Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Crowley,

I'm in a serious situation, and I think I need your help. You know that, after the war, I went to Daniels wife and son, to help them. You also know that those two bandits were getting in the way.

So I followed those bandits and they killed her. They killed his wife Crowley! She died for me, to save me from them. She died for me just like Daniel had.

Her last words to me were that I needed to make shure their son, Will, was safe, but I don't know what to do with him. He's just a few weeks old. I've thought of putting him in the Aralds orphanage, but I don't know if he'll be happy there.

I've thought of keeping him and I think I want to adopt him. Every time I look into his eyes... I can't describe it but I think he'll be safe with me right?

please respond quickly

Halt

Crowley got the letter only three days ago, but the moment he read it, he got Cropper and went to Halt's cabin, which he was standing in front of at the moment.

He knocked on the door. A moment later a tired-looking Halt opened the door.

"Oh Crowley! I wasn't expecting you!" He said with only a bit suprise in his voice.

"Well, as soon as you said you were in a serious situation, I knew I had to come," Said Crowley, walking inside. Halt didn't answer.

"So, where is he?"

Halt gestured to the door leading to another room. "He's in bed."

They both walked to the other room, and the moment Crowley looked at small Will, who woke up and immediately began crying.

"Why does he cry all the time?" Halt mumbled.

After a while they sat down on the couch toghether, Halt with Will in his arms. Crowley handed Halt his coffee and they just sat in silence for a while, sipping their coffee.

"I'd keep him if I were you," Crowley suddenly said.

"But what if I need to go on a mission?" Halt replied.

"He can stay with me. I'll be his funcle!"

Halt raised an eyebrow. "Funcle?"

"Fun-uncle. I'll babysit him while you're on your missions and we will do some fun things toghether!"

"But what if you also need to go on a mission?"

"You can leave him with Pauline right?"

It was silent for a minute, and then Halt replied: "Yes, I'll adopt him."

A few days passed. Crowley stayed in Redmont to help Halt with Will. Halt regularly had meetings with Baron Arald about adopting Will and who would care for him if everyone was on a mission. They came to the conclusion that when everyone was on a mission (what was not likely to happen) Will could stay at the ward with the other kids.

After a week, Will was officially Halt's child, and Crowley was his Funcle.

Chapter Text

"And what about you, Gil, did you ever prank Halt?" Ben asked. They were at the annual Ranger gathering. A group of three young Rangers and two apprentices sat around a campfire. They were talking about their apprentice ship and all the pranks they used to pull on their mentors.

"Did you just ask if Gil pulled a prank on Halt!?" Will said. "Of course he did!"

Gilan laughed. "That was the only thing I did as an apprentice!"

"Tell us what you did then," Ben said, clearly eager to hear all his stories.

"Alright, so it begins on this summer evening, a few years ago."

"Why so dramatic, Gil?" Will grinned.

Gilan ignored him and went on.

*-*

"I'm done, can I go for a walk now?" Gilan asked. The weather was amazing and Halt had promised him he could do something not training related, once he had finished the list of chores Halt had given him. But Halt, being who he was, made that chore list longer and longer, so Gilan almost didn't have time to really do something.

And now he finally finished, the cabin cleaner than it had ever been.

"Alright, but be back in an hour," Halt replied.

"What! Only an hour? I can't do anything then!" But Gilan regretted it immediately that he said that when Halt turned around with his famous raised eyebrow. "Yeah uh sorry, I'll go now, bye!"

Gilan made his walk around the forest, looking around at all the beautiful flowers and he ended up climbing a tree. He just sat in the tree thinking about, well, everything except when he should be going back to the cabin. Only when he saw the sun lowering behind the trees, he noticed it was too late and he rushed back to the cabin. He opened the door, running straight into Halt.

"Hi Halt I-"

"You should've been back half an hour ago!"

"I'm sorry, I completely lost track of time."

"You don't say!?" Gilan rolled his eyes at Halts sarcastic comment.

"Gilan, you have to learn to be on time."

"It's not even that late!"

"Gilan, you're always late... Lets get out of bed an hour early tomorrow to make up for it, shall we?"

"But Halt-"

"No buts, or I'll make it two hours."

That moment Gilan swore to himself that he would get revenge at Halt. He already looked forward to it, but Halt couldn't see it coming, or Gilans plan was ruined.

It was a few months later and Halt probably already forgot about all the things that had happened, but Gilan was still waiting for the right time to pull this prank off. And it seemed that that time finally came.

Halt had to go to a meeting that lasted the entire afternoon, and Gilan had somehow convinced him that he didn't have to go with him.

"It's now or never," Gilan said to himself. He was kinda scared what Halt would do if he found out. Wait, there was no chance Halt wouldn't find out... oh well.

When Gilan was a hundred precent shure Halt didn't come back, he ran to his room. Underneath his bed he had put a box filled with crickets he had gathered over the past months. He fed them every evening, and had found out many ways how to muffle the sounds that crickets made.

He was going to free the crickets now. In Halt's bedroom.

He already knew it was a stupid thing to do, but he had promised himself he would get back at Halt, and this was the way.

Once he had freed the crickets, he went back to his training. He debated if he should leave a note that he went to Wensley to buy some new coffee, just so that Halt couldn't be mad at him while it happened, because Gilan knew he got the maddest while it happened.

He decided he needed to see Halts reaction so he stayed home, being the perfect apprentice, practicing his archery and knife-throwing until Halt came back just before dinner time.

Halt walked into the cabin. Gilan heard a door open and close. It was silent for a few seconds and than he heard the door open and close again. Gilan heard a few angry footsteps coming his way. "Shit," he said to himself. Halt was coming... The first thing that came up in Gilan to do, was sneak away.

"Gilan Davidson, where do you think you're going?" He heard Halt's angry voice behind him. A wide-eyed Gilan turned around. "I'm practicing my unseen movement." Gilan said, straight faced.

"Gilan, why are there hundreds of crickets in my room?"

"I uhhh- what are crickets?"

"Gilan, I give you one chance to explain," Halt said with a low voice. He didn't look angry, more calm, but everyone who knew Halt longer than two days, knew Halt was more dangerous if he looked calm than angry.

"I'm sorry," Gilan said the corners of his mounth turned slightly upwards. He was obviously fighting a smile.

"Gilan get in the tree." When Halt said it, Gilans small smile faded. "What?" He asked confused. "You heard me, climb the tree."

Gilan climbed the tree, scared of what this punishment was.

"Stay," Halt said, turning around to the cabin.

Now Gilan understood the punishment. "I'm not your dog!" He couldn't help but to call.

That night he wondered if he had to stay in the tree for the entire night, but that question was answerd quickly, when he saw the lights inside the cabin dim, what meaned Halt went to bed.

Gilan sighed. He stayed up in the tree for the entire night and he hoped for some mercy when Halt came to get him in the morning, but mercy wasn't a thing that fitted Halt so Gilan ended up having a cruel day of training.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Gilan finished the story like he excpected an applause. Instead they all looked at him with horror in their eyes. Will grinned at him.

"So, what did you think?" Gilan asked them.

"I loved it! Now I know what to do when Halt is being annoying again." Will said.

Ben seemed like he didn't think the same as Will. "Did he really make you sleep in a tree?" Ben asked. Gilan nodded. "It was probably the worst night I've ever had.
Ben stared at him with an open mouth. He clearly looked scared.

Will looked at him. "Oh don't be scared of Halt. He's not always that way! Look: Gil and I both survived five years of training under him, so.how bad can it be?"

Before Ben could answer, Gilan interrupted. "So what kind of pranks did you guys do?"

And so the conversation continued, all sharing their stories, and all having an amazing night.

Chapter Text

Guys I messed up badly, I thought it was ruines!! So I wrote the prompt as ruins and and not runes...

This is good prove that my first language isn't English... Maybe I'll write a one-shot later that's actually about runes, but I don't know what I would write about them.

*-*

Maddie was practicing her archery when they arrived. It were four men dressed in neat clothes. Will had already seen them coming and walked up to them asking who they were.

"We are archeologists, who investigated the case of Mrs Alyss Mainwaring-Treaty." Said one of the men.

Maddie, who sneaked closer to hear their conversation, saw Will's face get sad at the thought of his wife. Alyss had died in a fire a few years prior.

"Oh," was all Will could say. Maddie decided it was not a good idea to eavesdrop this conversation, and went back to the archery range behind the little cabin, but she didn't shoot any arrows.

"But Ranger sir, we've come here with good news!" Said another one of the men.

"Oh, in that case, come inside I guess," Will mumbled. He didn't even know there were still people investigating Alyss' death. And he didn't see how there could be any good news. She was gone.

"Do you want some coffee?" He asked the men.

"Do you also have tea? We all don't like coffee that much." One of the men asked.

Maddie just walked the cabin in. "I'll make the coffee and tea Will, you can listen to what they have to say," she said. Will nodded his thanks.

"So what's happend?" He said.

"Well, we went to the runes of the inn they were at when the fire broke out, and we couldn't find anything just like before. So we went back to castle Redmont to let the baron know we didn't find anything, but then we came to the realisation." One man started.

"What did you realise?" Asked Will who just wanted to know what they found.

"We realised that we didn't find anything!"

"How is that a realisation? You already knew that!" Will was starting to get very annoyed. Those men just told him all the things he already knew.

"You don't understand, we found nothing!"

"So?"

"If Alyss died in the fire that day, we would've found bones, because bones don't burn!"

That shocked Will. "Does that mean..."

"She's alive Ranger sir, we just don't know where she is, but there's only a small chance she got far. She's probably just in a town close to the inn where she was last seen."

Will got a smile on his face. "She's alive! She's alive. And I'm going to look for her."

Chapter Text

Will looked out of the window. He was doing a geography test Halt made but Will's concentration was all gone. He really hated geography, and he didn't understand why Halt chose this sunny day to give him the test.

Suddenly Will heard the whinnying of Abelard and Tug from their stable. It was a friendly whinny, not a warning. Will looked out of the window. The person he'd invited had actually come!

"Are you expecting someone?" Halt asked him.

"No," Will lied. But he knew Halt would see right through him. Halt always saw right through him.

A couple minutes later, a ranger horse trotted the clearing in. The ranger didn't have the hood of his cloak on, and Will could see Gilans face smiling bright. Will smiled back.

Halt had also seen Gilan, and walked outside. The cabin door was already opened because of the warmth outside.

Will also got up. He didn't know if he was allowed to, but he did. He'd sent a letter to Gilan about a week prior, telling him about the sunny weather and that he had nobody to enjoy the summer with. He hoped Gilan would come to visit him, and he did!

When Will got outside, he ran into Halt and Gilan having an argument. That wasn't unusual, they both seemed to really enjoy it to annoy eachother. And Halt looked really annoyed to see Gilan, though Will knew he felt actually just as glad as himself to see him.

A few minutes later, the bickering ended. Gilan came forward to meet up with Will.

"Hey Will! What a surprise to see me right?" Gilan said, again with a big smile on his face.

Will was happy Gilan didn't say Will had invited him, because he knew he would get in trouble if Halt knew he had asked for Gilan to come.

Will also had a smile on his face when he replied to Gilan. "Yeah, a great surprise! I really missed you, and you chose the best time of the year to visit us!"

"That's true! What do you want to do first? We could go for a swim or-"

"Will is not going to be doing anything today. He was busy with a geography test, until you came her to disturb our peace," Halt interrupted Gilan.

"Oh. Well, than we can do something together tomorrow right?" Gilan said, his smile faded a little bit.

Will sighed. "But when am I going to use geography?"

Gilan looked at him with pity. "I'm so sorry to say this, Will, but geography is really important to know as a ranger."

"That's right Gilan. Now, Will if you get back to your test, Gilan can put his bags in your room." Halt ordered.

The next day Will woke early again. First he didn't want to get out of bed, but then he realised Gilan was there!

He quickly changed to his normal clothes and walked to the living room. He saw Halt and Gilan were already up and drinking their coffee.

He sat down on a chair next to Gilan and also grabbed his coffee mug.

After they sat in silence, sipping their coffee, Halt got up.

"Where are you going?" Will immediately asked.

Halt sighed. "You're just like Gilan, he asked the same thing."

"Alright, but where are you going?"

"I need to go to a meeting with Pauline and Baron Arald."

Will nodded. He was just about to ask if he had to go with him, when Halt answered his question before he asked it.

"You're, going to stay here with Gilan. He's going to train you for three hours and after that you can have a day off."

That made Wills face light up. He already looked forward to his day off, because he could spend it with Gilan.

When Halt was gone, Gilan began training Will. The time seemed to fly by, and the three hours were gone really fast.

"So, what do you want to do now?" Gilan asked Will.

"The weather is really nice so maybe go swimming?"

"Alright."

They got changed and walked to the river together.

Just when Will was about to jump in the water, Gilan pushed him in.

"How's the water down there?"

"Gilan!! Now there's water in my nose!"

Gilan grinned. "Alright, but I asked how the water is."

"Too cold!"

Will stuck out a hand and Gilan grabbed it, to lift him out of the river, but instead, Will pulled Gilan in the water.

"Hey!"

"You deserved it!"

The next hour they just swam, sat on eachothers necks and found really weird ways to jump in the water.

Once they were both shivering, they came out of the water and grabbed a towel. When they came back to he cabin, Halt was already waiting on the porch for them.

Will was the first one to say something. "Halt, we went swimming!"

Halt raised an eyebrow. "I can see that."

When they dried up, they had lunch, because it wasn't that late. After lunch, both Gil and Will wanted to go swimming again, and they tried to manipulate Halt into going with them, but that didn't work. Obviously.

And so, Gilan and Will spent the entire afternoon, swimming and chilling by the river.

Chapter Text

Will and Maddie left the cabin the day after the archeologists told them the news that Alyss was still alive. Will actually wanted to leave that same day, but came to the conclusion they could only ride for about two hours before they had to make a camp, and they wouldn't get far at all.

The next morning they had left when the sun rose above the trees. After a long day in the saddle, they passed through a small town, with a tavern, and Will decided that they would stop there for the night.

The next day they came by the ruines of the inn Alyss had stayed at before Ruhl set in on fire.

"Okay," Will said to his companion, "She's supposed to be in a town not to far away from here. I suggest we split up and both ask people of they saw a tall, blond woman with grey eyes that they didn't know."

"Alright, but we'll have to say that she was a courier and that she was here about four years ago."

Will nodded. They split up both going to the other side of town. They had agreed to meet up by the ruins of the tavern in two hours, and both walked in an other direction.

*-*

About two hours later Maddie walked back to the ruins. She didn't see Will, so she just waited.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked around to find Will, grinning.

"I found out where she lives!" He said.

"Oh, but that's wonderful! Is it close?"

Will nodded and mounted Tug. Maddie also mounted Bumper and Will lead the way.

After only a ten minute's ride, they stopped at a big building. It was made of stone, and you could clearly see it had two floors.

The building had a garden that reminded Will of the private garden the orphans had in castle Redmont.

On the left side of the garden, there were some stables. Will and Maddie rode there with their horses and dismounted them. They quickly put hem away and walked to the front door of the building.

When they reached the door, they could here a baby crying. They also heard children's laughter.

Did Alyss get children in the time she was away?

Even though Will had a lump in his throat, he knocked on the door.

No answer.

Will knocked on the door again.

"Wait a second please! I'll come to the door in a minute." Said a woman on the other side of the door.

A few moments later, the door opened to reveal the woman.

The woman had blonde hair, cut short. She had grey eyes. She was beautiful, and most importantly, it was Alyss. His Alyss. The Alyss he had waited so long for. The Alyss that he was so shure about had died.

She didn't die. She was right there, with a crying toddler in her arms and a five year old girl trying to get her attention by tugging her jumper.

She didn't even look at the children. She only looked at Will. Her Will. The Will she had missed so long, but didn't think would see again.

"Is that... Really you?" She asked.

Will opened his mouth to answer, but his voice gave up. Instead he just nodded.

Alyss stared at him for a moment.

"D- Do you want to get inside?"

They walked inside and Maddie closed the door. Alyss set down the toddler she was holding, and lead the way. The young girl who had been asking for her attention gaped at Will and Maddie with an open mouth.

"Miss Alyss, are they Rangers?"

"Yes dear. Now, can you go to Miss Lotta? I need to talk to them privately."

The three of them walked up the stairs, through a door that Alyss opened with a special key. It was probably a place the children weren't allowed to go, as this was probably an orphanage.

They walked through another door and Will realised this was Alyss' appartment. Alyss grabbed a chair and placed it in front of her bed.

"You can sit on my bed, I don't have a sofa."

Will and Maddie sat down, a bit akwardly. Will had a million things he had to ask.

He tried to ask his first, and most important question: "How did you- how are you... I-"

Alyss smiled lightly at him. "How I survived?"

Will nodded.

"After I safed that girl, I tried to find a way out. Just when I thought I wouldn't survive it, a wall fell down. I didn't hesitate, and jumped down. I was on the second floor so I crashed kinda hard to the ground. Oh wait, I forgot to tell you, I jumped down on the other side than where my escort was, so they probably thought I died."

"But didn't they look for you? In case you survived?" Maddie asked. Alyss looked at her. She noted that Maddie changed a lot since she had last seen her. She had changed from a teenage girl to a grown woman.

"No. I don't know why, but as I already said, I think they assumed I was already dead."

Will glared at his shoes. He couldn't understand that they didn't even look. If they had only walked around the building, they'd have found his wife. Then she would have come back home safely.

"I passed out not long after, and the next thing I remember is waking up in the infermary of this town."

"But what I don't understand, why didn't you come home?" Will asked

Alyssa sighed. "I lost all my money and my horse in the fire. My escort was gone, so I didn't know the way home. And even if I did, I didn't have any money so I couldn't get home. The only way was to find a job here, but it's hard to find a job if you don't have a place to sleep. I looked for the Ranger of the fief we're in, but I couldn't find him."

Will nodded. He knew it could be really hard to find a job sometimes.

"But then I ended up here. I've got to raise so many children who have lost their parents. I almost had enough money to go home, but then you showed up."

It was silent. But not akward. They all thought about the fact they were together again.

Alyss was the one who broke the silence. "I see you've got an apprentice?"

"Yes," Will said. He didn't want to say what was originally the reason for him getting Maddie as an apprentice.

"And," Alyss was again the one who broke the silence, "Maddie, do you like it?"

Maddie nodded enthousiastically.

"Yes. I'm in my third year now."

Alyssa smiled at her. "And is Will a good mentor?"

Maddie's smile grew. "Yes I think so, although, I believe he's trying to copy Halt's teaching methods, and I don't know how happy I am with that."

Will raised an eyebrow. Alyss laughed.

"Ah, I see what you mean, he's already raising his eyebrow."

Will dropped his eyebrow and instead focused on his wife again. "You have no idea how much I missed you," he whispered.

Instead of answering, Alyss stood up and sat down next to Will. Then they hugged. Both of them quickly had tears streaming down their face. But they weren't sad. No, it were happy tears.

Maddie akwardly sat next to them. "Should I ehh... Go?"

No answer.

Maddie shrugged and walked out of the room.

Alyss and Will stopped hugging and looked eachother in the eyes. Then they kissed. They kissed multiple times. They kissed because they had missed eachother so much.

When they stopped, Will was smiling. He didn't remember the last time he had smiled this bright.

The last few years, he had worn a mask. He had worn a mask, hiding his pain. But now, he had thrown the mask away. He didn't have pain to hide anymore. Right now, the only thing in his life was happiness, and that's what he lived for. Happiness.

Chapter Text

Will didn't say anything when Halt silently sat down next to him. He didn't even look up.

He sat on his couch, reading through some reports Crowley had sent him. Although, he wasn't really reading them, lost in his thoughts.

After a few minutes Halt was done with the silence. "Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Will mumbled, still not looking up.

"Shure. Will, you know there's no point in lying to me, right?"

Will sighed. Halt was right. He always saw right through him.

"Well I- it's just that I don't live up to people's expectations..."

Halt looked at him for a moment. "Will, what makes you think that?"

Finally, Will looked up. "I wasn't able to help the blacksmith last week. And when I thought I found the bandits who robbed him, there was another group of bandits. I should have known that could happen and-"

"Will," Halt interrupted him. "You did the right thing. Of course it wasn't possible for you to know there were more bandits!"

"But it was just a group of Bandits, Halt, I should've been able to handle it on my own!"

"Will, you shouldn't be so hard on yourself. Yes, it were bandits, but it were to groups! And they were probably both more stubborn than you, so you had to fight almost twenty people! Most people would have run from that."

"But I should have prevented them from robbing the baker in the first place."

Halt raised an eyebrow. "And how were you going to do that? I didn't know you were able to look into the future."

Will rolled his eyes. "But-"

"Will, you did good,"

Will sighed. Again. He knew he should be happy with Halt's praise, but how could he be proud of letting the blacksmith down, twice?

"Halt, I'm a famous Ranger who should be able to take care of my fief."

It was silent for minute.

"Yes, and you are doing a good job taking care of Remont."

Halt slowly put his arm around Will and pulled him closer. Will put his head on his shoulder, and together they sat there for some time. They both had no idea how much time had passed when Will spoke up again.

His voice was really soft, and Halt almost didn't hear it. "Thanks dad," he wispered.

Halt was surprised. He certanally thought of Will as his son. But he was never shure if Will thought of him the same way. So when he said dad to Halt, he suddenly felt warm on the inside. He wanted to answer, but he didn't know what to say.

They sat toghether, Halt was ruffling Will's hair. Slowly, Will's breaths became more steady and Halt saw he had fallen asleep. He slowly got up and ligted Will in his arms. Even though Will was already a grown man, he was not tall at all, so it wasn't hard for Halt to bring him to his bedroom.

Chapter Text

Even though Halt was a Ranger for a really long time, he didn't want to wait any longer. His patience was all gone. Suddenly the lights in the room went out, and the curtain that hid the stage opened.

All the people in the room applauded, even though Halt didn't understand why, the dance recital hadn't even started yet.

When the crowd stopped applauding, the music started. It was some kind of hip hop music, and Halt already hated the song.

A few beats later, Alyss and Jenny came walking on stage. They wore some badass jackets and cool shoes. They both walked like they owned the world.

Then they stood in front of eachother. The beat changed and Cassandra began dancing. It was a hip hop dance, and soon the crowd was all clapping on the beat. Alyss stood still, looking at Cassie like she was judging her.

The beat changed and Alyssa began her part. She also danced to a hiphop song, and now Cassandra looked like she was judging her.

When the beat changed again, they danced together, and then walked off again. The music faded out and the crowd went wild. Halt also applauded, but he didn't understand what the crowd liked about that dance.

Then Will walked on stage. He wore a black pair of pants and a purple T-shirt with golden details.

The music started and Swanlake played. Will made a sign with his hands, and Ebony came running up.

Halt sighed. Was Will really going to do a ballet dance with his dog??

Will did some turns while Ebony ran around him. Then he picked Ebony up and did a grande jeté*.

After that, his turn combination began. Halt was really impressed, because he didn't know Will was able to do so many pirouettes.

He continued dancing, while smiling through it all. The best thing was that when he did a pas de chat**, Ebony jumped with him.

When Will was done dancing, he and Ebony bowed and walked off, with turned out feet of course.

Next came Gilan and Jenny, who began ballroom dancing. They both shined and you could see they loved dancing with eachother.

The best part of their dance? In the end they kissed. The crowd loved it and everyone applauded. Some people even shouted: "Jenny, Gilan, Jenny, Gilan!!"

There followed a few more dances. Crowley did a tap dance while whisteling, Horace did a show dance, the only thing was that he tripped over his own feet three times.

To Halt's surprise, Caitlyn was also there. She did an Irish dance with those really cool tap shoes.

After that there was a musical group, with Will, Caitlyn, Alyssa, Cassandra, Gilan and Crowley who sang the election of 1800***.

When everyone did their dance, they all bowed while the crowd stood up from their chairs and applauded. Some people even threw roses.

Even though Halt didn't think he would like the dance recital at first, he ended up really enjoying it, and he was happy that he went there.

Chapter Text

Will let out a happy sigh when he finally saw the town he had been looking for. Even though he was a Ranger, he was still glad that he could sleep in a real bed after riding on Tug the whole day. He was on his way to visit Halt, who he hadn't seen for a few months.

Will rode over the main street of the village to the inn that was there. He quickly put Tug in the stable, and brushed him down. Then he opened the door and walked inside.

Immediately, all the comversations died down and almost everyone stared at him. Some had fear in their eyes. He had always known some people believed that Rangers were magicians, but he knew that some of the people who gave him a frightened look, were just scared of his knives and bow.

Luuckily he had the hood of his cloack on. That way he could look at the people without them knowing what he was looking at. He walked to a table in the back sitting down with his face to the rest of the restaurant, so he would be able to look at the other people. Even though he was not on a mission right now, he still didn't take the hood off, so that all the people in the room couldn't see his baby face.

After he ordered coffee, the conversations began again and everyone seemed to forget that he waa even there. While sipping his coffee, he noticed that there was a little argument going on at one of the tables. It was between two men, who were both dressed in old clothes and both clearly drunk. The man who sat with his back to Will also had reslly muddy clothes that looked like they had been through two wars and never been washed.

Will frowned as the men began yelling. He could clearly make up some words: "Just tell me!" And "Money!"

Will shrugged. It were just two farmers arguing about money. When he came inside, he also saw both men look at him with surprise.

When Will was halfway his second mug of coffee, the arguing escalated in yellong curses at eachother and threatening to hurt the other. Will decided it was time for him to intervene and he got up.

When he got to the table, both men were standing, ready to fight eachother, the rest of the conversations in the room had died down again and everyone was watching them.

"If I were you, I would stop right now," Will said in a low, indimidating voice.

Both men looked at him. One man with fear in his eyes, he also took a step back. The other man with surprise. But he didn't look scared. Will was just wondering why when he realised he recocnised the face.

It was Gilan.

What was Gilan doing there? Drunk, dressed up as a poor farmer, getting in fights? His fief wasn't even nearby.

A small smile touched Gilans lips when he relised who the Ranger was, butbefore anyone except for Will had seen it, he adopted a fake, scared impression. "Ranger sir, I'm just a farmer who didn't want trouble! I only-"

Will cut Gilan off. "Even if you're a farmer, you should get into fights like these."

Even though Gilan still looked scared, Will could make out a glint in his eyes. Gilan was enjoying this. "Oh, but Ranger sir! As I already told you, I don't want any trouble! It was him who started the fight." Gilan said, pointing at the other man.

Before the other man could make an angry reply, Will interrupted him. "Leave, I don't want to see you anymore,"

"But-"

Will sent Gilan a glare. "Leave, or I'll make you leave," he said with a dangerously low voice.

The farmer hurried out as fast as he could, not even looking back.

"But Ranger sir, I don't come from here, I booked a room at this inn!"

Will sighed. Gilan was doing a reslly good job at annoying him, even though he hadn't done that much at all. "Alright, go to your room then."

And Gilan, who was still fake scared, hurried to his room upstairs. Quickly, Will grabbed his bow and quiver that were still at the back by the table and also went to his room that he had already booked.

When Will got upstairs, he ran into a grinning Gilan. Will rolled his eyes and walked past him into his apartment. Gilan followed him and closed the door. He sat down on a chair next to Will.

"Why are you here?" Will asked immediately.

Gilans grinned. "I could ask you the same thing."

Will glared at him. A glare that he had obviously learned from Halt. "Well, I asked it first."

Gilan sighed, still grinning. "I'm on a mission and I had to go undercover-"

"As a poor, muddy farmer?" Will interrupted him.

"Yes. Nobody could recognize me, or the mission failed."

"What is the mission?"

"The mission is done already. There was cult that started to form, and only the leader escaped, so I was trading money for information with that farmer, when you interrupted me."

"Oh, sorry."

"It doesn't matter. You couldn't have known it was me anyways. I am to good for that."

Will just raised an eyebrow. "Well do you need help finishing the mission?"

Gilan thought about it for a moment. Having Will with him would make the job easier, and it would be fun. He only didn't have a "costume" for him.

"There's no need. I can handle it myself. You also wouldn't be able to go undercover because I don't have a costume for you. You should just go and visit Halt."

Will nodded. Together they stayed in Will's room for a while, just chatting about what was happening in their fiefs. When they both got tired, Gilan went to his own room, that was next to Will's, and they both went to sleep.

Chapter Text

The cloaked figure cursed the weather. It wasn't raining yet, but he knew for shure it wouldn't be dry for long. He knew that the nearest town was pretty far away. He was on his way to visit an old friend, and he knew he could stay there.

Not even a minute later it began raining. First it was a light drizzle, but that didn't last: it quickly began pouring. He sighed, but decided to just keep om riding. He'd get there eventually.

*-*

It had been raining for three hours straight, and the rain didn't seem so stop anytime soon. Will didn't even have to practise outside. Instead he had to make a map of Redmont, and a map of the whole country Araluen. But Halt, being as cruel as he is, pointed out all the small mistakes, and Will ended up making seven detailled maps in total.

When they sat down on the sofa after dinner together, it began raining even harder. Luckily they had their coffee. Imagine if they didn't have coffee. Halt didn't even want to think about it. Just as Will was about to ask Halt if he had any idea when the rain was going to stop, there was a firm knock on the door.

They hadn't heard any warning from either Tug or Abelard, but they had probably warned them, they just couldn't hear it because of the rain. Just as Halt silently walked ovet to the door, saxe in his hand, the door swung open to reveal a tall figure in a soaking wet cloak. The hood of the cloak was pulled so far forward that they couldn't see his face. The man looked like a ranger, because of the cloak, but Will couldn't really see it clearly from the sofa. Halt didn't seem to recognise the figure and he raised his saxe knife and said:

"Take of your hood so we can see your face."

The figure chuckled and pulled his hood down. Only to reveal Gilan standing in the doorway.

Before either of the men could say something, Will got up from the sofa and gave Gilan a big hug. "Gil! I didn't know you would come!"

Gilan grinned. "Are you shure hugging me was the best idea? You're all wet now."

Will stepped back and shrugged. Just as he opened his mouth to ask yet another question, Halt interrupted him.

"Why are you here?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. To most people it would look like he didn't want Gilan there, but both his apprentices, former and current, knew he was just as happy as Will to have Gilan over at the cabin.

"I was on a mission to deal with some bandits, and then it started raining. I decided I was closer to your cabin then the closest village with either a tavern or inn, so I came to visit you."

Gilan walked over to Halt. He clearly wanted to give Halt a hug too, but Halt was faster and took a step back. "Don't even think about it, Gilan."

Gilan chuckled. "Awww does softie Halt not want a hug from the best-looking Ranger the corps has ever known!?"

Will didn't even try to keep his laughter in. Halt just pushed Gilan away and muttered something about apprentices and their horrible humor. He sat down on his chaor next to the fire and picked up a report he was reading. Gilan made himself some coffee and sat down on the couch next to Will.

Immediately Halt's head shot up.

"Gil, get changed before you sit down on the sofa, you'll make it wet, which will break it."

Gilan sighed, but got up and went outside, probably to grab dry clothes. He quickly got changed in Will's room, and then sat down next to Will again, coffee in his hand. They all sat in silence for a moment, enjoying eachother's company.

Then Gilan and Will had a conversation about, well, everything. First it was about Wills training, then gossips about Wensley and castle Remont. After that about the most random shit- you don't want to know. Eventually their conversation died down and it was clear both of the boys were beginning to get tired.

They both didn't want to get up and go to bed. The fire and the company of their friend were really nice. When Halt looked up after he's finished reading through the report, he saw that Will had fallen asleep, his head on Gil's lap. Gilan combed through his messy brown hair with his fingers.

After about half an hour, Gilan also fell asleep. He had of course had a long day of dealing with bandits, and after that multiple hours in the saddle, while it was raining.

Halt allowed himself a small smile. Yes, he thought, it was raining like it never had before, but he had his boys, and they were all he needed to be satisfied.

Chapter Text

Alyss made the chat "Halt's birthday"

Alyss added Will

Alyss added Horace

Alyss added Crowley

Alyss added Pauline

Alyss added Cassie

Alyss added Jenny

Alyss: Hi guys! In this chat we're ONLY going to discuss the details for Halt's birthday party!

Will: Okay

Will: shouldn't Gil be in here too?

Alyss: I don't have his number, can you add him?

Will added Gilan

Gilan: wassup gang

Alyss: Gil, in here we're only going to discuss stuff about Halt's birthday. If you want to spam, you can do that in your spam group chat.

Gilan: I'm offended, you do know I never spam right!?

Will: ...

Alyss: anyways, about Halts birthday...

Jenny: I'll bring cake! What's his favourite flavour?

Will: I think he'll like everything you make

Gilan: Will, Halt doesn't like anything except Pauline

Crowley: he likes me! I'm his secret boyfriend

Pauline: keep dreaming, Crowley

Alyss: guys! This was about his birthday remember?

Will: sorry

Will: I can decorate the cabin?

Alyss: great!

Gilan: when's his birthday again?

Will: bruh

Alyss: do you really not know? You were literally his first apprentice!

Pauline: it's next saturday

Horace: sorry I wasn't online and I didn't want to read all the things that were said so did I miss anything?

Crowley: what did I miss? What did I miss? Virginia, my home sweet home, I wanna give you a kiss... mwa

Alyss: CROWLEY SHUT UP! not everyone here likes Hamilton! And Horace, to answer your question, no, nothing really happened.

Horace: Okay

Will: guys I've got to go, Halt's calling. Probably need to clean the stable

Gilan: ha! Imanine still being Halt's apprentice

Will: shut up

Cassie: what time do we need to be there?

Alyss: I don't know, we'd have to ask Will, but he's gone now...

Pauline: I'd say around noon would do

Alyss: okay

Cassie: dad just asked if he can come too, that's okay, right?

Pauline: yeah of course! I think Arald wants to come too. I'll add him.

Pauline added Arald

Cassie added Duncan

Alyss: so I think that's everything we needed to know right? Next saturday around noon, we all arive at the cabin, which Will has decorated. Jenny brings cake and we all make shure to bring our own presents. Any questions?

Alyss: okay, see you guys on saturday!

Gilan: C ya!

Chapter Text

Gilan:

1. Never gonna give you up- by Rick Astley

2. The bad touch- by Bloodhoung Gang (pls don't judge)

3. Europapa- by Joost Klein

Will:

1. Buddy Holly- by Weezer

2. Jacqueline- by Franz Ferdinant

3. Counting Stars- by OneRepublic

Cassie/ Evanlyn: (I feel like she's a Swiftie)

1. My Boy Only Brakes His Favourite Toys- by Taylor Swift

2. Bad Blood- by Taylor Swift

3. Love Story- by Taylor Swift

Crowley: (Crowley's a theater kid, and you cannot convince me otherwise)

1. Sincerely, Me- from Dear Evan Hansen

2. Alaxander Hamilton- from Hamilton

3. Wouldn't you like- from EPIC: the musical

4. Graybeard Halt- by Will Treaty

Halt: (this one was kinda hard, since he probably pretends to not listen to music, but everyone does sooooo)

1. Espresso Macchiato- by Tommy Cash (No I'm joking of course)

2. Castle- by Halsey

3. The Archer- by Taylor Swift

Alyss:

1. Fight song- by Rachel Platten

2. Control- by Halsey

3. Vampire- Olivia Rodrigo

Horace: (why was it so hard to think of any somgs for Horace!?)

1. I Want It That Way- by Backstreet boys (I think he sings this while he gets a midnight snack)

2. Hall of Fame- by The Script

3. Good Grief- Bastille

George:

1. Requiem in D minor, K. 626: Sequence: VI. Lacrimosa dies illa- by Wolfang Amadeus Mozart

(No hate against Mozart, I really like some of his pieces) (also, I don't feel like George really listens to music, as it would only disrupt him so yeah)

Jenny:

1. Uptown Funk- by Bruno Mars

Chapter Text

Halt walked through the forest to the lake. He held the front part of the canoe and Ferris, his twin brother, got the other side. The twins were going fishing together, they always used to do that. The last few weeks, things had been a bit... strange between them. There had been two near death experiences. Both of the times it was Halt who almost died.

He suspected Ferris was behind the second murder attempt. It had happened about a week ago:

Halt walked back to the castle. He came back from a walk in the forest. He often went on walks in the forest, to clear his mind. The dusk was already starting to form and he had to get back as soon as possible. Mostly because he didn't want Caitlyn to worry. The last few months, Caitlyn worried a lot if he got home even a bit late, because about a month earlier, he got really bad food poisoning. Cait was shure someone wanted to murder him, which was probably bullshit, because who would murder him?

Halt walked through the castle gate. He was just about to enter the hall where that led to his family's quarters, when suddenly a big pile of bricks fell down. He quickly threw himself to the side. When he was shure there were no more bricks coming, he looked up. First he saw nothing, but then he saw something- someone move. He squinted his eyes, and could clearly see Ferris running away.

Was Ferris behind all of this? Did Ferris also poison him?

Why would he murder his own brother?

*-*

The two brothers reached the lake, that was about a half an hour walk from Dun Kilty. They set down the canoe on the small beach. They rested for a few minutes, until they decided that they were going to actually start fishing.

Together they placed the canoe in the water and jumped on. Then they paddled to the middle of the lake, and put their fishing rods in the right place.

Ferris was the first one to say something:

"So, how does it feel to be crown prince?"

Halt should've known what Ferris was about to do, but at that moment he was just trying to make himself think Ferris wasn't the one trying to murder him.

He did look up from that question. They were already seventeen, and he was a prince himself. Even though he thought the question was weird, he answered truthfully.

"It's actually really boring. The classes I need to go to to learn how to rule a country, are really boring too. You should be glad you're born second. Why do you ask?"

"Oh no reason really, just curious."

They sat in silence for some time again, until Ferris, once again, broke it.

"You know, I think I'd be a better king if we are older."

Halt shrugged. He was curious where this conversation would lead to.

"I also think, it would have been better for every one if I was born first."

Halt raised an eyebrow at him. It wasn't like he had chosen to be born first.

They fell silent again.

Suddenly Ferris stood up and in one motion he threw an unsuspecting Halt overboard. Then he threw a net meant for fishing after him, hoping it would strangle Halt and drown him. When he saw Halt fighting and swimming for his life, he paddled the canoe away, leaving his twin brother to drown.

*-*

Halt gasped for air when he was finally free from the fishing net. He saw that Ferris wasn't that far away at all, but shore was a lot closer. Also, the shore wouldn't try to drown him again. He quickly swam away.

When he finally got out of the water, he looked back and saw that Ferris wasn't gone yet. In fact, he paddled the canoe closer.

"Why did you do that!?" Halt yelled to his brother.

Even from this far away, Halt could still see Ferris' angry face when he answered. "The throne is meant to be mine! It always was and always will be. Everyone knows you are not able to rule the kingdom! I was meant to be born first! I wil give you one choice."

"What's the choice?"

"You either leave the country and swear on Caitlyn that you never come back to get the throne, or I kill you."

That wasn't even a hard choice. Ferris was right, Halt wasn't built to be king, Ferris was.

"Alright I'll go right now. And I swear on Caitlyn and her grave that I'll never come back and try to take the throne from you. You can just tell everyone I died, okay?"

Ferris didn't even answer, instead he just paddled away with their canoe.

Halt also turned around. He didn't care that he couldn't be king anymore. He also didn't care that he wasn't allowed in Hibernia anymore. No, the only thing he cared about was Caitlyn. His little sister would be devestated when she founf out he'd "died".

But now, at least nobody expected him to be king anymore.

Chapter Text

That's it already! Sadly I wasn't able to write something for all of the prompts, but I do really want to write them sometimes and then just upload them. So this thing is going to be continued!

I will, however, only upload when I feel like it, because I'm also busy with another project.

Anyways, thank you so much for reading!