Yet another chapter… Not that I'm complaining! This is pretty fun to write.

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranger's Apprentice.

They sat in a small, shaded clearing far into the woods around the Rangers' cabin. Will was itching to move around, but he quelled that need with a couple questions.

"Why are we sitting down? Don't we need to be standing up to do magic?"

Halt held up a hand to stop the inquiries before Will could really get going. "We're sitting down because I said so, it's called Power, not magic, no, you don't need to be standing up to use it, and you're not going to use it at all without my say-so because you won't be ready until then." Halt surprised himself as he finished the extended sentence in a single breath.

Will pouted. "Then when do I get to start?"

Annoying as his apprentice's eagerness was, Halt took it as a good sign. Will apparently didn't plan to desert the Corps on the grounds that he didn't want to be around magicians. "You start," he answered his apprentice, "when I think you should." Before his apprentice could shoot off another question, he cut in, "And that would be after I explain what the Power that you mistakenly call 'magic' is and how to use it."

"How long is that going to take?"

"However long it takes!" Halt growled.

Will's shoulders slumped as Halt glared at him. The apprentice looked up cautiously. "Then can we get started?" he asked timidly.

"If you shut up with those infernal questions, then yes!"

Will shut his mouth and pressed his lips together tightly, looking up at his mentor expectantly.

Halt sighed. "Finally," he muttered. He continued in a louder voice. "What you so carelessly call 'magic' is actually an assortment of several different Powers." Will looked like he was going to ask another question, but Halt silenced him with a look. "There are seven of them. Fire, earth, water, air, shadow, light, and a seventh one that I'm not going to tell you about quite yet." Will actually opened his mouth to ask why, but Halt gave him a hard glare and continued while still staring at him. "I'm not going to tell you because you will no doubt try to use it, and the seventh Power is much more dangerous than any of the others. Apprentices are not allowed to use it." In truth, it was forbidden to the entire Corps, but if Halt said that, there would certainly be another barrage of questions, and he wasn't in the mood to deal with that.

Halt eyed his apprentice. The boy looked like he was going to burst with the effort of staying silent. Halt sighed, giving in. "Alright, what have you got to say?"

"How do you use these Powers?" he said so fast that Halt blinked.

"Reach inside your head. You'll feel it."

Will raised his eyebrows. "Inside my head? How do you know I can even use these Powers? What if I can't?"

"Everyone can use them, Will. Most people just don't have enough expertise to use them, or the right teaching to. It's much easier with a mentor. Very few people can do it instinctively, and those who can are generally burned at stake for witchcraft or wizardry." At the last part, Will's eyes widened to twice their usual size.

"What!" he squeaked.

"I was joking, Will," Halt said flatly.

"Oh," he sighed, very much relieved.

Halt shook his head and muttered something about gullible apprentices. Will decided it was best if he pretended not to hear.

Halt looked around for a brief moment and then stood up.

"What are we standing up for?" Will asked, hopping perkily to his feet.

"I'm going to show you how."

"I thought you said we didn't need to stand up to work magic!"

"It's not magic, it's the Powers and we will be sitting down. We're just moving!" Halt growled.

"Oh."

Halt walked to a spot about fifteen feet away and sat down again. Will walked over but stayed standing.

"What was the point of that?"

Halt didn't answer. He jerked his hand in a gesture to a spot about two feet away. Will obediently sat.

"What was the point of that?" Will repeated.

"Look at the shadows."

Will did. The spot were they had been seated before was completely shaded. The area they were now at was at the edge of the same body of shade. "Um, we're at the edge instead of the middle now. But I don't see what difference that makes," he said.

Halt looked down to where the shadowed forest floor meant the sunlit ground. Tapping into the Power of shadow, he pulled the shadows several inches out of shape. Now, rather than following the shape of the tree, it had a blob about the size of Halt's hand protruding.

Will's eyes widened.

"Now move the shadows back to their original places," Halt ordered.

Will's eyes widened even more as he looked at his mentor in alarm. "What? How do I do that?"

"Reach inside your mind for the Power of shadow and just push the shadows back."

Narrowing his eyes in concentration, Will slowly brought his hand across the abnormally shadowed ground. Nothing happened. He tried again, rubbing harder, like he was trying to get a large dark stain out of the forest floor.

"Don't rub it, Will, it's not actually part of the ground," Halt said. "You can't do this without the Power of Shadow. Concentrate on that more."

Will wasn't sure how to even reach this Power Halt kept talking about. In his mind? He was always in his own mind. Were there other places in there to look? If so, how big exactly was his mind?

He pushed his insatiable tendency for questions away for the moment and concentrated on how to get to different places within his own mind. Maybe he could just try thinking in a different way. Will didn't realize that he'd closed his eyes, or that he'd almost completely relaxed. But watching him, Halt couldn't help thinking that it looked like he'd transferred into some kind of Zen state.

A spark.

That's how it felt to Will, a sudden spark where he felt what he knew he was looking for. A single spark that lit a very short fuse, causing only a momentary delay before the dam blew. The Powers came from everywhere in his mind, not just the back or the front, and congealed wherever his consciousness was at the moment.

And with his hand, he felt something solid that hadn't been there before. It hadn't just appeared; it was like his senses had finally noticed it. The odd feeling, plus the suddenness of feeling the Powers, caused him to give a strangled yelp and pull his hand from the shadows and his mind from the Powers.

His eyes shot open and he saw Halt staring at him amusedly. "What?" Will asked defensively.

Halt let out a low chuckle and shook his head. "You and Gilan both… Though I suppose it's the same for all apprentices and their masters."

Will gave him a quizzical look. "What?"

"The look on your face when you finally found the Powers was absolutely priceless."

Will crossed his arms and glared at Halt.

"And it's even funnier when you pout after I say that," Halt added with a hint of a grin on his face.

Will huffed and looked back at the shadow he was supposed to fix. He placed his hand on the edge of the misplaced blob and closed his eyes, preparing to reach for the Power of shadow. This time, as it ignited within his mind and he felt the shadows become substantial, he flinched but didn't tear away from it. He dragged his fingers toward the shade's original place and could feel the shadows ripple as they moved. He suppressed a shiver at that. When he thought he was done, he lifted his hand away but kept his eyes closed and his Power beating in a somehow familiar pulsing rhythm within him for the moment.

"That's interesting."

Will opened his eyes at the sound of Halt's voice and saw something he certainly didn't expect to see. He gave a shout of surprise and let go of the Power, consequently dropping the slightly waving stream of shadow trailing up in the air toward his hand. It plopped liquid-like back onto its home shade and flowed back into its original place, outlining the tree perfectly.

"That's one way to fix it, I suppose."

Will looked up at his mentor with wide, confused eyes. "How… I…" he stuttered.

Halt regarded his apprentice calmly. "I'm guessing that you didn't let go of the Power the first time you took your hand away." Will shook his head.

"I didn't want to. It felt… kind of familiar. Is that possible?"

Halt nodded. "It's always been there, in your head. You've probably subconsciously felt it before."

Will nodded slowly.

Halt rose from his sitting position. "Get up. There are still some things I'm going to teach you today. We're taking a walk."

They walked through the deeper parts of the forest, where the undergrowth was dense and different plants crept up the trees. There was silence. Halt was close-mouthed, as usual, and Will was still in awe of his newfound ability. Will stayed as observant as ever, though, and he noticed that, instead of walking quietly and moving the plants as little as possible to avoid detection, Halt seemed to be brushing up against the growth on purpose, like he enjoyed the feel of it stroking him.

After what seemed like eternity to Will, Halt stopped and leaned against the trunk of a tree and closed his eyes. Will opened his mouth to ask why they had stopped, but Halt terminated them before he could take the chance to ask them. "Don't even start, Will. Just listen." The apprentice obediently shut his mouth.

"You only just learned of the six Common Powers," Halt began. "You probably haven't had much time to think of what you could do with them. The more seasoned Rangers, however, have had years to think. A few of them wondered if you could manage to make an illusion to fool people. They've tried it with the Power of light and it usually worked, except for the most complicated things. They were also able to use the Power of air to make sounds such as speaking, to make the illusion a touch more believable. Then a small group had a more ambitious idea: could they make a real person?"

"Could they?" Will asked eagerly.

Halt opened an eye at the boy's verbal intrusion. "Don't interrupt." He closed his eyes again and continued. "Yes, they discovered that they could. They used the Power of earth for the flesh and bones. The Power of water was used for blood. The Powers of light and shadow for coloring. The Power of fire for body heat. The Power of air for breath. They could control the body they had created, but they didn't give it sentience, though they probably could have." He waited and was not disappointed.

"They could have? How? Why not?" Will asked, shooting off the three questions in rapid-fire succession.

"They could have used the seventh Power, the one I still refuse to tell you about, so don't even ask. It likely could have given their creation sentience, but they didn't even try to use it because it was too dangerous. There was also an additional reason. I told you it was forbidden for apprentices to use the seventh Power. Actually, it's forbidden of the entire Corps, after several… mishaps."

"Okay," Will said cautiously, "that's all fascinating and everything, but what has this got to do with anything?"

"Well, I figured you'd find it interesting, and it was a useful way of telling you not to use the seventh Power."

"Which I still don't even know what it does, so what's the point?"

"Just a warning. I am committed to tell you sometime, unfortunately, and I want it known early on that if you ever even try to use it I will do much worse than simply tan your backside. And I thought it was a neat segue into another crucial lesson." Halt paused and looked around, taking in the sights and the scents. "Do you think it's a mere coincidence that the Powers can create the same thing that the Earth did?" he said softly.

"I don't understand," Will replied truthfully.

"The Earth created the human race naturally. The Powers can create the same thing. They're similar. Do you think that's a coincidence?"

Will didn't know the answer. "Um, yes?" he tried.

Halt shook his head. "No. Or, at least, that's what we're fairly sure of. But either way, they can both create us. The Earth and the Powers do not belong to us. We belong to them. It's very easy to let the Power get away from you. Because of that, you are not allowed to practice alone. I must be watching whenever you are using the Power."

Will nodded. "I understand."

"Alright then." Halt stepped away form the tree trunk. "Let's get back to the cabin. We don't want to miss supper, now, do we?" he said, walking off into the trees.

Will grinned and followed.

About halfway to the cabin, Will had another question. "Halt?"

Halt sighed heavily but didn't respond. Will took that as a 'go ahead'.

"Since we can use magic and all, sorry I mean the Powers," he adjusted as Halt opened his mouth to correct him, "can we make things disappear?"

Halt paused his stride and gave him an odd look. "Disappear? The way the townsfolk think we make ourselves invisible?"

Will shook his head. "No, not that kind of disappear. You know, like…" He made an uncertain gesture with his hands. "Poof!"

Halt gave him a flat stare, shook his head slowly and heaved a sigh.

By the way, peoples, that very last little conversation is thanks to thecrAYzeebard's review. I read it and just started cracking up, and I just had to stick it in here. I probably should have asked before sticking it on here. But hey, thecrAYzeebard, if you don't want that on there, PM me and I'll delete it.

Why did that feel like an extra disclaimer? I guess it pretty much was, though.

That chapter got done a lot quicker than I expected it to. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. I'll just pretend it's good. ^_^

I'm going to be adding a couple OCs to this story (all the bad guys have to be OCs) and I'm considering making an OC good guy (or girl, still deciding) too. What do you guys think? I'm still deciding on the plot, so if I hear a good idea I'm flexible! Review please, I thank all you wonderfuls who have already reviewed the first two chapters.

-Rydd Rider