Jack awoke to the sound of birds chirping. It was pleasant, but unexpected. He listened for any other sounds, hoping to hear North's laughter or Aster's arguing, but nothing. Silence besides the calming sounds of the forest. Jack tried to open his eyes, but could only open them wide enough to let light in. It was a dim light, and Jack appreciated that. He focused in on other details around him instead of trying to see. He was lying on his back on something soft and warm. He felt cold, but hot at the same time, and slightly damp, although it didn't make him uncomfortable. His left arm was throbbing, but Jack ignored that for now, more worried about where he was rather than how he felt.

"Awake now, are we?" A voice, feminine, remarked from a few feet away from Jack. Jack tried opening his eyes again, but they felt heavy and Jack did not care to put in any more effort. "No need to move. It would actually be better if you didn't." The voice sounded closer this time, and Jack flinched as something cold and wet was placed on his forehead. "What were you doing out there?"

"I-"Jack coughed weakly, "I was…" but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Tell me later. You're still in no shape to be talking. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to push you."

"Wh-who are you?" Jack forced himself to say.

"Yes, I should probably introduce myself. You can call me Toothiana. I live here in the mountains by myself, besides my birds, of course. They live outside, though, where they should be. Oh, I guess you could call me Tooth for short. I have been alone for years now; it's strange to have company." Tooth sighed and sat down on a chair next to Jack's bed.

"Ho-how long…" Jack mumbled, feeling exhaustion sweeping over him already.

"Only a day. Why don't you get some rest. I'll make tea and we'll talk later." Tooth said, and pulled the covers farther up on Jack just as he drifted away again.

"I am sorry. We have not found any sign of Jack on this end. If you find anything else on your end, please let us know."

"Yeah, sure. Thanks." Aster replied then ended the call. "North, ready to head out again?" Aster called behind him while shrugging on a jacket. Aster heard silence, then called again. When he received no reply, he walked into the kitchen and found North leaning against the counter staring at his watch again.
"North, we're not going to find him standing around. Now, come on. We need to hurry."

"It's been almost two days." North said as he shut the watch and placed into his inner pocket.

"That's no reason to stop looking, north." Aster said as he tugged on North's sleeve and began walking toward the door.

"No, no reason to stop looking." North steeled himself and followed Aster through the front door.

"So, we lost his trail a bit before the path up the mountain. I think he would have been heading up, but my instincts are telling me otherwise. I believe he wandered around the mountain first, you know, trying to find an easier way up. He won't be getting too much farther in his condition, so I say we check the full base of the mountain and go from there. Here," Aster threw a walkie talkie at North and North caught it and put it in his pocket. "Good way to keep in contact. I'll go west, you go east, sound like a plan?" North nodded and followed Aster into the woods.

A few hours after they split up at the mountain base, Aster buzzed into the walkie talkie.

"Hey, I think I found our trail again. There's a dead coyote here, and I see two blood puddles. The first is from the coyote. The second…" Aster became silent and North heard a few shuffling sounds. "It may not be him, but there is a trail of blood leading a few feet away from the sight, to the north, toward the mountain. Whatever it is, I'm gonna find out. Meet me at the coordinates…" Aster paused, then more shuffling in the walkie talkie, and Aster gave him a set of coordinates to follow. "I'll start heading up. Just follow the trail of blood ahead. Over."

North's heart clenched as he thought of what could have happened to Jack. He was probably attacked by the coyote, but what saved him, if he was still alive at all? North's doubts were getting the best of him, but he had to be strong for Jack. He pushed himself to move to the coordinates Aster gave him on the map, praying Jack was alive and alright every step of the way.