Sorry this took so long, I'm taking this sheet seriously and have been making key points and things to interact with like a D&D DM. There's literally a list of things that go "If they find ___, then ___ happens. If they do not find it, ___ happens". You're all going to have to work together to get this right.

Real quick things:

One, these investigation chapters are gonna be a bit shorter, so you get more clues without having to wait too long and get to solve the mystery faster.

Two, If I replied to one of your comments on searching one of the two's houses with 'Good Job', it means you found one of the very important things mentioned above :>

However, I will have some objects found in the other's house to balance it out, so unless you go back and look you won't know who the evidence stacks up against.

—————————————————————————————————————

Early morning. The village is quiet and serene. Most people are either still asleep or have gotten up early to do some yardwork, Time and Sabre being part of the latter. They're doing some work on the flower garden in the front yard. Mostly Time since it's his garden and he knows what he wants with it, but Sabre wanted to help.

The blobs couldn't shake the feeling of unease from the previous day. Something was off about the newcomers, they could feel it. Something about one of them was causing their instincts to scream 'danger'. They just didn't know which one was setting them off. Late the previous night, the blobs gathered together and discussed the situation. It was decided that they needed to do something to protect the family, protect Sabre.

A small investigation has begun.

After sending a few blobs to notify the siblings in the hideout, the blobs at the house gathered in the front yard around Sabre and Time. They wanted to be nearby in case anything happened.

Sabre seems to notice that something's wrong, and pats a nearby blob, one with alienesque features and a yellow sweater.

"Hey, you're all really high-strung today. Everything alright?" He asks.

"Oh- Yep! Just a little shaken from the lightning last night." The blob replies. "We're fine."

"Ah, yeah, that was probably really scary to you..."

There had been a random bout of lightning in the middle of the night, coming from somewhere in the village. Whether someone was just teleporting carelessly or it was something else, nobody really knew. All they could do at the moment was guess.

"Good morning!"

There was suddenly an unfamiliar, cheerful voice, and Sabre and Time turned to see who it was.

Shi was waving excitedly and practically bounding up to the two, while Celadon walked calmly with a warm smile. They both stopped in front of the garden, and Sabre and Time stood up to greet them.

"Good morning, you two." Time replies, smiling back. "What's up?"

"We're just going around and greeting all our new neighbors. Want to make a good first impression, y'know?" Celadon says.

"I get that." Sabre says. "You guys settle in okay?"

"Yep, just a small mishap and that was it." Celadon replies.

"I got everything set up with no issue." Shi smiles. "So, what are you guys doing?"

"Just doing some maintenance on the front garden. It might be autumn, but things still pop up and catch you by surprise." Time says, glancing back at the flowers. "Those wild ferns grow like you wouldn't believe."

"Would you like some help?" Celadon asks.

"I'll help too if you let me!" Shi adds.

"Oh, that'd be great! Thank you!" Time replies.

"Thanks guys, appreciate it." Sabre smiles.

Sabre and Time go back to working in the garden, now with Shi and Celadon helping them. Celadon is helping Time, while Shi is helping Sabre.

The blobs aren't too sure about either of the newcomers being so close to the house. After a bit of quiet discourse, the blobs listen in on Sabre's conversation with Shi. Scooting closer, they try their hardest to stay inconspicuous while eavesdropping on the two.

"So, I overheard some traders from the Orange Kingdom talking on the way here..." Shi says. "You're not a human-?"

"People still thought I was?" Sabre asks, surprised.

"Apparently the Leaders only found out yesterday. That's so weird, they've known you for years and they didn't notice anything non-human about you?"

"Eh, I never really talked about what I am much, and I do look really similar to one. I read in a few books from the Red Kingdom's library that the only contact you guys have had with humans was a long time ago, so I'm not surprised they didn't know that humans don't have any powerful abilities whatsoever."

"But you don't either?"

"No, I have some. They're just really minor powers and are also pretty niche. I don't use them very often. Well, there's one I use every day, but it's a passive ability that just happens without trying."

"And that is...?"

"Communication with animals."

"Wh- Seriously?!"

"Yep! It's how I can understand the blobs, and how I've been able to casually hang out with a bunch of forest creatures that live around here. Did the Village Leaders tell you about the thing with the bear?"

"You've just casually talked with a bear?"

"Coco's actually super sweet and drives off any hostile wolves that try to get near the village. He still comes by to take the fish that the village fishermen don't want or can't sell. Having him around is actually pretty useful."

"...Alright then. So if you're not human, then... what are you?"

"I, uh..."

There's a bit of silence.

"...I don't actually know." Sabre replies.

"Really? No idea at all?"

"Nnnnope. I'm just some random outlier, I guess. Oh, did you hear that lightning last night? It spooked all of the blobs pretty good. Took a while for me to calm them all down."

"Oh, yeah. It came from Celadon's house."

"It did?"

"Yep. Dunno what he was doing, but it scared me so bad I almost fell down the stairs. Hopefully nothing bad happened and it was just a little slip-up."

Sabre is confused for a moment.

"...Wasn't the lightning in the middle of the night? Why were you on the stairs?"

"Oh- Yeah, it was. I woke up and realized I forgot to unpack something really important. It couldn't stay in a box the entire night, so I was just trying to go get it when the lightning happened."

"Alright. Oh, could you go grab one of the pairs of pruning shears from the backyard? There's a wild fern with a stubborn root over here."

"You got it, be right back."

Soon, the group is finished gardening. After putting away the gardening tools, Sabre, Shi, and Celadon talked outside, while Time went to get the newcomers some cookies for their help.

The blobs, still unsure, try observing Shi and Celadon to see if they can spot something out of the ordinary. One blob accidentally gets a little too close and bumps into Celadon's foot, making him jump a little. The blobs scurry away as the three turn to look.

"What was that about?" Celadon asks.

"They were probably just trying to figure out if they're safe around you or not. No big deal, they always do that with new people." Sabre replies. "They'll probably warm up to you soon."

"Hope so. I'd hate for them to be scared of me."

"How long does it usually take for them to adjust?" Shi asks.

"About a week, not too long." Sabre says. "That's how long it took for them to be completely comfortable around the rest of the villagers."

Time then exits the house, carrying two small bags filled with cookies. He hands one each to Shi and Celadon.

"There you are. Thanks again for the help." He smiles.

"No problem. Thanks for the cookies." Shi replies.

"You're welcome."

"I'd stay and chat, but I have to go into the market to get a few things for the house." Celadon says, glancing towards the village square for a second. "Are you two going to the night market tonight?"

"Yeah, there's a few booths we want to check out." Sabre says. "Are you?"

"Yep, figured I should join in to get to know everyone better."

"Me too! There's a raffle with cool stuff, and I have a merchant friend that's going to make a stop here for it." Shi says excitedly.

"Sounds fun. Hopefully we'll run into each other." Time says. "See you later."

Sabre and Time head back into the house, while Shi and Celadon head back into the village, soon parting ways. The blobs gather around for a moment.

Shi and Celadon are going to be out of their houses for a while...? Sounds like an opportunity to investigate their houses.

—————————————————————————————————————

Careful that nobody sees them, the blobs sneak over to Shi and Celadon's houses. They're right next to each other, so they won't have to split up too far during the search. Some blobs stayed behind to either care for the littler siblings at the house or keep Sabre distracted so he doesn't notice they're gone.

It's about an even split on the blobs going to investigate, half going to Shi's and half going to Celadon's. One blob makes sure to cover everyone else's tracks going into Celadon's, a different blob seeing them and doing the same for the ones going into Shi's.

Most enter through cracked windows or go down the chimneys. Some try to open the doors, but they're both locked. One blob decides to investigate Shi's garden first.

The houses are searched quickly. In Celadon's house, the blobs look through drawers, go through every room, even poke around his luggage and still-unpacked boxes from moving in. One blob looks through his room for any journals, files, or letters he may have left out in the open. However, they only found one book just sitting on the desk in his room, and it appears to be a diary of some kind. They open to a random page and look at an entry from about a month ago.

==============================

The fighting is getting worse. I don't know how much more I can take from those two.

It's strange, I've been by their sides for so long, but now all I want to do is get away from them. Maybe this is just some temporary phase they're having. Then again, they've been getting along worse and worse ever since -

A name is scratched out.

- had recovered from that attack. I don't know what's going on with them, but I just wish that they could stop going for each other's throats if they so much as bump into each other. I don't think that's gonna happen though... at this rate, one of the elders is going to see them fight and try to step in.

...Maybe I should take that offer of a new position. It'd be far from here, sure, but... I think that'd be a good thing at this point.

==============================

It doesn't seem like it's that important. The blob puts the diary back and goes back to searching.

Another blob looks for anything hidden. The only thing they find is a small wooden box placed behind the nightstand, which is only about the size of someone's hand. Inside is a bunch of pieces of a slightly burnt piece of paper. Is this a photo...? Three people are just barely silhouetted... Whatever it is, it's too destroyed to be recognizable. The blob puts it back and continues investigating.

Inside Shi's house, the blobs there do much of the same. Every room, every small space. A blob searching the kitchen thinks they find something at first, but the knife set that looked suspicious because of its carvings turned out to just have symbols of dahlias etched into their handles. Are they meant to be black, or is it just pyrography?

A blob with brown and pink hair is closely investigating Shi's living room. Having the idea to check for false floorboards, they start hopping or tapping on each board to see if they hear a hollow noise. They believed they were just wasting their time towards the end of it, but then they heard something odd when checking a floorboard in the corner of the room, almost hidden behind a bookshelf.

*Thunk*

Surprised, they check to see if they really heard it. They tapped on the board again.

*Thunk* *Thunk*

They really found something.

The blob quickly squeaks to their siblings, hurriedly trying to lift the floorboard. It's loose, but too heavy for them. A few other blobs quickly rush over, and help lift the board. Just as the blob thought, there was a hidden compartment.

Inside was a mahogany box with swirled carvings on it. Another blob went to pick up the box, but to their surprise, it didn't have a lock and the lid came open when they grabbed it. Inside the box, they could see soft velvet lining, and a simple silver amulet with an eerily dark green gemstone adorning it. The jewel almost looked as it if was containing death itself. None of the blobs wanted to touch it.

Just then, the blob looking around Shi's garden came rushing in, squeaking up a storm and covered in dirt. They held up a strange stone. While it was also covered in dirt, the blobs could see there was some kind of carving on it. One of the blobs that helped with the floorboard quickly cleaned off the stone, and what they saw... was oddly familiar.

#*#&-%

01001000 01101111 01110111 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01100001 00100000 01110011 01111001 01101101 01100010 01101111 01101100 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01001000 01001001 01001101 00100000 01101000 01100101 01110010 01100101

#*#&-%

...It's quickly decided that Sabre should never see this. Ever.

The blob that found the stone was asked where they found it, which they say that they were looking a bit behind the houses since the garden ended, and found a weirdly dead spot of grass. They dug really deep, and almost gave up, until they hit this eerie rock. They faintly remembered something about the carving, and brought it here.

Just then, the yellow-sweatered alien blob came into the room. Telling the others that Shi and Celadon are on their way back, she says that everyone needs to hurry and get out. One of the other blobs shows her the odd stone, and as soon as she sees the carving, she just... freezes.

She stares at it for a while before snapping out of it and taking the stone, telling her siblings to quickly leave the house and head back home. She pockets the stone to dispose of later.

All of the blobs leave the houses and hurry back to Sabre and Time's house, evidence gathered and leaving everything as it was before they entered.

As the blobs reached the house, they went back inside to see Time putting some freshly baked cookies in the cookie jar. As always, the blobs hop over and try to ask for some, but Time puts the jar back in the cupboard.

"Maybe later, little guys. You had cookies earlier today, remember?" Time says. "Perhaps if you behave while Sabre and I are at the night market."

The blobs then hear Sabre enter through the back door, and run to him.

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear." Time laughs. "What were you doing out there? Looking for some of the gear you need for that hunting trip you're going on tomorrow with LC and some of the villagers? He's been excited about having that day off."

Sabre doesn't respond.

"Sabre?"

Sabre stays quiet. The blobs see the reason why and giggle.

"...Sabre. You better not have brought that possum in the house again."

Sabre appears, walking to the kitchen from the back door, holding a possum.

"C'mon man, Jerry's never done anything! He's chill!" Sabre exclaims.

"Sabre, you can't just keep bringing a possum in the house!"

Sabre sets Jerry down near the blobs while he talks with Time. The blobs all greet Jerry with their usual 'hello's and hugs, and Jerry is clearly happy with this. Some blobs give him flowers, and one puts a small flower crown on his head.

Other blobs bring him snacks like popcorn (courtesy of Zal's power), croissants, cookies that do not contain chocolate, and one gives him a tiny snowcone. Jerry is very clearly happy with this. Blobs also cuddle with Jerry, which he doesn't mind. A few climb on Jerry's back, which he's not as much of a fan of, but he tolerates it.

As Sabre and Time keep bickering over Jerry being in the house, Time notices the blobs gathering around Jerry.

"Look, the blobs are all giving him stuff. With you doing the same, it's probably going to start trying to find its own way into the house since it keeps getting food from you." Time says, motioning to the blobs surrounding the possum.

"Huh-?" Sabre turns around.

"Aw, they gave him a flower crown."

"...Sabre."

—————————————————————————————————————

Later that night, after the sun set, Sabre and Time were getting ready to go to the night market. Sabre was sitting in front of a group of blobs, making sure they knew the rules.

"No wrecking the house, keep out of the dessert cupboard, and it's best if you just stay out of the night market, alright?" Sabre tells them. The blobs all squeak and nod.

"How come you don't want the blobs at the night market?" Time asks, adjusting his coat. "They had fun at the harvest festival."

"Yeah, well, this time there's alcohol involved." Sabre replies, getting up. "The one time I let them follow me to a party with that, it did not end well."

"How?"

"Y'know how drunk people react when they see cats, right?"

Time starts laughing.

"I'm serious, man!" Sabre says, laughing a little as well. "I found one being held by some random guy that was just crying and petting it. The blob was okay, just very uncomfortable, but still."

"Alright, alright. Let's go." Time says.

Sabre and Time head to the front door, starting to leave. Just before he closes the door behind him, Sabre looks back at the blobs.

"Remember, behave yourselves." He says.

And then, they leave the house. The blobs start to go back to playing or hanging out, except for a few that climbed out of the windows to secretly follow the two.

The blobs just hang out in the house for a while. Some roughhouse with their siblings (and get told off by the older ones to be careful), some just go to sleep, some play hide and seek, some read a story together. The blobs just do what they would normally do.

Suddenly, they all freeze.

They listen carefully.

Someone's in the backyard.

The blobs quickly yet sneakily go to the windows, so the intruder doesn't see them. Peering through the glass, they see someone in a hoodie climbing over the fence. They seem to be looking around.

A few blobs try to go ahead and jump the intruder, but are stopped by older blobs. They've already attacked someone very recently, and Sabre almost got in trouble for it. Besides, they don't want to send the wrong message to the villagers; they'll seem too violent. Speaking of the villagers, what if it's not an intruder at all? What if it's just someone that got lost during the night market, or someone that had a few too many special beverages? Or a visitor from outside the village?

After considering this, the blobs keep an eye on the intruder while coming up with a new plan. One blob has the idea of just scaring the hoodied person away. The other blobs agree, and they quickly start sneaking out to the backyard, hiding in the grass.

The hoodied intruder is still looking around, when they hear a shuffle in the grass ahead of them. Looking up, at first nothing is there.

However...

The blobs slowly rise up from the grass, staring blankly. The intruder freezes. They just stare for a few moments, unmoving. The blobs don't even blink.

Then, the blobs all follow the plan.

One blob just starts throwing popcorn, while another throws random objects.. Another puffs up and screeches. One particularly scary blob runs in the intruder's direction. Another buzzes as loud as they can. Many growl or squeak while slowly making themselves look more threatening. One blob shapeshifts to look scary, while another flies around the intruder's head and squeakscreams. While the intruder ducks to dodge the blob flying around them, a blob still on the ground throws salt in their eyes, and two more hold up a flashlight and shine it in the intruder's face.

As the intruder starts to turn around and run, a blob jumps on their back and bites on their hood. The intruder desperately tries to throw them off, the blob hanging on. During one last sharp turn to get the blob off, a loud rrrrriip noise almost echoes in the quiet night air, and the blob is dropped on the ground with a torn bit of the hood still in their mouth.

The intruder runs away before any of the other blobs can do anything.

—————————————————————————————————————

Now I wasn't planning to do this part at first, but since this is an open investigation and a good handful of people decided to follow Sabre... I improvised a little something :>

—————————————————————————————————————

Sabre walked happily throughout the night market. All of the beautiful lights and joyful music was relaxing to him, especially after the stress he's been under recently. He had already bought the item he was looking for, and was on his way to the spot that he and Time agreed to meet back up at before going home.

He had already found little Aureliana hiding in his hoodie pocket, the little bloblet not yet very good at hiding (although seemingly very good at sneaking out), and was carefully keeping her there. He couldn't just go back to the house on his own so he could drop her off with her older siblings; He remembered what happened last time he was on that path alone, and no matter how unlikely it seemed, did not want a repeat. Besides, Time would probably kill him if he wandered off on his own again.

Although, Sabre didn't notice the rest of the blobs following him throughout the market. Worried, they had decided to tail after him to make sure nothing bad happened. They were all very careful not to be seen by Sabre or the village residents, however the blob unintentionally leaving a trail of flowers had a bit more of a difficult time staying hidden.

Everything seemed to be going well... there weren't even any fights between the villagers or any of the Steves that came from outside the village to attend or trade products in the night market. Everyone was enjoying the party, playing games, and browsing booths filled with products that were far from the ordinary products of the normal market.

Sabre then passed an alley, paying no mind to it. Most of the blobs didn't either, but one blob following after Sabre noticed something in the shadowy alleyway. They sat and watched for a while.

A figure wearing a hoodie with a rip in the hood was talking with a merchant whose appearance was hidden by the dark, except for the odd tattoos of dead trees on each arm. They spoke in sharp whispers, seemingly debating something. After a while, the merchant hands the hooded figure two things: A parcel wrapped in paper that was a sickly dark blue color, and a brass amulet with a deep, velvety purple color.

The hooded figure quickly took the items, hiding them in their hoodie's pocket, then rummages in their back pocket until they pull out a letter. They hand the merchant the letter, which the blob saw for a split second had a wax seal with an image of an eye, and hurriedly runs off into the other back alleys that go throughout the village. The odd merchant glances around, rolls down his sleeves to cover his tattoos, and starts to head out of the alley.

The blob quickly hides before the strange merchant sees them, and as he passes by, they recognize the merchant as someone from out of town that arrived earlier today. Without the tattoos, they look so normal...

Realizing they've almost lost sight of Sabre, the blob quickly leaves the alley entrance and rejoins the group.

—————————————————————————————————————

Possible Evidence Found/Collected:

- Celadon's Diary Entry

- Small Box with Burnt Photo(?)

- Creepy Pendant

- Strange Carved Stone

- Piece of Intruder's Hoodie

Remember, there are still hints throughout the chapter. Physical evidence isn't your only lead.

3 Chapters Left

—

Event 1:

It seems Shi and Celadon noticed that someone dug a hole behind their houses. They don't know what did it, and guess something like a gopher did it. Although, one of them seems tense about it...

Do you go back and fill in the hole where the stone was found?

Yes, try to cover our tracks better.

1/15

No, it's already been noticed.

8/15

—

Event 2:

You and your siblings followed a set of tracks left by the previous night's intruder, which leads you to a false hill that sort of looks like a small bunker, and inside the false hill is a hidden box full of papers addressed to... someone called Umbra. As you start to leave, you hear someone approaching. How do you make your quiet escape before they see you?

—

There's not as many events because next chapter is more of a 'observe and look closely' chapter, one part being more hints to who the spy is, and the other being... stuff about Sabre's past. There will be 2 important things happening:

- Sabre on an overnight hunting trip with some old friends (Has hints relating to his past, will also share being a 'main focus' with the investigation).

- Light talking to the captured Bandit that was previously Miner Orange Steve (More of a secondary, Miner will be giving vague hints and warnings, while also telling Light a little bit about how he ended up like this).

Be sure to keep your eyes open to anything that may seem off, but also watch out for red herrings. Remember what I said earlier: You have to work together for a little while.

Happy investigating, dear readers :>