A/N: whoops almost forgot to post it today, but I made it in time (at least for European time zone….) . Hope you like it!

Day 11

"You brought me all the way here for this?" Halt felt fury boiling in his chest. Why on earth was he needed for this mission.

Crowley was still trying to cover his grin even though it became harder every second. "Well, I mean you can't stop a cult too early right?"

Halt shot a deadly glare at his friend, "there are seven people here, Crowley. This is not even illegal, they are not even asking people to donate money. For all we know this is just some cozy gathering."

"Oh well, I guess you're right. But it's better to keep an eye open and investigate than be surprised." Crowley knew he was entering danger zone with Halt. It had been a long time since he had seen his friend this grumpy. "maybe we should head back home then. You promised Will to be back before nightfall."

The name of his apprentice made Halt fit pieces together. He had known something wasn't right from the start, but it didn't make sense. Now being here on an idiotic mission and an apprentice alone in the cabin made him feel like a fool.

"You are working with him, aren't you?" he stared at Crowley that would make any man flinch. Crowley however knew the man before him and wasn't impressed too much.

"With whom? The cult? Halt you know I love gatherings but even this is too much for me." He tried, but Halt wasn't fooled.

"You know I mean Will. Something is going on. Will has been acting weird lately and now this. You're trying to get me away from the cabin."

Crowley put on his most innocent face, knowing fully well Halt needed more than that. "Halt, I came to you yesterday after a long ride. According to you, Will had been sick for two days. How on earth would it be possible for us to arrange something. Will probably stayed home yesterday because he wants some time for himself."

Halt thought about that. Crowley was right, there was no way Will could have managed to organize anything. But still he didn't believe in sudden coincidences.

Without saying a word Halt turned around back to Redmont. Crowley followed immediately, glad he was riding behind Halt, because a grin couldn't be concealed from his face anymore.

At castle Redmont was everyone busy with the preparations. They had made plans for Baron Aralds gift, which everyone was still laughing about when the thought came to mind.

They only needed to decorate the tree in the forest. Everyone was helping, all the friends from the ward had gathered, Lady Pauline and Baron Arald were in the most festive mood, Gilan couldn't stop smiling just like the youngest ranger.

They put the tree up and Will started to put the candles in it together with Alyss. It felt great to actually work together. When their hands touched, Alyss looked up in Will's eyes.

"You know, I'm really glad to spend Christmas like this. I'm proud of you for organizing this all."

Will cheeks went red within seconds, "thanks, I'm also proud.. euhm glad to spend christmas with you… euhm everyone."

Alyss smiled at Will and together they put the last candle in the tree.

Out of nowhere Will heard a voice behind him, "if you need your private Christmas party, just say it." Will didn't even have to turn around to know who it was. He lunged his elbow back and it landed perfectly in the stomach of Gilan.

Gilan had no time to react as they were firmly pushed aside by the Baron holding a box of the most hysterical ornaments and other garlands. The tree was fully decorated in no time and everyone was sitting satisfied around it.

After a while Will stood up, "I should head back to the cabin before Halt returns. Gilan be careful tonight with our plan." He turned to the rest of the group, "thank you everyone for helping, I couldn't have done this without you."

He walked back but was followed by Pauline who was holding a wreath. Will raised his eyebrow "I don't think Halt will be pleased if we put that on the door." But Pauline was already smiling

"Well I like it on the door so he has no choice. Besides he probably is already suspicious why Crowley sent him on that idiotic mission, so maybe he falls for it that it was only for the Christmas wreath on the door."

Will knew Halt would definitely be suspicious when he got back, so this plan might actually work. Pauline continued "If he's really getting tough, just tell him it was my idea."

Together they placed the wreath on the door and looked quite satisfied with it. Will turned to Pauline and asked a question that had been burning on his lips for a few days. He knew she was probably one of the few people that would know the answer.

"Lady Pauline, why do you think Halt doesn't celebrate Christmas. I mean Gilan and Crowley do and even if it's about secrecy, he could celebrate it with a few trusted people."

"I think Halt finds it difficult to really open up to the possibility of a family. His own family is far away from here and even though he sees you as his son, admitting it openly is something Halt is not quite good at."

Will nodded, indeed Halt was not a man to easily talk about his feelings. And Christmas was just the time of happiness and joy with others.

Pauline continued, "I know we all joke that Halt will hate it tomorrow, and for most part he probably will. But I think deep down he will be grateful for you doing this. And so am I, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for organizing this wonderful day." She bowed down to give a small kiss on Will's cheek.

Will turned red immediately and didn't know what to say. He was saved by the drumming of hooves in the distance. Pauline smiled, "I think our devil has returned. I should head back to the castle, see you tomorrow Will."

Indeed Halt was appearing from the forest together, looking not at all pleased. When he saw his apprentice in front of the door his mood didn't quite improve.

"What the hell is that thing on my door? Don't tell me you decorated the whole cabin like that." He growled.

Will smiled, it would have been fun to see his reaction to a fully decorated cabin. Although Will would have probably slept outside if he had the nerve to do that.

"I wouldn't dare to decorate the whole cabin, Halt. Where is Crowley?"

"He went to the castle to finish some paperwork So you two lured me out just to put a wreath on the door?" Halt was astonished by the situation.

"I didn't lure you out, how could I? But yes, your mission was the perfect opportunity to put it on the door. Speaking of which, how was it with the cult?" Will tried to hide the laughter in his voice as he already knew it was a fake mission.

"Hmph, Crowley is getting senile. It was just a few people adoring a god, nothing wrong with it. Now let's go inside and have some dinner, it's Christmas Eve after all."

Will smiled and walked with Halt to the cabin. He was surprised that Halt was even mentioning Christmas Eve. He thought of the words from Pauline and guessed she was right, Halt probably did like Christmas, just didn't want to admit it.

His suspicion was further raised when Halt took a huge package from his room. He gave it to Will saying, "I know you're spending Christmas tomorrow with your friends, so I thought I would give it to you now."

Will's eyes almost popped out of their sockets when he felt what was in the package. With great speed he opened it and held his first longbow. Finally after years of training he was ready for the real deal.

Halt felt the need to explain the gift, "I think you are strong enough to try it. But it will be a lot different from the recurve bow you are used to, so you need a lot of pract…" his sentence was broken by a boy that flung himself around his neck.

"Thank you Halt. Thank you, thank you."

Halt awkwardly patted him on his back and said softly, "merry Christmas kid."

In all his enthusiasm Will asked to try his bow out, which of course Halt could only approve of.

After a few times shooting he heard someone walking towards him. He turned around and smiled "look Gilan, my first longbow!" Gilan laughed at seeing Will happy like a child with his first toy.

"Well that means a lot of practice for the coming months as I recall from my time." But Will wasn't worried about that at all. He was excited to become a full-fledged rangers.

"So are the horses ready?" he asked Gilan, who nodded in response. For the big surprise from baron Arald they needed to switch the horses for one night.

Halt would probably notice when he didn't hear the sound of animals next to the cabin, so they had decided to stall Cropper and Blaze at the cabin while they took Tug and Abelard away. Hopefully Halt would not hear them switching.

The first step of their plan was for Will to make a noisy ride on Tug next to the cabin. While he was making enough noise Gilan would slip into the stables and take Abelard with him into the forest and left Cropper in his place.

When Gilan was in the forest, Will went after him on Tug and there they could switch horses. Will would ride back on Blaze, as he already knew her password, and Tug would go with Gilan for the big surprise tomorrow.

All went quite fluently and the boys were again really proud of themselves for pulling this off. This was even more exciting than their game at the gathering.

Tomorrow everything would finally be revealed to Halt, and quite frankly they were also really glad about that. It had been an exhaustive job doing all this.

Okay so I don't remember if it was ever mentioned when Will got his longbow. Probably much sooner than this timeline, but I wanted the perfect gift for Will and what better than his first longbow.

I can't wait for the finale tomorrow, it's a real Christmas wrap up.

Love you all, enjoy Christmas Eve and see you tomorrow!