December Desolation Chapter 15

A/N: Chapter 15 guys! Enjoy :D

Four men trotted calmly down the road, silence reigning over the group as they entered their seventh hour of travelling. It seemed with every passing minute the temperature dropped rapidly, the already cold day becoming progressively colder, the men shrinking desperately within their clothing in an attempt to retain warmth.

"We have to stop soon Athos" Porthos called teeth chattering bitterly as he spoke, rubbing his hands together to generate heat as he relinquished his tight grip on the reigns. His eyes once again sliding to land upon Aramis as his concern increased. For the past two hours he had been glancing over to an uncharacteristically silent Aramis, despite the issues within their brotherhood, he had spent the first half of the journey cracking jokes and being his usual jovial self. That had gradually petered out however and although this was nothing unusual in the frigid weather it had become cause for concern as the temperature continued to drop. Before they left he had personally ensured that his brother was wrapped in enough warm clothing to practically smother him but even this was not enough to keep one warm in France's bitter winters. Finally Aramis had reached his breaking point, jokes fading into silence and body slumping tiredly forwards onto his horse's neck, hands tucked beneath his arms as shivers wracked his body.

"The nearest inn is about half an hour's journey from here, we can make it until then" Athos called over his shoulder as he spurred his horse into faster movement.

"Athos" Porthos called again angrily, bringing his horse to a stop and grabbing the reigns of Aramis' as he drew level with him. "We need to stop... now"

Hearing the warning tone in his brothers voice Athos circled round and came to stand in front of his brothers, "what is it Porthos?"

"Aramis is too cold, we all are. If we do not stop soon we will all end up ill and then we will be of no use to anyone. The entire purpose of this journey is to repair our relationship with Aramis, how are we meant to do that if we cannot function ourselves." he exclaimed in exasperation.

A slow and solemn nod was the only response Athos gave for the moment, turning his gaze upon the forest surrounding them and then the path stretching into the horizon. "We will rest here for a few hours and then continue on, staying here for too long would be as dangerous for us as it would be to travel on"

Porthos exhaled sharply in relief and nodded in affirmation, leading their horses slowly off the path and into the trees until they reached a suitable clearing. The trees were less densely packed here, the ground made of hard packed dirt that was excellent for supporting the base of a fire and as an impromptu bed for the night, D'artagan hastily scrubbed a branch along the ground in an attempt to clear away some of the inches of snow that had built up. Once a little cosy camp had been set up, a small fire crackling valiantly away with a pot of water bubbling merrily on top and blankets spread in copious amounts across the ground, Porthos tramped over to where Aramis had yet to dismount from his horse, a steadily growing pile of powdery snow weighing his hat down at the front and threatening to tip it off entirely.

"Come on, off yer get" he said gruffly, helping his frozen friend to swing his leg over the horse and steadying him when he wobbled slightly on firm ground. "You will be warm soon enough"

"Thankyou mon ami" Aramis stammered breathily, teeth chattering violently as they stumbled their way through the frozen water, the bane of his existence and something he would gladly dare to incinerate if such a thing was possible.

D'artagnan wrapped a blanket around his shoulders as they lowered him into a sitting position on a handily placed log, it even had a little indentation Aramis noticed, almost as if it had been purpose made for someone's backside, how handy!

"I hate this weather" he declared emphatically, narrowing his eyes and glaring at the ground "what is it even good for! It gets ridiculously cold, so much so that ice falls from the sky and proceeds to freeze everyone's extremities off and what for I ask you, nothing"

Porthos chuckled deeply as he attempted to rub some feeling back into his friends frozen hands, "well that partially explains why you hate the cold, but not entirely and I have always wondered"

Silence fell. Not even a single bird could be heard chirping in the trees as the four men sat tense and motionless in the wake of that deceptively innocent question. Athos quietly lowered himself onto the log beside Aramis and draped an arm around his shoulders as an aura of discomfort permeated the air.

"I just... ever since... I can't" Aramis trailed off in frustration, balling his free hand into a fist and shaking his head as he attempted to order his thoughts. Athos squeezed his shoulder comfortingly and Aramis sucked in a deep breath.

"Savoy" he exhaled quietly, "I spent... hours..." his breath hitched and tears lingered in his voice. "Hours alone, just lying in the snow and I could not stop trembling. Bodies surrounding me on all sides and dead eyes staring through the whiteness spotted with red. I... Marsac was gone and I was left prone with a head wound, reality blurred and all that was left was the snow, the cold" His words trailed off and he stared with deadened eyes into the flames that danced before him.

"Oh Mis" D'artagnan sighed "why didn't you say anything!" he pressed a mug of tea into the trembling hands and smiled sadly. "When we get back to France i'm buying you a very, very thick blanket!"

"Thankyou" Aramis smiled gratefully, sipping at the hot aromatic beverage "but it really is not necessary"

"Nope" D'artagnan shook his head "you can't stop me, i'm buying you one" he stuck his tongue out playfully and was gifted with an exasperated shake of the head.

They settled into a companionable silence, Aramis leaning tiredly into Athos, eyelids drooping tiredly in the comfort of his brothers.

A/N: Sorry for the delay everyone! School got on top of me :( However... it is half term, so hopefully I should be able to update a couple of times this week maybe :D Thanks for all the reviews and as usual let me know what you think :D