Survivor - Emperors vs Knights

Chapter 19 - Day 15 Part 2 & Day 16 Part 1

Alright, we're more of a third of a way through this game. Five people are gone, and now the three tribes are even due to Marth joining Nago, and now they plus Chatan won iced coffee. But unfortunately, Motobu didn't get anything.

Now since I have room to talk about something else, I guess I can reveal another small detail about my next season, already previously revealing that it is going to be in a different location. And that is next time, there would be eighteen castaways instead of twenty.

~KF

Motobu

Day 15

Freddy, Luigi, Shovel Knight, Roy, and Foxy all returned back to camp with their heads down, ignoring the more cloudy weather that was growing as the hours went on.

"I'm sorry, guys..." Roy was already talking.

"Dude, no need to apologize over here." Foxy held his hand out. "You've only made one mistake. You gave it everything you had, and you were willingly wanting to do the hardest part of that challenge. That wasn't the first reward and it's not gonna be the last."

"It could still be the one reward some of you guys would have needed."

"Well, I didn't do anything at the challenge today." The red anthropomorphic animal reminded. "You certainly did more than I did, and your efforts alone speaks for it all. You still did a good job."

"I still didn't get it over that hill though, and I cost this team quite a bit of time." Roy was still not looking up. "I know any of you would have been my shoes for the slithering portion, but since I was the one who took that position, we paid the price in the end because of my mistake. Not to say that nobody is allowed to make a mistake for anything, but it still happened and facts are facts, and I apologize for it."

Shovel Knight put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up over it. We might have lost coffee and pastries today, but at least it wasn't an immunity challenge where we need it the most. We can just act as if it is just another day."

"I know how you feel." Luigi added. "I remember back on the first challenge I was struggling a little bit, so I can relate. No need to feel sad because that will make me sad right now..."

"For me it doesn't matter if it was for reward and immunity. When you've realized that you let your team down, or at least know that you are the reason to why the results were the way they were today, you can not help but feel guilty. ...You know, I've stated before that I had to prevent an entire war from occurring when I was just fifteen, so I had to constantly help take care of everyone in my army. ...I can't even describe what I had to go through..." Roy actually let tears roll down his face.

"The fear of losing someone in your army is bad enough, knowing that you were the leader during it all, and the feeling of guilt that things could have been different in such a way, especially for a... 'Young Lion' such as myself. And so, losing the reward challenge today just reminded me of what it was like when you are the one that had to control everything when your own father wasn't able to. I had to step up for my father, I had to step up for army, and the lands of Lycia. Such enormous pressure takes quite the toll on you, especially since I wasn't even an adult at the time... Though in spite of all this, I guess accomplishing many things at such an early age is something to be proud of. Although,... there is always the fear of things not going your way when it comes to anything, especially when you realize that it is none other than your own fault... I do not blame anyone who hates losing, that is for sure..."

He was now sitting down near the water with Freddy.

"I mean, even though I was known for my accomplishments back in my home world, ones such as myself I suppose are still fearful of what can occur if you lose, knowing that you have such a large amount of weight on your shoulders, and that if you mess up once, the consequence for making only one mistake can still be severe, and you have no one to blame but yourself. Though it is a feeling I am not used to, you still fear of the possibility of that happening."

Freddy's arm was around his shoulder.

"And the worst thing is that since I helped Motobu... lose the challenge today, I'm already on the outs, and even though those three are telling me to not beat myself up over it, they could be talking behind our backs right now using this as a big reason to why I should be kicked out and get my torch snuffed because of the one mistake I made." He wiped a tear from his right eye and sniffed. "And even if I'm somehow still here, say if we go to Tribal Council, I do not want to screw you over as well because I may very well mess up again. I don't want to hurt your game, Freddy. I want us both to at least make the merge."

"You're not. Don't worry..." He shook his head in disagreement and the two embraced. "We'll make it. Even if we are going to tribal, we have to plan ahead and think about what we can do. Just stay focused. You can do and get through everything if you set your mind to it."

"It's amazing of what Roy has done before coming out here even though he's so young." Freddy took a moment to honor his accomplishments in life. "I mean, when I was eighteen I was just trying to figure out on what I was gonna do for the rest of my life... by hiring a team to make pizzas for people... But with that being said, I think that Roy can inspire other teenagers like himself that if he can get through what he had to go through back in the day, people like him can get through anything. And so if anything, he's helping me have even more motivation to stick it out here so that I can help him."

"Our best bet of course is to win immunity since it's a much higher priority than winning rewards, but even if we lose, then we'll both die as heroes for trying our hardest, and that's the only way we can look at it."

"And, um..." Now it was him that was starting to feel guilty, his head hanging down being enough to give a sign. "...I really feel like the bad guy here, but not using the perfect opportunity to reveal to him that I have an idol that I found during the last immunity challenge. But, sometimes people go home in Survivor for giving away to much information. And in a selfish game like this when you want the million dollars as well as being the title of Sole Survivor, sometimes the right thing to do is to keep your mouth shut as much as possible, unless you have perfectly valid reason to why it is necessary to reveal you have an idol... Though of course the hardest part is deciding for yourself when is it the perfect time. Maybe I'll tell Roy later, maybe I won't... I haven't even told Foxy..."

-/-

"Okay, no offense to Roy or Freddy or anything, but those two are down at the beach right now talking it out, and us three are standing right here..."

Foxy remained at the shelter with Shovel Knight and Luigi.

"I mean, what are we gonna do if one of them has an idol?"

"Hmm..." That also had Shovel Knight thinking. "You think one of them haven't found it, yet? I think we did a good job watching over the both of them. We watched them in a single group when we needed to, and we separated ourselves at the most perfect moments."

"They could get sneaky, though." Foxy reminded. "If they're gonna try to find it, we need to find it before they do, or else the people would bring that idol to the merge with more than a dozen people."

"But, who do you think should get the boot if we have to go?" asked Luigi. "The knights are the ones that have the chance to keep their numbers advantage right now."

"I'd go with Roy." Foxy suggested. "...But I wanna hear opinions from the both of you first..."

"Okay." Shovel Knight nodded. "So basically, I've had conversations with some of you from the old Chatan tribe, and at this point, these are probably the last two Tribal Councils before the merge. I doubt Master Hand will confirm anything for business reasons, but if it is at thirteen, then it doesn't matter if we lose, since at least one of them would be gone, anyway. This is our chance."

"I agree." Luigi bobbed his head up and down. "The knights are actually the ones that have the majority here thanks to Mega Man leaving, and if we vote off a knight now, and if Nago ends up going to tribal again, Knuckles or Krystal could be going home. I think it's best for us that if we vote out another emperor next, this game would be ours."

"Which one, though?"

"Roy and Freddy could both be threatening in the future for different reasons." said Shovel Knight. "Though even though Roy is long term, Freddy is an immediate threat since he could be stronger in the individual challenges... Maybe it's best for us to write down Freddy... even though I am quite fond of him..."

"I haven't talked to Roy that much." Luigi admitted with a head shake. "But based on what happened today and how he's feeling right now,... I actually hope we win because I get to talk to him a little more, since I know how it feels being the underdog here."

"Roy has literally no connections on this tribe." Foxy talked. "However, Luigi just blatantly stated that he would like to grow a connection with Roy. Apparently Shovel Knight likes Freddy, and clearly I like the guy, too, and I feel like I need him since I couldn't keep Rouge because I didn't wanna upset the tribe by keeping both her and Knuckles. My main question for myself is how do I balance my social game with my strategic game. There have been many people before me that play too hard, and people that put too much heart in the game resulting in them becoming the goats of the season. So I gotta make sure I do it correctly (hopefully). I need to keep Freddy here since I have a growing bond with him, but I need to figure out how am I supposed to do that if I'm in the majority with Shovel Knight and Luigi who want Freddy out."

He then smirked. "Of course I can't just sit here and let Freddy go away. I already purposefully kept my mouth shut since I didn't wanna dictate to everyone or else I'm gone, but it looks like I got a subtly fight for Freddy here, and it might take a little bit of lying to save the both of us. ...They say that a pirate never lies, but in this case of course I might have to lie out here."

Chatan

Day 15

"Pac-Man, slow down! You don't want to eat too much or else you might be throwing up in a little bit..."

"Oh, no, I'm fine! But thanks for checking up on me, Sheik!"

"Just be sure to drink something to wash it down."

Pac-Man, Greninja, Bonnie, Zelda, and Sheik were already eating away at their pastries, the former consuming the most, with the rest of the tribe (mainly Sheik) trying their best to slow down Pac-Man consumption process. Though clearly, it was hard for the guy to slow down so easily, especially given the lack of food situation out in the wilderness.

"Oh, by the way, since you're a performer, Bonnie," said Pac-Man. "do you think if someone has musical dreams, and they compete on Survivor, because they will get noticed when the season airs, do you think they have a greater chance of getting into the music business?"

"..." Bonnie eyed him for a bit between bites to think. "Well,... I don't know for certain, though it could be true. I mean, we did have someone from Survivor - Nicaragua that was a growing country musician at the time. Even though he said that it didn't help him, he gained exposure, anyway."

"Maybe you two could collab together!"

He shrugged in reaction. "Maybe we could... after he realizes that I exist."

They both shared a laugh. Though while everyone else was eating the food, none of them bothered to look in Sheik's direction after she ended up picking up a pastry with a piece of paper.

"...?"

Without even thinking twice, she nimbly stuck it beneath her and sat on it.

-/-

"Pac, do you think any of them are following us?"

"Hmm..." Zelda managed to pull Pac-Man to the side and separated themselves from the rest of the group in the forest after Sheik left to some place else. Yet when Pac-Man had a hand over his head as he stopped for a quick second, he saw no one. "...Nnnnope..."

"Then now is a good time to talk... especially after what we both found out this morning..."

"Oh, yes!" Pac-Man nodded rapidly. "I was thinking about it the entire time! I only stopped for a second because... I was hungry!"

"I was so shocked that Mega Man is not in the game anymore! Like... What did he do wrong? ...I don't think he even did anything! I thought for sure he was safe since he was with both Shadow and Shulk, and they all had the majority. So there was no way Mega Man would have left. Did Krystal or Knuckles have an idol or something? ...I don't know if that's even the case because neither of them were on Exile Island. My number one ally is out. Now what do I do?"

"I know we were on separate tribes, but we can't play Survivor without Pac-Man!" He placed his hands on his hand. "What are we gonna do?"

"Stay calm." Zelda motioned him with both her hands. "The knights may have the advantage now, but it doesn't mean that we can't change things around. We need to figure out why Mega Man went home in advance, and we still need to find a crack."

"Knuckles and Krystal were up against Mega Man, Shadow, and Shulk." Zelda recalled. "I would assume that an idol must have been played, but that is highly unlikely giving the existence of Exile Island. And so if anyone has it, it is Marth who just joined. All this means is that there must have been a flip. I doubt Shulk is the type of person to flip knowing the circumstances and where he stood with his tribe, and of course Mega Man could not have voted for himself because that is actually against the rules. Clearly Shadow is most likely responsible. Though, that leads to even more questions. Why did he flip, and why on Mega in particular? And even if Shadow did not flip, something else must have somehow happened, which I would not even be surprised knowing how Survivor runs. I do not want to jump to conclusions..."

"We have to watch those three very carefully. If we have to go to tribal, there could be a chance that we can work with someone..." She continued to walk with Pac-Man. "I've noticed that Greninja and Sheik have been growing mighty close, and Bonnie tends to stick to the side and observe us four communicate with one another. I think that maybe if we can swing Bonnie, we can vote one of them out. Not just for us, but for him as well, since I wouldn't be surprised if he also thinks that they're a team."

"...Wow..." Pac-Man blinked. "...You're so smart, Zelda..."

"Well," Zelda laughed a little playing with her hair, not knowing exactly how to react. "I... I can say that I am not going to just let us get picked off one by one before the merge. If an emperor goes again, we are not only screwed over, but for the rest of the emperors as well."

"First I was in danger with Peach on the old Nago tribe, and now I'm on the outs with Pac-Man. But this time in order to make sure I am a hundred percent safe, due to tribal lines taking place at a camp neither me nor Pac-Man was on from the beginning, looks like I need to fight a little harder..."

-/-

"'Congratulations, you have found an advantage in the game'..."

"I've forgotten that there was always the chance of a clue to something when you receive a reward." Sheik explained. "It may not have been a clue to an immunity idol, since Shovel Knight already found one here, but at least a Secret Advantage is better than nothing."

"'Although,'" she read to herself on the beach making sure she was as far away from everyone as possible. "'this advantage is not going to be for you. With this advantage, you are allowed to prevent a player from voting at any future Tribal Council they attend to. This advantage will be given to someone of your choice on one of the other tribes.' ...Oh, goddesses..."

"I never thought that I was going to block someone's vote before. But since I can, I might as well use to the best of my ability. Of course I am not going to block one of the knights votes later down the road, because I need to protect my alliance. So if I'm going to give this to one of the emperors, the question is simply on who."

"Seven emperors left. I need to choose wisely..." Sheik stuffed the advantage in her shirt, beginning to make her way back. "I need to get back to the camp..."

Nago

Day 15

"Slowly... nice and easy... Perfect..."

Marth was helping Shulk and Knuckles poor the iced coffee in each of the group's canteens.

Krystal chuckled. "Clearly you all don't plan on drinking after each other with the jug."

"That is rather..." Marth paused for a moment. "Unsanitary..."

"Well," Knuckles shrugged after they were successfully able to fill up all five canteens, subsequently screwing his top in. "If we didn't have these, at least it would have beaten dying of thirst."

"Now none of us have to worry about making a trip to the water well for a while, since the jug is not even half empty." Shulk said.

"Please be sure to keep the top on from the rain and any bugs that are curious." Shadow warned. "There are so many insects and animals out here it's ridiculous... Why do you all think the master allows it?"

"...Well," Shulk blinked. "I'm pretty sure he wouldn't let any of us exactly... die on Survivor. We'll be fine. Those pastries Chatan got will be even harder to cover up. ...Then again, they can just use one of those blankets that they earned."

"Even if flies manage to get on them, people have to eat anything on Survivor anyway, just because it's food." Krystal reminded. "Some of them even had to compete in gross food eating challenges, so they make the flies look like nothing."

"I thought I was going to return to my home tribe with a plan successfully executed for my alliance to remove either Knuckles or Krystal from the game in order to keep our numbers, but then Shadow stabbed Mega Man in the back, and now our chances of not having the numbers at merge increased." Marth shook his head. "I do not think that Shadow realizes that he is going to be the reason to why we would not have our numbers if the knights keep their advantage."

He found time to lie back in the shelter with Shulk.

"I mean, I am not saying that it is all about us voting them off one by one by one, but it does not mean flip on someone who has done nothing to you. ...I really don't think Mega Man did anything wrong. Right now there are seven emperors, and then there are eight knights. If we mess up again, we are in grave danger."

"I should have known that Shadow was gonna pull something over us, I just didn't know when." Shulk just stared at the ceiling, with was nothing more that bamboo and palm fronds in front of his face. "Shadow is clearly not gonna agree with me, but I don't think it was the right time if he didn't trust Mega for whatever reason. I would have waited until like, merge when we have enough room to work with, ya know? Just to play it safe?"

"...I... I am not bitter towards him or anything... But I... I just don't understand... It is like my own army cannibalizing each other from back home..."

"I see what ya mean. Traitors and back stabbers are a huge no-no where I come from. But... we both know." He turned to him to share a glance.

"It's different out here."

"Exactly."

"It just seems wrong..." Lowell shook his head at the thought. "Like Peach, Mega Man deserved to stay here. Ghirahim was rubbing everyone the wrong way, so he should have took her place. And now this? How does Shadow expect us to trust him from this point? What was he trying to accomplish?"

"I... don't know..." The blonde was now staring above with hands behind his head. "We can't even get rid of him now, because that will just be the shot in the foot we need to lose this game. I'm still trying to make some sort of sense so that Shadow's move would at least be understandable, but I just can't. And at this point, we need to move forward and make the right moves here. Maybe we need to win immunity just so Shadow doesn't get a chance to vote. He already flipped on Mega, now I'm afraid he will turn on one of us if he's with Krystal and Knuckles now..."

"I think Shadow flipped because he thought he was on the bottom of the emperors. And it may have been true to him, but I was trying to grow closer to Shadow based off our history, and Mega Man was also trying to grow closer to him, so in the long run, we would have ran the show together and might have even gone final three." Shulk was leaning against a rock. "But clearly that's out the window at this point. The only way we would somehow get the advantage over the knights right before the merge is if it is not Emperors vs Knights anymore. And if that's the case, let's just say I am not a hundred percent Team Shadow anymore, and neither is Marth. Now it's time for us to really build new relationships..."

"Hey, Marth?"

"Yes?"

"Because of what happened, it's giving me more reasons to why I'm glad you're on this tribe." Shulk and the blue-haired swordsman laughed.

Day 16

"Come on in, guys!"

Starting with Chatan and finishing with Motobu, the remaining fifteen survivors met up with the host of Survivor, Master Hand, once again, just in time for another immunity challenge.

"You guys ready to get to today's immunity challenge? First things first, I will take back both immunity idols."

After taking back the smaller idol from Greninja, he took the larger one away from Luigi.

"Once again, immunity is back up for grabs, and this time,..." He paused for a second. "it is going to be a blindfold challenge."

That earned the biggest mixed reaction from the group thus far. Some were of course excited due to the unknown all around them thanks to the lack of sight. Yet for the same reasons, especially when it comes to bumping into everything that was always unexpectedly two inches away from the face, resulted in some complaints and groans.

Nonetheless, the challenge had to go on, just as the show itself.

"For today's challenge, one person will be your caller, as the rest of the tribe will be blindfolded and tethered together in pairs. On my go, using only verbal commands, the caller will guide their tribe through a series of obstacles to a tower. You will pull on a rope dumping water with a bag along with it. Upon getting all three bags, you'll use the balls inside and maneuver them through a table maze. Your goal is to get all three balls in their final resting spot. First two tribes that finish, win immunity, safe from the vote. Losers, you know the deal. Tribal Council tonight where someone will be the sixth person voted out of this game. I'll give you guys a minute to strategize and we'll get started... Oh, one extra thing..."

The group paused right before they were completely huddled up with a game plan.

"The person who is the caller, must be the hero for the table maze."

-/-

"We have our callers." Master Hand confirmed. "It is going to be Krystal for Nago, Zelda for Chatan, and Shovel Knight for Motobu. Here we go. For immunity. Survivors ready?"

As the three callers stood on large platforms, the rest of the contestants were all blindfolded with their buffs over their faces.

"...GO!"

And the six pairs went off, two pairs for each tribe. All three callers immediately began to bark out orders to their teams as they slowly wandered through the course, with the occasional bumping into barrels and colored railings.

"KEEP GOING STRAIGHT! KEEP GOING STRAIGHT!" yelled out Krystal. "JUST UP AHEAD, GUYS!"

"DOWN THE MIDDLE, BONNIE AND SHEIK!" Zelda had both her hands over her mouth shouting as if she never shouted before.

"Krystal and Shovel Knight sending all of their members in the same direction, while Zelda is splitting her pairs up!"

"TO THE LEFT! TO THE LEFT! TO THE LEFT! TO THE LEFT!" Shovel Knight repeated.

"Now the rest of the pairs are splitting up." Master Hand explained what was happening. "Marth and Knuckles are at a tower! Bonnie and Sheik are at a tower! ...Greninja and Pac-Man are at a tower!"

"Knuckles, is the rope behind you?" Marth questioned, both of his arms being spread out. Though when he turned and felt something he thought it was a rope, he began pulling. "Maybe this is it..."

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! Cut it out! Those are my dreadlocks!"

"Sorry..."

"Luigi and Foxy are at a tower!"

Foxy immediately found the rope and pulled down on it, causing a large bucket filled with orange colored water dump down on the both of them.

"..." Luigi shook himself off like a dog.

"COME BACK LUIGI AND FOXY!"

"Right now Luigi and Foxy, Marth and Knuckles, and Bonnie and Sheik are coming back with bags!"

"What's this do?"

"That's the rope." Greninja answered. "Pull on it."

"Ugh!" with a giant tug, water dumped all over Greninja and Pac-Man.

"I'm so glad I'm already a water type..."

"Chatan has a bit of an early lead thanks to Zelda's strategy..."

"OKAY, TEAM. WE HAVE TO SPLIT UP! MARTH AND KNUCKLES ARE GOING TO THE LEFT. SHADOW AND SHULK, GO RIGHT! GO RIGHT!"

"Now, everybody else is using Zelda's strategy!" Master Hand noted.

"OKAY, BONNIE AND SHEIK STAY HERE." The Hyrulian pointed. "GRENINJA AND PAC-MAN, GET BACK OUT THERE!"

"...Oof!" Freddy bumped into one of the railings so hard he almost fell over.

"You alright?"

"I'm fine..." He reassured Roy.

"I can't find the barrel anywhere..." Foxy, who was ahead of Luigi, was flailing his right arm all over the place looking for the barrel to drop the bag on top of it. "...Finally..."

"Come on... Chatan's in the lead..." Shadow was speed walking his way through the course, not caring how many obstacles he, and especially his partner were bumping into.

"Shadow is literally shuffling along Shulk through the obstacles... and it's actually working!"

"Pull it!" The hedgehog ordered as Shulk dumped water on each other, the Mobian himself immediately untying the bag. Foxy and his teammate on Motobu meanwhile, dumped the water on himself and the plumber once more.

"All three tribes have their bags. We are literally quite even..."

But it ended up being Nago who returned to their barrel, causing Krystal to leap off the platform, grab the bags, and direct her team through the entire obstacle course in order to make it to the puzzle at the end of the challenge. Both of her opposing teams, however, were not that far behind at all.

"Go, Chatan! Go, Motobu! Now Shovel Knight and Zelda have to lead the rest of the tribe through..."

It looked as if there were three small trains traveling along the tracks on the railroad in different directions all at once.

"Nago's through! Take off your blindfolds!"

"Here, hold these..." Krystal forced two of the bags into Marth's hands so she could immediately begin her work.

"Motobu's through... Chatan's through! Everybody taking off their blindfolds, now!"

Zelda appeared to be taking her time studying the table maze that rotated on itself every so often, Shovel Knight was not panicking in any way, and Krystal was playing slightly more aggressively. Although, she knew she was already in the minority on that tribe. Who could have blamed her?

"Don't rush, Zelda." Greninja suggested. "We only need to avoid being last..."

"Okay, I'm almost halfway there..." Shovel Knight updated his group as he constantly pulled and adjusted at least one of the handles used to control the maze. "Let me just get around this corner..."

Unfortunately for Shovel Knight, his first ball fell through a hole.

"Shovel Knight drops. He's gotta start again."

"Stay calm..." said Luigi.

"One thing about this is that whether you are an emperor or a knight," The reality show host spoke. "whenever you are put into a position where an entire team is relying on you to perform, it can be very scary. There is that fear that comes from within. You could walk out of here and live as a hero, or die as one tonight. Zelda trying to win to protect her tribe from going to Tribal Council, Krystal and Shovel Knight trying to win to help their tribes so that they can continue to stay alive."

"Alright, almost there, almost there..."

"Krystal, don't worry. Just concentrate..." said Shulk. "...Okay, you're good, you're good."

"Nago has their first ball in place at the center of the table. They need two more... Zelda is getting very close, trying to get around a tough spot here. One wrong move and she's starting over..."

Yet with one pull to the right, the ball nimbly moved past the hole and right into the center where she was able to land her first ball easily.

"Chatan has landed their first ball. Shovel Knight catching up and Motobu is still in this!"

"Krystal is acing this table maze... Motobu finally lands their first ball!"

Shovel Knight knew that he had to play just a tad bit more aggressively.

"Krystal is getting around that tough spot... and she's got it! Nago only down to one ball left!"

"Okay, lean a little to the left..." Foxy cocked his head a bit to the side. "That part is the first part that's tricky... Just stay cool and you'll be fine..."

"Zelda don't panic." Sheik shook her head. "We still have a shot."

The Survivor from Hyrule was starting to move a little faster. However, the moment she did so, her ball ended up falling out throughout halfway through the course.

"Zelda drops! She's gotta start again!"

"Don't worry, Zelda!" Pac-Man was still optimistic. "We still have a chance!"

"Krystal inches away..."

"Come on, come on..." Shulk mumbled.

"NAGO WINS IMMUNITY!"

With an immediate sigh of relief, Krystal let go of both handles, embracing most of her tribe, elated that she had the opportunity to see another day.

"There is only room for one more!"

And at that point, Shovel Knight managed to get his second ball in, with Zelda doing the same about nearly a dozen seconds later after moving swiftly in comparison to her efforts at the beginning of that portion of the challenge.

"...Shovel Knight getting very close to the end..."

Zelda kept fighting. Although, her efforts were to no avail the moment where Shovel Knight's ball sunk in the hole.

"MOTOBU WINS IMMUNITY!"

Upon hearing that, Zelda almost instantly let go with a shake of her head with a sigh, head hanging down slightly low.

"Zelda, don't worry." Bonnie placed a hand on her shoulder. "You did great."

"Good job, Zelda." Greninja patted her on the back. "You did the best you can do."

"Nago, congratulations. You do not have to go to Tribal Council." Master Hand floated along to give the idol to Krystal. "Here you go. ...Motobu, second place is everything in this situation and you've earned. Nobody going home from your tribe once again."

After giving the second idol to Roy, Master Hand sent both of them back out.

"Chatan, Tribal Council tonight. Somebody will be the sixth person voted out of Survivor - Emperors vs Knights. You have the afternoon to figure out who's it gonna be. Head back to camp."

"It would probably be poetic justice for me to be sent home after I took the leader role here and lost the challenge today." Zelda figured. "However, I am clearly going to fight to stay alive here. If I can convince someone to keep me, that's one thing. But if I can someone convince them to keep both me and Pac-Man, that would help me greatly. It is all based on the relationships."

Alright, so obviously if Bonnie flips, it's either Greninja or Sheik. But if he doesn't flip, it's either Zelda or Pac-Man, with Zelda seemingly the possible choice here.

But other than that, I just can't believe that I'm almost done with the pre-merge here! Only one more vote after this to go, and I will finally really start to explain details of the third season!

...Oh, and one more thing, I really liked the whole Roy scene there at the beginning of the chapter. Like, I know it's not the first time someone cost a team a challenge but we still had a really nice moment from Roy, and how he opened up to him actually not being used to losing a lot due to him being classified as an "emperor" based off his own personal story.

I think one of the few problems Kodai Island had was that even though there are moments like this, I feel like there needed to be just a bit more, even though there were great story arcs with quite a few of the characters. But I think after I finally managed to finish watching all thirty-eight seasons at this point, I now have a clear picture of how I should properly write a Survivor story, and one thing that quite a few people complain about (myself included) in some actual Survivor seasons (specifically most of the modern ones) is basically on how in some seasons there are like, twenty gamebots with no personalities or emotions whatsoever like it's just a simple chess game rather than real people playing a hardcore game like this with actual emotions and personalities.

Cambodia (although great season) is a good example of this. Strategy was amazing, but there were very few moments with any of the characters, and barely any interesting story arcs. (That was even an All Star season and I've actually seen first before most of the players first seasons so that didn't help lol).

But for this fic, I think the whole Peach situation says it all, so for this chapter in particular I really do feel for Roy here. So with this, hopefully this Survivor fic can fix one of the few problems Kodai Island had and I will continue to take my time writing it.

Questions:

1. Do you feel that Motobu would win the next challenge, or do you think they're going to Tribal Council next?

2. How likely will Bonnie flip?

3. Who do you think will get Sheik's advantage?

Now I'll state the usual. Vote for your top five players if you haven't already and I will see you all on Saturday!