The Life of a Ranger, Ranger's Apprentice Fanfiction

Chapter 14

"Will! Do I have to go? I want to stay here and practice." "Yes, you do. It's fun! You need to relax for once." Will and Errol are preparing to leave for the Harvest festival. Halt is already there with Pauline. Errol hates the festival. It's fun. For those who have friends and family. Having neither, the only time he's went, he felt more alone than ever.
"I doubt I'll relax. I can relax here. Maybe even practice some more." Will wags his finger at Errol. "Errol, you've been practicing constantly each day. You need a break. Now come on." Sighing, he obeys and they ride to Redmont. When they arrive, Will turns to Errol. "I planned to have lunch with my old ward mates. You can go ahead and have fun. You've got enough money for the day." At that, Will rides away despite Errols protests. Knowing that he needs to do something, he rides towards where all the main attractions are. He buys a candied apple and settles down at a tree. He also buys an apple for Midnight. When he finishes, he sits there thinking about what to do next. Are we just going to sit here? Seems kinda boring. Errol looks at Midnight. "That's why I'm thinking. Any ideas?" You're the Master. You are in charge. Errol sighs. "Yes, but you're my friend. Friends give ideas." That's human friends. Horses follow the leader. We don't give ideas. "Seriously? D-" "Hey! Why are you talking to that dumb horse?" Errol groans. He recognizes that voice anywhere. He turns around. "He isn't dumb. He's a very intelligent horse, Timothy." Timothy is with his usual gang. Timothy's eyes narrow when he sees Errol. "You! Why didn't the ranger kick you out yet?" "Why would he do that?" "Because you would just be a failure. I don't know why the ranger made that mistake." Errols fists clench. "For your information, Will says that I'm one of the best he's ever seen. Halt, too." Timothy laughs. "Halt? That old coot? You can't trust any rangers word. Especially his." "Don't you dare insult Halt like that! He's one of the best men in the continent!" "Really? If I recall properly, rangers are sorcerers. And sorcerers are meant to be put to death. Halt won't make it much farther before he's caught." Gritting his teeth, Errol knows that saying something might make it worse. Instead, he turns his back and prepares to leave. "Don't you turn your back on me! Get him!" Errol is hit in the back and is sent sprawling. He quickly rolls away and scrambles to his feet. The gang surrounds him and starts shoving him around. One of them shoves Errol at Timothy and Timothy steps aside. Errol falls to ground. "Oops. My bad. I missed you." That gives Errol enough time to get up, and land a solid kick to the stomach. All the air goes out of Timothy. Following the kick. Errol spins and brings the heel of his hand up to Timothy's face. Timothy flies backwards into his group. They stare at their fallen leader, who is groaning through a bloody nose. When he recovers, he looks at his friends in anger. "Well, don't just stand there. Get him!" All of them fall on Errol before he can move. He lands some hits, but they overwhelm him. One kicks him in the ribs and he hears a loud crack followed by Sharp pain. Not the ribs again. Suddenly, a scream pierces the air. Midnight charges the boys, scattering them. Timothy stands. "Oh, come on. He's just a shaggy pony. He's harmless." Errol Is still lying there on the ground. They mustn't know much about ponies. Midnight bites and kicks, taking down a few. Timothy gets in a rage, and picks up a long stick. Using the stick, he swings crazily at the horse. He gets close, and finally throws the stick at Midnight. He dodges the stick, but then Timothy grabs some more sticks and rocks and start throwing them at him. Midnight can't dodge everything, so a few catch his side. "Leave him alone!" Errol jumps in front of Midnight, just as Timothy pegs three more missiles. A stick stabs his arm, and a rock hits his shoulder. The third missile is another rock. It connects with his head and everything goes black.
Midnight panics. Seeing Errol down, he bolts away. Timothy laughs. "That's right, dumb pony! Run! Leave your owner behind!" The remaining boys drag their unconscious comrades away. Timothy follows them with one more kick at Errols still form.

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

Will arrives at Jenny's restaurant just before everyone else. He drops Tugs reins to the ground, since ranger horses don't need tethering, and walks in. Jenny sees him and gives him a big hug. "Will! Glad you could make it. Pick a table and make yourself comfortable. The others should be here any minute, now." Will settles down at a table tucked into the very corner. Soon, Alyss enters and gracefully makes her way to Will. "Hello, Will." They hug. "Hello, Alyss. How did you know I was at this table?" Alyss laughs. "You're a ranger. They always reside in the darkest corner." Will smiles. "I guess you're right. What's happening with the couriers, lately?" "Oh, the usual. Here comes Jenny." Jenny walks over and hugs Alyss. They chat for a bit, then George enters. Straight after him, Horace comes in, tugging the princess along. "Hey, guys! Guess what?" He shouts excitedly. "King Duncan accepted me! We're engaged!" Everyone in the restaurant freezes. "Oops." Says Horace. "Go on. Nothing to see here." Instead, everyone bursts into applause. Shouts bombard them from all sides. "Congratulations!" "You'll make a great king and queen!" "Couldn't be a better guy for the princess!" Horace quickly sits down and hides his face. "That was meant to be a secret for now." Alyss pats Horaces shoulder. "There, there, Horace. Forget that. It was an honest mistake. I'm happy for both of you. When's the wedding?" Horace smiles. "In two months. We're very excited. How are all of you?" Everyone says that they're fine. Jenny gets the lunch: roasted lamb, with some of her famous soup. Once everybody's ready, they dig in. Evanlyn stares in horror at Horaces eating habits. "Horace! You better behave properly when we're married!" "Mogk." He mumbles. Everyone laughs. Turning their attention away from Horace, Alyss changes the subject. "Say, Will, I heard that you have an apprentice, now." Will nods, his mouth full of Jenny's delicious food. He swallows. "Yeah. His name is Errol. He was a ward for six months." "Six months? Where did he come from?" Will shrugs. "I don't know. Halt found him in the forest. He won't tell anyone anything about his past. He's a very peculiar fellow. He's a good boy, though. He's an expert at weapons though he's never touched them before." Evanlyn looks at Will. "Really? That's interesting. Will he ever open up?" Will shakes his head. "I hope so. He's warming up to us. Us since Halt is helping too. From the looks of it, he's broken. He reminds me of myself. He also reminds me of Halt. He's very serious and has never smiled." Will leans forward. "And something is wrong. For some reason, someone i-" A commotion outside interrupts him. Everone rushes out. There, in front of the building, a small, black horse is rearing and screaming in fury. "Midnight!" Will runs to the horse. "Whoa, Midnight. Whoa. Where's Errol. Did something happen to him?" Midnight calms, but is shying in the direction of the festival. "Will! What's happening?" Shouts Evanlyn. "I don't know. This is Errols horse, Midnight. Something must have happened to him." Will jogs to Tug and starts tightening his girth. "I'm coming with you." Says Alyss. She moves to her horse. "Me too." Everone, but Jenny, echoes her. She looks at him regrettably. "Sorry, Will, but I need to care for my restaurant." Will nods. "I understand, Jenny. Sorry to leave so soon." With that, Will spins Tug around and takes off with Midnight. The others bid their farewell to Jenny and follow. "Oh, Errol, what trouble did you get yourself into this time?" Whispers Will as he bolts down the road.

Hey, how was that? I'm not actually sure what Horace was like when he got engaged. I hope that seemed accurate enough. If not, please tell me. Well, adios my friends. :)