The Life of a Ranger, Ranger's Apprentice Fanfiction

Chapter 20

"What am I going to do with you, Errol?!" Errol cringed at Will's tone. After the incident with John, Will and Halt rushed him to the medical tent. It's not unusual to have a ranger's apprentice patched up at the Gathering, but with how many times Errol gets hurt, he's catching up to Will in his injuries. Only the number of his injuries in six months are almost the same amount that Will's had in six years! "I did warn you about how much trouble I'll be." Halt turns to him. "Did you know that someone wants you dead or alive?" "No. I didn't know I would be that much trouble. But not very many people like me, so I'm not surprised." Will starts. He likes Errol. "Why do people hate you so much?" Errol shrugs and sighs. "I don't know. I try to be likable, but it almost seems natural for someone to hate me." Before any of them can reply, Gilan sticks his head in. "It's time to assess the apprentices." Will nods. "Thanks, but I'm afraid Errol will have to miss out." Errol ignores him and charges out. "Errol!" Will runs after him. "Errol, you're injured. You need to rest." Errol stops. "I can't miss this. My arm is fine. I can do this. I didn't come all this way for nothing. Besides, John won't be there." John was punished by not being allowed to be assessed this year. He has to spend an extra year as an apprentice. He would have been kicked out, but Errol intervened on his behalf, despite what John did. Errol thinks that everyone deserves a second chance. Will sighs. "Ok, fine. Just be careful out there. Please do not draw too much attention to yourself." Errol continues to the clearing where the assessments are done. Crowley, the Commandant, is in charge of assessing the apprentices. Levi, one of the retired rangers, is assisting him. Crowley orders us into a straight line. "Ok, now. There's five of you this year. First up is archery. When I will call your name, you will step forward and shoot at the five targets. I will judge your accuracy and quickness. And one more thing; don't stress. This isn't a competition. Take it easy enough that you can breathe." He looks each of them in the eye. "Jared! Start!" Jared starts before calming himself. He steps up, mocks an arrow, draws, and after three seconds, he releases and the arrow hits the bullseye. It wasn't quite in the middle, but very close. He repeats his movements four more times. Crowley nods for him to get back in line. "Bernie!" Bernie steps forward, looking a bit excited. He shoots in one quick motion five times. The arrows just hit inside the bullseye. Crowley nods and he steps back in line. The other two apprentices have their goes, then it's Errol's. He steps up, and takes a deep breath. Pretending that he's back alone at the cabin, He shoots in rapid repetition. Each arrow hit the dead centre of the targets. Oblivious to the stares, he steps back in place. Crowley tells them to rest. He discusses the results with Levi. Five minutes later, he calls them up for knife throwing. They all do pretty well with that. Then Crowley hands out sheets of paper for a tactical assignment. The papers state a big problem, your resources, your enemy, and your environment. You have to discover what to do to win. They are to work on it until after lunch, when Crowley will see what they come up with. Errol sits away from the other apprentices and studies the situation. He loves tactics.