Disclaimer: How many times do I have to say this? It just ruins my day. I don't own Ranger's Apprentice.

Wow, it's been a long time since I've uploaded any stories or even looked at fanfiction. Sorry, guys. School's been busy, it's the 4th marking period already! Then summer comes, and I have vacation, but I'll be writing and post my stories the next school year! Hopefully...

The Surprise

Today is the day, Will thought. He scrubbed Tug's barrel-like body over and over nervously. The horse snorted and looked at Will disdainfully.

That hurt, the look implied. Tug nodded toward the rough-haired brush in Will's hand.

"Sorry, boy. But you know how nervous I am. I've wanted to do this for so long," Will said, patting Tug.

Tug looked at Will again, then turned away to munch on his hay. You're not going to succeed. Will was taken aback by his horse's lack of faith in him.

"You don't know the time I've spent planning this out." He had come to the Gathering Grounds a day early just to have a chance to surprise Halt. He had conducted a thorough scout of the area, finding possible ways and alternative backups according to the weather.

I know the time you spent. But Halt isn't going to be fooled.

"So you trust Halt more than me?"

Absolutely. Except when it comes to apples.

Will slapped his horse affectionately. "At least you won't be there making noise when I follow him."

You make more noise than I do, Fumblefoot. It annoyed Will that he could never get the last word with his horse, and that Tug had picked up Alyss's name for him.

That night, instead of being warm and cozy inside his tent, Will laid shivering up in a dense tree. No matter how he adjusted his cloak, he just couldn't stop his teeth from chattering, which could be a real problem. Suddenly, through the bitter wind rustling the leaves, he heard hoofsteps. His heart immediately started racing and his senses were on alert. His teeth even stopped chattering and he forced himself to stay calm and still.

He quickly analyzed the situation. He was downwind, for now, until Halt passed him. He could hope for the wind to change, or move so that he stayed downwind. He chose the latter. He nimbly scurried down the tree as he listened to the steps getting closer. He was thankful for the constant strong wind whipping the leaves, or he would have made a huge racket and alerted Halt. He took several deep breaths. Halt could probably hear the beat of his heart through the wind.

He passed a dummy version of himself, which he had made that morning with a bundle of branches wrapped with some linen cloth. It had the vague shape of a head and was attached to the top of a log. Through the darkness, it looked like a human head. He hoped. But he was rather proud of it anyway.

As he approached the area, which had less trees, he dropped down to his stomach and serpent-crawled. He used the log as cover. He got to the tree across the area which he had decided to use. He scaled it silently, blood pulsing in his ears. He reached the branch on the tree that shook hands with a tree on the other side of the path. The plan was to drop down from the branch right in front of Halt.

Will resisted the urge to move and scratch an itch that had been developing on his arm. He licked his lips nervously as the figure approached. Stay completely still, Halt's voice echoed in his head.

Halt's shape was vague in the chilling darkness, but Will could see that his head was bent down and he was wrapped up against the wind. Will's eyes darted over to his dummy head to assure himself it would work. Some leaves blowing past obscured his vision, but he heard the warning call of the horse, as he had expected. The wind ruffled his cloak, which rustled in his ears loudly. He smiled as he jumped down from the branch.

"Halt!" he said as he landed cat-like on the dusty ground. Halt brought up his longbow, but dropped it to the saddle as Will pushed back his hood. "It's me!"

"Will?" the figure on the path asked with a voice much higher than Halt's gruff one. The figure pushed back its hood. Will saw the tussle of brown hair and realized his mistake.

"Gilan? It was you?" Will asked, feeling stupid. Then he heard something hiss past his shoulder. An arrow lodge into the ground beside him.

"I'm over here, Will," Halt's voice came. Will looked up. There was Halt, on the branch from where Will had just jumped down.

"Halt?" Will said confusedly. Gilan laughed.

"Will, we knew that head was a fake. What Ranger would stick his head up that high over a log? I didn't train you that way. And that's an extremely skinny neck," Halt explained. He jumped down and landed beside Will. Will looked over at the head and realized that the branch he used to hold it up was also sticking over the log, which just made the dummy look like a weirdly-shaped balloon. "And I saw your butt above that log. You've got to work on that serpent crawl." Will couldn't help but stare at the head, ashamed of himself. And to think he had actually been proud of it.

"And another thing, if you're drawing attention to some place, don't pass there yourself," Gilan advised. Will sighed.

"All right, I get it. Now can you please stop berating me for my obvious mistakes and go somewhere warm? I'm freezing. The Gathering Grounds are just up ahead."

As Will got to his tent, he looked at Tug.

I told you, Tug implied with his look.

"Next year..." Will promised himself.

Hope you liked it! All reviews are welcome.

I haven't been reading Ranger's Apprentice for quite a while, so if you see any factual mistakes, please PM me! And can someone tell me if Gilan's hair is brown? I'm debating whether it's blonde...

Thank you for reading!