Stormere Season 1 Episode 8: Two Brothers

STORMERE

Season 1, Episode 8: "Two Brothers"

FADE IN:

EXT. FALCREST – OUTSKIRTS – MORNING

Mist drapes the valley. A young Hunter and Soren sprint through wheat fields, laughter can be heard. Soren’s got an apple in hand, clearly stolen; Hunter’s clutching his stomach from laughing too hard.

YOUNG HUNTER (laughing): You’re gonna get us hanged one day!

YOUNG SOREN (smirking): I have to get caught for that to happen.

They collapse under a tree, breathless. The sun cuts through the mist like a promise. Hunter tosses a pebble, pretending to scold.

YOUNG HUNTER: One day, you’ll have to stop stealing. I know food isn't plenty at home but, we'll figure something out. Stealing isn't the solution.

YOUNG SOREN: One day, you’ll have to stop caring and let me go, you know? But yes... I get what you mean.

They grin. Brothers. Opposites. Unbreakable.

MONTAGE - YEARS PASSING

- Soren climbing the cliffs by the coast, Hunter watching from below, hands ready to catch him.

- Hunter training with wooden swords, Soren mocking his form but secretly impressed.

- The two of them standing beside their father, a blacksmith with tired eyes, forging a blade together.

- The day the soldiers arrive, banners fluttering, conscripting men for the front. Their father hesitates… and goes anyway.

SMASH CUT TO:

EXT. FALCREST – MEMORIAL HILL – TWILIGHT

A line of wooden crosses sways in the wind. Hunter, now older, stands beside one. Soren lingers behind him, holding a bottle.

SOREN: He went to fight in the war and died! He should have stayed with us. But he... (makes air quotes) had to do what's right.

HUNTER: He died protecting people who couldn’t protect themselves. He was a noble man to do that. Don't hold a grudge against him. He didn't deserve that.

SOREN: I also didn't deserve to grow up without a father.

Soren begins to leave. Hunter clenches his jaw. The argument simmers, it’s not new. But this time, something in Hunter’s eyes hardens. Hunter holds Soren's arm.

HUNTER (nervous): I joined the guard.

SOREN (surprised): Of course you did. Someone has to keep the legacy alive, right? What's the worst that can happen? I lose a brother? That's nothing, I guess.

Hunter turns to face him fully, older brother mode, angry, disappointed, desperate.

HUNTER: You can judge me all you want. But at least I’m trying to make sure what happened to us never happens to another family.

SOREN (tearing up and shouting): And I’m trying to make sure I have a family tomorrow.

Soren leaves. Hunter stays back... lingering on those words.

CUT TO:

INT. FALCREST – TAVERN – NIGHT

Years later. The place hums with rowdy voices. Hunter, in a guard’s coat, sits alone, cleaning a knife. Soren barges in, bruised but grinning, a few coins in hand.

SOREN (a bit tipsy): Won a little dice game out back. Drinks on me!

HUNTER: I think it's time you stop drinking. You're wasted already.

SOREN: And what... the hell... you care? Go fight some... stuff.

Hunter’s patience snaps.

HUNTER (shouting): You’re wasting yourself! You could’ve been...

SOREN (shouting): What? You? Fighting the "good" fight just to pretend you care about it all?

The tavern quiets. Everyone senses the argument brewing.

HUNTER (low): All you’ve ever done is run.

SOREN: And all you do is waste your life...

They stare each other down, torn. Soren leaves before it turns uglier.

CUT TO:

INT. OLD BARN – NIGHT

Rain hammers the roof. Hunter bursts in, soaked, furious. Soren’s inside, packing a bag.

HUNTER: You’re leaving again?

SOREN: Yeah. Before you can insult me again and keep taking everyone's side except the one of your own brother.

HUNTER: This isn’t about sides! It’s about doing the right thing!

SOREN (snapping): The “right thing” got our father killed!

The words hit like a blade. Hunter freezes. Soren exhales, regret flickering, but it’s too late.

HUNTER (nervously): You think I don’t know that?

SOREN (with small hints of regret): Then stop trying to be him. You’re not saving anyone, Hunter. You’re just… trying to hold on to him to avoid thinking he's actually gone. And, in the process, you're losing me.

Hunter’s hands shake, from rage, grief, or both. He turns away.

HUNTER: Then go. If that’s what you want.

Soren shoulders his bag, eyes softening.

SOREN: For what it’s worth… I never stopped looking up to you. I just can't see you waste your life like our father did.

He leaves. The door slams. The rain drowns everything else.

CUT TO:

EXT. FALCREST – HILLSIDE – NIGHT

Hunter sits under a tree. The war banners wave in the distance, faint lightning flashing. He pulls out parchment. His hand shakes. The ink bleeds with raindrops.

HUNTER (V.O.) (writing a letter): “Brother. If you find this, it means I failed to say what I should’ve said sooner. You were never my shadow. You were the reason I kept walking forward. You made the world bearable, even when it wasn’t kind and when we lost our father. We’ll always fight this war differently. But I’d fight beside you again without hesitation. If the world burns, I hope we burn together, not apart. Stay alive, Soren. You’ll always be my brother.”

He folds it. Pockets it. Looks up at the storm. Thunder drowns out the sound of him whispering:

HUNTER (tearing up): I’m sorry.

CUT TO PRESENT:

EXT. VERITA – CAMPSITE – NIGHT

The group sleeps. The fire crackles. Hunter sits awake, the same folded letter in his hands, edges weathered, ink faded. He rereads it in silence, eyes heavy with old guilt and quiet love. Lyra stirs, half-awake, watching him.