Halt watched his apprentice quietly studying his geography. Intensely. And Will usually avoided geography the way one would avoid a battleaxe.

Yes, decided Halt. There's definitely something wrong with Will.

"Halt?" Will's questioning tone roused Halt from his musing. Maybe there was nothing to worry about…

Will pointed to a section of the map he'd been studying for the past ten minutes. "This means that there's a forest in this area, right?"

Halt's temporary anticipatory elation of Will's question fell flat. "Yes."

"Thank you." And he went back to studying.

There was definitely something to worry about.

As Will slept, Halt pondered how he could cheer him up, then realized that, other than Ranger training, he had no idea what Will interests were.

He resolved to ask Horace about it in the morning.

Music. Will likes music. How am I supposed to cheer him up with music?

Halt was slowly riding Abelard through town on his way back to his cabin. The only musical instrument he could think of was a flute, and there was absolutely no way Halt would go anywhere near the blasted things.

Suddenly, a dog came out of nowhere and ran in front of Abelard's front hooves, making his stop abruptly. Halt watched idly as it ran beside a music shop and disappeared into an alley beside it.

Music shop?

Halt turned Abelard and walked to the window display of the shop, which had a lute on display.

No, not a lute, a mandola. There was some string difference that Halt couldn't be bothered to study too closely.

Halt looked at the mandola for a bit, and then shrugged. It was worth a shot. He walked into the shop.

"You got me a lute?"

"It isn't a lute, Will, it's a mondola. I expect you to know the difference," Halt said sternly.

"It isn't that you got me the lu-mandola," Will said. "It's that you got me something that has nothing to do with Ranger training."

Halt walked to the table and poured himself a cup of coffee. "Even Rangers have to take a break and have fun every so often."

"Of course, your idea of fun is making me work 'til I ache."

Halt looked over his shoulder and Will's eyes widened.

"I said that out loud, didn't I?"

Halt turned around fully and sipped his coffee. "Apparently so."

"Uh, sorry," Will said. Then he ran forward and hugged Halt, almost making him drop his cup of coffee. "Thanks, Halt. I love you."

Halt patted Will's head somewhat awkwardly. "You're welcome. Keep in mind, however, that when you're learning to play, you do not make fun of anybody, or you will be spending the night in a tree."

Halt looked into Will's bedroom. The mandola was packed neatly into its case on a chair by the window. Will lay on his bed, sleeping with a slight smile on his sixteen-year-old face.

"Goodnight, Will. I love you too." Halt said, and then he closed the door. On the other side of the door, an ecstatic grin spread across Will's face. He turned on his side, facing the window.

"Thanks Halt. For everything."

A/N: Anybody who reviews and and includes lyrics to 'Graybeard Halt' in their review get virtual oakleaf cookies with the name of their favourite RA character on them (as long as you tell me what your fave character is).

A/N: Okay, this was originally post as its own story before (which explains the Author's Note below this) and I had to take it down because a reviewer said that they would report me if I didn't, so please read this and tell me if you'll participate or not. And please don't be mad if you read it and didn't want to.

A/N: Okay, I know this technically isn't allowed, but more people are likely to see it here than on my profile. Also, I've only read up until Book 7, so tell me if you go beyond that. Please read until the end of this thingy!

EDIT: A couple of people didn't know what I meant when I said 'Ranger's Apprentice simile of metaphore', so I'm going to clarify right now. An RA simile or metaphore is like a regular simile of metaphore, but referencing the series. Like, somebody is built like a Skandian, or cruel like a Temujai. Those are only a couple of examples.

EXTRA EDIT (I can't believe I didn't put this earlier): Special thanks to Rowana Renee' for helping me make this challenge.

Attention all readers of my stories and random visitors to my profile, who are also fans of RANGER'S APPRENTICE. I have a challenge for you.

THE CHALLENGE: Write a story about Gilan's apprenticeship to Halt. Because, unfortunately, John Flanagan won't be doing that.

WHAT IS ALLOWED: References to the books, OCs (up to three, not including Gil and Halt's families), fluff, angst, crack, mild romance, one-shots, up to five swear words.

WHAT ISN'T ALLOWED: Slash, chapter stories (sorry, but that'll take too long), more than five swear words, fics that say RA sucks and nobody should read it (parodies are allowed).

WHAT WILL NOT BE TOLERATED: Very bad grammar, very bad spelling (that you don't make an effort to correct), the 'F' word (you know, the actual one), the 'S' word.

WHAT WORDS ARE REQUIRED: Fall, ache, twinge, shadows, candle, leaf, cloak, dagger, spoon, vile, flower, fire, report, letter, melt, twit (I love that word).

WHAT PHRASES ARE REQUIRED (four to six out of six): "But, Halt...!", "It's called Sarcasm.", "Not like I had anything to do with it…", "But that's not how…!", " Drop of ink.", "And you're here because…?"

THE LAST REQUIREMENT: Every story MUST contain at least one Ranger's Apprentice simile or metaphor.

Once you have finished, message me (don't forget this step) the title of your story so I can put it in my RANGER'S APPRENTICE CHALLENGE COMMUNITY.

UPDATE: Multiple entries are allowed, and every month I will be picking my five favourite stories, and I might specify a genre after a while.