Recovery Rangers apprentice Obi the Kid (Fanfiction )

Chapter 5

"Halt?"

"Yes, Will."

"What happens if they come back for me?"

"They won't. I - we will make sure of it."

"How?"

"We just will. I promise."

"Okay."

Halt didn't expect Will to just accept that as his final answer. But this Will was so much different than the Will of old who would have bombarded him with a succession of follow up questions. The recovering version of Will had to take each answer, attempt to digest it and hopefully remember it. Nevertheless, Halt prodded to keep him talking as Gilan placed plates of fried rabbit and potatoes in front of them. "You accept my answer just like that? I say the Kayzar won't get you again and you say okay?"

"Yes," Will said plainly as the intoxicating, delicious smell gripped his senses.

"Why?"

"I trust you."

"It's that simple?"

"It is for us apprentices," Gilan chimed in as he sat down. "We trust you for everything, Halt. I can't recall a time when you let me down. I'm sure it's the same for Will, even if he can't quite grasp that just yet. You said you'll protect him from those things. Even in his state of mind, he knows that means you'll lay down your life if you have to in order to keep them from hurting him again."

Halt nodded slowly, taken aback by the total and complete faith and belief that they had in him. He supposed he'd never really thought of it from their point of view. He'd done what came naturally to him - protected those under his care. Those he considered his friends and family.

"We know you might fail. We know you aren't perfect. But on the eve of battle, give us the choice of an army of well trained men, or an army of you, we'd take you every time. It's all about trust." Gilan chewed a potato and encouraged Will to eat as Halt continued to take in what had just been said. When he finally accepted it, he too dug into his dinner and cleaned his plate.

Will was so excited about Tug coming home the next day he found it nearly impossible to sit still by the fireplace that evening. He'd kept dinner down, another positive sign, but none of them wanted to get too encouraged too soon. Will was making steady progress these last couple of days, but his mind still dove into the unknown unexpectedly. As it did again that night. Halt had let him sleep on his own, and regretted his decision not long after midnight when Will woke in a quivered frenzy, clutching at the bandages on his arms in an attempt to rip them off. His entire body shook with tension until Halt took control back and pulled the boy to him.

Instead of curling into the familiar embrace, Will bent his legs up, wrapped his arms around them and touched his temple to his knees. The thin shoulders shook with frustrated sobs. His mind was becoming clear enough that he remembered more, thinking he'd won the battle, but then he'd fall right back into the same nightmare. It was enough to break down his spirit a little bit more each time. To get so far, then get drawn back down into that all too familiar world of complete fear and confusion...at times it was impossible to even think of starting another climb back out.

"I thought I was getting better, Halt. I had a good day. I even ate without throwing up. Now this. I hate those things. Those Kayzars. I hate them. They did this to me and I can't stop falling backwards." He rocked himself and continued his cursing of the beasts. Gilan, who had come running from the bedroom at the noise, stood away from them watching. It hurt to see his young friend like this. It hurt just as much to watch his mentor suffering on the same journey. He flashed back to something his father had once said to him when he was younger. Something about - for every two steps you take forward, you have to take one step back. Otherwise, he said, things just went to hell. His father had a way with words. But that seemed to apply here. Will was moving forward then falling back again, but each time he fell back a little less than before. The progress was there, but for the victim living it, that progress was often difficult to see. It was with surprise then that he heard Halt using similar words. Positive steps, then you falter. A frustrating process, but one necessary to achieve complete recovery. Gilan wondered if he'd shared those words of his father with Halt at one point during his apprenticeship.