Ranger's Apprentice I: Arising Danger

| Chapter V

"A Ranger's principal weapons are stealth and silence and his ability to avoid being seen," Will explained later that day. He showed me two sorts of knives, one being small and the other one being long and thick. Both were sharp and both were made with strong metals. "These are a Ranger's knives. The small one is for throwing and the thick one is a Saxe; in case your target gets too close and you have to defend yourself."
     We were standing in the forest with a clear view on some hay bales that were placed by Will. He then had showed me the double scabbard and something else, covered by a case. I knew what that thing could be, because the arrow case filled with arrows that Will had showed gave the surprise away.
     "These knives look good," I said.
     Will gave me the Saxe and let me study it. I rotated it in my hands and tested the sharpness. It was also perfectly balanced. I could only imagine what it would feel like if my enemies get stabbed by this sharp thing. It was made of the best kind of steel and silver to get it hard and sharp enough. I must say that this was the best weapon I've ever seen.
     I gave it back to Will, but he shook his head and pushed it back to me. "It's yours now. But take good care of it. If I see one scratch, I put you on extreme warming ups for two months," Will strictly warned.
     I nodded my head and smiled. "Okay, sure!"
     "What are you smiling at?" Will asked with a stunned look.
     I looked up and quickly explained. "I have a nasty habit to smile whenever I can, no matter the situation. It's a sort of tic and I can't just stop myself from that." It truly was. This tic mostly occurs when the situation is tensed. "My apologies for that, sir." And calling someone sir was also a tic. It's more polite than calling someone by their name.
Will wanted to correct me, he truly wanted, but I would still call him sir, so he decided to let it go. After that he showed me the knife that is meant to be thrown. This one was also perfectly in balance and pretty sharp too. But of course, it differed in size.
"And how do I use this?" I asked.
Will carefully took the knife from me and suddenly threw it at a tree. My eyes went huge because of the sudden move, but then I narrowed my eyes and saw the knife at a distance of ten meter. The knife was thrown in the middle of the stem of the tree, still shaking afterwards.
"How did you do that so precisely?" I curiously asked. I was getting more excited for the Ranger training. Maybe this wasn't so bad after all. At least, I can kick Nigel's and Archie's asses properly after some training.
Will turned back to me and answered: "Practice makes perfect!" He then handed me a belt that goes over my shoulder and around my waist. The belt around my waist has two smaller belts on my left side. He gave me the double scabbard for the knives and told me to put on my belt and attach the cases on it. I did so and then looked at it. It looked pretty cool and badass, I must say!
After I had put on the belt around my waist, Will grabbed the covered unknown thing and removed the case from it, exposing a bow with two curves. It was a little bit bigger than bows that I used to use for hunting (which I did for the fun when I was young). It was also made from dark wood.
Will handed me the bow and let me study this. The wood from which the bow was made was refined and has smooth curves. It's solid and the string is rough and thin. "This is a recurve bow. It's a smaller version of the longbows we use. You should be able to handle this boy and the strength you have to use to shoot."
     I nodded once again. All of this seemed to make sense to me. "Can I try it?" I asked.
     Will nodded and then evilly grinned. "If you feel that's a good idea, go ahead." He stepped back and gave me space. I grabbed an arrow and placed it on the nocking point. I pulled back and noticed how heavy it was to pull the string. I closed one of my eyes (my right eye since I am left-handed) and when I thought I would hit the hale bale, I let go.
     And of course, I had bad luck this day. One: I didn't hit the target I wanted. Instead, I accidentally hit a rabbit which was immediately dead. Two: My forearm hurt like Hell. The pain was overwhelming. I slowly put the bow on the ground and then started rubbing my arm. I didn't say a thing as I rubbed my forearm. I raised my hand and saw a small scratch on my forearm. I looked up to Will and asked: "Mind explain this?"
Will stepped forward and took something. He gestured me to give him my hand. I did and he put something around my forearm. It was a sort of cuff made of stiff leather. "Try again," he encouraged.
Then I noticed that Will was wearing the same thing.
"But this time," Will went on, "try using your back muscles and not just your arms. Push your shoulder blades together."
I nodded and tried again. Amazingly, drawing felt much easier. I smiled a little bit and let go of the arrow. I let my arms hang aside my body as I watched the arrow going. And to my surprise, the arrow hadn't even reached the target, because I had pointed it to the ground.
"When you shoot," Will began, "don't put your bow down because that will affect the arrow's way to the target. Do you get what I mean?"
I nodded my head. I have to say, that I am really excited to get to training.
Will laid his hand on my shoulder and said: "See? Much more fun than bullying your wardmates and losing control which is followed by destruction everywhere you go? Correct?" He intended it as a joke, and I knew he didn't mean it as something negative.
I nodded and smiled when I saw Will smiling at his joke. "I'll work on that." I felt a bit ashamed but tried not to show that off.
"So, besides this stuff," Will said, pointing at the weapons, "I have one question left. . ."
Oh no. Now he would ask me something I would definitely not expect. And then I would be kicked out of the cabin all the way back to Redmont for not being fit for the training. "Yes?"
     Will looked with a strict face at me but changed his expression and asked: "Do you drink coffee?"