Soul Searching
Written by: Caina Q.
Fuller.
Episode#
17. The Messenger
FADE IN-AMAZON CAMP
Eve laces her boots and grabs a bag while Hope finishes wrapping
the baby. He’s considerably older now, about two months.
Eve
Glad to have a moment alone with him?
Hope
grins and nods in agreement as she begins to put her own shoes on. She’s still
wearing loose fitting clothes to hide the extra weight she gained while
pregnant.
Hope
Yeah. I suppose I shouldn’t complain. I mean,
having so many babysitters can be handy while I
try to lose these extra pounds I put on.
Eve
Help is one thing, but sometimes I think every-
one gets out of hand. You only get to spend
time with him at night, when it’s time to go to
bed. And another thing. I think you’re pushing
yourself too hard to learn the staff. You’re
progressing so well. Don’t try to learn it all in
one day.
Hope
Ok Mommy. Anything else I should know before
you take off to parts unknown?
Eve
gives her a wry grin.
Eve
I can’t help myself Eve. I’ve been helping the
Amazon’s rebuild for over two months. I’m
neglecting my mission as the First Messenger.
I need to get out there and prepare the way
for cutie pie here.
Hope
You’ve got cabin fever, plain and simple. Are you
sure its safe to begin traveling? Winter is coming
soon.
They
finish dressing and head out into the cool fresh air. Their breath steams up, showing how cool it is. The Amazons go about their business of
rebuilding, and near the village gate three wagons come in loaded with women.
One of them is being driven by Gabrielle and Lila, the other two are being
driven by Sarah and Varia.
Eve
I’m
heading south where there won’t be any
snowfall
to worry about. You, on the other hand,
can
prepare to be blanketed in the stuff.
Hope
I’m
looking forward to it. I didn’t get to
enjoy
snow
as a child. Besides. I want Elijah to
know
all
the fun of playing and just being a normal
little
boy.
Eve
He
will Hope. Gabrielle is back with new recruits
to
join the Amazons. I’m going to go and say
good-bye.
Eve
kisses Hope on the cheek. As soon as she’s gone, two Amazons come up to her,
both brunettes. The taller woman is Dori, Hopes staff teacher. The other woman
is Sasha, Dori’s significant other.
Dori
Ready to go to school Hope?
Hope
Always.
Sasha
I’ll take Elijah for you while you go learn.
Hope
Ok.
Just have him back at the training grounds
in a
couple of hours for his feeding.
Sasha
Oh, we
have plenty of girls that can feed him for
you.
Hope
looks a little irritated, but holds her tongue. Dori sees this and says
something to Sasha on Hope’s behalf.
Dori
I
don’t think that’s the point honey. Hope wants
to
feed her child herself. You will respect her
wishes
and have him back here for his feeding?
Sasha
Of
course I will. Sorry about that Hope. I just
can’t
wait to have a baby of my own.
(she baby talks to Elijah)
I hope
she’s just as cute as little Elijah here. Yes
I do.
Dori
and Sasha kiss good-bye before she and Hope head out for lessons.
EXT.
CAMP ENTRANCE
Gabrielle
brings the small caravan to a halt inside the gates and climbs down. She greets
Eve with a kiss, and then wraps an arm around her shoulder.
Gabrielle
How is my Evie doing this morning?
Eve
Your
Evie is just fine. I’m heading out. I wanted
to say
good-bye.
In the
wagon we notice Lila massage her chest and cough, but Eve and Gabrielle fail to
see this.
Gabrielle
Can’t
stand to stay in one place too long huh? I
know
the feeling. Varia, Sarah, will you show our
new
sisters to their quarters?
Varia
Will do.
Sarah
Sure.
The two
women lead the new recruits deeper into the village.
Eve
Where did you find them?
Gabrielle
They’re
slaves we liberated from the warlord
Teodore.
Eve
Teodore. I thought he was sent to prison.
Gabrielle
Well, he’s out again. Or he was…
Eve
Where is he now?
Gabrielle
Tartarus. He tried to kill Sarah.
Eve
helps Lila down and then whistles for her horse. Braveheart, saddled and ready
to go, trots over to her.
Eve
(mounting)
I’ll
see you in a few months. Maybe after the
snows
have left the forest.
Gabrielle
I’d
rather have snow than the constant rain the
valleys
will be drenched with.
Eve
sticks out her tongue playfully and takes off out of the village. Once she’s
gone out of site, Gabrielle turns to Lila. It is now she notices how pale her
sister is.
Gabrielle
Hey Sis. You ok? You look a little pale.
Lila
I’m
fine Gabby. I’m just a little tired from all
the…Oh!
Lila
suddenly cries out and grabs the left side of her chest before collapsing to the
ground. Sarah hears her mother cry out
and comes rushing back with Varia.
Gabrielle
Lila! What’s the matter?
Lila
My chest…
Sarah
Mother?
Varia
I’ll get the healer.
Sarah
holds her mother’s head in her lap as Varia rushes off to get the healer. Off Sarah’s worried face we-
Dissolve
to:
EXT.
HEALER’S HUT
Sarah,
Varia and Gabrielle pace outside the physician’s hut. After a few moments the doctor emerges, wiping her hands.
Healer
She’s resting now.
Sarah
Well? How is my mother?
Gabrielle
Is it her heart?
Healer?
No.
I’m afraid its worse than that. I examined
her. Lila has some unusual lumps in her left
breast.
Gabrielle
Lumps? What does that mean?
Healer
We
don’t know what the lumps are. All we know
is
that whenever women get them sometimes we
can
cut them out and they will heal…But once
they
reach the extent they have now…
Sarah
What?
Healer
Once
they reach the stage they are at now,
there’s
nothing we can do.
Gabrielle
Are you saying my sister is going to die?
Healer
I managed
to remove a few tumors but…I’m
sorry,
but her body is diseased. There’s nothing
I can
do to save her now.
Gabrielle
wraps a weeping Sarah in her arms and looks into Varia’s eyes.
Close
up on Gabrielle.
Fade
Out.
End of Teaser.
FADE IN-FOREST
Eve rides over the lush landscapes of Greece. As she rides she
comes to a fork in the road, one heading right, the other heading left.
Eve
Well Braveheart? Which way? Left or right?
Braveheart whinnies and his head leans to the left.
Eve
Left huh? Considering you’re a horse, I think I’ll
go right. We’ll eventually run into a village right?
She takes off down the right hand path.
Eve continues to ride, and as she does she notices the forest
grows thick once again. The further in she goes, the darker it gets. She also
notices there aren’t any sounds. Everything is deathly silent.
Eve
Do you hear that boy? Or should I say “don’t”
hear? I’ve never heard a forest this quiet before.
She continues riding on until she comes to a clearing.
Eve
What do you say we stop here for awhile? I
could go for some lunch.
She dismounts and begins gathering wood for a fire.
Dissolve
to:
EXT. EVE’S CAMP
Eve stokes the fire with a stick as she sits on the saddle she’s
taken off Braveheart. She nibbles on a handful of small, red berries and hums
to herself as she waits for the small bird she’s cooking to get done.
Suddenly she looks up, sensing something close by. Braveheart
whinnies and she makes a shushing noise.
Eve
Shhh. Quiet boy. I hear something too.
She
concentrates and the noise gets louder and louder. It’s a man crying. She draws
her sword and approaches the trees behind her.
Eve
continues into the forest, going deeper and deeper until she finds a man on his
knees with his back to her. He is weeping, almost hysterically. Eve approaches
him and calls his out to him.
Eve
Hello?
She
comes around to the man’s side and we see it’s Joxer. He looks as he did
as a young man. Eve doesn’t recognize him right off, however.
Joxer
Why? Why? Why couldn’t you love me? Why
did you leave me? All I ever wanted was to love
you Gabby.
Eve
looks to the ground and finds a staff and a pair of sai’s lying before him. He
finally looks up at her. When he does Eve has a flashback.
Flashback 1: “Return Of Callisto”.
Callisto enters the barn where Joxer has just struck an iron-ribbed barrel.
Flashback 2: “Eve”. Livia turns and
runs Joxer through. Virgil screams no.
Eve
stares at him in shock.
Eve
Joxer?
Joxer
Yeah
it’s me you hateful, spiteful, life stealing
bitch!
You ruined everything!
Eve
steps away from him and his venomous verbal attack. She’s surprised by the
hatred he is directing towards her.
Eve
You’re dead.
Joxer
picks up the sai’s and faces her, angry.
Joxer
Are you here to kill me again? Huh?
Eve
Of course not. I just…
A look
of understanding comes over her face.
Eve
Alright.
Who are you? Ares? Discord? Deimos?
Which
one of Olympus’ scum are you really?
Joxer
I’m
not a god. I’m a man who is doomed to live
for
eternity without my family. When you were
born
you ruined everything! Everything!
Joxer
holds the sai’s with practiced skill. He doesn’t seem at all like the bumbling
idiot Callisto and Livia ever met.
Joxer
Because
of you Xena and Gabrielle slept away
the
best years of my life. I was their partner. I
was
their friend and you ripped them away from
me
with your-your god-killing destiny!
Eve
My
destiny was given to me. I didn’t choose it.
Joxer
You
had everything to do with it! You are Callisto
in the
flesh again aren’t you? You chose to give
Xena
that body you’re in now, and then you put
your
soul into it. You got a second chance at life.
What
about me? Where is my second chance?
Eve
I’m sorry I killed you. I was lost and-
Joxer
Callisto
just stop it! You’re evil to the core and
you
always will be.
A
flashback of Gabrielle saying the same thing to Callisto in Heaven comes back
to Eve. She grabs her head, feeling a little dizzy.
Joxer
Xena
once told me to keep my heart far away
from
Callisto. She was worried you’d kill me one
day.
She was so right. You did.
Xena (O.S.)
Where did I go wrong?
Eve
whirls around and finds her mother standing behind her, wearing her Japanese
outfit from A Friend In Need.
Xena
Evie.
Having you was the worst mistake I ever
made.
Cut
to:
EXT.
TRAINING GROUND
Hope
squares off with Dori, holding her staff low and crouching on the balls of her
feet. They circle one another for a few seconds before Dori attacks.
Hope
holds her own for a little while, but Dori soon gets Hope’s staff out of her
hands. She sweeps her own staff beneath Hope’s feet, knocking her to the
ground. Hope stares up at Dori.
Hope
Great.
I fall for that feint every time! When am
I
going to learn?
Dori
Hope,
you’re being too hard on yourself. You’re
really
doing very well.
Hope
I
don’t think so. I always try to follow your
every
move. You fake me out and I fall for
it
every time. Why do I do that?
Dori
Because
it feels right. There is a delicate
balance
between instinct and skill when you’re
fighting.
You’ll learn to merge both of them. I
believe
in you.
Hope
still frowns, not happy with her performance. She allows Dori to pull her to
her feet.
Dori
We’ve
been at it for two hours now. I think we’re
through
for the day.
Hope
Yeah.
My arms are tired. Where is Sasha? She
was
supposed to be here by now with Elijah.
Dori
Let’s
head back into camp. We’ll find out there.
Dissolve
to:
EXT.
FOREST
Hope
and Dori walk quietly along, heading back through the forest to their camp.
Dori
It’s
so good to feel safe in these forests again.
Though
I do miss having Varia as our queen.
Hope
You do?
Dori
suddenly realizes she may have insulted Hope.
Dori
Not
that your mother isn’t an excellent Queen.
It’s
just…
Hope
I know. She’s not really one of you.
Dori
No,
that’s not it. It’s just…I’ve known Varia all
my
life. She’s always been like a sister to me,
and
she’s always accepted me for who and what
I am,
no questions asked.
Hope
frowns over at Dori, not sure she understands what the woman is telling her.
Hope
I
thought romantic relationships among the
sisters
was a commonplace thing.
Dori
No. It
was illegal until Queen Ephiny overturned
the
ruling in her tribe almost twenty nine years
ago.
Hope
You
mean, sisters who fell in love with one
another
were forbidden to share that love? That
seems
so unfair.
Dori
It is
unfair. Love is love. I don’t see why some
people
make such a big deal about it.
Hope
I think it may frighten some people. Why, I
have no idea.
Dori
I
suppose. Anyway, Varia has always been there
for
me. She’s always supported me in all I’ve
ever
attempted to do, and I’ve always done the
same
for her.
Hope
Until now.
Now
it’s Dori’s turn to frown. She leans against a tree and Hope stands before her.
EXT.
FOREST-SASHA
Sash is
returning Elijah to Hope when she spots them in the trees ahead. She’s too far
away to hear them talking but she sees Dori lean against the tree, and Hope
cocks her head to the side. From the
angle at which she’s approaching it looks as if Hope and Dori are kissing.
Sasha
stops in shock and turns away. Upset by what she believes she has seen, she
heads back for the camp.
EXT.
TREE’S-DORI AND HOPE
Hope
cocks her head to the side, not noticing Sasha and her baby in the distance.
Dori
What do you mean until now?
Hope
Varia
is going through some tough times. I’ve
been
spending a lot of time with her lately
when
we go out to recruit and…I have yet to see
you
tell her you’ve supported her decision to
step
down as queen. No one has really given her
any
support on this, and she’s confused by that.
Dori
But I
don’t support her decision. She’s a good
queen.
Hope
Then
tell her so. Or tell her that you support her.
It
doesn’t matter which, just as long as you say
something.
Dori
looks down, nodding in agreement.
Dori
I’ll speak with her when we return.
Dori
looks to Hope, sounding a little jealous when she speaks.
Dori
So,
how much time have you been spending with
Varia?
Hope
shrugs, not hearing the jealousy in Dori’s voice.
Hope
I don’t know. A lot.
They
continue heading back for camp.
INT.
GABRIELLE’S HUT
Sarah
and Lila sit across from one another.
Sarah
The
healer says she can remove the infected
breast.
She says that sometimes that cures the
sickness.
Lila
I’ll speak with her about it.
Sarah
Soon?
Lila
Soon sweetheart.
Sarah
You give me your word on that?
Lila
smiles and touches her daughters face.
Lila
Have I ever lied to you?
Sarah
No. I’m just worried, that’s all. I love you.
Lila
I love you too baby.
Lila
hugs Sarah close, just as Gabrielle enters the hut.