Something woke Will in the middle of the night. It wasn't Tug telling him that someone was nearby whether they were a friend or foe, and it wasn't someone bashing on his door telling him that he needed to go somewhere for either a mission or emergency. Will knew Halt was in the cabin as well as Pauline, both would have woken up if something was going on.
No one was walking around. In fact everything was as silent as it was meant to be. The animals outside were still talking to each other and the cabins normal creeks were continuously telling him and reminding him where he was. Whilst it did provide him comfort, there was something missing.
The company of Alyss. The knowledge that it would be only a few short hours before he could see her and talk to her. The continual thoughts of their upcoming wedding.
It all gone and that was what woke Will up. Nothing in his life made sense anymore. He had worked towards being a Ranger for so long that when he was given breaks, he usually spent them in her company. Now he couldn't. There was no way to tell how long it was going to be until he saw her again.
There was one way but honestly it tore him in two. If he didn't do it there he had lost her, if he did do it, then he lost a large part of himself. I will do it, he told himself, getting out of bed quietly. He knew that sneaking away whilst he was an apprentice would come in handy one time. In his haste however, he forgot to account for the fact that it was Pauline and Halt staying, meaning that any noise he made was just as likely to wake either of them up. This time, it was Halt.
The older Ranger appeared out of his room confused. Instincts had woken him up from a nice sleep beside his wife. After pausing for a moment before recognising the roof above him as being his old one, he had gotten up, grabbed his weapons and made sure that Pauline wasn't going to wake up and make any noise. He crept to his door and nudged it open, thankful that Will had kept his habit of not oiling the doors as he had learnt that the hard way when his brother had snuck into his room one day to kill him that way.
He straightened up and lowered his weapons when he saw that it was just Will. This was a strange time of night for Will to wake up at, Halt knew. After all, he had practically memorised Will's sleep patterns at different points of his well being. Realistically now, he would have slept until about five in the morning, it being only 1:30.
"What's wrong?" Halt called softly through the darkness. He was still conscious of Pauline in the other room and if this was Will sleep walking, he knew it would be dangerous to wake him up.
"I have to go to Castle Araluen," Will said. Halt paused. It appeared as though he was sleepwalking by the way he was vague and the topic he had just mentioned. Perhaps he was remembering an old mission?
"Why's that?" Halt prodded further.
"Because Alyss said she might give me a chance if I quit the Ranger corps," Will finished explained. He stood up from the stool he had taken recent residence on and walked towards the door. He began to reach for his weapons just as Halt began talking again.
Halt knew that whatever was going on he couldn't let Will go outside. If he was only dreaming then something could happen to the young man. Whilst he was sure that Tug would protect him, there were still uncertain elements to it. If Will was awake then who knows what he was capable doing.
"Come back to bed and think it through in the morning. If you still want to go then I will go with you," Halt attempted to reason. Will thought about this for a while and Halt felt victorious as he was able to see Will succumbing to the idea in the younger Ranger's eyes.
"Ok," Will said and started walking towards his room. Halt waited until he had caught up then threw his arm over his shoulders in a comforting gesture. He opened Will's door for him and led him inside. Even though Will had mentioned leaving, he hadn't managed to get dressed to go outside yet.
"Get rest and we will talk in the morning ok?" Will nodded and rolled over. Halt walked back to his own room, soothed Pauline when she sleepily asked what had happened, stirred awake by him getting back into bed.
"We will talk tomorrow about it all. I want you to be there to give insight to perhaps what Alyss is thinking," Halt told her. She paused for a moment, understandably taking longer in her sleepy state to process things. It was one aspect of her few people got to know. Halt liked that thought and kept the knowledge to himself. After all, why would people need to know that Pauline wasn't a morning person and hated being disturbed in the middle of the night?
Just after he had fallen asleep Will crept back out of bed, got dressed and went out the window. He came back around to the front to collect his weapons and other generic Ranger items that were always carried, around before saddling Tug and leaving.
I promise to update the rest of this chapter tomorrow. Right now it is late, I have just finished an assignment and I can barely see the keyboard I am so sick. Nanowrimo is off to a great start, isn't it? It's still nearly 1000 words. 980ish according to my counter.
Aly
