Disclaimer: the characters and ideas known as Ranger's Apprentice belong to Mr. John Flanagan (who I call Flanny) and do not belong to me in any way.

Before I start the story, do know that this is AU in MANY ways, the main character of this story is brought into our time, hence "What if your hero disappeared when you needed him most?"

Don't you hate it when plot bunnies attack you when you are writing something you promised to get done? (Hence a certain sequel)

Onto the story!

We've all heard a fairy tale or two in our lifetime. In those fairy tales, the princess is always saved from the evil stepmother or the evil witch or someone like that by the hero. But what if the hero hadn't been there to save the princess? What would've happened then? Few people have ever asked themselves those questions when they read those cheesy tales.

We honestly can never truly tell what would happen if the hero wasn't there to save the princess. Maybe the bad person would kill the princess? Maybe the princess would give up and fall in love with someone else? Maybe the bad person decided that they shouldn't be mean to the princess and so they let her go? We don't know, but we can allow ourselves an imagination.

But what if the hero wasn't trying to save some maiden girl? What if the hero was trying to save an entire country? What if the hero was sent somewhere where he knows no one, where he is considered a freak, where he is alone? So many questions… and yet they all apply to our story.

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Halt looked over the wreckage known as Castle Araluen. How did such a small letter turn into such a large, devastating, and horrifying battle? Everything started with a broken promise, such a small promise at that. I'll come home, Halt recalled. Princess Cassandra, the crown princess of Araluen, promised to return home from her journey in an eastern country. She wound up captured, forcing Araluen to break the treaty with that country.

The broken treaty ended with the broken battle ground once known as Castle Araluen. Now, Castle Araluen was the battle ground filled with bodies and battles. Halt's mind brought him back to the present. He fired a few arrows, taking down a few enemy soldiers. In the distance, he could see Sir Horace Altman, fighting for some of the only things he had left.

Horace cut down the offending enemies, hacking like a wild Skandian… only he was using a sword. A few Skandians had indeed come and were hacking away with their axes, but that didn't matter right then. Horace could hear the quite whoosh of a long bow. There were fifty Araluen long bows within the castle, all Rangers.

Horace continued what would be considered a wild rampage, even though he knew very well he would get nowhere with it. Araluen couldn't win this battle, which was a simple fact.

King Duncan himself was fighting along his soldiers. He'd hoped throughout his entire life that Araluen wouldn't fall under his rule… too late now. Araluen was falling, and fast. They were outnumbered and losing numbers fast.

Still, Duncan fought. He didn't intend on losing his country yet, he wanted to find his daughter first. It wasn't until he heard the light footsteps of two people echoing down the corridor that he was in that he turned to face the new intruders. "Dad!" A young woman yelled as the man next to her released a few arrows, taking down the rest of the invaders near the king.

"Cassie!" Duncan replied, his voice heavy with relief. "Are you hurt? Are you broken? Where were you? Never mind, your fine now, right?" Duncan released a volley of questions. Halt would've been extremely annoyed, the man who'd reunited the royal family thought.

"I'm fine! Will found me! He saved me from them!" Princess Cassandra replied to her ever-so-worried father. Will Treaty, on the other hand, rolled his eyes. War was no time for family reunions.

"Will!" Duncan faced the short Ranger who'd saved his daughter. "Thank you…"

"Sir, this is no time for common talk! We need to get you both to a safer area!" Will said as he ushered the two royals towards a tall tower.

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"Sir, under here." Will instructed towards a small cabinet. "There is a secret passage, if I am taken down, follow it out. It will take you out towards a meadow far away from here and this war." He informed the two royals.

"What are we doing in the Ranger's tower?" Cassandra asked worriedly. She'd seen a few enemy soldiers make their way up the tower before.

"There are secret passages within this tower that even you, Sir, don't know about." Will replied as he unlocked the lock on the cabinet. "If they kill me, do not yell out my name. Do not make any sudden noises. Do not wait to see if I am okay. If they kill me, go and run." Will told the two sternly. Duncan nodded and climbed into the cabinet. As he felt around, he found a door that opened to a stair case.

Cassandra followed. "Wait…" Will said. "If I die… give this to Alyss…" Will said as he handed her an envelope. "Make sure she gets it… it tells her what to do… wait… give it to her anyways." Will looked deeply into Cassandra's eyes, begging her to listen to him. She nodded, tears swelling into her eyes as she crawled into the small passage.

Will shut and locked them in. "Sir, I promise that as long as I live, I will make sure this country doesn't fall." Will promised through a metal door coated in wood. He heard a muffled response through the door, but didn't have time to respond.

Cassandra heard the door outside of the small and cramped space burst open. She could hear the quiet whoosh of Will's bow and the thump of the grey shafted arrows striking home into the enemy soldiers. She also heard the unsheathing of a few swords as they charged at the young Ranger. She could already feel what would happen.

Duncan knew what they would hear and what he would see if they stayed. He'd found a peephole, and he knew Will was heavily outnumbered. "Let's go…" He whispered into Cassandra's ear. She nodded, knowing that he father didn't want her to hear the death of one of her best friends.

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Will waited for the blow that would kill him. The blow didn't come; instead he felt a pain in his side evolving from a small dagger. He touched the dagger hilt, and then remembered no more.

A flash revolved from the dagger that ended with a large fog. The enemy soldiers searched for the Ranger through the fog, and only found the small dagger that had been in his side. There was no blood, no body, and no sign of the Ranger.

"He's gone…"

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Logan Anderson chased after the ball that he and his little siblings had been playing with. The ball rolled into the woods, and he knew very well his mother would kill him if he found out that he'd been there. The ball continued its roll, much to Logan's annoyance and landed in a ditch. He climbed down into the ditch and found not only the ball, but a man.

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So, whatchya think? Review and tell me!

-Sharkbait