Oh my goodness I've finally finished it. This document has been sitting unfinished in my computer for almost a year now and I'm so sorry for the delay.
There's been a lot going on in my life since I've first started this story. College, relationships, discovering myself, and then beginning the long and arduous battle with depression. There might be times when chapters will come with little to no prompting, but other times there might be difficulty. All I ask is that you, as my readers, please be patient with me.
Now, as it's been a long time coming, please enjoy the picking back up of this story.
"So what do you think?" Tooth asked. We had been moving for a while now, and there was a promising draft coming from further down this tunnel.
"I think it's a good plan," I admitted, "Do you have enough power for it?" She nodded.
Now that we were close to what we hoped was another exit to the cave, we had decided it was time to come up with a plan that was a little more complex than "walk until we get out of this damn cave". Tooth had reminded me that she did have a comm. on her, and once we reached the mouth of the cave, she would hopefully have a signal again, saying someone she called "Bunny" would be able to find us that way. Now all we needed to do was get out of the cave and wait.
"We should keep moving then, I don't want to spend another day in here," I said, helping Tooth up and heading in the direction the wind was coming from. Two nights in a small, enclosed space was more than enough for me.
"Now who's afraid of caves Frosty?" Tooth asked, striding alongside me.
"Really? Frosty?" I asked. Tooth laughed at what I could only assume was my expression.
"Hey I still had to get you back for that Pixie Dust comment earlier," she shot back with a victorious smile. I smirked.
"You've been thinking about that all this time?" I asked. She stopped for a moment.
"Maybe," she said with finality. We walked in a bit of a forced silence after that, me silently gloating, and her quietly fuming.
As we walked, the cold winter air outside the cave became more and more apparent. I had tugged off my jacket earlier, and now I was glad I had. The chilling breeze was calming to me as it hit my skin. Tooth however, didn't seem to appreciate it like I did.
"Did you take off your jacket?" she asked, shivering lightly. I shrugged and nodded.
"Yeah I was a little hot," I replied. "Why?"
"Are you kidding me? There's snow outside, the air is freezing, and you were 'a little hot'?" she continued. "What even are you?" I snorted.
"Bold words coming from a girl with wings sprouting out of her back," I countered.
"Touché."
There was another pause.
"Do you want to borrow my jacket?" I asked. She shook her head.
"No, it's ok. Besides you might need it when we get out of this stupid cave," she said.
"Probably not, I've never really been too put out by cold weather. It's kind of nice, actually," I told her. Tooth stopped and looked at me.
"Can you not?" she asked. I cracked a smile.
"Sorry."
"I don't think you're sorry at all," she muttered. I grinned even wider. The air was making me playful. I'd been cooped up in the cave for far too long, I realized.
"Oh come on, have a little fun," I teased, twirling my staff in my hand. "We're about to be out in the open air, free from the depths of the cave. Don't you find that exciting?"
"The only thing I find exciting right now is the thought of the coffee I'll have back at HQ, Jack," Tooth said, shoving my shoulder lightly. I laughed a little.
"Ok fine I'll give you that one. Actually I could use some coffee too. Also food, are you hungry? I'm hungry," I said, only slightly realizing that I was becoming more and more hyper with the increase of fresh air around us. Tooth laughed and shook her head at my bouncing around.
"Lord give me strength," she muttered. "Why don't you run ahead, make sure the exit is clear and safe to go through. Put your sudden energy to use." I smiled and took off, eager to see what was awaiting us. And then, there it was; the exit.
It was bright outside; bright and airy and cold and wonderful. I took in a deep breath just to prove that I could. Laughing I practically hopped back to the mouth of the cave, eager to tell Tooth what I'd found.
"We made it! Tooth we made it out of the cave!" I yelled back to her.
"It's about damn time!" she yelled back. I hopped from one foot to the other, anxiously waiting for her to catch up to me. Finally there she was, and she seemed just as happy as I was that we were finally out of that stuffy cave. She closed her eyes and took in a breath, and the sun caught her hair to where I could see the vibrant hues of color in it. "Alright, let's see if this works," she said finally, pulling out what I recognized to be her communication thing from the house.
"Think you'll get signal again?" I asked. She shrugged.
"Honestly I don't know, but I'm hoping," she said, fiddling with the controls here and there. "What was that emergency channel we had? Oh right." I watched her work carefully, eager to see what she was doing, but careful not to mess her up.
Finally after a little bit more fiddling, there came a crackle of static.
"Well? Does that mean it works?" I asked. Tooth looked at me and smiled.
"Only one way to find out," she replied, pushing a button, "Tooth to Bunny, can you hear me?"
There was a moment where everything was still, and all we could hear was the static.
"Crikey Tooth where've you been?" a voice asked over the static. We both let out a breath we didn't realize we were holding as Tooth laughed and replied.
"Got a little turned around on the way, think you guys can come pick us up?" she asked.
"Yeah, North's gonna be right over with the sleigh. You two just sit tight, I think I've got your location."
Now I have no idea when the next chapter will be up, I know this one took long enough. I'll be working as soon as possible to get out the next chapter before too long. Thanks for reading guys, and hopefully for understanding.
