Disclaimer: No matter how I want to be a Ranger, how I want to shoot a bow, how I want to be one of the characters… oh, never mind, you get the point. I'll just say it. I DON'T OWN RANGER'S APPRENTICE.
The time for this story is set in the first winter of Will's apprenticeship.
The First Day of Coffee
It was just one of those days, Halt thought to himself. The weather was cold enough that he had put a small kettle on the fireplace and boiled the first cup of coffee that winter. He sat relaxedly, legs up on the table, reading the newspaper. There were no disturbances or reports of theft. It was going to be a good day. Halt allowed himself to take a small cube of sugar from his shelf and dropped it into his steaming mug of thick, black liquid. He took a sip and sighed contentedly.
Will appeared at the bottom of the stairs, sniffing curiously. No doubt the fragrant aroma of the coffee woke the young apprentice earlier than usual.
"Halt… what's that smell?" Will asked, confirming Halt's assumption.
"Coffee." Halt answered directly, in a particularly good mood. This surprised Will and he glanced at his teacher, laid out comfortably on his chair.
"Can I try some?" Will asked tentatively.
Halt looked at his apprentice quizzically.
"No." he said, feeling defensive of his coffee. No point in having Will draining his limited supply of beans and sugar.
"Why?" was Will's expected response.
"You haven't taken care of Tug yet. And you have to go air out my mattress, and clean out the fireplace." Halt responded. Will made an indignant face, which Halt ignored. He ate his breakfast, glancing occasionally at the mysterious cup of coffee sitting next to his mentor.
Halt suddenly stood up and went to open the door. Will peered over and saw a castle servant whose hand was up, ready to knock on the door.
"What do you want?" Halt asked in a belligerent tone he had adapted specially for such occasions. The servant closed his half-open mouth, mentally noting that Rangers were omniscient figures.
"L-L-Lord A-Arald has r-requested your p-presence at th-the castle, s-s-sir." the servant chattered, despite being wrapped up in many garments. Halt muttered a foul word silently.
"Tell him I'll be there soon." Halt said, closing the door. Will heard the servant scurry away. Halt sighed and donned his clock. "When I'm back, I expect all the chores to be done, Will."
Will nodded morosely. Halt looked at his half-full mug longingly and left.
"What a waste of time." Halt muttered to himself. There had been a small scuffle between two court officials and Halt's loud, commanding voice, and anger from his lack of coffee, had quickly silenced them. Now he had to make his way back to the cabin in the freezing cold which threatened snow. He sighed.
As he neared the cabin, he heard two hushed voices and a wet scraping sound. He opened the door.
"Halt!" Will said, popping up right in front of him.
"Move, Will. It's cold out here. And why aren't you doing your chores? Everyone knows you take a long time airing out mattresses." Halt said. He looked over Will's shoulder.
And saw Gilan, with a dark-stained cloth mopping up some dark liquid on the floor. Halt recognized its smell.
"Gilan? Why are you here? And why have you spilled my coffee?" Halt's voice rose, full of anger.
"Crowley needs to talk to you and will at the Gathering Ground tomorrow at noon, so he told me to send a message since he was near my fief. He had to go attend some other business." Gilan replied calmly. "So I came, and then I smelled the coffee…" Halt sighed again, knowing how much he and his former apprentice depended on the stuff. I'd better keep it away from Will…
"I'm sorry, Halt! I didn't mean to spill it! I just wanted to taste it because you were a little defensive of it in the morning!" Will said hastily. Gilan's eyebrow went up, the traditional Ranger way of expressing surprise.
So you haven't tainted this one yet, huh? the look implied. Halt grunted.
"A little defensive, Will?" Gilan said. "Really? Halt has always been super defensive of his coffee! I remember that time he made me spend a rainy night in the tree just because I spilled it…"
"Good idea. It looks stormy today. Maybe you should camp out on the tree, Will." Halt replied.
"No! Halt wasn't that bad this morning, he actually directly answered my question today! That shows that he was actually in a good mood!" Will said, ignoring Halt's comment.
Halt sighed for the third time that morning. First and foremost, the Baron had made him skip coffee due to a minor nuisance. Then he found ou he had to set like, right NOW, to meet Crowley, after finding that will had spilled his energy drink. Now, his apprentices were arguing over what his moods were. What a bad morning it had been.
"I only feel extremely ticked off right now! Merlin's beard, can you two stop arguing!" Halt yelled, making Gilan and Will stop in their tracks. He cursed bitterly and went to saddle up Abelard.
This is not how the day of first coffee is supposed to work.
I hope you liked it! All typed of reviews welcome, including flames. I would appreciate it if you tell me which part of the story is your favorite! Thanks to all of you for reading!