Sabre watched as many of the blobs were helping the Steves of the village set up, making sure none of them were doing anything dangerous.

There was a harvest festival happening that evening, and everybody wanted to help out, including the small creatures. Sabre watches as they all help set up food and drink stands, or product stalls. They may be small, but can be very helpful.

A group of blobs are helping with putting up decorations, some collecting flowers while others help with signs and decorative crops to place around the village. Two blobs with wings are helping with putting up streamers and banners on strings that spiderweb across paths. A few blobs are helping with baking treats and decorating cookies, although one falls in cake batter at one point, and a Blue Steve helps them out. One blob is helping with making bread. The orange-eyed black blob is standing next to an Orange Steve that's making some food for a stand, who occasionally lets the blob have a bit of what he's making to 'taste-test' it. There's a group of blobs happily throwing flowers around.

Another small group is watching over the others, presumably making sure they're doing a good job. Some are making leaf and flower crowns for everybody, one making a leaf crown out of white leaves. An Indigo Steve stops a small catlike blob from knocking drinks off a stand. A mint green blob is standing next to a food stand, eying the cookies. Sabre chuckles as he sees a blob attempting to race a Yellow Steve. Another blob is stealing treats off a stand and disappearing under the tablecloth, only to pop back up again and steal more, much to the slight annoyance of the Violet Steve running that stand.

Sabre returns to gathering some decorations, when he hears Time to the right of him. Looking at his friend, Sabre laughs when he sees Time's predicament.

While some blobs are peacefully hanging out in his pockets or on his shoulders, there's a group of blobs running around him and pulling on his coat as he attempts to carry a bunch of baking supplies. Time looks up and sees Sabre.

"Sabre, can you help me out please?" Time calls. "They're going to knock over the stuff I'm carrying-"

Sabre puts down the decorations he has and walks over, gathering all of the little blobs. After telling the rowdy little ones to shoo, Sabre grabs some of the things that Time is carrying and helps him take the baking supplies to one of the baked goods stands.

"Thanks for that." Time says, smiling. "All of the little creatures are excited today, huh?"

"Yeah, probably about the festival." Sabre answers as he wipes some stray flour off his hands. "They've never gotten to attend one before, so they're all worked up about it."

Sabre then takes a small blob out of the edge his hood, which had been trying to get into it the entire time he'd been working.

"Okay little buddy, you're gonna have to find something to do, okay?" Sabre tells the blob. "I can't have you climbing in my hood while I'm trying to work."

The blob pouts, but then the Yellow Village Leader walks over. Just as he's about to say hi, the blob jumps over to the Village Leader and climbs onto his head.

"...Okay then." The Leader chuckles as the blob messes with his hair.

"Oh- sorry about that!" Sabre says.

"It's alright, I don't mind." The Leader says. "I just wanted to check on how you two were doing."

"We're doing good, Sabre just helped me with getting some baking supplies to a stand." Time says, motioning behind them.

"I was about to go back to setting up decorations around the village." Sabre says.

"That's good!" The Leader says, smiling. "Well then, I'll let you go back to it. See you at the festival!"

"Seeya!" Sabre says as the Leader walks away, the blob still on his head.

"Mind if I help you with decorations?" Time asks as he follows Sabre over to where he had set the decor down. "Since you helped me, and all."

"Oh, thanks man!" Sabre smiles as he picks up the basket of small pumpkins and banners.

He and Time placed the decorations all around the village, with the occasional interruption of one of the blobs wanting to show Sabre something.

"You are such a mother hen." Time laughs as Sabre receives a drawing of a dandelion from a blob.

"Wh- I am not." Sabre says, with a joking expression of annoyance. "I just care about the little guys."

"Mhmm. And the events of last week say otherwise." Time says.  

"...Shut up." Is all Sabre can think of to respond. "Let's just focus on getting everything set up.

"Sure." Time says, laughing a bit.

Eventually, with the help of everyone pitching in and the blobs, the village is almost ready for that night's festival. Fall colors and decor are everywhere, from lining the pathways to hung from houses. Everyone goes off to do some last-minute prep before sunset, as that's when the festival starts, while Sabre and Time take care of the groups of blobs that are playing outside.

"Why is this one always so insistent about sitting in my coat pocket??" Time says as he once again struggles to get a blob out of his pocket.

"I dunno, that one just likes you I guess." Sabre chuckles. "Her name is Fluffy, by the way."

"Oh my gosh, her name is Fluffy?" Time gasps, getting the small, catlike blob out of his pocket and holding it in his hands. "That's adorable. Did you pick that name for her?"

"Oh nah, I didn't. I didn't pick any of their names." Sabre answers as a small blob with a white mask over their face runs up and 'hugs' him. "They name themselves."

"How do you know?" Time asks. "It's not like you can understand all that squeaking."

Sabre looks at Time silently, a smile on his face as the blobs around him giggle.

"...Oh my goodness, you can understand them?" Time says, knowing that look.

"Always have." Sabre says. "I dunno, just always could. That's how I knew something was wrong when the bandit incident happened. While you guys could've heard faint squeaking if you listened, I heard actual screaming."

"Yeesh. No wonder you ran off, that must've scared the heck out of you."

"Yeah, it did."

The two's conversation is interrupted when a familiar voice is heard.

"Hey, guys!"

Sabre and Time look up, and it's Green Steve, being followed by Gerald. Sabre, Time, and Green greet each other while the blobs curiously run over to Gerald.

"What's up, Green? You don't usually visit so often." Sabre asks.

"Ah c'mon, I'm not missing a whole harvest festival. I've been helping the foragers with finding things in the forest for weeks, so of course I want to be here too." Green says. "Also, you know I'm always excited to see the little guys."

When the three turn to look, the blobs are crowding Gerald a bit, who looks a little confused as a few blobs place small flower crowns on his head. One is hiding among the flowers.

"Heh- Having fun over there, Gerald?" Sabre laughs.

Gerald glares at him as more blobs start to climb on him. One is hanging onto his ear. Gerald gives up and lays on the grass, as more blobs swarm him. However, he looks a bit less annoyed when a few blobs drag over a golden carrot to him.

"Where'd they get that?" Green wonders.

"Eh, I kinda stopped questioning where they get things a long time ago." Sabre shrugs.

"Me too, after they somehow found one of my pocket watches I thought I lost." Time adds.

"Oh wait- that's right!" Green exclaims. "I came over because I wanted to help with setup too, and so I wouldn't miss the festival. Is there anything else left to do?"

"Oh, yeah, everyone's just finishing up with their product stands. We've all been helping each other." Sabre replies.

"I got to set up a stand for myself with a bunch of things that I baked on it." Time excitedly smiles.

"And I'm pretty sure it's gonna be emptied out pretty soon after the festival starts." Sabre chuckles.

Sabre and Time lead Green over to the main part of the village, where most of the stands are. Sabre whistles as they leave, and the blobs that were previously swarming Gerald all quickly run over to Sabre and follow behind him. Gerald huffs and walks off into the forest as the three talk about the festival, excited for that evening.

—————————————————————————————————————

A dim room is lit by torches overhead, as a figure on an above balcony oversees many bandits scurrying through the room, each carrying different amounts of stolen supplies. A small group of bandits with makeshift lab coats are escorted through the busy room by bandits with armor, the others moving out of the way.

The Violet Bandit from the previous week's encounter runs up to the figure from a room behind him and bows, then stands straight.

"Is everything prepared?" The figure asks.

"Yes sir." The Violet Bandit quickly answers. "I have a squad ready and the cell is open, high-security as you asked."

"And did you give the squad instruction?" The figure says, turning to the bandit.

"Yes, I told them to mostly go on as normal, just do not cause harm to the creatures under any circumstances as not to cause him any alarm. It's what caused him to aggro on us last time, so this should work."

"Good. Good." The figure says, turning back towards the scene. "You will be leading this squad tonight since you know the area and the target, the festival they're having will be the perfect distraction."

The Violet Bandit starts to tremble slightly.

"U-uh... but s-sir, I-" He stutters.

"Do not tell me you are afraid of this non-Steve, rookie." The figure says, a glare visible through the shadow of his hood.

The bandit stays silent, still trembling.

"Now go to your squad." The figure commands. "You need to leave now, so it's not too late to take him when you get there."

"...Y-Yes, sir..." The Violet Bandit says quietly.

The Violet Bandit runs off, and the figure continues to watch over his army as they prepare for the arrival of a new prisoner.

—————————————————————————————————————

Later that night, the festival is in full swing.

Fireworks occasionally go off, lighting up the sky with beautiful fall colors. All the Steves in the village are enjoying each other's and the blob's company, having fun by playing games or talking. People are gathered around the different stands, most for food, but some for the various trinkets and things people have made. A large area has been cleared out to use as a dance floor, and upbeat music plays as people dance.

Sabre and Time are watching from the benches next to the dance floor, smiling at the happy event as they each hold a cup of apple cider. They're both glad everyone is having fun and an opportunity to de-stress from everything.

"The only time I've ever seen a party like this was back at the Rainbow Kingdom." Time says, admiring the festival's happenings.

"Yeah, but this one seems a bit more... calm." Sabre says, remembering some of the events from that festival.

"True." Time laughs. "And it looks like the little creatures are enjoying themselves, too... the ones that haven't passed out by now, anyway."

Sabre laughs as well as he looks around, seeing all the little blobs that are joining in on the fun.

The blobs that are at the tables with food set out have been there all night. Quite a few have fallen asleep after eating as much as they could, either being held by nearby Steves that they were hanging out with or just laying down where they were. However, some are still awake and either picking out their own snacks, or Steves are sharing with them. There's a blob sitting on a Red Steve's shoulder, occasionally squeaking as a way to ask for some of the cookies he has. A small group of four or five Steves watch curiously as a blob devours an entire cake, same as it had done with many other desserts on the table after just crashing onto it. One blob is seemingly guarding a plate of cookies. Another blob is refusing to move away from a tray of cinnamon donuts. One is asking Steves for food whenever it sees one that has something.

Some blobs are dancing with the village people. There's a moving line of blobs doing the wiggle dance, some are mimicking Steves around them, and some are just improvising like many others do.

A few blobs that have wings are sitting on some of the banners, watching the others and snacking on things they swooped from the food tables. One on top of a house is drawing Sabre and Time sitting together, unbeknownst to the two.

Some blobs are helping the Steves at their stands. One is helping one of the foragers sell berries and mushrooms, occasionally getting something shiny from people.

There's a lot of the small creatures doing other activities, too. There's a blob stuck in a branch, while a Steve helps them get down. Another blob is at a table where a large group of Steves have gathered, where they're all confused as to how the blob is beating them all at their poker games, but they all fail to notice the corner of a card sticking out of the blob's mouth. There's one that had somehow gotten on top of a chandelier-like lantern at the town square above the stands, and worrying people by making it swing just a bit. A familiar yellow-and-black blob is happily just sitting next to a bonfire that was made recently, some blobs next to them roasting marshmallows. A Blue Steve confusedly looks at a blob next to him that's drinking vinegar out of a cider glass.

Away from the loud party, there's a tent with a sign over it labeled 'Quiet Corner'. Many blobs are inside it, some having brought in snacks while others happily cuddle with each other. Some are just watching the party. Sabre had let the Village Leaders know that a lot of the blobs either don't like loud noises or are still a little afraid from the previous week, so they and a few other Steves had given them a nice surprise and set up the tent for them away from everything.

Sabre looks back when a blob runs up to him and Time, and it jumps up onto Time and snuggles his hand. Sabre and Time smile.

"Aw, hi little one." Time says as he picks up the blob and sets it on his shoulder. It nestles itself into the collar of his coat, smiling.

Time goes to reach for something in his pocket, but the same blonde blob from before pops out with a happy squeak. Time sighs and smiles.

"Aaand of course you're there. Hi Fluffy." Time chuckles. "Are you just there permanently or something now?"

The blob squeaks in return.

"You must be her favorite or something, Time." Sabre laughs as the blob suddenly latches itself onto Time's fingers.

"So it would seem." Time says.

Sabre glances around again, and notices that as he guessed, the stand Time set up with a multitude of baked treats is now empty. A bunch of dishes are now the only thing left on the stand.

"Called it." Sabre chuckles.

"Oh, the dishes- I need to get those back to the house..." Time says, also noticing, but doesn't want to tell the two blobs on him that they need to get off.

"It's okay, I got it." Sabre says, setting his glass down next to him and getting up. "I'll be right back."

"Thanks Sabre, owe you one." Time smiles.

As Sabre leaves and heads to the stand, Time has to tell a blob that had hopped up not to steal Sabre's glass of cider. Sabre smiles at the situation and goes over to the stand.

After collecting the dishes, noticing Time's favorite silver pocket watch there too, Sabre carefully picks them up and walks towards the house. The sounds of the festival fade away as he goes down the path, he and Time's house being further away from the rest of the village. Soon, Sabre is surrounded by the peaceful sounds of the night, as crickets chirp and occasionally an owl hoots. The nearby river babbles quietly as he reaches the door.

With some difficulty, Sabre balances the dishes on one of his hands and opens the door. He closes the door behind him once inside and walks through the house, reaching the kitchen. Sabre sets the stack of trays and plates on the counter, taking the silver watch off the pile and taking it with him as he walks back.

'Time's absolute favorite pocket watch is a gold one with tiny emeralds on the back of it in a leaf design, an old gift from Elemental apparently, but it was broken a few days ago when the chain snapped and it fell on a few rocks. He's been using his favorite one from his collection of silver watches in the meantime while one of the people of the village fixes it.' Sabre thinks to himself as he admires the silver pocket watch. 'He must've had it out when he was setting up the stand earlier, and forgot to put it back in his pocket. He's definitely gonna want this back.'

Sabre exits the house and walks down the path back towards the village, still looking at the silver watch as he goes. The metal reflects the moonlight, and when Sabre turns the watch around it shows a near perfect reflection of the moon itself in the sky. Sabre could've sworn he saw something move among the clouds, but it was likely just the distortion of the reflection from the shape of the watch. Sabre looks up as he walks past the part of the forest that's right next to the path.

Suddenly, a pair of hands shoots out from within the foliage. Before he can make a sound, they grab Sabre and pull him into the forest, covering his mouth and eyes. The silver watch he was previously holding drops onto the dirt path.

Sabre struggles as another pair of hands joins the first, and they drag him further into the forest. Sabre can't see where they're taking him, as the hands are firmly placed over his eyes, and he can't open his mouth to scream. All he can do is struggle as he feels himself be taken somewhere unfamiliar.

After what feels like hours, Sabre hears them approach something as a faint light shines through the gaps in the hands over his eyes. He hears a few more people whispering among themselves, and horses quietly standing somewhere. He hears the people that were whispering move closer, and three more pairs of hands help them first two force him to the ground, Sabre now lying on his back. Sabre keeps struggling against those around him as two of the pairs of hands leave. Two hands that were over his mouth move.

Before Sabre can say anything, a voice speaks.

"Don't say anything, or we're going to cut your throat open." It threatens.

Sabre obliges, now fearful of what could happen.

"Okay, quick, get the ropes and tie him up." Sabre hears a familiar voice say. "The less of a chance of him escaping, the better.

Footsteps are heard running somewhere, and soon come back. Two pairs of hands keeps him down, one swapping with another to keep covering his eyes, while the last grabs Sabre's arms and holds them so they're in front of him. Sabre then feels rope start to wrap around his wrists and ankles, tightening until they're snug, and then knots being tied. Two of the pairs of hands move, one of each pair switching with the last as they move over his eyes. Then, the two lift Sabre upright and off of the ground, making him stand.

Sabre struggles as he listens to the people around him move. Then, that strangely familiar voice again.

"Okay, you can stop covering his eyes now. We're far enough out."

The hands move away from his eyes, and Sabre is shocked at who's in front of him.

It's the Violet Bandit from before, now surrounded by four more other bandits. One is an Indigo Steve, the ones holding him are two Blue Steves, and mysteriously, one is a Red Steve. However, this one has a long, tattered, brownish-grey coat with many differently colored stains on it, and a black fabric mask covering the lower half of his face.

Sabre is about to say something, when a knife is pressed to his neck.

"What did I say?" The Blue Steve to his right says, holding the knife, his tone aggressive.

"Hey, we need him alive, don't actually kill him." The Violet Bandit says.

The Blue Steve mumbles something and puts the knife away. Sabre still stays silent, unsure if what the outcome would be if he dare spoke.

The Violet Bandit turns to the mysterious Red Steve.

"Did you bring it?" He asks.

"Of course I did, the boss would've killed me for ruining the mission if I didn't." The Red Bandit says, taking a bottle out of his bag.

The bottle is filled with a white, almost clear liquid. It swirls around in the bottle as the Red Bandit gets up and walks closer, a few bubbles forming then quickly popping once touching the liquid's surface. The Indigo Bandit follows the Red Bandit, then the Violet Bandit walks over and stands next to the two Blue Steves.

Sabre starts to panic and begins struggling again, but the Blue Steves firmly hold him in place. One grabs his hair, forcing Sabre's head still as he squirms. The Red Bandit uncorks the bottle and steps in front of Sabre.

The Red Bandit tries to make Sabre drink the liquid, but Sabre keeps his mouth shut. After a few seconds of trying, the Red Bandit looks to his left where the Indigo Bandit is standing.

"Indigo, little help?" The Red Bandit asks.

With a blank expression, the Indigo Bandit punches Sabre in the chest, hard, with no hesitation. This causes Sabre to start coughing from the hit to his lungs, but as he does the Red Bandit quickly shoves the glass bottle into his mouth, the Blue Steves forcing him to tilt his head back as the liquid leaves the bottle. As soon as the bottle's empty, the Red Bandit steps away while the Blue Steves let go of Sabre's hair and cover his mouth so he can't spit it out, and cover his nose as well so he has no other choice.

Sabre knows something bad will happen if whatever the liquid is enters his system, so he refuses to swallow it, but he's quickly running out of air. After a minute or two, Sabre gives up and swallows the liquid, and the two bandits let go of his face. Sabre gasps for air as the other bandits step back.

"There. Wasn't so difficult, was it?" The Red Bandit teases.

"How long does that stuff take? We're in a hurry." The Violet Bandit asks, nervously looking around.

"Oh relax, it only takes a few seconds to kick in. Then, it's lights out for him, and we're back to base in no time." The Red Bandit answers, putting the empty bottle back in his bag.

Sabre, confused, looks around as he catches his breath. The bandits glance at him every few seconds, and Sabre doesn't know what any of what they're saying means. However, he quickly understands when an overwhelming, numb calm suddenly settles over him.

It's not even two seconds before Sabre goes completely limp, the only thing signifying he's still alive being his slow, soft breaths.

"Wow, you were right, that was fast." One of the Blue Steves says as he and the other one lift Sabre off the ground.

"Told you." The Red Bandit says smugly.

"Alright, now put him in the back of the cart." The Violet Bandit says. "We need to get back before sunrise, and before that wears off."

"It'll be fine, that stuff lasts for a heck of a long time." The Red Bandit assures him.

The bandits place Sabre inside a covered cart, pack up their supplies, then gather on the coach at the front of their cart. The Indigo Bandit cracks a whip at the horses, and they start walking. Soon, the only trace of people being there are footprints and wheel tracks in the mud.

—————————————————————————————————————

Hours later, the festival begins to die down, as it's late and everyone has gotten tired.

Time, although he was a bit concerned when Sabre didn't come back to the bench they were sitting at, didn't worry too much and figured that he got distracted again and went off to do other things during the festival or just stayed inside the house.

Besides, Time actually had gotten distracted himself. Some of the blobs had started getting a little too chaotic, so while Sabre wasn't around he was keeping them from getting into too much trouble.

Now, since everyone's heading home and going to bed, Time is gathering the few blobs that are still at the festival grounds. Most of them had already gone home themselves, some dragging their already sleeping siblings to the house. Time found it a little funny when he saw one of the smaller ones dragging its two older siblings back home.

Time laughs a bit as he picks up the last small blob that was still at the food tables, the last place he needed to check. He's already carrying two, the one that's been in his pocket since the beginning of the night and fell asleep there, and another that had been hiding under the pillows in the quiet corner that's now on his shoulder.

"You should've seen this one." A Yellow Steve says, handing the sleeping blob to Time. "Me and my friends first noticed it when it jumped up on the table next to us, but what was surprising about it is that this little guy somehow managed to clear off that entire table. Even the two cakes that were there."

"That is... both amazing and concerning." Time says, placing the blob in his other pocket. "I'll have to ask Sabre if that's normal later."

"Yeah, well... considering it looks completely fine, I think so? But better to ask the one that's basically their parent." The Yellow Steve chuckles.

"You picked up on that too?" Time asks with a smile.

"Everyone did." The Yellow Steve says.

"Heh, he got offended when I called him a 'mother hen' earlier." Time says.

They both laugh, then say goodbye as Time walks off back towards the house.

Time admired the beauty of the late night scenery, despite it being so dark out, the moonlight being the only thing lightning the way to his home. Going down the path, however, he failed to notice a silver watch hidden in the grass near the forest.

Going inside the house, Time brings the three blobs up to what used to be Dark's room. After a lot of consideration and some slight debate, Time convinced Sabre to let both of them turn it into a little room for the blobs. Dark's old things are safely tucked away in the closet there, and the blobs know not to touch it, so there's nothing to worry about with that.

Time carefully steps around blobs sleeping on the floor, then places the three blobs he was holding one the bed along with many other blobs. He quickly and quietly leaves the room, not wanting to disturb the little creatures.

Time glances at Sabre's room, noticing the door is closed like always. He figures that Sabre is likely already asleep, and goes into his own room to get some sleep himself before sunrise.

Meanwhile, a covered cart approaches an ominous cave entrance, lit by dim torches. The further inside of the cave is guarded by multiple different-colored Steves in black or dark grey cloaks and armor...

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WOOOOOOOO DRAMA!

AAAAAAAAAAAA 4756 WORDS!

Anyway here's your events, have fun :3

And don't worry, the last one from the other chapter will still be used, just not yet :>

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Event 1:

The blobs are all crying because of worry for the Sky Dad. Steves are frantically trying to get them to stop, as some people's ears are literally bleeding because of the high-pitched wails. How do people get you to calm down? Failed attempts are calming are also allowed hehe.

—

Event 2:

Some blobs are with Light and the Leaders trying to get a bandit to talk. A blob has a good idea, and shoves a bunch of rocks in its mouth to act as fake teeth (since the blobs don't have teeth) and bite the bandit. Who does it?

✨1/1✨

—

Event 3:

BASE RAID!

BASE RAID!

BASE RAID!

What you bringing? >:D

(Nothing too OP, best thing you can bring is a knife. No explosives.)

—

Event 4:

Sky Dad!

—

See you next chapter, everyone :3