The next day, Jacob and Mikayla were standing behind their parents' cabin. Gilan, Halt, and Will were standing infront of them. There was also a fourth person standing beside them. Jacob and Mikayla were patiently waiting to be assigned to their masters.
Halt looked between the two of them then started talking, "Jacob. Mikayla. Today you two are going to be assigned to your masters. Things will change. You won't be able to prank together anymore. You won't be able to prank at all. Do you understand?"
They both nodded.
Halt looked both of them in the eye to make sure they got the message. Once he was satisfied, he continued, "One of you will move out of your parents' home. You two won't live together anymore."
The twins blinked. They thought both of them would be moving out of their parents' cabin.
"We both thought we would both be moving out of our parents' home. Why only one of us?" Jacob asked.
"The reason is because Mikayla is going to be the first girl apprentice Ranger. It'll already be hard enough for her without her moving out."
Jacob nodded in understanding. Mikayla spoke, "Does that mean Dad is going to be my master?"
Halt nodded at Mikayla. "That's correct, Kayla. David will be Jake's master. He is the Ranger of Whitby fief."
Halt motioned to David. David walked over to Jacob and smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Jacob. I've heard about you lots of times. I'll keep you too busy for you to prank anyone."
Jacob smiled, blushing a little. "It's nice to meet you too, Sir."
Halt watched his grandson then motioned to Gilan and Will to get something. They walked a little way away then returned with two cloaks, two recurve bows, two packs of arrows, and two sets of knives with sheathes and belts.
Jacob and Mikayla watched with excitement. Gilan and Will put it all down and first handed the twins the cloaks. The twins put them on and then were handed the knives. They put them on and were shown where to place them on the belt correctly. The twins already knew how to put on the packs and how to string their bows.
Will looked at his children proudly, smiling. Gilan was smiling proudly, too. Halt kept his normal demeanor, but you could see a proud look in his eyes.
The twins looked at each other and smiled.
"We'll give you both a few minutes to say goodbye then Jacob will say goodbye to me, Will, Gilan, his mother, and his grandmother," Halt said.
The adults walked away and the twins faced each other. They just stood there for a minute, not knowing what to say.
Mikayla finally spoke up, looking at her brother. "I'll miss you, Jake."
She had tears in her eyes. Jacob had tears in his eyes, too. They hugged each other then headed to the cabin. Alyss, Will, Halt, Pauline, and Gilan said their goodbyes to Jacob and hugged him. David retrieved his horse and Jacob climbed up behind with a pack of his stuff on his back. David signaled his horse to start walking and the horse responded instantly. Jacob turned to look back at his family and waved. They all waved back at him.
"I love you!" he yelled.
His mother replied, "We love you, too!"
David signaled his horse for a canter and the horse sped up. Jacob kept waving till his family were out of sight, and so did they till he was out of sight. Jacob looked forward and looked up at the sky.
I can't wait for what happens next, he thought to himself.