Episode Five: Switch Play
(Day 13-15)
The mist that descends on tribal council becomes a pouring rain as the
Wolfriders trek back to their camp. "I knew I should have been on the other
tribe," Rayek glowers. "Those first few wins were flukes. It's all downhill
now. Ember and her tribe are going to kill us. Not even having Venka helps
anymore. She's too busy playing the ice queen. I know I should just suck
it up, but dammit, I wasn't put together that way! If I can last long enough,
I can kick Cutter's ass in the individual challenges, but I know I'm just
one step away from the block. Drukk, I should have done what Strongbow
did and abstained." Other members of the Wolfriders are feeling the pinch.
"From now on I'll just keep my mouth shut and do everything Cutter tells
me to," Zhantee decides. "It's worked for the last five hundred years."
Back at the Wild Hunt, Ember is once again absent, as is Pike. "If I
know those two, they're probably getting ready good and drunk without me,"
Skywise mourns. Ember returns around 3 am, still quite sober. However Pike
is found on the beach, mortally hungover and very maudlin. "He kept singing
Wolfrider howls off-key and then lapsing into choruses of 'Tainted Love',"
Skywise says. "He misses Skot. Those guys haven't been apart for one that
fifteen minutes before, let alone fifteen days!"
Leetah: Oh boo hoo, we all get separated from the ones we
love. Need I remind everytone that my Ta- I mean Cutter, Cutter, survived
for five hundred years without his loved ones.
At noon on Day 13 the tribes gather, expectant of a tribal challenge. "Now
I know you think you're here for a reward challenge, and in a way it is.
Today we're adding a little twist to the game. Today any one of you - if
you choose - can switch tribes. Only one, mind you, and if more than one
want to switch you'll have to compete for it. Now, this choice will have
consequences throughout the entire strategy of the game, so I want you
all to take a moment to think about-"
Rayek: Me. I want to go to Ember's tribe.
Teir: All right, Rayek. No one else from the Wolfriders? No one at
all. Uh, okay. Now... the challenge is... will someone from the Wild Hunt
elect to switch over the Wolfriders? Now, Rayek, you'll have to convince-
Pike: Me.
Teir: (flabbergasted) Well... all righty then. Class dismissed. Rayek,
you get the green bandana. Pike, here's your blue one. Um... yeah, damn,
that was easy.
The
Wolfriders openly cheer the swap. "Damn, we unloaded that little parasite
and got a hunter in the bargain," Cutter says. "Though I was really hoping
Leetah would have switched back here to be with me. I guess she just loves
our brat of a daughter more than the loyal and studly lifemate who waited
FIVE HUNDRED YEARS for her to come back!" For her part Ember reports
that she is quite pleased at the swap. "I'm going to miss Pike, but it'll
be nice to have another immortal in the group. In two of the challenges
we lost, it was because we didn't have non-Wolfrider skills. Plus, you
know, Rayek hates my dad, so he'll be that much more motivated to help
us."
Venka: I'm sorry to lose Father, but he would have been
a fool not to take the switch. Hopefully we'll see each other again at
the merge.
Krim: This sucks. Skot was just starting to get desperate enough to
pay attention to me. Now he's got Pike back I might as well decamp for
the Frozen Mountains and hope Kahvi waited for me.
Skot could not be reached for comment. Neither could Pike.
Rayek soon made himself at home at the Wild Hunt, using his floating
skills to go up the hillside on water runs and teaching the Wild Hunt how
to improve their firebuilding skills. He and Ember in particular seemed
to form a fast bond, and Skywise gave him a somewhat wry welcome to camp.
Nightfall, however, remained aloof. "I watched Cutter suffer through what
Rayek did to him. No... I won't welcome him with open arms." Leetah also
expressed a certain trepidation about Rayek's presence. "I know it's going
to be very hard for Rayek to live here," says Leetah. "What with all the
simmering sexual tension between us."
Rayek: Leetah couldn't even wait five minutes before she
threw herself all over me. High Ones she's gotten cheap.
Back at the Wolfriders, Krim's frustration at been pushed out of Skot's
affections by Pike's return is rising. She forgets to tie the boat up,
and by morning high tide has swept the little "water-leaf" out to sea.
"We needed that boat!" Venka shouts in uncharacteristic shortness. "I know
Krim is upset, but that's no excuse." Krim tries to defend herself, claiming
that she did tie the boat up, and that if it washed out it was probably
because someone else tripped over the rope. "Why didn't she just say a
monkey bit through the rope?" Cutter sneers. Clearbrook agrees. "She really
should have taken responsibility."
"Damn it," Mender mutters to the camera several hours later. "I think
I did trip over something when I got up to take a leak. You don't think...
nah, couldn't have been. Let's just keep this to ourselves, hey?"
On
Day 14 the reformed tribes meet for the 5th immunity challenge of the game.
It is a race to assemble five large wooden blocks in order to erect an
authentic totem pole. While Rayek's floating powers cannot help the Wild
Hunt in the challenge, as all magic is forbidden, he serves as the overseer
of the totem pole's construction. The Wild Hunt wins their third immunity
challenge in a row.
Cutter: Oh, that's just drukking perfect!
Mender: And now Ember's squeezing Teir's ass! What the drukk
is going on with my woman? If we don't start winning these immunity challenges
again, I'm so screwed.
The Wolfriders again face the spectre of tribal council. Krim's future
is in doubt, as is Zhantee's. "Now, I know I made some faux pas earlier,"
he says. "But Krim really got everyone mad yesterday, and I'm hoping that
that good old Wolfrider short-term memory will pull me out of the fire
tonight."
At tribal council Krim makes no apologies for her actions, insisting
that the boat incident was not her fault. Pike tries to deflect the burden,
insisting that Go-Backs truly live in the Now. Zhantee also falls under
fire for his former faults. But when it is time to go into the voting cubicle,
Krim is voted out with a majority of four votes. Once again Zhantee gets
a vote, and in a strange turn of events, so does Mender and Venka.
Venka: I can't think who voted for me. I thought I've been
playing the game very well.
Mender: Who voted for me? Who did it? I voted for Venka, and Krim
voted for Zhantee - I can figure that out. But who voted for me?Was it
Teir? Did he sneak a vote in?
Skot:(on voting for Mender) Well, I won't vote for Krim, she's my
lifemate, even if she is a militant bitch. And I won't vote for Zantee,
cause he's fun to hang out with. And I'm not going to force my hand and
vote for Cutter just yet. So, it's... time for Mender-puppy to go.
"The tribe has spoken," Teir says. "Krim, it's time for you to go."
KRIM'S LAST WORDS
Drukk it. It was all Teir's fault. If he hadn't let Pike tribe swap
I wouldn't have forgotten to tie the boat up tight and Zhantee would be
going home. Drukk it. That's all I have to say. Get that drukking camera
out of my face. |
On to Episode Six
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