The Shadowkeeper **Feature Screenplay**

Scene 48 and 49 Learning to Fly

Sc. 48 EXT - THE GREAT OAK - NIGHT 

A spacious nest in a fork of the giant oak 

RUSTLING 

A boar thuds limply into the nest from above and is followed quickly by the Callie Oiche, Brigid on her back. 

BRIGID: Is there a boat - a ferry or something? 

The owl shrugs one wing open a little, making a bridge from her back to a branch. Brigid climbs up the wing and steps gingerly on to the branch. She clutches at the trunk and tries not to look down. 

CALLIE OICHE: You don't understand - she is a water guardian, she may command any water as she desires. There is no safe way to approach her island but from the air. You must fly, though even that has its perils. 

BRIGID: I can't fly! Remember me falling, before you caught me? I'm not a bird. 

CALLIE OICHE: You are not a warrior but you have come after your brother. You are not a hunter and yet you won an audience with the Lord of the Hunt. 

BRIGID: I don't have wings! 

CALLIE OICHE: Do you have a favorite dress? 

BRIGID: What? 

CALLIE OICHE: Do you have a favorite dress? 

BRIGID: Yes. Why? 

CALLIE OICHE: Close your eyes. 

Brigid frowns into the enormous, white saucers. 

CALLIE OICHE: Trust me. 

Brigid obeys. 

CALLIE OICHE: Can you picture your dress? 

Brigid nods. 

CALLIE OICHE: Can you feel what it is like to wear it? 

Brigid SIGHS and gives in, concentrating for a moment. 

Brigid's form shimmers and suddenly she is wearing a green velvet Shadow-dress. 

CALLIE OICHE: Ah, yes. Green suits you. 

Brigid opens her eyes in surprise and looks down at her new attire. 

BRIGID: How did you do that? 

CALLIE OICHE: I did nothing, you did it and more easily than I expected. 

BRIGID: Really? 

CALLIE OICHE: Can you imagine what it feels like to have the body of a bird? 

Brigid shoots the owl a suspicious glance. 

BRIGID: Will that really work? 

CALLIE OICHE: See for yourself. Close your eyes... 

Brigid closes her eyes again. 

CALLIE OICHE: Picture the bird you want to be. 

BRIGID: What kind of bird should I be? 

CALLIE OICHE: Well, you'll need to be powerful enough to soar high above the clouds, beyond Shadowkeeper's reach. What is the most powerful bird you can think of? 

Brigid nods solemnly and concentrates. 

After a moment, Brigid's face begins to flatten, the area around her eyes begins to whiten and her nose becomes an owls beak. 

CALLIE OICHE: I'm flattered, little one, but it will be dawn soon and my shape does not suit the sunlight. Think of another. 

Brigid nods and continues to concentrate, Her face quickly returns to her own - scrunched up in concentration. Then, gradually, her jaw shrinks, her nose hardens and grows into the powerful beak of an Eagle. 

CALLIE OICHE: Ah. Yes. The King of birds. Excellent choice. 

Her body shimmers and feathers sprout from her face and head and soon replace her dress, covering her body. 

CALLIE OICHE: Feel the power of the muscles in your back and shoulders. 

Her body shimmers again and her back and arms thicken into real wings, her fingers themselves becoming individual feathers. 

CALLIE OICHE: Feel the roughness of the bark as you grip the branch with your talons. 

Her feathered feet curl and her toes merge and lengthen into talons, sharp claws quickly growing from them. 

CALLIE OICHE: That's it... Now let it happen... 

Brigid's feathered face relaxes and she lowers her head and squats down on the branch, letting her wings hang down by her sides. 

Brigid leans her torso tightly over her legs and they merge with her body as tail feathers grow from the base of her spine. Her neck thickens, her face lengthens, her eyes lose their human lids and become round and golden. 

Brigid opens her eyes and blinks at the owl. 

CALLIE OICHE: Well done! Don't try to speak. It will be too confusing, and you may lose your shape. 

The Brigid-sized eagle lifts and lowers her head in an attempt at a nod. 

CALLIE OICHE: Now... can you fly? 

Sc. 49 EXT - SKY OVER NORTHERN FOREST - DAY 

Against a pinking sky, the silhouette of a giant owl climbs steeply over a forest. 

The silhouette drops suddenly, leaving behind a tiny silhouette flapping frantically for a few moments before plummeting. 

The larger bird swoops up to catch the smaller then climbs again. 

The lesson repeats several times. Each time the smaller bird holds its own a little longer. 

At last, the smaller bird leaves the owl's back once more and flies steadily on its own, the larger matching its path, a safety net below. 

As the sun pokes over the horizon, they go their separate ways: the owl back over the forest; the eagle, strong and steady, out to sea.