### Act 3, Scene 2: Breaking the Ice

- Backdrop: Cave
- Props: Finlay's lamp (Zefiro)
- Special FX: collapsing icicle, collapsing cave (CJ), Fog (Tigerseye)
- Puppets: Finlay (Lynard), Tarrion (Fairlight, Fin), Sky (Eisfuchs, Xan), Minions (owolf, Zefiro, Pan)
- Setting: Finlay and Sky enter a big cave with a huge icicle hanging from the ceiling
- Music: -
- PreRec: -

##### FINLAY INTRO

"Death. The ultimate fate. For each of us comes the day we must die. It is common knowledge, but still nobody EXPECTS to die. All life long we try to persuade ourselves that we could avoid it if we were just acting clever enough. But still, in the end, it's ashes to ashes, dust to dust. For you, for me, for everyone. Our lives are defined by the fear of death. It is not so much the biological fact of our body ceasing to function that scares us. It is the loss of our egoes, the elemantal ceasing-to-be, that is our greatest fear.

It was a long way to the cave of the back ice, so Sky and me spent most of the time talking. She told me a lot about the shadow creatures and their culture, and I listened closely. I always had considered them nothing but pure evil. But they're not. They have a will of life as strong as ours, and the same ever-present fear of death. That is why shadow creatures must drink our blood. If they don't, they must die. They do not have a choice. Not even Sky. No matter how well we got along, the day would come when she would need the blood of another dreamer like me. It wasn't a matter of good and evil. Sky did not choose to be a vampire. Nor did I choose to be a rat.

I was walking side by side with my natural enemy. A natural enemy who had saved me from certain death, because at this moment, our lives shared a common meaning. And that WAS a matter of good and evil. It was beautiful, almost like magic. I was going to savour it to the last moment, until we would become predator and prey again, which was just as inevitable as death itself.

Lionel, Mika, Lori and Poke MIGHT be able to make it back to the real world, because they know WHY they're trapped here. But I wasn't poisoned with black ice. When I got trapped in the dream world, nobody knew it even existed. I have accepted my fate that I will die in this world. I am no longer afraid. Because it doesn't matter how you die. It matters how you live."

##### MAIN DIALOGUE

Complete Darkness

11 - Black Ice

Sky and Finlay enter in complete darkness, only Sky's eyes can be seen

1001 - Footsteps.

1001 (cont.) - Bump, Crackle

Finlay: "Ah! Ouch!"

Sky: "Be careful, Finlay. The ground is littered with little rocks here!"

Finlay: "Sorry, but I can't see anything. It's all pitch black to me. Are we there yet? I can't wait to finally get everything set up."

Sky: "I'll do my best to be your seeing eye bat."

Finlay: "Yeah, I wish I had built in sonar like you."

Sky: "Well, I guess you can't have everything! Okay. This is the place. It's time to do your magic."

1002 - Finlay Tinkering

Finlay: "It's not magic. It's technology! And excuse me if it's going to take a little longer than usual. I'm not used to setting things up without being able to see my own paws."

Sky: "Just take your time. I know you'll do fine, as always. Don't worry."

1003 - Suspicous Noise

Finlay: "Sky! What was that? I could swear I heard something move!"

Sky: "Finlay, I said don't worry. Tarrion's new hunting party quite obviously hasn't arrived here yet. And the guards at the gate are all still out cold, gagged and tied into handy little packages. Nobody is going to disturb us here."

Finlay: "I don't know. Breaking into this place went much too easily given its importance to Tarrion."

Sky: "Just relax, and complete your work! Everything will be fine."

1004 - Music Cue 1

Tarrion RED EYES ON

Tarrion: "Welcome home, Sky!"

Sky, Finlay: "GASP!"

Sky: "Father!"

Tarrion: "Sky, how many more times are you going to run away from home? You're doing it again and again, always against my explicit orders. But you are getting predictable. I knew you would show up here sooner or later. The power of black ice is very hard to resist, isn't it? But this will have been the last time I let you slip away from me. From now on I'm going to take different measures!"

Sky: "No, Father, let me explain, this is not what it looks like!"

Tarrion: "Aha, so what is it then? Oh, I sense another person in this room. Who are they? Are you pairing with dreamers again?"

1004 (STOP)
1005 - Music Cue 2

Finlay: "You'd better keep your perverted fantasies to yourself, "Lord" Tarrion!"

Finlay switches on the light.

1005 (cont.) - Big Light Switch

Finlay's light on / Ambient light for the cave

Tarrion and Sky are blinded by the light, shielding their eyes with a wing, flinching.

Tarrion: "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!"

Finlay: "I guess I don't have to introduce myself."

Tarrion: "Finlay! By coming here you have shoveled your own grave! HUNTERS!"

1006 - Hunters Appear

Guards come swarming in from everywhere.

Finlay: "Everyone FREEZE! I said FREEZE!"

Finlay turns the lamp to the ground directly in front of Sky, who fearfully flees from the light as far as she can.

Finlay: "One false move, and Lord Tarrion's daughter will be history!"

Sky: "You must do what he says, father! He's completely insane!"

Tarrion: "All right. HUNTERS! You heard what my daughter said! Out! Everyone out again!"

1007 - Hunters Disappear

Guards scramble out again

Tarrion: "So, what now, Finlay? What do you want from me?"

Finlay: "From you? Nothing. The only reason why I came here is to destroy the black ice. But unfortunately, your sneaky little daugther seems to have caught wind of my plans."

Sky: "Uhm … yes! I knew he was up to something, so I camped out at the portal! I followed him all the way here … and I might even have caught him! But then YOU came in, blowing my cover!"

Tarrion: "Don't worry, little one. Outside of these doors, the biggest hunting party in the history of the shadow world is waiting for my commands. Surrender, Finlay. No matter what you're going to do, you will not be able to get out of this cave alive! For I am Lord Tarrion!"

Finlay: "And I'm a madman with a big fucking lamp pointed at your daughter! Muahahah!"

Tarrion: "Alright! Understood. It's a stand-off. Let's try to be reasonable. If we fight, there will be no winners. So maybe we can negotiate."

Finlay: "Make no mistake, I will not leave this place with its black ice intact. But sure, apart from that, everything is negotiable. What do you have on offer, Tarrion?"

Tarrion: "Let my daugther free. In return I will guarantee you safe conduct out of here, and you can destroy all the black ice that you want."

Finlay: "Let me think about that for a moment. Mmmh … No. I would say you are just trying to buy time by involving me in an entirely unnecessary conversation, in order to attack me by surprise, or to lure me into some kind of trap. I think I just lost my interest in negotiations. I have a long range weapon, and you don't. So what would be the smartest thing for me to do? Oh yes! Stop talking and kill you. Yes yes. That sounds good. Farewall, Lord Tarrion!"

1008 - Music Cue 3 (on "yes yes").
1005 (STOP)

Tarrion: "What? Aaaaaaaaaaah!"

Finlay chases Tarrion with his beam of light, Tarrion flees by flying around the room

Tarrion (hysterical): "Finlay! You bastard! I should have killed you right away when I first met you! You bloody bastard! You're going to pay for this! Do you hear me? YOU ARE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS!"

Tarrion grabs a piece of rock

Tarrion: "Rrrraaaah!"

Tarrion throws it at Finlay's lamp

Finlay: "Aaaaaaah!"

1009 - Crash / Tumble

Total darkness

Sky needs to move over to the lamp now

Finlay: "No … I can't see … shit … Sky … help me …. AAAAAAH …khkh…kk…"

Finlays cry gets stifled as obviously Tarrion is strangling him

Tarrion (strained): "If you've ever wondered if you can wake up or not … now comes the moment of truth! Prepare to draw your last breath, Finlay!"

Tarrion hunches over Finlay, pinning him down, biting into his neck.

1010 - Bite

Finlay: "AAHH!"

1011 - Big Light Switch

Finlay's light on / Ambient light on

1011 (cont.) - Music Cue 4

Sky has the lamp in her wings, pointing it at the ceiling.

Sky: "No! I'm not going to allow this! Enough innocent blood has been spilled!"

Tarrion stops biting Finlay

Finlay struggles and whimpers

Tarrion: "Sky! What are you talking about? You don't know what you're doing!"

Sky lowers the beam

Sky (cold): "I know precisely what I'm doing, LORD Tarrion! Let him go!"

Tarrion: "What's up with you? Are you completely out of your mind? And what is it with LORD Tarrion? I'm your goddamn father!"

Sky (cold): "If you care about me just a little bit, then let him go. Now."

Tarrion (fierce): "No! Never!"

Sky (cold): "Then you are no longer my father."

1011 (STOP)
1012 - Woosh

Sky blasts Tarrion to dust with Finlay's lamp.

1012 (cont.) - KABOOM !!!

1012 (cont.) - Music Cue 5

Lord Tarrion goes up in flames

Tarrion (scream of death): "Skyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"

Wait for music to finish!

1012 (cont.) - Eearthquake sound

The cave shakes (wie auch immer), plaster ripples from the ceiling

Sky lets loose the lamp, which then points to the ground

Sky: "Finlay? FINLAY! What's going on here?"

Finlay (faint): "The ice! The heat of the lamp is melting the ice!"

Sky: "I know! But why is suddenly everything crumbling to bits?"

Finlay (faint): "Because the icicle is not the only thing that consists of black ice. The entire cave consits of it, and now that the ice is melting, the whole structure is becoming unstable!"

Sky: "Then we must get our of here as fast as possible! Do you think you can walk?"

Finlay (faint): "No, I don't think so. But even if I could, I must not leave before this source of black ice has been made totally inaccessible. If I left now, everything you've gone through would have been completely in vain, all the pain, all the blood spilled - for nothing!"

Sky: "Finlay, you're scaring me!"

Finlay: "You don't have to be scared. Lord Tarrion is dead, and nobody except you and me will ever know how he died. You are his rightful heir. You are now Lady Sky, ruler of the northern tribe. For you there is no longer a need to escape from this place. You can simply walk out, and your hunters will even hold the doors open for you."

Sky (crying): "But I can't just walk out and leave you here to die!"

Finlay: "But someone has to stay, and operate the lamp, until all the ice is gone."

Sky (crying): "Then I'll stay here with you!"

Finlay stands up shakily

1012 (STOP)
1013 - Music Cue 6 + intensifying earthquake noises

Finlay (sane, determined): "No you won't! For all those years, I refused to take fate into my own hands. That is now going to change. It is my fate to die in this cave. The choice has been made. My life has ended 20 years ago. I have nothing to lose. But you have. And your friends, too. Unlike me they still do have real lives to return to! Lives that are worth living! And they are waiting for you! You must go!"

Earthquakes become more frequent, more stuff falls from the ceiling, clouds of dust

Sky (cries): "No I won't leave you alone like that!"

Finlay: "Oh yes, you will! Go! Go now! Or else I'll burn (you?) my signature into your pelt!"

Finlay grabs the lamp, pointing it at Sky

Sky shrieks

Finlay: "10 … 9 … 8 …"

Sky (cries): "Alright, alright! I'll go! *sob* I'll never forget you, Finlay. *sob* Never! Thank you. Thank you for everything. Farewell!"

Sky leaves, crying

Finlay points his lamp up at the giant icicle

1014 - Woosh

Finlay sits down beside his lamp

Finlay sings while the cave collapses around him

1014 (cont) - Cave collapses

Finlay: "I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts"
Finlay: "there they are standing in a row"
Finlay: "big ones small ones some as big as your head"
Finlay: "give 'em a twist"
Finlay: "a flick of the wrist"
Finlay: "that's wut the show man said"
Finlay: "now that i've got a lovely bunch of coconuts"
Finlay: "everybody knows they'll make me rich"
Finlay: "there stands me wife"
Finlay: "the idle of me life"
Finlay: "singing a rolly bowly ball a penny a pitch"
Finlay: "singing a rolly bowly ball a penny a pitch"
Finlay: "rolly bowly ball"
Finlay: "a rolly bowly ball"
Finlay: "singing rolly bowly ball a penny a pinch"

During the song, the rumbling gets louder, and eventually Finlays voice gets drowned out by the noise.

Light fades during the song, as the cave continues to collapse.

1014 (STOP)
1013 (STOP)
11 (STOP)