Okay, this is my take on the 100 themes challenge. I will have three themes to a chapter (mine are sort of long-ish). I got the themes from the fantastic spookisapuppy's profile. Now, the thing is, there were two lists of themes on said profile. And, well, me being me, I couldn't figure out which one to do. So I am doing both. = )

And now, I present to you, the amazingly unique **drumroll** Phinneas McCheeser's 200 Themes Challenge™!

Introduction

A loud, agonized scream echoed through the halls of Redmont castle, and Halt found himself gripping the arms of his chair even harder than he had before. He could hear Pauline's encouraging voice from inside the room: "Come on, Alyss, you can do it!" Alyss shouted something very loud and probably highly uncomplimentary towards her husband. Any other time, such an action would have made Halt smile slightly—but now, of course, he was far too tensed up for such an action.

Alyss screamed again. "WILL TREATY, YOU ARE NEVER TOUCHING ME EVER AGAIN!" she shrieked. Halt sensed someone drop into a chair beside him.

"Always was a creative girl, Alyss," Baron Arald said. Though his tone was most likely meant to be light, Halt could detect the note of concern in his voice. "She'll be fine," the baron said. He nodded to Halt. "I'll be back soon."

Halt didn't even notice him leaving. All he heard was his wife shouting. "Alyss, just one more push!"

"It hurts!" Alyss moaned.

"I know! Just one more!"

With one last scream, Alyss apparently pushed her baby out. There was a bustle of movement in the room. Several minutes later, a tired-looking man with tousled brown hair stepped out of the room and closed the door. Will smiled at Halt, all traces of his previous exhaustion gone. "Come in," he said. Halt rose, his head still pounding with the sheer volume of Alyss's screams.

Inside, Pauline was still sitting at Alyss's bedside. The elegant blonde was propped up on a multitude of pillows, and she held a small bundle of blankets in her arms. When Halt and Will entered the room, she looked up. She still managed to look stunning, Halt thought, even when she was sweaty and wearing a nightgown. She smiled radiantly at him.

"It's a girl, Halt," she said softly. She held out the bundle, and when Will shoved him forwards, Halt realized that he was supposed to hold her. He stepped towards the bed, suddenly nervous. What if her dropped her?

But as soon as the bundle touched his arms, all his worried evaporated instantly.

There was nothing particularly remarkable about the baby. In fact, her face was red, and slightly squashed-looking. But to Halt, she was the most beautiful thing in the world. He smiled slightly when he saw her wispy brown hair.

"What's her name?" he asked.

"Ariadne," Alyss spoke up.

Araidne yawned in Halt's arms. He looked down at her. Her eyes weren't yet open, and she didn't even have any teeth yet. "Ariadne," Halt whispered.

For the rest of his life, Halt would remember this introduction as one of the most important in his life. This was the introduction that made him a grandfather.

Word count: 459

Love

Crowley, being Halt's best friend, had stood by his side for many, many years. In that time, he had had the rather satisfying pleasure of seeing Halt go from a dark, unmovable force-to-be-reckoned-with sort of person to the sarcastic, loyal, permanently-raised-eyebrow person he was today.

He remembered several weeks after they had first met, while they were traveling across the rugged terrain of Araluen's western coast. One night, by the light of a small campfire, Crowley had offhandedly mentioned his parents. "What about you, Halt?" he asked cheerfully. "Do you miss your family?"

There was a strange, guarded sort of tone to Halt's voice as he replied. "No, not particularly." Crowley had been aghast at this revelation.

"But they're your family!" he exclaimed. Halt paused for a moment, staring into the hypnotizing flames of the campfire as though they held the answer.

"My parents always argued," he said carefully. "I think the only person I've ever really loved is my sister." And that was all Crowley ever managed to pry out of Halt about his family. Still, it showed Crowley that his companion did indeed have a heart, no matter how deeply is was buried under the rubble of sarcasm and dark humor.

Years later, the friendship Halt and Crowley had created formed into something more. Yes, it was love, but the sort of love that existed between two brothers. Crowley knew it, and Halt knew it as well. And Halt didn't pull away.

Years after the encounter had taken place, Crowley could still remember the day he had been introduced to Halt's second apprentice, Will. He had had the pleasure of watching with Halt, side by side, as skill morphed into pure talent and genius. But it wasn't until a year later, when Halt willingly gave up his place in the Corps to find Will, that Crowley realized that Halt also loved Will—not as a brother, but as a son.

And then, in the final year of Will's apprenticeship, Halt and Pauline finally married. Crowley had watched as their relationship slowly developed and blossomed over the years. And this was yet another kind of love, the kind that exists between a man and a woman. And Halt and Pauline would probably never have children—but then again, they didn't need to, if the way they looked at Will and Alyss was any indication.

And then Crowley remembered what had set him thinking about all this in the first place. He recalled earlier on in the day, when a grinning Horace had swamped him, waving a letter over his head excitedly and yelling, "Finally! Finally!"

He chuckled to himself and stared out over the castle grounds. "Grandfather… This should be interesting."

Word count: 452

Light

Thunk!

Crash!

Pauline rolled over with a groan. Where the house had been silent several moments ago, there was now the sound of her husband cursing. Loudly. She sighed. If he had done itagain…

Halt found himself lying on the ground, a table on the floor beside him. His shins hurt like mad. There was only one possible explanation: He had somehow run into the table while heading to the kitchen for a cup of coffee.

He started cursing. He must have been louder than he had thought, because next thing he knew, the door was opening.

Pauline appeared in the doorway, a small candle in her hand. She took one look at her husband's frowning face and the knocked-over table and sighed. "Halt," she said, "look at this. It's an excellent invention called a candle. You use it so that you can see at night." She walked over to her husband and helped him up, then righted the table with a slightly irritated expression on her face.

Halt tried to explain. "I don't have a candle in here because I normally know my way around so well that I don't need one." Pauline smirked inwardly. Plan B—make yourself appear innocent. Halt was subtly implying that it wasn't his fault because he didn't have a candle.

Pauline sighed once again. She walked Halt back to their bedroom and led him over to the bedside table. She rummaged around in the drawer for a moment, then came up with something.

A candle.

She pressed the wax stick into Halt's stunned hand. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed."

Word Count: 271

Well, that's all for this chapter. The next one should be up soon. Don't forget to review! They make me update faster.