It was impossible to check Will's eagerness as he set off for Halt's house the next morning. He left as the sky was still dark, his few meager belongings slung over one shoulder. He bounced as he walked, halfway to skipping, and let a bright grin run across his face. Home! He was about to finally, finally be home!

It had been a full year since he had been here. That year had easily been the worst of Will's short life. He had missed Araluen, had missed Redmont, but more importantly had missed home so, so much. Will wasn't even certain when Halt's house had become "home" in Will's eyes. He only knew that, as he had trudged through the bitter cold of Skandia, he had longed every day to be back there.

The sky lightened as Will entered the woods and trod the familiar path to home. He glanced upwards through the canopy of trees, looking at the sky. Halt had told him six o'clock, right? It could not possibly be much more than half-past five. Will might end up being early. Hmm, in that case...

Will stepped off the path and wandered into the forest, moving as soundlessly as his untrained body could manage. He was still not quite used to his shorter, thinner, less muscular body, but he was working on it. Will let his eyes wander as he walked, taking in the sights and sounds of the forest. The birds were just waking up now. He saw a pair of squirrels stir from their perch in a tree and smiled. The warm, nurturing forests of Redmont were as far from the cold, harsh Skandian forests as you could get. Will felt better just being here.

Eventually, the sun began to rise and Will stepped back on the path. He started back on his way to the house. Now he picked up the pace, taking a low jog. It wouldn't do to be late.

The sun's rays spilled over Will's back as he entered the familiar clearing around Halt's house. Will stopped, transfixed and teary-eyed. The rocking chairs were set out on the porch just like he remembered them. There was the log pile, almost emptied, and next to it the stable where Abelard and Tug lived. The gentle song of the nearby stream filled the air. If Will closed his eyes, he could almost believe he was still in his time, sitting in the rocking chairs with Halt, watching the sun rise.

But his eyes were open, and Halt was not there. This place looked like it, but it was not his home. His home was gone, never to return to him again.

He stepped up to the door and knocked on it, biting back bitter tears.

"Come in."

Will closed his eyes, breathed, and opened the door.

The inside was exactly how he remembered it. Will fought to keep his face impassive. The chairs around the fireplace, the gleaming pots and pans hanging on the wall, the well-worn oak table - it was all the same. His heart split in two. One side clung desperately to it, overwhelmed with joy that despite everything he had lost, he still had this. The other side mourned the loss of the other home - Will's actual home - that looked so much like it.

Will's gaze rested onto the mantelpiece. Wait. That was different. Were those wildflowers? Halt had gone out and picked wildflowers for him? Had Halt done that the first time around, too? Will couldn't remember.

The slight sound of Halt standing jerked Will's attention back to the present. Now that Halt was without his cloak, Will could observe him at leisure. He was much the same as Will remembered: still incapable of properly cutting his beard. He was a bit fatter than Will remembered, too. Halt must've lost weight in Skandia. His grey hairs were less prominent than Will remembered, as well, and the worry-lines in the corners of Halt's eyes were gone. Will wondered when Halt had gotten them.

A dry voice in the back of his head went, Probably about the same time he committed treason for you and got banished.

...Yeah. It probably had something to do with that.

"Finished staring?" Halt asked.

Will jumped. "Oh! Sorry!"

Halt grunted. He motioned to Will's room. "That'll be your room. You can put your things in there."

Will went into it. This, at least, was different than how his room had once been. The familiar sights of his recurve bow, double-knife scabbard, cloak, and the various trinkets and bits of clothing he had collected in his first year of training were gone. The whole room was bare except for another vase of wildflowers. Will set his pack on the bed and leaned over to sniff the flowers. The sweet fragrance made him smile.

Stepping back into the main room, Will watched Halt's back. He stood over the fireplace, stirring a pot of what smelled suspiciously like coffee. Will's mouth watered. Man, had he missed coffee. They didn't have any in Skandia.

Will shifted awkwardly, wondering what to do. He was on un-tread ground right now. Halt didn't know him. Will didn't want to risk weirding him out or otherwise getting their relationship off to a bad start. What should he do?

A myriad of questions had assailed him all last night. Principal among them had been the question of how he was supposed to act around Halt. Unfortunately, the hours he had spent pondering the question left him just as clueless now as he had been last night. Should he try to emulate what he remembered of his past behavior? Should he treat this Halt the way he would treat his Halt, back in his own time? Should he go for a combination of the two?

He didn't know. He did know he had been quite intimidated by Halt at first, not to mention quite stupid - he still couldn't remember some of their conversations without cringing. But what if those conversations were important? What if they somehow held pivotal information?

Worse, what if Will needed to do specific things to make sure this Halt liked him?

That was the one question he had tried his hardest to avoid last night. Now, as he tried to decide how to interact with Halt, he could no longer avoid it. What if there were certain conversations or interactions Will had had with Halt that were the reasons Halt had started to care for him? What if, without those, Halt wouldn't care about him?

Worst of all - what if Will couldn't even remember which interactions those were?

"Do you want coffee, boy?"

Will jolted. "Coffee?"

Halt gave him an annoyed look. "Don't answer a question with a question. Surely you know what coffee is?"

"Of course I - yes, sir," Will said, reining himself in.

"So would you like some?" Halt repeated, more and more done with every moment.

"Yes, please."

He accepted the steaming mug from Halt and set it carefully down on the table. He went to sit at it then hesitated, unsure if he was supposed to ask for permission first.

Halt waved a hand. "Go ahead. You're my apprentice, aren't you? I'm hardly going to keep you from sitting."

Will sat and nursed his coffee mug. Halt sat across from him. Will trained his gaze intently at the table as he sipped. He could feel Halt's eyes burning into him, though. Will had grown accustomed to waiting Halt out over the months and he sat quietly, sipping at his coffee. He let his mind drift, trying to puzzle through what he should do. He obviously couldn't act too familiar, and he couldn't make Halt suspicious. But what would make Halt suspicious? How was he expecting Will to act? Will was a terrible liar and a mediocre actor at best.

"You're rather quiet for an apprentice," Halt said, interrupting Will's thoughts. Will brought his attention back to Halt.

"I was thinking - um, wondering - uh, crap-" he cringed, unable to find a way out of the inevitable You're an apprentice. You aren't ready to think.

"Clearly not too hard," said Halt dryly.

Will flushed, stammering a little. He expected to see the slight quirk of amusement at his mentor's lips or the lift of a brow, or even Halt reaching across the table to pat him on the shoulder companionably. None of that happened. Will floundered. He was adrift in a sea too much like water to drown, yet too little like it to float.

"U-Um," he said, desperately trying to think of something to say. "I-I was wondering, um, just what it is that Rangers do."

"They don't ask stupid questions, for one," Halt said.

Will looked away.

His hurt must have shown, for Halt's tone was gentler when he went on. "Rangers don't need to ask what they do, as they generally already know. Ranger's apprentices, on the other hand, will learn what to do with time."

"Aren't we supposed to, you know, train?" Will asked hesitantly.

There came a gleam in Halt's eyes. Will instantly regretted everything he'd said.

"Not on their first day, they're not," Halt said decidedly. "On their first day..."

Will realized was was happening right before it did, like the collision of two warring forces in slow motion. He opened his mouth to protest, but it was too late.

"...apprentices do the chores."

Halt looked distinctly pleased with himself.

Why had Will come back in time to save him, again?


Several hours later, Will's back and arms were aching mightily and Halt was nearly out of chores for him to do. Every time Halt directed him to another task, Will could only shake his head in a mix between annoyance and resignation. That, at least, had not changed - Halt always had been a taskmaster. Will definitely had not missed that.

As Will hauled up the pots he had just finished scouring, he passed by Halt on the porch. The Ranger was reading reports, most of them Ranger reports. Will wondered what they said. What was going on at this time in the kingdom? Halt hadn't really let him read reports until several months in. Maybe he could get Halt to tell him.

Will approached Halt and held up the pots for inspection. He was quite certain they would be up to Halt's standards. He had gotten intimately acquainted with them over the previous two years, after all. Indeed, Halt nodded appreciatively at them. The shiny, metallic surface was clear enough to see your own reflection on it. Halt examined his.

"Not bad. Can see my own face in it," he said. With a quick look at Will, he added, "May not be such a good thing."

Will snorted. A moment later he froze, darting a glance at Halt. Had he actually meant it as a joke? His Halt would have, but was this Halt the same? What if he had offended Halt? "S-Sorry, sir, I-"

"Think that's funny, do you?" Halt asked him. He didn't sound angry. He didn't sound amused, either. Will decided to tread carefully.

"A bit, sir."

Halt examined him for a moment, then shrugged. "Well, it was meant to be. Go on now. You've got pots to put up."

Shoulders sagging in relief, Will started on into the house. He was partway through the door when he heard the shuffling of paper and his master's voice murmur, "Hmm. That's odd."

Will hesitated. Halt definitely wasn't talking to him. He knew his master well enough to be able to tell that. But he had been dying of curiosity about the contents of those reports all day. Perhaps now was his chance to finally find out what they said.

"Did something happen, sir?"

Halt looked up at him, startled. "What's that?"

Will shifted uncomfortably. "It's just, you said something was odd. I was wondering if something had happened."

"Curious, are you?"

Will nodded. He saw no point in denying it. "Yes, sir."

"Well, I suppose that's a good trait for a Ranger's apprentice," Halt said. "After all, that's why we tested you with the paper in the Baron's office."

He glanced at Will as though expecting him to react.

"What, really?" Will asked. "Oh, I never would have guessed."

He realized, a second later, how feigned that had sounded. Halt stared at him. He tilted his head, peering intently at Will. Will fidgeted, sweating. He hated when Halt looked at him like that. It always felt like his mentor knew how to read his soul.

"You don't seem surprised."

"Uh..." Shit! Think of something, quick! "Well, you did tell the Baron that I'd acted how you'd expected."

"I did say that," Halt conceded.

"And," Will said quickly, "you were waiting for me. I didn't think Rangers just stand around in their Barons' offices for fun."

A gleam of amusement passed over Halt's expression. He harrumphed, though. "You don't, do you? Well, you're not wrong."

He turned from Will and back to his reports in clear dismissal. Will's curiosity had been piqued, though, and he wasn't about to let it go. He knew enough of Halt's moods by now to tell he wasn't in danger of pissing Halt off if he kept going. "So, what does it say?"

Halt heaved a sigh, looking distinctly put-out. He looked at Will once more appraisingly. Whatever he saw must've been good enough, for he said, "Lord Northolt is dead. Apparently killed by a bear last week while out hunting."

Will's brows furrowed. He drummed his nails over the rim of the copper pot he was holding. Lord Northolt? Why did that sound familiar? "The King's former supreme commander?"

"Yes," said Halt. His brows raised, impressed. "I wasn't expecting the Baron to teach you that."

Will frowned, barely listening. There was something about that name - this incident! Lord Northolt...bears...what was it? He couldn't remember. There hadn't been any bear attacks in Redmont during Will's apprenticeship. As far as he knew, there hadn't been any major bear attacks anywhere in Araluen during his apprenticeship, except for, apparently, this Lord Northolt. So why was this important?

"Lord Northolt...killed by a bear, you said?"

"That's what I said." Halt looked at him again. "You seem confused."

Will shook his thoughts away as best he could. "It's nothing. Just...Lord Northolt must have been an experienced warrior, and you said he was found alone? Why would he have gone after a bear by himself? It seems a reckless thing to do."

"Or a glory-seeking one," Halt said. He shook his head slowly. "Neither are traits I'd have attributed to Northolt, though. So you think it's odd, too?"

Will met his eyes and nodded.

"Hmm." Halt leaned back in his chair. "Well, the opinion of a first-day apprentice probably doesn't count for much. Still..."

He stared back down at the report, lost in thought. Will quietly withdrew and put the pots up. When he looked back, Halt's thoughts were clearly far away.

The rest of the afternoon passed quietly. Halt told Will about the history of the Ranger Corps and the duties of a Ranger, while Will dutifully acted the part of a clueless apprentice as best he could. Halt showed him once more how to cook. They ate together, sipped coffee together, and finally Halt told Will to go to bed so he would get up on time the next morning.

As Will lay in his bed, staring up at the familiar ceiling and turning over the day's events in his head, he finally remembered. Lord Northolt had not been killed by a bear.

He had been killed by a Kalkara.

And Will was the only one who could stop them from hunting once again.


A/N: Out of curiosity, how many of y'all reading this read a previous story of mine (say...a certain angsty, PTSD-filled one), saw this one, and decided to give it a shot, too? Legit just me wondering lol

ALSO: I recently made a website for myself as an author/writer. It's very much still in the beta phase, but I have a couple original pieces of writing on there! And also my socials! So if you're interested, it's website. I think I've mentioned before that I'm trying to become a professional author, so all of this really helps me out.