Disclaimer: I do NOT and NEVER will own Ranger's Apprentice

Alex barely contained her nerves as she approached the Ranger's cabin. She stepped up to the verandah, uneasily approached the heavy wooden door, and raised her hand to knock when the door was flung open with surprising force.

"You're early." In the doorway loomed Will, eyebrow raised. Alex didn't know what to make of that, so she just nodded. At her fleeting glance of him at the Choosing Ceremony, he had seemed much taller, much stonier, and much, much scarier. But up close, Alex realized, the Ranger looked almost friendly. Will's next words completely dashed the thought. "Well, since you're here, I suppose you can get started on the housework. We've got dishes to wash, water to fetch, a fireplace to clean, among a few other things." Slight irritation crawled through Alex's skin, but she didn't let it show. Instead, she kept her expression neutral and mumbled, "Yes, sir."

It turned out, thought Alex ruefully, that when Will said "We've got" something to do, he actually meant "You've got." Her morning was spent fetching buckets of water, beating the dust out of almost entirely dust-free rugs, and sweeping out a fireplace that Alex felt ashes were deliberately dumped there. Finally, Will glanced up at the sun. "It's noon. Can you cook, girl?" She hesitated. Alex could make some halfway decent sandwiches, but her cooking ability didn't surpass that level. Will looked at her expectantly. "Perhaps you could answer me before sunset," he said sardonically. Alex flushed and muttered, "N-no, sir."

"Well, then, I suppose I'll have to teach you," he said, clapping his hands together. Will beckoned Alex into the small kitchen, where he taught his apprentice the basics of cooking, and they whipped up a delicious-smelling stew. Will then made himself a small pot of coffee. The two sat down at the table and settled into an awkward silence.

Will was the first to break the ice. "Do you know anything about the Ranger Corps?" Alex's eyes lit up immediately. She had studied the subject throughout her childhood, almost obsessively. "The Ranger Corps were founded 150 years ago, during King Herbert's reign. It consists of 50 rangers, one for every fief. The Corps was founded by…" Alex kept on prattling on and on, and Will couldn't help thinking, Was I like this with Halt? Finally, she paused to take a breath. Will held up a hand to stop her just as the stew finished cooking. Saved by dinner, he thought humorlessly. "I asked you if you knew anything about Rangers, not for a history lesson," he growled, his voice dripping with exasperation. "Sorry, sir," Alex mumbled as she immediately got up to serve the rabbit stew.

After an uncomfortable lunch, Will picked up a mysterious bundle and beckoned Alex to follow him. He could tell that she was bursting to ask a question, but was deterred by something unknown. That 'something' was the rumor that Halt, Will's former mentor, would put Will up in a tree every time he asked a stupid question. Alex had also heard enough to know that her mentor would often copy Halt's technique when it came to apprentices.

They came to a clearing littered with some random targets. Will set down the bundle and gestured to it. "These are the weapons a ranger uses," he said. Will pulled out an unstrung bow, the strangest Alex had ever seen. Two-thirds of it (the middle section) was just like a regular longbow, but the ends curved outwards. It looked to have a draw weight of about 40 to 50 pounds and was smaller than the one she had often seen Will carrying. "This is a recurve bow. Do you know how to string it?" her mentor asked. Alex shook her head. "Then watch. This way will be hard at first, but once you get used to it, stringing your bow will be easy as pie." Once Will demonstrated how to string the strange little bow, he handed it to Alex. "Well, nock an arrow and give it a try!" Will motioned to the quiver of arrows in the sack. Alex slung the quiver over her shoulder and nocked an arrow. She could only pull the bowstring to half draw. "Use your back muscles. Pretend you're pressing your shoulder blades together," instructed Will. Alex did just that and was able to manage a full draw. She aimed the arrow at the center of one of the closer targets and let it fly. The bowstring slapped painfully against her left arm and the arrow soared about a meter off course. Alex bit her tongue, barely suppressing a yelp. She looked up at her mentor, who was trying-and failing-to conceal a grin. "I might have forgotten to give you this," said Will as he handed her a thick leather gauntlet. Alex let her mental shield slip for a brief moment as she glared at her mentor. She slipped it on as Will pulled out a strange object from the bag.

"This," he began, "is a double knife scabbard. The larger sheath holds this." He drew out a large knife the size of a small sword. "This is a saxe, or a sea axe. It's based on the Skandian saxe, only of much better quality. You can put a good notch in a sword with it," he added. Will gave the double scabbard to Alex. She grasped the hilt of the knife in the smaller sheath and carefully slid it out. It was an expertly made throwing knife, perfectly balanced. Will drew his own throwing knife out and, in one fluid motion, flicked his wrist and sent the knife spinning into a target. Alex watched in amazement and respect at his accuracy and power behind the throw. Will noticed her expression and promised to show her how to do that later. "For now, we're going to work on your technique with that bow of yours," he told her.

For the rest of the day, Alex would shoot twenty arrows, a long and tiring process, take a 10-minute break, and shoot twenty more arrows. By the time Will determined it was around suppertime, Alex was utterly exhausted. Will took some sympathy and cooked dinner while his apprentice took a shower. He was just setting out plates of venison when she came downstairs. On instinct, Alex began pouring coffee into Will's cup and water into her own. The two settled down and dug into the delicious meal.

After they had finished, Alex cleared the table and washed the dishes. "May I go to bed, sir?" Will nodded, engrossed in some reports about a terror mob that attacked poor farms and killed off all inhabitants. Alex gladly left the room and fell asleep before her head hit the pillow.

The dark, shadowy figures surrounded Alex and her parents. The faceless beings were all chanting something under their breath, something that nobody could hear. Again and again, scenes were played in front of her: darkness closing around her as her mother's screams echoed in the hole, her father tackling evil figures, and screaming. Terrible screams, screams that belonged to her father, her mother, and Alex herself. She screamed along with them. The evil beings enclosed around her.

Alex sat bolt up in bed. She settled her breathing as she told herself: It's just a dream. It's just a dream. Sighing, Alex remade the bed, for she had thrashed the sheets all around her. She flopped back into bed and fell into an unsettled sleep.

AN: I'm so, so, so, so sorry I haven't updated recently! It's all because of the evil entity called schoolwork! I now promise to update weekly. R&R please!

-Kitty