Author's note- Thank you reviewers for reviewing! It really means a lot.

I think I must've been hungry when I was writing this first part ;) .


Noah woke up hearing noises in the other room. It was morning. He could hear the birds outside and the light was peeking through the curtains over the window. But it was earlier than normal for Alun to be up.

The apprentice threw off his covers and swung his legs out of bed. He changed quickly and the noises could still be heard. Alun was making breakfast. So Noah pushed his door open to see not one, but two Rangers in the other room. He should've known.

Halt had just lain the food on the table and Alun was pouring the coffee. They had both heard Noah get up and there were three platters on the table stacked with hot food and fresh fruit as well as three mugs of fresh coffee.

Noah slid into his seat, nodding to Halt and taking up his fork. Halt also sat down, but he waited for Alun before he began eating.

It was a delicious breakfast and Noah loved it. There was bacon and eggs and fresh fruit. The bread was still warm and Noah realized that Halt must've gotten it in town before coming to the cabin. Noah spread butter thickly onto his warm slice of fresh bread and Alun shook his head at his apprentice, but had to smile.

"Why don't we eat like this more often?" Noah asked through a mouthful of eggs, bacon and bread.

"Because Halt's not here," Alun replied.

"But we always have eggs and bacon and bread around," Noah said. "Why don't we ever have breakfasts like this one?"

"Because Alun can't cook," Halt answered, straight faced.

Noah looked from one Ranger to the other, not entirely sure if Halt was joking or not. Alun hadn't argued with Halt, so Noah decided the statement was probably true.

"I thought Alun could cook really well," he said, and shrugged.

Halt snorted. "For being your average man, sure," he replied. "But I'm guessing he makes you do all the cooking?" Halt asked, and Noah nodded.

"All Rangers make their apprentices do the cooking," Alun pointed out, getting a bit annoyed.

"Well yes," Halt admitted. "But I seem to recall you got nearly every Ranger sick when you cooked at the Gathering a few years back." Alun glared at Halt.

"Then can you teach me to cook like that?" Noah asked Halt, and the Ranger almost smiled.

"I don't remember Pritchard ever being a particularly good cook," Alun commented.

"He was better than you are," Halt added deadpanned. Noah tried to hide his grin.

They ate in silence for a few moments before Alun sighed, knowing he probably wouldn't get the better of Halt. Not many people ever did anyway. Even if he was older than Halt - if only by a few years - he doubted he'd be able to be more stubborn than Halt.

"When will you be heading out?" Alun asked.

"Is there anything else I should know?" Halt inquired.

Alun sighed. "There's nothing more that I know," he replied. "If there is something you should know, I don't know it. And you're going to go find out."

"What are the names of the towns that were raided?" Halt asked.

"Boyletown was hit, but wasn't nearly as terrible as the other towns," Alun began. He gestured for Halt to get up with him and they walked over to where a detailed map of the fief was on the wall, bringing their coffee with them. Halt pointed to Boyletown and Alun nodded. "Layle, Hedges Ford and Village Hill were the three main one towns."

Halt raised an eyebrow. "Village Hill is a town?" he asked.

Alun sighed. "Yes."

"Who on earth would think of that?" Halt asked.

"I don't know," Alun said through gritted teeth.

Halt shrugged. "Whoever did doesn't know what "being original" means," he snorted.

Alun sighed again. "Well those are the towns," he said.

Halt was silent, thinking as he looked over the map. None of the towns were very big. They were really just villages, not quite big enough to be called towns. They were quite far apart. Halt was trying to see if there was any pattern or sequence going on. That way, he may be able to find out where they'd hit next, or where they were - that is, if they hadn't left yet. If they had there was no reason for Halt to be here.

Halt sat down again thoughtfully. He took a bite of the eggs and chewed slowly, still thinking.

Noah was scraping up the remnants of his food and shoveling them in his mouth. Then he finished what was left in his mug with one big swing and placed the dishes on the counter.

The apprentice still looked as though he had just come out of bed and Alun ruffled Noah's already very messy hair. Noah's shirt was only half tucked into his pants and it had dirt and grass stains on it. It was probably the shirt he had worn the previous day.

"Go get cleaned up," Alun told his apprentice. "Put on a different shirt and make sure it is clean." Noah disappeared into his room, the door closing behind him.

Now Halt was finishing his food and Alun sat down again to join him.

"How's Redmont?" Alun asked. Halt had been stationed there for about thirteen years now.

"Fine," Halt replied. "Baron Arald has a great staff surrounding him. Sir Rodney - the battlemaster - is a good man, great knight. Lady Pauline is the head of the diplomatic service as I gather. She deserves it." Halt stopped there, his thoughts now on the beautiful lady he had always adored.

"And what about Master Chubb, is he still cooking?" Alun asked, although he already knew that the chef was.

"Pardon? Oh, Chubb," Halt nodded slowly. "Yes. I believe so," he said slowly, still thinking about Pauline.

"You believe so? You don't know?" Alun asked.

"Oh, of course," Halt said. "He's still cooking. Only getting better from what I hear. No one can compare."

Alun nodded. "Right," he sighed.

Halt finished his food and drink, placing his dishes with Noah's and then took his seat again, leaning back.

In a few moments, Noah came out of his room, this time, properly dressed and his double knife scabbard was around his waste. He was about to sit down again when Halt got up.

"I suppose we'll be going then," the greybeard said. Noah was a bit surprised, but he followed suit with Halt, putting on his boots and cloak and taking up his quiver and bow.

They said goodbye to Alun and headed out the door to their horses. Halt saddled and bridled Abelard while Noah did the same with his Ranger horse, Bill. Before mounting, they strung their bows, Noah putting his over his shoulder, and Halt putting his on his lap.

Every now and then, Halt had to pull out his map as he didn't know Trelleth Fief quite well enough to travel to villages that normally no one bothered with. The coast was in sight when Halt and Noah saw the village - and the Skandians. In a second, Abelard went from a walk to a gallop and Halt had an arrow on the string, Noah wasn't too far behind.

The Skandians were killing anyone who tried to put up a fight, and everyone else was either captured or running away. Once he was close enough, Halt's bow was raised and arrow after arrow sped away. One of the Skandians tripped, his leg being pushed away from under him by one of Halt's arrows. He seemed much smaller than the other Skandians though. Abelard stopped at a reasonable distance, and Halt dismounted.

"Stay here!" he cried to Noah, and Noah complied, knocking an arrow to his string and stopping Bill next to Abelard.

Halt ran, slightly hunched over to a better shooting point and dropped down to his knees. Being much shorter than average already, this made him so short, the Skandians would look right over him. From there, he shot four arrows. The Skandians were falling, but it took the best shots - which of course, most of Halt's shots were perfect.

The Skandians started trying to find out where the arrows were coming from. So Halt crouched lower this time and moved to a different spot. Shooting again, the Skandians were getting more than noticeably annoyed. They were beginning to stop going after the villagers and trying to see where the archers were coming from. But what they didn't know, was that it was only one single archer. So, not expecting to see only one, very short, cloaked man who was actually in pretty clear sight, they didn't see Halt - or at least, didn't realize he was there.

Halt stopped shooting and put his bow over his shoulders, taking out his saxe and moved in to the mess of fire, villagers, and Skandians - not a good combination. He saw a Skandian look around and then walk by a building. Halt crept by the building, waiting for the Skandian to appear. Halt took out his strikers, quietly and swiftly readied himself for what could turn out to be a pretty badly ending close-combat fight. It wasn't. Once the Skandian appeared, he didn't notice Halt creep up behind him and after the Ranger's strikers hit the Skandian's head, the big foreigner fell to the ground, unconscious. Halt knew there would be plenty of foolish villagers trying to avenge family members or homes who would probably kill the Skandian. But Halt moved on.

Halt moved cautiously around the streets and saw a man protecting a woman who was stretching her arms around two small children. There was a Skandian who looked especially annoyed and seemed to be about to slice the man in half with his huge battleax. Halt slid his throwing knife from its sheath and threw it in one, smooth motion. The Skandian cried out in pain and surprise and the two children let out a shriek. Halt was upon the Skandian in a second and had his saxe in hand. The Skandian turned to him angrily, wielding his heavy, massive ax. The Skandian, expecting Halt to keep running toward him, smiled evilly. But Halt threw the saxe with a barely noticeable flick of his wrist, and before the Skandian could touch Halt he was on the ground, unconscious and would have to deal with a terrible head wound if he ever woke up again.

Halt saw a group of Skandians coming his way and muttered something under his breath. The Ranger ushered the four villagers into an alley and quieted them. They waited for the Skandians to pass and then Halt gestured for them to follow him as they slowly and stealthily made their way away from the buildings and into the trees. There, Halt left them. He ran again, and once again, was crouching as he did so.

He entered the small village again and was there in time to see the Skandians set fire to one of the larger buildings. The fire spread quickly over the house. To Halt's horror, he heard screaming from inside. Swiftly, he moved to the side of the building, looking up into the second-floor windows. Why did it have to be the only two story house? he wondered.

"Get to the window, I'm here to help!" Halt heard one man cry. Just like Halt, the man was also trying to find and help the screamer from inside the building.

In a few moments, they could see the face of a child in the window. She was small, probably only six years old, her face was dirty, and there was a small cut on her cheek. Her long auburn hair was in two braids and they hung out the window as she looked out at Halt and the other man. Then she stepped back, her eyes full of fear looking at the other man. Halt, confused, looked too, just in time to see a Skandian cut the man clean in two. The girl screamed and a large piece of the roof of the building she was in collapsed. She screamed again and the Ranger sent his throwing knife towards the Skandian and it sunk deep into the sea wolf's chest, killing him instantly.

Halt ran bellow the window and called out to the girl. "Jump!" he cried. "I'll catch you!"

She came to the window again, the uncertainty obvious in her eyes. Halt called again. She climbed onto the windowsill and let herself fall. She screamed again. Her scream distracted Halt. He glanced around quickly and bewilderingly, turned back and realized he wouldn't be able to catch the girl. He tried to move to a better position. All that happened in a split second. Halt caught the girl, but just barely. He set her down and turned to leave, but she was holding his sleeve.

"Mama's inside," she said through her tears when he turned back to her. "You have to help her!"

Halt looked back up at the window. The building would fall any minute now. It hadn't been all too stable before the Skandians had set fire to it. Now it was beyond dangerous.

He heard the Skandians coming again and glanced around hurriedly. Where could he go? And what about the girl and her mother? Halt let out a shrill whistle and took the girl's hand, heading toward the door of the building. Abelard was there in a moment.

"I want you to say permettez moi to the horse," Halt told the girl. She did and Halt lifted her up onto Abelard, giving his horse the "go ahead" to get back to where Noah was still waiting anxiously. Then, just before the Skandians were there, Halt ran into the house on fire.

The flames were all around him and everywhere, the smoke making his eyes watery and his throat hurt. He didn't exactly know how, but he finally got upstairs and into the same room that the girl had been in. The woman was there, on the floor; she had passed out.

Halt looked back the way he had come and bit his lip, knowing he wouldn't be able to get out that way. He crept to the window. If the Skandians did see him, they'd probably stand around the building until it collapsed and both Halt and the woman were dead. So he looked cautiously outside. They were there, but they were leaving and they didn't see him. They did, however, have eight villagers with them and seemed to be headed back for their ship. Unfortunately, jumping out the window - especially if he brought the woman with him - would be almost as dangerous as going back through the fire.

The Ranger heard the woman wake and knelt beside her.

"Where's my daughter?" the woman asked worriedly, still dazed and confused.

"Safe," Halt answered and gestured for her to follow him to another room.

They checked every window they could. Some were in rooms filled with flames and some were blocked by fallen beams and pieces of the roof. But finally they found one to the back of the house over a pile of hay.

"Jump!" Halt cried, although his voice was hoarse and raspy and his throat dry.

The woman jumped and hesitated in the hay. She sat there, still in shock for a few moments, before she realized that the Ranger was still inside a burning building and waiting for her to move. Once she did, he jumped.

Halt got up and they moved away from the building. From where they were, Halt could see Noah watching him. Halt paused for a moment to catch his breath and Noah's little horse took a step toward the Ranger. Then another, and another. The little girl slid off Abelard's side and ran towards her mother. Once the woman saw her daughter, she was running as well. Abelard followed Bill and the two horses and apprentice came to where Halt was standing and watching them.

"Are you alright?" Noah asked.

Halt raised an eyebrow. "Me?" he asked. "I'm fine. What about the girl?"

Noah looked back to where the mother and daughter had finally met. Halt followed his gaze.

"I think they're fine," Noah replied.

Halt nodded, dismissing the subject now that their safety was confirmed. "Did you happen to see which way the Skandians went?" Halt asked, and the apprentice nodded.

"East, back to the coast," Noah answered. His gaze fell to Halt's arm. "You cut yourself," the apprentice told him.

The Ranger looked down at his arm. It wasn't a bad cut, but blood was coming from it. Halt remembered now. He had cut it in the fire but hadn't had the time to wrap it and had barely even noticed as he was busy trying to find the girl's mother.

"I suppose I did," Halt replied and sighed. "We should make sure everyone's safe and find those Skandians."

"Everyone is safe, everyone but those the Skandians got," Noah said. "I made sure. I couldn't see you anymore and went over there," Noah pointed to the side of the village where most of the villagers were gathered, "to ask if everyone was okay. Now that you got the two girls out, that's everyone."

Halt nodded. He was pleased that Noah hadn't just sat around, even if it was dangerous going near a town where Skandians were raiding.

"Let's find those Skandians then," Halt said, and they rode toward the coast.


Author's note- Stuff is happening! Yay! Please review, I love to hear from readers!

This chapter was a bit longer, but I hope it didn't drag and none of you got bored. I realized near the end that I hadn't really done anything with Noah, but it's coming guys.

Comments, questions and ideas are great and I'd love to hear them. And please notify me of any spelling errors!