Swimming with 3

Art, Doan, and 3 were currently exploring the Uncharted Lands. Doan was leading the way, pushing a couple branches or hanging vines along the way. Art was right behind him, once in a while pressing his candy energy dispenser, and tossing the pink pebbles behind him. 3 was following, opening its mouth at slight intervals, and chewed on something. 

This was the candy energy that Art threw towards it. Girby's were known as docile creatures with a strange anatomy and a deep love for candy energy consumption. Although humans that resided in the kingdom of Sweeten had befriended and domesticated them a few ages ago, it was only until the fourth king of Sweeten, Palius Dulcee that befriended one himself as a child and accidentally fed him raw candy energy. 

Art stopped at a light purple tree. He quickly set his crate down and picked off multiple clusters of the black fruits. He put the clusters into his crate, a large pile of the fruits surrounding the bottom of it. He kept one in his hand and pulled off a singular fruit from the cluster. He hadn't tried it earlier and he was curious about its taste. Not to mention, he was starting to feel hungry.He picked up his crate, walking around the tree, and moved forwards.

Doan had stopped at a wide area with a thin border of sand that slanted downwards. The sand was brown with a slight orange hue. It was smooth and heavy with microscopic crystals A small distance in front of the sand was a large body of water. He began crossing the slanted terrain, his feet gaining a light weight due to the sand. Art followed behind him, slipping backwards and falling, not expecting the weight of the sand. 3 simply squealed in laughter at Art, and hopped over his head, messing his hair. 

He got up and caught up with the other two. When they arrived on the flap part of the sand, they looked out towards the body of water. It was larger than anything they had seen so far. Art imagined he could fit more than a hundred trees in it. It had the same dark blue color as the other bodies of water and stretched outwards, expanding and covering a great portion of what was supposed to be a forest.

"This is a perfect place to sit down and rest." Doan decided, sitting down on the brown-orange sand, with his legs tucked in between one another. He closed his eyes and changed his breathing, meditating with the sound of the calm waters flowing in front.

"Hey you heard that 3?" Art looked down at his furry companion.

3 nodded and squealed happily.

"Let's go swimming!" He suggested. The Girby stuck its tongue out and licked the boy's face, agreeing with his friend's idea. Art laughed and pet 3's head

He pulled off his shirt, in order to keep his candy energy dispenser in good condition. He had a thin underdeveloped torso for a boy his age. His arms were equally skinny, with a slight tone of muscle on them. He placed down his pink candy made crate. He smiled at 3, and gestured it to follow him, as he started running into the water. 3 quickly ran after Art excitedly, jumping into the water with a small splash. He sunk down and came back up to the surface shaking its fur slightly and looking at Art with a smile.

Art was happy as the water was surprisingly warm, albeit the chilly environment. He swam further into the dark blue water, 3 paddling with its small scaled feet, right behind him. As they got further into the center, 3 stuck his tongue out and pushed the water, creating a small current that splashed Art in the face. The boy laughed and started chasing his furry little friend. He swam after it as 3 teasingly slowed his pace when Art was at arm's reach and quickly swam away before it was caught. 

Art and 3 swam back and forth, slowly going even further into the dark blue water. Fortunately for the pair, this dark blue body of water was a lake in the Uncharted Lands that had no sign of predatory life.

"Try to catch me 3!" Art laughed, as he swam away, getting further into the lake and away from the older man, who was sitting at the shore with his eyes closed and his legs crossed in a meditative state.

3 followed behind the boy, quickly paddling its feet, as it chased Art. The two had a massive grin on their faces as they had fun swimming. Art dived under the water, to try to confuse his furry companion. He closed his eyes and kicked his feet swimming underwater. After what seemed a very long time, he swam back up and took a large gasp of air, spitting out a small jet of water, as he rubbed his eyes open.

He looked behind him and saw nobody. He quickly turned to his side when he felt the water ripple, 3 simply floating next to him. His big blue eyes were distracted by the large mass of land in front. Art turned his head in the same direction as 3. He saw an empty field of brown sand with large hills.The sand that surrounded the lake had ridges etched into it from the water's rise. The temperature around them seemed to have risen and the air around them felt dry. It was a desert.

He looked at 3 who looked back at him. They both had a questioning look, as if they wanted to get out and step into the sand. Art decided it was best not to exit the lake and explore the dry land. He started swimming around the bordering area of the desert. It curved to the left, as they slowly distanced themselves from the warm colored sand. They ended up circling around and slowly could see Doan from an angle in the distance. 

Art smiled at 3 and stopped swimming, kicking his legs at a medium pace to keep himself afloat.

"Okay are you ready 3?" He asked.

3 nodded and licked Art's face

"On my mark, we're going to race and whoever makes it to Doan first gets 5 pieces of candy energy!" He stated.

3 squealed in excitement at the thought of more candy energy and began splashing the dark blue water around. Art remained upwards but leaned forwards, getting into position slightly. 3 simply splashed his feet twice then smiled. 

"Go!" Art lunged forward into the water, and began kicking his feet rapidly, pushing the flow of the water against him, as he moved his arms in an arc over his head, while one remained in the water.

3 was gaining up on him, as it swam with the wind in its face and its brown tongue sticking out.

Doan was now at a yelling distance and Art moved his arms and legs faster. The lake's flow pushed against him slightly reacting to his body's natural buoyancy. He ended up reaching the shore and running up to Doan, quickly tapping his shoulder with a wet arm.

"I win!" Art declared happily, as his furry companion was a few steps behind him. 3 jumped in celebration, then licked Art's face.

Doan was slightly startled as he had been meditating for the time that Art and 3 had been swimming. He relaxed once he had heard the boy's voice, and the sound of a happy Girby. He uncrossed his legs and got up from the sand.

"How was the swim?" He asked.

"It was very fun! Me and 3 played 'chasers' and we also raced!" Art replied back, his hair covering his forehead. It was drenched along with his shorts and shoes. He walked to where he had put his stuff and picked up his shirt.

He raised his arms and put the gray shirt on, a few droplets of water dripping on to it. He walked back to Doan and 3 and gave an excited smile to Doan.

"Hey Doan guess what we saw?"

"What is it?" Doan asked.

Art and 3 turned their heads and looked at each other. They gave a bright grin as they remembered their playful adventure.

"We saw a desert!" Art exclaimed, 3 squealing in agreement.

"A desert huh?" Doan rubbed his chin.

"I suppose that's where we'll head next."