Taking a long sip from his coffee as he leaned back in his old familiar chair on the veranda, Halt surveyed the surrounding trees with hawk-like perception. His trained ears listened for the slightest sounds; the abrupt snapping of a twig, the slow crunching of leaves, the soft rustling of the undergrowth caused by the trailing of a cloak...
Perfect silence.
Brows furrowing, he set his coffee aside and stealthily set his chair back down on all four legs. Moving more quickly and quietly than the shadow of a mouse, he ghosted off the porch and into the woods. His senses of sight and sound offered him no assistance, but the sixth sense that all rangers had guided him onward.
Halt knew when he was being watched, he knew when he was being stalked. But he continued on, effortlessly moving through the forest - both predator and prey...A careful smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he withdrew further into his cowl and slowed down to feel his surroundings.
He couldn't see or hear him, but he knew Will was there somewhere...
The hairs on his arms and neck stood up instinctively right before he heard something small flying through the air - followed quickly by a thump to his back from a small projectile. Halt hid his smile as he flipped back his cowl and stooped down to pick up the offending acorn.
"Nicely done." He commented stoically as his apprentice materialized beside him with a very annoying smirk on his face. Halt hated it when his students got the better of him - but he also loved the rush of pride he felt when it happened. And that pride was especially potent with Will after all that had happened...The apprentice had improved so much this week, Halt was almost giddy from hopefulness.
Will could see his teacher thinking and chose not to fish for any more complements - he knew it wouldn't get him anywhere anyway. So instead, he held his hand out and said, "Could I have my acorn back?" He was trying to keep the cheeky, smug tone out of his voice, but he was failing - after all, it wasn't every day he bested Halt in his undetected movement lessons. The opportunity to poke the bear was just too tempting.
The bear wasn't having it. Leveling a scowl at the younger man, Halt cocked an eyebrow while weighing the small nut in his hand...Right before flicking it at his apprentice, hitting him squarely between the eyes with the tiny object, which caused a comical thunk sound.
Will, who hadn't really been expecting any sort of retaliation, snorted with a laugh as he rubbed his face and glanced around at the ground for the acorn...He'd actually wanted to keep that one as a little souvenir...Thankfully, he spotted it quickly and picked it up, but when he finally looked around, he found that Halt had vanished.
Oh, you son of a... Will thought with a smile as he slipped back into ranger mode. With a practiced hand, he flipped up his cowl to shield his eyes from the sun and immediately started tracking. Even with Halt's ridiculous abilities, he was still a prisoner of physics, and therefore couldn't have made it very far in the seconds that had elapsed since he booked it...
Resisting the urge to take off into the woods after his mentor at full tilt, Will stayed put - holding perfectly still as he opened his ears to the sounds around him.
Silence...And then the sound of something small hitting the ground maybe ten meters to his right...Silence...and then the sound of chirping from two angry squirrels off to his left...A pair of squirrels who were obviously telling an intruder that they were interrupting some important squirrel activities...
Smiling again, Will ignored the sound to his right and went toward the squirrels. And sure enough, he found Halt leaning against the tree trunk, examining a small pine nut in his hand. He'd obviously been throwing them in an attempt to throw Will off of his location.
"Have I ever told you that I really hate squirrels?" The older man deadpanned without looking up.
Will nodded, trying to look serious as he stared up at the chirping varmints. "Even for dinner?" he asked, a hint of mischief in his voice.
For a moment, Halt was quiet, then he hummed quietly in the back of his throat - and Will saw the tendons on the back of Halt's hand twitch. Instinctively, he knew what was coming next and simultaneously, they both moved.
In one fluid motion, Halt dropped the nut, and in perfect unison, he and Will both drew their bows, nocked arrows, aimed, and released. The sound of chattering was cut short, followed quickly by the thuds of two small animals landing on the forest floor.
Without a word, both men walked forward to claim their supper and retrieve their arrows from their quarry, each content with the familiar company of the other. It was a simple moment, but the beauty of it was not lost on either man - a successful training session, to be sure...finding dinner had just been a bonus - and a perfect way to end their day of training.
As master and apprentice walked home, Halt shot a glance over at Will that the younger man happened to catch. Halt's face was stoic, as usual, but there was no hiding the pleased look that twinkled in his eyes.
ooo_ooo_ooo
"Is Gilan eating with us tonight, Halt?" Will asked as he stuck his squirrel onto a stick for roasting.
Halt didn't reply immediately as he took the bowl full of discarded animal innards over to the chickens and dumped them on the ground - causing quite a ruckus amongst the birds as they scrambled to peck up the gory treat.
"I reckon not," Halt finally said, sitting down with his own squirrel to prepare it for cooking like Will had. "I believe Jenny is having him over for supper."
"Oh," was Will's reply. He was a little disappointed, but he understood. He secretly wished he could have dinner with Alyss, after all, she had been there for him as much as she could have been, and he was grateful for that. As he looked at his squirrel, he felt a little embarrassed at the thought of sharing such a meal with a girl - and much less a girl like Alyss. A girl he fancied...
"I'm sure he'll dine with us tomorrow. Don't be too disappointed..." Halt seemed to think Will's quietness had stemmed from something else, and Will quickly shook his head.
"Oh, I didn't...I was just thinking...you know, about Alyss."
Usually, he wouldn't have mentioned something so personal to Halt - because everyone knew Halt was the last person you could comfortably open up to - but their day had been so productive, and he was feeling oddly...emotional. And Halt was also his best friend.
Halt was clearly trying to figure out what to say. His Adam's apple bobbed awkwardly in his throat and he suddenly found an ember in the fire that was incredibly interesting to stare at.
"Well...I suppose...she probably doesn't want to eat squirrel." He paused, trying to say something nice - but maybe not too nice. "Your training has improved a lot recently, and you haven't tried to die this week, so that's worth something..." Another pause. "If you have another day tomorrow like you did today, I'll see if I can coerce Gilan into coercing Jenny into making a small picnic for the two of you as a reward..."
Will's eyes nearly bulged out of his head as he listened to what was being said.
"Who are you and what have you done with Halt?!" He blurted out, a look of complete shock on his face.
"I said 'IF' you have another day like today. And besides, I could do with a break from your smirking for a while..."
Will smiled at the jab and relaxed. At least he knew his friend hadn't gone completely crazy.
"Halt?"
A long-suffering sigh escaped from the older man before he replied with controlled annoyance, "Yes, Will?"
"How long do you think Gilan will stay?"
Halt's mouth shifted into a thoughtful frown. It was a fair question. The two rangers hadn't really discussed much about Gilan's continued presence with Will yet - simply because they hadn't wanted Will to feel responsible for tearing Gilan away from his fief or anything else. The truth was, Crowley wasn't ready to pull Gilan from his station at Redmont, what with Halt devoting so much extra time to Will's training. Additionally, Gilan seemed to be keeping Will's spirits up as he was much better at being tactful than Halt was, and they all thought it was healthy for Will to have another younger person around to interact with...In short, Gilan's presence there was needed...There had even been talks of making it semi-permanent, but Halt wasn't sure how Will would process that information.
...Would he think of it as his fault? Would he perceive himself as a burden who needed Halt's babysitting? Would he twist it around in his head into something self-deprecating? Things had been far from predictable with Will since the attack, and truthfully, not even Halt could foresee his reactions.
Will's mental state had been drastically improving lately as he became more mobile and independent, but Halt knew this stage was still fragile, he knew that one slip up could undo all their progress...Hopefully he had learned enough from his past blunders to navigate his way safely through this particular situation.
Halt leaned back and stared up at the sky as he thought over everything he wanted to say to Will. Pauline's voice echoed in his head, "Just be honest, Halt. Will will understand."
"Halt?" Will prompted, a curious and concerned tone seeping into his voice.
"Gilan might be staying on for quite some time." It was a simple statement, meant to test the waters...Halt wanted to see how that information was received before he went on with any details.
It was quiet again, the fire crackling in front of them in the growing darkness.
"Is it because of me?" Will's voice sounded strong, but perhaps a little worried.
Halt turned his gaze over to him, looking into Will's eyes in a way that hopefully conveyed honesty and sincerity...
"Yes," Will's shoulders fell a little, "Let me finish, Will." Halt's voice was steady and brokered no room for argument, so Will clamped his mouth shut and listened.
"I was going to say, yes AND no. He's staying on to help me, there's still the concern of retaliation from other bandit clans, although the risk is small, and Crowley wants another ranger here in case. You know as well as I do that your training has been going well, but we still have some months to catch up since you were...incapacitated."
Will's eyes were downcast, but he wasn't showing signs of an impending outburst.
"I don't want to take you away from being a ranger. You're the best in the corps, Halt...It's selfish to make you spend all your time with me..."
"Will, stop." Halt, more of his old grumpy self than ever, was having none of it. After months of this, he wanted Will to move on and stop devaluing himself. "I may be one of the more effective rangers the corps has right now, but I won't be around forever. Training someone like you - someone who will be better than I ever was, is the highest priority. I would rather cut my hair with real scissors than abandon your training and steal your talents from the future of Araluen."
Things were quiet again as Will processed, then he spoke.
"Do you really believe that?"
"Of course, Will." He paused as he tried to recall something he'd read in a book once.
"Are you familiar with the ancient language of Toscano(*)?"
Will frowned slightly and shook his head. He wasn't quite sure where this was going.
"Well, they have a word...'Invictus', I think it was..."
"What's it mean?" Will interrupted, before quickly grimacing at Halt's scowl - he was regaining his old habit of asking too many questions.
"It means," Halt said, fighting back his exasperation, 'unconquerable'."
Will's face looked a little puzzled as he waited for Halt to elaborate. Part of him knew what Halt would say, but somehow, hearing Halt say it out loud would mean so much…It would make it real and irrefutable.
"You are unconquerable, Will. You lost a leg, you survived nearly drowning, you survived so much more..." Halt's mind rebelled against remembering the details of all the other recent traumas. "You're still here, against all the odds, you were undefeated. There's nothing I'm more proud of than that."
All Will could do was nod his head, his throat felt suddenly tight and his mouth awfully dry. He had noticed Halt opening up to him more since...all this had started…but it still felt so strange to have Halt say something so heartfelt.
"Thank you..." Will finally managed to mumble, fighting hard to keep his voice from cracking.
"For telling you the truth? I don't -" But Will interrupted his master.
"No, I'm...not for saying all that - well, thanks for that, too - but I meant..." He paused as he tried to locate the words. He didn't know of any that would do justice to what he was trying to express. "Thank you for not giving up on me. I haven't said that enough..."
Halt just looked at his young friend, his gaze was fairly impassive, but Will guessed the other man knew how sincere he was and was weighing the weight of the words for himself..
"Would you have expected anything else?"
Even though it was a rhetorical question, Will still thought it over before replying. "I don't suppose you would ever give up on anyone or anything."
Halt tried hard not to roll his eyes. "No, I wouldn't, but even so..."
"I know…And I wouldn't give up on you either, Halt."
"I know, Will."
The quietness rolled in around them like fog, but it wasn't an uncomfortable atmosphere - it was calm, and knowing, and friendly. They sat in peace as their supper finished cooking, and they ate in silence as well. And when they turned in for the night, both men fell asleep knowing that the next day was going to be even better.
o0o-o0o-o0o
A/N:* Since the RA world is loosely based on the geography of this world, I decided to give the Latin language a base in Toscano for the purposes of this story (which I assume is supposed to be like Tuscany, which is in Italy…you get it).