Hi Everyone! This is my first fanfic story so I hope you like it! ~Willow Treaty

DISCLAIMER: I do not own ANY of the Ranger's Apprentice characters, places, etc.

Prologue:

Alyss ran about five meters before Morgarath's Cat pounced on her. Will killed the last of the wargals with his saxe and ran after them as the cat dragged her through the trees. Will took a hold of her hand with one of his and wrapped his other arm around a tree, dropping his knife so he wouldn't cut her. Alyss fought the cat with one hand while trying to pull herself closer to him, to wrap her arms around his waist. The cat, finally fed up with the resistance, swiped a paw at Will. The paw caught Will in the stomach and he flew three meters back onto a wall of stay-with-me vines. His clothes caught on the vines and he struggled for freedom.

One of the wargals he thought was dead, grabbed a rock with all the strength it had and hurled it at Will. The force of the rock bashed the back of his head on the wall. Darkness. So soothing... He forced his eyes open once again. I have to save Alyss. He fought the darkness when it all stopped. He looked up from where he was entangled and saw the beast, and the wargal. But not Alyss. Instead, he saw a young girl in her place. Dark green hair, crystal green eyes. A beautiful young lady. He thought. He studied her for a moment. He noticed a necklace around her neck. There were three charms he saw. He looked at them closely. On one side, there was a small green oakleaf, on the other a small gem. In the middle, and he was quite surprised at what he saw, a dark brown dragon pendant. He heard a scream and everything went black again.

He opened his eyes once more. He watched as Halt and Pauline ran towards him worry lining both faces. Alyss was gone, the girl was gone, and he had a killer headache. They cut the vines holding him captive and put an arm under his. They all staggered a little as Will's leg gave way under him. He had been cut in the shin by one of the wargals so he could only limp. They slowly traveled through the forest back to their campsite where Horace was waiting for them. He watched at the three cautiously make their way to the campsite.

Will sat on a log near the fire and silently accepted a bowl of soup from Horace. Halt and Pauline also accepted the bowls that Horace offered them. Horace, clearly confused, sat down next to his life long companion and they all ate in silence. After Will was done, he quietly crawled to his saddlepack. He put in a small bundle of cloth and limped to his tent. Horace looked at Halt as Will disappeared into the tent and looked at him quizzically. Halt just shook his head. "He'll tell us tomorrow." Horace nodded and they all fell asleep.

In the morning, however, Will didn't speak at all. He limped to his saddlepack and pulled out a bundle of cloth that he had put there the night before. They all stared at the bundle until Will opened it to reveal what was hidden inside. The others gasped as Alyss' wedding ring appeared inside the small bundle. Tears welled up in Will's eyes and he quickly put it back into the saddlepack.

They all looked at him as he took a deep breath. Halt moved closer to his former apprentice. "Can you tell us what happened?" He asked, his tone soft. Will nodded and motioned them to sit with him as he prepared to tell them what happened.

"Well..." He began. Not sure where to start. The others were quiet as he gathered his thoughts. "Alyss and I went out to gather some more firewood when we heard crying. Alyss dropped the bunch she was carrying and ran towards the sound." Pauline nodded. That was typical of her to rush and help someone. Will continued, his voice wavering slightly. "I followed her dropping what I had too. When we got to the source, everyone we saw was dead. Except one." He paused, not willing to say the name. Halt, concerned, asked who it was. Will looked at him and Halt was surprised to find a mixture of hate and regret.

"It was Morgarath." He said, in almost a growl. The others gasped as he said the name. Will waited for a few seconds before continuing. "He had a cat, as big as kicker, which he could control as well as he could with the wargals. It took only one command and it would obey. So when he saw us standing at the edge of the small town, he pointed to Alyss and spoke one word." He heard an intake of breath as he paused. Probably from Pauline he thought. "He spoke it as clear as day. Capture. The creature looked at us and started running. We turned and ran. When we got to the clearing, I ran into a small group of his wargals." He motioned towards his leg as proof. "I killed them all and got cut in the leg as a reward."

I ran as fast as I could towards Alyss when I noticed that the cat was almost upon her. It bit down on the back of her clothing and started to pull her back. I got to where they were and grabbed onto the nearest tree with one arm. With the other, I took a hold on her hand and we fought for her freedom." He paused, silent for a moment. "I guess that it was fed up with the fact that it's mission was being delayed because it yanked with all it's strength and made me stumble away from the tree and Alyss. It took one swipe from it's massive paw to send me flying into that wall of stay-with-me vines. I fought the urge to give into the blackness when one of the wargals that I thought was dead threw a good sized rock at my head. It hit me and everything stopped. I looked around. I saw the wargal and the cat, but I didn't see Alyss." They all looked at Will in confusion.

"In her place I saw a girl. About fifteen. The cat was taking her instead and I was in the exact position I was when it was taking Alyss." He shook his head. Halt was puzzled at what Will had seen.

"Can you describe her Will?" Will looked up at his former mentor. "Yes. I can." Halt gestured for him to continue. "She had dark green hair, crystal green eyes, and a freckled face." Horace looked at him like he was crazy. "Did you say she had GREEN hair?" Will smiled for the first time that day. "Yes." He answered. Halt's eyes rolled to the heavens. "Lets go home before anything else happens."