It was Aramis who picked up the distress signal. The ever-alert hound was tracking down a moose when he heard shouts echo across a normally sleepy Basin. It wasn’t just any shout either; it was a familiar voice of a white-faced mare and a scream from a family member who caused the cur to halt his hunt, casting about a keen glance. What was happening that had made Aviya so distressed? Of the entire dynasty she was the last he’d thought to hear shouting with such vigorous urgency. Her tendency to be independent and wild meant that Aramis paid little heed to whether she was well or not, he knew she would be, the world would be a very dark day when the eldest daughter of Nightshade fell into ruin. Yet, it was her voice he had heard so clearly and the hound was quick on his paws to return to d’Artagnan.

Aviya calls! It sounds urgent. The bonded alerted his cherry coated friend to the live events occurring to which the Mender looked up with a perplexed expression that mirrored that of Aramis’ from earlier. Intrigued and a little concerned that perhaps the killer of Kou had come for his daughter too, d’Artagnan made haste across the Time Lords land with his gaze intent on the horizon before two figures came into view and the shade felt his heart skip. Ráeru!

He pressed forwards at speed until he was upon them with a wild gaze set across his features. Cloven hooves slid his body to a halt and Aramis padded forward, looking at Aviya with a quick examination before moving on to the glass child at the centre of attention. "Ráeru" the Doctor exclaimed, unknowingly answering his eldest’s question, gazing at the pale skin and blue eyes before his face cast away. Despite his gruff demeanour and rugged appearance, d’Artagnan struggled to look at his child properly as everything about her was Kou. It was like she had been born again, but in the end he knew she wasn’t the Nurse and that his lover was indeed dead. The poor babe was a walking reminder of how cruel fate (or karma) had been and yet, on the flip side, how fortunate still that she remained alive.

Taking a gulp of air, the shade turned back to his brood and forced his mismatched eyes to look upon his youngest. "You… look just like your mother" his voice trembled.