Will was in the village again. He had learned little about the mystery girl, but little was something. Will could tell that she was an expert climber, possibly better than himself and that she was good at moving silently and unseen, like Rangers. Will also gathered that she didn't want to be seen or noticed by the way she sneaked around the village. On this particular engagement, Will saw her hiding in the mid-afternoon shadows behind a barn. She was sitting there, sulking, although Will didn't know why.
She was obviously still attentive, because after noticing Will, she ghosted in the shadows when Will glanced behind him so she seemingly disappeared. To a normal person, it seemed she had performed sorcery. To a trained Ranger like Will, he knew what she had done, although he didn't know where she went.
Meanwhile, back at the cabin, Gilan had arrived for a surprise visit. Halt opened the door, excited to see his former apprentice and good friend.
"Gilan! Nice to see you again. Do we have a mission or something? Last time you surprised us, I almost lost my apprentice!" Halt said, although Gilan recognized the pain and worry as Halt add the last sentence as a joke. Gilan laughed.
"Not today, Halt. I just thought I'd come visit for a few days, if I'm welcome of course." Halt nodded eagerly.
"Of course. And I assume Will will be delighted to see you as well." Gilan smiled. He enjoyed the company of the bearded, grizzled Ranger and the young, cheerful apprentice.
"Where is Will?" Gilan asked, confused. Halt shook his head.
"I was going to ask you about this. Come, sit down and we'll talk." A few minutes later, Halt continued. "I don't know why, but for the past, let's say, 2 weeks, Will has been making excuses to go to the local village and I don't know why. Most of the time, they're stupid reasons, but he's been progressing very well and he always finishes his training first." Gilan nodded.
"Did he find....a girl? If you know what I mean." Halt shook his head."
"I understand, but no. I've spied on him once or twice, but he just rides around and does nothing." Because the two couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation, they moved onto other topics.
Will was on his way home, when he was convinced he heard something in the trees outside the cabin. He turned, and saw the mystery girl spying on him! For the first time, he got a good look at her. She was probably a bit younger than himself and definitely smaller. She was fit and had a curious and frightened look. Will nudged Tug a pace forward, but then she disappeared. Will sighed. I'll never figure this out. He opened the door, and was delighted to see Gilan sitting at the kitchen table.
"Gilan! How are you? Are we going somewhere? When did you get here? How's Blaze? Is something bad going to happen? Halt, did you know about this?" Will asked, the mystery girl forgotten. Gilan laughed at Will's endless stream of questions. Halt rolled his eyes.
"To answer your many questions, I'm doing well, we are not going anywhere, I got here about an hour ago, Blaze is good as well, nothing bad is happening that I am aware of, and Halt did not know. I'm just here to visit for a few days."
The trio talked for a while and caught up on everything that had happened. Gilan sighed. Will seemed completely normal, but he would ask Will about the village situation later. Surely, there had to be a reasonable explanation, right?
YOU ARE READING
Ranger's Apprentice FanFiction: The Mystery Girl
FanfictionWill Treaty's training had been going well. Halt hadn't made too many sarcastic comments, they had stopped a group of bandits the previous week, and he was learning and improving quickly. One day, Will spots a girl in the village, but she seems...
