S1 E1 "Pilot" (RP)

Hadley opens his mouth to respond to Jemma...
...but Chief Sweeney cuts him off with, "Go take a walk Hadley. Maybe see what Caroline found?"

After Hadley huffs & puffs away, the chief replies to Jemma. "Likewise--take what you need. And I have a forensic guy I can pull in on this for 'stinging'. So you think this is, um, magic? Sorry, I still feel stupid saying that."




The camera cuts to Hadley approaching Caroline. He sticks his hands in his jacket pocket.

"So. You found a trail," he asks her. "Wanna go for a walk?"









--

After collecting the bits of root, Tereza stands back up straight and briefly considers other avenues of investigation. Then she quickly searches the driver's cabin for the switch to open the trunk. Once she's found and hit it, she walks around the car to peek inside it. Maybe she'll be able to find a clue as to what they were doing here in the forest. Which in turn might help in finding out what happened to them.

Deacon looks over as Hadley approaches. There's tracks that go in that direction. Deacon points in the direction that the tracks head off in.

Caroline's pauses for a moment. She doesn't want Hadley thinking she's leading him on a wild goose chase on a trail he could see. Then again it would prove why they were here.'I mean having a strong officer along wouldn't hurt. Deacon you say you've got your own trail? Mines in that direction She points to where Alabaster had indicated. 'Should we double up and do one at a time, or one of us tales the officer here, and the other grabs some else? I could rescue the Chief from Tereza for a while. Or I can handle myself alone if need be'

That's a good idea. We can check both out. Mine looks like it could fall apart and we'll lose it after a few feet. So that may be the easiest and better one to start with, but the choice is up to you. Deacon says as he walks over to Caroline and Hadley.

This is clearly beyond the normal laws of nature as they are commonly understood. Jemma collects the sample of sab. When she hears that they are going to follow a trail. She pops bag into the truck and retrieves a long canvas bag. The cheif eyes the bag but Jemma smiles sweetly. There was a clerical error when I ordered a b(r)oomstick a while back. She pads the bag at settles in on her shoulder. It's like a condom. Rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.

I'll watch your back Caroline ...and butt She adds mentally, as she joins the tracking team.

Caroline eyes the bag as Jemma pulls it out, clearly unimpressed. 'Always happy to have you.' She smiles before leaning in to whisper in the brewers ear. 'You really should let me teach you attack magic at some point... Less burndomesome then that thing...'

She pulls back again. 'Right let's go tracking. If the rest of you hear screams it's one of those two. She points at Deacon and Hadley jokingly. Jemma and I have ourself handled.

Hadley looks back and forth between Deacon and Caroline, following their exchange.

"If your tracks give out, maybe we'd best see where Caroline's go," he says to Deacon with a shrug.

He eyes Jemma's bag with a sinking feeling. But he can't argue with her logic. He goes along with the three witches (Caroline, Jemma, and Deacon).

The group crunches through the snow, past a sign that clearly states "KEEP OUT."



The camera jumps to Tereza, who is now looking in the trunk of the victims' car with Sarah and Chief Sweeney looking on.

The trunk floor is covered by a small tarp. Laying atop the tarp is a bundle of netting and a foldable pocket knife. Looks like tools you'd use to wrap a fresh-cut Christmas tree.

---

Cut to the away party--flashlights bouncing between the trees. It doesn't take long before the trail you're following enters a wide, snow laden clearing.

Near the center of the clearing is an odd sight: a tree stump ends in a jagged mess, about two feet from the ground. Surrounding the stump is a mass of wood chips, pine needles, and ichor, all radiating out in a circle as if the tree this stump once was bursts in a large explosion.

The location makes your skin crawl, hairs stirring. A clear sign of strong magic--a feeling "normal" people would experience as existential dread.

Deacon walks with the others and soon finds himself staring at the odd looking tree. Huh...this looks out of place.

As they set off Caroline's let's off a low whistle. As they walk out the corner of her eye she can see flashes of fur as Alabaster heads along with them, guiding her on the trail he found while staying out of sight.

As they reach the tree she suppresses a shiver as she looks at the scenw. 'Well.. This looks fun..'

"It seems they came to retrieve a Christmas tree," Tereza comments the fairly obvious. She gives the trunk a quick search to make sure there's nothing else of note in here. "This is why at home, we ask the tree if it wants to come. If you don't try to abduct, it has no reason to fight back, you see?"
Noticing that Sweeney seems unsure whether she's serious or not, Tereza adds, "I am joking. My family grow our - their - own trees."

"If true, this means they have been here a long time. Since before Christmas, maybe since early December." She then turns towards the two trails going off into the woods. "I wonder if one of those will lead to the Christmas tree."

Chief Sweeney chuckles at Tereza. "O.K., you had me for a second there." She shuts the trunk after the witch finishes her search.

In response to Tereza asking, 'I wonder if one of those will lead to the Christmas tree,' Sweeny says, "well, let's catch up and find out."



`

---

A transition sees Tereza, Chief Sweeney, and Sarah walking into the clearing on the tail end of Caroline's comment.Chief Sweeney shivers at the scene of the blown tree. "Agreed," she says acknowledging Caroline's quip.

She looks around the clearing, scanning the woods. "I don't know. This used to all be private property, owned by the city. I've heard rumors that trespassing was taken very seriously here. People'd end up in jail if they were caught out here. But that was in, like, the 70s."

Hadley is crouching down by the wreckage of the tree. He's squinting at the much, that looks somewhat like the sap found in the car.

He looks up at Jemma, Caroline, and Deacon. "Does this help you at all? See an exploded tree? I mean, this could be natural, right?"




Sweeney looks at Tereza and makes a face that says--'I dunno'

Tereza takes a bracing breath, then follows the two Sarahs into the forest. She feels a shiver run down her back as she reaches the clearing but she manages not to panic, instead, she quips, "Do not tell the others I predicted there would be Christmas tree. They will think I am diviner." Which she of course is, as little as that was necessary for this prediction.

To Hadley, she says, "I do not believe this is natural. And even if it is, something here is not. You did not feel tingling in your spine?"

As for further steps, Tereza explains, "After we are done searching here, I will go home. I should have ritual I can cast to learn about the roots, maybe see what made them grow. I can do it alone but any of you are welcome to join." She looks at Sweeney. "Ever wanted to be part of something magical?"

Caroline surveys the scene before turning towards Hadley and slowly placing a hand on his shoulder, giving the officer time to move away if he wish. 'Dear , if you can find me a scientific article about a tree exploding, leaving and weird ichor le me know. Bonus if they niclude dead people covered in branches and sap. I know it tales time, but you know where to find us when you get it, yeah[b] he witch pauses a moment before turning to the rest as if nothing happened.

' Anyone who can collect ichor do so. Something happened here we all... well most of us know it. We should figure it out before it happens again By now the rest of the coven will be used to Caroline's attempt at bravado and leadership in had or odd times, her way or convincing others, and mostly herself , that she had control over the situation.

Jemma looks for tree bits from the explosion. The only natural thing that could have caused a tree to explode like this is lightning. Does anyone see any burn marks? If not then: When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. Jemma is proud that she remembers the Sherlock Homes quote.

She collects a few samples, of tree and sap. Its going to be a long night with the cauldron.

Tereza nods her approval at Jemma and, wearing her typical joking smile, comments, "I didn't know you were a Star Trek fan."

The chief gives a look, apprehensive but hopeful.

"Chief, come on. You can't be serious."

"Call this in Hadley; we'll need to involve the medical examiner, but make sure it's Kennedy."

She reprimands him, be teasing in tone. "It can't hurt to see what they do next. Maybe if my predecessor would have been more open..." and she trails off with a shrug.

Scene transition, jump cut to...

The camera catches up to the characters climbing a small staircase, just as Tereza, who is leading the group, stops in front of one apartment door. She takes out a keyring and quickly fiddles it into the lock, opening the door. "Welcome to my home," she says. Sweeney definitely hasn't been here yet, some of the coven might have.

The door leads into a narrow hallway. "Take off shoes," she tells them as she unties her boots and slips out of them as well as takes off her long coat, taking the roots from its pocket. "We are not barbarians here."

She then turns into the apartment and shouts, "Přivedl jsem pár přátel, aby vyvolali zlé síly a provedli temné čarodějnictví. Nechoď do mého pokoje!"

A moment later, an exasperated sounding male voice replies, "You know I have no idea what you're saying."

"I'm home," Tereza shouts again. It's almost certainly not a direct translation of her previous greeting. She turns to her guests. "This is my roommate Nicholas. He is in his room. If you hear sex noises, it is him. Unless it is me but you see it is not me right now. So it would be him."

She then leads everyone to the far end of the bent corridor, past the closed door to her roommate's room, the kitchen as well as a bathroom. She opens the door into a vaguely L-shaped room, small enough to start getting fairly crowded with more than four or five people in there at once. There's a simple bed frame with a mattress that could fit two people behind the bend in the room, along with a small nightstand. Other than that, there is a desk, a bookshelf, a wardrobe and a large trunk but very few decorations. There's a photo frame standing on Tereza's desk and what looks like some sort of royal crest on cloth hanging on the wall above the desk, but other than that, the room is very barebones. It is kept meticulously clean, however. And if Sweeney expected a creepy, darkened witch's den filled with cobwebs and shrunken heads, she is probably disappointed to instead find a very basic apartment of someone who recently moved overseas and did not bring many belongings or any of their own furniture.

"I am planning to cast a ritual that will show us what exactly happened to cause these roots to grow," Tereza explains, already studying her bookshelf. "It will take me some time to find the right one. In the meantime, make yourselves comfortable. There is chocolate in top drawer of my nightstand. Do not open bottom drawer."

She pulls out a leatherbound book from her bookshelf and carries it to her desk. "Feel free to also browse my books if you want to look for something," she offers her fellow witches as she flips the heavy tome open. "Chief, I have a very simple introductory textbook to ritual arts if you want to read. You will need to use google translate function with your camera, though. It is from home."

Chief Sweeney takes the book from Tereza, sits on the corner of the bed and starts flipping through pages. "Yeah, I'll, um, get on it." She clears her throat and squints at the pages.

Then she looks around the room at the others.