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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.

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...

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.

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...

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.

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.