How was Ash supposed to resist the volcano? To summarise the facts, she was an adventure dyke adrenaline-junkie, stranded who knows where with shiny new self-regeneration powers. She'd thrown herself (literally) into worse situations before. So what if it smoked and hissed occasionally, so what if there was some lava? That was all going to add some delicious umami to the story she would tell one of the suspiciously-hot people on the island when trying to be impressive.
Ash set off carrying a backpack with water and wearing a tank top and a pair of coveralls tied at the waist, and big stompy workboots that made the uneven terrain of the volcano easy work. She kept her gaze ahead, missing the split polystyrene rock at the base of the volcano, a fresh footprint. She was here alone, enjoying the shock of the vivid blue sky contrasting against the sharp edges of the black-grey volcano. It was beautiful up here, if a little smelly. The higher she climbed the more it started to stink and stink of rotten eggs, an acidic, sulfuric smell. That and the occasional plumes of vapour from the side of the volcano should have set off alarm bells in any rational person. Ash had made a career of neglecting and overlooking her alarm bells.
The volcano gave a deep, groaning rumble, and that finally gave Ash a moment's pause. She squinted up to the volcano's peak, and decided that she didn't like how the thin cloud of smoke had turned thicker during her ascent. "Guess I'll need a second take," she muttered to herself. She was halfway through turning around when she heard someone calling. Shouting, asking for help.
Ash immediately started for the voice, climbing to her left. Now this was turning out to be a fun little story. With the rumbling from the volcano Ash hadn't been able to place the voice, but maybe it would be Selin (she would make such a cute damsel) or Baski (that would be a fun full-circle), and Ash could be a knight in shining armour. Because she was looking for it, Ash saw the edge of the crevice, but it blended almost perfectly in with the mottled grey of the volcano's rockface. She slowed her approach, seeing a burst of blonde hair.
All of her witticisms and smooth lines dried up on her tongue as she and Cala made eye-contact. Because of course it was Calamity. Ash stared at her, and then abruptly crouched down, out of sight of Cala while she thought things through. She didn't want Calamity to see her face as she told herself that she did have to rescue Calamity. But like, why was life so unfair that this absolute perfect moment, where Ash could be the dashing rescuer, was being absolutely wasted on Calamity. Ash rubbed her hands down her face. "For fucks sake," she muttered. Okay, reframe it, by rescuing Cala, Ash could prove that she was bigger than their break-up, bigger than the bitter little voice that teased her with 'just leave her there, Cala would love to go out via volcanic eruption.'
"Okay," she said, standing upright with only a few cracks from her ACL knee. She came to the edge of the crevice, sitting down and dangling her legs over the edge. "What mess have you got yourself into this time, Cal?" Ash asked her, assessing how climbable the crevice was, clocking the fact that she and Calamity were wearing the same coveralls and workboots. It really could get worse.
