Disclaimer: I still do not own these characters! All rights go to Flannyboy

A/N: Thank you so much to all those who left reviews! It means a lot, whether you understand or not. I could not help but smile each time I read a review, or got a notification that someone followed. Thanks again! Now on to chapter 2!

Halt and Will returned to the cabin that night. Both were eager to spend a night in their own beds, and wished each other goodnight before falling asleep.

It was cold. So cold. He couldn't stop shivering, the cold reaching deep into his body.

He was back in Skandia. The frost bit at his fingertips. His mind was numb. Suddenly, a sharp searing pain tore at his back, ripping his mind back to awareness. He screamed out in pain. Then it hit him again, and he screamed again. It all seemed so cruel, he thought. The freezing temperature contrasted harshly with the white-hot pain in his back. The pain was unbearable, and all he could think to do was cry. Through the tears, he called for help, for Halt. But no one came and the whips continued to strike him.

Halt woke up and immediately knew something was wrong. He grabbed his saxe knife and crept silently out of his room. Pausing, he heard it again: a scream. Coming from Will's room. Cold fear clutched at Halt's heart, and he burst into Will's room, pushing aside the heavy curtain in the doorway. He was confused to find nothing but his sleeping apprentice in the room. Will began thrashing in his bed, tangling the sheets in his legs. Another scream tore from his throat, and Halt caught on to what was happening. He set his saxe on the nightstand.

"Will?"

Will continued thrashing, oblivious to the new presence. His body was now covered in sweat, his face glistening with tears.

"Will! Wake up," Halt said urgently.

"Halt. . . Help! . . . Someone . . . help me! Help! Please! No! . . . HALT!"

Will's arms were flailing wildly now, and Halt knew he had to step in before his apprentice hurt himself. He grabbed Will's arms and held them down, speaking in the most soothing tone he could muster, "Will, wake up. You're okay."

Will woke up in a panic and yanked himself free from Halt's grip. He fell off the bed on the side away from Halt. He stood back and slowly came to understand where he was. Then he doubled over, breathing heavily. Next thing he knew, Will was on the ground, his body wracked with heavy sobs. He couldn't breathe. His heart hammered hard in his chest, and he could still feel the stinging pain in his back. With every thump of his heart, he felt his panic rising. Vaguely, he felt a hand on his back.

"Will, you're okay. Just breathe." Halt's voice sounded muffled in Will's ears. He tried to breathe, to calm himself down, but failed miserably. Halt watched his apprentice, sobbing with panic, and was at a loss of what to do. Will wasn't snapping out of it. Finally, Halt made a decision, and abruptly grabbed Will, pulling him into a tight embrace. Will's head rested lightly on Halt's chest, and Halt protectively put one hand around the boy's back, with the other tangled in his mop of hair.

Halt spoke calmly, repeating "Breathe, Will, breathe. You're okay, just breathe."

Will, comforted by the steady heartbeat under his ear and Halt's deep breathing, eventually calmed down.

Halt continued with calming words until he felt the boy's body-wracking sobs stop.

"Will? Do you want to talk about it?"

"I. . . I . . . don't know, Halt. . . " Will said this softly, while slowly disengaging himself from Halt's arms. He sheepishly avoided the grizzled ranger's gaze.

Halt, having his fair share of nightmares, tried to ease the boy's discomfort. "It will help, you know. To talk about it."
Will sat, thinking, for several seconds, before reluctantly agreeing. "Okay, then. If you say so. . ."

Halt stood and pulled Will up, leading the way to the sitting room. Halt swiftly made two cups of tea, Will standing by awkwardly. Halt then led the way through the front door, gesturing for Will to follow him. They sat together on the steps of the veranda, the only light being the soft glow from the moon. Will looked up, thinking about how beautiful this night was just a few hours ago, when Skandia was the last thing on his mind. He still shivered slightly from the dream, the nightmare, the memory. Halt, noticing this, gave Will one mug of tea and stepped swiftly inside the cabin, returning with a wool blanket. He threw this over Will's shoulders. Will, comforted by the warm blanket and steaming tea, slowly felt himself becoming more and more grounded.

Several minutes passed in silence. Finally, Halt broke it, asking "What happened?"

Will stared down at the cup of tea in his hands. "Just a bad dream is all. It's nothing, really."

Halt could see the boy's discomfort, but decided to push forward. "It's okay, Will. You can tell me."

Will smothered another shudder and began slowly. "I was back in Skandia. I was in the yard again, and it was cold. So cold - you can't even begin to imagine, Halt. And the pain, -"

Will stopped abruptly and felt his face flush as he realized what he had said. "I. . . I mean," he stuttered lamely.

But the damage had been done and Halt had caught the slip. "Pain? What pain, Will?"

Will knew he had been caught, and he could think of nothing else to say other than the truth.

"They would whip us sometimes. For not working fast enough. Or for even no reason at all. And there was no way to avoid it. The pain. The cold only made it worse. Blood and sweat would mix and freeze. Even the warmweed, as numbing as it was, couldn't hide the pain."

Halt listened to Will intently. His brows furrowed and his fists clenched as he heard that his apprentice, who was still just a boy, had been beaten. At the mention of warmweed, Halt's jaw tightened and he searched his apprentice's face. At first, he felt relief that he didn't see the longing that addiction often leaves its victims with. But his heart dropped as he saw the pain and sadness in Will's eyes.

The two rangers sat quietly, each absorbing what had been said. Then, Halt asked the question that Will dreaded.

"May I see your back?"

Will wanted to resist, to come up with an excuse as to why, no, Halt couldn't see. But another part of him wanted to share this secret pain that had burdened him for so long.

He finally relented, angling his face away from Halt as he slowly pulled up his nightshirt.

Will's back, illuminated by the dim moonlight, was criss-crossed with dozens of scars. Some short, some long, and many wrapping from his back around his sides and shoulders. One particularly bad one stretched from the top of Will's right shoulder to the lower left portion of his back.

Halt inhaled deeply at the sight, struggling to keep his anger down. He couldn't find the words. Finally, he spoke.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that."

Will, comforted by the same words uttered not so long ago, breathed a sigh of relief. But something else had been bothering him.

"Halt?" Will asked tentatively, still facing away from Halt.

"Hmm?" Halt responded, looking out into the clearing outside the cabin.

Will pulled his nightshirt back on, covering his exposed back, and turned back to sit so that he was facing into the clearing as well.

"Well, I was wondering . . . I've been free for months, and we've been in Araluen for a couple weeks now. Why is it just now coming back to me?"

Halt looked down at his hands, clasped tightly between his knees, and answered.

"Back in Skandia, there was so much to occupy your mind. We were planning a war, and there was a constant threat. Your mind never relaxed. Even getting back to Araluen, you weren't home. My guess is that your mind finally could relax, now that you're back home. It associates Redmont, your friends, the cabin, as a safe place. That's why the dreams started tonight."

Will looked at Halt. "Started? You mean there will be more?"

Halt looked back at Will and saw the fear in the boy's eyes. "There will always be more. But eventually, they'll come less and less, and you won't be as affected by them."

Will was comforted slightly by the reassurance that it would get easier, but not much.

Just then, a gust of wind blew by, and Will pulled the wool blanket tighter back up around his shoulders. Halt noticed this and said gently, "You should get back to bed, Will. We have a full day of training ahead of us tomorrow."

Will nodded and rose from his sitting position. He started into the cabin, but turned abruptly back to Halt. He quickly wrapped his arms around the older man and said, "Thank you, Halt."

Halt patted his back and answered in a strangely gruff voice, "You're welcome, son."

Will ducked his head and walked back into the cabin, and Halt could see the boy disappear behind the curtain that marked the boy's room.

Halt remained on the steps of the veranda for a long time after that, with no one to witness the silent tears falling down his face but the moon and the stars above.