Set after the Royal Ranger, while Maddie is finishing her apprenticeship. Contains major spoilers for the Royal Ranger.

SERIOUSLY STOP READING RIGHT NOW IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT

Maddie rode into the clearing on Bumper, carrying the bread Will had sent her into town to fetch.

To her surprise, music was issuing from the porch of the cabin, and even more shocking was Will sitting and playing a stringed instrument.

Maddie dismounted and walked over. "I didn't know you played the lute."

Will let out a small sigh. "It's a mandola. A lute has- never mind."

"What's the difference?" Maddie stared at the instrument.

"This, a mandola, had ten strings tuned in pairs, while a lute only has eight strings," Will explained. "No one ever cares about the difference. Well, Alyss did. I used to play for her..."
It no longer hurt Will so badly to talk of his late wife, but he was silent for a moment remembering her.

Maddie smiled. "You're a very good player. I've never heard you play before."

"I found it while cleaning. Hadn't played it in a while." Will shrugged.

"What songs do you know?" Maddie asked. "It sounded like you were playing Old Joe Smoke a minute ago."

Will laughed aloud. "Well, not quite..." Seeing Maddie's confused expression, he elaborated. "I was playing the melody of Old Joe Smoke, yes. But the lyrics are different. Back when I was an apprentice, I made up my own version of it."

"Sing it!" Maddie said enthusiastically.

Will glanced nervously around the clearing. He didn't see Halt anywhere, but that didn't mean anything. Even though Halt was technically retired, his unseen movement was as good as ever.

But why would he be here right now? Will reasoned.

"Oh, c'mon, Will! I won't laugh at it," Maddie pleaded.

"But you will. That's the point of the parody. And also the problem..." Will made up his mind. "Fine. But whatever you do, don't tell Halt I sang this for you."

"What does Halt have to do with anything?" Maddie asked, but Will had already started playing.

"Greybeard Halt is a friend of mine
He lives on Redmont Hill
Greybeard Halt never took a bath
And they say he never will.

Fare thee well, Greybeard Halt
Fare thee well, I say
Fare thee well, Greybeard Halt
I'll see you on your way."

"That's why you said not to tell him!" Maddie gasped for air after laughing so hard. "Did he get mad when you played it?"

"Oh yeah." Will chuckled at the memory. "Made me spend the night up in a tree for singing it."

Maddie doubled over laughing. "Play some more!"

Shrugging, Will launched into the next verse. This time, Maddie sang along.

"Greybeard Halt, he lost a bet
He lost his winter coat
When winter comes, Halt stays warm
By sleeping 'mongst the goats.

Fare thee well, Greybeard Halt
Fare thee well, I say
Fare thee well, Greybeard Halt
I'll see you on your way.

Greybeard Halt-"

"-is going to make you both spend the night up a tree for singing that."

Will froze. Crap. "Hello, Halt," he said carefully.

Maddie winced as Halt rode into the clearing on Abelard. "You may not be my apprentice anymore, Will, but I am still your elder. And I can still make you stay in a tree," the retired Ranger warned.

Feeling brave, and maybe a bit foolish, Will retorted. "You are older, but we're still equals. You can't order me around."

Halt considered this. "True. But Gilan is higher ranked than both of us. And I'm sure if I told him that you were making fun of me, he would order you to spend the night up a tree."

Will rolled his eyes. "Gilan has more important things to do than order me up a tree."

"Be that as it may, I'm feeling a little hurt. Here I am, coming by for a friendly chat with my former apprentice and his apprentice, only to find both of them poking fun at me." Halt crossed his arms and surveyed them grimly.

Maddie felt like this was unusually sensitive of Halt, but still felt a wave of guilt. "You're right, Halt. I'm sorry. That was mean of us." She bowed her head.

Halt raised an eyebrow at Will. "No apology from you?"

Will shrugged.

Maddie shot him a glare. "Will!"

Halt dismounted and rolled his eyes to heaven. "I must have failed in training you to have proper respect for your elders."

Will snorted. "You taught me the opposite."

Maddie didn't know what to do. Still feeling guilty, she said to Halt, "Why don't you come inside? I can make some coffee."

"Thank you, Maddie." Halt looked at Will. "See, she has proper respect. Where she learned it, I have no idea. Definitely not from you, and I don't think it was from Horace either."

Will rolled his eyes.

So yeah, this basically had no plot whatsoever, but I just had this image of Will finding his mandola and playing it for Maddie, so of course Greybeard Halt would come into play (pun intended), and if that song plays, Halt will come. So of course he showed up.

I just finished the Royal Ranger, and while it was really good, I felt like I needed more closure with Will being back to his normal, sarcastic, funny, and mischevious self. So I wrote the closure I needed. I realized that had Alyss not died, Will would be an amazing uncle/godfather, being super funny and getting into trouble with the kids. I wanted to capture some of how he could've been, and hopefully will become now that he is better dealing with his grief.

Also Halt is here because there wasn't nearly enough of him in the Royal Ranger, and I know it's because it wouldn't have made a lot of sense since he's retired, but Halt is amazing and I needed more of him in it.

This is off topic but I'm very disappointed that John Flanagan never used the term "Where there's a will, there's a way" as a pun on Will's name and his ingenuity.

And because I'm on a roll here...
WHY DID CROWLEY HAVE TO DIE.
Like seriously he was one of my favorite characters after Halt in the series.

Okay sorry about this really long, rambling, and probably very confusing author's note. I'll go now. Thank you for reading, and if you enjoyed it please vote and comment!