Ranger's Apprentice One Shots

Grounded.

"I hope you're practicing," Will heard Halt call, a warning tone in his voice.

Will rolled his eyes and kicked at the leaves angrily. He was grounded. He was grounded for playing a stupid prank on Halt. All he'd done was offer to make Halt's coffee, much to his mentor's surprise, but instead of adding sugar to it, Will added salt. Gorlog's fangs, couldn't Halt take a joke?

So, Halt grounded him saying he couldn't meet up with his friends. His former wardmates arranged to have a picnic today, near the river they used to play by. Now, Will was missing it.

He heard a clear throat and looked up to the verandah to see Halt standing there, glaring at Will over a mug of coffee.

In addition to his punishment of not seeing his friends, Halt had also deprived him of coffee. Which part of the punishment was worse, Will didn't know.

"Why aren't you shooting?" Halt asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Why aren't you minding your own business?" Will muttered at the ground. Luckily for him, Halt didn't hear.

"Well, Will? Get to it!"

Will wanted to kick Halt in the shins.

He reached for an arrow and strung it on the bow, deliberately taking too long. He aimed, shot and reloaded all in five seconds, which of course, was what a first year apprentice could only do. For a fourth year like Will, it should've taken a little less than two seconds.

He glanced at Halt to see if that small, but noticeable action got a reaction from Halt.

None.

Choosing some choice words to mutter, he then shot another arrow, this time, a little slower.

"You know, if you don't finish your amount of shots, this is going to push into supper and the night," Halt warned.

Will rounded on Halt, a heat so profound in his eyes that it was amazing Halt didn't burn up right then and there. Halt merrily looked back at him, then went inside.

Will was all too familiar with Halt to know that he'd live up to his threats. Besides, he didn't want Halt to make the punishments build up more. Will had enough experiences in sleeping in a tree for a lifetime.

Resuming a normal pace, Will continued shooting for another twenty minutes. He needed to shoot at least fifteen rounds of all twenty four arrows (though not all at the same target), but after each set of arrows would run out, he needed to collect them, only adding more time. So, the time it would take to shoot all two dozen arrows, and collect them would take roughly around five minutes each.

Will was not happy.

In the middle of his tenth round, he heard a subtle crinkle of the leaves. It could've just been an animal, but Will whirled around to check anyway. A Ranger was always alert.

Another crinkle and this time, a snap of a branch.

There wasn't an animal in sight.

A loud snap of a branch. Will drew back his bow, holding it at his full arm's length. He widened his vision, looking from right to left, up and down. His heart was accelerating, but he took deep breaths. To shoot, you needed a clear mind.

From his left side, he could hear a loud, deep growl. An animal stalking him from the forest nearby? Waiting to attack?

Something moved. Something in a dull gray.

"You! In the gray!" Will shouted, motioning with his bow, "come out, now! I'm armed!"

Another growl, this time quieter. He was about to shoot an arrow in it's direction when a dagger whipped by his ear!

He whirled around, knowing the direction the arrow came from, but not exactly where it came from.

A subtle snap of leaves on his left. A crunch of branches on his right. And the growl sounded again from in front of him.

He was surrounded.

Deciding to deal with the animal in gray first, he turned to its hiding place and shot. He expected to hear a whimper, but no sound.

Something latched onto his arm!

Will screamed and without thinking, threw a punch at the thing.

"Ow! Gorlog's beard, Will!" the thing shouted.

Will actually took notice of who he hit and realized it was Horace...

What on earth?

"Admit it, Will. I'm a pretty good silent mover."

"Wh– what the..."

"Hey, Will!" he turned around to see Alyss walking over with her hands spread out.

"Will!" Jenny called, a basket in her hands.

"Oh, I never thought I'd scare you so well!" George's voice came from where Will thought the animal in gray was. "And a Ranger too! Ha!"

Will was in shock. "Wh-what? How the...?

All of his former wardmates were grinning at him, Horace's smile a little more a smirk than the others.

"Payback," Will heard a voice from the verandah say.

Then it dawned on Will. Half smiling, half angry, he turned to Hatl, standing by the cabin.

"That's what you get, Will!" Halt shouted in the most uncharacteristic "Halt" voice.

His friends laughed at Will's face.

"Halt, you planned this?" Will shout.

He nodded. "Every bit. It was only...fair."

Horace punched Will in the shoulder and made the growl-like sound he had heard then said, "I make a pretty good wild dog, wouldn't you say?"

"But, I–" Will tried to get the words out, "I thought the growl came from there!" he pointed to the bush that George was behind.

"Yes, I'll thank you for that terrifying arrow you aimed at me," George said in a matter-of-factly tone.

"Well, George, in all fairness, I thought you were the animal." Then he added, "but who threw the dagger?"

Alyss proudly stepped forward and gave a small bow. "None other."

Will dropped his jaw. "And Jenny?"

She smiled. "I provided all the crunching of the leaves."

"So..." Will trailed off.

"So," Halt replied, "this was all a setup and I had always intended on your friends coming for the picnic."

"So I'm not grounded?" Will said, hope rising.

"You're grounded?" Horace and Jenny said, astonished at the same time. Halt and Will ignored them.

"Hmm," Halt pretended to think, "as far as picnicking with your friends, no. Coffee privileges, yes."

"You're cruel, Halt," Will joked. His friends laughed.

"Now come one!" Jenny said, waving up the basket, "let's not waste my pies I made!"

"Yes, I'm quite famished. Can we eat now?" Horace replied.

Will smiled. The only way the day could get better was with a nice cup of coffee. Oh well.

Oh Yeah! Two storied in two days! (And  a longer story!)

Comment your favorite RA character. Mine is either Gilan or....nope, it's Gilan. For sure.