Wooo! Another chapter less than a week later! I wasn't kidding when I said I had some inspiration! Hopefully this is still an okay chapter, as per usual, I'm uploading this incredibly early in the morning/late at night depending on which way you look at it so it could just be delirious ramblings! Hopefully not though! Hope that you enjoy it though!
Once again standing together were Chris and Don, our hosts with the most were standing close together, ready to begin the intro to the next episode of our wonderful show! The director gave his usual signal to begin and the two snapped into professional mode like a well oiled machine.
"Welcome back our wonderful viewers!" Don started with a smile, "Last time on Total Drama, we had our teams stretch their creative muscles when they had to build a fort made out of snow for our pleasure."
"I would say that it was a close fight, but it really wasn't! The Felines were absolutely blown out of the water by the Snakes!" Chris delighted in reminding the viewers, "With their medieval inspired fort, designed almost entirely by Boris, it was obvious that the boys had produced the better results."
"So it was the Felines that were sent to the elimination ceremony." Don continued quickly, "And boy was the vote messy! With over half of the team receiving votes it was Yvette who received the most and took the ski of shame."
"Coming up! How will the Snakes fair in the next challenge? Is their win just good luck or indication for something more?"
"How will Yves deal with her closest ally being sent home on her first vote?"
"Will Boris continue to show off his surprising skills, or was it just a little one off treat?" Chris smiled at the camera. "Find out all of this and more! Right now! On Total-!"
"Drama-!"
"Audacious Alpines!"
(Theme Song)
Dear Mom and Dad I'm doing fine.
The title sequence begins with Nick looking at himself in the mirror in the confessional, he is fixing his hair before the door opens, scaring him and causing him to jump and fall onto the toilet. In walks Ashe who looks horrified and quickly runs out with his head in his hands.
You guys are on my mind.
Luciana is in the living room, enjoying a quiet read by the fire when Alyssa comes running down the stairs with two snowboards that she found. She throws one to Luciana who catches it with a grin as the two run out of the cabin.
You asked me what I wanted to be.
We now see the two girls skateboarding down the mountain, wearing the appropriate safety gear of course, they board past Boris who has somehow managed to get himself stuck in a tree, he calls for help as they ignore him.
And now I think the answer is plain to see.
Kahlin and Yvette are enjoying dinner together, they are both chatting incessantly but it appears that neither is actually listening to the other, they're both in their own worlds. The camera pans to show Amelia rolling her eyes and looking exasperated at the both of them.
I wanna be famous
Chef is in the kitchen cooking up dinner for the campmates, Yves is behind him, watching what he does carefully, Chef wipes some sweat off his brow and continues cooking as he does.
I want to live close to the sun
Damien is trying to have a nap in his bed when Adrian bursts in and starts singing to himself, Damien takes the pillow and places it over his head, trying to drown out Adrian's noise.
So pack your bags cause I've already won
Aleena is filming something in the distance, she is taking it very seriously, a furrow in her brow when Miles appears in front of her camera. This causes her to jump and throw her camera behind her, she growls at Miles and pounces on him, throwing them both down the mountain.
Everything to prove nothing in my way-
As the two of them fight and roll down to the bottom of the mountain, they land in a heap in the end and are soon joined by Alyssa and Luciana who cheer as they reach the bottom of the mountain.
I'll get there one day-
Iris is sitting by an open fire, rubbing her hands together and warming them slightly. She is soon joined by all the other members who gather around the fire to keep warm. They're all wearing their jackets and start whistling together, showing more camaraderie than before.
Nananana Nananana
Chris and Don arrive with a tray of cocoa, all in their own little takeaway cups. They begin handing them out to the contestants.
I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous
Marnie can be seen behind a camera glaring at Chris and Don, writing something down in her notebook.
I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous
All of the campers, plus Chris and Don smile happily as Marnie snaps her pencil in annoyance nearby, watching the scene with disgust.
(End Theme Song)
(The Games Room)
Following the departure of Yvette, the hosts had decided that the contestants needed something more fun to do with their down time, in the hopes of keeping them motivated. The result was a games room, filled with multiple games like pool and foosball as well as a ping-pong table. Currently engaged in a game of pool were Miles and Nick, the two boys were staring intently at the table with their sticks in their hands, plotting out their next move.
Nick was the next to go and quickly leaned over the table, slowly setting up his shot line before hitting the ball and potting the second to last ball left of his on the table, the only one remaining being the final, winning, black eight ball. He pointed to a corner of the table and designated that he would get the ball in there. Miles watched with anticipation as Nick set the shot up once again, he hit the cue ball and deftly slotted the eight ball into its pocket.
"Good game dude." Miles congratulated the winning man, giving him his arm to shake as he does.
"You too, I really thought you had me at one point." He laughed as Miles soon joined in,
"Yeah I think I let the ball drop for a second, I should have potted that last shot, but it wasn't meant to be." The darker haired boy concedes with a shrug. "I'll get you next time though." He smiles as Nick lets out a hearty chuckle.
"We'll just have to wait and see won't we?" The boy jabbed back with a boyish grin.
"Oh we will." Miles grinned, "At least this room is warm, I'm starting to go mad from how cold everything is."
"Then why did you sign up for a game in the middle of the northern Canadian wilderness?" Nick asked with a bemused smile, "It seems pretty counterintuitive."
"Because I'm not going to let the cold stop me from winning, it's just annoying because I don't like it." Miles explained, "It makes my arm play up sometimes too." He rolls his eyes, pointing to his prosthetic arm.
"Ah yeah… that must suck." Nick said, giving Miles a warm and sympathetic smile, "Maybe the next challenge will be inside so you won't have to feel the cold."
"That would be nice." The shorter boy nodded, "Another game?" He offered to the blond boy.
"You're on!" Nick agreed with a grin, helping the other boy set up the table as they prepared for a second game.
(Confessional)
NICK: I love being able to unwind after winning a challenge! We might have to make a habit out of this because it's amazing! The most relaxed I've felt all game.
MILES: You ever heard the saying keep your friends close but your enemies closer? That's the mantra I'm following this game. Nick is a threat to my game, so I need to make sure that I get him before he gets me, and that means I need to keep him on my radar all the time - without him sniffing out my true intentions.
(The Girls' Room)
On the other side of the coin were the girls, the losers from the last episode. Yves was still questioning whether or not she did the right thing, sitting on her bed, Iris was sitting in the room with her there to offer a helping hand when she needed it.
"It's been one vote and I'm getting so worked up over it." Yves sighed, holding her head in her hands.
"It's alright… it was difficult for everyone." Iris reassured the leader of her team, rubbing her leg lightly for comfort.
"But it's only the start, I'll never be able to get to the end if I can't even handle the first vote." Yves groaned, feeling more embarrassed of herself than angry.
"Just keep on pushing girl, you never know what the new day might bring. You're still in the game so you've got to keep on fighting or you may as well have lost right?" The motherly girl advised Yves, the dancer nodded in agreeance. They both turned their heads quickly as the door opened, revealing Aleena who had been coming in to get something from her suitcase.
"Oh… hey." She said awkwardly, shuffling into the room and walking over to the bed. The mood in the room immediately turned uncomfortable, Aleena unsure of who voted for her, and Yves knowing that Aleena is the reason Yvette went home.
"I didn't vote for you." The dancer quickly informed the filmmaker, "I couldn't bring myself to do it."
"Okay." Aleena noted with a noticeable lack of emotion.
"I think you did well in the challenge." Yves said again, trying to break the ice.
"But you didn't back me up when I spoke my ideas, you just ignored me." Aleena was gaining confidence as she spoke, realising that it was Yves who was on the back foot.
"I had to go with what I believed in my gut…-" Yves began before being quickly cut off,
"Well your gut was wrong." Aleena stated matter of factly, walking out of the room with whatever it was that she came in for, leaving Iris and Yves alone again.
"Mmmm. Messed that one up." Yves groaned as Iris rubbed her back again.
(Confessional)
ALEENA: At the end of the day it doesn't really matter whether you voted for me, or if it was personal or not because you still knowingly let that happen. It takes more than a half hearted apology and a sad face to make it up to me.
YVES: I knew immediately that this was going to bite me in the back! All I want to do is for us to be friends, and get along like a good team but they're really making it difficult...
(The Cafeteria)
Kahlin, Damien and Amelia were sat in the cafeteria together, the three of them were eating the breakfast that chef had lovingly made for them which consisted of what could vaguely be considered to be bacon and eggs, but the bacon was charred to a crisp and the eggs looked to be an odd green colour… a truly appetizing and healthy meal.
Unfortunately, the three people gathered are all rather silent people, they were all trying to eat in relative silence, looks of deep focus on their face as they tried not to think about what it was that they were actually ingesting at the moment. In order to help him focus, Damien had begun to hum a small little show tune, likely one of the shows that he had been working on recently.
"Oh Wicked." Amelia recognised with a smile, "I did that one while I was on Jam."
"Oh I thought I recognised you!" Damien said with a smile, his usual awkward demeanour was less present now that he was talking about a subject that he felt comfortable in. "You were good! I always wanted to be on the show when I was watching." Damien had a small blush form on his cheeks, his typical awkwardness still finding a way to peek through.
"Oh thanks." Amelia said with a shrug, "It was pretty good I guess," She took another bite of her food and grimaced at it."
"I don't know why everyone is having so much trouble with the food." Kahlin muttered, "One you get past the taste and the texture and sometimes the smell, really it's all fine." The boy smiled to himself, effectively interrupting the conversation between the others as they gave him weird looks.
"That's like saying something like… 'Oh you know, once you get past the fact that it really burns and hurts like a bitch, being set on fire really is all fine." Amelia commented with a scoff, rolling her eyes at the comment.
"I suppose you have a point." Kahlin conceded with a slow nod, "I just don't think the food is all that bad, it's definitely edible."
"Edible doesn't mean enjoyable." Damien noted with a little sigh, "And this definitely isn't enjoyable, and edible is still questionable at best."
"I definitely won't be making any reservations at his restaurant any time soon." Amelia laughed to herself, also earning a small chuckle from Damien. The actress then decided that she had had enough of her food and moved away from the table to throw it in the trash, Damien quickly followed, both of them now leaving Kahlin sat at the table by himself.
"Aw… I would have finished their portions." He muttered as he continued to eat his own.
(Confessional)
DAMIEN: Oh I nearly let it slip there… I'm really surprised Amelia hasn't clocked me yet considering she is one of the top musical artists on TV right now - she's pretty inspirational if you ask me.
AMELIA: Yes, I know who Damien is, seriously how can you forget a literal giant on a stage? I went and saw him in Wicked… he was actually really good! The fact that he's hiding his status so overtly is interesting too, although it does make him rather suspect don't you think?
(The Living Room)
It was Ashe and Boris who were sitting in the Living Room today, Ashe was once again reading his book while Boris was doodling in a sketchbook?
"You know Ashley, given my outstanding performance in the challenge yesterday, I have thus decided to take up artistry as a hobby, here are some sketches I've done while we've been sitting here." The rich boy flipped his book around to show the shorter boy. He looked up from his book to see that they were indeed actually rather impressive, with dragons perching on castles and knights in intricate suits of armour sitting atop horses.
"Those are actually really impressive." Ashe smiled at the rich boy who in return pretended to flick hair behind his shoulder that he simply didn't have.
"Yes. I know. What more could you expect? I'm good at anything I attempt, of course." Boris boasted with a grin.
"Uh huh." Ashe mumbled, going back to his book, not in the mood to put up with Boris' unrelenting bragging.
"It's really simply genetics of course, I come from a line of talented and well off people so it would only make sense that I myself also possess such skill." He continued to ramble as Ashe ignored him as best as he could, continuing to turn the pages in his book - Boris continued entirely unaware that he had no audience.
(Confessional)
BORIS: I must say, I surprise even myself with how well I've drawn these. Of course I cannot let someone else know that I wasn't expecting it because that would go against the words of my great great times five Grandfather Montgomery Bennington, you see what he said was-
ASHE: I do just want to make it really clear that I don't in anyway hate Boris, he just makes it extremely hard to listen to him because he really does like to go on a bit and it's less like a conversation and more like just having these really high volume noises blasted into your ears without having a break… does that make sense?
BORIS: (A little caption pops up on the screen saying '15 Minutes Later') And so that's how my great great times five Grandfather Montgomery Bennington inspired me to be as excellent as I am with everything that I do.
(The Bathroom)
Currently in the shower was Luciana while Alyssa was outside brushing her teeth ready for the day ahead. Although the shower was rather loud, the two of them were shouting over the water to be heard.
"Lucky you for not getting any votes against you!" Alyssa shouted to Luciana, speaking through a mouth full of foam and a toothbrush.
"Cheers babe!" came her response, "And it wasn't me who voted for you!"
"I didn't think it was! I know you wouldn't do that to me." Alyssa laughed, spitting out into the sink and taking a small drink from the tap to rinse out her mouth.
"I definitely didn't see Yvette going though." Luciana admitted, "I'm going to hazard a guess and say you had something to do with it?"
"Yeah that was me…" Alyssa confirmed, nodding her head even if Luciana couldn't actually see her. "It just didn't sit right with me how she was treating everyone on the team like pieces of a game."
"Power to you girl, standing up for what you believe in is the greatest statement you can make." Luciana spoke sagely, turning off her shower as she had finished. "Can you pass the towel?" Alyssa passed said towel over the shower door to the posh girl who spent a couple minutes drying herself off before emerging with a puff of steam, the towel now wrapped around her to protect her modesty.
"I just don't want us to like… stop being close because we voted differently." Alyssa confessed, staring into the ground. "'Cause I like what we have, and I don't want that ruined."
"I'm not gonna hate you for voting differently to me, as long as you're not voting for me I don't really care. I think you're my friend because I like your personality," Luciana reassured the girl with a warm smile as she reached for the door, "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and get dressed for the day."
"Yeah see you at the challenge girl." Alyssa gave her a small wave goodbye as she let out a sigh of relief at the conversation.
(Confessional)
ALYSSA: Oh that's such a relief, I don't even know why I was so worried, but something about me voting against her had me thinking that she secretly hated me or something for voting out Yvette. But we're all good now so nothing to worry about!
LUCIANA: That girl is a funny little chicken right? She was acting like she'd kill my father or something! I'm not even mad that Yvette went, I was just going along with what she said so that she didn't decide to target me!
(The Cabin Porch)
Another chapter, another challenge! Chris and Don had gathered our now twelve contestants here outside the cabin to describe their new challenge. They were all looking pretty excited, now having gotten used to the schedule and the challenges after a week at the resort.
"Morning campers!" Chris greeted them first with a grin, "I hope you're all doing well! Because it's challenge time!"
"That's right!" Don joined in," Now… it's come to our attention that you guys have both voted someone off, and both vote off involved the votes being really spread out! So what that tells us is that our little team building exercises clearly weren't enough!"
"So we're doing it again!" Chris announced with a grin, "Well… they're totally different but the vibe is gonna be the same!"
"You're going to be paired up and forced to compete in challenges!" Don continued, "Oh.. and one more little thing… you're going to be blindfolded!" The host held up his hands which were holding blindfolds, one set were blue and the other were pink, one for each team.
Immediately the campers' eyes widened at the thought as their palms began to sweat.
"Oh… and we've decided to pick the teams." Chris smirked maliciously, pulling out a piece of paper from his pocket. "For the Snakes we have Nick and Miles; Ashe and Kahlin and Damien and Boris." The three pairs quickly shuffled around so they were next to each other, some were happier than others but no one looked completely displeased with their partner outwardly.
"And for the Felines, we're looking at Alyssa and Iris; Luciana and Amelia and that leaves us with… Yves and Aleena." Don finished with a smile, watching with slight joy as the girls shuffled into their own pairs, the look of displeasure apparent on Aleena's face as she stood next to Yves.
"Well we've got no time to waste so let's get started with our first challenge! Follow us campers." Chris announced with a smile, walking away with Don, our 12 contestants following in tow.
(Confessional)
ALEENA: Okay, we all know that was production interfering to get me and Yves paired up to create the most drama, and I'm not going to lie it's working because being around her is just so infuriating! I try not to let emotions cloud me too much but she really is just so cocky, acting all sad that I nearly went home when she nearly went and let it happen - don't waste my time with your lies girl.
MILES: Being paired up with Nick sucks… that means that I'm actually going to have to try because he's gonna be on my ass like a rabid dog. Oh well, there are worse people to be paired up with I guess, like that Kahlin dude, gives me the creeps.
ALYSSA: I've been doing some thinking… which doesn't happen all too often so it's quite impressive! Even though Luciana didn't vote for me, someone did! And I don't think it was Yvette because she was so set on sending Aleena home, which means that whoever did is still on my team today, and that's not okay.
KAHLIN: Ah another challenge paired with Ashe. He's a good guy, maybe today will help him build his trust not only in himself, but in others and the universe to let us all follow our path. That or maybe his path is to crash and burn from his own indecisiveness… wouldn't that be a tragic story?
(The Mountain)
"Welcome back to the mountain guys!" Chris shouted with glee, "It's fast becoming one of my favourite places because it's so versatile! The first challenge we went through, well today we're going up!"
"That's right! One pair from each team will have to rock climb up the mountain, from the ground to about there!" Don announced, pointing up to a large ledge that had been painted gold.
"Of course, it's not going to be that easy." Chris tutted the campers, waving his finger at them, "The person climbing the mountain will be blindfolded while the person on the ground will be holding them up while also directing them!" Chris let out another laugh as the contestants rolled their eyes at him.
"For this challenge we're going to have Nick and MIles versus Alyssa and Iris. We'll even let you choose who is blindfolded because we're nice like that." Don smiled as the two pairs stepped forward.
"You should be blindfolded." Nick told Miles, "I'll lead you to victory."
"I would agree with you, but um... " Miles shows his prosthetic hand which is pretty slow at opening and closing. "This isn't really very good at climbing. Super duper slow."
"Ah… yeah I can see that. Alright, I'll take the blindfold then." Nick conceded as he held the pink mask in his hands. He proceeded to the cliff face where he started to clip himself into the harness, with Chef on standby to make sure that it was done correctly.
"I think you would be better suited to climbing Alyssa, you're much stronger than me." Iris told the tallest girl in the competition who took the compliment with a smile.
"Alright, but you better not let me fall." Alyssa warned playfully, taking the blindfold and copying Nick in getting into the harness.
"We love nice and easy agreements! It's exactly why we're doing this challenge." Chris smiled at the contestants. "All that's left is for you to start climbing! So… go!"
Immediately Alyssa and Nick began their climb, the two of them were pretty similar heights and both were relatively strong so the battle was pretty even, in reality it came down to Iris and Miles and who would be better at directing their teammate.
"Okay Alyssa! There's a hand hold about half a metre above your head on the right hand side. That's it! Just keep reaching up, can you feel it? Yes! Right there!" Iris was calling out instructions to her partner with clarity which was really speeding up the climb.
"Keep going Iris!" Alyssa urged, hanging onto the rocks with her fingers and toes.
"Nick! Left!" Miles was taking a more concise approach, obviously hoping that his teammate would be able to fill in the blanks and save them all time on their climb. And it looked like it was working as Nick was slowly gaining on Alyssa as Iris was now taking longer to deliver the instructions now that she was having to really look to see where you could actually climb up the wall.
"Okay Alyssa, please be careful with the next part! The hold is really small for your left foot, just lift it about three inches higher, can you feel it?" Iris continued to instruct her partner who eventually found the indeed rather small foothold and gingerly put her weight on it.
"It's not going to last long Iris! I need a new one." Alyssa hurriedly said, her voice shaking ever so slightly as she clung to the wall in fear.
"Oh… um okay…" Iris took a second to think, trying really hard to see the cliff face above her. "Okay, if you're feeling strong, move both arms up about a foot and grab onto new holds and then anchor yourself and swing both legs up really high! There's a ledge that should fit both of your feet."
"Girls with a risky move here, if Alyssa loses her grip, the boys could easily overtake while she resettles." Don narrated for the audience and for the other campers who were watching with bated breath.
"Okay I'm trusting you here." Alyssa called down to her partner, slowly moving her right and then left arm before putting all of her weight onto her upper arms and pulling her legs up to this large ledge that did indeed support her entire weight. Both girls let out a sigh of relief as Iris went to work on their next step.
Meanwhile, Nick was advancing at a very fast pace, both of them were now neck and neck and only a few meters away from the golden ledge that would signify their win.
"Okay Nick, you're only a couple more pulls away from the top! Ledge above you on the right." Miles called to his partner, looking pretty confident about his teams approaching win. The blindfolded boy did as he was told and gripped the handhold above with relative ease.
"Boys are now extremely close to the win." Chris narrated once again, "Nick is only a couple of meters away now."
"Okay Nick, take your left hand, and literally just lift it up, you'll feel the ledge! Yes that bit there! Now grab it!" Miles excitedly instructed his teammate who readily grabbed the ledge with his left hand, however, as soon as he did there was a crumbling noise. The hold where his feet were placed soon crumbled beneath him, along with the one holding his hand, they just weren't able to hold his weight, leaving him hanging on by the single left hand on the winning ledge.
"Oh God." Nick muttered to himself, hanging on by one hand without even an eye to see with. He managed to swing his right hand up and was now clinging onto the safety ledge with both hands - all he needed to do was pull himself up, which would require a large amount of body strength, and the climb had already tired him out quite a bit, it would be a struggle. But he'd have to do it fast because Alyssa was now only a couple of metres behind him, and climbing steadily.
"Alyssa! He's stumbled!" Iris exclaimed happily, now doing the job of the hosts too. "YOu need to raise your right leg, yeah! Just there, that's the hold you need, and then your left arm up, so you feel that, yeah, that's the safety!"
"It's now neck and neck, Nick has started the painful mission of doing a massive pull up onto the rock, while Alyssa has only just got her hand onto it." Chis continued to narrate.
Alyssa quickly placed her second hand onto the ledge while Nick was not in the process of trying to hook his knee onto the platform to get enough leverage to pull himself up. Both of them were extremely close but one of them reached the platform faster than the other…
"The winners of the first round are… Alyssa and Iris for the Felines!" Don called out , just as Nick flopped onto the platform, less than a second after Alyssa who let out a scream of joy, ripping the blindfold off of her face and flopping to the floor to catch her breath.
"You did really well Nick!" Miles called up to his partner who gave him a thumbs up as he also caught his breath.
"That's the first part done." Chris smiled, "We're moving onto the next challenge which will be played by Kahlin and Ashe versus Luciana and Amelia! Don't worry guys! Chef is gonna help you guys down while we move onto the next section!"
(Confessional)
MILES: Oops, I can't believe those holds broke on him right when we were about to win. It's almost like I picked them on purpose. (Miles gives a little shrug before a smirk forms on his lips and he lets out chuckle.
NICK: I can't believe we came so close! If only I had been slightly stronger, I could have pulled myself onto that ledge faster than her. (He sighs before shrugging) Oh well, you can't win them all.
ALYSSA: Now that's how you win it baby! Absolutely rocked that crap like a boss! Point one to the girls!
(The Top of the Mountain)
The contestants had now all moved on to the top of the mountain except for the four who had been competing in the rock climbing activity. Chris and Don were holding blindfolds and a pair of sleds, large enough to accommodate two people, each with a rope attached to the front. Because we like colour coordination in, one was blue and one was pink.
"Welcome to the top of our favourite mountain." Chris smiled, "First you went up it, now it's time to go down it." He smirked as Don started talking.
"Kahlin and Ashe; Luciana and Iris. Each of you will sit on this sled, the person in the front will be blindfolded and will be in charge of steering the sled down the mountain, which is of course, full of obstacles. The second person will be behind them and directing them away from the obstacles." The second host explained as the selected pairs got to strategizing immediately.
"I'm not strong enough to steer the sled." Ashe admitted, "Not with both of us on it anyway." Kahlin nodded in agreement, starting to walk away from Ashe before the boy quickly called him back, "But I don't think I can deal with the pressure of directions." He grimaced as Kahlin nodded, accepting of Ashe's decision either way. "No! I can't change the sled, I'll drive us straight into a tree, I'll direct." Ashe said finally with a sliver of determination as Kahlin walked over to the hosts and picked up his blindfold and sled.
"What do you want to do?" Luciana asked Amelia who seemed to be seriously weighing up the options.
"I'm not fussed." Amelia admitted, "I can steer or direct, it's up to you."
"Alright cool, you can direct then because I don't have my glasses and I won't be able to see where we're going." Luciana smiled as she took her blindfold and sled.
The two pairs were set up on the start line, Kahlin and Luciana, blindfolded at the front holding onto the steering device with Ashe and Amelia behind them. Ashe had his arms wrapped around Kahlin's waist to stop him from falling off of the sled, a slight blush forming on his cheeks from the close contact. Amelia had chosen to just keep herself steady on the sled without holding onto Luciana for support.
"Alright!" Chris announced, ``The first one down to the bottom wins!" He and Don stood behind both pairs and gave them a solid push to start off the race, sending them hurtling down the admittedly tall mountain. As the two pairs sailed down the mountain, the two hosts looked to the four contestants left.
"Well. Let's go wait for them at the bottom." Don smiled, leading the last four to the ski lift to take them down the mountain.
(The Mountain)
Both teams were fairly even as their weights evened out pretty nicely meaning they were now traveling at fairly equal speeds. It would come down to who had the better skills at leading and listening instead of biology. Luckily the top of the mountain had been fairly spotless and they were able to travel in straight lines with little trouble apart from the occasional bounce of a stone on the path. But that was all about to change as they approached a small bunch of trees.
"Slow drift to the left." Amelia told Luciana who quickly followed orders, directing the sled to turn towards the left, taking them out of the path of a rather large looking tree. "Straighten out again." Amelia continued to direct with authority, her voice carrying well despite the wind whistling past both her mouth and Luciana's ears.
"Um… go left." Ashe spoke much more meekly, but thankfully due to his close proximity to Kahlin on the sled, the boy still heard him and began to turn the sled in the correct direction. "No that's too much!" Ashe worridley called out as Kahlin quickly turned them the other way around, making them narrowly skim a tree without actually hitting it.
"You have to be more specific." Kahlin told Ashe, raising his voice so the shorter boy could hear him from behind.
"I'm sorry…" Ashe muttered, "To the right." He said to Kahlin as the boy began to turn again. This time they avoided the tree with much more space as they righted themselves once again to continue in a straight line. Both teams managed to move out of the small gathering of trees without major crashes at the same time and continued their journey down the mountain.
"We're doing well right?" Luciana asked her partner, holding onto the rope with a solid grip to make sure that she didn't accidentally let go and cause them to lose.
"We're doing alright." Amelia nodded, "Take a sharp right here." The actresses' direct and concise instructions were proving effective as the duo managed to safely dodge a rather large rock that was threatening to put an end to their race.
"Keep it up then, we need to win this so we can end this challenge quickly." Luciana told the girl who, although her partner couldn't see, nodded in agreement.
"Don't have to tell me babe, I am more than aware." Amelia let out a small laugh as the duo continued their descent down the mountain.
"Stay calm Ashe, no point in getting worked up." Kahlin advised his partner, likely due to the fact that he could feel his tensed arms around his abdomen. "Just stay calm, and tell me which way to go so that I don't run into things, it's real simple."
"Yeah I know Kahlin, I'm trying alright." Ashe sighed, looking ahead to see that there was a large tree directly in their path, to the right was a small rock ramp that would propel them further along the mountain and get them closer to the end, but if they messed it up, it would spell the end of their race. If they went right, the path would be easy and clear but put them no further ahead of the girls than before, leaving the race incredibly tight.
Ashe thought for almost too long as Kahlin obliviously sailed towards a tree that could cause some damage until the meek boy seemed to quickly make up his mind.
"Hard right!" He called out, Kahlin immediately obeyed and veered the sled aggressively to the right, the two managed to just about hit the ramp spot on, Kahlin's eyes widened behind his blindfold as he felt them rising upwards and then the weightlessness of sailing through the air. Amelia could only watch with horror as the two of them flew through the air like a strange two-headed bird and past them. It only got worse once she could see that the finish line, along with all the other competitors was close in sight. She had to think quickly.
As their sled continued to sail down the path, Amelia quickly rattled off instructions to Luciana who dutifully followed, as she did, the actress reached to the snow and let her hand run through the white. When she felt something she was looking for, her hand grasped around it and she looked at the boys ahead of her. Whatever was in her hand, she chucked it as hard and fast as she could at the boys, watching as it collided with Kahlin's head. The boy was shocked and reflexively put his hands on his head, this meant that he had taken his hands off of the rope.
They began to lose control and slow down quickly while the girls were quickly gaining, now mere metres away from the finish line, and it would have been game over had Ashe not deftly grabbed the rope from the front, leaning heavily into Kahlin to reach it and stabilize them. Kahlin quickly grabbed the rope with Ashe, holding his hands over Ashe's as the smaller boy steered the sled with Kahlin copying him, using his strength to actually pull them. They sailed across the finish line a good second before the girls as both teams pulled their sleds to a stop after the finish line.
"Did we win?!" Luciana asked, excitedly ripping off her blindfold and looking for the boys.
"The winners of this challenge are Kahlin and Ashe for the Snakes!" Don announced as Luciana slumped in the snow defeated. Amelia came and gave her a pat on the shoulder, telling her that it wasn't her fault they lost.
"We're tied now! Which means that it's all down to the final challenge!" Chris continued to host excitedly, "Yves and Aleena versus Boris and Damien, the winner takes it all!" The two pairs mentally prepared themself although it was clear that the tension between them was much higher than for either of the two previous pairs. "If you'd all like to follow me, this one is a right doozy." Chris chuckled in a way that was probably almost definitely not not the most reassuring.
(Confessional)
AMELIA: Damn, I really thought we had them at the end there! It's all down to the last two now so all we can do is hope really, because I'm a target for losing us that challenge now.
ASHE: Did you see that?! I steered the sled and made sure we won! I wasn't even thinking, I just did it! (He just looks really excited for himself, proud that he managed to do it for himself.)
LUCIANA: It really sucks to lose but hopefully Yves and Aleena can pull it out of the bag because I really don't feel like going to elimination again, once was enough for me.
(The Middle of Somewhere)
All twelve contestants were now gathered together in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere, the only thing that made it look any different was a large area cordoned off with rope and two large towers just sat outside of the area. Everyone seemed thoroughly confused as to what this challenge could even be, but judging from the face that Chris was making, they could assume that it probably wouldn't be all that fun.
"Welcome to the battlefield." Don announced, his smile was not as wide as Chris' but you could tell he was putting on a show for the camera. "Called as such because, well this is the scene of a battle that has left many dangers hidden beneath the snow."
"And it will be your job to cross it!" Chris announced with forced joy. "One member will of course be blindfolded while the other will stand atop one of those towers and direct their teammate through the trap ridden course. Those traps can only be seen from that tower too because of physics or something so you can't help from the sidelines no matter how much you want to."
"Yves and Aleena will face off against Damien and Boris for the win. Pick your roles." Don told the two pairs who had now gathered in front of the hosts.
"You're walking." Aleena and Boris immediately declared to their partners, taking their respective blindfold from the hosts and giving them to their partners without a further word. Damien wasn't in the mood to argue with Boris who is of course notoriously difficult, and Yves, still trying to apologise to Aleena for something that she didn't really do, was letting her take control in an attempt to appease her.
With no arguments or discussion, the challenge started quickly with Boris and Aleena climbing the large tower to see that certain parts of the snow had been marked with colouring that would indicate where traps were laid out in the field. The two walkers put on their blindfolds and got put into place by Chef so that they started in the same place.
"You guys ready?" Chris asked, the contestants all voiced their agreements which led the host to blow a whistle to signify the beginning of the challenge. Immediately Aleena began giving instructions to Yves, instructing her to move forward a few steps before turning to the right and walking around what seemed to be a time consuming pitfall trap judging by the circular marking that showed its boundaries.
Boris was less active, in fact, the boy had said nothing at all. Damien and the rest of the boys were starting to get anxious as the boy still remained silent after a whole minute and the girls were already ahead.
"Um… Boris?" Damien called out to his partner who jumped in shock before glaring down at his partner.
"Do you mind peasant? I have something under my nail that I need to get out." Boris scoffed, checking his nails once again.
"We're going to lose the challenge then." Damien told the posh boy with his own scowl, "And if we lose, I can guarantee that you would be going home." The threat was real enough and Boris begrudgingly looked over the field and began delivering instructions to Damien who dutifully followed them, used to being moved around a stage to hit his marks.
"Turn to the right and walk a couple of steps." Aleena told her partner who quickly followed instruction before stepping on something hard which swung up and smacked her in the face. It was a rake that had been left in the field and had now left a nice red mark on Yves' face. The girl rubbed her nose and groaned in pain but turned around and went the other way.
"Ooooh that's the first battlefield remnant found by the girls there! I hope it doesn't hurt too much." Chris chuckled as Yves gave everyone a thumbs up to show that she was indeed alright.
"Oh Yves I'm so sorry!" Aleena gushed, putting her hands over her mouth in shock, "I get my lefts and rights confused sometimes, this is all my fault!"
Yves raised an eyebrow in response to Aleena's shout but now wasn't the time to question the authenticity of someone's words. "Don't worry about it! Just make sure that we get it right this time!" Yves called out to the filmmaker who nodded in response and continued to direct her teammate.
Meanwhile the boys were going more smoothly, despite his abrasive personality, Boris was actually pretty good at directions and leading someone, maybe due to his status as the son of a businessman. Although their slow start had definitely given them a lot of ground to cover to catch up the girls, Aleena's mistake had meant that they were now much closer than they were before, but still behind.
"Yes. Keep walking forward." Boris said, before getting distracted by his nails once again which meant that Damien continued to walk without being told to stop and subsequently stepped on something oddly squishy…
BOOM
Said squishy object exploded and covered Damien in a blue substance that immediately stuck to his body, of course none of it got into his eyes because he was wearing a blindfold but it was definitely a shock to his system.
"Boris! Pay attention!" Damien called out to his partner who had been brought out of his stupor by the explosion anyway. The boy looked rather sheepish but said nothing more, too proud to really admit his own mistake. He continued to give solid instructions as Aleena managed to steer Yves closer to the finish line - however not before accidentally running her into a couple of rakes first just for good measure.
"It's looking pretty close but the girls have a slight lead here." Don narrated, causing both of the teams to sweat a little, unsure of whether or not they would be attending the elimination tonight. Aleena seemed to have gotten over her need to send Yves into traps and was now directing her with the accuracy and passion that only a filmmaker could.
"Damien. Do you trust me?" Boris asked with a grimace, looking at how close the girls now were compared to him.
"No but do what you need to do to win." Damien admitted with a sigh, bracing himself for whatever was about to come next.
"Literally just start running, use your long ass legs and act like a gazelle, literally just in a straight line the way that you're going." Boris instructed Damien who just sighed and quickly started sprinting forwards, aiming for the finish line in front of him, which he of course could not see. There were explosions of the blue liquid, rakes flying up and suspicious pit traps appearing all around him but nothing was stopping him here!
In the meantime, Aleena was still very calmly directing Yves to the finish line, they were only a couple of traps away from the line as Damien began his rampage to the finish line, being the action hero we all wished we could be.
"Yves, you have to be really quick here, go forwards about three steps and then make a heavy left and go forwards about five steps, then go right again and just absolutely step on it to the finish!" Aleena quickly fired off the instructions which Yves proceeded to follow like some sort of dance routine, deftly hopping as she was told. She managed to break free of the traps and also began sprinting forwards to the finish line, her and Damien now neck and neck!
"It's gonna be a photo finish!" Chris exclaimed as Yves and Damien both crossed the line at almost identical times. Damien was covered in blue liquid, some feathers and there was also a live pig in his arms whereas Yves was looking much cleaner as she breathed slightly more heavily to catch her breath.
"We've just confirmed with our officials." Don started with a sombre tone, hoping to get some drama out of the situation. "And the winners of this challenge are…"
The contestants all waited with baited breath as the hosts pulled this out for as long as they could, really letting them stew in their thoughts.
"Damien and Boris for the Snakes!" Chris announced with a shout as all of the boys let out a loud cheer of victory, leaving the girls feeling defeated and downtrodden, none more so than Yves who knows just how close she was to the win.
"Well done boys!" Don said with a smile, "As a prize for your performance you've all won a trip to the magical Sauna where you can all unwind and relax!" This bought another cheer of joy from the boys who were probably quite sore after their gruelling day of challenges, and also elicited another groan from the girls who had missed out on a nice reward as well.
"As for the girls… well you will see me and Don when the next challenge starts! This was a reward challenge and none of you are going home!" Chris said with a large grin, enjoying the look of shock and then relief that washed over the faces of the girls as they heard the news.
"Oh thank fuck." Alyssa sighed happily, sinking to the ground as her legs suddenly felt weak.
"That's right guys! Take the rest of the night off and we'll see you around." Don said as he and Chris walked off.
(Confessional)
YVES: At least it was only a reward challenge… that could have been extremely dangerous for my game given I was the one who lost us the challenge. It also means that I have more time to work out what Aleena's deal is - she was definitely driving me into traps on purpose but why? Is she really holding such a grudge against me because I didn't vote with her the other day?
BORIS: And that's how a Bennington gets things done. Take notes kids.
DAMIEN: (He is covered in feathers, the blue liquid and is still holding the pig in his arms) So it turns out I'm covered in ink! So I'll be showering for the next 36 hours to try and get that off! Also this is Geoffrey, we're friends now. (The pig oinks in agreement)
(The Living Room)
Alyssa, Amelia and Aleena were all gathered in the living room. They were all having a hushed discussion, hoping not to alert anyone else of their talk.
"So all I'm saying is that we worked together last vote, let's make it official and work together from now on, we're only a team of six so we're already half of that. They wouldn't be able to send us home." Amelia began with a hushed whisper, the other two listened attentively, taking a moment to think over their options as they did.
"It makes sense." Aleena noted after a few seconds had passed, "Better to take action early before you get caught off guard at a later date." She was cleaning her camera as she spoke, polishing the lens to make sure that she was getting the best quality.
"As long as we don't target Luciana." Alyssa noted with conviction, "She's not done me wrong and I think she would vote with me if we asked her."
"Well I don't think we should be adding her to the alliance." Amelia noted, "The more people we have, the more likely we are to have to turn against each other, which would just be really messy."
"I didn't say we should add her into the alliance, I'm just saying that I don't want to target her, and if we need a number on the side, she could be it." The tall girl said with surprising strategic clarity, pushing her hair out of her face.
"A good point." Aleena agreed, still polishing the lens of her camera. "Four is a majority after all, whoever we voted would go home without opposition." Listening, Amelia nodded along,
"Alright! Sounds good to me!" She smiled, holding out her hands to both Aleena and Alyssa to shake, which both of them accepted, sealing their alliance.
"Oh we can be the Triple As!" Alyssa exclaimed happily, "You know, because all of our names start with As."
"I'm not doing an alliance name." Aleena stated matter of factly, picking up her camera and standing up from the sofa. "I'll see you all around, nice chat." She said as she left the room to return to the bedroom.
"Alright then… jeez." Alyssa grumbled, also standing up from the sofa and moving in the direction of the kitchen, leaving Amelia all alone.
"Perfect." She smiled to herself, leaning back on the sofa and placing her hands behind her head.
(Confessional)
ALEENA: Having an alliance secures my safety much more than not having one, so I think this has been a good move on my part. Nearly going home really put into perspective how I should play this game, so I'm ready to turn it up a notch and play with aggression befitting a winner!
AMELIA: They're pretty good girls you know, I don't trust them as far as I can throw them, which isn't far at all, but at the end of the day, three votes are more powerful than one so I've got to stick my head out just a little bit to get greater rewards, go big or go home.
(The Sauna)
The entire boys team was gathered in the sauna together, with their swimming costumes to protect their modesty as they did all that good purification in the sauna, its warmth very welcome in the cold mountains of Canada.
"This is the life." Miles sighed as he relaxed, leaning his head back against the wall of the sauna. The others all echoed their agreements as the heat just sucked the fatigue right out of their bodies and left them feeling energised and rejuvenated.
"I'd rather have another person go home though." Nick admitted with a scowl, "Rewards are great but it means that we're no closer to the prize than we were last week."
"And if we had lost, I suppose it could have been you who had gone home…" Kahlin mused from the other side of the sauna, more to himself than to anyone else in particular.
"Is that a threat?" Nick asked, keeping his tone light but making sure that it wasn't misconstrued as a joke.
"It's just a possibility, any one of us could have gone home, and you would have been disappointed that we didn't have a reward challenge." He continued, his words coming out with their usual grace and wisdom.
"I don't think that there's much point living in hypotheticals though." Damien noted, his face still covered in the blue ink from earlier.
"None of it matters anyway because I'm finally being treated like I deserve to be." Boris crooned, his eyes shut as he relaxed in the sauna, "I would thank you all but it was me who won us this anyway, so I don't care."
"Yeah because you really did all the work." Damien rolled his eyes, subconsciously rubbing the ink of his face which rubbed off onto his hand. Being a child, he wiped it onto Boris' swimming costume, seemingly without the boy knowing.
"I think we should all just enjoy this moment while it lasts because the next challenge definitely won't be a reward." Ashe noted with a sigh,
"You're right." Nick nodded, "We're on a little streak now so let's not mess it up."
"Aye aye captain." Miles joked with a little salute as the boys continued to sweat their troubles away.
(Confessional)
NICK: Although I failed my portion of the challenge today, it's good that the rest of the team were able to pull it together and score us the win. Hopefully we can keep this momentum rolling because I really don't want the stress of elimination to loom over my head again.
KAHLIN: I didn't really see the problem in running with hypotheticals, after all there are an infinite number of ways that a situation could play out - for example right now a pig could come running into the confessional right now and completely ruin my train of thought - (Geoffrey the pig runs into the confessional and Kahlin immediately is absolutely enamoured with him, and does in fact lose his train of thought.
BORIS: I got a surprisingly smaller amount of praise that I expected for winning us that wonderful sauna reward but alas, I must soldier on and show these people why a Bennington is simply superior in all manners.
(The Bathroom)
Yves was currently in the bathroom having a shower, she had somehow managed to get ink on her during her challenge against Damien and was working tirelessly to scrub it off of her skin. As she was showering, Iris walked in to have a shower of her own, a towel thrown over her shoulder as she walked in. She took a stall that was not currently occupied and set off to work cleaning off a day's work.
"You did good today." Iris told Yves, "I know you're probably beating yourself up for losing, but remember that you can't win everything, and it wasn't all your fault, you don't need to shoulder that blame alone." There was no answer as the water in Yves stall simply turned off. The dancer took her own towel off of the shower door along with her clothes and left the bathroom soon after without saying a word.
Iris wasn't looking for an answer, or a conversation and was happy just to let Yves know that she was still appreciated even if she lost her challenge, the big sister instincts in Iris coming out full force as she hoped to look after her team. She continued to have her shower in peace, thinking of different ways to make sure her team got the best support that they deserved.
(Confessional)
YVES: (Her eyes are slightly red and puffy, like she's been crying) I... I can't afford for people to see me so weak... but it really feels good for someone just to tell you that you're doing alright, that everything you're doing is actually good, and you're appreciated. It just stokes your fire to do even better for those that believe in you, because you can't afford to let them down!
(The Mountain)
Despite no one having been eliminated, our hosts were still standing on the mountain with no one to push down the Ski of Shame. Instead they were just looking at the camera with their usual host smiles, ready to get their job done.
"Well that was a nice episode wasn't it Don?" Chris asked his co-host who nodded enthusiastically in response.
"Indeed it was Chris, with drama quickly developing on both teams due to split votes and the inability to trust each other, we decided to put them through more team building exercises, this time blindfolded so they really had to trust each other!"
"It was a tight run as both teams scored points before the final round, leaving it all up to Damien and Boris and Aleena and Yves." Chris continued, "Of course someone has to win and this time it was the Snakes who pulled out the win - earning themselves a sweet night in the sauna to sweat all of their worries out of their bodies!"
"And the Felines were in turn saved from what could have been a very explosive elimination from how cracks are starting to form between them all."
"But there's still plenty of time for that to happen!" Chris told the viewers with a wink, "After all we still have twelve contestants left in the running for that sweet million dollar prize!"
"Will Amelia be able to run her alliance effectively and take herself to the end?"
"Will Nick be able to keep his team's momentum and winning streak going into next week?"
"And will Yves and Aleena fix their differences or will we see the rift between them grow even deeper as the game progresses?"
"Find all of this out and more next time, on Total-!"
"Drama-!"
"Audacious Alpines!"
And that's that! No one going home tonight and the chapter is more about exploring some dynamics between our cast before someone gets unceremoniously booted again! I hope you guys liked it still and that the characters are proving as interesting to read as I'm finding them to write!
Make sure to leave a review letting me know what you're thinking about the story, I always find it really interesting to see what people think is going to happen so leave predictions for just about anything! Relationships, winners, losers, anything like that. Or you can just let me know which characters you're enjoying, or those you're not particularly enjoying, who knows, it might influence the order people go home just a little bit ;)
Much Love and Peace
Illuvian
Contestants (12/14)
Snowy Snakes:
Ashe Ward (MorbidGinger)
Miles Jackson (TheAllTimeGreatest)
Boris Bennington (Alexneushoorn)
Damien Parsons (Mike Oyster)
Kahlin Mora (Nikolai777)
James Nicholas 'Nick' Wheeler Jr. (Dogtimus)
Freezing Felines:
Yves Jiminez-Chiu (Candela Monsoon)
Alyssa Abramov (Supreme Kai of Booty)
Aleena Kreppel (Gucci Mane LaFlare)
Amelia Meadows (FangDriver8)
Iris Mae Ross (HayamiHinata)
Luciana Vidi (GingerFrancophile)
Eliminated:
14th Place - Adrian Contiello (IGwilledCheeseI)
13th Place - Yvette Razz (TheRainbowWhimsicott)