Will froze mid-motion. "H-Halt," he stammered, "I-I didn't realize you were-"

"Obviously not," the Ranger said icily. "If you had, I reckon you never would've picked that bottle up in the first place." Will shifted uncomfortably, eyes anywhere but on his mentor. "Am I wrong?"

"...No."

"Now, what is in that bottle?" Halt's tone brokered no room for argument. Will ducked his head and mumbled something so quietly Halt could barely hear a sound, let alone begin to interpret it. Anger rising, Halt snapped, "loud enough that I can hear you."

"Sleeping medicine."

Just as quickly as the anger had come, it went, and relief swept through Halt. Deep in the recesses of his mind, the grizzled Ranger had wondered if and dreaded that the bottle contained warmweed. Halt knew how addictions went, and the mere thought that Will could've been about to do it to himself again...

"Let me see."

Will nudged Tug into a walk, handing the offending bottle to Halt with hands shaking so much they almost dropped it. Ignoring that for a moment, Halt opened the bottle and sniffed. "Valerian and lemon balm," he decided. "I'd have added lavender oil to help relax, but that should do fine." He screwed the lid back on and handed it back to Will, whose hands were still shaking violently.

"Are you...scared?" Halt asked slowly. He couldn't imagine why Will would be this terrified about riding out in the middle of the night. Yes, Halt wasn't too pleased, both because of the secrecy and the sheer recklessness of going outside at nighttime without making the proper precautions, but he would never hurt Will beyond a simple punishment for his stupidity.

Will shook his head wordlessly. After a few seconds, he mumbled, "'M cold."

"Cold?" Halt stared at him in disbelief. Sure, it was a little chilly, but nowhere near what could be called 'cold.' "It's not even fall yet!"

Will shrugged, apparently not wishing to elaborate further. Growing impatient, Halt decided to switch tacks. "Enough of that. Why did you get sleeping medicine? Better yet, why do you need it so badly as to sneak out in the middle of the night to pick it up?"

Again, the apprentice shook his head, biting his lip. In the moonlight his eyes looked glassy, his face unnaturally pale, but Halt was past the point of caring. "Will."

"Y-You'll think l-less of me."

The Ranger crossed his arms. "You said the same thing about the warmweed."

"...c-can we go back?" Halt glanced sharply at the boy but Will continued, gaze firmly fixed on Tug's neck, "I will tell you. I swear I will. I just...don't feel safe saying why out here."

Halt sighed. It was Will's secret, after all. The apprentice had kept it one for a reason and as close-mouthed as Halt was on a regular basis, he understood the want to be as safe and secure as possible when forced to say something undesirable. "Don't try to get out of this."

"I won't," Will said meekly.

The two rode back in dead silence. That same silence stayed as they pulled their horses to a stop and dismounted them, as they led them to the stables and tended to them, as they slowly walked back into the cabin.

Will sank into a chair, still shaking. Like he had back in Castle Araluen, Halt picked up a few blankets and gently arranged them around his apprentice before taking a seat himself, waiting for Will to break the silence.

"I have nightmares," he said suddenly, biting his lip. "I- I dream that I'm still addicted to warmweed. I'm cold and numb and helpless, so helpless as I see E- Cassandra die in front of me." He ducked his head. "As I see you die. Because I was too weak to save you."

"Will," Halt started softly, but his apprentice wasn't done yet.

"And- and every single time, the warmweed...it's not forced on me." Will finally lifted his head, revealing bloodshot, tormented eyes. "I take it of my own free will. In the dream, I want to take it."

"Will, tell me, where'd you get the sleeping medicine from?"

Thrown off by the abrupt change in topic, Will answered slowly, "Castle Redmont infirmary."

Halt nodded. "Thought so. And did you, by any chance, happen to spot a bottle that said something along the lines of 'warmweed poultice?'"

Will stiffened. "Yes."

"And were you at all tempted to drug yourself with it?"

The boy shook his head vehemently. "No, Halt! Never," he declared. "I never want to see that drug again in my life."

Halt spread out his hands in a there you have it gesture. "If you can't even bear the sight of it," he said reasonably, "I doubt you'll be able to force yourself to take it. Will, you need to remember that that's all these dreams are- they're just dreams. They don't reflect who you are or what you might do in real life. You've already said you'll never willingly take drugs, so why believe any of the rest of it?"

"I-I guess," Will mumbled. "But I still...I still don't want to go through that. So," he halfheartedly held up the bottle, "sleeping medicine it is." Suddenly seized with a thought, he hastily added, "unless, of course, you d-don't want me to have it..."

Halt waved a hand dismissively, noting Will's relieved slump of the shoulders. "I don't really care one way or another about the sleeping medicine. What I do care about, though..." Halt closed his eyes, a muscle feathering in his jaw. "What I do care about is the fact you didn't tell me. What you did tonight was stupid and reckless, and I want no repeats of such a thing. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Halt."

Will looked so despondent, Halt hesitated. "Will..." His voice was quieter now, and he couldn't entirely prevent the slightest shake. "Why didn't you tell me? Why do I always have to force it out of you now? Do you not trust me?"

"No, of course not! I trust you with my life," Will said solemnly. "But...well, I can't help but feel like, ah, I'm a burden?" As Halt's expression rapidly darkened, Will hastened on even though he had a bad feeling he was digging his own grave. "You're always cleaning up my messes, Halt. In Skandia, you rescued Cassandra even though I should've been strong enough to do it myself. Then you saved my life in the battle, and you saved it again when you and Gilan stopped me from jumping. And that's not even mentioning when you risked getting killed or banished for life just so you could find me! I just...I hate feeling like I'm a...a burden on your shoulders. You have enough to do already without me being stupid."

"William." For the first time in his life, Will was suddenly very glad he had no last name for Halt to tell him off with. "You are my apprentice. I knew what I was signing up for when I told Arald I'd mentor you. It's your job to do foolish, reckless things, just as it's my job to clean them up and make sure you come out safe. I don't regret a single thing I've ever done regarding any of that, except that I didn't do enough. You are my apprentice," Halt repeated, "and you are not a burden."

Will smiled. Halt had never before told Will of how much he cared for his apprentice. It had always been there, of course, a quiet, unspoken feeling, but it had never been put to words. And somewhere deep, deep down, Will thought of how differently Halt seemed to view an apprentice compared to the rest of the Craftmasters. Almost...almost as if, to Halt, an apprentice was something more than just a student or even a protegee. Or, perhaps more accurately, as if to Halt, Will was more than just a student or a protegee.

And in light of Halt's confession Will suddenly felt like Halt deserved to know something more. "H-Halt," he started. "You were wondering why I was shaking, right?" When his mentor's head dipped, Will grimaced. "Okay, well, um..." For a fleeting second, he thought about asking please don't get mad at me, but Will had brought this on himself by not telling Halt in the first place. "I...well...I guess I'll show you."

He threw off the blankets and reached for his shirt, preparing to pull it up. Halt's eyebrows flew upwards and Will flushed. "It's not like that!" Taking a deep breath he lifted the shirt up, exposing the gaunt, pale skin and defined ridges of his torso in the pale candlelight.

Halt just stared at his chest uncomprehendingly for a second. Then his gaze hardened, softened, hardened, then softened again. "They starved you in Skandia. And I haven't been feeding you enough, either." A sigh. "Will, this is getting ridiculous. How many more things are you going to hide from me?"

There was one final thing; the whip scars laced across Will's back. He briefly weighed the pros and cons: Halt possibly getting angrier, or Halt finding out later and definitely getting angry. But, he reasoned, if I just hide it long enough, Halt won't get as mad. Besides, it wasn't like the scars actually affected his health or anything. As harsh as it seemed, Halt didn't honestly have a right to see Will's scars, seeing as they were fully healed over and had no chance of becoming infected. The only reason Will felt that Halt had gotten so angry was because Will's health had been affected by his secrets.

"I thought I was handling it," Will muttered.

Halt gave an incredulous scoff. "You thought you were handling it?" he repeated, still incredulous. "Will, you're skin and bone! You're shaking from cold that's not even there, trembling constantly. I bet that's why your concentration has been so awful lately, as well." Will made a sound of protest, but Halt was already standing up and stalking to the kitchen. "You're eating three square meals a day from now on," he declared decidedly, searching through the cabinets for something light and easy to eat. "I'll stop by Castle Redmont tomorrow to get some decent vegetables."

Will just nodded. He had absolutely no objections there. Then Halt looked back. "And you'll do no training until you've put some meat on your bones."

Will stared at Halt, horrified. "But Halt-"

"That's final. I won't have you working yourself to death. You obviously haven't recovered fully yet, so until you have you're on sick leave."

"But the Gathering-"

"Can wait." Halt found some dried meat and walked back over to Will. "Eat."

Will gave his mentor his best pleading look. Unsurprisingly, it had no effect. "But what am I to do until then?"

Halt gave Will a very innocent look. "The chores."

The next day, Halt let Will sleep in.

He resolved never to let Crowley get wind of it; if he did, Halt would never hear the end of his friend's cackling and pointed taunts about growing old and soft. Halt was, most definitely, not growing soft. The old bit...well, that was something he'd only admit to inside the comfort of his own head.

Halt was not growing soft. His apprentice had had an awful year, and Halt decided the boy deserved to sleep in. At least until eight. After all, it was Will's birthday. Halt supposed that could be his birthday present. It wasn't every day your apprentice turned seventeen, after all.

Halt padded to Will's room and peeked in, watching Will's quiet breathing. Gilan had been ecstatic about turning seventeen, like he had about every other birthday Halt could remember being involved with. Will, on the other hand...Will just seemed uncaring. Quiet, resigned, and uncaring. It made Halt wonder what the boy would've been like if he'd never gone to Skandia, if Halt hadn't made him go to Celtica, if Halt had been just a little faster...

But no. Halt shook his head and stepped away from the bedroom. He'd allowed himself to drown in guilt and the thoughts of what could've happened for too long already. It didn't matter what Halt could've done if he'd been faster, if he'd not taken those extra ten minutes to eat breakfast that morning. What mattered was that it had happened and no matter how much he wished it would change, it wouldn't.

Will had been enslaved, starved, drugged, and beaten. He had endured a year under conditions that should've broken his spirit, his body, and his life. As much as Halt hated having to see his apprentice like this, it was a fact. Will was different. He might never be that cheerful, mischievous boy he had been. But it was Halt's job to help Will now. After all Halt's mistakes, the boy deserved nothing less.

And so he strode into his bedroom and picked up a quill and parchment.

Crowley, he started, before you start laughing at the fact that I'm actually writing a letter to you of my own accord, just listen. I need your help. I want everything you have relating to warmweed, drug addictions, nightmares, malnutrition, and depression. Yes, that includes you. I expect you here in less than a week, but if something comes up, two weeks will do. You also might want to send a Ranger over to Meric fief to cover for a certain sword-wielding, gangly mess.

Arratay

Back when they'd first started the Corps, the two had established that all emergency missives were to be signed with a special code-word, in order to know it was really that Ranger and that it was important. Crowley, for whatever reason, had chosen Richard- said it reminded him of Pritchard or something equally idiotic. Halt would tease Crowley about his attachment to their long-dead mentor, except that Halt felt the same way. He simply, in a very Halt like action, never expressed that attachment in any way.

Over the years as the Corps had begun to grow again, first the senior Rangers then all of them were given code-names. Several of the Rangers had simply chosen their horse's names. Some, like Halt, translated their name or a word that had to do with something in the Corps into another language. Gilan, in an over-the-top display that Halt really shouldn't have been surprised at, wrote Halt a note the day after his graduation and signed it, 'Ranger Danger.' Halt had been dubious to say the least at how much Gilan would still like it after a few years, but he still seemed completely fine with it.

Speaking of Gilan...

Halt grabbed another sheet of parchment.

Assistance needed. Crowley will provide replacement Ranger. Come as soon as you're able.

Arratay

Although Halt hated how much of a disturbance he'd have to create- Crowley would have to send a Ranger all the way to Meric fief, plus find a substitute for Castle Araluen while he was gone- Halt knew it was necessary. If he hadn't been absolutely certain that Will needed more help than Halt was equipped to give him, he never would've bothered writing the letters.

He sealed them, stamping them with the oakleaf crest every Ranger kept in his writing box. He'd have to go to find a courier that afternoon while Will and his wardmates were together.

Halt stood and walked back to the front room, sending a quick glance out the window to check the time. Seeing that it was around 7:30, he figured he'd let Will sleep for long enough and went into the boy's room, shaking his shoulder.

"Wake up, Will."

Without waiting to see if his apprentice had indeed woken up or not, Halt walked back out to the front room where he had breakfast cooking. As he cooked, he kicked himself for not connecting the dots himself sooner; both Will and Cassandra had mentioned the awful conditions more than once. Neither had implicitly said they'd been starved, but Halt knew they had talked about the lack of food. Of course Will would be starved! Why had Will had to tell Halt himself?

Halt was almost angrier at himself than Will. Almost. After all, Will was the one who'd thought he was 'dealing with it' and 'doing just fine.' Did the boy never learn?

He huffed to himself and turned the meat over. Will's soft footsteps padded across the floor and stopped right behind Halt.

"Yes?" the Ranger asked without looking back.

"My friends can still come over today, right?"

"Why would you think they couldn't?" Halt asked, puzzled. He pulled open a cupboard door and frowned; he'd been hoping they still had bread. That was another thing to add to his list of things to get, he supposed.

"You said I couldn't do training..."

"I also said you'd be doing chores instead," Halt pointed out. "Not that friends should be compared with chores, though. One can be a little more enjoyable."

Will didn't say anything, but Halt assumed he'd nodded. He stepped up next to Halt and grabbed their utensils to set the table, then stood by the table a little awkwardly as he waited for the food to finish. Halt didn't attempt to break the silence.

Once they sat down to eat, Halt pretended not to be watching Will. As it was, he'd silently decided that Will would not be allowed up from the table unless he'd eaten everything on his plate. Even if Will said he was full, he wouldn't be allowed up. Since Will had spent a month with the rich foods of Castle Araluen, Halt saw no need to be wary of Will vomiting up his food if he ate too much too quickly; if he were going to vomit, he would've already done it a month ago. Now they were past the point of that, but Will had lost an easy twenty pounds even with the month of feasting- and he hadn't been the slightest bit overweight to begin with. Some of the weight was due to Will losing muscle through lack of exercise, but more was from his body's self-destruction from lack of nutrition. Emaciated was one very fitting word for what Will was right then.

Again, Halt had to fight away a stab of guilt. After all, it had been he who'd told Will not to have lunch. It'd been he who hadn't noticed his apprentice was slowly turning into a skeleton. It seemed that every time Halt was close to being able to push past his previous mistakes, he made another one. He hadn't even managed to forgive himself for Will's slavery in the first place; how was he supposed to be able to forgive himself for this?

I don't have to forgive myself, he decided, eyes flicking towards his apprentice. I just need to protect Will.

"Will!" Setting down the large, heavy baskets she was carrying, Jenny ran straight for Will and hugged him tightly. Will hugged her back, a little surprised at the sudden display of affection but accepting it anyway. When Jenny finally pulled away, her eyes were gleaming with unshed tears. "It's been so long...I didn't know if I'd ever see you again." After a moment of silence, Jenny smiled a little abashedly and went back for the baskets, which Will saw were heavy-laden with food. Behind her came George, dressed in Scribeschool robes and with a huge grin on his face, then Alyss, as graceful and elegant as ever, smiling softly.

Will greeted them a little awkwardly. He hadn't spoken to any of them in over a year and a half. Instead of the fifteen-year-olds they had been, they were seventeen- with the exception of George, who wouldn't be until the next month. Will felt even older than that. He'd gone through more than most thirty-year-olds had, and he felt tired and worn after everything he'd been through. But it wasn't in Will's nature to sulk about when there were others around him, so he grinned and helped Jenny set out the food, asked about everyone's life, inquired how each apprentice's Craftmaster was doing. They, in turn, asked him how Halt was doing.

"He's doing well, I suppose," Will said after a moment. "Well, I mean...he's Halt." He looked from one face to the next as though that should explain everything. Alyss nodded as though it did indeed, but the other two just looked confused. Trying to explain, Will stammered, "I mean, he's...he's not injured or anything, or any grumpier than usual-" Alyss raised an eyebrow and he flushed- "so I think he's, you know, just fine."

"You couldn't have just said that?" Jenny inquired, but she was smiling. Will ducked his head, grinning and blushing at the same time. Then he sobered and swallowed a bite of pie.

"So how has everything been in the last..." Will hesitated. It felt strange to think of how long it had really been since the wardmates had actually talked; in the course of their apprenticeships, they had only rarely seen each other. Will's wardmates had probably found much better and longer-lasting friends during the last months- after all, Rangers were the only caste whose apprentices were trained alone- and Will suddenly felt like he was intruding.

"It's been busy," Alyss said softly, covering Will's awkward silence with an easy grace. "When the war was going on, the diplomats had quite a lot of things to do. It's calmed down somewhat, but we still have much to do."

"We were filled up to the roof with paperwork," George complained in his own turn. "Everywhere you looked there was an affidavit here and a litigation case there. Master Nigel was beside himself. Even started giving more complicated cases to us second years." He grinned. "As you can probably ascertain, that did not go so well."

Jenny grinned. "Well, work in the kitchens has been same old, same old. Master Chubb sent me to the healer's ward sometimes, though, when they needed more helping hands. That was fun."

"What's that I hear?" Will cupped his ear theatrically. "Are you sure you have the right Craftmaster?"

Jenny playfully swatted him. "Oh, shut up. Yes, I'm sure."

"Now that we have related to you our own narrative," George said grandly, waving a hand for emphasis, "Wouldst thou do us the great honor of repaying that great favor?"

Despite how over-the-top the display was, Will still shrank a little. The last thing he wanted to do was tell them what had happened. "Um, n-no, I'd rather not," he said shakily, then added, "after all, it was, um, not very eventful."

"Not very eventful!" Jenny exploded, hands on her hips despite the fact she was sitting cross-legged on the ground. "You were in Skandia for-"

"Yes, yes, I know that," Will said testily, "I did live through it, after all. I know quite well what happened, thank you." Taken aback, the younger apprentice blinked at him. Will sighed, instantly regretting his outburst. "Sorry, Jenny. I'd just...rather not talk about it. I'm sure you've heard about it already, anyway. All about the apprentice of the great eight-foot-tall, firebreathing Halt, the apprentice who, apparently, planned an entire war out and saved the Princess without any help." Will shook his head. His laugh came out a trifle more bitter than he'd intended. "It's like the Kalkara thing. Everything's getting blown out of proportion."

"That doesn't mean you didn't still do something good, Will," Alyss said gently. "People will talk no matter what you do. But we're your friends. We understand if you don't want to tell us, but we won't judge you for anything that's happened." She looked straight into his eyes and Will fleetingly wondered if she already knew; if Halt, perhaps, had told her about the warmweed.

"Your story's safe with us," Jenny added. "We won't tell anyone else."

Will looked around from Alyss to George to Jenny and sagged in defeat. He wouldn't tell them everything; no, he wouldn't tell them about the warmweed, or about the beatings or any of the details of his slavery. The day was warm and beautiful and such things did not need to be said. But he would at least tell them about Celtica, about Skorghijl, about Cassandra, about the war with the Temujai. They deserved that much. They were his friends.

"Alright," he said. "It all started when Halt's former apprentice, Gilan, showed up out of the blue..."

A/N: Timeline clarification: I'm just going to be blunt here and state that I have absolutely no idea what time the Gathering usually is, or when Will's birthday is, or when he left for Celtica or Skandia or, honestly, any of the events in Flanagan's timeline. The RA series is probably the most vague series I've ever read in terms of timeline. So, for all intents and purposes...

I'm going to say that the Ranger Gathering is in January. Because of Will, it's now been moved up to March for this one year.
Will left for Celtica around a year into his apprenticeship (his second year, technically), which puts him at leaving around June, depending on when his apprenticeship started. Since Will was in Skandia for somewhere around a year (I don't think it's ever explicitly stated how long it took before Halt got himself exiled), that'd put the return to Araluen somewhere around...let's say, June or July.

Since they stayed in Castle Araluen for a month, that's around August. Halt and Will have been back for several weeks, which makes that somewhere around the end of August/mid September.

It's stated that Will was fifteen on Choosing Day. Now, I don't think the exact date of Choosing Day is ever stated, either, but I'm going to say it was probably around September. Since Will was specifically said to not be sixteen yet in the Burning Bridge, Will's birthday is probably very close to Choosing Day (it's possible that that's mentioned outright in the Ruins of Gorlan, but I don't recall reading it), which means probably in September.

So, since Ruins of Gorlan had Will's first year assessment, that meant that about half a year after Burning Bridge, Will's second year assessment would be coming up. Since he spends a year in Skandia, now that he's back, his third year assessment is coming up.

EDIT: I looked up when the harvest is generally brought in in Britain and it's around the third week of September. Since the harvest festival in the Ruins of Gorlan is three months after Choosing Day, that invalidates my entire timeline. However, since I've already written my whole fic around Thanksgiving being Harvest Day- seeing as it's around three months after the beginning of September- I'm not going to change it now. Just pretend that this fic conforms to American practices instead of British ones, lol.