Hey I hope you like this chapter I struggled with it a bit. I noticed I spelt Alyss wrong in the last chapter so im really sorry about that. Wills family is only mentioned slightly in this chapter but you should see more of them as the story progresses. I named their child Arianna and the idea of her name was given to me by Lorrie the Ninja Elf so I'd like to say thanks. Thanks Lorrie the Ninja Elf. Arianna also thanks you for her name.

Mark recognised the voice behind him. He couldn't remember who the voice belonged to but somewhere in the back of his mind he recognised it. He slowly turned round and looked into the eyes of Will. Will the ranger was looking back at him smiling. What was he doing following me? Mark thought looking back at the ranger. "What were you doing following me?" Mark accidently said voicing his thoughts.

"What were you doing in the forest? I thought people in the ward weren't allowed any further than the village?" asked Will. He thought for a moment, the ranger was right he wasn't meant to be in the forest. Mark didn't know what to say so he said the first thing that came to his mind.

"I asked you first" Mark cursed himself. He had just spoken back to a Ranger. Worse still one of the most well known Rangers in Araluen.

Will was stumped momentarily by what Mark had said but he quickly recovered. "I wanted to see what you were up to." Will said "now back to my question" Mark looked at Will.

"Well I erm I heard something in the forest so I went to see what it was." Mark looked at Will wondering what the ranger would say. He didn't say anything he just looked at Mark. A minute passed and the Ranger still hadn't said anything. "You were the one who made the stick snap weren't you?" Mark stared at Will knowing the answer. Will smiled confirming Marks thoughts. Mark had gone to look and see what the noise was. That was the reason why Will had snapped the stick. He knew Mark was there and was hoping that he would look to see what had made the noise. Mark had been curious and had looked to see what the noise was. If he remembered correctly Halt had said that you need to be curious to be a Ranger.

"Come on you should go back to the ward before anyone else sees you or wonders where you are." Will motioned for Mark to go in front of him. Mark walked out of the forest with Will behind him. He was expecting Will to turn off and go to his cabin but that never happened. Mark could feel Wills eyes on him but didn't turn to look at him. Even though Will had got Mark and his sister a home Mark still felt uncomfortable around Rangers. Just like everyone else in Araluen did. Will followed Mark up to the castle and Mark thought for a second that Will was making sure he went back to the ward. Will eventually separated of from Mark when they got to a set of stairs. Will went up the stairs and Mark went across over to the ward. He opened the door and walked in to find that Joe and Tom were back in the ward already. They had both changed into dry clothes and were discussing what they had done whilst Mark had been away. Mark was surprised that they were here already as it was still light outside. "What are you doing back so early?" asked Mark. Joe and Tom looked at each other and smiled.

"Well James saw us throwing water over each other and he kind of got really angry and told us to come back and get changed" Tom said.

Mark smiled "Where are Becky, Lucy and Sarah?" asked Mark looking around and not seeing them.

"They weren't there when James saw us" Joe said "Why are you back so early?" he asked

Mark looked at Tom and Joe "My clothes were annoying me. They kept sticking to my body because they were wet so I came to get a spare change of clothes and then I was going to go look for you two" he lied. He nodded to himself. He was quite happy that they believed the lie he had just made up. He didn't really want to tell them that he had been with a Ranger. He knew that everyone was cautious around Rangers and he didn't know how his friends would react. He walked over to his bed and grabbed some dry clothes. He then put them on and came back out and sat with Joe and Tom. Marks thoughts went back to the choosing day. He had two weeks to decide what craft he wanted to do.

-LINE BREAK-

Will walked up the stairs and carried on walking until he came to a door. He was about to knock on it when he heard Halts deep voice telling him to come in. He opened the door and went and sat down on a chair opposite Halt. Will gathered his thoughts and then spoke what was on his mind. "Remember the two children we found when we were on our way back from Celtica?" Will asked

"What the boy and his sister?" said Halt knowing full well that Will meant them.

"Yes. I was thinking" he stopped as he heard Halt mutter under his breath about Will and thinking. He continued anyway "I was thinking would I be able to have the boy as my apprentice? I mean do you think I should?" Halt looked up from what he was doing at this.

"The boy?" he questioned

"Yes" Will said. He thought he had made that quite clear.

"Your apprentice?" Halt queried

"Yes. I want the boy called Mark to be my Apprentice. Do you think that is a good idea?" Will said putting emphasis on the words boy and apprentice.

"Has he got any slight skills that could show he would be a good Ranger?" Halt asked

"Yes. He knows the basics of unseen movement and he's a good climber." Will said "He's also curious I followed him into the forest when I snapped a twig to see if he would find out what it was."

"And he did go into the forest."

"Yes" Will was starting to get the idea that Halt disagreed with him. "So what do you think? Should he become my apprentice?" asked Will.

"It's not my decision. You would have to ask Crowley when you see him next." Will smiled he was going to visit Horace and Evanlyn/Princess Cassandra in Araluen fief in a couple of days so he could ask him then. "I mean if I was Mark I would say no. It would be five years stuck with you and I've been through that." Halt said this all most to himself. Will stopped smiling and glared at Halt. If looks could kill Halt would be dead.

At five o'clock Will left Halt to get on with his paperwork. He walked home as he had left Tug at his cottage when he was with Mark in the forest. Will walked in and saw Alyss over in the kitchen cooking. He was about to say hello when the air was pushed out of him by his only child Arianna. He looked down at her and smiled. He picked her up and went and sat down at the table with her. Arianna was ten years old. She had Wills brown eyes and she had her blonde hair from Alyss. Alyss came and sat down with them giving them each a bowl of soup. She had made Will coffee and Arianna had water. Will enjoyed his meal and then talked with his wife and child. He put Arianna to sleep and then came in and talked with Alyss.

"So have you talked to Halt about your apprentice?" Alyss asked. A couple of days ago Will had spoken with Alyss about him having an apprentice. He wanted to know if she was alright with as it would mean another child would be coming into the house. Alyss had agreed and had tidy up the spare room ready for his apprentice, now she was just waiting for Will to be told he could have an apprentice.

"Yes. He told me to speak to Crowley" he said

"It's good were going to visit Horace and Cassandra tomorrow then" she stated

"Yes im hoping Crowley will say yes then I'll ask Mark if he wants to be my apprentice" Will said. He really hoped that Mark would say yes. He had a lot of the skills already and Will thought he would become a good ranger.