Ranger Apprentice One-Shots

Haphazard Remedies

 Sunshine crept through the leaves above his head, warming the hood of his cloak and making Gilan prone to dozing, as he sat in the woods waiting for his quarry. Beside him, Will stirred slightly, and the other ranger gave him a warning look. They had been sitting in the forest for the better part of an hour, and if his sixth sense was correct, they should be seeing the object they'd waited for, any minute. A branch snapped, and his nerves tingled.

 Moving cautiously, Gilan notched an arrow into his bow and studied the brush. Assessing. As he had figured, a shape slipped quietly through the bushes toward his left, and the unsuspecting doe was perfectly oblivious to him and Will, as she nipped the tender blades of grass in the clearing. His bow at the ready, Gilan calculated where best to put the arrow. His muscles tightened as he drew back the string silently, his focus entirely on the doe-one second more-suddenly next to him, a sound shattered the peace of the forest, and the doe's head shot up. Grunting a warning, she turned tail and fled, leaving Gilan without a moment to take his shot.

 Ever so slowly, he released his bow string, and sat back, yanking his cloak's hood off angrily. Will gave him an apologetic look. "Would you mind explaining that?"

 "Sorry, Gi-gilan," Will's chest heaved suddenly, as he hiccupped again. I didn't kn-now it would ha-happen." Now hiccupping loudly, the younger ranger rose and took deep breaths. "There, I think I g-Go-t it, " as the squeak cut off, he groaned. "I'll just head back and let you f-finish."

  Blowing out his breath, Gilan shook his head and also rose. "No, I might as well call it a day. Let's go tell Halt we have only rabbits, instead of the venison he ordered." With a wry smile, the ranger led the way out of the woods and to the cabin where their senior ranger was working at making a stew over the fire. Without looking up at their entrance, the grizzled man grunted and addressed them both. "Failed at the hunting, I see. Will, come take a taste of this and tell me what you think."

 "S-sure, Halt." Will squeaked as another hiccup rocked him. Halt's eyebrows rose. "What in the name of all things ranger, is with you?"

 "Don't ask." Shrugging off his cloak, Gilan unstrung his bow before setting it carefully aside. "But we need to fix it, or our reputation as rangers will be sadly damaged." wagging his eyebrows, Gilan grinned as Will hiccupped mid-taste and nearly bit the ladle.

 "Let's see, my Aunt Tabitha used to have some good cure-alls for those." Halt, moving around the table, kicked Gilan's long legs aside and frowned. "You don't have an Aunt Tabitha."

 "Of course I do, " Gilan said cheerfully. Everyone does. Now, Will, the first one is simple and we'll try it..."

 Half an hour later, Will had tried a full spoonful of honey, which had been the last bit Halt had and had made him favor them both with an angry stare, jumping jacks, holding his breath until he was blue in the face, and drinking water by the cupful. And at the end of it, Will still rocked with the aggravating hiccups. Gilan was stumped. Staring thoughtfully at the groves in the table, the ranger roused himself when Halt stomped back inside with a few of his dried herbs.

 "I just don't understand how they could all fail." he mourned. "I would try scaring you, but well, that just seems pretty pointless with you being a ranger." Across the table, Will groaned and hiccupped again. "I would almost do anything at this point, Gilan."

 Unnoticed by them as he bent over the stew, Halt's lips turned upward in a smile. "You boys just have been going about it the wrong way," he admonished. Gilan rose, stung by the tone. 

"I've done everything I know!"

"Yes, you have. but you haven't done it far enough." Rising from the pot, Halt pursed his lips as he stared at Will for a moment. Then he headed toward the door. "Come on," he said curtly.

Looking toward Gilan uneasily, Will rose and followed, wondering what his mentor had in mind. Gilan followed, still puzzling how he could have done things far enough. They trekked a ways through the field, until Will realized that they had left the cabin far behind and were approaching the road way toward Redmont. "Halt, what are w-we doing?" he asked.

 Ahead of them, a well-filled creek sliced the road neatly in two, and a sturdy bridge spanned this bubbling ribbon of water, enabling a pleasant crossing. As they approached, Halt swung away from the bridge, and scanned the bank. He appeared to be muttering to himself, and Will shot Gilan a concerned glance. The older ranger shook his head and just watched. "Ah, here it is."

 Coming to where Halt stood, Gilan and Will stopped one on either side. "W-what? I don't s-see what y-you're looking at." Will squeaked. 

 Halt gave  him a serious look. " The reason you didn't get rid of the  hiccups with Gilan's methods, is because you didn't go far enough. You have to drink plenty of water and get your mind off of them at the same time, so-"

 Understanding hit Will the same time as Halt's hand hit the small of his back, knocking him off balance and into the water. The place Halt had chosen was deep enough that he completely submerged, kicking his way back up and spitting out the stream water. A thrashing noise next to him announced Gilan's presence in the water as well. He sputtered and floundered a moment, looking balefully up at their mentor.

 "Did you have to go so far?"

"It worked, didn't it?" Halt smiled a little, as Will grinned, realizing the shock of the cold creek water had scared the last of the hiccups away. "You just didn't go far enough. Apprentices these days, they just won't listen." he chided them mockingly.

 Will threw back his head and laughed, as the situation hit him, but Gilan, struggling up the bank had one last question. "Why did you shove me in too? I didn't have them!"

 Over his shoulder, Halt threw the answer back briefly. "That's for using the last of my honey."