I haven't updated this in a while. (Feel free to ignore my following rant) I was trying to finish my Science and History papers. Big mistake taking honors. I hate my Science HW. Take notes makes notes. That's shit. It pretty much means you have to summarize every fucking paragraph in the lesson and answer every fucking question. Took me two freaking hours to do like 2 lessons. Rant over. Story time! Gather 'round children.

In the forest the night Will was shot.

The Genovesan stayed stock still as he watched the old Ranger and the younger one race to their friend. He mentally berated himself for missing. The boy was still alive. He could still cause trouble. Fortunately, he was going away long enough for the plan to work. The Genovesan slipped silently away to report back to his employer.


Will leaned over the rail. His head ached. His side throbbed painfully and was bleeding yet again. Now he knew how miserable Halt felt on the ocean. Another wave rocked the ship and Will swallowed the bile that rose to his throat. It tasted horrible. Hal looked at him strangely. "I don't understand how you are sea-sick," he said innocently. Will wanted to strangle him. "For the last time," he said in his best patient voice, which was very strained by now, "I am not sea sick. I'm regular sick." Hal shrugged. Both were the same to him.

"Land ho!" Stefan bellowed. Will went over to the mast. After Stefan slid down he shimmied up. Will was surprisingly agile considering his condition. "Are we in the correct country?" Stig called up. "We're in Arridia," he called back down. Hal panicked. He grabbed the nearest map and studied it. The other ships pulled up beside them. Rolland quickly boarded. "What's wrong?" he asked. "According to Will, we're in Arridia," Jesper answered. "What?!" Rolland exclaimed. "How are we in Arradia? I thought we wer finally there." Tursgurd snorted. "Hal Who led us the wrong way." Hal opened his mouth to argue.

Everyone was surprised by Will's laughing. "Don't mess with me boys," he said. "This is the correct country, just the wrong port." Hal scowled at Will. Rolland jumped back onto his ship and they set sail again.

As they cruised along, the boys (and girl) stared at the wondrous new country before them. Thorn and Will both went about their business, having been here before. Soon they came to a narrow river, little more than a creek. "Go in there," Will directed. "It widens out a bit and it leads up to practically the Emperor's front door." Hal called over to the other ships. Rolland shouted back in acknowledgement but Tursgurd seemed to ignore him. Hal shrugged and steered into the opening of the river. The other Herons were tense, remembering their last "short-cut".

Will winced as pain shot up his side again. He collapsed on the nearest unoccupied rowing bench, holding his side. The pain had been occurring frequently throughout the trip. The first time that had happened was only a few minutes after they had left Hallshlom. The boys had panicked. Even now there were looks of alarm, but they handled it better. Edvin came over and handed Will a small box of anesthetic paste. The type he hated. Will didn't know whether to thank Edvin or punch him. Too late anyways. Edvin had gone back to his post.

Will sighed. He undid his cloak and pulled off his shirt. Edvin came back over with a first aid kit and this time stayed near-by incase Will needed help. Will carefully unwound the bandages and studied the wound. "Is it getting better?" Hal called over. Will did his best to study it from the odd angle. "Should be alright," he grunted back. He winced again as pain seared through his chest.

Will opened the box and used his fingers to scoop out the paste. He wrinkled his nose at the intoxicating smell. He decided to breathe through his mouth instead. He stiffened slightly from the pain, but soon the anesthetic took over and the pain faded. The rocking of the wolfship made it hard to rewrap the bandages, but he finally got them sloppily on.

The river wound slowly and lazily through the forest of NiHon Ja. Hal ordered the sail to be let down since there was no wind. He decided to let the crew rest. Hal gestured at Stig to take the rudder. He made his way over to where the young Ranger was yanking on his shirt. He watched in slight amusement until Will gave an irritated "Yes?" "Are you pulling our legs or are we going the correct way?" he asked. Will studied the surrounding forest. "We're almost here. Horace loved dragging me here with him every time he wanted to see Shigeru."

They sat in silence; Will waiting for the question that he knew Hal was dying to ask. "A bad question is one that isn't asked," he said quoting Halt. Hal started wondering how Will knew. He shook his head marveling at the uncanny powers of a Ranger. "What's it like here?" he finally asked. Will just gave one of his mysterious smiles. "You'll see," he answered. Hal grumbled in annoyance at the Ranger. He decided to ask Thorn instead.

Hal repeated the same question to Thorn. He considered for a moment. "What do you mean what is it like? The people the emperor, the country in general, the view?" Hal sighed in annoyance again. "Never mind," he muttered. Hal cold tell Thorn was doing his best to hide a smile.


By dark, they still hadn't reached the emperor's summerhouse yet. "Are we there yet?" he heard one of the twins complaining to Will. Hal dragged the twin away before Will could stick an arrow through him. Both twins had been asking Will the same question for the past hour and he could tell the Ranger's legendary patience was wearing thin. "Shut up or I may just let Will stick an arrow through your mouth," Hal hissed to the twin.

Will and Lydia watched as Thorn put the boys through the drills. After watching for a while, Will decided to go hunting. After the drills finished, the boys were covered with sweat and were panting hard. "Where'd Will go?" Hal panted. "Instead of training their bodies, you should train their minds," Will said appearing in front of the fire. The boys yelled in surprise and drew their weapons. Thorn laughed. Will dropped a deer carcass and a rabbit in front of the fire and Edvin moved to prepare it. Then he stopped, realizing he had no idea how to cook a deer or a rabbit.

Edvin decided to bluff it out. He set out skinning the carcass. Then stopped, then started again. "Are you going to ask for help or are you going to ruin a perfectly good doe?" Will asked. Edvin blushed and handed Will the stuff. He saw a bag lying by Will's feet. He opened it and pulled out spices and bread.

Will expertly skinned the meat and prepared it. "Give me a pot," he told Edvin. Edvin handed him a pot filled with water, guessing what was on Will's mind. Will took the pot nodding his appreciation and approval. Edvin felt a small glow of pride. Edvin watched as Will made the meal. The boys came over, drawn by the smell of burning fat, drooling. Tursgurd smirked. "Looks like you're the first female Ranger," he sneered at Will. Will shrugged. "While you're starving, I will have a nice warm meal that is cooked the way I like." That effectively shut him up. They Herons and the Wolves hid smirks. Tursgurd reached for a bowl of broth, which Will whipped away form him. "Apologize first," he said. Tursgurd scowled. "I'll fight you for it, but I won't apologize," he growled.

Will shook his head. Tursgurd was angry. Erik had made him follow Hal Who to this faraway country, Thorn had made him drill for three hours, and now the damn Ranger wasn't giving him food. With a roar, he leapt at Will. He found himself sprawled on the ground. The boys stared stunned. Will had speed that rivaled to Thorn's. He sat down, cross-legged, finishing his dinner. Tursgurd scowled at him and settled for grabbing food from one of his crew-mates. Without a word, Will handed the unfortunate boy another bowl of food. Tursgurd saw the chance and tried to steal another person's food. Will smacked his hand. "Be happy you even have food," he snarled. Tursgurd glared at Will looking him full in the eyes. His stare wavered. It was like a curtain was pulled aside, revealing the cold, merciless side of Will. To the other boys, they saw what startled them. Tursgurd was afraid and humbled. Each one of them made a mental note not to cross the young Ranger. Thorn gave a tiny nod of approval. Will would be a good person to have around.


That night, they rolled up in their coats and, in Will's case, cloak, and fell asleep on either their ships or on the ground. Lydia and Will had first watch. Will scaled a tree and settled there, motionless, after telling Lydia when to wake the others. She sat down, her back to another tree wondering if Will felt as uncomfortable as she did.

It was an uneventful night. The watches all grew bored, but no one fell asleep. Hal woke to the smell of coffee and the sound of drill swords. The coffee was brewing and thorn was teaching Will how to sword fight. Hal sipped his coffee and watched with interest as Thorn drilled Will. "This is your first time?" asked Thorn, surprised at Will's skill. Will mulled it over. "Technically" he answered slowly. Thorn raised and eyebrow, Ranger style. "Well, when I was younger, I lived in the castle ward and I used to sneak out and watch the Battleschool drills and them practice them at night," he explained. "You didn't get caught?" asked Hal surprised. Will looked offended. "I had a knack of doing things I wasn't allowed to and going places I wasn't supposed to go to," he answered. Hal grinned. Jesper would have a rival in the arts of thievery.

Thorn gestured at Hal to come over. "Fight," he ordered. Will opened his mouth to protest, then closed it, steeling himself. They exchanged blows, getting the feel of each other's technique. Hal beat him, but not without difficulty. Hal thought the only reason he won was because Will dropped his sword and doubled-over in pain when his sword his wound. "How did you fight that well with only drill practice?" Thorn asked. Will shrugged. "Horace and Gilan taught me a bit," he answered, grimacing in pain. Will took a few deep breaths and straightened up slowly.


Hal looked at the sky and decided it was time to go. He went to go wake up the others while Will prepared breakfast.

The amazing sight of the looming summerhouse took their breaths away. Hal steered up to the dock and Will leapt off lightly and hurried up to the gate which quickly opened up for him. Will went into the garden where Shigeru was carefully raking his pebbles. He looked up when the young Ranger entered and smiled warmly.

Will bowed low at the waist before him. "You sent for me your excellency?" he asked. Shigeru's eyes widened in surprise. "Although it is nice to see you again, I did not send for you," he answered pulling Will up. Will stared at him through confused eyes. The pieces were falling into place. Shigeru decided not to question the young man, seeing the look. Will was thinking.

The messenger didn't look Nihon Jain. Have no idea how to spell it. About the time that the future king and queen and hero of Araulen were going home. Will had a bad feeling about this. He had the gut feeling that it was a trap.

"Excuse me your excellency. I must eave," he said hurriedly. "You are welcome here anytime," Shigeru called after him. So young and yet so much responsibility, he thought sadly.

Will needed to get back. He can't let anyone harm Horace or Cassandra. He remembered what Evelyn had said. Danger maybe all part and parcel to being the royal family, but they were in big danger now. The more Will thought about it, the more he was convinced. His friends were in danger.

God that took forever to write. Sorry if it's too long. Thanks for the previous reviews, but remember, the author is supposed to tell the story NOT THE REVEIWERS. Anyways Review!