Shae had been rather enjoying the disorganization and discontent. And despite himself his face had split into a huge grin as Solasta snapped in his direction- patronizing response at the ready- but then the attention of everyone was distracted, pulled away by a loud bang.

His head turning sharply he strained to try and see something.. but he didn't see anything and they narrowed.
Not really like he had much time to be cynical- or even to make a remark or give opinion before Larita began urging the horse forwards, and he was of course taken with it.

And then of course, out of no where as the course of events seemed to happen so fast- their path was suddenly dead-ended by the abrupt intrusion of someone he vaguely recognized- not that he had time to consider who it was. Not having much experience with horses and as such being unsure of how the creature would react, or wanting a head on collision to occur- it was much less funny when he himself was involved- he lurched forward his arms either side of Larita slim form in an attempt to grab the reins and either bring the beast to a halt or at least avert their direction from the faun. It wasn't an action he thought about or considered- it was just impulse.

((not sure if I got my facts straight here- correct me if I've mucked something up and I can change it ^^)

Solasta's words had lost any meaning in Leon's ears. He didn't even know who she was talking to right now, but he told himself he'd simply filter her voice in general so he wouldn't have to listen to her anymore.

Leon looked up quickly at the sound, spotting the harpy's silhouette. So it was Kale. Not that any part of him had denied it, but he was glad to have confirmed it himself. At least, it looked like it could have been Kale. As Larita seemed to find her nerve to continue, Leon gave a few quick flaps of his wings to get himself into the air. Once he was a fair altitude, he directed his wings to first fly back the way Larita and the other had come. Then he made a wide turn to continue following the blood trail.

When he looked down, however, he saw the "road-block" that was Valentin. A looked of bored frustration crossed his face, and Leon considered simply continuing on anyway, without the others, if anything because he was simply too lazy to actually make himself stop his flight. A thought hit him that this may have had something to do with the vial Pingo was looking for, but he didn't dwell on it long.

With an almost silent sigh, Leon lowered himself again and landed lightly beside Dolce. He crossed his arms in front of him and, though he didn't say anything verbally, his expression said something along the lines of "this had better be good."

Larita had been so determined that she was not in a position or state of mind to stop the horse. She just stared wide-eyed as the sudden obstacle jumped in their path and it seemed as if they would run him over. Luckily, Shae thought faster than she did and the reins were pulled. The horse, a living thinking being himself, did not have any particular desire to run the faun over, and gladly complied with the command. He veered first. Then his knees locked, bringing the massive body to a halt just to the right of the faun. Luckily, the upward climb had kept the horse from travelling all the fast to begin with.

The horse whinnied lightly and shook his head, then began to look around as if he wasn't sure that anything had happened at all. Larita, however, had been thrown forward by the abrupt stop, her body falling against the neck of the horse. She grabbed tightly onto the mane to hold herself steady. But once she was sure that she wasn't going to fall, her head spun quickly to the side, eyes narrowed in the direction of the faun, who she only slightly remembered from their one and only meeting.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" she shouted. She was more consumed by anger and a worry for her own life and well-being than any curiosity as to why Valentin was there in the first place.

In a rare moment, Solasta found herself agreeing with Larita's proposal of checking things out. However, what could be seen as any possible bond of friendship was instantly ruptured Solasta's general annoyance of her urging the horse forwards without her. She hastily strode after them, a determination to regain her position in the lead.

This changed, however, when a new obstacle appeared in their path. Her eyes focused on this new figure, and it only took her moments to realise that it really wasn't much of a threat at all.

She strutted forward. Yes, Larita had already yelled at him... but so to speak, yelling was her duty, no matter what her room-mate thought. She came to a stop before him, before seemingly clearing her throat. "Move out de way!" she demanded, her voice loud and grating.

With his arm maintaining their positions jutted out to either side, Valentin merely scrunched his nose bravely in the face of certain death delivered by the great and lumberous horse. Of course, that isn't what happened and he almost wished it had when very suddenly he was the center of aggravated attention. Both ears plummeted guiltily when Larita shouted at him but it was the tall purple one directing herself to tower menacingly before him that actually made him cower a little, courage fleeing him in the wake of her shadow. He swallowed thickly and gaped a moment before mentally beating into himself why this was so important. His ears swiveled to pin back sharply, abandoning submissive for stubborn.

The faun took a brief moment to survey the gang, finding himself somewhat familiar with a few. Wings, one had wings. He would not be able to stop him easily if he simply decided to fly off. And Shae, who he recognized, had yet to say anything that gave away his reaction to this interruption. It looked like his best bet was just to stall them for as long as possible, or very hopefully try and convince them this journey was fruitless. Or dangerous. It wasn't much of a plan. In fact, he still felt entirely plan-less, but he had to roll with something.

Deciding he had delayed long enough, his gaze snapped back to Solasta with a small sneer. "I can't responsibly allow you to continue! I just came from that way, you really don't want to be headed up there. There's all kinds of.. rock slides. Happening that way right now. Didn't you hear the last one? It was huge! You'll all get crushed, I'm sure of it!" His hands he lowered a little at some point and he used one now to gesture animatedly at the scenery over his shoulder. He shook his head seriously and frowned. "Nah, stupid to go up there." He crossed his arms confidently over his chest.

Everyone else seemed in such heated discussion, that although he had his own opinion.
The opinion that he'd lied to people enough to be able to tell when someone was telling such a bad one.
The opinion that this was all too suspicious.
All too interesting...

he remained silent, sitting upright as the others exchanged their opinions. Listening and waiting.
He knew he could easily slip by himself but that was less interesting. Perhaps he should consider coming up with a wild counter to the fauns reasoning and see how he combated it. Yeah, he liked that idea.

"That's ok, I'm able to become incorporeal at will now, so rocks wont affect me.. I spose I'll just go on ahead- hey Leon can you warn me when a rock is about to fall??" he acted as though totally oblivious to the lies he was being told, turning to Leon as he addressed him and offering a small secret smile- hoping Leon might get the gist of his facade. of course, he couldn't become incorporeal at will, but that didn't matter.
He could lie at will.


((Sorry I was delayed >>- I totally forgot it was my turn!!))

Leon's eyes thinned into a bland look as he turn to look at Shae. Did he not realize that Leon hated him? What made Shae think he'd help with his lie? And for that matter, why did he even see it fit to lie in the first place? Solasta seemed to be doing a good enough job of intimidating the half-deer. You'd think four people and a big old horse would have no problem getting by him without having to resort to violence or trickery. If you could even call what Shae was doing "trickery".

Leon didn't even particularly cared about the other three. If he wanted to see what was going on he could simply fly over the deer and see. Fly over the mountains, over any supposed "rock slides". Leon didn't even pretend think it over. "Nope." (not the Rendaz nope! X'D) He looked back at Valentin for a moment. He himself had just been in the mountains as well. In fact, he spent a lot of his time in the mountains. They were quiet, and more private than the cliffs or the field.

Leon made no gesture of farewell to any of the others before taking to the air again. The deer had already wasted enough of his time. Kale was going to get away. At the moment, he still wasn't entirely sure why he cared, but he intended to give his curiosity the benefit of the doubt.

((YES THE RENDAZ NOPE >8U))

Solasta looked at Valentin, her demeaning stare obviously unimpressed. Well, she was rarely impressed anyway, but now she had even more of a reason not to be. Her eyes skimmed him up and down - thin, lanky, and awfully nervous too. This obstacle was simply laughable.

"It's not de rockfalls you should be afraid of," she spat, pushing her knuckles into her palm. Cra-ack. Though to be fair, it was really all big talk. No doubt the others would suddenly jump to his defence, showering her with moral reasons why she shouldn't beat up helpless fools. It was something she had to get used to here. Apparently violence was wrong. The very thought! "Yo' too stupid to stand in my way!"

She hardly noticed Leon's departure. Good riddance, really.

Larita rolled her eyes. This whole interaction thing was becoming quite the mess. Since Solasta had obviously taken over yelling at the faun, Larita brought her focus back to herself. She sat up straight and raised her proud nose haughtily into the air. A piece of hair, which had come loose at some point during the ride, hung in front of her face. She pursed her lips and blew it away. When it fluttered back down, she reached up and tucked it behind her ear.

The mention of rock-sides did make her nervous, but Valentin had one of those nervous personalities that always served to make her feel superior. While she didn't think that he was necessarily lying, it did seem as if he was more concerned that was necessary.

Leon left, and no one else seemed as if they were going to back down, so she may as well go with them. It looked as if they were almost there anyway, and she didn't want to have travelled all this way for nothing. She shrugged in Valentin's direction, a confident smile on her lips. "Listen, Antler-boy, we've already come this far and we want to see what that crazy woman is up to." Her lips pursed slightly as she moved on to the next sentence, her voice raising to a helpless, child-like tone. "You can come with us if you want, though. Keep us safe from all the scary rocks." The arch of her brow raised in an attempt to make her appear innocent and in need of his protection.

A look of panic flashed behind Valentin's eyes as he stared at Shae, completely buying the bluff. Non-corporeal? Was he for real? How could he stop someone like that? He opened his mouth, hoping that something useful would jump out because he had no idea how to respond--when the other boy, Leon, suddenly took off into the air.

"Wh--Hey!" He shouted in alarm. His ears flipped back in frustration, brain scrambling and failing to find any way he could stop the winged boy. He dropped his gaze quickly back to the others, looking slightly more unsettled than he had even a moment before as if just realizing how hopeless this was.

Solasta's threats and demonstrative knuckle-cracking earned her a grimace that betrayed her nerves even as they were recklessly shoved aside in favor of desperately trying to maintain his purpose. Then Larita spoken and the faun dragged his eyes to her, grimace pulling into a unhappy sneer at the nick-name. His ears pinned back subconsciously at the manner in which she addressed the science professor.

"Fine, forget the rocks! But there are bears!" He was particularly aware of how lame it sounded. Why would any of these people, as brave and able as they were to be pursuing Kale deep into the mountains, be frightened of a common bear? He quickly realized his naivety and his mouth quickly worked to spew some other dangerous and deadly thing sane-people should wish to avoid. Not that any of these people was of the sane variety.

"And lava! The caves--with the bears. They have lava, and with these rock slides, it's.. It's probably rising!" His glare held steady even he his face reddened from the stupidity of his claims. Why would a bear live in a cave with lava?? "There are lava-bears!"

Shae just couldn't help but burst out laughing. Or rather, he could have if he had really wanted but it was too funny for him not too. Lava bears in caves with rock slides and what? He doubled over slightly, clutching his stomach as laughter poured from his mouth.

"You... I don't know to be amused that you think we might believe that- or insulted that you think we might believe that!!" he brought a hand to his face as though wiping away an imaginary tear or mirth and slipped from the horses back. Right now the large animal was just keeping him from advancing as easily.

He walked forwards to stand directly in front of Val as though sizing him up before cracking up again and rolling his eyes, turning to walk around the faun. Yeah... right. "Out, of the way..." His voice echoed slightly as he let the manipulative quality grow stronger, not too much- like he would bother- but it was definitely there.

Leon stuck around just long enough to hear what would certainly be the faun's final plea. He doubted either Solasta, Shae or Larita would stick around much longer to hear anymore at least. He himself certainly wouldn't.

Leon shook his disappointingly at Valentin's weak attempt to get them to stay and his eyebrows creased. What business was it of his if they wanted to go out into the mountains anyway? Nothing had ever stopped Leon from going to the mountains before. It was spacious and quiet, and he spent a lot of his time there.

Leon was not amused in the slightest, and he turned his body to continue further into the mountains. He didn't care whether the others followed or not. He was going to continue on regardless.

Solasta stared flatly at the faun through his bumbling excuses, with the occasional unimpressed twitch of her nostril, her tail swinging mindlessly behind her. However, at the proclaimed threat of 'lava-bears', she threw back her arms with a feigned, over-dramatic gasp. "Lava bears?!" she shrieked. "I'm tremblink in feah! What're goink to do wi' de lava---"

She couldn't keep her act up for long, and she cut herself off to give a silent, 'is this guy for real?' glance to the others. The same glance was returned to Valentin. "YO' MAD?!"

She didn't wait for an answer before she reached out an arm to the faun's shoulder, aiming to forcibly push him to one side and move past him.

"Lava bears?" She repeated the phrase nervously at first, her brow furrowed in concern. Sure, it sounded ridiculous, but so was this whole island. But when the others reacted as if it were a joke, Larita' frown became a smirk, though she was still too uneasy to break into full out laughter. So, the faun was either hiding something, or insane. Larita was betting on the latter. 

As Shae slid off the horse and began to continue on foot, Larita wondered if he had the right idea. The path was getting rough, not really suitable for a horse. Plus, as selfish as she was, she could see the build-up of sweat on her ride's neck and couldnt help but feel slightly guilty. She swung one leg over the beast's withers and slid off the side, her feet landing lightly in the hard ground. She hugged her shoulders, feeling a bite of wind. 

"Since you're so scared," she said to Valentin, "Stay here and watch my horse." The  she followed in the direction of the noise, closely behind Shae and Leon up above. She would let Solasta deal with Valentin any way the purple beast wanted.

Dolce just shook his mane and bent his head down to pick at the sparse grass. It didn't appear that the horse was going anywhere on his own.

Valentin bristled at the immediate response of laughter. His eyes shot to Shae and he glared heatedly, unable to find words with which to defend his lame excuses. He bowed his head despite his pride clawing at him to stand tall before the other boy, but maintained his glare up through his eyelashes. When told to get out of the way.. he didn't try and stop Shae. He wasn't entirely sure why he didn't, he needed to try and stop them from going any farther! But he felt floored by embarrassment. To his credit, he didn't actually stand aside though, merely remaining still while the other boy passed. But the thought was little to console him.

Meanwhile, the purple best in front of him was openly mocking him. He couldn't really blame her, he supposed. He didn't move in time to try to stop or dodge her hand, the force of which made him stumble a little to the side so she could pass as well. He bitterly kept his mouth shut.

The worst was possibly Larita since she was such a stupid girl to begin with, and he'd made himself look even more foolish than that. He wasn't scared of the mountains, but he couldn't tell the others that. He was scared of what them going forwards would dig up.

The faun slid a hate-filled leer from the brunette to her large horse and snorted quietly. The beast was obviously content to watch itself, so he turned his head to watch them all progress beyond his feeble barrier. It seemed his only option at this point was to follow. He considered slipping to the side and stalking, but with Leon wielding the advantage of an aerial view, and the others already keen on his presence, he doubted his current skills in stealth would be sufficient. He opted to trail after them instead, in full view, and if any questioned him, he would come up with some other lame excuse for them to laugh at. He would just have to swallow it until this ordeal was concluded.