December Desolation Chapter 23
"D'artagnan!"
"D'artagnan! Where are you?"
"D'artagnan, answer me!"
Athos dropped his hands in despair from where they were cupped around his mouth, wherever their wayward brother was, he was not in hearing distance of his shouts. He was reaching the end of his tether with this entire situation, first Aramis and now D'artagnan, when was it going to end.
He spun neatly on his heel and retreated inside to join his two remaining brothers.
"Oh no" Aramis sighed taking in the grim expression marring Athos' face, the thinning of his lips and furrowed brow signified bad news that they had all been hoping to avoid.
"He's nowhere to be found"
Porthos swore colourfully and lashed out, kicking the chair nearest him viciously and immediately regretting it as his toe complained loudly.
"We're going to have to wait until morning and try to pick up a trail then, hopefully there will be something left after so long"
The men clustered together to wait for the morning, wrapping themselves around one another for comfort.
Bright and early the next morning, all three men were up bright eyed and bushy tailed, well two of them were. Aramis was still blurry eyed and rumpled, his injuries sapping his strength, making him lethargic and he was stumbling around collecting up his things.
"Come on you silly man"
Porthos observed Aramis' fumbling with a fond smile and grabbed him by the shoulders, herding him out the door and into Athos' waiting arms. He told Athos to keep an eye on the fool and returned a few minutes later with both of their saddlebags, one tucked beneath his arm and the others swinging by their straps from his hands.
"Right, c'mere" Porthos grabbed Aramis around the waist and hoisted him unceremoniously onto the back of his horse, mounting himself behind his friend and holding him closely against his chest.
Ignoring Aramis' vehement protestations, he spurred his horse into movement and urged him to keep an eye out for tracks. Aramis was the best at tracking amongst them, always able to pick up the most intricate of details that most men would have missed, and following it throughout the densest of forests and deepest rivers. They could only hope that his fever addled brain would be able to focus enough to pick up any tracks that D'artagnan had left after his disappearing act the night previous.
In the end it was Athos who spotted it.
A scrap of brown leather was fluttering in the wind like a flag, it had snagged on a branch halfway up the tree, the sharp needles of the hawthorn had sliced easily through the doublet like a hot knife through butter, leaving it speared there for them to find. It was difficult to tell if it had been left behind deliberately as some kind of Hansel and Gretel style trail of breadcrumbs, or if it had just been an accident, an inevitability when stumbling through the underbrush whether willingly or under duress.
"Over there"
They all pulled their horses to a halt, them tossing their heads in aggravation at being manhandled by the men who had their minds on something else. Sun was streaming through the gloomy clouds and reflecting off the moisture on the grass and the frost, making them shine like diamonds on a rather leafy crown and dazzling the men as they tried to peer through the undergrowth.
"That's definitely his, only he wears such a light suede colour, never understood why it was a nightmare to clean blood off" Athos mumbled
"Look down" Aramis pointed out tiredly, "there are drag marks, and footprints from at least two men but no signs of a struggle. With only two men they must have knocked our young gascon out for him to be so compliant"
"I'll kill em, I will" growling rumbled through Porthos' chest and shook Aramis where he was leaning against him.
A pale hand knocked Porthos awkwardly in the shoulder "please no more mon amis, I already feel sea sick"
"Sorry Mis"
"It's quite alright"
"It's not alright!" Athos bellowed, anger welling up inside him as he listened to his friend's petty discussion "D'artagnan is missing and what are you doing? Arguing that's what!"
"It wasn't an argument" a pout settled on Aramis' face despite the gravity of the situation, genuinely upset at the veiled accusation of not caring about what had happened to their youngest brother. "Twas merely a discussion"
"Well, discuss things later if you would"
Warm breath gusted over Aramis' ear as Porthos' chest pressed closer to his back and his lips lingered by his ear "someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning"
"Aye" he agreed "but let's leave him be, he is understandably upset"
"That doesn't mean he should take it out on you!"
"As much as I appreciate your concern Porth, I know he does not mean it, also you would not be much better in his situation. We all care about young D'artagnan, but Athos more so, as such his behaviour is understandable."
Their conversation came to an abrupt halt as they glanced up and found their leaders icy blue eyes fixed upon them, narrowed into angry sits as he glared frostily.
"Aramis" his tone was clipped "do you have enough of a track to follow?"
He gulped and nodded hesitantly "but you know as well as I do Thos that only time will tell, I may be able to follow it now but there's no counting for later"
The muscle in Athos' clenched jaw jumped rhythmically as he contained his frustration, the strain in his brother's voice and the lines of pain around his eyes made him regret his earlier outburst and he dearly wished to not allow it to happen again.
"Yes, I know but we have to try"
The sun was beginning to sink lower in the sky as time wore on, the shadows of the trees around them lengthening and the air becoming chillier and chillier as any feeble warmth the sun had provided diminished.
With the slow disappearance of the sun, the trail that they were following began to disappear too. Aramis having to squint more and more as the light available was practically non-existent, or at least dim enough that he was having trouble making out any disturbances in the dirt.
"Athos we need to stop" Porthos called wearily, a disturbing sense of déjà vu washing over him, positive he had said those very words before in the same situation.
"Not while D'artagnan is still out there" Athos called back over his shoulder, posture stiff and voice betraying nothing of his feelings "we must find him. Where to next Aramis?... Aramis?"
When their brother failed to answer Porthos glanced down in alarm at him where he was resting against his chest, and was relieved to see his chest gently rising and falling with the rhythm of his breath in sleep. Athos gave an outraged cry at the sight however and made a move to give the Spaniard a shake, only to find his arm seized in the iron grip of his other brother.
"Don't… You… Dare" Porthos ground out menacingly.
"How can he sleep at a time like this! He needs to be tracking!"
"I understand that you are worried about D'artagnan, God knows I understand, but I won't let you hurt Mis. You're too wrapped up in your worry to see that he is exhausted and in pain but he would never let on because he wants to help too much, wants to avoid being in a situation like Savoy once more. So if he falls asleep, you let me him, and I won't let you sacrifice Mis' health to find D'artagnan, do you hear me? Besides lights too bad for im to see anything anyway!"
Athos looked ashamed and nodded at his brothers words. "You are quite right mon amis, we shall stop for the night to rest and carry on the search tomorrow."
A/N: Ah but will they find D'artagnan tomorrow? Wait and find out! :D
