(Wow, this chapter is nearly 5,000 words long- and a good chunk of it is just me rambling about the Steve Calendar- There is a part you can skip, but you'd probably want to resume reading about seven paragraphs to the end. And with that, let's get on to the chapter. Merry Christmas!)

=Sabre's POV=

"Sabre!!" I heard a voice call. It was distant. It didn't sound like the distorted voice of Shadow. A soft, kind, soothing and familiar voice.

"Rainbow..." I muttered. My vision returned to me as I reached out my right hand. The tingling sensation returned to my left arm, as annoying as ever, as I tried to sit up. I blinked a bit, managing to get a better view of my surroundings.

There were pistons holding my legs in place, and my left arm was tied to a wooden board. I felt bandages wrapped around my body and I had a pounding headache. 

"Shadow..." I whispered, "make the headache go away.. please.." I heard a few clanging noises, then something shattered. I raised my head, looking over at the bars to the cell I was in, watching tiredly as Rainbow climbed in through them.

That's nice..

He's saving me...

"Don't worry Sabre, I gotchu!" He said enthusiastically, breaking the pistons and helping me out of the bed I was in. I smiled down at him as he put my arm over his shoulders, then just went ahead and picked him up.

"Eek-! Hey, you're supposed to be all weak and tired!" Rainbow argued as I stepped through the opening he had made. "I feel surprisingly refreshed :D" I lied.

"Even with your injuries!?" Rainbow worried. I shrugged, carrying him as I navigated the base. I kicked a lever under a table, which activated a few pistons that made a bridge over a lava filled gap. To be honest, my entire body was aching and stinging in pain, threatening to collapse at any moment. The only thing keeping me from collapsing right then and there was my little Raindrop in my arms...

"Where's Elemental?" I asked, vaguely remembering the evil British man taking us through the portal and blowing my right side to shreds. "Oh, I actually gave him the last known location of my friend who knows where some super powerful items are!" He said happily.

"You whAT-" I nearly dropped him at this in surprise, but quickly remembered that I didn't want him hitting me with a stick. "Even if Elemental does find them, they aren't stupid. They're probably gonna laugh at him chaotically as they do and then leave." Rainbow stated blatantly, adjusting himself in my arms.

"Who's your friend?" I asked. "Their name is Hypno! :D" Rainbow replied giddily. "Oh?" I tilted my head as I saw sunlight stream in through an opening. "Yeah! They're a cyclops and it's really cool. You actually really hated them when you were a Blue Steve." He told me.

"So I knew them, huh?" I asked. Rainbow nodded. "Why didn't I like them?" I wondered as I went towards the sunlight. 

"Well, they tried to turn us against each other, attempted to hurt me on multiple occasions, impersonated your voice, separated us,-"

"Okay yeah I can see why I didn't like them."

"They helped me out in the end, though! And honestly, if it weren't for their help, we would've never seen each other again!"

"hmm, okay then."

I set Rainbow down as I stopped at the entrance, looking down at the 50 block drop in front of us. Well then >:/

Rainbow looked up a me, his expression reading something like "I'm surprised but I'm not surprised." I put my hands on my hips and huffed. Honestly I was kinda expecting this.

There was a river below us, but it was frozen over, so we couldn't jump in there... I looked around at the room we were in, noticing a pile of slime blocks. "Hey, Rainbow, we can use these!" I said, walking over to the pile and grabbing one. Rainbow followed. "Ewww, why does he have these?" He complained, touching one and pulling his now slime coated hand away.

I walked back to the entrance. "These things are super bouncy, right?" I asked. I threw it down, watching it land, bounce, and slide a bit on the ice. "Yeah, but they're still gross!" Rainbow responded. 

I laughed and grabbed another slime block, throwing it down at the other one. "c'mon, help me out." I said. Rainbow rolled his eyes and grabbed a slime block, walking over and tossing it down.

We continued to toss slime blocks down, making a platform for us to land on. I grabbed Rainbow's hand, which was coated in the slime from the slime block, like mine were. 

Rainbow was visibly cringing :/

We stared out on the snowy horizon as the sun dipped lower and lower into the sky. I was glad my blindfold was still on, to let me see this daily spectacle without my eyes hurting too much. "Ready, Rainbow?" I asked. He nodded, bending his knees a bit.

We launched forward into the air, the cool chill of the wind rushing past us as we fell. We hit the slime blocks and bounced back into the air. We were laughing, holding both hands as we fell again, and bounced, and fell, and bounced..

We eventually ended up just sitting on the gooey blocks, just generally enjoying each other's company. "Let's go before Elemental comes back." I said, standing and pulling Rainbow up. He smiled at me and we began walking. 

...

"Uh.. Where are we going?"

...

"Good question-"

We were lost. Great. We had no idea where Elemental had taken us, which direction our home was, or even how far away we were. It was cold, and the tingling in my left arm had gotten more annoying. I didn't have my jacket or my shirt, no thanks to Elemental Steve replacing them with bandages, and poor Rainbow was visibly shivering I didn't even have a jacket for him, being only in my tank top and pants. I sighed and grabbed him, picking him up into my arms.

My right leg throbbed in some sort of numbed pain as I continued to walk with Rainbow, hopefully to a warmer biome. My eyes began to close as an odd tiredness over swept me, even though I had just slept. Shadow's voice began ringing in my ears, the annoying thing, as I began to stagger. I heard Rainbow's voice, but barely, as he got down from my arms. My legs gave out suddenly and I collapsed, falling into the cold snow.

Rainbow seemed to be shouting something, and someone else came into my now blurred vision. "Haha.. There's two of you, Rainbow!" I giggled, despite the obvious grey and brown color scheme of the second person. 

Darkness overtook my vision, and I was out.

...

...

...

"Shadow..?"

"Yes, Sabre?"

"Why is this happening?"

"You need to be more specific, Sabre."

"Well, I mean, let's start with why I keep passing out. I'm pretty sure I have insomnia, unless I'm going delirious."

"..."

"..."

"Well, Sabre, that's what's called the shadows."

"The shadows? Like you? Haha.."

"...Not funny. Didn't laugh."

"Well technically, I laughed, and you're me, so-"

"Do you want answers or not?!"

"..."

"That's what I thought. The shadows mainly thrive in the Nightmare Dimension. Some are passive, while others will be hostile. Everyone has their own shadow, like how I'm yours, who are dormant or in a permanent hibernation. Maybe their shadows are just dead."

"..Wait, why are you just telling me this? Aren't you supposed to be some manipulative, evil version of me? Who wants to cause pain and suffering?"

"Listen, Saby-Sabs,"

"Do not call me-!"

"sHUSH-- ... ahem... As I was saying, it's not like you can tell people this, they'll just think you're crazy, or seeing things, maybe. Besides, this is an interesting topic that you know nothing about, so I could just ramble randomly on about it cause I've picked up that trait from you."

"...I guess you're right."

"I know."

"What else can you tell me?"

"I can tell you a lot, Sabre. Be specific."

"Ugh- I want you to continue with what you were talking about with shadows and all.. It was interesting."

"Hmm, well, everyone has their own shadow, and when you were hit by that potion, poof! Here I am! I guess I have to experience the horrible pain of existence!"

"Geez, sor-ry for trying to save my friend. Kinda glad I did, he doesn't have to deal with you."

"Wh- rude!"

"Oh, please, you can handle it."

"Hmph."

...

"Anyways, ..hm... Why is my left arm all tingly? And hey! You didn't fully answer my last question!"

"OhHhHh, I'm sO sOrRy-"

"Hushie! Stop with all that and tell me already! >:("

"Geez, fine! The shadows just make you more tired as they try to pull you deeper in."

"...I- Well hey at least I'll finally get sleep."

"This is supposed to be a bad thing, be terrified!"

"But I'm gonna be healthy again!"

"Bah, whatever. Now moving on to your arm, that's the shadows corrupting you. It will slowly take over your body until you're incapacitated and rendered completely and utterly useless."

"...."

"So yeah, you're doomed."

"Well hey may as well live my life while I have it-"

"You're not going to die, Sabre, you're just going to be useless! Well, more useless than you already are!"

.......

"Bye, Shadow."

=Rainbow Steve's POV=

"Sabre..?" I asked, noticing a slight change in his posture. I got down from his grip and stood, grabbing him by the shoulders to try and keep him steady. He's probably already tired himself out at this point.. He staggered sideways and collapsed. "Wh- Sabre-! TIME!! TIME STEVE WE NEED YOUR HELP!!"

There was a sudden flurry of lightning, Time showing up with a smile visible though his transparent clock mask. "Rainbow!" He exclaimed as Sabre mumbled something, "Oh, you're alive! This day keeps on getting better and better!"

"Now's not the time for this, Time, Sabre's hurt!" I pointed down at Sabre, who was passed out in the snow. "...This day has just gotten worse."

Time Steve knelt down and turned Sabre onto his back, his mouth forming a thin line as he inspected the tightly wrapped bandages and the weird substance on Sabre's left arm. He then took off his coat and hooded cape, adjusting Sabre and dressing him in them. He pulled the hood over Sabre's head and clipped the front, then buttoned up the coat to shield Sabre from the cold. 

I kneeled next to Time. "Wait, that's your coat though.." I said. "I'll be fine, I have five backups." He replied, picking Sabre up, "I'll go ahead and teleport us home." Time stood close to me and I held onto his arm, a bright flash of white clouding my vision.

=Nathan's POV=

I sat up from the floor as I heard lightning outside. I got up and ran to the door, kicking it open. I smiled. "WOO! THEY'RE BACK!!" I exclaimed, rushing out to hug Time, Sabre, and Rainbow. I ignored the fact that Rainbow put his hands out in an attempt to stop me, and wrapped them all in a bear hug >:D

"Now's not the time, Nathan! Sabre is in horrible condition-!" Time said, causing me to back off immediately. "What's wrong with him?" I asked as Time carried Sabre indoors from the chillier air outside.

Moose walked over from decorating our Christmas tree, smiling at us. "Hey! Is Sabre alright?" He asked. He was too calm- Then again Shark did wake him up from his nap to decorate the Christmas tree, so he was probably tired.

"He's injured, but I'm going to use some healing and regeneration on him so he heals up. He'll hopefully make a full recovery with scars." Time answered.

"What even happened?" I wondered. "Elemental hurt him either with explosions or fire.. I fear that Sabre might have gotten caught in the explosion of the Time bo-" "SHSHSHSHSH--" "...The explosives..." Time glared at Moose.

"Yeah, that's pretty much what happened. I'm only unharmed cause I got shoved through first." Rainbow piped up. "Also, I feel the need to ask, why is there a decorated spruce tree in our living room, and why is Galaxy perched on a shelf above it?"

I started to laugh. "Galaxy's the star for our Christmas tree!" I explained. "W h y" "Cause he's a star!"

"Oh my goodness, I need a nap." Rainbow grumbled. I watched as he sulked off to his and Sabre's room, Time following with Sabre.

"Hmph." I pouted. "Not like I was gonna explain Christmas to you anyways.. Hey, Moose, wanna see if we can somehow make eggnog?" "Heck yeah! >:D" He responded. "Aha, no," Shark interrupted, "we are not having eggnog."

"Whyyy?" Moose complained. "Because I said so." Shark replied. "Y'know, this day is starting to feel like a filler chapter." Galaxy piped up. 

"What-?"

"Nothing."

"..Either way, it's getting late, the tree is decorated, and I'm tired. I'm heading to bed." Shark said. "Don't be stupid." And with that, Shark left.

=Rainbow Steve's POV=

I helped Time tuck Sabre in after healing him with the potions, then sat on the edge of the bed. "He's been sleeping a lot more recently. While it's a good thing, I'm also worried." I said. Time fidgeted a bit. "Do you think it has something to do with the stuff on his arm?" He asked. I shrugged. "Maybe."

I put my head in my hands. "When is he gonna get a break already..? When are we gonna get a break..?" I sighed. Time put a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, it'll get better eventually." He encouraged. "..maybe..."

"Oh, wait, I need to discuss something with Elemental, do you know where he is? Or where I can possibly find him?" Time piped up.

"Hm, the last place I saw him was at that weird laboratory. You gotta teleport to where you found Sabre and I and head... Hm.. North, I think? There's a mountain with slime blocks at the bottom of it, and we only travelled a few hundred blocks before calling for you. It should be easy to find, hopefully." I explained.

"Ah, alright. Anything else I need to know?"

"Oh! I sent him to find a friend of mine who knows where some super powerful artifacts are! He's not gonna get anywhere though, my friend is just gonna laugh at him."

"Well then"

"Yeah. Have fun finding him! Dunno why you'd want to in the first place though."

"It's important- I wish you and Sabre well, I'll be leaving now!" Time gave me a soft hug, then left the room. About a minute later, there was lightning. I sighed again and flopped down next to Sabre, snuggling under the covers with him. I rested my head on his chest to hear his heartbeat, as a form of reassurance, and drifted off to sleep.

.

.

.

"WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP!! IT'S CHRISTMAS!!" Nathan shouted, bursting into the room and startling me awake. "Ngh, Shut up!!" I complained, stuffing my head under Sabre's pillow. Whyyyyyyy.. I was tiredddd... 

I felt Sabre sit up next to me, then lift me up into his arms. He sat up and sat me next to him, but all I did was flop backwards back into warmth and sleep. As I started to drift off, again, though, Sabre shook me awake. "Nooo-!" "C'mon, man, we gotta get up today!" "WhYyYyY!?"

Just then, Moose ran into the room. "Guys, get up, it's Christmas!!" He said giddily. Nathan had already left the room, and Moose was now on his way out. I heard Galaxy yelling "CHRISTMAAAASSS!!" outside our door as he ran past.

"What the heck is 'Christmas'..?" I mumbled, planting my elbows on my knees and my face in my hands. "Ah, well, people like me- well, not me cause I was a Steve, but people like Nathan, Moose, and Shark, have different holidays at different times of the year. It's December twenty fifth here, right?"

"I- What?"

"You guys don't have months?"

"We have months, not any named December.. It's currently the fifty fifth of Novengrowth. It's one of the winter months."

"The fifty-fifth-? How long are your months-!?"

"Usually sixty one days."

"Well then.. Do you have any holidays?"

"Yeah. I'll tell them to you later when I'm awake and remember stuff."

"Heh, alright. Well Christmas is a gift giving holiday from my world, and it's today. Little kids like Nathan and Moose get exited over this cause they usually get new toys."

I laughed at this. Nathan and Moose were like little kids. Annoying little kids.

"Hey, why don't we head to the livingroom? Hang out with everyone else?" Sabre said. I nodded and stood with him, then he took my hand and we walked to the livingroom together. My eyes widened at the sight. The spruce tree had dozens of colorful blocks with ribbons under it, their surfaces seeming to almost glitter in the colorful lighting. Nathan was tearing in to one of the boxes, ripping its colorful surface apart.

"H-hey, what are you doing!! Don't do that!!" I cried, going forward. Nathan ignored me as Sabre tugged me back. "It's okay, Rainbow, he's supposed to do that," he explained, "they're boxes that contain presents, and they're wrapped in wrapping paper so you can't tell what it is until you open it."

"I GOT A NETHERITE INGOT!!" Nathan screamed, holding up a dusty looking black and gold brick. He got up and hugged Shark. "I'm gonna upgrade my diamond pickaxe with this! Thank you!" 

I sat on the couch with Sabre, next to Galaxy who was staring intently at a new pufferfish plush.

"I wish I could've gotten you something.." Sabre sighed, putting an arm around me. Moose then walked up, slapped a ribbon bow on Sabre, then shoved him to me. "Present :D" He said.

Sabre burst into laughter, sitting back up as I began to laugh as well. Moose then put a bow on me, causing me to laugh even more.

"Actually, though, we got you guys gifts to give to each other! Shark said, handing some colorful boxes to each of us. "Oh?" Sabre asked, looking at the tag. I looked at the tag on the one I was handed, which read To: Sabre, From: Rainbow.

I laughed awkwardly, handing the box to Sabre, who handed his box to me. "Thanks, guys." Sabre said, pulling at the shiny surface of the box. I nodded and went to open mine, noticing the surface was folded and taped. I huffed and peeled the tape off, then unfolded the shiny paper from the box itself and handed it to Shark.

Sabre then opened his box, and I did the same, smiling at what was in front of me. I held up the shiny heart shaped locket, then opened it to show a picture of Sabre and I hugging during our picnic. How anyone got a picture of that, I didn't know, but in all honesty, I was grateful for it.

I looked back down and pulled out the second item that the locket was originally resting on. A sweater. It was knitted in a pastel rainbow design and there were little yarn snowflakes sewed onto it. "It's so soft!" I exclaimed, feeling the material. 

I looked over at Sabre, who had a similar gift. He had a heart locket as well, but it was silver instead of gold like mine, and he had a green sweater with some large blue stripes running across the chest and sleeves.

Shimmying my hoodie off, I quickly swapped to the sweater, putting it over my long sleeve, which Sabre copied with Time's jacket and over his tank top. "I see you guys like them? :D" Nathan asked happily. "You made these?" Sabre asked. "Yep!" Nathan replied. "I didn't know you knew how to knit, dude :0" Moose said. "Neither did I!" Shark added.

"Guys, put the lockets on!" Galaxy urged, smiling at us. I laughed and opened the necklace chain, bringing it behind my head to try and clip it. 

"Hey, here, let me help you with that." Sabre said, reaching over to me. He clipped the gold chain around my neck for me, and I went to help him with his. "You guys are so cute together!!!" Galaxy squealed, causing me to roll my eyes, and Sabre to laugh.

I cuddled up to Sabre, watching as the others went back to opening their presents. "Thank you, guys, seriously." Sabre said, and I nodded in agreement. 

The rest of the day went by rather quickly as we finished opening gifts, messed with said gifts, had pastries baked by Shark, bad pastries baked by Galaxy, had snowball fights, ate cookies, pie, and cake, curled up around the fire place, and all the rest. I rather liked this holiday, celebrated by Sabre and his human friends. I was even gifted some sticks and rocks :D

.

(Okay, right about here is where I started writing about the Steve Calendar lol
You guys can skip to the last 7 or 8 paragraphs if you don't want to read about this, as it's kind of a back and forth conversation.)

.

"Hey, Sabre?" I asked as he played around with the redstone Moose got him. "Yeah?" "Do you guys have any more holidays like this? Where it's laughter, happiness, and peace?" 

"Hm, all holidays are different. We have New Years, which is in five days, six if you count today."

"Oh, that sounds similar to Year Start. It's a minor holiday here. It's were the six months we have start over."

"Oh really? What are the names of your months?"

"I'll start with the first month, which is next month. Jabsenhaven, the main winter month. Then there's Medoval, which is usually the start of spring. After that, we have Ansmayan, Where spring starts to turn to summer, then the main summer month, Jovensmeil. Then there's the start of autumn, being Osvemtumn, and then this month, being Novengrowth." 

"Huh. Our calendar has twelve months, each being about thirty days."

"You should switch to the Steve Calendar. It's easier to use. Hey, what are your months?"

"Ah, in order, starting next month, we have January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December."

"That's a lot to memorize. The Steve Calendar is easier."

"Heh, sure."

"I'm assuming that every two months of yours fit into one month of ours?"

"Basically, from what I know."

"Well then. Anyways, back to holidays, in Jabsenhaven, we have the Day of the United, on the thirty-fourth, which celebrates the peace treaty between all five main Steve races. then, on the fifty-fourth, we have the Day of Hearts, where we give little chocolates to each other to show our love and appreciation towards each other."

"Oh, that sounds like Valentines Day from the American Calendar. It's basically the same, but it falls on February fourteenth, which if I did the math correctly, lands on the forty-fifth of your Jabsenhaven"

"What does American mean? Is it a type of Human?"

"Actually, in a way, yeah. It's the land that Moose, Shark, and Nathan were born in, and the land I stayed in for most of the time I was in this form. It's called the United States of America."

"Ohh, that sounds cool! Is the land big like a Yellow Steve Kingdom?"

"I don't know how big a Yellow Steve Kingdom is, but if it spans across several super huge biomes, then yes."

"...What."

"Heh, yeahhh.. There are tons of Humans."

"Oh my gosh."

"Hahaaa.. Yeah back to holidays."

"...Well then. Uh, in Medoval, we have the Festival of Flowers, which spans across several days. It celebrates the coming of springtime, starting from the first and going to the ninth. It's usually celebrated in kingdoms, villages, and large groups. Then there's Green Day, on the twenty-second, where everyone has to wear a hint of green coloring. It was originally a superstition started that doing this would make crops grow faster, but now it's just a joke. If you don't wear any green on Green Day though, you get pinched."

"Heh, that sounds a lot like Saint Patrick's Day. It's basically that. What else?"

"Oh, well, then we have the Dance of Rain, which occurs From the fortieth to the forty-fifth. It's another festival type thing where people get together and Blue Steves travel across the lands to bless the farmland with rain."

"Ohh, sounds interesting."

"Yeah! Then in Ansmayan, we have the Celebration of the Sun, which lasts from the thirty-third to the forty-fourth. It basically celebrates the coming of Summer. Then after that, funny enough, we have a Pie Day, which isn't a major holiday but it's still fun to celebrate."

"I'm guessing you celebrate by baking pies?"

"Yep! Eating them too!"

"Heh, what else is there?"

"Ah, from the sixty-first to the first of Jovensmeil, we have a small holiday called Half Year, which marks at midnight the halfway point of the year, like how Year Start ends and starts a new year."

"Oh, cool."

"Then on the fourteenth, we have Firework Day, where kingdoms set up huge displays of fireworks! I remember watching the Yellow Kingdom that I visited put on a Firework Day show, it was amazing!"

"Oh, we have two firework days in America."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. New Years and the Fourth of July, or Independence Day. Humans like to use fireworks and pollute the air."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Well, anyways, in Osvemtumn, we have the Celebration of Fallen Leaves that goes from the twenty-third to the twenty-seventh. We basically celebrate the coming of autumn and also honor loved ones who have passed on. The twenty-sixth is the day where the barrier is thinned the most between the Steve Realm and Spirit Realm. We call it the Day of Souls, and it's said that if we burn items on spruce pine and birch bark, they'll be sent to the Spirit Realm to our loved ones."

"Oh, do you believe that?"

"Yeah, after Blu- well, after you died, I was planning on putting your necklace in the fire for the Day of Souls, but then this whole drama with that guy Hypno happened and I never got the chance."

"Wait, I had a necklace?"

"Yeah, it was a friendship necklace. I asked Hypno to burn yours on the Day of Souls and take care of mine to give back to me when I was reawakened from my hibernation, but I don't know if he followed through. He's an unpredictable guy."

"Ah. Hey, well, at least we have these new necklaces!"

"Heheh, yeah!"

"Anyways, is there anything else about your holidays, Rainbow?"

"Oh, in Novengrowth, from the forty-first to the forty-seventh, we have the Celebration of Snow. We go around collecting, making, selling, and buying items for the winter. Gatherings usually happen inside rather than outside, and farmers plant seeds early so they're watered when the snow melts in Jabsenhaven."

"Ah, that makes sense. What happens during gatherings?"

"Oh, we usually just do crafts together."

"Awe, that's cute."

"Psh, sure."

"Well, Raindrop, I hope you enjoyed Christmas." Sabre said, standing up. He cleaned up his redstone materials, then put them into his bag. I stood as well and went over to him. He held my hands in his, smiling.

"Heh, I sure did." I said happily. Sabre brought me into a hug, then let me go as he started to walk, leading me by my hand back to the house. I wiped my nose with my sleeve, sniffling a bit from the cold as we entered the building. Sabre led me down the hall to our room. I saw that Nathan and Moose were already passed out on the couch while we walked past the livingroom. I didn't see Shark or Galaxy, so I assumed they were in their rooms.

Sabre and I headed into our room, Sabre flopping down on his bed. He let out a long sigh as I sat on mine. "You alright?" I asked him. He turned his head to me as he shimmied his sweater off, then took the necklace off to place it on his nightstand. "Yeah, just tired. Plus, it feels good to be inside. Warm and cozy." He stated. I nodded, taking my own necklace off and placing it on my nightstand.

Sabre brought his blankets over himself and undid his blindfold, turning away from me and placing the fabric next to his locket. I watched as he got comfortable, snuggling under his blankets. It was cute to watch, honestly. I let out a sigh, checking the clock. Nine P.M. I turned back to Sabre, who was already snoring softly. Now, while him getting sleep was a good thing, it was also very concerning. I had a suspicion that this was linked to the odd substance on his arm. 

I lied down in bed, deciding to just sleep in my sweater. I put a hand under my head, the other going over my chest as I stared at the ceiling, the moonlight streaming in from outside. Little silhouettes began dancing across the light that was reflected onto the ceiling. It was snowing. I let out another sigh, pulling my sheets over myself and curling up. These past few days were long and tiring, and definitely did a number on poor Sabre. It seems like everybody just ignored his new scar today. Probably to not make him feel uncomfortable.

Well, as long as Sabre was okay, that's all that mattered. He deserved all the rest he could get. My eyes closed as I began to drift off into a dreamless sleep.

-

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-

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-

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-

"GAH-!" My eyes shot open and I bolted upright, looking towards Sabre. He was sitting, hunched over a bit as he held onto his left wrist. He was shaking, his left hand contorted oddly as his veins on his left arm turned black. I got up and ran over to him. "What the heck- What's happening!?" I cried as a tear slipped down Sabre's cheek. He looked up at me, his lip trembling as his blue eyes displayed nothing but fear. "H-he's taking over!"