A/N This would be the chapter Halt and Alyss find "Will". How do they take it? Well you'll just have to read and find out!

Issues w/ the ch name again...

Chapter 3: You know the world is ending when Halt cries

~Alyss POV~

Tug led Alyss and Halt across the hills of Araleun for two days. Alyss knew Halt was making Will's horse go at a slower pace than he had gone to get to Redmont, and sort of understood why, but was still impatient. She knew He didn't want the little horse to die from exhaustion, but she'd never really seen him tired before. Alyss was still impatient though.

What if Will's hurt somewhere? she thought. She wanted to question Halt about his actions, even opening her mouth to do so, but then she thought better of it and closed it again.

"What?" the grizzled old Ranger asked irritably.

"I didn't say anything!" Alyss exclaimed.

"You were about to ask a question."

"I — Yes. I was. I wanted to know why you were going so slowly. What if will's hurt?"

Halt turned in the saddle to look at her. "If Will were hurt, he would have or added something to that letter of his. Probably. Either way, he can't be too bad off because he sent Tug to Redmont." He said and turned around again. They rode in silence for the rest of the trip.

~Halt POV~

About dinner-time (A/N Also known as lunch. Supper is the one eat in the evening, but some call that dinner. So whatever), Tug stooped near a rocky outcropping. Halt swung down off Abelard.

The first thing he noticed was the shattered longbow lying next to the path. Halt cradled the fragments in his hands. Alyss silently proffered the nearly full quiver she'd found tossed haphazardly into a bush.

"This means they had some kind of decoy party attack him first. Then I guess one of them dropped on him from above. Probably as he rode under that." Halt told the tall, blonde diplomat. Tug pawed at some of the dried blood on the ground.

Will's, thought Halt gravely.

"Let's keep moving," he said as he mounted Abelard once more.

~Alyss POV~

It was three days after they found Will's quiver and broken longbow. Halt was tracking Will's attackers.

Suddenly, Tug whinnied loudly and broke away from the little group. Halt leaped off Abelard and followed the little horse. Alyss saw the old Ranger jerk to a stop.

"No!"

Alyss closed her eyes, afraid of what she knew she might see. Slowly, she opened them again.

There, lying on the ground was a short, dark-haired boy, dressed in a mottled cloak and forest colors. A silver oakleaf glittered on his chest. His face was the color of bruises, and small cuts were visible on every visible part of his skin. But it was obviously the hole in his chest that had finished him off.

A knife, Alyss thought, tears streaming down her dusty cheeks. They beat him half to death, then stuck a knife in his heart.

Halt knelt and cradled his dead once apprentice to his chest. Alyss knew Will had been like a son to halt, and halt a father to Will.

Why? Alyss thought. I loved him. Why Will?

Then she saw a sight she'd never forget. Halt was crying.

A/N OMGEEZ! HAlt cried. like actual tears. Wow. WEll, don't worry, more is on the way. Eventually. Review? cuz that would make me type much faster...