[ the kelpie onslaught is, of course, largely ryuji's fault. they're nothing that he meant to summon, not on purpose, but no one said a word about lingering in the water for too long, or so he'll attest. in one minute he's averted his eyes from the scene at hand, distracted by a gaggle of fellow explorers and the artifacts they were trying to unearth, and in the next— ]

H-holy crap, move it—! Let's get outta here!

[ he was already running long before she has, and ryuji doesn't need to be told twice to be on the move. obviously he has no idea if these herds of horses can even be outrun, but he's not sticking around long enough to find out.

if anything, the sudden weight of an extra person slows him down for a split second, giving him just enough time to slip and stumble down onto his weaker knee. ]

Dammit, we gotta—

[ ryuji has to keep going, or they're all going to collide! he can't stop here! ]