FADE IN:
EXT. RANIWAI VALLEY – FOGGY MORNING
A thin veil of FOG drifts slowly between rows of HONAI huts. Raniwai Valley—an isolated indigenous village deep in the Papuan highlands during the colonial era. The soft beat of a TIFA echoes like the heartbeat of the earth.
FOREST EDGE – INSERT
A pair of HEAVY, DULL-BROWN BOOTS step into wet mud.
A sharp CLICK of metal—
a weapon being readied.
EXT. RANIWAI RIVER – MORNING
Clear water reflects the first sunlight.
VILLAGE CHILDREN laugh and dive into the river.
The rush of water flows peacefully.
KARST CLIFF EDGE – INSERT
Shadows of armed men creep silently.
An old brass compass opens.
A crumpled map reveals a red X leading into the valley.
EXT. VALLEY – YOUNG WARRIORS' TRAINING – MORNING
YAWI (15)—quiet, upright—twirls a short spear with clean, disciplined movements.
LERO (14)—agile, goofy—tries to copy him, but spins the wrong way, nearly stabbing a village chicken.
LERO (whispering, soft dialect): Haiishh… you see that? This spear doesn't want to listen to me.
Yawi only glances—cold, but caring.
EXT. FOREST – DAWN
A colonial BINOCULAR LENS surveys the valley from afar.
Foreign hands fix a bayonet onto a rifle.
EXT. GREAT HONAI COURTYARD – MORNING
VILLAGE WOMEN pound tree bark.
The scent of wet wood fills the air.
Elders dry sacred symbols beneath the gentle sun.
EXT. KARST EDGE – DAWN
A group of foreigners extinguish their torches.
Small oil lamps glow—quieter.
They move without sound, carving a path no animal has ever taken.
CUT TO:
EXT. VALLEY – TRAINING FIELD
A bird pecks at a tree trunk.
YAWI'S MOVEMENT STOPS instantly.
YAWI (low, sharp): The east wind… changed.
LERO: Huh? What did you hear?
YAWI: The forest says… someone passed through. But… not an animal trail.
Lero swallows, uneasy.
EXT. KARST EDGE – DAWN
The soldiers COCK THEIR WEAPONS.
CUT TO BLACK.
EXT. GREAT HONAI – MORNING
The MORNING TIFA is struck—heavy, echoing, disharmonious.
Elders exchange looks.
The fog descends too fast.
The east wind blows cold.
An unnatural sign.
EXT. RANIWAI VALLEY – MORNING
COMMANDER DEWA stands firm.
Behind him, children and women are escorted away by GUARD WARRIORS.
A small convoy moves toward the mountains—
destination: the allied village WANO RAUK.
Dewa nods to the elders.
ELDER: They must arrive before the sun rises high.
DEWA (short, firm): We buy time. Until death.
The elder presses a hand to his chest—traditional blessing.
Dewa signals.
The warriors scatter—fast, trained, nearly silent.
Group A runs to the river.
Group B climbs the triple rocks.
Group C holds the gate.
VANDERS—thin mustache, hawk-eyed—kneels, studying wet ground.
He scoops mud, rubs it between his fingers.
VANDERS (calm, broken Indonesian): They split… three paths. Not fleeing. This… is tactics.
SOLDIER 1 (confused, breathing hard): But sir… no small footprints. Where are the children? The women?
Vanders rises slowly, staring at the mist-covered honai.
VANDERS (cold): Silently evacuated. Faster than I expected.
SOLDIER 2: Impossible! We landed barely thirty minutes ago!
VANDERS (flicks mud from hand): The forest helps them. We are strangers. Always late.
He lifts binoculars toward the guarded HONAI GATE.
VANDERS (half whisper): They are delaying us. We enter… ritual war.
Soldier 1 swallows.
The fog parts like a curtain—revealing the HONAI GATE.
SOLDIER 1: Sir… the gate guards. They're… waiting.
VANDERS (thin smile): Yes. That's what makes villages like this dangerous. They don't run. They rearrange the battlefield.
VANDERS (hand signal): Advance. Slowly. Hold formation.
The troops move into the fog.
A DISTORTED TIFA BEAT echoes—war signal, broken.
VANDERS (eyes narrow): Morning tifa… wrong pitch. A warning. Or a trap.
POSITION A – RIVER
Warriors tie THIN RATTAN beneath the water's surface.
A soldier steps—TRAPPED, falls hard.
Short spears fly from behind rocks.
One soldier falls dead.
Another wounded, crawling back.
Then RIFLE FIRE answers.
Gunshots tear through the valley.
Position A collapses.
POSITION B – TRIPLE ROCKS
Group B moves in zig-zags through fog.
Two soldiers trigger flexible branch traps—flung back, weapons lost.
Brief success.
Vanders observes through binoculars.
VANDERS (dark, impressed): Z-sprint. Old mountain warfare. You are no ordinary villagers.
He signals long-range fire.
Position B falls, one by one.
POSITION C – GREAT HONAI GATE
Smoke rises.
Fire crawls along sacred roofs.
Commander DEWA stands firm, short spear in hand.
Behind him—the last warriors of Raniwai.
Vanders emerges from the fog.
Two war leaders.
A crushing silence.
VANDERS: Yield the path. We only want the sacred artifact.
DEWA (upright): That object is not for sale. It is our breath.
VANDERS: Breath doesn't feed the world.
DEWA: Greed never changes.
A pause.
Soldiers shift nervously—traps, bodies, fog embracing the valley.
DEWA (CONT'D): You call us backward. Yet you come to steal. So who truly lives behind?
VANDERS (tightens, chambers rifle): This is destiny.
DEWA: No. It is only… humans forgetting themselves.
A RIFLE SHOT.
Dewa is struck—falls slowly.
His warriors charge before falling one by one.
Last resistance—brutal, unequal.
CLOSE ON – YAWI & LERO (O.S.)
They watch from afar—eyes wide, world collapsing.
The GREAT HONAI ERUPTS IN FLAMES.
CUT TO BLACK.
EXT. BEHIND GREAT KARST ROCK – MORNING
Senior warriors—Yawi's formation—take cover.
Distant gunfire echoes.
Smoke crawls like a giant serpent.
A senior warrior hurls a spear—
a soldier drops.
Another strikes stone—signal to WANO RAUK.
A third triggers a rockslide—two soldiers swept away.
But rifle fire answers.
Warriors fall one by one.
BARA (40s)—massive, wounded shoulder—breathes hard, eyes focused.
BARA (shouting): BUY TIME! DON'T GIVE THEM THE PATH!
Their weapons are no match for colonial rifles.
Footsteps draw closer.
BARA (soft dialect): We're cornered.
Lero trembles.
Yawi nods—jaw locked.
Remaining warriors hold breath, waiting.
SENIOR WARRIOR (whisper): Bara… they're closing in. We can't hold long.
Bara looks at them—then at Yawi.
BARA (ragged): Yawi…Guard this.
He opens a bark pouch—removes a SMALL WRAPPED SCROLL.
Yawi takes it—shock flooding his eyes.
YAWI: Commander Bara…?
BARA (weak): The real sacred scroll…with you. Not because you're strongest…but because… the rest… are gone.
Fear and courage collide in Yawi.
Bara nudges his shoulder.
BARA (gentle, firm): Protect it. Protect yourself. Protect Raniwai.
Yawi and Lero are pulled back.
LAST SENIOR WARRIOR: You two—run! We hold them. You are the last hope!
Yawi turns—Bara collapses.
BARA (final cry): RUN!!!
Gunshots.
Bara disappears into the fog.
EXT. RANIWAI RIVER – DAY
Raging current.
Yawi leads.
YAWI (cold, commanding):We go here. Left current—dangerous. We take right.
Lero slips into the water.
LERO (panic): Yawi—pull me! Pull me!
Yawi yanks him back.
YAWI (threatening): Make another sound—I throw you in.
Lero nods furiously, terrified.
EXT. PAPUA FOREST – DUSK
Darkness falls early under dense canopy.
Yawi studies the ground—creates FALSE TRAILS.
YAWI: Fake tracks. Help me.
Lero sticks branches backward.
YAWI (sighs): That's wild boar tracks, Lero.
LERO (sheepish): Thought… more real is better.
He lifts a RATTAN CHAIN TRAP—clumsy but functional.
LERO: See? If they step here—boom.
Yawi stares.
For the first time—almost smiles.
YAWI (soft): Good. You're smart… when you don't panic.
They set the trap—
CRASH!
The rock falls prematurely.
LERO (whisper): Ah… forgot to tighten it.
YAWI (facepalm): Lero…
Suddenly—TWIGS SNAP.
Soldiers approaching.
YAWI: Move faster. They follow north—but their leader won't be fooled.
EXT. RUINED GREAT HONAI – EARLIER
Vanders receives the scroll from Bara's corpse.
Opens it—too light. Too new.
He freezes.
VANDERS (low, burning): Fake.
He crushes it.
VANDERS (roaring): CHASE THEM! DON'T LET ANY SURVIVE—THEY HAVE THE REAL ONE!
EXT. PAPUA FOREST – FOGGY MORNING
Exhausted, wounded, Yawi and Lero move with discipline.
Yawi kneels, touching damp earth, inhaling deeply.
FLASHBACK – NIGHT BEFORE ATTACK
Commander Dewa faces young warriors.
DEWA (V.O.): Listen well. This forest is harsh… but not hateful. It only hates those who come without respect.
Yawi opens his eyes—cold fire inside.
He rigs a VERTICAL SNAP TRAP with long rattan.
Lero assists.
LERO: Yawi… enough?
YAWI: If they pass—it'll break their mind.
Footsteps.
A soldier steps—
SNAP!
A heavy log slams his chest—dead.
Second soldier panics—falls into Lero's pit.
LERO (shocked): I… built that last night…
YAWI: You're dangerous, Lero.
GUNSHOT!
Lero is hit—shoulder torn.
LERO (crying): Yawiii…!
Yawi panics—first time.
He drags Lero behind a rock.
From the fog—VANDERS emerges with two elite soldiers.
EXT. CLIFF EDGE – DAY
Lero lies bleeding.
LERO (weak smile): Don't leave me…
YAWI: Shut up. I carry you.
LERO: The scroll… important.
YAWI (tears): You're heavier than the scroll.
He lifts Lero—
one hand guards the scroll,
the other holds his friend.
EXT. EAST HONAI CLIFF – SUNSET
Blood-red sky.
They reach the edge—
a DEAD-END CLIFF.
Vanders appears—victory and cold rage.
VANDERS: Nowhere to run. Join your Commander.
Yawi pulls out a SMALL TRAINING TIFA.
LERO (fading): You sure… they hear?
YAWI (prayer whisper): Only choice.
He strikes—
DUG! DUG! DUG!
Echo fades.
VANDERS: No one comes.
Yawi weeps silently.
YAWI (broken): I failed…
Vanders signals to seize the scroll.
SILENCE.
Then—
ANSWERING TIFA BEAT.
Distant. Clear.
Fog parts.
WANO RAUK WARRIORS & SURVIVING RANIWAI EMERGE.
Dozens.
ELITE SOLDIER (panic): Sir—they're everywhere!
An arrow flies— pierces Vanders' gun arm.
A spear kills another soldier.
Chaos.
YAWI: LERO! DOWN!
Arrows rain.
A final arrow—THROUGH VANDERS' CHEST.
He falls.
VANDERS (murmur): Destiny…
EXT. WANO RAUK VALLEY – MORNING
Peace returns.
Yawi kneels before surviving elders.
Lero lies nearby, treated.
Yawi hands over the SACRED SCROLL OF AIR.
The elder touches his forehead.
ELDER: Child…Today you did not run. You became a home for the ancestors.
Yawi weeps—relief, not fear.
ELDER: Raniwai lives…because you guarded our breath.
FADE OUT.