A Ranger's Apprentice for life. (A Ranger's Apprentice FanFic) Book 1

~Chapter 1~ Where it all began...

*In case you missed it before, I have the trailer off to the side.

A/N: Some characters, places, and ideas belong to John Flanagan, writer of the Ranger's Apprentice series. I own Keira, Fury, Devin, Silean, and Ivory.

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I woke up with the sun in my face. My dream had been a strange one.

I was walking through woods with a black dog beside me. Looking around, I saw two hooded figures meeting at a cabin in the middle of the clearing. I tried to get their attention, but they just ignore me. When I was running over, I tripped and fell.

My dream abruptly ended right there. I wipe my face with my hands and rolled over to go back to sleep, but then I remembered. "That's not good..." I moaned. Today was one of the most important days of my life, Choosing Day. I dashed out of bed, got dressed and ran into the kitchen. Closing the door to my shack behind me, I ran off towards Castle Redmont. Living in my own house was a deal that I had made with the Baron as long as he had someone check on me every once and a while. When I was about half way there, I saw my best friend Cobi jogging towards me. I stopped and grinned while I waited for her. "Hurry up Cobi. If you want a good chance in life, we need to get moving." I started to jog as she caught up to me.

     "So," she asked, finally catching up."What craft at you hoping to get accepted into?" The question was a good one, but I hadn't really thought of an answer for it.

     "I would like to be a Ranger if I can, that would be nice," I commented. Cobi stared at me like I was crazy, then replied,

     "A Ranger? I don't know if that's going to happen." she said with a sigh. We took a break for a moment, then continued at a slightly faster pace. Finally about half an hour later, we reached Castle Redmont.

     "Hurry up Cobi! We're an hour late!" My voice filled with panic as we rushed up the stairs to the Baron's office. By the time we opened the door, the ceremony had already started. The Baron glanced at us with a smile.

     "It's nice of you ladies to join us. Would you be so kind as to wait upstairs in my office?" Baron Arald nodded his head towards the door, and motioned for us to leave.

     "Of course My Lord," we replied while closing the door behind us. I could hear the other wards snickering at us. When we got upstairs, I turned to my friend as I shut the office door. "Oh Cobi, we're dead! Baron Arald will kill us for being late on a important day like this!" My eyes started to sting with tears. Cobi looked at me and hugged me.

     "It's ok... just calm down. Baron Arald might look like he's going to do something, but everything will turn out all right." After feeling reassured, we sat down and waited about half an hour. Baron Arald came in and quietly closed the door behind him. I couldn't bring myself to look him in the eyes. His voice rang out in the empty silence of the room.

     "Ladies, I know that both of you tried your hardest to get here on time. With both of you living on the edge of the village, I'm excusing you just once. Your new mentors will have to take over anything else that might come up. Halt, Gilan would you come in?" Two hooded figures in mottled grey and green cloaks entered the room, and at that moment I knew that my dream was about to come true. "This is Ranger Halt and Ranger Gilan. They have talked with me and have agreed to take you as their apprentices. They have already chosen who they wish to mentor, so I will let them speak now." Ranger Halt cleared his throat before speaking.

     "I have decided that I wish to mentor Keira, because of her personality and skill. Also because she would be too much for Gilan to handle." Cobi snickered at that comment and I saw Gilan open his mouth to reply.

     "Well Halt, I've been thinking, what if I wanted her as my apprentice?" We all knew the answer that was about to be heard.

     "Gilan, you're still an apprentice, you're not ready to think." At this comment, Baron Arald burst with laughter and Gilan looked out the window. Cobi, who was just as excited as I, got Gilan's attention with her response.

     "You know, you all have forgotten about me. I wouldn't mind being Gilan's apprentice since he's stuck with me anyways." Halt smiled a little bit at that comment and decided he'd had enough.

     "Ok everyone, that's enough. Come on Keira, we need to get going if you want to get your things." I hugged my dear friend good bye and waved as Halt and I walked down the stairs toward the castle bridge. I kept thinking that all of this was a dream and that I was going to wake up, but I decided that some dreams are keepers. By the time I finished packing my items, it was nearly dinner time. I offered to make dinner and invited Halt to stay, but he declined. "No thank you. We really must get going, you have a busy day tomorrow. After all, no one ever said that Ranger training was easy." Halt rushed me out the door and down the road. I ran to catch up with a silent Halt.

     "Halt? Since tomorrow is my first day of Ranger training, can I do something special?" I saw a flash of happiness on his face before he replied.

     "Tomorrow, you will be learning what it means to be an apprentice... That should be special enough." I smiled to myself and didn't speak the rest of the way to the cabin. When we went inside, Halt showed me where to put my things and how to make a simple dinner."See? It's a nice beef stew. Now, you just need to practice." We ate several helpings before Halt decided it was time to turn in. "Oh one last thing Keira. Your necessary clothes should be in your dresser." I smiled at him.

     "Thanks Halt. Good night." I heard him sigh quietly.

     "Good night. Make sure you get up early though, you have lots to do in the morning." I slipped into my night clothes and lay in bed wondering what Cobi is doing and what tomorrow will be like. I finally drifted off to sleep listening to the birds around Halt's Cabin.

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I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! :D