Author's Note: This is a work of fan fiction, a characte study of the characters in the Ranger's Apprentice.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Ranger's Apprentice, I do not own the characters in this story, and though I enjoy the character study and playing with Gilan, it has been some time since I seen him...

Grown Out

Chapter 1

Pausing in the shade of an old oak tree Will forced himself to remain perfectly still, To barely even breath. He was determined to master the art of unseen movements. To hear Halt tell it, none of the Rangers had mastered the skill better than Gilan, Halt's first apprentice. While Will genuinely liked Gilan, and truthfully viewed him as something of an older brother, he disliked being bested.

Gilan, with a cheerful and generous nature had offered to teach him. They had not had much time to do so, yet Gilan had dutifully given him as much advice as he was able to impart in the short time. So far, Will had found it helpful, though he had not progressed half as fast as he would have hoped to. Halt never had any trouble spotting him, not at all, but not even Halt could spot Gilan. It was possible to see where he had been, a branch slowly swinging back, a tuft of grass springing upright once more. Yet even knowing this, one could not see him.

It would have been even more frustrating if Gilan hadn't been so nice.

True, Will had been slightly jealous of the easy way that Gilan greeted Halt, they had even embraced as they met before the Gathering. The annual Gathering of all the Rangers where the seasoned ones shared stories and tested the apprentices. It had been cut short, sadly, and since he had met Gilan a few times. The young Ranger seemed to be rather odd. For one thing, there was the sword he carried. One thing that had really annoyed Will at first, since he had wanted to be a knight since his childhood days. He had been told Rangers did not wear swords, but apparently Gilan was an exception to this.

It really wasn't quite fair the way Will saw it, and he had never seen him even draw it out of the scabbard. Yet he wore it always, on his belt or on his saddle.

He knew Gilan was supposed to report to Commandant Crowley, which would bring him near Redmont, which meant he would take the opportunity to visit Halt. He always did when he was near, it was something Will knew he could count on.

It was one reason why he was now moving as stealthily as possible, just in case Gilan had arrived he wanted to sneak up on him. Not that he expected being able to, but one never knew. He might be distracted and have relaxed his guard. In which case, Will was sure to get him.

Moving from the oak, he glided into the shadow of a bush, and sighed. There was no use in trying to sneak anymore. Though he was fairly certain Gilan had indeed arrived, he and Halt were clearly heard from inside, or rather Halt was. So far he had not heard Gilan, but Halt was surprisingly agitated.

"I will not hear of it!" the older Ranger all but shouted. "You ungrateful cur! Have I not suffered enough from you? Are you here only to torment me?"

Frowning, for he had never before heard Halt sound mad Will moved closer, walking quietly, but with no effort to remain hidden.

"I thought you'd be glad to see me," Gilan stated cheerfully.

"You thought I'd be glad to see you, you ungrateful whelp!" Halt growled. "No, no more I tell you! I've had it with you and this ingrate attitude of yours!"

"Now, Halt, what have I ever done to be called ingrate?" Gilan laughed and Will was more and more confused by the minute. As furious as Halt sounded, he was feeling ill at ease. Yet Gilan seemed not to care, rather he was laughing.

Slowly making his way up to the veranda he chewed his lip as he looked into the room. Halt was stood by the stove, and Gilan on the other side of the small room. It was clear Halt had been intending to make coffee. The bag containing the beans was on the counter, the kettle was on the small stove, and the fire had been stoked. No doubt, Halt had heard Gilan ride up, and had started the coffee just as soon as he knew it was indeed his former apprentice.

"You are a damned ingrate, all the years I had to suffer through your infernal growing!" Halt snapped. "I had thought to be rid of it, but no, you simply can not refrain can you? An ungrateful cur is what you are, a loathsome, ungrateful despicable and damnable cur, and I should have put you out of your misery long since. I should have thrown you in the river and spared myself the trouble."

"You did throw me in the river, right before you made me your apprentice," Gilan laughed. Then though he was partially turned away from the door, and had not yet turned away he grinned. "Hi Will."

"Hi," he greeted uncertainly. "What's wrong?" Feeling uneasy he sidled closer towards Halt. Not knowing what was going on, he still felt the need to side with his mentor. If Gilan had indeed done something to earn Halt's fury, he did not want to have that same fury turned on himself.

"That devil of an overgrown boy is what's wrong," Halt growled. "For years I had to put up with the wretch getting taller and taller, and don't think he ever had the sense to stop!"

Frowning Will ran a critical eye over the young Ranger, and finally realized why Halt was so irate. Gilan's shirt was too small, the cuff ended halfway down his forearm, showing about three inches of his wrist. Where it should have been neatly tucked into his pants at the waist, it hung loose, much too short to be properly tucked in. Likewise, his pants were not tucked into the soft leather boots. They hung over the boots, and ended halfway down to his ankles where they should have reached to the top of his foot. It did give him a certain overgrown look as it was hardly fitting for anyone, and even less so a Ranger, to go in clothes too small. They also seemed to emphasis his lanky frame. The wrist looked thin and bony, not strong enough to pull a longbow, nor grasp a sword. The leather cuff on the left wrist, to protect it from the bowstring, did little to add bulk to the limb. Rather, it once more seemed to make his gangly features more prominent. Gilan was probably not only one of the tallest Rangers, but certainly the thinnest one.

"You can't still be growing," he gasped, stunned. He was not quite certain of Gilan's age. He was younger than Halt, certainly, and older than he himself was. He was not certain how much time had passed between Gilan graduated to full Ranger, but he did not think it was more than one year. As he had started at fourteen, it would put him somewhere between nineteen and twenty one. Math was not what Will excelled at. He found it annoyingly tedious and with little practical use. He was however certain Gilan was too old to still be growing.

"Oh he would, just to spite me!" Halt glowered. "Everytime I turned around for four damned years, that whelp needed a new shirt and new pants. If not that, then the boots were too small. I had to arrange for a bigger bed, because he had his feet hanging out!"

"Oh," Will bit his lip, he had rather wondered why the bed he had been given seemed longer than most. Trying to compare the tall young Ranger to the length of the bed though, he supposed it had been needed.

"It's not my fault the men in my family has tended to be tall," Gilan grinned. "And it was not always pleasant for me either, you know. I swear you had them build that veranda as low as possible. I don't know how many times I brained myself just going through the door."

"Which would not have happened even once had you ever taken the time to walk through it like a normal human being. Instead of always running through it like a hyperactive squirrel that has been raiding the coffee stash!" Halt growled. "I refuse to have you do it to me once more. I have clothed you for the last time, if you need another shirt, you shall just have to see to it yourself. I wash my hands of you and your growth spurts from the devil!" Snapping he stalked past Will, out of the small cabin, while Gilan laughed cheerfully.

"Don't worry Will, he's not truly mad," he grinned as he moved to the stove to take over the coffee brewing process that Halt had abandoned. "He'll come back as soon as he has calmed down and realized he's overreacting."

"But you seriously can't still be growing, can you?" Will shook his head, trying to remember how tall he had been before. He found it too hard though, he knew Gilan had just about reached the ceiling before, and so he seemed to be doing now.

"Obviously not," the older Ranger snorted. "It's not very likely that I should, is it? No, this is just due to a mishap," he gave the cuff of his much too short sleeve a tug. "I was over at the castle, thought I'd try and get a bite to eat before continuing here. Since I hadn't really had much of a morning meal. Master Chubb generally does not mind me coming in for just a bite now and again."

"He does not?" Will gawked. "He minds most everyone in his kitchen. And he has that ladle, it really hurts when he whacks you with it."

"I would imagine so, though I've never been whacked," Gilan grinned as he put the kettle on the stove rings. "He knew my father, and I did him a favor once, so like I said, he usually do not mind unless there is some special occasion. That new girl though, I think she was your ward mate, Jenny?"

"Jenny, yes," Will nodded. "She's really nice," he frowned, wondering what Gilan could have against her.

"She is, she's also a little flustered at times," he grinned. "Got a bit excited I think, and one of the scullery maids didn't mind what she was doing. So when Master Chubb gave her a bit of a whack, that girl Jenny started, and dropped the stew pot. I had wanted food, but not to be just about drenched in it," he laughed easily. "Poor girl, she was mortified. And my clothes were covered in stew, though it could have been worse. It could have been the swill for the pigs. Needles to say, I had to make do for the time being, and this was be best do I could make."

"So, those are not your clothes?" Will frowned.

"Heavens no," Gilan grinned. "Mine are with the castle washer women, and this is the best that the Baron was able to lend me. I know you have wished to be taller Will, and another inch or so might not hurt, but don't think being tall doesn't come with its own share of problems," he shrugged as he waited for the coffee to boil.

"It can't be that hard to be tall," Will frowned. "And you won't have to be teased for being short."

"No, instead you're mocked for being too tall," Gilan snorted. "Bean pole, scare crow, flag pole, trust me, there are plenty of insults for a tall fellow as well. Then there is all the times I've brained myself because they just won't put the ceiling at a decent height. I have to duck and stoop half the time. The grass is always greener on the other side Will, it always is," he turned his attention to the coffee pot, inhaling the pleasant aroma. "Halt will be in again in half a minute."

Will opened his mouth to object, then quickly closed it as his mentor entered the small cabin. "How'd you know?" he gaped.

"Coffee's ready," Halt shrugged. "And don't think I've forgiven you for doing this to me," he leveled a stern finger at Gilan. "I had to deal with wondering if you'd grow out of the house completely for years. I'm not doing it again. You're not doing it to me, do you hear that?"

"As I kept telling you back then, I never really had a say in the matter," Gilan laughed as he took down mugs from the cabinet and started to pour the coffee.

"And if you wanted food boy, why didn't you come here?" Halt demanded. "Still don't have hardly an ounce of meat on those bones. It's enough to make one wonder if you ever eat."

"Not as well as I did here," Gilan admitted ruefully. "Mostly my own cooking, there not being any servants around and all."

Recognizing Halt's comment that usually led to more housework Will tried to bite back a smile. He was really learning to cook quite well, Halt was good at it, and Will had found he did not mind the chore at all. He enjoyed it and he was good at it, so the two of them usually ate quite well. He doubted Gilan was as lucky. It made him pleased to know there was something he was better at than the taller Ranger was.

Still Halt ran a critical eye over his former apprentice, seeming satisfied that it was indeed the clothes that were too small, and he had not started a last growth spurt. He harumphed, which also was a sound Will was by now accustomed to. "Will, get a good sized piece of meat, and you'd better get started peeling some potatoes," he decided turning to Gilan. "You're getting skinnier each time I see you, and I'd rather not you walked outside just to have a stiff breeze blow you away. I'd have to explain it to Crowley, and it's far too much paperwork."

"I'm sure it is," with an easy familiarity that still sometimes took Will by surprise, Gilan found everything he needed for his appointed task. He tended to forget that Gilan had lived in the cabin before him, in his room, and therefore most likely had known it better than he did in the end. Sometimes it still stung a little to know Halt had cared for Gilan as much as he cared for Will. Sometimes he felt it was unfair, because Gilan already had a father. Then he struggled to choke that feeling down, because Gilan was nice. He did not deserve it because he never tried to usurp Halt's attention, rather, he went out of his way to be nice to Will.

Secretly he had sometimes come to wish that Halt would be his father, because that would really have been his dream fulfilled. If he was, then it would kind of mean Gilan was his big brother, and that he realised, was the only way to make the dream better….

Even if he made a sour face as he realized in that case, Gilan would always be his 'big' brother, because even if he finally did hit his growth spurt. There was no way he was outgrowing him…..

The End

Thank you all for reading, the Cricket truely enjoyed writing this short and hopefully amusing story...