fandomhigh | Keeping Your Advantage: Terrain and You [Weds, 3rd Period]

Class met in the Danger Shop today, and when students arrived, they'd find themselves in a landscape that looked like something from a science fiction film. "Good morning, class," Ghanima said. "And welcome to Mount St. Helens."

"Mount St. Helens is is an active stratovolcano, most famous for its catastrophic eruption on May 18, 1980, at 8:32 am PDT which was the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in the history of the United States," she stated. "Fifty-seven people were killed; 250 homes, 47 bridges, 15 miles of railways, and 185 miles of highway were destroyed. A massive debris avalanche caused an eruption, reducing the elevation of the mountain's summit from 9,677 ft to 8,365 ft and replacing it with a 1 mile wide horseshoe-shaped crater."

"This little planet may look like a single solid mass, but it’s really made up of several massive plates of earth and rock. These crustal plates are constantly moving and colliding with one another, creating earthquakes and the pressure zones that lead to volcanic eruptions. Underneath those sliding and colliding plates is hot, melted rock known as magma; it sometimes collects in areas of high pressure called, naturally enough, magma chambers. When this pressure builds up and becomes too great, the magma sometimes explodes upward in a great cataclysmic event. This is a volcano."

"Unfortunately, there is not much an individual can do to prepare for a volcanic eruption, but it is always good to have a good knowledge of this phenomenon. Be aware of the hazards that can come with an eruption: the flying debris, hot gases, lava flows, potential for explosion, mudslides, avalanches, and geothermal areas. Prepare provisions, water, food, blankets, and medical supplies if you live around a volcano before anything happens. Also be ready to get up and outrun flowing lava . . . and yes, I'm quite serious. Above all, use caution when near an active volcanoes. Do not venture toward any activity, and consult local experts on the area. Follow all recommendations, regulations, or requests of officials."

"If you do become trapped near an active volcano, there are things you can watch out for. Stay away from lava flows. Not all of them will be red-hot and obvious; some move very slowly and appear as dark and solid, but are liquid beneath the surface. Also, do not try to cross an active flow; you might get trapped by multiple lava streams. Keep an eye on the Colcanic domes - Volcanic domes and plugs in craters may seem harmless, but they can explode without warning. Footing and glassy rocks can also be very dangerous. Some cooled lava of this sort can resemble jagged pieces of glass. Wear good, solid hiking boots on the mountain - never go barefoot. Be sure of your step."

"Be careful when crossing lahar - debris - flows, for they can gush in large and small floods. And above all, avoid areas where volcanic gas is released. Carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide can kill quickly and silently. You may not be able to hold your breath long enough. If you see a location around an active volcano with dead vegetation, carcasses, or bones, do not enter it."

"How can you prepare? If you live in an active volcanic zone, always assume that you may have to deal with the effects of an eruption. If you are in an area that could experience a lava flow during a volcanic eruption, know a quick route to safe ground. Once the eruption begins, if you're in a safe place, save water in your bath, basin, containers or cylinders at an early stage - supplies may become polluted. Stay indoors with as much as possible and wear mask and goggles if you go outside, to keep volcanic ash out of your eyes and lungs, and keep below ridge lines in hilly terrain - the hills will offer some protection from flying volcanic debris."

Today you have two options. You may explore the crater here for Mount St. Helens and ponder the destructive forces that destroyed half a mountain, or you can create your own miniature volcano to study the unpredictability of these geological giants."

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"A castle - that's a large building, like the school?" Jalian asked. She had thought she'd picked up that term, but she'd never heard of anybody living only in one building before!

"Much like the school," Elsa agreed, nodding as she leaned forward to better observe what was going on in the volcano, "though we didn't have anything like the technology we're using right now. The castle in Arendelle and the school don't have much in common besides size and a few facets of their outward appearance."

Jalian blinked at her. "You never left the castle?" Even the Corvichi left their ship some time!

"I was never given a chance to," Elsa explained, shaking her head a little. "My parents insisted that it was for my own good."

She glanced back toward Jalian, trying a smile on for size.

"I'm happy to be here now, though..."

"I would be, too!" Being cooped up inside did not sound fun. "You should go outside as much as possible. And get some clothing better for outside." She eyed Elsa and shrugged. "I'd give you some, but I don't think they would fit."

Elsa had a few more curves than she did.

Her hips meant some serious business, it was true.

"I appreciate that," Elsa replied, ducking her head a little and smiling. "I wouldn't expect anybody to give me their clothing, anyway. But if you have some idea as to what clothes would be practical for a class like this, I would certainly appreciate any help you could give in choosing some."

She was trying to resist wearing trousers, but at this rate...

Jalian nodded. "Of course. I could help you choose some, if you like." She'd need pants, and boots, and possibly a jacket, for rain and hiding any weapons. She cocked her head at Elsa curiously. "Did you never try to run from your castle?"

"Run from it?" Elsa looked curiously at Jalian, and then she shook her head, just a little. "Not until I came here. This... this right now, is me running away, at least for a little while. But before then, no. The kingdom is beautiful, I remember a little about it from when I was little, but... I couldn't afford to. Not really."

"I ran all the time," Jalian said. "There was the Big Road - a freeway not too far from ken Selvren lands - and there were stories that at the end of it was a land of gods and demons. I kept trying to see if the stories were true."

And at that, Elsa couldn't resist asking, "Were they?"

She had come here and met gods, after all. Why not demons as well?

"I don't know," Jalian confessed. "The first time I made it as far as the road, I fell asleep on it. I was six. The next time, I found - I thought it was a building. A building, on my Big Road!" She filled that with all the outrage of a child. "I ran home to tell them; that was when we met the Corvichi. They had needed a level landing space."

She paused and grimaced. "I put the Doorway there when I traveled back. I ran through the negative-entropy timeline." While feeling like she was being burned and torn apart. "I don't remember if I reached the end."

"Well... even if you don't remember, it sounds as though you found something that made the trip worthwhile," Elsa offered. "The... Corvichi?"

"Ah, no. I ran the Doorway the third time," Jalian clarified. "The Corvichi was the second time." She shrugged. "They had needed a level place for their spacecraft. We gave them shelter and knowledge of the area, and they taught us their technology. For traveling the timelines. The third time, I found...well, here, I suppose."

Not where she'd meant to be, but where she'd ended up.

"That was what I meant," Elsa offered, smiling faintly. "If you found the Corvichi on even one of your trips, it means that not all of your wanderings down the road were for nothing."

And the ability to travel timelines seemed like an impressive place to start.

"And here... is an adventure in its own right, though I can't imagine Thor and Loki were quite what the stories had in mind when they spoke of gods."

"Thor...one of the instructors? And Loki, he does the radio. They are gods?"

Wait till she found out Bel was a demon and she had ended up in a land with both of them!

"Thor and Loki are both gods," Elsa agreed, smiling and nodding her agreement. "I knew of them before I ever came here; they're part of the legends from home. Only... they're a little different, I think."

Brothers? What?

"They're not what I had pictured gods as," Jalian agreed. She snorted. "But neither were the Corvichi."

Keeping Your Advantage: Terrain and You [Weds, 3rd Period]

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