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Treville had given, had been bullied into giving them, a holiday. Or as close to a holiday that they could manage being the top four musketeers in the garrison. Light duties, it was better than nothing and they got out of the most recent parade. Porthos had been rather happy about that fact when he heard. The sun was hot over Paris and the group had ridden to a small field just outside of the city to escape the smell that worsened in the heat. D’Artagnan had been forced to bring paperwork and letters from his estate as he had very little time to deal with them other wise. But in the sun and gentle breeze it was not too unpleasant a task.
D’Artagan was lounging in the shade of a large oak his brow furrowed as he read a letter from his estate, a glass of wine in one hand and the letter in the other. Anumpama was lead on her back letter Athos rub her belly as he read a book. The quietness of the scene was only broken occasionally by the sound of Aramis and Porthos voices as they played cards. Bijou had taken up residence in the tree above them and had taken to preening herself beak to tail. Well, if she had the time she might as well. Athos looked over at the younger musketeer. “Something worrying you?” He asked closing the book. D’Artagnan shook his head. “Just something about the crops not growing as well as the should be on fields. I can’t do anything about it I was just being informed.” He said folding the letter and moving it to a pile of important documents. Athos reached out and touched D’Artagnan shoulder. “Can’t fix everything” He agreed with the other man. He was about to speak again when there was a shout from the other pair. Athos raised an eyebrow. “Won again Aramis?” Athos asked an indulgent smile on his face. Aramis nodded and headed towards Porthos. “Every time.” He said laughing and coming over to sit with them for a bit. Evette was rolling in the grass and happily and followed the flop down next to Anu before yawling contentedly. Porthos followed sulking comedically as he slumped down on the grass. “I always loose.” He said sulkily and moaned unhappily. Adelynn looked at him and rolled her eyes. “I don’t know why you still play. Your right, you always loose.” She said and rested her heard on her paws. Athos laughed and closed his book. “Aramis you are not fair on him.” He said in a mock scolding tone. Aramis shrugged and smiled coyly. “Hey what ate you on about?” Porthos asked demanding of the pair but was cut of from his answer when there was a high pitched scream
They all froze, daemon and human alike. After a second Bijou took to the sky and circled looking for any sign of the reason for the scream. Just as she was about to come back down she spotted a small boy running. “There.” She called to Athos. Athos stood and headed in the direction that Bijou had directed them in. He saw a small boy run, he was holding something to his chest. As he got closer he noticed that it was a small dog, a fluffy little thing that was licking at his face with gusto and seeming just as happy as the boy. “You there?” Athos called out, he could see the happiness but the musketeer in him needed to make sure that everything was okay. The boy stopped short and came over. “Yes Sir?” He asked still beaming and holding the dog. “What happened?” He asked his mind forming an idea. “She settled.” He declared with excitement holding the dog up. “Look, she’s perfect isn’t she.” Athos looked at the daemon and nodded smiling himself. “She defiantly is.” He said quietly and ruffled his head softly. “On you go then, I am sure that your parents will want to see her and all your friends.” He said rushing the boy in the direction of Paris. The boy nodded and ran off again pressing the Daemon to his chest.
Athos returned to the group with a soft smile on his face and Bijou on his shoulder. “Nothing to worry about guys. A small boy, his daemon settled and he is rather happy about it.” He said as he sat back down. “I remember being that happy about it.” He said smiling reminiscently. D’Atagnan looked at his soul bonded with inquisitive eyes. “Well, what happened? When did it happen?” He asked, he had never really brought it up as Athos had hardly any good memories in his past but this seemed to be a bright point. Athos looked him over and then shrugged. “Okay.” He said and leant back into the tree looking up in the sky with a soft smile on his face.
“I was fourteen, a late settler.” He said remembering with a smile. “I was really worried that she would never settle. Mother kept telling me. Athos it will happen when it happens. Never like that answer. Always went off into a huff after that. Then one day I was out sulking after one of these arguments. I had turned fourteen the day perviously and had gone to my mother that morning. I want her to settle, Is there something wrong with me. I was very unhappy with the fact that at fourteen I hadn’t settled. Mother had patted me on the head and said ‘Athos, it will happen when it happens’ I had stormed off and was sat sulking in a field. Bijou was a cat at this point , chasing butterflies in the field. She jumped to catch one and changed her form, in a split second when she came crashing down to the ground she was how she is. Suddenly everything clicked and everything felt right. I screamed in delight and picked her up squeezing her to my chest. I was so happy. Actually managed to give myself a few bruises from my grip. Mother had heard and come rushing out. Seeing what had happened she came over and rested a hand on my head and said. ‘See it happened when it happened’.” He finished the story with a wide smile on his face and looked at Bijou. “She settled perfectly and I learnt that everything will happen when its meant to and not a moment before.”
d’Artagnan watched Athos speak and smiled as he moved and recounted his story, it was good to see this smile and hear about this happy time before Milady, Thomas death and everything else that could have happened. “Wow, who would have thought that you were impatient.” He said laughing and reaching out to run his fingers through Bijou’s feathers. Athos laughed and nodded shrugging. “Right, whose next. I’m not going to be the only one sharing.” He said looking at the group. “Porthos. How about you?” He asked looking Adelynn.
Porthos shrugged and nodded and looked at his daemon too. “Well. Adelynn here managed to land me a concussion and a black eyes.” He said looking at her eyes raised and suggestive tone. Adelynn managed to shrug her shoulders and look back. “Hey, I didn’t choose to settle at that exact moment. Cut me some slack here.” She said with a barking laugh. “I’ll explain then.” Porthos said start to rub behind her ears. “I was still in the court of miracles at that point, stealing my food for myself and the other court kids. I was about 11, I think.” He thought about the age hard. “Yeah must have been. I managed to get myself caught with my hand in a bakers basket. He was not happy about it to say the least. Sent his son out to deal with me. Massive hulking lad that moved so slowly I could have walked my way around him. There me thinking this is great fun, play with him for a bit, dodge the punches at the last minuet and then when he’s tired run away.” He looks down at Adelynn with a coy smile. “So he’s swinging and lunging, broadcasting every move he’s going to make. I’m waiting and then just slipping out of reach until at the last minuet, this is until Adelynn here who has been a rat, cat and parrot up to this point jumps out of my pocket and shifts to four legs. I am so stunned but this fact, the feeling that it brings, peace and calm. I forget that theres a small mountain with fists head at me. Suddenly I have a face full of fist and then black.” He laughs at the memory. “I wake up six hours later back in the court. Adelynn led next to me with a lot of worried faces and a banging headache. Charon looks down at me and says. She settled then? Took three days for the concussion to go away.” He ruffled her fur and laughs even louder.
D’Artagnan and Athos are just starting at him with wide open eyes and a slight expression of horror. Aramis on the other hand was laughing himself stupid, rolling about on the grass with Evette. “That is so you.” He said when he finally managed to some breath back to his lungs. Porthos raised an eyebrow. “Alright then Aramis, what about you and Evette. There has to be a story there” Aramis pants as he regains control. “Story defiantly. When don’t I have a story.” Evette just shakes her head and burrows back into her satchel to hide from the embarrassment that is sure to ensue.
Aramis sits up and rubs himself down from grass before smiling and starting his story. “All started with the beautiful Emmaline. “ He said the name softly and drawing it out as he remembered her. “Beautiful Emmaline, with blond hair, rose cheeks and a happy laugh. I was 15 and wooing her, she was 18, I may have told her I was 19. Had Evette stay in the same form when I was with her. We were out in the corn fields, I was reading her some poetry, very bad poetry. How I compare thee to summers day bad. It was all going well, I comparing her eyes to the sea when Evette, who has up to this point been sat on my leg as a lynx, stand up looks at me and odd expression and sneezes. She sneezes so hard that she shifts into her fox form and falls over. I am just staring at her. I have stopped mid sentence. In shock I pick her up and check that she’s okay before smiling and starting recount how beautiful and perfect she is. With near enough the same bad poetry. I completely forget that Emmaline is there. That is until she taps me on the shoulder. I turn around and she’s stood there with this real sweet grin on her face and asks me. 19 are you, really. I should have known then I was in trouble. I nodded, thinking I still had a chance. She promptly laughs in my face, slaps me across the cheek and storms off. I couldn’t have cared less though. My Evette was perfect.” Porthos laughs, D’Artagan is just shaking his head. Athos raises an eyebrow. “Should tell Mrs Treville that story. You know what she thinks of your womanising.” He said with a cocked eye brow. Aramis shook his head. “Never, I’d join the red guard before giving that woman a reason to come after me with a frying pan.” Aramis stated before turning to D’Artagnan. “What about you? Your the only one left.” He stated and looked at him encouragingly.
D’Artagnan looked up and shook his head. “Maybe mine isn’t such a good idea to talk about.” He said being his lip. “Not as happy. Anu settled about six months after my brother died.” He admitted. Athos and Aramis looked at each other. “Hey…it’s up to you. We would still like to hear it.” Porthos nodded and poured more wine for them all. D’Artagnan took the refilled glass and nodded. “Okay. Its a sweet ending, not so great beginning.” He admitted thinking about where to start. “It was six months after my brother died, things were starting to return to something that seemed normal. There was a routine to the day again. I went to help my father in the fields for most of the day and would return before sunset to start preparing a meal. It was just me and him by then. I was nine nearly ten at the time. I was on my way home from the field like normal. Anu was a small field mouse and was in my top pocket. We took the long way home, so we didn’t have to cross the bridge over the river. I couldn’t stand going over it, not have what I had tried before.” He shivered at the memory. “We were walking down one of the lesser used roads when we came across a bandit, he was stood over another person. It was a wounded soldier. I remember him standing over him, seeing that he was going to kill him for his armour. I should have run, it was stupid but I grabbed the stick that I used to beat the corn and ran at him. Swinging like savage. Managed to get him across the back of the head pretty hard for a nine year old but in reality it just upset him. He pulled out a sword and started to come towards me. Nine years old and a complete idiot I decided that I was going to stand my ground and fight. Waved my stick at him a few times till her turned it to kindling with his sword. By now I was in front of the soldier. Reached to grab his sword. Massive compared to how tiny I was. Weighed a ton too. But it felt right in that moment, holding a sword felt right. I am about to swing it when I feel something click then right behind me there is this terrifying roar. Massive, made the ground rumble, and shake. The bandit drops the sword and soils himself. I don’t remember that though. I remember turning to se Anu, she had to be at least a foot taller than me when she was on all fours. She was stunning.” He pauses to sip the wine. “I didn’t notice father turning up, he had finished the field work early and caught up. He chased the bandit off after that. He came to my side and started to cry, he reached out and touched her. I started to cry as well. A white tiger. Like my brothers tiger just bigger and white. It made me feel whole again. Like I had part of him back. Six months of feeling empty and she settled to make me whole again.” His eyes were watering now. He shook his head to clear them. “We took the soldier home with us and patched him up, he survived and ended up working on the farm for a few months before he moved on. Never found out what happened to him.” He finished as he leant down and pressed his face into Anus fur for a few moments.
Athos smiles and leans into peck D’Artagnan on the cheek. Aramis smiles as well as Evette trots over to curl next to Anu. “Trust you to be all dramatic.” He said softly and sipped his wine again. D’Artangan nods and laughs. “Hey, can’t let you have all the good stories of daring doo.” He said lifting his glass in a toast. “To Our daemons, teaching us; it happens when it happens, keep you eye on the opponent, to watch who we woo and to protect all who need it.” The others raised there glasses and tapped them together. “To daemons.” the chorused.