Author: JustSkipIt
Rating: PG
Feedback: Please leave feedback on the Survivor - Ash Island thread on the Kitten Board.
Disclaimer: I own none of these characters nor do I own Survivor. And believe it or not, I also don't own any small islands. On the other hand, this island is fictional so let's say I own it. I'm making no money from this fiction and intend no copyright infringement.

Akathla Team - Day 6
We see Willow and Oz picking Plantains together. Neither says much but it is apparent that they are friendly. "Mac may be dangerous," Oz warns Willow.

"We're four strong," Willow answers, "we have the numbers. And right now we need his strength."

"You'd know," Oz jokes back.

The scene shifts to where we see Xander and Buffy standing waist deep in the water. "Try this," she suggests and sweeps her hand under a fish. The two continue trying to catch a fish with no equipment.

Confessional Caption - Buffy - College Student
"Honestly, I don't know what we're going to do if we don't start to catch some fish. I mean I feel like I can feel myself shrinking. Look at this." She pulls up her shirt and points to some ribs that are beginning to show. "Between the hunger and the bug bites," she slaps at her skin and we can see various bite marks on her arm, "I can see why 39 days is so damn hard."

MFashnek Team - Day 6
The MFashnek team is also attempting to catch fish. Robin and Riley take turns swimming, chasing the fish toward each other but to no avail. Meanwhile we see Tara and Joyce gathering an array of berries and roots. "You know a lot about plants?" Joyce asks.

"My g-grandmother and mother showed me," Tara explains.

Faith and Kendra meanwhile are gathering fire wood while Richard and Darla straighten up the area. "Have you talked to Robin?" Darla asks Richard.

"I think he will be with us when he needs to be," Richard tells her.

Suddenly we hear screams from the water. Robin is dragging Riley from the water with blood running down the athlete's leg. His screams attract his teammates who all come running. Although she's not the first one there, Tara doesn't hesitate to pull off her buff and press it onto the badly bleeding wound. "What h-happened?" she asks.

"He stepped on a sharp piece of coral," Robin explains.

As everyone watches she turns and pulls a root she had been digging with Joyce from the pile and hands it to the woman. "Wash this," she instructs before turning back to the wound. Seeing that she appears to know what she's doing, the others drift away uneasily.

Akathla Team
Confessional Caption - Willow - Software Startup Owner
"We didn't have tree mail so I guess we have a day to rest and try to catch fish." As she talks she walks along the tree line. Suddenly she also screams and her team comes running. Rather than springing into action like the MFashneks, however, they laugh as they realize that she has scared a frog from its hiding place and is afraid of frogs.

"You came on Survivor and you're afraid of frogs?" Xander asks disbelievingly.

"Just a little," Willow pouts playfully. The younger team can been seen relaxing for the remainder of the day.

MFashnek Team - Day 7
We see most of the team sitting around the fire sipping water and eating some berries. They pass around a cup with a paste in it and each rubs it on his or her face.

Confessional Caption - Richard - Small Town Mayor
"These young people are pretty amazing. I mean Tara isn't but 25 years old or so but she seems to be a regular Grizzly Adams. I don't know if she went to school with Ernest Hemmingway or what. She helps Riley's leg, finds us food, and now she made a paste that seems to keep the bugs from biting. I'd hate to be on the other team. Now if we could just catch some fish."

"We've got tree mail," Robin and Joyce call as they hold out a small canvas sack. Written on the sack are the words:

"Launch me well and you'll be rich."

Reward Challenge
As usual the MFashnek team takes their place on the green mat first. The MFashnek team inspects the Akathla team to see who is missing. No one makes any obvious reaction when they see that Amy is gone but Tara seems to smile slightly at the redhead who she has found is named Willow when she sees that the girl is still there. Willow, in turn, winks at the blonde who immediately blushes.

"Ok," Jeff greets everyone, "you see the new Akathla team. How is everyone doing?"

"We could use some more food, Jeff," Robin answers lightly.

"Today's challenge will give you the opportunity for that," Jeff explains. He walks over to show the players six straw baskets. Signs on the sides identify them as containing rice, dried beans, coffee beans, spices, nuts, and beef jerky. Sitting on top of each basket of food are two burlap sacks. The sacks vary in size so that the rice and beans sacks are larger than the spice sack. The others range between those. About ten feet from the baskets stand two towers with a basket on top of each. At the bottom of those towers a plank lies across a log, creating a lever.

"One by one," Jeff starts to explain, "a player will run to a basket. Fill your sack with as much or as little of the food as you wish. When you've filled it, tie it closed." As he explains he walks to the baskets then to the lever to finish: "Place the sack on the lever end and stomp on this end to launch it into the basket. When you've finished, return to the starting line so the next person on your team can go. It's up to you how much of an item you fill your bag with but only the first team done will keep what is in your basket."

The teams are obviously listening closely to the explanation, and figuring strategy for the bags. "MFashnek, what two players are sitting out?" Riley and Tara raise their hands and take a seat on the mat.

"Ok," Jeff raises his hand "Survivors ready. Go!"

Joyce and Willow are the first two players to rush to a basket. Joyce chooses spices while Willow, surprisingly, goes for nuts. Each fills her bag and then ties it shut while her teammates shout encouragement. MFashnek particularly advises Joyce to fill the bag enough to weight it a little. The two women finish tying the bags nearly simultaneously and rush to set them on their levers. Joyce stomps hers and the bag hits the tower but does not go in the basket. Willow, miraculously, manages to get the bag of nuts in her basket immediately and rushes back to her mat. Joyce makes her basket on the next try and returns to the mat to allow Kendra to take over. By the time Kendra reaches the coffee, Oz is nearly done filling his bag with beef jerky. Both tie their bags and Kendra catches up to Oz when the young man still hasn't made the basket on the third try. Kendra puts MFashnek ahead when the coffee lands in the basket.

Darla next fills a bag half-way with beef jerky and ties it while running toward the lever. She is able to make the basket on the second shot, while Andrew is still filling a bag with spices. Richard, seeing the lead they now hold, fills the nut bag nearly full as he places the bag on the lever. Andrew is just running back to the Akathla mat. Richard takes three tries to make the basket but still returns to the mat to hand off to Faith before Mac ties off the bag of coffee.

Again noting their lead, Faith fills her bag very full of dried beans. She carefully ties it, not wanting to lose any, and places it on the lever as Mac stomps on his lever for the fifth time. His goes in just as Faith is taking her second shot with the beans. When her third makes it, she is running back toward the mat just as Buffy picks up a bag and begins loading it with the beans.

Robin runs to the bin of rice and begins loading it. Seeing the lead he has, he holds up the half-full bag to show his team and takes their advice to fill it even fuller. Tying it he runs to set it on the lever before Xander has reached the rice basket. Although it takes Robin five tries to make the basket, he still finishes the challenge and runs back to the mat before Xander succeeds in launching his much lighter bag. The MFashnek team celebrates loudly over their bounty.

Jeff congratulates the winning team and informs them that they can climb up to get their reward. Kendra quickly walks over to the tower, climbs it, and begins pulling bags out and dropping them to Robin. As she drops the bag of spices she yells and pulls a small burlap folder from the basket, dropping it also into Joyce's waiting hands. The woman quickly unties the bag to reveal four shining fishing hooks with a small roll of fishing twine. The MFashnek team cheers loudly at the find and then confers for a moment. After a few seconds talking, Joyce walks over to the shocked looking Akathla team and hands Buffy one hook and a small piece of line. "Thanks," the blonde whispers as she cradles the hook like riches. MFashnek then gathers their bounty and heads back to their beach.

"Who wants coffee?" Darla calls and the others laugh before all yelling their agreement with the first order of business.

Akathla Team - Day 8
Again we see Buffy and Xander attempting to fish. This time they have the hook and line and we see that they have caught four small fish.

"We've got tree mail," Mac calls as he and Oz return from getting the small slate board.

"Luck and knowledge,
Knowledge and luck…"

is all the mail says. The teammates sigh as they realize they will get no further clues.

MFashnek Team - Day 8
We see the MFashnek team reacting to Darla's reading of the tree mail. "Maybe it won't be a physical challenge?" Joyce suggests to Riley who sits with his leg gently on a log. As they talk and read the tree mail we see that they are sharing bites of three fish they apparently caught with their winnings.

Confessional Caption - Riley - Pro-Triathlete
"I don't know what she did, but this Tara girl really helped my leg. It stopped bleeding as soon as she put that plant on it and the plant killed the pain too. I can almost walk normally. Plus she gave me a different plant last night to take for the pain. I owe her big time."

Challenge
Both teams enter to take their places on the mats.

Jeff explains, "This is not a physical challenge." He continues, "and there's a little twist today." Everyone waits for him to continue. "There are going to be two tribal councils tonight." The players all gasp at this revelation. "You are playing for individual immunity today. If you win, you'll go visit with the other team. Then you go to your tribal council and theirs. At their tribal council, you can give the immunity necklace to someone from their team." He doesn't even bother to ask if the reward is worth playing for.

He directs everyone to take a seat on two logs which form a V-shape on the sand and to reach behind the log for the slate boards and chalk they will use to write down their answers. "Ok," Jeff starts, "some of these answers you will know if you've visited with your teammates and some are from the other team."

Jeff starts: "Question One: Which contestant speaks 7 languages fluently?" The players reveal their answers. Tara, Kendra, and Faith of course all reveal the answer to be Kendra. Joyce also gets the answer right as do Buffy and Willow.

"Which contestant was valedictorian of his or her high school class." This time Darla and Willow write down Darla correctly. Everyone else guesses Willow.

"Which contestant has run a 5 minute mile." All the MFashneks as well as Willow and Oz are correct in writing down Riley. The others, however, guess Robin.

"Which contestant volunteers for Habitat for Humanity?" This time all the Akathlas get the answer of Xander right but only Tara guess correctly for the MFashnek team.

At this point Jeff announces that Willow has 4 correct, Joyce and Tara have three,

"Who lives in New Orleans?" While Tara misses the correct answer of Oz, surprisingly so does Willow. Only Oz, Xander, and Riley get this answer right.

"Who lives in Boston?" Tara, Joyce, Faith, and Kendra easily answer the question correctly and Mac and Xander guess correctly that Faith lives in Boston.

Jeff announces that Tara and Willow have four correct answers; Joyce has three; and Kendra and Faith have two.

"Ok," there will be a final question to determine which of you will get the individual immunity. Both girls have watched each other interestedly ever since Jeff announced the scores and continue to do so. "The person who gets the most correct answers on this question will win the challenge: Which five players have children?"

Both girls take a few seconds to write their answers. Willow reveals her guesses: "Riley, Joyce, Richard, Mac, and Darla." Tara's lip quirks upward as she reads the redhead's answers and reveals her own: "Joyce, Richard, Mac, Xander, and Tara."

Jeff reads the list with a smile on his face. The correct answers are: "Joyce, Richard, Mac, Oz, and Tara," he explains. "That means Willow got three of five but Tara got four of five." Faith and Kendra both cheer as they lean over and hug the blonde. Willow looks across the logs at the blonde with a look of disappointment that she didn't win the challenge but with a friendly smile too.

Jeff hands Tara the immunity necklace which she puts on. As the Akathla team turns to return to the camp she takes a minute to whisper with Faith and Kendra and then joins the younger team.

MFashnek Team
Confessional Caption - Faith - Personal Trainer
"Well Girlfriend got herself some immunity but I wouldn't have been worried for her anyway. This is our first tribal council and I don't think there's going to be much trouble over who is expendable."

"How's the leg," Kendra asks Riley as she approaches him at the water's edge.

"Much better," he answers.

Darla, Richard, and Robin sit at the fire drinking water. "Tara gives the other two the brains they need," she comments.

"Don't worry about it," Richard tells the lawyer, "Joyce will be with us." Later we see Joyce and Richard talking by the water's edge. Kendra approaches them and talks with them for a moment.

Confessional Caption - Joyce - Art Gallery Owner
"I hope Tara is enjoying herself over there. For her, I'm not sure this is a reward. I mean she's so shy she might be really upset about being there."

We see shots of different conversations: Faith and Joyce, Riley and Robin, Riley and Richard, Darla and Joyce.

Akathla Camp
The Akathla team is showing Tara around their campsite. "Here's our shelter and our fire pit," Xander explains proudly. "We hang our water bags here and stack the fire wood here," he continues.

"Very n-nice," Tara tells the carpenter.

Andrew makes rice and they share it with their visitor. "So who v-voted off Wesley and Amy?" the blonde asks.

Everyone raises their hands to both questions and Tara raises an eyebrow. "So who will you vote off tonight?" she bravely inquires.

Everyone looks at each other and laughs uncomfortably. "Would you like to borrow the shampoo?" Buffy offers in an attempt to lighten the mood. Tara nods and takes the bottle, walking away from the group at the fire.

Next we see shots of different combinations of people talking. Andrew and Mac are talking to Xander by a clump of trees. "Look, son," Mac tells the construction worker, "you got me, Andrew here, and Oz voting together. We're voting out Buffy or Willow, whichever doesn't have the necklace tonight. If you don't vote with us, you'll tie the score."

Xander looks puzzled. "Oz is voting against one of them?"

"He swore it standing right here," Mac tells him.

"I'll think about it," Xander tells them.

Confessional Caption - Mac - Retired Military
"The way I figure it, it's outwit, outlast, outplay. Not tell the truth tell the truth tell the truth. If this Xander guy isn't smart enough to check out my story, that's his problem."

Confessional Caption - Buffy - Student
"So Oz came to me and explained that Mac is trying to get he and Xander to vote off me or Willow. Since she'll probably have the necklace, I'd say they're intending to vote off me. But Oz says he's with us and Xander won't turn."

Tara stands in waist-deep water enjoying the shampoo and the feel of the sun. She appears slightly startled by Willow's nearly silent arrival. "I didn't want to startle you," the redhead tells her.

"That's o-o-ok," Tara tells her. "Will you be v-voted off tonight?"

"If I am, it will be a surprise to me," Willow tells her honestly. "Can I help you with that?" she offers pointing to the shampoo.

Tara looks at the redhead for a minute before smiling. "Only if I can do your hair too," she finally says.

Willow takes the bottle slowly, allowing the two girls' fingers to brush together. "You know I'm not sure it was entirely fair that you won by knowing that you have a child," Willow teased. Tara merely smiled back. "Is she, or maybe he because nothing says that you would have to have a little girl just because you're a girl I mean everyone who has a child is a woman but obviously all babies aren't girls…," Willow pauses for breath, "is your child with … your husband?"

Tara giggles a little bit at the question, "I'm not married, Willow," she answers, "Ariel is six and she's with my mother. She sees her f-father every other weekend."

As the blonde takes the bottle from Willow she asks, "How about you? Anyone waiting for your return?"

"I think my cat probably misses sleeping in the middle of my bed all day while I'm working," the redhead says jokingly, "but, no, I don't have a girlfriend."

"Hard to imagine," the blonde tells her teasingly as Buffy swims up to the pair and put her hand out for the shampoo.

"You left the men to scheme?" Willow asks the new arrival, shrugging her shoulder at the shoreline.

Confessional Caption - Xander - Construction Worker
"So Mac and Andrew want me to vote off Willow or Buffy, whichever one doesn't get the necklace from Tara. Which would put the men in the lead but would definitely make us a weaker team than voting off Andrew. They say Oz is with them but Oz says he's with us."

MFashnek Tribal Council
The MFashnek team enters the tribal council to find Tara sitting on the log waiting for them. Each of them comes over to hug and greet her as if they haven't seen her in weeks rather than the 6 hours it has actually been. In the meantime, they all take in the look of the tribal council area and the torches behind Jeff. Jeff instructs each team member to come up and get their torches and place them behind their spots.

"So this is your first visit to tribal council," Jeff starts, "how is the game going so far?"

Darla speaks up first: "Well it's hard. Harder than I expected to be here."

"What's hard about it?" Jeff asks Robin.

"The hunger, the tiredness, sleeping on the ground," the principal starts, "and trying to work as a team is a challenge."

"Why is it a challenge?" Jeff asks.

"Jeff," Richard starts, "some people want to be leaders but they maybe don't know enough to lead well yet."

Jeff smiles at this answer and we see the look on Faith's face as she hears Richard's dig at her.

"Tara," Jeff says, "you have the immunity necklace. Anyone you want to give it to?" The blonde shakes her head and he directs her to vote first. She does and we do not see her vote.

Next Kendra votes secretly also and then Faith. Faith writes down "Darla's" name and addresses the camera: "Sorry about this but we need one less person for Richard to conspire with and you're the most expendable." Everyone finishes voting and Jeff retrieves the container.

"Once the votes have been read the decision is final," Jeff recites as always, "the person voted off will have to leave the area immediately." He pulls the first vote from the jar: "Darla." No one seems surprised at the vote. The next vote says "Faith," and Darla looks around with a smile on her face. By the time Jeff reads the fifth vote for Darla, her smile is gone, replaced by a look of confusion. Jeff extinguishes her flame and she leaves the area. Then Jeff directs the MFashnek team, without Tara, to leave the tribal council area.

The Akathla team enters and takes their seats. "So, Akathla team," Jeff starts, "you've had a visitor all day. How has that been?"

"Tara seems like a nice girl," Mac says.

"Do you feel like you've found our more about the MFashnek team or she's found out more about you?" Jeff next asks.

"I don't think we were trying to pump her for information," Willow explains, "I think we just wanted to get to know her better." She smiles at Tara who blushes and looks at her feet.

"Ok, Tara," Jeff directs, "please give the necklace to the person you have chosen."

Tara stands and walks over to Willow, gently lowering the immunity necklace over her head and allowing her fingers to brush the redhead's collarbones as the necklace settles in place. "Why did you give it to Willow?" Jeff asks.

"S-s-she came the closest to earning it h-h-herself," Tara explains. Jeff tells Tara that she can rejoin the MFashnek team and she waves to Akathla who also waves at her.

"You can't vote for Willow," Jeff unnecessarily states, "Willow, you vote first." The redhead does and she writes down "Andrew." Next Buffy and Xander vote and we don't see their votes. We see Mac's vote for Buffy and don't see Andrew or Oz's votes.

Jeff returns with the jar and begins to read the votes. "Andrew," the first vote reads. The next also reads "Andrew." "Two votes Andrew," Jeff reads before "Buffy." No one is surprised by that vote or the next one for Buffy. "Two votes Andrew, two votes Buffy," Jeff recounts. As Jeff pulls the next ballot, "Buffy," we see Xander look away as if ashamed of his vote. Buffy and Willow both look at the young man in shock. Jeff reads the final vote: "Andrew." And Xander's head snaps up as he looks at Oz in even greater shock.

"Three votes," Jeff says in mild disbelief. "Ok, so you know how it works in the case of a tie." He puts five stones in the jar: 4 white and one black. Willow, you are immune but everyone else has equal chance to leave the game." Each player reaches into the jar to take a stone and holds it in their hands. "Ok," Jeff instructs, "open your hand." They all open their hands to reveal that Andrew has the black stone. Mac gulps before patting the young man on the shoulder. Jeff extinguishes his torch.

Next week on Survivor

Voice-over -- Fallout from tribal council
Shots of the Akathla tribe walking back to camp. "Well how in the Hell did that happen?" Willow asks.

"Maybe you'd know if you weren't so damn busy with Tara," Xander nearly yells back.

"Don't blame Willow because you were suckered," Oz yells.

One player plays through the pain
We see shots of Riley attempting to run on his bad leg. And one team has a big surprise
A pig runs by the campfire

All next week on Survivor