A/N Hey, I was rereading this series and suddenly realized I never finished this story. I'll be rewriting these first few chapters because they're so short and my writing style has changed a bit. As a casual writer, I am greatly encouraged by reviews (I usually squeal and clap), and so would greatly appreciate them. I would like to thank all nine of the people that have reviewed this story over the past 3 years. I will also note that flames will be used to roast marshmallows!
(11/5/2017) I've compiled chapters 1 through 3 and 4 plus 5 into two longer chapters because they were way too short before. I'm also posting my first new chapter in three years tonight!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ranger's Apprentice.
The wooden shaft of an arrow protruded from Will's side. Some unnoticed enemy must have fired it while he was distracted by the mess around him. His world seemed to slow to a crawl, but Will kept fighting through the unsettling feeling.
Araluen was being invaded, and the enemy was composed of vicious, skilled warriors. Will, being a world-renowned hero and infamously great Ranger was, of course, sent to the front lines. Sadly, it seemed that he would also die on that chaotic ground. Suddenly, Will saw that the world decided to lurch towards his face and his eyes pulled a fuzzy film over the battlefield. A sense of detachment gripped him, making the whole situation almost feel like it was happening to a stranger instead of himself.
Unknown by Will, an enemy's badly aimed sword swing grazed his shoulder. Faintly, Will could hear someone calling his name, as if from a great distance. They sounded so distressed, and he tried to ask what was wrong, but the world was slowly fading to black...
"Will!" Halt screamed as he saw Will collapsing 50 meters away. Both he and Will had run out of arrows an hour ago, then promptly joined the battle with only their knives. Gilan was at the battle too, but he was all the way across the battlefield, unaware of the tragedy happening.
Halt knew he was the closest friend to Will. He had to reach the fallen hero as quickly as possible. He quickly finished off his opponent, stabbing the soldier through the middle before the man could react. He practically flew to Will's side, terror gripping him when he saw that Will wasn't moving. Halt didn't notice how the battle around him seemed to blur from tears nor how his hands shook with fear when he saw Will's tunic turning a sickeningly dark red.
Halt knelt beside Will to examine his wounds. Shoving his panic back in favor of a practical calm he first inspected the arrow. It was in Will's right side, a few centimeters below the ribs, while it had penetrated deeply, it didn't go through completely. That would be messy to remove. From the bruising he could see through the torn tunic, Halt knew there was internal bleeding. He decided that Will must have gone down fighting to have caused so much. Then he noticed a shallow cut on the boy's arm. He identified it as most likely from a sword. It wasn't deep, and not fatal alone, but it added to Will's blood loss and therefore terribly dangerous. Halt knew he had to act fast if Will was to have even a slim chance of surviving.
Will opened his eyes to a blinding light surrounding him. He blinked and the world came into focus… or maybe not the world, it was sunny and quiet and there were two strangers standing over him. Hadn't he been in the middle of a battle? He thought so. He blinked, remembering that there were two strangers staring at him. They looked so much like him they could have been his…parents? The woman had charcoal black eyes and dark brown, wavy hair. The man had hazel eyes and reddish brown hair. While the woman was short, the man was quite tall. The two people looked worried for some reason.
The woman whispered in a panicked tone, "Daniel, he shouldn't be here yet! He's too young to die!"
"I know dear," the man answered, far more calmly than her, before turning to the boy they were talking about, "Will? Will, can you here me? It's your father."
"My father?" Will parroted, very confused.
"Will! Will answer me! Say something!" Halt had brought Will to a healer's tent, and Cassandra had found out Will was hurt through the grapevine and had found them as quickly as she could. She was now holding the boy's pale hand.
"Am I dead?" Will questioned.
"No, but you're dying, son. You have to try to survive! You have a lot to live for!" Daniel put a hand on Will's shoulder to emphasize his point.
"Will, sweetie, before you try to leave, please know, we love you. A lot." His mother added. She felt it was very important she tell him in person, instead of him just hearing the sentiment from others.
Will's breathing steadied for a moment, but then started to slow. The healer had done his best, but it might not be good enough. It took more than medicine and strength of will to save him, and no miracle was going to happen. The healer had tried to stop the bleeding, and succeeded with Will's arm, but he said the arrow had done a lot of damage so Will probably wouldn't make it. But Halt and Cassandra had kept their hopes up. Now it all seemed to be for nothing. Halt started to lead Cassandra out of the room. Will didn't need anyone staring at him while he struggled through this.