HEY! I'M ALIVE! WHO WOULD'A THUNK!
First things first, I am SO sorry for the long wait! I tried to make this a pretty long chapter to (semi) make up for it... Although I know nothing could... I'm also gonna give anyone who actually reads this chapter a whole dozen cupcakes. Chocolate cupcakes. Yum. And for anyone who actually reviews... I'll let them pick their reward, cuz I'm still relatively new to ffn. Just make sure it's reasonable, like no "Give me your address so I can come visit you and we can spend the week together!" rubbish. (Hehe, that was for you, Christine. = ))
Again, so sorry for the long wait! If you put aside my amazing procrastination abilities, you an sort of blame my mom for not getting me my own laptop. = )
Anyway,thanks to Dodo.123, SoulMistress12, xbamsod, AkiraTheDarkHuntress, and Phinneas McCheeser for reviewing! And no to respond:
Dodo.123: Yep. Will has a beard. = )
SoulMistress12: ... Hope your wound heals quickly. ; )
xbamsod: Haha 'Will will'... took me a while to figure that out. = )
AkiraTheDArkHuntress: I know, it took forver. I'm excited. = )
Phinneas McCheeser: Yeah, I did my best not to copy John Flannagan too much. Hopefully I succeeded.
Keira-22: Thx! I know from experience that it takes a really good story to keep you from eating dinner, so I'm honored. = ) And your review is what reminded me I needed to update.
EVERYONE WHO LIKES THIS STORY, GIVE A BIG THANK-YOU TO KEIRA-22 FOR REMIDING ME TO UPDATE!
I find it kind of odd that I only got six reviews when I've gotten much more in the past. Hmm.**frowns thoughtfully** Back to the point. Disclaimer: ME. NO. OWN-Y. R. A. It's clear. It's obvious. Why am I typing this...?
Chapter Nine
Morning came much to quickly for MIkayla.
Tired though she was, she woke up early, five o'clock, in order to arrive at Ranger Will's cabin at six o'clock; as they had planned the night before.
Half asleep she got dressed, combed through her hair, checked to make sure she had all of her belongings in her bag (again), and washed her face. The cold water woke her up a bit, and she managed to begin accross Redmont a bit after five fifteen.
She made her way guided only by the dim light of the moon; the sun was not yet visible.
She trudged toward the Ranger's cabin, hoping the directions he had given her the night before were accurate.
Just around sunrise, Mikayla ran into Baron Arald.
"What are you doing all the way out here?" MIkayla asked immediately.
"I could ask you the same question, but I already know."
Mikayla squinted her eyes, but didn't say a word.
"You've been apprenticed to none other than Will Treaty," he continued, motioning to her bag.
"Yes," she replied slowly. "I have. He left a note for me on your desk."
Mikayla then realized how odd that sounded, but the Baron just chuckled. "I see he didn't entirely copy Halt's scheme, what with the note being for you," he muttered.
"Pardon?"
"Nothing. You'd best be getting along. It's nearly six o'clock." With that, he nodded and began walking in the opposite direction, straight past her.
MIkayla blinked a bit, then was snapped back to reality and began running in the direction Ranger Will had told her he lived.
Will saw his first apprentice thorugh the window before she even knocked.
He took a deep breath, hoping he made a good desion when picking her as he walked casually to open the door. He smiled at her surprised expression, doing his best to look calm.
"Come in,"
Mikayla smiled at him and walked through the door, rubbing her hands together nervously.
As she walked into the living room, taking everything in, he couldn't help smiling to himself. He had a plan; and it was a plan worthy of Halt.
Mikayla looked around the interior of Will's cabin.
The whole place was rather small, but larger than it appeared from oustside. There were three rooms, Mikayla assumed, after seeing two doors on the leftmost wall. The room she was currently in seemed to be, for the most part, the living room and the kitchen melded into one. The floor, roof, and walls of this room were all wooden; although they were each different types of wood, the names of which Mikayla didn't know.
The kitchen area was small, but it had everything needed-an oven, a small, square table (with a flower vase in the center), cabinets, and various untensils. The wooden wall opposite the doorway had many windows, which was lighting most of the room.
Mikayla walked over to the living area. This part of the room had three comfortable-looking chairs placed around a stone fireplace wtih a small, wooden table next to the largest seat. Miayla noted that there was a mug partially filled with coffee placed on it. That particular chair had a clear view of the window beside the door, so Mikayla correctly assumed the Ranger had been sitting there earlier, and had seen her coming.
"What do you think?"
Mikayla turned around quickly to find herself face-to-face with Ranger Will. She stepped back a bit. "I like it. It's kind of small," as soon as she said it she regretted it. "But I like it just the way it is," she hurriedly covered up.
Will smiled, arranging his features to appear calm and happy, even though he was just as nervous about this whole thing as she clearly was. "Follow me, I'll show you your room."
He began walking towards the wall that had two doors on it, the one Mikayla had seen earlier.
Mikayla followed after him, amazed at how much calm he appeared. He wasn't, of course, but to the young girl he seemed very relaxed about the entire situation.
Will turned around as he opened the door to the room where Mikayla would be staying. He smiled at his new apprentice and nodded for her to go inside.
Mikayla walked with a long stride into the room she would be staying in. She looked around, and found it quite easy to picture herself living there.
The walls, floor, and roof were all the same as the main room, but the floor had a medium-sized braided, tan rug in the middle of the room. A fairly cheap, and yet comfortable-looking bed with a single pillow and many blankets piled on the mattress had been placed in the right corner. Along the wall where the head of the bed was, there was a small-but large enough for use-dresser with a vase of colorful wildflowers sitting on one side. This small feature made the room seem a lot more welcoming. On the only unoccupied wall, a thin, white curtain blew in the gentle breeze coming through an open window.
"Do you like it? I don't really know what girls like in a room, but I tried-"
"Yes. I love it," Mikayla replied, smiling brightly; in such a way that Will was reminded of his girlfriend, Alyss. (A/N:Yeah, he's 30 and they're still dating... Not even engaged...Yet. Hehe)
Will smiled, his eyes in a daze, as he thought about her. When she smiled, when she laughed...
"I like this place," Mikayla snapped him out of his thoughts as she sat down on her new bed, setting down her small bag of belongings.
They stayed there in an awkward silence for a few minutes until Will began feeling too uncomfortable. "While you unpack, I'll be in the main room. Come see when you finish." With that, he exited, closing the door quietly.
Mikayla did as she was told, although she didn't pay much attention to what she was doing. Her thoughts were elseware. What kind of things did a Ranger do? What would she have to do?
Time went by quickly, and she soom found herself walking towards the door.
To Will, seconds seemed like hours as he waited for Mikayla to unpack. He was no longer nervous, but excited to put his plan into action. His genious plan, mind you.
After what seemed like ages, his new apprentice emerged from the doorway he had been staring at expectantly for so long. She walked over to him nerously, and he motioned for her to take a seat across from him on the sofa. Mikayla sat down hesitantly, not wanting to collapse onto the cushions but not wanting to refuse Will's offer.
"What did you want me out her for?" Mikayla asked after a while, trying to start some sort of conversation.
Will did his best to keep a stragiht face thorught his excitement. "To give you your first task."
"What do I need to do?"
"We're running low on wood. Go chop some. The axe is in the back."
Mikayla's thoughts were swirling. She wanted to protest, to point out that she was a girl. However, she said nothing as she quietly got up and exited the cabin.
After she had left, Will couldn't help smiling. His plan would work. He just knew it.
And WHA-LA! There you have it! Kinda boring, I know, but... I hope you'll still review. Remeber the reward thing from the first A/N! = D
Oh yeah, and this chapter was... I,762 words. But that's including all of the A/Ns just cuz I'm lazy = P. And don't forget to REVIEW! (And if you don't remember what I said about the rewards, read my first A/N again = ))