A/N: Yes this chapter might seem familiar, it is the same I've written for Trials of Being a Mentor. I will post the next chapter later today.

For those new to my stories: here a short explanation, I didn't like book 4 that much, we all know there was much more potential with the warmweed addiction. Like how can a young boy go from almost starvation and exhaustion to hippy happy Will, back in training again, it's just not how life works. So what do we do when we want to change a book? Write it myself of course!

Let me know if you like the story, and have fun!

Chapter 1

Will woke up again, still under the branches of the pine he had crawled under earlier. When he had decided to take a rest, he had hoped his body would recover over the night. However Will had again failed to understand the impact of the past few months on his body.

He had gone way over his limits to find Evanlyn again, and now his body was still drained, even after some rest. Due to the cold and his racing thoughts, he had woken a couple of times during the night, making the recovery for his body even worse.

His muscles ached all over, he felt utterly exhausted and he quickly found that his eyes still had trouble to focus. Faced with the need to rescue Evanlyn from her captors, he had absolutely no idea how he might accomplish the task.

"No time to be weak, Will." He muttered to himself as he stood up and went on with his plan by repeating again and again "what would Halt do?"

Halt had remounted Abelard after calming Tug down and they were following the trail once again. Something didn't make sense in his mind and it was frustrating that there were no answers.

Why was Tug behaving like this? What did he feel that Abelard didn't, he trusted his own horse without doubt so there had to be an explanation.

Horace had gone quiet, not knowing what was ahead of them and not even knowing what to ask Halt. They kept on following the trail in silence when they reached a massive tree.

Someone had tried without success to erase his trail beneath the pine tree. Halt deduced from the tracks that someone had walked further away from here and back again to sleep, fresh marks indicated the person had recently left this place and Halt and Horace were not far behind.

He noticed that the person who had been sleeping here was quite small, and had left bony marks on the ground. It was more instinct than wisdom that Halt could tell it was a very small man or just a boy instead of a girl. His brain started working, could it be? No, impossible. But who else would use these same tracking techniques? There are more people wise enough to do this, Halt told himself. Besides what would he have to find here in the middle of nowhere?

With his mind still spinning, Halt gestured Horace to dismount and leave the horses. He decided not to tell Horace what he suspected. He told himself that he wanted to protect the young knight for disappointment, but in truth it was himself he was protecting.

They were close, that was for sure, so the less noise the better. Tug still as stout as a bowstring remained at his place but Halt wondered how long it would last. The poor horse was beside himself.

Within a few minutes they had found the camp they had been looking for, just in the path of the stranger they were following. At one side of the camp Halt could see the princess tied to a tree. He decided not to take the path the stranger had taken, because he did not know for sure whether this person was to be trusted.

"Take the east side, hide yourself and don't come out until I fired my first arrow." Halt whispered to Horace and the young warrior nodded and left as silent as he possibly could, still letting the ranger cringe at every step taken.

Not seconds later movement started in the camp, two warriors were arguing and one of them gesturing towards the princess. The voices were getting louder and the discussion more heated, at last the older man slapped the other, sending him staggering. He turned around and walked briskly towards Cassandra, his hand ready on the hilt of his sword.

Halt had already drawn his arrow when the man raised his sword above the girl. But then a movement just to the right of him got his attention. Normally the ranger wouldn't let himself get distracted in such a situation, but something in him had the upper hand.

There, just in the tree a few meters away, a small boy with a somewhat meager looking bow. He watched as the boy stepped out clear of the tree, bringing the bow to full draw and shoot. The arrow pierced itself in the warrior's wrist.

No ordinary man could shoot with such accuracy with such a terrible bow. There were only a handful of people Halt thought capable enough to do such a thing.

Shock washed over him, leaving incapable to make a single movement. The boy however had already shot his next arrow, slapping it against the man's sleeve. The warrior turned in the direction of where the arrow had come from, grabbing his dagger and spurted towards the small boy.

The warrior was joined by others of his group and soon the whole situation turned into one big mess. Halt finally snapped out of his shock of seeing the familiar figure in front of him, still not believing what was happening. His hand drew back the string and within a second of aiming, he let go of the arrow, knowing it would hit its target. Immediately after that a second arrow was on its way for the other warrior who was threatening his whole world.

"Halt?" he hear someone crying out. It was the proof he needed, of course the patterns, the small figure and the bow should have been enough, but hearing that voice again gave him goosebumps all over his body and just like Tug he needed all his learned control to stay focused on the situation.

He saw Will running towards him but both hesitated and turned around to see the situation with the princess. Halt's hand was on its way to grab another arrow, but stopped when he saw Horace appear between the last man and the girl. With excellent skill the young man battled the warrior and soon had the winning hand.

"Don't kill him!" Halt shouted, just in time to stop Horace, who could just twist his wrist to knock the man out with the flat of his blade.

"We want a prisoner," he explained but was immediately driven back by the impact of the small body running headlong into him. Arms wrapped around his waist and all he could hear was sobbing and mindless babbling.

Gently he patted Will on his shoulder, surprised to find a tear sliding down his cheek. He could hold the boy forever like that, keep him safe untill the end of times. But after a while they broke apart and Halt was finally able to see his apprentice fully.

He didn't know what he had expected to find, but his heart broke by the sight he was taking in. Will had always been a scrawny boy but now he was just skin and bones. Nothing of his trained muscles showed on his arms, there was no sign of enough nourishment. The bags under the eyes were worrisome and Halt noticed the glassy look covering his warm brown eyes.

"Will…" he started but was interrupted by the young boy swaying on his feet. Immediately he grabbed Will's, far too skinny, arms and held him upright. Then it seemed fatigue was taking over more progressively as Will's knees started to buckle.

Halt gently guided him towards the ground, holding him tightly against him.

"Will what's wrong, talk to me." Will seemed to find it hard to answer that question and suddenly a realization hit him. He tried to lift his head from Halt's lap, but found himself unable to.

"Evanlyn," he said softly, apparently even speaking was taking a lot of energy out of him.

"She is fine, Horace is with her." Halt assured his apprentice while stroking the messy brown curls. Will nodded and closed his eyes, he seemed to be struggling to stay conscious. The grizzled ranger kept hold of his boy while checking for any injuries or internal problems. His heart was still beating steady and strong, and he found no obvious injuries to his relief.

After holding Will, for what felt like an eternity, Evanlyn and Horace came into view. Horace saw his friend on the ground and feared the worst.

"What happened?" he asked as he spurted towards Will and Halt. The ranger didn't focus his attention to the young ranger but looked straight at the princess.

"That's what I would like to know as well." He said, sounding more harsh than he intended. He saw the girl swallow like she had a tough decision to make.

"It's not really something I can tell right now, Will deserves to be fully awake for it. I can promise you he is alright, probably exhausted himself because he hasn't been this far from the cabin yet." She immediately shut her mouth, knowing she had slipped up. It wasn't surprising considering the fact what she had just been through, but she immediately felt guilty towards her friend.

Halt also noticed the slip, "What do you mean he hasn't been far from the cabin?"

"Nothing, just things haven't been easy here. But you must be The Halt, Will kept talking about?" she asked fiercely.

That seemed to melt the ranger a little bit and he realized she was right in saying that Will should at least be fully conscious when they were exchanging their tales.

"My apologies princess, you're right of course. I'm indeed Halt and may I suggest we leave this place before we're attacked by his friends?" Halt said while looking at their captive.

A heavy weight seemed to lift of the young girl's shoulders and she nodded. They started packing their stuff and made their way from the camp. Evanlyn had insisted on stopping at their little cabin for some unknown reason. And immediately after, they continued their journey until they found a spot on a hilltop where they set up camp.

Tension started to grow at the camp as Will stayed unconscious. Evanlyn knew of course that Will had pushed his limits this time and it could take a while before he woke up. She started to worry in what state Will would wake, out here it was much colder than in their little cabin and she feared his reaction to the icy winds.

Halt hadn't moved from Will's side, continually checking his vitals. He had tried everything to convince the princess to tell him what was wrong with his apprentice but she wouldn't budge. She was as stubborn as her father, he had to give her that. But frustration grew, Halt was not used of being in the dark while another knew what was going on. He didn't like to give away control especially when it concerned his boy.

Finally after hours of waiting, Will started to move. More precisely, he started to shiver and moving closer to the fire. Halt didn't understand it, it wasn't that cold, and Will was used to rough weather while camping.

Evanlyn however immediately jumped into action as she had done so for the last couple of months. She took her own blanket and draped it over the thin body, which was already hidden under two blankets.

Halt looked questioningly at her and she explained, "Will is not in the same condition to when you last saw him. Believe me when I say you better keep him as warm as possible."

Knowing that the girl would not give anything else away he nodded and resumed his everlasting watch on his boy. Then finally his eyes opened, first he glanced around not really aware of his surroundings.

Then he saw his mentor and immediately he shot up.

"Halt!" he yelled again as he threw his arms once more around the shoulders of the grim ranger. When Will started to wake he feared it had all been a dream but apparently Halt and Horace were truly there.

This time they broke apart much sooner and before Halt could ask any question, his apprentice was already back on his normal firing, "What happened? How are you here? Who were those people kidnapping Evanlyn, they weren't Skandian…."

He was stopped by the raised hand of his mentor, a sign that too much questions were asked at once again. However this time Halt noticed a small detail in the posture of his apprentice. The moment his hand was raised he saw Will flinch, it was small and barely noticeable but it was there. Halt decided not to ask it right now as he did not know what happened, but his stomach clenched more and more and he started to think whether he wanted to know what happened at all.

"Maybe it is time for us to share what happened this past year." He suggested and he guided Will to the campfire where dinner was ready.

Thanks for reading, Stay safe and trust your cloak