Jack opened his eyes to the sun's blinding light streaming in through his window. He rubbed his eyes and sat up on on the green bed in the room he had been borrowing while at North's. He stretched his arms and rubbed his eyes again, yawning. They had stayed the Cloud Castle until late last night, skimming memories and making Dreams. They had gotten quite a few done, but they still had a ways to go before they were finished.
Jack got up and headed for the door to see what everyone else was up to. As he walked towards the balcony that the group seemed to gather at a lot, he past Tooth's room. A rustle came from behind the door. Jack froze and listened. A groan came and the door opened to reveal Tooth, rubbing the back of her head with her eyes closed. Jack waited, still frozen (and in some cases, literally), and waited for her to open her eyes. His mind kept on going back to when she was first hit with the Shadow, that clouded look in her eyes. If there was even a trace left, he was getting help and keeping that door shut and locked.
Finally, Tooth's eyes fluttered open after what seemed like forever. They were their normal violet. Jack let out a sigh of relief he realized he had been holding. "Jack?" Tooth asked groggily. "What happened?" Jack's face suddenly broke into a huge grin and he gave his friend a hug. He hadn't realized how much he had worried about Tooth. The fact that she was just fine, and ahead of schedule...
That last thought sent a explosive jolt through him. Tooth was ahead of schedule. It had only been four days since the attack; Heart said the process would take five, minimum. What changed? Oh, it could wait, whatever it was. Right now he had to get her to the balcony were everyone else was. Jack looked at Tooth. "Oh, I'm so glad your alright. Come on, we got to get to the others! Can you walk?" "I think so." said Tooth, but she took a step and her knees buckled. Jack caught her before she hit the ground. "Or, maybe not." she said, attempting a weak smile. "How about your wings?" Jack asked. Tooth buzzed them experimentally before giving it full strength and hovered a foot of the ground. "Yeah, I think just my knees are weak." she said. Jack, floating next to her, led her up the stairs to the balcony.
Everyone, already there, looked up at the two as they reached the top of the staircase. "Tooth!" North bellowed, rushing over to her and giving her one of his massive hugs. "Hey, North!" Tooth laughed, hugging him back. "Well, your ahead of schedule." Heart said, leaning against the railing with her arms folded, a smile playing across her mouth. "I wonder why..." "Well, I don't care what it is, I'm glad she's back." Bunnymund said happily.
Tooth's smile disappeared. "I had a dream while I was out." she said, suddenly serious. Everyone else followed suit, looking at her with grim intense. "It was of Shade. She was standing in a dim room, talking to someone in the shadows. It was so sharp and clear, I felt almost like I was there. I couldn't tell who she was talking to, but it looked like a vague outline of a person, not a Shadow. And... and she... she told them..." Tooth stopped, looking at the ground as her eyes began to fill with tears. Jack put a hand on her shoulder. "Tooth." he said gently. "What did she say?"
Tooth took a shaky breath before answering. "She said, 'Your doing well. Continue with your role and keep in touch with me. Your part is a large help to our cause.' She looked thoughtful for a second. 'So their making more Dreams instead of rescuing the old ones.' she said, rubbing her chin before looking back at the person, who nodded. 'Thank you, I'm sure that information will become quite useful.' The person nodded before turning around and disappearing into the dark. And just before they left, something came into the light. I couldn't tell what substance it was, but whatever it was, it was a gray black." Tooth finished, leaving the room in silence.
Heart was the first to speak. "Well, that could be a number of things. It could be Bunny's fur, or North's coat, or Jack's stick, or anything." she said, looking at everyone in turn. "I don't know." said Tooth, looking up at Heart grimly. "I thought I saw a turquoise tinge to it." she said, glaring at her enemy. Heart narrowed her eyes at her. "What are you suggesting?" "Oh, I don't know." Tooth said sarcastically. "Maybe that it was one of your wings caught in the bad lighting?" she spat.
"Hey, you guys, we haven't even thought about the obvious answer." Jack butted in. Everyone looked at him. "Think. Who wears the most black out of everyone we know?" he asked, tapping his head. When no one answered, he said it for them. "What if Pitch is back?" Bunnymund snorted. "I doubt it. Those Nightmares seamed to have taken pretty good care of him."
Suddenly a huge crash came from down below, followed by angry bellows of numerous yetis. Heart, who was closest to the balcony, leaned over and looked at the level the yelling came from. "Oi." North grumbled, face-palming at the commotion. "I should probably go take care of that." he sighed. "Na, I'll handle it." Heart said, flapping her wings. "We can't have you losing weight with all those stairs. Besides, I speak Yetish." And with that, she vaulted the railing and glided down to the scene.
As soon as Heart was out of earshot, Tooth turned to the rest of the group. "You guys, out of all of us, I think she's the most suspicious. I definatly don't trust her." "Yeah, you've never trusted her, so I'm not sure that actually counts for anything." Bunnymund said, leaning against a column. "Yeah, but think." Tooth said, pointing to her temple. "We've know her the least amount of time," Jack opened his mouth to say something, but Bunny caught his eye and shook his head, "We know the least about her, and we have no idea what she's been doing since 1574. What if she's been in touch with Shade since then?" "What about when we stopped that eclipse?" Bunny countered. "She never showed any sign of betraying us then. Why would she have any reason to change?" "Yeah, she helped us, but she would disappear from from time to time, remember?" Tooth pointed out. "Where did she go during that time?" Bunnymund shrugged. "I don't know, but I think she deserves a little privacy like the rest of us. Besides, have you seen how she acts about Shade? I think she hates her more than any of us, though I don't know why. But, again, I'm not going to probe, she can have her space."
"Yeah, but-" Tooth was cut short as Heart appeared over the railing and landed from handling things bellow them. "Just a one Yeti accidently knocking over another's stack of toys." she said, folding her wings behind her. She looked at everyone else's serious faces. "What'd I miss." she asked, giving them a wary glance. "The real question is what do we do from here." Bunny said, changing the subject and giving Tooth a look that said not to change it back. Everyone thought in silence for a minute, pondering Bunnymund's question.
"Well, let's go over what we know so far." Tooth said, breaking the silence. "We know that Nightshade is back when she has been dormant for a few hundred year, supposedly encouraged by Pitch's rebellion. We know that she now holds most of the Dreams captive, which we now are making more of in every spare moment. We know she found some new ways to mess with us through her Shadows. And we know that one of us is a spy. So, from the looks of things, it's our move. What do we do?" Again, the room fell into silence.
"Wait, wait." Jack said waving his finger in an epiphany. "You guys, there's a pattern here!" he said, hopping up on a table in front of everyone. "Shade attacked the Cloud Castle, just like Pitch attacked the Tooth Palace. Shade stole the Dreams; Pitch stole the teeth. We made more Dreams; we collected the teeth." Jack looked at everyone earnestly. "Shade is copying her brother, we already know what the next move is!" he practically shouted.
Suddenly, the shriek of a Shadow came from outside. Bunnymund ran to the outside half of the balcony and looked over the side. "Right on cue, mate." he complemented Jack. "The enemy just arrived." Tooth nudged Sandy. "It's alright, Sandy. I got your back this time."