Disclaimer: I do not own Ranger's Apprentice or any of its characters
You are NOT allowed to ride Tug. He will throw you off and Will will shoot you for trying to steal his horse.
Max slunk out of the dark cabin. He had been forced to sleep on the couch while Will took residence in Max's room for his visit. Max walked over to the horses in their shelter and grinned. He had been meaning to do this for some time now. Halt hadn't taken him to get his own horse, something about responsibility and not acting like a jerk. Max stepped into the shelter and walked over to Tug who was wide awake despite the late hour. He gave a soft whinny of greeting as Max patted his head.
Max looked over at Abelard and was relieved to see that the older horse was sleeping. Max smiled broader, everything was going great. He could easily take Will's horse and hide him someplace in the woods. Will would eventually be forced to leave and the horse would be his. As long as Halt didn't find out it would be perfect. Max pet Tug again before walking away to get the saddle.
"Come on Tug, I'm going to take you for a ride." Max saddled the shaggy horse and patted it once more.
Max clambered up onto Tug to ride him out of the shelter. He sat in the saddle and straightened his back so he felt like he was sitting on a battle horse. He got a little nervous as he felt the muscles in Tug bunch up but waved it off. He needed to get the horse out of here. He went to tap his heels into Tug's sides but got an unwelcome surprise. Tug leaped as high as he could in the confined area. Max didn't notice what had happened until he was slamming into the roof of the shelter. He fell to the ground with a moan and rolled over onto his back. His head was spinning and he felt as if he had just been plowed over by the horse. He thought he heard the faint noise of rusty hinges moving and soft feet walking. He tensed up and listened for a while before assuring himself that nobody had heard the noise and nobody was coming.
"Tug, why did you do that?" Max groaned again and sat up. The horse was looking at him with curiosity. He seemed to have a happy glint in his eyes. "Oh, don't look so happy. Fun's over, let's get out of here." Max stood with a pained expression on his face. He was sure his ribs were cracked.
Max grabbed onto Tug's reins and tried to pull him out of the shelter. He pulled and pulled but Tug stood as steady as a rock. Max started to sweat with the effort and eventually gave up and dropped the reins. He looked at the horse, it always followed Will. Max shook his head and sat down to rest. In a little while he got back up and grabbed an apple out of the bin. He started to back out onto the grass making sure Tug could see the shiny red apple. Max smiled as the small horse followed him. He stopped when Tug was fully out of the shelter and he was around three feet from the back of the cabin. Max gave the apple to Tug and looked around making sure that nobody had snuck up on him.
"Okay, I'm going to try again," Max said to Tug. "Don't be frightened, I won't hurt you." Max looked into Tug's eyes the way Halt did when he spoke to Abelard. Tug nodded his head.
Max patted the horse and walked to his right side. He climbed back onto Tug and started to relax when he wasn't immediately thrown off. "That a boy!" Max patted Tug's neck. Then he felt Tug tense up. "No, no. It's okay. It's me, I won't harm you!" Max stroked Tug's neck thinking that the horse was scared.
The next minute he was flying through the air again. This time he landed on top of the cabin with a mighty thud. The wind was knocked clear out of him and he felt a fiery pain in his twisted left arm. He started to suck in air and barely heard a cursing Halt inside. He sat up abruptly as a figure emerged from the shadows cast by the trees. It was Will.
"Having fun?" Will smiled. He remembered the first time he had tried to ride Tug. It had gone similar to Max's only he hadn't been slammed into a roof.
"You're stupid horse bucked me off. Twice!" Max sat up on the roof and glared at the horse. Will followed his gaze.
"Tug is very intelligent." Will gave a low whistle and Tug trotted over to him. "He knows who his master is." Will switched his gaze back up to Max. "I thought you would remember Halt telling you that Ranger horses were special. That if you weren't their partner, they would buck you off."
Max cursed under his breath. Halt had told him something like that but he had merely laughed at the thought of an intelligent horse. "Something like that," he said to Will. Max started to climb down from the roof.
"So you were trying to steal my horse." Max had his back to Will and didn't see him draw back an arrow in his large long bow.
"No, I was just taking it for a ride," Max said sarcastically.
"I don't like horse thieves." Will frowned and released the arrow. Max fell the remaining foot off the roof with an arrow through his stomach. "How about you Tug? Do you like horse thieves?" Will lowered the bow and looked at his companion. Tug shook his head.
Remember to review and I'll review one of your stories :)
Could people send me funny quotes, that would be awesome! :)