Will had been studying the stranger from the moment she walked in. He knew instantly that something was amiss. Her clothing was all wrong. He was curious as to where she came, no country that he knew of dressed the way she did. Her large hat and strange boots were near impossible to ignore. Then there was the strange 'clink' sound that seemed to follow her. She might as well have a sign on her back that said 'Look at me!'. Not only that but the way she composed herself, it was just… different. Listening closely to what she said to the innkeeper, and hearing the confusion in her voice about where she was, helped to conclude his suspicion. She clearly didn't belong here. When the two men had approached her, she had managed to defend herself, but only just. He was going to follow her, he wanted to see where she was going, and to make sure that she didn't get into anymore trouble. After the two thugs had gone back to their original table, Will got up, paid for his coffee, and left the inn. Before he mounted Tug, he managed to catch sight of her on a tall palomino horse, a short ways from the end of the street. He could tell, even from the far distance that she was very familiar with her horse and was an experienced rider. Mounting Tug was more difficult than it had been a couple weeks ago.

Flashback-A Few Weeks Before

Will hesitated before knocking on Crowley's door. He contemplated what job Crowley would give him this time. He had received a hastily scrawled note from a local deliverer that read:

Will,

I request that you come to my office immediately. A problem has arisen that will require your talents. Thank you in advance.

-Crowley

Once Will had read this he hastened to get to Crowley as fast as he could. He knew it must be a very serious problem if the ranger already stationed wherever this crisis had occurred couldn't handle the situation himself. Now, as he banged his hand on the door, he hoped that it wouldn't be too bad. The door made a solid thunking sound and was almost immediately thrown open by Crowley. "Oh good, you're here Will, come in, sit down." Crowley looked rather nervous. Will saw documents on his desk, and in piles on the floor. There was no furniture in the room except for the desk and the chair behind it. None in view anyway. Will decided not to mention this and instead seated himself upon one of few sturdier looking piles of paper.

"You sent for me?", He questioned.

"Yes, yes. I'd like you to read this report that I recently received from Martinsyde Fief. Tell me what you think of it when your done."

Will decided he had better avoid making any jokes about his thinking about something, giving the present circumstances. He accepted the paper in Crowley's outstretched hand and looked through it.

Baron Walters,

We have decided that your reign over this fief has been tolerated long enough. We request that you resign immediately and let someone more adept take over your rule. This is to be done before sunset on the eve after tomorrow. In case you were considering, rejecting this command we have taken five of you subjects to make sure that you are willing to comply. If, after your deadline, you have not given up your post, one of them will die. Each day you fail to meet our demands another person will die, and you will know that this is all your fault. I hope that you will see the sense in agreeing to these terms before it is too late.

-The Waterbarrow Brothers

"Well that was cheery. So you're sending me in because the assigned ranger can't handle the issue?"

"Not at all, Will. That's why I'm so nervous. The ranger on duty is one of the hostages."

"What?" Will was stunned. Up until this point he assumed that these were just ordinary bandits or outlaws. The news that they had been able to take an actual ranger hostage was almost unbelievable.

"When was this? Where'd they do it? How'd they do it?", Will asked. He was desperate for more information now. This was a big problem.

"The Baron received this note first thing yesterday morning. It was nailed to the castle door. He immediately sent for Skinner. He got worried when he didn't arrive and sent men down to the town to see what was wrong. At this point he assumed that this was just a hoax. Barons and kings are always being threatened like this, you learn to become used to it. When his men returned, however, they reported that five people were missing. The butcher, a tailor, the tax collector, the innkeeper, and Skinner himself. Whoever planned this must have an informant inside the castle. They were able to take Skinner when he was out on a small job, tracking a rogue wolf they had seen around the woods. Local townspeople saw they saw him leave, around midday, but no one saw him return. They didn't think much of it at the time. They know rangers won't be seen when they don't want to be seen. Besides what a ranger does is no business of theirs. When the Baron's men started asking questions though, it all seemed to fit into place."

"So what is going on right now?"

"The military commander is trying to snoop around, get information. He feels terrible, says its all his fault. He says it was his job to protect his fief and that he failed. He wants to make up for that fact. No one wants to argue with him, so the let him go about his business. To be honest though, hes not very inconspicuous, if you know what I mean"

Will knew what he meant. Military commanders are very straight forward. He had been around Horace long enough to know that they always think that things are simple. Right, wrong. Black,white. You did or you didn't. He could just imagine the commander walking around town, asking the locals if they were a member of the waterbarrow brothers.

"I can leave right away, I should be able to get there in about two hours time. Speed is essential at this point, since we only have until sundown today."

"Thank you Will. If you need to tell the stablemaster to lend you a horse, Tug must be slightly tired from your ride here."

"He's fine sir, it only took us five hours to get here, Tug could run that speed all day if I asked him to."

"Yes, you're right, he is a ranger horse after all." Crowley smiled.

"Indeed he is" Will let a slight smile touch his lips before turning and opening the door. Just as he was about to leave Crowley called after him.

"Do be careful Will, something about this issue just doesn't seem right. I can feel it." Without turning back Will replied,

"I'm always careful".

And then he was gone, leaving Crowley staring after him, "That's what I'm afraid of," Crowley muttered.

"I heard that!"

"What's the adventure this time?" Tug's body language always spoke volumes to Will.

"We get to go to Martinsyde Fief to deal with some outlaws who don't like Baron Walters. They have hostages so we need to do this quickly."

'What about the Ranger-boy assigned there? Sam, right?"

"His name's Skinner and he's one of the hostages."

"Makes sense, he is fairly new."

"I can't believe you remember that."

"I remember everything." Tug said with a shake of his mane.

"Obviously not since you got his name wrong."

"I got the first letter right."

"I can get the last word with Crowley, but not you. Will I ever?"

"Never," Tug threw back his mane in a pompous manner.

"And you say Blaze has a big ego."

Tug looked back at him with a horrified expression in his eyes, "Did you just compare me to Blaze? Blaze?! Oh no!"

"It's all right, boy. You're nothing like Blaze."

"Thank goodness."

The rest of the ride was quiet except for Tug's soft hoofbeats and the sound of Ebony's panting. When the trio finally arrived at Castle Martinsyde, it was early evening but it was Will's job to check in with the Baron immediately. As he rode into the courtyard of the castle he dismounted signaled to the stable boy.

"Can you bring my horse to the stable please? Give him a good rub and some oats please."

What about my apple?

"Oh yes, here Tug", Will gave Tug an apple quickly, then flashed a look at the stable boy. Though he looked rather nervous about being directly addressed by a ranger, he looked confident enough and adept at his job. Will hated not being able to take care of Tug himself, but he had to get into the Baron immediately.

"Of course sir, I'll see to it right away" The boy hurriedly grabbed the reins and started to lead Tug to the stable.

"Go on, Tug, Will said. As Tug walked away obediently Will smiled to himself. If he had not uttered those word, Tug wouldn't have moved even if the castle were under siege. He turned on his heel and strode briskly to the castle door. He opened it and trotted up the stairs to the second floor where the Barons office was, with Ebony at his heels. He arrived at the Baron's door and knocked three times. A voice from inside called out.

"Come in."

As Will entered he looked around the office. It was much tidier than Crowley's had been. It was furnished and at least had a chair for him to sit in.

"Ranger Will, thank goodness you're here."

"I came as soon as I could Baron Walters"

Will noticed another man standing next to the Baron's desk. He was tall, with broad shoulders, he had close cropped brown hair, was extremely fit. He emanated confidence, and had an air of command about him. Will felt like he was being scrutinized and felt unusually small. The thing that unsettled Will the most though were his eyes. They were cold, and empty, their black depths containing no sign of joy. He knew immediately knew that this man was the battlemaster.

'This is a man that has seen many battles.' Will thought, and shifted his gaze back to the Baron. This man was a complete opposite of the commander. He was short and plump with a round cherub face. his eyes were a startling green but they were clouded with worry.

"Yes, it is good that you are here, Ranger." The battlemaster's voice was deep and low.

"Battlemaster Wartholt has collected some more information for you. I will let him tell you what he's found out", Baron Walters advised..

"Thank you, sir. We already know the approximate time of when Ranger Skinner was taken. It was about 3 days ago at 4 o'clock. He was tracking down a rogue wolf in the southern corner of the town. The other four were taken at night soon after. Two men and two women, all from the southern corner of town. We have no idea how many men are part of this group but don't believe that it could be more than a dozen.

"Thank you, Sir Wartholt. I think I have a general idea of where these kidnappers most likely are. Now I'd best be on my way, it'll be best if I catch these guys before sunset.

"Of course, please, don't let us delay you", the Baron replied.

As Will turned to leave, he heard the battlemaster call after him.

"Wait, please, let me come with you. This whole thing is my fault. Let me fix my mistake."

Remembering what Crowley had told him of the battlemaster's guilt, Will turned to look at him. He wouldn't be able to sneak around as well with a knight blundering after him, but then again, if there were really half a dozen men out there, it wouldn't hurt to have an extra hand.

"Very well, come, let's get our horses ready."

The battlemaster nodded once then followed him out the door.

It was noon time by the time Will and Wartholt got outside and exited through the southern gate. As they rode along the worn trail through the wood, Will was alert for any sign of Skinner or the wolf. Wartholt didn't say much and neither did Will, the seriousness of this situation sort of discouraged conversation. Soon Will spotted some trampled bushes along the right side of the trail. He stopped Tug and pointed them out to Wartholt.

"Look, this must be where Skinner left the trail"

He nudged Tug over the bushed and immediately spotted wolf tracks and horse tracks. The horse tracks were deep enough for Will to tell that is had a rider, and that they were made some time after the wolf tracks.

"Come on, let's see where these take us, and be quiet, I don't want this wolf knowing that were in his woods." Will told the battle master. He nodded again to show Will his understanding and spurred his horse into the woods alongside Will.

'He sure is a man of few words, isn't he', Will thought, then urged Tug into a steady trot following the tracks. Ebony was close behind. She understood the gravity of the situation and was as quiet as Tug.

It was about half an hour later when Will noticed the difference in the tracks. Suddenly there were foot prints that came out of the bushes and followed the other tracks that they had been following. Will stopped Tug and dismounted, bending to get a closer look at the foot prints. They were definitely a man's, and they were deep. That meant that he was big. They were about an hour behind Skinner, but closing fast. He estimated about fifteen minutes before they caught up with him. Will told all this to Wartholt then mounted Tug again and cantered down the trail.

When they reached the spot where the footprints caught up with Skinner Will knew that this is where he was going to have to be very alert. Will dismounted Tug and looked around. He noted the crumpled bushes all around the area and he counted at least three sets of foot prints. There were lots of hoofmarks and the grass in the area was well trampled. He went about ten meters in to the foliage on all sides, looking for where they had gone once they captured Skinner. He saw another much smaller trail a little south west of the path. Going further in he could now see the track more clearly. He saw one set of foot prints next to hoof tracks. That must have been an outlaw leading Skinners horse. Then he saw two more pairs of footprints that appeared to be half dragging, half carrying what must have been Skinner. Now he knew he was dealing with at least three outlaws. He guessed that there were only three because if he were to try and capture a ranger he would want to use all the people at his disposal. Walking back to where he had left Tug and Wartholt he explained his thoughts, remounted Tug, and snuck down the small path left by the outlaws.

"We need to be very quiet from now on", he told Wartholt. "I don't know how close the camp is, so we need to be prepared".

"Of course", Warthollt replied.

Will took the lead. He went about twenty meters ahead of Wartholt, so he could sneak up on the outlaws easier when they found their camp. Tug, being the ranger horse that he was, made almost no sound when he placed his hooves on the ground. Will made no sound either. Wartholt however was getting on his nerves. He appeared to be trying to keep absolutely silent, but his huge battle horse just wasn't suited for the job. With every tree or bush it brushed up against to Will it sounded like a pack of wild boars were after him. He winced every time a twig cracked beneath its giant hooves. He was just about to turn around and tell him to wait behind while he crept ahead when he got a peculiar feeling. Like someone was watching him. He held up a fist to tell Wartholt to stop. As he peered around into the forest, suddenly he saw him. There was a tall sandy haired man standing just at the edge of the woods, about ten meters ahead of them. Will had been too focused on Wartholt and hadn't seen him until this moment. Suddenly he was aware that Ebony's hackles were raised and she was emitting a low growl. Will quieted her then looked back up the path. The man stepped out on to the trail. Will heard more rustling and turned to see two more men come out behind them. One was red-haired, the other had brown hair and was olive skinned. He guessed that they were all in their twenties, about as old as Will. They were considerably bigger though. They wore rough, ragged clothes of brown and black. Will turned back around when he heard the first man talk.

"Looks like the Baron wasn't planning on following our directions boys. Had to send a sneaker out to stop, us he did."

"Baron is a slow learner, already lost one sneaker, now he's gonna lose another." That was the man with the red hair. The olive skinned man caught on and added his jibe.

"Sneaker's not so sneaky is he boys? We heard him coming for miles we did, didn't we?"

"Ya, now he thinks he can stop us with that stick of his." the blond commented seeing that Will had readied his bow, nocked an arrow, and aimed it at him.

"I would advise that none of you move or I'll put an arrow through your charming friend here." Will said. He knew he was in a bad situation though, outlaws had absolutely no loyalty to each other and if the blond got shot, giving the other two enough time to get close enough to him, they wouldn't blink twice. He looked deep into the man's eyes. Suddenly he had a doubt about his more recent assumption. Through the air of confidence he saw fear. Not a lot, but enough to be noticeable. The man met him eye for eye and then Will saw something even more surprising. Was that a flash of… recognition? But it was gone as fast as it came, and then the man was talking again.

"You know what boys, I think we teach the poor, misguided sneaker a lesson." His voice had dropped. Now there was ice in his words, and a sense of loathing. Will realized that this man had recognized him. Thinking hard, Will wondered where he had seen this man before. The blond added on to his sentence.

"Famous sneaker Will needs to learn not to be stuck up" The red haired & olive skinned men sniggered, but it was a cold, humorless snigger. And suddenly Will remembered where he had seen them before. They were definitely older, and they looked different, but they had the same eyes. The same cold, merciless eyes. Will gasped as the full recognition set it.

"Alma. Jerome. Yavin." Yes, he knew it was definitely them. The three second year trainees from battle school that had made Horace's life miserable until Will had saved Horace from a boar. That had been the breaking point, and these three decided they needed to teach Horace and himself a lesson on not undermining the battle school. They had already beat Horace into subconsciousness and had walked down to where Will was when Halt intervened. Horace had dragged himself down to where everyone was and Halt made each one of the three battle Horace one at a time. Horace defeated them easily and the next day Halt had payed a visit to Sir Rodneys. The three of them were expelled from battle school and the Fief. Will had never really thought about them again, but here they were. Still causing trouble.

"Sneaker recognizes us boys. Recognizes us all these years later. I feel so special. Then again, I never forgot you. Or Horace. Or that other puny sneaker. See, we have a lot to blame on you after we got kicked out. We almost died. We had to do the dirtiest jobs, cuz no one wanted to pay poor, homeless boys like us. Eventually we learned to fight fire with fire. If we didn't get what we want, well, let's just say we're very persuasive. It seems however, fate has brought us back together. In fact, I should feel honored that they sent the famous Will Treaty after us. We should honor him with a feast boys. Or we could just kill him." He started towards Will, and Ebony rushed forward to stop him.

"No Ebony!", Will shouted. He knew that his dog stood virtually no chance against a man who was bigger and stronger than her by at least three times. He swing the bow to match the mans pace and was about to let go when someone grabbed his bow. Confused for a fraction of a second Will wondered who could have done that. No way could the other outlaws get to him in time, and why on earth would Wartholt do it? His thoughts were interrupted as the hand pulled backward on the bow. Hard. He let out an involuntary gasp of pain and a resounding crack echoed through the trees, accompanied by shock as agonizing pain shot through his arm. He tried moving it, to try and get his bow back, but it wouldn't budge. When he tried it was like someone was sticking a thousand knives into his arm all at once. He turned back to look at the commander. He had a savage grin on his face as he brought the bow back around, aimed for Wills head. He knew that with how strong Wartholt was, a direct hit to the head could kill him. He had just enough time to duck his head an inch so that most of the hit was deflected. It was still a devastating blow. Will let out another cry as his vision blurred and he toppled off Tug. As he came off several things happened at once. Will hit his head again, disgruntling himself even further, this time on a large tree trunk as he came off Tug. Wartholt dismounted his horse to come around and finish Will off. The other two outlaws arrived at the action and were trying to subdue Tug. The blond had discarded Ebony from himself and she lay there breathing slowly, unconscious. As Wartholt got closer Will had a sinking feeling. As he struggled to draw his saxe knife he thought.

'Great, I get killed by some lowly bandits and a rouge battle master even after all the ridiculous quests I've gone on and survived.'

As the blond ran over to help his companions with Tug, he shouted at Wartholt,

"Don't kill him yet, take him alive. I have better plans for him."

Wartholt shrugged and he must not have hit Will as hard as he would of. Will couldn't really tell, because the last thing he remembered was the cold look in his eyes as the bow came towards his face.

Will woke to the sound of voices. His head felt like someone had pounded it with a giant battle mace and his arm hurt even worse. He tried sitting up but he was fastened in place. Will cracked one eye open peering around at his surroundings. They were in a miniscule clearing with little foliage on the ground. He noticed five other people tied to the trees by their necks and waists. Their hands were tied in front of them and their feet were tied together. After a little shift of movement Will was able to deduce that he was tied likewise, with the exception of his hands. He noticed that there was a small pit in the middle of the clearing, probably used for a fire and a small tent just across from it. Tug and Ebony were tied to trees also. Sitting on a stump outside the tent, the man with red hair sat, dozing slightly. He hadn't noticed that Will was awake yet. Will tried to move his hands so that he could undo the knots that bound him. It was a fruitless effort though. He couldn't move his right arm at all without the unbearable pain shooting through his arm. He tried undoing the knots with only his left hand but they were tied too tight. Frustrated with himself, he tried even harder to move his right arm. This caused and even worse jolt to whip through his arm and Will let out a groan as his eyes began to water. The small sound alerted the red head and he started awake, glancing in Wills direction. Seeing that he was awake, he allowed a devilish grin to spread across his face as he reached back to slap the tent's entrance flap.

"Hey Alma, Bryn. Guess who just woke up."

Alma and Bryn exited the tent. Will saw that the two hostages close to the outlaws shrunk back from them. One of them, Will realized, was Skinner. Skinner glanced fearfully at Alma, the shot a worried glance in Will's direction. From the look, Will could tell that Skinner knew who he was. Will tried to signal that Skinner shouldn't say anything. He didn't know where this was going to end up but he knew he didn't want Skinner involved. Alma walked over to Will and squatted down by him. He looked into Will's eyes, looking. Will glared back at him.

"You know what, I don't think you quite understand what we've been through or else you might not act like this Will. You might understand why we want to kill you. Tell me something, what would you do if someone insulted the ranger corps. Then when you went to get your revenge, you were thwarted by your inferiors and humiliated. Then on top of all of that you were expelled from the corps., kicked out of your fief and left with your friends to find a life of your own after you had your whole future in front of you. What if you were forced to search for work for a year, living off of measly scraps of food and sleeping in alleyways. Then when you finally get a job, a decent paying one someone goes and blames a robbery on you and your friends and no matter what you say no one believes that you're innocent because you're an outsider. You get kicked out of that town too and now you're living off your wits again. Honestly it shouldn't surprise you that we started stealing, we had to live some how. But we also wanted revenge. We wanted the leaders who let the poor suffer removed. Kicked out. Like us. So I'm sure you will understand that when we kill you and send your body to the Baron it will be nothing personal, right? Oh wait, that's right, it is personal. But you can rest easy, because we aren't going to kill you just yet. See we want Horace and Halt too. They caused us even more pain and humiliation than you did. So, you're going to be part of a plan to capture your friends too. That way we will all be even. How does that sound?"

"Horace and Halt beat you all once, and now Horace is even more capable than ever. Plus he's a Royal Knight. Do you really think that they'll send him down here just to get me back?"

"That's what we're counting on."

"So this was, in the long run, a way to get back at Halt, Horace, and I."

"No, we didn't expect that the sneaker that they would send would be you, but it seems that Lady Luck is on our side."

Remembering a Skandian saying, Will replied, "In unpleasantries such as this, luck is a fickle thing."

"Anything that happens to you is justice, not unpleasant. On second thought, you're right it could get unpleasant , at least for you. Now, I'm going to need some information so that everything goes according to my plan. Let's start with where your friends are." Will raised an eyebrow.

"Two of the most famous people in the entire country and you don't know where they are? Well in that case I'm not telling."

"You will do everything I ask. If you don't, things could get… messy. Starting with that arm of yours." He reached out and grabbed Wills injured arm, twisting it as he did so. Will grimaced and turned his face away but didn't cry out. He wasn't giving Alma that satisfaction. He swore he could feel his bones moving in wrong directions. Alma let of his arm and looked back to Will. "Now, do you want to tell what I want to know, or are we going to have to do the same thing to your horse?"Will blanched as he mentioned Tug. Clearly Alma knew how much their horses ment to their rangers. If he were to break or even seriously damage one of Tug's legs, Tug would be crippled and Will wouldn't be able to ride him. He glanced over at Tug. He hesitated before speaking and that was just the silence Alma was looking for.

"Not even for your horse, sneaker? Well, I guess we will have to break one of his legs, then you should be able to tell us."

"No, wait!" Will said, but Alma was already striding over towards Tug pulling out his sword as he went.

"Tug, panic!" Will cried signaling one of the ranger horse cues. Tug looked at him, flicked his ears, and immediately started to 'panic'. It was a well rehearsed show used for rangers to get out of tough situations, usually while they were on their horse's backs. It would surprise an ambusher long enough for the ranger to 'fall off' roll off the road into the foliage beyond and for the horse to get out of harms way. Will wasn't using it as it was originally intended, but he figured it would do the job, at least for a little while. Upon responding to Wills order Tug let off a show. Will could have sworn that Tug was enjoying himself, and just showing off. He leapt into the air with all four legs leaving the ground. Spinning as he came down he bucked, reared, than cantered, tossing his head, in as big of a circle as his tether would allow. Ebony was barking and straining on the rope trying to get at both Tug and Alma. She too was leaping in the air turning and jumping around. Will almost smiled at the comical sight thinking that Tug had been a good teacher. The he noticed something that nearly made him shout with joy. Toward the middle of the rope, Wills acute eyes could see it starting to fray. Thinking quickly, while the others were distracted Will quietly slipped the knife out of Jerome's scabbard. Placing it behind the tree he used his good arm to saw away at the rope binding him at the waist. Then he started working on the one that bound his neck. This one was much more difficult, his arm couldn't reach up there as effectively and it took him much longer to saw that one. He didn't cut them all the way off, he left enough to make them look as if they were secure, but cut away enough so that at a moments notice he could break them. Then he turned his eyes back toward Ebony, just in time. As Alma tried to find a way to contain Tug, Bryn and Jerome circled, helping him. Then Ebony's rope snapped. She launched herself immediately at the figure closest to her, which happened to be Jerome. Alma cursed as Ebony latched on to Jerome's arm with her powerful jaws.

"Bryn, go get the crossbow out of the tent. Hurry, I've had enough of these damn animals."As Bryn ducked into the tent Will felt that this was his chance. He lurched forward with all his strength. The forward motion broke through the ropes and brought him into a kneeling position. Will was already on his feet sprinting towards Tug before anyone even noticed him. As he reached Tug he used the knife to saw away through about half of the rope before Alma let out a roar of fury. He hastily cut through the rest of the bonds. Tug had continued his wild dance keeping Alma away from Will as he cut. Now Will let out a cry for Tug to calm.

"Peace Tug!" Tug instantly went quiet and Will tried to fling himself into the saddle. Tug was already moving at a canter before Will was even half way in the saddle.

"Come on, Ebony", Will called and she detached and raced after them. Bryn had come out of the tent by now and was aiming the crossbow at the receding figures, while Alma frantically shouted,

"Shoot! Shoot!" Will heard the familiar ugly twang of a crossbow and cursed as pain flared up in his left thigh. He pulled himself one-handed all the way into the saddle and urged Tug into a full out gallop. He glanced down and grimaced as he saw a black shaft proceeding from his leg. That's going to hurt a lot later. He thought, then winced as his leg bounced on the saddle. Nix that, it hurts like heck now. Will felt the physical and mental strain of the recent event slowly sink in and suddenly he was tired. So tired. He told himself that he couldn't blackout, not again, but all of his mental protests were useless. He felt his head hit Tug's withers and let himself be lulled into darkness. His last thought before drifting off was, How on earth am I going to be able to explain this to Crowley?

When Will woke, the first thing he was aware of was sunlight streaming onto his face. He cracked his eyes open and looked around him. He was staring up at a canvas ceiling supported by ropes. He turned his head to the left and caught a glimpse of a black and white tail wagging slightly. Gazing towards the entrance of the tent he spotted Tug's head peering in and a prone figure sitting in a chair directly outside, apparently dozing.

"You supposed to be sleeping on the job?" Will croaked. The figure started at the sound of his voice and hurriedly turned to face him, a broad grin forming on his face

"Will! You're awake! Oh thank goodness, we didn't know for sure if you were going to. You got bashed on the head so many times it was kind of touch and go for a while. Halt and I were so worried. So was Tug, but you're ok now!" Horace finished slightly out of breath. Despite the situation Will couldn't help but let out a low chuckle. He immediately wished he hadn't, it made his bones ache. Horace must have seen him grimace. "I had better go fetched Halt and Linda." Seeing Will's look of incomprehension he added, "She's the healer that helped you. I'll be right back, don't' go anywhere." Will constrained himself from replying that he most certainly was not going anywhere.

Once Horace had returned with Halt and an older women whom Will assumed was Linda.

"We have to go back and get rid of those outlaws, free the hostages, give them a lesson. Which should hurt at least as much as I am right now."

Halt raised a single eyebrow at him, "It's all taken care of. While you were unconscious, Horace and I ambushed those thugs and captured them. That's why we're here."

"Wait, so how long have I been out?"

"About three days," this time it was Horace who responded.

"Great, just great. So how are all the hostages?"

"They're shaken but not seriously hurt. Skinner's a bit traumatized though, he wanted to retire from the corps."

"So what'd you do about that?"

"We nicely broke the news to him that he had quite a few decades left in him."

Will just kept staring at Halt, unable to hide the skeptical look on his face.

With this Horace grinned, "By nicely he means the he threatened to throw him in the moat if he even tried to retire, saying that this was nothing compared to the stuff we had been through."

Will nodded, that sounded more like Halt, "Are you sure he didn't suffer any more trauma from this little threat?"

"He brightened right up and went back to his duties actually."

Chuckling to himself, Will tried to sit up but his arm felt like it had burst into flame and he collapsed back to the ground.

"You really shouldn't put too much strain on that arm. You've dislocated your shoulder, broken the bone in your upper arm, and sprained your wrist. I didn't even know that a person could get that hurt in one area until you came along," Linda stated and once she had said her piece, she left the tent.

Present

His arm was still broken and that hindered his movements. When he had finally gotten atop Tug, Will turned him in the direction the girl had left, and urged him into a steady trot after her.

"So we're following her?"

"Yeah, Tug. I want to know who she is."

"Don't you already have a girlfriend?"

Will was appalled by his horse's thoughts.

"That isn't why I'm chasing her!"

"Oh good, because I would have told Alyss."

"Wow, some friend you are."

"Alyss would have found out anyway, she just seems knows these things."

"Good point. Now, did you talk to her horse?"

"Yup, his name's Cola-something-or-other and the girl's name is Jess. He seemed nice."

"And that's relevant because…?"

"A horse is only nice if they have a good owner. I'm saying that she should be a good person."

"Oh, that's good to know." And with that, Ranger and horse continued to chase the stranger.

Well that was a really long chapter. I just really wanted to get the entire flashback in one chapter, I don't think any future chapter will be this long. Anyways, thanks for reading!