Rising Action #2 (Tāwhiri Speaks)

Kō yells into the wind.

Kō: If you intend to kill me you’d better do it now! I will not be as merciful to you!

Kō is facing away from the camera and throws fire magic into the cloud in front of her, ineffectually.

The camera zooms slowly outward, and there’s a sound like a chortle, or just “hmm.” The tornado is center screen, and we can now see it’s held like a marionette by a vague hand-shaped cloud. Eyes open in the cloud bank behind the scene (in other words, camera in foreground, tornado and Kō are mid ground, eyes and cloud bank are background).

The eyes open low on the screen, and move to reveal that there’s a face that was looking down. The face looks up at the tornado, and cocks its head, as if curious. The face fills the screen and Kō is barely visible at this zoom level. The gaze of the face wanders away for a moment, and a tiny fireball can be seen hitting the cheek of the face, which makes the face snap back to attention.

Tāwhiri: Hah! There you are. Saved your bug, I see. What a curious, selfish creature you are…

Kō: Wha… who’s selfish? I stand to avenge my family and my home! I alone stand against your destruction, while you lay siege to the world! You are the selfish one!

Tāwhiri: Small minded, and impetuous. You use your mouth to curse me for ending your life, while using your hands to end the lives of the creatures you devour and leave in your self-righteous wake, hypocrite. Don’t you have any compassion? Don’t you believe in love?

Kō: …er, of course I believe in love! I love my family, I love my Aroha… what difference does it make to you? What does that have to do with anything?

Tāwhiri: Love has everything to do with it, foolish girl. It was from the fountain of love that I sprang, along with my brothers. It is they—and you as well—who do not value love.

Kō: I don’t understand…

Tāwhiri: Of course you don’t, mortal. What would you know of great love? With your petty infatuations, and short lives, you children of Tiki could not possibly fathom the infinite depths of true love. Pathetic!

Kō: What true love? What are you talking about?

Tāwhiri: So great was my father’s love that he filled the entire world with tears when my heartless brother Tāne pushed him away from my mother. The primordial embrace of infinite cosmic love torn apart… and for what? Light? Comfort? The likes of you and your kind?

Kō: I…

Tāwhiri: I grow tired of your sniveling! Just as you would crush every child of Tangaroa—every eel, every manta, every fish—to nourish your love, Aroha, so would I end you in the name of love!

Tāwhirimātea’s mouth opens wide, it’s black inside except for a massive lightning storm. Cloud hands look as though they are trying to scoop the tornado, and Kō into the mouth.

The camera pans into the mouth, close enough to clearly make out Kō struggling to hold Kimo in one hand, and the hut in the other. Kimo begins to glow, then envelopes both she and Kō in a bright light. The glowing ball flashes, forcing Tāwhiri to flinch away.