Okay, so I realized I haven't written anything in a long time. Well, for this story… I couldn't think of anything that would fill up my friend's (and now also my) goal of 2000 words. Thank you Thanksgiving break. Anyways, back to the great saga of young Will Treaty, king Horace, Rangers Halt and Gilan and well, everyone else…

"You called?" Will asked strolling through the oak doors of the Great Hall.

"Only I get to strut through the Hall like I own them. Unlike you, I actually do." Said Erik glaring at Will. Will grinned at him, unfazed. Erik shook his head muttering to himself. Will's grin widened.

"You are to report to Nihon' Ja next week. The emperor has requested your presence." Announced a messenger.

"I wonder why," Halt muttered under his breath.

Gilan made an odd choking noise and Will realized he was concealing a laugh. Horace also hid a grin behind a massive hand.

"Thank you Halt," Will said dryly glaring at his former mentor. Will wished Halt was more like his wife. Sure, she criticizes, but at least she actually knows what she is talking about. As if reading his thoughts, Halt glared at Will.

Evelyn (aka Cassandra) coughed politely to get everyone's attention after the messenger had left. "Are we going to continue criticizing Will, or shall we plan tonight's celebration?" she asked.

The men stared at her blankly. Evelyn sighed. "In case you have forgotten, today we celebrate the 7th year that our two countries have been in an alliance." She explained.

Erik coughed roughly. "Of course. We have already planned most of it. I never would have forgotten."

"Very well." Said Evelyn smiling slyly. "What have you planned so far?" she asked. "I would love to see it."

Erik opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

"I thought so," said Evelyn smugly. "You forgot. All of you forgot. And yet we fought together. Such an important milestone and you all forgot. Boys." She said rolling her eyes. "I guess it's up to me to plan."

And plan she did…


"Come on" said Gilan with Will in a tow. "You look fine"

Will groaned. "I can barely move. Where did Evelyn find these clothes?"

Will yelped, almost face planting on the ground, tripping in his fancy, polished shoes.

"Screw this," he growled. "I'm going back to change back into my regular clothing."

Gilan laughed. "Looks like the ever graceful Will Treaty has lost his balance."

Will eyed him balefully. "Now I see why Halt is so eager to stick a knife in you. I may decide to do it for him."

Will turned and fell yet again. Will groaned as Gilan howled with laughter. Gilan walked over and pulled Will off the ground and all but dragged Will back to their temporary living quarters.

After five minutes of yanking and swearing, Will managed to get the formal clothing off. "I wonder if she got the Skandians to wear this." Will grumbled, swinging on his cloak.

"At least clean off the dirt" said Gilan tossing him a damp towel. Will nodded his thanks and rubbed the dirt off his face and arms.

When they neared the Great Hall, they could hear the Skandians had already started. "Well you can always count on Skandians to do two things: Drink and fight." Gilan nodded in agreement. "You forgot to add sail and raid." Will grinned. "Too true."

The two rangers slipped in. Will yelped and ducked as a flagon of ale flew at him. Hitting Stig who had come in with Hal and Lydia as the door slipped close.

"Oh! Ale!" he exclaimed happily. "Thanks Will!" Hal chuckled.

Will sighed. "I will kill the next person or thing that makes me duck and or fall." Gilan laughed. "Yes, your poor face needs rest after falling twice and 'ducking' once."

Will gave Gilan his best evil eye. Gilan, knowing how fast and deadly Will was, decided to let the topic rest. But, he promised himself; he would get a good laugh out of it later.

The Skandians were already drunk. Erik bowled his way over. The other Skandians nearest to the door and next in the Obejarl's path learned from their unfortunate countrymen and parted to let Erik through. Those he left in his wake got up groaning.

The two Rangers prepared to get out of the way if Erik decided to get too drunk or too friendly and started doing what he called "hugging".

"You finally got here!" he bellowed. "The little hero was the last one to get here!" Will felt his cheeks flush. Gilan hooted with laughter and pounded him on the back. He seemed to be doing a lot of laughing tonight.

Erik dragged Will to where the others were waiting. Those Skandians who had just gotten up quickly parted, not wanting to be crushed again.

"Took you long enough," Horace said. He was wearing the suit that he had some how managed to stuff himself into. Horace looked awkward and like he was about to explode. "Doesn't Horace look handsome?" Evelyn asked sweetly.

Will chocked back his laughter and nodded. He knew if he said anything, he would burst out laughing. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Gilan hiding his mirth. It would not do to laugh at Araluen's future king.

Well it was finally time to start the celebration now that all the Araluens were here. The Skandians seemed to enjoy having drink contests. Throughout the next hour, they drank and drank, many of them passing out. Horace managed to drink two before going loopy. Erik laughed and pounded him on the back. "These will put hair on your chest if not more."

"Jesper and Stefan!" Erik bellowed. "Are you done with the saga yet?!"

The two Herons emerged with a mandola. They struck a tune and started singing/bellowing out the lyrics to a tune with absolutely not relation to the one they had just played. I'm not going to put cuz I'm horrible at poems and rhyming.

They described the battle with surprising accuracy and detail, but, of course exaggerated everything. In their saga, Will and Halt were ten feet tall and able to shoot a hundred arrows per second. Horace wielded ten blades and destroyed half the army with one blow. Evelyn had led the archers herself and fought off ten Tejumi. Everyone wolf whistled when they described Araluen's beautiful princess.

Erik watched with interest as Will banged his head on the table. Hal wormed his way into a seat next to the young Ranger. "Don't worry, Stefan and Jesper did the same to our story." He elaborated, seeing the blank look on Will's face. "The way they put it, our little ship fought off an entire fleet. I almost cracked my head open with all the head banging I did on the table."

When those two had finished, the place erupted in cheers. Both of the Skandian boys took a quick bow. Gilan came over and nudged Will whispering something into his ear. Will shook his head, "I don't want to spend the next month sleeping at the top of a pine tree."

"But you'll be leaving for Nihon' Ja tomorrow. He can't make you sleep in a tree if your in another country" Gilan argued. "Fine." He said, seeing the stubborn look on Will's face. "I'll do it with you. Besides, the real writer of this song needs to be recognized."

"Since you are willing to give up a month's good night sleep, let's do it." Will said grinning.

Gilan realized he hadn't thought it through. He had forgotten that only Will was going to Nihon' Ja and that he was still staying with Halt. Too late.

Erik had over heard and grabbed them both propelling them onto the table. Jesper grinned and handed Will the mandolin. "This doesn't seem that Ranger-like does it?" Stefan asked. Will shrugged. "Tonight is a time to celebrate and relax."

Will strummed the mandola and he began singing Greybeard Halt.

Greybeard Halt is a friend of mine

He lives on Redmont's hill

Greybeard Halt never took a bath

And they say He never will!

Fare thee well, Greybeard Halt

Fare thee well, I say

Fare thee well, Greybeard Halt

I'll see you on your way

Greybeard Halt, he lost a bet

He lost his winter coat

When winter comes, Halt stays warm

By sleeping 'mongst the goats.

Fare thee well, Greybeard Halt

Fare thee well, I say

Fare thee well, Greybeard Halt

I'll see you on your way.

Greybeard Halt, he lives with goats

That's what I've heard tell

He hasn't changed his socks for years

But the goats doesn't mind the smell!

Fare thee well, Greybeard Halt

Fare thee well I say

Fare thee well, Greybeard Halt

I'll see you on your way

Greybeard Halt is a fighting man

I've heard common talk

That Greybeard Halt, he cuts his hair

With a carving knife and fork!

Fare thee well, Greybeard Halt

Fare thee well, I say

Fare thee well, Greybeard Halt

I'll see you on your way

The Skandians laughed and bellowed along with the chorus. When the song ended the Skandians thumped their tankards, spilling the rest of their ale. Will and Gilan jumped off the table. Will looked up and saw the great oak doors of the Hall open and close. He saw the swish of a cloak before the door closed. He felt bad for humiliating Halt.

Will quickly excused himself and slipped out after Halt. He saw the hem of Halt's cloak disappear into the forest. Will raced after Halt, yelling his name. Halt ignored him.

Reaching the edge of the forest and looked around. Where could Halt be? Was he really that angry that he would ignore me? Will thought. He thought he saw a shadow move. Will sprinted after him. "Halt! Wait!" Will yelled.

A few meters from where Will stood, examining the ground for any sign of Halt, a cloaked figure raised his bow and aimed. He let the string go and the arrow shot away with a dull Thrum.

Will cried out as the arrow pierced his side. Halt felt his heart stop. He hadn't meant to shoot the boy. He was angry at Will, yes, but he would never willingly hurt the young boy. It was just meant to scare him, to warn him.

Halt ran to Will's side. Blood soaked the ground. Halt cradled Will in his lap. Gilan raced over. He had followed Will out and had came here as fast as he could when he heard Will cry out.

"What happened?" Gilan asked aghast. Halt numbly shook his head. Will had passed out from the pain when the arrow hit, but now he woke up. Will moaned and turned his head. He had felt the arrow pierce his side, and he saw Halt's bow lying on the ground. His brain figured out what had happened, but his mind refused to believe it.

"Halt, I'm sorry if we humiliated you. It was not our intention." Will rasped. A shudder ran though his body. His eyes fluttered close before Halt could find his voice.

Gilan turned his accusing eyes on Halt. "Why did you shoot him?" Gilan asked, refusing to believe that his mentor would shoot someone who was practically his own son. Halt shook his head, trying to find his voice. "I didn't mean to." He answered in a low voice. "I was angry and I just wanted to give him a scare. I was aiming at the tree next to him."

This was a one in a hundred shot. Halt rarely missed and now was a horrible coincidence. Gilan nodded. It made sense. And it was better than thinking that Halt had shot Will on purpose.

"We should get him to a healer." Gilan said.

Halt grabbed his hand. "Please don't tell anyone," Halt implored.

Gilan shook his head and halt felt his heart sink. "You will have to tell Will. He might do something we all might regret if you don't tell him." Gilan knew Will would be miserable if he thought Halt hated him enough to try and kill him. Halt nodded. He couldn't think straight. He hoped it was all a nightmare. He hadn't been humiliated and Will would be fine and whole.

Gilan carefully scooped Will up. Will gave a small cry of pain when he did. Gilan couldn't help but feeling that this was his fault. He had convinced Will to perform the song with him. Gilan wondered why Halt hadn't gone after him. This just didn't add up. He sighed. Like Will, he didn't like coincidences, and he knew Halt would never risk shooting even anywhere near Will. All he could hope for right now was that Will would be alright. So much for celebration, he thought.

Yeah! I finally got 2000 words in one chapter. Ha -. You satisfied? Okay done gloating. I hope this makes up for the relatively long wait. Until the next chapter. The more reviews, the faster Will will get help and the faster Halt and Gilan will make sense of what happened.