Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction, made possible by the Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan. I have only borrowed his creation and I make no money. For this story I have used several other Rangers from the books, though I've also added my own. I do this only in the hope to entertain…
Author's Note: No harm shall come to the characters that can't be fixed with enough coffee…

Chapter 14

Will bit his lip, glancing at Halt, wondering what they should do. The problem was, he was pretty sure that Halt was wondering that too. They had been careful, but even so they had been captured. It had been a trap. Following the tracks of the robbers, they had moved into the woods, while a second group that had waited well out of the way, had followed behind them.

Before they knew it, they were caught between the two groups, and now, they were tied up and helpless in the enemy camp. So far, they hadn't been treated too bad, they hadn't been beaten or anything. Tug and Abelard stood with the bandits own horses, looking somewhat ill at ease, but taking the opportunity to sample the sweet, green grass.

"I should have realized it was a trap!" Halt exclaimed beside him, angrily tugging at his restraints. He was actually grateful the bandits had used rope, and not the Ranger's own thumb cuffs which would have been even harder to get out off.

"It didn't look like a trap," Will mused. He had given up trying to loosen his own bonds when his wrists started hurting too much.

"It wouldn't have been much of one, if it had been that obvious," Halt pointed out. "I still should have realized. The way they operated, it was exactly like a group Gilan and I dealt with in his second year," he sighed. "They got sentenced to hard labour, and, would have been set free some four or six months ago. I figured they would be going back to the same sort of thing. I should have been expecting this."

"Oh," Will breathed. "Still, don't see how you could have known it was them…"

"The same way of doing it, I should have figured it was them, and that they probably wanted revenge," Halt shook his head.

"Did you kill anyone?" Will wanted to know. That tended to make a big difference in how mad they were at you. Ranger's deadly skill with the longbow was equally feared, admired and hated.

"No, but we shot a couple," Halt shrugged. "They have plenty of reasons to hold a grudge…"

"At least Gilan is safe," Will decided. Then frowned, "what's going to happen to him if we don't get back?"

"Crowley and Pauline will look after him, he'll be alright," Halt shrugged. He was more worried about Will, it was after all his own mistake that had led the boy into danger. He really should have remembered they would be free, especially when the robberies were done in the same manner. The thing was, he had been so preoccupied with Gilan's predicament. He really didn't know what to do, how long they could wait for his memory to return before they were forced to face the fact and decide what to do with him.

"Well, well, the Ranger, and his snoot nosed brat…" a man, skinny and with his receding hair more gray than red started forward. The last Halt had seen him, he had been so big he almost waddled, and had had a thick mane of red hair. It was funny what a few years of hard work could do for someone. "Not the same one though," the man mused. "That one was a skinny little bastard, looked like he was growing right out of his clothes. This one is a real runt."

"I'm not," Will glowered. "I just haven't hit my growth spurt yet…" he muttered, knowing it was a pointless fact, and probably not true either. By now, he had more or less come to face the fact he never would be all that much taller, but that didn't mean he enjoyed having it pointed out to him by a filthy bandit!

The man laughed, a hoarse, almost cough like sound. "This one is almost as mouthy… Where's the other brat, Ranger? I got a bit of a score to settle with him as well!"

"He's not here," Halt stated.

"Actually, that's a matter of opinion…" one of the shadows suddenly broke free, and aimed a steel tipped arrow at the bandit, right at his throat.

Will hadn't heard a sound, and even though he had been looking at that very spot only a few seconds ago, hadn't seen a thing. A healthy curse beside him proved that neither had Halt.

Gilan's voice was however unmistakable.

"You, you're that damn brat!" the man snapped.

"Presumably," Gilan shrugged. "Honestly, I'm basing that entirely on assumption though. As I'm not quite sure myself who I am, and am not. Even so, I'm willing to agree to it for the sake of argument. So, why don't you release my friends…!" His tone had been light hearted, but now it hardened and took on a tone that sent shivers down Will's spine. He had seen Gilan do that once before, switch between cheerful and jovial, to a cold, deadly fury in a split second. It had sent shivers down his spine then, and it did now as well.

He hadn't thought Gilan even capable of anger, and here he was, the very image of absolute fury, and the bandit paled several shades. For a moment Will thought he was going to faint, but with trembling fingers he found the knife on his belt and slowly drew it, kneeling to cut Halt's bonds.

"Please don't kill me, please don't kill me, please don't let him kill me…." he literally quivered as he pleaded with the salt and pepper haired Ranger.

Halt, with a look of disgust, punched him square in the jaw, sending him crashing to the ground, unconscious.

"Good idea," Gilan stated cheerfully. "I was rather thinking of doing that myself…"

"You might still have your chance," taking the knife from the unconscious man, Halt quickly released Will. "Give me that," he demanded, gesturing at the bow Gilan held.

"What?" he frowned.

"Give me that," Halt urged. "There are a few more of them, in case you hadn't noticed. We'll need to subdue them.

"Well, yes," Gilan nodded. "But then what am I supposed to do?"

"He's got a sword, you know how to use one," without waiting for further objections Halt took the bow from his hand, and bending down, Gilan drew the sword from the man's scabbard, giving it a woeful look.

"This is a terrible sword," he complained. "I don't like it, I'd rather have the bow back…"

"It'll cut people, won't it?" Halt demanded, as Will worked on securing the bandit. Taking his belt to tie his hands behind his back, and while holding his breath over the foul odour emitting from the garment, using one of his socks for a gag by stuffing it into his mouth.

"Well, yes, I suppose so," Gilan moved the sword in a test swing. "But the balance is terrible, awful, and there's rust on it…"

"Once we got them all subdued, you can lecture them about proper weapons care while Will rides to get men to take them in," Halt snorted.

Though Will was still unarmed, the three of them didn't have much trouble subduing the rest of them. Not once Halt shot three of them, aiming for arms and legs rather than killing shots. The fact that Gilan proved that while he complained about the sword, he knew very well how to use it helped to make them make up their mind that surrendering was in their best interest.

Noting how he held it loosely in one hand, with only two fingers and a look of disgust on his face, one of them tried to rush him. He didn't get far before he found Gilan was very vigilant, and very fast. The sword was in his hand, and the point aimed at the man before he knew it, and it was suddenly all he could do to stop before he impaled himself on it.

"I told you to go to the castle," Halt fixed his former apprentice with a hard look as they mounted their horses, having secured their prisoners to their own horses, only Gilan was still on foot.

"I didn't," he shrugged.

"I can see that," Halt stated dryly. "Why didn't you?"

"I didn't want to," again Gilan shrugged. He offered a weak smile. "I figured you'd be mad at me, but, I just didn't like it."

"You disobeyed a direct order…" Halt reminded him, his voice icy.

"I know," Gilan stated. "I did, because I didn't like it. It was, something, I wasn't sure, but it was familiar, what you told me. It kept nagging at me that I knew it, and I didn't like it, this whole time you've been telling me to act on my instinct and see what feels familiar. So I did, you can be mad at me if you want, but from where I'm standing, I was right…"

"You were," Halt acknowledged. "You did good."

At the praise, Gilan shone up, and Will, nudging Tug forward took his foot from the stirrup so that Gilan could mount up behind him.

"I left my horse some ways there," he motioned, pointing into the woods. He hesitated for a moment. "He's from the Battleschool in Castle Araluen, isn't he?"

"I'd say he most likely is," Halt confirmed.

"He's fully trained," Gilan said, his voice low and thoughtful. "They don't like loaning them out, not the fully trained ones, they're nearly as valuable as our Ranger horses. Father, Father did it, didn't he? So the horse would look after me, even if I didn't know to…"

"I'd say he did," Halt confirmed. He had guessed as much when he noted what kind of horse it was Gilan arrived on.

Will could feel Gilan nodding behind him, but his next words surprised him. His voice thick with unshed tears Gilan spoke again. "What happened to Blaze?"

As vigilant as Tug was, he nearly walked into Abelard as quickly as Halt reined in the horse.

"It was familiar," Gilan mumbled. "What you told me of those men. It sounded like something I should know. On the way, it started to come back to me. Not all of it, but some, mostly my training…. Not what happened, if I was attacked…"

"Of all the things, it's disobeying orders that does it," Halt snorted, shaking his head. "I should have known…" His features softened as he looked at the boy, his smooth features so soft and innocent in spite of all he had seen. Gilan's apprenticeship hadn't really been any easier than Will's had so far. It had only been for different reasons. Yet Gilan had retained a sense of wide eyed innocence that Will was losing.

"We don't know what happened to Blaze," he stated softly. "You were found unconscious, and mostly naked on the highway. Whoever attacked you took everything."

"Blaze wouldn't have allowed that," Gilan sighed.

Halt nodded, Ranger horses were trained to be loyal, and then there were the ones who gave a little extra. Who's masters earned that extra devotion from them. Like Abelard, Tug, and Blaze… "I'm sorry," he said softly.

Gilan nodded slowly, tears on his face.

Rangers shared a special connection with their horses, and Will couldn't picture losing Tug. To not even know the fate that had befallen him, that had to be the worst part of it. As the Rangers were alone in their fiefs, their horses were sometimes their only companions. Gilan hadn't just lost a pony, but a friend.

TBC
The caffeine addicted Cricket wants to thank you all for reading...