The Return

**"The Return"** is the third episode in the second season of *The Hollow*.

## Overview

Adam and Kai land in a new version of the Hollow and search for Mira in a creepy castle where a gnome's riddle gives them a clue.

## Plot

### Red Cap's Castle

Adam and Kai fall out of a portal in the sky and land in a forest. They spot a castle in the distance. Kai suggests it may be Colrath's Castle, but Adam expresses doubt. Adam yells "Help, please!" but the Weird Guy does not show. Adam is frustrated by unanswered questions, but Kai insists that they focus on finding Mira.

The two go to the castle, and at a closer look, they see that it is not Colrath's Castle. They go inside.

Navigating the dark corridors, Adam reminds Kai to use his fire power for light. Kai ignites his hand, then recoils in fear at the sight of their large shadows on the wall. Hearing noises in the dark, Adam urges Kai to turn his fire back on, and when he does, they see that they are surrounded by cockroaches. Grossed out, they run down a corridor.

Kai accidentally backs into Adam and mildly burns his behind. Adam turns around to chide him, and Kai trips and falls. A vague figure zips around them too fast to be seen. Adam suggests that they keep moving.

Adam and Kai enter a throne room. They hear footsteps skittering around in the dark before the same vague figure zips past them, this time swinging a metallic weapon at them. Adam orders the person to stop, and the voice of an old lady with a thick Scottish accent calls out from the dark. She drops from the chandelier to the floor. Adam lunges at her, but she speeds away. She cackles and taunts them for their slowness.

Adam kicks open a boarded up window letting in bright sunlight. This reveals the figure to be a small gnome wearing a red cap. She raises an arm to shield her eyes from the sunlight. She lunges at Adam swinging her sickle at him and complains that he and Kai are invading her home.

She swings the sickle and Kai and narrowly cuts his finger. Upon seeing a drop of blood, Kai collapses into Adam's arms and gives a theatrical dying speech, after which Adam assures him he is fine. The gnome gags at the sight of blood. She holds out her cap and demands that Kai dab his blood onto it, otherwise she will die. Kai resists at first because of her rudeness, but Adam reminds him that if they are indeed in a game, it could be beneficial to cooperate. Kai concedes and dabs some blood onto the hat.

In exchange, the gnome offers them a riddle to help them find Mira:

*"To find others of your kind, you must leave this world behind. Here's a clue if you wish: look for water without fish."*

Then she disappears without a trace. Adam and Kai continue to roam the castle in search of "water without fish." Kai sees a puddle on the floor and proposes it as the answer. He jumps into the puddle, getting Adam wet. With no other consequence, Kai tries jumping into other puddles continuing to soak Adam. Adam gets annoyed and tells him to stop.

Kai asks why he was invited onto the team if he is annoying. Adam explains that Reeve left the team creating an opening, and Kai was available to fill it. Kai deduces that Adam would prefer Reeve as a teammate over him, but Adam reassures him otherwise.

Kai spots a well, and Adam praises him for solving the riddle. They jump in. Seeing water at the bottom, they take a deep breath before plunging into the fast current. The water flows to an opening. As Adam and Kai fall down the waterfall, Kai's hands are too wet to conjure flames that he would otherwise use for jet propulsion. They land in the sea below, and swim to a nearby log for flotation.

### Parrot Island

Adam and Kai float ashore and sleep on the beach. They awaken in a village surrounded by parrot people. Adam thanks them for saving their lives. The parrot leader assures them that they are safe and will not be sacrificed to Cherufe, "The Great One" who rules the island. The leader explains that they offer Cherufe sacrifices to prevent him from destroying their tribe, and that one of their kind will be sacrificed instead. Adam and Kai worry that it might be Mira.

The ground shakes, and the volcano begins to smoke. The parrot people cry out in alarm, "Cherufe is coming! Cherufe is coming!" They run to the beach where someone concealed by a wooden parrot mask is bound to a stake. Adam runs forward and removes the mask expecting to see Mira, but instead it is Skeet. The parrot people stop Adam from freeing Skeet because it will anger Cherufe.

An enormous lava monster breaks out from the volcano and roars. The parrot people run in fear. Adam tries to untie Skeet while Kai distracts Cherufe. Adam successfully rips open the rope. He, Skeet, and Kai runs away down the beach as Cherufe pursues them.

Skeet speed runs around the beach to discover that they are on an island. Adam and Skeet dodge Cherufe's attacks while Kai procures a boat. Skeet rows the boat out into the sea, then Adam swims up to it. Cherufe walks after them, but the seawater turns him to stone. The parrot people wonder why they never thought of that before.

### Out at Sea

Skeet helps Adam into the boat and hands him a paddle insisting that he is too tired to row. Kai lands in the boat and claims that he cannot row either because his hands need to cool down. Adam begrudgingly rows the boat by himself.

The three boys discuss what they last remember and what think is happening to them now. They continue rowing across the sea past sundown. Skeet talks about his friendship history with Mira.

### New Players

Adam notices that the boat continues to move with the current even though he has stopped paddling. The current pulls them towards clouds that glow red with explosive noises. Adam tries to row against the current, but it is too strong. A nuclear power plant emerges from the fog, revealing a group of cooling pumps sucking in seawater, pulling them in.

As they drift closer, an airship flies overhead shooting a laser weapon at the base. Three new players run across the deck avoiding the beams. Adam points out that a third team is conventionally against the rules of the game.

The three new players display their powers, one teleports within a short range to confuse the airship's aim, another conjures an electric bolt to zap the airship, and the third stuns the ship with a supersonic shriek. The airship retreats into the clouds, and the team celebrates a false victory. The airship returns from behind and resumes shooting killing the player with the supersonic shriek power. She disintegrates.

The Weird Guy appears and approaches the two remaining players. Adam, Kai, and Skeet call to him from the boat, but they are too far away to be heard.

The Weird Guy informs the two remaining unnamed players that they have lost the game, and they disintegrate. Once they are gone, he vanishes with the snap of a finger.

Adam lets the reactor pumps suck the boat in, and he jumps up onto the deck just in time. He picks up the satchel left behind by the unnamed players and rifles through it finding a vial of medicine and the map. The map resets to blank at his touch.

Skeet suggests that they can return to the real world by dying intentionally in the game, but Kai and Adam are less confident.

The airship begins shooting at them. Adam and Kai run away, but Skeet stands ready to be shot to test his theory. Adam pulls him aside to save him. He insists that they do not give up before finding Mira and figuring out what is happening.

The airship lands on the deck, and a troop of armed soldiers exits it. Skeet yells for their attention, and they begin shooting at him. Adam pulls him aside again. They run, and the soldiers run after them. They come to a dead end. Surrounded by crates, they have nowhere to run.

A crate door opens revealing Mira standing sideways yelling for them to come inside. The soldiers march around the corner and fire their weapons.

## Characters

In order of appearance:

* Adam and Kai
* Red Cap
* Parrot people
* Skeet
* Cherufe
* Unnamed Team
* The Weird Guy
* Soldiers
* Mira

## Cast

* Ashleigh Ball as Mira
* Connor Parnall as Kai
* Adrian Petriw as Adam
* Mark Hildreth as The Weird Guy
* Jesse Moss as Skeet

Additional voices by:

* Paul Dobson as Parrot Leader
* Ellen Kennedy as Red Cap

## Notable Quotes

Read the full transcript here.

* *"My shrub is way harder than yours."* – Kai
* *"Wow. If competitive rock kicking is a thing here, you could be a, you know, rock star."* – Kai
* *"Force of habit. I see bats, I call for a weird guy."* – Kai
* *"I'm trying, you weasel-headed plum nugget!"* – Red Cap
* *"Oh, I mean please hurry, you bloviating fleshbag!"* – Red Cap
* *"To find others of your kind, you must leave this world behind. Here's a clue if you wish: look for water without fish."* – Red Cap

## See Also

 **Season 2** | "Home" • "Hollow Games" • "**The Return**" • "Puzzled" • "Alchemy" • "Dead End" • "Unbalanced" • "Fang" • "Fire" • "Race"