Ranger's Apprentice One Shots

Memories.

My hair was plastered to my forehead. Sweat trickled down my neck. My muscles were sore. With every push, my only thought was, I have to impress this guy.

I knew I was being watched. For the past hour, I had been instructed to do my full-body workout, as Halt called it. I had done it everyday for the past five days, but with struggle. I was not used to putting so much pressure and strain on my muscles. I knew the Rangers were strong, but....

28....29....30!

I let my arms collapse under me. I rolled onto my back and squinted against the sun. All that was left of the workout was something called a plank.

My muscles screamed at the thought of doing it.

But, I could still feel eyes on me. I couldn't actually see Halt, but I knew he was there. Every time I tried to take a break for more than five minutes, I heard an annoying, "you're not done yet!"

I laid there for four minutes. My breath had slowly gotten from a "heheheheh" to a "heh..heh...heh..."

I closed my eyes and rolled back onto my stomach. With a groan, I raised myself in a plank position and held for a count of thirty.

By the end of it, I wasn't even sure if I could move.

                                                                                                    *********

After days of doing the full-body workout and learning about weapon safety, I finally stood by the archery course.

My arms still felt sore when I did the workout, but not as much, I noticed. I also realized that the workout allowed me to hold the bow longer.

"Twang!...thump!" the arrow hit the second ring to the middle.

Halt would be disappointed, I thought.

I was annoyed with Halt. The guy kept pushing me too hard. He gave me too many hard challenges that I hadn't learned how to do yet. It was like not knowing how to swim then being thrown into the ocean. But at the same time, I enjoyed the lessons. They did push me, even if they were hard. But, I also had a limit. Halt was pretty close to stepping out of that limit. But what am I supposed to do? Tell my new master that I refused to do the work? That it was too hard for me? Yeah right.

Even if I would tell Halt that it was too hard, Halt never listened. He would grumble some sarcastic line like, "god, what happened to brains today?"

That was another thing that annoys me. Halt never seemed to say anything but sarcastic lines. He only commented on the bad things, like when I made a mistake on a worksheet Halt gave. Never, "good job, Will."

"Twang!...thump!" another arrow hit the second ring.

Frustrated, I drew another arrow, this time lifting the bow slightly more upwards.

"Twang!....thump!" the arrow hit the innermost ring.

                                                                                               ***********

Tug neighed from the stables, but I was so exhausted I didn't even bother to open my eyes.

I knew what time it was: Tug's feeding time. But I just couldn't get up. Halt pushed me, as usual, today, and made me complete an obstacle course he'd set up. Five times. That was along with all the other things I did in my training. Then, Halt taught me how to do laundry.

I sighed. I'd feed Tug in fifteen minutes. Tug wouldn't starve. I continued to lay on the small armchair with his eyes closed.

But a sudden clear of the throat made me blink them open.

Halt stood there, a mug of coffee in his hand. Why he was drinking coffee at seven at night, I didn't know. To Halt, coffee was like water.

"Did you not hear Tug?" Halt asked, a slight tone of disapprovement in his voice.

"I heard him," I closed my eyes again.

"And?" Halt said.

I rolled my eyes underneath my eyelids. "And I'll feed him soon. He won't starve."

There was silence. The silence got so long that I actually opened my eyes.

Halt tilted his head, reminding me of a dog. "Alright," Halt said, surprising me, "alright. You're right. I guess I'll just skip out on preparing dinner tonight. Maybe even breakfast tomorrow, too. I mean, after all, you won't starve."

I inwardly groaned. Living with this guy was making me pull my hair out. But, I knew that Halt would also live up to his threat. So, I dragged myself off the chair and carried my legs outside.

                                                                                         **************

"No, this did not happen!" Gilan laughed. "This is not real!"

Will smiled. "I promise, it's true. Every word."

Gilan continued to laugh loudly. He doubled over in laughter, holding his stomach.

Will had recently found his old diary in Halt's cabin and immediately invited Gilan and Halt over to read it. They read it on the veranda, remembering old times.

Halt leaned forward, frowning. "You make me sound like the bad guy. I was just doing my job." he looked up at Will. "training you."

Will laughed. "I know, Halt. but when I was fifteen, you definitely seemed like the bad guy."

"Skip...preparing...dinner!" Gilan choked out in laughter.

Will and Halt turned simultaneously to him. "It's not that funny, Gilan!" Will said.

Halt just grumbled.