Focus
"Come on Will focus…" Halt muttered staring at his apprentice who was currently focused on the arts and crafts in front of him. Pallets of coloured pigments were placed before him, his task being to create a mask of paint to camouflage his face. So far he had achieved nothing apart from a murky brown colour of thick consistency. A few minutes into realising he had no idea what he was doing Will called out to his mentor.
"I'm done." Halt arrived at Will's side immediately knowing the result would be disastrous. No one should finish that quickly. One quick glance at the brown mess on the forest floor confirmed Halt's suspicions. Anyhow he pretended to examine the piece of work with an expression of what he hoped was mild interest and not repulsion.
"Are you sure you're completely finished?" He asked innocently.
"Yes, fairly sure this is the best I can do." Will replied, staring at the brown goo on the floor.
"All right then if that's your best put it on." Halt replied, hiding the wolfish grin threatening to break out across his face.
"Wait what? I have to put that thing on?" Will asked incredulously.
"Well it is a camouflage mask so if you don't put it on it's pretty useless." Will gave him an exasperated look and turned unwillingly to his own creation which now had odd bubbles frothing out.
"What I don't understand" Will began only to prolong the moment when he had to apply the mixture to his face. "Is why I have to learn this in the first place? When in real life will I ever have to put paint on my face?"
"You never know when you will have to suddenly hide yourself to escape capture so though it may not be strictly on the syllabus it is still an art worth learning."
"Have you ever had to camouflake yourself?" A curious voice pondered.
"Camouflage." Halt corrected.
"Yes that." The boy replied. Halt sighed exasperatedly, although internally he sighed in relief. If his curiosity was peaking then that was a good thing. For a while after they had returned to Redmont he had been acting unusually reserved and cautiously uninterested in everything they had plunged into. Halt had thought by immersing his apprentice head on into work he would be able to make him less prone to thinking about his time in Skandia. He had made Will shoot targets constantly, from all ranges for the past week, his thought behind it being that keeping his body physically tired and busy would stop him from focusing on anything else. However now he was realising perhaps the best course of action would have been to intellectually stimulate his mind so that he did not have time to use his brain to think about anything other than work.
"There may or may not have been instances where I have had to use the resources available to me to disguise myself with the scenery." Halt stated.
"Really when?" Will questioned curiously.
"There were times" He said vaguely "Now hurry up and try on your piece of work." Will groaned in annoyance.
"I'm just not good at art Halt I don't understand what I am doing, or what I'm supposed to be doing for that matter." He replied, feeling slightly sick at the gooey consistency of the paint on the ground.
"Well it's just a case of trial and error Will you have to start somewhere. Each task has its own sets of limitations and benefits, what you have to figure out is how to reap the benefits and minimise the limitations, that's where you succeed."
"You're just saying that to get me to put it on aren't you?" Will glared at his mentor. He seemed to forget how mischievous his teacher was at the best of times. Halt winked at him then went inside the cabin, leaving Will to apply the mixture onto his face. Groaning heavily he dunked his fingers in the surprisingly cold paint and applied it to his face, cringing at the texture. As long as no one saw him he should be able to live without fear of instant mortification, he would just wash it off as soon as he got into the cabin. Though knowing his mentor he highly doubted he would be let off the hook that easily, especially when they both knew that he didn't place his full concentration on the task at hand.
His mind was elsewhere. It had wondered off to a small hut in Skandia. It had seen glimpses of blonde hair in the morning and heard echoes of laughter. Faded memories of fond smiles and comforting hugs came rushing back. The first true sight after his awakening from warm weed was her. Her eyes glistening with unshed tears as she opened the cabin door with a bang. Her freezing arms holding on to him, squeezing him tight, afraid of letting ago. Her head buried in his shoulder. He remembered it all so vividly. Why was that? He could hardly remember anything else as purely as he could this. The battle was a blur to him, yet each individual track a tear made down her cheek he could recall with precision. Why? He already knew his answer. He shook his head angrily. He didn't come back to train as a Ranger only to get distracted. He couldn't afford to be imprecise with his technique.
He plundered on his way to the cabin grumbling all the while as he entered the verandah, he had just washed the dirt off his hands and was about to wash his face when Halt popped out with a letter in hand.
"I have a message you have to deliver to Lady Pauline." Halt said randomly.
"Why can't you deliver it?" It was clear to both of them that Will wasn't in the best of moods today.
"Because you're my apprentice and that's what apprentices are for, now go and deliver this scroll to her." Halt replied ominously. Will took it quickly not even considering arguing back.
"What is it?" Will asked.
"Nothing."
"Is it important?"
"Will."
"Is it a love letter?"
"WILL!" He rushed out before Halt could throw a broom at him. Will knew only too well how accurate Halt's aim was. He was going to be punished for that he knew it and yet he couldn't resist the temptation to jibe his mentor. It was common fact in Redmont that Pauline and Halt were rumoured to harbour affection for one another. Just how deep that affection went was a mystery to Will.
Whistling merrily and chuckling to himself slightly Will knocked on the door of the Diplomatic Services Department situated within the castle. He examined the castle walls, the home he had grown up in for the past fifteen years of his life. So much had changed it felt like a decade had passed since he last entered the walls of his previous home. In reality it had only been two years.
The door swung open a few moments later revealing a swish of blonde hair and murmurs of conversation. The head turned round and noticed him. It was Alyss.
"Oh hello Will." She looked at him curiously, her head slightly tilted. Will stumbled a little. He felt self-conscious around her especially since she seemed to be scrutinising him, not to mention it was his first encounter with his childhood friend since the past events had plagued his life.
"Hi, I have a letter for Lady Pauline from Halt." He began nervously. She smiled warmly at him then took the scroll from his hands.
"From Halt?" She questioned, her eyes twinkling mischievously. Will knew she was thinking exactly the same thought as he was.
"Yes, from Halt." He affirmed.
"Is it important?"
"I presume so." Though his wink betrayed his formal tone. She smiled slightly and stared at him for long enough to make him feel self-conscious again. "What is it?" He asked.
"Why is your face covered in mud?" She looked on the verge of laughter as Will groaned in embarrassment.
"I completely forgot I hadn't washed that off." He was in such a rush to escape Halt's wrath he had forgotten that he had only washed the brown mess off his hands. She laughed lightly and opened the door wider for him. He noticed many girls a similar age to Alyss conversing with one another in the courier uniform.
"If you want you can wash it off here." Alyss left the option open to him. She knew him well enough to know he may feel slightly uncomfortable being the only male in a room full of girls. The ever diplomat she was, she let him decide. Will noticed her tactic, remarking on what a good courier she would make and gratefully took her up on her offer.
She closed the door and led him through a warm looking room with chairs assorted by a friendly fireplace. Many women were again talking to one another; snippets could be heard about work and personal life. Some of the newer trainees stared at Will with curiousity and mild disgust at the dirt on his face. He tried smiling back but that seemed to scare them off even more. Alyss continued walking off confidently with Will trailing behind her. Truth be told he had never seen the behind the scenes of a Diplomatic Courier's life and his curiousity peaked as he travelled further in to their quarters. Alyss waited patiently outside while he cleared his face.
"Better?" She asked as he closed the door behind him sheepishly.
"Much better." He grinned.
"I guess it's all part and parcel of being a Ranger, getting your hands dirty." He could tell she was trying her hardest not to laugh at him.
"Yes well less to do with being a Ranger and more to do with living with Halt." He mumbled. She laughed which made him laugh and soon they were both in tears. "I can't believe you let me go on talking to you about Halt's letter without mentioning the mud on my face."
"It was funny, I wanted to see how long you would take to realise you looked like a homeless farmer." They both chuckled and gossiped happily about the possibility of Halt and Pauline falling in love. As he was about to leave Alyss' warm voice called him back.
"Jenny's having a small get together down by the fields in a few days' time, George has time off and Pauline has let me go too. Horace is coming back for a few days to visit Sir Rodney so he will also be coming. Please try and make it. It would be nice for us to all meet again." Her smiled was warm and her eyes friendly, but deep in those grey orbs Will noticed a slight hesitance. Perhaps worry? He initially wanted to refuse the offer. The last thing he wanted was to act like everything was normal when it wasn't. Though looking at the plea on his former friends face he knew he couldn't resist her.
"I'll try and make it if I can, it depends on whether Halt lets me off or not, he has been keeping me quite busy."
"Right well let us know if you can make it, it would be much more fun if you were around." Alyss bode him a farewell hug and he was once again on his way back to the cabin. This time hoping that whatever punishment he got from Halt would be long enough to not let him come to the gathering.