To any normal person, it would sound as if it were a normal, ordinary person getting ready for a normal, ordinary day. But to a trained Ranger like Will, who was always keen and alert, it sounded as if a herd of elephants were crashing through his cabin. Even though he'd never seen hide nor hair of an elephant in his entire life, he'd heard they were big and noisy, and were good metaphors for apprentices in general. Will furrowed his brow in thought and stood up. He rested his shoulder on the doorframe and leaned into the room. "What's this?" he raised an eyebrow.
"What's what?"
"Those," frowned Will, looking disdainfully at her feet.
"Oh, these?" she laughed, lifting a foot in the air to better look at her shoes. "I bought them on sale from a little market in Wensley! Half off, too! What a steal!"
On his apprentice's feet were a pair of clunky, loud, high heels, at least seven centimeters tall.
As he walked over to scorn her, Will was startled to see that she was now taller than him.
"Off," he said simply, glaring.
"Yeah, half off! Aren't they great?"
"No." His apprentice looked crestfallen. "Take them off. Now."
"Aw, but Wiiiiill," she whined. "Why? They're so cute!"
"They're loud, clunky, easy to trip in, and not good for running. They're not fitting for a Ranger."
"Oh, you don't think I could run in these?"
Will crossed his arms.
"Oh ho," she puffed, crossing her arms. "We'll just see about that."
"Fine," said Will. "I'll race you to the stables."
A mischievous glint appeared in her eyes, and she took off running; out the door, jumping over the porch railing and down the hill, before Will had even started.
"Hey!" he shouted. "No fair!"
Despite running as fast as he could, his apprentice still beat him. In heels.
"F-Fine," Will panted, hands on his knees. "You…won." He wiped his nose on the back of his sleeve and straightened up, giving a cough. "But you still can't walk quietly in them. They make way too much noise."
To his surprise, his apprentice pulled out two pieces of cloth from her pocket. She slipped them over her feet like gloves. She winked at Will, then walked up and down he stable, not making a sound. The foot-gloves effectively silenced her step.
She turned and looked smugly at Will, as if saying, "See? I told you so."
Will pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fine," he sighed, defeated. "You can keep the shoes-"
"Oh, thank you, Will!" She ran and hugged him.
"-but don't let them interfere with training."
"They won't," she promised.