Will's Peril and Gilan's Apprentice || A Ranger's Apprentice Fall Fanfiction

Happy Harvest Day!!

A/N: DO NOT READ THIS FANFICTION IF YOU HAVEN'T READ ALL OF THE RA BOOKS, THERE ARE MAJOR SPOILERS.
P.S. This is the first part of my promised RA Autumn FanFic for my contest!🍂🍁🎃🐾🗡🕸🔥🎶
Third Person's POV

Six Months After RA Book 12...
Maddie's eyes popped open.
As always, she tried to remember where she was, then realized she was in Will's cabin in the woods outside of Castle Redmont. She sat up in bed and stretched, jumping up to grab some clothes out of her small closet.

On her way outside to the shower, she called hi to Will, her mentor, who was sitting at the table, reading an important-looking document and frowning.

"Whaaaa... Oh, good morning Maddie. Happy Harvest Day," he said distractedly. Maddie mentally slapped herself. She had forgotten Harvest Day!

Harvest Day was a day in Redmont where everyone could get together, play some games, eat some tasty food, and just have a good time. Most farm workers gave themselves the day off and took their families to the celebrations. No stores opened.

Maddie had heard that this year there was going to be a parade. She was so distracted that she stumbled and fell over the bottom back step. She winced and got up gingerly. Her leg still ached from time to time from her javelin wound.

After her shower, Maddie rushed inside to get some breakfast, her wet hair dripping all over the floor. Will never liked it when she was late for practice. "You do know you have the day off today, right?" Will was watching her with an amused look on his face.

Maddie studied him and noticed more of his sad wrinkles had disappeared recently. "Oh... I do? Really?" "Do you ever only ask one question at a time?" Will grinned at her.

She sighed and admitted she had set herself up for that one. "And, yes, you do. My treat. Go see your parents. Have some fun today." Maddie was the Royal Crown Princess of Araluen, training as a Ranger. "Yesssss!!" she said. She ran to the front door, pulled on her cloak, and buckled on her scabbard.

She patted Sable, Will's dog, who was sitting on the verandah, and headed towards the stable to saddle up her horse, Bumper. She heard him and Tug both call a greeting to her as she swung open the stable door.

"Hi, boy. I'm so excited! Guess what? I have the day off today! We can ride around town!" Bumper looked at her as if to say, I'll ride with you after I get my apple. Maddie obligingly pulled an apple from her pocket.

And waited patiently for him to crunch it up and swallow it. The second the last of that apple was down Bumper's throat, Maddie saddled him so fast it could have been a record.

As she was riding into the village, she spied her friend Jenny waving to her from her restaurant, The Heaped Platter. Maddie waved back and smiled. It was a crisp morning in the early days of autumn, a perfect day for riding.

She neared the town center, to check on parade setup. People were everywhere! This was the village closest to the castle, so people from outlying villages came to help with the Harvest Day preparations. Children ran through the crowded streets, so Maddie decided to get off Bumper and walk him.

The headmen from the different villages were organizing some groups of people into ranks, and Maddie guessed they were to be the entertainers for that night, and that they were going over their routines. Now that she had seen everything running smoothly, she didn't know where to go next. She mounted Bumper again.

This time when she passed The Heaped Platter, Jenny called out to her. "Maddie! Come have some hot rolls with jam. I just baked a fresh batch." Maddie's stomach rumbled. She was in such a hurry to get out of the cabin that she only picked up a piece of toast before leaving, and had ended up giving it to Bumper.

Okay, she thought. I'll have a few. Maddie noticed that Jenny's face had an extra light to it today. She stopped by the door and dropped Bumper's reins. "Stay," she said, and walked inside. She went to find Jenny, when another familiar voice said, "Maddie!"

"Gil?!" Maddie exclaimed. "Guess who decided to come and visit for Harvest Day?" Jenny walked out of the back room, beaming. Maddie ran over and hugged Gilan. "How did you get the day off?" she asked. Gilan was the Ranger Corps Commandant, which meant he ran the Corps and dealt with all of the really official paperwork.

"I looked at all my paperwork and thought, 'To hell with it today!' Going to regret that tomorrow. Hey... is Will giving you the day off?" Gilan said incredulously, and Maddie laughed. "Yep," she said happily.

The official Harvest Day celebration didn't begin until around 6:00, after everyone had eaten, so Maddie just hung around town, mainly in the restaurant with Jenny and Gilan. The three of them were sitting at a table in the back, talking about nothing, when Maddie blurted out, "Are you getting married yet?"

This greeted silence all around. Jenny and Gilan wanted to marry, but Jenny wasn't going to uproot her restaurant business any time soon just to follow Gilan around on his Ranger business. Each time they met, Gilan asked Jenny to marry him, but again and again she declined his offer.

"Well..." Gilan started, but Maddie flushed and said, "I'm sorry if you didn't want to talk about it, I mean-" "Actually, I've decided to take Gil up on his offer this time. We just didn't want anyone to know until later..." Jenny trailed off. "Oh my goodness, that's great!" Maddie squealed. "I promise I won't tell anyone."

"Thanks, Maddie," Gilan said with relief. They were interrupted by a loud crash, the crash of cymbals. "We'd better hurry if we want a good spot to watch the parade from," Jenny said, and they all rushed out.
Do you guys like the little paragraphs I did this time?
-Audrey❤️❤️❤️❤️