'Aramis, why are you s-slowing down?' Athos muttered as his friend slowed his pace as they ducked into a small thick copse of oak trees; the scant moonlight was instantly puttered out entirely as they disappeared into the undergrowth. 'We can't slow down...'
'I need to check your wound, Athos,' Aramis whispered, before he cursed as the handcuff cut into his wrist as he began tending to the knife still lodged in his friend's abdomen.
'It doesn't matter, we-'
'Athos if I don't sort this out now you will not survive the night.' Aramis said firmly, looking at him with such a serious and commanding expression that Athos could do no more than sit back uncomfortably and nod. 'Be quick then,' he instead said, looking round anxiously as Aramis quickly got to work.
It was quite awkward to do any sort of assessment on the wound, as as soon as Aramis moved both hands he had to contend with Athos' hand coming along as well, getting in the way as he tried to look at the damage.
He felt his pulse quicken as panic started saturating his veins; he knew he had to be quick, but shoddy work would not do Athos any good.
'How bad?' he heard his friend whisper, before he hitched in a breath as Aramis gently tried manoeuvring the blade in his abdomen.
'It...it's not good, my friend,' he whispered truthfully, sitting back and wiping bloody hands on his trousers. 'I do not want to remove the knife...if I do you'll start bleeding out. I don't have the resources right now to stitch up the wound to stop you from bleeding to death.'
'So, on a scale of one to ten...about a six?' Athos tried to joke before he gritted his teeth and breathed out a moan of pain as his abdomen flourished in pain.
'About that, yes,' Aramis chuckled quietly, swallowing hard as he looked across at his friend. He patted down his pockets, hoping he had something that could stop the blade from moving around and to quell the inevitable bleeding that would soon happen.
His heart soared as he felt a small swatch of bandage in his back pocket- he quickly fixed it around the knife so it stoppered its movements; he tried to ignore Athos' protests of pain as he did so, quietly hushing him when he became too loud.
'It's over, I'm done,' he finally said, looking at his work with some distaste. 'Once we have some decent supplies I will fix it properly.' he promised as he sat on his haunches and looked around.
The bit of forest they were in was very thick, with trees seemingly fighting for space in such a small area; the issue was that even though they were lucky that their hunters could do see them...they could not see if they were being pursued.
If Athos wasn't as badly injured as he was, Aramis would have suggested they hunkered down here for the night; they seemed to be safe from their pursuers. He looked down at his friend, could see his pale face even in the near minimal light. He needed help, and fast.
'Come on, Athos,' he whispered, reaching over and putting a hand on his shoulder, anxiety rising as he felt him shaking under his touch. 'We need to find a house, or a road, or anything.'
'W-what about Porthos...D'Artagnan?' Athos replied as he awkwardly clambered to his feet. 'We have to find them.'
'We will not leave them behind,' Aramis promised, swallowing hard as his thoughts turned to the plight of their friends before he forced himself to stop.'We need to get you treated first, alright?'
'But I-' Athos stopped mid sentence as the worst, most terrifying noise imaginable reached their ears from the darkness outside. Snarling. Growling. Baying.
'Dear God...' Aramis whispered, before he twisted a hand into Athos' coat sleeve protectively, mind whirring as men's voices now accompanied the frenzied barking of the hounds. They still sounded far away, but he knew it wouldn't be long until they caught their scent.
'We need to go, we need to go now...' he muttered, pushing Athos in the small of the back to get him to move.
'Go without me, I will just slow you down...' Athos replied, gritting his teeth as his wound flared in agony again; he had to compensate for the pain and limited movement by limping, and he was already beginning to tire.
'I have two issues with that, my friend...' Aramis whispered, before looking round and listening intently. Still they seemed a way off, so they continued pushing through the undergrowth, trying not to walk on any branches or twigs that could give away their position.
'One, you know how much I hate hero talk... and secondly-' he lifted up his hand, jingling the handcuff that tethered them together. 'I really think we're in this together!'
'I suppose you are r-right there...' Athos conceded, before he stopped as a close bark, deafeningly close, reached their ears. The two of them backed up, pushing themselves into a large, thorny bush as a man's voice accompanied it.
They pushed further into it, ignoring the thorns catching their faces and digging into their backs and hands before they finally felt a tree behind them; they could hardly see the forest floor outside- they hoped that would be enough to stop the dog from getting in.
'You found 'em, boy?' the man growled, a large glass lamp in his hand as he looked round. He stepped closer to the bush, struggling to contain the dog as he pulled on a thick rope lead.
'Go on, fetch 'em, boy!' he encouraged as the dog barked uncontrollably. Athos felt Aramis tense beside him- he knew he wasn't too keen on dogs at the best of times; they both stopped breathing as the dog finally seemed to catch their scent. It began renewing its huge energy and pulled strongly on the rope that the man was holding.
'Oh, I think he's got 'summit!' the man yelled into the darkness, laughing and whooping as the dog pulled him closer to the bush.
'You found 'em, did ya?' he shouted above the din his dog was making- Aramis heard the noise of men shouting from even further behind the man with the dog.
'Please, no more... ' he whispered in dread.
'They're in the bush!' they heard the man yell to the men who had now joined them. There was a rumble of noise as they all talked over each other. Athos guessed about three or four men had now joined the man with the dog.
'Well, let the dog off- he can get 'em for us!' one man's voice yelled above the others, to lots of noise of agreement.
'What, and have 'im get stuck in all them thorns?' the dog's owner protested. Athos almost chuckled out loud- this man was happy enough to hunt men, but grew a conscience when it came to the welfare of his dog in a thorny bush?
'Enough of this- we'll do it this way!' another man yelled, before there was a small silence, a yelp of protest from the owner of the dog as something was seemingly taken from him, and then another flare of agreement and chuckling.
The two musketeers looked at each other- Athos could see Aramis' hands and legs were now shaking, but with cold, fear or anticipation, he did not know.
Seconds later, they knew what had just happened.
The sound of glass smashing was their first clue- an eruption of orange flickering and intense heat cemented it.
'Merde-' Aramis gasped, eyes wide in fear as they saw flames licking the bush ahead of them- any second and it would spread to where they were now sat. 'Move, Athos, move! He cried, pushing Athos to the right and into another section of the thorny bush.
Athos tried not to growl out in pain as thorns slashed and dug into his cheeks, but it was hard to stop the noises of pain escaping him.
They were now bent double as they desperately scrabbled forwards, trying to escape the flames behind them; both men's wrists were on fire as they had to work around the handcuff, too.
'Keep going, keep going...' Aramis muttered, looking behind him with wide eyes- smoke was now filtering through the bush; every so often they saw a new flare of orange, indicating other lamps where being thrown at different places in the undergrowth to try and smoke them out.
'This is insane, this is insane...' he jabbered to himself as he turned back, before he brushed a large thorny branch out of his face, cursing in pain as he felt blood start to trickle down his chin.
Athos coughed as the smoke now started enveloping them both, followed by heat- surely they were nearly at the end of this blasted thorn bush now?! He thought to himself in panic.
Finally, mercifully, he saw moonlight up ahead- he renewed his efforts, adrenaline now taking over as he tore, on his hands and knees, to the end of the blazing bush.
Both men tumbled out amid a cloud of acrid smoke, the last of the thorns digging into their faces as they immediately scrabbled to their feet- 'Run Athos, go!' Aramis cried, before they began running; he did not even look behind them as they desperately ran for their lives, breathing erratically and suppressing urges to yell for help. It wasn't quick enough.
Athos yelled as he was thrown sideways onto the muddy ground, before he realised it wasn't him who had been attacked; it was Aramis. One of the men had grabbed him around the middle, bringing both Musketeers to the ground, and was now straddling him in the muddy, sodden ground, punching and kicking any part of him that he could lay his hands to- Aramis cried out in pain as he was punched in the side of his head, before another punch landed on his nose.
Athos roared out in anger and, despite the immense pain in his side, threw himself onto the man and knocked him off guard, sending him sprawling into the mud.
Aramis yelled out as the hand that tethered him to Athos was wrenched to the side, forcing him to move with the two fighting men as Athos protected him.
His mind snapped back to their evening in the barn, and his eyes widened as he remembered what he had found in his boot... he looked up as he heard Athos cry out in pain, before a horrible choking noise filled his ears.
'No!' Aramis yelled, using his shoulder to stop the man from throttling Athos - the man turned and headbutted the medic; stars erupted in his eyes and he was momentarily thrown to the floor, his head hitting and resting on Athos' leg as he lay there, dazed and teetering on the edge of consciousness.
Athos desperately scrabbled for purchase on the muddy ground as the man now focused his attention on him; again two hands wound their way around his neck and began to squeeze.
'Oh I love this part...' he breathed, laughing as Athos' eyes bulged and he began gasping and choking for breath, his heels kicking up mounds of earth as he tried to get some solid ground to fight back.
'I was 'sposed to wait for the others to come, but this is just too good to pass up!' he added, face now straining as he squeezed tightly. Athos felt himself weaken, could see the edges of his vision starting to grey... his eyes rolled up as his one good hand scrabbled weakly at the man's weathered, strong hands.
Suddenly the pressure eased, although he could hardly draw in any sort of breath as he lay on the muddy ground, stunned. The man who had been strangling him sat bolt upright, eyes bulging and mouth gaping open in a yell of pain as his eyes swivelled to his side; Aramis growled as he tore out the blade he had managed to prise from his boot from the man's side, before plunging it back into his flesh, making the man scream again.
The Musketeer pushed the man to the side as he fell still, before he crawled to Athos' side- seconds later and he yelled out in pain as he felt teeth embed themselves into his forearm, pulling him sideways; his world was suddenly a whir of black fur and yellow, huge teeth. He scrabbled at the dog as it tried to tear his arm off; he felt blood rush down his arms as the teeth got a better purchase.
He looked to the side, saw the man he had just killed had a pistol attached to a belt- he dove for it, screaming out as the dog snarled and snapped it's jaws again. There was a blinding flash and the world suddenly went silent as Aramis, sprawled on his chest as he reached for the gun, awkwardly turned and shot the dog, sending it, silent and still, to the muddy ground.
He immediately knelt up, shaking and groaning in pain, as he heard shouts and yells from behind them- he pressed the trigger again, again, again, into the men, aiming for their legs at first- he was no monster and nothing would invite the devil into him, not even this.
The situation changed as there was a return of fire- the bullet hit the soft mud next to Athos's head; another ricocheted off the tree behind them.
This was war now, Aramis told himself. It was be killed or kill- he aimed higher now, catching the men in the abdomens and chests.
Finally, the last man tumbled to the sodden ground- there was silence in the woods now, eerie and haunting.
Rain pattered onto his coat as Aramis sat back with a dazed expression on his face as he looked around, trying to ignore similarities between the scene before him and a scene from his past. He pushed the thought back to the back of his mind as he heard moaning from his side.
'Athos...' he whispered, kneeling down next to his brother and brushing his sodden, mud-encrusted hair from his face. 'Athos, come on, talk to me...' he muttered, worry spearing his chest as Athos merely lay there in the rain, his breathing shallow. He loosened his coat around his throat, hoping to invite more into his lungs.
'Come on, breathe...breathe...'he coaxed. The seconds trickled past, and slowly, slowly, Athos began to breathe normally. Aramis sat back, crossed himself and closed his eyes, a tear escaping from his eye as he looked back at his friend.
'Thought I'd lost you there, my friend,' he muttered, voice hitching as he helped Athos into a sitting position, before enveloping him in an embrace.
'Lose me?' Athos' voice was deep and pained, and he coughed into Aramis' ear as he sank into the hug. 'Never.'
Aramis nodded and chuckled wetly, before he pulled himself away. 'We need to get out of here.' he muttered, looking around at the corpses littering the forest floor. His forearms were ablaze with pain and wet with crimson; he did not want to even look at the damage the dog had caused.
'Good...idea...' Athos nodded, before they both stood. 'Let's be more prepared now, shall we?' he added, before motioning the dead; they would have no need of their weapons now.
After they had loaded their pockets Aramis took up a small pistol, looking it over. 'What's t-that for?' Athos asked, coughing and massaging his throat.
Aramis said nothing-he just lifted up his manacled hand as an answer. Athos looked at his friend.
'If you shoot my hand off I will be very upset with you.' he dead-panned, noting the smile Aramis gave him in return with relief.
They knelt on the sodden grass, their arms stretched out between them, the thick steel of the handcuff taut and rigid.
'What about ricochet?' Aramis asked, suddenly nervous. He looked around, looking for something to solve the problem; the solution came in the form of a dead man's thick, leather coat.
Aramis was certainly no expert, and had never done this before...he could only pray this worked. He folded the coat and put it on top of the handcuff chain, looking at Athos with raised eyebrows.
'Here goes nothing...' he warned, before breathing in deeply and steadying himself despite his pounding head.
Athos looked away, just in case the metal broke apart with the force of the bullet and found their way into his face from under the coat.
Aramis counted to three, steeling himself- on three he pulled the trigger, unloading the chamber to make sure it worked. The noise was deafening, but their hands sprang apart and they fell backwards onto their haunches; they looked at each other, chuckling despite themselves that it had actually worked.
'Come on,' Aramis stood up on shaking legs, his head felt heavy as lead and his whole body ached, but he could only guess Athos felt worse.
He walked over to the dead bodies scattered around, before he knelt beside two that had the same height and build of himself and Athos- quickly he removed their coats, shrugged his own Musketeer cloak off and dropped it to the ground, and pulled on the dirty coat, wrinkling his nose.
'Might help us get away?' he muttered, passing one to Athos as he came up to him.
'Good idea,' he nodded, doing the same as Aramis; he felt a pang of sadness as his blue Musketeer coat fell to the muddy forest floor.
'Let's get out of here.' Aramis muttered, a few seconds later. 'I don't think we got all of them.' he added, nodding to the dead men behind them.
Athos nodded in reply, massaging his wrist as he limped over to the medic; Aramis wound an arm around his shoulder, letting him put some weight on him as they began walking down the muddy lane, hoping it would lead to shelter, help, or Porthos and D'Artagnan.
Well, that was probably the most intense chapter of any fic I've ever done- I hope you enjoyed :)
Please review, I'd love to know your thoughts!
Next chapter up soon! X