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Published:
2023-03-12
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1/1
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Puff out your chest

Summary:

A short story of how Will deals with stress after Skandia. There's a lot of Fluff.
This is my first FanFic ever. Please let me know what you think of it and if you have a tip. But please be nice.

Notes:

Disclaimer: It's a fanfic based on the books of John Flanagan. I do not earn money with this.

A story based on a TikTok song

I really want to thank Stella Lesair and Kittel form being my beta readers.

Work Text:

The first really warm and sunny day in Araluen has arrived. The early flowers are blooming and you can hear the sounds of small animals in the field and forest. Halt is sitting in the shade under a tree, doing some paperwork. It would have been a peaceful day if his mind didn’t constantly wonder to his apprentice. Gilan has taken Will on a mission to distract Will from his thoughts.

Halt noticed that his student is stressed before the gathering, even though it is unnecessary. Since Will came back from Skandia two months ago, he has been training like never before. Which Halt disapproves off, because he worries Will asks to much of his body.

It’s the same time early in morning and somewhere in the east. "Wow he's come a long way". The older ranger is filled with pride at the sight of his little brother. The two rangers are trying to stop a dozen bandits who are terrorizing a small village. People can no longer enter or leave the village. the only road connecting the village to the outside world, the bandits hide and wait for people to rob. The two rangers are sent out to stop them and already made a plan:

Will would enter the road and as soon as the bandits attack him, Gilan would come out of the shadows and they could fight and arrest the criminals together.

Upon to this point the plan was working splendidly. When the opponents emerge, Gilan is able to shoot five of them in a matter of seconds. Leaving seven of which three are surrounding Will and four are trying to stop Gilan. The older fighter just finished defeating the fourth one, when he sees how Will also just finished off his last opponent with his two knives.

"Will please tie them up so we can deliver them to the castle." Will only nods in return.

After handing in the bandits, the two rangers go to Gilan's cabin. When they arrive, they lead Tug and Blaze to the stables, where they care for them. It is normal for rangers to take good care of their horses. After drinking a good cup of coffee, they still have three hours of daylight left. Gilan decides to train hand to hand combat with Will.

"Gilan that's not fair!" Will screams as Gilan lifts him above the ground. It was an easy feat, after all he is much taller than most rangers and his younger companion is even shorter than average.

"And you think your opponents will always fight fair?" Gilan responds with a laugh. Gilan yells out in pain and loosens his grip quickly when he feels Will is biting his hand. Now it is Will's turn to smile at the face his older friend makes. Then they struggle on for another hour before they go inside to eat.

After dinner Will is packing his things. As soon as the sun s, he will be going back to his home. While Will is busy, the older ranger senses a change in mood. Gilan’s gaze is following Will around the cabin and out of the corners of his eyes he sees Will staring at his bow. Gilan realizes how young he really is and how much he has been through already. He is well aware of how hard Will works, helps everyone and is always looking for a way to be better. The stress he carries with him is obvious. As Gilan is thinking, an idea came to mind. Something that might help the little brown-haired ranger who has a tendency to overthink.

Back in Redmont, Halt sits on the porch of his cabin. It is a chilly and early morning and the grass was still wet with drew. The sun’s reflection makes it look like there are little crystals everywhere. He hears Abelard softly neighing a friendly greeting.

‘So Will is home. I hope he had a good time'. As he is thinking this, Will rides into the clearing and greets him with a big smile on his face. It makes Halt feel warmer than he would ever admit.

After Will tends to Tug, he goes inside to find two steaming mugs of coffee waiting on the table. He sits down at the opposite side of the table from Halt and accepts one of the mugs with gratitude. He starts to report what happened, but when he sees his mentor's face he stops. Halt hadn't said a word since he got back and just stared at his hair. He soon realizes why he does that. When Will was in Skandia his hair was cut short. Afterwards he let it grow and wore it loose. But when he was on the mission with Gilan, his hair had gotten in the way. So at this moment he has his hair tight up in a high ponytail with a few streaks hanging loose at the front that didn't fit in. It is the first time since Skandia he is doing this. Though his mentor never mentioned it, he knows Halt always liked the ponytail. Halt looks at Will with those dark eyes, his face showing nothing, but in those eyes he sees a spark of happiness. They enjoy the coffee and each other's company in a comfortable silence until he leaves to train.

Will is shooting some arrows while Halt is back in his favorite spot under the tree in the shade. In this comfortable place, Halt had the time think about some things. Like how Will always seems more tense after training. Or how it’s getting warmer and some things need to happen. Maybe he should make Will practice something else later-

Right at that moment his train of thoughts got interrupt. He hears correctly, right? But how could this be? He could never mistake the song he is hearing right now, it’s the one he sings very occasionally when he's stressed. Will shouldn't know, but how-

That LITTLE shit Gilan! He must've heard and taught the song to Will. He looks back at Will who is still shooting arrows. When he sees how the grip on the bow loosens and the arrows shoot faster and more accurately, he doesn't mind so much anymore. Gilan had found something that could help his student.

A few minutes earlier, Will was busy shooting, but when he wasn't satisfied with the result, it got worse. He slowed down and the arrows weren't going where he wanted them to go. Will started to think it wasn’t good enough. Was he not good enough? He almost missed an entire year. But what if... wait. He started singing the song he had learned from Gilan and noticed his shooting was getting better. Just when he was about to start the song a third time, he heard his mentor.

Wait what? He is singing along? They look at each other a moment before they continue to sing the song together.

Puff out your chest
Take a deep breath
You're gonna be okay
Is it loud in your mind?
Just take your time
You're gonna be okay

After they finished, they never said anything about it to each other. But they don’t need to, because the two of them understand each other.
Now they occasionally hear the other sing it, after all Will would never let go of such a special song and Halt does not bother to hide it from Will anymore. Not many rangers have a bond like this with their apprentices. A bond like a father and a son.