A/N: The 100 Themes poll is now live in my profile. Go over and let me know what you want!
alice1529: You are really after Scout and Daniel, huh? We'll see about a oneshot for them :P
HP-LotR-SW-HG: I'm spoiling you now to make up for later when my time becomes more constrained (like...next week) and you may have to go a few days without. I'm glad you like my OCs so much :) It seems OCs can really make or break fanfiction (more often break). I'm glad mine have been so well received :)
The Gold Patronus: RA fanfiction dies if you don't get Halt right. Writers MUST get Halt right. As for noticing additions after so long...think of it this way: Lost is now out of the vault with new unforeseen content! Eh...if it works for Disney it'll work for me right? Oh Lina...the first OC to make an appearance...I remember last time being immediately bombarded with 'IF SHE MARRIES WILL I'LL HUNT YOU DOWN! FEMALE RANGER? SO ORIGINAL' SPOILER: Lina's not a Ranger. She's not going to be a Ranger. Get over that. Also, she doesn't marry Will. See description for 'canon pairings'. Gold, I'm glad you missed this story so much. I did too :)
Alex the Rogue: Hopefully you don't miss the email for this chapter! Thanks for the critiques :) Always welcome :)
Disclaimer: I'm not John Flanagan. Or John Green. My name isn't John.
Halt lay on a cot staring at the canvas of Will's tent. He'd slipped inside unnoticed after seeing to it Will would be recruited to oversee an apprentice training session for the rest of the day. No one but Ebony would bother him there and he didn't mind her company. Halt kept replaying the day Lina showed up in his head.
He'd woken up long before sunrise that day three months ago. Pauline had still been asleep. He'd carefully slipped out of bed as to not wake his wife and went to make coffee. He hadn't noticed the girl sitting in the corner with her feet tucked beneath her watching him until he'd finished brewing and was stirring honey into his cup.
"Hello," he'd said cordially, carefully inching towards the knife Pauline kept near a bowl of fruit.
"Hello," she'd replied as though she had every right to be there.
"Mind telling me who you are and why you are in my house?"
"My name is Nerilina. Everyone decent calls me Lina."
"That answers the first question."
"I am from Hibernia. I'm the daughter of Ferris."
"Ferris never mentioned anything of a daughter."
"Yes…I wasn't too fond of him either." She'd nodded to his coffee. "May I have some?"
Halt shrugged and pulled out another cup. He set it on the table and took a seat, motioning for her to join him. She rose from the floor quietly and went to pour. He noticed how…graceful? Educated? Pauline would be pleased with her mannerisms if she hadn't broken into their home unnoticed. Lina sat across from him in the chair farthest away. He studied her as she took a sip. She winced at its strength.
"How did you get in here? I haven't let anyone oil that door since I moved in and there are guards at the gate."
She kept her hands around her warm cup as she rested it on the table.
"You mean the men who would let anyone through if carrying a basket of herbs in the middle of the night? I'd hardly call them guards. Perhaps they've been trained to only watch for male intruders. As for your door, simple. I oiled it myself. I'm sorry…I know how important it is for you to have a noisy entrance. I assure you it will be back to its squeaky state in no time."
Halt swallowed his urge to grin at her humor. Even if she'd ruined his door and invaded his home, he liked her. "So why are you here and how did you find me? Nobody in Hibernia knows where I live."
Halt took some bread leftover from the night before and pushed it to her. He knew Pauline had been planning to make them toasted sandwiches for breakfast but Lina's greedy (though graceful) sips of a drink clearly too strong for her told him she hadn't eaten in a while either.
"I know how to track," she replied before accepting the bread.
Fair enough answer. It sounded like one he would give, at the very least. "Where's your mother?"
"She died five years ago."
"Where is your caretaker then?"
"I take care of myself."
"Obviously, the way you come in and drink my coffee and eat my bread."
"I haven't had time to hunt."
Halt watched as she slowed from the large bites of a very hungry traveler to a more delicate approach. She jumped between rough rogue and elegant lady almost instantly. "If you are here about Sean being king…"
"Thank the stars he is. This way I don't have to be queen."
Halt sighed. This niece of his became stranger by the second. "Why are you here?"
Lina brushed crumbs away from her mouth. "I came to warn you."
"Warn me?"
She nodded. "Not just you. The entire Ranger Corps…you have your Hibernian equivalents after you."
Halt snorted. "Hibernia has the equivalents to rangers? I doubt that."
"That's true. They are better. They are called the Sunrise Warriors."
"The Sunrise Warrior is a myth, child."
"That he is, but the Warriors aren't and I'm not a child."
"How would you know?"
"I used to be one of them."
Halt felt curiosity burning but he still held his tongue the best he could. "Did they kick you out?"
"I faked a death. I figured if it worked for you it could work for me."
"So, again, why are you here?"
"I want to help your group and in return I want Araluen citizenship."
"Prove to me that you're my niece and I'll consider working that out."
Lina set the now empty cup town and went to her pack that still rested in the corner. She pulled a cord from a side pocket and held it out. It was a Hibernian crown. Halt took the braided leather headband and ran his fingers over the detailed markings that he had seen countless times in his childhood. Only Hibernian royalty got these. The burned adorations into the leather were meant only for female royals.
"Who did this belong to?" he asked.
"It's mine."
Halt sighed.
"You are one odd girl."
"Halt?" Lady Pauline came in with more than confusion on her beautiful face. "Who is this?" she asked with her back straight and chin level with the ground. Halt had heard her stirring a while ago. He wondered how much of the conversation she'd eavesdropped.
"My niece decided to pay us an unexpected visit."
Pauline broke her gaze from Lina and turned it to Halt. "You have a niece?"
"I suppose so."
Pauline, after feeding Lina a proper meal, whisked her away to wash up. Halt watched the water clock for an hour before they returned. It did. With all the dust scrubbed away he could see more of a family resemblance. She reminded him so much of his sister Caitlyn. Her hair fell about the same length and, now without the reddish brown dust clinging to every strand, was the same strikingly dark color. He pale eyes seemed brighter and her skin was several shades fairer than he'd originally judged.
"The Rangers are gathering in three months," Halt told her, "You can come along."
"And until then?" she asked.
"You will stay with us of course," Pauline insisted. "Surely a couple of old people can interest you for a few months."
"I don't want to intrude and quite honestly I'd rather people didn't know I was here. Thank you for the food, though."
"Where will you stay?" Halt asked. He couldn't help but feel more concerned for the stranger now that she slightly resembled Caitlyn. He couldn't quite put his finger on who else she reminded him of.
"I have camping gear."
"You won't be expected to camp alone for so long when you have family with an extra bed close by," Pauline chastised.
"I don't mind," Lina insisted.
Halt had noticed how she barely blinked and kept eye contact. He couldn't believe this confident, independent young woman could be Ferris's daughter. But then, he couldn't believe there was a woman good enough to produce such a daughter that would have Ferris as a husband.
Halt stroked Ebony's ears. Three months of demonstrating her skills in the woods and sharing meals had made her more a daughter than a long-lost niece. Just before they left Pauline had given her new fur-lined boots Couriers wore on diplomatic travels as an upgrade from the boots she'd worn too many holes into. The more time he'd spent with her the more he trusted her. He found himself respecting her elusiveness when it came to personal details, believing they'd come out in time. If only she liked coffee. She shared a cup with him upon first meeting and then never touched the stuff again.
She was strange. That quality had been proven time and time again. Her direct sarcasm humored him yet her quiet awareness of others touched him. It seemed like she could sense emotions and with just one look could comfort or question a person. She was strong. No doubt about that. Halt felt happy she wasn't against him. Honestly, he didn't know if he could take such Ranger-like fierceness alone. But she was gentle. Like Caitlyn had been. Being around her made him miss his baby sister more than ever before.