Mender:
Hey!
Get your hands off my girlfriend's butt!
A
tropical storm descends on Cutter's camp, and their makeshift shelter collapses
in the middle of the night. Aroree, caught under a large piece of the debris,
has a panic attack, and needs emergency counseling from Clearbrook, plus
a jolt of sedative-magic from Mender, to calm down. Cutter and the Wolfriders
are forced to take refuge in Rayek's Shelter B, crowding everyone tightly
together. "Treestump's big fat feet in my face all night!" Rayek growls,
while Cutter complains about Mender's snoring. "This funny little humming
whine. I wanted to kill him. No, seriously. The wolf in me really wanted
to go for his throat."
In disgust, Krim marches off towards the beach and wraps herself up in her fur. "She's clearly not a team player," Zhantee frets come sunrise. "I'm worried it will cost her when we finally get to tribal council."
Over at the Wild Hunt, the elves pass another night mourning a lost tribemate - most of them, that is. "Ember disappeared just after tribal council," Dewshine reports with a girlish smile. "She said she was going to make a water run. I just feel so bad for her. Wait, turn that camera this way. You're missing my dimple."
Nightfall: I really feel for Ember. She feels the reins of power slipping away. She's probably worried that she's going to get voted off next.By daylight the Wolfriders work together with Rayek and the purebloods to expand upon Shelter B. "We all have to learn to work together," Cutter says stoically, but resentment lingers in their camp, and tension builds. When Cutters yells at Skot for shirking his chores, Skot explodes at the chief, then disappears into the jungle. "We have to eat, don't we? I was out hunting and he's wailing about the shelter. And you know the next time he gets the runs for bad fruit he'll be yelling at me - why didn't I hunt? Why didn't I hunt?"Scouter: Water run my ass. I saw Ember slipping off towards Teir's trailer.
Skywise: Are Teir and Ember shacking up? Yuh-huh! Drukk, she's a red-blooded sixteen-year-old. And you know Mender ain't doing it for her.
Venka: Skot is making all the wrong moves, alienating Cutter like this.On Day 7 the two tribes meet on a large raft for a swimming race. The winning tribe takes home a mystery hamper full of food. Treestump and Skot, the two least skilled swimmers, sit out. The race is one-quarter mile, out to a buoy and back again. The Wolfriders take an early lead, but grow complacent. Krim, especially, slows her stroke to an idle paddle. The Wild Hunt press on, and by the time they circle the buoy, the Wild Hunt is ahead. By the end Aroree and Krim are racing neck-and-neck with Ember and Redlance. Aroree used up her strength early on and falters. Ember and Redlance pull ahead, passing Krim, who is swimming erractically in her panic. Ember and Redlance are out of the water while Krim and Aroree lag behind.Skot: At least I'm not whining like Aroree. If she's not crying because the shelter fell on her in the night she's weeping that Skywise isn't here or sobbing that she's letting the tribe down. The first time we go to tribal council I'm voting her right out.
Aroree: I feel so bad. I make such a fuss when the shelter collapsed. I couldn't help it - the wall landed on me and I just started screaming. I.... *sob sob* I'm sorry. But this isn't at all the way I thought it would be. I'm just so alone.
Skot: Oh, good work, Krim! High Ones, I don't know why Pike and I keep her around.Tensions were rising at the Wolfrider camp as they experienced defeat for the first time. "Cutter took it rather hard," Treestump says. "Holy temper tantrum, Batman!" Skot retorts. "He did everything but stamp his feet and cry for mommy. Wait, no. He did cry for mommy."Ember: Wow! The hamper was full of all these great things. Rabbit and pheasant and gummi bears and Doritos and a whole case of Mountain Dew! We just feasted all day long.
Redlance: Scouter and Dewshine say that Mountain Dew is a very freaky colour. But I kinda like it.
Rayek: Wherever Cutter gets in a fix, what does he do? "Joyleaf, Bearclaw, guide me." It's so damned repetitive.Cutter: And what does Rayek do? Rubs it in. The little prick never misses a chance to stick it to me. I am voting his ass straight back to Sorrow's End the first chance I gets.
Back
at the Wild Hunt the elves' celebration at their first win extends long
into the evening. "We were having this great time just kicking back and
feeling our stomachs stretch," Skywise says. "And then Ember starts asking
all about Recognition and stuff. Leetah got all excited - I don't think
she has a clue that Ember has the hots for Teir, and she thought Ember
was thinking about Mender."
Dewshine: Ember was asking us about Recognition, and what it feels like, and we all told her everything we could...As Leetah remains oblivious to her tribemates' feelings, the Wild Hunt goes to bed in readiness of the next challenge. On Day 8 the tribes face off again, this time for a balancing act. For immunity the challenge is simply to stay standing on a pair of stumps as long as possible. Zhantee falls off first, at the forty-minute mark. Pike is next - possibly because he's tipsy on dreamberries. One by one the elves go down, as Teir keeps an eye on the stopwatch. Whichever tribe stayed on the stumps for the greater amount of combined time would win. Finally it comes down to Cutter and Nightfall. At the nine hour mark, Cutter stumbles, wavers, then falls off his stumps. The Wild Hunt wins immunity for the first time, and the tribe comes together in a huge group hug. Pike and Redlance hug Teir in turn, then Ember hugs the host, perhaps a little tighter than the others did.Skywise: And then Ember asks about elves who have cubs outside of Recognition, like the Go-Backs, like Pike's parents. And Leetah makes this crack about only elves born of Recognition are truly special.
Ember: I thought it was very tactless. Poor Pike was just sitting there.
Skywise: And then Pike laughs that he'll never have to worry about Recognition, and Leetah goes all patronizing "oh no, Pike, don't say that - you can still Recognize." Turns out Pike was just trying to lighten the mood by joking that he was Recognized to dreamberries. I just wanted to slap her.
Nightfall: Technically Tyleet was not of Recognition, just like Pike. So why did Leetah single out Pike as 'not special'? It struck me as a little cruel, and you know me - I'll let Leetah get away with murder.
Leetah: I had the funniest idea that Skywise and Ember were upset about something last night. I can't figure out why - as far as I'm concerned it was a wonderful evening.
Skot: Do they have a thing going on?The Wolfriders try to take their minds of the imminent tribal council by rebuilding their shelters, but personal conflicts hinder progress. Aroree starts crying after she burns the fish she prepared for breakfast on the morning of Day 9, and Skot and Krim snap at her to be quiet. Clearbrook and Treestump reprimand Skot and Krim, and the Go-Backs stalk off, while Aroree apologizes profusely for being such an inconvenience. Cutter sits down on the beach to "reflect" while Rayek loudly criticises him for not helping with the shelter-building.
In the evening of Day 9, the Wolfriders reluctantly trek to tribal council, where they pick up their torches. At Teir's questioning, the tensions in the tribe are revealed. Cutter blasts Skot for refusing to follow instructions, Treestump criticises Krim, and Aroree bursts into tears. At length the Wolfriders withdraw into the voting booth. When the results come back, three elves voted for Skot, one for Rayek, one for Krim, one for Zhantee, and four for Aroree.
Mender: (on voting for Zhantee) I just don't think he's taking the game seriously enough. He's always smiling, he's always chirpy. I'm afraid he's going to drag us down.Cutter: (on voting for Rayek) We'll all get along a lot better when he's out of the way.
Skot: (on voting for Aroree) Now, you'll probably cry when you see this, and we'll probably have to listen to it. But it's time for you to go. You're giving me a bloody migraine.
"The tribe has spoken," Teir says, snuffing out the first torch of the
Wolfriders. "Aroree, it's time for you to go. The rest of you, you can
head back to camp. I'll see you all tomorrow."
| AROREE'S LAST WORDS |
| I'm so sorry everyone. I tried my hardest. *Sob* I tried.... I guess I'm just not cut out to be a Wolfrider. I just want you all to know that *sob* the happiest years of my year were spent with you. Among the Wolfriders, I was never left out... never homeless. Though you vote me out, still I shall have a home. I hope that someday... someday I'll be reunited with you all, and with my *sob* little love - for our soaring flights together have been few. Goodbye. I love you all. |