Hello! Well, whilst I'm still dealing with writer's block for 'Possessed', I thought I'd start a new fic! But don't worry, I have all this planned out and ready to go, so I promise I'll finish this one! ^^

As per usual with my fics, this will contain whump/comfort, brotherly moments and (hopefully) some suspense and tension, so I hope you'll enjoy it!

Onwards!

'Why'd it have to rain now?' Aramis glanced over at Porthos as the larger man punctuated his question with a sigh and a tut. The two of them hitched up their hoods to cover their heads and they hunkered down on their horses; it would take a least another half day's ride to get back to the city, perhaps more.

Athos and d'Artagnan were beside them as they meandered along the dirt road, their cloaks also bunched around their faces as an almighty crack of thunder sounded above their heads. The rain seemed to be falling in sheets, soaking everything in it's path.

'Shall I ask the great spirit of rain?' He replied with a quirked eyebrow to his friend, before titling his head back and cupping his hands around his wet mouth. Before the other three could react he took a deep breath and bellowed 'WHY DO YOU RAIN ON MY DEAR FRIENDS?!' before sitting back and waiting.

After a few seconds of the patter of rain and the peals of thunder he turned to Porthos and shrugged. 'Don't know. Sorry.'

'Idiot.' Athos muttered, shaking his head ruefully as he overtook Aramis on the path.

'Can't we just, I don't know, wait by them trees?' D'Artagnan, his hair plastered to his head, muttered with chattering teeth as he pointed to a large tree that could offer shelter.

'Any other time, I'd say yes,' Athos replied with a sigh. 'But the King wants these signed contracts as soon as possible. The less time they spend in damp pockets the better.'

'I suppose,' the Gascon nodded, wiping his sopping fringe off his forehead. He grinned as he watched Aramis push his own dripping hair back and away from his face. 'Looks like I'm not the only one that the 'wet dog' jokes can be aimed at now!' He shot at him with a grin.

'Shut it, welp!' Aramis replied with a smile, suppressing a chuckle as Porthos laughed. 'I look positively dashing with wet hair, I'll have you know. Porthos and Athos will attest to that-You on the other hand look like you've been dragged through a hedge backwards.' He grinned as d'Artagnan pretended to look affronted.

They retired for a few minutes in a companionable silence, punctuated only by the rain and thunder. The clouds above their heads were a horrible stormy grey-blackness, and the forest they were travelling through seemed to be pressing in on them from all sides.

Aramis sighed and began to whistle under his breath to pass the time; he flexed his wet legs on his horse, inwardly groaning as the material stuck to his calves and thighs. He hated the rain. Give him basking sunshine any day, he thought to himself.

Minutes passed, and the road become more and more slick with mud as what looked like a small river cascaded down the slight hill they were travelling up. Small rocks were dislodged and skittered down the path, and the horses were soon soaked to the bone as well as their riders.

'Are you sure we can't shelter awhile?' Aramis asked lightly, wiping his dripping face for what felt like the hundredth time. 'I'm starting to get bored of getting wet.'

Athos shivered as he considered. Treville had told them to make haste, as the King was waiting for these contracts to finalise an important new trade route for the city. An almighty crack of thunder sounded, making his horse jolt sideways a little in fear; maybe stopping for ten minutes or so wasn't a bad idea.

'Just for a while,' he finally agreed, before looking round for a suitable place. Porthos and Aramis grinned at each other at his words, whilst d'Artagnan whooped under his breath at the prospect of getting out the deluge.

Spotting a small copse of thick trees Athos pointed it out to the others; at least they'd get out of the pouring rain for now. True dryness and warmth would not be available until they got back home. 'Quick, get under here,' he muttered as he spurred his horse on. Together the four of them quickly ducked under the small clearing.

Though the rain still managed to get between the branches and large leaves, Aramis let out a contended sigh as his head was for once safe from the raindrops. 'Bliss,' he muttered as he wiped a gloves hand down his face.

'How long until we get back home?' D'Artagnan asked, shivering in the cold.

'Not long, perhaps another forty miles or so.' Athos replied.

'Forty!' Echoed the Gascon. 'In this?!' He motioned the rain.

'Well, unless you want to uproot a tree and use it as your own personal umbrella, I'd say yes.' Athos replied with a smile.

D'artagnan considered for a moment, looking up at the trees. 'Not a bad idea..' He chuckled, before wiping his nose.

'I don't think this is stopping, Athos,' Porthos said after a while, peering up at the black sky. 'We might as well keep going.'

Athos sighed, knowingly friend was right. Treville would probably already be questioning their lateness. 'Hoods up, gents.' He finally muttered, wiping the worst droplets from his horses back as he made to rejoin the path.

'Why don't we take that path?' Aramis muttered, turning his head and pointing to another road, covered on both sides by branches. It was still waterlogged, but it would be better than the mudslide of a path they were previously travelling on.

'It might not lead were we want it to.' Athos replied.

'But it might be a shortcut!' Aramis countered with a smile. 'Come on, I take full responsibility if we have to turn around and come back the other way.'

'We'll hold you to that, Mis,' Porthos nodded at him as he passed, a grin on his face. 'First round will be on you!'

'And first round on you if I get you home in half the time!' Aramis called back with a laugh.

With a chuckle he duly followed the other two, leaving d'artagnan to pick up the rear as they entered the forest path and slowly made their way along it.

'It's quite dark in here, ain't it!' Porthos muttered in a dark voice as they meandered along the road. It was longer than any of them had anticipated, and Aramis was already lamenting the loss of his money for having the best shortcut.

'That's the way they like them,' he replied, turning and giving d'artagnan a significant look as he put emphasis on the word 'they'.

'Who?' The Gascon replied, knowing by now not to fall hook, line and sinker for another of Aramis' tall tales. He regarded him warily all the same, as he knew Aramis could spin a good yarn.

'Why, don't you know?' Aramis spoke in a light whisper that made Porthos snort and Athos roll his eyes. He hoped the lad wouldn't fall for one of his friend's stories again. He probably would, though.

Aramis continued when D'Artagnan didn't answer. 'Well, as told to me by grandfather, and his father before him-'

'Come on Mis, get on with it!' Athos called, shivering.

Aramis nonetheless took a dramatic breath before starting his tale- 'The forest people live here- they were outcasts from their villages for their heinous crimes, so despicable that even now they're not spoken of in civilised conversation ...'

'What did they do?' D'artagnan asked, eyes wide as he lost himself into the story. Again.

'You had to ask,' Athos muttered drily, as Aramis gave a mock cry of surprise at the lad's lack of knowledge.

'You don't know much, do you?' He spoke in a hushed tone.

'Obviously not,' Athos whispered with a smile.

'Well, let me tell you! It was said that they killed their neighbours and friends just for fun- they chased them across the fields in the dead of night like dogs, baying and laughing as their unfortunate victims ran for their very lives!' He looked across at Porthos, who chuckled uneasily. Thing was, that story sounded familiar to him, too.

'Didn't they get caught?' D'Artagnan breathed, hardly paying any attention to his numb face and hands.

'Only after they had killed forty, fifty people- men, women, it didn't matter to them. They'd take bets to see which poor sod would last the longest.' Aramis shivered despite himself. 'And, unlike most- well, all- of my other stories, this one is true!'

'Get away!' D'Artagnan cried, shaking his head. 'It's not true.'

'Well, it happened years, decades, ago. They're all dead by now. No one has seen or heard of them for years-'

'Because it didn't happen,' Porthos interjected, casting the younger man a smile. 'He's having you on, lad.'

'I would never!' Aramis replied, eyes wide as he feigned shock again. 'Not this time, anyway!' He turned to Athos, who had stayed oddly silent through the whole story. 'Tell them it's true, Athos!' He muttered, 'you know the stories as well as I!'

'When I was a child we did hear stories...' Athos muttered, voice dark. Aramis turned to the other two, triumphant, and nodded. 'See!'

'Well then, how could-' Porthos' amused comeback was cut short but Athos clearing his throat.

'Gentlemen,' he started in a loud voice, before stopping his horse and turning to the three men behind him. 'I do believe we're lost.'

'Lost?' D'Artagnan echoed. 'But we've only been following one path!'

'A path that forked three times whilst we were speaking,' Athos added, quirking an eyebrow. D'Artagnan sat back on his horse, slightly defeated. He didn't remember that.

'Whilst you've been talking of murderous outcasts I've unfortunately lost the trail we were following,'

'Oh Athos,' Aramis sighed, rolling his eyes with a smile. 'How could you?'

'Quite.' His friend remarked, before sighing. Rain was still pattering onto their coats, and nightfall was now setting in. Fast.

'Why don't we just go back the way we came?' Porthos asked, looking around. Their path had indeed changed, he noted with a heavy feeling in his stomach. The road was now thick with bracken on either side instead of tall trees.

They were deep in the forest now, with darkness creeping towards them on all sides once more. Perfect, he thought drily.

'If we go back we might just get ourselves more lost,' Aramis replied in a low voice.

His skin prickled as he looked around; the Autumn cold was sweeping in, and as the darkness lowers itself onto the earth a mist was curling through the pockets of undergrowth towards them; he steadied his horse with a calm hand, eyes focused on the world beyond.

'I don't like this,' D'Artagnan muttered, moving his horse so he was level with Athos. 'Which way should we go?'

'Forwards,' Athos replied. 'It's the only way to go now.' He turned to Aramis and Porthos. 'Come on, we don't want to be-' his voice slipped into silence as the sound of a gun firing caught their ears. They surged upright on their horses and looked around as a second bang made their horses jump in fear. 'Get to cover!' Aramis shouted, taking the reigns of his horse and pushing forwards. 'Go, D'Artagnan!' He shouted as the lad hesitated, unsure of which way to go. 'Into those trees!'

He followed the young Gascon, dismounting and drawing his sword as they stopped. They waited in silence, covered by the trees- he spotted Athos and Porthos opposite them in another copse of bushes. Seconds trickled past painfully as they tried to spot the source of the noise.

'Probably hunters.' Aramis finally whispered. 'I think they've gone now.' He stepped backwards and made to put his sword away; instinct, however, made him stop.

'Gone?' A very cold and unfamiliar voice sneered in his ear. The musketeer smelt hops, smoke and meat on his breath and fought an urge to gag; he half turned to the lad, but was soon stopped as he felt a knife at his back. He flicked his eyes sideways, his heart plummeting as he saw the D'Artagnan had a long blade pressed to his throat.

'Why would we go?' Another voice, deep and gravelly, sounded from behind the Gascon. D'Artagnan tried to look around, but soon stopped as beads of blood appeared on his neck. Aramis tried to look for Athos and Porthos, but couldn't spot them in the sheet of rain still plummeting down. He growled as he felt the blade move from his back to his throat; he felt the tip push into his neck, signalling he had better not make any rash decisions.

'But we've just got here...' The man added, before chuckling softly as thunder crashed again above their heads.

I hope you enjoyed this first chapter! More twisty turns and surprises to come!

Please review!

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