Yawn. It's late but I'm going to write Chapter 2 in case I don't get any time tomorrow. Hope you guys enjoy!

~Anna

Chapter 2

Halt awoke to the sweet aroma of coffee. He slowly opened his eyes and sat up in bed. Who's making coffee this early in the morning? He asked himself. He warily got out of bed and grabbed his longbow which was laid beside his bed. Creeping toward the door carefully, he nocked an arrow and peered out of the door. Seeing no one, he continued and made his way slowly into the kitchen. Halt looked around and saw only a large mug of steaming coffee sitting in the middle of the table. He approached it, placed his bow on the table and sat down. He drew the cup of coffee closer and peered into the dark liquid. He took a test sip and made a satisfied face.

Someone knows how to make a good cup of coffee. He thought. That's when he heard the thumping. A faint, but constant sound. He turned his head and looked out the window. He caught a glimpse of a tall, slim figure throwing knives at the large oak tree in the yard. Either Halt had gone crazy, or his apprentice had gotten up before him.

Gilan knew he missed the second the knife left his hand. He huffed as he watched the knife whizz past the oak tree and land in the bushes behind it. He reached down and grabbed another knife from the pile beside him. He drew back his arm and aimed at the tree. In one fluid movement, Gilan hurled the knife at the oak, this time hearing a satisfying THUD as the knife buried itself deep in the tree. He nodded with satisfaction and moved forward to retrieve the knife.

"You'd better let me do that," a sharp voice from behind Gilan said.

Gilan jumped nearly a foot in the air and spun around. He let out a quick sigh of relief and slumped against the nearest tree.

"Halt, you scared me to death!" he breathed.

A ghost of a smile appeared on Halt's face as he pulled his cowl over his head.

"I'd better go ghost proof my kitchen then,"

Gilan scowled and stuck out his tongue at his mentor. Halt raised an eyebrow and walked briskly past his apprentice. He grabbed the knife in the tree and yanked it out with ease.

"Take this," he said as he put the knife in Gilan's hand. "We're going to train in the woods today."

Gilan's bright blue eyes lit up with happiness. "Really?" he asked enthusiastically.

Halt nodded as he picked up his own throwing knives from the small pile Gilan had made.

Gilan's face suddenly fell. "Aww, but I broke my bow." he huffed.

Halt sighed. "That's why you have the knife."

Gilan shrugged and twirled the knife around in his hand. "Alright then,"

"And this," Halt added, throwing a small stick looking thing to him.

Gilan caught it sloppily and examined it quickly. It looked like an stick with two protruding ends and string strung across the middle of them.

"What is this?" Gilan asked.

"Some call it a slingshot." Halt explained. "It will replace your bow for now."

Gilan looked down at the small device doubtfully, but attached it to his belt.

Halt finished concealing the throwing knives in various pockets under his cloak and gestured for Gilan to follow him. Gilan smiled and skipped after Halt as the Ranger moved quickly into the forest. The two silently walked deeper into the trees, holding their weapons close. Gilan seemed to have trouble keeping up with his mentor, as he tripped over ever stick and rock the pair encountered. Finally, Halt paused and held out his hand, gesturing for Gilan to stop as well. The apprentice, who had been running to keep up, skidded to a stop and slammed into Halt who staggered forward.

"Pay attention to where you're going!" the Ranger hissed.

"Sorry," Gilan replied with a sheepish grin.

Halt huffed and glanced around the clearing they had stopped in. He turned around to face his apprentice and took out a small piece of parchment from a pocket on his tunic.

"That's the map of the forest," he explained as Gilan unfolded it. "Your job is to escape the woods without getting caught."

Gilan glanced up once at his mentor. "Caught?" he asked. "By whom?"

Halt crossed his arms. "Me."

Gilan let out a short laugh and folded the paper back up.

"What?" Halt asked.

Gilan snorted with laughter. "Oh nothing, it just sounded like you said "Me."" he replied, throwing in an amusing imitation of Halt's voice on the last word.

Halt raised an eyebrow.

Gilan's laughter instantly stopped.

"Oh you're being serious?" he asked.

Halt nodded curtly. Gilan paled slightly but then instantly slapped a big grin on his face.

"Well fine then!" he exclaimed. "Bring it on old man." Gilan narrowed his eyes mischievously and bounced on his toes playfully.

Halt took out a small, but jagged throwing knife. "Well, let's hope for your sake you don't get caught by this old man." he growled, waving the knife in Gilan's face.

Gilan squeaked and backed away, clutching the map close to him.

"You have a 10 minute head start," Halt said. "You better get moving."

Gilan tilted his head in mock confusion. "10 minutes?" he laughed. "Are you sure that's fair, oh wise one?"

Halt gripped the knife tighter. "5 minutes,"

Gilan's eyes widened and he scrambled away into the trees. Halt watched with an exasperated sigh as his apprentice tripped over a large rock and tumbled down a hill, out of sight.

Gilan came to a rolling stop at the base of the hill and lay dazed for a moment. Then he shook off his shock and scrambled to his feet. He looked around and gazed down at the map. The woods were a lot bigger than he realized. He folded up the map quickly and shoved it carelessly into his boot. He gripped his throwing knife tightly and darted forward. Gilan made sure he didn't step on any twigs and tried to avoid large patches of dead leaves. He glanced over his shoulder once to see if he was being pursued but then cursed himself for being an idiot. No one ever saw Halt coming.

Gilan quickly pulled his cowl over his head and shrank behind a tree to catch his breath. He slid to the ground and quickly unfolded the map. He charted where he was and where he needed to be. He was still at least a good 3 miles from the edge of the woods. He slowly got to his feet an peered out from around the tree. Halt had already begun to pursue him. Gilan felt a sudden stab of fear.

Would Halt really hurt me if he found me? He thought to himself. The Ranger had always been fond of training as realistically as possible. Gilan quickly shrugged off the fear. No, he decided. Halt wouldn't hurt him. As Gilan continued silently toward his destination, an idea began to form in his mind. He reached down and took the map out of his boot once again and unfolded it. He would change his route. Although he would end up about a mile away from where he actually needed to be, Halt wouldn't expect him to change direction. Gilan allowed himself mischievous smile and quickly changed his route.

Gilan walked for about a mile before stopping by a stream for a quick drink. He looked around carefully and then knelt down beside it. He cupped his hands and filled them with water, taking a few refreshing sips. Noticing a few smooth stones by the bank, he picked them up. They would make good ammo for his slingshot. He picked up a handful of them and stuffed them in a pouch on his belt. Then, he stood up quickly and leapt easily over the stream to continue on his way. Suddenly, Gilan froze. He saw something move out of the corner of his eye. He glanced over his shoulder and saw nothing. Fear began to rise in his chest and he quickly darted forward. He zigzagged through the trees and various boulders and bushes before stopping at the base of a very large maple tree.

Gilan looked around quickly and swiftly made his way up the tree. He reached a spot where he would be covered by leaves and stopped there. He was breathing heavily and tried to calm himself down so he wouldn't be heard. He looked down through the mass of leaves and saw a small, almost invisible figure creeping through the trees. The figure looked very ominous with his cloak and knife. Just the sight of him made Gilan's blood run cold. Suddenly, an idea struck Gilan like lightening. He silently pulled the slingshot and a rock from his belt and looked down. He placed the stone against the string of the slingshot and pulled it back. He aimed at a large bush a few meters away from the figure and fired.

The rock flew through the air and landed in the bush with a loud thump. The figure froze and slowly turned his head toward the bush. Gilan pulled back the slingshot once again, but this time aimed for the stream. He let the rock fly and it splashed loudly into the water. The figure quickly took off in the direction of the splash and disappeared behind a mass of bushes. Gilan smiled to himself and tucked the slingshot away. Quickly, he scampered down the tree and took off away from the cloaked figure. He glanced back once and sighed with relief when he saw he wasn't being pursued.

Gilan moved carefully and swiftly, avoiding any sticks or any leaves that would make a loud noise. He knew for a fact that his plan had worked. He had finally beat Halt. Suddenly a huge force slammed into Gilan knocking him off his feet with a loud "OOF!". Gilan realized with horror that the cloaked figure had tackled him. A sudden surge of adrenaline caused Gilan to lash out at his attacker who was trying to pin him to the ground.

The figure however managed to get on top of Gilan and pin his arms under his knees. Gilan struggled under the weight of his attacker, but found that the figure was much stronger than him. Gilan held onto his throwing knife tightly and tried to wriggle his arm free but the man kept it firmly in place. The figure used all his weight to force his knee into Gilan's wrist, causing the apprentice gasp in pain and drop his knife.

This only fueled Gilan's strength as he fought more fiercely against the man. He managed to get his left arm free and he attempted a punch at the attacker. The man reacted with surprising speed, catching Gilan's fist and pinning his arm to the ground with his hand. Gilan froze when he felt cold metal against his throat. His bright blue eyes flashed with defiance as he stared up at the smug face of his mentor.

"I win," Halt said quietly, loosening his grip on Gilan's wrist.

Gilan scowled and attempted to shove Halt off of him, but the Ranger held him in place a little while longer. "You know you would be dead if this were real right?" he asked with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Yeah, yeah." Gilan grumbled pushing his mentor away from him. Halt helped him to his feet and tucked his knife into his belt.

"You went off route." Halt continued with a hint of approval in his voice.

Gilan nodded. "I had hoped you wouldn't expect that."

Halt crossed his arms. "I didn't."

"Then how did you-"

"You jumped out of the tree too early and made a terrible amount of noise." Halt explained.

Gilan sighed. He needed to work on patience next.

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