Ferry at the Harbor

[Red Gypsy]

This is the Ferry that runs from Vampire Island to the Isles of Draconia. A set of small boats has been created for this system of moving people and supplies between the locations. Each boat can hold ten passengers or five tons of supplies, but not both at maximum. Each boat has been spelled against attack and are just as safe as moving along the Safe Path through the Forest.

Since these are small boats, they can take you to any one of the small islands that make up the Isles of Draconia, not a specific one. Also, there are no ports in the Isles for the Ferry.

The Ferry leaves from the Harbor to minimize boating traffic around the islands.  

[Dameon Black Alt]

Red Gypsy

Amir
Amir followed Dancer through the village to the ferry, taking a moment to pause and look over the boats. He pulled Dancer to a stop with a slight blush on his face and a sheepish look. "This may be a bit odd to hear, but I've never actually been on a boat before," he said. "I'm not sure how I'll react. So I may end up clinging to you a bit."

He gave Dancer a slightly more serious look. "Are you ready to get going? I know that you must be eager to get this all over with." He smiled again. "I really am excited to meet Sasha and see how she does her healing."

He pulled Dancer in for a quick kiss and then gestured toward the boat. "I'll follow after you. I'm not exactly sure what the proper procedure is for getting on a boat. So I'll follow your lead." Amir looked a bit nervous, though he was willing to put that aside if it meant helping Dancer.

 

[Red Gypsy]

Dameon Black Alt

Dancer gave a soft chuckle as he led the way onto the boat then helped Amir get on as well, "You just sit over here in the passenger section and I'll deal with our 'driver'. You'll be perfectly safe there. The boats are spelled against attack or sinking, so I can promise you that you're perfectly safe," he assured him as he set down his bag and the food basket next to the bench where he gestured for Amir to sit.

Then he moved to check on their departure. Turned out that they were waiting on a few supplies headed out to the isles and then they'd leave. He turned his head to note the villagers working to put a few nice-sized packages int he open space at the back of the boat, all apparently headed for Sasha so they'd head directly for her island.

He moved back to Amir and sat next to him, "Apparently all of this is going to Sasha as well, so we'll be able to go directly there instead of having to walk to her. As soon as they're finished loading, we'll head out," he explained then gave Amir a kiss to his cheek and moved to look out over the ocean.

He was tempting to go for a swim during the trip and was able to feel the call of the ocean. But he wasn't entirely certain if he could handle it physically yet. Part of him was worried about the salt water scarring him in an uncomfortable spot.

Well, after Sasha was finished with him, he'd probably be able to swim on the way back...

"If I know Sasha, she'll help you heal me physically as well. But she'll teach you while she does it. She has a way of tapping into the natural ability to heal that I've seen before. It's even different from the way my father healed. If anything, it can only help you get better," he offered softly, unable to help being a little distracted by the ocean.

While he was talking, they finished loading the back of the boat and started moving. The boat didn't rely on an engine as most knew it. This was a steam-powered paddleboat that used locally sourced materials. While it wasn't overly fast, it was faster than a sail on a day with no wind.

He moved with the boat as if it was natural to him. Then again, moving in the ocean was second nature to him...  

[Dameon Black Alt]

Red Gypsy

Amir
Amir allowed Dancer to lead the way onto the boat, appreciative of the help getting on. He hesitated for a moment when Dancer told him to sit down and then gave a simple nod before he moved over to sit where Dancer had indicated. He sat down without a word, taking a moment to think about the journey ahead. He'd never been on a boat, so he wasn't sure what to expect. He just hoped that he wouldn't get seasick.

As he sat there waiting for Dancer, more brief memories began to flash before his eyes, causing him to make a slightly pained face as he felt a splitting pain shoot through his head. He couldn't make sense of any of the memories passing through his head, forgetting them almost as soon as he saw them. But he was starting to get a bit concerned about the scrambled moments that he was occasionally seeing.

Amir was distracted from his thoughts when Dancer sat down next to him and spoke. He smiled at him after the kiss to his cheek. "That's good to hear," he said. "I'm glad the trip on the ferry will be relatively short. I'm a bit nervous about riding the ferry. More than I expected to be."

He went silent again as he heard Dancer saying that Sash would probably help him heal Dancer and teach him in the process. He thought about that for a moment. "It sounds like she's really skilled at what she does. I hope that I can learn a lot from her in the time that we'll be there. I really do like the idea of becoming a better healer. It'll help me to convince my father to allow me to take the path I wish. If I can't, he may wind up stripping me of my magic this time. And that would make being a healer impossible."

 

[Red Gypsy]

Dameon Black Alt

Dancer gave him a smile, unable to resist 'reaching out' to help soothe the issue in such a subtle way that Amir wouldn't notice it, easily hiding the pain from doing so, "Just stay here and you'll be just fine. There isn't going to be anything that will churn the water while we're out today, so you couldn't be more safe," he assured him again and reached out to gently caress his cheek briefly.

After a moment, he couldn't resist a soft chuckle, "Besides, even if you did fall in, I wouldn't let anything happen to you. I'm better in the water than you can guess," he added, doing his best to make sure that Amir knew how safe he was.

Admittedly, he was a little worried about swimming right now. But he wouldn't let that stop him if Amir did fall into the water. Even then, he'd probably shock Amir more than the male was expecting.

This far south, Leopard Seals weren't seen very often... The wild ones were huge anyway, but Dancer shifted to one that was even larger...

There were a few times in the past that his seal form had come in handy. And deadly.

When he'd been able to shift into both of his forms, his dad Mao had found it hilarious that his son was a leopard in both his animal forms. Desha had found it ironic.

Still...

He looked at the water as they rounded the island on the side of the village, knowing that Amir would appreciate the beauty of that view. But he couldn't take his eyes off the water easily, finding that he missed that part of himself more than he'd expected.

They moved around the island then headed off towards the dragon isles and Sasha's island there. It would take them a good chunk of the day for the trip, but it was looking to be uneventful, thankfully.

He finally turned his mismatched eyes away from the water and moved back to sit next to Amir and pulled some of the jerky and vegetable wraps out for them to snack on. There was also some of Rex's ale in the basket, so they had a good meal provided.

Their 'driver' and his workers had their own meals, so they were set up all the way.  

[Dameon Black Alt]

Red Gypsy

Amir
Amir didn't feel Dancer's healing, though he did notice his own pain easing. He couldn't be sure, but he was a bit concerned that Dancer had caused himself pain to help Amir. He would have to keep an eye on Dancer and see if it happened again.

He smiled when he head Dancer's words and felt the gentle caress on his cheek. He found himself relaxing and feeling safer, quite reassured by the other male's words. He raised an eyebrow when Dancer said that he was better in the water than one would guess and made it clear that he would help if Amir fell in. He was quite intrigued by the thought of Dancer jumping into the water after him if he fell in, finding himself wondering how Dancer would do in the water in his current condition.

He was amazed by the beautiful view as the ferry rounded the island on the side of the village. He looked over to Dancer and saw him staring at the water, leaving him wondering what the other male could be thinking about. He gave Dancer another smile as the other male moved back to sit next to him again. "What are you thinking about?" he asked, taking some of the jerky as Dancer pulled it out of the basket.

 

[Red Gypsy]

Dameon Black Alt

Dancer ate a piece of the jerky before he answered the question then offered a small smile, "Swimming, actually. A part of me misses it more than I thought I would. But I don't think I should until I'm fully healed, unless it's an emergency. We'll see what Sasha has to say when we get there," he said simply and gave Amir a kiss to his cheek before laying down on the bench with his head in Amir's lap, closing his eyes as he listened to the water move around the boat.

"My dad taught me to swim. It's one of my favorite memories of him. He was even more at home in the water than a mermaid. That's part of why he left when he did. He couldn't ignore that call any more... Sometimes..." he hesitated there, not sure how much to say on this one without giving it all away at once. But he pressed on anyway, "Sometimes I can feel it too... I think it's part of my connection to him... Sometimes I'll sit on the beach when it's close to storming and it feels like he could walk up out of the water at any moment..." he gave a soft sigh over it and let it go for now.

"Let's just get to Sasha's and see what she has to say before I get too far into it. It's something that I can't explain... I have to show you...." he explained and hoped that Amir could accept it. He'd given his sworn word to his dad when he was still little and he protected Mao as much as he could even now...  

[Dameon Black Alt]

Red Gypsy

Amir
Amir stared out over the ocean as Dancer started talking about swimming and how much he missed it. He gave a simple nod when Dancer mentioned that he probably shouldn't swim until he was fully healed unless it was an emergency. "It probably wouldn't be a good idea to go swimming until you're fully healed," he agreed.

He smiled at the kiss to his cheek and immediately reached down to gently stroke the other male's hair when Dancer put his head in his lap. "It sounds like you had a great relationship with him. Much better than my relationship with my father." He contemplated what Dancer was saying about the call from the water and found that he didn't really know what he could say about it.

He looked down when Dancer said that they should get to Sasha and see what she had to say before getting too far into it. He was curious when Dancer said it was something he couldn't explain and would have to show him. "Alright. We'll see what Sasha has to say and go from there."

 

[Red Gypsy]

Dameon Black Alt

Dancer smiled as he relaxed, enjoying Amir's fingers moving along his skull and through his hair. He loved the movement of the boat as it made good time through the water.

"I love the sound of the water... If you listen to it, you can almost hear the planet moving... The wind, the pull of the moon, the contours of the land... All of it directs the currents around the planet and shows the movement as the planet moves through space... You can almost feel it as you listen to the ocean..." he said softly, finding it so soothing to him.

The movement of the boat actually rocked him to sleep before he could say anything else. Admittedly, it was more like napping right now, but it still soothed him to sleep and showed how closely he was connected to the ocean.

They still had a few hours to go, but hints of the dragon islands were visible on the horizon. As they got closer, the 'driver' of the boat made corrections here and there to direct them to Sasha's island.  

[Dameon Black Alt]

Red Gypsy

Amir
Amir smiled as Dancer talked about the ocean, continuing to gently stroke the other male's hair. "It sounds like you love the ocean in ways that I've never considered before," he said. "I've always thought that the ocean could be beautiful, but I've never really been around it that much. Hell, there really weren't any big bodies of water where I grew up. That's why I'm not great when it comes to the water."

He flashed the male a kind smile. "We'll have to see about getting you healed up as quick as we safely can so that you can actually swim again. Since you love the ocean so much, I want to help you get back to it without having to worry about it causing any problems with your injuries."

Amir let out a soft chuckle when he noticed that the boat's movement had actually rocked Dancer to sleep. He decided to be quiet and let the other male sleep peacefully. He stared out over the ocean, finding himself a bit in awe when he started to see hints of the dragon islands on the horizon. Even if he had never taken the time to appreciate the ocean before, he had to admit the it was quite beautiful now. So as the boat moved towards Sasha's island, Amir simply stroked Dancer's hair and enjoyed the view.

 

[Red Gypsy]

Dameon Black Alt

I'll move them when I post at Sasha's island.

Dancer slept until the boat was coming towards the landing spot. That woke him up. He jerked a small bit then paused and took in a slow deep breath before he sat up and rubbed at his face a bit, then offered a small apologetic smile, "Sorry I fell asleep... There's something about the ocean that helps me fall asleep like that," he said a bit sheepishly, clearly upset that he'd left Amir on the boat without him able to keep him distracted from the water since Amir had revealed that he couldn't swim.

But his attention was caught as the boat hands started to shift the boat towards the shore. This was his first time seeing Sasha's home and he found it impressive. Aside from the simple beauty of the island, he could actually feel the magic contained within the island itself. If he could see the magic, it would probably glow.

"Well... We're in the right place... There's enough magic in this place to blow up the planet," he said softly, simply stepping aside when one of the boat hands collected their bags and put them on the beach with the cargo. He paused there, still not sure about stepping into Sasha's presence. She saw too much too easily....

But he finally took Amir's hand and they both easily got to the sandy shore, only getting their feet a little wet in the surf from the wake of the boat as it moved to head back to the main island.

"Well... We're here..." he said softly, looking towards Sasha's cave.