North pushed open the double doors leading outside, the rest of the group close behind. Outside, Shadows flew thick in the air, dive-bombing bellowing yetis who chucked javelins at the giant falcons. "Finally, some action." Jack grumbled as he took off towards the raging battle, Sandy, Heart and Tooth close behind. Looking behind him, Jack spotted Bunnymund hitch a ride on a Shadow and North leaping into the snow to join his yetis. Jack tightened his grip on his staff and smacked a Shadow right in the face as it pasted him.
He turned around and raced through the crowded skies, freezing Shadows as he went. Suddenly, Heart's voice cut through the air, "Jack!". He turned at the sound of his name to see Heart flick her wrist and send a knife flying through the air, straight towards Jack. It spun so fast, Jack could only think rather than react. Tooth had been right. Heart had to be the spy, and now she was taking the moment of confusion to take out the enemy, one by one.
Jack closed his eyes, waiting for the knife to hit home, when it.. whistled past his ear. Jack opened his eyes and turned around to see the gold blade embed itself in a Shadow only inches from Jack. With a screech, the Shadow dispersed into the air in a flurry of purple sand. Jack turned back to a smiling Heart. "T-thanks." he called, finding his voice. "No problem." she called back, turning around to face the rest of the Shadows. Once her back was turned, Jack let out a sigh of relief. How could he even suspect Heart to be the spy? She had done nothing to deserve his doubt, even saved his life numerously. He had to get Tooth's words out of his head.
"Shade!" Bunnymund cried from Jack's left. He turned to see Bunny standing on Sandy's gold cloud facing Shade, standing on a purple disk hovering not far in front of them. "Hello, rabbit." she called back tauntingly. "I trust you haven't un-rooted my ally yet?" she sneered. Bunny glowered at her. "Ally or no ally, we can beat you, we both know it." Heart, Tooth, North and Jack had all joined Sandy and Bunny in front of Shade. Her Shadows followed suit, grouping behind her in a huge, purple cloud.
Shade caught sight of Tooth hovering next to Jack. "Ah, Tooth. I see you are feeling better. Had any good dreams while you were asleep?" "I'm feeling much better, thanks to Heart." Tooth shot back. "Oh, yes, Heart, I had forgot you seem to have a knack for healing. I wonder which side of the family that came from."
Jack, confused by the comment, turned to Heart for some sort of explanation. But he had a feeling now wasn't the time. Heart's face had gone the color of paper and her hands were gripping her bow so tightly her knuckles where white. "What do you mean?" Tooth finally asked Shade. Surprisingly, she just laughed. "What, you know nothing about her past?" she asked, amused and appalled at the same time. "Shut up." Heart said quietly, notching a arrow in her bow and taking aim at Shade. Tooth looked at Heart, then back at Shade before shaking her head. Shade looked at Heart with a smirk, then back at the rest of the group. "She has her aunt's eyes." she said simply.
Jack's eyes widened as he looked from Shade's eyes to Heart's, who glanced at him before looking at her feet. Both of them where the same color. Both of them had the same gold eyes. The same eyes as Pitch's. "No way..." he whispered. Shade smiled smugly. "I guess that color runs in the family." "I said shut up!" Heart shouted, letting her arrow fly. Just as it was inches from her face, Shade melted into her floating disk and the arrow flew harmlessly past. From above Shade's crowd of Shadows, a black void opened and the whole armada flew into it, disappearing to wherever it led. Soon, the whole fleet was gone and the void closed, leaving Shade's whispering cackle to show she was ever there.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"Wait, your Pitch's daughter?!" Bunnymund said once everyone had rendezvous back at the balcony. "I knew it!" Tooth cried. "I knew we couldn't trust you!" She turned to the rest of the group. "Not only is she shady in her business, she's the enemy's niece!" She glared at Heart. "She has to be Shade's spy!" "I'm not the spy, you guys should know me enough to know that much." Heart said. "How do we know what you say is true?" Tooth accused "Your so vague about your background, not even telling us who your related to." "Well wouldn't you try to not let someone know about your family when your related to two of the worst spirits on the planet?" Heart said, turning to look at her. "If you really wanted to help us, you would let us know who you are at least!" Tooth shot back. "What, so you have all the more reason to not trust me?" Heart asked.
Tooth opened her mouth to say something back when Bunnymund laid a paw on her shoulder. "Tooth, you might want to take a the accusations down a notch." he said gently. Tooth glared at a smug looking Heart. Bunny turned to her. "But she does have a point, Heart. It would have been nice to know beforehand." Heart's face fell. "My cloudy past never meant anything in 1574. Why is now so different?" "Because Shade being your aunt can somewhat change this game we're playing. It's not your cloudy past that means something, it's that we didn't know your family or your relationship with them."
Heart looked at Bunny, then at North, Sandy, and finally Jack. None of them met her gaze or came to her aid. Her face hardened. "You know what?" she asked hotly. "You guys fight this battle without me. I'm outta here." and with that she turned around and took off from the balcony and flew away into the open sky. Jack sighed. "I'll go get her." he said, and leaped off to follow her.