Blood, Sweat, and Hanon - A Ranger's Apprentice fanfiction

Chapter Twenty-Four - Will

The hallways they take twist and turn around on themselves so much, Will is lost within a few minutes. But Halt seems to know where he's going. He never falters or even checks his map. And finally, they come upon the other little search party headed by the bass teacher.

Horace is standing at the back of the group. He sends Will a worried look.

Halt pushes through the small crowd. "Come on, let me through," he says impatiently. He enters the little room. Will cranes to look over his shoulder, and shivers as a blast of frigid air hits him in the face.

He can see a bundle of something on the floor, in the light of Mr. Chevall's flashlight. Then he realizes it's Alyss, curled on the floor.

Halt kneels next to her, touching her shoulder gently. She stirs weakly and looks at him, speaking in a voice too low for Will to hear.

"Are you all right? Did they hurt you?" Halt asks.

Will sees Alyss shake her head, and this time, he's able to pick out Alyss's words.

"No," she says softly. "I'm just very hungry, and I'm so, so cold."

"It's okay," Halt says gently. "We've found you. We're going to get you out of here and get some food into you."

Halt gestures to Gilan, who wordlessly hands him a blanket from the emergency backpack he's carrying. Then he carefully pulls Alyss into a sitting position, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders.

"Can you walk?" he asks. He helps Alyss to her feet, but she sways dizzily, almost falling before Halt catches her. She's evidently very weak from hunger and cold. Halt doesn't say anything, but lifts her carefully, cradling her in his arms like a baby.

They follow him back down the hallways, until they finally hit the main hallways again. Will shivers as he realizes that he could have quite easily gotten lost back there, and it would have taken him hours to find his way back out.

Halt takes Alyss into the infirmary, Ms. DuLacy following closely. Will and the others wait outside anxiously while they talk to the resident nurse. Then Halt comes out alone, leaving Alyss and Ms. DuLacy inside.

"The nurse says Alyss will be fine, once she gets some food and water," he says. "Ulf, can you recall the other search teams? I'll call Arald and let him know the situation. Given that it's nearly eleven, I think it's safe to say that the auditions will be postponed until at least tomorrow afternoon."

There's a huge hustle and bustle as the other search teams return. Halt thanks them and sends them into the auditorium to help Mr. Baron with crowd control. It's nearly midnight before all of the students are back in the dorms. Alyss is to stay in the infirmary overnight.

Halt finally notices Will swaying on his feet from exhaustion. He rests a hand on his student's shoulder. "Thank you for your help, Will," he says. "Go back to the dorms and get some sleep. You really need it. Mr. Baron says that you'll reaudition tomorrow afternoon at three o'clock."

He squeezes Will's shoulder gently, before letting go.

Will stumbles back to his dorm room. He's asleep before his head even touches the pillow.