As the three Rangers rode into the Gathering Ground, which was a large clearing with flat, soft grass, the other Rangers already there turned and waved, greeting them all as old friends. Will and Gilan both waved cheerfully to them, but Halt nodded grimly to most of the well-wishers, who were mostly younger Rangers. He raised his hand to Berrigan, an old friend, who was a retired undercover Ranger and had worked with Will on a past mission and himself with lots of other jobs. He also nodded to a few of his older friends, but, as he passed another group of younger Rangers, he thought, I don't know any of these young ones, so why should I wave to them? As Will and Gilan edged toward their usual spot, he noticed a very young looking Ranger openly gaping at them. His face was still round and chubby, so he must have been barely fifteen, and his clothes were still more than a little too loose for his gangly frame. No, Halt thought, stringy. This boy is stringy. His cowl was pulled back and his mouth hung open, his eyes wide. Halt tried not to make eye contact with him as he rode by in front of Will and Gilan, but he couldn't ignore the boy's awestruck tone as he said, "Ranger Halt? Ranger Will? Are you... Really you?"

Halt couldn't stop his shoulders from slumping forward in irritation as he heard the boy's hesitant words. He halted Abelard and turned in the saddle, staring straight at him. "Yes, it's us."

He kneed Abelard to start moving again, but the small boy took a few steps forward so that he stood in the middle of the path, blocking their horses. Abelard stopped, but shook his mane. Should I trample him?

Halt shook his head almost imperceptibly, and the little horse shook his mane again, turning back towards the boy, who had now walked right up to Halt. "I just wanted to say... I never thought I would meet you, but it's happening. I just... I want to be just like you when I become a Ranger in five years." He spoke softly with a slight stutter, wringing his hands in front of him nervously.

So he is fifteen. Halt leaned forward in the saddle to answer him, but paused as he heard Gilan whisper to Will, "I'm going to go set up camp. You two come over once you get rid of him." Will nodded, and Gilan rode off towards their camp site, leaving Will and Halt alone with the boy, who watched Gilan as he rode away with huge eyes.

Halt glanced back at Will, who raised an eyebrow unsympathetically at him, glanced at the boy, and then back at Halt. Halt rolled his a little, and then slowly dismounted Abelard. He walked up to the boy and said, "Believe me, you really don't want to be like me. If you became exactly like me, you'd have a murderous brother, a lot of near death experiences and injuries, and two bloody apprentices. I really don't think you want all that, especially the apprentices." He jerked his head up at Will, who just smiled cheerfully in response.

But the boy just looked puzzled, acting as though he hadn't heard anything Halt said. Then he shook his head, his brows furrowed. "No, no, I was talking about you, Ranger Will." He stepped around Abelard so that he was face-to-face with Tug, looking up at Will.

Tug narrowed his eyes at the little stranger and Will felt a little rumble go through the little horse's body. Should I trample him now? He's delaying my oats, and I'm starving.

Will nudged him with his knee. You can wait a little longer. He leaned over Tug's neck and got a proper look at the young boy in front of him. "Well... Uhm, hello there. What's your name?"

His huge eyes sparkled as he heard Will's voice. "I'm Trevor, sir. Trevor Montag." His chests puffed up and he grinned widely.

Will raised an eyebrow, but pushed on. "So... Where are you from, Trevor?"

His chest came out further, so much so that he looked like a rooster. A bantam-rooster, as Erak would say, thought Will. "I'm from Mackindaw! I lived in Malcom's community! I was only a wee baby when you were there, but Malcolm tells all the young ones about you and what you did! That's why I know you! You saved our fief from an invasion and defeated Sir Kerric and saved the Baron and also there were some Skandians and - "

"Whoa, whoa, slow down a little!" Will held up his hands to stop his rambling. "So, you're from Mackindaw? And if you're fifteen right now..." He shut his eyes as he did the math. "You must have only been a toddler back then. You say Macolm tells you all about me?"

The boy grinned and nodded, his eyes bugging out of his head. "Yes, and what you did was amazing! How you fought that Scotti general - "

"It sounds like I need to have a discussion with Malcolm..." Will muttered as he felt his cheeks get a little pinker.

But the boy didn't stop talking. " - And you saved your girlfriend and how Sir Horace is your best friend! I also heard about other stuff you did after that! You went to Hibernia and saved practically the whole country with Halt! And then you saved Halt, and Malcolm had to go heal him! And then Malcolm helped you take down the cult! He's very proud of that, by the way. Then you went to Nihon-Ja and saved that country too! And I bet you did loads of other stuff too - "

"Alright, alright, slow down and breathe." Will ran a hand through his hair in exasperation and glanced furtively at Halt. He had remounted Abelard, and had a ghost of a smile on his face as he glanced at Will, both eyebrows raised. Will glared at him, and Halt just shrugged and gestured to the boy again. Will turned back to him and asked frankly, "Have you breathed yet?"

The boy shook his head and made a show of taking a deep breath. Will swung off Tug and hitched his bow farther into his shoulder, turning towards the boy. "Listen, I'm glad that Mackindaw was a good place to grow up, and I'm glad I helped make it safer. But probably most of what you've heard is exaggerated. Now, I'm tired and hungry and I would like to go set up camp with Halt and Gilan. Would you mind letting us through?"

The boy looked surprised at Will's clipped words, and his eyes bugged out farther from his head, but he stepped to one side of the path. Will nodded to him and lead Tug past him. Halt also nudged Abelard and started moving off towards where Gilan was setting up. But Will practically lept out of his skin as heard the boy call out suddenly, "Oooooh, why are you limping? I bet it was from your last mission. What happened? Did you fight anybody? How - "

"Trevor, that's enough!" Someone called out from a few meters away. Another Ranger was hurrying across the camp ground towards them shaking his head. It was Harrison, who was the Ranger for Norgate Fief. He rushed up to Trevor and shook his finger at him. "Trevor! What did I tell you? You were to stay at my camp! Not go rush off and annoy people with important things to do!" He turned to Will and extended a hand. "My apologies, Will. I told him to stay at camp, but he got curious." He leaned in closer, muttering, "And I'll teach him how not to exasperate people, eh?"

Will smiled and shook his hand firmly. "Of course, Harrison, it's no trouble. Good to see you."

Harrison smiled back. "And you, Will, and you. Now, let's go, Trevor." He seized Trevor's elbow and pulled him off towards the other side of the camp. Even while Trevor was lead away, he kept turning around to stare at Will before Harrison would pull him back around.

Will waved at their retreating figures and turned back toward Halt and Gilan. They had both set up camp in their usual spot near the middle of the camp ground. Gilan had pulled off Blaze's saddle and sent him off to graze. Then he had started a fire and set up his low, one man tent a few meters from the fire. Halt had just started unsaddling Abelard as Will came over and started on Tug. "Don't say it."

Halt raised an eyebrow at Will. "I wasn't going to say anything."

"Good." Will pulled his saddle off Tug and set it on the ground, then sent him off after Blaze to the patch of green grass the other horses were eating at.

Tug turned his head and snorted at Will. All that and I don't get my oats? At least an apple?

Will pointed to the grass. Oats later. Now go on.

Fine. But I'll be back later for those oats. Tug trotted off towards the taller grass, and Halt sent Abelard after him.

Will started to unpack his tent and cooking supplies, and Halt sat down next to him on a log next to the fire. "So that's why you didn't want to climb that tree."

Will looked sharply at him and raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Halt sighed. "Remember, you didn't want to climb that tree to surprise Gilan. You said you just didn't feel like it. But I knew that wasn't true, you always love climbing. And now I know why."

Will narrowed his eyes. "And what, exactly, do you think you know?"

Halt smiled slightly. "You must have injured something recently, your knee I'm thinking. Care to elaborate?"

Will rolled his eyes. "Let's just say that I had a minor accident and I twisted my knee. End of story." He pulled out his tent and started pitching it.

Halt also pulled out his tent. "What kind of accident?"

Will glared at Halt. "Didn't I say end of story?"

Halt shrugged and asked again, "What kind of accident?"

Will scowled, but said reluctantly, "I was riding through a shallow river during a rainstorm. Tug lost his footing and I fell off." He finished pitching his tent and started on setting out his cooking supplies.

Halt's brow furrowed. "Why were you riding through a shallow river in a rainstorm?"

"I was chasing some bandits that had stolen from the mail carrier again. They were fleeing on foot and I had to cross the river. I actually ended up catching them, though."

Gilan glanced at Tug, and then back at Will. "Since when does Tug lose his footing? Ranger horses don't do that normally."

Halt raised an eyebrow at Gilan. "It does happen occasionally, you know. Our horses can't be perfect."

Gilan shrugged, and Will continued, "This was probably the first time he's stumbled under me. It wasn't even his fault, it was hard to see and the footing was awful."

Gilan put some more logs into the fire. "So that's why you limped earlier. How's your knee?"

Will shrugged. "It's not bad. It's already getting better."

Halt raised both eyebrows. "When did this happen, exactly?"

"A week or so ago. Now I'm only limping a little." Will laid out his bedroll inside his tent and stood, rubbing his hands together. Both Halt and Gilan had also finished setting up their camp.

"Well, I hope you knee's better, because I have some jobs for all of you." Will jumped a little and Gilan dropped the empty mug he was holding. Halt only sighed and turned, saying, "Crowley, I know you love doing that, but try using it for useful things such as scaring younger Rangers."

Crowley laughed and Will turned around to see him standing a few meters away. "I'll be sure to keep it in mind. Good to see you, Will, and you, Gilan." They all stood and shook hands with him. Then Halt invited him to sit down with them. Gilan picked his mug back up, and Will and Halt also pulled out mugs for themselves and Crowley. They poured Gilan's freshly made batch of coffee into the mugs.

Crowley sat, and said, "So what's all this about your knee?"

Will rolled his eyes. "It's nothing."

Crowley smiled cheekily. "Good, because I have quite a list of things for you to do over the next few days."

Gilan raised both eyebrows. "A list? That's a bit much."

"A list for all three of you. It's not actually that much, take a look." He handed them a slip of paper.

"'Unseen movement clinic'. That's for you," Will read as he nudged Gilan.

"Knife throwing is all yours," Halt said and nodded to Will, who frowned.

"And what about you?"

"I thought I'd leave the rest to you two. I'm sure you can manage it." Halt set his now empty mug on the ground and heaved himself up from the log with Crowley.

"And what will you be doing?" Gilan asked, raising an eyebrow.

Halt straightened his shoulders with a lot of dignity. "I'll be doing other things." He walked off towards the center of camp. Crowley followed, but not before glancing back at Will and Gilan's indignant faces and shrugging.

Will turned back to Gilan. "I don't know about you, but I'm not starting this tonight. I want to enjoy my dinner and get a goodnight's sleep."

Gilan nodded. "Agreed. We also need to figure out a way for Halt to take on at least some of this list for himself."

"Definitely." Will curled his fingers around his cup, savoring the last few drops.

"More coffee?" Gilan held out the pot.

Will smiled at him. "Of course."

************

Bonjour, mes amis! For those of you who do not understand French, hello, my friends! I know I took a long long looonnnggg time to finish this, but here it is. I know that this is a little bit of a fill in chapter, but I promise that the new characters you met are very important and you would do well to remember them. I also promise that I have a doozie of a Chapter Four coming very soon, and when I say a "doozie", I mean that it will be very long and really full of all sorts of stuff, lots of action, some drama, internal conflict... It's coming soon, I promise. I will try to get this next chapter up at little faster than this last one. Please vote and comment of you enjoyed! Thanks for reading! ;)

Image: Will from cover of The Lost Stories, from Google Images