Now that my cable tv is gone, my boredom rate has started going up. Enjoy the fruits of this boredom.~~

"Who are you talking about?" Will asked. Aaron noticed out of the corner of his eye that Halt let a semi-smile crease his lip for only an instant after Will asked his question. Aaron didn't mention this, of coarse.

" You wouldn't know him," Halt replied gruffly," and I suppose you don't remember him either, do you, Gilan?" Gilan was befuddled at the sudden switch off to him. " It's not surprising that you don't remember him. You met him only once before, and it was around the beginning of your training."

Gilan's brain reeled for a little bit, trying to recall his first times with the old Ranger from the back of his mind. When he was the one doing Halt's house work . . .His efforts were rewarded with a very vague recollection of a strange visitor one night.

" He was a Ranger once, wasn't he?" Gilan questioned, and Halt nodded at him. " That was a long time ago, I'm surprised I remember it at all. There was someone there with him too, right?" Again, Halt confirmed this fact with a nod of his head, which got Gilan nodding his head as well. " The only reason I do remember is because his companion was a bit younger then me back then."

" You would remember something like that." Aaron threw in some sarcasm, and got a few laughs and an annoyed look from Gilan as well. He only laughed and grinned at Gilan, gesturing that they continue the conversation that had been started before.

" Was a Ranger?" Will noted the use of past rather then present tense. Halt nodded to Will to confirm this as well. " What happened to him?"

" A mistake." Aaron bluntly said, before anyone else could speak up about it. This drew shocked looks from all three Rangers. " I don't know if he ever realized I knew what happened, but I overheard him once." With a deep breath, Aaron started the story.

" He went out on one of his regular missions," glancing around, he said," but everything went wrong for him." Will was already leaning forwards, intent on hearing the story now with this interesting start to it.

" What? What went wrong?" he asked, not at all happy with the cliff hanger Aaron had left for him. Halt hide a grin. Will was always so full of questions.

" My Master was ambushed," Aaron answered, darkly to them, " he was given false information, and so, was ill prepared for the fight that ensued. He fled for his life," his voice became soft, reverent, and maybe even a bit thoughtful as he said," I suppose the mistake could have been made by anyone. A shame it happened to my Master." Will couldn't stand this waiting for the answer.

" What happened?" he babbled out in the middle, snapping Aaron back to the present. Blinking a moment, Aaron shook his head and got the story back on track again.

" Master shot many enemies. Then came the mistake. A pair of people walked into the crossfire. . ." his voice squeaked, and Aaron found it hard to continue. Halt chimed in, saving Aaron from speaking the next part of it.

" White Stag shot and killed the two. Both died instantly, but he'd faulted." Halt explained on for Aaron once the boy had stopped. " He found that he'd killed a young, innocent couple passing by at the wrong place at the wrong time. You know what made it worse for him?" Halt had a flare for the dramatic at this point, amusing himself with the way Will seemed to be hanging on ever word said.

Aaron didn't find this as funny as Halt did, and found his vocal cords again.

" The couple had a baby." he said, somber, sad, and again, thoughtful. " Glancing,anyone could tell that Will was interested. However, Gilan was nearly, maybe even more so, was interested in the story as much as Will. " The baby was still alive, protected by both of it's parents arms." Halt turned an inquisitive eye at Aaron, but said nothing. " Now he had a problem. What would be do with the baby?"

" Couldn't he have given it to the ward to care for the baby?" Will asked, as this had been what happened with Halt and himself.

" Of coarse he could have," Halt answered, flatly," the question is would he? The answer was no." he added and Will gave a questioning look at Halt to this. "If you knew White Stag, you would know that he's a kind soul. White Stag was a kind hearted fool, through and through. Riddled with guilt at murdering the child's parents, he took up the role of parent for the child."

" He embraced all of the ridicule and insults. The expulsion from the Rangers, the banishment from Araluen, eventually, the shunning of his friends, and the almost utter end of his former life, all for that little child." Aaron's voice had grown thick with emotion as he went on and on, and the story reached it's end. Then, a silence stretched between the four of them.

" That's a great sacrifice" Will murmured, finally. Aaron was glad that Will had said it like this. Some had called his Master a fool for doing such a thing. Surely, his Master was anything but a fool, taking responsibility for the fact he'd killed the child's chance at a regular life. He might as well know the sorrow of the man whom so mistakenly had taken the life of the child's parents.

" She certainly is happy with his choice," Aaron started to laugh when Will stared, and his mouth dropped, " and yes, he did adopt a girl. The couple had a little baby girl. She always speaks the world of him, I'd venture to say she adores the very ground he walks on sometimes. As for White Stag, he's kindly to her as every. He called it his mistake. His blessed mistake." thoughtfulness filled Aaron again, and he murmured more to himself then to the others.

" Then he smiled . . .hm . . ." Aaron smiled at the memories that filled his head. Then reality hit, and the smile faded from his face.

" What message could White Stag possibly have for me after all these years?" Halt drew them back to the matter at hand. Aaron looked at him, almost dumbly for a moment before frowning profoundly more to himself then to those around him. Then, he opened his mouth to speak.

"Hell if I know." ~~~~~~~~~

That answer was quite lovely wasn't it? Well, I thought it was funny, anyways . . . Well, this is the next chapter, hope you all liked it. Reading and Review is not only acceptable, its actually encouraged. So please do so. NOW. ^^Have a nice day everyone.