After Gilan's disaster, all was peaceful for Halt.

The peace lasted around six hours.

It was late in the afternoon by then, a fiery ball of doom known as the sun scorching the earth below relentlessly, as well as everything on it. The Rangers retreated to the shade, some moving their belongings out of the sunlight as well.

Will, who Gilan and Crowley had enthusiastically nominated as the next culprit, stared into the pot of coffee thoughtfully. The liquid bubbled and boiled inside, the rich smell making him relax. Gilan stood next to him, impatient. He grumbled again and Will sighed. "Does it hurt that badly?"

"Ask Halt," Gilan replied grumpily.

"I wouldn't," Halt said from the back of the tent. His disowned apprentices jumped. The graying Ranger ignored the movement and tapped his quiver. "I have quite a few arrows left." Halt wasn't interested in shooting the tall Ranger a second time unless the Ranger was going to do something stupid again. Gilan darted behind Will when he saw the cursed projectiles.

The younger watched the interaction, wondering how long Gilan's fear would last. He didn't plan on being defeated like Gilan had been. He would have to do something that wouldn't involve getting in contact with Halt. He stared back into the coffee, the gears in his brain turning.

…

2 hours later

The tent was empty. It's owner had left earlier for a meeting with some of the senior Rangers. Will strode inside calmly, though his eyes were alert, searching for what he wanted to find.

There. The coffee package lay on the floor next to Halt's saddle bag, unclosed. Will emptied its contents into his own bag and filled it with semi-dry pebbles from the stream. He positioned the package the way it had been before and left the tent, a smile on his face.

That was easy enough. Halt wouldn't know who had removed the coffee, but he could easily guess that it was Will or Crowley. Will would simply blame Crowley if it came to that.

He didn't realize that the meeting was close enough to Halt's tent that the Ranger could see it. Halt had seen Will enter and leave, unsure of what he had done, but sure that it wasn't a good thing. Halt shrugged. He'd deal with it later.

…

Later (1 hour)

"WILL TREATY!" Halt roared from inside of his tent. The person in question stiffened and started to run towards the thicker parts of the forest, Halt following close behind.

Deeper and deeper they went. In the heart of the woods, the amount of sunlight that reached the forest floor was little. Will paused and looked around the dim clearing that he was in, taking off towards the path he could see best, still running away from Halt.

Hearing his pursuer approach, he scrambled blindly up the nearest tree, not daring to look behind him. The thick branches scraped him occasionally - he was being none too careful; he was just going as high as he could.

Which did nothing to stop Halt.

He eyed the frantic shape scurry up the tree, the direction of his bow following Will's path. Before long, four arrows, two capped and two uncapped were on their way.

The regular ones shook the branches that Will balanced himself on. The uncapped shot towards him. By instinct, he moved out of the way, also releasing his grip on the bark. Will tumbled down the tree and landed in the grass below on his back.

"Up," Halt said immediately. Will's head stayed rooted to the ground.

Halt grabbed his collar and dragged him away in the same manner as he had done to his older apprentice. At least I don't have a huge audience, Will thought. Only Crowley and Gilan had come to see what would happen. They stood to the side quietly, hiding their smiles.

Will's head throbbed. He must have hit a branch when he was falling.

"Against the tree. The same tree." Will wondered if his fate would be the same as Gilan's. The older Ranger produced a thick rope and tied Will up expertly.

He pulled out a few objects out of his pocket. Halt held them up for Will to see. Small. Round. Gray. Shiny. Pebbles! One by one, the pebbles went hurtling towards their target.

"Have fun," Gilan called, remembering how Will had made fun of him for being caught by Halt. Watching Will suffer in the same way brought him satisfaction. He hastily shut his mouth as Halt glanced at him. If it were someone else torturing Will, the two spectators would have been innocently chatting a lot more.

After Halt was finally out of pebbles, he gave his previous apprentices and supposed best friend one last cold look before stalking off.

Crowley waited until he was sure Halt had left. "I'm really disappointed. I thought you were the smarter apprentice."

With nearly the same hostility as Halt would have mustered, Gilan and Will glowered at him, the latter doing exceptionally well for someone who was tied to a tree. "Well," they said simultaneously, "say that after you've gone."