Finn and Twinkle had invited their new, oddly long, friend over to swim. Matter had promised the two that she could swim- With Twinkle and Finn teasing her light-heartedly that there was no way she would swim well without having any legs. Empress had chimed in, saying there were various aquatic snakes that could swim, and thus Twinkle and Finn had insisted on taking the day to "experiment". Empress and Matter knew full well that it was just a lame excuse to get the day off, but agreed regardless. The serpent-like Xunari quickly proved them wrong though, at times even out-swimming both Finn and Twinkle. The four had been pretty happy, Empress observing from what she found a safe distance, enjoying swimming around in the swampy rivers of the fungal forest. They had been testing Matter's abilities for a while, comparing them to their own, and occasionally (trying to) hunt down fish and other aquatic life, while Empress sat on the riverbank sketching the smaller fish for research. After a while, Matter had stopped dead in the water, gesturing at an odd shape in the murky depths. Finn and Twinkle squinted at it- not quite sure what the odd shape

was. "Do you guys know what that is?" Finn asked "A log maybe? Or some fish?" twinkle answer, as Matter shrugged. "I'm not so sure It's moving differently, and do you see those- bittles? They kind of look like legs." "Hmm. You think it's another Xunari, then?" Finn shook her head. "I don't think so. Seems oddly deep down to be diving." Matter gestured up at Empress. "Oh- maybe we should tell Empress about this." Twinkle nodded, swimming back up to the surface. As the three shook the water off of their pelts, Empress expressed her confusion about the three coming up so soon. "There was like- a guy, we think?" Finn started, followed by Twinkle "Yea! Some weird guy in the water. it was just- looking at us." Empress frowned. "A guy? Are you sure. There shouldn't be any Xunari near us right now." Finn nodded, walking back to the water. "Yea right there! O-oh." he shifted awkwardly, embarrassed. "Looks like they're gone now." smiling sheepishly at Empress, he assured her that the other two saw it too. "Well, I suppose since it's gone now you two can go back to your fun- I mean experiment." she sighed. "If

you see it again- chase it down until you can investigate, maybe it's an intruder or someone needing help." Finn Twinkle and Matter nodded, happily jumping back into the water. Their fun didn't last long though, as pretty soon matter pointed out the dark shape again. Twinkle was less than pleased at this, and pointed at it to alert Finn and Twinkle instantly dived down, chasing after the odd shadow in the waters at full speed. Matter, meanwhile, dove up. To alert Empress again. The two reef belemoids swam as fast as they could, but the odd shape darted out of sight every time they came close. As the chase continued, the two were less and less sure of what they were chasing- which frustrated them both to no end. Eventually, they lost sight of- whatever it was. Frustrated, Finn and Twinkle returned. "What happened out there, guys?" Empress said, Matter having explained what happened. "We lost sight of it. It kept swimming away from us- still got no clue what it was but it was *fast*." Twinkle grumbled. Empress frowned, concerned "there's no fish in L'hatzif that sound like what you're describing." She sighed, packing up her drawing stuff.

"We can discuss further at home."