A/N: Well, I'm getting on this one a little earlier than the last one... hopefully I'm not lying as I write this (except now it's been forever and I was, I really was). Hope y'all saw the last one, not sure if anything was sent out to peoples. So yeah. Not a whole lot to say.
And, because I am just a terrible person, after this super long gap, there's going to be another one, because it's national novel writing month, and I have a novel to write, and it can't be fanfiction unfortunately. So I'll see you in a month, I guess? Hopefully it won't take me as painfully long as this time, I've had a bit of writers block.
Anon: I know, the moment I killed off Gilan I was like "Oooh I am evil. Cuz he ain't dead!"
Sarah: Wow, I'm shocked you watch Hogans Heroes, I've never met anyone other than my parents who has seen it - yay! You get bonus points. *virtual A+*
Ranger Wisdom: Haha, glad you like it! Gillan was kind of the little treat at the end to make everything else look less bad. Silver lining and all that. And lucky for you, you found it just now, so this chapter is coming really fast for you XD *sob* I'm sorry I'm terrible.
Sarah was running. Back at home, she hadn't been able to keep up a steady jog for long, just like most of her friends (including Kathryn), but here this all out sprint was barely bothering her. Well, except for the really painful gash along her shoulder blade that was throbbing in time with her heart, that kinda sucked. Stupid Scotti warriors, ganging up on her like that. But she had more important things to think about at the moment.
Speaking of which. She heard the warning little sh-bang! as a snazzy little bomb they'd borrowed from Malcolm went off,and threw herself to the ground behind an outcropping of rock that she conveniently saw nearby, tucking her legs in so her entire body was shielded.
The noise that came next was kind of unexpected. There was, of course, the expected BOOM that accompanies most explosions, but then there was this Whooomp! as if something large and airy had collapsed in on itself. A few moments later, that noise was revealed to be a huge gust of super heated air which, even though she was shielded from most of it by the rock, made her uncomfortably hot. She threw her hands over her face, instinctively protecting her eyes from the flying debris that came swirling past, stinging her skin when still burning cinders would touch it. And then, it was just... over. Sarah stood carefully, squinting through the ash-fog that filled the air as the heat quickly began to fade.
"Halt?" She called softly, regretting it instantly as grit coated the inside of her mouth, as if she had just swallowed a mouthful of dirt.
"Over here!" Came the reply, which Sarah followed until she found Halt kneeling beside a clearly discomforted Justin. The older was busy gently pulling back the sleeve from the younger's arm, where a large and ugly burn was already turning interesting shades of red and brown.
"What happened?" Sarah asked, dropping to her knees beside the pair.
"Not fast enough." Justin said through gritted teeth as Halt wrapped a bandage tightly over his arm, "A couple of them in a row tried to stop me, not realizing the whole place was going up. So I had a late start running, and had to just throw myself down on the ground. A piece of burning wood pinned my arm for a second before I got it free."
Sarah let out a sympathetic noise, before asking, "But did we get them all?"
Halt nodded. "Weapons and warriors both."
Sarah nodded in satisfaction. "When are we coming back for the weapons?"
"As soon as we have a real army to give them to." He tied off the bandage and clapped Justin on the shoulder, "Should be fine. Well, not fine, but not excruciating either."
"Your bedside manner is just so wonderful Halt." Justin commented sarcastically, "I feel better already."
"Well I could tell you that it's all going to be butterflies and roses, would you like that better?" He stood up, brushing off his knees absent mindedly. "Now, the real question - what else can we learn from this little expedition?"
The trio fanned out, scanning the surrounding area for any pieces of information that might have been involuntarily left behind by the Scotti before it was all blown to bits. As they walked around, they would call out if they found anything even vaguely relevant, in case all the pieces needed to be put together to make sense. But as time went on, it seemed as if there might not be anything.
Until. Sarah, who was starting to get a bit bored of the same repeated footprints over and over, was about to take a step, before she violently jerked her foot away from where it had almost landed. She had, at the last moment, noticed a footprint that was distinctly not Scotti. The boots were totally different, she could see that from the sole's pattern if nothing else, not to mention they lacked the crude harshness of Scotti wear. "Um, Halt?" Sarah called, "Come take a look at this."
He turned from what he had been examining, "What is it?" Sarah simply pointed, uncertain how to explain what she was seeing. "Come on, what..." He trailed off as he saw what she was pointing to, face suddenly losing all trace of emotion.
"Halt?" Sarah asked, "Is, uh, is it important?"
"Is it important?" He repeated softly, hardly moving. Seeing that they had gathered, Justin joined them, following their eye lines.
"Okay, so someone's been here that isn't a Scotti warrior." He asserted, looking up at Halt for confirmation.
"Yes." Halt agreed, but his tone suggested that there was something else. His next words confirmed it, "But look - the boot is more worn on the inside in a very distinctive way." He knelt down and looked at it closer, to confirm that this was true. "This wasn't just anyone. It was Kathryn."
"What?!" Sarah yelped, leaning in closer, "No way!"
"She passed through here no more than a week ago." Halt confirmed, regaining his feet.
"And there's only one problem," Justin said, looking over his shoulder.
Sarah followed his gaze, and felt her stomach drop. "We just blew up her footsteps."
"Who said we're following her?" Halt said suddenly, and both the others looked at him incredulously.
"I'm sorry?" Sarah said incredulously, "Are you trying to tell me that we aren't going after your apprentice?"
Halt's face remained cold, "She had multiple chances to return, and did not. She doesn't want following."
"But Halt," Justin put in, "She was staying at the camp, to gather information - why would she have left now? Something chased her from the camp, she probably needs help!"
"No." Halt replied definitively, "She had a chance to get help, and she didn't take it."
For a moment, Sarah was at a loss for words, simply to astonished to form them. Then, in a wave of shock and outrage, she said, "Halt, when someone took Will, you tore apart your own reputation to go and find him. How is this any different?" When he did not reply, she went on, "So she made a mistake back on that mountain - you can't stay mad at her forever you know!"
"And why not?" Halt snapped, "She has made mistake after mistake, and you expect me to let it all go?"
"Yes, Halt! Because that's what family does!" She wasn't quite sure where it had come from, the reference to family, but there it was. And no matter how sappy it sounded, it was true - the four Redmont Rangers were a sort of family.
Halt's gaze was full of anger, but Sarah held it with a determination she had rarely felt before, and she could be stubborn when she chose. This wasn't some little thing, like whether or not she got to go to a concert or not, this was very possibly the life or death of a friend she had had since the first grade, and nobody was going to dissuade her. Not even friggin-scary-dagger-eyes Halt. He may be full of ice, but somewhere he still cared, she knew it. She just had to put on enough heat to melt through.
Justin awkwardly cleared his throat, and both of them looked over with equal annoyance. "Um, hate to ruin the moment, but we'd better chose fast." He pointed past their shoulders, already starting to back away.
Apparently, 'getting them all' actually meant 'getting a bunch of them but not all of them', because there were several of them running towards them through the forest, swords drawn, more than what one ranger and two apprentices could handle.
"Come on!" Halt said, starting off to their right. Nonplussed, Sarah lunged over and grabbed his forearm, dragging him to a stop by using her entire body weight. "What?!" He snarled, eyes on the rapidly approaching Scotti.
"You're going the wrong way." Sarah said calmly, masking the fear she was actually feeling about the approaching warriors.
"We don't have time for this!" He insisted, pulling away.
Sarah clamped down on his arm with all her might, using her heels to dig in. "Halt!"
He turned back to look at her, eyes briefly meeting hers. And for a second, Sarah thought she saw something other than the coldness there, something warmer and yet also more painful. Though it was quickly gone, Sarah knew she had seen it.
What he said next only confirmed it. "Fine." Very soft, but still the answer she was looking for.
And then an arrow whipped past them, way off target but still too close for comfort. "Come on!" Justin yelled, starting off towards the way Kathryn's footsteps had to have gone. The others were close behind.
"What the hell?" Sarah murmured, peering through the underbrush at the rock face that apparently randomly existed in this woodland. "Where do her footsteps go?"
"There must be a cave." Halt replied, dark eyes scanning the area carefully. "And look -" he pointed at two deep shadowed areas, "Guards." Sarah had to take a nice good look before she was able to see them, sneakily concealed partially behind outcroppings and undergrowth.
"Okay. So..."
"So, you two work on those ones, and I go in and take care of whatever is happening in the cave. We don't want them pulling anything when they hear the commotion."
Justin glanced over at Sarah. "Sounds good, yeah?"
"Sounds good," Sarah agreed, "But do we follow you in after we're done?"
Halt shrugged, "Doesn't matter."
Sarah sighed, greatly appreciating his helpful reply. "Okay. Justin?"
He brought an arrow to his string, "Let's go."
Together they stood, each firing an arrow into opposite patches of shadow, at the dark figure vaguely outlined there. A set of cries rang out, and suddenly there was a flurry of motion in the darkness. Apparently with their limited vision, they had both missed their target's vitals, but by the sound of it they had hit something. "Help!" One of them cried, sounding like heavily accented English, "Help!" To the Rangers' surprise, several more guards emerged out of the rock, presumably having been just inside the mouth of the cave.
"Dammit." Halt snapped, as the other two shot off another two arrows before quickly dropping back down as bows were drawn by the new guards. "I don't have time to help you, they may have already started doing emergency protocols with the yelling - cover me." He didn't wait even a moment before he burst from the brush, drawing all eyes.
"Halt!" Sarah yelled in frustration, before jumping out after him and firing several shots to drive off those who might try to shoot him. Justin was soon beside her, doing the same.
"There's at least ten of them!" Justin said, dropping someone who had almost gotten Halt.
"Yeah, " Sarah agreed, wincing mid shot as she saw Halt get grazed by a arrow. "We have to make a path for Halt to get to-"
"Yup," Justin acknowledged, firing off another shot, "Let's be quick about it."
It took an unfortunately long amount of time to get the warriors off of Halt, long enough that Halt had to draw his knives to defend against a couple of swords that were drawn, but he didn't stay long enough to off them - that's what Sarah and Justin were for - he would simply stop their blade, then move on. When he reached the mouth of the cave, all Sarah and Justin had to do was make sure nobody followed him. "Harder than it sounds," Sarah murmured to herself, before letting out a string of curses as her shot went way off course, creating an opportunity for someone to get in. She watched as the warrior lunged for the entrance - and then collapsed, arrow through his eye.
"I got you." Justin said.
Gilan was not in very good shape. He'd been there for months, and the Scotti hadn't been idle. When I had first woke up after crying myself to sleep that first night, the first thing I had noticed was the conspicuous smell of blood. They had been trying to get information out of him for the entire time he had been captured, apparently. The injury he'd received allowing him to be captured in the first place had healed badly and looked like it might be infected even now, and the Scotti had inflicted many more. I couldn't see him well in the dim torchlight, but he looked pretty black and blue. These weren't nice people, and Gilan was a pretty determined guy when it came to withholding information.
That is until I came and got all in the way. Because frankly, even though Gilan didn't care about his own well being, he did care about others, including mine. And as soon as their little warrior brains thought of it, they were dragging me out of that cell, not to ask me questions, but to ask him, with hurting me as the threat. And, despite the fact that in a frightened voice, I told him not to tell them anything, he did anyways. Lies, but he did tell them something.
And so far, they'd been okay with the lies, hadn't yet discovered them. But it was only a matter of time, and we knew it. I daily told him that when they did that he had to promise not to tell them anything real, that I really didn't care, and daily he would smile back, saying nothing. And so, I decided that I was going to do something before he destroyed our cause for my sake.
The only problem was how. I was stuck in a cell with my hands cuffed together, it's not like I was gonna be doing any hardcore fighting. And yet... these giant bulky things on my wrist could sure pack a punch if I could swing 'em right, and could brace something much better than my bare hands ever could (though they would hurt like hell in the nice little canyons I dug in my forearm's muscle when I smashed them against the bars either way). This did not change the fact that I was in a jail cell, obviously, but it was a start.
And it wasn't all bad.
Just kidding it pretty much was. At first I could tell Gilan about what had happened with the war, all of our adventures, but even that didn't take more than a day (it was a bit hard to judge time without the sun). And then what? We were hardly in the mood or any shape to be doing any training, and if we did we might give valuable information to the enemy, even the unarmed defense stuff. So... we sat.
And sat.
And sat.
And that gives one a lot of time for thinking.
Lots. Of thinking.
And though it took a ridiculously long time to think of a plan, think of one I did.
Which obviously meant that Gilan was going to shoot it down.
"No." His answer was blunt, and not even trying to whisper, "No, definitely not."
"Oh come on, Gilan!" I said, "What else are we going to do?"
"I don't know, but not that. They'll kill you."
"And what's the alternative again?"
Gilan let out a sound of frustration, "Look, just no, okay? The answer is no, and it is going to remain no until further notice."
With a sigh I settled back against the bars of the cell again, my back seeming to have developed grooves to match the bars. "It would work, you know. I have this asset, and we should use it."
"No."
I rolled my eyes even though he couldn't see in the omnipresent dusk of the cavern. "I know I have limited range of motion, but don't you get it, this would make that irrevelant!"
"No."
"Oh my god, Gilan, seriously! We are going to rot down here, are you just okay with that?"
"I'd rather us rot that get chopped up in little pieces."
"I wouldn't."
"Too bad."
And so we sat some more. And somewhere in the midst of all that sitting, I decided that no matter what Gilan said, I was going through with this. I mean, these kinds of things were always in books as 'coincidences' that made everything work out, so why shouldn't I exploit this one? And so I set up my trap, silently and without letting Gilan know what I was doing.
It took hours for it to work. I stared at it, looking for any flaws that could make this all come crashing down like Gilan predicted, and righting those that I did find. But as the guard who was coming to deliver our measly ration of food and water for the day entered the cavern, I pointedly looked away, staring at nothing as we usually did when guards would come down for any purpose. But as he opened the door, I tensed up, ready to spring. Without any apparent warning, the guard let out a cry, followed by a string of curses, as he walked straight into the knife, the one Sarah had helped me hide cunningly inside my boot, which had been tied to the frame of the door at knee height by several strips of cloth torn off my shirt. And, as he began to bend over to see what had caused him so much pain, I launched up, using just my legs to do so as I shoved off the wall, swinging my arms like a club to cause a heavy impact between the man's head and my hand cuffs. There was a squishy sort of clunk! before, the guy cut off yelling and crumpled to the ground.
"I thought I said-!"
"And I said it would work, didn't I?" I replied, casually reaching down to take the man's pulse. Still alive, just unconscious. Good enough, I figured.
"Okay, so we're out of the cell. Now what?"
Oh. Yeah. That. Maybe I hadn't thought this through all that well. I quickly searched the man, hoping to find a set of keys to our handcuffs, but no such luck - just those for the cell. "Um..." I looked him over. He had a bow and quiver, but that wasn't going to be much good with my hands bound. "Umm..."
"Yeah." Gilan sounded incredibly disappointed, and somewhat resigned. "Um."
"Shut up I'm thinking." I grumbled, searching the man once again, before giving up. "Well..." I reached out an untied the ropes holding up the knife to the bars. "It's still a weapon, right?"
"About the tiniest, most ineffective one ever, but yes. I suppose."
"Not helpful." I asserted, starting to fiddle with the knife, looking at different ways to hold it.
"Wait." Gilan said, suddenly not as discouraged as a moment before. "Maybe... if you tied it like..." He took the knife from me, wedging the hilt into one of the chain links and bracing it over the top of one of the actual cuffs, coming off at an angle, "Then you could use your chains like a club plus a blade. That's a pretty scary weapon."
Silently very glad that he had gotten past his doom and gloom stage, I nodded, "Maybe you should go - you're better at this whole... uh... ranger, thing."
He gestured to his leg. "Not a chance, not right now anyways. No, you're going to have to do it, and do it fast - sounds like something's happening up there."
And indeed, it did. There was a loud commotion, with cries and thuds and clangs echoing down the system of caves. I nodded quickly. "Alright. Help me."
Together we managed to awkwardly tie the knife in place (I mean, don't you do everything kind of awkwardly when you're in hand cuffs?), before he helped me to my slightly shaky feet. Small amounts of food over long periods of time can make one a little unsteady. "Good luck." Gilan said, and though his voice mostly sounded ritualistic, there was a little tinge of hope to the words.
"Thanks." And then I was off.
Getting up the unlit stairs was a struggle, trailing a hand (and therefore sort of both hands) along the wall, the hand not attached to the knife, so that I could find the direction it was going at least, but the stairs weren't regularly placed, so I stumbled often. Getting up was a party, let me tell you. But finally, finally, I glimpsed the light at the end of the tunnel, literally. And I could still hear that commotion going on, thank goodness. I started to move more quietly than before, and more carefully, to scope out the situation.
In this bigger chamber, where it looked like the guards chilled when they weren't torturing us and stuff, there was only one guard. One! I felt like whooping for joy. Clearly whatever was going on was a big enough deal to leave only one guy behind to guard the prisoners. That said, it still wasn't going to be easy. He was big, like Bry sized big. And he had a sword. And had probably eaten well within the last few weeks. All of which are an advantage in a fight, you know.
But this was the best chance I was going to be getting, and I knew it. So I steeled my nerves, swallowed my fear of death, thought of Gilan sitting down there alone in the dark, and stepped into the light.
I know what you're expecting. Guard whirls around, charges, dead Kathryn. But no. He didn't even stir. Because I'm still a ranger, I guess, and I apparently didn't step loud enough for him to hear. And so I just kept walking. And kept going. And for just a moment there, it really looked like I might have been be able to just make a break for it, get out, regroup, and find a way to get back in to save Gilan.
Silly, to think it would work out that way, wasn't it? Because just before I made my break, the guard glimpsed me out of the corner of his eye, and, after doing a quick double take, did in fact spin on the spot, a look of shock and anger on his face. "Oi!"
"Shit!" I yelled, starting to run for the door, but his longer step and suddenly drawn sword stopped me cold.
"Oh no you don't!" He snarled in Scotti, before swinging the sword overhead, down to cleave me in two. I let out a cry and dove to one side, intending to just bolt back and forth until I could dip past this lumbering giant. I had forgotten, it seemed, that I was physically exhausted from lack of food. And so as I landed on my foot at the end of my dart, my leg buckled, leaving me on the ground. I rolled over just in time to see the sword sweeping down towards me again. With a little shriek, I threw my chained hands between me and the swipe, catching the blade on the cuffs. As it started to slide through towards my face I raised my hands, so that the point sparked off the stone floor, and gave me a moment to roll over and to my feet again. However, I didn't have much time to recuperate - right away he was on me again, swinging again and again at me, apparently no longer interested in using me as a threat to Gilan. Forced to retreat by the onslaught of blows, I soon found myself backed into a corner, with no where left to go. And he knew it too.
"Say goodbye, little boy." The man gloated, raising his blade overhead one last time, ready to bifurcate me any moment. In a last desperate attempt, I brought my hands up to chest level and twisted them around, ready to lunge forward and stab him in the heart, if I was faster than him.
THRUMUmumum! The familiar sound followed by a meaty thwack pierced the air, and the man froze, not even letting out a cry, before dropping to the ground like a stone. For a moment, I kept staring at his unmoving body, with the black shafted arrow sticking out of its back, as if to make sure he wasn't suddenly going to come back and stab me. Then, very slowly, I looked up to the entrance of the cave.
Halt. That was whose arrow had saved my life, and Gilan's too. He stood in the doorway, bow still raised, with another arrow nocked to the string just in case. My heart leaped and sunk at the same time, a strange mix of overwhelming relief and dread. Conflicted, and still exhausted, my knees chose a most opportune moment to buckle again, so that I sat on my heels, hands still raised to keep from accidentally stabbing myself somehow.
Slowly, Halt approached, replacing his arrow in his quiver and slinging his bow over his back. I watched him without a reaction, breaths coming in staggered gasps as adrenaline worked its way out of my system. And, just as slowly, he lowered himself to my level, so he too was sitting on his heels.
"What on earth," he began, gently taking my cuffed wrists in one calloused hand, pulling the knife out of its spot with disappointing ease, "were you hoping to do with this?"
"Oh Halt!" I said, my voice breaking mid stream as I felt all my emotions of last month or so come pouring out all at once. I collapsed in place, both emotionally and physically, so that I ended up crumpled against my older mentor, crying into his cloak. "I am so, so sorry! I didn't mean to, I was just so... and then I was so scared, and... and..."
He gently, if somewhat awkwardly, ran a hand over my back, just like my dad used to when I would cry about anything, "Well... perhaps I shouldn't have almost broken your neck, either." I let out a half-sobbing laugh in response, "Let's call it even?"
I sniffed, pulling away a little, though my tears hadn't slowed much. "Even." I said with a little, forced smile.
"Are you alright?" He asked gently, looking me over, "What on earth did you do to your arms?"
I looked down to where he was looking. In the better lit cavern, the lesions on my wrists looked exponentially worse - black and cracked with blood slowly oozing out of it still, along with a slightly sickly sheen. "Um, maybe I panicked a little bit when I got here."
He rolled the dead man over and quickly searched him, finding a set of keys in one of his pockets. I let out a tiny cheer, before Halt took my hands and freed them from the cuffs. "But really," he pressed, "are you okay? You were in that camp for an awfully long time, and here for..."
I nodded slightly, "Yeah, I'm fine. Well, not fine, but I'll live."
"They didn't..."
I finally took the hint and flushed bright red, "Um, no. No, actually I was a boy there."
"You think that makes a difference?"
I flushed brighter, "Oh. Well. The answer is still no."
"Good." Halt seemed totally non-phased by the whole interaction. "Well, this shouldn't be a problem for traveling, at least. Getting you back to camp won't be too hard."
"Might not be true for Gilan. He was-"
"Gilan?!" Halt exclaimed.
I realized that he didn't know the news that seemed so common to me after spending a week alone with him. "Oh, yeah! He's down in the cell, but he's hurt, and couldn't come up with me."
Halt stood abruptly, "Sarah and Justin are outside, and it sounds like they've got everything sorted out. Go on out to them, I'll go get Gilan."
"You sure you don't need help?" I asked, uncertain just what I wanted the answer to be, taking the hand he offered me to help me to my feet.
"You are not in any kind of state to help anyone with anything." Halt said, his usual blunt snark returning to the fore. However, he let it drop for one moment more, saying, "I'm glad to have you back, Kathryn."
I felt a few more tears fight to get out. "Me too, Halt."
A/N: Well Tess, I hope that was everything you were hoping for! I didn't think Halt would be too feelsy, at least not outwardly, so I didn't make it too terribly long, but I hope it was good enough!
