With a frown the ranger commander walked down the many corridors in Castle Araluen to reach his horse. The castle was starting to become too mainstream for him and it was time to move to a new and improved spot, one more suited to where she could reach him, which was the main reason why he wanted to move.

It had been a four day trip to the gathering grounds when you included the miniature stopovers to visit the rangers in the fiefs that he travelled through. It was only polite to see them if he had time and he normally didn't so the gullible had thought it a pleasant surprise. Others however hadn't been too sure that their encounter with Crowley was all that right.

The rangers used sarcasm and not intimidation in normal conversations, didn't they?

There was now no smile on the older man's face as he inspected every aspect of their lives, and the corps could do nothing right apparently! If there was one spec of dust he commented that the whole cabin was dirty and that it had better be in shape by the time he came around again, of course suggesting without actually saying it, that the random appearances were going to become regular things.

Crowley had turned hard and no one had known the reason why. Many speculated that it he had finally lost the plot and others said the recent stress of losing a few of his rangers (especially the more famous and useful ones), was the cause.

No one could take it anymore.

The rangers with some sense left in them after the sudden chaos of life, organised a new, secret meeting place that not even the commander knew of. There they discussed important things, like who made the best dinners and what was really up with their commander.

"He never laughs or even smiles!" said one.

"I have no clue what happened to trigger this all!" said another.

"He just isn't nice anymore!"

"Quiet!" suddenly screamed out Liam over the top of everyone's voices. He was one of the few rangers with a slightly higher standing than the rest at least in the old system.

"We have to work out a new system of order. One where a single person doesn't have complete power over anything," said Bill. He was a quiet person, full of insight and wisdom. The other rangers found that he knew what he was talking about when he mentioned it, and if it wasn't important enough to be told, then it wasn't important enough to have a place in the conversation.

"What is that going to do to our missions then?" asked ranger 36.

"You will simply need more than one person to agree that it is necessary," he replied, unfazed. "How many people do you want as your leaders?"

"Four!" someone at the back yelled helpfully when there was a long silence.

"Does everyone agree to this number?" Bill asked. Pretty much everyone nodded. "Who are these people going to be then?"

"You!" the same person as before yelled out. Without prompting the others nodded.

"Liam!" ranger 12, standing at the front said. There was more hesitation as the corps mentally worked out how the two people suggested would work together and then who else would complete the four, but everyone soon agreed.

"Halt!" said one of the recently graduated apprentices. He had graduated just when the arguments had broken out and so hadn't really gotten to know what the corps was like during peace (which was most of the time).

Murmuring started from the older members present. The younger ones seemed to enjoy the idea but the elders realised what a risk it could be.

"We will decided on if he is to become a leader after receiving more names," Bill called out, desperate to hurry this thing along. If the rangers wanted to, he knew that they could stall even the most stubborn prison guards.

"Li!" ranger 26 called out. Li wasn't in Crowley's close circle of advisors but had been lined up for it if anyone had been killed on a mission. The call out had gotten a cheer from the younger rangers who were all his friends.

"We need one more person," Bill said.

"Gilan!" some random yelled. Everyone froze. Gil had been close to Crowley and it was feared that he might spill. In fact, he hadn't even been told of the new meeting for that sake. He was also too close to the case of Will going insane and Halt disappearing.

Liam thought for a moment alongside everyone else and nodded. "He is the right person."

"Are we all in agreeance with Liam, Halt, Gilan and myself being the new representatives of the ranger corps?" Bill asked finally. There was a single nod from everyone. It was well known that a ranger's life was never easy.

I love it! I have a new laptop (so more updates!) and I am able to upload instead of copying and pasting like I had to do on my ipad! I just upload straight from google docs!

(But this laptop is only for school work so if anyone knows anything about Richard 3rd by Shakespeare then I would be ever in you're debt)

:)

And two updates in one week? Three days apart?! I am really amazing!

I was thinking of starting another story, putting it on wattpad, except not a fanfiction. If you would read it, send me a PM or review and I will explain what it is about. I am still undecided if I really want to put it up…

Anyway! Any reviews are appreciated!

Alyss Mainwaring