Where There's A Will, There's A Way
Okay, so I really wanted to write a One-Shot about something that I won't tell you, but I had to write this One-Shot first so that you would all know where the other one will be coming from. Confusing, huh? Sorry about that. Just know that I wanted to write a One-Shot, but couldn't because I had to write this one first. Got it? This takes place during The Icebound Land. The only two characters are Horace and Halt.
I do not own Ranger's Apprentice. Here we go:
Horace stared into the fire, remembering another one that had been lit several weeks before. But there were differences between the two.
For one, this one was small, the other was large.
Second, this one had been lit for warmth, the other to destroy.
But, most importantly, at least to him, this one had been lit by Halt. The other had been lit by Will.
Will. Halt's apprentice. One of the saviors of Araluen. The one who had been captured by Skandians after lighting that devastating fire. The one boy who was Horace's best friend. The one who had always believed in Horace. Who had trusted him, in the end, after they became friends. The one who would sacrifice his life for his friends. The one who Horace believed in and trusted. The one who Horace wanted to find.
He sighed, and Halt looked over at him, smiling sadly, and Horace knew that Halt knew what he was thinking about.
"We'll make it Horace, we'll get him back." Halt told him. Horace looked back at him. "How?" He whispered. "He's miles away, in Skandia. He could be badly hurt, dead, for all we knew. How can you be sure that we'll find him, get him back?"
"There are several reasons, Horace."
"Like what?" The boy asked bitterly.
"Have you ever looked at the stars, Horace?" Halt asked instead.
Horace looked at him, confused, but replied, "Of course, every day."
"That's one, you know."
"One what?" Horace asked. He didn't understand, what was Halt talking about?
"One reason."
"What do you mean, Halt?"
"Well, the stars are several miles away, even farther away than Will is, right?" Halt asked him.
"Yes." Horace replied.
"But you can see the stars, right?"
"Yes." Was the boy's reply.
"If you can see the stars, but they're farther away than Will, then you can be sure that we'll see Will, too. It may take hours, days, weeks, months, years, even. But we'll see him. And that means we'll have found him, too."
Horace stayed silent for several minutes, thinking it over. And he found that, once you really thought it through, it made sense.
"What's another one?" He asked.
"Another reason?" Halt asked back.
"Yes." Horace replied.
Halt didn't answer for a few minutes, and Horace began to think that he had fallen asleep, before he replied, "Where there's a will, there's a way."
"What?" Horace asked, confused again.
"It's a saying, something that King Duncan once told me, when we were fighting the wargals, and we thought all hope was lost. I asked him what reason there was that we could win that battle. And you know what he said?" Halt asked Horace.
"What?" Horace asked, even though he had a good idea.
"He said, 'Halt, if there's one thing I'm sure about, it's that we will win this battle. And that is because of a saying, that my mother once told me.' And then the king said, 'Where there's a will, there's a way. And I don't know about you, but if there's no will in these men, as they fight for their lives, then I'm a dead man.' And you know, Horace, he was right. We all had the will to win that day, just as we have the will to find Will. We won the battle, too, so that means that we'll find Will."
Horace frowned, but then smiled softly. Where there's a will, there's a way, he thought. And I'll lay down my sword and die, right now, if I don't have the will to find him.
Where there's a will, there's a way.
Alright, I'm really sorry, but the sequel ('Not This Time') will not be coming out for another week or two. Because of two reasons, really. One, because I'm going on vacation, and two, because it's not even written yet. But I'll try to get it posted as soon as possible. So, I'll put an AN on here when 'Not This Time' is posted. So you can do story alert for this, or just author alert.
Remember, REVIEW!