Hey everyone! This is rather long one-shot I just had to do! See ya, and thanks for reading!

An oakleaf. That had been his downfall. A single oakleaf. Halt told him he shouldn't be ashamed of what had happened, but he was. He felt as if he had let Halt down.

"If only I had been more mindful of things." Will thought silently to himself.

He wasn't silent by choice, but by poison. He'd be lucky if he lived, never less talked again. A tear slid down his cheek. He shook his head. He wished Halt was here. Or Gilan. Or anyone!

Halt would be there. He wanted to be there. But right now he was being charged with a murder case that he didn't even do! Gilan was supporting Halt's side of his case. Everyone else were not allowed to see a glimpse of the three Rangers.

The door opened to let a new nurse in to take over from the one there right now. They said a few words and parted. The new nurse sat down.

"Will. Are you okay? It's me, Aylss." the "nurse" asked.

Will quickly grabbed some paper and a pen. "Aylss," he wrote. "I'm so happy to see you!"

"I'm happy to see you too Will. I'm not happy about your current condition. What happened? Rumor tells that Halt was trying to kill you. Is it true?" Aylss asked.

Will shook his head. "It's not even close to true. Halt would never even try. What happened? I prefer not to say."

"I understand. A new nurse is coming and I do believe it's Jenny. See you later Will. Get better."

Will held up his paper. It said, "I plan on it."

Aylss laughed. "We're all going to be in trouble. You're already joking."

Will smiled. Little did they know it was the first and last smile that would be seen from him for the next few days.

Meanwhile, Halt was being grimmer than ever. (And here we thought he couldn't get any grimmer) Gilan had tried his hardest to defend Halt, but had failed. Now Halt was on his own and he had to admit it he was nervous. He hadn't even done the murder, so why were they saying he did? He wouldn't even try to kill Will. His apprentices were more important to him than anything else in this world. And Will wasn't even dead, so how were they charging him with murder?!

"How do you pled Halt O'Carrik?" the judge asked.

As much as Halt didn't want to be here, the judge didn't either. This "judge" was one of Halt's best and oldest friends, Baron Arald. Halt decided to take his chances.

"Not guilty." he answered with the most confidence he could gather up.

"And why would that be?" Baron Arald questioned with an apologetic tone to his voice.

Halt understood. Baron Arald did not want to do this, but the law was the law.

"I would never even hurt my apprentice and Will is not dead, therefore I did no murder." Halt stated.

Baron Arald, Gilan, Crowley, and many others knew this was true. Now to see if it did any difference.

"Lord! You cannot possibly believe this man. I saw him myself!" a witness said.

"As did I, my Lord." someone else said. "As did I."

Halt was getting anxious and Baron Arald impatient.

"Wait," Crowley started. "Why don't we ask the one who started this all what happened?"

"That would be a great idea Crowley, but right now he can't talk. He'll be lucky if he lives, never less talk again." Lady Paulien told him.

"But he can right things on paper. Gilan would help him I'm sure." Crowley continued.

"Oh course I would. What do you say Lord?" Gilan turned to Baron Arald.

"Very well. Continue." he shook his head.

An uproar came from the other side of the room.

"QUIET! I have decided and it is finished!"

The room went quiet as Gilan pretty much ran off to find Will.

When Will saw Gilan he nearly burst into tears. He jumped off the bed and gave Gilan a hug. The nurse scowled, but did nothing to stop Will.

"Will," Gilan began. "We need you to come answer some questions to prove Halt's innocence."

"He can't leave. He's to sick." the nurse argued.

"Well it's the Baron's orders." Gilan retorted.

"Fine. You may go." the nurse snorted. "Take this. If you want answers you'll need paper."

As the walk Will asked the question that had been at the back of his mind for to long.

"Gilan," he wrote. "Do you think Halt will be proved innocent? He didn't do this to me. He would never do this to me. I just know it."

"I hope so Will. I don't want to see him go down like this. It's just not right. No one should have to go through this if they don't deserve it. And Halt deserves less than anyone." Gilan said softly.

They were quiet the rest of the trip back to the courtroom. When everyone heard the knock, they mumbled quietly. Gilan and Will walked in with the most self-confidence they could muster. Only Halt noticed that Will was making sure he didn't look at his mentor. Halt felt guilty for this. What he didn't know was that if Will looked at him he would cry.

"You okay Will?" Lady Paulien whispered to the apprentice.

Will just shrugged, resisting the urge to look at Halt. He hated seeing Halt go through this and he could see more than half of the people here also hated it too.

"Will we need you to answer some questions. I'll ask you and you write the answer down. Okay?" Baron Arald asked.

Will nodded. He looked at Halt and gave a small smile, hoping, praying that this would end well for both of them. Halt returned the smile, knowing his apprentice would do whatever he could for him. He also knew that Will COULD die. It was his worst nightmare, but his years as a Ranger were drilled into him. The saying was "If anything can go wrong it will." Halt found it strange that the last word was will. That word was impossible to avoid, Halt realized.

"Will follow me, and we'll get started." Baron Arald stood up and Will followed.

On his way out he made eye contact with Halt. His eyes held a message as clear as day.

"I won't let you down Halt, not this time."

"You never did."

An hour later Will returned looking confidant. Baron Arald and him took their places as the whole courtroom held its breath.

"I've decided that Ranger Halt O'Carrik of Redmont fief is innocent." Baron Arald said. "You are free to go."

One half of the courtroom mumbled and rumbled with displeasure. The other was smiling and happy crying. Will gave Halt a hug and his eyes shone. Halt returned the hug and smiled. He had never doughted Will one bit and he trusted Will with everything.

Will was happy he had helped Halt. There was one thing... His life was still one the line.

That night something happened. Something HORRIBLE. You'll never guess what happened. Will took a turn for the worst. And by worst I mean nothing worse or more horrible could happen. Nothing in the entire world.

It started when Will started to cough. That was fine till he started to cough up blood. Then his breathing, heart rate, and blood flow slowed. He was awake and wished he could shout for help or get up, but he couldn't talk and could barely walk by himself. And no one would find him till morning. He would be dead by then.

Halt was awake. Something wasn't right. He had heard Will coughing and had dismissed it. The healer said he would cough a lot. It was when he stopped coughing Halt got worried. Unless Will had gotten some water he shouldn't had stopped coughing. He hadn't heard his apprentice's door open so why did he stop? Halt went to check on him.

So if you can imagine Will, lying in bed, barely breathing. Then imagine you are Halt and you just saw your half dead apprentice. If you can do this then you now know what Halt thought.

Halt was not expecting that and jumped. Will was asleep, but he obviously very, very, sick. Halt, taking care not to wake Will, walked out of the room trying to decide what to do. He could go get the healer at Castle Redmont, but leaving Will was to risky. Or he could wait till morning, but Will might be dead by then.

"This is my fault. I did this. If I hadn't tried to keep him safe he would be healthy and strong still. He'll be lucky if he lives, but he'll never talk again, that's for sure." Halt said softly to himself.

He shuddered at the idea of Will never talking again. He never showed it, but he had grown into loving Will's questions. Someone stumbled up the first step and knocked on the door. Halt threw the door open and pulled Gilan inside. Once inside Halt gave Gilan a hug and cried.

Gilan was taken slightly aback by this. He had never seen his former mentor act like this. After a few minutes Halt looked up from the chair he was sitting in and smiled sheepishly. "Hi Gilan."

"Hi Halt. Are you okay?" Gilan asked. "Is something wrong?"

"Not something, someone. Gilan, Will is really sick. I'm just, just ... Afraid!" Halt suddenly shouted. "Afraid he won't make. Afraid I've failed him. Afraid I'm the reason for the way he is now. Afraid I let you both down..."

Gilan wanted to cry at the last one. "Halt you never failed either of us. You've always been there for us, and never let us give up. Don't think you did, because it's not the least bit true. And one more thing," Halt looked at Gilan. "You never gave up. You could have just given up on us and walked out, but no, you stayed with us. You corrected our mistakes, you kept us safe, and you taught us the ways of a Ranger. You were like a father to me and you are one to Will. We could never ask for a better person." Gilan put his hand on Halt's shoulder. "Never."

Halt smiled and sighed. "Thanks Gilan. Could you stay here while I go get the healer at Castle Redmont?"

Gilan nodded. "What are you waiting for? Will's depending on you! So, get!"

Halt smiled and ran out. Gilan sighed. It was going to be a LONG night...

Everyone was sad. But two people were the worst, Halt and (dun dun duhhhhh!) Will. That night a week ago had been the death of someone. Gilan. While Gilan had saved Will's life he had failed to save his own. Will would live, but him talking again was 1 in a 1,000 chance. Halt had written down the last words that Gilan had said. He knew that those words had been spoken out of love. Will was getting stronger. And in a way Halt was too. They had one person to thank for it all... Gilan.

Halt looked at sky and smiled. "Thanks Gilan. We couldn't have done it without you."

Thanks for reading my story! Reviews are greatly appreciated!