Archive of Our Own

  It was a normal morning for Will Treaty.

  Really, it really was. He woke up as usual, washed his face with cold water that he prepared from the night, changed into his daily clothes and walked towards the living room. The room where Halt was in, like he was every single morning, preparing coffee for both of them.

  But, because of some unexplainable reason, Will Treaty felt odd today. He couldn't point it out. It was just... odd.

  When he stepped into the living room and raised his hand to say 'Good morning', Halt only peeked from the corner of his eye as usual, not turning his head from the coffee pot. But then, all too suddenly, he did turn his head. There was something in his eyes Will had never seen before, and he would have preferred it to stay that way.

  In the eyes of his mentor, Halt, the legendary Ranger, there was an emotion other than grumpiness. 

  And it was fear.

  Every possible horrible scenario passed through Will's mind. Did someone die? Did Will die, and Halt was seeing his apprentice's ghost? Did he sleepwalk and kill someone unintentionally and now his mentor was looking at his blood-soaked clothes? 

  Or... No way. Did he... Did he forget to leave his coffee mug clean last evening?

  The last thought actually made him audibly gasp. Then he shook his head to think more clearly. He turned to Halt.

  "Halt," he asked, with a cracking voice, "What's up?"

  "What is up?" roared his mentor. "Definitely not my spirits, boy!"

  Halt had called him 'boy'. A boy. Halt only called him a boy when Will had just started his apprenticeship. Halt wasn't used to having another person around him back then, so Will was just a boy to him. But why now? What has changed?

  Will opened his mouth to ask, but before he could gather his thoughts, his mentor sprinted towards him with incredible speed. Will saw a small flash of light and only understood that it was Halt's knife when it touched his own face.

  "Halt, what are you doing?!"

  Halt looked into his apprentice's big, scared eyes. "Saving you from your own stupidity." he said, almost whispering.

  Will was at a loss of words. What did he mean? Did that mean that he was going to die now?

  Well, it probably did.

  Even to his surprise, Will got over it pretty quickly and resigned to his death. If he was going to get killed (and he probably was going to get killed one day, considering how most rangers died), he wanted his killer to be no other than Halt.

  So, he didn't even resist. He only said "Okay," in a small voice, reminiscing all the good times he spent in this cabin. However, the certain smell distracted him. "But, Halt," he asked softly, "Can I drink a cup of coffee first?"

  "Coffee can wait, boy."

  Halt had never said anything that even resembled this sentence before. Coffee could not wait, under normal circumstances. But apparently now, it could. It gave Will an idea about how important this thing was. If it was this important for Halt, who was Will to complain?

  So, Will smiled. "Alright," he said.

  "Good." Halt looked him in the eye. Maybe for the one last time, Will thought.

  But then, a few minutes later, Halt stepped back and told him that he was done.

  "Sorry?" said Will. "Done what?"

  "Saved your reputation, boy," said Halt, shaking his head in disbelief while walking towards the coffee pot. "I told you to shave your face yesterday, didn't I? When I tell you to do something, you better listen to me."

  Then the realization dawned on Will, finally putting all the pieces together. He touched his cheek—now soft and smooth, unlike how it was when he woke up. He understood that it was the reason why he felt so odd in the morning; or how Halt looked at him, terrified.

  And it was why Halt had insisted on calling him a 'boy', as if he was trying to convince himself that Will was still a boy and a beard had no place on a boy's face.

  He smiled to his mentor, muttered a quick  'I'm sorry' for not shaving his face last night, forgetting to mention that he didn't know how to shave because he had never done it before, because this beard was  the first beard he ever had in his life and that it seemingly grew quite big over one night. 

  But then, there was also a mischievous glint in his eyes, hinting that he had a very nice idea to plan a harmless prank.

  Or so he thought.

◇◇◇

  It was a special morning for Maddie.

  Really, it really was. Not that she hadn't done this before, but it didn't necessarily mean it was a usual event. Every year at this certain period of time, she was filled with joy and excitement, along with anxiety.

  When she woke up, washed her face, changed into her neat Ranger uniform and walked out of her tent, she could feel the tension in the air.

  The Gathering had started.

  Unlike last night, the area normally covered with trees, was now filled with dozens of tents. We have new arrivals, she thought and walked towards the small crowd of apprentices.

  When she heard what they were talking about, she pouted. The exams. Ugh, how boring.

  She was anxious about the exams, even though Will had said that she would do good, because she was a skilled ranger and had a bit of muscle between her two ears. She had wanted to squeeze more compliments out of him but Will had refused to do so, it seemed like he had something else on his mind. Anyway, she just wanted her mentor to be right as always.

  She walked away from the crowd, leaving the panicking apprentices behind and started to go towards what she liked to call 'The Big Boys' tents. There was Gilan, now walking out of the biggest tent. She realized that she had missed him so much, so she literally sprinted towards him.

  "Good morning, Gilan!" she chirped, with a smile as bright as the sun.

  Gilan turned his head to her, recognizing the princess. "Oh my," he said, with a smile even brighter than the one he received. He had some white strands in his hair here and there, but Maddie thought it added an extra charisma to his usual charm. "It's an honour to see you, Ranger Maddie."

  Maddie would never think that being called a Ranger would make her feel more proud than being called a princess if she wasn't apprenticed to Will. It was her own talent, her own effort and success that made her proud; not the title that she was born with. So she bowed her head slightly to the Ranger Corps Commandant and answered, "It's an honour to see you too, Ranger Gilan."

  After the formal greeting was done, Gilan looked at her meaningfully with bright eyes, and Maddie knew what this meant. She ran at him and hugged him so, so tightly.

  "How are mom and dad?" asked Maddie. "My dad isn't eating too much, is he? He said he was going to go on a diet in his last letter."

  "Oh, I wouldn't be so sure," said Gilan, laughing. "I saw him eat a whole roasted lamb last week, except just one little piece, and he was going to eat that too if your mom didn't remind him that she would like to eat some too."

  Maddie laughed. It wasn't a surprising turn of events, she could honestly see it happening.

  "Where is everyone?" she asked, looking around. "Where is Halt?"

  "Oh, he is in his tent, sleeping soundly." Gilan smirked. "You see, he is an old man now. He needs to sleep a lot."

  "Keep your nonsense to yourself, Gilan," said a voice. It was coming from somewhere behind Gilan. Maddie looked over Gilan's arm and saw Halt, still looking the same as when she last saw him. "If there is an old man among us, it is you. I woke up to find some branches to start a fire before you could even remember your own name this morning."

  Maddie laughed, looking at the pouting Commandant and then she thought she saw Halt doing... something. Was that a blink?

  She ran at Halt and hugged him before he could  even realize Maddie was coming at him. "Maddie," grunted Halt, "I see that you are a lot better at moving without being seen now." But despite his grumpiness, he hugged her back, quite eagerly.

  "So, tell me Maddie," said Halt. "Where is Will?"

  Before Maddie could answer, a loud scream rose from the other side of the Gathering area.

  All three of them suddenly tensed. Maddie reached for her sling, Gilan reached for his sword, and Halt reached for his knife— because he had left his bow in his tent.

  "What is going on?" whispered Maddie. She wasn't scared, her tone made it obvious that she was confident and ready to fight.

  It was Gilan who answered. "We will see." 

  Two apprentices came towards them, one blond and one brunette, with eyes full of fear and white faces. "We saw... We saw something!" said the brunette one, "And it was huge! Covered with black hair! Terrifying!"

  "No, it had dark brown hair and it was terrifying!" corrected the blond apprentice.

  "Wait, is there a bear?" Maddie frowned. "I didn't know there were bears in this area."

  "There are no bears," said Halt, with a deep voice. Honestly, his voice was more terrifying than whatever the apprentices could have seen. "There is only one other option..."

  "Walgars and Kalkaras," Gilan completed the sentence. His face was dark now, and it resembled Halt's expression. He really was his apprentice back in the day, huh, Maddie thought.

  "No!" exclaimed the blond haired apprentice. "It's not that! It's worse!" Then he looked back above his shoulder and his eyes widened with fear once again. "DEAR GOD, IT'S COMING THIS WAY!"

  The apprentices ran away after that and Maddie watched behind them. Their cloaks made it hard to see where they went, but Maddie thought she saw one of them climbing a tree. She decided that it was better to let them do their own thing, and turned her head away from them.

  "I can't see anything," said Gilan, frowning. "What is coming this way?"

  They watched the area but nothing of the sort came up, so they relaxed a little, but didn't put down their guards.

  "Hi, Halt! Oh, Gilan, it's great to see you!"

  It was Will, walking towards them. Apparently, he had  finally decided to leave his tent and join his friends. His voice indicated that there was a smile on his face but they couldn't see it since his face was shadowed by his hood.

  "Good morning, Will," said Halt, and they hugged firmly, like father and son after years of not seeing each other. 

  Gilan smirked. "What brought you here? We almost thought you weren't going to make it."

  They broke free from the long hug. Will titled his head to one side, Maddie knew this meant he was rolling his eyes. "Ah, just some new apprentices," he said. "They distracted me."

  "You too?" Maddie looked at her mentor. "Did you see the thing that they were talking about?"

  "No, there was nothing." Will sounded serious and calm, but there was something about his voice that told Maddie there was more to that. She was going to find out.

  Halt shifted from one foot to another. "Will," he said calmly, "why don't you show us your face?"

  "Don't, Halt," said Gilan. "Maybe he feels ugly today. Happens to the best of us."

  "Now, you shut up," said Halt and shoved Gilan to one side and approached Will. "Is there something you are hiding? A bad scar, perhaps?"

  "Not really, Halt," said Will. "I just didn't want to steal Gilan's thunder."

  Gilan laughed, and Halt reached for Will's hood to pull it off of his head; but with a very convenient timing, a wind blew and the hood was gone.

  And then there was chaos.

  Maddie choked on her own spit when she understood what it was about. She was used to it. But Halt stiffened as if he turned into a stone from the shock, and Gilan shouted right in her ear, "OH MY GOD, WILL, THERE IS A GIANT MOTH ON YOUR FACE - IT'S SO HAIRY AND REALLY UGLY!"

  Other rangers who had heard the Commandant's shout as if he saw his worst nightmare started to approach them. "What is happening?" some said, "What's the problem?" 

  Maddie could hear those two apprentices in the distance, shouting, "I WARNED YOU GUYS!" from a high spot.

  The legendary Ranger, one of the best friends of the Crown Princess, her mentor, Will Treaty, had a beard. 

  And it was petrifying. 

  Now, let's be real, Maddie thought. If they had seen his face with a beard from time to time, (like I do, when he is too lazy to shave) they wouldn't have been this scared. But they only saw his face clean shaven in Gatherings, and they knew how much it resembles a young teenager instead of, well, this thing. So it must have been scarring. 

  And the same could be said for Maddie too, in a sense, because she had seen Will shave just yesterday, and this huge beard had just grown overnight—and that gave her the chills.

  Everything was hazy after that. Gilan almost started to sign the papers of his retirement and also tried to fire Will, and if it wasn't for Maddie, he was about to fill them all. Halt wasn't all so good either. He seemed traumatised, he probably remembered some old unpleasant memories so he sat in his tent for a while after that and didn't talk to anyone, until he realized he could always use his knife when a problem came up.

  Maddie didn't even flinch when she saw a dozen of rangers who had the same idea as Halt, approaching her mentor with shining knives in their hands. 

  Halt was the winner, naturally.

  The problem was resolved. Everyone had a sigh of relief. Because now, Will Treaty was cleanly shaven.

  Yes, that beard had caused the biggest mayhem in the Ranger Corps history.

  Later on, in the evening, the Rangers circled the fire with cups of coffees in their hands, and old Rangers told some stories to the younger ones and apprentices. Will was one of them, telling the story about the first time he was shaved and how his mentor had done it. 

  He said, "I hope it becomes a tradition amongst the Rangers, mentors shaving their apprentice's first beard." He then turned to Maddie. "I'm waiting for the day my turn comes up."

  Her mentor looked so happy that Maddie didn't remind him that she was a girl, so she probably was never going to get a beard that Will could shave. She just smiled and nodded.

  Years later, most apprentices had the experience of getting their first shave from their mentors, so Will's wish actually came true. It was now another tradition amongst the Rangers, and one of the most anticipated ones by the apprentices.

  Will Treaty, the man who had saved many countries, signed many treaties and ended upcoming wars, considered this tradition to be his biggest success.