Disclaimer: I do not own this Ranger's Apprentice story. All credit goes to John Flanagan and Tamora Pierce, from whom I have gotten some amazing ideas and phrases. And to all readers, please enjoy and review! :)

By the way, this fanfic is set 30 years after the original series. Apprenticeship for the ranger corps has changed so that now a huge number of boys (only boys allowed) will apply, then they go through a selection process, and are then assigned a mentor.

Ok, deep breath, deep breath. Here we gooooo and ENJOY! :D


In the gathering darkness, a white mist rolled slowly across a grey plain. Overhead, the moon, like a ghostly galleon, shone out feebly before getting choked by the ominous black clouds. Somewhere, a wolf howled, a long baleful note.

A single rock jutted out from the mist, and a dark figure, seeming to rise from the ground, stood upon it.

The figure was clad in a mottled green cloak that hooded his face. Slung across his back was a massive longbow and a full quiver of arrows. His head lifted slowly, and a cold, chilling voice rasped out. "Assemble, my brothers."

Rapidly, dark figures began to rise from the mist, ghosting their way toward the rock where their leader stood. Each one of them carried identical longbows, and they glided across the ground with not even the slightest sound.

"Brothers!" the voice rang out, cutting the silence like a hot knife through butter. "Our decade-long wait is drawing to an end! Soon, we shall DESTROY the Ranger Corps!"

A cheer rang out amongst the hooded men below.

"I will be appointed as Ranger Commandant tomorrow, and when that happens, NOTHING can stand in our way!"

Again, more cheers.

"We have successfully infiltrated the Ranger Corps, my fellow ranger rebels, and the thirty of us here outnumber the twenty true rangers." He was on a role now, and his voice rang out in the clearing, "With our apprentices applying this year, we shall slaughter ALL of the rangers! Not even Halt, or Will Treaty, with all their skill, can stop us!"

The assembled rangers roared their agreement.

"Once we have the rangers under our control, our secondary teams can cause havoc in Araluan! What's more, we'll usurp King Altman and Queen Cassandra and take over Araluan!"

The crowd roared again, with one huge voice, and they raised their saxe knives to the air in an excited frenzy.

Their leader grinned. "NOTHING will stop us."

But little did he know, there was, in fact, one person who could. And that person was a young girl, hundreds of miles away. And she was completely oblivious of what was to come.