Grimmwoods 30 rough draft

NARRATOR
At the shores, Bill hiked over with the planks of wood. He looked up at the galley.

PECOS BILL
calling out Silver! Jerome!

NARRATOR
The pirate and wielder of the Vorpal Gauntlet looked over the side.

JEROME
Hey, Bill!

LONG JOHN SILVER
Ah, William, my friend! I see that you found a remedy for your...predicament.

PECOS BILL
Yeah, turns out that the king o' this place was rather understandin' of our mission.

NARRATOR
Bill dropped the wood onto the sand.

SFX: Heavy thud

PECOS BILL
Listen, we've heard about some trouble goin' on elsewhere 'round here, so y'all should probably wait a bit longer, 'kay?

JEROME
Might as well. Though, considering I don't want to go on land at this point, I might go stir-crazy.

LONG JOHN SILVER
C'mon, Mr. Cooper. We've got all the songs we have to pass the time!

JEROME
under breath Assassin's Creed: Black Flag, don't fail me now...

PECOS BILL
Suit yourselves!

NARRATOR
Bill nodded before turning and walking back into the jungle.
With the other heroes, they had traveled deeper into the thick undergrowth, led by Tarzan, Jane, Mowgli, and the animals. Mera looked around the forest curiously, looking around with concern.

AARON
What is it, Mera?

MERA
Making sure no animals can get us from the trees.

AARON
Trust me, if anything tries attacking, I'll protect us!

BJORN
More likely set the forest on fire.

AARON
Hey! C'mon, Bjorn! I’d never do that, I’m not that clumsy.

ARTHUR
Let's be realistic, Aaron...

PECOS BILL
calling Everyone.

NARRATOR
Bill trotted as he caught up to the group, following the clearing they made.

JANE
Oh, hello, Mr. Bill.

JACK THE GIANT-SLAYER
So, what's the word?

PECOS BILL
Silver and Jerome are okay with us takin' a bit, but they say we should hurry up. Y'know, since they're stuck on the-

ANANSI
Rafiki-esque voice Ah-ha!

NARRATOR
The group looked around from the voice, which seemed to come from everywhere at once

ANANSI
So, the protagonists have all gathered. Let's see...ah yes, the tortured heroine. The hero running from his past, always a good plot device. The young mage, finding his place in the world! What a plot thread that is! The mermaid who cannot return to the sea! That was an amazing twist!

PECOS BILL
on edge Who's there?

ANANSI
continuing, as if no one interrupted And the young hero who killed a giant! I wonder how that will turn out in this grand tale. The boy who can never grow up and his fairy companion! Of course, this story would not be complete without them! The two kings, returned from the afterlife! Will they repeat their past lives' mistakes and fall into their old fates or not? The warrior mongoose! Seems like an unlikely choice, but is still necessary for the plot to continue! And with them is the great mage, the boy with the power of chaos, and the pirate! Every good story needs powerful magic or pirates, so why not BOTH? This story is looking to be one of the greatest of all time!

NARRATOR
Slowly, a small speck lowered down to eye-level. It wasn't anything spectacular, a simple spider on a thread. It was pitch black, save for some multi-colored markings on its abdomen that resembled a tribal mask. But there was something in everyone's guts that made them think that there was more to this arachnid than met the eye.
Rapunzel stared at this, seeing the tiny spider. Jack cocked his head to one side.

JACK THE GIANT-SLAYER
You mean THIS little speck is the Master of Stories?

AARON
I thought he'd be...bigger if he's an African God.

ARTHUR
Are we really going to question this? Because I can buy pretty much anything at this point.

BJORN
Ditto.

MERA
I heard many things about Anansi. I just thought he'd be much bigger as well.

ARTHUR
WELL, I can't say any of you are how I expected you to be to begin with, so Anansi being... a seemingly normal-in-proportion spider? ...I can get behind it. If he turns giant, however, because of you guys...

RIKKI TIKKI
Indeed, this is Anansi, the trickster god and the master of stories. Though, honestly, I've never officially met him before now. Only while Aesop was meeting with him. So, officially stating, it's a real honor, sir!

ANANSI
chuckle The honor is all mine. Your group is on one of the great stories of this world! I must admit, it's a little much to take in! What will happen on this tale? Will anyone die? If so, how will they? Will it end happily or tragically? Will there be romance? So many questions to be answered, it's all too much for me to absorb! I feel like this is a test I haven't prepared for, but in the best possible way.

BJORN
hushed tone I can't be the only one thinking this spider is intoxicated, right?

ANANSI
laugh Intoxicated by the unending possibilities of it!

NARRATOR
Anansi swung over and landing right on Bjorn's face. Up close, the spider was had eight milky white eyes.

BJORN
thinking He's blind, but how does-

ANANSI
Magic, young king. That is how I see!

NARRATOR
The spider then jumped off, extending a silk thread that caught on the branch.

AARON
Anyone else getting a Rafiki vibe?

ARTHUR
You mean the fact that he's totally nuts?

BJORN
I'd throw in Drosslemeyer from Princess Tutu with that.

PETER PAN
snicker He said 'that'!

RED RIDING HOOD
impatietly Look,we want to know what to do. You seem to know everything, how do we stop La and Gwen?

ANANSI
mock-disapproving tone Ah-ah, it is not the storyteller's place to give the answers to the characters. If that was the case, there would be no need for storytellers.

BJORN
indignantly SERIOUSLY?! You're not telling us anything just for the sake of a STORY?!

ANANSI
suddenly takes serious tone There is more to it than that, reincarnation of Beowulf the Northern King. Follow the thread.

NARRATOR
Anansi gestured upwards as a rather large thread, about as thick as a rope, lowered itself. He hopped onto it and began climbing. Bill looked at it, curiously, grabbed it and gave it a tug. The thread didn't snap. He then shrugged and took a firm hold, climbing up it like one would a rope in gym class.

PECOS BILL
It's sturdy. Come on up.

NARRATOR
Arthur glanced tentatively as he began to climb up, Peter slowly flying after them.

PETER PAN
So...spider man? How EXACTLY does this work then? The whole 'story' thing?

ANANSI
Why simply explain when I can show you?

ARTHUR
Yup, DEFINITELY Rafiki.

NARRATOR
Arthur began climbing up. Bjorn took hold and began climbing as Rikki hopped onto his shoulder. Aaron followed suit, followed by Rapunzel and Red. Aaron began climbing as well, Mulan just behind them. Somehow, Jack was at the top, waiting for them. The incident with him and the giant apparently given him a deceptively strong upper-body.

JACK THE GIANT-SLAYER
whistling to himself

AARON
singing Spider-Man, Spider-Man. Does whatever a spider can...

MULAN
You are not a spider, Aaron.

AARON
Not with that attitude.

NARRATOR
As the group ascended higher, everything seemed to fade away into a bright, blue light. They had arrived in a globe of a rather sticky something that was emitting the glow. They pulled themselves up from the thread and looked around.

ANANSI
Behold, the web of stories! When I retrieved it from the Sky God, it was about the same size as a human palm. After all these years, it has become this--a place concealed by my own magic that contains every story ever told.

NARRATOR
Bill touched one of the threads. The image of something called 'The Death of Superman' flashed through his mind. He withdrew his hand, shaking his head in confusion.

ANANSI
Every single thread is another story. Just like the webbing of my kin, they are all connected.

NARRATOR
Aaron touched one with his hand. He suddenly had the image of a distant land, mostly dominated by desert, save for a lush forest. On a ridge were two men—a king and a wild man.

GILGAMESH
echoing voice Come, Enkidu. With our combined might, the monster Humbaba stands no chance!

AARON
yell of surprise

NARRATOR
Aaron let go of the thread, the image that had been playing out before fading from his mind's eye.

AARON
What the heck was that?

ANANSI
I believe that is what you would call the Epic of Gilgamesh, the tale from the beginning of time.

NARRATOR
Arthur glanced around, before resting his hand on one slowly...
Eyes widening as flashes of his own past life unfolded before his very eyes. Concluding with a blood-soaked battlefield surrounded by the bodies of slain knights. King Artorius was in his ill-fated duel with the treacherous knight, Mordred. He thrust out his enchanted lance, Rhongomyniad, as Mordred hefted up his sword, ready to exchange their final-

ARTHUR
shudder

NARRATOR
Arthur released the thread, not wanting to see more. Seeing how one died was not a pleasant experience. Jack regarded the webbing cautiously, not wanting to touch them. Red looked at the entire web with a curious expression...but then it turned into a look of anger.

RED RIDING HOOD
So...what? We’re just a library for you to enjoy?

ANANSI
Far from it. I observe the stories others take and re-tell them to the best of my knowledge. I know all the turns your lives have taken and recorded each one of them.

NARRATOR
Bill touched another one. He got a glimpse of a much younger version of him, clad in Rebel Grey, fighting John Henry, who was wearing Union Blue. He let it go. He looked at the thread as beads of sweat began rolling down his face. He felt something running across his hat as Anansi lowered himself on a silk thread.

ANANSI
Everything is made beautiful in its own time, William. Not yours or mine.

AARON
clears throat So...what? Are we supposed to look at the yarn ball of wisdom?

NARRATOR
The spider climbed the curve of the massive web ball until he was at the very top, looking down at them all.

ANANSI
You may use the webbings to try and discover clues or patterns for your current problem, but nothing more. The web is not meant to foretell the future, as it is constantly in a state of 'now' and 'then'.

BJORN
Great. Something that seems helpful, but turns out that it only tells us what we already know.

RIKKI TIKKI
Bjorn, this is not something to turn your nose at. This has every story ever told. We could easily discover a pattern in this.

MULAN
Unfortunately, we don't have the luxury of searching every story. We have no idea where to start.

NARRATOR
Mera felt around, her eyes flashing with images of herself going to the sea witch before letting go, as she touched her neck with a wince.

MERA
faint cough

NARRATOR
Arthur turned at the sound, before frowning softly.

ARTHUR
sigh

NARRATOR
He extended a hand to gently squeeze Mera's arm; a feeble attempt of trying to provide some sort of comfort.

ARTHUR
comforting tone It's okay... just... just a bad memory...

SFX: scribbling

MERA
And a terrible mistake...

ARTHUR
We all make mistakes...but...you have us now, right? We're... I don't know what to call it... but we're close-knit. Even Bjorn and Peter, as much as the former hates to admit it.

MULAN
I believe the word you wanted to say was 'comrade'.

ARTHUR
Yeah. “Comrade”.

NARRATOR
Mera looked at him and made a small smile at that. Peter looked around in surprise, however, he dared not touch any of the webs. He wanted so desperately to see what happened to Wendy, John and Michael, but... he couldn't. It would likely upset him too much...
Mulan was cautious as well, panting a bit at the idea of having to relive something she rather not go into. Rikki Tikki had already looked over various threads, getting glimpses of unrelated tales. One was about a spider man, another about a weird, yellow spongy animal, and another about a man named Kane who was connected to a rosebud or something.
Bjorn, meanwhile, touched a thread. He saw his own life flash before his eyes...well, previous life. Being born and raised in a northern country known as Geatland, part of the geographical zone Skandinavien, fighting the monster known as Grendel, fighting the monster's mother, returning to his homeland to fight against the invaders. When his king, Higlac, was slain in battle and he returned, the queen offered him the throne. Though he dearly wanted it, he turned it down and allowed the rightful heir to ascend. Not that it changed much, since the prince would later die in combat, naming him the king. The many decades he ruled, being adored by the people he ruled over, but despairing since he had no heirs for himself. Eventually, the dragon-
Bjorn let it go, covered in a cold sweat.

ARTHUR
Not nice, is it?

BJORN
panting No...it's not.

PECOS BILL
There's gotta be somethin' in this web. A clue, anythin'.

RED RIDING HOOD
Wait...maybe we're not looking close enough. There could be patterns we can't see.

RIKKI TIKKI
All stories are connected!

NARRATOR
Rikki began darting among the threads. He began looking around the webbing. He then took a thread and began following it as he came to two interlocked webs.

RIKKI TIKKI
Guys? I think I found it!

AARON
A connection? Nice!

NARRATOR
Aaron reached over to the connected web, making him yell out as the two combined stories went into his mind.

BJORN
So, what's in it?

AARON
I see La...and where she and Opar are from: she's from Atlantis...well, a separate species but she's from the time.

MERA
Atlantis was my home; my father rules it. So she's related to my people?

AARON
slowly, information slowly being revealed to him Seems like it...all her power comes from this staff the high priestess uses...only people of Oparian blood can use it....

NARRATOR
Jack and Rapunzel slowly turned to look at Mera, who regarded the two with a perplexed expression.

MERA
What?

NARRATOR
Jack got out a magnifying glass and looked at the thread...and noticed something as he looked at the others.

MERA
All the threads have a unique design

PETER PAN
You want Mera to wrestle the staff from her, don't you?

JACK THE GIANT-SLAYER
Or to get it somehow. Likely her blood is the closest we got to female Oparian blood. Honestly...I'm interested in these designs. These things are older than anything I've seen.

NARRATOR
Arthur's hand was clenched tightly around one web, bangs hiding his eyes from vision...which was a good thing too, he noted to himself. It spared the others from having to see the pain in his eyes, as the images of a man on a boat suddenly disappearing into a storm played out before him, replaced seconds later by a young blonde-haired boy staring longingly at a model ship at his bedside, waiting for the man to someday return with a broad grin on his face and an apologetic scratch of his head for being gone for so long.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked over to see Bill. He grabbed onto it. The two said nothing, they understood all that needed to be said.

MULAN
So far, it looks like that's our best option.

AARON
Plus that web you found, Rikki? I think it's the connection to Mera and Tarzan's story. I'm seeing a city sinking. Atlantis...yep, that's the connection.

BJORN
But how does a city that sank fit into the story? Aside from Tarzan and Mera both being connected to it, anyway.

RAPUNZEL
Opar was a city built by Atlantean settlers who moved here...meaning that, for all these years, they're the only Atlanteans who haven't changed to fit under water, instead they changed to fit in the forests.

AARON
Exactly!

NARRATOR
Aaron dropped the thread as he looked at the group. Specifically, Mera.

AARON
Mera, how did the people of Atlantis adapt to the sea?

MERA
Poseidon let my ancestors, the mermaids, take the Atlantean's ruins as their home and helped save the survivors with their magical song; it turned them into merfolk as well. Then as the centuries went on, Atlanteans became merpeople. We can go to and fro from the ocean to the surface for a limited time, as our legs are naturally fins, but we can separate them with will power. My deal...made it permanent.

NARRATOR
Later, the group was climbing down the silk thread. They were quick to realize that it was midday when they entered, but was sunset by the time they were leaving.

BJORN
How...long were we up there?

NARRATOR
Tarzan remained gravely silent as he stared up at the tree that Anansi had led the heroes in, before crossing his arms. Arthur, however, was already climbing down silently. He didn't want to see anymore; bangs hanging over his eyes, covering them in shadows. Tarzan took note of the reincarnated king's behavior and gave a small nod.

TARZAN
grimly Reminds me of my first meeting with the spider...

NARRATOR
Mulan was the last to go down. She gave the spider a bow as she began to climb down.

MULAN
Thank you, Anansi. You have been...a great help.

NARRATOR
As the heroes began getting off the thread, Mowgli was crafting arrows, wrapping them in fur. He saw some of their expressions.

MOWGLI
more to himself They will have to face their past sooner or later. Even if it is in the past, you cannot run away from it.

ANANSI
It is not the running from the trouble that makes the best story, but what they do when the trouble catches up to them.

NARRATOR
Anansi had opened a hole in the web of stories, allowing a similar rope-like thread drop to the forest floor.

MOWGLI
startled Could you not sneak up on me, Anansi?

ARTHUR
I'm not running away from anything, Anansi. I've had to accept the truth for years when it comes to what I saw up there.

ANANSI
serious tone Just because you do not deny it does not mean the wound has healed. Plenty of your number would agree. suddenly cheery Farewell, farewell! I salute you! And for those not going to return, I salute you twice!

JACK THE GIANT-SLAYER
Why does that give me an uncomfortable feeling?

NARRATOR
The spider began crawling back up the webbing, going up to the Web of Stories. Looking up, the group saw a massive orb with a faint, bluish glow. It was massive. If it was farther away, they might have mistaken it for the moon. It began to pulse with light at a rapid rate, shimmering in the low light. Eventually, the web began to fade from sight until it was no more.

BALOO
What an unusual creature...

ALL
Understatement of the millennium.

AARON
I liked him! notices several flat and dry looks all in his direction ...what?