Somewhere Within The Earth

CHARACTERS
KASU, the new addition to the clan.
RONAM, the calm, collected leader of the 4 by the fire.
LADIO, muscle of the crowd.
DYSEN, the designated speaker.
OCCIS, the silent, cold, and mysterious.

SETTING
A crew of 4 men sitting around a blue-flamed campfire somewhere in the woods, surrounded by darkness. (The Shaded World)

Kasu walks down the path in the dark woods towards the blue campfire where the 4 other men are waiting.

RONAM
Welcome back, Kasu. We were just talking about you.

LADIO
We want to know where you have been!

RONAM
Calm down, Ladio. You know whose role it is to question.

Ladio grunts and takes a bite out of the roasted lizard on the stick he is holding.

DYSEN
Please sit, Kasu.

Kasu sits near the fire, across from Dysen.

DYSEN
Where did you go to, Kasu?

KASU
I journeyed to the light world. The land called Earth.

Dysen looks towards Ronam, who puffs on his bright red cigar, then back to Kasu.

DYSEN
Why?

KASU
Because I wanted answers.

DYSEN
Have our own people failed to inform you of the light world?

KASU
Surely even you men are skeptical of what the elders perpetuate.

A moment of silence.

DYSEN
How do you feel about Earthen folk, Kasu?

KASU
Well I only met a few, but they welcomed me into their shining world. It's as if they don't even know our world exists underneath. They saw me as one of them.

LADIO
Traitor!

Ladio stood with his axe drawn, his aim directed towards Kasu.

RONAM
Ladio, please! We cannot blindly accuse.

LADIO
He's admitting to negotiating with the enemy.

RONAM
Though surely just to survive from the sun's deadly rays.

DYSEN
Was your intent to survive, Kasu?

KASU
Yes, of course.

Ladio bitterly sat back down, lowered his axe and took and angry bite from his roasted lizard, devouring the head.

DYSEN
Expeditions outside the Shaded are prohibited by the word of the elders. If you want to remain a member of this clan, you first have to tell us what you learned from this "Earth" you illegally travelled to.

KASU
Very well... I learned... that people of Earth do not have clans. At least not like we do. They have something more concrete, called "families". I was taken in by a family, who saw me as poor. I did not understand their language, but they were kind enough to teach me. They even used plants differently. I was overwhelmed.

I learned that the sun's rays do not fill the hearts of men with desire to conquer. They can singe the earth, and the skin of man, but they are necessary for survival of the light world.

I also learned that in the light world, there is no legend or knowledge of us - the Shaded. To them, I was just another human crawling out of a crevasse in the stone walls. They don't question us. They simply deny our significance. And then, I began thinking.

Occis rises slowly, as Kasu is recalling his thoughts, and stands behind Kasu.

KASU
What if the elders aren't just mistaken? What if they are outright lying to us?

Occis reveals the sharpened stone in his right palm, Kasu still unaware.

KASU
We could have reached a new frontier for the Shaded. Perhaps we are limiting ourselves by not exploring past the cracks of mountains. We could have unity and peace among the people of Earth. We are a clan, but there is more than clanship in the light world. There is freedom and togetherness!

Kasu stands, facing Ronam, Ladio, and Dysen.

KASU
My fellow clan members. I trust all of you to hear me on this. The laws the elders enforce do not bind us. We don't have to live this way anymore. We can leave this world and pursue greater things! We can change the way of the Shaded!

Occis strikes the back of Kasu's head with the sharpened stone, plunging it deep into his cranium. He falls face forward onto the blue flame.

LADIO
He got too comfortable. Trusting us with his true thoughts...

RONAM
(sigh) Another bright mind wasted on the desire for revolution.

The four men disband, leaving Kasu's corpse to be consumed by the campfire.