He was completely torn at the state of his weakened body after being addicted to a certain drug. The weed had utterly devastated him. He had lost all hope to live, to spend his life with his friends back at Araluan.

Once, he used to be an amazing archer, he could fire several arrows in the blink of an eye all meeting their target, scoring bullseyes. People were left speechless after watching such a display of his abilities. He was one of those about whom people only whispered in off-road inns and hotels. He was one of those whom people of Arlaun avoided but respected. There enemies were frightened out of their wits when they came face to face. He was the apprentice of the legendary Halt. He was one of the elite group of archers. He was one of the Rangers.

Now, however, was a different story. He was barely able to even shoot with his bow. If he told anyone that he is one of the Rangers, they would have probably laughed and thought he was crazy. As his thoughts continued on like a rollercoaster, they came to a sudden halt at the thought of a young blonde haired girl who had been by his side through every thick and thin. Her name was Evanlyn or Princess Cassandra.

He could not believe it that he had fallen for the weed and was unable to stop himself from being addicted to it. He was supposed to be protecting Evanlyn but it ended up being exact opposite of that. She had brought him back to life when he was about to give up on it. Through their turmoils, each had helped the other. During their worst time of life, something had grown between them and they had gotten closer to each other. Their friendship had deepened. He knew he could never thank her enough for all she had done for him. So he, Ranger's Apprentice, Will, promised himself then and there that he would help her whenever she was in need

Evanlyn POV

She had been watching Horace practicing with his sword and sparring with a Skandian. He was well muscled and had a strong built. Unlike Will, who was muscled but was rather skinny and was not quite as tall but at the same time a lot more charming than Horace. Thinking of Will, she was worried about him. He had gotten a lot weak and instead of his usual joyful eyes, they were void of any emotion. She missed his happy and jokeful manner that had made her laugh so many times before. She missed the old Will a lot.

She didn't notice that Horace came and sat down next to her and was looking at her.

"What?" she said.

"Nothing" he replied and looked away, thinking.

"you are really good with your sword you know."

" thanks " and then asked "what were you thinking earlier?"

After some time she replied " I was thinking about Will. I am worried about him."

" hmm"

"don't worry, he will return back to normal and he won't rest until he achieves a standard higher in archery than what he had when he first came here." Horace said.

" I sure do hope so."

"come on, let's get something to eat. I am starving."

Evanlyn just smiled.

Chapter 2

Will turned in his bed as sunlight woke him up in the morning but turning did him no good. He was already wide awake. He got out of the bed, yawned and went into the bathroom. He came out five minutes later, freshed, and started getting ready for his early morning run. He had been running for the past few weeks now and could run about five miles non-stop which was quite good but he knew he could do better. He went out and started with some warming up exercises. After that he started with a jog and started running after a few meters. After being done with the running and some warming down exercises, he went to his room and got his bow and quiver of arrows. He went to the place where he usually practiced with his bow and starting shooting at the targets he had set. He had reached the same standard that he once had with his bow but was striving hard to do better.

" you can come out, Evanlyn, there is no need to spectate secretly." Will suddenly said,

"how did you know it was me?" Evanlyn questioned as she came out from behind a bush.

" I am a Ranger." He answered simply.

" yeah, but how did you know it was me. It could've been somebody else."

"Evanlyn, I have been spending time with you for so long now. What else did you expect?"

"I expected nothing else from the great and mighty, one and only Ranger Will who with his piercing gaze..."

" Oh, shutup"

Evanlyn just cheekily smiled.

Will rolled his eyes.

They both sat down near a tree, enjoying each other's company. They shared a few jokes and talked about unimportant things.

" The path leads down to a lake, you can come too if you want to." Will said.

" Sure thing, Will" Evanlyn replied.

As they continued down the path, Evanlyn looked at Will. He had returned back to his old self, almost. He would joke with her, tease her. She was glad about Will, recovering. The usual joy in his eyes could be seen but there was also a small tint of sadness in them. His eyes, his character said that he had seen quite a lot, had been through quite a lot. Well, what could she say, she was going through similar problems.

Will suddenly came to halt and she bumped into him.

" sorry" she murmured.

"It's alright" he said and then,"come on , let's sit under the shadow of that tree near the lake".

"ok"

They sat down down together and no one spoke for some time. They just enjoyed each other's company.

"Thanks" Will said quite suddenly.

She looked at him with a question in her eyes.

"you helped me quite a lot when I was addicted to that weed. I had lost all hope to live, hope that someone would come to save us. I had forgotten all about my dear friends back at home, about Halt. I couldn't even remember you, Evanlyn. But you still never gave up, you brought me back. I just can't thank you enough..."

Evanlyn stopped him with her hand on his mouth and said,

" there is nothing to thank me about. You have already helped me so many times before and besides you would have done the same for me or maybe even more than that."

"Maybe, but still"

"Oh, come on, Will, but if this makes you comfortable then you can promise me that you would always help me, though I think I already know the answer to my request."

Will looked at her emerald green eyes with his chocolate brown ones and said,

" I promise with all my heart that whenever you need my help, you will always find me by your side."

She was surprised by the intensity with which he replied. She never knew he cared about her this much. The thought made her smile.

"come on" she heard him say, "If we don't reach the dinner hall by time, Horace might eat everything and there would be nothing left for us."

She laughed and said," Ok, race you till the hall."

With that, she ran and could hear Will closing the distance between them from behind.