Clarke and Gilan followed Crowley into his larger tent. They both had guilty and uneasy expressions on their faces.

"Well," Crowley began. "Hopefully Jared finds his way back before the next Gathering."

Sad little nods.

"Well, I can see that you feel bad for what you have done, so I won't have to give you another lecture."

Yay. Both Gilan and Clarke gave a small sigh of relief.

"Just wait till Halt gets back… he'll do it for me probably."

Gilan gave Crowley a horrified look.

"I'm just joking!" Crowley hastily amended with a chuckle. "...more or less."

Gilan thought for a second and nodded. "He'll probably come back and murder you and Jared instead." Clarke let out a small laugh.

"Speaking of Halt… I have a slight problem and I need your help with," Crowley said.

"He's fine, right?" Gilan asked uneasily.

"Huh? Yeah, yeah. I just think he may need a little backup. You know, just in case."

"Oh." Gilan said uncertainly.

"Anyways, Gilan, the plan is for you to go after Halt. I have a list of places he's been and I have a decent idea where he's going to go. You will have to get to Clonmel, though. And it may be dangerous given the unknowns of the situation. Just... think of this as an extra assessment task, but in real life."

"That's very reassuring, Crowley." Clarke put in dryly.

Gilan didn't say anything. He was trying to remember back to the little glimpse of the letter Crowley got three days ago. Terror plot? Yikes. That does sound dangerous.

"So… I have to go to Hibernia, find Halt, and help him defeat these 'Outsiders' on my own?" Gilan asked nervously.

"Basically!" Crowley replied. "Easy peasy, right?"

Gilan's face looked a little stricken.

"'One riot, one ranger.' isn't that how the saying goes?" Clarke added.

"Not helping…" Gilan muttered.

"It's not ideal, but given the circumstances, I think Halt still needs help. And more importantly, Gilan gets hands on experience," Crowley explained.

"..."

"Come on! It'll be fun!" Crowley said encouragingly.

"Can't you come with me?"

"You have no idea how much I want to… but as Commandant, I have a responsibility to other rangers. And, of course, I have to wait for Jamison and Mark to come back, hopefully with Jared too."

Gilan continued to looked slightly terrified at the prospect. Going with Halt was one thing, but on his own?

Clarke was just sitting there quietly watching this conversation when he spoke up. "What about me?"

"You'll be doing your regular schedule; I think you're with Mark this month actually… wait a second."

Gilan looked up hopefully with puppy dog eyes as both he and Crowley reached the same conclusion.

"How about… Clarke, would you mind going with Gilan?"

"I can? Sweet!" Clarke cheered (he was seriously dreading a month with Mark. That man was crazy).

"Alright, now that that's taken care of, how 'bout you boys go pack up? I'm going to inform Mark of your trip once he comes back."

Gilan walked out of the tent considerably less concerned for his life than he was two minutes ago while Clarke walked out whistling happily.

"I am a genius." Crowley gave himself a satisfied smile before realizing just in time that his stool doesn't allow kicking back and relaxing.

Gilan saddled Blaze and gave her an apple. The horse nickered her thanks and devoured it.

How many are you bringing for the trip?

"None, probably." Gilan laughed as she headbutted him in fake distress. "At least, none for you specifically. Halt says I spoil you."

No, you don't. And that's just mean. Can I have another one then?

"No, Blaze." Gilan laughed as he got on her back.

Clarke looked up at Blaze with a little envy. His slightly above average ranger horse, though not average like a normal horse, looked comparatively like a shaggy oversized dog. "Come on, Lexa. We're going on an adventure!" Lexa did not look very excited.

Do I get an apple too?

Halt was not in a good mood as he wandered along a narrow street jammed with people. He had planned to scout out this village after overhearing a few new Outsider converts talking about how their fellow villagers should follow the "great and generous leader Tennyson..." (Halt didn't get to listen too long before he had to sneak away to avoid people).

Tenny-whatever-his-name-is was giving more speeches to the few staunch villagers reluctant to join immediately, and Halt decided to try and reveal the Outsider's false claims to them. He was observing the leader giving a speech from the nearby inn, too far to hear clearly, but it was obvious the speech was powerful. After a few minutes of the speech, he could hear the rest of the villagers calling, "Long live Alseiass! Long live the Golden God!"

Typical.

After observing a few towns, Halt guessed (pretty much correctly for his limited knowledge) that a few hired bandits would burst out of the treeline a hundred meters away from the village square and Tenny-who-ever-that-is and his little choir of angels will sing them away. Which is why Halt had taken the liberty of finishing them off that afternoon. Now that that was over, he looked down on the speaker, who was getting increasingly agitated. The short plump man in gleaming white robes rubbed his hands together as one of his more burly bodyguard/henchman whispered something in his ear. His eyes widened in surprise.

"Good people of Kerryring, I regret to announce to you the evil god Balsennis has struck again!" cried the speaker, louder this time, over the murmurings of the crowd. "A group of poor men have been found dead in the forest, with evidence that it was Balsennis's work!"

Gasps sounded from the crowd. Then, one man called out, "Protect us!" and everyone followed.

Halt cursed. This guy was good at manipulation. Too good.

He stood up from his vantage point from the window of a nearby inn with an abnormally large amount of floors. Stairs are the bane of everyone's existence.

Very well. Plan B.

The trip from Kerryring to Dun Kilty was surprisingly fast. Halt reined in Abelard as they reached the busy marketplace. He bought an apple for Abelard and some fresh bread and cheese for himself as they made their way to the local inn.

The tavern downstairs was filled with people as Halt walked in. The popular traveling minstrel strummed his lute and was singing Old Joe Smoke loudly over the din of the crowd.

Fare thee well, Old Joe Smoke.

Fare thee well, I say.

Fare thee well, Old Joe Smoke.

I'll see you on your way.

Halt was humming as he went back to check on Abelard. The horse looked absolutely minute compared to the other horses in the stalls, and they all looked at him jealously as Halt gave him a good brushing and, the main source of their jealousy, another apple.

Abelard crunched blissfully on the juicy apple. Halt finished brushing him and returned the brush to his pack hanging on the hook nearby. "Do you think it's a good idea to go find her?" Halt asked quietly.

As long as you get back here alive, in one piece, and with an apple, anything's fine. Are you sure you don't have any other choices?

Halt rubbed his eyes a little. "I'm working on it…"

Don't take too long.

"Hmph. Going around trying to stop each individual group took too long. If you come up with something better than Caitlyn, let me know."

Very well. I will. Tell me again how you're going to contact her again?

"I'm working on that too."

Abelard snorted. Halt suspected he even rolled his eyes.

Halt patted Abelard on the neck and went up to his room for the night.