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.
Note - Yep, I straight out (imagine that - straight he he) stole the immunity challenge from Palau. I actually already had another challenge written but I loved this one from Palau so much that I decided to use it instead.

Akathla Team - Returning from Tribal Council
“Ok, how in the hell did that happen?” Willow asks as the five remaining team members walk back to camp.

“Everyone voted for what they thought was best for this team,” Mac argues.

“Really?” Buffy questiones, “so three people on this team thought that keeping Andrew over me would be good for a team that has never won an immunity challenge?”

The five players arrive at their fire and begin silently eating some plantains.

Confessional Caption - Xander- Construction Worker
“Well, I knew I wasn’t the smartest person out here but this week really proves that. I believed Mac that Oz was with him and thought I was voting Buffy off 4-2 but instead, I tied it all up. I mean it could have been me that went home. I gotta start thinking smarter to win this game.”

Confessional Caption - Willow - Software Startup Owner
“That could have gone tremendously wrong! What a day. I mean first off we lost the challenge but Tara came over here.” She smiles a somewhat silly smile, “Ok. So sue me. I like her even though she’s on the other team. I know she’s here to win the money and so am I but she’s very cute and there’s just something about her. But maybe I shouldn’t be thinking this way. Everything could have gone wrong today. I’ve got to get my head in the game.”

We see night-vision shots of the five-person team sleeping uneasily.

MFashnek - Day 9
The MFashnek team sits around the fire drinking water and coffee. Tara tends to Riley’s injury with a fresh poultice while Joyce and Richard pass out fruit and nuts. All the MFashnek team is peppering her with questions about the interactions between Akathla, their camp, their energy level. “Hey everyone,” Riley interjects, “let’s let Tara tell us what she wants.”

“Their camp is n-nice but not like ours. The shelter is smaller and less water-tight. They have much less f-food, of course.” Seeing Kendra scratching at her arm, she picks up a small cup of a paste and hands it to her. Kendra takes the cup and scoops out some of the mixture and rubs it in before handing it to Faith.

“They definitely have a power split,” she continues explaining, “Buffy and Willow on one side, Andrew and Mac on the other and I really c-couldn’t tell where the other two fell.” She smiled for a moment before saying, “But they sent a present.” She pulls a small bottle which is about one third full of shampoo from under the log smiling and hands it to Joyce. The older woman, Faith, and Kendra stand up and immediately walk toward the beach.

Robin also stands up. “I’ll go gather fire wood until you three finish with the soap.”

“I’ll come with you,” Richard agrees.

Tara continues tending to Riley’s leg.

Confessional Caption - Riley - Pro Triathalete
Riley sits on a rock with his leg outstretched in front of him. We can see an ugly red cut running up the side of his calf, about 7 inches long. “I can’t believe this. I feel like dead-weight to this team. Who would have believed it? I’m in the best shape of my life and I’m completely useless and that girl” he points at Tara across the beach, “is brilliant. She’s been doctoring my leg, made a paste to keep us from getting bit to death by bugs, and even made a sunscreen from roots or something. Not to mention finding the best and non-poisonous berries.”

We see Tara swim up to Kendra, Faith, and Joyce who are finishing bathing.

Akathla - Day 9
Suddenly we are watching the Akathla team as a wild pig races past their fire. Buffy, Xander, and Mac jump to their feet with Willow and Oz slightly behind them. All seems to be pandemonium for a few minutes as we hear their yelling and the squealing of the pig. Buffy and Xander dive from different directions toward the pig, colliding heavily but the others manage to keep it from escaping. From her position on the ground, Buffy grabs the animal around the leg and holds on until Mac can grab it around the middle. The team cheers loudly as they look at the doomed animal.

“Well, we’re finally going to have some protein,” Mac proclaims as he holds the pig up.

“Akathla!” Oz and Xander cheer together.

Willow looks a little sick at the thought and announces nervously, “I’m going to check tree mail.” A moment later we see her rushing off into the woods.

Confessional Caption - Buffy - College Student
Buffy is laughing as she says, “You know you don’t think the stupid reward challenges have anything to do with survival skills. But a few days ago we had to catch pigs and now… we caught a pig.” She smiles a big smile.

MFashnek
The men are now bathing while the women gather firewood. They seem to work well as a team. In a shot a short time later, we see Richard and Riley using the hooks to attempt to catch fish. We see bits and pieces of the Survivors working on their home and eating the small fish they have caught.

Akathla
The team surrounds the fire noisily and appreciatively enjoying the pork. They seem relaxed and unified. “This could be a strong team,” Willow comments as she looks around.

“Yes, we can,” Mac agrees.

“Teamwork, speed, and strength
Will be the key you need to unlock this challenge.”

They all nod their heads.

Akathla - Day 10
Xander reads the same tree mail and the team cheers with a renewed sense of teamwork.

Reward Challenge
Jeff greets the teams and invites both to see their new opponents. Akathla sees for the first time that Darla is gone while MFashnek sees that Andrew is no longer with the Akathla team. “How are you all eating?” Jeff asks.

“Great,” Xander answers quickly, “we’ve been eating pig for the last day and a half.”

The MFashnek team looks quite jealous but cheers on their opponents nonetheless. “Well, that’s good,” Jeff tells them, "because you will need it today.” He explains the challenge: “Each team will have five players participate. You will be chained together.” He holds up chains which will encircle the Survivors’s waists and cuff their wrists. “You will run together into the jungle and through an obstacle course. Each station of the course will have a key that you can use to unlock any one person’s locks. That person will then run with you but no longer chained to you. The first team to navigate the course, unlock all the Survivors, and return to this mat will win.”

“Do you want to know what you are playing for?” he asks unnecessarily. When the teams all cheer he waves his hand and a large yacht comes into view. “The winning team will have four hours on this yacht. It has food and a bar.”

We see the Survivors ready for the race. The five remaining Akathla members are chained together as are Faith, Kendra, Tara, Robin, and Joyce. Richard and Riley sit on the mat waiting for their teammates. At Jeff’s shout of “Go” the two teams begin to race across the sand toward the jungle. Both teams run awkwardly due to the chains but MFashnek reaches the jungle steps before Akathla.

Once the teams have entered the jungle, Jeff climbs a tower which allows him to comment on the action. The first obstacle is a climbing wall. Faith and Robin put out their hands to boost Kendra to the top. Once up, Kendra pulls Tara and Joyce after her while Faith and Robin push the two women. Faith and Robin then easily climb the wall. Akathla has a harder time as Mac boosts Buffy up the wall. The blonde has a harder time pulling Willow and Oz over and they wait for Mac and Xander to climb over. By the time Akathla has reached the ground, MFashnek has unchained Faith who runs ahead to scope out the next obstacle.

Seeing that it is a low-net, she scoots under and reaches in to pull through the remaining members of her team as well as she can. Mac does the same for his team. Now Faith and Robin run alongside Buffy and Mac while the others trail behind them. Robin crosses the balance beam and waits in the center for his team while Faith waits to bring up the rear. Buffy similarly waits on the beam for teammates. Once they reach the beam, Tara, Joyce, and Kendra easily step onto the beam and with Robin and Faith’s help walk slowly across safely. Willow starts across but is almost pulled off as Oz loses his balance and nearly falls. Only the chains connecting him to Willow and Xander keep the young man from falling. As it is, all three give a scream as the chains pull on them.

By the time the Akathla team has righted itself, Joyce is running toward the staggered tires. She manages to high-step into them while Robin helps Tara and Kendra through the tires. They are already unlocking Kendra when Buffy and Mac reach the tires to help Oz and Willow through. Xander follows them.

MFashnek is surprised as they reach a sign which reads, “Carry the final person back to the beach for the key.” Looking at each other they shrug and Robin picks up Tara in his arms and begins to run toward the beach with Faith, Kendra, and Joyce alongside him. Akathla, on the other hand, has to take turns with Buffy and Mac both carrying Oz from the jungle toward the mat. When they emerge from the foliage, they can already see MFashnek celebrating.

They finish their journey to the mat and unlock Oz before dropping to sit. Jeff tells the MFashnek team that they can board the yacht now but also tells them that they can take one person from Akathla with them. Tara and Willow share a glance but the quick conference ends in Joyce inviting Buffy. She gives quick hugs to her teammates before accompanying MFashnek on the yacht.

Once aboard the yacht, the MFashnek team finds the buffet on the top deck. They quickly grab plates and begin to pile them with meat, potatoes, vegetables, salad, and desert. As she eats, Buffy keeps thanking the other team for inviting her. The team finds places to sit and after getting drinks from the bar, enjoys their food and drink. The conversation is light and discusses the difficulties of being on the island-hunger, sleep, heat and rain, and bugs. As the evening goes on we see groups beginning to move to different areas to talk. Kendra, Tara, and Faith move to the bow of the ship and confirm their alliance.

Richard, Riley, and Robin go try their hand at deep-sea fishing while Joyce and Buffy stay in the food area. They hug tightly and we see Joyce looking at Buffy for injuries or other signs of distress. “You’re thin, how are you?” she asks.

“No thinner than you are, mom,” Buffy replies.

“What are the alliances like over there?” Joyce asks the blonde directly.

“Willow and I are tight,” Buffy explains, “Oz and Xander are question marks. What about here?”

“The three girls are together,” Joyce explains, “I can’t tell if everyone else has explicit alliances or just thinks so. Richard thinks I’m with him and I think Tara does too but she’s also smart. Too smart to believe in Santa Claus.”

At the end of the four hours Jeff comes to tell the Survivors that their time is up. Each grabs another handful of food and hugs Buffy who walks the other direction down the beach.

Akathla Camp
“I wonder what she’s doing,” Willow muses as she stares at the fire.

“It was a drag,” Buffy says jokingly as Willow and Oz jump up to hug her. She looks around and reaches under her shirt to pull out 2 cookies and a few handfuls of food for her four teammates.

Akathla - Day 11
“New day,” Buffy says as she stretches and splashes water on her face. “This team can be strong. We’ve eaten a pig with our bare hands and we can stay strong in this game.” She walks back to the fire and makes a speech to the group.

Immunity Challenge
Both teams stand on their mats, looking excited. “This is the happiest group of Survivors I’ve ever seen on day 11,” Jeff remarks.

“Well, J,” Faith remarks, “yesterday we got food and drink and we’re ready to win another challenge today.”

“What about Akathla?” Jeff asks.

“We’re still enjoying the pig,” Oz explains.

“Well, you’re going to need your strength for today’s challenge,” Jeff says. He points to a large oval “track” marked off in the water. It goes from where the water is about one foot deep to where it is about 2.5 feet deep and is about 40 yards by 8 yards in size. “Today you are going to play tag. The first team to tag the other wins.” Everyone nods their understanding. “Five players will be clipped together,” he holds up a rope with carabineer clips attached to it, “and each will be carrying this.” He holds up a canvas mail sack and explains, “It holds 20 pounds of sand. If you are too tired, you can leave the challenge at any time but your weight stays.” Everyone gasps theatrically. “You must give your weight to another player,” he finishes, “when any team member from one team tags one from another team, the challenge is over.” He turns to MFashnek. “The same players can’t sit out so who is sitting out this challenge?”

Kendra and Joyce hold up their hands.

Next we see the five players for each team linked together at either side of the large track. Each person wears a pack and waits for Jeff’s command of start. When he yells “Start” each team takes its first steps through the water. As soon as they start, it is apparent that Riley can not complete the challenge. He takes off his bag and hands it to Robin who puts it over his shoulder along with his own 20 pounds. By the time the teams have slogged about halfway it is apparent that the slower and weaker members just pull the others back. At Faith’s urging, Tara takes off her pack and hands it to the stronger girl, dropping from the race. Willow does the same, handing her pack to Mac.

By the time the teams have gone another half-way around the circle, Richard has discovered that he was not as strong as he apparently though. His pack goes to Robin who now carries 60 pounds to Faith’s 40. The Akathla team has a more even distribution even after Oz hands his pack to Xander. Both teams tire in the direct sunlight as they carry their weight through the deep and the shallow water.

With their teammates cheering them on Robin and Faith carry their 100 pounds of weight while Mac, Xander, and Buffy carry their packs. MFashnek is losing ground as Akathla makes a run every time they reach the shallows. Seeing that they are losing ground, Robin shouts to Faith to give him another pack and she does, meaning that he is carrying 80 pounds. Even though he is in great shape, he can’t outrun the more evenly distributed Akathla team. It takes three more laps after Robin takes the 4th bag but Buffy jumps forward, tagging Faith on the arm before all five remaining Survivors collapse in the water as Oz and Willow cheer and run into the water to celebrate with their team.

Confessional Caption - Richard - Small-Town Mayor
“Well I’ll tell you what. I really like this Riley boy but he’s costing us too much.”

We see Joyce and Richard talking to Kendra. The three are motioning down the beach to where Riley sits on a rock.

Confessional Caption - Faith - Personal Trainer
Faith is walking away from a conversation with Richard and Joyce. “Well, I agree with Richard for today but he’s all talking about a weak link. You want to know who our weak link is? It’s him. The only reason Riley’s weak is because he’s hurt. I mean, I don’t expect anything more from Tara or Joyce. They are who they are and Tara’s worth her weight in gold but Richard is dead weight.”

We see the MFashnek team walking to tribal council. They enter and place their torches in the designated places. “Well,” Jeff starts, “this is your first trip to tribal council after losing a challenge.”

“Jeff,” Faith tells him, “we lost today pure and simple.”

“Robin,” Jeff starts, “at the end of today’s challenge you were carrying 80 pounds. Do you feel like you were trying to carry this team?”

“Jeff,” Robin says, “this is a very strong and very fast team. We were short some of our strength today and it cost us but I still believe we are the better team.”

“Is that right, Faith?” Jeff asks next.

Faith shakes her head at the question. “You’re damn right, J,” she tells the host. “This is a very very strong team. Most of the people on this team are giving their 100% and that’s all we can ask.”

“With that,” Jeff says, “it’s time to vote.”

Faith votes first and we see her write down Riley’s name. “Riley,” she addresses the camera, “it’s nothing personal but we’re going to do best in this game with strength.” Next Kendra, Tara, and Robin vote. Riley writes down Richard’s name and then Joyce and Richard vote.

Jeff carries back the bucket and declares. “I’ll read the votes. First vote: Riley. Second vote: Riley. Third vote: Richard. Fourth vote: Riley.” He takes a breath as he opens the next vote. “And the fifth person voted off Survivor-Ash Island is Riley.” Riley pats Tara and Robin on the shoulders and has his torch snuffed out.

Next week on Survivor
Voice-over: “Old wounds come back:”
Buffy is shouting, “You double-crossed us!”

Voice-over: “Tempers are short.”
“Why don’t you see how you do without Tara if you think she’s so expendable,” Faith screams at Richard, “the rest of us want her around.”

Next week on Survivor