The Heron touched gently into the harbor.

"Wow," Ingvar breathed. "So this is Araluen."

"It's cold," Wulf noted. Ulf hit him. "I was going to say that!"

"No, I-"

"Break it up," Hal ordered. "Let's try and make a good first impression, please."

"We've been to Araluen before," pointed out Edvin.

"Not to Redmont," replied the twins in unison.

"And it's freezing," Jesper added. "I thought Araluen was supposed to be warm."

"I said that already," Wulf cut in.

"No, that was me," Ulf corrected.

"No, it-"

"It's not going to be impressive if one of you has to swim for shore," Hal warned.

"Welcome!" came a loud, cheery voice from the docks. "Hal! Ulf! Wulf! Ingvar! Jesper! Stig! Edvin! Stephan! And the infamous Thorn Hookyhand! Welcome, my friends, welcome."

Stig tapped Hal on the shoulder. "Do you see anyone? Because I don't."

Unsurprisingly, it was Thorn that answered. "It was a Ranger. They're the only ones that could do this sorcery."

"But we met Gilan, he didn't do anything like this," Stig complained. "Why would he do anything now?"

"Who ever said that it was Gilan that we're meeting?" Thorn asked. "I know that I didn't. It's your fault that you thought of him. In fact, he was the most unmysterious Ranger that I ever had the pleasure of meeting."

"Which one do you think it was, then?" asked Hal.

Thorn smiled sweetly. "Why don't I let you find out?"

"Come on," Stig whined. "Surely you know who it is."

Thorn frowned, appearing to think hard. "Why, yes, I probably do. Somewhere in this magnificent head of mine-"

Hal snorted loudly.

The Ranger came into view, his visage shimmering slightly due to the cloak he wore. "Good pastnoon," he said amiably.

No one said anything. The Ranger looked over them expectantly, waiting to be answered.

"Will Treaty!" Thorn finally saw fit to break the silence. "Good pastnoon to you too."

"Wait a second here," Stephan said, a puzzled frown crossing his face. "Aren't you six feet tall and have muscles that makes us look like shellfish?"

Will burst into laughter at that. "Sorry," he said, still chuckling. "It's just that on one of my first trips out of Redmont with Halt, I met maybe thirty people that asked Halt the same question. However, this is me- not six feet tall nor crazily muscled. I hope I didn't disappoint you. Now let me help you get ashore so we can begin."

"A fine idea, Will," Hal grinned. He rather liked this cheerful Araluan. "A fine idea indeed."