First Day On The Island

Standing on the deck of a rather small yacht, a figure could be seen staring far off into the distance. Just within range of his sight, the figure could see an island, his eyes squinting to get a better look.

This figure was of a teen who appeared to be high school age; he had long red hair that seemed to come down in waves reaching the small of his back, sea green eyes that held a warmth one seemed capable of swimming in that seemed to almost match the sea calmly swaying below him, pale skin that seemed to have never seen the light of day, and a rather average physique sported by someone who was reasonably healthy but didn't regularly exercise.

However, there did seem to be one saving grace for the future ordeals laid before him; the teen was a behemoth in height, reaching an impressive 6'6 (198cm).

The closer the teen got to the island, the brighter the light in his eyes seemed to shine. The young man knew he would meet some rather strange people here, and he knew that of those on the island he would be viewed as the most average.

But what he also knew, was that the seemingly average facade he had maintained his entire life, was nothing more than that; a facade. He had been waiting all his life for a chance like this; one away from his parents, where he could finally let loose.

The light that shone in his eyes seemed to take on a more crazed look, as if he had suddenly gone mad.

Noticing the island was now far more visible as he rapidly approached it, the young man glanced ahead of him, the crazed gaze he held gone. Straining his eyes as he raised his hand to block the rays of sun shining in his eyes, the teen could see a number of figures seemingly standing upon a dock. Counting the figures one by one, the teen counted a total of four figures.

Getting closer, the young man could now see the figures in clearer detail. The figure his eyes seemed to land upon and not move from afterwards, was none other than the host of this show; Chris McLean.

After glancing at the figure for a couple seconds, the teen's gaze seemed to scan the other figures in scrutiny. He knew these people would more than likely be his competition after all.

From the teen's point of view, the figure to the far left was a short girl that seemed around 4'6(137cm) in height, she appeared around fifteen years old. She held a perpetual smile on her face as she looked upon his arriving figure, her mouth open exposing her braces. She had dark brown hair that seemed to be messily held up in a ponytail, rather large glasses that covered nearly the entire top half of her face, as well as a rather average figure.

The figure next to her seemed to grab the teen's attention far more, his gaze becoming far more serious; next to her was a massive man who appeared nothing like what would be suggested by the age restrictions for the upcoming survival challenge, the figure stood at 6'6, reaching the same height as the teen himself.

The figure was a teen with caramel skin who wore a white hat, a lime green tee shirt with the letter D on it, displaying an entire beard that appeared unkempt, and a pair of jean shorts. Oh yeah, and he was built like a brick shithouse! The young man on the boat could feel himself turning more serious, preparing for the competition ahead.

The final figure was one that seemed to draw the eyes of the teen for an entirely separate reason. Staring at the final figure, the teen couldn't help but to give the girl an appreciative once over.

She was a girl of around average height, standing at about 5'6(165cm). She sported skin as pale as the teen's own, with dark blue hair that held streaks of black within, as well as black lipstick that seemed to give her a goth vibe. She wore an outfit that consisted of a black shirt with a rip-like design that exposed her midriff, a short black skirt that seemed to reach her midthigh, with stockings that completely covered her legs, as well as a black choker around her neck.

As the boat got closer, the young man averted his gaze from the girl who appeared around his age. While he had taken a look, he still understood that he was here for a competition; while he definitely wouldn't say no and wouldn't mind propositioning her, he also understood the need to create distance with the competition.

The young man was now close enough to hear as Chris McLean began to introduce himself; "We now welcome our fourth guest, Aoife Jackson! He was a near last minute addition as one of our original contestants couldn't make it." That was all the introduction given for him; Aoife could feel as he was truly treated as an extra.

Yet, Aoife was unfazed; he understood that his position here was already a lucky accident, so why would he waste it?

Stepping off the boat, Aoife somehow managed to keep his balance as he walked silently over toward the other contestants; not forgetting to give Chris a handshake as he walked by. Standing next to the group, Aoife gave a simple wave as greeting, getting a similar response back.

Noticing the uneasy atmosphere around them, Aoife seemed to begin losing focus. Even knowing the introduction of the other contestants would be an invaluable tool for later, Aoife still seemed to lose himself, no longer concentrating on the world around him.

~~

Snapping back to attention at the sound of someone smacking their head against the dock, Aoife noticed the sudden appearance of far more figures surrounding him.

Quickly doing a head-count, Aoife counted out a total of 20 other competitors. At this point, he could see a young Latina woman who appeared to be around 17 with short-cut brown hair, brown eyes, and a freckled nose rushing to the other side of the docks.

The girl reached down, seemingly helping someone out of the water. Glancing at the new addition to the group, which brought the grand total of competitors to 21, Aoife couldn't help but feel a connection to her.

He couldn't exactly put the feeling to words, it was just that the look in her eyes was one that Aoife felt he had seen on his own face.

The new addition was another young woman who appeared around 19 years of age, was a strange one. She seemed to have a very hyper, if somewhat weird personality.

She had long wavy orange hair that seemed to end in a clump, tanned skin that showed a decent amount of sun exposure, emerald green eyes that seemed to contain something within them, clothes that appeared as if made from leaves, as well as a toned physique that spoke of a life of activity.

This was when Chris' voice rang across the docks, "First things first, we need a group photo for the promo, everyone on the end of the dock."

As his voice rang out, Chris hurried over onto one of the yachts as he set up a camera facing toward the end of the dock; seeing this, the contestants began to head over all at once.

Aoife couldn't help but feel nervous, wondering if the end of the docks could really support all of their weight. Still, not wishing to stand out so early on in the competition, Aoife remained silent on the topic.

As Chris seemed to continuously fail at taking the picture, the nervousness within Aoife grew. Eventually, Chris fixed the issues with the camera, giving everyone a phrase word for the picture, "Ok! Everyone, say Wawanakwa!"

Aoife stood on the right edge of the group, directly behind a rather curvaceous blonde. As the group said 'Wawanakwa' together, he could hear the bridge straining under their combined weight.

Although Aoife could easily take a singe step to the side and avoid the obvious impending catastrophe, he instead allowed himself to fall along with the other's as the dock broke.

~~

Aoife as well as the other competitors were currently sitting upon wooden logs as Chris called out name after name, splitting the young men and women into teams.

(a/n: The teams are the same, the main character has replaced Trent and as such, is on the Screaming Gophers.)

As the names were called one by one, Aoife remembered to give each an analyzing gaze, wanting to catch any obvious big players. There were a couple that seemed to draw attention to themselves, one's Aoife knew would be hard-fought challenges to overcome.

The main one's Aoife paid attention to were, the goth girl Aoife had already seen, who he now knew as Gwen.

A rather short Dominican man who appeared to have a scheming mind, named Noah.

A rather punk looking guy named Duncan, who upon noticing Aoife's gaze, gave him a death glare.

A rather attractive Asian woman, whose face screamed 'I'm a b*tch', named Heather.

The crazy-looking woman who he had seen being pulled out of the water, who he now knew as Izzy. Aoife noticed that something about her seemed familiar, as if he knew her.

The girl who had previously helped Izzy out of the water, named Courtney.

As well as a rather rotund, jolly fellow named Owen.

Aoife could feel that these people would be the hardest to overcome, that this challenge would truly push him to his limits. At the thought of what awaited him, Aoife could feel his nerves alight in anticipation, his blood pumping in excitement.

Aoife had to put his full effort into suppressing the manic grin that wanted to stretch across his face, he was truly exhilarated at the competition ahead.

~~

After Chris' brief introduction to the cabins, Aoife put his stuff inside before heading off. Unlike the other contestants that headed for the cafeteria, Aoife decided that this would be the best time to scout out the island.

While it had been a while, Aoife remembered that when he was younger, he and his father would head out on wilderness adventures. During those trips, he had learned a lot of skills for survival; he had learned how to hunt, to set up traps, to track prey, as well as how to conceal his traces.

So, having already talked to Chris and learning he'd have one hour to do as he wanted, Aoife figured the thing that would give him the biggest advantage would be knowledge over the island the other competitors wouldn't have.