PAGE 1
Panel 1: A wide panel of the sleeping world — the people resting under silver light. The winds swirl softly, carrying fragments of dreams.
Caption (Narration): It began in silence — not the silence of nothingness, but the silence right before laughter.
Panel 2: Close-up of sleeping faces — peaceful, unaware. Their dreams shimmer faintly, shaped like floating rivers and dancing mountains.
Caption: The people slept. Their minds rested in darkness, their bodies breathing, their hearts still bound to the waking world.
Panel 3: A swirl of color — the Curious Dream stirs within the dreamscape, pulsing with faint golden light.
Caption: But one dream — the Curious Dream — began to tremble with questions.
Curious Dream (thinking): Why does the world stay still when it could move?
Panel 4: The winds twist around the glowing dream, their voices visible like streaks of air.
Winds (whispering): Wake.
Panel 5: The Moon bends low, her reflection touching the dream's surface.
Moon: Show me what you are.
PAGE 2
Panel 1: The dream cracks open — light and shadow spill out. MANTIS emerges, small, fragile, half-transparent.
Caption: And the dream shivered, cracked open — and Mantis stepped out.
Panel 2: Close-up of Mantis's eyes: glowing green and gold, filled with wild curiosity.
Caption: His body was woven from the wind's breath and the Moon's gleam — eyes bright with wonder and mischief.
Panel 3: Mantis stands for the first time; the ground ripples beneath his feet.
Caption: No one had ever stood between worlds before.
Mantis (whispering): I can feel both — the dream and the waking. I belong to both.
Panel 4: The Sun peers from the horizon, watching with cautious warmth.
Sun (softly): The world is changing again.
PAGE 3
Panel 1: Mantis touches a tree; dreamlight spreads through its branches.
Caption: He touched a tree — and for the first time, the tree dreamed of growing taller.
Panel 2: He steps into a river; the water glows and surges forward.
Caption: He stepped into a river — and the river dreamed of flowing farther.
Panel 3: Mantis grins, feeling alive.
Mantis: Everything speaks. But no one listens. So I will listen — and then, I will speak back.
Panel 4: The winds swirl playfully around him.
Winds (whispering): Little dream, you dance like fire.
Mantis (laughing): Then I will burn brightly — but never go out.
PAGE 4
Kura (thinking): Something's moving… between here and the other place.
T'Laru: The winds shift. Someone new walks the boundary.
Sefu: I felt a laugh in my dream. It woke me.
Panel 1: T'Laru smiles faintly.
T'Laru: Then the world has found its trickster.
Panel 2: Mantis leaps high into the night sky, laughing. His body flashes with dreamlight.
Mantis: I can walk in both directions — into the dream, and out again!
Panel 3: The Moon watches from above, her light soft but firm.
Moon: Walk carefully, little one. The dream is soft — but the waking world has teeth.
Panel 4: Mantis grins up at her.
Mantis: Then I will teach the teeth to smile.
Panel 5: The stars shimmer as if laughing.
Caption: That was the first joke ever told — and the stars flickered like they were laughing.
Panel 6: Dawn begins. Mantis hides beneath a stone, his light dimming.
Mantis (whispering): When the day sleeps again, I will return.
Panel 7: Kura stands by a hill, gazing at the sunrise.
Kura (softly): The world feels… lighter. Like it's smiling.
Panel 8: T'Laru joins him, holding her staff.
T'Laru: A dream has learned to walk. That's not lightness, child — that's awakening.
Panel 9: Sefu stretches his arms, smirking.
Sefu: If the world's awake, then it better be ready for me.
Panel 10: The old woman, sitting by her hut, feels a playful wind pass by. She smiles knowingly.
Gamiwe: So it begins — the world has learned to play.
Panel 1: Final panel — Mantis's eyes glowing beneath the stone, smiling mischievously.
Caption: The First Trickster dreams of walking further still.