The whole war started because of a simple game. Maybe I should start at the beginning...
"I challenge you to a game of...TRUTH OR DARE!" Gilan said. "I challenge you all to it!" he said, pointing at Halt, Will, Evanlyn (sorry, Cassandra), Alyss, and Lady Pauline.
"I accept!" Everyone chorused...except one person.
"I have a few brains, so I shall sit back and watch." Pauline said. She knew where this all was heading.
"Fair enough." Alyss said. "I've never played, and it sounds fun so I'll give it a go."
Gilan nodded, all of a sudden seeming very serious. "Meet me at outside Halt's cabin in five!" He called, running away.
"Ok..." Will said.
*5 minutes later, outside Halt's cabin*
"Ok, I call this game to an official start!" Gilan said. He was being very...official. There was no other word for it. Just, official.
"Kay, I'll go first." Halt said. "Gilan, truth or dare?"
"Dare!"
"I dare you to go an entire week without coffee!" Halt said viciously.
Gilan paled. "Oh no, Halt... Please, no..." he said, but to no avail.
"A week." Halt said.
*The next day*
"Alright Gilan, your sentence starts today!" Halt said cheerily. Everyone was there, because everyone wanted to see his reaction-from start to finish.
"Ungh..."
Apparently, Gilan cannot get up easily without the promise of coffee looming over his head.
"Get up or a swear I will put you in the tree." Halt threatened.
"Ok, ok, I'm up. Geez Halt, you always gotta use force." Gilan said, stumbling out of bed.
*Noon*
"This is pure torture..." Gilan moaned. His head felt like it was splitting apart, and Halt wasn't helping matters any by always having that cup of coffee right on hand. He still felt half asleep.
"Don't worry, only another 6 and a half days left!" Will said, grinning. Cassandra (ha, I remembered to call her by her real name!), Alyss, and Pauline all watched with amused expressions. Horace on the other hand, already knew what was coming next.
"Will, tree." Halt and Gilan said at the same time like they had planned it.
"Why?" asked Will, confused as to why he was being punished.
"You're questioning your betters." Halt said easily.
Will scowled, having walked right into that one, and sulked his way outside and up the tree.
*the last day, so one week later*
Gilan was outside practicing archery. Halt, as usual had a cup of coffee and was practically waving it under his nose. Gilan however, was over his coffee addiction. Not that he wasn't going to get Halt back at some point in time for all those hours of headaches and panic attacks. Seriously, those happened a lot.
"Halt, I am over it, ok?" Gilan said.
"No you're not, you're a Ranger, therefore you will never be truly 'over it' as you put it." Halt said.
Gilan lowered his bow to look quizzically at Halt (for once, instead of Halt looking at Gilan quizzically), then shook his head and went to collect his arrows. Of course, they were all right on the bulls eye mark.
*End of the coffee ban (finally)*
"Ok, Gilan! Your coffee ban is over!" Alyss braced herself, expecting to find Gilan stampeding over to the cabin to get his coffee, but was met by a confused Halt. "Isn't he going to get his coffee? I thought he couldn't wait for his ban to be over." Alyss said, also confused.
"Dunno. He says here's over the addiction, but I don't believe him. Once addicted, always addicted." Halt said. They walked inside.
And saw Gilan chugging down his second cup of coffee in about thirty seconds. Not that they knew it was the second. He brought the cup down from his mouth and gasped, not having breathed during those thirty seconds.
"What took you guys so long?" he said as if he had been expecting them for hours.
Halt's palm met his face once again. Maybe it's true love after all!
*Later, outside on the grass*
"Ok Will, truth or dare?" Gilan asked.
"Umm, dare." Will said, honestly quite scared for both options.
"I dare you to...attack Halt." No sooner were the words out of his mouth, Will was on Halt. This just proved how fast his reflexes were. The fight lasted for a full few minutes, with Halt and Will both struggling to gain the upper hand.
Gilan reasoned that if Will won, he got his revenge on Halt. If Halt won, well, Halt won. Will better win, Gilan thought.
Finally it was over, with Will just barely managing to wrap his arm around Halt's throat. He then proceeded to apply pressure until Halt's struggling became feeble. Only then did he let go. (Of course Will won, Halt even admitted that Will was better than he was in book 12!)
"I won!" Will shouted, astonished as well as afraid for retaliation from Halt.
"Ok, um, Evanlyn, truth or dare?" Will asked, expecting truth.
"Dare." Her voice rang through the clearing.
"I dare you to...dress up super fancy. Like, really fancy." Will said.
"Yuck!" Evanlyn said, scrunching up her face. But she complied.
*Later, at Castle Araluen (am I spelling that right?)*
Will couldn't say anything. Evanlyn (crap, Cassandra) walked out, moving even more graceful than a swan.
Her dress was a pale pink hue, and consisted of a shirt that ran past the knees, stopping just above her ankles. It had three layers, each one ending silky lace. There were pink rubies (dunno, just go with it) scattered over the top of the dress, and she wore a bracelet consisting of those same gemstone laced on a string. On her neck lay a necklace also with the pink ruby, this one slightly bigger (but not gaudy) and brighter, laying just above the neckline for the dress. The sleeves ran just below her elbows, consisting of pure white silk fabric. Her hair was worn braided down the back. (Descriptive, no?)
"Wow." was all anyone could say.
"Ugh this thing is uncomfortable." Cassandra (yes I remembered!) said, fidgeting with the skirt.
*Back at the cabin*
"Truth or dare Alyss?" Cassandra asked.
"Truth. Someone's gotta do it sometime!" Alyss said, not caring to do a dare.
"What do you truly think about that one courier that you worked with those last two missions?" Cassandra asked, smiling deviously.
Shit shit shit shit shit shit, thought Alyss.
What the...who the hell is this guy? thought Will.
Alyss of course kept her composure very well, not even starting a tiny bit. "He's a good friend, no more. A good worker." She said coolly, and that really was the truth. He was a good friend of hers, but Will had captured her heart.
"Ok, Halt. Truth or dare?" Alyss asked. She was already plotting.
"Truth. I don't plan on humiliating myself like you fools." Halt said, shocking everybody.
"Ok Halt..."
*Imma line break*
Yes, I'm just leaving you on this huge cliffhanger. What will Alyss ask Halt?!
