Scene 5.11 - Starfall
EST: EXT. Painter's Pass Temple - Night.
(The men surface.)
DUC
What the?
HUNG
How can it be night?
DING
The sun sure sets fast up here in the mountains.
CHIN
Look, the moon! It’s a new moon. Last night it was nearly full.
DUC
(Crawling out, hugging ground.) Guys, I think I’m going to get sick.
(All quickly leave the pool, HUNG helps DUC out.)
HUNG
What’s wrong? Drink too much?
DUC
No, it’s the stars, they’re falling.
(DUC starts to vomit.)
LONG
The stars look fine to me...
DING
Look, guys, there’s vegetation here.
DUC
The constellations, the stars, they're all in the wrong places.
HUNG
Maybe you’re just light-headed.
DUC
I’m an astronomer! I know! Those two stars there -- see how close they are? It's really three stars -- all moving away from each other. And they all haven’t appeared to be that close for... thousands of years. Plus, that’s Saggitarius, and there’s Capricorn. There’s no Cancer.
DING
What does that mean?
DUC
(The nausea passes as he overcomes time-travel sickness.) That means it’s December, not July.
(Long pause.)
CHIN
What in all that’s holy is going on? Really, I-
LONG
Guys, that’s not all. Look!
ELS: Palace and city lit at night.
HUNG
What the? Hey, the girl was right. There IS a palace there.
DING
Should we go down and look?
DUC
(One last glance upward.) Yeah, let’s get the gear.
CHIN
Hey dudes, my clothes are gone!
LONG
So are mine!
HUNG
Someone stole all our stuff!
DUC
The guns, the ammo, everything! It’s gone!
CHIN
How could anyone do that? We were here the whole time!
HUNG
Well, unless we find some clothes, we had better dry out our boxers before we go down there.
DUC
We got nothing, man, nothing!
DING
Should we start a fire?
LONG
(He shivers.) It’s windier, but it’s warmer. Much warmer. Still, I don’t think a fire would be a bad idea. Who’s the boy scout?
HUNG
Long, you know I know how to set fires. Get some of those dry leaves, Long -- and Duc, you get some twigs. I’ll look for a fire-stick and some thick, dry, bark and the rest of you break some dry branches and then all y’all fashion a big mat with some wet reeds. We’ll get dry before we go down the mountain. No sense in meeting lonely ladies if our secret-weapon gets frostbite.
(Everyone gets moving.)
CHIN
Maybe we should make some pants while we’re at it. What happened to our stuff?
HUNG
Don’t worry. Dry boxers should be enough to get us there. Hopefully the girls down in that palace won’t mind, and out here we’re the only ones for miles and miles.
DUC
Yeah? Then who stole our clothes?
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