Here's chapter four! There's a bit of point of view changing in this, but I've marked it each time with a well-placed ~ o ~ marking that fits in with the story. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Chapter Four-

Will looked up in surprise at the ranger's statement. Halt wanted to adopt him? Why? They had just met! Besides, if Halt wanted to adopt a child, there were plenty of- Will hated to admit it- better children at the ward the man could choose. Why not Horace, who would make a fine warrior one day? Perhaps Alyss, who was smart and quick? There was George, who could recite paragraphs off the top of his head already? Or Jenny, who was sweet and helpful? What did Will have? He didn't have anything the other children had! Why did Halt choose Will then? Had he mistaken him for another child?

Will heard the Baron Arald asking, "Are you sure, Halt? Raising a child is a big responsibility, one you might not be able to take on with your duties." Will looked over at Halt, and he felt a twist in his heart. Half of him was scared to go with the ranger, after all, no one knew very much about him- or rangers. But the other part of him wanted Halt to say yes, to take Will with him. To give him a home like the other town children had. Will thought he would like that, but a part of him was scared to want it.

"You already have a lot on your hands at the moment, Halt," the baron added again as if trying to remind Halt of something. Will almost expected Halt to shake his head and say, "No, I was mistaken, keep him." but instead, the ranger nodded firmly, saying, "Yes, I'm certain. I want to adopt Will. Trust me," Halt added, "I've given this a lot of thought."

The Baron sighed and nodded, looking between the two of them, before a slight smile crossed his face. "Of course you have," Baron Arald said, "Although, I think, just to be safe, we should give you and Will a week to try living together and getting along, all right?" The baron finished, turning to Will with a smile. Halt nodded, and Baron Arald asked, "Will, how would you like to try living with Halt for a week?" Will looked between them, thinking. So far, Halt had been very kind to Will, but they had only just met. Will could live in a proper house with a family, and if Halt was disappointed he wouldn't be stuck with Will forever. "Okay," Will agreed, smiling at the two of them, trying to ignore his nervousness. The baron smiled at him and turned to Halt. "Good luck," he said, reaching out to shake Halt's hand. Will couldn't push down the smile still on his face. He was going to live with another person!

~ o ~

Halt glanced down at the little boy by his side, who looked more and more nervous as they approached the ward door. Halt wasn't exactly sure what was bothering Will, although he could only hope it was just being nervous about announcing his new freedom, and not nervousness about living with Halt. Halt knew he would eventually know, however, and decided not to dwell on it. Right now he just wanted to get Will's things and get home.

Halt didn't bother knocking on the ward door; instead, opening it and sliding silently in, Will following him and shutting the door. The servants glanced up and looked surprised to see them back so soon. The children seemed happy to see Will again too, almost as if they had expected to never see Will again. Halt supposed they probably thought Will was going to be thrown in the dungeons or killed. That was what commonly happened with people were taken to see the baron, and particularly when rangers did the taking.

Will glanced over at them, then hesitantly back at Halt. "Go on," Halt said, hoping he sounded encouraging. He supposed he did because Will turned and went to his friends happily, who quickly accepted him into their little circle to ask what had happened.

The servants watched Halt as if they expected him to leave now that he'd delivered the child back to the ward safely. Finally, the ward matron approached him nervously. "C-can we help you, Ranger Halt?" Halt internally sighed at the fearful tone, but simply replied, "No." He had no time for a woman who couldn't be bothered to look after a child because she didn't know his parents. "Will you be eating with us?" she tried again, seeming worried. Halt gave her a slight glare, and stated, "No."

She watched him for a few moments more before backing away and leaving Halt be in his corner. With a sigh of relief, Halt watched Will go into the room where he slept with the other boys and listened idly to the servants whispering about the fact that Halt was still there.

Soon enough, Will emerged from the bedroom with simply a nightshirt. Halt frowned a little at that. "That's all you have to your name?" Will nodded, looking confused. "Should I have anything more?" Halt simply shook his head with a sigh, a bitterness welling up within him that Will didn't even have an extra change of clothes or any toys to call his own. Halt turned as the woman approached him, squeaking, "Will, what on earth are you doing with that out! Go put it away right this instant!" She dropped her voice and leaned in a little, gripping Will's wrist tightly again, "You're going straight to bed without dinner tonight, young man. I've had it with you being rude and disrespectful."

The ward matron turned and faced Halt, not letting go of Will's small wrist, which he tried to tug out of her painful hold in vain. "I'm so sorry Ranger Halt, I've done my best to teach them manners but-"

"Let him go, can't you see you're hurting him?" Halt snapped, and the woman hastily released Will's arm. "I-I'm so sorry, I didn't- he was being rude!" She stuttered as Halt glared at her. "No, he's not, I asked him to fetch his things. Regardless, why wouldn't you feed him dinner? You denied him breakfast already!" Halt asked, his loathing for the woman seeping through his tone. The ward matron stared at him in fear a moment, then fired back, "Well you wouldn't know anything about raising children!" "Perhaps, but you clearly know far less," Halt snapped, turning and opening the door, "Let's go, Will."

Will nodded a little fearfully, glancing at the furious face of the woman, then darted out the door. Halt followed and firmly shut the door behind them, silently praying that that would be the last time Will would ever have to be in such a place.

~ o ~

Will followed after Halt nervously. The man seemed tense, but every time he glanced at Will, his gaze would slightly soften. Will felt bad that Halt had argued with the ward matron over him, although he still wasn't sure why. "Halt?" he asked, worried looking up at Halt, who glanced down. "Yes?" "I'm sorry you argued because of me. I didn't mean to cause you any trouble," Will told Halt, who got a strange expression on his face. "You- you think that was your fault?" Halt asked and stopped walking. Will nodded hesitantly. "Yes." Halt sighed. "Will, I argued with her because I dislike her, alright? She was hurting you at any rate," Halt told Will seriously, "which is absolutely not acceptable." Will nodded after a moment, hand coming up to touch his wrist with a wince. "I suppose," Will said with another nod, deciding Halt wouldn't lie to him. He had no reason to, not when he was taking Will home with him.

Will brightened at the thought. "Halt?" he asked, causing Halt to lift an eyebrow. "Yes?" he asked, glancing down at Will again. "Where do you live?" "I live out in the forest, past the village," Halt answered, continuing walking. Will nodded, wondering what living so far away from everyone would be like. "How are we going to get there? Are we going to walk?" Will questioned, looking up at Halt curiously. Halt shook his head. "Of course not. We're going to take my horse," Halt replied. "But I've never ridden a horse! What if I fall?" Will said, a bit worried and excited at the same time. "I won't let you fall," Halt answered, without even looking down. "How? Where did you get your horse? Oh! What's its name?" Will asked, tugging on Halt's cloak a little. Halt sighed a little, but at Will's smile, he answered all the same.

"I'll hold onto you, and keep you from falling. I got Abelard- that's my horse's name- from a good friend of mine when I first became a ranger," Halt told Will, who nodded. "Abelard is a strange name. I like it, though!" Will decided with certainty, and blinked as they entered the bright sunlight near the stables.

Halt led Will through the yard to his horse, small and gray. Abelard lifted his head and gave Will a decisive sniff, and Halt leaned forwards and seemed to whisper something to Abelard. It seemed to Will that he was making sure Abelard knew something before he mounted him. Finally, Halt turned to Will. "Here, let me have your nightshirt," he said, leaning down to take it. Will handed it to him and watched as Halt put it away in one Abelard's saddlebags. Halt then tightened Abelard's saddle and checked to make sure everything was in order.

"Okay then," Halt said, turning to Will, "ready?" Will nodded, then squeaked with surprise as Halt scooped him up. Will wrapped his arms around Halt's neck, not used to being picked up and slightly scared of being dropped. "Hanging in there?" Halt asked, and Will nodded, realizing that Halt didn't seem affected by his weight in the slightest. Halt put a foot in the stirrup and a hand on Abelard before swinging up and mounting Abelard with ease. Halt shifted and turned Will around so he was facing forwards and then securely wrapped his arms around Will. "See? Not going to fall," Halt told Will, who nodded, and looking around, felt excitement override his nervousness. As Abelard started moving with seemingly no command from Halt, Will informed him, "I feel tall." Will could've sworn he heard a chuckle from the ranger, but he said nothing, so Will couldn't be sure. Either way, Will knew he could be sure of one thing; things this week were going to be very different.

I'm back from my trip and hopefully I'll be back to updating normally!

Now onto a long author note with necessary information:

I got someone mentioning that I should make Halt more in character and I would like to apologize for not clearly stating that Halt will be OOC in this fanfiction. I simply presumed that it would be obvious due to non-canon events and the fact that I can't write his character the same way John Flanagan can since I am not him (disclaimer? haha). I would like to also say now that due to the fact this is a fanfiction everyone else will most likely be slightly out of character.

Again, I apologize for this, and hope this clears up any confusion!

Continuing with this freakishly long author note I want to say that I do appreciate and will definitely consider any tips/suggestions plot-wise that you guys have! While I have most of the story already planned out (so don't worry about it being forever unfinished) I do need a little bit of filling in the middle so if you have something you want to see happen please don't hesitate to tell me! I love feedback from you guys, this whole fandom is pretty awesome and creative. :D

At any rate, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll try to upload soon! :)