Chapter 3: Ready or Not…?
Not long after Team Neon's elimination ceremony, all 23 remaining campers were soon fast asleep. Considering the combined rigorous activity and the stress of the first challenge, staying up late after such a day would be a large hindrance.
The next morning, the temperature was a sold 15 degrees cooler than the day before in addition to being exponentially cloudier. It was around 9:30 by the time everyone on the island had waken up.
Team Xenon
The girls' side of Team Xenon was eerily quiet, even though all four of the campers were wide awake. Daniella, attempting to lighten the mood, initiated a conversation.
"So, that challenge yesterday was…rough, am I right?" she said with a shy, awkward chuckle.
"Yeah, tell me about it," Monique answered. "I mean, it was unique and everything, but today needs to be more toned down or I won't be happy."
"I'd like for today to be a challenge where the whole team can stay together," Michelle added. "We can definitely benefit from being a little closer to each other."
"Getting to know the people on this team is one of the things I want to do least here on this island," Lara said.
"Um, why is that?" Daniella asked. "You're at a disadvantage when you don't know much about the people you're with. And if you're all reclusive, then that hurts the team, too."
"The reason I can care less about knowing everyone is that I don't care about you now and the more I know about you, the more useless things I know that I don't care about," Lara answered.
"You see, Lara, an attitude like this is where people on shows like this tend to fall apart," Monique began. "If you want people to keep you around, then you have to be approachable."
"Or, Monique, if you want to have an interesting game, then you have to play yourself as the one that people are too scared to vote off," Lara said.
"Well, maybe that strategy would be viable if you weren't bone-thin and under 5 foot tall. For someone like you, that's a terrible plan," Michelle said with a hint of sass and sarcasm.
Daniella adopted a look of concern for things to come and took initiative. "Well, I'm going to go now," she said as she stepped quietly out the door.
"You don't need to be physically imposing to appear threatening, Michelle," Lara said in an aggressive tone. "It's the way you speak that makes a difference on how people view you."
"Well, if everyone opposes you, then what's stopping them from all kicking you off?" Monique questioned.
"I'm not saying the use of threats is a good thing, but I can see it being a viable option," Lara said with a shrug.
"That's a pathetic way to play the game if you have to hype yourself up to be something you're not," Michelle said as she stood up and stretched. "Well, I'm heading to get something to eat. Monique, if you want to come with then feel free. And Lara, maybe you should just skip the meal and work on a better game plan." Michelle walked out of the cabin followed shortly by Monique.
Once outside the cabin, Monique and Michelle continued to talk.
"I hate talking to her," Michelle began. "She somehow brings out my petty side without even trying and that's pretty remarkable."
"No, I don't like her either," Monique said. "But objectively, she has more talent than like half of our team so there's some benefit to keeping her around."
"True, but first chance we get she's gone," Michelle said.
"Oh, no doubt. No doubt at all," Monique said as the two began walking through the woods to the Mess Hall.
On the boys' side of the cabin, the campers were getting along much more amicably.
"So that's why you should never ever take public transportation," Carson said as he finished a story.
"Wait, so you're saying that just because someone puked on a seat once and there's still a stain on the same seat that you shouldn't ever take public transportation?" Felix questioned.
"Of course not, it's extremely unsanitary," Carson said with a nod.
"Sure, that's kind of nasty but you're making a huge generalization," Tom noted.
"Exactly; all public places are sort of filthy but you can't just avoid going out in public," Landon stated.
"Sure you can avoid the outside world. After a teacher at my school got fired, he refused to leave his house for 9 months straight," Carson remembered.
"Okay, well, just because one person, who probably has some slight mental issue, can stay in a house for that long doesn't mean a typical person could do that," Felix said.
"I'm sure that the millions of people going to and from work and places like that using public transportation can care less about one minor inconvenience like that," Tom said with a yawn.
"Yeah, I'm sure that you can just tell the bus company and they'll fix your 'issue'," Landon said. "It's getting to be time for breakfast, so I'm going now. You're all welcome to join me."
"Breakfast sounds good right now," Tom said as he got up and followed Landon. Shortly after, Felix did the same.
"Hmph. It's a shame everyone else is so accustomed to germs and unsanitary habits being so commonplace these days. What fools." Carson's stomach rumbles and he gets up to go to the Mess Hall as well.
Confessional:
Tom: I'm not really sure why Carson chose that story to lighten the mood, especially since it involved vomit and we're eating right after. I shouldn't think of that story during breakfast. Completely unrelated, I wonder how the girls are getting along…
Michelle: Maybe this is an over exaggeration to say this, but our team, or at least some of our team, could use some sense talked into them. Sure, I'm not a perfect player or anything, but this beef that we've made will end up costing us challenges if we're not careful, and I won't take long to find someone to blame.
Team Krypton:
Unlike the other two teams, all 8 members of Team Krypton were already out and about and decided to take a walk around the forested areas bordering the beach. There were a few dirt trials already formed and the group was walking on the shortest one.
"I had my reservations coming to this island, and the fish incident yesterday certainly didn't help, but I have to say that this island is pretty nice. Like it has all of this nature, so how can someone be disappointed?" Lotus said to her team.
"Yeah, I feel the same as you. Even the underwater challenge yesterday had some pretty impressive features. Like, how many times do you get to swim in a coral reef?" Sebastian stated with a smile.
"This is a solid start to the day, so I just hope the rest of this day can match this beginning," Xavier began. "I hope there's an easy challenge. I'd like to have a relaxing time."
"Or at the very least, a challenge where we need to work as a whole team," Angelica said. "I have faith in us, but team building is always beneficial."
The group kept walking around the trail for around 20 more minutes until they came across a rather small waterfall. Nonetheless, it was absolutely breathtaking. It was surrounded by somewhat sparkly gray stone and had a pool of water at the bottom which contained more than a few Lili pads. There were a few small animals such as frogs and chipmunks in the surrounding areas, but the only real focus was the calming sound of falling water.
"Woah, guys, look at the in front of us," Devin exclaimed to his team. "I wouldn't think to find a waterfall somewhere like this."
"I can't say that I expected to find this either, but I'm certainly not complaining. This is gorgeous," Emily said with a smile.
"If we didn't need to eat, then I would suggest that we just stay here until the challenge starts. I'll definitely be coming back here a lot," Henrique said.
"I'm with you Henrique," Liv said as she went and sat down on a small rock. The rest of the team all sat down in various places around the waterfall as well. Team Krypton, quite expectedly, sat in peace for a few minutes until Lotus glanced at her phone.
"Hmm, well it's almost 10, so we should probably be getting back to go eat at the Mess Hall. Unfortunately, it pains me to say that," she said with a frown.
"Eh, it sucks that we have to go back, but we can't just not go to the challenge," Henrique said objectively.
"I mean, we could try to just skip the introduction that Lance is going to give us," Xavier said.
"Well, personally, I'm starving, so I'll be heading back. I think it'd be the wisest choice to join me," Angelica said as she began to walk back in the direction of the Mess Hall. Although most of them were reluctant, all of her teammates joined her as she took a path back to the Mess Hall.
Confessional:
Liv: I really didn't want to get up as early as I did today, but I'm super glad that I did. I would've been really upset with myself if I would've skipped out on seeing the waterfall. Although that makes me wonder if the other teams know about any other neat places.
Devin: Normally I work out for at least a half an hour in the morning. Obviously, today that wasn't the case but I'd say the trail expedition was worth it. And still, we probably walked for about a mile or so, so I guess that's something.
Team Neon
In the girls' side of the cabin, only Helena was there. She was sitting contently on the top of the bunk that she used to share with Sabrina. She was reading a book titled How to Avoid Unwanted Social Interactions. Quite into her reading, she didn't notice originally when Rowena and Shayli came back from a morning tan on the beach.
"Oh, good morning Helena," Shayli greeted. This warranted no response. "Um, Helena, are you awake?"
"What are you reading?" Rowena asked. She moved closer to Helena who still sat there quietly, making zero eye contact. "Hmm 'How to Avoid Unwanted Social Interactions'… I'm sure it's a good read."
"Maybe we should just go back outside, Rowena," Shayli said as she opened the door and walked out. Rowena followed closely.
Once the two left Helena alone again, she set the book down with a content smile. "Huh, I guess eye contact really does make a big difference when you're talking to someone. This can be a useful resource from here on out," she thought to herself.
Outside the cabin, Rowena and Shayli continued to talk.
"I wouldn't say that we're at a disadvantage because our loss because they'll hurt every team, but we still need to try extra hard so we can avoid as many of them as possible," Shayli said.
"Yeah, I agree with you there. I wouldn't say that we're better or worse off without Sabrina because she didn't seem like she was full of surprises or anything. It still isn't a great thing for out teams' self-confidence, though," Rowena responded.
"With people like Adrian on our team, I doubt our overall self-confidence will be impacted much. He seems to have plenty of it," Shayli said with a giggle. The two kept conversing as they walked towards the Mess Hall with Helena following distantly behind.
Still in the boys' side of the cabin, Adrian, Jaime, and Otto were still relaxing after sleeping in for quite a bit. Once again, Bram wasn't present.
"Well, I'll just say it now that I really don't miss Sabrina," Adrian said with a shrug. "Although I would've preferred it to be Shayli gone, it's not the biggest of deals."
"I feel like, statistically, Shayli should've been voted off last night," Jaime thought aloud. "Well, that's just what I believe; although everyone is this game has their own goals. For me, every day here is a gift, really."
"I wasn't the one voted out, so I can't be mad," Otto stated bluntly. "If you don't play this game strategically, then you have bad chances are making it far."
"Otto, I'm surprised you are so familiar with this show, being from Germany and all," Adrian said.
"Well, I'm very fluent at the English language, or at least that's what I've been told consistently, so I thought that this show wouldn't be too much to handle. And I'm familiar with this show because they have a spin-off based in Germany which I watched most of."
"That's a pretty good background coming into this show," Jaime enthused. "You are probably better prepared that a lot of other people here."
"I sure hope so. I feel like it would be a waste to do poorly on the show because I'll have to go back to my exchange school all disappointed, and I don't need to feel that way," Otto stated.
Adrian, noticing his stomach starting to growl in hunger, stood up and stretched. "Well, I think it's about time for breakfast. Do you two agree?"
"Yep, I do," Jaime said as he stood up. He, Otto, and Adrian exited the cabin and began to walk to the Mess Hall.
Meanwhile, Bram was once again in his 'secret location' smoking. His expression revealed a great feeling of joy and nirvana as he viewed the coast of the island below him. After staying there for a few minutes and enjoying the high, he eventually got up and walked back to the Mess Hall in order to not miss breakfast again.
Confessional:
Bram: Maybe I should be spending more time with my teammates instead of getting high constantly, but we're here on this game for a good time and not a long time. And besides, no one could find where I was last night, so I voted with my own intentions. Life is good.
Helena: I wouldn't say that I'm purposefully being antisocial, especially since I act like this on a regular basis, but I didn't really need any reason to be conversing this early in the morning. Although, now that I think of it, I could thank Shayli for helping me stay on the island last night. But, she could've been lying. This came is hard.
Mess Hall
The breakfast for the second day of the challenge was a choice of various fruit flavored smoothies. Among the choices were strawberry, pineapple, and mango. The 23 remaining campers all sat at the team tables and enjoyed their smoothies. After about 15 minutes, the final few contestants finished their breakfast and not more than a minute later, Lance came in to the Mess Hall.
"Good morning, everyone!" he began with a grin. "After a challenge yesterday that received some mixed feeling from all of you, the producers and I have decided to scrap today's original challenge plan and swap episodes to give you all a slightly more relaxing second day. And, making it especially easy for me as a host, the game is a childhood classic that needs little explanation: Hide and Seek!"
After he said this, most of the campers nodded and smiled in response to hearing about a laid back challenge style. Although a few contestants showed dismay for a challenge that they deemed boring, the general consensus was very positive.
"Since there's no need to change into different attire, we can commence the challenge right here, right now," Lance started again. "Since there are three teams, there are, naturally, three seekers. The rest of you are the ones hiding-"
"No, really?" Lara said with an extreme sense of sarcasm.
"I don't care to be interrupted," Lance said as he shot a glare at Lara. "Anyways, there will be the one person per team searching for the members of a different team. The Team Xenon seeker will have to find all of Team Neon's players, Neon hunts Krypton, and Krypton hunts Xenon. The first seeker to find all members of the chosen team wins their team a reward, the second place, again, neither wins nor loses, and the seeker that is last to find their opponents has their team up for elimination. Questions?"
"We need to know who the seekers are to start, obviously," Henrique noted.
"Oh, right! I almost forgot about that," Lance said with a nervous, embarrassed chuckle. "I already have the three seekers chosen. Team Krypton's seeker is Angelica, Neon has Jaime and Xenon has Daniella. The rest of you, go run away and hide. Now. You all have 10 minutes before we start."
Confessional:
Rowena: Not to be cocky or anything, but I'd say I have some skill at hide and seek. I'm sure I'm not one of the top players for something like this, but as long as Daniella can't see me, then I'll be set.
Henrique: Being someone who possesses a large stature, a game of hide and seek isn't always the best use of be physical capabilities. I just need to find somewhere off of the ground and just hope that I don't stick out or anything.
Lara: This challenge would be just dandy if I knew where anything on this island was, but sadly I do not. Maybe I can find a cave or something dark and ominous like that. I just need to trust the process and everything will fall into place. It always does.
As Lance finished his statement, all of the contestants, minus the seekers, ran out of the Mess Hall to various places, while the seekers were still sitting at their tables.
"Well, I didn't necessarily want to be a seeker, but this could be fun," Jaime said enthusiastically.
"I wouldn't say I'm good either, but you have to do what you must to win for your team," Angelica said in agreement.
"Regardless, this should be a fun challenge, and I look forward to competing with you both," Daniella said with a smile. This garnered agreeing statements from Jaime and Angelica.
After the 10 minutes had passed, Lance put a whistle in his mouth and blew is as loudly as he could. "Go!" he exclaimed as the three seekers embarked on their hunt for the others. As they ran into the distance, Lance turned back towards a cameraman who had walked in from a side door.
"With a new challenge just underway, the action can only increase from here on out. Will anyone's hiding spot win the game for their team? Who will become the most fuming by the end of this challenge? What are your thoughts?" he asked the 'audience' though the camera. "Find out when we return to Total Drama Tropic!"
"Cut!"
A/N: So the 2nd official challenge has officially been started. I had a few different ideas for the challenge in this chapter, but I felt as though one where I can focus on the character's individual thoughts could be useful for a chapter this early on, especially since I feel that I could've done better characterization in the first few chapters. Regardless of that, if you read and enjoyed this chapter, feedback of any kind is greatly appreciated! The 2nd half of this chapter should be out within the next week!