Disclaimer: I do not own Ranger's Apprentice.
Also I don't think Will took an assessment for his first year, because he killed the Kalkara and Halt just gave him his bronze oakleaf, so I didn't include that year.
P.S. Sorry if this overlaps with Will's time in Skandia.
Please read and review!
Will paid attention to Crowley as he instructed, "Wait outside the Gathering grounds. In five minutes, the fourth and fifth year apprentices will wait at the entrances. Your objective is to sneak past them and enter the Gathering grounds."
Will nodded nervously. "Anything else?"
Crowley raised an eyebrow. "Well, for starters, the other apprentices will have their bows with them and they will shoot whenever they spot you. Of course, they might miss." He mused.
Will's eyes widened. "Shoot at me?"
Crowley grinned. "With blunted arrows. As will you. If you see another apprentice, you can shoot and they won't be able to participate in stopping you from entering."
Crowley clapped Will on the shoulder. "They'll be ready now. Good luck!" He disappeared into the trees, leaving Will by himself.
Will nocked an arrow onto his bow and donned his cloak. An unstrung bow is just something extra to carry. A strung bow is a weapon. Halt's words echoed in Will's mind.
Will stepped toward the Gathering site, careful not to make any noise. He quickly flattened against a tree as he heard a patrol coming towards him. The fourth year apprentice scanned the grounds and turned back around, before quickly turning back again, letting his gaze flick back around the trees. It was an old Ranger trick, and Will was well trained against it, staying perfectly still and trusting his cloak to do the rest.
Finally, the apprentice left, and Will was free to advance toward the site once again. He made it about fifty meters before he came across a long row of traps. Bear traps, deer traps, and nets were scattered everywhere, making it almost impossible to cross.
Will noticed that some of these traps had to be set and activated manually. Still hidden, he scanned the above trees and saw an indistinct figure shifting a little, giving his position away.
Will silently aimed, and then shot, before quickly ducking behind a tree. He heard the fifth year apprentice curse as Will's arrow seemed to hit his mark. Will came out and grinned, offering a hand and helping the apprentice up.
"Nice shot." Alex, the fifth year apprentice said.
Will shrugged. "Your traps were pretty good too." He glanced disdainfully at the row of traps. "Still don't know how I'm going to get past the rest of those."
Alex grinned. "I'm sure you'll find a way. Now I need to go report to Crowley. Good luck!"
Will nodded and continued on. Some traps that had been previously handled by Alex were now disarmed. He could carefully step across those, and try to avoid the others.
Or... Will looked at the rope Alex dropped when he had been found out. Will could use the rope to swing over the traps. It would be faster, but it would also make it almost impossible to hide if someone spotted him.
Will thought for a bit, and then decided that Crowley probably wouldn't want to be kept waiting, and that since the remaining four apprentices probably thought Alex had gotten this area covered, they were probably at other entrances to the site.
He climbed a tree and made a knot on a high, sturdy branch on the side of the tree. He swung to the next tree, and with the rope, tied a knot on a branch on that tree as well, before swinging to the next one. Will continued like this until he had climbed and swung past the row of traps laid out. He jumped down, landing agilely and quietly on his feet.
Will continued on, and he saw that he was only about thirty meters from the site, but the other four apprentices had their bows nocked and ready, scanning the surroundings. Will noticed that they weren't really careful about staying hidden, but rather focused on spotting any intruder, in this case, Will.
He could use that to his advantage, Will thought. He silently drew and aimed, then nocked and shot four arrows in quick succession, then ducked behind a tree. Will heard three of his four arrows hit its mark, but the fifth year apprentice, it seemed, had seen the first arrow hit one of the fourth year apprentices and had enough warning to duck behind a bush.
Will cursed under his breath. Hans, the fifth year apprentice, probably knew where he was now. The only thing that kept him from shooting was that Will also knew where Hans was, so neither of them could come out.
The only difference was that Will only needed to get in the Gathering grounds in order to succeed. Hans, on the other hand, had to avoid getting shot by Will and shoot him before he gets in the grounds.
Hans didn't seem to realize this, and made a mistake as he chose to stay hidden in the bush, hoping to wait Will out. Will quickly seized the opportunity to sneak around Hans and cross into the Gathering grounds.
Crowley, was waiting for him, grinning. "Congratulations, Will." He handed back Will's bronze oakleaf. "I'll have to view your assessment with other senior Rangers and whatnot, but expect to continue your apprenticeship with Halt."
Will grinned in relief, and he felt the comforting weight of his bronze oakleaf against his chest.