Awkward Moments, Rangers Apprentice by Cookieninja450

Chapter 1

Thanks to WriteratHeart2 for editing this! She shall be writing the next chapter of the story!

Halt drifted in and out of the shadows, heading toward the fruit stand. Will had begged him to stock up on apples for Tug and Abelard. They had run out a few days back and, with Will and the horses combined whining like chickens with their heads cut off, he couldn't say no. So they had set off. Will was busy with his friend, Horace. He had told Will to meet him at the inn at noon.

Halt was standing at the fruit stand. The merchant shrank back. Inside, Halt sighed. All this nonsense about Rangers being black magicians. He took twelve apples, and poured some coins out of his pouch. They clinked as they spilled out.

"Thank you, Ranger!" the merchant squeaked. Halt curtly nodded, then headed for the inn. Suddenly he felt a strange sensation. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and adrenaline surged into his vein. He turned around, and saw a stout man staring at him from the corner of a street. He was chilled.

The man had ice blue eyes, a beak like nose, he was short, and he was bald. The man made Halt feel very uncomfortable. He quickened his pace, almost running for the inn. He stepped inside and his eyes scanned the room. He found Will and Horace sitting at a corner table. He walked over, and sat down.

"Hello, Horace, Will." he said, glancing behind him. "Hi Halt. Hey, why do you look so spooked?" Horace grinned. "You see a monster?" Halt turned around and glared. "Shut up, I'm looking at one right now." Horace chuckled good naturedly.

They ordered their food and set to eating. Halt wasn't even hungry. He picked at his food, thinking about the mysterious man. "Halt, if you're not going to eat that, can I have it?" Horace asked through a mouthful of food.

"Mm," Halt mumbled, pushing his dish toward Horace. The door of the inn opened and a gust of wind blew in. Halt shivered. And then he saw who came in. It was the man who'd been staring at him.

Halt's eyes widened. Will and Horace didn't appear to notice anything. It felt as if the inn had been deprived of all its warmth. The man started walking toward the side of the room Halt was sitting in. He came closer and closer, and then he was right in front of them.

"Hello. Are you Ranger Halt?" the short man asked. Halt nodded. "Well, hello there. May I sit?" Halt stared. "Yes, you may." The man sat down and started talking with Halt. "So, have a nice day?"

Halt nodded. "How about you?" The man smiled a wolfish grin. "I've had better." Halt leaned forward. "Tell me." And so, the man launched into the story of his day. Pretty soon, they were having a good time. Then, the man stood up. "I best be leaving now. Oh, by the way, my name is Arnold." Halt nodded. "Good bye, Arnold. I'll see you around."

And with that, Arnold left the inn. Horace and Will grinned. "Halt made a friend!" will squealed. Horace gasped. "Oh, really! Amazing! "

Halt glared. Horace and Will sang, "Halt has a best friend!" Halt reddened. "Shut up, imbeciles!" Halt hissed. "Your are so loud!" Will grinned. "He's going to be your best friend forever and ever and ever and ever and ever,"

Halt glared. "you're going to have so much fun!" Horace squealed. Then, Horace and Will said together, "And he's going to be your best friend for ever and ever and ever and ever!" Halt swore that the whole inn was listening. He sped outside with Will and Horace right behind him.

Horace went off back to battle school, and Will and Halt got back on their horses. "For ever and ever and ever," he teased. Halt glowered at him. "Shut that endless black hole you call a mouth up!"

They rode the rest of the ride in silence.

Again, thanks to Writeratheart2! She's going to be writing the next chapter!