Hi everyone! I am so, so, sorry for the painfully long wait all of you had to endure for this chapter! I am truly sorry, but i hope it was worth it. I sort of lost inspiration for quite a long time and if this isn't my best chapter I will definitely be revising it. Hope you all like this!

Will woke to a dull ache in his side. His eyes opened and he found himself staring at a wooden ceiling. He was instantley enveloped in a swirl of confusion as his tried to recall where he was. His breathing quickened as he recalled the dark eyed Ranger, and he fought to hold back the the wave of panic that was swelling in his chest. He looked about the room he was in and he found that he was alone.

He used his hands to slowly ease himself into a sitting position, recalling what had happened when hed woken the first time and tried to sit up. He felt overwhelmingly weak as he supported himself with his hands. He guessed this was a result of not having eaten for days. He realized he didnt know how many days had passed since that night in the alley.

Looking down at himself he saw that his tunic was missing and that his whole torso was wrapped in a large piece of thick white linen. His whole side ached unbearably and he guessed he'd broken some ribs.

Not able to support himself with his weak arms any longer, he fell back onto the soft, supporting pillows at his back. He closed his eyes for a breaf second, despair overwhelming him. He was to weak to stand much less walk, his whole body felt like it had been thrown down a cliff, twice, and he had no idea what he would tell the ranger when he was asked the ineviable questions.

He opened his eyes again to see to his astonishmemt, the door silently swinging open and the Ranger himself standidng there with a plate in his hand.

"Thought you might be hungry", he said in his now familiar deep voice.

Will stared at the plate of food, not knowing if he had just heard correctly. Ot had been so long since he'd eaten a proper meal. The Ranger walked to the chair and set the plate of food down on it.

Will tried to keep his eyes off the plate, and looked at the Ranger instead, but his mind was still on the food and he could actually smell it now. The deliscious aroma, wafted all around him, irrisistable and all consuming.

The Ranger watched him with a deadpan expression on his completely grim face. He handed Will the plate of delicious warm stew.

Will stared at the Ranger. He had half expected this to be a dream or for the Ranger to have bribed some information out of him before giving him the food.

The Ranger continued to look at him impassively. Will hesitantley looked down at the food, half wondering if it was poisoned. But then the still rational side of him took control of his weary mind. Of course it wasn't poisoned, why would the Ranger go through the trouble of saving him and bandaging his wounds, and then just kill him.

Will lifted a spoonful of the delicious stew to his lips and savoring the aroma radiating off of it. He took a mouthful and tried to stop himself from swallowing the food down instantly. The urge to shovel the food into his mouth was almost irresistable, but he knew his stomach wouldn't be able to handle it all at once, so he ate as slowly as he could.

Completely engrossed in his meal, Will momentarily forgot the Ranger watching him from the chair next to his bed. Halfway through the bowl of stew, he looked up to meet the Rangers calculating eyes. The look on the Rangers face was as straight as ever, but Will thought he saw a spark of amusement in the eyes.

Will finished his meal more slowly, looking up warily at the ranger again. Halt stood tking the bowl from Will's hand and setting it on the table next to the bed. Will looked at the man with a mixture of emotions in his eyes.

Will spoke softly," Thank you."

The man acknowledged the statement with the slightest tilt of his head. Then he spoke.

"You must have been hungry", he said gruffly.

Will didn't say anything, the look on his face betraying his dread. Halt look at him in a considering way.

"Will" he said weighing his words.

"What were you doing in town two days ago?" he asked.

Will looked slightly surprised that Halt hadnt gotten straight to the point. He tried to think of a sutable answer, but then his reasoning cut in and he realized lying would not ease the situation.

"I was looking for food", he said hesitantly.

Halt appraised him carefully, before asking his next question.

"And why did you come here?" he asked slowly.

Will tried to think of an explanation, anything that would possibly pass as plausible circumstance. But nothing came to him as he tried to keep the desperation he was feeling, from showing.

"I...was running away from someone...", Will said letting the sentence hang.

Halt looked at him, having expected something like this. When Will didn't elaborate on his statement, Halt asked another question to promt him into speaking.

"And who were you running from?" Halt said.

Will didn't know what to say to that. If he gave the name of the gang leader it wouldn't be very good for him if he was found. But then again he had already been caught by the Ranger and could probably go to prison. Will had no idea how to respond to the question.

Halt looked at the boy who looked completely cornered his eyes full of guarded emotions.

"Did the person you are running from put the chains on your hands?" Halt spoke.

"Yes", Will said his voice not betraying the fear he felt coursing through him.

Halt felt himself being intrigued by the boy.

"Why did you run away from me in the village?" Halt said looking for a reaction.

"I... I didn't want to be caught" Will said trying to avoid answering the real question.

But Halt stared him down and Will finally felt he couldn't take this anymore.

"I am the person who took the national documents from castle Araluen." he said softly, looking up to meet the Ranger's gaze with feeling of weariness.

Dun Dun duuuuun! Pretty shabby chapter, but I'll go back and revise and make it better. I'm thinking of adding a prologue just to further explain Will's evolvement with the theft of the documents.

Don't quite have all the details sorted out but hopefully I'll have inspiration soon!

Thank you all for being patient during my period of no-inspiration-whatsoever, but it might take a while for the next chapter thanks to school. -Katy Fairfax