Gilan walked through the forest calmly and quietly, using the stealth techniques that had been drilled into his mind over the past decade. Blending in with the shadows, he advanced on the little cabin in the woods that housed his old mentor, Halt, and Halt's new apprentice Will.
Making sure not to step on any twigs or leaves that would rustle, he made his way to the bedroom that he knew belonged to Halt. He also knew that Halt would be in the kitchen at this time of night, making one last pot of coffee before turning in for the night.
Sliding open the window as quietly as possible, he slipped inside. Slowly walking to the door, he opened it, peeking inside. Halt had his back to him.
"Evening, Gilan," his old mentor said calmly, turning around. He had two mugs of tea set out on the table. He offered one to his apprentice, ignoring the look of obvious disappointment on his face.
"No coffee?" Gilan muttered, dropping into the seat opposite Halt with his tea. He poured in a large amount of sugar and cream, before taking a sip at it.
"No. Well, yes, and no." Halt murmured, his eyes hardening. Gilan followed his gaze to the window. Shrugging, he changed the topic. Halt without coffee was never good, and he decided not to push it.
"How did you know I was coming? Tug and Abelard are out at the stables, I made sure of it before I came," the younger man asked. Halt snickered.
"You forgot about Will," he said, and Gilan's eyes widened in surprise.
"Where is he?" The old apprentice demanded. His mentor jerked his head towards the window.
Gilan got up, and walked to the door. It squeaked loudly as he opened it, and he smiled slightly to himself. Good ol' Halt.
Looking to the right, out of the window that Halt had gestured to, it didn't take him very long at all to spot the miniature figure crouched at the top of one of the tall pine trees.
People never look up, Gilan reminded himself, and smacked himself on the forehead. He had forgotten to look up, just as everyone else always did.
"Now," Halt began, and Gilan knew he was in for it. "I do believe you were trying to sneak up on your poor, old mentor."
"Uh…" Gilan began, but he knew it was hopeless. He was in trouble now.
"Up you go," Halt told him, and Gilan sighed. Even though he was technically Halt's equal in rank, he knew better than to disobey him. He strode over to the pine, and began climbing, much to Halt's amusement.
When he reached the top, he sat on a branch reasonably close to Will's. The young boy was evidently trying to mask his laughter, and Gilan scowled.
"What are you up here for, anyway?" Gilan asked, leaning back against the trunk of the tree. Will looked at him innocently.
"What makes you think I did anything?"
Gilan snorted. "Because Halt only makes you stay in a tree overnight if you did something awful. Were you playing that song again?"
Will shook his head, a grin breaking out on his face.
"I switched his coffee to decaf," the kid laughed.
Gilan almost fell out of the tree. The kid certainly had more guts than he did.
"I'm surprised you're not dead," he muttered, and Will just laughed.
"Well," Halt murmured to himself from the porch. "I guess this counts as bonding?" He grinned evilly to himself, before marching back into the cabin. The grin disappeared as he realized that there was no decent coffee. Scowling, he went into his room, slammed the door, shut the window, and went to bed, knowing that both Will and Gilan would stay in the tree if they wanted to survive.
A/N: Yay, first Ranger's Apprentice fic! Read the books ages ago, and I kinda have a policy that if I have a fandom that I'm obsessed with for more than a month at a time, I have to write a fic for it. So here it is (finally!) xD
Please drop a review saying what you think! xD
Xx Ellie