Niro’s Story 1
I am going to write a story about the Minka, a race of warrior women. it will be about a warrior, her husband, and their daughter. Lira Yu, Niro Yu and Kara Yu.
The Minka are a race of people that live in a vast jungle. they have an appearance of Anthro cats. they are a matriarchal society, ruled by queens. They are at war not for conquest, but sport. the 5 tribes have a normal war season, where villages send warriors to fight. Their weapon of choice are whips. they also use close quarters combat with their claws
The Minka are matriarchal. basically a role reversal of the typical gender roles. The Minka have a feline aspect. their weapon of choice are whips. they live in a jungle. They go to war amongst themselves not for conquest or dominion, but for sport. they have a war season that last about 2 years, then a 5 year peace season, and once again another 2 year war.
how the conduct their war seasons : basically warriors leave their villages and towns into the dense jungle. they form war bands, a group of about 12 warriors and 2 support, a medic and a gofer. the warbands basically wander in the jungle. when they encounter a warband of another tribe, they fight. they fight ends when one warband flees, surrenders or is eliminated. the support are off limits, they are not to be harmed. if they are, the fighting stops for the day. the medics provide medical service to everyone, not just their tribe, but their tribe has priority. the gofers travel across the battlefield, carrying orders and supplies between their warband and the War chief. the fighting is real. it isn’t a mock performance, they do act with lethal intent. at the end of the war season, all the tribes gather and light up pyres to honor all the fallen. As they travel thru the jungle, they may encounter villages of other tribes. they may raid those villages, pillage their resources and burn it down
The story is crafted for a short animation. A key style property is to de-emphasize the husband, Niro, in the narrative. He is there, caring and supportive, but the narrative frame of reference will not focus on him, rather on the relationship between Lira and Kara. this is done for a narrative payoff at the end when Lira finds out that Niro has died. The narrative starts in the closing days of a peace season. The tribes have gathered to celebrate the coming war season. Lira is a prestigious warrior, having participated throughout many war seasons. Kara bids farewell to her mother. Lara gives Kara her pendant before she heads off to war. the narrative cuts between the experiences of Lira and Kara through the two years of the war season. for Kara, her narrative involves taking care of the family shop while her mother is away, and training, how to fight, use a whip, and her claws in combat, getting ready to join her mother on the next war season. Niro is always present, supporting her. On a few occasions, her village has been attacked, but they have survived, so far. for Lira, her narrative involves the sisterhood with her war band. the fights they win and lose. keeping each other alive. one prominent fight in which her arm is badly injured. She doesn’t lose it, but it is weaker. After two years, the war season comes to an end. Her tribe are the victors this season, they will host the honor pyre, for all the fallen. but first, she marches home. Lira and the rest of her war band returns home. Upon arriving, Kara runs to greet her mother, tears of joy in her eyes. She is surprised about her mother’s injured arm, but she reassures her she is as strong as ever. Lira is eager to greet Niro but is unable to find him. Kira tells her what happened. during a raid at their village, he was killed. Lira is heartbroken. Remembering the last time, they were together two years ago. Kira consoles her mother. in the epilogue, they both finished planting a small plant in a pot, and water it, in honor of Niro,
The first scene takes place during the Eve of War celebrations. It is being hosted by the current victors, in their capital town. The five queens are in the town’s center enjoying the feast. Lira is entreating some young warriors on her past victories. The first shot is an establishing shot of the capital town, then it pans down to show the five queens, with the victorious queen giving a speech. Then it cuts to Lira entertaining some young warriors of the various tribes. She mimes a few strikes from an imaginary whip, she acts how her opponent cowered in terror, then she strikes the air with her claws. everyone around her cheers. the shot pans up toward a full moon sky
The next scene is in Lira’s home, as she arrives late at night. As she enters, Niro greets her with a kiss. Kira, then 12 years old, greets her, she has been unable to fall asleep until her mother arrives. then she falls asleep in her mother’s arms. The first shot fades into a similar shot of the prior moon lit sky, but the moon has moved a bit, indicating that time. The next shot is from inside the house, low to the ground. The door opens and we can see Lira from the waist down enter the house. same thing when she is greeted by Niro, all that can be seen is from his waist down. the kiss happens of screen. Kira runs to Lira, she kneels, as such her head is inside the frame, as well as Kira. Niro remains standing, with everything above his waist being off screen. Kira and Lira hugged, they talked a bit, but Kira was drowsy. she falls asleep in her mother’s arms. she lifts Kira up, going off screen.
The next scene is on the village’s outskirts, the various villagers are gathered outside are giving their farewell to their warriors as they are ready to depart. Lira’s family being one of them. Before she departs, Lira gives her pendant to Kira. The warriors then leave the village together. Kira waves at her mom goodbye as she disappears into the jungle. the first shot is an establishing shot of the village outskirts, showing a lot of movement and noise from the villagers. the next shot is of Lira and her family heading towards the edge of the village.. the next shot from the back of Lira, she stops, takes a big breath and turns around. the next shot is of Lira talking to Kara, Niro is slightly off frame. Lira takes her pendant off and hands it to Kara. there is a first close up of Lira’s hands with the pendant, then back to the shot with Kara showing her happiness in receiving her mothers pendant, then another closeup of kara taking the pendant from lira’s hands. The next shot focuses on Kara looking at the pendant, examining it, and then putting it on. Lira and Niro are in the background, out of focus. the have a moment and share a kiss. the next shot fades into an establishing shot from the village toward the jungle outside. the next shot is of Lira waving goodbye, with various warriors in the background doing the same, the jungle is at their backs. the next shot is of Kara waving goodbye, tears in her eyes, Niro is also waving goodbye but the frame is cutting him off. the next shot is from the jungle, looking toward the village, at the back of the warriors waving, the warriors start to turn and head into the jungle, including Lira. the last shot is of wide shot from the village toward the jungle, high up. the villagers are waving goodbye as the warriors fade into the jungle.
The next scene is Lira forming her warband in the jungle. The first shot is of the establishment of her war band, as the most experienced, she leads the group, a total of 12 warriors, including herself, plus one medic and two runners. this last two are support, not warriors, and wear distinct clothing, different from the rest. yet, they all have something that is purple, and armband, headband, ribbons on their tail. something in purple, the color that represents their tribe. Lira herself has a purple sash. the scene cuts between various gestures of bonding, like handshakes, arm wrestling, bumping on each others arms, laughing together. then it flashes to a scene with Kara in the village
The next scene is Kara taking over her mother’s shop. a customer asked for an item, but she didn’t know where it was. her father then points to it. He is nearly off frame. the next shot of them working in the backroom, taking inventory of their stocks. Niro’s face and body are obscured from the things he is carrying, somewhere in the background.
The next shot flashes back with Lira and her war band. it is at the end of a fight. her opponents are fleeing, her war band are victorious. they raise their arms and cheer. the screen then flashes quickly to the next shot. a more somber tone. her war band are huddled together, over one of their warriors, in her last moments. the medic is checking on the warrior, the runner is nearby. Lira kneels next to her dying warrior; they share one last strong handshake before she passes. the screen flashes with her war band walking thru the jungle, 11 left.
the scene then flashes back to Kara. she is practicing, along with young girls from her village. they are overseen by an older veteran warrior, her body displaying scars across her face and arms. Niro is blurred on the background, observing her daughter alongside other fathers. they are practicing with their whips. precisely hitting cups at a distance. the next shot fades to later in the day. this time they are practicing a jab forward. the girls, including Kara, they yell right before the thrust forward, then they reset their pose and repeat the action. the next shot starts with nothing in focus. Niro is in the shot but blurred, after the girls yell in unison. Kara’s paw enters the frame, slightly out of focus, then it goes back out. the girls yell again, Kara paw once again enters the frame, this time in focus. Palm is facing forwards, fingers curled into hooks. near the end of her reach, her sharp claws deploy. right before she pulls her paw back to her side, her claws retract. this action repeats once more
the next shot flashes. it is at night. the village is being raided. huts are being set on fire. Kara and Niro are escaping the raiders. the veteran warrior is fending them off. other villagers are also escaping. including a boy, slightly younger than Kara, and a fur color similar to that of Niro’s. the next shot flashes, it is daybreak, the raid was successfully repealed. it fades into the next shot. the figures of Kara, Niro, the boy, and other villagers silhouetted against the morning sun. having survived the raid. then it fades to an establishing shot of the village, partly burnt down but still there.
The next shot flashes back to Lira. Her warband is celebrating another hard earned victory. the next scene fades in, her war band walking thru the jungle, only 7 left. then they get ambushed. the runner gets injured, and the medic moves quickly to assist. Lira’s War band fight the opposing war band. whips clashing to keep their distance. eventually the leader of the opposing war band closes in to Lira, and they start fighting close quarters. The opposing leader then performs the same strike Kara was practicing. Lira nearly dodge it, but it hit her left arm. a close up of the hit, as the opponents class drag blood from Lira’s arm. She is unable to move her left arm now. they keep fighting. At last, seeing an opportunity, Lira performs the same strike on her opponent. hitting her belly. her opponent falls, soon, she will be lifeless. Lira then turns to assist her war band. the screen then fades into a night sky, with a full moon.
The next shot holds on the full moon for a while. then suddenly, fireworks shoot up and explode. they are all of the same color. the camera then pans down. a battle between Lira’s war band and another. When the screen is again illuminated by the flash of the exploding fireworks, everyone stops fighting. another round of fireworks fly off and explode, again all colored purple. this color is present on everyone’s of Lira’s war band, but absent on the opposing war band. Lira and her war band cheer in victory, while their opponents kneel in defeat. after two years, it is the end of the war season, Lira’s tribe are the victors. Lira herself has her left arm bandaged up. the medic is not presents. she fell some time ago. the screen fades to white.
One more detail. Since the war season is over, the other war band are no longer opponents. Lira’s warband reaches toward their kneeling opponents and help them stand up. They pat their backs and congratulate them for a well fought war season. A show if good sportsmanship. The next shot is a medium shot of Lira standing in front of a still kneeling opponent. Lira extended her arm to her. Hesitating a bit, her opponent grabs her paw and lifts herself back on her feet. Then they share a strong handshake. A closeup of the strong handshake before fading to white
One last detail. The fireworks keep going. They screech as they fly up in the air, the wash in purple whatever is in the shot when they explode. This keeps repeating in regular intervals until the medium shot of Lira and the kneeling opponent. When the screen washes in purple one last time is when Lira reaches out.
The next scene slowly fades in. A wide shot of the village. It is different from before, having portions rebuild from the raids it has endured. The villagers are outside the village edge, towards the jungle. The next shot is from the village edge. Kara steps into the frame. She is older, two years older from the beginning of the story. She has a wide smile on her face. She holds her mother’s pendant that is on her neck. Filled with hope she steps out of the shot. Someone that looks like Niro follows her. In and out of the shot, with his face off frame. The next shot is right at the village edge. Kara is pacing up and down. The a horn sounds, she turns towards the horn. The next shot is of the lookout blowing the horn, indicating that she can see their returning warriors. The next shot is of Kara exited. Again reaching towards her mother’s pendant. The next shot is of nothing at first, but some time later, warriors start crossing the frame, from the neck to their waist. The next shit is from the front of the warriors, moving toward the village. Showing their full bodies. Scarred and worn from two years of war. Some are carried by medics. The next shot is from the side of Kara. The figure that looks like Niro is standing behind, cut off by the frame. As villagers recognize their warrior, their mothers and daughter and wives, they start dashing forward. Some in the background, others in the foreground, as Kara keeps searching. Then a close up of Kara’s eyes, scanning across the field in front of her. The she notices something. The next shot is back from her side. She is surprised and happy and she starts dashing forward. The figure that looks like Niro follows her a bit later
the next shots follows Kara as she weaves thru the reunited families. from behind her, then from her side, behind her again, then in front of her. her expression changes to one overjoyed with happiness. the next shot is from her side, following her as she runs forwards. she then jumps, arms reaching forward. Lira enters the frame as Kara crashes into her, knocking her back to the ground. a shot of Kara face, from Lira’s perspective looking down at her, happy to see her mother again. the pendant on her neck reflecting the sunlight. The next shot is from Kara’s perspective, looking up at Lira. Lira is glad to see her daughter grown up, the sun shining on her back. the next shot is from the side Lira and Kara embracing each other. the shot holds on them for a while. tears of happiness flow from their eyes. when their embraces ends, Kara notices her mothers weak left arm, with deep scars. Lira assures her that it is no big deal, and rubs the top of Kara’s head, both laughing afterwards. The person that looks like Niro enters the frame, just his legs are visible. Lira gets ready to stand up and greet her husband the next shot is from behind the person that looks like Niro, from above his shoulders, behind his head. Lira stands up coming in from the bottom of the frame. initially happy, but once her eyes level in front of her, her expression changes to one of shock the next shot is from behind Lira. Showing the face of the person. it is not Niro, it is the boy, grown up. Kara enters the frame. She is a bit shy, trying to introduce her betrothed. But Lira is not listening, she is looking around for Niro. the next shot if from Liras eyes looking around the next shot is from her perspective, looking around into the town the next shot is a medium shot of Lira, growing desperate, unable to find Niro. Kara enters the frame, she approaches her mother, with a hint of sadness. Lira turns around and grabs her daughter. “Were is your father?”
the next shot if from behind Lira, looking at Kara. Kara is starting to well up with sadness as she starts to recount what happened. the screen flashes to a night shot from the of the village, a hut starts to burn, the horn starts to sound. it is another raid. the next shot is from inside their home. Niro wakes up Kara, his face still off screen. he then goes to another room and wakes up the boy. all three head outside. the next shot is from outside their home. huts in the distance are burning. the three enter the shot. The camera starts following them as they head out of the village. They join more villagers. fights between the raiders and the village guard can be seen in the background. more flames start engulfing the village the next shot if from the front, as the three keep running forward. then a group of raiders ambush them. they get thrown to the ground. one of the raiders snares Kara’s leg with her whip. the same for the boy. Niro grabs a knife and cuts the whips, freeing them. Niro yells at them to keep moving. the next shot is of Niro’s arm being caught in a whip. the next shot is a Kara turning around, the boy is close to her. both wanting to help Niro. the next shot is from behind Niro, showing his full body. his arm caught by a raiders whip, two more are in frame, fire is around them. Niro turns around, showing his face for the first time. He yells at Kara and the boy to leave, to survive. A portion of the burning building crumbles between them, separating Kara and the boy from Niro and the raiders. the next shot is of Kara and the boy in shock as the building starts coming down. The boy starts pulling on Kara. reluctantly, she leaves her father behind. the next shot is a close up of Kara as she runs toward safety. tears falling down her cheeks. Then the screen flashes back to Kara finishing the story to Lira. she tells that they found His body the following morning. he took down to raiders. a quick flashback showing three quick shots in succession. the first two are when he took down the two raiders, the third one is of the fatal blow he received from a third raider. The next shot is Lira, crying. she falls down to her knees. then a wide shot of the village edge. zooming out. Kara kneels next to her mother and consoles her. then it fades to white.
The next scene fades in. a small tree seedling on a pot. the shot lingers a bit. Then one paw enters the screen, patting the soil around the plant, it is Lyra’s paw. she is humming a tune. since her left arm is permanently disabled, she only uses her right arm. then the shot gently fades to all the previous shots where Niro and Lira were present, but this time he is in frame. The night of the Dawn of War. Lira arrives home and greets Niro with a Kiss, then the next shot is from a bit later when Lira carries Kara to sleep, Niro at their side. The next shot is when Kara first put on her mother’s pendant, but this time, Lira and Niro are in the frame instead, sharing a kiss goodbye. The shot lingers a bit. This was the last time Lira saw Niro. the screen fades back to the plant, with Lira’s hand patting the soil. the tree is bigger, indicating some passage of time. then two more paws enter the frame, patting the soil too. They are Kara’s paws. Kara joins Lira with the melody she is humming. then it fades into the shots of Niro with Kara When Niro pointed at an item in the store. then when they were working in the back room. Then a shot of Niro when Kara was practicing. the sunset orange washes on his face with a gentle smile the scene fades back to the plant, with the soil being patted down by Lira and Kara humming a melody together, the tree is even bigger. Lira’s paw has more scars, Kara’s left paw has a small scar. a third set of paws enter the frame. they are smaller, they are from Kara’s daughter, about five years old. the final shot is looking at Kara and Lira, from the perspective of the plant, finishing with the plant. bittersweet smiles on their faces, they are older now. Lira now has a scar across her face. Kara’s daughter then enters the frame from the bottom. they finish the melody. then they stand up and Kara’s daughter waters the plant a bit. she now carries the pendant. it is shown that Lira has now lost her left arm. the boy, now a man, Kara’s husband walks across the background. the screen fades to white.
Tone and style. The tone would be interesting to balance. The mundane and tender moments, the action of the jungle scenes and raids. With the epilogue being serene and dreamlike. The style may be simplistic, with minimal details, but not less. Secret of Kell’s and Rapunzel the animated series are good examples, but would be using 3d. Two scenes that i have a visual goal, the end of war scene and the epilogue, the end of war, when the rocket bathe the scene in purple, basically everything is purple or black. if possible flat purples and flat blacks. for the epilogue, the present scenes would be soft. maybe the edge of the frame is feathered like a cloud, very painterly. Another option is low poly 3d for style. could also be an Instagram comic There will be dialog two lines i especially what to hear are Niro’s line “Run! Keep each other safe! Live!” and Lira’s line “Where is your father!” The runtime may be around 10 minutes. the length of modern cartoons, like steven universe. but it is not a hard set rule. if the story needs more, then ill use more The main driving creative thought is how to tell someone else story. Being that i was telling the story of Niro. everything was designed while keeping on how does it inform Niro in mind. except for the first scene which is an introduction to the world of war as a sport. specially for the Niro flashback scenes. It will be part of a larger project. Stories that take place in the world of Threa. might not necessarily continue their stories. maybe the any of the queens, some of the other warbands in this season. maybe the raid from the perspective from the raiders. but there is more in Threa than just the Minka
A cultural aspect that isn’t explained, intencionally, is the war sport. They are not fighting for territory, resources, or even evil. It is more like the glory of sport. Being champions, victors. At the beginning, the five queens, along with warriors of the various tribes, were feasting together. And when the war season ended, everyone just stopped fighting, no matter how fierce the battle was, then they were all friends. Like when sports teams shake hands at the end of the match to show sportsmanship.
The war season informs the decisions of everyone. which is why it isn’t explained, everyone understands it. not like narratives in which point out the town that the protagonist lives on. which they should already know. or where there is a character who is an outsider, so that someone can explain it. the war season is a part of everiones life. Kara is training so that she may participate in the next one. the raids are also part of it. Niro’s death, or anyone that died in the war season, is not views as murder, manslaghter, unfair, but like a natural death. like dying of old age, sicknes, hunger. a war season death is natural, but it is still significant. like a family member dying of a sickness. it is still sad. the cylce is 2 years of war, 5 years of peace.
just a bit of the rules:
Warbands are like teams. the different tribes have multiple Warbands. each tribe is defined by a color. purple for Lira’s tribe. Each warband can be made up of any number of warriors and their lead, a runner, and a medic.
the War Chief are basically the coaches, the chess masters.
before sunrise, the runner goes to their War Chief is, and report that status of their warband. then their War Chief will issue orders for that day. then carries it back to their warband. the runner may cross with rival warbands without fear.
the medic should not be attack. if one falls, the fighting of the rest of the day ends.
the warbands basically follow the directions of their War Chief on where to go, thru the runners.
War Chief answer to their Queens