Shattered: Chapter Two
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ranger's Apprentice, y'all. Sadly...
~2~
"Why do I have to learn about geography?" twelve-year-old Daniel Treaty complained. He was sitting at a desk, frowning as he looked down at the map in front of him.
"Daniel," his mother, Alyss, told him calmly, "You need to know about this. Rangers must know that sort of thing. Wouldn't you like to know about all of the places your father had been? That way, you'd understand the stories better."
A pang hit her as she thought about Will. To Daniel, his father had died in the Arridi war, seven years ago. Only Alyss knew that he was still alive, far away in Norgate fief. In fact, there were only three people, outside of Malcolm and his people, who knew that Will was alive. Only Halt, Horace, and she knew. And it was a burden.
Daniel had stopped his protesting at the mention of his father.
"Is he ever coming back?" he asked softly, staring at the map, his eyes locking on Arrida. "I mean, what if he really isn't dead? What if they just think he's dead, and he's really out there, somewhere?"
Alyss bit her lip. How true Daniel's statement was, he would never know. But she couldn't tell Daniel that his father had turned into a madman. For, despite her wish that it wouldn't be so, to put it bluntly, that was what he was.
She still had the scar from when he'd lunged manically at her throat when she'd woken him from a nightmare.
That was the last night she'd seen him. The next morning, he was gone, leaving only a note behind.
Thankfully, Halt had asked that she leave Daniel at the castle when she went to be reunited with her long lost husband. She would have hated for her son to see his father the way he was since he'd returned from Arrida. The way Will had looked at her that night, so full of sheer, animal, instinctive terror, had been something she'd never expected to see from him.
She sighed.
"Daniel," she said quietly. "You know your father isn't coming back." The boy glanced down at his feet beneath the table.
"I know," he said, quietly, "But I just want to see Daddy one more time. I barely even remember what he looked like." Alyss hugged Daniel tightly.
"I think we've had enough lessons for today," she said. Daniel nodded, eyes still downcast. His bronze oakleaf pendant, marking him as a Ranger's apprentice, caught the light and Alyss' eye. Soon it would be time for the Ranger Gathering, she knew, and Daniel, a first-year apprentice, would be going off with Halt.
She wasn't sure she wanted to let him go. He reminded her so much of Will. But she knew that, when agreeing to Halt's proposal to take him on a few years early, she would have to do it sooner rather than later.
"Why don't you go practice your archery?" Alyss suggested. "Your accuracy could use a bit of work." Daniel made a face.
"You spend too much time around Halt," he said accusingly, before grinning and hurrying outside, grabbing his recurve bow and quiver as he did, glad to be out of the clutches of geography.
Alyss watched him from the window. Daniel definitely had his father's potential to be a great Ranger. He was quiet, even without trying, and had even earned a few compliments from Halt on the fact, much to his and Alyss' surprise. Halt rarely, if ever, gave out compliments to his first-year apprentices. But perhaps, she thought, it was different with Daniel. He was, after all, Will's son. And Will and Halt had been like father and son.
She turned away. She'd taken on mentoring Daniel for Halt, who'd told her just to 'keep him working on the important things' while he was gone on an errand. Or that was what he said anyway.
But Alyss knew he'd gone to Norgate to see Will. She longed with all her heart to go with him, but she knew that Will had specified that she shouldn't come. And the one time she'd tried, she hadn't seen him. She and Halt had waited for hours, but they hadn't seen head or tail of Will the whole time.
It turns out, Will had been in his tree, desperately not showing himself, for fear of hurting her, he'd told Halt later.
That had been the only time that she'd tried to see him. Will stubbornly refused to see her, though she knew it tore his heart clean in two to do so; Halt had said as much.
But always the old Ranger brought back tidings of him, and how he fared. More often than not, they were bittersweet. But at least Will seemed to be happy in his new home.
Alyss sat down, opening a letter with her small letter opener, absently picking one from the top of her stack.
It was from Pauline, but she barely read it. It was just a social letter, anyway. Pauline was quite bedridden, being only weeks from the birth of her and Halt's first child.
Alyss read the entire letter, only skimming it, before setting it aside, leaning back and pressing lightly on her temples to clear her mind. Lately, she'd been constantly worried about Will, who was still half a world away from her and Daniel. She wanted so much for him to come back, to be the man he once was, but she knew it was fairly impossible. Will was changed. Changed beyond repair.
His mind and spirit had been broken in the Tualaghi dungeons. Five years he'd spent there, five years that wouldn't have happened had his friends searched more thoroughly for him.
But, she thought, it was reasonable. They'd given them a body, similar in shape to Will, and clothed in his distinctive Ranger cloak, wearing Will's oakleaf around his neck. He was too long dead, and too disfigured by torment, for them to recognize it.
Everything had pointed to it being Will, indeed dead, and, though Halt searched a little while, it was to no avail, and they'd just come to accept it for what it was. But now Will had come back. But not for long.
Alyss' thoughts were interrupted as the door slammed open, squealing loudly on its hinges.
Daniel raced in, out of breath, his eyes wide. He slammed the door closed, heaving in breaths for a while before he managed to catch it. There was a mix of excitement and anxiety in his eyes.
"Mama!" he cried, "There's a Skandian in the woods!"
0o0o0
To Be Continued...
A/N: As you can see, there are at present two storylines going on. I'm basically copying Flanagan's style here, alternating between them. You'll kinda need Alyss' and Daniel's part to get the jist story better. Gorlog's beard, it's complicated enough as it is.
Anyway... eh, I'll just leave all my other notes to the review responses.
REVIEW RESPONSES:
Elvishrangerwolf: *chuckles* I'm always getting those.
BlackShaftedArrow: Well, I'm not going to tell you. You'll find out. Don't worry, nothing's up with you. It's the point of this story to be a little confusing. Oh, can you make some of those coffee-flavoured cupcakes for me too? *puppy dog eyes*
You just aren't Halt's apprentice without getting addicted to the stuff.
Olympus97: Yes! I've managed to confuse two people already! So, basically, the prologue happened two years ago. You'll have a fairly good idea of the backstory within a few chapters. It's told through conversation, memories, and flashbacks, instead of chronologically. Yes, I did mean to do that to y'all. Sorry 'bout that. This is the first time I've written this way. Think I pulled it off okay? Usually, I include the actual torture, but this time I decided to try for something new. Also, I was nearly crying when I wrote about them. They're mine too. In order of favorites it's Halt, Will, Crowley, Gilan, Horace, Erak, and I can't decide between Selethen and Shigeru for the next. Oh, and of course Tug and Abelard and Shadow and Ebony and Blaze and Cropper... Yeah. Poor Gilan and Crowley... And, yes, the Ranger Corps are not the same as they were before the war. They could never be the same without Crowley. *sniffs* But, oh well, decided to try my hand at this thing anyway.
0o0o0o0
Okay. So, people who've read all the way down here, I'm going to do a question for y'all. I'm stealing Arrow's idea for using songs at each chapter ;). Not to be a thief or anything, just cause there's quite a few I want to share.
You'll get free coffee if you answer the question, and some cookies to go with it if you listen to the song.
Okay. So, the question is, to be easy...
Who's your favorite RA character? Why?
And the song of the day is
Keep Makin' Me by Sidewalk Prophets
Note: The songs may or may not be connected with the chapter. They're just songs I think y'all should hear.
Also, one more thing.
PLEASE CHECK MY PROFILE! I've started a poll there about which stories I should work on, and I'd really appreciate it if you vote on it. I want to know everyone's favorites so I know which one to work on the most.
Okay, thanks. Also, if you vote on the poll, you get a virtual Ranger cloak! And also, I'll give you a link to my blog, where I'm posting tutorials for a fully-functional Ranger costume. Working longbow, quiver, arrows, warm cloak, softsole boots, and everything. I'm nearly finished mine, and I tested the boots today and they work!
So, please answer the question, listen to the song, and vote on my poll. Thanks!
I'll be seeing y'all around!
~Ranger Turien