Survivor - Emperors vs Knights

Chapter 11 - Day 10 Part 1

Alright, I'm back! So now that we have gone through Ghirahim's elimination, now the emperors are at the disadvantage here as they are one member short. So now they need to win the next immunity challenge, or else, they're the ones that will turn into the underdogs this season lol. But that means that if they win, then it's going to be anyone's game.

Now as far as idols are concerned, nobody has found an idol yet lol. And right now the people that are up for consideration are Shovel Knight, Marth, Sheik, and Shulk, the latter wanting to somehow find one before Marth does. So it'd be interesting to finally find out who's going to get an idol.

Enjoy the chapter!

~KF

Emperors

Night 9

For the second time that season, the emperors leaned their torches against the tree.

"Quick, guys!" Pac-Man shouted as he ran to the shelter. "It's raining!"

"Not again..." Freddy mumbled.

"I am satisfied at the result." Zelda was pleased. "I felt as if a weight had just been lifted off my shoulders. Even though the vote was not exactly the way I would have preferred, at least Ghirahim was supposed to be next anyway due to his character as well as not having the best reputation in the tribe. I survived one more night and now I have to keep fighting based on what is to come in the future."

"Where's the tarp!?"

"The knights already won it, Pac-Man..." Shulk replied

Pac-Man blinked. "Aww... We needed that!"

Shadow nimbly made his way inside the shelter to get away from the rain.

"Ghirahim was no use." He said. "If the supposed Pair Up Alliance actually existed, I wouldn't have minded working with him at all. But since it was clear that it was not the truth, I felt that he was much too paranoid for his own game. He played too hard, too early, and he deserved to get the boot. Now I have to move forward and ponder to myself what else I can do to stay out here."

Mega Man took a quick look at Shadow before he placed his torch against the tree, him ending up being the last one to head for the shelter.

"After Freddy's warning, Mega Man came up to me to confirm that they were performing a split vote plan to try and target me. He was right after all. The tribe for some reason thinks that I basically don't deserve to be here because I am not bonding enough in their eyes by isolating myself from them. But if anything, they're isolating me from the tribe. Ugh... I'll think about it later in the morning..."

Shulk sighed in front of everyone as he sat in the shelter staring at the rain falling on the ground. "Well, at least it's safe to say that it is going to be much quieter now..."

Pac-Man looked up at what was falling from the sky from where he was sitting. "I hope Marth and Sheik are okay..."

Exile Island

Night 9

BOOM!

At least Marth and Sheik had a small shelter that was just large enough for the both of them. Nevertheless, it did not mean that they were not one hundred percent satisfied due to the rain that was pouring.

"How many more hours?" questioned Marth.

"I bet your tribe is still at the Tribal Council..." Sheik assumed. "I doubt were even close to midnight yet..."

"Well, at least your tribe has won the shelter making kit and the tarp." Marth reminded. "I doubt it's as bad for you all at Chatan."

"The rain is downright horrible to say the least." Sheik complained. "Marth's right. Even though we have the advantage thanks to the tarp in the shelter, it doesn't mean that we're going to be one hundred percent comfortable. We're all still cold and wet and we're just sitting there for who knows how long all in one place. But in the end, I suppose it is teaching us that we are all thankful in our real lives for having roofs over our heads..."

Knights

Day 10

And it was still raining the following morning, even when Sheik returned to the shelter. Yet of course she never saw anyone initially; most likely there was even the possibility that none of them knew she stepped foot back on the island until she walked in front of them, seeing all eight of them either resting or sitting up on the bamboo.

"I'm back..." She said.

With a few raised heads and turns, they all greeted at him as Rouge and Bonnie moved over to give the ninja some space in the shelter.

"How was Exile Island?" Foxy grinned out of sarcasm. "Terrible?"

"Not the best, I suppose..." She replied with a sigh.

"So that's basically a nice way of saying terrible. Gotcha." The red fox laughed. "Don't worry. Things certainly aren't that much better here. Those couple blankets that we have aren't enough."

"I just want to make a fire..." complained Knuckles. "Why can't we just build a log cabin and just put a fire in the center?"

"Ronnie tried that in All-Stars." Krystal brought up. "Didn't work..."

"...So we just sit here until the rain stops!?"

"That seems to be our only choice..."

Luigi buried his head in his arms out of annoyance. "Should we sing the song now?"

"If songs can actually make the rain go away, then yes. But unfortunately, that's not the case..." Greninja answered. "I'm clearly a water guy, but when it's raining like this, it's not like I can actually do much out there other than to just sit and wait, being cold and wet on top of it..."

"When I came back to camp I felt right sorry for them." Sheik admitted. "There were all huddled up together like penguins... Ugh... I just can not wait for sunshine again. At least for a bit today... hopefully..."

Day 10

At the next challenge, there were two different posts representing the tribes, with a ring singing on a different post far out in the water.

"Come on in, guys!"

And in came the nine remaining knights in the game, still raining all the while. They knew very well that it was going to be a wet challenge, already being aware that they were going to be in the water, anyway.

"Knights, get your first look at the new Nago tribe..."

Rouge gasped and placed both her hands over her mouth.

"Ghirahim's gone..." Greninja stared.

"...What?" said Knuckles.

"Ghirahim voted out at the last Tribal Council."

"You gotta be kidding me..." Bonnie was shaking his head in disbelief.

"Hmm..." Krystal found it quite interesting. "They used the same strategy we did..."

All the emperors did plus Marth was simply stare at the other tribe react to their most recent casualty. But Master Hand as usual was already ready to move on with the challenge at hand.

"Alright, you guys ready to get to today's reward challenge? For today's challenge, you guys are gonna race out to retrieve a ring. You will then race back with the ring while members of the other team will try to stop you by attempting to bring it to their ring in any way they can. In order to score a point, one hand must be touching both the ring and the flagpole. First team to three wins reward. Wanna know what you're playing for?"

He went over to the nearby table to reveal. "The winning tribe will have a choice. Here are the items that are at stake... tool kit... and a kitchen cooking set."

Shadow's eyes were not focusing on anything else other than the tool kit that was begging for him to win it for the team.

"What can we cook when all we're eating is rice and coconut?" Knuckles popped an invisible eyebrow.

"It depends on what rewards we win in the future." Sheik answered. "And also, we can get creative with our... recipes..."

"Oh..."

"Knights, you have one extra person. You have to sit somebody out. Keep in mind you can not sit out the same person in back to back challenges, so that means whoever sits out this challenge must compete in the immunity challenge. So, who's it gonna be?"

Rouge raised her hand.

"Rouge, take your spot on the sit out bench." Master Hand pointed to the bench nearby. "Everyone else, I'll give you a minute to strategize and we'll get started."

-/-

"Alright, we have our first matchup! It is going to be Zelda and Marth taking on Luigi and Sheik. Playing to three. Here we go, for reward, Survivors ready?"

The four competing players all had one hand on their pole ready to take off.

"...GO!"

They all immediately sprinted out in the water to the ring attempting to approach it as fast as they possibly could.

"Sheik gets to the ring first!"

"Come on!" She told Luigi as she began to swim her way over to her pole with Luigi pulling on the ring to help out. However, Marth ended up grabbing the ring, with Zelda following to make it more difficult.

"And we have a battle!" called out Master Hand as the teams begin to cheer.

"Marth and Zelda trying to make up some ground by dragging them further away from their flag, but it is slowly not working as Sheik and Luigi getting closer.

It took some time, but eventually, Sheik was the one who grabbed her pole.

"Knights score! Chatan now has an early lead!"

And the other members cheered in reaction.

Shadow facepalmed.

-/-

"Alright, we have our next round. It is going to be Roy and Mega Man taking on Krystal and Shovel Knight. Survivors ready? GO!"

"Roy, you're just a bit faster!" Pac-Man pointed out cuffing his hands over his mouth. "You have to get to the ring before any of the knights do!"

And he was actually successful. As he began to make his way back, he chose to toss the ring right to Mega Man who chose to stand aside in the water.

"Great catch by Mega Man!"

The blue bomber began to swim his way back to Nago's pole while Krystal and Shovel Knight were forced to chase Mega Man before he got too close. Although, the two of them were actually able to catch the ring.

"Shovel Knight and Krystal have it! Now they have it but now Roy and Mega Man are slowly pulling themselves and the ring closer to the pole!"

About a dozen seconds later, Roy leaped and his hand nimbly grasped the pole, his other hand still holding a tight grip on the ring.

"Nago scores!"

"YES!" Pac-Man jumped up and down with glee.

"We are now tied 1-1!"

-/-

The rain finally stopped.

"Time for round three." said the Master Hand. "We have Shadow and Pac-Man taking on Foxy and Greninja. Survivors ready?"

Foxy's scrunched up eyebrows meant that he was more determined than ever.

"...GO!"

All three contestants proved to be much faster than Pac-Man. And so, he made his own decision to stay behind and let Shadow have a chance at the ring.

"Pac-Man suddenly stops and lets everybody else go for it..."

Shadow managed to grab the ring and tossed it to Pac-Man, who catches it with no trouble at all.

"Stop halfway!" Foxy told Greninja as he decided to go after the ring by himself.

"We have quite a bit of strategy going on here..." Master Hand observed.

"Come on, emperors!" shouted Shulk.

"Pac-Man and Shadow both now have the ring and are approaching their flag!"

However, Foxy chose to launch himself at the ring, the sudden weight of his body actually caused the two Nago members to lose their grip on the ring, the red fox using it as an advantage to toss the ring to Greninja. As a result, Shadow knew he had to swim as fast as his body allowed him to.

"We got a challenge!"

With great effort, the hedgehog was actually able to grab the ring and begin to start making his way over to Pac-Man, pulling on said ring with all of his might.

"Here comes Pac-Man!"

Using his strength, Shadow was nearing the halfway point, not even noticing Pac-Man who kept struggling in the water due to the roughhousing that was going on.

"...Pac-Man, get up!"

"I... oof! I-I'm trying!"

"The emperors are getting a little closer to their pole!" Master Hand noted. "...But Foxy is not giving up!"

"Come on, Foxy!" Sheik called out as other encouraged with her.

"Come on!" With one burst at a time, Foxy used all the strength he had in his arm to pull the ring back to where he thought belonged, Greninja doing everything he could have to help out.

"The knights are pulling the ring back to their flag!"

Foxy at that point was literally gritting his teeth as his free hand kept splashing the water as he continued to grew closer. And when he thought he was close enough, with all of his might and one last pull, he grabbed the pole.

"Chatan scores!"

The yellow team celebrated as if they already won.

"That's how you do it!" shouted Knuckles.

With irritation, Shadow was exiting the water, leaving Pac-Man to cough some of the water out.

"Chatan leads 2-1!"

-/-

"Alright, so here's where we at." The reality show host felt it was necessary for a brief recap. "Chatan leads 2-1 and we're playing to three. If the knights score again, they win reward. The emperors need to score so that they could at least have a shot at winning. For this round, it is going to be Freddy and Shulk taking on Knuckles and Bonnie. Playing to three. Here we go. Survivors ready? ...GO!"

"Freddy sprinting! ...Shulk sprinting! ...Bonnie is sprinting but Knuckles is gonna stay behind! Four strong guys. Without a doubt gonna be our toughest challenge, yet!"

Then out of nowhere Bonnie decided to lunge at the ring, but both Freddy and Shulk immediately grabbed it right before Bonnie was about to take off, causing Knuckles to hurry over to the other side of the area.

"...Knuckles is gonna try to block the ring from going past him..."

Freddy and Shulk were pulling as hard as they could.

"How are we gonna do this?"

"...We might have to battle it out..." Shulk suggested. "Go for the flag..."

When close enough, Shulk let go of the ring so he can take on Knuckles.

"Shulk is gonna try to prevent Knuckles from getting close to the ring, leaving Freddy and Bonnie all on their own. Bonnie is trying his best to pull the ring away from the emperors' pole but it is not working!"

Thus, emperors claimed victory.

"Nago scores! It is now tied 2-2!"

Knuckles used both hands to splash the water out of frustration. Not at anybody in particular, but just the fact that he and Bonnie did not score.

"Looks like we're not going to get the opportunity to choose today..." Rouge predicted from the bench.

-/-

"Alright, final round. It is anybody's game at this point. Everybody has already gone, so anyone has had the opportunity to go again." Master Hand explained. "With that being said, it is going to be Freddy and Shulk once again taking on Knuckles and Foxy. Here we go. For reward. Survivors ready? ...GO!"

This time, all four of them sprinted out towards the ring as if it was a free for all. Yet due to Knuckles and Foxy being faster, they were able to get to their ring first. Though realizing it quickly, Shulk held his arm out in front of Freddy to stop the both of them from progressing any further.

"The emperors have purposefully stayed behind trying to see what the knights will do..."

Knuckles and Foxy remained staring at each of the emperors both separately and as a team, Shulk distancing himself from Freddy.

Then all of a sudden, Knuckles tossed the ring as far as he could have towards Chatan's flag.

"Knuckles decided that he needed to take a big risk here..." Master Hand noted.

It was now a big race to the ring. Though Knuckles and Foxy had more speed, Shulk and Freddy already had a head start ahead of them. Having it in mind, Freddy wanted to make a move.

"Shulk, go for it!" Next thing he knew, he was taking on Foxy.

"Freddy trying to get Foxy in a hold as Shulk is swimming away, Knuckles trying to make it to the ring before Shulk does."

Shulk ended up getting the ring and decided to use Knuckles's own strategy against him as he tossed his ring directly to the emperors' pole.

"Now it is Shulk who is taking a risk!"

Freddy successfully managed to hold Foxy in place in the water as Foxy had to watch Shulk get a hold of the ring again, him having to swing the ring away from Knuckles who tried to lunge at it only to fall right in the water nothing.

"Shulk now has the advantage!"

Foxy desperately wanted to get free even though it was too little, too late.

"THE EMPERORS WIN REWARD!"

Most of the Nago tribe jumped up and down celebrating their victory as the Chatan tribe could have only watched.

Freddy finally decided to let Foxy though as Knuckles shook his head while he walked out.

-/-

"Alright, emperors. You have won. What are you going to choose?"

"We're taking the tool kit." Shadow immediately answered the master hand. "Those knights already had that kit and the tarp. With better tools, it means that we could have an even better shelter."

"Okay, tool kit it is." Master Hand confirmed. "And before you go,... you gotta send somebody for the Knights tribe to go to Exile Island."

All of Chatan froze in place.

"And whoever goes will return in time for the next immunity challenge. Choose wisely..."

The Emperors tribe promptly began discussing.

"...We need to send him out because it will weaken his tribe..."

"But, what about the idol? That would be three people from the tribe that might have the idol that could bite us in the end."

"It will cause the Knights tribe to be all over the place..."

"Alright, emperors." Master Hand was ready. "Who's it gonna be?"

The remaining nine yellow team members waited.

"...We're gonna send Shovel Knight." Roy answered, glancing at the actual knight of the team with a look of sympathy. "Shovel, I'm sorry..."

All eyes were on the Chatan member, yet he brushed it off. "Ah, no worries. I'll be back... again..."

"Shovel Knight, boat's waiting for ya just over there. Nago, come get your reward and get outta here." The hand took one last look at team yellow. "Chatan, got nothing for you. Head out."

"The group's decision to send Shovel Knight back to Exile Island over Foxy wasn't the smartest idea whatsoever." Shadow shook his head with arms folded in frustration. "Foxy was the reason to why we almost lost, but they are so paranoid of the Knights using it to their own advantage if Foxy went. Seriously..."

Note: Ronnie = Rupert Boneham from Survivor - Pearl Islands (Season 7)

Okay, so we actually have a reward challenge here instead of an immunity challenge. In the actual show reward challenges start to happen separately on day ten (at least mostly as of late) so I decided to have one here. And the immunity challenge will happen just the next day so there's probably gonna be a lot going on next chapter in comparison to this one when we're not even at four thousand words.

Now let's talk about this chapter in particular. Other than the very physical challenge, people were complaining about the rain for obvious reasons lol. Like if I was out there stranded on the island with up to nine complete strangers cold and wet with no fire, who wouldn't be complaining for at a second (lol)? One of the many reasons on why I wouldn't actually apply for the show.

But other than that, I guess we can talk about Shadow for a bit about the decision of the emperors to send Shovel Knight over to Exile Island over Foxy who was a beast in that challenge (as well as Shadow himself not even caring about Pac-Man). The group decided that if they kept sending someone other than the same person to Exile Island than it would actually harm them in the long run when they need to vote out someone with an idol in their pocket for example. But Shadow wanted to pull off a Ghirahim basically. Yet Shadow was only one of eight emperors, so yeah. (Note: Those of you who know Shadow all too well, you guys should know to never tick him off. Ever. ...Well same for Knuckles, but we're talking about Shadow here lol.)

Questions:

1. How would Shadow react when he's back at the camp? Will he keep it to himself and play it strategically or will he have a follow up conversation at the camp?

2. So Shovel Knight is actually going to Exile Island by himself right? The emperors chose to play it safe. Would there actually be another clue on the island, or at this point it's going to be just nothing? Also, would any of the other knights actually take advantage of this? (Reminder: Literally no one has found an idol yet.)

...And that's all I have lol. So all I gotta say is that you guys can vote on your top five players this season if you haven't already and I will see you all on Saturday!