If Uban's expression had been dull and uncomprehending before, he looked even more like a simpleton trying to understand why it rained as he blinked stupidly. Particles..? In the air? A vague paranoia hovered briefly over him as he wondered what kinds of things he was breathing in without even knowing; one hand swatted lightly at the air in a small motion as if to try and catch one of these mystery particles. "Well..of course I don't use...grammars," he said simply. "This," he said, bringing up a little arc between his fingers, "Was not something I learned to do. It just happened. Quite suddenly, actually," he said with a laugh. "Did anyone ever tell you how I ended up here? I used to be a farmer in a tiny town, and one night I was drunk and I got into a bit of a row with my childhood rival. Just a little one. I went to shove him, right in is chest, and the magic in me chose that moment to suddenly come alive. Killed him instantly. Stopped his heart by total accident--I didn't even know what I did at first. I was eighteen," he admitted, then casually continued as if it was only a recap of the weather, "and they carted me of to prison where I lost this..." he wiggled his stump-finger. "But that's another story." He winked impishly. "Nah, my magic works like Berlin's--have him show you sometime. And a bit like Rohaan's, though it's hard to compare that with mine. It just...is." Uban gave a casual shrug and watched her throw the medallion into the air in a wide, lazy arc. Uban had found the object once with his senses; he did not need to use much effort to do it again. Now that he knew it was there, all he had to do was reach out for it and he would find it like a familiar step in the darkness. Uban closed his eyes; it was easier to feel with them shut. Keeping his arc small, he confidently extended his arm and pushed the lightning outward. It leapt forward and hit the medallion with uncanny accuracy as if it were an iron ball and the medallion was a loden stone. It gave a small crack and pushed the medallion slightly off course as it plunked down into the sand. Uban was still bubbling with excitement. "I can feel it!" he said. "Like...like a heartbeat. Or..well it isn't a heartbeat, it doesn't have one. But in that same way you can reach out and feel something. And I have a connection with it now that I've 'found' it. I could hit that thing from anywhere--within range. What is my range...? Anyway, it's like, like a lightning rod some folks use to keep the lightning off their thatched rooves? Like a...Like..." Words failed him, so he clapped his two hands together like they'd been drawn in by some force. Uban closed his eyes, feeling outward again. Still, all he could feel was her and the medallion. "Huh. I wonder...bear with me." Uban moved toward her, reaching out to wipe away the muddy mark she'd drawn on her face as casually as if he were a groomsman brushing a fly away from a horse. Eyes shut again for a moment, he frowned curiously and said, "Aha! I can't feel you now that the mark is gone. Can you draw them on something else? A rock or a piece of wood? Tell me, what are those marks you drew on yourself? What are they for, what do they mean?" He was practically rambling and he did not seem to notice that his hands were shaking a little from exertion. -- Berlin said nothing about it, but as he watched Pieter return to him, there was an appreciative look in his stormy eyes. Berlin hadn't seen where he went, but he guessed enough. Rohaan was the most capable waterman Berlin had ever met, so he didn't worry too much about him being alone, though he appreciated the idea that someone at least might have an eye on him nonetheless. The two sat in amiable silence, as they were prone to do. He'd filled his own pipe again and was blowing more smoke than a blacksmith's forge, his stomach twisting. "I've got half a mind to go down there you know," he said, his tone sullen. "I'm not a great free diver, but maybe the gesture would be enough to coax him out." He gave a heavy sigh. "Nothing for it though. If he wanted to be found, he wouldn't have gone where I can't follow. He'll come up when he's good and ready," he said, very obviously trying to convince himself and not Pieter. "And then it'll be Tavalor all over again. Except, I suppose that at the very least, we do speak the same language now. That counts for something." Of course. He'd done this before and it was much more difficult then than it would be now. He had endured growls and snarls, the snapping of teeth and the swiping of claws. It had been a hard road, but he did manage it. He could do this. Berlin's eyes wandered, remembering as if with a sudden panic that he had more crew to look after and he realized he didn't know how they all were doing. He'd accounted for Wheel, but not Uban and Hana. He saw them chatting, smiling, and Uban had finally managed to turn his lightning into some kind of projectile in one way or another. Good. "Well, looks like I did something right today," he mused, glad for a tiny piece of good luck. --- It's a very difficult thing to be enraged under water. For one, the water itself slowed down most movements and made Rohaan feel weightless (something he only found irritating at the moment). It muffled angry cries, and it was impossible for him to spit fire. Bitterly, the azure-eyed octopus settled for crushing things instead. While he couldn't really explode and yell and roar and burn, Rohaan was alone. More than anything, he wanted that right then. He just felt so...felt...so... [I]Agh![/I] The octopus pulsed a violent red, though no sea creature was around to see it. Rohaan and the crew discovered early on that wherever the boy went, dogs barked madly at him, horses spooked and whinnied nervously, and whales keenly avoided him. Animals, particularly those that are primarily prey animals, feared him. When asked about it, Rohaan had once explained the belief that animals can sense the shifter's [I]Khiv'estanye[/I], their 'true alternate' form. Those that had predators as their favorite alternate form consistently had trouble with animals. He didn't know what he felt. Frustrated, for sure. Angry, and more than a little hurt. And other things he couldn't quite put a name to. Berlin had never done that to him. Ever. The man had cooled him down, or held him still for a medical procedure. He had even made Rohaan more prone to being quiet once, though that was a sort of vague influence that he could have fought against if he'd tried. And every time Berlin did use his magic on him, he usually explained why he was doing it. Rohaan learned quickly that Berlin had powers of persuasion and it was only after he was certain that Berlin would not abuse this power that Rohaan began to trust him. Rohaan saw this restraint and respected it, deeming Berlin a decent man in his book. With Berlin, he had always been free. He was not a prisoner, nor a slave, and if Rohaan had the mind to, there was nothing keeping him from leaving but his own free will. But what he had just experienced was...he shivered. It was like all that he knew about his relationship with Berlin had been upended. Or at least, that's how he felt. His underlying anxiety about facing the Barizians again was made worse by the fact that his safe haven, his protector, his mentor, had very seriously breached his trust. Where was he supposed to turn?