Ranger's Apprentice; An Emotional Tale

V: "What are you doing here?"

It was cold. Ice-cold. The trunks of fallen trees bore icicles longer than a hand, no two of them the same - more enchanting than any work of man. Every twig and blade of grass grew winter "leaves" of ice crystals, frost deeper than the wool and leather of their gloves and clothing. The unnatural, choking mist that swirled and sprawled on the forest floor reminded them both of the smoke bombs Malcolm had invented, but never had that smoke been as thick and long lasting as this one. 

The white substance on the ground and branches of the trees seemed to possess liquid properties which only reminded of the maggot-like texture of the eyes of a dead man who had been forgotten in his apartment for a few months, ready to burst at the slightest touch. The smoke made no sound however and only parted to swallow up their feet as they marched upon the giant dead, festering eyeball of the forest floor. The sound of mushy and dead leaves whispered from under the skin of the mist, ear deafening in the silent forest. Birds did not chirp and there were no other animals who's sounds submerged from between the trees. 

The two Rangers rode on their horses over the icy path, deeply huddled in their cloaks, their cowls far pulled over their heads. They hadn't been trotting for some time, the risk of falling too big. Instead, they just walked in a quick pace, making sure to stay firm on the slippery path. 

If one of them would fall, it would most certainly have terrible results.

They had left Castle Redmont two days ago, so had been riding for two long days in this extremely cold weather, without anything that happened. It wasn't weird though. According to the route Crowley had made, the group of bandits would only reach Redmonth a few days later. Even so, Halt and Will had decided to disappear from human eyes.

If the bandits thought they were safe, they might get cocky and be easier to catch, Halt's newest wisdom called. 

Yet that thought didn't make the weather any better

At least it had stopped snowing, Will thought. The only thing that could make the circumstances worse was the fact that they would not only be incredible cold, but soaking wet as well. That situation would be close to unbearable. 

"Things are going to change, aren't they?" Will looked up, surprised, roughly taken from his thoughts, when Halt's deep voice broke the silence. Without any context, the younger Ranger had no idea what is mentor was talking about. 

"What?" he asked astonished, and he saw how Halt sighed wearily. 

"Alyss. Pregnancy. Baby?" he explained. Will's eyes lightened when he understood what Halt was talking about, and when he was reminded of the happy news Alyss had told him two days ago. 

"Oh, yeah, of course!" he said, "Yeah, I think things will change rather a lot. I mean, when one of us - or both - leave for a mission, or something like that."

"I think you should send Crowley a letter. He'll probably be okay with you taking a few weeks off in the weeks around her giving birth. And I believe Alyss wouldn't be okay with you not being there."

Will nodded in agreement and grinned sheepishly. 

"Yeah, I will. We were going to send Horace and Cassandra a letter and I'll add one for Crowley as well. I haven't had time for it yet - you had gotten me out to camp in this awful weather before I had any chance of doing so."

His face hidden in the shadows of his big cowl, Will luckily didn't see Halt smile. The older Ranger was aware of the fact that this was the last subject Will had expected him to talk about. But he was also aware of the fact that his apprentice wanted to talk about it, and for one time he was willing to be the listening ear. And, if needed and possible, to give advice. 

The old, jaded Ranger knew from experience how hard life of a Ranger could be. And Will's relatively short life had been filled with a lot of horrible experiences any normal person would not even dare to dream of. He was glad he former apprentice had gotten another source of light in his life. He was happy for Alyss, too. Life of a Ranger's wife wasn't easy as well and he knew she was looking forward to the new adventure.

Meanwhile, Will kept talking cheerfully. "I do think there will be some hard times as well, though, especially for Alyss. I think-"

He abruptly fell silent when Halt raised a hand. There had been a sound. 

Not even a second later, both Tug and Abelard confirmed such a sound. The two Rangers felt it more than that they heard it, the rumbling sound deep inside the chest of the two horses. They turned their heads towards the place they had heard it, somewhere along their right side. Will followed their example and it made him smell something. 

"Fires," he said quietly, and Halt nodded. He had smelled the same. They kept walking for another few minutes, until Will thought to see something on the ground. He bowed, almost out of his saddle and pushed some frozen branches to the side. Tracks. Of a grown up men, apparently, who was wearing woolen clothing, Will decided, as soon as he saw some brown wool hanging on one of the branches. He got it out of there and showed it to Halt. His mentor nodded and gestured him to get off his horse. From this place onward they'd go walking. 

Silently ghosting through the silent forest, the two Rangers moved slowly to where they expected the camp to be. Of course, it could be a normal camp with no dangers or secrets, but it was unlikely. No one was willing to go out camping in this horrible weather. 

After a few minutes the odor of smoking fires got stronger and they even heard some voices. They sounded muted, as if they wanted no one to hear them. But the forest was completely deserted, so every small sound was easily hearable.

Hidden in the shadows of a few trees Will and Halt stood watching. Their cloaks didn't truly conceal them in this whitish landscape, but they were warm and comfortable. And they wouldn't be more concealed without them, so they had decided to keep them on.

"They shouldn't be here already," Will said quietly, "They shouldn't be here for another few days at least!"

Halt, who had had the same thoughts, nodded. They had been watching the camp for over an hour, and it was clear this was the camp they had been looking for. But not already. 

"Apparently they're quicker and better than we thought," he said, just as quiet. "They are way too professional - look at the way they set up their camp!"

He was right. The fires were smartly hidden, so that the smoke wouldn't be very visible. Their tents were set up near each other, in a small circle, but with enough space so that they couldn't be surprised easily. They were with more than they'd expected as well. Crowley had written that they were with about six bandits, yet there were nine visible. Two bandits were keeping sentry, each at the other side of the camp. One stood with the horses. The others watched the flames, cleaned up or prepared their weaponry. All together a dangerous group, Halt thought. But watching them didn't make them less threatening. 

"Let's go," he told Will, "We're not gaining anything if we stay, and we need to think of a good plan to catch them - preferably tomorrow! The longer we wait, the less chance of success we have, and the weather isn't getting any better as well."

Will slowly nodded and looked one more time and the hostile camp. Then they turned around to return to Tug and Abelard, when a deep voice stopped them.

"Who for the devil are you and what are you doing here?"

>>>----------> 

Aaaaaaaand the action has startedddd!!!! Wouldn't that be a nice plottwist, if Halt and Will would be in trouble before they had really started? ;-)

Hopefully you'll know soon...!

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~Rose