Sick Day, Rangers apprentice by Elfpen (Fanfiction )

Chapter 7: Welcome Home

Author's Note:

First, I would like to extend a thank you to an unknown, unreachable author, Zaber3.

Dear Zaber3,

I would like to thank you very much for your lovely flame. Not only did the entire thing give me a hearty laugh, but it was also incredibly useful for roasting marshmallows to make cyber-s'mores, which will be handed out to all who actually bother reading my story before reviewing it.

Thanks again,

Elfpen

Now that that's taken care of, back to the actual author's note. As many of you know, this is the last chapter of this story. A sad day, yet a relieving one. I rarely get around to finishing any stories these days, and I'm glad to have this one done and off my plate. I hope that I finish and wrap it up in accordance with all of your expectations. Enjoy.

Also, a BIG thanks to Furuba99SSBB, who gave me the idea that you'll see executed in this chapter. I was scraping the bottom of the barrel for ideas, coming up with only overly-mushy premises and a good deal of splinters until she showed up and threw out a funny, clever idea that (I think) is totally in the character of everyone involved. So, thanks a million, Furuba99SSBB!

Wow. Long author's note. On with the show!

It was early morning, and the sun was only metres above the horizon, casting long morning shadows and illuminating the drops of dew that lay fresh on the grass. The breeze was slight, but crisp and fresh, the temperature only just stirring away the cold of last night. Across the fields of Redmont fief, the sounds of the just-woken farmers and their families could be heard - a door shutting softly, a cart beginning its rolling trail down the main road. Overall, it was a supremely peaceful morning, as mornings tended to be here at the edge of the forest.

One of the few observers to the early sight couldn't hold back his small smile. He breathed in the fresh morning air, enjoying the sweet taste of it. He surveyed the expansive view of the village and the castle beyond it with a lifted feeling before heading off to his morning chores. He remembered a time quite clearly when he hated mornings. Often, he proffered sleep over early rising, as most wards did. It was shocking what a year or two in Ranger training did to a person. Many things, his unsleeping master among them, had long since converted him to the peculiar race of 'morning people', and he now enjoyed mornings, despite the chores and lost sleep. Well, so long as there was coffee to be had.

But he had already downed his first cup in record time, and so he had no qualms now about fetching the water.

Heaving up the bucket with practiced ease, Will trudged over to the small stream behind the cabin in a casual way, though his eyes scanned the surrounding area subconsciously. He wasn't wearing his cloak this early in the morning; he liked the feel of the cool breeze. He scooped up a bucketful and turned back toward the small cottage. This would be his thirty-first and last trip back to the cabin's water reservoir, and so once he'd deposited the bucket and its water, he went up on the veranda and sat in his designated canvas chair, which stood on the opposite side of the doorway from Halt's.

It had been three weeks since he'd been admitted to the infirmary. He'd spent one-third of that time in the infirmary itself (much to his chagrin) being treated like a king, but feeling like a prisoner. There was nothing worse, Will had concluded, than being bedridden non-stop for a week with nothing to do and healers and their apprentices watching your every move like sentinels. He, Halt and Gilan had shared a small celebration when he was finally allowed to return home, but the festivities were short lived. Halt quickly had him back on his regimented schedule, with reinforced severity to make up for lost time. Will smiled at the thought, remembering how many times Halt had grimaced in the past week at an only marginally perfect shot of Will's bow, and muttered the enduring mantra, 'Practice, practice, and more practice.', a careful eye on his apprentice, before grumbling something derogatory about infirmary protocol taking the edge off his protégé.