Hi people. Me again. Thanks for all the reviews. AND FOR ALL YOU PEOPLE WHO WANTED REAL CHOCOLATE, NO IT'S ALL MINE!! MWAHAHAHAHA!! MINE, I SAY, MINE!! Anyway, if Will's your favourite character, or one of them, sorry, but Will annoys me, so I'm going to be fooling around with him as guinea pig for a while. *evil, psychotic laugh of chaos and doom* Sorry if it seemed really rushed, but anyway...

To Hades Krazy Daughter: My chocolate! And yes, I am evil, and I prefer to think of it as, ahem, encouragement, rather than blackmail. There will be plenty of deaths, because I am also sick and twisted. I've got several planned out, and not all of the characters who die are bad ones. *intensely evil grin of evilly evilness which is CHAOTIC!!* You will get your Will. *more evilness*

To TheStarr: As I said before: MY REAL CHOCOLATE!! And you think people would have noticed that there's more hair colours in the world than blonde, which is a fancy word for yellow. No offense to blondes, but yellow hair is overrated. I think Alyss can stay blonde, because it suits her sort of, Evanlyn would be good with red/brown hair, and so wuld Tyrell. Delia (book 5) is the practically the only girl who is not blonde. Pfft. TYRELL WILL COME!! YAY!! And I'll probably make her dye her hair. *evil grin*

To MacNashi and Jemelon: See? Your nicknames aren't so bad. Just because Shree wanted you to be named after fruits. (By the way, everyone else, I'm 'Grawberri'.) MacNashi, you're getting really protective of Ailee. Jemelon, you wrote the end, I didn't edit that bit.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN RANGER'S APPRENTICE. There, I said it.

Chapter 9: Bait

'I can't believe it. He's gone, GONE I TELL YOU!' Slagor II roared and slammed his fist down on the table with fury and frustration.

'Shut up. Someone might be listening,' Foldar interrupted.

'THAT HARDLY MATTERS, FOLAR! GEORGE IS GONE!'

'SHUT UP!!'

'Aww, shucks, Foldar. This is gonna kill our plan.'

'Did it really take you that long to realise?'

'Shut up.'

'Nice comeback.'

Slagor II looked up in surprise.

'That was sarcasm, idiot.'

--

Casca'de heard Slagor II's words. Apparently 'George' was gone, whoever that was, and Slagor was pretty angry. The girl shook her head, then entered the inn.

--

'Horace?'

Horace blinked. The he muttered something along the lines of: 'Will... Slug... fell... clumsy idiot... funny... too loud... blub...'

'Blub?' Ailee asked, 'Gilan is 'blub' a code word or something?'

Horace nodded, then said, 'It's Slagor II's password to get the key.'

'Key?'

'To the cells...'

--

'LET ME OUT! OUT! I SAY OUT!' Will yelled. Then he woke up. 'Oh, good, just a dream. Just a dream.'

''Ello there. So ye've finally woken up? What's yer name, Ranger?'

'Wha...? Who are you?'

'I'm the innkeeper here. Name's Shaun, good sir.'

'Oh. I'm Will.'

'Nice to see ye up. When me wife found ye, ye was all beat up.'

'Oh, that's right... Slagor II and Foldar were there. Oh! Did your wife see a tall warrior when she saw me?'

'I dunno. HEY LORNA! THE RANGER WANTS TO ASK YE SOMETHIN'' Shaun shouted.

A woman with brown hair and bright blue eyes walked into the room. 'I'm Lorna, Ranger. At yer service, like.'

'Did you see a tall warrior with me?'

'No, sir, only ye. But there was tracks. Hoof tracks. Gallopin', like.'

'Horace must've run,' Will mused. 'I wonder if he took my letter...'

--

When Casca'de entered the inn, she heard shouting. Something about a Ranger was to ask someone called 'Lorna' something. Then a rather beaten-up looking Ranger walked down the stairs. She'd seen him before...

--

George heard something creak. It was the middle of the night, and he was still stuck in the infirmary. He had woken up, and been unable to get back to sleep, so he thought. He thought of Slagor II and Foldar, but of course, he didn't know their names, so he called them Stinky and Smelly.

They kidnapped me. But I'm a hero, and outwitted them, and I managed to get back. ME!! I will find them again, though. I'll find them, and fight both of them at once! I will be awarded by the king, and he'll make me an honourary knight!

Those were his last thoughts before he smelt something funny in the air. His mind drifted away, far away into unknown darkness.

--

'He's gone!'

'Someone took dear old Georgie!'

'Poor boy, kidnapped by those thugs, most like!'

'Who would do such a thing? 'The infirmary was filled with noise. But Horace was silent. He was willing to bet his life that Slagor II, or 'Slug', as he remembered calling him, and Foldar had taken 'Georgie' back.

--

'HA! We have the bait back!!' Slagor II was thrilled.

'Yeah, yeah. I'm happy too.' Foldar growled.

'NOW WE CAN PLOT THEIR, ahem, DEMISE!!'

--

'You again!' Will shouted, then instinctively drew his throwing knife and threw, aiming to kill. Casc'ade ducked, but the blade still scratched her shoulder.

'Well, that wasn't very nice, now was it?' She picked up the blade. 'As well as unnecessary.'

Fortunately for Will, the inn was surprisingly empty. He drew his saxe knife just as the innkeeper walked in. 'Well, what are ye doin' there, Ranger sir? Drawin' a knife on a chit like 'er?' Shaun asked.

'I can take care of myself innkeeper,' Casca'de said coldly, drawing her own blade, an evil-looking dagger made of smooth, black obsidian. The hilt had a few black opals embedded in it, looking like a dark versions of Gilan's blue stone.

'Eep.' Shaun said, and backed out of the room.

Casca'de and Will glared at each other. They glared for so long that Will started laughing. He laughed some more and then resheathed his saxe knife. 'Okay, then. I must say that I'm feeling quite curious. What brings you here?' Will asked.

'I'm following the big Northerner and his skinny friend with a sword twice as big as him.'

Will suppressed a smile. She had described Foldar perfectly. 'And why?'

'It's simple. Gilan and Ailee asked me to.'

'Unfortunately, I learned that things just aren't that simple.'

'You have a suspicious mind, Ranger.'

'Of course I do. It's my job. Future job, anyway.'

'I see.'

'By the way, that's a nice dagger you have there.'

'Thank you, I think.'

'Mind having a friendly duel?'

'Let's go.' With that, Casca'de walked outside with Will close behind.

--

'Cells? What cells?' Gilan demanded.

'Not sure. Just know about the cells. I ran with Will, at first, you know,' Horace said, getting totally sidetracked. 'They knocked him out and then half way through the ride, Will fell off Tug! Tug's here, right?'

'Yes, he is.'

'Oh, good.'

--

Halt had made Will practice his weapon skills until they were instinct. Yet somehow, he dropped his guard long enough for Casca'de to disarm him, and hold her dagger at his throat. She stared at him coldly for a few seconds, then broke into a grin. 'I win!' she announced, then let loose a peal of laughter. Will was amazed. He'd never thought that he would ever see her laugh, ever.

'Fine, but I was out of practice.'

'So was I,' she replied evenly. He glared. 'And I'm not a future Ranger, either. I wasn't trained as a Ranger apprentice. I didn't have 'the legendary Halt' as my mentor.'

'But I'm out of shape!' Will blushed as he realised how that might be interpreted. She saw his ears turn red and grinned.

'Time for a diet?'

'You know what I mean!'

'Pfft. Yeah, sure, whatever you say.' She teased him, laughing.

Will wanted to hit her. For once he couldn't think of a reply, except: 'Shut up.'

I love that word. Demise. [Tip: if you say it in a low evil voice while raising your eyebrows, it is really creepy, and will make people look at you weird, and possibly back away.] TO THOSE WHO ARE BLOODTHIRSTY AND VICIOUS, JUST LIKE ME: THE DEATHS ARE COMING. To everyone: REVIEW!!