Ellya had taken to pacing anxiously. Nobody was coming near her after she broke the nose of that bigger, older, stronger apprentice. The deliberating seemed to drag on like a malnourished pony dragging a sack of bricks behind it. She wished they would just decide already. "It isn't like it's that hard of a decision," she though sourly. "I aced the tests, I know where the meeting spot is, I actually want to be a Ranger, and being a girl opens possibilities for me to go undercover that the others don't have. My special bow and accuracy without formal training compensate for my lack of brute force, and Rangers don't do much hand to hand combat anyway. Besides, I'm pretty handy with a knife." Then she filled with apprehension, wondering if she should have told them that. As she tried not to think about it, it seemed to become incredibly crucial. It took all her willpower not to walk into the command tent and announce the fact she was proficient at knife fighting to everyone inside. A boy who looked old enough to be in his third year of apprenticeship despite his diminutive size walked up to her and cleared his throat, breaking her nervous obsession with knife fighting.

"Um, hey, I, just, um, wanted to say that, uh, what you did to Brendhi was pretty impressive," he stuttered uncertainly. She smiled at him.

"Well, he was begging for it. It might have been in a subtle manner some people don't understand, but he was actually asking me to break a bone in a long-lost art of communication. I didn't think that that many people knew that coded language. He must be abnormally intelligent," she said with a sarcastic smirk. She assumed that Brendhi was the boy who she kicked. The apprentice smiled back, beginning to look like he didn't think she would tear his head off.

"Extremely intelligent. I've never met a human more devoted to knowledge and learning as he. Everyone really respects his brains, they say he might be leader of the Corps one day, leading us on to a glorious path of enlightenment with his brilliance," proclaimed the boy, striking a dramatic pose. He was a small boy, short with a light build, and he had long dark hair and big grey eyes. "I'm Nikolas, third year apprentice." He extended his hand and she took it, shaking it.

"I'm Ellya. The important people are deciding if I can be a Ranger right now." He smiled at that, now completely at ease.

"I'm surprised that Brendhi's posse didn't try to attack you for hurting him. That's very unlike them."

"Maybe they didn't want to hit a delicate girl like me. Or more likely, they were so shocked they didn't react right away and they're plotting horrible revenge as we speak. Maybe my display of physical prowess will impress them so much they respect me, or at least won't mess with me, but more likely they didn't learn their lesson from Brendhi. One can only guess." Ellya said philosophically. "I expect they will be showing up any minute now, ready to beat me to a pulp. That type doesn't get clever revenge, or waiting to take revenge, or planning anything out at all really."

"True, true." They stood in silence for a few moments until Nikolas's eyes widened. "Unless, there is a chance that one of them, a smarter one, is controlling them now that Brendhi is gone. He always kind of controlled them, using Brendhi as a puppet when he could, but usually that whole group is too wild to control without bute strength most the time. But there is a small chance he somehow wrestled control of them and is actually planning something bad."

"Like what?" asked Ellya skeptically.

"Like breaking your bow, hurting your friends, humiliating you someway, alienating you from the other Rangers, destroying something dear to you, all of the above, all of the above plus beating you up. Whatever he can think of." Ellya thought for a second, then started running. Nikolas followed, a little confused and very worried. She had obviously brought something dear and now had to see if the posse had found it. When she reached the tree line, she paused for a split second, listening for pursers before launching herself at a branch high up in a tree, flying into the air before dissolving before his eyes. He blinked. He knew she had had no formal training, but she was the best unseen mover he had ever seen that wasn't a fully fledged Ranger, and she was better then most Rangers that he had seen. He slipped through the forrest, underneath her and ten feet behind her. He marveled at how she could swing from limb to limb yet still seem so invisible. He was on the constant lookout for any followers that might bode ill, but he didn't hear or sense anything. They made it to a clearing where a unhealthy old horse stood, looking unimpressed by the two humans that seemed to materialize in front of it's very eyes. It tossed it's head as if to say "Yeah, yeah, I've seen it a million times." She checked on him, and the contents of the saddlebag while Nikolas looked away discretely. Finally satisfied, Ellya beckoned to him that it was time to leave.

"Make sure to cover your tracks," she called back softly, already running high in the trees on a particularly thick branch. He did so with care, not wanting to lead a trail straight to the leverage Brendhi's posse so desired. When they got back, nothing had changed. A few people raised their eyebrows at two teenagers, a boy and a girl, came out of the woods together, but quickly decided neither out them were "that type". Ellya and Nikolas talked for about ten more minutes before a boy, average size for a normal person but bigger then most Rangers, approached them.

"You better come with me, girlie," he growled in an attempt to be intimidating. Ellya just raised an eyebrow,

"Why ever would I do a silly thing like that?" she said in the most conflicting mix of sweetness and menace.

"Because we have something dear to you."

"Really? How interesting. Whatever is it, and, why should I care?"

"Your pretty little pony. What a frail old thing, almost anything could kill it."

"I'll just get a new horse when I'm a Ranger."

"You'll get a new horse if your a Ranger, and your family won't"

"Fine," she said with a puff, sounding more exasperated then worried. She followed the larger boy, who stopped Nikolas with a shove.

"Not you."

"Aw man, but I wanted to see her beat you all to a pulp. You're no fun." Ellya grinned at him.

"I'll bring back a tooth as a souvenir."

"I suppose that will have to do," he said with a sigh.