This is a quick story I typed up at someone's request. As that person actually liked it, I figured I'd put it up just for kicks.
There was a knock at the door. "Come in, Horace!" Will called, not moving from his seat by the table. The door opened, revealing a tall, athletic man who still possessed a youthful air, though his slightly crooked nose and faint scars testified that he had seen some action.
"I still don't know how you do it." Horace muttered as he pulled up a chair and sat down.
"Oh, we Rangers know everything." Will replied airily as he leaned back in his chair, "And besides, no one else clomps up the stairs as noisily as you do."
"I clomp, do I?" Horace said, a little stung by the remark. After all the time he had spent with Rangers, he thought he had been getting rather good at moving quietly.
"Like a draft horse." Will sat up. "So what brings you to Redmont?"
"I'm on leave, so I thought I'd drop by and visit."
"Are you sure you'd rather spend it here than with the princess?"
Horace had to grin at this jibe. In fact, he had already spent a good deal of his leave with the princess and was planning to spend some more when he got back. Of course, he wasn't going to tell his friend that. "Actually, I have something for you from Crowley. When he found out I was going to come over he asked me to give this to you."
Will accepted the tightly rolled parchment. Wondering what on earth it could be, he broke the seal and unrolled it. His eyebrows shot up as he read. Horace tried to casually glance at it.
"So what does it say?"
Will went over it again, just to make sure he wasn't misreading it, then said, "I'm getting an apprentice."
"An apprentice? Who?"
Will shook his head distractedly. "All it says is that my new apprentice is named Brian and they'll be here tonight." he set the parchment down, "I'd better talk to Halt."
"I'll tell him to come down." Horace stood, "I have something to deliver to the Baron, anyway."
When Horace was gone Will got up and began pacing. He knew from his own experience that Rangers usually chose their own apprentices. To be assigned one was practically unheard of. What on earth was Crowley doing? He was still pacing when Halt came in, closely followed by Horace.
"What's this I hear about you getting an apprentice?" Halt asked, keeping most of the amusement out of his voice. Will waved to the letter laying on the table before continuing to pace. Halt read it, his eyebrows going up much the same way as his former apprentice's had. "I wonder what Crowley's up to." He glanced out the window of his former cabin, gauging the late afternoon sun. Though he was quite comfortable in the castle with his wife, Lady Pauline, he missed the quiet, out of the way cabin that had been his home for so long. "It shouldn't be too long."
Halt and Horace sat down, while Will continued to pace nervously. Horace watched him with amusement. "If you keep on doing that you'll wear out the rug."
Will grunted in reply and continued pacing. To tell the truth, he was scared. He had no idea what to do with an apprentice. What to teach him first? What had Halt taught him first? It seemed like so long ago. He wasn't prepared. Would he ever be prepared?
A knock on the door caused Will to jump. The other two noticed, but didn't comment. They could see how nervous Will was and antagonizing him wouldn't do anything for his nerves. Will opened the door to admit Crowley. A shorter hooded figure came in behind him. Will was surprised to see that the figure was wearing a Ranger's cloak and had a longbow slung on his back.
"Ah, Will, good to see you. I'm assuming Horace got my message to you?"
Will nodded, and Crowley's smile broadened.
"Good. This is Brian, your new apprentice." Crowley gestured to his companion, who took a small, yet not hesitant step forward. Now that he was actually facing the situation, Will found that he was not nearly as nervous as before.
"Would you mind taking off your hood?"
Will thought he caught a faint sigh as the figure pushed the hood back. Will's jaw hit the floor. Behind him, Horace was doing the same thing, while Halt's eyebrows nearly reached his hairline. Will's new apprentice was a girl. She had straight brown hair, cropped neatly at the shoulder, piercing gray eyes, and a small mouth that was currently turned down in a frown.
"Are you done staring yet?" she snapped. Will blinked a couple of times.
"You're Brian?"
"Unless you see someone else with that name here."
"Belligerent little creature, aren't you?" Horace said, almost immediately regretting his words as she turned her eyes on him.
"I'm assuming you can use that sword?" Brian nodded towards Horace's sword, which rarely left his side.
"Of course." Horace was a little startled by the question.
"Show me."
"Show you?" Now Horace was even more confused. Brian flicked aside her cloak, revealing a sword at her belt.
"You said you could use that sword. Now I want you to show me."
"You're asking me to fight you?" The rules of chivalry dictated that fighting any female was wrong, especially young girls, and Horace was an avid believer of the rules of chivalry.
"What, afraid I might beat you?"
"Brian..." Crowley began.
"All right." Horace said, suddenly, standing up. Brian's attitude was getting on his nerves. If this arrogant little girl wanted to get hurt, then so be it. Depositing a small bundle next to the door, Brian shrugged off her longbow and hung her cloak on a peg next to the door before going outside. The others followed, all but Crowley wondering what Brian was up to. As she and Horace faced off, Will noticed that they both took up the same stance, alert but not too tensed up. Brian was quite a bit shorter than Horace, but was wiry and agile and seemed to have quite a bit of muscle for her age and gender. Horace started a half-hearted overhand, hoping he wouldn't do too much damage. There was a clash of metal, and the sword went spinning out of his hands. Brian lowered her sword casually.
"Are you going to be serious or not?"
Figuring it must have been a lucky move, Horace retrieved his sword and tried a side cut, putting a little more force behind it this time. Brian deflected it with contempt.
"I thought you were supposed to be a great swordsman." Brian taunted, "I've seen sparrows put up a better fight than you."
Horace decided enough was enough. It was time to end this. He started a series of complex moves, holding back only a little. Much to his chagrin, Brian was able to block every cut and once again disarmed him. Blood burning, Horace retrieved his sword and went all out, holding back nothing. The others watched in amazement as Brian's sword met his again and again. Then she went on the offensive. Almost too fast for the eye to follow, she backed Horace up, disarmed him, and touched his throat with her sword tip.
"I thought you'd be more of a challenge." she said as she sheathed her sword. Horace stared at her, unable to admit that he had been defeated by some little slip of a girl with an attitude problem.
"Who taught you?" he finally managed to say. Some emotion surfaced in her eyes, but vanished before he could identify it.
"Thomas McKennis."
"The Thomas McKennis?" Horace gasped. No wonder she had been able to beat him. Thomas McKennis was a legendary fighter from Norgate fief who had single handedly driven off many Scotti raiding parties. He was renowned not only for his skill with a blade, but also a variety of other weapons, including the longbow.
"Is there anyone else who goes by that name?" Brian replied acidly.
"I thought he didn't take students."
"He took me."
"But why..." Horace was about to ask why he had turned down so many promising young men and yet took in a girl, but realized that would be rather tactless.
"That's none of your business." Brian snapped.
"What's your last name?" Will called from the porch.
"That's none of your business, either."
"Crowley, can I talk to you inside for a minute?"
They went inside. Before Will could start asking questions, Crowley raised his hands.
"I know what you're thinking. Let me just explain a few things first. Brian has had a rather unhappy life. Her mother died giving birth to her and her father died not that long ago. She may not act like it, but she's still grieving. I've been keeping close watch on her for a while now and I think she has the makings of a great Ranger, provided she can learn to control her temper."
"I can understand that, but why me?"
"Well, for one thing, she's not overawed by your reputation." Crowley smiled, "I figured that might be a good thing for your first apprentice. You're also a cheerful, friendly person, and I think she needs that in her life right now." He saw the apprehensive look on Will's face and place a hand of the young man's shoulder. "It'll be a good experience, and Halt will be around to help if need be. Trust me on this one."
"Can you tell me anything else about her?"
Crowley shook his head and took a step back, his hand dropping to his side. "I'm afraid her history's not for me to tell. She'll tell you when she's ready. I can say that she's got her weapons down, so you mainly just need to work on tracking and unseen movement. She also has all her equipment. All you have to get her is her horse, and you'll want to wait a while to let her get used to things here."
Will sighed. "All right."
They went back outside. Will was half expecting Brian and Horace to be going at it again. What he found caught him off guard. Brian was kneeling and playing with Ebony, Will's black-and-white boarder shepherd puppy. Ebony seemed to be enjoying it immensely, judging by the way her tail was wagging. Will stared as he came up beside Halt.
"Turns out she's a dog lover." Halt said mildly as they watched her play tug-of-war with a stick. Will felt a tiny worm of jealousy, then quickly squished it. If Crowley was right, she needed all the love she could get. His thoughts wandered to Alyss, his fiance. How would she react to him getting a female apprentice? Hopefully, she would be a little understanding. She might even be able to get Brian to warm up to her. Who knew?
After a few minutes Halt, Crowley, and Horace bid him goodnight and left. With a final pat Brian stood and came on to the porch. Will led her inside.
"Your room is on the right. We'll start bright and early tomorrow."
Brian nodded once, picked up her bundle, and went into her new room. Will banked the fire, then took the opportunity to visually examine Brian's longbow. To his surprise it was almost as big as his was. She must have been training for years to be able to use it. Tomorrow he would find out just how well she could.