It had been a perfectly normal morning for Evie Frye up until when she had decided to straighten up her bedding and settle the two stuffed animals she had gotten during the Advent Calendar period: a bald eagle, slightly smaller than the real thing, and a round, tiny buffalo that Evie thought was quite funny looking. They had taken up residence beneath the pillows on Evie’s bed and she always put them back there in the morning.
Only, this morning, instead of merely sitting there like every other day the stuffed animals began animating as if out of some ludicrous horror story. They moved incomprehensibly, or perhaps it was the fact that they had just been inoffensive, fleece toys a moment ago.
Right now the eagle was taking flight at her face and the buffalo was ambling through the bed too. It snarled, and the eagle came close enough for Evie to see the light reflect off of its very real beak before she dodged out of the way with a shout. The eagle continued coming at her, the buffalo charging at her through the floor where it had fallen and while the latter was of no concern, an eagle with a real beak and a seemingly real anger problem was a concern whatever size it took on.
Evie darted out of her room, pulling the door behind her only for the buffalo to stand between it and the frame; when she attempted to swat at the eagle it clawed her on the arm and Evie resumed her running, weapons either in the room she had just left or at the base she was nowhere near. Hearing the flapping of impossible wings and the pitter patter of tiny charging buffalo hooves behind her Evie darted through the corridor looking for anything to be used as a weapon, but nothing would really do; she was loathe to ruin her housemates’ things and her only hope was that she had left her umbrella outside on the porch by the door. However, as she ran outside the eagle caught momentum and beaked her on the back of the head. It was terribly painful, disorienting, and made it so Evie continued running rather than keep trying to locate her umbrella.
Still in her pajamas and thankfully also her slippers Evie continued running, and slipping, and being attacked by the eagle when she stopped to avoid falling. Eventually she ran around a corner, able to hide between two houses for a moment, and upon looking up into one of the windows she noticed a large stuffed bear. It was light beige and enormous, the size of the entire window in height. Despite her current predicament, Evie couldn’t help her endearment.
That was when the bear burst through the window and flopped onto the ground, still very much fleece and button eyes but real growls - real claws, too. Evie was horrified at the sight of the cute, fluffy enormous bear getting up from its fall and turn to look at her. While it had no expression it was no less threatening than the eagle she still heard. When it growled again, its teeth were not plastic.
Evie resumed her running.
Snowstorms were beginning to feel like the norm in Atlantis, and as he looked out at the snow blowing about his front door he really didn’t feel like going out. It was going to be miserable, he was sure of it, an as he stepped out to face the biting wind he muttered how he wished it were sunny.
Lo and behold, the moment the words escaped his lips he was surrounded by sunshine and warmth. Odd, for certain, especially since outside of the five-foot radius it was still snowing. He let out a breath, and would have been happy to continue with some experimentation when he heard the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching.
Now there were those in Atlantis that enjoyed early morning runs especially in this weather, but he could tell by the cadence that these were not those. They were frantic almost, and he had the sense to draw his rapier from his side, and hold it loosely in his right hand. He hurried toward the sound, happy that the sun was following him, and when he turned the corner of one of the nearby houses he noticed a woman running toward him.
“What’s the ma-” he started to say when he noticed that there was a fairly large stuffed bear that was running toward her, along with a buffalo and an eagle flying overhead. His eyes widened, and he immediately held his sword at the ready, but the space in between houses was barely enough room to fight off the stuffed attackers.
Despite her ample health and large lung capacity, everything on the mental side of things was making Evie pant a little more than usual and she wished she had her hidden blade to mitigate some of this mess. Stopping herself while frantically running with slippers on snow was an impossible task and she did slide into D’Artagnan, hands on his shoulders with enough momentum to push him back before she could stop.
“The stuffed animals I see all come alive! And their hunting appendages are real.” She turned and tugged at her pajama jacket to show where the eagle had clawed her from the nape of her neck to the back of her head. She could feel it throbbing, probably bleeding. The eagle flew overhead as the bear bounded over. The tiny round buffalo, however, was also hilarious. No time to laugh however. “They are not as flimsy as they appear despite being made of fabric and stuffing.”
D’Artagnan tried to take in all her words. Stuffed animals coming to life was definitely not something he expected, but these were the sort of things he had to get used to in Atlantis. He steadied Evie, and made sure to separate her from the animals. “We need to separate them from one another. Especially that bird.” He saw the blood seeping, and his chivalry would not allow this woman to face this alone.
He swung his sword at the buffalo to send it flying away from them, and pierced the eagle with he tip of his blade. It did not die, however, instead its wings were flapping frantically as it tried to remove itself from the sword. “My house isn’t far off. Number 4,” he said to her. “Run toward it. I’ll catch up!” D’Artagnan flicked his sword hard enough to remove the bird, and then kicked the bear with a front kick. When he had a moment he ran to meet up with the woman so they could figure out what to do next.
It was odd that the longer Evie spent near this man, the more bearable the air became. As if he was warming it. Or perhaps it was the adrenaline speaking, and no one was warming anything at all. She looked on, horrified, as the stuffed animal did not die upon being stabbed. Evie supposed it made sense as it wasn’t technically alive.
“I can fight, I only need…” Evie kicked the buffalo, who was a little more robust than last she had held it, and her slipper-clad foot took a lot more of the force of the kick than what she was used to. “Ahh! Blasted creature! All right, all right I am not equipped for fighting.”
She ran as instructed, and it wasn’t long before the man was joining her. “I can only assume if they are destroyed they will stop, but- if this is a temporary malady of this place I wouldn’t like to deprive a child of her undoubtedly beloved bear.”
When D’Artagnan caught up with Evie they were at the front porch steps of his house. He ushered her up, the creatures not far behind but far enough away that they were able to get inside and shut the door behind them. He breathed in relief, and smiled over at her. “I think that she’ll understand since it did come to life.”
They started to bang on the door, though they were full of fluff their bangs were loud and strong. “I’ve another rapier over there,” he nodded toward his room that was to the right of the foyer. “I heard you said you can fight, and that’s what I have. Unless a gun is more to your liking?”
It was then he noticed that the woman was clad only in sleep clothes and slippers. “There are extra shoes lying about,” he offered. “I don’t think my housemates will mind once they understand the circumstances.”
Evie smiled back between pants and leaned her back against the door. She wiped the sweat off her brow, considering whether to have the rapier or the gun. “I don’t mind either, honestly. I suppose, though, if you are using the rapier I should cover you with the gun?”
Nodding in thanks Evie set about finding a pair of shoes that fit her as well as possible, vowing to return them and come back for her slippers eventually. She slid on some boots that were a little tight as she spoke. “Thank you for your aid. I am Evie, I don’t believe we’ve met.”
“D’Artagnan, of the King’s Musketeers.”He couldn’t help but bow when he introduced himself. “Though there is no French monarchy here, so just D’Artagnan. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Evie.” He bowed his head once more in respect, and grinned when he saw she had found some shoes. “I’m glad you found shoes,” he said. “Though the snow won’t be a bother for us. Apparently whatever weather I’m thinking of is appearing around me, and I have been thinking about sun.”
He grinned at her before he pulled the gun from the holster on his hip. “Here you go,” he said. “I appreciate the cover. Also…” he slipped off his leather jacket and handed it to her. “It may be warm, but you may want jacket nonetheless.”
Widening her eyes at the revelation of who he was, Evie’s expression broke into a smile of surprise and she curtsied after a fashion. “And a pleasure to meet you. These are a bit tight, but they will do. And I must say your current affliction is rather useful presently. Do keep sunshine in your mind.”
Taking his gun, Evie turned it around in her hands to get used to the model, cocked it, and nodded. She was ready to go. The jacket, however, she was more hesitant to accept. “Oh no, I couldn’t. I am fine, truly, especially if it remains warm around you. Please, keep your jacket D’Artagnan, thank you.”
That very moment, the bear started to break the door. “We should move.”
“Right,” D’Artagnan said. “Let’s head out the back door.” He let Evie go ahead of him despite the fact that she looked very comfortable with the gun that he gave her. Impressive, he thought to himself, but it didn’t stop him from being chivalrous and putting himself between her and the danger.
He kept his thoughts sunny as they ran outside, the snow melting around them by the magic that Atlantis had bestowed upon him that morning. It was lucky happenstance for the current situation. This escape would have been much harder in the snow.
The stuffed animals gave chase with their surprising speed. The bear was gaining ground, and D’Artagnan stopped to swipe at it with his sword. He lopped off an arm, and felt decidedly guilty about it all. This was a child’s toy, and here he was ruining it. At least it was for the sake of survival. For all of their fluff their claws and teeth and talons were real, and painful when it was able to slice at flesh. The bear had lunged forward with mouth gaped open, and chomped down on his leg.
“Aaargh,” the Musketeer grunted. He was subject to the stuffed bear’s teeth, and it would not let go despite how hard he tried to kick it away.
Despite all Evie had seen, the visual of a sweet adorable children’s toy having bits lopped off wasn’t easy to stomach. There wasn’t much time to think about that, however, as the bear had swiftly attacked D’Artagnan. Now it was time for Evie to show her skills with a musketeers…musket, which she did swiftly and without complaining. By the time she was done, the bear was quite torn to bits, fluff filling the air as it toppled onto the ground in front of D’Artagnan. Evie stepped forward, wanting to offer D’Artagnan her support in case he couldn’t stand on his leg, but spared one last shot for the bear just in case.
“Are you all right, D’Artagnan?” She finally asked, turning to him. Before she could, yet again, help him with his leg, there was another pesky toy that needed a bullet to the middle. “Oh I foresee a lot of sewing in my future…”
D’Artagnan looked at the remains of the bear, slightly embarrassed that it had held on for as long as it had considering it was a child’s toy (albeit with very real teeth). He smiled at Evie after the small battle, a sheepish grin across his lips. “Thank you for that,” he said to her. “That little ass really had its teeth in me.” He looked down at his leg, blood seeping from the open wound. It stung, but the Musketeer had had worse in his life.
“I think I can stand,” he said though he held onto Evie just in case his leg faltered. It didn’t, and he limped alongside of her in the warmth of his special weather abilities. The stuffed eagle was flying overhead of them, and D’Artagnan was all too aware of its presence. He kept an eye on it, waiting for it to dive bomb the pair of them, but it seemed to be holding off for the moment.
“Never a dull day in Atlantis, hm?” There was a bench alongside the sidewalk, and he hobbled over to it before plopping himself down. “If you want, I can help with the sewing,” he offered. “I’m actually fairly handy with a needle and thread.”
After seeing D’Artagnan to the bench, Evie smiled at his thanks and his offer of help. “I think we’ll need a better hand with the bear, but other than that I think I must take you up on the offer. This place really is a mixed bag of blessings and curses.”
That moment, the eagle began swooping down and Evie was quick to load and cock the gun. She fired a straight shot that had it fall into a pile of fluff on the ground. She sighed. “I liked that eagle. It’s quite tied to the Brotherhood I belong to. I suppose we can start sewing that one.”
“The Brotherhood?” D’Artagnan was curious about what Evie meant when she mentioned the name, but he didn’t want to pry. He nodded afterward when she said she wanted to start on the eagle. “I would enjoy that,” he said. “And I think we could handle the bear, don’t you? I mean, we’ll just need some cloth and more stuffing.” He grimaced a little as he looked at it since it was quite all over the place. “He’ll be a little patchwork, but it could be cute.”
He let out a sigh, and then looked over at Evie. “Well it was nice meeting you despite the circumstances. Perhaps we can do this again, when it’s more calm.”
“Hmm yes. The name, Assassin Brotherhood, sounds more eerie than it is. And as we are adept at sight and surveying all from high places, we fancy ourselves kin with eagles to an extent. It becomes a mascot of sorts.” Evie smiled, and then sighed again as she foresaw the next few hours of her life being spent collecting the innards of stuffed animals. She began collecting what remained of the eagle. “We can attempt. I do quite like the idea of a patchwork bear.”
She looked to D’Artagnan as she finally sank onto the bench, happy to bask in the warm weather he appeared to bring with him. “ It was nice meeting you as well. You are quite the legend where I am from. And I would be happy to tell you about my Brotherhood in a less urgent setting one of these days.”