Heya! Ya know, when I re-read what I made happen to Lili I realized she had it hard. God, the universe, the odds, the Force was NOT with her nor were anything you like to believe in or say. She had MAJOR bad luck. But don't worry, that changes in this new story. NEVER FEAR! And Ranger Charlie, buddy, don't forget to update your stories! You've got me engrossed in your new fan fic! Review! Luv ya! -RK
XXX Two Days Later, Reed's POV XXX
We rode into the camp bitterly. Ranger's and Assassin's alike looked up at us with smiles that faded once they saw our gloomy faces and Ana's empty saddle. Right when Lili had lost consciousness they pulled her out of her saddle and slung her over Phillipe's saddle. I had tried going after her but was shot.
I had fallen off of Bounty and looked at Lili's form getting smaller. The Templar's that were alive rode off after them and only a few were on the ground. Luckily no Assassin's were killed but I could tell they were disappointed in letting that Templar scum get Lili.
Altaïr helped get the bolt out of me and I was able to bandage it up. We had gotten onto our horses and went as fast as we could back to the camp. I gently touched the bandaged wound and gave a small grimace. I rode beside Altaïr and we went toward the Command Tent were Halt Crowley and some more senior Ranger's and Assassin's were.
"Get Gilan," Altaïr said softly and I nodded. I head over to where all the horses are with Ana and swung down. I unsaddle Ana and groom her before taking care of Bounty. I then look around and saw someone that was taller than the typical Ranger but not as tall as Gilan, Daniel, I thought and went over to him.
He was talking to Gilan's other apprentice, Willa. When they saw me walking over to them, they turned and looked at me. "Daniel, Willa, have either of you seen Gilan?" I asked. Willa shook her head while Daniel had a thoughtful look on his face. He pushed his hood off and rubbed the back of his neck.
"I think I saw him with a few of the apprentices," he replied after a little. "I could show you," he suggested and I nodded. "I'll talk to you later Willa. Tell Cory I said hi," he said before walking off. "So, why do you need to see Gilan?" he asked and I looked away.
"Nothing good," I replied and I felt Daniel look away.
"Oh," was all he said. "That won't be easy to tell Gilan," he continued. I looked sideways at Daniel as he led the way. His bangs threatened to enter his eyes and he had a slight stubble on his chin. "Lili was taken wasn't she?" he asked.
"Yea," I said looking down. Daniel let out a sigh. "How do you think Gilan will take it?"
"Probably not good. From what I saw, he's close with her, almost like a father figure for her. I know, he was like that for me," he looked down at me. "Ranger's are close but sometimes bonds between masters and apprentices turn into something more, like father\son bonds or even brothers. Gilan is like a father to me, and I could tell he cares for Lili like a daughter."
"So, definitely not good," I said and Daniel gave a slight nod.
"Almost there," he said after a moment of silence. "And don't worry, I'll be right behind you," he said and I nodded thanks.
"Well, Altaïr just said to get him so I might not be the one telling him," I said and Daniel nodded.
"I can see Gilan up ahead," he said and I looked straight ahead and sure enough, I could see Gilan's messy golden-brown hair. We walked over to him and he turned to face us when we entered.
"Hey, Reed. What do you need?" he asked, smiling as usual and a few apprentices came out of the forest.
"Altaïr wants you to hear some news with the others in the Command Tent," I said and bit my lip.
"Sure. We were just about done anyway. Is there anything else?" he asked us.
"I think you should hear everything from Altaïr," I said and Gilan nodded hesitantly.
"Ok," he then turned slightly to the apprentices. "We're done for the day, now go bug your actual masters," he said and the apprentices all went in different directions. We started walking back to the camp and a thought came to me.
"Didn't you say to Lili that your not her master but mentor or something like that?" I asked and he nodded, both him and Daniel were looking at me curiously. "Well, you just said to those kids, and I quote, 'go bug your actual masters'. Don't those two statements contradict each other?" Understanding dawned on their faces and Gilan nodded.
"In a sense it does. Technically when Ranger's take an apprentice we're their master. But I wanted to make Lili feel more comfortable. For her master meant beatings and harsh things. That wouldn't be changed, so I decided to make sure she didn't think of me like that by saying I'm a mentor," he explained.
"Oh, so you did it so she would be more relaxed," I said and Gilan nodded. We continue in silence and we entered the clearing. Gilan looked around and saw Lili's horse, Ana, by the others.
"Oh, I forgot to ask, where's Lili?" he looked at me and I bit my lip.
"That's the thing….umm, let's go to Altaïr," I said and Gilan looked at me suspiciously. We were close to the Command tent, Gilan's eyes roaming over everyone and noting their more somber expressions than when he left.
"Wait a second," he stopped moving and did a full circle, looking over every single face in the clearing. "Where. Is. Lili?" he demanded slowly and everyone looked over and realized that Gilan didn't know. I opened my mouth but nothing came out. "Where?" he said again and I heard tent flaps open and looked over.
Altaïr strode from the Command tent with Crowley and Halt behind him. Halt stepped in front of Gilan and settled his hands on his friend's shoulders. "Gilan…." he started and Gilan looked into his eyes. "When they were coming back, they were ambushed," I watched as Gilan's face changed from worry to slight horror.
"What are you saying?" he asked.
"The Templar's ambushed them and….took Lili," he said. Everyone remained quiet as they watched different emotions cross Gilan's face. Among them worry, horror, fear and anger. I gulped slightly as Gilan looked between Altaïr and me, for confirmation and we nodded.
"You….you…." Gilan stumbled and both Halt, Crowley and Daniel stepped away from Gilan. The other older Rangers looked on in in anticipation while the younger looked between them confused, as did the Assassin's. "You said you'd keep her safe!" He managed after a little. I recoiled a little.
"It's happening all over again!" Gilan said, more to himself but those closest to him heard. I took a step toward Daniel.
"What's he talking about?" I asked quietly as the older Ranger's somehow managed to usher the younger Ranger's, apprentices and Assassin's away, leaving Halt, Crowley, Gilan, Daniel, Altaïr and I in the center, giving us space.
"When I was an apprentice, before I even got my bronze leaf, during an assessment, I got badly hurt, almost died. He freaked out in anger and worry and initially blamed Halt. I managed to get him calm though. So basically that's what he's referencing, the worry and fear about your apprentice when they get hurt or missing. He'll also-" he whispered and I was pushed down.
I give a low hiss from the bolt wound and looked up at Gilan. "Blame you," Daniel finished. And I gave a small nod in agreement. Altaïr looked between me and Gilan before stepping between.
"Lili trusted you! And look at what happened! She gets taken while with you!" he said, voice rising slightly.
"We're sorry that she got taken but we tried to protect her. We did all that we could," I said and Altaïr nodded agreement.
"Gilan, calm down. We did try protecting her but when we tried going after her they shot a warning shot into Reed and threatened worse to us and threatened to kill her," he said and Gilan shook his head. Halt settled his hand on Gilan's shoulder and he swiped it away.
"No, don't try adding anything to it, Halt!" he said angrily. As I stood up he turned away and jogged out of the clearing, managing to make that look angry somehow. Daniel made a helpless gesture to them.
"Halt, you should know by now that he's very protective of his apprentices," he said and both Crowley and Halt nodded. "I'll go try calming him down," they nodded agreement and Daniel jogged off after his old master.
"Why should you know he's very protective of his apprentices?" Altaïr asked and I nodded. I knew of the one with Daniel, but have there been more instances? I wondered.
"We'll tell you in the Command tent, away from prying ears," Crowley said and looked pointedly at the Assassin's and younger Ranger's and apprentices. Willa looked at them.
"Can't I learn about this?" she asked.
"Of course not," Halt replied and gave off a small laugh at Willa's face.
"Come on!" she groaned out while rolling her head back.
"Maybe later," he said and Willa gave a small glower before walking off. "Leander, can you and a few other older Ranger's make sure no one eavesdrop?" he asked and Leander nodded. We then went into the Command tent. "You see…."
XXX
"That's it," Halt said and I looked at him wide eyed.
"Wow," was all I could say and Halt nodded.
"Now you see. Just give Gilan some time and he'll eventually realize it's not your fault. Hopefully Daniel can do that," he said and we nodded agreement.
"There's still the problem though of where Lili might be. Phillipe will probably move her around, make sure she doesn't stay anywhere long. Make it difficult for us to find her," I said and they nodded.
"Ya, that's the problem," Halt agreed and then he looked over at Crowley. "You don't by any chance still have that informant in the Templar's?" he asked and Crowley thought about it.
"I'm not sure anymore. I haven't been getting his reports for….." he looked through some papers and I felt that the answer wouldn't be good, "a month," he said and Halt sighed.
"There goes that possible idea," Halt said and Crowley nodded sadly, probably more for the fact that this informant is possibly dead though. "It will take a while to find where she is but I'm sure we will find her," he said and everyone nodded.
XXX
Heya! So here's the first chap of the new fan fic! We'll see Lili in the next chap(maybe, hopefully)! Just a warning, I am writing this while writing my Young Justice fan fic of The Assassin, so chaps might take a little while to publish, plus school will be starting up soon for me. :( Review! Luv ya! -RK