The Other Side of Hell - Chapter 3
INT: FAITH'S HOUSE, ROME-NIGHT
(Faith comes home to find Shen Ji sitting on a chair, sharpening his weapon, waiting for her.)
FAITH
(goes over to give him a kiss. He stops her.)
SHEN JI
"Duncan MacLeod is not the man you said he was."
FAITH
"He took everything from me! He killed me! I have a right to vengeance."
SHEN JI
"If you wish, yes, you can challenge him. But you can not outfight him, and I will not fight him for you again."
FAITH
(walking away from him, speaking to herself) "He must die. He must."
SHEN JI
(joining her) "Or is it you who wants to die?"
FAITH
"I already have." (mellows out, tries to be charming.) "You're right, Shen Ji. It's my battle, not yours. We'll speak no more of it."
(Shen Ji stares into her eyes, finally believes she's sincere. He nods and sits back down; she sits behind him, starts rubbing his back. He closes his eyes, relaxes into it. She flips something on a ring she's wearing, stabs him in the back of the neck)
SHEN JI
(drugged and disbelieving, starting to slump) "Faith?"
FAITH
"You gotta have it, baby." (She picks up his sword and takes his head) "And you don't."
(The Quickening strikes, and she revels in it. Afterwards, she leans back, thoroughly satiated, then goes to another room to find a phone.)
"Karn? We'll have to go to Plan B. Oh, yes, Duncan will come to me. Then we'll get Connor. I'll start tomorrow morning." (She leans back, flushed and relaxed, yet ready to go at it again.)
INT: FAITH'S FASHION DESIGN HOUSE, ROME-DAY
(obligatory shots of half-naked fashion models in the enormous dressing room. A glassed-in office is high up on one wall. Faith stands there, dressed all in black, waiting. On the wall far across from her, the word "FAITH" in huge letters.)
DUNCAN appears, looking mighty fine. She watches him cross the floor and head up the stairs. She goes to open the door.
DUNCAN
(at the door, carefully keeping his distance) "I got your note."
FAITH
(turns to him, her eyes bright with tears, looking helpless and sad) "Oh, Duncan ... I know I've been ... angry with you, but this morning, I didn't know who else I could turn to..."
DUNCAN
(always the gallant knight, concerned in spite of himself) "What's wrong?"
FAITH
(the grieving widow) "Shen Ji. He's dead."
DUNCAN
(not quite sure what to do with this.) "I'm sorry."
FAITH
(turning away, going into the room, inviting Duncan to follow) "It was the Game. Always the Game. So many challenges. So many fights. He always won. Until ...
DUNCAN
(comes into the office) "Do you know who?"
FAITH
(shrugs helplessly, prettily) "Does it matter? They were just playing the Game." (sinks gracefully into a chair, looks up at Duncan) "He was such an honorable man; he reminded me of you. And his death makes me realize what I've lost. With him. With you, so many years ago. And in myself. And it's my fault. It's all my fault." (She starts to weep silently.)
DUNCAN
(still cares about her, at least some, goes to sit by her side.)
Transition to ...
INT: DUNCAN'S APARTMENT, ROME-EVENING
(Duncan asleep in bed, gets the BUZZ, wakes up. His hand goes to the handle of his katana, lying on the floor next to his bed. Faith walks into his bedroom, waits by the door. Duncan lets go of the katana, turns to her.
FAITH
"Could you ... hold me? Please? I don't want to be alone."
(Duncan thinks about it, makes room for her on the bed. She lies down beside him, not touching him, and he carefully puts his arm around her, and remembers:
Flashback Transition to ...
Haunting music "She Moved Through the Fair" starts to play, over a montage
/ My love said to me
/ "My mother won't mind
/ And me father won't slight you
/ For your lack of kind."
-1715, Ireland-Maura and Duncan, her dying, them kissing under the tree.
-Ireland-Maura and Duncan happy together, riding across the countryside, sparring with swords, eating, etc.
/ Then she stepped away from me
/ And this she did say,
/ "It will not be long, love
/ Till our wedding day."
Lyrics fade, music continues
-1725, Ireland-Maura and Duncan in a cottage.
DUNCAN
"We have to leave."
MAURA
"But this is my home."
DUNCAN
(shaking his head) "It's been almost ten years. People are starting to notice. To talk."
MAURA
"But my family, my friends-"
DUNCAN
"We have to go."
/ She stepped away from me
/ And she moved through the Fair
/ And fondly I watched her
/ Move here and move there
-shots of them in Paris, the pyramids, in Spain, Rome, Constantinople, changing clothes, changing times. More sword play. Dancing, playing cards. Laughing together.
/ She went her way homeward
/ With one star awake
/ As the swans in the evening
/ Move over the lake.
Wistful scenes of her seeing a mother and a baby, a group of children, an older couple.
/ The people were saying
/ No two e'er were wed
/ But one has a sorrow
/ That never was said
She turns to Duncan and takes his hand, smiles brightly.
Song slowly dies away, and into background music for this scene:
EXT: Country Estate, Italy, 1730-summer Day
(Maura and Duncan sitting in a field of flowers. A large villa is in the background.)
DUNCAN
"Fifteen years we've been together, Maura - the happiest years in my life."
MAURA
"Mine, too."
DUNCAN
"Will you marry me now? Are you ready? Are you sure?"
MAURA
"Yes." (They kiss, ardently, yet sweetly.)
DUNCAN
"I've a gift for you, but I left it in the house."
MAURA
"You can give it to me later - in bed."
DUNCAN
"No. I want to give it you now, with the sunshine on your hair, the flowers around you." (grins) "Then we can go to bed. Wait for me."
MAURA
"Always." (Duncan gets up and walks off toward the villa. Maura starts humming to herself and picking flowers)
INT: Salon in Italian Villa, Italy, 1730-summer Day
(Duncan picks up a small box in a room, slips it into his coat pocket.)
EXT: Country Estate, Italy, 1730-summer Day
(Duncan comes back to see an Immortal duel in progress: Maura fighting for her life against some guy.)
MAURA
(not doing so well, hoping for help.) "Duncan!"
DUNCAN
(he draws his sword, but he's rooted to the spot)
K'IMMIE
(to Duncan) "You cannot interfere!"
MAURA
(disbelieving) "Duncan!" (K'immie slices her, she cries out, Duncan takes two steps forward, has to stop himself again.)
DUNCAN
"You can do this, Maura! Remember what I've taught you!" (to the K'immie, coldly) "If she lets you live, I won't."
MAURA
(realizing she's on her own, she starts to fight back, fear and desperation giving her strength. She's not that bad. The guy makes a mistake, she runs him through. He falls to his knees, and she just stands there, her sword in her hand.)
DUNCAN
"Finish it, Maura!"
MAURA
"I can't..."
DUNCAN
"You must! If it's not him, it will be someone else. They won't stop coming, Maura. You know that."
MAURA
(agonizing, trembling) "No ..."
DUNCAN
(urging her on, knowing she has to pass this test of Immortality) "It's how Immortals live."
MAURA
(whacks the guy, takes the Q. Her hands are bloody, and so is her dress. Duncan rushes to her when it's over, starts to take her in his arms. She pushes him away.) "Don't. Don't touch me."
DUNCAN
"Maura ..."
MAURA
(staring at the dead guy, shocked by what she's done. Her hands go to her temples, she's shaking) "He's in there, Duncan, inside of me. I can hear him."
DUNCAN
(trying to soothe her) "Just give it some time, my love. You'll come out the other side."
MAURA
"No. No. You lied!" (softer now) "You lied. This isn't how we live. This is how we die."
DUNCAN
"The first time is always hard. It gets better."
MAURA
(near hysteria) "Better? *Better*? What kind of a man are you, to say this gets 'better'?" (the realization sinking in) "What kind of woman have you made me become?"
DUNCAN
"You're an Immortal, Maura. Just like me."
MAURA
"You mean I'm a murderer, just like you."
DUNCAN
"You're tired, you're frightened. You will feel better tomorrow, I promise you. I know. We'll talk about it then. Tomorrow."
MAURA
"Will the Game be gone tomorrow? Will the killing be over?"
DUNCAN
(No answer for that one.) "Maura ... we can't change the Game. We can only live in moments of time - we live now! - finding what happiness we can." (He takes out the box, opens it to reveal a locket engraved with the word "Forever.") "And you and I can have forever."
MAURA
"How can we have forever, Duncan, when there can be only one?"
Music again, reprise, fading away
Transition to ...
INT: DUNCAN'S APARTMENT, ROME-EVENING
(Maura and Duncan lying quietly in bed. Duncan brushes away a tear on her cheek.)
DUNCAN
"What are you thinking?"
FAITH
"That we don't have forever - forever has us."
DUNCAN
(gives her a sad kind of smile and holds her close, they fall asleep in each other's arms)
INT: THE HALLWAY OUTSIDE DUNCAN'S ROOM-DAY
(Next morning, Faith and Duncan by the elevator. Duncan stops her before she pushes the button.)
DUNCAN
"How did you meet Karn?"
FAITH
"In a convent. He was my Father Confessor."
DUNCAN
"Have you two ever ...?"
FAITH
"I left the nunnery after twenty years, but he's always been a priest, Duncan."
DUNCAN
"A priest who likes to kill."
FAITH
"Priests have always had that duty, to sacrifice things so that they will be acceptable to the gods."
DUNCAN
(snorts in disgust)
FAITH
"Gods live on death, Duncan, and so do we."
DUNCAN
(abandoning that line of talk) "Why are you still with Karn?"
FAITH
"When we met, I knew that he and I were a match made in Hell, both of us demons, dark angels of death."
DUNCAN
(doesn't like what he's hearing.) "And now?"
FAITH
"He's still in hell. But now ... I think I want to find my way out."
BUZZ: the elevator doors open to reveal Connor MacLeod. One look at Faith, and he's ready to kill.
CONNOR
(stalking Faith) "Where's Karn?"
FAITH
(a helpless woman, her back against the wall) "I don't know."
CONNOR
(takes her by the throat.) "Yes, you do."
DUNCAN
(getting mad) "Connor, stop it!"
CONNOR
(completely ignoring Duncan, starting to squeeze. Faith pulls at his hands, starting to gasp) "Where?"
(Duncan yanks Connor off her. Connor shoves him back and pretty much slugs him, and Faith hurries out of Connor's reach.)
DUNCAN
"Damn it, Connor! Leave her alone!"
CONNOR
(giving them both a knowing look) "You didn't, did you?"
FAITH
(to Duncan, with a rueful smile) "I wouldn't trust me, either, if I were him. Or you." (she gets into the elevator, looks at Duncan beseechingly) "But I need help, to find my way."
DUNCAN
(It's not a request he can refuse outright, not from her.) "We can try." (He watches her as the elevator doors close)
CONNOR
(doesn't even wait for the doors to shut) "How can you be so stupid?"
(Duncan glares at him, then stalks back to his room, slamming the door. Connor follows, open the door, and slams it in just the same way.)
CONNOR
(Demanding an answer) "Well?"
DUNCAN
"She deserves a chance."
CONNOR
(sarcastic) "Do you really think she's just going to forgive and forget?"
DUNCAN
"Back off, Connor. You're not my teacher anymore."
CONNOR
"No. If I were, I'd beat some sense into you right now, like I used to do."
Flashback Transition to:
INT: FENCING SALON, RAVENNA, ITALY -1631 -Day
(Duncan and Connor in period dress, fencing away.)
CONNOR
"You're getting better."
DUNCAN
(pleased and surprised) "Really?"
CONNOR
(gets him with the sword.) "No. I was just being polite."
Cute banter, a la the movie. Cut the bit about the rules of the Game; we've already talked about that. Keep the bit about the unstoppable move, with Connor's sword at Duncan's throat.
CONNOR
"Properly executed, this move is unstoppable." (he lets Duncan loose)
DUNCAN
"Properly executed, we'll not be talking about this again."
Transition to:
INT: DUNCAN'S APARTMENT, ROME 2000, Morning
DUNCAN
"This is none of your business, Connor."
CONNOR
"The hell it isn't! She's with Karn."
DUNCAN
"People can change." (Connor snorts in disbelief, and Duncan goes on the attack) "Why are you here, anyway?"
CONNOR
(drawing his sword) "To fight."
(On Duncan's surprise)
CONNOR
"Karn was right; I'm out of practice. And I'd rather start with you, than with him."
INT: FENCING ROOM, ROME, 2000 -Day
(A montage of sparring scenes between Connor and Duncan; they change clothes every so often to indicate the passage of time. Include a nice nekkid-sweaty kata with both Connor and Duncan. In the fighting scenes, at first, Connor loses to Duncan, ends up on the floor, and so forth; eventually he starts fighting faster, better. Add a shot or two of Faith and Duncan looking happy together, Connor watching suspiciously from a distance. End on a shot of Faith looking at Duncan when he's not looking at her, her expression softened, almost tender, a little surprised. Duncan turns to her and smiles, and she smiles back, truly happy.
EXT: a piazza in front of a church, ROME, 2000-Day
(Pigeons flutter about, a banner proclaiming the Jubilee Year hangs from the church.)
INT: the church.
(Faith is waiting, kneeling in a pew, her eyes fixed on the statue of Mary with the Christ Child. Karn comes into the church, kneels in the same pew.)
KARN
(very quiet) "Well?"
FAITH
(distracted, doesn't even look at him.) "Not yet."
KARN
"That's what you said last week. How much longer?"
FAITH
(snippy) "You've waited four hundred fifty years. Wait a few more days."
KARN
"So you can wallow in his bed?" (sniffs disparagingly) "You always were a whore."
FAITH
"You're not my confessor anymore, Karn. And you *don't* have to worry about my immortal soul."
KARN
(Faith starts to rise, Karn grabs her arm) "Oh, but I do. I worry about all souls." (menacing) "Tomorrow. Not one more day."
FAITH
(Shakes him loose from her) "Why the rush, Karn? And why Connor MacLeod?"
KARN
"I am his friend and his clansman. I am the guardian of his soul." (going off the deep edge here) "Five years it has taken, but his day of judgment has come. First, he must suffer and pay for his sins. He must be cleansed with fire and blood. Only then will I take his head, and offer his soul up to God in the Quickening." (looks at her, completely sincere) "He must have that chance to repent, to be truly sorry."
FAITH
"So you will make him sorry he was ever born."
KARN
(a modest and not entirely happy smile) "No sacrifice is too great for his soul's salvation. That is our burden and our holy duty, to make others suffer."
FAITH
"And I must kill Duncan."
KARN
(nodding) "He made you immortal, and so you should be the one to bring him to God. But if you cannot..." (He smiles a little and spreads his hands, an offering of help)
FAITH
(Keeping her gaze locked to his, she nods slowly then leaves, stopping to genuflect on her way out of the pew.)
KARN
(kneels, crosses himself, and stares at the crucifix, quite insane with his certainty of holy purpose.)
INT: DUNCAN'S APARTMENT, ROME, 2000 -Night
(Faith and Duncan are talking)
FAITH
(sitting on the couch) "How many heads have you taken, Duncan?"
DUNCAN
(pause) "Too many."
FAITH
"Do you enjoy it?"
DUNCAN
(sitting down on the couch near her, but not next to her. It's not an easy admission) "Sometimes."
FAITH
(She knows better) "Only sometimes?"
DUNCAN
(an even harder admission) "Sometimes, the pleasure outweighs the pain. But not usually."
FAITH
(resigned to it, yet still bitter) "You're fortunate."
DUNCAN
"How many heads have you taken, Faith?"
FAITH
"Too many. One was too many for me." (gathers her courage) "Do you believe all things can be forgiven, Duncan?"
DUNCAN
"In time. If there's true repentance."
FAITH
(smiling a little) "You sound like a priest." (smiles a bit more) "A Christian one."
DUNCAN
"I've known a few."
FAITH
(looking away, picking at the arm of the couch.) "I've done such ... things, Duncan, hurt so many people. But they're dead now. I can't even ask them to forgive me."
DUNCAN
"Can you forgive yourself?"
FAITH
(looks at him, looks away)
DUNCAN
"Have you tried?"
FAITH
(trying for humor) "They say only God can forgive. Humans can merely accept apologies."
DUNCAN
"So ask God." (Faith opens her mouth to object, but Duncan continues.) "You can change, if you really want to, Faith. Anyone can."
FAITH
"I want to try." (they smile at each other, a little shy, a little hopeful)
DUNCAN
"Faith-"
FAITH
(interrupting) "Call me Maura, Duncan. Please? I want to be Maura again."
DUNCAN
(reaching out to touch her hair) "Maura." (they kiss)
SEX SCENE, as done in the movie, with now-time and past-time (that scene under the willow tree) intermingled.
In the morning, she's getting ready to leave:
FAITH
"Thank you, Duncan, for last night, for these last few weeks. You've helped me find myself again."
DUNCAN
"Have I?"
FAITH
"Didn't you know, Duncan? Confession is good for the soul."
INT: FENCING ROOM, ROME, 2000 -Later that day
(More sparring between Duncan and Connor. This time, Connor scores a point on Duncan, knocking him down.)
DUNCAN
(from the floor) "Looks like you're ready."
CONNOR
"You think so?"
DUNCAN
"No. I was just being-"
CONNOR (joins him on last word.)
"-polite." (they laugh, Connor helps Duncan up from the floor, then gets ready to fight.) "One last time."
(Duncan bows a little, they go for it. This time, it's serious. Connor draws blood, doesn't give any quarter, he's out for the kill. Connor starts maneuvering Duncan into that "unstoppable move.")
DUNCAN
"Connor, what are you doing?" (Connor just keeps going.) "Connor, stop! Stop!"
CONNOR
(finally stops, his blade at Duncan's throat, drawing just the faintest scratch of blood.) "Scared you, eh?" (Duncan glares back, and Connor pushes a little harder, drawing more blood.)
DUNCAN
"Damn you, Connor!"
CONNOR
"If you don't trust me, how can you trust *her*?" (Connor releases Duncan from the hold, starts to leave, his sword in his hand. He pauses at the door.) "That's the final lesson, Duncan, and it's even harder than the first. Trust no one."
DUNCAN
"Not even you?"
CONNOR
"People change."
(They look at each other. Connor leaves.)
EXT: Street, ROME, 2000 -Day
Music of "She moves through the fair" in the background.
(Faith walking slowly, watching children play in a park, a daily, normal life. She's obviously thinking about something.)
CUT TO
Karn watching her from a distance, not happy. He takes out his cell phone and starts to dial.
INT: The Fencing room, ROME, 2000 -Day
Duncan in the midst of a nekkid-sweaty kata. Around his neck he wears a locket of some kind on a thin chain.
Music again, moving him into a memory
/ Then she stepped away from me
/ And this she did say,
/ "It will not be long, love
/ Till our wedding day."
Flashback Transition to:
INT: Salon in Italian Villa, Italy, 1730-Summer Day
MAURA
(walks into the room, clean and beautifully dressed, the locket around her neck, her hair piled high on top of her head, a sword in her hand. She's barely under control. She walks straight to Duncan and hands the weapon to him, then kneels at his feet, bowing her head.)
DUNCAN
"Maura, what are you doing?"
MAURA
(clear-eyed, determined) "You gave me this life. I ask you now to take it."
DUNCAN
(horrified) "I love you."
MAURA
"Then do this for me."
DUNCAN
"I can't!"
MAURA
"It's how Immortals live."
DUNCAN
(hurling the weapon away) "No!"
MAURA
(standing up) "You should kill me now, Duncan."
DUNCAN
"Maura, I know 'tis hard. You killed a man yesterday, it's not an easy thing to live with, and I know you hated the Quickening, but-"
MAURA
"Hated it?" (starts stalking him, hungrily) "Oh, no, Duncan. I didn't hate it. I *enjoyed* it." (licks her lips) "And I want it again."
DUNCAN
(repulsed) "Maura ..."
MAURA
(puts her hands to her temples, shakes her head, then looks up at him, sweet and loving again. And afraid.) "I can still hear him, Duncan."
DUNCAN
(instantly concerned) "He'll go away. Sometimes it takes a day or two, but you'll be yourself again."
MAURA
"And who will that be?" (mixes sweetness and ice) "He's not the only one who hungers, Duncan. So do I."
DUNCAN
(out of his league here, but wanting to try) "I can help you..."
MAURA
(seeing into her own personal hell) "No. It can only get worse. More death, more quickenings, more hunger, more hate. That's what I will be, Duncan, unless you kill me now."
DUNCAN
"You can't know that."
MAURA
"Oh, but I can." (picks up the sword and offers it to him.) "By the love you bear for me, Duncan MacLeod, kill me now. I beg this of you."
DUNCAN
(backing away) "I cannot."
MAURA
(going from pleading to contempt for his weakness and hate at what he's condemned her to) (She takes off the locket and drops it on the floor, then sheathes the sword.) "Someday, Duncan MacLeod, you will wish you had taken my head." (Goes to the door, stops to look back at him) "Or maybe, you will wish I had taken yours." (smiles at him, not at all a nice smile)
MUSIC comes in again:
/ And she smiled as she passed me
/ With her goods and her gear
/ And that was the last
/ That I saw of my dear.
INT: FENCING ROOM, ROME, 2000-Day
(Duncan finishes the kata, sinks to the floor. He snaps the chain of the necklace and clutches the locket in his hand, his fingers opening slowly to show us the word "Forever." FINAL VERSE of the music, with a shot of Faith coming to his bedroom right after Shen Ji died.
/ I dreamed it last night
/ That my true love came in
/ So softly she entered
/ Her feet made no din
Scene of Maura waiting for him in the field of flowers, 1730.
/ She came close beside me
/ And this she did say
/ "It will not be long, love
/ Till our wedding day."
Scene of Faith smiling at him, in his bed from last night.
(Back in the Fencing room: Duncan's fingers close again, hiding the word.)
INT: FAITH'S FASHION STUDIO- Rome, that evening.
(Faith is at her desk, talking on the telephone. The large dressing room below is empty and dark.)
FAITH
"Duncan? I thought we might go for a walk, under the moonlight. One hour, near the Roman ruins at Liaso?" (pause) "Yes. Me, too." (pause) "Duncan? ... I love you." (she listens, smiles, hangs up the phone)
Camera pulls back to reveal Liam Karn, sitting in the corner of the room.
KARN
"Nicely played." (stands up.) "See you there?"
FAITH
"Yes."
(Karn leaves, Faith waits for him to get out of the building, then reaches for the phone again.)
"Plan C."
(into the phone) "Connor? Faith." (pause) "Shut up and listen. We don't have time to exchange such pleasantries now. Duncan's gone to challenge Karn. He said he thought he had a better chance at winning than you did, and he owed you. The Roman ruins, outside Liaso, one hour. Oh, and Connor? Karn doesn't play by the rules."
(she picks up a sword and then a gun.)
"But then, neither do I."
(Heads out the door)
EXT: The street outside the fashion studio -night
(Faith is walking quickly to her car. She stops: all four tires have been slashed. She gets the buzz, looks up to see Karn, smiling at her.)
KARN
"Plan D, my dear."
Another Buzz, and then a SILENCED GUNSHOT
(Faith pitches forward, shot from behind. An Immortal, Tomas Santiago y Alamonte, the guy from the dungeon/torture chamber of long ago, emerges from the shadows, a gun in his hand.)
KARN
(Greeting him) "A good shot, as always, Tomas."
EXT: The Roman Ruins near Liaso-night
(the ruins of a Roman arena, where gladiators used to fight and Christians used to get slaughtered. Duncan is waiting in the center, standing in the moonlight. He gets the buzz.)
DUNCAN
"Faith?"
KARN
(appearing on the top of one of the walls) "Haven't you heard? Faith is dead." (makes a grand sweeping gesture at the ruined walls.) "A sad commentary on the modern world. People used to go to their deaths for their faith, in arenas just like this one." (He draws his sword, jumps down.) "People still do."
DUNCAN
(draws his sword, hesitates as he gets the buzz again.)
(TOMAS appears along the top of the other side wall, his sword in his hand. He leaps down to the sandy clear place of the arena, and goes into a fighting stance.)
DUNCAN
"Who are you?"
KARN
"An old friend of mine."
TOMAS
"I am Tomas Santiago y Alamonte, Grand Inquisitor of the Sagrada Hermandad."
KARN
"Weren't you expecting the Spanish Inquisition, Duncan?"
DUNCAN
(prepares to fight them both. He fights well, but it's not easy. He finds a spot where he's temporarily safe, maybe on top of a broken column.)
Yet another BUZZ, and this time it's Connor on top of the wall, carrying his sword.
CONNOR
(Connor and Duncan exchange nods and grim smiles, but Duncan is cut and bleeding, and obviously tired.) "I'm glad you called."
DUNCAN
(heartfelt) "I'm glad you came."
CONNOR
"For you?" (gives his famous heh-heh-heh) "Anything." (He joins the men in the arena, faces off with Karn.)
KARN
"Ave, Connor MacLeod." (Does a salute with his sword, Roman gladiator style) "Necaturus te salutat. But your Latin is no doubt as rusty as your swordwork, so I'll translate for you: I, who am about to kill, salute you!"
CONNOR
"The original suits you better. You're about to die."
The two pairs of men go at it, lovely display of swordplay, until ...
Duncan is in the midst of fighting Tomas, when his katana gets trapped somehow, and then broken in two. Duncan barely manages to get away, but his back is up against a wall, no weapons or sticks to grab, and Tomas is coming after him.
CONNOR
"Duncan!" (shouting across the arena as he throws his katana to Duncan)
DUNCAN
(turns, scrambles on top of a wall to get the sword and give himself a bit of a breather. Then Duncan suddenly realizes that now Connor is defenseless.)
CONNOR
(winks at Duncan) "Use it." (Immediately, Karn whacks at Connor, a vicious sword thrust that sends Connor to his knees.
DUNCAN
(helpless and horrified) "Connor!"
CONNOR
(looks up at Duncan and manages to get out the words, even adds a small smile) "Goodbye, Duncan."
Karn takes Connor's head. Duncan immediately leaps down and beheads Tomas, who has been distracted by the beheading.
A double quickening occurs (but no shared spiraling, twisting things), and after it's over, Karn drags himself to his knees next to Connor's body.
KARN
"I've saved your soul, Connor MacLeod." (makes the sign of the cross) "Rest in peace."
DUNCAN
(Dragging himself to his feet after the Quickening) "You won't rest in peace, Karn. I'll hound you to the ends of the earth."
KARN
(rises and faces Duncan) "Even to the gates of hell?"
DUNCAN
(ready to fight, smiling nastily and nodding) "And right on through."
KARN
(salutes with his sword) "For Faith."
DUNCAN
(He attacks, not waiting for Karn to attack him.)
After some impressive swordfighting, Duncan (of course) beheads the bad guy, and yet another quickening happens. When that's over, Duncan finds himself on his knees, with Connor's sword in his hands. Not far away lie Duncan's broken sword pieces and Connor's body.
MONTAGE of Connor's life, with Loreena McKennitt's "Dante's Prayer."
/ When the dark wood fell before me
/ And all the paths were overgrown
Connor and Duncan burning Little Deer's body in 1872, then on Duncan's holy island, a flight of geese overhead
/ When the priests of pride say there is no other way
/ I tilled the sorrows of stone
Connor and Duncan by the graves in the Highlands, 1995.
/ I did not believe because I could not see
/ Though you came to me in the night
Connor and Duncan meeting in 1625, sparring in 1631
/ When the dawn seemed forever lost
/ You showed me your love in the light of the stars
Duncan and Connor laughing, riding horses in 1712, sparring scene from "The Gathering", talking with Tessa, drinking whisky. Try to get shots from 1800s, 1900s, etc.
/ Cast your eyes to the ocean
/ Cast your soul to the sea
/ When the dark night seems endless
/ Please remember me
Connor with his mother in 1555, with Rachel in 1943, with Brenda in 1986, Duncan and Connor watching Richie in 1992, Connor hugging John in Morocco in 1994, Connor laughing with Alex in the bar in 1994.
/ Then the mountain rose before me
/ By the deep well of desire
Connor with Heather in 1542, dunking his head in the water barrel, flinging back his hair.
/ From the fountain of forgiveness
/ Beyond the ice and the fire
Connor and Heather lying on the ground together.
/ Cast your eyes on the ocean
/ Cast your soul to the sea
Connor holding Heather close in 1555, burying her on the hillside in 1587.
/ When the dark night seems endless
/ Please remember me
Connor walking away, down the hillside, alone.
The music fades. The Buzz comes, Duncan doesn't look up. Faith appears in a doorway of the ruined wall, she pauses, then walks out to the scene of the carnage and kneels down on the sand.
FAITH
"He loved you."
DUNCAN
"More than life itself."
FAITH
"I'm sorry."
DUNCAN
(he knows better) "You set me up, and then you called him." (He stands and goes over to her, puts Connor's sword at her neck.) "You've been lying to me all along."
FAITH
(making no move to defend herself or get away) "In the beginning, yes, but not lately, not last night. And not when I told you I loved you." (looks at Connor's body) "I didn't want this to happen. Not anymore."
DUNCAN
"Why should I believe you?"
FAITH
"No reason. Only faith."
DUNCAN
"Do you still want me to kill you, Faith? Is that why?"
FAITH
(doesn't answer)
DUNCAN
(slowly lowers the sword and turns away from her, but not enough so that she can sneak up on him. She stands, starts to speak, disappears into the darkness. Duncan is left surrounded by the dead.)
INT: A church, the next day
(Duncan, kneeling at a pew, staring at the crucifix above the altar. He turns slightly at the Buzz, Methos comes in, sits down near him.)
METHOS
(putting a hand on his shoulder) "I'm sorry."
DUNCAN
"I wasn't worth it."
METHOS
"He thought you were." (waits until Duncan looks at him) "Don't betray that trust, Duncan. Live."
DUNCAN
(angsty moment, nods, gets up from his knees, they walk out together.)
EXT: A hillside, in SCOTLAND (really in Scotland), a few days later.
Duncan stands looking at a headstone, engraved with the names "Connor MacLeod" and "Heather MacLeod," and then the word "Forever."
REPRISE of music from the Connor montage:
/ Though we share this humble path, alone
/ Oh, how fragile is the heart
/ Give these clay feet wings to fly
/ To touch the face of the stars
The tip of Connor's old claymore handle protrudes from the earth, and Duncan jams the hilt of his own broken blade nearby.
/ Breathe life into this feeble heart
/ Lift this mortal veil of fear
/ Take these crumbled hopes, etched with tears
/ We'll rise above these earthly cares
DUNCAN
"I hope you find peace, my friend, on the other side." (He salutes the grave with Connor's katana.) "Goodbye, Connor."
/ Cast your eyes on the ocean
/ Cast your soul to the sea
Duncan heads off down the hill, into the fog and yet another adventure.
/ When the dark night seems endless
Camera goes back to Connor's grave.
/ Please remember me
/ Please remember me
END
Special thanks to:
Special thanks to:
*Bridget, for helping with Connor's dialogue.
*the script-writer who wrote, "I didn't say it was easy." It's a great Methos line.
*Chris, Trilby, and Vi for objecting to Sanctuary. You convinced me.
*Mikal and Selena, for support in this and many other projects.
*Celedon, for Duncan's line: "Connor MacLeod? I've heard of you. The demon who came back from the dead in my grandfather's time."
*Nancy on HIGHLA for pointing out that a mob threatening and yet NOT killing Connor and Heather in 1555 didn't make much sense. That change gave me an unexpected plot twist.
*Nancy again for saying that my character Karn was flat. I've tried to add some depth.
*Livia Cases, for the Latin.
*Kamil, for the paint chips.
*Robin, for the bagels and the late night giggles.
*Bill Cosby, for his line about the lifeguard kicking everybody out of the pool. (It's in his routine about Adam and Eve.)
*Monte Python, for the unexpected Spanish Inquisition
*and to all the HL fans everywhere: many many thanks for sharing my obsession!