FADE IN:



EXT. MOUNTAIN RANGE - PRESENT - NIGHT

Grey, bleak, barren. Eddies of snow swirl in the wind. A
full moon casts the rugged terrain in sharp relief. 

Two horsemen ride along a mountain crest. Both riders and
horses bundled against the bitter cold with sheepskins. 

RAGWEED's face is deeply lined with age, but his eyes
sparkle with intelligence and kindness. His young
companion COBWEB has the handsome, chiseled features of a
Renaissance statue and knows it.

COBWEB
This not what one expected, volunteering
to apprentice for the greatest wizard who
ever lived.

RAGWEED
I am not a wizard, only a simple man of
science. And it was not your choice,
Cobweb, but your father's wishes ... and
his command.

COBWEB
Adventure! Fierce battles in defense of
my kingdom. Hard-won victories. Valor to
the conquering heroes.

RAGWEED
Our kingdom has been at peace since long
before your birth.

COBWEB
Travel to wonderful and strange lands.

RAGWEED
We have visited many foreign lands in the
past year.

COBWEB
We have seen much snow and rock, very
little land.

RAGWEED
Beauty is everywhere if one takes time to
appreciate it.

COBWEB
My spirit screams for action.

RAGWEED
Keep your shield ready, then.

COBWEB
What is the purpose of polishing my
shield each night if I never use it?

RAGWEED
So it will shine brightly when the time
arrives.

COBWEB
My heart cries ... no sings out for
romances with beautiful, exotic women.

RAGWEED
You have often said you think only of
young Amber.

COBWEB
But Amber thinks of Cobweb not at all,
though her companion Jade likes me well
enough.

RAGWEED
Does Amber love another?

COBWEB
No, of course not.

RAGWEED
Give it time.

They reach the northern crest of a wide gully. The
opposite side is a sheer, icy face, starkly illuminated
by moonlight. Ragweed takes a telescope and dismounts.

COBWEB
If we had more experience, she might find
me more attractive.

RAGWEED
Experience in love?

COBWEB
Experience in anything. What brings us
here Ragweed? This is the last place on
earth anyone would wish to visit.

Ragweed trains his telescope on a dark crevice.

RAGWEED
If you wished to hide something so nobody
would find it, not even in a thousand
years, where would you put it?

Cobweb twists his lips into a sardonic half-smile.

COBWEB
Let me guess.

RAGWEED
Is your shield polished?

COBWEB
More brightly than any mirror. 

Ragweed hands Cobweb the scope.

RAGWEED
Look at that crevice. What do you see?

Cobweb peers for a long moment and frowns.

COBWEB
Something frozen in the ice. What is it?

RAGWEED
Perhaps our last hope.

Returning the scope, Cobweb leaps from his horse holding
his sword and a hatchet at the ready.

COBWEB
Then let's dig it out!

RAGWEED
Put your sword away and get your shield.
The sun is nearly up.

Puzzled, Cobweb reluctantly retrieves his shield.

RAGWEED (CONT'D)
Hold it facing your body. The curve of
your shield will concentrate the sunlight
and cut through the ice.

The first rays of sunlight peek over the mountains. A
small circle of bright light dances across the face of
the ice, leaving a trail of vapor in its path.

COBWEB
It's working.

RAGWEED
One can achieve much more with science
than with brute force, Cobweb.

COBWEB
What lies buried in the ice, Ragweed?

RAGWEED
My oldest friend and the last hope to
save mankind from corrupted science.

COBWEB
A great warrior?

RAGWEED
A great scholar and student of science
and philosophy.

COBWEB
Just what the world needs, another
schoolteacher.

The intense light makes quick work of the ice, leaving a
gaping hole from which vapor rises and slush flows.

RAGWEED
Careful. You do not wish to burn him.

COBWEB
What brought him to such a terrible end?

RAGWEED
The love of a woman, much like your love
of Amber.

Ragweed peers into the crevice through his telescope. 

COBWEB
Is this what the Fates hold for me?

RAGWEED
Not if you love wisely.

The mist clears, revealing the lean, muscular torso of
CHIRON, his steely grey hair and beard encrusted with
ice, his features literally frozen into a silent scream
of agony. He shivers, convulses then stretches, breaking
out of the thin cocoon of ice which enshrouds him. 

Ragweed watches anxiously, then hands his telescope to
Cobweb who eagerly peers through it.
Chiron stiffly pulls himself out, revealing the lower
body of a dapple grey stallion. Chiron is the last
surviving Centaur, half-man and half-horse. 

Chiron squints in the unaccustomed light, raising an arm
to shield his face from the glint off of Cobweb's shield.
He looks about, disoriented and confused, then drops his
head back and lets out a loud mournful wail.

DISSOLVE TO:



EXT. WOODS - A THOUSAND YEARS EARLIER - MORNING

A female CHEETAH languors in the morning sun. Five cubs
crawl over one another, jockeying for position.

RAGWEED (V.O.)
A thousand years is a long time to wait.

A mountain goat drinks from a stream.

INDIGO (14), raven hair and startling blue eyes, a tomboy
in velvet and ermine, runs through the woods.

RAGWEED (V.O.) (CONT'D)
As the first millennium drew to a close
Christians awaited the second coming
convinced judgment day was upon them.

The Cheetah rises and ambles off, her cubs left behind.

Indigo peeks at the goat from behind a tree.

The Cheetah climbs a rocky outcrop.

RAGWEED (V.O.) (CONT'D)
The sleek cheetah roamed Europe and the
new world, not yet discovered by Leif
Ericson or Christopher Columbus.

Indigo begins climbing a rocky hill.

A young, beardless Chiron tables an arrow and takes aim.

The Cheetah bounds out of the woods toward the goat.

RAGWEED (V.O.) (CONT'D)
The cheetahs are long gone, as are many
other fabulous creatures. 

Watching the goat run toward the trees with the Cheetah
in pursuit, Chiron returns his arrow to its quiver.

Indigo finds the cubs playing in the Cheetah's den.

INDIGO
How cute. Which one of you wants to come
home with me? No, I can't take all of
you. Only one. Who is the cutest?

With a furtive look around her, she selects one of the
cubs and begins climbing back down. 

The Cheetah drags the goat through the brush. 

Indigo reaches the foot of the hill, the cub a bundle of
energy. A quick inspection, then Indigo kisses its nose.

INDIGO (CONT'D)
I bet you'd like some warm milk.

Clutching the cub to her, Indigo looks up to see the
mother Cheetah a hundred yards away. She freezes.

INDIGO (CONT'D)
Is that your mother?

The Cheetah releases the goat, SNARLING. 

Frightened, clutching the cub more tightly, Indigo slowly
reaches down and picks up a stout branch. 

The Cheetah circles, GROWLING. 

Indigo holds the branch defensively, backing slowly away. 

The Cheetah charges, zero to fifty in two seconds flat. 

Terrified, Indigo raises the branch, just as Chiron
gallops in and snatches her out of the Cheetah's path. 

Chiron gallops away, holding Indigo, holding the cub. 

The Cheetah, scrambles to reverses course.

INDIGO (CONT'D)
Can you outrun a cheetah?

CHIRON
Don't know. Never tried. 

The Cheetah gains steadily on them.

INDIGO
You'll have to run faster than this.

CHIRON
Not faster, only further.

The Cheetah, beauty and grace in motion, closes at
seventy miles per hour, her long legs covering twenty
four feet with each bound.

INDIGO
Faster. She's catching up.

CHIRON
Just hold on tightly.

The Cheetah is even with Chiron, but slowing. With a
final burst of energy, she leaps, narrowly missing
Chiron's hindquarters, landing in the dust behind him. 

Chiron leaps over the stream. The Cheetah slows to a
walk, her chest heaving.

INDIGO
We did it!

CHIRON
She has speed, but lacks endurance. 

Chiron slows to a trot.

CHIRON (CONT'D)
Why don't you slide around to my back?

Chiron stops and looks back at the Cheetah, glaring at
them. Indigo climbs onto his back, still holding the cub.

INDIGO
You aren't riding a horse. You are the
horse.

Chiron nods in amusement.

CHIRON
And the rider. Where are your parents?

Indigo points. Chiron heads in the opposite direction.

INDIGO
Where are you going?

CHIRON
We'll leave a trail leading away from
your home, in case she decides to follow.

INDIGO
I suppose you'll tell me I have to return
the kitten.

CHIRON
No, you'll need to take care of her now.
The mother may not take her back. 

Indigo plays with the cub thoughtfully.

INDIGO
Will you take care of me ... if my mother
doesn't take me back?

CHIRON
Your mother will be thrilled to see you
return safely.

INDIGO
Maybe, if she ever stops being angry.

Elsewhere in the wood, dozens of PEASANTS fan out,
searching for Indigo, under the watchful eye of an
aristocrat, Indigo's FATHER, and his ESTATE MANAGER. 

Chiron and Indigo watch the search from a hillock.

CHIRON
Now we must part company.

INDIGO
Won't you come with me?

CHIRON
Hop down. Your father's looking for you.

Indigo reluctantly slides off Chiron's back. 

She steels herself to face her father, then turns for a
final farewell to Chiron, but he's disappeared. 

Indigo races down the hillside, clutching the cub.

INDIGO
Father, father! You won't believe what
happened. I was chased by a cheetah, but
saved by a man who's half horse.

Indigo proudly displays the cub to her Father, who shakes
his head and lifts her onto his horse.

FATHER
Child, the stories you tell. 

The peasants regroup, abandoning the search.

INDIGO
But, it's true. Every word.

FATHER
(to Estate Manager)
Pay them generously for their efforts.
Let them feast tonight to celebrate my
daughter's safe return ... once again.
(to Indigo)
Come, Indigo, your mother's worried.

Scratching the cub's ears, Indigo looks back to where
Chiron had stood and finds him standing among the trees
watching her departure. She smiles to herself.

DISSOLVE TO:



EXT. WOODS - SEVERAL YEARS LATER

Chiron canters along the stream with INDIGO, now a
stunningly beautiful young woman, riding him like a
horse, her arms wrapped around his human chest. The
Cheetah cub, now fully grown, runs alongside.

INDIGO
Faster!

CHIRON
I don't want you to fall.

INDIGO
(teasingly)
I'll buy a horse.

CHIRON
A horse would not be half as much fun.

INDIGO
Nor half so slow.

CHIRON
Hold on tightly.

Chiron leaps over a tree lying fallen across the stream.

INDIGO
Let's go back and do that again.

CHIRON
On the way back.

INDIGO
I'm definitely buying a horse.

CHIRON
We're nearly there.



EXT. WATERFALL - AFTERNOON

They reach a pool fed by a small waterfall. 

Chiron plunges through the falls, into a cavern beyond. 

Indigo slides off Chiron's back and wraps her arms around
his waist. Chiron lifts her and kisses her passionately. 

Indigo breaks away and stands beneath the falls, slipping
out of her gown, allowing the cool water to splash over
her body, teasing Chiron. 

The Cheetah wanders off, exploring, hunting for a snack.

As she wrings the water from her hair, Chiron's powerful
arms reach through the falls, drawing her to an embrace.

CHIRON
Do you love me?

INDIGO
Like no other.

Veiled by the waterfall, Chiron kisses Indigo's breasts. 

The Cheetah probes a thicket, her curiosity aroused. 

Indigo's head tilts back, the water flowing through her
hair as she moans in ecstacy. 

The bushes rattle with SHRIEKS of anger and pain. 

Hearing the anguished cries, Indigo breaks away. 

Silence, then a blood-curdling feline cry. 

Chiron, annoyed steps through the water and places his
hands on Indigo's shoulder. 

The Cheetah's severed tail lands at their feet.

Indigo raises her hand to her mouth in alarm as Chiron
snaps his head toward the brush. He reaches to Indigo.

CHIRON
Climb on my back. Quickly. 

Chiron tears through the woods at full gallop, a naked
Indigo clinging to his waist.

INDIGO
What was that?

CHIRON
A creature extinct these past five
centuries.