Requested by KiliandFiliGirl.

Halt approached the door of his cabin, intent on making a cup of coffee. He had just sent his reports on their way to Araluen fief, and while it wasn't that much work, it was still enough that Halt figured it warranted a mug of the dark, fragrant beverage. Though, given enough time, Halt could probably warrant a coffee for any time or reason. It could already be made, Halt mused, since Gilan had been home alone all morning. The boy had learned to like the beverage almost as much as his mentor. The downside to that, Halt had decided, was that it fueled Gilan's already limitless energy.

Speaking of limitless energy, the Ranger winced at the sound of crashing. Silently cursing himself for leaving his young apprentice alone after a day of being cooped up inside due to terrible weather, Halt braced himself as he eased the cabin door open.

It was worse then what he had prepared himself for. His curtains were torn, pots were strewn across the floor, and the vase with the fresh yellow wildflowers lay shattered, the water running off the edge of the table. And in the midst of it all was his rather disheveled apprentice, concentrating intently on keeping the little weight his slim, lean body possessed over a large cooking pot.

Halt momentarily closed his eyes to attempt to compose himself. "Gilan, what did you do to my home?"

Gilan jumped slightly. "Halt! You're back! I wasn't expecting you to be home so soon!"

Halt's eyes narrowed. "Clearly. Which brings us back to my original question, what did you do to my home?"

"Um, well, you see... I was planning to clean up a bit before you got home, but, well, obviously you got home before I could do that, but -" He broke off the the pot jerked.

Halt studied the dish with a raised eyebrow. "What on earth is that?" To his surprise, Gilan face suddenly broke into a grin.

"A raccoon, Halt!" The apprentice said triumphantly, readjusting himself slightly as the cooking pot he was holding down gave a rather angry snarl. "It took some work - sorry, the curtains took a beating - but I got it!"

Halt blanched, immediately forgetting about the cabin in favor of this new discovery. "A raccoon?! That is a vicious, wild animal, Gilan! They have diseases! It, it could be rabid!"

Gilan's smile faded. "Would this be a bad time to ask to keep it?"

"NO! We are not keeping a wild, illness carrying animal in the cabin! What if it scratched someone, or bit someone?" Halt replied vehemently, so busy running through scenarios in his mind on how to get the animal out of his life that he nearly missed Gilan's fleetingly panicked look. "What?" He said, slightly harsher then he intended, thought only slightly.

"Nothing," Gilan replied, too quickly to be believed. "Nothing at all." As he said this, the boy unconsciously slipped his left hand behind his back.

Halt's eyes narrowed, noting the quick response and the movement Gilan's hand. "Show me your hand. Now." He said, his tone brooking no arguments.

Immediately, Gilan offered his right hand toward his mentor. Halt swatted it away. "Your other hand!" he snapped, now more certain then ever that something was wrong.

Defeated, Gilan slowly offered his left hand. "It was an accident..." On Gilan's hand were two puncture marks, the skin around it red and already swelling.

Halt's breath caught. "It BIT you?" He hissed, his voice much less gentle then his hands as he carefully examined the wound. It was Gilan's wince when his finger brushed against it that made Halt's mind up. "We're going to the castle. Now."

Gilan cocked his head. "You mean the infirmary?" The boy asked, confused. "For just this? I don't think we need to."

Halt nodded, trying to keep the panic out of his voice. "I don't really care. We are going to the infirmary for a healer."

Gilan made a face. He hated the infirmary, though he seemed to end up there quite often. "Please, Halt!" Gilan pleaded. "You can patch me up, and I won't complain, I promise!"

Halt shook his head, and grabbing Gilan's right arm, hauled him to his feet. The cooking pot jerked forward, Halt quickly stepped on it. Motioning for Gilan to stay back, Halt inched the pot forward until it was almost to the door. "The windows are shut?" Halt asked warily, watching the pot as though fearful it would explode. Gilan responded positively, and, taking a deep breath, as though he were about to dive into deep water, Halt slightly shoved, slightly kicked the pot out the door, then slammed the door shut as the pot was barely out the door. Doing up both locks, Halt strode to the window and peered out, glaring at the animal that was scampering across the clearing back into the forest. "Furry menace," the Ranger muttered, staring at the spot it had disappeared.

Gilan sighed. "It took me all morning to catch," he said sadly. "And I named it Dipper."

Halt snorted, tearing his gaze from the window. "We don't name wild animals. And if we did name them, we wouldn't name it 'Dipper', we would name it 'Little Terror'. Let's go."

Stepping onto the porch, Halt looked around the clearing before cautiously making his way toward the stables. Quickly saddling Abelard, Halt walked him out, finding Gilan in Blaze's stall, struggling to saddle her as he favored his left hand. "Leave it, Gilan. I'm not letting you ride."

Gilan's eyes widened in disbelief. "So you're making me walk."

Halt's eyes flicked nervously down to Gilan's hand before answering. "So I'm making you ride on Abelard."

"No."

"You've done it before!" Halt said, rapidly losing patience. "When you got stung by that bee!"

Gilan gave a short bark of laughter. "That was different. I was barely conscious. This would be embarrassing!"

Halt was not in the mood to banter. His voice slipping into the, don't-you-dare-argue-if-you-know-what's-good-for-you-boy tone, he answered, "Gilan. Get on the horse. Now."

When Halt pulled that tone, Gilan knew he had lost. "Alright, then." Expectantly, he waited for his teacher to mount so he could get on behind. Halt, however, shook his head.

"You're in front. I don't want you irritating that hand."

"You're mother henning," Gilan mumbled, turning to climb on, flinching as he grabbed onto the pommel to pull himself on with his injured hand. Seeing this, Halt boosted his student up. "Definitely mother henning."

Halt ignored this; mostly because it was true. Swinging on behind Gilan, Halt gathered up his reins. Giving Abelard a squeeze, the horse sprang into his ground covering canter, up the path to the castle.

"Don't get that wrap wet," Halt called from where he was reading reports (he swore, they were never ending) as Gilan awkwardly tried to wash dishes one handed. Despite his initial "overprotective" reaction, he had decided his student could still do his evening chores. For a moment, Gilan was tempted to dunk his left hand into the dish water, just to be obstinate, but then decided against it; he really didn't need another lecture on infections.

The castle healer had cleaned the wound with a disinfectant (which had HURT like nothing else), then applied an herb paste to draw out infection, finishing with a large, thick bandage, with instructions to keep it dry and to change it daily.

Flopping onto the couch, Gilan sighed, fiddling with the loose end of the bandage, earning him a glare from Halt. Hastily tucking the end back in, Gilan spoke, "This is tedious. This club thing that's supposed to be a hand. It's even more annoying then gloves."

"Next time you won't mess with wild animals," Halt replied, giving his student a "right?" look.

Gilan cocked his head, considering. "Right. I would like a pet, though."

The older Ranger raised an eyebrow. "You have a horse."

"I suppose." Gilan answered reluctantly. "Speaking of horses, I saw a fox den out by the stables..."

"WHAT?"

"Just kidding! Mostly..."

An update! Crazy, right? I don't really have any excuses, besides having a rather busy life and writers block. Hope you all enjoy this one, anyway.

Next chapter, requested by Amanda. Racette, Gilan visits his parents!

Please review!

-TrustTheCloak