Ranger's Apprentice I: Arising Danger

| Prologue

His mother was a knight and died.
His father was a Ranger and died.
Please take care of him.
His name is Silver.

I was raised in Redmont's orphanage. This orphanage has one good reason to raise kids like me, because we are orphans. And when the wardmates, or at least a small group, turn fifteen years old, they will attend the Choosing Day. Which means that they will choose their future. And tomorrow is that day, and I am fifteen years old now. And I should be happy now. But I wasn't. I was feeling entirely the opposite.
I was so insecure and afraid I would not be chosen by a Craftmaster. I am afraid they would not even see me standing there in line of wardmates. I was small and I think that would be partly the reason I won't be chosen. But I think the main reason is my behavior.
The reason I am this insecure is because of my background. I am told by Baron Arald that my mother was an experienced Battlemaster. She was a knight of the royal army and fought against the Wargals and Kalkara. Those creatures are extremely battle-hungry and fight until the very end. My mother was there when she fought against Morgarath. And she died.
And then my father. He was a Ranger of the Corps Rangers that serve the King, now the Queen that rules Araluen and sits on the throne — Queen Cassandra and her husband King Horace. My father, Ranger of the Fief Gorlan, was killed by Morgarath's Wargals and Kalkara's. That was fifteen years ago. And now I'm all alone on my own.
My wardmates — Casper, Charlotte, Archie, Lewis and Nigel — are always giving me that look. They look at me because I am the only one with no parents. And I am the only one who cannot "make my parents proud".
Casper will certainly be chosen by our Horsemaster, and Charlotte will be a Kitchenmaster, Archie a Battlemaster, Lewis will be a Courier of the Queen and Nigel an Armourer. And what will I become? I am too small to do this kind of work and I must say that I am not the sweetest, good boy you have ever met.
I saw Nigel coming to me. He had this grin on his face because he would ask me about which craftmaster I wanted to be assigned to. And he knew so well what my answer and my background is. I had to push him away. "Hey Silver!" he began.
I sighed. "Go away, Nigel, or do I have to remind you about the fact that you are left-handed?" Left-handed people are rare here and it was the first thing that had popped into my mind to use against him. Besides the fact that I am left-handed myself too, but I never showed someone.
"But Silver, just think about. . ." he continued with a tone I couldn't understand.
"I'll kick your ass so hard so that you will remember my feet," I cut him off.
Nigel's face immediately showed fear. He rapidly walked away from me but kept looking over his shoulder. I was small and not that strong, but I have this nasty habit of losing control. And if I lose control, I rage and wreck things nearby. That's why I am often called the Rage Monster. And if it goes out of hand, I even start crying and I can hurt someone with my fists. If I lose control, I can seriously hurt someone.
Seven years ago, when Archie had watched me writing a letter to Baron Arald, asking him to apprentice me to the Battlemaster or at least Horsemaster, he had torn the letter and had thrown it away. I was so angry that I started crying at first. That day I seriously hurt Archie by breaking his nose. The sound of his bones breaking was so satisfying that I wanted to hurt him even more, but luckily for Archie, Casper and Charlotte stopped me from going even further. And let me say, I was in love with Charlotte since I was six years old. But I knew she has never saw me standing, or even looked at me, like I look at her.
As Nigel walked away, so I went to the garden and sat down on a bench. I am very skinny, and I am agile, but for now, I could only think of tomorrow. I was so nervous, because I knew I wouldn't be chosen. I knew it deep down. I wanted to change my behavior, I really wanted to. I just couldn't push away the thought of getting bullied. Pushing others away was the only way to not get bullied. I knew it wasn't right, but in the row of years it has grown to be my daily routine. And I knew this would be the reason I won't be chosen.
Maybe I was exaggerating a little bit too much, but I was just so insecure about it. About it. About tomorrow. About not getting chosen. Or I was just too insecure about things in general. Or I was a coward.
"Silver!" Someone was calling me. And I knew who that someone was.
"I-I'm here!" I answered. I looked over my shoulder and saw Charlotte. She was a beautiful girl with a small face and dark brown hair. Her green eyes had the color of grass. Fresh green eyes that look with a fresh look at the world. She was pretty.
"How are you?" she asked me while sitting next to me.
"I'm good," I answered. I was not good at all. I just wanted to be alone.
"You're not," Charlotte slowly said, looking at my face.
I ignored her look and stared at other things around me. "I. . . I don't know. . ." I only said.
"I can see it in your eyes," Charlotte said. "Your eyes are different when you push others away and are much more different when you talk to people you love."
I looked at Charlotte and just awkwardly nodded before I stood up. "I'll just see what will happen next. . ." Hopefully one craftmaster would have mercy for me. But I guess this would be not my future. Because I simply won't have a future here. I am useless, I am frustrating to talk with. I am nothing. You want proof? I am the living evidence.