Chapter Text
Athos, Porthos and Aramis. These three names were well known throughout the garrison. They were skilled swordsmen, fighters, and marksmen. Each of them individually possessed a talent for handling dangerous situations. The three of them together were a near-unstoppable force, able to complete missions that would normally need a legion of at least ten musketeers to achieve. They had stopped plots to kill the King and Queen, protected nobles and ambassadors, but had also saved common Parisians and Frenchmen from criminals too. This had led them to become some of Captain Treville’s most trusted musketeers.
Athos, Porthos and Aramis became brothers though the shared hardships and trials of their missions. They relied upon each other in battle, to watch each other’s backs and ensure that all three of them returned from each mission assigned to them. Trust between the three developed through these missions, and the trust continued to grow away from battles in their lives in Paris. Each of the three had their own personal hardships and struggles from their pasts that when alone could haunt them but with each other they were able to trust and rely on one another to help. Yet, their friendship was not only built upon this, their friendship also grew as when together they could joke, laugh and smile. All of this had resulted in these three musketeers becoming the inseparables.
All musketeers would sometimes train together, and during large operations work together. Other musketeers did hold a great deal of respect for the inseparables and a code of brotherhood existed between all musketeers, yet there was a distance between the inseparables and the other musketeers. The trust, the closeness, and friendship the inseparables had were exclusive to one another. A few others tried to join their group, or invite the three musketeers to join other groups in various recreational activities, but the inseparables remained a three, and other groups were content to be separate as that was the way life worked at the garrison….or at least that was how it used to work until a certain d’Artagnan charged into the musketeers’ lives.
At first D’Artagnan appeared to be a brave fool when he stormed into the garrison and demanded a duel with one of the best swordsmen of the musketeers. It quickly became apparent during the fight between D’Artagnan and the three musketeers that this boy had talent. Then, the help he gave to Aramis and Porthos was vital in clearing Athos’ name and avenging the fallen musketeers. For this all the musketeers were grateful.
Yet, this did not prevent many at the garrison from being surprised when d’Artagnan stayed. Although, the boy had demonstrated some raw talent, d’Artagnan was young with little experience in battle. Whereas many other musketeers had previously been soldiers while other musketeers had gained their commissions through the prestige of their noble family names. In contrast, d’Artagnan came from a humble background, from a small farm in Gascony, a generally quiet and peaceful area of France. Thus, it was a surprise to many that d’Artagnan chose to remain in the loud and busy Paris.
However, the biggest surprise came was not that D’Artagnan stayed and began training to be a musketeer. No, the garrison were more surprised when a friendship appeared to be forming between D’artagnan and the inseparables. He spent more time with them than any recruit had spent with the three musketeers before. They took time training him, but also spent time showing d’Artagnan the city and time relaxing at their favourite taverns. A friendship was forming, and after the four had returned from their mission dealing with Bonnaire in Le Havre, it was becoming more obvious that the inseparables were becoming a group of four….And a few other musketeers at the garrison were not happy with this.