Chapter 7

Snap!

I wake with a start. I can feel my heart pounding, what was that? I force myself to go still and wait. I don't hear anything. Was I having a nightmare?

Crack!

Nope, there is something out there. I look towards the Musketeers D'Artagnan is on watch but he doesn't seem concerned. It's probably just an animal. Probably just a bunny or a squirrel. I check to make sure that the small dagger I was wearing is still in place before I slowly move towards my bag trying not to draw attention to myself. I take out my bow and the quiver of arrows that goes with it, like I said before better to be safe than sorry. I lie down again but make sure that I can move freely if necessary. Maybe I'm being paranoid but after the fire I never want to be caught unaware again.

I lie still for a while more. I listen closely to the sounds of the forest but it seems that whatever was in the woods has moved on. I'm just about to go back to sleep when I see the shadow. It's just for a second before it's gone, but it looked like a man. I quickly look back over to my traveling companions but they're all here.

It's in this instance that masked men descend on us. D'Artagnan is able to shoot one of them, waking the others, before the men draw their pistols and aim at my companions. The Musketeers aren't able to do anything but surrender unless they want their heads blown off. I count eight men, not including the one D'Artagnan shot.

One of the men comes for me and I wait for him to get close. Once he is close enough he bends down to grab me and I strike. I kick him in the balls, grab my bow and quiver and I make for the trees. I run as fast as I can looking for a place to hide while I get my bearings. I hear men crashing through the trees after me. I can hear them cursing and one of them trips. I have a decent head start and it seems as though I'm better in the forest than they are. I come across a large tree that has a good vantage point if I can climb up without being seen. I through my bow over my shoulder with my quiver and begin to climb.

I climb as fast as I can while trying not to make any noise. If I can make it up into the leaves they won't be able to see me. I reach an alcove in the tree that keeps me well hidden just as some of the men pass underneath my hiding place. I hold my breath as the pass but they don't seem to have seen me, so I'm safe for now. There are only three of them the rest must be at our camp with the others.

I let out the breath I was holding with a sigh. What do I do now? I can escape. I can wait for morning and then try to find my way to a nearby village and move on. Maybe I'll still go to Paris. It's a big city it would be easy to blend in, to start a new life. But the Musketeers are still with the bandits. I can't just leave them, can I? What are the bandits going to do with them, what are they doing with them now? But they're soldiers, they can take care of themselves, isn't that what Porthos said? But he also said the bandits wouldn't be stupid enough to attack the King's Musketeers. Damn it. This wouldn't have happened if Athos had listened to me in the first place. I told him something like this would happen! Asshole.

I take a deep breath and try to calm down. I need to focus my thoughts and decide what I'm going to do. Run away or try to free my captors. It's a surprisingly difficult decision. Usually I would help but these people, these Musketeers have placed me under arrest and are taking me to Paris to face the King, I might be executed.

That's it I'm leaving, the Musketeers can take care of themselves.

But… what if no one came to get me. When I needed help the most, when I was dying. Some one came to save me. One of the natives ran into the burning building and saved my life. What if he decided that is wasn't worth it, what if he didn't think saving one of the white invaders worth it? Or what if he thought that us pale faces could handle it. I would be dead right now not debating whether or not I should save my own skin. That man, because I never did get his name, saved my life and today. No. Right now I too am going to be courageous. I'm going to help the Musketeers not because it is the easy thing to do but because it is right.

With my mind made up I lower myself to the ground and sneak back to camp.

I manage to get back to camp without being seen. I've hidden myself behind a large tree it gives me good cover and a clear view of what is happening at our camp. And it's bad. Apparently the Musketeers decided to fight back while I was making my escape.

Aramis and Athos are the least injured, both having bruises and a few scrapes but nothing that looked serious from here. D'Artagnan not only has bruises and scrapes but a dark patch of blood on his pants, it looks like he was either shot or stabbed, but again it seems like he was only grazed he doesn't seem to have lost too much blood. It's Porthos I'm concerned about. He looks as though he took the worst of the beating. He has bruises, cuts, and blood is running down the side of his head. He looks dazed. I can feel my heart pounding in my chest and I'm glad I came back for them.

They're all tied up now with the bandits keeping a look out. Their leader seems to be a piece of work. He's taunting my captors. Only I'm aloud to do that!

"Well look what we have here!" laughs the bandits' leader. "It seems that we've captured ourselves some of the King's Musketeers!"

The other bandits nod and chuckle.

"And here I thought you're all supposed to be some great soldiers." He snorts.

"What a joke. Looks like they'll let anyone join, eh mongrel." He laughs and rams the butt of his gun into Porthos. Porthos just grunts as the other Musketeers yell.

"Porthos is a better man then you'll ever be." Sais D'Artagnan with venom. The bandit doesn't reply he just slams his gun into D'Artagnan's face. The Musketeers continue to object, loudly. Porthos strains at the ropes binding him. The leader seems to have had enough. He points his gun at D'Artagnan.

"Anything else to say?" The lead bandit questions. "No? Good. Next time any of you make a sound I'll shoot your friend over here. Not even a real Musketeer, are you? Seems they'll let their dogs join but not scraggly kids." He guffaws, his cronies laugh along with him.

"Now," he continues "What are you doing out here anyway?"

No one replies they all just shoot him dirty looks. Frustrated the bandit slams his musket into Porthos' face.

"King's business." Athos begrudgingly replies.

"What kind of King's business, Musketeer?"

"We are to escort and accused criminal to Paris to stand trial before the King."

"That scrawny little thing that ran off into the woods? Really, what could he possibly have done? He was what? Twelve?"

I'm finished listening to him. With his back to me I notch an arrow and aim.

"Eleven" I reply and loose the arrow just as he turns. I'm moving before I can see where my arrow hit. I hear the bandit's cry of pain as the arrow takes him in the shoulder. The bandits fire at my previous location. I wait for them to reload before firing another shot. This one takes a red-haired bandit in the knee. He hollers as he goes down and I fire another shot. Right through the hand of the third bandit. The fourth bandit and the one I shot in the leg are finally able to reload their weapons. I'm still on the move. It's dark and they aren't able to spot me. I stop behind a large rock and remain motionless.

The pause gives me a chance to think. I need to hurry the shots are going to drawn the three other bandits back to the campsite. I need to get to the Musketeers and cut them loose. It I can free them and get them to their weapons they will be able to overpower the bandits and we can get away.

With that in mind I peer over the rock. One of the armed bandits is facing me and the other one is looking in the other direction. The bandit I shot through the hand removes the arrow and pulls out a knife while the leader clutches his shoulder and squints into the forest. I look to my right the Musketeers aren't far. I try to catch Athos' eye but he can't see me. I look over at Aramis, then D'Artagnan, and finally at Porthos but none of them spot me. Oh well. I'll tell them my plan when I free them. I check to make sure I still have my dagger. Then I take a deep breath and shoot the fourth bandit I notch a second arrow and shoot the bandit with the knife before moving again. Luckily the redheaded bandit is slow now that he can't walk. I make my way behind the Musketeers as quickly and quietly as I can.

The leader manages to pick himself up off the ground; he's still clutching his shoulder as he stumbles over to the red-haired bandit. He manages to lift the redheaded man to his feet. My luck gets worse as the three bandits the leader set after me arrive back at the camp.

"What took you so long?" The leader screeches at them.

"We heard shots fired and we got back as soon as we could. What the hell happened?" The biggest of the bandits' replies.

"There's an archer in the woods." The red-haired man whimpers.

"An archer? From where?" The big man questions. His companions ready their weapons and look around suspiciously.

"It's the damn boy the Musketeers arrested! How could you let him get away?" The leader rages.

"It was dark and the brat flew through the fucking forest." One of the new arrivals replied. The skinny one with the big nose. The pimply one remains silent as he scans the woods. The leader continues to argue with the other bandits. The big one instructs big nose and pimples to aide their injured men, who have been moaning on the ground the entire time. While they're distracted I approach the Musketeers.

Aramis is the first to notice me. "What are you doing here?"

"Shh! Don't draw their attention. Pretend I'm not here!" I whisper at him as I focus on slicing through his bonds. "I'm going to cut you all loose, then we take out the bandits. Got it?"

"Sounds good." Aramis replies.

"Where are your weapons?"

"They're over there by the bandit D'Artagnan shot."

"Right." I nod as Aramis' bonds come undone. "Don't move until I free the rest of them." He nods.

I crawl over to Athos and begin the process again. "Surprised to see me?"

"Indeed."

"I guess this is a bad time to tell you 'I told you so'?" He raises his brow at me I smirk at him and continue. "Anyway, once I get you loose wait until I free the others then get to your weapons and take out the bandits." Athos nods and I saw at the rope until it comes loose. I meet his eye and up my finger in front of my lips in a 'Shh' gesture. I crawl past Aramis over to D'Artagnan and Porthos.

"Hey." I whisper at them before focusing on D'Artagnan. "Can you walk?"

"Probably." He replies.

"Good. Once I cut you both free we're going to take down the bandits."

"Gladly." He smirks. Once I finish with D'Artagnan I move to Porthos.

"Are you alright?" I ask him.

"Yeah." He replies.

"Are you sure because you don't look alright." I ask concerned because it's true, he looks pretty bad. I can't look at him anymore and I go back to cutting off his bindings.

"I've had worse." He smiles at me.

"If your sure." I say skeptically.

"I am." He sounds confident and this isn't the time or place to argue. It's silent between us as I finish cutting his bonds. "Your all free. Give me thirty seconds and then go for your weapons. No lollygagging! I'll distract them then you need to kick their butts!" Porthos nods.

I crawl back into the forest. Once I'm there I swiftly make my way in the opposite direction of the Musketeers weapons. Once I feel that I'm far enough away I look over to the Musketeers. I hope they move quickly. I take two deep breaths before firing at the biggest bandit. I'm able to put two arrows in him before they react. I dive out of the way of the gunfire but I still get caught in the lower leg. I feel the pain blossoming through my leg but I have no time to dwell on it, Skinny big nose is already reloading. I fire another two arrows. I only graze Skinny big nose's arm but I hit Red-hair in the shoulder. He drops the gun.

Unfortunately that's when Pimples catches me. I look to me left just in time to see him bringing the end of his gun into my face. I must black out for a moment because the next thing I know I've been dragged into camp and there is fighting all around me. My head is pounding and I'm dazed. Between my leg and head injury I can do nothing but roll myself into a sitting position and watch.

As I watch the Musketeers bring down the remaining bandits. D'Artagnan has a musket and manages to get a few shots off while the others engage the bandits with their swords. The bandits are obviously out matched. Just as Athos finishes with the last bandit someone grabs my hair and tugs my head back. I feel metal being pressed into my skull.

"Throw down your weapons or I'll blow his head off!" The bandits' leader yells from above me. The hair pulling is doing nothing for my headache.

The Musketeers look at each other. Aramis and Athos put down their weapons but D'Artagnan keeps his rifle trained on the bandit. Porthos looks furious and takes a step towards me.

The bandit jerks my head again and repositions the pistol. "Ah, ah, ah. Stay put mongrel or you'll have his brain splattered all over your uniform."

I'm furious. First this fucker attacks us, now he's not only making my headache worse but he's also being a racist pig! How dare he say something like that to Porthos? To anyone? Porthos takes a step back a put's his sword on the ground. I've had enough. Fuck this bastard. Like I'm going to be his damsel in distress.

I look at him discretely. I move my right hand to rest on the pistol behind my head and I move my left hand onto my dagger.

"That's right. Good boy! Now we're just going to back out of here and leave and none of you are going to – " I shove the pistol away from my head and drive my dagger into the bastard's leg. The gun goes off, I rip my head from his grasp before he fully comprehends what's going on I slam my head backwards into his face before I spin around and kick him in the balls. He's down clutching at his face and his testicles.

I stumble back and collapse onto a rock. I sit down and hold my head. The Musketeers rush to action. They secure the bandits, remove their masks, and take their weapons. Once this is complete Aramis begins to see to everyone's wounds. He tries to start with me but I wave him off. I'm too overwhelmed right now. I still can't believe what just happened. I was almost killed. I take a few moments to calm down and take a few breaths. I look over at the bandits. Three dead and the rest tied up and moaning.

Once I'm able to calm down I'm able to feel the pain of my injuries. My head is throbbing terribly and my leg aches. I won't be able to walk very well. I refuse to cry or show how much I'm really hurting. I keep my head in my hand and allow my hair to fall in front of my face so I don't have to look at anyone.

Aramis attends to the wound on D'Artagnan's leg before moving on to Porthos. He declares that both wounds will need needlework before speaking with Athos and returning to my side. I can feel him next to me but I don't look up. I can't look up.

Aramis kneels down to my level "I need to look at your wounds." He tells me.

I take a few deep breaths before nodding. I lift my head. He's very close. It takes all of my will power not to lean away from him. He gives me a reassuring smile before tilting my head to the side so he can access the injury on my face. He pokes and prods at it before declaring that it could use a few stitches. Aramis moves back a little and I can finally breath again.

"I need you to roll up your pants so I can get to the wound on your leg."

"Sure." I roll my pants up to my knee and wince at my leg. The musket ball is still in my leg.

Aramis pokes and prods this wound as well. "I'll have to remove the musket ball and stitch this up. I'll wrap it until we get to the next village." All I can do is nod. Aramis goes back over to Athos.

"We need to move to the next village so I can tend to their wounds."

"I agree. Do you think they will be able to ride?" Athos questions.

"Yes but not far."

Athos nods and tells the others to get ready. Once they have prepared everything Aramis comes over to get me. He helps me limp over to his horse before lifting me on. He gets on beside me and we set off.

The nearest village is two hours away. We make the journey in silence everyone seems to be exhausted. It's been a long night and it isn't over yet.

When we reach the village we head straight to a little inn. The innkeeper allows Aramis to use the back room to stitch us up. Once Aramis is set up Athos leaves. He is going to get some of the villagers and go back for the bandits.

Aramis starts with D'Artagnan. His injury is the least severe and the easiest to mend. After D'Artagnan's wound is seen to Aramis moves to Porthos. Seeing my concern Aramis assures me that the wound isn't serious. I indicate how much blood Porthos has lost but Aramis assures me that it is only because head wounds bleed a lot. When both D'Artagnan and Porthos have been seen to Aramis comes over to me.

"I will start with your head wound then I will fix the one on your leg."

"Alright."

I watch as he prepares the needle and approaches me. First he begins to clean the wound. It stings and I hiss. He apologizes but doesn't stop. When he has cleaned the wound to his satisfaction he brings the needle up to start stitching. I lean away when he gets closer.

"Relax. This wound will only require a few stitches." Aramis tries to reassure me.

I nod. He smiles and moves forwards again and I lean away. Aramis sighs and raises his brow at me.

"Sorry." I say. Now rather embarrassed.

"May I continue?"

"Yes… No… Yes. Yes you can."

"Are you sure?"

"No."

Porthos chuckles from across the room. "Don't worry Aramis does the best needlework."

"Lovely." I reply. I can feel my hands shaking. Aramis goes to begin stitching again.

I pull away quickly "Does it really need stitches?"

"It will only be a few." Aramis assures me.

"A few?"

"About five."

"If it's only five does it really need any?"

"Yes. It is the best way for it to heal."

I sigh and fiddle with my hands "Well, um… will it scar." I really hope not. I have enough scaring already I don't want anymore. At least not on my face. Porthos and D'Artagnan share a look and then shake their heads.

Aramis smiles. He finally understands my concern. "It shouldn't, if it does it will be faint. Besides it's right by your hairline, no one will notice."

"Alright." I reply. I take a deep breath to calm myself. "You can do it now."

Aramis nods and gets to work. It hurts. Not unbearably so and less than my leg but it still hurts. I hold on to the edge of the table I'm sitting on and close my eyes. Aramis has to touch my shoulder and tell me he's finished before I'll open my eyes and let go of the table.

"Was that so bad?" he asks.

"Maybe." I reply.

"Right. Well I will need you to lie back on the table so I can get to your leg."

"Ok." I bring my lets onto the table and roll up my pant leg before I lie down. Aramis gives me something to put my head on. He beckons Porthos and D'Artagnan over.

"D'Artagnan, Porthos I will need you to assist me. I need to remove the musket ball from her leg before I can close the wound." Aramis tells them.

"What do you need us to do?" Porthos asks.

"I need you to hold her down." Aramis directs Porthos to hold my shoulders down. "And I need you to make sure she doesn't kick me," he tells D'Artagnan "You'll need to hold her legs steady." Both Porthos and D'Artagnan get into position.

"Hold me down? Why?" I'm having a hard time breathing.

"Breath." Aramis instructs. "This is going to be quite painful. It is either holding you down or knocking you out."

"Knock me out? Maybe that's best?"

"Perhaps, but no one here wishes to have to punch you, it could ruin my needle work."

"Punch me? Needlework?" I whisper. Oh god, oh god! I can't do this. I'm going to faint. While I'm panicking Aramis heats a dagger and moves to start on my leg.

I scream while he gets the bullet out. I try to kick and get away but Porthos and D'Artagnan have a good grip on me. It's a relief when Aramis removes the bullet and begins to sew up my leg. I'm still shaking and in pain but I have stopped screaming. Porthos and D'Artagnan don't let go until Aramis has completely finish bandaging my leg. Aramis makes sure I'm alright and the other two apologize. I accept their apologies and thank them. It needed to be done. Aramis tell us to sleep. He will keep watch so that we can rest and begin healing.

I agree and close my eyes and try to sleep. Despite how exhausted I am I can't fall straight to sleep. I keep thinking about how different this injury was to when I got my burns. I can't remember exactly how that went. I was delirious from the pain. I remember the agony and screaming but that's it until I woke up.

My parents told me that it was horrible. That I was feverish and that I almost died. But I only clearly remember being in the fire, convinced I was going to die, and when I woke up, in more pain then I have ever experienced in my life.

I can feel the tears on my face and I rub them away. I need to think about something else. Anything else. I listen to the sounds of the inn. It's pretty quite except for the sounds of Porthos snoring.

While his snoring usually drives me mad tonight it's comforting. I focus on his breathing and let myself drift asleep.

A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I try to update regularly but I'm not always able to. Also I realized that I didn't explain the name of my OC to everyone. To clarify I chose the name Robin because I'm a big Batman and a Robin Hood fan and I always imagined that it was Little Red Riding Hood's name. It is also my I'm .Wonder.

Thanks for reading. Please review and let me know what you think.

.Wonder