Listen to Rue's farewell from the Hunger Games on youtube while reading this and the proper mood will be established.

Everywhere went, Halt got looks of sympathy, of sadness, of understanding. But at the same time, he got looks of hopelessness, and despair, and felt that no one in the world could understand. It was his oldest friend, his fearless commander that was missing. It was his wife, his love that was taken. It was his first apprentice, his first success, that was too noble, and had gone with the taken. It was his territory, his home that was infested. It was his boy, his man, his child that was gone.

It was his happiness.

But it was also his life, and he had no other. Will may have passed on, but it was for a cause. In the end, they had killed the greatest hero ever known.

Even the impossible was possible.

The village was nearly empty. With Baron Arald and the castle staff all killed, the people's only protection left was Halt himself, a couple rangers that had made it through the border, and a few castle guards who had been at home at the time. This was nowhere even close to enough to protect a whole village, and most people elected to stay in the relative safety of their homes. But still, people need to eat, so there were some vendors out.

Halt walked up to the stall that he always bought his coffee beans from, and the man automatically started measuring out his normal amount. Halt and Will bought coffee so often that it had become a ritual for the vendor.

"Half."

Halt's voice was scratchy and a little ragged as he said the solitary word. The man looked up in surprise, then horror. He realized that the ranger's normal amount of coffee was for two people, not one. Now that Will was gone, he would need only half of that amount. He was briefly afraid that Halt would be angry, but what he could see beneath the cloak was not anger at all. He hurriedly took some beans out of the bag and handed the rest to the Ranger. A coin appeared on the table and Halt disappeared.

Halt quickly purchased the other goods he would need for the coming days, and rode Abelard back to the cabin. As he entered the small stable on the side of the cabin, Tug let out a loud whinny, louder than normal. He shook his head violently and strained at his ropes. It might have been unusual, but Tug had been doing it ever since Will died. Halt shook his head sadly and went inside.

The creaky door opened, and he silently stepped inside. Or he would have stepped in silently, if it weren't for the broken glass that crunched as he stepped on it. Halt was shocked only for the briefest of moments before he began taking stock of the situation. All of the plates and cups had been smashed, along with the table and one of the chairs that lay in a broken heap on the floor of the cabin. The back door was hanging on one of its hinges, and ashes from the fireplace were everywhere. A pair of boot prints was in the ashes everywhere.

He wondered why their cabin had been ransacked. There was no apparent reason for destroying things and leaving. Had they intended to kill him, and then left when they discovered he wasn't there? But that was unlikely, since there was only one person's footprints in the ashes. Even the Temujai knew that you needed more than just one person to kill a Ranger. Will had kept his own for a long time in his last battle, only succumbing when the numbers had become so ridiculously weighted towards the enemy that everyone else had been forced to escape or face death themselves. Everyone was surprised when the Temujai did not retaliate or come after them, but nobody pushed their luck by asking about it. The Temujai had a plan, and you were lucky to be survivor in it, even if it was temporary.

Suddenly Halt's attention was caught on the other side of the cabin. The door to Will's room was open. He strode over the mess and into his room, expecting to see the shape of Will's body under the sheet in the same place it had been for the past three days. Instead, there was nothing but a tangled white sheet lying on the bare mattress and the small pillow lying on the floor.

Instantly, Halt was outraged as the person's true intentions became clear. They took Will's body! He flew out the back door in the way that only a ranger could, and followed the tracks across the clearing. If he could catch them in time, he could get Will back…

He froze, just as he was about to enter the forest. By the tracks, he knew they had an hour's lead on him. Even with the person bringing the extra weight of Will's body with them, they would be well ahead by now. He couldn't risk following them straight into the camp. If he got killed (which the odds for had increased lately, because of his delirious state), it would be a major blow to the resistance. He was probably the most capable of all the rangers present, and the people of the village depended on him. Rangers swore to put the kingdom first over personal matters, and that was definitely applicable in his current situation. Just as he originally had to all those years ago when Will was captured by the Skandians, he had to let him go.

Halt sat down on a nearby rock, in total despair, and that is when he glanced at the tracks again. This time, something seemed a little wrong about them. The clues were very subtle, and anyone less experienced than himself would have never picked up on the flaws. The boot prints were certainly not from anywhere around here, but they didn't seem quite Temujai-like either. And where was the horse? It was quite a distance from the camp to come here, not one that they would likely take on foot. It almost looked like Will had got up and walked out on his own. But there was no way that could be true. There was a set of footprints leading to the cabin, not just away from it. And besides, Will was dead. Dead and gone, never to walk the cabin again…

The wave of emotion hit Halt hard. He rarely felt much of anything, but he had been rather unhinged lately. But looking at the broken door, he realized that the final remains of Will were gone. There was nothing left. Complete eradication.

And for the second time in a week, the tears came.

Just a couple notes before you click that review button (hint hint). I'd like to give a huge shout out to KASMN, without whom there would not have been another chapter for who knows how long. Thank you so much! Also, i apologize if Halt is ooc (out of character for those that don't know), but i had to give the impression of a man who has had everything taken away from him. You would be acting strangely if this happened to you, too. So now go hence forth and review!