Wow, fourth chapter. I'm breezing through this. But then, it's really incredibly fun to write. Thanks for the reviews, peoples.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranger's Apprentice. Deal with it.

Will quietly moved through the town, ghosting between the streets. Sometimes things happened after sundown that wouldn't happen anytime else, but tonight seemed fairly quiet. He couldn't see anything out of the norm. Stealing a glance up at the stars, he saw that even they seemed peaceful. The moon was full, too. Will was grateful it prevented the night from being completely black, or it would have been harder to—

Splash!

Startled, Will looked down to where he'd stepped in a puddle. But it wasn't quite right; it was too dark a color for water and to thin a consistency for mud. He felt a sickening clenching in his stomach as he realized what it was.

Blood.

Perhaps the night wasn't as quiet as he thought.

Quickly, his eyes traced the crimson liquid to a body barely half a meter away. The only reason he hadn't seen it earlier is because he'd been looking at the sky and it hadn't moved at all. He stepped over to the body of what he could now see was a woman, crouching over her and looking for the wound.

He found it in her side, with the hilt of a dagger sticking out just under her ribcage. He was relieved to see the slight rise and fall of her chest. Her face, framed by dark hair in gentle curls streaked with gray yet still beautiful, thankfully lacked the waxy pallor of a corpse. At least she was alive, for the moment; although, if the streams of blood leaking from her side were anything to go by, she would be dead soon without help.

Moving carefully, he applied pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding. He didn't dare remove the blade, as it would probably do more harm than good at this point. Now he had to somehow get her to a healer's. There were three in the town, and the nearest one was about a fourth of a kilometer away. He would need to move as quickly as he could without injuring her any further. He slowly picked her up, beginning the long task of getting her to a healer's home.

Will knocked loudly on the door of healer Damon's home, hoping he would be ready to answer even at this time of night. Healers always seemed to be on call, though, no matter the time, and this one was no exception. He opened the door with only a slightly sleepy look in his eyes, and even that disappeared when he saw Will's grim expression and the unconscious person in his arms.

"Ranger Treaty?" he asked. The cloak identified him as a Ranger, and the two Redmont Rangers' names were well known. There was no way this young man was Halt. Will nodded.

Damon gestured to the woman, voicing the obvious question. "What happened here?"

Will shrugged as best he could while holding her. "I don't know. I found her in an alleyway like this, almost dead."

"Come in, come in," the healer said, motioning with his arms for the young Ranger to enter with the patient.

As he stepped inside, Will's eyes scanned the small home. There were herbs and medical instruments on the walls, and as he was led into another room he saw several cots lined up.

"Set her down here," the healer ordered, waving at one of the cots. Will complied, resting the unconscious woman on the indicated cot. Damon spared him a glance, taking in his general appearance to decide whether he needed attention too. "That blood's not yours, is it?"

Will glanced down at himself and saw what he was talking about. There were a few streaks of blood trailing down his clothes. Will looked up again and shook his head. "No. It must have gotten on me when I was carrying her," he explained.

Damon nodded absently. "Must of," he echoed. He frowned and busied himself with cutting the fabric of her shirt around the wound. "You were right not to pull out the dagger, that would have made it even worse. I'll have to pull it out now, though. I'll look after her."

Will nodded. "Thank you, Damon.

Will scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Would you tell me when she's okay? I'm rather curious as to who attacked her."

Damon nodded. "Of course. In fact, I'll be moving her up to the castle tomorrow or the next day. She needs prolonged, constant care, and I'm afraid I can't provide that for very long." He paused, then added as an afterthought, "do you happen to know what her name is?"

Will shook his head regretfully. "No, and I don't think she's a local either. Maybe she was just passing through and she was mugged."

Shrugging, the healer turned back to the task at hand of treating the injured woman. "Alright, run along home now. There's nothing you can help with." Short of finding her, that is, Will thought, resisting the urge to roll his eyes while also suppressing a smile. Healers were the only village folk who weren't afraid to order the Rangers around; they'd seen them at their worst, after all.

Glancing one last time at the unconscious, seriously wounded woman, Will left the house.

The dawning sun woke to see a grizzled, grim faced Ranger riding toward a certain cabin in the trees. When he reached it, he quickly dismounted and opened the door, wincing as it squeaked noisily, despite the fact that it was how he himself had always kept it. He mused that it would be quite the prank to oil the hinges, but discarded the thought; no laughs would be worth subjecting his apprentice to the possibility of an ambush.

The sight that greeted Halt was anything but a pleasant one—Will lay on the couch, unmoving, with blood on the front of his shirt. Fear gripped his heart and he lurched forward.

"Will!" he exclaimed, grasping his former apprentice's shoulder.

The younger Ranger animated with a start. His eyes shot open and he was instantly perplexed at the expression on Halt's face. "What?" he shot back instinctively.

The sudden awakening and quick answer caught Halt by surprise. He blinked, then said, "Are you hurt?"

Will gave him a quizzical look. "Um, no actually, I'm fine. Your concern is touching, though, thank you."

The statement caused Halt to pause. The look that crossed his face would have made Will laugh if he hadn't been so confused. "But your shirt…" The older Ranger trailed off uncertainly, and that wasn't something you heard every day.

Will, still with a baffled look on his face, looked down at the said shirt. Then his features contorted into and expression that left Halt at a lost right up until the moment Will exploded into laughter.

By the time he had finished his giggle fit and looked up, Halt had quite the disgruntled expression, setting him off once more.

"What, may I ask, is so funny?" Halt asked, his words short and clipped.

Will recognized the warning tone from years spent as his apprentice. He struggled to bring his laughing to a stop, and finally succeeded, leaving him only gasping slightly.

"The blood's not mine; it only got on me because I had to carry the victim to a healer's home. I'm sorry, Halt, it's just so funny. You automatically assumed the worst and you were worried, it was almost, well, cute,"—Halt's eyebrows drew together angrily at that, but Will wasn't finished yet—"and you just looked so confused."

For the first time, Will noticed just how hard Halt's glare was at the moment, and wondered if he shouldn't have said it all quite like that.

Briefly, Halt considered how badly he should hurt Will to teach him a lesson. Then he mentally threw out the idea. He couldn't go damaging his former apprentice, no matter how stupid he was being. He simply resorted to glaring at him harder than he ever had at most anyone.

Will shifted uncomfortably. Halt was glaring at him hard enough to knock him over. The older Ranger crossed his arms to add to the effect.

Finally, Will dropped his gaze. "I already said I was sorry, Halt," he told the floor.

"I don't believe you meant it," his former mentor said icily, making what he expected next quite clear.

Will ground his teeth. He should have seen this coming. "I am sincerely sorry for laughing at you and I will not do it again because it was a very juvenile thing to do," he muttered as quickly as he could. It was the standard apology format Halt had insisted on during his apprenticeship: You're sorry for what? You won't do it again why? Thankfully, his mentor had hardly ever forced such a demeaning thing upon him. This time he wasn't being so favorable.

"What was that?" Halt said smugly. "I didn't quite catch it."

Will suddenly found himself in a sour mood, but he forced himself to say it again, slightly louder this time. Halt nodded curtly, a self-satisfied smirk on his face. Revenge was sweet.

"So, what is the blood from? And why where you sleeping on the couch?" Halt asked in an abrupt change of subject.

Will seized the chance to avoid further humiliation eagerly. "Well, last night I came across this woman in an alley, she'd been stabbed and was unconscious and dying. I carried her to healer Damon's home and left her there. He said he was going to take her to the infirmary at castle Redmont in a few days. I'm going to ask her who attacked her when he does. Anyway, when I came home it was late and I was really tired, so I sat on the couch. I only meant to sit for a minute, but I fell asleep."

Halt looked at him, no emotion in his eyes whatsoever. "That was a thorough explanation." He commented at length.

Will spread his hands in a helpless gesture. "You're the one who asked," he said. Will than felt the need to change the subject once more. "So, what brings you here? You don't usually drop by like this."

Halt's features adopted a hurt look. "Does that mean I can't? Am I not welcome in this home?"

Will just stared at him disbelievingly. Halt finally relented.

"I've got a couple bandits to chase down in one of the northern villages. I'll be gone for a week, possibly a little more. You're in charge of the fief until I get back."

Will nodded. "Alright, but why am I ending up with the whole fief and you're ending up with a couple bandits?" he asked as the thought occurred to him.

Halt glared at him again. "Crowley's orders, don't ask me."

Will shrugged. "I guess it works for me. See you in a week or so."

Halt nodded and left. Will looked down at his somewhat bloody shirt one last time. He shook his head.

"Everyone keeps taking that the wrong way," he muttered as he went inside to change.

Wow… did I seriously just right that last part? It was fluffy to the extreme. Basically, all you need from this chapter is that Kietleen's not going anywhere for a few days and by then Halt will be chasing after bandits. Hmmm… This is getting way to fun to write.

So, likey, no likey, either way, REVIEW! That's all I ask. Oh, and no flames, please.

-Rydd Rider