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Production #V910 - Episode 10 |
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WRITTEN
BY
DIRECTED BY PRODUCED
BY |
SCREENGRABS ARTWORK EPISODE
TITLE GRAPHIC |
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FADE IN:
EXT. TOWN - EVENING
Night is drawing swiftly down over the town of Lemonas, but to its residents, the coming of the dark holds far less disquiet than the predicament in which they now find themselves. Months of drought have been finally broken by a massive storm whose lightning, touched to the tinder-dry straw of thatched roofs, has sparked an inferno.
Men, women, and even children rush about with buckets of water and rakes in a frantic attempt to put out the fire before it destroys their town and everything in it, including the large stable and the massive grain storage tanks standing to the east.
Xena and Gabrielle, drawn on by the smoke and screams, have pitched in to help. Xena stands with a stable hand helping to get the panicked horses from their burning quarters, while across town, Gabrielle stands atop the roof of the village inn, wetting it down to prevent the fire’s spread.
From her position on the roof, Gabrielle can see a young woman running back and forth, pulling at her hair and screaming. She can’t make out the words, but she knows the woman is in trouble.
GABRIELLE Hold this!
GABRIELLE (cont’d) What is it? What’s wrong?
WOMAN My baby! Oh, please… my baby!!
Gabrielle looks around, but doesn’t see any young children in the area.
GABRIELLE Where is she?
WOMAN I... our house… caught fire and I… I only put her down for a minute! She must have gone back inside, and I... I can’t…. Please! Help me! My baby!!
Turning toward the stable, Gabrielle scans the area for Xena. She finally spots her manhandling two rearing horses threatening to stampede through the town. She turns back to the distraught woman.
GABRIELLE All right, I’ll help you get your daughter. Come and show me where she is.
The woman turns and runs toward the western edge of the town, Gabrielle close at her heels.
CUT TO:
EXT. HOUSE - LATE EVENING
The small hut’s roof is almost entirely engulfed in flames. Looking in through the small, unshuttered window, Gabrielle can see fire licking up from the floor and walls. She can also hear quite distinctly, the cry of a small child despite the roar of the flames and the wailing of the woman. Gritting her teeth, Gabrielle turns toward the woman.
GABRIELLE (cont’d) Your shawl.
WOMAN My what?
GABRIELLE Your shawl. I need it.
With slow, uncomprehending movements, the woman unwraps her shawl from her narrow shoulders and hands it over.
GABRIELLE (cont’d) Thanks!
Reaching out, she snags a water pail from a passing man and dunks the shawl in it until it is sodden. Then removing it from the water, she drapes it over her head and gives the woman a grim smile.
GABRIELLE (cont’d) Wish me luck.
With a last look toward the stables and Xena, she rushes into the house, heedless of the danger surrounding her.
CUT TO:
INT. HOUSE - LATE EVENING
Shawl draped over her head and shoulders, Gabrielle enters the house at a run. The heat is overpowering, and the smoke causes her to choke and bring one corner of the thick wrap over her mouth and nose. Listening carefully, she pinpoints the sound of the child’s choking cry and heads off in that direction, holding one hand out in front of her to navigate through the thick smoke. A lit ember lands on her forearm and she swats it off with a small cry of pain. Still, she continues on.
In a tiny room in the southern corner of the hut, she finds the child; it is a young girl of no more than three. Pulling the shawl from her face, she gives the girl her brightest smile.
GABRIELLE (cont’d) Hi there, sweetheart. I need you to come with me, okay? Your mama’s waiting just outside for you.
The girl takes an uncertain step toward the blonde stranger. A pile of burning thatch falls down through the ceiling, and the child screams and runs away, deeper into the small room. She squats down in the corner, choking.
Batting out the flaming straw with her shawl, Gabrielle forges into the room and gathers the sobbing child into her arms. She then makes her way out of the room and toward the door.
Just then, a large roof-beam timber crashes to the ground, blocking their path to the door in a wall of fire. The girl screams again as Gabrielle darts backward, narrowly missing being severely burned. Trying desperately to calm the frantically wriggling child, Gabrielle looks around for another avenue of escape.
She can find none.
Suddenly, the fire hisses as several buckets of water are thrown at it, but it roars up just as quickly, seemingly higher and more ferocious than before. A smile then spreads over her face as a tingle in her gut heralds a war cry more precious to her than any jewel.
A second later, Xena is flying through the flames. Hitting the floor, she tucks, rolls, and springs to her feet.
XENA Couldn’t wait to find some trouble, huh?
GABRIELLE (blithely) Well, you know me. Always on the lookout for adventure.
XENA Mm.
Grabbing the child from Gabrielle’s arms, Xena waits until the flames are temporarily doused by several more pails full of water. With a soft grunt, she tosses the child through the dissipating smoke and into the waiting arms of a soot-coated man standing at what used to be the door.
The rest of the roof chooses that very moment to fall down around them, knocking them both to the floor. Gabrielle lands atop Xena’s back, her body sheltering as much of her partner as it can. The sodden shawl protects her upper back and head from the falling embers, though her legs are hit liberally with bits of flaming straw. When she feels the rain of fire begin to die down, she quickly rolls off of Xena and looks down into her soot-blackened face.
GABRIELLE Are you all right?
XENA (falsely smiling) Just peachy. Help me get that beam off my legs, will ya?
With a soft cry, Gabrielle scrambles to her feet and, flings off her shawl, wrapping it around one end of the smoking beam. Bending her legs, she puts all of her strength into the lift. The beam moves, but not enough to free Xena’s trapped legs.
XENA (cont’d) Wait a minute. Let me help. Ready? One… two… three!
Together, they dredge up the strength needed to move the beam from Xena’s legs. Xena turns onto her back, relieved.
GABRIELLE Hang on a second. Is anything broken? Can you move them?
XENA I’m fine.
To prove it, she rolls to her knees, then stands up. The fire is still blazing all around them despite the great amounts of water being thrown at it.
GABRIELLE What now?
Xena looks up at where the roof had been just moments before. She gives Gabrielle with a wicked grin.
XENA Ready?
GABRIELLE Somehow, I just knew that was going to be your choice.
XENA That’s what I get for being predictable. Hang on!
Singing out her war cry, Xena vaults them both straight up through the hole in the roof, flips, and lands them safely on the ground. She grunts softly as her bruised legs absorb the shock of the landing, and Gabrielle pulls away giving her a stern look.
GABRIELLE Just peachy, hmm?
XENA I’ll live.
GABRIELLE The jury’s still out on that one.
CUT TO:
EXT. CAMPSITE - NIGHT
The fire has been successfully fought with no loss of life. Much to the dismay of the thankful townspeople Xena and Gabrielle chose to camp a short distance away from the village for some much-needed privacy.
Gabrielle, her minor burns tended and wrapped, now concentrates on her partner’s bruises and burns. Tying off the last one on Xena’s upper thigh, just below her leathers, she smiles up at her and pats her thigh. Xena smiles back.
XENA Thanks.
GABRIELLE Any time. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?
XENA Vacation?
GABRIELLE Oh, yeah.
FADE OUT. |
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END OF TEASER |
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