Will stretched his aching back as he sat astride Tug, he and Halt and the knights slowly nearing the place where the boar had gone to ground. The boar's tracks - or rather, ruts - led straight up to the dense patch of bushes and undergrowth just a little ways ahead. The forest was quiet right now except for the usual sounds of birds and rustling leaves. Will breathed in. His eyes fixed on the bushes in front of him. That quiet would not last much longer.

Halt rode up to him, reining Abelard in next to Tug. He'd just signaled the knights to stop. They were dismounting now, turning their horses over to the care of a stable-hand, adjusting their armor, testing the sharpness of their spears. Horace was there just like last time, listening as Sir Rodney spoke to him, leaning nervously on his own spear. He wielded it clumsily, clearly unaccustomed to its length and heft.

"Remember," Halt said, gaining back Will's attention. "If you have to shoot, aim for a spot just behind the left shoulder. A clean shot to the heart will be your only chance to stop him if he's charging."

Will nodded. Halt had said those same words last time. Will remembered them perfectly. It was a relief to hear them again this time around, verbatim. It meant that, despite all that Will had changed, some things still remained the same. Hopefully, it meant that the hunt would go the same as it had last time.

But, if not... Will glanced down at his bow, tightening his grip on it. He wasn't back to his former skill at the bow, but he had surpassed the skill he possessed at the time of the last boar hunt. Now that his muscle memory was coming back, his experience was allowing him to improve faster and faster. Will wasn't confident that he had the skill to shoot the second boar down himself, but if Halt didn't get there in time to save him, Will wouldn't have much of a choice. He swallowed, not liking that idea at all.

"And stay close to the Baron," Halt added, before nudging Abelard off to the other side of the circle of knights.

As the circle formed around the thicket, Will guided Tug behind Sir Rodney and Baron Arald. Horace, in position between the two of them, glanced up as Will approached and offered him a strained, nervous smile. Neither spoke. There would be time for that, later, after the hunt. Will smiled back, nodding reassuringly at Horace. It'll be alright, he tried to communicate through the look. We'll both be fine.

Halt signaled. The hunters began moving in. Horace turned away, jaw setting in concentration, and the hunt was on.

The forest went quiet as the hunters approached the thicket. Then a deep, furious roar split the air.

"He's in there, alright!" Baron Arald said, grinning around at Sir Rodney, Horace, and Will. "Let's hope he comes out on our side, eh, boys?"

Given what had happened last time, Will sincerely doubted that the boar would come out on their side. Nor did he hope it would. Having seen one boar far too close for his liking, he was not in a hurry to see any more of them. He would be quite happy if this particular boar stayed away from him.

Still, Will nocked an arrow to his bowstring and fixed his eyes on the thicket, waiting. It wouldn't do to be careless. If he had changed something accidentally - if somehow the boar did come towards them this time - Will needed to be ready.

The boar screamed again. In response, the hunting dogs yapped excitedly, pulling and straining against their leashes. Baron Arald turned to the dog handler and signaled. Their restraints released. The dogs bounded forward and shot towards the thicket. Excited instants passed as the dogs' furious howling and the boar's furious screaming clashed against each other, and then the boar was out.

He came out halfway between Will and Halt, red-eyed and furious. He attacked a dog near him, spearing it with his tusks and throwing the dog flying through the air. Then he hesitated - looked around - charged.

The young knight facing his charge didn't hesitate. He dropped to one knee, braced his spear against the ground, and steeled himself against the boar's blind rush. The boar, unable to turn aside in time, ran straight into it, screaming in fury as the sharp point punctured his chest. He jerked wildly from side to side, but the knight held on, keeping the spear steady, and then all at once the tip had pierced the boar's heart and he was dead.

Will exhaled long and low, closing his eyes in relief. It had happened exactly how it had last time. Even the knight who had killed it was the same - Samuel Nolan, a young knight not much older than Will and Horace. Will had spoken to him once or twice. Samuel wasn't the friendliest knight, but he was skilled. His actions in dealing with the boar had shown that quite well.

Indeed, the other knights were grouping around Samuel now, slapping him on the back and congratulating him on his kill. Baron Arald went over as well, but not before saying, "You won't see another that size in a long time, Will. Pity he didn't come our way. I would have liked a trophy like that for myself."

He moved off, and then, just like last time, Will was left with Horace. Remembering the awkward pause that had happened last time, Will opened his mouth to say something, but Horace beat him to it.

"That was something," he said, offering Will a tentative smile. "I rather think I'm glad the boar didn't come towards us."

Will nodded emphatically, dismounting and sending Tug away as he casually reached for an arrow. "Me too."

Several paces away now, Tug suddenly froze and jerked his head back towards Will. His ears flattened against his head and he gave a warning neigh.

Will spun, already nocking and drawing back his bow. He stepped in front of Horace, ignoring Horace's surprised yelp. His keen eyes instantly spotted the second boar's form against the trees and he released his arrow, crying, "Over here!"

The boar slashed at the earth with its tusks, just barely managing to dodge the arrow which instead hit a tree, quivering uselessly against the bark. He roared, the same grunt-scream of the first boar, and charged.

Aim for a spot just behind the left shoulder. Halt's voice echoed in his ears, both times he had said the words. They overlapped in Will's ears, blending to one. A clean shot to the heart will be your only chance to stop him if he's charging.

Will fired.

The arrow sank into the front of the boar's left shoulder - a good shot. But not good enough, for Will had just missed the vital area. The boar staggered but recovered quickly, screaming in fury.

"Get back!" Horace yelled. He jumped in front of Will, readying his boar spear. But just like last time, he slipped.

Shit! What do I do? Will fired another arrow, but the angle was all wrong and it hit the boar in the chest, protruding out of him. The tough hide stopped the arrow from going in far and the boar was barely impeded, continuing its mad rush towards Horace.

Will sprinted to one side, yelling and aiming again for the boar's left shoulder. He missed once more, hitting its side. The boar paused its charge towards Horace and turned to him, enraged. Will drew back again, backing away as quickly as he could, head turning from side to side desperately. Cries of alarm came from the knights, but he knew that they - and Halt - would not be here for several more seconds. What was he going to do?

The boar screamed and came at him again in a flurry of snow and rage. Will dodged behind a tree just in time. The creature crashed by him. Will frantically glanced up at the tree. Could he climb it? It was barren of limbs for the first ten feet - there was no way Will would be able to scramble up in time.

Swallowing hard, Will turned back to face the boar. He readied his bow.

Footsteps crashed through the snow next to him and Horace appeared, his spear recovered and ready once more. "Let it charge at me. I'll take it."

Horace readied his spear and lowered to one knee once more. This time he didn't slip. The boar ran at them, screaming.

The spear hit it just off of its right shoulder, sinking in a half-inch before getting stuck on bone. The force of the charge slammed into Horace and he fell back, losing his grip on the spear and landing heavily on the ground. The boar kept coming - injured, but not dead yet.

Will had run to the right, bow raised to once more aim for the vital point. He released as Horace faltered, and the arrow sank into the boar's left shoulder. Right above the heart. The boar screamed in agony and stumbled, wavering drunkenly.

Will lowered his bow in relief, ecstatic at the shot. He had gotten it!

But Will had forgotten something. His bow, so much smaller and weaker than Halt's longbow, did not have the same driving power. The boar recovered its footing and turned its mean, red gaze directly at Will. It had been fatally injured, but it was not dead yet.

And, it swore, it would take Will with it when it died.

Horace yelled as the boar charged at Will, grabbing the boar spear and slashing ineffectually at the creature's back as it went. The spear had not been made for slashing, only stabbing, and the boar did not even notice it. Horace scrambled to his feet and raced after the boar, but there was no way he would reach Will before the boar did.

Will swallowed. Where was Halt? He should have gotten here by now. Will had only been holding out until his master got there, but as the boar neared him once more, Will suddenly doubted. What if Will had done something differently? What if he'd messed up?

What if...Halt wouldn't get here fast enough, this time?

The boar neared him. It was moving slower now, its gait uneven, seconds away from collapsing. Will had killed it alright. It just might kill him, too. Will drew his throwing knife. A hit to the eyes - that's my only chance. If I can hit the boar in the eye with my knife...

The boar was almost upon him now. Will sighted, drew back his hand, and threw.

At the same time, a deep whir split the air and a long, black-shafted arrow buried deep inside the boar's heart. The boar staggered sideways, tilting to one side, and toppled lifelessly into the snow.

It was dead.

Halt reined in Abelard in a shower of snow and hurled himself to the ground to Will. Will gave a trembling sob of a breath and stumbled towards Halt, falling into his arms. They tightened around him. Will turned into them, burying his face in Halt's chest, tears running down his cheeks and dampening Halt's shirt. Wordlessly, Halt squeezed him tighter. Will could hear his heartbeat thudding.

Meanwhile, the knights had arrived, trampling through the snow with loud shouts and exclamations. Halt let go of Will and nodded at the boar. "That was a good shot," he said softly.

Will looked at it. The boar was peppered with arrows like an acupuncturist's daydream. There was Will's first shot, just in front of the left shoulder. Several others - the chest, the right shoulder, the side - were from Will's attempts to distract it. Then, the one that had mortally wounded it. Will's grey-shafted arrow was just behind the left shoulder. Directly below it, and buried far deeper, was Halt's.

"Not good enough," Will said. "It would have killed me anyway."

"It's a good thing you're an apprentice, then, isn't it?" said Halt. "You have me to make sure."

Will looked at the boar's head. He had thrown the knife at the same moment that Halt's arrow had hit it. At first, he'd thought that his knife had killed it. Now, looking, Will saw it could not have. He had aimed for the boar's eye - a small, beady little thing - as it had rushed straight at him, tossing its head as it went. Will had missed the shot by a bare half an inch and it had sunk into the boar's skull instead, right above its eye.

Halt made a soft sound of surprise. "You went for the eye? Not a bad idea, but I've told you how difficult the eye is to hit."

Will smirked wryly. "Better than drawing my saxe knife and trying to use it like one of the knight's spears."

Halt eyed him. "Most anything would be a better idea than that."

Will snorted. Unbeknownst to Halt, that was exactly what Will had tried to do last time. Looking back, Will was amazed by his stupidity. The boar's tusks would've hit him far before Will's knife even touched the boar's hide. Why he hadn't gone for his throwing knife back then was nonsensical.

"Will!" Horace's voice slammed into Will. Will jumped away from Halt and turned to look at his friend. "You saved my life. That was the bravest thing I've ever seen."

Will scrunched up his shoulders awkwardly. "You jumped in front of me, too. You saved my life as well."

But Horace shook his head dismissively, as though his own heroic actions were meaningless. "After everything that's happened, I...you really meant it, then? That you want to be friends?"

Will nodded. His cheeks flushed, aware that all the knights - and Halt - were watching this. "I do."

Horace held out his hand. "Then let's be friends. I owe you a life debt, and I will never forget it. If you ever need help, you can call on me."

Will took it. "And if you ever need help, you can call on me."

Will held Horace's gaze, trying to tell him without words that he meant it. If Horace ever needed help - when Horace needed help against those bullies, Will would be there. He'd bring Halt, too, if he had to.

"Well said, both of you!" the Baron said heartily, clapping both of them on the back. The rest of the knights agreed, going up to offer their own congratulations to both of them as well. "We've got two fine young men here! Halt, Rodney, you can both be proud of your apprentices!"

"Indeed we are, my lord," Rodney replied, giving Horace an approving look.

The two apprentices separated and went to their respective parties, Will gliding back over to Halt. Halt nodded just like last time, but Will could tell Halt still wasn't happy about Horace. Well, he'd have to come around, Will thought. Whatever reason Halt had for not liking Horace, Will would dispel it eventually. Tug trotted up, pushing his face into Will's shoulder affectionately. He had stayed away from the fight this time. Will was grateful. He reached up a hand and patted Tug, murmuring a thank you to him. He would never want his precious horse to put himself in danger.

"Can we go?" Will asked Halt. He was eager to get away. All the excitement had left him weary and drained.

Halt shook his head. "Not yet. The knights are arguing over who gets the trophies right now."

"The trophies?"

"The boar's head and tusks. The meat will be given to the castle's kitchens, of course - I'm sure the Baron will hold a feast with it soon, to celebrate. The trophies are generally given to the one who killed it."

Oh. Will cocked his head. "But, that would be you. Why would they be arguing?"

Indeed, as Will turned back around to the knights, they were standing over the second boar and seemed to be in dispute. Their faces cleared as Halt and Will approached.

"Halt, Will," Rodney said. "Which one of you will be taking the head?"

Will turned a puzzled look to his mentor. "What?"

Rodney pointed to the boar's shoulder, where indeed their two arrows still were. "We've been trying to figure out who was the killing shot. We didn't arrive in time to see it die. Who killed it?"

"Halt."

"Will."

They stared at each other.

"You're the one who actually killed it, Halt!" Will protested.

"Your shot was fatal as well," Halt said, shaking his head. "It would have collapsed in a minute even if I hadn't shot it."

"But if you hadn't shot it, I would have died!"

"If you hadn't shot it first, my shot might not have been enough."

Bullshit, Will thought, glaring at him. You know perfectly well that your shot would have killed it anyway. "Your bow is way more powerful than mine! There's no way-"

"That's enough, Will," Halt said in a tone that brooked no arguments. He turned to Rodney. "The boar is Will's, and that's final. Give him the head."

He turned to walk back to Abelard, then paused. "On second thoughts, I'm not sure my house has room for the entire head. Just the tusks will be fine."

He tilted his head at Will. "I assume you'll be fine with that, yes?"

Will huffed.

"I'll take that as a yes," Halt said cheerfully, turning back to Rodney. "I suppose you brought the tools?"

"You should know me well enough by now," Rodney said. "Of course I did."

He knelt down and rummaged through his pack. He produced a small, nasty-looking sort of knife with large, serrated teeth for an edge.

"A bone saw," Halt told Will, nodding at it. "He needs it to saw off the tusks."

Rodney set to work. The other knights bustled about, working on getting the other boar's head and preparing it to be hauled back to the castle. Will watched Rodney saw at the second boar's tusks for a few seconds before moving away, back to Tug. Halt walked with him.

The two of them stood in the quiet for a moment, both welcoming the absence of noise. Will mindlessly stroked Tug's neck and let his horse's gentle, even breathing soothe him. Finally he turned to Halt.

"Knights are crazy," he declared. "That sucked."

One corner of Halt's lips twitched. "I admit, I never have understood their love for these things myself."

"You know," Will said after a moment. "I was thinking..."

He winced, immediately regretting his choice of words.

"If you thought about it, you wouldn't ask," came the deadpan response.

"I was remembering," Will tried next, eyeing Halt distrustfully, "what happened with Horace just now."

Halt grunted. "What about it?"

Will shifted, fidgeting. "Well," he started, then stopped. He wasn't quite sure how to bring this up.

Halt raised an eyebrow, waiting. Sighing, Will decided to just get on with it. It wasn't like Halt particularly cared about the presentation of an argument, anyway, just the content therein.

"With Horace," Will said again, sounding out his argument. "Horace promised to be a friend to me and that he'd help me whenever I need it. He said he owed me a life debt."

"You said you owed him the same, if I recall," Halt pointed out.

Will nodded. "Yes. So, I was thinking..."

He eyed his mentor, glaring at him to make sure he didn't interrupt again. When Halt only made an impatient gesture with a hand, Will tried to steady himself. He was inexplicably nervous. Or, well, he knew exactly why he was nervous.

"Well, that all happened because we saved each other's lives. Right?"

Halt nodded, rather impatiently.

Will took a deep breath. "Well, you also saved my life."

That got a reaction. Halt's eyes widened slightly. He said slowly, "Will..."

When Will failed to respond, nervously wringing his hands, Halt sighed. "Will, being grateful for someone else's actions is well and good. But you don't need to do that with me. I don't need you to promise anything to me."

"But-"

"I'm your master," he said steadily. "I don't need recompense for saving your life. It's enough for me that you're alive."

"Oh," said Will. He felt rather foolish now and regretted having said anything.

Halt's hand settled on his shoulder and squeezed gently. "Come on. Rodney's finished with the tusks. Go get them from him, and then let's go home. I'd quite like a bit of peace and quiet after the morning we've had."

Halt's hand was still on his shoulder. Will hesitated, then stepped away and started towards Rodney. No. It wasn't - this wasn't his Halt. He needed - he must remember that. He took a breath. His voice shook the slightest bit when he spoke. "You mean you want me to do the chores."

"Oh, are you offering?"

Will huffed and stuck out his tongue.


A/N:

Baron Arald: What a lovely day! Two boars killed, two of our apprentices becoming best friends for life-
Will: Sir, we almost died.