*Yawn*

~Liz

Disclaimer: We don't own anything.

Chapter 4

Franz kicked a rock and pulled his cloak around himself as the wind threatened to knock him off his feet. A bright flash of lightning split across the sky and Franz scrambled into the nearest tent as the sky opened up and cold rain poured down. He sighed with relief and sat down in a corner by the entrance of the tent. The tent was curiously empty, but Franz didn't mind. He was actually relieved that no one saw him scared over a storm. He sighed and ran a hand through his pale blonde hair. The growing storm reminded him of the day he and Stephen were attacked. He drew his knees up to his chest and stared around the dark tent, trying to shove away the frightening memories. He could still remember their harsh, mocking voices and long, glinting knives. He shuddered and took a few calming breaths. Franz's relief was cut short when he heard angry voices approaching the tent.

"What were you thinking," a cold, low voice snapped.

"Well, I'm sorry what was I supposed to do!" a younger voice retorted.

Franz froze when he identified the voices. It was Axel and Twyer. Franz jumped to his feet and went for the exit but two long shadows appeared in front of it. He frantically looked around and ducked behind a pile of equipment in the far corner. He pulled his cowl over his head and shrank back as the tent flap blew open and the two dark figures stormed inside the tent.

"You could have just observed like I told you to," Axel hissed, throwing his bow to the ground near Franz.

Twyer huffed and wrung out his cloak. "They heard Roy and Barton," he protested with contempt. "The best way to cover their tracks was to make it look like a prank."

Franz held his breath as Axel sat down near the pile and shook his head.

"This kid is going to complicate things," he sighed. "The mentor didn't see anything, but if that brat recognizes me and spills to Stephen, it's over."

Twyer pursed his lips and crossed his arms. "If he hasn't recognized you by now then odds are he won't at all," he said. "Plus he's scared of his own shadow if he finds out it's you he'll stay quiet."

Axel seemed to consider this but shook his head. "I'm not so sure, he got a good look at me."

"It was over a year ago, you're making yourself look suspicious," Twyer hissed. "Let's go move the tents away from the river and talk about this later."

"Fine," Axel spat.

Franz watched as the fuming pair left and he slowly came out from behind the pile. He wasn't sure what he heard but he knew it was weird.

Why did they mention Stephen, and why does Axel suddenly sound so familiar? Franz wondered as he slunk toward the entrance.

He quickly exited the tent and kept his head down as he made his way to his own tent. He stared at the muddy ground, debating on whether he should tell Stephen about the strange conversation. He abruptly collided with someone and slipped on the slick ground, but a strong grip caught him and helped him regain his balance. Franz glanced up to see Halt staring at him with a raised eyebrow. The apprentice bit his lip nervously and struggled to find his words.

"S-sorry," he stuttered. "I didn't see you,"

"That's alright," Halt responded. "But maybe that would happen a bit less if you walked with her head up every once in a while,"

Franz reddened and glanced at the ground.

"I meant that to help you, not embarrass you," Halt clarified. "Are you looking for Stephen?"

The apprentice nodded and Halt gestured toward a large oak tree. "He's over there moving the tents back."

Franz nodded in thanks as Halt gave him a miniscule smile. The apprentice hurried away, keeping his eyes up and watching where he was going. He realized that he noticed a lot more when he kept his head up, even though the rain obscured his view. He brightened when he saw his mentor and Barley shifting a tent away from the swelling river.

"Franz!" Stephen smiled and high fived his apprentice. "Are you here to help us move the tents back?"

"Yeah," Franz responded feeling slightly more upbeat. "But I was wondering if I could talk to you about something later,"

Barley and Stephen finished moving the tent and Stephen leaned against a tree. "Well, if you want you can just tell me now," he said. "What's up?"

"It's about Axel and Twyer," Franz began, lowering his voice slightly. "I-"

The apprentice was suddenly cut short by a distant shout.

"What was that?" Barley asked, stiffening.

There was another shout, but it sounded closer. Franz turned nervously and began to fiddle with the end of his cloak.

"Someone help!"

Franz went rigid and exchanged a worried glance with his mentor. A tall, lean man burst into the clearing on a large brown horse. He looked disoriented and battered as he slid off the horse and stumbled around. Will and Gilan were at the man's side within a second and helped him stand. Crowley burst out of his tent followed closely by Halt. A number of Rangers began to rush to the clearing and crowded around the man.

"Let's go," Barley said.

Sam bounded toward his mentor to join him and Franz walked closely next to his mentor.

"What's going on?" Sam asked.

"We don't know yet," Barley responded, looking curiously at the rugged man.

Franz's breathing hitched as he approached the frantic man.

"My village," the man rasped. "I just returned to my village from a trip and everyone was dead, there was so much blood,"

Surprised mutters rippled through the crowd of Rangers as the man continued to speak.

"I was attacked by a group of masked men in dark clothing when I first arrived, I feigned death to escape them."

The man shuddered and doubled over with pain but Will caught him and helped him stand.

"Get him to our tent," Halt ordered to Gilan and Will.

Franz watched with horror as the disoriented man shouted about death and fire while being lead away by Halt, Will and Gilan.

Sam appeared beside Franz and shook his head.

"That's terrible," he breathed. "Who could kill an entire village?"

Barley shrugged. "I'm not sure,"

Crowley hurried over to Stephen and Barley and spoke quickly. "But you can find out," he said. "You four will accompany Halt, Will and Gilan to that village tomorrow to see what happened."

"All of us?" Sam asked incredulously.

"We don't know if that group of men will come back, better safe than sorry." Crowley explained. "Now if you'll excuse me,"

Stephen and Barley nodded respectfully to the Commandant as he rushed toward Halt's tent.

"C'mon Franz, let's go get some rest before we go tomorrow," Stephen said.

Franz waved goodbye to Sam and Barley and followed his mentor back to their tent. The apprentice couldn't help but feel a surge of fear. A brutal group of masked men sounded eerily familiar to him and he wondered if Stephen felt the same way.

"So how far away is this village?" Sam asked with a sigh.

"Only a few more miles Sam, quit complaining." Barley responded.

Sam huffed and leaned sloppily on his horse who snorted unhappily.

"You get me Storm," he joked, stroking his horse.

He glanced toward Franz and noticed that his friend was stiff as a board. Even Stephen seemed a little nervous. Sam wondered what it was like to be jumped as viciously as they had been. The apprentice suddenly felt a surge of respect for the pair. They had been brutally attacked, yet their training never faltered. Stephen never gave up on Franz when he became a nervous wreck, and Franz never stopped working hard. Franz was one of the fastest shooting apprentices in the Corps and scored the highest in unseen movement the year before. Stephen was a highly respected Ranger and served as role model to young apprentices.

And here I am just a disrespectful, untalented excuse for a Ranger with a mentor I don't deserve. Sam thought bitterly.

"Are you okay, Sam?" Barley asked slowing his horse.

Sam straightened and plastered an indifferent look on his face.

"Yeah," he said emotionlessly. "I'm fine."

Barley stared at his apprentice and waited expectantly for a truthful answer.

"What?" Sam asked.

Barley shrugged and remained silent, plunging the group into a pit of silence.

"I don't deserve to have you as my mentor," Sam finally said. "I don't know why you've stuck with me for almost two years."

Barley furrowed his brow and glanced at his apprentice. "What?" he asked.

"I'm a jerk to everyone and I don't do anything you tell me to do," Sam continued staring ahead blankly. "You work hard every day to teach me to be a Ranger and all I manage to do is be a jerk."

"Samuel, you're not a jerk," Barley protested.

Sam raised an eyebrow and glanced at his mentor.

"Maybe you're a little short-tempered," Barley sighed. "But it in no way makes me think any less of you. You'll learn to compose your anger."

Sam turned away from his mentor and fiddled with a strand of Storm's hair.

"And maybe if you didn't shut me out all the time I could teach you how to do that."

Sam's gaze flicked back to his mentor and he gave a rare smile. Barley ruffled Sam's hair and matched his horse's pace with Storm's.

"Oh god," Gilan breathed.

Sam slowed his horse when he saw a thick cloud of smoke seemingly rising from the trees.

"Is that from the village?" Will asked.

Halt nodded curtly and took the lead. Franz stopped his horse and stared in frozen horror at the smoke. Stephen doubled back and talked quietly to the apprentice then he rode along side him at a slow pace. Barley silently refused to let Sam ride ahead of him as he flanked his apprentice protectively.

"Stephen, what if it's the same people." Franz fretted, glancing around the trees.

"It's not Franz," Stephen reassured him. "Don't worry,"

Sam noticed that Stephen didn't seem too confident reassuring Franz. He couldn't help but wonder if Stephen thought they may encounter the same people who attacked them a year before.

1 YEAR BEFORE

"Nice shot, Franz!" Stephen praised.

The young apprentice beamed with pride at the arrow buried deep in the middle of the target.

"It's getting easier," Franz said, pulling his arrow from the target.

"Didn't he say it would?" Stephen teased.

"Yeah, yeah," Franz sighed, nocking the same arrow.

"Okay, now draw back, but slowly don't rush." Stephen advised.

He walked over and fixed his apprentice's posture then backed up.

"You don't have to get it perfect every time, just have good posture and form and the rest will come easy." Stephen said.

Franz nodded and aimed the arrow. He let it go and watched with disappointment as the arrow sailed over the target and disappeared into the woods. Franz sighed and shrugged.

"Like you said, can't be perfect every time," he said.

Stephen clapped his apprentice on the back and smiled. "That's what I like to hear, since Barley and Sam will be coming soon you just go head and get that arrow and we'll call it a day."

"Okay,"

Franz then bounded into the woods and searched the trees and bushes. He slowed once he got deeper into the woods and he glanced up at the darkening sky. An uneasy feeling washed over him as he searched for the arrow, his attention drifting away from the arrow and shifting to every sound and movement in the dark forest. The apprentice looked around with confusion. He hadn't shot the arrow very far, yet he had travelled deeper into the woods than he had wanted.

Snap!

Franz jumped and spun around. Nothing. Surely Stephen wouldn't mind if he lost just the one arrow. He took a deep breath to calm himself and turned to head back, but ran right into a tall, intimidating figure. Franz gasped and scrambled back only to bump into a lean yet short, dark figure.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" The first man asked sweetly. "A little apprentice?"

"Looks like a Ranger to me," the second said. "What a pleasant surprise,"

"Hmm, a Ranger you say, I heard you Rangers know some pretty nice secrets about the King," a third figure this one female, approached from the shadows holding the arrow Franz lost.

"Looking for this, sweetie?" she asked in a mocking tone.

In one swift movement she snapped the arrow in half and threw it aside. Franz flinched and backed away from the three huge figures.

"Grab him," the first man barked.

Franz turned to run but the second man roughly grabbed him and dragged him toward the tall man.

"This can be easy or this can be hard," the tall man began, his voice frighteningly calm and cold. "You tell us what we want to know, and we won't hurt you,"

"But if you don't tell us then we get to have our fun," the woman sneered. "It's up to you honey, but either way you're talking,"

Franz's eyes filled with hot tears as he struggled against his captor. "But I don't know anything, really, this is my first year,"

"We'll start with something easy then," the tall man hissed. "Your Commandant Crowley, is meeting a Ranger named Halt to discuss a plan to bring my friends and I to jail,"

Franz's attention was stolen by the glinting of a knife in the moonlight. His teary emerald gaze flicked to the woman who waved the knife around.

"Now, because of that we don't like them very much so we wanted to pay them a visit," the man continued. "The trouble is we can't seem to find where they live, that's where you come in."

Franz's face paled. "I-I don't know,"

Franz had heard about their plan. They were supposed to get a false word out about the meeting to trick a group of vicious masked men into an ambush. They would pick a place then fake the meeting, when the group moved in a counter group of Rangers that included Stephen, would come in and take them down.

"We don't appreciate liars," the woman hissed.

"They're meeting in Red Valley," Franz said.

The tall man tilted his head and smiled. "Well we know that, we also know that there's an ambush waiting there for us. I meant where the counter group of Rangers will be hiding."

Franz stared at the man with disbelief and fear. How did he know that?

The man laughed a cruel, cold, snake-like laugh that chilled Franz to the bone.

"Got you didn't I?"

Franz shrank back and tried once again to pull away from the large man.

"Tell me where the counter group is," the man hissed.

Franz remained silent and stared fearfully at his boots.

"Very well," the man gestured to the short man holding Franz. "Axel,"

Franz heard his wrist snap before he even felt the agonizing pain shoot through his arm. He yelped in pain and crumpled to the ground.

"Now, I will ask again," the man said calmly. "Where are they meeting?"

Franz shook his head and tried to speak.

"I-I don't know," he sobbed.

The tall man dragged Franz to his feet and shoved him against a tree. "I think you do know, and you're going to tell me," he spat.

He punched Franz viciously and let him go so he collapsed onto the ground.

"Saph, why don't you take over." the man smiled.

The woman sneered and twirled the knife in her hand. Franz shrank back and let out a choked sob.

"That's enough!"

Franz glanced toward the trees and felt a rush of joy when he saw Stephen drawing back an arrow.

"Get the hell away from my apprentice," Stephen spat.

The three figures glared with hatred at Stephen and each one drew a sword. The woman melted into the trees while the two other men snarled at Stephen with their weapons drawn. Stephen shot two arrows within five seconds, knocking each weapon out of their hands. Suddenly the woman charged out of the woods and slashed the large knife at Stephen. Stephen cried out and recoiled from the woman who was skillfully swinging the knife at him. Franz stumbled to his feet, feeling nauseous with pain and grabbed the bow his mentor had dropped. He picked up an arrow from the ground and shot at the woman. The arrow nailed her in the arm and she roared with anger. Red hot pain shot through Franz' wrist and the apprentice quickly dropped the bow and backed away. Stephen drew his saxe knife and began fighting with the woman who had just finished yanking the arrow out of her arm.

Someone suddenly grabbed Franz from behind and held a cold knife to his neck.

"That's quite enough of that Ranger," the cold voice of the short man hissed. "Take another move and the apprentice dies,"

Stephen's eyes flashed with fear when he saw blood beginning to appear underneath the knife. While he was distracted the woman lashed out at Stephen and slashed him across the chest with the knife. Stephen collapsed onto the ground and gasped with pain.

"No!" Franz wailed as he struggled against his captor.

Franz kicked back and heard a snap as his foot connected with the man's knee. The man howled with pain and released Franz, but managed to make a deep cut his arm with the knife as he did. Franz only winced as he scrambled to his mentor.

"Stephen!" he cried, falling beside his mentor.

"No, Axel! It's not worth it," the woman shouted, pulling the short man with her.

"This isn't over you two!" the tall one roared. "When we find you again, we won't be as kind!"

With that the tall man darted into the woods followed by the wounded man who limped away along with the bleeding woman.

"Stephen, hold on!" Franz gasped as he ripped part of his cloak and made a makeshift bandage.

The Ranger began to drift in and out of consciousness as Franz held the cloak against his wounds. It was then Franz realized how tired he felt, and how much blood he was losing himself. He glanced at his own cut and held part of his cloak to it. The throbbing pain in his wrist and arm suddenly began to dissipate as the world began to spin. Franz blinked a few times urging himself to stay awake. He could have sworn he saw Barley and Sam charging through the trees toward them right before the world went dark.

PRESENT

The group of Rangers pulled their horses to a stop and stared at the broken village in front of them. Countless villagers lay dead around the houses, the rooftops were smoking and tools were strewn across the entire village, broken and useless. Franz stared feeling rising horror as his gaze shifted from body to body. Franz was the last to dismount and he stumbled, feeling suddenly light headed. Stephen steadied him and looked away himself.

"We can investigate the houses while the others take a look at the villagers," Stephen said softly.

Franz nodded, his gaze locked onto the bodies of the villagers. Will and Gilan nodded to Stephen as the Ranger guided his dazed apprentice behind him. The two walked down the hill toward the smoking houses and forced open one of the creaky doors. Inside the house, everything was perfectly in order except for a few charred books. Ashes seeped through the roof onto the floor as Franz backed out of the house.

"Hello," a cold voice said from behind the pair.

Franz jumped behind Stephen who turned calmly.

"Axel," Stephen nodded a greeting. "Crowley wants you here as well?"

Franz stared at the short, lean Ranger with unease. He seemed familiar, but Franz couldn't remember how he was familiar.

"Oh, um yes he does, he thought you would need the extra help." Axel said, smiling kindly.

"Franz, why don't you go check the next house while I show Axel this one," Stephen said, not taking his eyes away from Axel.

Franz's gaze shifted from Stephen to Axel curiously, but he nodded and headed out of this obediently. Franz passed Will and Halt who were looking at some of the dead villagers, and the apprentice turned away. Franz gingerly opened the door to the cabin across the road and looked around. It was just like the other house, not a thing was out of place. As Franz stared around the house he began to think about Axel. Franz definitely knew him from outside the Corps. It suddenly it hit him like lightning. Axel was one of the masked men who attacked him and Stephen, he was there. He helped. Franz didn't know if he should feel fear or anger. He glanced over his shoulder at the house where Stephen was and froze when he saw Axel staring back at him through the window.

Yeah, so this chapter was a bit darker, but they won't all be like this. Hope it wasn't too much, reviews are loved.

~Liz