Days 13-15 (1st)

## Day 13

### Green Team

On Day 13, Jade made an effort to forcefully make nice with Marcus. She invited him out to go gather firewood, surprising him. While they were out, she tried to carefully pry for information about how close he was to Lenobia. Marcus, being blunt, told Jade she could stop worrying. He was completely sure Lenobia was going to jump ship to their side, and he wasn't planning to help the others out. Jade still hated how close he had gotten with her, very much distrusting Lenobia. Regardless, her main concern was whether or not Marcus and Lenobia would want to vote out Daniel. He acted like Lenobia's puppy dog and she seemed to enjoy the attention, so Jade wasn't convinced she would be willing to vote him out. Marcus basically laughed in Jade's face, irritating her, and told her she had way misread the situation. Lenobia was ready to ditch every single player from her original Blue Team to survive, and that included Daniel. If Jade wanted him gone first, it was as good as done as long as Blaike was on board. Feeling confident that she was, Jade felt a little better, although the conversation had served to remind her way she disliked Marcus so much.

As Jade was actively announcing how she believed Blaike was locked in to Marcus, Blaike had gone out to check the traps for food and invited Zillik. While he was normally reluctant to socialize with literally anyone, Zillik forced himself along because he knew his position on this new team could be precarious. Blaike told Zillik that she wanted to flip on Marcus, because she thought of him as a liability and noted that he and Lenobia were too close for comfort. He was also just generally awful to live with. Zillik agreed with both points, but did want to know why she would want Marcus gone instead of Lenobia. Blaike couldn't answer that directly. Part of the reason was Timothy. She knew he was working with Marcus and Dragon, but Blaike wanted to rely on him. If they could get rid of Marcus, she could replace him in that alliance. Plus, again, she hated living with him. To Zillik, however, she just said that she didn't want to risk forcing a tie. Besides, Lenobia was always going to be an outsider with her original team, so she could be voted out anytime. As he reset a trap, Zillik nodded in agreement with her, which was the closest indication he gave to being willing to go along with a plan. On a final note, Blaike told him they would need to get Daniel involved, because Jade wasn't on board with this plan. Hearing that concerned Zillik, as he was less confident in this vote if there was the potential for a tie. Blaike, seeing the look on Zillik's face, promised him that it would be fine. If the vote tied, it would be between Daniel and Marcus, at which point they could see what would happen. If they had to vote again, Jade would probably switch her vote. If they had to draw rocks, they were still fine as long as the two of them got through. Any other outcome wouldn't be so bad. Zillik remained unconvinced, but didn't have any interest in debating, so he shrugged, which Blaike took as approval.

While all four of them were out, Lenobia had been left alone in camp with Daniel. She woke up late to find him cooking the rice and beans for their breakfast, which he offered her a slightly larger portion of than was put out for everyone else. Naturally, Lenobia accepted, but by now, his little crush on her had started annoying her. He spent most of the morning trying to initiate conversations, which Lenobia consistently gave panned responses to. Still, Daniel wasn't deterred. He felt that the only reason she was being more distant was because of Marcus. Thus, he just needed to keep trying and eventually would win her back over when Marcus was gone later on. Lenobia, on the other hand, was starting to feel better and better about potentially voting out Daniel instead of Zillik. She trusted Daniel more, sure, but Zillik hardly spoke to anyone. Besides, she was pretty sure that if they voted Daniel out now, Zillik would be next, and then she and Marcus could force a tie with Jade and Blaike in the worst possible scenario. She was comfortable playing with those odds, especially compared to her original team.

### Yellow Team

Not much happened on the Yellow Team on Day 13, besides the players doing the usual business of gathering food, firewood, and water to survive. There was a brief conversation between Jennifer and Timothy, during which he was trying to get her consider betraying Kim at the first vote. Jennifer, attempting to play somewhat savvy, told Timothy that she couldn't risk turning on Kim yet, but that she did have an offer for him. Jennifer started by asking how he felt about Dragon, which Timothy carefully answered by stating that he was a good person and nice to have around camp. Jennifer pointed out that he was also easy to get along with, good at challenges, and hardworking, which made him a threat. Timothy had already thought about this, but wasn't completely convinced it was better to betray Dragon than to force a tie. After all, if Dragon was gone and they lost again, the girls would definitely team up on Timothy. Jennifer's proposal, however, was to let Timothy know that things hadn't all been fine back at their camp. If he were willing to vote Dragon out, she would be willing to consider voting out Kim next. If they didn't lose again until the Merge, she would help vote out whoever he wanted for the first round, even if it were Kim or anyone else from her old team. Jennifer wasn't completely set on keeping her word, but she wanted to avoid a tie. Not fully trusting her, Timothy agreed to think about the deal, but wouldn't make any promises yet. He wanted to see how their first challenge went. The Merge had to be close, but he definitely didn't want to risk them losing twice before then and Jennifer not keeping her word.

## Day 14

### Challenge

At the challenge on Day 14, Timothy's concerns weren't warranted. With the Green Team forced to sit out two players to even the numbers up, the Yellow Team's group of four was easily strong enough to outmatch them. All of them were relieved to not be worried about the potential tie situation coming up, although there was definitely still potential for a 3-3 tie on the other team in their minds. The reward for their victory was a shared clue to a new twist called the Hidden Immunity Idol. If a player found this, they could play it after the votes were cast, but before they were read on any player of their choice. This would negate all votes cast against them. If they were the majority or plurality, then the player with the next highest number of votes would be eliminated instead. Only one idol was hidden between both camps, so the team to win this first challenge was given a significant head start in searching for it.

### Green Team

At the Green Team camp, even without a clue, there was scrambling to find the Idol. Knowing they had another day to figure out their votes, everyone wanted to use this time to see if they could get lucky. Lenobia and Marcus immediately skipped camp to finalize their plan while searching together, which everyone else noticed, of course. Each individual who realized they were gone was expecting one of them to sway the other to their side, which would probably mean they didn't have to be afraid of a tie.

Outside of camp, Marcus and Lenobia were digging through brush and looking around trees to try and locate the Idol while chatting. Marcus noticed that Lenobia was in pretty good mood despite their loss, to which she laughed and responded that this was the best she'd felt before a vote so far. Being willing to flip on her team and making sure she definitely wasn't in danger felt good. Marcus was a bit nervous, as he had to tell her that Jade wanted to target Daniel first instead of Zillik. To his surprise, Lenobia didn't care. Daniel had been getting on her nerves, presumably because her flirting had worked a little too well and he had read more into it than she meant. Relieved, Marcus told her that meant the vote would be easy. Jade and Blaike would be completely comfortable voting for Daniel, so there would be an easy four votes going his way.

While they were searching, Jade and Zillik ran into one another. In truth, Zillik hadn't really been searching. He had been avoiding camp, as usual, and Jade had accidentally stumbled onto him, much to his dismay. Attempting to be friendly, Jade saw a chance to try and extend a peace offering by letting Zillik know about the plan. She told him that Daniel was up to be voted out and everyone else was willing to help out. If Zillik were willing to vote with them, she could do her best to make sure Lenobia went next instead of him if they lost again. Feeling somewhat threatened by her remark, Zillik asked what made her so sure he'd be in trouble next. Jade admitted that Lenobia was willing to betray he and Daniel, which didn't surprise Zillik in the slightest. This whole situation was basically what Blaike had told him about, which three votes likely going to Daniel. Blaike wanted three more to go on Marcus, and he was expected to pull Daniel in for her. That would mean taking his chances with a tie, which Zillik wasn't too keen on. He gave Jade his usual quiet nod of affirmation, which she assumed was all she was going to get. He made no move to tell her about Blaike's plan to vote out Marcus. It would require more conversation, would probably make Jade mad, and she would learn about it on her own anyway. That wasn't Zillik's business and he didn't want it to become his business.

Daniel, considering himself a pretty lucky individual, spent all night looking for the Idol, believing he could accidentally stumble across it at some point. To his dismay, he never actually found it, though. Blaike, likewise, thought being used to spending time outside and having to work with her hands might give her a leg up in digging around for it, but she never found it either.

### Yellow Team

At the Yellow Team camp, all four players agreed to share the clue and read it together before they broke off searching. With the limited information it held and the knowledge that they had no vote coming up, the four of them wasted no time breaking off to go hunt for it on their own.

As the evening went on, everyone started tiring out. Dragon was the first to tap out, deciding after several hours that one clue wasn't going to be enough to find it. He decided his best plan of action would be to search with Timothy and see what ground they both had covered, as well as potentially try for a second clue. Not longer after Dragon came back to camp to start on the fire and food, Jennifer joined him. She had given up the search and gone to fish for a little while before returning, so they would have a decent meal. They both speculated as to whether Kim or Timothy would be gone longer, and eventually it turned out to be Timothy. Kim trudged back into camp, looking beaten and exhausted. Despite all of her efforts, she had been unable to find the Idol, but had plans to go back out first thing in the morning. As nightfall approached, Timothy eventually came back as well, but also didn't have any luck. The four of them enjoyed a peaceful meal, each wondering if one of the others was lying about their hunting success.

## Day 15

### Green Team

On Day 15, the Green Team resumed their scramble for safety. The only players to sleep in were Marcus and Lenobia, who enjoyed waking up and having the shelter and breakfast to themselves. Zillik had been hanging around the shelter before they woke up, since it was quiet, but made a point to leave as soon as they were up. Since they both felt confident about the upcoming vote, neither actually felt that insecure about not having the Idol in their possession.

Outside of camp, during the frantic search, Blaike managed to find and grab a hold of Daniel. Confused as to what she could possibly want, Daniel went along with her. She went into detail about her plan to vote for Marcus with Zillik, presumably to split he and Lenobia up. Daniel couldn't fathom how this possibly benefited Blaike, but he didn't care that much either. She was willing to betray her own teammates so quickly without the same security Marcus had with Lenobia. Of course, Daniel would have been happy to vote Marcus out and get Lenobia's attention back, but that could wait until their numbers were secure. For now, this scheme seemed half-baked and he wasn't interested in a tie. However, since Daniel expected Blaike to be leaving anyway, he just told her that he'd happily vote Marcus out with her, and she took him at his word. Feeling good about himself, Daniel returned to his search, confident his luck would lead him to the Idol before the vote.

Unfortunately for Daniel, none of the players on their team were able to find the Idol. He returned to camp to find Lenobia and Marcus eating and enjoying the afternoon, which relaxed him a bit. If Lenobia was confident about the vote, he should be too. Daniel double-checked the plan, which she confirmed was Blaike, before sharing a private, knowing look with Marcus, who just started laughing. That made Daniel uncomfortable, but he decided not to think on it too much. Jade came back closer to the evening to make sure everyone had a meal before they left to vote, and Blaike came back soon after. Zillik was the last to return, and only because he had to attend the vote.

### Yellow Team

The Yellow Team, much like the Green Team, woke up with intent to search for the Idol more. Mostly, that is. Jennifer opted to go fishing instead while Kim searched, deciding that she'd rather not need it anyway, as it would imply she were in danger if she had to use it. Once they were gone, Timothy and Dragon conferred and shared where all they had both looked to rule out as much land as they could that resembled the clue's description. They then made a pact to share the Idol if either of them found it and left to continue their separate searches.

Timothy was the first to find success. With Dragon's help in ruling out much of the remaining potential area, he narrowed his search and located the Idol rather quickly. Of course, rather than tell Dragon about it, as they had agreed, he pocketed it and decided to keep it to himself. Dragon would need to go soon anyway, so there was no use in potentially blowing up his game just to keep one little promise.

The evening was peaceful otherwise, with the exception of Kim spending most of it complaining that someone else must have already found the Idol, as she had looked everywhere the clue could have referred to. Timothy didn't doubt it. She'd stayed out searching for a long while, so she had probably eventually checked the spot he'd found it in, but it was too late. Dragon asked if he'd had any luck finding it when they had a private moment, and Timothy lied and told him that he hadn't. Dragon was beginning to suspect that maybe someone on the Green Team had stumbled onto it first without the clue, which Timothy decided to just agree with to cover himself.

### Vote

Before the vote, the host announced that as of now, the Jury would start to form. From now on, all players voted out would continue attending every vote and gathering information to help them cast a vote for a winner at the end of the game. Everyone felt some swell of pride at having reached this point in this game, but now it was time to get to the less fun business. Blaike was shocked to be the only one voting against Marcus. After both Zillik and Daniel had agreed to her plan, she had been expecting her tie to come through and for Jade to flip to their side. Jade, meanwhile, noted that this was the second time Blaike had blatantly lied to her about being on her side, and decided that two times was more than enough. Daniel cast his sole vote for Blaike, which angered her, because she had worked a lot around camp and in the challenges and had tried to save Daniel. Of course, he didn't realize that until the other four votes came through for him. He looked to Lenobia for answers, but she just shrugged it off and told him that it was part of the game. Marcus taunted him on his way out, further upsetting an already hurt and dejected Daniel as he left the game and irritating everyone else present. Lenobia brushed it off, but Jade made a point to remind him that Daniel would be on the Jury now. Marcus didn't seem to care, asserting that the Jury would vote based on the best game, and that was going to be him anyway. Blaike didn't care about all of that. She was too busy feeling vindicated that Daniel had spurned her help, voted for her, and subsequently been eliminated. He'd earned it, as far as she was concerned. Zillik, for his part, just wanted everyone to stop talking.