The water boiled before them like a massive blacksmith's quench barrel, white froth rising and turning the dark seas to a light blue-gray color in an increasing radius, much to Uban's surprise. He felt his heart beat faster and his stomach twist. He trusted Pieter, but that didn't mean he wasn't nervous about what would surface. However, he'd spent two years with a nearly feral shape shifter and had thus grown accustomed to seeing large and frightening creatures like cyradan and more ordinary but no less formidable predators like tigers and great bears. It was the unknown that unnerved him. The turtle surfaced it's great head and he felt his fear subside and give way to wonder and awe. It was a gorgeous creature and made even more so by the fact that he'd never seen a sea turtle of any size before, only the small land variety. The creature asked for more liquor and its great voice resonated through his chest, but there was something sweet and earthy about it, something almost wholesome. His mouth hanging open a bit, he whipped out his flask and poured its contents. --- Something about the way Berlin looked at Hana hinted that he knew or guessed some of her inner turmoil and doubt. His soft gray eyes were not exactly piercing, not like Rohaan's. They did not bore through the masks of other people with force, they simply saw through them like they were only a mist in the wind. He reached out one rough, massive hand and put it on her shoulder and for the first time she felt a small taste of Berlin's inborn magic. Her fears did not disappear but for a moment they were shrouded a bit and the sting of them felt simply less. Distant and unimportant. In his touch was reassurance that no words could convey and a warmth like holding a mug of hot tea on a cold night. "And we'll have need of it. You weren't the first medic I've had to seek on land, but you were the first I had to bribe." He laughed softly at that." His eyes found hers and he said coolly but with no less conviction and sincerity, "We are glad to have you, Hanabaptiste." And he meant it. --- "I would not!" Rohaan stamped his foot indignantly. "You make it sound like I'm weak and...panetic!" Of course, he meant 'pathetic' but it was not part of his regular vocabulary so it was a little fuzzy at times and he simply made a guess at it. "I'll show you panetic!" If there was anything that motivated Rohaan besides survival, it was proving people wrong when they doubted him. He stooped and scooped up the weapon and the shield, the latter of which he immediately decided he did not like. He thought it was like carrying a brick when trying to hunt. Cumbersome and not very useful. The sword also felt large and awkward compared to the dagger. The dagger was part of him, an extension of his arm, but this? This long, heavy thing was alien and sluggish in his hands as he swung it experimentally. He was also not prepared for the continued momentum the sword had and his casual swing went long and the blade bit just barely into the gunnel beside him. His deep blue eyes went wide in terror but all his attention had gone from Wheel to Berlin behind him. He was thankfully otherwise occupied with Hana and didn't see Rohaan give a little heave to free it from the dark wood. Breathing hard, his face paled a bit as his silver blood rose to his cheeks in a blush. Embarrassing didn't quite cover it. But when his eyes met Wheel's, his expression turned hard and defiant. "It's big." He did not say 'too big', even though that's what he was thinking--that would be defeat and that wasn't going to do. "How do I..." Flustered, words were failing him at the moment so he just repeated, "How? And this..." He lifted the little shield a bit and scowled at it. He understood what a shield was for and had seen soldiers with them, but he'd never actually seen someone use one. So he ineloquently asked, "What do I do with it?"