Chapter 10 is up and I hope everyone gets a good laugh. I am sorry I found this chapter funny.
Ok I don't own Ranger's Apprentice if I did Alyss would still be alive and Gil and Jenny would be married.
The Ruins of Gorlan: Chapter 10
"Ok Duncan pass it here I am the last person who hasn't read yet besides Will" Rodney said and Duncan passed him the book. Halt was glad they had taken a few minutes as Gil was much calmer. Halt hoped this chapter involved something other than Horace's bulling.
"TIME YOU WILL BE LEARNING ABOUT THE WEAPONS YOU"LL BE USING," said Halt.
They had eaten breakfast well before sunup- Horace made a face at that- and Will followed Halt into the forest. They'd walked for about half an hour, with the Ranger showing Will how to glide from one patch of shade to the next, as silently as possible. Will was a good student in the art of unseen movement, as Halt had already remarked, but he had a lot to learn before he reached Ranger standard. "Even then I am still not as good as Gil" Will comment and Gilan flushed with pleasure at the praise. Still, Halt was pleased with his progress. The boy was keen to lean-particularly when it was a matter of field craft like this.
Will fleshed with pleasure at Halt's praise.
It was a slightly different matter when it came to the less exciting tasks like map reading and chart drawing. Everyone laughed at that and Gilan grumbled something under his breath that sounded like "yes because paperwork is fun". Halt glared at him. Gilan had had a tough time with map reading when he was younger but Halt wasn't sure if it was because he enjoyed leading them into terrible places or because he didn't know how to read the map, either way Halt found it very irritating. Will tended to skip over details that he saw as unimportant until Halt pointed out to hum, with some acerbity, "You'd find these skills would become a little more important if you were planning a route for a company of heavy cavalry and forgot to mention there's a stream in the way."
Crowley made a snorting noise as he was trying to hold back his laughter. Gilan was grinning from ear to ear.
"I would do something like that just for the fun of it" Gilan said. Duncan glanced at him worriedly.
"Remind me to never ask you to plan a route for the Calvary then" Duncan said.
"Come on guys the horses aren't helpless they could cross a little stream" Horace said.
"Yes but can they cross a lake?" Halt asked and at that Horace was stumped.
Now, they stopped in a clearing and Halt dropped a small bundle that had been concealed beneath his cloak.
Will regarded the bundle doubtfully. When he thought of weapons, he thought of swords and battleaxes and war maces- weapons carried by knights it was obvious that this small bundle contained none of these.
Halt shook his head "I might as well get used to that reaction. Just because they are not well known doesn't mean they aren't good" he replied. Crowley was nodding. Gilan looked slightly embarrassed.
"I had the same reaction Will don't feel bad" Gilan replied.
"What sort of weapons? Do we have swords?" Will asked, his eyes glued to the bundle.
"Oops" Halt said thoughtfully. Everyone turned to look at him. "I forgot to get on to Will for asking two questions at one. Oh well" Halt said and everyone laughed at the look on Will's face.
"A Ranger's principle weapons are stealth and silence and his ability to avoid being seen," said Halt. "But if they fail, then you may have to fight."
"You didn't answer his question Halt" Rodney said Halt shrgged.
"He interrupted me" Halt replied.
"So, then we have a sword?" Will said hopefully.
Halt made a see there gesture and Rodney chuckled.
Halt knelt down and unwrapped the bundle.
"No. Then we have a bow," he said and placed it at Will's feet.
Will's first reaction was one of disappointment. A bow was something people used for hunting, he thought. Everyone had bows. A bow was more a tool than a weapon. Halt, Crowley, and Gilan snorted at this remark. As a child, he had made his fair share of them himself, bending a springy tree branch into shape. Then, as Halt said nothing, he looked more closely at the bow. This, he realized, was no bent branch.
"The bow is our primary weapon Will. You think if it didn't work we would keep using it?" Crowley asked with a touch of annoyance in his tone.
"Well um, I don't know" Will said slowly not really sure how to get out of this situation without making himself look any more stupid. Halt snorted.
It was unlike bow that Will had seen before. Most of the bow followed one long curve like a longbow, but then each tip curved back in the opposite direction. Will, like most of the people in the kingdom, was used to the standard longbow- which was one long piece of wood bent into a continuous curve. This one was a good deal shorter.
"Easier to work with that one" Halt said. Crowley and Gilan nodded. They like Will had started out on the recurve bow instead of the longbow and while Halt never said otherwise they suspected it was the same with Halt.
"It's called a recurve bow," said Halt, sensing his puzzlement.
"You're not strong enough to handle a full longbow yet, so the double curve will give you extra arrow speed and power, with a lower draw weight. I learned how to make one from the Temujai."
"See" Rodney said. Everyone knew he meant Will's desire to get into Battleschool but was demined because of his size.
Halt raised an eyebrow, "I would love to see you try and pull a longbow" Halt said. Rodney had the sense to stop there. No one took a challenge issued by Halt because they usually lost. Halt nodded the unspoken message clear.
"Who are the Temujai?" asked Will, looking up from the strange bow.
"Oh bother" Horace said, "Not them again, you stole horses from them too Halt" Horace said. Pauline looked at Halt with a scolding expression.
"We have been through this Horace I gave them money for them" Halt said but everyone noticed the amusement in his voice.
"Well at least I am not the only one who didn't know who the Temujai were" Horace said.
"Of course not people rarely do" Crowley said.
Duncan snorted, "They do now"
"Fierce fighting men from the east," said Halt. "And probably the world's finest archers.
"You fought against them?"
"Against them…and with them for a time," said Halt. "Stop asking so many questions."
"It wasn't that many questions" Will complained.
"Yes it was" Halt said.
"So what is your limit then Halt" Duncan asked trying not to laugh.
"One a day" Halt said.
"That's imposable" Will complained. Halt raised an eyebrow.
"For you it is" came the reply and that sent the whole table laughing.
Will glanced down at the bow in his hand again. Now that he was becoming used to its unusual shape, he could see that it was a beautifully made weapon. Several shaped strips of wood had been glued together, with their grains running in different directions. They were of differing thicknesses and it was this that achieved the double curve of the bow, as the different forces strained against each other, bending the limbs of the bow into a carefully planned pattern. Everyone put the Rangers in the room frowned. Then deciding that if they asked to have it read again would make them feel stupid made sure Rodney kept reading. Crowley was trying to hide his own laughter at their confused expressions and Halt who was eagerly (or perhaps not so eagerly) for what he knew was going to happen next looked up at Rodney questionably wondering why the knight had stopped reading. Rodney coughed to clear his throat (what it presented a good excuse) then continued reading. Maybe, he thought, this really was a weapon, after all.
"Can I shoot it?" he asked.
Will groaned "oh no I should have known this was coming". The others beside Halt, Crowley, and Gilan looked at him curiously.
Halt nodded. "If you feel that's a good idea, go ahead," he said.
Crowley was smirking, Gilan had a look of sympathy and pleasure on his face, and Arlad was watching Halt with a look of suspicion. Halt of course shifted uncomfortably wondering if he was going to get yet another scolding from Pauline on his 'teaching methods'.
Quickly, Will chose an arrow from the quiver that had been in the bundle alongside the bow and fitted it to the string. He pulled the arrow back with his thumb and forefinger, aimed at a tree trunk some twenty meters away and fired.
Whack!
The heavy bowstring slapped into the soft flesh on the inside of his arm, stinging like a whip. Will yelled with pain and dropped the bow as if it was red-hot.
Crowley was roaring with laughter, Will was rubbing the inside of his arm and Pauline was glaring at a very anxious Halt.
"You let him hit himself with the bowstring!" she cried.
"I didn't say it was a good idea" Halt said wondering how much trouble he would be in tonight.
"Please tell me you didn't try that with Gilan" Pauline said sternly.
"Of course not" Halt said and Will pouted.
"Yes he did" Gilan said. Halt would have glared at Gilan if Pauline wasn't scaring him.
"He learned didn't he" Halt said defensively. Pauline sighed Halt and children did not mix.
Already, a thick read welt was forming on his arm. It throbbed painfully. Will had no idea where the arrow had gone. Nor did he care.
"That hurt!" he said, looking accusingly at the Ranger.
Halt shrugged.
Arlad was now glaring at Halt as well (although Halt didn't find Arlad nearly as scary as Pauline) and Alyss was frowning at him. Crowley was still laughing hard and Halt was thankful for that because Pauline was now glaring at him.
"You're always in a hurry, youngster," he said. "That may teach you to wait a little next time."
"It better have taught him his lesson" Pauline said glaring at Halt. Halt shifted his weight around knowing full well that it had done no such thing.
He bent to the bundle and pulled out a long cuff made of stiff leather. He slid it onto Will's left arm so that it would protect him from the bowstring. Ruefully, Will noticed that Halt was wearing a similar cuff. Even more ruefully, he realized that he'd noticed this before but never wondered about the reason for it.
"Now try again," said Halt.
Will chose another arrow and placed it on the string. As he went to draw it back again, Halt stopped him.
"Not with the thumb and finger," he said. "Let the arrow rest between the first and second fingers on the string…like this."
He showed Will how to nock-the notch at the butt end of the arrow-actually clipped to the string and held the arrow in place. Then he demonstrated how to let the string rest on the first joint of the first, second and third fingers, with the first finger above the nock point and the others below it. Finally, he showed him how to allow the string to slip loose so that the arrow was released.
"That's better," he said and, as Will brought the arrow back, continued. "Try to use you back muscles, not just your arms. Feel as if you're pushing your shoulder blades together…"
"And that is how you fire a bow" Halt said. The others nodded although most still felt they should read it again but they didn't say a word.
Will tried it and the bow seemed to draw a little easier. He found he could hold it steadier then before.
He fired again. This time, he just missed the tree trunk he'd been aiming for.
"You need to practice," said Halt. "Put it down for now."
"Practice makes perfect" Crowley commented.
Carefully, Will laid the bow down on the ground. He was eager now to see what Halt would produce next from the bundle.
"These are a Ranger's knives," said Halt. He handed Will a double scabbard, like the one he wore on the left-hand side of his own belt.
Will took the double scabbard and examined it. The knives were set one above the other. The top knife was the shorter of the two. It had a thick, heavy grip made of a series of leather discs set one above the other. There was a brass crosspiece between the hilt and the blade and it had a matching brass pommel.
"Take it out," said Halt. "Do it carefully." Will slid the short knife from the scabbard. It was an unusual shape. Narrow at the hilt, it tapered out sharply, becoming thicker and wider for three quarters of its length to form a broad blade with the weight concentrated toward the tip, then a steep reverse taper created a razor-sharp point. He looked curiously at Halt.
"It's for throwing," said the Ranger. The extra width at the tip balances the weight of the hilt. And the combined weight of the two helps drive the knife home when you throw it. Watch."
His hand moved smoothly and swiftly to the broad-bladed knife at his own waist. He flicked it free from the scabbard and, in one smooth action, sent it spinning toward a nearby tree.
The knife thudded home into the wood with a satisfying thock!
Halt was looking very pleased with himself.
Will looked at Halt, impressed with the Ranger's skill and speed. "How do you learn to do that?" he asked.
"Practice makes perfect" Halt replied it was phrase Will and Gilan had heard tons of times.
Halt looked at him. "Practice"
He gestured for Will to inspect the second knife.
This one was longer. The handle was the same leather disk construction, and there was a short, sturdy crosspiece. The blade was heavy and straight, razor-sharp on one side, thick and heavy on the other side.
"I still say it looks like a kitchen knife" Gilan said with a snort. Halt hid a sigh. While Gilan did use both his knives he still preferred his sword and because it was made the same way that the knives were strength wasn't an issue. Gilan just felt more comfortable with his sword probably because he had much more experience with it and was used to fighting with it.
Crowley raised an eyebrow however. "Kitchen knife or not it is deadly" he replied. Gilan snorted again. Then Crowley found a way to stump Gilan.
"The way you keep losing your sword a knife will be handy to have" Crowley said with a smirk.
"YOU WHAT?!" Rodney, Arlad, and Duncan cried at once. Horace was laughing.
Gilan flushed embarrassed. This was news to Halt he along with Will and Horace had been at Hibernia when Gilan had lost his sword. The other time he had lost it Halt didn't count because they had all lost their weapons then made sure they got them back.
"You lost your sword Gilan how the hell do you lose your sword?" Halt asked his former apprentice.
"I threw it at someone" Gilan said softly. Horace seemed to find that even funnier and Halt was looking at Gilan with disbelief.
"You throw it at someone?" Halt asked and Crowley was chuckling. Gilan hadn't told Halt about this incident.
"I couldn't fire my bow and was badly outnumbered so to escape I threw it at someone to by me sometime it is in the report" Gilan said glaring at Crowley who was finding this way to funny in Gilan's opinion.
"Well that makes two of my idiot apprentices who have lost something of theirs" Halt said with a long sigh. Rodney and Arlad were shaking their heads and Gilan realized he was bound to get a very long lecture from either his father or Halt later.
"This is in case your enemy gets to close quarters," said Halt. "Although if you're any sort of archer, he never will. It's balanced for throwing, but you can also block a sword stroke with that blade. Rodney snorted, "I doubt it" and to his surprise Horace was shaking his head having already having been shown the strength of the knives. It's made by the finest steelsmiths in the Kingdom. "The same people who made Gil's sword" Crowley commented. Look after it and keep it sharp."
"I will," the apprentice said softly, admiring the knife in his hands.
"It's similar to what the Skandians call a sax knife," Halt told him. Will frowned at the unfamiliar name and Halt went on to explain further.
Halt sighed and grumbled something under his breath that had the words 'terrible' and 'education' in it.
"It's both weapon and tool-a sea ax, originally. But over the years the words sort of slid together to become saxe. Mind you," he added, "the quality of the steel in ours is a long way superior to the Skandian ones."
Will studied the knife more closely, seeing the faint blue tint in the blade, feeling the perfect balance. With its leather and brass hilt, the knife might be plain and functional in appearance. But it was a fine weapon and, Will realized, far superior to the comparatively clumsy swords worn by castle Redmont's warriors.
The knights of the room growled at the remark and Crowley started laughing. Pauline looked over at Alyss who like her was waiting to stop the fight that was bound to break out before it got too bad.
Duncan went to say something about this when Pauline shook her hear warningly then turned at Crowley. "Would you please quit laughing? And can we all drop it" she asked warningly.
The others nodded and Crowley stopped laughing when Pauline gave him a hard kick. Halt looked amused.
"For once I didn't do it" he replied and the whole table started laughing the argument forgotten and Pauline smiled at her husband.
Halt showed him how to strap the double scabbard to his belt so that his hand fell naturally to the knife hilts. "Now," he said, "all you have to do is learn to use them. And you know what that means, don't you?"
Will nodded his head, grinning. "A lot of practice," he said.
"Chapter is done" Rodney said, "How about one more before we hit the sack" he added with a slight yawn.
"Agreed" the table coursed.
Alright chapter 10 is done. I hope everyone got the reference with Gil losing his sword if not read Brotherband book 4 it is explained in there. As always enjoy