I'm sorry this chapter is a bit short, I wanted to give you guys a calm fluff chapter before getting back into chaos after last chapter, but not much happens between the fire and the squad's next shenanigans-

On the bright side, Dark gets a lil friend :3

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[Sabre's POV]

Although the hurt from the fire is still new, we have to get supplies to properly move into the new house. So, once Time finished making his list this morning, we were assigned tasks.

Rainbow and I are to get anything we see on the list from the village market if we see it. Food is no issue since we all know how to gather food from the wilderness, so we don't need to buy any from the market. However, we still need things like cookware, cleaning supplies, tools, and other usual household items.

Green was tasked with going out into the forest behind the house to check around for any wild sources of food. He has more experience with foraging than any of the rest of us, so he volunteered for it. He said that he'll bring back anything he recognizes as safe, and make note of any possible new things he finds.

Time took charge of looking for places around the village for anywhere that has open jobs, since he's better with people. The money we have is fairly few, and we're probably gonna have to spend most of it today getting things for the house. Besides, helping out around the village is the least we could do for their hospitality.

Dark was tasked with organizing the house and finding places to put the things Rainbow and I get from the market. While everyone took the loss hard, Dark took it the hardest. Considering that and Dark's episode the previous day, Time and the rest of us figured that it'd be best to have Dark take it easy for a little bit. We didn't tell him about that though, it's for the better that we let him process his emotions without anyone making him feel like he's lagging behind.

Rainbow and I have already made a few trips between the house and the market, picking up as many items from the list as we can carry, then taking them back home and dropping them off. It's tedious, but it's passing the time and helping the others, not to mention keeping us from focusing on what happened yesterday. Although, it doesn't stop me and Rainbow from talking through our connection.

"So... are you doing okay?" Rainbow asks me as we walk through the market once more, looking for things we need.

"I'm as okay as I could be." I reply. "It's not my first time being dropped back to square one. You?"

"I'm mostly just... angry. Or still in shock? I don't know." Rainbow answers, sounding conflicted. "I just- I know I should be more sad about it, that was our home and we lost a lot of our stuff. But the more I think about it the more I just want to cave Shadow's face in."

"Sounds like to me you just got past the sad part of the grief a lot faster than everyone else."

"And you?"

"What about me?"

"You just seem like you've already accepted it, sort of."

"Like I said, this has happened to me before. I'm just... numb to it by now, I guess. Just lets me pick up the pieces faster so I can start working on putting things back together."

"Wh- that's not a good thing, how many times have you been through this?"

Rainbow stops, and I stop with him. We're at the edge of the market, next to a more forested part of the back of the village. He looks me in the eyes with a worried expression.

"I... don't really want to talk about it." I answer.

Rainbow's expression shifts to concern, then... sympathy. He sighs, then crosses his arms and starts talking normally.

"If you don't want to tell me right now, then I won't ask about it. But you do know I'm gonna have to know eventually, right?" He asks. "You can't just drop that out of nowhere without expecting me to worry."

"I know..." My voice quietly echoes from the crystal around my neck.

I was about to continue, but I stop when I suddenly hear a noise coming from the foliage next to us. Rainbow turns his head to look for where it came from.

"Did you hear that too?" He says, glancing back at me.

"Yeah, couldn't tell what it was though." I reply, speaking up this time. "It was sort of... squeaky?"

"I don't think that was a squeak..." Rainbow says, leaning a little bit to look closer.

Suddenly, one of the bushes shakes. Jumping back, Rainbow quickly steps in front of me as a little black mass jumps out of the bush, and...

Holy crap, it's a tiny little kitten.

Big green eyes look up at us, the kitten stopping and sitting on the grass. Most of its fur is a deep black, but its small stubby legs have light grey coloring that goes halfway up, then stops. It looks like it's wearing socks. The kitten meows, and it sounds like someone playing a high-pitched recording of a meow, but not high-pitched like it hurts your ears. It's actually adorable.

Rainbow immediately starts fawning over the tiny cat, crouching down and offering his hand to it to try and lead it over.

"Awwwww, look at you little kitty! Hi kitty!" He coos at it. It meows again, standing up.

"That little thing is so tiny, it must be pretty young." I say.

"Maybe it got separated from its mom?"

"Maybe."

The kitten bounds over to Rainbow on its little legs, taking wobbly steps. It faceplants right into his hand, front paws wrapped around it, and starts purring. Needless to say, we both had a 'cute overload' moment.

Rainbow scoops up the kitten and holds it in his arms, using one of his hands to play with it. It bats at his fingers and nibbles on them a few times, while Rainbow looks up at me for a second.

"It's so friendly! And look at its lil paws!" Rainbow quietly exclaims. He looks back at the kitten, which is now playfully nibbling on his hand.

"Dark would love this, he told me he loves cats." I say, watching the kitten. I feel my expression shifting to a small smile.

Rainbow and I just admire the kitten for a moment, before we both stop and realize something. We quickly look up and make eye contact.

"Oh my gosh, let's give the cat to Dark." Rainbow says, grinning widely.

"We should absolutely give Dark the cat." I agree.

Rainbow and I start hurrying back to the house, soon approaching the front door. Rainbow rapidly knocks with his free hand for a few seconds before opening the door, and we head inside.

"Hi Dark guess what!" Rainbow calls out.

"You guys are back already...?" We hear Dark answer.

Dark walks out of the kitchen, still having a sort of defeated expression. He looks confusedly at the both of us.

"C'mere, c'mere! Look at this!" Rainbow continues.

"What are you holding?" Dark asks.

"A surprise. For you." I reply.

"You got me something?" Dark says, his expression brightening a bit.

He walks over, getting a better look at the fuzzy black furball Rainbow's holding, and as soon as he realizes what he's looking at he gazes in awe. The kitten sits up, now looking at Dark with its big green eyes.

"Oh my gosh a kitten..." Dark says quietly, almost whispering, a smile becoming more and more visible on his face by the second. "You guys got me a kitten?!"

"We found it on the edge of the village and it just came right up to us!" Rainbow explains.

"Figured you'd want to see it, and you said you like cats so what the heck." I add. "Plus, you sorta match."

"You guys are absolutely the best." Dark says, with a grin as wide as Rainbow's.

He then carefully extends his arms towards the kitten in Rainbow's.

"Can- Can I?"

"Of course, it's your kitty!" Rainbow says, passing the kitten to Dark.

Dark holds the kitten gently, the kitten purring and rubbing its face into his chest. He pets its fluffy coat, then gives it some scritches behind its ear. The kitten is clearly loving this.

"Hi." Dark says in a quiet, soft tone. He almost looks like he's about to cry.

Dark then looks up at the two of us.

"So, uh... how are we gonna tell Time about this?" He asks.

Oh.

...We didn't think that far ahead.

"Guys?"

"...Uhhhhhhhhhh-"

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"Why do you have a cat?"

Later that night, Time had come home to the rest of us Vengeful gathered in the living room with the kitten. Green had come home earlier than him and immediately started cooing over the cat too, and soon confirmed for us that the kitten is a girl. We had been talking and playing with the cat for hours, when Time returned and saw what we picked up.

"Her name is Socks and she's mine now." Dark says, smiling and playing with the newly named Socks. We could all guess why he picked that.

"Me and Rainbow found her at the edge of the village and took her home." I explain. "She just ran right up to us and jumped into Rainbow's arms, so we kinda had to."

"Look how cute she is!" Green says excitedly, petting Socks. "And she's so fluffy and soft and purrs so much!"

"And if you try to say we can't keep her you're outvoted 4-1, so you can't do anything about it anyway." Rainbow says quickly.

"Why would I be against keeping her, it's a cat. She's adorable." Time says, joining us on the living room floor. "Plus, seems like Dark really likes her. I'm just... worried about supplies."

"It'll be fine! She likes the fish from the lake outside  and those are really easy to get." Dark says. "And she's not destructive or anything so far!"

"If she does start clawing stuff, you'll train her to stop, right?" Time asks.

"Of course, she's my cat so I'm gonna be responsible with keeping her."

"Good."

"How did the job search go?" I ask.

Time sighs and takes his mask off, setting it beside him.

"I asked around, and all of the shops are fully staffed." Time says, leaning against the sofa. "There's no open spots anywhere. Seems everyone opened the stores recently and owners hired their friends and family. There's not even jobs open in farms."

Everyone looks a bit upset at that, and Rainbow asks the obvious question.

"What are we gonna do about money, then?" He says. "Before, we were just living in the woods and we didn't really need it. But now that we're in a village, there's gonna be a lot of things we need to pay for, even if food isn't one of them."

"I... don't know." Time replies. "We just hope, I guess."

There's a moment of silence between everybody, all of us worried. But then, I remember something.

"Actually, there's something we all forgot about." I say.

Everyone looks at me.

"Remember how everybody in the Rainbow Kingdom left in a hurry?"

"Yes?" Dark replies.

"And the Citadel was still left standing?"

"Yeah, because it was made of the strongest materials they had. They built it during a war, after all." Green says.

"And the Citadel had a vault. A vault full of precious materials."

At that moment, everyone else picks up on what I'm saying, and smile.

"I'm in." Rainbow grins.

"Me too." Green nods excitedly.

"Well, this'll be fun." Time adds.

"And nobody will be there to stop us!" Dark exclaims, happily petting Socks. "We can just grab as much as we can, come back and drop it off, and then go back and grab more!"

"That's the plan." I reply. "Well, the basics of it anyway."

"Sounds like to me that there's only one question left to ask." Green says.

"I'm pretty sure I know what you're about to say, but go on." Rainbow replies.

Green smiles.

"When do we go pull a vault heist at the Citadel?"