Rangers Apprentice: The Silver Rose

♧~○Chapter 4○~♧

I grabbed my plate and silverware, I was between a mother and her young daughter and a old man. I spooned some mashed potatoes onto my plate and continued down the line spooning some gravy on my potatoes. "Mommy I don't want peas!" Complained the little girl. "Carolyn you need vegetables, one spoon full ok?" Replied the mother. The little girl "Carolyn" looked very upset about eating the green vegetables. "No I won't eat them!" She yelled and ran into the crowd of people, her mother was yelling at her to come back. The girl was now out of sight. "That little- the mother started. "I'll find her for you miss" I told her. I set my plate down on a random table. Before she could reply I darted off in the direction of the girl. As I pushed through the crowd I saw a glimpse of her by the same door the ranger left through.

I pushed through the rest of the crowd, once I got to the door I went through and looked around for her. It was nearly dark so I had to hurry, I looked around but I couldn't see any sign of her. I scanned the area, it was open and there wasn't any trees. I frowned. "Why can't I see her" I thought angrily. I started walking around trying to look into the darkness for any sign of her.

Then I saw movement to my left. I ran in that direction, "hopefully she doesn't run from me" I thought. I had discarded my cloak earlier as it hindered me from running. I got closer to her, then I realized it wasn't her, it was someone crouching down examining the ground. But I didn't realize in time. The person stood up. I crashed right into them. They somehow got ahold of my arms and held me so I wouldn't fall on top of them. Once I was steady the person let go.

Once I saw them more clearly, all I could see was a dark figure in a cloak. Fear gripped me. I backed up at least five paces. "S-sorry" I somehow manged to say. I watched the figure as he stepped a bit closer to me. "I'll find her, go back inside before you freeze to death" said a deep manly voice. I swallowed nervously. "B-but I-" I stammered. "Go!" He shouted. It scared me into action and I turned around and ran back to the dining hall.

I stopped at the door before entering. I looked back to see if the man was still there, he wasn't. "Creepy" was all I thought. I was breathing heavily from my run, and I didn't really feel hungry anymore. Instead of going into the dining hall I ran around it. The shadows of the building hiding me from view, I ran until I reached the dorms. Now I was gasping for air, I yanked the door open and closed it quickly. I was shaking pretty bad from the cold. "I should have grabbed my cloak on the way back" I thought.

I quickly took off my boots and set them by the door. I quickly made my way over to the fire hearth. The coals were still glowing. "Someone should have kept the fire up while I was away" I thought bitterly. I grabbed two logs and set them on the fire. I was careful to not put the coals out completely. I then started gently blowing the embers. Soon some little flames leapt up and started burning the wood.

I held my hands close to the flames to warm them up. The warmth revived my frozen hands and face. I then made sure the fire wouldn't get too huge. Then I went up the stairs quietly and carefully so I wouldn't wake anyone. I reached the top and looked around, not a single light was left on, the curtains on the window were left slightly open to give me enough light to see. I made my way to my bunk and grabbed my bag that was sitting on it. I carefully set it underneath my bed for tomorrow. Then I pulled the blankets back and slipped under the sheets. I pulled the comforter up close to my chin, I listened to the sounds of my fellow ward mates sleeping soundly, and I also heard Cassie snore a few times. It made me realize how much im going to miss this place. I lay still, wondering what tomorrow will bring. "I hope Im good enough to be a ranger" I thought. I close my eyes, now all I had to do was wait for sleep to come.

And it did.