Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction, made possible by the Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan. I have only borrowed his creation and I make no money. For this story I have used several other Rangers from the books, though I've also added my own. I do this only in the hope to entertain….

Author's Note: No harm shall come to the characters that can't be fixed with enough coffee…..

A Ranger by the Tail…

Chapter 1

The annual gathering was something Will had come to really look forward to and enjoy. Rangers from every Fief joined up. Apprentices were tested and judged, and given extra tutoring by those who were considered to excel more than others in their craft. Few could best Halt when it came to accuracy and speed with the longbow. Crowley was probably the one who moved most silently. Will was nearly as good as Halt so he had more than once been asked to help instruct the younger apprentices. The same ones that were told that if they wanted to learn unseen movements from the true master of the corps, they should ask Gilan, if they could find him…

This year stood a chance to be even better than most he mused. Not only was there a whole pig to be roasted on a spit for the evening meal, but the day before when he and Gilan had met up to wait for Halt, he was certain they had surprised him.

Halt hadn't said a word, and had acted as if he was tiered and weary though yet allowing them to have their fun as he called it, but Gilan really was the master of unseen movements and he had been so well concealed even Will couldn't spot him, and he knew where he was.

As always the three of them moved to their spot and pitched their three small one man tents together. Halt on one side, Will in the middle and Gilan on his other side.

As soon as their small part of the camp was organized Halt had gone to find Crowley, the commandant of the whole Ranger Corps. Also, Halt's oldest and closest friend though the grizzled old Ranger would not admit to the latter.

Gilan had spent a few minutes relaxing, stretching out on the ground with his hands folded behind his head as he laid back, then he too had been called away and Will had been left to his own devise. In short time he had wandered off to find something to amuse himself and had been drawn into a friendly archery competition with some other of the younger Rangers.

He saw Halt from time to time, but not Gilan before the evening meal. His friend seemed to come from out of nowhere, suddenly just standing beside him with that ever present smile on his face.

It still annoyed Will to some extent when he did that, though he knew Halt wasn't bragging when he said Gilan was the proclaimed master of unseen movement in the corps. There wasn't more than one or two of the Rangers that might dispute his right to that title, and all of them were petty. Rangers were a very close knit group, but whenever you bring fifty people together there will be some of them that does not care much for one another.

Will had by one heard himself referred to as another one of Halt's upstarts. He figured Gilan had at some point annoyed the man who now felt Will was more of the same. He certainly could understand how there were those who might find Gilan's ever present smile and jovial nature a little annoying.

It was easy to think that Gilan didn't take things very seriously, but Will had spent enough time with him to know that was not the case. After all, after meeting him on his first gathering and seeing his sword, he had thought he couldn't be very good with it as he never saw him use it. Then as was with Gilan and Horace on that disastrous mission where he himself and Evelyn. A young girl they found, who turned out to be Cassandra, the princes of Araluen were kidnapped by Scandians. He had found out just how good Gilan was then, as the older Ranger gave him and Horace lessons. At first, Horace, who was a cadet in Battleschool had not wanted to raise his sword against Gilan, afraid he'd hurt him. However, no matter what Horace did, Gilan countered it as if it was the easiest thing in the world, and didn't even break a sweat. Nowadays, Will was willing to bet Gilan couldn't defeat Horace, but he had learned just how good he was.

Apparently there was some really famous sword master, the absolute best in the country, whom Gilan's father had trained under. As he had, so had Gilan been allowed, and now he was simply really good with the sword. Out of the fifty Rangers, he was the only one who had a sword, or any extra weapon at all really. It did kind of stand him apart and Will thought maybe that was why some of them did not like it.

Having to explain to their own apprentices why Gilan had a sword, and was allowed to do so, had to be annoying after a while.

It did not matter, he was better than Gilan with the bow, he was sure of it, and Ranger's didn't use swords, really, so he doubted Gilan ever had much use of it.

He was smiling now, because they had had a good breakfast of coffee, bread, porridge and what was left of the pig. Then he had been asked to help with a few of the apprentices and their bow practice. Halt had been called in to scare one or two of the third year apprentices to listen to reason, and Gilan had been asked to give the first year apprentices lessons in unseen movements.

Spotting Halt as he was on his way back to the camp he could not resist the urge to try and sneak up on him.

Of course he did not succeed, but it was always fun to try.

"If that bush there don't stop annoying me with that wiggling and giggling, I might just put an arrow through it," Halt stated though he was turned partially away.

"Just doing my part," Will grinned as he stood up from behind the bush. It really had been too small to conceal him, but it had been the only thing available.

"Your part of what?" Halt frowned.

"Well, Gilan isn't here, so I figured it was my duty to see if I could catch you out," he grinned.

"Has it ever occurred to you that Gilan might not be someone you want to listen to?" Halt raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you said I should listen to Gilan," Will beamed, not at all deterred by Halt's gruffy manor. He was well used to it, and he knew that there was no one Halt loved more than Gilan, except for himself of course. His two apprentices really were the ones who were closest to Halt, well, together with Lady Pauline and Crowley of course. However, they were more equal to Halt, while himself and Gilan would always be his apprentices. That was something Will never felt he needed to worry about. He had grown up without parents in the ward, no mother or father, no last name. Now he had Halt, who'd come to take the role of a father to him and he was pretty certain that Halt viewed him in part as a son.

Gilan had his father and Will assumed a mother as well though neither Halt nor Gilan had ever mentioned her. That was probably a good thing he mused, for while it made Gilan to something close to a brother to him, it still meant he did not really have to share Halt with him the same way.

"I said you should listen to him when he's being sensible and mature," Halt growled now. "Which regretfully isn't a lot of the time, but he does have his moments. You however am supposed to be the smart one, so if you've seen Gilan annoy me, why would you think it's a good idea to do the same thing?"

"Because you'll be more annoyed at Gilan for giving me the idea, than at me for doing it," Will grinned. "After all, I can't help it can I?"

"I suppose not," Halt sighed. "But I had hoped you knew better."

"Do you know what's for supper?" Will wanted to know as they continued towards the camp.

"Now you sound like Horace," Halt gave him a long suffering sigh. "We'll cook our own food tonight."

"I haven't been able to get a rabbit," his rabbit stew was probably Will's best creation. "Do you think Gilan has got anything?"

"And you think he had the time?" Halt once more raised that slightly grouchy eyebrow.

"I know he was helping them with unseen movements, but he's supposed to be good enough to sneak up on rabbit and have him in the pot before the rabbit even catches whiff of him, isn't he?"

"He just about is," Halt gave a wry smile. "I seem to recall he once complained about a rabbit trying to hide in his cloak… But today he'll have had a few cadets that are even worse at it than you were with him. They'll have scared it all away. I have some dried beef though."

"I'm better at rabbit, can Gilan cook dried beef?" he frowned.

"About as well as anything else," Halt shrugged. He had noticed sometimes that Will could get a little competitive with Gilan, which was not always a good thing. He doubted it would get out of hand, even if Will felt the need to prove himself, Gilan didn't. He was more inclined to throw the match to make Will feel better, which in turn wasn't always a good thing. It might put Will in a good mood, but it might also give him a false idea of his own skill. Truthfully he wondered if Will wasn't the better shot, but it was hard to tell with Gilan.

When Halt was instructing him it seemed like Gilan always had a little more that he would sometimes just whip out. You never truly knew if you had seen his best effort or not. He certainly did not like to show off in front of others.

"I don't think I've eaten much of his food," Will took a thoughtful air. "Doesn't he like to cook?" Some Rangers really detested the chore he knew, even if Rangers were required to master the art well enough to feed themselves. It was one of the things that any apprentice needed to pass.

"He doesn't mind it all that much," Halt shrugged. "He just isn't as good at it as you or me are, which means at times like this, he likes to let me do it. I would however not be surprised if when we get back he's fetched wood and water for us."

Will nodded, he could understand that, and he knew Gilan wouldn't shirk the work. He would just find a part of it that suited him better. He couldn't blame the slightly older Ranger for wanting to take the opportunity to enjoy Halt's cooking. Halt was really good at it, far better than most of the other Rangers, and he didn't doubt Gilan had many fond memories of the savory stews and delicate meats Halt might have prepared.

However when they reached their tents they were empty, and there were neither wood nor water more than they had left that morning.

"He must not be done with the apprentices," Halt mused as he studied their small corner of the camp.

"I think I saw one of them, the big one," Will frowned.

"Well, Crowley might have wanted to talk to him about it," Halt shrugged. "Or, he waylaid him so that he'll be able to mooch on our dinner. I wouldn't put it past that scoundrel." He started towards the larger command tent. It wasn't that Crowley wanted the comfort, but there were administrative tasks to be performed every gathering. Records to be taken, reports to be organized and then there were the assessments of the apprentices. Both those who'd graduate and the others. The tent was needed to make that task easier, with a dry place to store everything and a table for Crowley, and whomever he managed to drag into it, to work at.

When they approached the command tent though, Halt's gaze narrowed and his steps became sharper. On a rickety camp chair outside the tent Crowley was seated, and on the ground beside him lay Gilan. At first Will thought he was simply relaxing, then he realized he was only wearing one boot, and the bare foot was propped up on a rolled up cloak.

"What's going on!" Halt stalked over to the two of them, Will having to quicken his pace to keep up. "What happened?"

"Halt!" Crowley grinned cheerfully, while Gilan from his prone position gave him a cheeky grin.

Now that he was closer Will found himself biting back a wince. A wet length of linen had been folded and laid over the ankle, but he could still clearly see how swollen and discolored it was.

"How did you do to that?" Halt demanded as he crouched to inspect the ankle closer, leveling a firm stare to his former apprentice. "I thought you were going to keep him out of trouble?" he added with an even firmer stare to Crowley.

"I was giving the first year apprentices some rudimentary points in unseen movements, they could really use it," Gilan declared cheerfully though Will thought his smile looked slightly forced. Twisted ankles hurt he knew, he'd twisted his during an exercise and it had not been fun.

"I'm aware, it doesn't explain how that happened," Halt sat down on the ground to give his ankle a more thorough examination and Gilan gave a hiss of pain as Halt maneuvered the limb. "That's sprained," he directed a glare towards Crowley. Why haven't you bound it?"

"For two very good reasons," Crowley drawled. "Firstly, when he came here it was already so swollen we had a bit of a time getting the boot off. I wanted to give him a minute first. Secondly, I was hoping to bring the swelling down a bit more before we did. And, there's also the fact that I figured even if I did, you wouldn't be satisfied and would insist on re-doing it."

Will frowned, mentally ticking off his fingers.

"That's three, you said you had two reasons," Halt glowered.

"I said I had two very good reasons," Crowley grinned back. "The last one isn't really all that good you know, and yet, it's the main one," he shrugged. "He's fine Halt, it's a sprain, it'll be painful for some time, we both know that. But it won't hardly kill him. We just need to keep him off his feet for a few days, and I've got a lot of paperwork…"

"You know, I hardly feel it anymore," Gilan tried, then quieted as Halt turned his stare on him. "On second thought, it does smart a bit," he mused. As Halt was manipulating the limb he bit his lip hard not to reveal how much it hurt, though he knew with Halt it was useless.

"Keep some cold water compresses on it for a bit," Halt finally decided. "It's a sprain alright, so you're not going to walk on it, or stand on it, or get any stupid ideas. We'll see if we can get the swelling down a little, then bind it up."

"I do so wish I had thought of that," Crowley shook his head, mock regret in his voice.

"You haven't told me how it happened," Halt turned his attention back to Gilan. "I thought you were past tripping over your own feet, well, most of the time…" he amended, knowing how Gilan tended to stumble walking up the front steps to his cabin, every time…

"Me and the others, Leander, Perry and Thomas have been trying to instruct them in unseen movements," Gilan started and Halt nodded. Leander, Perry and Thomas were the three Rangers with first year apprentices.

In the meantime Will had tried to get a closer look, he had thought a twisted ankle was bad enough, but looking closer now he could see under the wet cloth the flesh was a bright red and deep purple with burst blood vessels. It looked really nasty and made him shudder.

"I heard Thomas had some trouble," Halt nodded. Will had heard nothing about it, but he supposed the other Rangers spoke more to Halt. "I rather think Perry is part of the trouble with his," Halt added with a snort. He wasn't sure what he thought of Perry, but he did not think he was suitable to teaching, and his apprentice didn't look like much either. "What's his name, that fat one?"

"Hubert," Crowley supplied. "I'm not sure he's suitable. When Perry sent me his request there was no reason to deny it, given what he said, but I've seen little of it so far. He is a bit on the heavy side, isn't he?"

"He's fat," Halt grunted.

"Yeah, and heavy," Gilan winced. "I've been trying to explain to them how well the cloak really works if you let it. I gave them a small area to cover, spaced them out and told them I'd be moving past them. If they spotted me, they'd all be free for the evening, if they didn't, and I got past them, they'd be continuing the lesson after supper."

"And they took the bait," Halt nodded. "I'd be surprised if they didn't."

"They took it, and I was making my way past them when Hubert started moving around," Gilan mused. He didn't see me, so I just kept still, and he stepped on my ankle."

"He stepped on you?" Will blinked, "and he didn't see you?"

"He stepped on me, and just stood there, blinking like an owl," Gilan nodded. "I nearly bit through my hand to be silent, but he didn't notice. Then he finally walked off. They weren't supposed to move that much."

"So you didn't get past them then?" Will couldn't hold back a grin. "And they're free for the evening and you're stuck here."

"Do you really think I couldn't get past them because I've got a twisted ankle?" Gilan raised an eyebrow and Halt cleared his throat. "Well, sprained," Gilan amended. "Anyway, as soon as he moved back to his place, and don't you think the little devil kicked me in the ribs as he did so, I got moving again. They were pretty surprised when I was suddenly on the other side of them. Hubert claimed I had to have gone around them, but I think I convinced him."

"How?" Will pondered, moving closer to the fire. There was a coffee pot on it but giving it an experimental shake he found it to be empty.

"I pointed out he had a hole on his socks, and that it was well over time he gave them a wash," Gilan snorted. "I noticed when he was standing on me."

"How could you tell with his boots on?" Halt frowned.

"He wasn't wearing boots, he's got those silly shoes on," Gilan shrugged.

"That's a good boy Will, nice of you to make more coffee," Crowley grinned cheerfully as Will put the empty coffee pot down. Shrugging, he took it to fill it with water and beans. At least they'd be using Crowley's supply he figured. They hadn't brought all that much with them.

"What did Perry have to say about it?" Halt wanted to know, glancing at where Will was measuring out the coffee grounds. "That his apprentice doesn't notice he's standing on someone isn't exactly a good thing."

"I haven't seen him since this morning," Crowley shrugged. "He's out with some of the others. I thought I'd have a word with him when he gets back. I agree with you Halt. At this point I don't really care that they didn't notice Gilan getting past them, he can get past the best of them when he sets his mind to it…" he shook his head with an amused smile as he glanced down at the younger Ranger lying on the ground. "You're pretty sneaky…"

"How do you think he won me over?" with a grin Gilan nodded to Halt. "He told me sneaky was in the job description…"

"I did not," Halt growled.

"It suited me just fine, and kept my father from stringing me up by the thumbs," Gilan added with a cheeky grin. "From what I've been told, he was only too happy to hand me over to Halt."

"I should see if he'll take you back," Halt growled.

"Sorry, I don't think he'll go for that," Gilan pushed himself up on his elbows. "Though he does say he misses me."

"Don't listen to him, he's lying," Halt declared.

"He says he's not, but he also says it's nice and peaceful now," Gilan grinned. "Besides, I thought you just said you wanted rid of me?"

"Right," Halt nodded as if he had just remembered the very same thing himself. "I think I can encourage him to take you back," he dropped his hand to the hilt of his saxe knife. Gilan seemed cheerful enough about it, Will thought. As if he wasn't worried if his father would want him or not, but the he wouldn't. Of course his father would have him back, father's always wanted their children, or so he had been told. Sometimes he was a little jealous of Gilan who had both mother and father, and Halt.

For someone who was supposedly in pain, he thought Gilan was oddly cheerful, thought it really did look nasty. While Crowley found mugs and Will poured the coffee Halt helped Gilan to sit up propped against the leg of Crowley's chair. As he changed the water compress for a cold one Will got another glance at the swollen and deep colour and couldn't help but wince. The purple bruise was even darker now, and larger, a near black spreading over the ankle down to the arch of the foot.

Halt gave him a curious look at the wince, though Gilan grinned at him. "Feels as bad as it looks," he mused. "I don't recommend it Will." He winked in Halt's direction. "Especially not with this lot around, you don't get much sympathy."

"No one told you to let that bumbling fool step on you," Halt snorted.

"Stay absolutely still, trust the cloak…" Gilan shrugged.

Fixing him with a light glare Halt cuffed him gently over the back of the head.

"It doesn't seem like the swelling is going down any though," Crowley mused as he looked closer. "It looks even worse than before. There is no point in waiting and it might even make it worse. I think we should bind it up right now."

"We should," Halt agreed.

"Thanks Will," Crowley accepted a steaming mug of coffee from the younger man. "As soon as we've had coffee, that is…"

"After the coffee," Halt agreed.

"See what I mean?" Gilan grinned, winking at Will, though he accepted his own mug. "It's nice to know I mean less to you than your coffee," he added with a grin, craning his neck to look at Halt.

The older Ranger glanced down at him as he sipped the hot brew, sighing over the fact Crowley, the heathen, had no honey for it. "I'm glad you finally figured that out," he stated.

TBC

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