Crowley's Apprentice

Disclaimer: I do not own the Ranger's Apprentice series, but I do own any OC's that might be in the story.

Hey!

Back Again!

I'm going against Dodo.123's advice! I'm rethinking the plot of this whole thing, so, i'm going do a little oneshot about how Mikey got his horse, Silver.

THIS IS BEFORE THE EVENTS IN CHAPTER FOUR!

On to the Story!

Chapter 5

Silver

It was a unusually bright morning, Mikey thought as he and Crowley were walking somewhere. Crowley had told him, but he quickly forgot in his half asleep state. His mentor had denied the use of coffee until MIkey got used to waking up at this time. Worse, he had dragged him out way before sunlight. They've been walking for hours now. It had been only two days since he was apprenticed. But e started to feel as if there was nothing to worry about in the presence of this man He wasn't exactly comfortable yet, but even in his short coming, he already felt that he could trust Crowley.

Mikey questioned this now as they were walking through the forest floor to an unknown place.

"Where are we going," Mikey asked wearily. Crowley looked down at his apprentice, surprised that he spoke for once. Then he smiled.

"It's a surprise," Crowley chirped. Mikey frowned. Someone's a morning person, he thought.

"Well, it's definatley a surprise that I find myself wandering through the forest at the crack of dawn," Mikey protested. Crowley laughed.

"It gets better, trust me," he chuckled.

That didn't sound to good, Mikey mused. It was almost like a weird foreshadowing, like something bad was going to happen.

"I hope so," Mikey remarked.

Even though Crowley kept a straight face, he felt like bursting into laughter. Mikey was going to get his Ranger horse. Almost everybody, including Crowley himself, has had their "introduction," to their shaggy companions. He was actually very interested to see Mikey's reaction to what was going to unfold.

After what seemed like an eternity, Mikey finally saw a cabin in the distance. That had to be their destination, or else his legs would physically detach from his body. His silent question was confirmed as Crowley spoke.

"We're here," was his two word statement. Mikey sighed.

"Finally," he said, a little louder than usual.

As they approached the cabin, Mikey began to wonder why they had come here in the first place. Surely it had to be important, for his mentor wouldn't wake him up this early for nothing; or so he thought. Rather than using the traditional way of entering one's property, Mikey followed the older Ranger to the back of this cabin, revealing a spacious stable with a wide variety of horses inhabiting it.

"Old Bob," Crowley began. "It's great to see you again."

Mikey, taking his eyes off these beautiful creatures, turned to see a pretty aged man. He was quite small, as the theme was for most Rangers. Better let Crowley take this one, he decided.

"Crowley? Is that you," the old man asked loudly. "What a pleasure. Who's the skinny fellow you got there?"

Mikey frowned. "Am I really that small," he quietly asked his master.

Crowley laughed silently, providing an answer for his young apprentice. "My apprentice, Mikey," he calmly replied. The horse trainer now switched his attention to Mikey.

"You know, you really need to gain a few," Old Bob remarked. Now it was Mikey's turn to have fun.

"Looks who's talking, your not that big either, buddy," Mikey added emphasis on the last word. Crowley thought that this might be worth a good laugh and decided to intervene later.

"Well, I used to be big and strong, but then I started to shrink," said Old Bob.

"Sh. . Shrink?" asked Mikey, a little concerned.

"Yep, started when I done growing," stated the horse trainer. Crowley noticed that he was only pulling Mikey's leg and joined in.

"Yes, happened to me too," he began. "By the looks of it, it's going to start very soon for you."

"Me?" Mikey asked, now very frightened. Me? Short and weak, he asked himself. His voice cracked a little

"Yes, you. And it'll leave you even smaller and weaker than before.

"Nooo!" Mikey yelled, now scared out of his mind. The other two burst into laughter. Mikey had realized that they were only joking and immediately turned a distinct shade of red in embarrassment.

"I hate you guys," Mikey muttered, not even sure the two heard him beneath the uncontrollable laughter.

The three reached a small stable which held smaller sized ponies and mares. Old Bob then looked at Mikey very closely, similar to how Sir Quinn looked during Choosing Day, and then came up with his decision. In a couple minutes, Mikey was greeted by a shaggy looking pony. He was silver to the point where he almost gleamed in the summer sun. Unsure, Mikey walked up to the waiting pony.

Do you even weigh anything? the pony's expression seemed to ask.

"This here is Silver, you new Ranger horse," Crowley started. "Try and mount him."

Reluctantly, Mikey tried to mount Silver and sure enough, he was immediately launched about 8 feet in the air. He landed harshly on the dirt floor that lay beneath him.

"Owwww! Mikey yelled. "Was that supposed to happen?

Crowley and Old Bob were laughing uncontrollably again. Crowley managed to say "Try again and see what he does."

Once again, Mikey tried to mount Silver again and was rocketed again into the air, this time even higher than before.

"Ahhhhhh!," screamed the apprentice Ranger as he was dropped to the ground with a satisfying crash.

Time and time again, Mikey tried to mount his pony and continued to get thrown off. Now bloody, bruised, and with a sprained wrist, he struggled to get up.

"I cant help it," Mikey exclaimed painfully. "He dosent like me!"

"Did you ask him first?" Crowley asked while in tears.

Mikey sighed. He stumbled his way back to the pony, and weakly asked, "May I?" and tried to remount, expecting to be thrown off another time. Suprisingly, the Silver pony responded by shaking its head. Are you kidding me? He asked himself in defeat.

After a quick tending to his bruises, Mikey and Crowley set off for Araluen fief again, more slowly than usual, to save the pain that rushed through MIkey's bruised ribs. The pain wasn't going away, but he could deal with it until they got back to the cabin.

"How was that?" Crowley asked.

"I dunno, why don't you ask my wounds?" Mikey replied.

After what would seem like a horrible day, Mikey was glad that he now had a horse, and bonded just a little bit closer with his mentor than before. Little by little he felt more comfortable around Crowley, despite his "Crowley humor". Maybe they're not sorcerers, he thought after all.

He would soon question that thought repeatedly throughout his apprenticeship.

Wow, that was a pretty long oneshot.

And yes, I just invented the term "Crowley humor."

Anyway don't forget to review! Thanks!

-YDG (YahDig?)