"I'm here in Micronesia, just off the coast of Palau, one of the most beautiful island nations in the world!" shouted Jeff Probst over the drone of the airplane he was standing in. "Behind me, twenty-four eighteen year olds are about to set off on the adventure of a lifetime! Although they come from various walks of life, they have one thing in common: their desire to win the million dollar prize!"
Jeff smiled as the camera panned away from him, and onto some of the contestants. This was one of his favorite parts of the show- seeing the contestants for the first time on location, and getting to know them before they set off on what promised to be a life changing experience. Besides, looking at the contestants faces was always an enjoyable pastime. Some looked sick. Some looked excited. And some were looking at Jeff as if he were a god who had graced them with his presence.
"These 24 contestants have never spoken to each other," Jeff continued, as the plane sped up, heading towards Sonsorol island. "But first impressions are already forming! Soon, these contestants will be divided into 4 tribes of 6 each, and will battle it out from there to avoid going to tribal council, where one contestant will be voted out!" Some of the contestants behind him made faces. Tribal council was a place where no one wanted to be. "But..." he said teasingly, as some of the contestants looked up in alarm. "There's a twist this season! If anyone is voted out before the merge, they will not go home. Instead, they will go to redemption island, where they will duel other contestants for a chance to get back in the game."
After a slight nod from the cameraman, Jeff casually reached up and grabbed the railing of the plane. It wouldn't bode well to fall out. Not at this height. "This season, to win, contestants will not only have to survive redemption island, but the environment, and each other. Who will come out on top? Find out here, on survivor: Micronesia!" And, as Jeff finished those words, the plane began to plummet towards toward the ocean as Jeff shouted "52 days! 24 people! 1... sole survivor!" Survivor Micronesia had begun.
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Contestants: Adam, Alex, Amanda, Anna, Aurora, Chelsea, Dusty, Duy (pronounced "Dewey"), Isaac, Jake, Jerod, Julianna, Katie, Katya, Maggie, Marina, Montana, Noah, Ollie, Patrick, Sean, Shelby, and Stefan.
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20 minutes later, the contestants stumbled onto the beach, a little shell shocked from the plane ride, perhaps, but excited nonetheless. "Welcome to Palau," Jeff started, as the contestants smiled, pleased to be on the ground again. "You all are going to have an amazing time out here. But, in order to do that, you have to be divided into tribes."
Alex shuddered. The way Jeff was talking terrified him. He knew that mischievous voice from watching the show, and it never preluded something good. Besides, wasn't redemption island bad enough? Nothing could be worse than returning contestants, except maybe losing by a unanimous jury vote.
"You guys are going to be divided into four tribes of six each!" Jeff pronounced excitedly. Inwardly, Marina breathed a sigh of relief. She was expecting a tribe of all girls, which she would NOT have been comfortable with. Or a schoolyard pick where people would be sent home immediately. This was a cakewalk compared to something like that.
"Each of you will step on a disk, girls on the tan ones, and guys on the black. When I say reveal, you are going to flip over your disk, where a buff will be waiting. Orange, Red, Green, and Yellow- go ahead and select a disk now," Jeff instructed the 24. After they had sorted themselves out, he raised his hand as if he was starting a race, dropped it, and said "reveal".
An assortment of reds, greens, yellows, and oranges had soon found themselves on the contestants bodies, while a clap of thunder introduced a surprisingly violent rainstorm. "Green tribe, you will be called Airai!" cried Jeff. "Here's a map to your new home, take off!" The green tribe trudged away towards a boat just off shore, where they climbed in and began to paddle, unsure of themselves.
On the green team was Patrick, who looked like one of the strongest men of the game, and would do anything he could to avoid going to tribal council. Marina sat behind, a tall girl with auburn hair, who knew she would do whatever it took to get to the end. Behind her, sat Alex, the super fan of the show who probably knew more about the game than any other, followed by Montana, whose strategy was to play a heroic game that could keep her integrity intact. Maggie came next, who, although short, could pack a serious punch on those who crossed her, and finally, Sean, who intended to be the nice, fun guy, who wouldn't be made a target.
"Yellow team," Jeff shouted, a the torrent continued, "you will be called Anguar!" he tossed them a map, and they took off in the opposite direction (for a three mile hike), where their camp, and boat, would be waiting. On Anguar was Hannah, who had black, frizzy hair, who always had good intentions, although she had a tendency to come off as a little too bossy. Anna and Katie followed behind, who already had struck up a conversation about how excited they were. Finally, the three men lagged behind, all trying to look as if they weren't already strategizing- Adam, the funny one, Stefan, who was already paranoid, and Isaac, whose current plan was to make himself too valuable to lose.
A little ways behind Anguar came Sonsorol, the red team, who were climbing into their boat to get to their camp, the island across from the current beach. Jerod, who was generally quiet until he broke out of his shell, pushed off, while Rora examined the map. Her goal was to just make sure that her temper wouldn't get the better of her during the game. Julianna and Katya both sorted through the paddles, trying to ignore the other, both afraid that the other would come after them. Both had a game plan, and both intended to last quite a while in the game. Duy laughed to himself as he jumped into the boat about how he knew he was going to get far in this game, no matter what, while Ollie, the last male of Sonsorol, quietly surveyed everyone else, trying to get an impression of what the tribe would be like.
On the beach, the orange team marched into the jungle behind Jeff, towards the opposite side of the small island. They were to be called Koror, and they consisted of Jake, the student who came from England, who wanted to make it for as long as possible, and Amanda, who just wanted to make as many friends as possible. Shelby came next, wondering how she was possibly going to survive for 52 days if it rained this hard every day, and Noah, whose fluffy brown hair was sticking to his forehead, dripping into his eyes and making him miserable. Dusty sarcastically saluted Jeff before entering the jungle, and finally Chelsea, the 24th contestant, who knew that her witty demeanor could either help or hurt her in this human chess game.
Jeff watched the three tribes depart, and as Chelsea disappeared into the jungle, the rain suddenly stopped. Survivor: Micronesia had officially begun, and it promised to be one of the craziest seasons Jeff had ever seen. He couldn't wait.
