"And... Again. Yes, much better. A little more flick... Again," said Will as he watched the young apprentice throw a knife at a target some meters away. Halt had departed earlier that morning with Crowley to "sort through some things" with a few of the more senior Rangers, leaving Will and Gilan with the list he had delivered the previous night. Gilan had left with the younger apprentices for a demonstration in unseen movement, and Will had taken the older group for some knife throwing practice. He had two older boys with him, Evan and Matthias, in a clearing just off the campsite. Off to the right, older Rangers practiced their knife throwing using tiny targets set at various heights and distances. Every time they threw, their knives hit the dead center of the target with a resounding thunk! The two older boys were trying not to even glance at the others, but Will could tell that they were amazed by the other Ranger's accuracy. He had been helping Evan, but he had abruptly stopped as he gaped at an older Ranger, who sank his tiny throwing knife into a target barely the size of a dinner plate at least fifty meters away.

"Uhm... Uh - " stuttered Evan as he tried to focus on the task at hand, but Will forestalled him.

"Hold up for a moment, Evan." He picked up a bulky bag from under a tree, and then gestured to Matthias, who had also stopped throwing. Then he turned and walked across the clearing, heading for the trail again. He heard Evan and Matthias running to catch up behind him, and he thought, I've got to get them away from here, somewhere where they can concentrate.

"Ranger Will? I don't understand... Where are we going?" Matthias asked from behind him.

"To a different clearing." Will started walking at a faster pace, and he heard the two behind him rushing to catch up again.

"Why? Did we do something wrong?" This time it was Evan who asked.

Will stopped abruptly. They had reached a small and empty clearing a good ways away from the bigger one. He turned around, and sighed. "No, Evan, of course not. What could you have possibly done wrong while we were walking?"

Evan looked puzzled, then said, "No, I meant, why did we move to a different clearing? Did we do something wrong?"

Will smiled gently at them. "You did absolutely nothing wrong." He turned away and set down the package, opening it to reveal target boards.

"Uhm... Then why did we move, Ranger Will?" asked Matthias.

Will turned back around and sighed again. "Listen, as I said before, you did absolutely nothing wrong. It was just too distracting back there. Too many people making too much of a ruckus. Here is much better." Evan and Matthias looked relieved. Then Will added, "Oh, and I told you this before, but please call me Will."

Evan shook his head slightly, as if trying to make himself remember. "Of course, Rang- I mean Will."

Will smiled at him, and then walked to a point about twenty meters away, and set up a series of targets at varying heights. Then he walked back over to where the two boys stood, and said, "Alright. Remember what I told you, flick the wrist more. Throw ten times each, and we'll see how well you do."

The two boys nodded, and Will walked over to a large tree close to where the boys were. He hitched his bow around his torso and was just about to sit down at the base of the tree when suddenly Halt and Crowley walked into the far side of the clearing. Will froze, sensing that something was wrong, and watched them as they walked. Halt was speaking in a low and intense tone, and Crowley was shaking his head, muttering something back. But they both also froze in their tracks as they saw the two apprentices, who had stopped throwing, and Will leaning against the tree. Evan and Matthias both stared unabashedly at Halt and Crowley, but they only had eyes for Will. Crowley made an urgent gesture in Will's direction, saying something to Halt, and Halt sighed, letting his shoulders slump down. "Fine," he heard him mutter, and Will reslung his bow on his shoulder as he made his way over to where they were standing.

"Is... Something going on, Crowley?" Will asked, narrowing his eyes at Halt, who shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

"Well..." Crowley started, his voice hesitant, and he glanced at Halt, raising both eyebrows.

Halt's eyes flicked up to meet Will's. "I need to... Talk to you. In private. Right now." His voice sounded strained.

Will squinted at Halt as a worm of worry wriggled it's way into his mind. Why is he so upset? "Alright, uhm... Crowley, would you mind - " Will started.

"Of course I will take care of those two. It seems that you have their technique very good anyway, so I'll just take them off to practice somewhere else. And Halt - " he glanced at Halt with narrowed eyes, "tell him everything. He needs to know." Halt gave him a pointed look, but Crowley just turned away and called for the two apprentices, and they all walked off out of the clearing, leaving Will and Halt alone in the mid afternoon sunlight that filtered feebly through the dense trees.

As complete silence fell upon the little clearing, bird calls swelled in the distance and the wind whooshed in a steady and pleasant breeze. Halt shifted uncomfortably and Will's anxiousness increased. Halt always enjoys days like this. Why is he so upset? And about what? "So.... What does Crowley think I need to know?" Will asked.

Halt wrung his hands in front of him, squeezing hard enough that the tips of his fingers turned white. His face was unreadable as usual, but his voice was tight and clipped as he said, "Well... I've been talking with him about this for a while now. And he figures that it's about time you knew."

Will frowned. "Knew... What?"

Halt flicked his eyes at the retreating figures of Crowley and the two boys, and then back at Will. "Let's take a walk."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two Rangers strolled out of the clearing and down the trail, farther away from the campsite into the denser trees. The distant sounds of the Gathering's activities faded away into a peaceful silence, and bird calls echoed through the masses of branches and off canyon and cliff walls. The late afternoon sun hung low and lazy in the sky, extending long yellowed fingers through the dense branches, only a few ever reaching the forest floor, creating a dappled effect. The Rangers insensitively ducked through the patches of easy cover, moving in complete and careful silence without any conscious thought, although it was not as relaxed or peaceful as the forest around them. Will couldn't shake off the uneasiness about Halt. But he hadn't spoken for several minutes, not since they had left the small clearing and started walking. He'll tell me when he's ready. He's probably just organizing his thoughts... But what if it's like last time? When he told me about my parents... "Hey, Halt? Before you explain whatever is going on, just one thing... This had better not be another family matter, alright?"

Halt reared back. "What? Why would think it was that in the first place? I haven't even told you what this is about!"

Will sighed a little. "The last time you acted like this, you told me about how my mother and father died. I'm just hoping this ain't something like that."

"No, no, this has nothing to do with your parents..." He made an urgent hand gesture, and trailed off again, deep in thought. There were several minutes of dead silence again, and Will could feel Halt thinking furiously beside him.

"Do you know how long I've been a Ranger?"

The question was so sudden, so out of the blue, that Will's head snapped around to look at him as he spoke. "I... A long time. A very long time."

Halt looked down at his boots as they walked, and spoke in a quiet, emotionless tone. "A very very long time. Longer than most other Rangers in the Corps... Besides Crowley and a few others, of course." Halt kicked a rock aside, and then glanced up at Will. His voice was still quiet, but he sounded less tentative. "And do you know how many missions I've gone on?"

Will's eyebrows furrowed down as he frowned a little. "Not an exact number, but... A lot? Why are you asking me this?"

Halt sighed a little, and stopped walking, pausing in the shadow of a large oak tree. His dark eyes met Will's as he said, "And do you know how many were successful? How many that weren't? What about those ones that didn't really work, but didn't go bad either?"

Will's frown deepened. "Halt... I don't know. Why are you - "

"I know that you enjoy reminding me of this, but bear with me for just a moment and allow me to say it frankly: I'm getting older. I am not young and spry, and I've seen a lot of things over all the years, sometimes maybe too much." Halt spoke firmly, his eyes dead serious. Will pushed back all the questions in his mind, realizing that Halt was trying to tell him something really important.

"And... Well, I've been thinking about this for sometime now, and it's been decided. And I think you should know." Halt sighed again, looking back down at his boots. Halt's head snapped back up, his eyebrows low, a face Will was very familiar with. It was the expression Halt got when he had set his mind to something and was refusing to back down. "Will, I'm going to retire."

Will stood very still, desperately keeping his face expressionless, trying to stem the flood of thoughts that had filled his brain. Halt's going to retire. He's going to retire. That's good, right? Right? But I'll be alone. He won't be there anymore, and I'll be all alone. What will I do when he's gone? No, he'll still be there. I'll be fine. This is good for him. But... Halt stood silently, looking intensely at Will. Will tried to pull himself together, to wrangle all the questions and worries all tangled in his mind. But I saw this coming, didn't I? You've thought about it before, you knew some day he would have to, but now that it's actually happening...

Will realized Halt had said something. "Aren't you going to say something? Don't you have a question for me? You always have a question for me."

Will suddenly understood that Halt was desperate for a reaction, something that showed him what he thought about his decisions but there were still so many thoughts racing through his mind that all Will could formulate in those few seconds was "...Alright..."

Halt's eyebrows flew up towards his receding hairline. "Alright? Alright? I tell you I'm going to retire and all you have to say to me is alright?"

Will raised an eyebrow. "Why, were you expecting something else?" But suddenly in his mind, everything became clear. He expects me to be upset... But I'm not. Halt is retiring. I'm not upset at all, in fact, this is good.

Halt shook his head in wonder. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I was expecting something along the lines of 'Oh, Halt, please don't retire, the Ranger Corps needs you, I need you'. Or maybe just something slightly more descriptive than alright."

Will smiled at Halt's impression of him. "But that's not what I mean. I think you should retire."

Halt's eyebrows soared even higher. "So now you want me out of here? You just want the old hermits out to make way for you young spry ones?"

Will laughed out loud. "No, of course not. I just think that you're ready. You've spent a long time doing this job, and maybe it's time for a rest." He could see Halt's brain whirling as he took in Will's unexpected reaction, his eyebrows scrunching down and his lips pursing. "I can see you thinking. I promise I'm not just laughing it off. You deserve the rest, and you'll still be in the Corps. You can still go on an occasional mission, go to the Gatherings, and advise the King. It will just be a bit more relaxing."

He saw a faint smile creep across Halt's lips. "That does sound rather nice. Also,when I leave, all of Redmont Fief will be yours, so you'll be so busy you won't even miss me, which you still undoubtedly will."

Will rolled his eyes. "It can't be that much more work. We did most of it together anyway, so this time it'll be the same amount of work, instead it'll just be me doing it. And of course I'll miss you, except that you'll still be living in the same fief as me."

Halt nodded, and started walking again, this time in the direction of the camp, and Will hurried to catch up and walk abreast with him. "I figure we'd best be getting back, it's almost dinner time. And I know you wanted to go cook with Berrigan this time."

"Yes..." Will stopped as they walked up the trail near the campsite, and said softly, "Halt, I really want you to know, I think this is good. Don't worry about me, and most importantly, don't worry about yourself." Then he turned and headed off towards the main campfire, leaving Halt alone in the middle of the trail.

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

Hola amigos! So how was it? What do you think about what Halt told Will? Let me know in the comments. And another question for you... You know that since Halt has decided to retire, something is inevitably going to go drastically wrong, correct? And it may or may not have something to do with those nasty Temujai???? Just a few little teasers for you. Next chapter will be up before the two week dead line. So far I've managed to hold that schedule so I'll just keep it going. Thanks very much for reading this, and please vote and comment! ;)