Hi I would like to thank everyone that reviewed my last chapter Alex the Rogue, Ranger Shelby, AmazingWriter123 and Lorrie the Ninja Elf. It took me longer to write this chapter so I apologise but I am going to write one chapter per week so I have more time to write it. I hope you like this chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Ranger's Apprentice John Flanagan does. I wish I did though how cool would that be.
The second day of Marks apprenticeship was hard work. Will showed him how to shoot a bow properly and how to throw the throwing knife swiftly and in one fluid motion. Will also showed Mark how to throw the Saxe knife but concentrated more on showing him different blocks with the Saxe for the times Mark could get into close quarter fights. Every time Mark did something slightly wrong Will made sure that he corrected him so that he would be learning the right things and not learning something wrong.
Mark spent hours learning how to use his weapons and when Will thought he had done enough with the weapons and needed a break he showed Mark how to use his cloak effectively to make his movements even more concealed and unseen. Mark had a big advantage over other apprentices when it came to unseen movement as he all ready had a good idea on how to use the shadows and the things around him to conceal himself. The problem was and Will stressed this to him was the fact that Mark had heavy footing. He kept telling Mark this and showed him how to tread lighter on the ground but he knew that Mark was going to find this a problem. Mark was very persistent and kept going at moving quietly. He looked on the ground and made sure he didn't tread on any sticks that would snap or that he didn't tread on any dead leaves that would crunch as he put pressure on them. Even after they had stopped practising unseen and unheard movement he moved around the house trying to be as quiet as possibly; which was still very loud for Will. He could creep around the house without Arianna or Alyss hearing but Will could still hear him.
Mark would start everyday at eight, then stop at twelve when he would have lunch and would carry on with his training until six when he would have tea and then rest. Mark could feel that getting up so early and doing so much work was getting to him. He felt a lot more tired but made sure not to show it in front of Will. Mark didn't know it but Will could see he was tired. Will knew that he would get used to it and not feel as tired as he got further into training as that was how he had felt when he had been training with Halt.
Before Mark knew it he was on his third week of being Wills apprentice. Each day Will would watch him practice with the bow, Saxe and throwing knife and then he would leave Mark for an hour to practice on his own. Will would sit in the chair and watch Mark whist getting on with important documents for the ranger corps just like Halt had done with him.
"Right!" Will said standing up and looking over at Mark. Mark stopped what he was doing and looked at Will. He thought for a moment that he had done something wrong but Wills next words stopped that thought straight away. "I want to do something different today. Go get your arrows from the target and come wait over here." Mark did as he was told and waited outside the cabin door for Will who had gone back inside. Will came back out a minute later and told Mark to follow him.
"What are we doing? Where are we going? How far is it?" asked Mark giving Will more and more questions to answer. So that's what I sound like Will thought and then looked behind at his apprentice who was eagerly looking back at Will.
"You'll find out" was all Will said then he turned back to the road they were walking on. They went into the forest and carried on following the path. Will got to one point in the road and then turned off to the left. Mark rushed after him. As they walked through the forest leaves brushed against them wiping the residue from the rain on their clothes making them wet. The trees and bushes that they passed were taller than Mark and they felt like they were closing in around him. The path they followed was overcrowded with nature and when Mark looked on the floor he could only just see the path which had roots and rocks sticking out of it making the mud uneven to walk on. Every now and then Mark would get caught on a branch sticking out and would have to untangle himself hoping that his mentor did not see. At one point Will did turn round just as Mark freed himself from the branches grasp and Mark instantly felt his cheeks colour with embarrassment. He tried to cover it up by wiping his face to cover his red cheeks but Will saw through it but was kind enough to not point it out.
Marks curiosity was building up and he was about to ask Will another question not being able to hold it in when they turned a bend. Mark past the tree blocking his view and saw a cabin. There was a big stable next to it with a fence surrounding it. Mark could hear the neighing of several horses that were in the stables and when he listened harder he could hear the faint voice of a person telling the horses that he understood. Mark was about to ask why they were here when an old man walked out of the stables. He was old very old his hair was white and so was his beard. "Ah ranger Will" he croaked.
"Old Bob" Will smiled and looked into the stables looking for something.
"You're looking for Tug. Don't worry he's been well looked after so is the other horse you requested. And what is your apprentice's name?" Old Bob said looking in the direction that Will was.
"His name is Mark and I'm sure they have been looked after well" Will watched as old Bob walked of in the direction of the stables. When he returned he had two horses following behind him. The taller one out of the two ran over to Will and nudged its nose up against Wills shoulder. Will patted the horses neck and fed him an apple which the horse delightedly chewed on.
"This is your horse Mark his name is Bolt." Mark looked at the horse in front of him. Bolt's coat was a dark grey. On his back were paler patches of grey and the bottom of his legs were also a pale grey. The horse looked at him. Where is my apple? his eyes seemed to say. Mark put his hand in the apple barrel and asked old Bob if he could feed Bolt an apple.
"He's your horse now. Yeh can feed him one if you want just make sure you don't feed him to many or else he won't be healthy" said Old Bob. Mark fed Bolt an apple and stroked his grey mane.
"Can I ride him?" asked Mark
"If you think that's a good idea" said Old Bob smiling. Mark looked at Bob and then at Will. They were both smiling at him. Something wasn't right but Mark was too eager to ride his horse to ask any questions. He put his foot in the stirrup and then pulled himself up onto Bolt's back. Before Mark had even got comfortable on his horse he was thrown over its head and onto the hard ground. He coughed as dust flew up around him.
"Ahh! That hurt" Mark said feeling his back for any broken bones. He looked at Bolt and scowled at him. Mark knew it was pointless because the horse couldn't respond back to him but he was embarrassed and in pain and he wasn't going to stand there and be happy about it and pretend nothing had happened. Don't look at me like that it's not my fault was what Mark imagined his horse saying as it stared at him with an innocent look on its face.
"Why will he not let me ride him?" Mark looked questioningly at Old Bob. Old Bob looked at him and then at Will. No matter how hard Will tried he couldn't hold back his laughter because he had done the exact same thing when he was an apprentice. Will looked at Old Bob and they both started laughing whilst Mark scowled at them both.
"It's not that funny" Mark said. His cheeks were now bright red and they were getting redder with every second that past. Mark could feel his cheeks getting hotter so he turned away from Will and Old Bob and looked back at his horse. Bolt was standing in the exact position Mark had left him in. Mark looked at Bolt. Was there something he had missed? Had he done something wrong? He looked Bolt up and down as if he would see the answer stuck to Bolt somewhere.
"You need to tell him the password" Old Bob stated.
"The password?" Mark looked at Old Bob
"Yes every ranger horse needs to be told the password before the ranger can ride them." Mark looked at Old Bob and then back to Will. Mark noticed that Will had a straight face which raised Marks suspicions on whether they were tricking him or not. After all they found him falling of the horse very amusing.
"You whisper the password in Bolts ear and then he will let you ride him. Ranger horses are trained to do lots of different things which im sure Will will teach you more about. They are trained to not let anyone ride them until they have said the password then they can't be stolen."
"OK" Mark said not entirely sure whether to believe Old Bob or not. He seemed a very honest man but then he had let Mark climb onto Bolt before. "So what's Bolts password?" he asked.
"The password for Bolt is 'Could you let me'" Old Bob said gesturing for Mark to have a go. Mark looked at Bob and then at Will who was also telling him to do it. Mark turned to Bolt and walked up to his ear.
"Could you let me" he whispered into Bolt's ear. The horse shook its head as if it understood what Mark was saying. Actually it did understand what Mark was saying because when Mark climbed onto him Bolt let him sit on him.
"Now you can ride him" Old Bob said. Mark nodded. He was a little nervous as he had only ever rode a horse once and that had gone terribly wrong. He had come off the horse and was limping for days and he didn't want to do that again today especially in front of Will and Old Bob.
"Why is he called Bolt?" asked Mark as he rode Bolt at a slow trot.
"He's called Bolt..." Bob didn't finish his sentence because as he spoke Bolt sped into the distance at full speed. Mark nearly lost his grip as Bolt had suddenly galloped at full speed. He quickly grabbed hold of Bolts reigns and pulled up on the reigns. Bolt was still going fast but not as fast as before.
"That's why he's called Bolt" Mark said to himself. The wind blew his brown hair back of his face and his cloak flew out behind him. Bolt was heading for a group of trees and suddenly just as they were about to collide with them Bolt turned and headed back for Will and Bob. They came to a stop when they got to Will and Bob and Bolt stopped suddenly letting Mark climb of onto the ground.
"How was that?" asked Will.
"It was great" Mark said smiling. He stroked Bolt and the horse shook its mane.
"He's called Bolt because he can be very fast and anyone chasing you won't expect it because he can go from being at a walk and bolt into a run. He is faster than most horses that I have had here" Old Bob said finishing of his sentence. Old Bob showed Mark how to look after Bolt and by the time they finished it was two o'clock. Will and Mark stayed at Old Bobs home and had a small lunch before heading back to Wills cabin.
-LINE BREAK-
Mark and Will went and put their horses away in the stables and found that there was three horses already in there instead of two. Next to Arianna's horse was a small grey horse that was a little taller than Tug.
"Halt?" said Will almost to himself. He put Tug in the stables and let Mark do the same with Bolt. He then walked around to the front of the house and walked in. Mark walked in and could smell the strong aroma of coffee which he had got so used to smelling since he had become an apprentice. He looked around the house and saw Alyss, Arianna and another man sitting at the table. The man wore a rangers cloak and Mark could just make out the hilt of a Saxe knife protruding from behind the cloak. He was a small man and his hair was short and grey. He had a beard which was just as grey as his hair and he had his hand resting on his bow which was leaning against his leg. The man looked at Mark and Will as they walked over to the table.
"It's nice of you to join us Will." Will smiled at his old mentor's comment knowing that Halt was joking.
"What brings you here Halt?" Will asked pulling out a chair and sitting down. He poured himself a cup of coffee and put a large spoonful of honey in it. He passed the pot of coffee to Mark who sat down at the table.
"Thanks" Mark mumbled. Whenever he met knew people he went quiet. He had met Halt before when Will had found him and his sister. As he poured himself some coffee he realised that Halt was the ranger he had knocked into a couple of weeks ago.
"I have just come to see how you and Mark are getting on. After all the gathering is in two weeks" Halt said taking a large sip of his coffee.
"He's getting on well. He will be ready for the rangers gathering and he should be able to get his bronze oak leaf." Mark listened to what Will had to say about him and could feel himself going red. He quickly leant on his hands to hide the colour of his cheeks.
"So what where you and Mark doing?" Halt asked Will.
"We were getting Mark his horse."
"Can I see him?" Arianna said eagerly. Mark nodded and she ran out of the house. By the time Mark had got up from his chair Arianna had already gone through the door. She poked her head round the corner and told him to hurry up and then she was gone again before Mark could answer. He rushed out the door after Arianna and saw her waiting at the stables. When Mark caught up with her she went in. "Can I stroke him? What's his name?" she asked
"Yeh you can and his name is Bolt." Mark watched her as she stroked Bolt. Bolt closed his eyes and then opened them when she stopped.
"Do you talk to your horse?" Mark looked at Arianna who was looking back at him.
"What?" he said not knowing if he had heard her properly.
"Do you talk to Bolt? My dad does and so does Granddad Halt" Arianna said looking at Mark.
"No I don't, but I've only just got him." Arianna looked at Mark and pointed to the apple barrel. Mark nodded his head and she picked one up and fed it to Bolt. She walked over to a small bench near the door leading out of the stables. Mark went and sat down with Arianna.
"What's it like being a ranger?" Arianna looked at Mark.
"Well im not actually a ranger yet im only a ranger apprentice."
"I know but is it good?"
"It's fun but its hard work" Mark said. He looked at Arianna. He got on well with Arianna even though she was so much younger than him. When he came here he didn't really talk to her but as he got to know her they had become good friends. It was the same with Arianna at first she hadn't liked Mark because she felt that Will didn't spend as much time with her but she enjoyed having someone that was closer to her age around the house and she had also got to like Mark when she got to know him.
Mark left Arianna with the horses and went and practised with his throwing knife. He hit the target but it still wasn't on the bulls eye. He sighed and thought back to what Will had said on the first day of his apprenticeship. Will had told him that he would be tested and if he was good enough he would get his bronze oak leaf.
"Am I good enough?" he asked himself and he sighed again.
Did you like it? Please let me know as it did take me longer to write I had writers block for a while so Im sorry. I don't know what to put in the next chapter so if you have got any ideas let me know and I will give you credit if I use it.