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 Camp - Day 18
Everyone at Akathla camp seems slow to rise with the exception of Mac who of course continues with his daily push-ups. Xander, Buffy, and Joyce can be seen sleeping in their shelter.

Confessional Caption - Xander - Carpenter
“Well to tell you the truth, I’m pretty shocked that I’m still here. I figured after I screwed up trying to vote off Buffy, they’d get rid of me next. But I’ve gotten lucky. Oz sucked at swimming and this Richard guy was just a jerk. Still, if Mac and I can get Joyce on our side, maybe we can get rid of Buffy before the merge.”

Joyce and Buffy bathe in the ocean using the won shampoo and soap. “We could use this all up before merge,” Buffy smiles.

“On the other hand, it might be a good thing to take to merge,” Joyce counters, “a peace offering.”

“We’ll be down one when we merge,” Buffy says, “but if the four of us stay strong we can get Willow back with us. Then we vote them off one by one.”

“What’s up?” Xander swims up to the two women.

“I was just saying how the four of us with Willow can pick off the others one by one,” Buffy explains. Xander looks at her like he suspects she was talking about something else but doesn’t argue.

MFashnek Camp - Day 18
“Peanut butter,” Kendra is saying. We see all five MFashnek members sitting around the fire. They are drinking coffee to begin the day. It’s unclear how long this game has been going on.

“Cheese,” Willow says. “A grilled cheese sandwich.”

“My daughter,” Tara adds. “And a Snickers bar.” Everyone laughs. “What about you Robin? What do you miss?”

“A shower,” Robin answers with a smile.

“Sex,” Faith says conclusively. Everyone laughs.

“You’re so predictable,” Tara teases the dark-haired girl.

“What? You don’t miss it?” Faith answers. “I mean they gave us condoms for coming on the island. Seriously. No first aid, no water or fire, but here. Enjoy your filth.”

“Maybe when people win the rewar…,” Willow suddenly trails off. “Am I speaking out loud?” She blushes brightly and suggests, “Can we just write that off to bug-bite induced insanity?” She holds up her arms which are covered with red welts. The others look at each other and then at Tara before walking off.

Willow is still blushing and has now started scratching her bites too. “Look, Tara,” she starts, “I’m really sorry I said that.” She continues attempting to talk her way out of her embarrassment as Tara looks shyly away: “I mean I wasn’t trying to imply… well anything.”

“I-i-it’s ok,” Tara stutters, obviously still quite embarrassed by Willow’s train of thought. “It’s just that um…” she holds out the cup of paste. “This will h-h-help your b-b-b…” she gives up and points at Willow’s arms.

Willow looks at the cup, then at Tara still looking embarrassed but this time as if she feels guilty about Willow’s arms. She looks at the cup again before flirtatiously suggesting: “Maybe you could help me put it on?”

Akathla Camp
Mac and Buffy stand waist-deep in water using the fishing line and hook and attempting to catch fish. They have fashioned a bag which Buffy wears over her shoulder and which holds a few small fish.

Confessional Caption - Buffy - College Student
Buffy is sitting on the rocks speaking: “So it was a pretty good day. Mac and I had caught five fish already. And this pool of bigger fish swam by. So he casts it out there pretty far. Damn if that fish didn’t take the bait, hook, line and all. The line broke and we were left watching the guy swim for the hills.”

“You’re kidding!” Xander is shouting at Mac and Buffy, “You lost the hook?”

“Hey,” Joyce gets into it. “You don’t need to yell at them they were doing the best they could.”

“Ok,” Xander backs down, “you’re right. I guess I’m just really hungry and frustrated. We need that protein to make a showing in the reward and immunity challenges.”

“That’s ok, son,” Mac pats the carpenter on the shoulder. “What say we eat these guys and then we can all gather some coconuts and firewood?” Everyone nods their heads and walk toward the fire.

Confessional Caption - Mac - Retired Army
Mac is gathering firewood in his arms, talking as he walks. “Don’t get me wrong,” he says conspiratorially, “I didn’t lose that hook on purpose but since I did… I’m in better shape in terms of losing weight than any of the three of them. They’ll need me even more with less fish.”

Joyce and Buffy are gathering coconuts and plantains. “And these are edible too,” Joyce is telling the younger girl. “Do you think Mac lost the hook on purpose?”

Buffy raises her eyebrow at her mother. “Why would he do that?”

“He’s the strongest person here,” Joyce suggests, “maybe he wants to keep it that way.”

Next we see Buffy and Xander whispering together as the two carry fire wood.

Confessional Caption - Joyce - Art Gallery Owner
“Believe me. I don’t want to deceive my daughter but that doesn’t mean that I’m above pushing suspicion in her mind.”

MFashnek Camp
Willow and Robin are fishing using one of the hooks the MFashnek team won earlier in the game. “This is like the Ritz here,” she is saying to him as he hands her a small fish.

Elsewhere Tara and Faith gather berries and put them in Faith’s buff which the brunette is holding. “She seems n-nice,” Tara says. It is apparent that we are only seeing part of a conversation.

“I agree that she’s nice,” Faith says. “But if we don’t win immunity, he goes then her. Right?”

Kendra walks up behind the other two girls. “This alliance is solid, yes?” she also asks.

Tara looks both girls in the eye and tells them that, yes their alliance is still intact.

We see MFashnek working on their shelter, gathering food and firewood, and fishing as the day goes on. Later, near sunset we see Willow sitting on a rock watching the ocean. Tara quietly approaches and sits near her. “Lonely?” the blonde asks.

Willow nods. “I know it sounds weird,” Willow explains, “but I miss the others from Akathla. I mean I know that we’re all playing a game but I made good friends over there.”

“I c-can understand that,” Tara says as she places a hand gently on Willow’s lower back and rubs lightly.

“And I feel kind of alone,” Willow continues without looking at the blonde, “I mean I know if we don’t win immunity I’m out.”

Tara considers for a moment before telling the redhead: “When we merge, you are number five to their four. If you come with us, you can be in the final four.”

“What about him?” Willow asks suspiciously as she nods at Robin who is farther down the beach.

“The final four will be a women’s a-alliance,” Tara tells her.

Willow tilts her head at the blonde and looks down at the hand the girl extends toward her. Finally she tells shakes her hand.

Confessional Caption - Willow - Software Startup Owner
The redhead is still sitting on the rock as the sun sets. “My mind tells me that Tara is taking me for a ride with this whole alliance thing. I mean why would the three of them want to take me with them to the final four? But my heart tells me that I can trust her. Besides,” she smiles, “I don’t really have any other options at this point.”

We see the five MFashnek members sitting around the fire having a snack of berries that they picked earlier in the day. “Reward challenge tomorrow?” Faith asks.

“I hope it’s for peanut butter,” Kendra jokes picking up on the earlier conversation.

“Cheese,” Willow joins in.

“A snickers,” Tara adds.

“Shower,” Robin repeats.

Everyone looks at Faith and begins laughing. We see shots of the five MFashnek team members in their shelter. Willow has apparently taken a spot near the side between Tara and the sides of the shelter.

Akatha Camp - Day 19
“We’ve got mail,” Buffy and Joyce shout as the return with the small package.

“If you can be accurate,
You can be like David and slay a great reward.” The note reads. It is tied loosely to a small slingshot.

“Well, the poem isn’t great,” Xander assesses, “but I’d say we’re shooting this thing.”

MFashnek Camp - Day 19
We see the MFashnek team taking turns practicing shooting the slingshot at a rock and cheering each other on. Robin repeatedly hits the target.

Tara walks up behind Kendra as she is bathing. “Willow is with us,” she tells the interpreter.

“You think we can trust her?” Kendra asks.

“I r-really do,” Tara tells her with a smile.

“I hope you’re right,” Kendra answers, “or we’re all in trouble.”

Meanwhile Faith and Robin walk along the water’s edge. “I don’t want to do all the work for this tribe and then see you take the kid to the final four.”

Faith turns to Robin and extends her hand. “I swear to you,” she says, “you’re in this with us. Not her.”

Confessional Caption - Faith - Personal Trainer
“Oh here’s the thing. We need both Robin and Willow so we can vote off the other team after the merge. If both of them think they’re going to the final four, then that just works for me. By the time we vote Robin off, he won’t know it’s coming and we’ve got a final four of all women.”

Reward Challenge
The two teams file in to stand on their mats. MFashnek looks over at the Akathla mat and we see Kendra, Faith, and Tara all share a look as they see that Richard is out of the game. “Some different looking teams,” Jeff greets everyone with a smile. “Willow and Joyce,” he says, “you both look like you’re doing well with your new teams.”

“Jeff,” Joyce says, “I’m on a new team and I’m here so that’s doing pretty well.”

“What about you, Willow?” Jeff asks.

“I miss my friends,” Willow replies, “but I hope I’m making new friends over here.” She glances sideways at Tara who is looking intently at her feet.

“Well,” Jeff says with a smile, “let’s see who gets to bond over this.” He pulls a sheet of cloth off a barrel on which sits a Hershey Bar. The competitors all scream when they see the bounty of chocolate. “That’s a two pound chocolate bar,” Jeff tells them, “and because nothing goes with chocolate like milk,” he pulls off another sheet to reveal clean glasses and a container of milk. The survivors all predictably scream over the bounty of chocolate and milk.

He moves over to show the competitors two tables holding 16 stoneware jugs each. Jeff explains that each jug is filled partially with milk. They are arrayed on a bamboo table. He shows them that the table is surrounded by bamboo “gutters” which will direct any spilled milk into a clear jug sitting on the ground. The jug has a line painted on its neck. When the spilled milk for one team passes the line, that team will win the reward.

Both teams line up and Jeff instructs them that two people will shoot at the same time, one from each team. Faith and Mac step to the line and take their shots, both connecting with the top corner of a jug. Only a little milk spills from either. Next up, Kendra and Xander shoot. Kendra misses the table completely while Xander surprises everyone by hitting a jug dead center, shattering it and spilling 5-6 ounces of milk. Akathla is pumped up as Buffy and Tara shoot. Tara’s shot hits a jug, breaking it near the top and spilling a little milk while Buffy’s shot again hits dead center, spilling quite a bit of milk. Joyce’s first shot chips a jug spilling only a little milk while Robin makes a good shot, breaking his jug and spilling about half the milk. A look at the jugs shows that Akathla is still a few ounces ahead of MFashnek. Willow steps up for her first shot next to Mac’s second. The MFashnek team is pumped as her shot fails to shatter the jug but miraculously knocks it over, spilling the entire contents. Before their celebrating is complete, however they watch the milk from Mac’s perfect shot run down the gutters into the Akathla jug.

Aiming for a full jug on the side of the table, rather than one of the partial ones in the center, Faith’s second shot misses the milk entirely. Xander’s second shot is as good as his first, pouring another five or six ounces into their jug. Jeff announces that another few shots could end it for Akathla. This time Kendra’s shot is true and she breaks the jug at the edge of the table, spilling more milk into the MFashnek jug. It, however, can’t bring them to pass Akathla when Buffy makes an equally good shot. Tara’s last shot misses the table as Joyce’s hits the jug, spilling enough milk to cause the Akathla team to celebrate a rare win. They run over and pick up the reward of milk, chocolate, and glasses.

We see the MFashnek team walking back toward their camp. They are surprisingly cheery, joking and saying that they have had most of the rewards and it should be Akathla’s turn. “Yeah,” Faith says, “Immunity is the more important challenge.”

Everyone makes noises of agreement. Suddenly they hear a loud boom and look together. The camera pans to show the nearest volcano which is spewing ash skyward. The entire group stops to watch for a few seconds before Faith exclaims “Holy ***” The others laugh and continue back toward their camp.

Akathla Camp
The four Akathla members have reached their camp and sit down with the chocolate bar. Xander pulls out the machete and is about to strike the bar when Buffy shouts to wait. “What?” Xander asks.

“Put it in the pan so that none falls on the ground,” she says.

“Oh,” Xander responds, “good thought.” He whacks the bar a few times while Joyce pours the milk into four glasses. Once Xander hands out the chocolate pieces we see everyone eating their portion either slowly to savor it or gulping it down.

Confessional Caption - Mac - Retired Army
“I’m not generally one of these sugar, sweet tooth people but I’ll tell you what. That was some damn good chocolate. Nineteen days out here makes a man miss a lot of things and chocolate is just one of them.”

We see various members of Akathla enjoying their chocolate and eventually laying down on the beach. “This is nice,” Joyce comments.

“Yeah,” Buffy agrees, “a break feels really good.” She groans a little though as she says, “I just hope I’m not sick.”

Xander also groans before closing his eyes in the sunshine.

MFashnek Camp
Like Akathla, MFashnek appears to have given themselves the day off after their reward challenge. Willow, Kendra, and Faith are sunbathing on the beach while Tara and Robin swim. “That chocolate would have been r-really good,” Tara tells the tall man when they take a break to tread water.

“That’s very very true,” Robin agrees. He appears to consider saying something for a minute but then doesn’t.

“You remind me of a f-friend of mine,” Tara finally says.

“Are you close?” Robin asks.

Tara smiles a little as if remembering her friend. “Very,” she answers with a smile.

Akathla Camp - Day 20
“We’ve got tree mail,” Mac and Joyce call as they carry the board with pieces on it back to the group. Once they have assembled the apparent puzzle it carries the message:

“You’ll have to be fast and smart if you want to stay on the Island.”

“Anyone else miss Willow?” Xander jokes.

“We can do this,” Joyce says. “Willow is just one person.”

“One very smart person,” Buffy mutters.

MFashnek Camp - Day 20
Tara opens the tree mail box finding the small bag. She jiggles it and obviously hears the movement of the puzzle pieces inside. She hands it to Willow to do the same before they return to camp.

Willow takes the bag in one hand and looks at it intently. “I know you said that I’m in the final four but no one ever knows when they are leaving and just in case we lose today I don’t want to leave without doing this,” she says in a rush. As her words finish she leans forward and softly presses her lips to Tara’s.

Tara returns Willow’s kiss gently before the redhead pulls away. “But you’re not leaving today, Willow,” she assures her.

Confessional Caption - Kendra - Interpreter
“When Willow and Tara got back from getting mail, they were both blushing like crazy, man. I mean everyone with eyes has noticed the way they look at each other. And one walks in the woods, the other gets up to follow. I say, good for you girls. But don’t mess up my game. Tara’s been with Faith and I all along.”

Confessional Caption - Robin - High School Principal
“Faith assures me that I’m in the final four with the three girls. But I’m just not so sure that Tara’s going to want to vote off her… going to want to vote off Willow.”

Immunity Challenge
“Welcome,” Jeff calls to the teams as they take their places on their mats. “Akathla,” he says, “you enjoyed the chocolate.”

“You have no idea,” Buffy responds enthusiastically. Everyone laughs and Jeff walks over to take the immunity idol back from Kendra.

“Today’s challenge,” Jeff explains, “as you might have guessed, is a puzzle.” He points out two large squares next to each other on the ground. Inside each square are 25 more marked squares of 2x2 mats in 5 rows of 5 mats. The mats are blue, green, red, white, and black. “The other side of each mat has an icon printed on it: Volcano, water bottle, coconut tree, pig’s skull, and insect.” Everyone nods. Each team will work as quickly as possible to complete the puzzle. The puzzle is complete when no row or column has more than one mat of the same color or same icon in it.”

“MFashnek, who is sitting out?” Robin raises his hand. “Ok,” Jeff continues, “one person will sit up here and direct.” He indicates a raised seat, much like the one in the earlier puzzle game. “The other three will move the pieces.” After a short strategy session, everyone is somewhat surprised to see Tara rather than Willow take the seat for MFashnek while Joyce takes the seat for Akathla.

A moment later we see and hear Jeff shout, “Survivors Ready. Go!” He watches for a second before commenting: “A little surprise strategy for MFashnek with Willow taking part in moving the mats.” While Joyce begins shouting instructions to Mac, Buffy, and Xander who take all the pieces off the board and turn them over to see the icons, Willow huddles with Faith and Kendra.

“It’s a staggered pattern,” she explains in a fast whisper. Put the red pieces along the main diagonal. The three girls quickly follow these instructions as Akathla begins attempting to put their pieces down according to Joyce’s shouts. The three girls from MFashnek run to place their pieces on the diagonal as Willow directed. As soon as they are finished with that they huddle again.

“Willow directing the puzzle from the ground,” Jeff comments, “while Joyce directs her team from the chair.”

Willow continues her whispered directions. “Faith, you take green. Put them in a diagonal above the red. For each one, put the icon one block to the left of where the red one is-like a Knight’s move in chess. Kendra, take blue put them below and to the right.” She waits a second to see that both girls understood the instruction and runs to put the two remaining green and blue pieces in the opposite corners.

In the meanwhile Joyce is attempting to direct the three Akathla members. “Ok, move the blue piece over,” she shouts to Buffy while telling Mac to put the green pig’s skull on the left. “No, left the other way,” Joyce screams. “Xander, drop the bug.”

Again Kendra and Faith meet Willow at the edge of the board and she tells Faith to do the same pattern with the white pieces in relation to the green and Kendra to repeat with the black pieces in relation to the blue pieces. She takes the remaining white pieces and quickly places them at the bottom of the board. Tara sees the pattern and shouts directions to Kendra and Faith to finish by placing the last two black pieces on the remaining two places.

Joyce continues yelling instructions to the Akathla members who by now have all their pieces on the board but are having to keep trading the positions of two pieces to meet the required pattern. “We’re done,” Tara shouts to Jeff.

The host quickly looks at their puzzle and declares MFashnek the winner, handing the immunity icon to Willow for the first time. She smiles excitedly as she turns and looks at her new teammates.

Confessional Caption - Kendra - Interpreter
“Well I’m definitely a fan of Willow’s now. Who knew there would be so many puzzles in this game? That girl is brilliant and I’m glad I picked her.”

Confessional Caption - Robin - High School Principal
Robin is seen walking along the water line. “I can hardly believe how smart Willow is. I just hope there aren’t many puzzle challenges once we move to individual immunity. It’s hard to trust someone that smart.”

The MFashnek team is walking back to their camp smiling and laughing. Tara and Willow bring up the rear of the group. “I told you that you weren’t going h-home today,” Tara teases.

Willow smiles back at the blonde. “Was um ‘it’ ok anyway?”

Tara blushes before whispering, “Oh yes.”

Akathla Camp
We see Joyce and Buffy talking as they walk down the beach. Mac and Xander are also talking. “We should be able to vote off Joyce,” Mac suggests, “she’s new and when we merge we don’t know where her loyalties will be.”

“I’ll talk to Buffy about it,” Xander says.

Next we see Buffy breaking up firewood. Xander approaches her to discuss the vote. “Who is going to home tonight?” he asks the girl.

“Mac’s strong,” she says casually.

“Don’t you think we need someone strong?” Xander questions.

“Merge is coming soon,” Buffy disagrees, “after merge he will be too strong in the individual immunity challenges.”

“The same could be said about you,” Xander retorts.

Confessional Caption - Xander- Construction
Xander is walking through the woods obviously angry. He picks up a stick and hits several trees as he walks. “I probably did something really stupid by challenging Buffy like that. But I would like to know what her plan is. I mean she says we need to get rid of Mac but she’s dangerous too.”

“Look,” Buffy argues, “if you want to make it 2 to 2 again and everyone pull stones you can do that. On the other hand, I’m pretty sure Mac would sell you out so Joyce and I can team with him. What do you think?”

Confessional Caption - Buffy - College Student
“I pushed Xander pretty hard.” She stops and thinks for a few seconds. “He’s just looking for someone to tell him what to do so he’ll know. This makes it easy for him.”

“Why not Joyce then?” Xander continues arguing.

Buffy shakes her head as if she wants Xander to know he’s stupid. “Joyce is no threat,” she argues, “she won’t win any immunity challenges when we merge.” She walks off as if letting him know that she’s frustrated with him and he stands there watching her with a vacant look on his face.

Later we see Buffy and Joyce talking as they stand and eat their rice. They are whispering together about tonight’s vote. Xander approaches them from behind and the camera shows him listening intently. Finally he approaches the two women and surprises them: “What are we talking about?”

“What?” Joyce startles. She recovers relatively smoothly and tells him, “Vote tonight.”

“Are you voting me off?” Xander asks suspiciously.

“Xander,” Buffy scoffs, “we’re voting off Mac. You know that.”

“You two aren’t telling me something,” Xander accuses.

“What would we be hiding from you?” Joyce asks in a motherly tone.

“What would you be hiding from me?” Xander repeats disbelievingly. “How ridiculous a question is that? I mean we’re on Survivor! You know outwit, outlast, outplay for a million dollars. Why would the two of you have secrets?”

“Xander,” Buffy says, “we are being straight up with you. We’re voting off Mac tonight.”

Xander raises both his eyebrows as he speaks. “Something is up with the two of you,” he repeats, “Joyce was on the other team for, what 16 days? And she gets here and the two of you are thick as thieves. Girl power and all that? Sure. We’ll vote off Mac tonight.” He stomps away as Joyce and Buffy watch him go.

Confessional Caption - Mac - Retired Army
“We had a saying in the bush. ‘When it gets too quiet, that’s when you know you’re in trouble.’ Ok. That’s not much of a saying but it’s true. “ He looks around. “No one wanted to scheme with me today. Not even a courtesy lie. I’m gone tonight. I just hope this Xander can hold his own among these two women. They’re sneaky and they’re hiding something.”

Tribal Council
The four Akathla members file in and take their places on the logs. “Welcome,” Jeff says, “this is really quite a habit.” He’s trying to make a joke but it doesn’t appear to seem funny to Akathla.

“Joyce,” Jeff says to begin his questioning. “You moved to a new team a few days ago. Now you’ve been to tribal council twice. How does that feel?”

“It’s a game,” Joyce answers, “I didn’t want to leave my team but I did and now I’m on a new team.”

“Richard was voted off at the last tribal council,” Jeff says, “does that mean that you are an outsider and have a big target on your back?”

“It probably does,” Joyce answers, “but I think that people in this game have seen it before. They know what to look for after the merge.” Mac grimaces at Joyce’s statement.

“Mac,” Jeff says, “you look like you didn’t appreciate Joyce’s statement.”

“I don’t like it but it is true,” Mac says gruffly. “This game changes after merge. You have to know who is strong but you also have to know who to trust. A little loyalty can go a long way.”

“Buffy,” Jeff turns next, “is that right? Is loyalty important to this team?”

“Jeff,” Buffy says with a seeming tightly controlled anger, “it’s hard to hear a lecture about loyalty from someone who has been trying to vote you off the island for days.”

Mac makes a visible sneer at Buffy’s comment. “What about you, Xander? What do you think? Should there be loyalty in a game like this?”

Xander thinks about it for a minute before answering: “I think that loyalty is important but you have to be loyal to yourself and the game you’re playing first and foremost.”

“With that,” Jeff says, “it’s time to vote. Joyce, you’re up.”

Joyce votes, followed by Buffy, Xander, and Mac. Jeff returns with the votes and says, “let’s tally the votes.” He pulls the first vote: “First vote: Buffy.” No one looks surprised at the first vote. “Second vote: Mac. Third vote: Mac.” He recaps the short vote: “That’s two votes Mac. One vote Buffy.” He pulls the last vote and announces, “And the 8th person voted off Survivor - Ash Island and first Jury member is Mac.”

Mac brings his torch and has it put out. Before leaving he turns and tells his teammates: “Xander and Buffy: you kids give MFashnek hell.” The Akathla team turns and leaves the tribal council.

Parting Words - Mac
“Well, I tell you. I’ve had a lot of fun here for these past three weeks. It’s going to be interesting being on the jury and seeing how this turns out.”

Next week on Survivor - Ash Island
“Old friendships are renewed.” Shots of Buffy, Xander, and Willow hugging. Shot of Joyce and Tara hugging. “And new ones grow closer.” Shot of Tara and Willow snuggling in the night-vision shot of the campground.

“A new tribe may reveal new alliances.” Shot of Robin talking with Joyce and Buffy.

All next week on Survivor - Ash Island