Alright, I decided to make a fic on Rangers Apprentice because why not. This is not my main piece of work right now so updates will likely be sporadic based on how much attention this gets. As always don't be afraid to leave a review of ways to improve my skills as a writer or to state whether you like this or not and if you want more. I've got about 30 000 words done in a VERY rough version that, if edited, can be released fairly quickly. However, past that point will take longer because I do have other projects and irl problems. Anyways, hope you enjoy!

It was hard to hate anything on such a beautiful day, but Will couldn't help it. Only a handful of years had passed by since his adventures in Nihon-Ja, but he still found himself wanting to be on another one. He had begun to grow bored doing menial tasks around the cabin and at Redmond castle. It was only a handful of times when a cork sprang loose, only to plug itself by the time he'd arrived. As Will sat down with a hot mug in both his hands, he stared blankly at a wall. Even though it appeared he was lost in philosophical thought, he was only delving into his memories. Halt had retired a few weeks ago after his hair finished turning silver, and a month before that Crowley had also retired. Gilan was the lucky ranger that was chosen to fill Crowley's boots as the Ranger Commandment; Will knew he was up for the job but not so much for the paperwork. He grinned as he thought about the hiding spots and perches Gilan would have time to build around the gathering grounds like Crowley had done. He let out a sigh, Halt had moved to Castle Araluen in his retirement. Lady Pauline likewise joined him, moving into the draft apartments in the stone towers. It was beginning to feel lonely around here as all of his mentors and friends began to feel their age.

At least he had Alyss here at Redmont with him. Will looked into the dark liquid still steaming in his cup. He wondered if he would look different if Alyss weren't here with him—how he'd act without her. I'd probably be as grim as Halt. He looked over at Ebony, who still showed signs of pure activity. She stared right back into his eyes, showing some concern.

"You have anything I could do?" Will asked her.

There was no response other than a slight tilting of the border shepherd's head.

Will looked around at the spotless shelves, the rug on the floor he had already beaten and his recently-polished dishes. He had even gotten two buckets of water waiting outside his door for when he needed them. He looked down at the paperwork on the small nearby table while scoffing at himself; he'd gotten so bored that he had begun to do paperwork. He felt like Crowley for a second, that's what most of his senior life as a ranger was. He pitied him but was glad he wasn't chosen to take his place. Although Gilan was now at Castle Araluen, which was an absolute honour, Will was contempt with Redmont—actually he loved it. He would go down to Jenny's restaurant and play his mandolin; he could always use some extra cash. Even though Rangers were respected and feared, they were paid a small amount. Will couldn't even afford a mirror for his cottage. He always had to use Alyss's or at rare times, Arald's, who had a full-size mirror and whenever Will stepped into his office he would immediately step in front of it.

He grinned as he remembered Arald's condescending words, "you hate being seen by others but can't take your eyes off yourself. You're almost as bad as her." Of course, the Baron always joked about him and Alyss, but Will wasn't aware of how much she admired him. He thought he admired her and not vice a versa. Will shook the thought from his mind.

Alyss was out on a mission, due to be back soon. Of course, she had taken over in Pauline's place, and she was wonderful at her job. To Will's dismay, she was still a courier, still with missions she had to endure and very little time off for herself.

Almost psychically, he heard voices outside his cottage. Ebony noticed too and pricked her ears up and walked towards the wall. Will smiled at the dog who was seemingly staring at a blank slate of wood—that's what it looked like to the average person. But to Will, he knew of the two small holes put through the wood by an arrowhead that Ebony used to look safely out of. She would be able to look outside of the cottage without having to leave, allowing her to warn Will whether someone dangerous was approaching or not. Her ears flicked and she looked back at Will letting out a high pitched yip, almost as soon as Tug nickered a greeting outside. Will raised an eyebrow—an action that he learned from Halt. He wasn't expecting any visitors, but obviously, it was someone the animals knew. He knew it wasn't Alyss because she would have been at his door by now. She always stopped at his cottage before going to the castle. But she always leapt off her horse and opened the door with an air of confidence before Ebony could get eyes on her. Will took advantage of it and had played a few practical jokes on her because of this behaviour. She only did it because she knew how Will hated when she barged in unannounced. One time he had placed a bucket of lukewarm water on top of the door that was open ajar. Alyss hadn't thought about the door already being open, and when she shoved it away the bucket tipped onto her head, drenching her from head to toe. He had tied a string from the bucket to the ceiling, he didn't want to give her a concussion as she came in. But to his surprise she wasn't angry at all, she grinned at him and lunged at him out of nowhere. She bearhugged him and, using her height, she lifted him off the ground. By doing so she soaked him too, and then they'd both begun to laugh uncontrollably.

Will shook his head to clear the thought and immediately regretted it. He had caused an involuntary movement in his hand holding the mug and spilt some of his precious coffee over his hands. He laid the mug on a counter and wiped it on himself.

"Nice going, not like that's expensive or anything." He blew on his burned hand and waved it in the air and froze as Ebony was staring at him. He shooed her away, he could have sworn he saw her grin as she got into her bed happily. Will squinted at her but shifted his gaze back to the door. If it wasn't Alyss, maybe it was Horace. He visited Redmont once in a while to catch-up. Will shook his head immediately—there would be more men here. After all, he was technically King.

King Duncan had fallen ill a month earlier, no one really knows what it was that ailed him. It may have been caused by his age, but nonetheless, he didn't have the strength to govern in his state. His body was strong, but this ailment affected the mind more than his body. It was Malcolm that identified his illness.

"He's not sick at all. He's just feeling his age all of a sudden. Soon he'll be over it and come to face how his body is changing. It's like going through puberty." Malcolm had grinned at the last statement, it didn't make Duncan feel any better but there wasn't anything Malcolm could do; like he said it would pass. Maybe it is because of all the stress he's been under as King, he's definitely got more than a few gray hairs. In his absence, Cassandra was named queen temporarily. With that title of ruler, her husband Horace was also named King. He had felt guilty taking Duncan's title but Duncan was actually encouraging him to do it.

"You need experience in governing." Duncan had told his successor.

Cassandra was an excellent queen, Will wouldn't be surprised if Duncan retired and let her take over. She's implemented laws and changed taxes that have benefitted everyone—she'd even impressed Duncan. Will had a nagging suspicion that Duncan was faking it. He knew he wanted to test Cassandra and this was definitely working. Although it made her and Horace extremely busy; to see them it was mainly Will that had to go out. But once a month or two they would make time to come down and visit for a day. Sometimes they stayed longer, bringing their work with them.

Will bit his tongue, telling himself to stop being reminiscent of everything. He focused again as he began to hear horses footsteps— definitely not enough to be Horace. Halt possibly, but he was sure he would have heard Abelard's gait, he could recognize it from anywhere—it was the same with Tug, Kicker and even Blaze. But this wasn't a horse he knew, and there were a few more horses just behind. In fact, the rider on the first horse seemed to be an amateur; the horse was sidling and sidestepping as they cantered making it unable to keep a steady gait. Will racked his brain but couldn't place who it was. It was someone he knew—someone that Ebony and Tug knew well. But he didn't recognize any of them by sound, and that was a very rare occurrence. Maybe he'd made a mistake he thought to himself. Will stepped closer towards the door trying to listen, trying to place who it was.

Little did he know, his first thought was the correct one even if he had reasonable evidence to cross it off. Alyss was an experienced rider, and she would always gallop to Will's door, skid to a stop and essentially kick it open as if she owned the place. She loved annoying and embarrassing Will at times like this. She knew how boring life around here was at this time of year. But on her recent mission, her horse had accidentally stepped into a hole made by a badger looking for a food. Luckily the horse hadn't broken its leg, but it had fallen forward and onto its side. Taken by surprise, Alyss wasn't able to unsaddle herself in time. The horse landed on her right leg, almost breaking it. She wasn't sure if it wasn't broke or not, maybe it was just fractured. Either way, she couldn't walk on it afterwards because of the pain—it swelled around the knee and grown an ugly greenish yellow. One of her men-at-arms had attempted to get her out from under the horse quickly, but the flailing, panic-stricken horse struck his chest with a hoof. He'd broken three ribs and wore an ugly leather cast around his chest with a look of resentment at his fellow comrades who tried not to laugh at him. Alyss, on the other hand, was told she wouldn't be able to walk without a cast and needed to give it time to heal. Since she was almost always on missions, she had been given a crutch to help her mobility. Her cast was a long simple hardened piece of leather that made it so she couldn't bend her leg. It stretched from just above her right ankle and to the lower part of her thigh. It made riding awkward and the horse kept skipping to the left or right with signals she inadvertently sent to it. She hissed under her breath as the horse danced again and sent pain shooting up her leg. It was completely numb except for these sudden movements. Her right leg didn't even fully sit in the stirrup and hung awkwardly just outside of it. She felt like if the horse reared in annoyance it would throw her off, and she was scared to death of that. Likewise, the horse was equally frightened of her by now because of her un-ladylike swearing when it had almost crushed her leg.

Nonetheless, Alyss was determined not to let a small injury get in way of her duties, or her routines. She would have made her usual entrance to Will's, but the rocking motion of a galloping horse made her mind go numb with pain.

She didn't know how painful this would be for her and she could only think of how Will would handle it—for he's been through more pain than she ever has. In fact, he'd taken a knife into his thigh a year ago. It was a fight between him and some lowly bandits that hadn't recognized Will. They attacked while he and Alyss were on their way towards Wensley Village to meet with Jenny. They'd gotten lucky with their timing as Will had taken off his double scabbard for a moment to fix a broken buckle. He'd been forced to drop his weapons and grab his bow but not without one of the men getting close to him. It was almost too quick for Alyss to see at the time, but Will hadn't expected such a fast attack and had been injured by one of the three bandits. After being stabbed, he had left the knife inside, shot down two of his attackers and fought the last one in close combat. They had both been disarmed earlier, but Will had seen an opportunity. He swung a right hook that he knew his opponent would sidestep out of. But as he did, he set his left leg forward and used the motion of his right to grip the knife and slid it out of his leg. He merely grunted in pain and in a smooth motion slammed the knife several inches into the man's sternum as he had only just set his feet on the ground from his sidestep. Alyss saw it firsthand and was amazed at how he had handled the pain. She felt inferior now as she struggled through the pain of a fractured knee.

She saw Will's cottage appear beside her all of a sudden, she'd almost missed it in her deep thought. She signalled for the horse to stop and it did so. It was paying attention now and trying to ignore some of her unintentional proddings. Her three man at arms behind her followed suit as well, but much smoother. Usually, she was a better rider than them, but not in her current situation. She looked at Wills door and had the instinct to get down and see him as soon as possible. She also needed to sit down on something that wasn't moving as much. She kept an eye on his door as she went through her rehearsed movement of swing her right leg over the horse's backside and onto the ground and then taking her left out of the stirrup. But Alyss, after taking so long to be wary of her leg, had forgotten all about it when she thought of Will. She had a smile on her face as she began getting off. However, as she tried swinging her leg over, the extra weight of the leather caused her leg to bump into the horse's backside. It knocked her off balance, her left foot already on the edge of the stirrup. The horse jumped in surprise, jostling Alyss and she cursed at it again. The movement caused her casted leg to come over the horse and toward the ground, her left foot becoming stuck in its stirrup. She let out a yelp of surprise as she suddenly felt herself falling. She landed on the soft grass, the tip of her left boot still touching the stirrup with her right lying on the ground. Her white Courier gown was wrinkled and no doubt stained, and her long blond hair was blocking her vision. She moaned in pain as she opened her eyes. Her back ached and the surprise had taken her breath away. She heard the shouts of her man-at-arms who were now hurriedly dismounting. She angrily blew her hair out of her face and suddenly the footsteps of her bodyguards stopped mid-stroke. She looked up as she pushed the blonde blindfold aside, and she stared at a familiar smiling face.

"Now why'd you go and do that?" Will asked as he looked down with a smirk at his wife.

Will stood over Alyss with a wide grin on his face. He'd never seen a worse dismount off of a horse, beginners were better than she was. Alyss said nothing, her cheeks flooded with embarrassment and she sunk her head back into the grass. Although the sky was clear with only a couple of clouds drifting lazily around, her mood only kept getting worse. Will heard her swear under her breath.

"How ladylike."

"Shut up, before I show you what a lady can do." Alyss hissed at Will.

Naturally, Will laughed at her attempts to berate him. He helped her up as he noticed the cast on her leg for the first time. Instead of putting an arm around her to steady her like he was originally going to do, he picked her up like a groom would with a bride. The men at arms waited outside as he stepped inside with a beaming Alyss. Her mood was instantly elevated as the ridicule from Will came to an end and she could begin to relax. Even though she was embarrassed by the way he had seen her, she was going to have fun these next few weeks.

"That's how it happened? Really?"

Will, Alyss and her guards were all crammed inside of the small cabin. It was a neat little place but was largely unfurnished—as was the Ranger's way. Although Will had used much of his precious coffee beans to procure a drink for everyone with the notion of how expensive this habit was, Will thought it was only proper etiquette.

Alyss sat in the center of the room on a padded wooden chair with both her cold hands wrapped around her hot mug. Her wooden crutch stand next to her as it rested against the oak table. Will sat across from her with his own, previously half-spilled, coffee. The guards had all chosen to reside standing next to the door, knowing they wouldn't be in the cabin for long. Although, they stayed close enough to show thanks to Will for his warm-hearted greeting.

Will shook his head in surprise. He'd imagined that she had run into bandits or selflessly put herself into harm's way. Instead, it was as simple as her horse falling on her. Good thing at that, if it were a bandit that injured her and gotten away Will would have hunted him for months.

Alyss waved it off saying, "it's nothing serious, just a fracture. "

Will raised an eyebrow, "this won't impede your duties?"

Alyss spoke with a grin, "it barely bothers me." She had a newfound air of confidence in her, which Will immediately found to be suspicious. He squinted at her; they'd been married for years and he had learned how to read the subtlest hints in her facade she put on at any time. He never told her what the tells were since they only appeared to him after a year of marriage. However, he saw a new emotion in her face—one he hadn't seen before. He'd seen embarrassment once in her, and it wasn't now. It wasn't fear. He hadn't seen her actually be hurt before, or anything that would cause her pain. There was a difference between emotional pain and physical pain. He knew it had to be her pain she was hiding. In seconds he read her features and noticed how when she moved and resettled in her seat, her right foot stayed anchored to the floor, preventing movement.

Will leaned back and crossed his arms. He spoke while pointing towards the counter on the far side of the room, "well then I guess you wouldn't mind passing me the honey."

He'd poured them both coffees but intentionally left the honey out. You never know when you have to get out of your seat subtly. The colour drained out of Alyss's cheeks and her jaw opened slightly. Not enough to part the lips, and it lasted less than a second. Only someone who knew what to look for would see it. Will disdainfully looked at her, he didn't want to hurt his wife in any means but he had to be sure she knew, fully and completely, that she was not capable of normal movement and thus her daily routine. Alyss usually kept herself out of these predicaments, maybe the pain was affecting her focus also, he assumed.

Alyss looked at the honey and back at Will, who had his gleaming eyes set on her. She hesitated and looked back at it.

"Starting to get cold here." Will rushed her as he stretched his back.

"I'm getting to it."

Will looked behind her at the man-at-arms he had waved inside earlier. They were eagerly drinking their own coffee as Will asked, "any of you want honey in yours?"

The soldiers had been eagerly listening in on the conversation; they knew that Will was one of the only people that could stump Alyss. Alyss shot a glance back at them, turning away from Will. His smile grew wider as he looked at the men and nodded while mouthing "yes" to them. They quickly caught on and grinned at Alyss.

The man with the leather bound around his chest held out his mug for her to take asking, "a refill wouldn't hurt either."

Alyss glared a dagger at him, but these were her bodyguards and they weren't afraid of her. They knew how light-hearted she really was, and of course, they respected her. They'd never do this to her if there weren't a reason behind it—they knew the importance of this lesson. Alyss gripped her guard's mug, which she noted was still three-quarters full. The men kept grinning at her as she turned to Will.

He already had his attention back to her as he gestured again at the honey. She looked over at it again, and he saw the flicker of doubt and pain on her mind. She had convinced herself that she could; she had to know she couldn't. Her eyes lit up as she looked at the crutch lying against the table. As soon as she saw it, Will already had it in his hands. He was inspecting it saying, "What craftsmanship, I know a boy in the town who could really use this. Since you're so capable, you won't exactly need it."

Will almost felt bad as he closed Alyss into a corner but this was payback for all the practical jokes she always made at him. As he was sitting contemptibly knowing there wasn't anything she could do, Alyss was deciding if she was going to throw the coffee in his face or not. She decided against it as the hot liquid could seriously harm him. She looked at the honey and her confidence surged. Easy peasy. I am capable. She planted a hand on the table and pushed herself up. Oddly Will took the mug she had taken from the soldier. He had done it while she was looking at the honey, she didn't complain as he started to drink it. She didn't see the reasoning behind Will taking it, but it was similar to the reason she didn't throw it over him.

Alyss set her determined face and took a step with her left. That's not so bad. Why were you ever worried?. She stepped forward with her right, and the jarring motion sent pain shooting through her body. She'd never been hurt like this and she hated every fibre of it. She tried to hide her quick intake of breath and took another step. Even the motion of stretching her leg made it painful. She heard a soft click that sounded like someone snapping their fingers from the table that Will was sitting at but she forced it out of her thoughts as she focused. However, she didn't have time to take another step as she felt something soft brush by her leg. She jumped instinctually at the touch and looked down at Ebony. Too late she realized she had literally jumped at the touch. She immediately regretted it when her feet touched the ground. It was jarring and set her leg on fire as she landed with all her weight on it. She yelped in pain and fell backwards. She caught her herself on her hands and let out a sigh of relief, even though she could barely breathe through the pain right now.

As she was on the ground, trying to regain focus on everything around her, she failed to see Will crouched in front of her with a grim face. He wasn't smiling like usual—he was as serious as Halt was for a moment. He looked into her eyes and Alyss felt immediately guilty, compelled to make amends. She felt even more inferior as she looked up at him and then at her own men. They had all lost their smiles too as they waited for her response. She lay back as she rolled her eyes exasperated.

"Fine, I'll take a day off."