5. A MOUNTAINTOP IN ASGARD - SUNSET

AERIAL SHOT of the side of a steep mountain, cast in dark silhouette against the setting suns. Gradually we begin to discern a figure, climbing the sheer rock face. CUT TO the climber - devoid of his spectacular armor, dressed in plain clothes, it's HEIMDALL. He digs into crevices here and there with his bare hands, and hurls himself upward. His face is a knot of concentration:

HEIMDALL
(panting)
'Climb Baldrshol', she said. 'The view is unmatched', she said. 'It will be easy'-

With great effort, he propels his body forward.

HEIMDALL
(continuing)
- she said.

CLOSE ON Heimdall as he heaves his massive body up over the final ledge of the mountain's top. The shot pulls out to show the spectacular, bruised colors of sunset, the smaller mountains and foothills in the distance - and, several feet away, a woman, dressed in a green jumpsuit and a long green duster coat, sitting cross-legged on a rock. She is facing away from HEIMDALL, looking west, toward the empty city of Valhalla.

AMORA
(amiably)
Took you long enough.

Heimdall looks shocked.

HEIMDALL
What in the name of -
(beat)
How in the Realms did you do that? I was flying up the side of that mountain.

Amora says nothing, but only smirks. She peels back the duster jacket draped over her knees, revealing the lower legs not of a young woman, but of a goat.

HEIMDALL
(accusingly)
Cheater.

She makes a small gesture, and her legs return to normal. Heimdall brushes dirt and bits of rock off his arms and torso, and moves to sit down next to Amora. His expression is irritable:

HEIMDALL
Leave them that way. It suits you.

AMORA
Do not be sour. It was important that I win this one. I needed you to owe me a favor.

Heimdall sits down next to her, and they look out across Asgad in silence. After a moment:

HEIMDALL
Alright, then. What do you want from me?

Amora turns and looks at him directly.

AMORA
(with feeling)
I want you to forgive me.
(beat)
Forgive what I did. Forgive me my stupidity. Let us again be -

Heimdall holds up one hand to stop her; his expression is weary.

HEIMDALL
I did not climb a mountain for this.

He rises and turns to climb back down, but Amora catches his arm.

AMORA
Please do not go. We need not speak of it now, but -

She begins to say something else, then falters.

AMORA
(repeating, resigned)
We need not speak of it now.

HEIMDALL
(quietly)
It will be some time.

Heimdall looks past her, out across the plains.

She musters a smile.

AMORA
Of course. Please, sit with me -

Amora gestures to the flat rock beside her, and Heimdall sits down again.

AMORA
(continuing)
- and tell me what you see.

Heimdall takes a deep breath, and exhales through his nose. His gold eyes become unfocused as he looks out at the now-dark, starry sky. As he begins to speak, he relaxes visibly:

HEIMDALL
A tidal disruption event near Muspelheim. The Fafnir star, being pulled into a million brilliant strands. Or - not strands. More like a whirlpool of snow or ice.
(beat)
A luminous red nova on the far side of Hel. Like a puddle of beautiful fire. Perhaps a few days left before it is too faded to see.
(beat)
And a light echo off of the W-

He hesitates.

HEIMDALL
I - I do not understand what I am seeing. Like some kind of tear - but reflective. I cannot describe it. It is -

Heimdall presses his eyes closed, and when he opens them again he turns to Amora in confusion. He shakes his head:

HEIMDALL
I do not recognize it.

AMORA
(frowning)
Can you show me?

Heimdall nods. Amora closes her eyes - when they open again they are a milky white. Blind, she reaches out for Heimdall, and he takes her small hands in his. As he does, his gaze flickers down to her fingers for just an instant.

Amora mutters something under her breath; her eyes shine gold, like Heimdall's. CLOSE ON her face for a long moment as her eyes begin to flutter, her breath quickens, and she presses her lips into a thin, tense line. She releases Heimdall's hands, and the green color floods her irises once more. She looks up at Heimdall, clearly TERRIFIED:

AMORA
We must hurry back to the Aldrtrad. There is no time.