6 people are deposited on an island.
The 1st night someone accidentally activates a barrier.
In the tv studio the producers quickly realise that they can't get anybody out or in but the automatic cameras' signals are still working. They decide to relabel the show as fiction.
Now which character do you wish to start with?
Written by catprog on 17 December 2000
Shifting into Gear
You blink softly, squinting a bit at the warm sun rays above you. Muttering something about being tossed out on a beach, you get to your feet and look around. Blue, floating buoys are positioned in a circle about 30 feet out from the shoreline in an arc around you. You realize that must be the barrier that had flipped on earlier.
While running your fingers through your hair to get the sand out, you notice a dense, jungle-like area toward what you assume is the middle of the island. With a determined nod, you head towards it. After all, your goal is different from the one the other simpletons here had in mind.
Sure, there was the prize for the contest, but you had come with your own goals in mind. Long ago, your father had mentioned a strange island in the shape of a lion?s head that held a mystical power that no one quite understood yet. However, he would never tell you the nature of the power, or what it did. Due to this fact, you had always shrugged it off as some weird story he used to tell simply to entertain you when you were a kid. After seeing an aerial view of the island in a promotional trailer, your opinion quickly changed. Clear as day, the island looked like the head of a lion your father had talked about.
You enter the jungle, a bit unsure of where to go first. Looking to your left and right, all you can really make out is more trees. You look behind you back at the beach. Your father never mentioned where on the island this power was hidden. Having no real directions and no clue where the other players of the game are, you weigh your options.
Written by Zorpix on 07 June 2014
Itsy Bitsy
You decide to go deeper into the jungle, as there was nothing helpful on the beach. You walk straight forward for about a minute or so, doing your best to be quiet, when you see a sleeping tiger in a clearing in front of you. You silently back away and decide to try another route. Good thing you didn?t start yelling to see if anyone was around!
Trying a new route, you end up heading to the left of your original destination for about a mile before trying to head toward the center of the island again. Instead of a tiger, you come across a dirt path that seems to stretch all the way out to the beach behind you, but goes as far as you can see into the jungle in front of you. Wiping some sweat that has been gathering on your brow, you head down the path toward the jungle. It?s really hot in here, and it occurs to you that, because this is a dome, whoever is running this show is probably in control of the climate. Hopefully they give some rain or something soon.
As you continue pushing aside leaves the side of your torso and dodging vines that hang in your face, you feel something ticklish on your legs. At first, you had thought it was just a leaf or plant that had been brushing it, but now the tickling has grown more consistent and more unnerving. You reach a hand down to swat at whatever?s bothering you, only to freeze in terror as your skin brushes something fuzzy. Screaming, you stomp your foot, knocking loose a huge goliath spider. The ungodly creature raises its front two legs at you in a challenging stance, and pounces before you can react. Its fangs meet your leg, though it takes a moment for the pain to set in. After injecting its venom, the bastard drops off your leg and scuttles away into the dense undergrowth.
You fall to the ground, examining the bite on the back of your left leg. It?s already starting to swell and turn a gross purpleish color. Your vision is starting to blur slightly, and you can literally feel your tongue drying out. You frantically rack your brain for any type of solution. The only things that come to mind are trying to squeeze out the poison or going further in and looking for help, keeping your leg still as possible.
Written by Zorpix on 02 August 2014
Board
You decide that sitting down and trying to get the venom out would only make things harder, as you?d have to get back up after doing so, if it worked. Besides, working your leg would only drive the liquid further into your bloodstream, paralyzing you more. Dragging your leg behind you, you start limping along the path.
Your vision is a little blurred around the edges, but it feels like the poison is mostly staying down in your leg. You keep it as stiff as you can, only bending it to avoid knocking it on roots or other plants in the path. You feel your mouth growing dry, suddenly very aware that you haven?t eaten or drank anything all day. Still, hunger is the least of your worries if you don?t find something to help this leg.
About a half mile in, you hear some kind of thudding footsteps, too large to be human. It doesn?t deter your walk though, as you figure your situation can?t get much worse. Growing rapidly closer, you see a bunch of people riding on what looks like boars. These people being your last chance at survival, you wave an arm wildly, hoping to signal some kind of response from them. It looks like they?re on their way to you anyways, but their pace seems to quicken when they can tell how wobbly you are.
The man in front has brown skin, and his body is covered in strange paintings that must be symbolic of something. Hopping off his boar, he walks over to you. Instantly noticing your swollen leg, he signals to the other people around him and scoops you up in powerful arms. The other tribesmen bring up the chief?s boar, and he hops on with you still in his arms. With a squeal, the animals turn around and head further down the path.
While it?s a bit of a bumpy ride, you feel fairly calm in knowing that there are people who seem to know how to help you. Closing your eyes, you try to relax a bit, but before even a few minutes have passed, you all arrive at a little village made up of small lean-tos. The chief gets off his animal and carries you to the largest one. Jars and bowls filled with all kinds of liquids and creams scatter the ground, leaving you a bit worried about their organization system.
Due to all the bouncing, your vision has grown a little worse, but that doesn?t stop the chief from holding up two jars. The labels on them look like they?d be a bit crude even without your bad vision. One looks like an octopus, the other has a circle with a few sticks poking out of it. The chief nods to them, asking ?Which?? in surprisingly good English.
Written by Zorpix on 03 August 2014
Wonder Drug
The chief smiles in relief and opens the bottle, scraping some goo out onto his hands and rubbing them together. You have to use your hands to pick up your bitten leg and swing it around in front of you, as you can't feel a thing in the swollen appendage.
The wise old man presses his fingers against the wound, puss starting to bubble and fizz around the opening. You're finally grateful that you can't feel your leg, as you're sure there's some serious stinging going on. You nod in thanks, still panting a bit. Some large tattooed men bring in some water for you in a small wooden bowl, and you do your best to not be too greedy in gulping it down.
Whatever he rubbed on you, it must've been some kind of miracle drug. While there was some ebbing stinging in your leg, the important thing was that you could actually feel it. A refreshing coolness swept through your body, all afflictions fading as your vision slowly became less blurry. The chief wasn't as old as you originally thought he was. Spider venom apparently adds a few years. He was a younger, more vibrant looking man, maybe in his late twenties. A smile was on his face as he looked down at you. ?How are you feeling?? He asked in almost perfect English.
?I'm much better now, thanks.? You reply. ?What was in the other jar??
?Poison.? The chief replied solemnly. ?The creature on it was a tyrant ant. If you got bit by one of those, the best thing we can do is paralyze you into a deep sleep until death takes over.?
You shiver, realizing the consequences a wrong choice would've had. Suddenly, it dawns on you that a little tribe here might know something about the ancient legend. ?Do you know anything about a strange power on this island? Something about a transformation stone or something of the like??
The chief's eyes widen and he looks at you intently. ?You've heard of the gryphon's stone??
He knows something! Finally, something good has happened on this island. Maybe this trip will be worth it after all?
Written by Zorpix on 09 September 2014
My oh Mayan!
The chief rises to his feet and motions for you to follow, already heading out of the lean-to. You hurriedly rise to your feet, surprised at how well the salve that was applied to your leg has worked. It still hurts a bit, but you can put some weight on it now, as opposed to not even having it usable before. You hobble after the burly man, feeling small next to his giant bodyguards. They try to come with you at first, but the chief shakes his head and holds up a hand. A shiver runs up your spine as you and the chief walk off alone. Whatever he?s going to show you must be important if not even his two guards are allowed to come along.
He leads you deep into the jungle, perking his head up and looking around every few steps, probably to make sure you aren?t being followed. It?s a bit hard to stay up because of how dense the jungle is, but you manage to do alright, keeping an eye peeled for any of those nasty spiders from earlier.
After walking almost fifteen minutes, you see a break in the trees up ahead. Stepping out into the sunlight in awe, you see a giant Aztec looking temple looming over you. The chief steps forward and extends his hand.
?The power you seek lives in here. I only hope you truly are the one to claim it. Others thought they were worthy. None have been so far.?
You nod softly, realizing that he?s saying you could quite possibly die in here. Your hands start shaking a little, but other than that, you retain your composure. The chief nods and walks off, waving a hand as if to say ?Good luck. Don?t die.?
You stand there for a moment, letting what you?re about to do sink in. It?s a bit of a terrifying prospect, but you?ve heard these legends since you were a child. There?s no backing down now. Not when you?re this close.
As you walk closer, you notice something carved into the stone below your feet. Wiping away some leaves that cover bits of the writing, you see a riddle. Whoever should claim the power of this island must simply walk upstairs.
Walk upstairs? That?s it? You ponder for a moment, wondering what to do about this riddle. There must be stairs inside the temple somewhere. It?s certainly tall enough. You look up at the layered structure, a bit in awe of the architecture that went into it. Still, you have a job to do, and it?s time to make a decision about how to approach the riddle.
Written by Zorpix on 13 September 2014
How many steps?
As you look at the words on the ground one more time, you realize there has to be something more to them. ?Go up the stairs? doesn?t sound very hard? There has to be something else to this. You walk up to the entrance of the temple and peek in, still curious what it holds. Of course, your curiosity doesn?t stop your legs from shaking as your mind comes up with quite a few nasty things that could be inside.
As your eyes adjust to the light inside the place, you can plainly see there are no stairs in there. Stepping back out, you look up at the huge monument again. All you can see is a giant pyramid shaped building with several layers getting smaller the higher they go. And that?s when it hits you.
The riddle didn?t mean stairs as in a literal staircase. It meant you had to climb the side of the stair-like structure! Walking just to the side of the door, you reach up to the top of the first layer and hoist yourself up. They only come up to about your chest, so climbing them doesn?t prove too difficult. Within about a half hour, you find yourself nearing the top of the pyramid. The air is a bit thinner up here, and you can feel your breaths getting heavier. The ledges have naturally been getting a little smaller, but they?re still about a foot long. Still, it?s a long and bumpy way down for one misplaced step.
You decide it best for your balance and your sanity if you crawl the rest of the way up. The layers are a lot shorter, and you can claw your way up them with minimal effort. Winds buffet your clothes and whip your hair around, threatening to gust you right off your perch.
Luckily, the winds stay fairly mellow as you reach the top of the temple. You look around at the surrounding area. Well, the view is great. But there?s not much in the way of mystical powers up here.
The top of the pyramid is wide and flat, giving you plenty of space to crawl around on, still keeping your body close to the stone in case of any sudden gusts. Getting a bit desperate and not wanting to climb all the way back down the tower, you look around on the platform for anything that may be of use. Just as you?re about to give up, you notice a tiny little note carved into the face of the stone, about three inches from the middle of the platform. ?Break me? is all it says. This could be your only shot at making the trip up here worth it. Raising your hand above your head, you bring it down hard right where the words are carved.
Instead of the excruciating pain of punching a slab of rock, you feel the stone crumble around your hand as a hole opens up where your hand met the writing. Using your hand that?s now on the inside, you claw away at some more of the platform, opening up a hole big enough for you to stick your shoulder through. Taking a glance through the hole, you feel your heart start to race.
There it is. A little golden statue of a sphinx. It looked like it was sitting on a pillar that placed it just below your hole, despite being rather far off of the platform it sat on. Craning your neck and stretching your arm, you just barely wrap your fingers around the wings of the statue. Instantly, you feel some strange power flow through you.
<spanFullTF>It starts in your arm. You feel it shrinking a bit. Your elbow almost feels like it?s turning around in its socket. It doesn?t hurt as much as it feels weird, but it?s still a bit unsettling to be feeling this at such altitude. Your arm hair starts growing out and thickening, causing you to stumble back in amazement. Bad choice. You start plummeting off the side of the temple. Wanting to save the shock as much as possible, you kick yourself away with your legs that are already becoming furry and ripping out of your jeans. You feel lumps on either side of your spine start growing, and you grasp your back in pain. Feathers start sprouting out of your back, shredding your shirt as they spread into full wings. Not wasting a moment, you flip upright and start flapping them, instincts taking over. You swoop in towards the ground and shoot back up, letting out a roar from your new muzzle. <spanFullTF>
<spanSumTF>You feel your arm start turning into that of a lion?s. It causes you to jump back in fright and fall from the tower. Luckily, wings sprout from your back, and you swoop away just in the nick of time, letting out a roar of victory. <spanSumTF>
Your childhood dream of finding this island?s treasure fulfilled, you fly off into the jungle, your new body ready for any challenges it may face.
Written by Zorpix on 13 September 2014
The end (for now)