Ranger's Apprentice: Tales Untold

He's really gone

⚠️SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE TOURNAMENT AT GORLAN!!!!⚠️

CROWLEY SIGHED AS HE ran a hand through his hair. Ever since the abrupt ending of the tournament, he'd had his hands full of paperwork and assignments. "Oh, blast it," he muttered, slapping the paper on the table. He stood and strode out the door, rubbing his face. If I see one more piece of paperwork, I'll shoot it, he thought.

As he stood outside, however, the thundering of hoofs reached his ears. The others around him buzzed with conversation as the familiar shaggy gray horse rapidly neared.

Crowley couldn't help the small smile that slipped over his face. With all the work, he'd barely had time to spare for his old friend. Seeing him now at least lifted some of the stress that had been weighing him down.

"Halt, Halt!" he called cheerfully, raising a hand in greeting. "Been a while since I've seen you."

The short Ranger swung down from his saddle and glanced at him. Crowley frowned slightly; Halt was normally taciturn and grumpy by nature, but this seemed a bit much. "Is everything alright?"

"Unless you want me to tell you right here, I suggest we go back in your office." The Ranger turned away as he spoke, and the suspicion in Crowley grew at the slight catch in the other man's voice. He followed Halt without comment, staring hard into his back, near bursting with questions.

Halt shut the door, and Crowley could wait no longer. "What's wrong?" Halt turned to him, and Crowley was startled to see the glimmer of tears in the Ranger's eyes. "Halt...?"

"Pritchard," was all he said.

~<>~

THE BLOOD DRAINED FROM his face. There were no other words spoken, but Crowley didn't need to hear anymore. "What?" he demanded. "What do you mean, he's...? What kind of joke is this?"

"Do you think I would joke about something like this?" Halt snapped, turning away. "I don't know how. Morgarath and his cohorts are gone—"

"What?" Crowley grabbed his shoulder and spun him around as his mind warred between panic, anger, and grief. "What do you mean, they're gone? And what does this have to do with Pritchard?"

"If you'd let me finish! Don't touch me!" Halt scowled at him and shoved his hand off. "Arald and I went into Gorlan's grounds. Something wasn't right. No one had moved in eleven hours. There was a servant there, that told us they'd been gone for five days."

"How?"

"A tunnel. We followed the tunnel down. He..." Halt turned away again, his form stiff as his hands clenched and unclenched. "He was already d—"

"No." Crowley shook his head, pacing back and forth. "No. You're lying. Halt, this has to be some sort of ploy. Please tell me it is!" He stopped pacing and whirled around to glare at the Ranger. "Halt!"

But Halt only stared at him, those dark eyes burning with hatred and sorrow.

Crowley backed away, bumping into the desk. A lump formed in his throat as he remembered of every moment with the white-haired Ranger. Pritchard had been a second father to him, a part of his family. And now...

"You said they're gone?" he asked in a dull tone. Halt only nodded, and Crowley's hand wrapped around the hilt of his saxe knife.

"Let's go."

Halt jerked his gaze up. "What?" he asked, a trifle incredulously. Crowley glared at him.

"I said let's go. Morgarath isn't getting away with this. He killed him, Halt! You expect me to let him get away with it out him paying for it? I'm going to kill him!" And with that, he barged out the door.

~<>~

"CROWLEY!" HALT CALLED, BUT the sandy-haired Ranger. He swore under his breath and ran out the door, towards the stables.

Crowley was swinging up in his saddle when Halt grabbed his arm. "Crowley," he said in a low voice. "Get. Down."

His friend glared at him. "Let go of me, Halt," he hissed. "Either you come with me, or I'm leaving you here."

"Neither of us are going anywhere." When the Ranger Commandant continued to stare at him, he sighed and jerked at the arm, grunting as Crowley crashed into him, and they both fell to the floor.

"You're going to let him get away with this?" Crowley cried, springing to his feet. "Do you care that little about Pritchard?"

The older Ranger may as well have slapped him. Halt froze, and started forward, grabbing Crowley by the collar. He slammed the other Ranger against the wall.

"Don't you dare say that to me," he said. "Pritchard was the only one I had who even cared what happened to me. He was the only one who even bothered to be around me."

"So you're going to let his killer get away with it?"

"I'm not. Morgarath will get his due. I know it, you know, and Pritchard knows it. But we can't just go barging in there. For one, we don't even know where he's gone, Crowley! Use your head! I want to kill him as much as you do, but we both know we don't stand a chance against him and all of his supporters with him."

The sandy-haired Ranger stared at him defiantly before dropping his gaze a moment later. "You're right," he mumbled. "But..."

Halt let go of him, and Crowley slumped against the wall. "He's really gone," he whispered, his voice quivering.

Halt nodded and turned away so that his friend wouldn't see the tears that fell down his cheeks.

A/N: Now here's a character that doesn't get that much. Pritchard was one of my favorite characters, and it killed me when he died. We never did see Crowley's initial reaction, which is why I wrote this.