A funny Christmas/Holiday one-shot featuring Gilan, Will, Horace, and Halt!

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranger's Apprentice. All rights go to their respectful owners.

The smell of bacon and pancakes wafted through the air. Will stumbled out of his room, his brown hair in its usual curly mess. He rubbed his eyes sleepily and yawned. As he slumped down in a nearby armchair, he glanced back to the kitchen, where Halt was preparing breakfast.

"Morning," Halt's gruff voice carried from the kitchen. Will stretched, but then, he stopped. He was forgetting something. Then, it hit him.

"Halt!" Will cried out happily. "It's Christmas, Halt! It's Christmas!" Will bounced up and down excitedly.

"Is it, now?" Halt mused, carrying two plates of bacon and pancakes to the table.

Will sat down at the table and began wolfing down his breakfast. "Can I go to the festival in the village, Halt? Pretty please?" Will mumbled through mouthfuls of food.

Halt raised an eyebrow. "And you think I'm just going to let you miss an entire day of training? he replied dryly.

Will swallowed a mouthful of pancakes. "But Alyss, Horace, Jenny, and George will be there! It's only one day! Please, Halt? I'll work extra hard tomorrow; promise!" he begged, putting on his best puppy-dog eyes.

Halt rolled his eyes and sighed. "Very well. You can go after you finish eating."

Will's smile widened further. "Oh thank you, Halt! I'll be back in a few hours." Will finished up his meal, and ran out the door.

As soon as the door slammed shut, Halt shook his head, but couldn't help a small smile tug at his face. "Apprentices are weird," he murmured to himself.

Tug's hooves clip-clopped across the cobblestone pathway. The citizens of Redmont waved and smiled at the apprentice Ranger. Will was a popular figure among Redmont, and despite his age, he was well-respected for his feats.

Will stood up in his stirrups, and peered over the crowd of bustling people. He saw a distinct head of dirty blonde hair.

"Horace!" Will called out, waving his arms so that the apprentice warrior could see him.

Horace's eyes lit up as he saw his friend, and he pushed his way through the crowd. Behind him, Gilan followed, waving to Will as well.

"Hey, Gil! Hey, Horace!" Will greeted, dismounting off Tug and pulling his two companions into a bear-hug.

Gilan ruffled the young Ranger's hair. "How are you? We haven't seen each other since the Ranger Gathering!" he exclaimed.

Will chuckled. "I'm great, Gil," he replied. Then, in a more serious, business tone, he added. "So, did you get the stuff?"

Last time the three had met, they had planned a prank to pull on Halt, and now was the time to put it into action.

Gilan nodded, and he pulled out a small leather pouch from his pocket. He poured a bit of the contents into the palm of his hand. They were small, pink, sparkly bits. Will looked closer at the sparkles and wrinkled his nose.

"What...what is that?" He asked, pinching a bit of the substance and rolling it in between his fingers.

Gilan shrugged. "The seller said this was glitter. I'm not sure exactly what it's made of, but it'll do the job," he replied, replacing the glitter back into the pouch.

Horace rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "So, are we going to go to Halt's cabin or what?"

Will nodded. "Halt didn't suspect a thing. He's probably just finished breakfast.'

Gilan, Will, and Horace mounted on their horses and trotted out of the village, and towards the direction of the cabin.

As subtle as they could be, Horace, Gilan, and Will put their horses in the lean-to stable beside the cabin.

Abelard nickered a greeting. Will quickly placed a hand on Abelard's muzzle to silence him.

"Shh, quiet, boy," he whispered. Abelard tossed his head in response, but remained silent.

As soon as they had their horses in the stable, Gilan produced three pouches of the glitter, and handed two of them to Horace and Will.

Using their Ranger skills, Will and Gilan slipped closer to the cabin, until they were outside the door. Horace followed as unobtrusively as he could, but the two Rangers cringed each time the snow made a loud crunching sound under the warrior's boots. As the trio crouched outside the door, they each reached into their pouches and grabbed a fistful of the pink glitter.

"Ready?" Gilan whispered. Horace and Will nodded. Gilan carefully rested his hand on the doorknob and prepared himself. Before he had the chance to turn the knob, the door yanked open from the other side.

Gilan stumbled back in surprise, his fistful of glitter flying from his grasp. Halt stood in the doorway, looking at the three with mild amusement.

"And why, if I may ask, were you sneaking outside my door?" Halt asked, in an sickly sweet tone.

Will heard Gilan curse as he brushed snow off him. "We were...um, we just wanted to surprise you!" Will explained, making little gestures with his hands.

"With...glitter?" Halt responded. His tone left it clear that he was not convinced.

"I mean…we were going to throw it at you…," Will replied hesitantly.

Halt arched one eyebrow and regarded his apprentice with a mixture of amusement and anger.

"Did you really think you could best me?" Halt's tone was laced with irony. "I'm not deaf, you know. I could hear Abelard greeting your horses, not to mention the loud racket of you three stumbling through the snow."

Will shrugged. "Well…" he stuttered. Suddenly, he pointed to Gilan accusingly. "It was his idea! I swear!"

Gilan glared at the boy. "You're the one that agreed with it!" he countered.

Meanwhile, despite the situation he was in, Horace couldn't help a ghost of a smile touching his face at Will and Gilan's banter.

"Well, you're supposed to be the older and mature one! I didn't know any better!" Will defended, although he knew that it wasn't a smart comeback.

Before Gilan could reply, Halt stepped in. "That's enough. Now, just because I'm a generous person-" Gilan rolled his eyes. "And because it's the holiday season, I'll let you all go unscathed," Halt said sternly, giving Will the look.

Gilan smiled, and decided to push his luck. "So, Halt...now that that's dealt with, did you get me any presents? I am, after all, your favourite apprentice, right?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

Halt looked at his at his former apprentice and smirked. "Don't push it, Gilan."

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Thanks for watching! Happy Holidays!