Hallo! Nice of you to read this far. I guess that this means my story is semi-well written. I have no ownership of Ranger's Apprentice (though John Flanagan does). Anyway, on with the story I go!

Several days passed with Halt watching Will as he practiced the many things that needed practicing. Will was too busy with learning all the maps, practicing with his weapons, looking after Tug, identifying animal tracks and trying to o unnoticed through the forest that he didn't have much time to think what happened at Old Bob's over.

And since nothing else had happened, Will has happy to keep the thoughts of Halt from him mind.

As he collapsed in bed after another tiring day, Will couldn't help that happiness that brought his lips to grinning. He felt something here that he never had anywhere else- a sense of belonging. Whenever he left, he knew that he had a place to come back, at Halt's cabin in the woods, in his own little room always kept neat and tidy.

Will had almost drifted off to sleep when he was woken up by his door opening. A small shaft of light reached into the room, throwing Will into a light that made him squint his eyes.

"Alright, get dressed again. Tonight is a good night to practice identifying things in the dark- there's no moon at all." Halt informed the apprentice.

Will sat up in his bed, groaning inwardly at the loss of sleep he would have. Despite how much he wanted to stay in his cozy bed, he was also thrilled at the prospect of learning comething new.

As Will jumped quickly out of bed and dressed, he didn't notice Halt comly watching him, a smirk almost in his eyes.

They saddled up Abelard and Tug and rode into the forest. After about half an hour of a steady walk, Halt stopped and turned to his apprentice.

"Now," Halt began, "tell me what you see."

Will looked around, searching for any sign that an animal had come through. His eyes raked over the snowy ground again and again, carefully looking for any disturbance.

"I don't see anything?" Will stated uncertaintly.

"Here we go again," Halt replied, "Answering questions with questions. I should make you do something every time you do that; maybe then you'd learn to be more confident in your answer, whether you're right or wrong."

Will gulped as he imagined all the things that he could do as punishment. It could be something simple, such as cleaning the whole house out, or maybe he would have to hit a certain target with his throwing knives. Or, thought Will with a shiver, He might have to do something in the realm of giving Halt a blowjob, or be forced to withstand one himself. Though, he added in, he might not mind it that much.

"If you're quite done with your mental perusing…" Halt said to snap his apprentice into focus.

"R-Right!" Will stuttered in reply. "I didn't see anything on the ground that would lead me to believe that an animal has come through."

"On the ground, you say? Have you ever thought of looking up?"

Will mentally bashed himself for not thinking of that. Often times when he was hiding in trees or up high, he had mused about how people seldom look up to find something. Now here he was, forgetting about the possibility himself.

Halt watched as Will glanced upward, taking stock of everything in tree branches. He couldn't help a feeling of pride as the apprentice noticed the scratches and disturbed snow on a low branch a few meters away.

"I see something, though I have no idea what kind of bird it is." Will told him.

"Ride closer and see. Did the bird just randomly fly away or was it scared by something? How big was it? Was it injured or healthy? Look close, and you can answer all of these questions just from those scratch marks.

Will rode up the branch, standing in his stirrups to get a closer look. The slashes on the branch looked hurried, as if the bird had taken off in a hurry. He moved his eyes down the branch and towards the trunk, looked for anything else that might tell him why. Very faintly imprinted on the tree, he saw smooth lines in a curved motion.

Looking back at the bird's makrs, Will gave his answer. "The bird is fully grown, though light so it might be a female. It was picking small twigs off the branch above it," He indicated where spinndely branch was just over the first, "When it realized that there was a snake. It fly off hurridley before the snake could strike, and got away uninjured.

Satified with his answer, Will sat back down in the saddle, facing Halt as he did so.

Halt, for his part, was inpressed. He couldn't see the snake print from his distance, but he was glad that Will had noticed the bird had flown away in a hurry, and then sought the reason why. Usually, thought Halt, curiosity is a ranger's best friend.

"Good job." Halt told the apprentice, receiving a grin in return. He quickly smothered it however. "Maybe next time, you'll notice that the bird couldn't have been a female because at this time of year, they have to keep the eggs warm. It's that male that goes out and collects everything until the babies hatch."

Will's happiness faded some, but it still left a warm glow in his heart.

"At night, it becomes harder to see things so you have to make sure you investigate everything. If you think that you see something, check it out. If you put it off as a trick of the light and end up getting attacked by a bear because you didn't investigate it's tracks, you'll be sorry when you're dead."

Will listened intently. He found himself helplessly draw in by the older male's voice. He felt his focus zoning in and out. He really was tired. Would Halt let him sleep in? Will hoped so.

Halt was about to point out a track left by a raccoon when he heard something heavy hit the ground. Turnung around sharply, the ranger saw his apprentice sprawled out across the ground.

Halt leapt out of the saddle and knelt down by Will's side. The boy was unconscious, and he sported a nasty lump on his head. He lifted Will off the ground and laid him across Abelard's saddle. After climbing up himself, Halt settled Will into an upright position so that they were chest to back; Will was in front so Hakt could keep him from falling off again.

While Halt just wanted to gallop back to the house, he knew that any unnessicary movement of Will's head could damage him further, so he forced himself to keep a walk.

What felt like hours later, Halt carried Will into the cabin, laying him down on his bed and gently tucking him in. Halt checked the lump on the boy's head, covering it with a cold, damp cloth, and then laid down beside Will to get some rest.

Oh poor Will. I hope he feels better soon. I doubt Halt will do anything to him while he's injured. Thanks for reading, wonderful people, and please, as always, R&R!

~Ko