploded around him, turning dozens in one moment, in what became the worst outbreak since Hadrin.

It may prove more effective for you.

CORALINE

May.

VOICE OF KYRULE

Vardaman has a fragment of this god with him now. He was not told why, or what it is. If you wish, you may get it from him, and use it.

CORALINE

That sounds like an insanely bad idea.

Agata, what do you think?

AGATA

Might as well. I suppose you want me to do the actual getting.

CORALINE

That would be... rather helpful, yes.

AGATA

(to the Voice)

This kills her, I kill you.

The Voice smiles slightly.

EXT. Soravian countryside - evening

Camp is set. Coraline is tied to another tree, her hands covered again for warmth. Vardaman is watching her.

Agata climbs onto Vardaman's knees and peers up at him.

AGATA

I could kill you, you know.

VARDAMAN

I'd very much like to see you try.

Agata stares at him for a moment.

AGATA

Meh.

Agata curls up on his lap and starts grooming herself, though she stops momentarily to peer at Coraline.

CORALINE

A lot of things could kill me. You're not special.

AGATA

(mind voice)

He's got deep pockets, three bags, and a lot of other gear. Am I supposed to search it all?

CORALINE

(mind voice)

I... don't know. I don't suppose you could just sit on him all night and have it come out like a slug.

AGATA

(mind voice)

You could just kill him, you know. It'd make it a lot easier to search his stuff. And then you could sleep, too.

But you're not going to, are you?

CORALINE

(mind voice)

I don't want to. I don't know.

AGATA

(mind voice)

Your god says it's okay. And we're in the middle of nowhere, so who'd know?

CORALINE

(mind voice)

Me?

I've got no trouble killing when there's good reason. This, though, this just doesn't seem like a good reason. He's technically on the same side we are, he's a decent guy, he's had good cause for everything he's done to me... as horrible as it is, I can't really fault it.

I just need it to stop. I need to get away.

AGATA

(mind voice)

Yes. You do.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

Also Kyrule's not my god.

AGATA

(mind voice)

You sure about that?

CORALINE

(mind voice)

Uh... no. But still.

AGATA

(mind voice)

Well, it's his god.

I'll send a bag cat to check his bags.

Coraline sighs, and drifts slowly into sleep.

Replication

INT. Blocky structure - testing floor

Kit tries to repeat the room-turned-on incident, trying to get the lights and shapes to show up first in other rooms, then even the same one as the first time. Nolan locks him in, Kit throws around magic and goes in and out of the circle of glyphs. Nothing happens.

They try it in other rooms, on other floors.

They try locking Nolan in, with Kit outside.

Kit throws around more magic inside, poking around at various things and nothing, tossing raw magic at the walls and blocks.

Kit and Nolan both have Jora lock them inside, and try various combinations of trying to open the door and Kit throwing magic.

Nothing happens. No lights come on. No reasonable shapes or opulent decor burst into existence.

INT. Blocky structure - Gateway floor

They don't really try with the Gateway chamber. Jora stands outside in the circle. Nolan stands inside in a corner, calculating. Kit kicks at the Gateway with the toe of his shoe, and half-heartedly tries opening the door, just as he had with every other room.

For a brief flicker, the room comes alive. Light fixtures burst into light, decorations bloom out of the walls. Consoles and options and screens appear around the gate, behind and before. A welcome carpet appears on the floor.

Then it's gone.

No matter how hard they try, they cannot replicate it again.

Part 4: Define the open skies

Every prison takes its certain shape. Some cages are gilded, some barren, some empty and dead. Some exist in the wilderness, in solitude under the open sky. Some are clear, others not so much. A lifetime spent without purpose. A purgatory awaiting death. A sentence suspended. Painful care taken at every turn.

And yet the bird still sings. It pushes at its cage. It dismantles, slowly, the very nature of its prison.

And then you see the caged bird fly.

Notes:

1. In the world of double realities, one narrative is public, and one is real.
2. Eapherod has been here all along.
3. None of this happened the first time.
4. Different things happened the first time.
5. Events may repeat themselves, precede their causes, and take different forms in different stories. They are the same events.

Passage

EXT. Soravian countryside - morning

Coraline Dreams.

: In the dream, the insects are roaring. The world is a field of green, surrounding you in thick shrubbery, level to your hips, soft, bristling, wet. The roaring is the trees around, lush and tall, full of fronds and hanging vines. The roaring is the cliffs ahead, slick and glistening. The roaring is the waterfall, torrential, towering, falling down, down, down, up into the mists above, its edge highlighted only by the glow of the sky. And more above. Layer cake. Towering mountains, roaring beneath the giant grasping hands of frothy white, reaching out in fingers.

: The trolls are in the trees. You're running, you have to, running to the end of the field, toward the fingers, the one side not bounded by trees. Here the mist is thickest, floating into your arms and face, trickling down your clothes, and the precipice comes up suddenly, looming, reaching up as you jump, in the one brief moment of weightlessness before the world remembers its rules.

: And then you're falling. You're wet, deaf, and falling, cliffs rushing past, hills making strange spires, spearing the mist. Everything is bright, glowing, but the falling doesn't stop. It's clearest here. The wrist below is reaching. The palm is outstretched. Twisting. Gleaming. You reach out with your own hand, and it's a match, precise and exacting. Hand for hand. Palm for palm.

: And then it hits you.

: You're standing at the shore, the water lapping hungrily at your feet. You're so close now. You can feel it. You just have to keep going, and not fall. The small river stones shift and warble as you step tentatively along the shore, grinding them against each other. The ground is hollow, the water clear and green and blue. The lush foliage hangs back overhead, dripping, whispering, warning. Shapes loom in the shadows.

: Trolls.

: No.

: You're tired of running. You turn back to the trees, dark and green, full of shivering shadows.

: The trees shiver, rustling.

: They aren't trees.

: You're running, fleeing the shivers, bounding from rocks to logs, slipping, scraping, flitting past. The waterfall looms, a single finger, roaring, shifting, fading into a memory of a memory, greyer than green. Its torrent slows, and the other fingers too fall silent. There is only the one. The one. The

: A single frond of fern trails across your arm, depositing beads of wetness in a red smear, painting like a maiden's hair. You stretch it out and the pattern shifts, changing, writing. Hello World.

: The river narrows. The cliffs are covered in ferns, in clumps and tangles.

: You step onto the water, and it ripples outward with each footfall, building crossing patterns behind and before. Step, step, step. The narrow cliffs are a corridor, dark, echoing. Silent, as the sky closes overhead. Straight, as the ripples cease. Dark, as the chatter rises to a scream.

: A door, vast and grand, looms out of the gloom ahead, as the dream begins to fade.

: You need to get to it, you need...

: And then it's gone.

The morning is wet and overcast. This only makes it worse as Coraline awakens in the usual misery, her arms screaming in pain, her back and legs aching.

Vardaman is squatted over her, holding her head up with his hand, peering at her closely.

CORALINE

Yes?

VARDAMAN

How do you bear it? This must be agony for you, on top of the horror you already face...

CORALINE

What? Like I've got any options...

Vardaman stands.

VARDAMAN

I've done this once before, restraining a necromancer who we needed to keep alive so that his minions would not awaken. He would not stop struggling. He cried out and screamed, calling it torture. When we finally managed to conduct the proper rituals and put him to death, he took it as a relief.

CORALINE

(quietly)

It is.

Vardaman hauls her to her feet, patting her down.

Coraline lowers her arms slowly, healing them as she does, but the pain still stabs through it.

VARDAMAN

His crimes were innumerable and clear. But you... this should not have been your fate.

CORALINE

Well life sucks. Haven't you noticed?

AGATA

(mind voice)

I got it. I put it in your shoe. I have no idea how you'll get it out.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

Er, thanks.

I feel no different.

AGATA

(mind voice)

Maybe next time you'll think twice before putting on five pairs of socks.

Coraline gives Agata an annoyed look as Vardaman unties her from the tree.

Vardaman hands Coraline an open vodka, and she awkwardly drinks some before he takes it back and closes it, putting it away.

CORALINE

You could just let me go.

VARDAMAN

That is not an option.

CORALINE

Why not?

Vardaman doesn't answer, instead guiding her over to the horse of the moment and hoisting her up, mounting after. Through her socks, she feels something in her boot, like a small rock.

They continue on.

INT. Grey Lobby

The Lobby is empty, now. Coraline lingers between the circling bits of furniture, trailing her fingers down the backs of sofas.

Coraline finds herself in the centre, and glances around, but she is still alone. There is no sign of the Voice, nor anyone else of interest.

She closes her eyes. She feels the fire, waiting, and brings it out, focussing it in her hands, balling it up in front of her, until it's almost too much for her to bear. She throws it out in every direction with a scream, and the flames explode around her, billowing out, before fading into nothing.

She pauses, and then lashes out with an arm, slicing the air with a finger, directing a lash of fire beyond it. She does another, and another, and another, dancing about, painting the air with slashes of fire that trail behind her and die.

A MAN IN BLUE is watching nearby as she finally stops.

Coraline quickly steps out of the Lobby.

EXT. Soravian countryside - day

It doesn't end. The hills don't end. The pain doesn't end. The riding and stopping, the indignity and the searches, the vodka, the arms held up over her head, the trees, the itching that she cannot scratch, the forests with their cold wind and colder sunlight... it doesn't end. They catch glimpses of the lower hills and plains to the south, and of the true mountains to the north. Thimble reappears, riding the packhorse with Agata, and then the three-legged white cat, too. The realisation slowly sinks in that there is no way out, no escape.

But Coraline doesn't do it. She rides with Vardaman, held in place, bound tightly, not telling him, not killing him. She rests at the base of a tree, held up by her arms secured above her head, and does nothing. She drinks the vodka awkwardly, eats the tortillas awkwardly, using the one hand she can barely move.

She returns to the Grey Lobby a few times, but only finds it empty, or with other Keepers in. She avoids the others, taking it as a small escape, a simple place where she can be free. She sees the boy in green again, and together they practice magic.

The voices whisper as the sun gets lower. Coraline tries to scratch her arse on the saddle even as Vardaman continues to restrain her. It doesn't work.

Agata hisses behind them.

Testing

INT. Blocky structure - testing floor

A room is full of water. The wall door is hanging open, but a forcefield is over the doorway, holding the water in.

Kit and Nolan are standing nearby.

Kit casts a bunch of spells on Nolan.

Nolan pushes through the forcefield, swimming into the water while sort of jumping off the ground in the air outside. Kit shoves him the rest of the way in.

Several minutes pass, and then Nolan falls back out and lands in a heap at Kit's feet.

KIT

(helping Nolan back up)

Well?

Nolan coughs a bit.

NOLAN

No.

KIT

So... what?

Nolan doesn't answer, and ambles off in a direction instead.

KIT

(calling after Nolan)

You know you'd make a really good wizard, because you're just that helpful!

INT. Blocky structure - testing floor

They try again. Kit casts some other spells, then puts a bubble around Nolan and tries to shove him through the forcefield into the water room.

The bubble resists, not wanting one bit to go into the water.

Kit pushes harder, makes the slightest process, and then the bubble bounces back, knocking him and Nolan over.

INT. Blocky structure - testing floor

Everyone is there this time, outside the water room, by the open door with the forcefield. Jora has a large lever. Erry stands nearby, watching. Kit casts the spells on Nolan again, this time finishing with one to decrease forces on the bubble itself. It's designed for pressure problems, but might help with this, too.

Then Nolan goes up to the forcefield, Jora shoves the lever in the frame past Nolan, and they force Nolan inside by shoving the lever against the wall.

Nolan disappears into the darkness of the water on the other side, drifting vaguely upward.

For a long while, nothing happens.

Nothing continues to happen.

JORA

Should he be back, or...?

ERRY

He's dead. He's finally dead. You killed him.

Kit glares at Erry.

JORA

Shall I go after him?

KIT

If it didn't work, he's already dead. Let's wait for the spell to wear off first. I think he might just be stuck.

JORA

Stuck?

KIT

On the ceiling.

A few minutes later, Nolan flops back out through the forcefield, landing in a wet heap.

Jora helps him up, checking his face to see if he's all right.

Nolan ignores her.

KIT

So?

NOLAN

I got stuck.

KIT

On the ceiling?

NOLAN

Yes.

KIT

So this might just work.

NOLAN

Yes.

KIT

YEAAAAAAH!

Erry stares at him.

Escape

EXT. Soravian village - afternoon

Vardaman and Coraline ride into a small village nestled in the foothills. Villagers stop and peer at them curiously as they pass.

A child starts to go to them, but then its mother runs after, puts a restraining hand on its shoulder, and guides it back inside.

An IMPORTANT-LOOKING VILLAGER approaches.

Vardaman dismounts, taking the leads of all three horses in his hands, leaving Coraline to slide back into the saddle proper.

AGATA

(mind voice)

This looks promising.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

Yeah. Get my bag, will you?

AGATA

(mind voice)

Already on it. Can you ride without the head stuff?

CORALINE

(mind voice)

The reins? Should be, if I can get them out of the Deathdealer's hands. He's been using his legs to direct the horse some anyway, so I should be able to do the same. I dunno about jumping, though.

AGATA

(mind voice)

Not enough control?

CORALINE

(mind voice)

Or balance. Or strength. I'll likely just fall out of the saddle, or bounce around too much, especially since I also don't have stirrups.

IMPORTANT-LOOKING VILLAGER

State your business.

VARDAMAN

I am a Deathdealer of Kyrule. My prisoner is my own business. I could use supplies, if you're selling.

The important-looking villager looks up at Coraline.

CORALINE

Hi.

IMPORTANT-LOOKING VILLAGER

What'd you do?

CORALINE

Tried to take over the world. The ferrets, though. The ferrets rebelled.

VARDAMAN

Enough.

She is not your concern.

IMPORTANT-LOOKING VILLAGER

Alright. Marswattas'll get you set up with whatever you need.

(he gestures down the road)

Gods be with you.

The important-looking villager goes on ahead to let the Marswattas know.

Vardaman nods at him and continues after, staying beside the horse with Coraline on, holding the leads of the others behind.

AGATA

(mind voice)

What are we waiting for?

CORALINE

(mind voice)

Reins. We need those. The moment he shifts his hold, I'll see if I can grab them. You'll need to get on the saddlecloth, and hold on. If I lose you, you'll have to run.

Vardaman stops outside the indicated house and puts a hand on Coraline's leg.

VARDAMAN

Don't try anything.

CORALINE

What am I going to try, armless show jumping? I haven't even walked the course.

Vardaman gives her a flat look.

Agata peers at him carefully from the packhorse. Thimble and the white cat are just gone again.

The important-looking villager and another guy, presumably a MARSWATTA, come out of the house.

MARSWATTA

Hoi. Whatcha need?

Around them, villagers gather, watching, some of them chatting quietly. A few giggle to each other behind conspiratorial hands.

Coraline watches Vardaman vaguely, noting his hands.

AGATA

(mind voice)

Okay.

VARDAMAN

Travellable foodstuffs, water. Hay.

Vardaman hands him a magic bag, maintaining a firm hold on the reigns and saddle with his other hand.

MARSWATTA

Barrels, skins?

VARDAMAN

Barrels'll do.

(indicating Coraline)

If you've got any warm clothes she can use, mittens, scarves, that would also be good.

MARSWATTA

I'll see what my wife can dig up.

The Marswatta heads back in.

CORALINE

Well, this is fun. Everyone's staring at us. I haven't even showered.

Vardaman doesn't respond, standing waiting.

A few minutes later, the Marswatta comes back out, holding Vardaman's bag and some other items, followed by what might be a MRS. MARSWATTA, who is carrying a keg.

MARSWATTA

Got your stuff. Comes out to 20 crowns, 8 half.

Vardaman pulls some coins out of his pocket and sorts through them with his thumb, handing them off, putting a couple of the wrong kind back. He repeats this a few times.

Mrs. Marswatta looks up Coraline consideringly.

Coraline gives her a pleading look.

Mrs. Marswatta glances irritably off to the side, then drops the keg on her husband's foot, causing him to fall over onto Vardaman, who loses hold of the reins momentarily while half fighting off, half righting both of them.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

Now!

MRS. MARSWATTA

(trying to pull her husband back up and nearly falling on him as well)

Sorry, sorry! Are you okay?

MARSWATTA

Gods damn, woman!

Coraline turns away in the saddle, pressing with her legs. The horse prances forward uncertainly, turning.

Agata jumps onto its back, scrabbling at the saddlecloth, and climbs up onto Coraline's shoulders.

Coraline winces, but pushes the horse to speed up into a trot.

Vardaman pushes away the Marswattas and jumps after Coraline, but she nudges the horse to step even further to the side as it goes.

CORALINE

(motioning with her legs)

Canter. Canter!

The horse does, flattening out into the much less bouncy rhythm.

CORALINE

Good horse. Good.

AGATA

(mind voice)

You've done this before.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

Not this! And keep your balance! It's hard enough keeping myself balanced; the moment one of us tips all three'll fall over!

Vardaman runs after.

VARDAMAN

Halt!

The horse ignores him, still following Coraline's commands, and gains speed down the road. She leans forward, grabbing the reigns with her hand, looping up the end awkwardly.

VARDAMAN

Bindy Down! Still Quiet Black!

Vardaman throws some spells after Coraline, and one hits her in the back, making her decidedly woozy. She resists the feeling, concentrating on riding.

A small gaggle of villagers come out into the road around a building ahead.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

Stay forward and centre. We're going to jump.

(aloud)

Get down!

The villagers look up in surprise, and then duck as Coraline leans forward, rising up out of the saddle on her legs, and the horse jumps over them. She nearly falls off as the horse lands and Agata claws at her face, only barely getting back into the normal position as the horse resumes its stride.

CORALINE

Perkele.

Coraline glances back momentarily as they pass the last couple of houses, but for the moment, there's no sign of further pursuit.

Vardaman returns to the Marswattas shortly.

Mrs. Marswatta is patting down the other Marswatta's clothes, dusting him off. He grumbles at her.

VARDAMAN

Did you do that on purpose?

MRS. MARSWATTA

What? Don't be ridiculous.

MARSWATTA

(swatting her away)

Yes, yes, that's my job, you know. Or maybe it's yours?

VARDAMAN

(picking up his stuff)

Because if so, you should know that woman is a Carrier of the Death of Souls.

MRS. MARSWATTA

Well, so am I. Fortunately only to this poor sod most of the time.

MARSWATTA

What? Are you eating my soul now, too?

Vardaman ignores them and sets up the other two horses, tying the packhorse to the spare, and tightening the saddle on that. He mounts quickly, and urges the horses on.

MRS. MARSWATTA

Hmm? Oh, where are you going so fast?

VARDAMAN

To recapture the Carrier!

MRS. MARSWATTA

What's she carrying, do you suppose?

MARSWATTA

(he sighs and head back toward the house)

I'm gonna go make dinner.

MRS. MARSWATTA

It's already on, you twit!

EXT. Soravian wilderness - night

The moons are full, the stars twinkling. Few clouds are out, over the trees. Coraline pushes the horse onward, healing it in lieu of resting, and herself, too, and so far, it seems to work, though the voices are getting louder. Her arms are still tied. Agata is no longer on her head, the bag now tucked into her belt.

AGATA

(mind voice)

Okay, I think I found something you can use.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

Yeah?

AGATA

(mind voice)

It's a zombie. Looks a bit like you. Not very smart, though. I think Argument of Hags was chewing on it.

CORALINE

(mind voice)

What? How'd a zombie get in there?

Agata pokes her head out of the bag.

AGATA

See for yourself.

CORALINE

We should probably keep going.

AGATA

Are you sure your pace is faster than Vardaman's?

CORALINE

It would have to be, unless he's... also using magic. And he's got two horses, so that could make it even easier... bloody damn. Okay.

Coraline guides the horse to stop in a dark stand of trees.

Agata crawls out of the bag like a bird emerging from a dead beetle.

Coraline leans forward, awkwardly pulls up a leg, and then falls off the other side of the horse.

She gets up a moment later and pulls off the horse's bridle with her sort-of-usable hand, and loosens the rest of the tack as best she can. The horse nuzzles her hand.

CORALINE

Sorry, love. I'd tend to you proper, but I'm a bit tied up right now.

The horse bites at her bindings.

Coraline stares at the horse curiously for a moment, and then shakes her head.

CORALINE

There's no time.

Agata peers down at her from the saddle.

Coraline pulls her bag out of her belt, pushes the inner bag aside, pulls out the edges of the middle bag, takes a deep breath, and tips herself inside.

INT. Bag

It's akin to a decent-sized room, several metres across and over two metres tall. Junk is everywhere. Bedding and barrels are scattered about at random. A pile of camping stuff, dirty clothes, and empty bottles has accumulated on top of several hap-hazard stacks of books, and Coraline winds up draped rather indecently over that.

It is utterly, utterly dark, and surprisingly warm.

Coraline flops off the pile, onto another pile. A cat jumps away.

Coraline gets up stiffly, using her bound arms to push herself up.

Something gibbers in the gloom. There's no light source, but for some reason she can almost see, sort of.

Coraline closes her eyes and tries to look properly. Shapes begin to form in her mind, a dialogue of presence all around her. A few points glow - cats, mice, a few bats hanging from the ceiling, and something almost human approaching her hesitantly. One of the cats rubs against her legs and mews up at her.

She opens her eyes reflexively, but now that she's seeing without, her vision remains the same.

The something almost human stops in front of her. Its skin is shrivelled, its face shrunken, eyes gone, wearing tattered rags, but it glows with an odd inverse light, muted, but vibrant.

CORALINE

(Dead voice)

Hello. Are you the zombie?

The ZOMBIE reaches toward Coraline's arms with a curious hand, and then looks up at her uncertainly, a decidedly creepy gesture from someone with no eyes.

CORALINE

(Dead voice)

Yeah. Can you use a knife?

The zombie looks around, turning its head and shoulders almost exaggeratedly.

Coraline starts kicking through some of the junk with her feet.

The zombie grabs a small serrated bread knife and jumps up excitedly.

CORALINE

(Dead voice)

Perfect.

Coraline directs the zombie to saw through her bindings, and after a few moments she's free, though also with a few cuts on her arms. She completely ignores these, stretching out her arms, moaning in relief even as this hurts even more than the constraint had.

The zombie smiles at her hopefully.

Coraline pats the zombie on the head.

CORALINE

(Dead voice)

You're brilliant. Now I need you to do something else for me.

The zombie stands by, dutifully waiting.

CORALINE

(looking around)

Agh, let's see...

Coraline grabs some food, and then finds some cleanish clothes and then starts shedding her own, still gnawing on the food.

CORALINE

(Dead voice)

Can you take your rags off for me?

The zombie tries, but doesn't get very far.

Coraline finishes pulling on some new socks and underwear, and then goes to help the zombie get its off, and starts putting all the clothes she had been wearing on the zombie, including what turns out to be four pairs of socks, sitting it down for some bits, turning it around for others. The zombie is perfectly cooperative.

Coraline stops at the boots, petting Tress absentmindedly.

CORALINE

Perkele, I liked these boots.

The zombie, sitting on a barrel, watches her patiently with empty sockets.

Coraline shakes out the boots, and a fragment of something that looks a bit like a small black pebble falls out.

CORALINE

Oh, right.

Coraline reaches to pick it up, and the whole world turns inside out the moment she touches it. The voices silence. Stars loom, all too close, brilliant, searing, forming nameless patterns in her mind. The blackness drifts throughout it all, but no longer cloying, no longer hungering, simply there, a part of her, old and familiar. Another voice drifts out, lingeringly, huge, an echo of a memory:

DARK SISTER

You will be my last. You will be the best.

Coraline recoils in surprise, and everything goes back to normal, the voices rushing in, the stars and vastness fading. Only the voice of the Dark Sister continues to reverberate in her head, too huge to quite get rid of.

Coraline glares at the fragment in annoyance.

The zombie continues to sit patiently.

Coraline reaches down and picks the fragment up for real this time, and tis time the effect is lessened. The stars and... things all still loom, the darkness still drifts throughout it all, the voices still go silent, but now she simply pushes the stars away, ignoring them, and looks past the darkness, and it seems to work. She can focus, almost. The voice of the Dark Sister still lingers, but more quietly now, subdued. It seems to be saying her name.

Except it isn't her name. Is it?

Coraline ignores that too and stuffs the fragment into her bra.

AGATA

(mind voice)

Is that an improvement?

CORALINE

(mind voice)

No idea, but I'll take it.

Coraline finishes dressing the zombie, putting on the boots and adding her coat and other bits as well, and then pulls on some clean clothes herself. She finds some new, not quite as nice boots, another coat that is nearly worn through on one elbow, some mittens, and a decent hat, braids her hair quickly, and then puts on her sword and grabs her staff.

CORALINE

(Dead voice)

All right, come on.

Coraline gestures for the zombie to come over, and then climbs up and hoists it out of the bag. She tries to climb up after, but can't quite make it.

Then the zombie reaches in and hauls her out.

EXT. Soravian wilderness - night

The horse is still there, asleep, with Agata sitting on it.

Coraline lies on the ground for a moment, just relishing the feeling of being able to actually lie down. She gets up regretfully, reassembling her bag, and next to her, the zombie gets up too.

Standing next to each other, they look very similar. Only the zombie's face really stands out as not Coraline.

AGATA

Nice.

CORALINE

(indicating the zombie)

Seems pretty smart to me.

AGATA

It does seem smarter with you next to it...

Coraline goes to the horse and nudges its neck, rubbing it a bit.

CORALINE

Hey, come on, we need to go.

The horse startles awake with a snort, and gets up slowly at Coraline's urging.

CORALINE

(to Agata)

Keep the horse or spook it?

AGATA

Which do you prefer?

CORALINE

I so wanna keep it. But then if the Deathdealer tracks it down, which he probably will, I'll be there too... damn loose ends.

Agata shrugs a paw.

Coraline sighs and turns back to the zombie.

ZOMBIE

(croakily)

Mother... did good...

CORALINE

(Dead voice)

Yes, you did good. Very good. Now please, hold still. This will be quick.

The zombie stands dutifully before her.

CORALINE

Oh, I really hope you can't feel pain.

Coraline plants her staff with one hand and places the other on the zombie's chest, and then brings out the fire, drawing it out, building it up, pulling even more from the staff, and pushes it into the zombie. At first, the Zombie just begins to glow slightly, and then it opens its mouth.

ZOMBIE

Moth...

Flames burst out of its mouth, licking up its face, and then the entire form of the zombie catches fire, a small fireball billowing upward, and the zombie collapses, burning.

The horse flees.

Coraline jumps back in surprise.

AGATA

Okay, now we get out of here.

CORALINE

And somehow not leave any tracks...

AGATA

It's good ground for that. Just watch your step, don't scrape against things. And pray he buys it.

CORALINE

I don't pray.

They hurry away into the dark woods, even as the zombie continues to burn down and smoulder behind them.

Cephalopod encasement

INT. Blocky structure - adjournment floor

The four kids gather by the room with the puddle outside.

Nolan stares pointedly at the puddle, and then stands in it.

Erry glares at him with a special kind of loathing.

JORA

If this works, we will get very wet. Make sure everything is secured and waterproofed as needed.

KIT

I wonder if ration blocks need to be waterproofed. I wonder how long they last. I wonder if I really want to find out.

NOLAN

Ready.

Kit casts spells, this time on all of them. He starts to make bubbles, but then Nolan stops him.

NOLAN

Put us all in one. She'll kill me.

KIT

Kind of think you brought that on yourself.

Kit does so regardless, pulling his sister over, and then putting one very large bubble around the lot of them, centred on Nolan.

Nolan turns back toward the door, and then stands in the circle of glyphs in front of it.

Nothing happens.

Nothing continues to happen.

Nothing continues to continue to happen.

KIT

Are we sure it... will open?

Nolan doesn't answer, and just continues to stand there.

The door wall explodes, spurting water everywhere around the edges, and then cracking down the middle, too, as the torrent crashes through.

Nolan drops to the floor of the bubble as the water pours onto it, and Jora does the same. The bubble bounces back, tossed by the force of the water, and Kit and Erry both fall over.

It bounces around some more in the utter chaos of the flooding corridor, and inside it, the kids bounce around as well.

While all of this is going on, Erry does not try to kill Nolan, but she does bite him rather hard.

Then the entire corridor is flooded, the bubble pushed back against a corner, stuck to the ceiling. Pockets of air around them are pressed and compressed.

The currents die down. The bubble drifts to a slightly higher point of ceiling.

Absolutely nothing proceeds to happen.

KIT

Okay, it is entirely possible that I did not entirely think this through.

Erry bursts out laughing.

Nolan pulls his rune stick out of his pocket and pops the bubble. It trembles and divides, and a moment later, they all fall out as the air escapes and spreads across the ceiling as much more normal bubbles.

Erry swims around a bit, nowhere in particular, circling the others.

Jora heads for the dark hole where the sealed door used to be. Nolan and Kit follow.

They come out into what, for all intents and purposes, is a void. Their lights illuminate only a short distance into the water, highlighting each other, the nearest wall and floor, and as they progress, not even that. It is like floating in nothing.

Erry starts singing, an odd tune about a hangover that lasts for several days, but mangled to be about badgers instead. The water mangles it even more, to the point where it's nearly unintelligible.

JORA

(her voice very distorted)

So what's the plan?

NOLAN

(also somewhat distorted)

Find leak, knock out wall, use bubble to surface.

KIT

(almost unintelligibly)

Simple!

Erry blurbles at Nolan, waving her moose. Bits of fur fall out of it.

...