Snow, Forest... Heaven. The Nightshade was relentless in his search, how dare they take his tiny white Queen, his subordinate turned lover. Yet, not matter how much anger he harbored he knew in essence he had failed her in many, many ways. Had he now any right to call her his Nurse?! They had not spent much time together before her impromptu departure, there was no need for endless meetings at least d'Artagnan always thought he knew what she was saying without the words. Her subtle movements and mischievous eyes, those he still could not read, however, but wasn't that the way it was meant to be? Her loyalty had been the purest and he had repaid her badly. A wild encounter with Lady Night, his inability to keep her safe... d'Artagnan had been aware all his life of the monster that lay within his heart, he had not chains strong enough to keep it at bay and age was making his mind more susceptible to the crushing truth that he had, for a very long time, ignored.

By the time he paused in his woeful brooding, nostrils had flared in exertion as the bloodied stallion finally found himself gazing out across the Heavenly Fields. A pretentious name, or so d'Artagnan thought, there was nothing quite heavenly about it. Not this close to the scheming sun that was finally beginning to set, taking the edge off the overbearing heat, but still it was far too warm for the Doctor's liking. Hooves followed paws and both horse and hell's servant made their way over to the nearby stream, relieving their parched throats and taking a moment to catch their breath. It was only just a whiff of Kou's scent that Aramis had caught, it had become fresher the closer they got to the fields, but as of yet neither soul had yet to lay eyes on the elusive pearl of the Nightshade's eye.

So the pair decided to wait, glancing about here and there looking for the silver mare, knowing that she would either appear or the scent would get colder. If the latter happened, Aramis would go out again and track her down. A sense of tranquility settled over d'Artagnan, he was still nervous as to how she was going to react, but he couldn't hide his pleasure of being so close to her. For a while, he closed his eyes, enjoying the briefest moments of total peace. The calm before the storm.

[throws sticks at icky opening]