"I
wish I had a picture of Cutter's face when Mender got his torched snuffed
out," Skot laughs after the Wolfriders return to their camp. "He looked
mad enough to poke a porcupine! He thought he had Venka all sewn up in
his hip pocket, he thought he was 'The Man.' Well we showed him a thing
or two. Hear that, Strongbow, you anemic prick? The Low Wolf just bit the
High Wolf square in the ass!"
Indeed, Cutter wasted no time in time in confronting Venka as soon as they left the tribal council area. "You little witch! You lied to me."
Venka: I did not lie. I said I hadn't decided yet-Venka: That is simply the Way of this game, my chief. Do not take it personally.Cutter: You lied through your teeth! You let me think you were voting Zhantee out and you orchestrated your own damned voting bloc.
Cutter: Oh I will. I've seen your true colour now. The apple doesn't fall from the tree. You're as two-faced as Kahvi and Rayek put together.
Venka: As you wish.
"This game just got really fun," Teir laughs after tribal council. "Oh, damn, look at the time. I promised... uh... nobody that I'd meet them down at the swimming hole. Gotta go."
Cutter: I don't forget an insult.Back at the Wild Hunt, the seven elves are oblivious to the strife in the Wolfrider camp. "It's day 22," Dewshine says, marking a new scratch into the cave wall. "After the next tribal council we'll have been here for three eights. We're all pretty tired and pretty miserable - this turned out to be a lot harder than we thought. But we're doing all right, and if we can start winning a few more challenges, we'll start feeling even better."Venka: Oh, it's on now.
Skywise: Leetah hasn't been getting the best sleep lately, and boy does it ever show. Woof. She needs her coffee and her SunMaiden Retin-A Micro facecream back in the worst way.The tribes meet for the last group reward challenge before the tribes merge and the challenges become individual competitions. Everyone from the Wild Hunt is amazed to see that Mender is gone. "I guess he made some enemies over there," Skywise says. "So much for being Rainsong and Woodlock's gentle cub."Leetah: If I have to hear Skywise go "Hey, Gorgeous, lookin' good" one more time, I swear I'll castrate him.
Ember: Yeah, Mother is being pretty... touchy lately. That's what happens when the Folgers Coffee isn't flowing all that well.
Rayek: Yeah, Leetah's being a pain. And Thank High Ones for that. Maybe they'll all vote her off before me. Only three or four more days until the merge. If I can keep out of trouble until then I'm one step closer to the Final Four.
Scouter: Hey, we got tree-mail, everyone. Teir wants us all to meet at these rock cliffs about a mile south of our camp.
Teir: Today we have a very special reward challenge for you. The challenge is a race up these cliffs. As you can see, they're about fifty feet high and pretty hard to climb. Remember, no magic. If I catch anyone floating themselves - Rayek! - then the race stops and the other tribe wins. First team with all its members on the top wins. Want to see what you're playing for?Skywise: (rolls eyes) You know we do.
Teir: Okay, Cam, come on out.
The
elves frown as a tall human with dark skin and black hair tied back into
a little ponytail emerges out from behind the rocks. "Hello survivors,"
he says in heavily accented Elven. "I Cam Triompe, greatest explorer in
all Hearthstone, and I come here, to pineapple the winning team with a
box of brand new bear toasters and giggle you all about special survival
baskets for staying alive here on the junkyard."
"What he means is he has a box full of new bearskins for those cold nights," Teir corrects. "And he'll share all his secrets to surviving on this island. What are the best roots to eat, how to recognize the berries that'll make you sick, the best way to ambush a Beacon tusk-hog, and all sorts of other facts that will help out the winning elves. Just think, after the merge only half of you will have these secrets. And then you can choose to share them... or not."
Cutter: Taking survival tips from a human?The elves scramble up the rocks, Cutter muttering something about "damned drukkin' heights" under his breath. Rayek, chosen by the tribe to sit out, smiles wryly as he watches his tribe edge ahead in the race.Skywise: Is it just me, or does Cam give off a total Lando Calrissian vibe? Seriously, I kept hearing the theme from Star Wars running through my head.
Rayek: See? They don't trust me. No one ever trusts the tall dark and handsome type.The Wild Hunt wins, again, just by a fraction, and they take Cam Triompe and the box of furs back to their camp while the Wolfriders cheer themselves up by mocking Cam's accent. "They'll need Teir along with them to figure out what the hell he's telling them," Skot laughs. "He's basically a Token Celebrity Guest Star," Cutter agrees. "The only thing they really won were the furs."Teir: Tell me about it. At least you really are pure evil. I hang around a few magically mutated animals and everyone jumps to conclusions.
Rayek: So did you sleep with Winnowill too?
Teir: Naw, not my type. Plus the whole long-distance-torturing-me-through-telepathy thing was a real turn-off.
Rayek: Yeah. Know what you mean.
At Wild Hunt camp, Cam teaches the elves how to set traps by the trees where the boars frequently scratch their tusks on the bark. "They come back and mark these harpsichords every day. Set juicebox right here and catch them every time." They learn how to enhance their meagre seafood chowders with spices and herbs, and that they can only eat the female of the busterbird species - the male secretes a toxic compound that causes his bright plumage. "Well, that explains why the stew Scouter made they other day was inedible," Skywise laughs. "I just thought he was a bad cook."
Scouter: He's always laughing. Always laughing at me. Keep laughing, pretty boy. You'll get yours. Yes... they'll all get theirs soon enough... soon... soon, my precious - oh damn, did I go psychotic again? Sorry. It's the water, I think.
On Day 23 the elves gather for the final immunity challenge before the
merge. Teir unveils two strings of clothesline. From each line dangle eighteen
little clay plates, painted with the names all the elves. "All right. Today
is a shooting match. Your weapon: the slingshot. You targets: these plates.
There are three for each elf, except for Scouter, who has been chosen to
sit this challenge out. Your mission: destroy all the plates of the enemy
tribe will your slingshots before they destroy all of yours. You will all
fire at once, and only on command. "
The elves assume lines in front of the clotheslines, fifty paces away. A basket of stones lies at each elf's feet. At Teir's command each elf takes a stone and fires. One of Rayek's plates breaks first, followed by one of Ember's. Zhantee and Leetah both miss their targets several times in a row, and Leetah stalks off in a rage before returning at Teir's orders to resume the contest.
Cutter: My Leetah's such a spitfire, isn't she?The Wild Hunt loses, as three of the Wolfrider's plates remain hanging when all the Wild Hunt's plates have been destroyed. Teir congratulates the winners, and promises to meet the losers at tribal council the next day. "It worked out perfectly," Venka says. "We'll go into the merge with equal numbers." The Wild Hunt is as dejected as the Wolfriders are triumphant. "We had the advantage of numbers before Leetah threw that all away for us," Skywise says.Rayek: She held up the entire challenge. But then, she's always been self-centered.
Pike: High Ones, it was funny watching Leetah's hissy fit.
Ember: I won't say it was Mother's fault we lost. But her little tantrum didn't help her case. I know Rayek, Skywise and Scouter are getting annoyed with her. What I have to decide is whether it's worth creating a rift by fighting for her, or whether to just let her go.A rainstorm breaks in the night and it rains all day on Day 24. On the long trek to tribal council all the torches go out, and the Wild Hunt has to relight them in the hearth. Prophetically, Leetah's torch refuses to catch for several minutes. At council Leetah states her case plainly. She is the healer, the daughter of one chief and the lifemate of another, and thus should be a valued tribemember. But her rhetoric is unconvincing. When the votes are returned, Rayek gets one vote, Skywise gets another, and Leetah gets five.Leetah: If they think I am ready to leave tomorrow night, they are sorely mistaken.
Rayek: Leetah should have gone into hyper-grovelling mode after that challenge. But she didn't. I can't say I blame her... but I will say it'll cost her.
"Leetah,
it's time for you to leave," Teir says, with some sympathy in his voice.
"For the rest of you, get back to camp, have a good night's sleep. The
game changes forever tomorrow."
| LEETAH'S LAST WORDS |
| This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. I'm the most beautiful elf-maiden in all Abode, after all. But I wish my daughter all the best, and I hope she will take it gracefully when my strong, young, virile Cutter kicks her all the way back to the Thorny Mountain. Now I'm off to take a shower and get back into a push-up bra. The girls need some pampering. |