Hey! Back with another chapter! We're wrapping up here, a couple more chapters and then the epilogue.

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Guest - I'm sorry for the confusion - it should be less of a problem from now on.

Disclaimer - I am not John Flanagan. Therefore, do not own Ranger's Apprentice.

20

When they landed in Araluen, Maddie had much the same reaction to solid land as in Skandia, causing the group to smile some. Will's demeanor was a tad bit less excited, as he realized that he would need to face Halt at some time or another. Halt or Gilan, anyway, though neither was a great outcome. Explaining his too-close-for-comfort encounter with warmweed was bound to upset at least one, if not both, of them. Probably both, Will realized with a grimace. No, that encounter would not be pleasant in the slightest, no matter how it played out.

Evelynn was more than happy to be back on Araluen soil, however. There was no chance that she could possibly be caught by her former master there, and she was further comforted by the thought that he wouldn't be able to bother her anymore anyway. He was trapped back in Skandia, if not already dead, which she doubted basing off of what Maddie and Will had been talking about during their training sessions back there. Evelynn felt, overall, much safer here than in Skandia, to say the least.

After Maddie had finished re-greeting solid land, she realized that they would need to solve the warmweed issue. They used it as a painkiller, and in miniscule amounts, and Maddie herself had no problems with this particular, controlled use. What she had a problem with was the fact that it was able to be stolen by those who had less-than-humane uses for it, such as Yuman's gang. She had taken up the topic with Horace and Cassandra on the trip back, and they had agreed wholeheartedly that they needed to do something. Having their close friend on the drug at any point in time, regardless of whether or not they had seen the effect it had on Will first-hand, made them completely and totally averse to this particular use.

The group of five returned to Castle Araluen, the three Rangers to check in with Gilan and, most likely, Halt. The closer they got, the more anxious Will got - despite being one of the greatest Rangers in Araluen and a former apprentice to him, Halt's wrath was still something that Will was wary of. It was a fear born of punishments and chores during his apprenticeship, paired with Halt's naturally grim nature.

To his relief, Halt was nowhere to be seen when they first stepped into Gilan's office. Gilan seemed happy, which Evelynn decided was a good sign.

"How'd it go?" He asked.

"Well…" Will started.

Gilan's eyebrow went up. Evelynn had to wonder where the expression had stemmed from.

"We were… a little delayed," Will said. Maddie's eyebrow went up as well.

"'A little' is not months," she said. Gilan nodded.

"Months, you say? So you didn't simply get stuck in the Summer Gales?" Gilan asked. Maddie shook her head before Will could respond.

"So, how old is Will's tendency to simply run into danger when he's not even looking for it?" Maddie asked innocently, though Gilan turned to her, the smile starting to fade somewhat.

"What did he do this time," Gilan questioned. Will opened his mouth to respond, then closed it as though he had changed his mind.

"Warmweed," Maddie said, and Gilan stared at her, then at Will, then back again. Of course, Halt had to enter then.

"What took you three so long?" He asked, perfectly masking his worry for his former apprentice to anyone who didn't know him for a long period of time.

"We were a little held up," Will said before Maddie could answer.

"Months, Will. You three were gone months." Halt said. Will shifted nervously.

"Summer Gales…?" He answered weakly, and a third eyebrow was raised. Evelynn looked between the three of them, thinking that they must have gotten the expression from somewhere, and wondering just where that was.

"If it were supposed to be a long-term mission, I'd believe that. However," Halt said, and Will's nervousness went up. "You left far before the Summer Gales would have been a problem, and should have left far before they would have become one."

Gilan took over.

"Maddie was just about to tell me why it took them so long, I believe," he said, and Evelynn almost laughed at how nervous Will appeared.

"Will decided it would be a good idea to go look for them on his own," Maddie said. "Consequently, he somehow got himself captured and stuck for months while Evelynn and I looked for him. It's a good thing we found him when we did," she said, and Will appeared like he wanted to actually melt into the wall to avoid Halt's icy gaze. "Apparently, someone found out about his feelings towards warmweed."

The glare wasn't targeted and Evelynn, and she was feeling the desire to hide from Halt. She didn't even want to imagine what it was like for poor Will, the intended target of Halt's death glare. Gilan looked more intrigued than angry, though.

"Warmweed? Where'd they even get that?"

"That's actually what I wanted to ask you about, Gilan," Maddie continued. "I was wondering if we could find out."

Gilan was nodding.

"That's a good idea. Any of you have a lead on this worrying situation?"

Will finally spoke up.

"They said Araluen."

Five faces were clouded with worry.

"Did they say where…?" Gilan continued. Will shook his head.

"Just that it must have been why Yuman was still in Araluen…"

Four pairs of eyes targeted on Will, if they weren't before. Will held up his hands.

"This was the day that Maddie found me, and she insisted that I not do anything regarding the issue for fear that I'd be taken again, or that I'd hurt myself somehow," Will said. Halt nodded, just barely visible. If he had been captured, there would have been no doubt in his mind that his former apprentice would be in even worse shape - or even dead.

"In any case, that's part of why I came along too," Maddie continued. "I was wondering if I could take Evelynn and go check out the coastal fiefs and find out if they've been having any issue with sea raiders or warmweed thefts, then do something about it."

Gilan nodded.

"Seems like a good idea. Would Will be going with you, since he'd heard about it in the first place?"

Maddie seemed to be thinking about it, but Halt shook his head.

"No, Will will be going back to his fief."

Will looked slightly upset by this.

"Surely the replacement there will be able to take care of things for another couple weeks?"

"The replacement Ranger in Redmont isn't much past his apprenticeship. No, I think Halt's right. It would be safer - for you and the fief - for you to go back to Redmont at this point in time." Gilan said that. Will looked upset, but accepted it either way. He wasn't going to argue with Gilan, even if they were friends, since Gilan was also his Commandant.

"Alright."

The three Rangers stayed the night in Castle Araluen before they parted ways, Will returning to Redmont and Maddie and Evelynn going to sort out the coastal fiefs' warmweed raid issues, with the assumption that they existed. Their plan was to check out reports from the coastal fiefs before going out riding to all of them, since it could be that the majority were untouched and not in need of their intervention.

Turned out, the Skandian raiding crews for Yuman's group weren't quite so smart as to target multiple fiefs. They discovered by way of the reports that Seacliff was the only coastal fief experiencing raiding difficulties. And so the two Rangers went out that way, determined to assist the relatively new Ranger stationed there.

They arrived and asked for the Ranger there, a young, newly-graduated girl who called herself Emily. She was overly happy to see the help arrive, and the three met around the table in Emily's cabin to go over what she knew about the raids already.

"I have no doubt the raids would have stopped if I could convince Baron Reeves that there was an actual problem that needed more than just my skills to solve," Emily said. "But he seems to believe that his knights are above 'mere guard duties'. His words."

"Sounds like Baron Reeves has been a pain in the side," Maddie said sympathetically.

"Indeed he has. I mean, can you believe it? Months, these Skandians have been bothering us, and he won't do a thing. Shouldn't the Oberjarl do something about it, since they're under his rule?"

"This was an independant force, more of a rebel group than actually paying mind to Oberjarl Erak's rule. He couldn't do anything until he found them."

"Well, did he?"

"He did, with our help. This particular group of raiders shouldn't be bothering you anymore, but we're more worried about the target of these raids."

"You mean they were after something specific?"

"Warmweed."

"Oh."

Good, Maddie thought. She knows the issue here.

"Isn't using warmweed in slavery outlawed, even in Skandia?" Emily asked.

"It is. That's why we need to make sure that, should another rebel group such as Fenn Yuman's pop up there again, they can't get their hands on it. Not only is it outlawed, but it has some truly awful impacts on those addicted to it."

Emily nodded.

"How can I get Baron Reeves to listen to me, though?"

"Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it."

Emily got the idea that Maddie would certainly do just that.