The Ranger's Apprentice. Timed Disaster

Timed Disaster

Prologue

Blinking his faded blue eyes as he emerged from the shadowy stone walls of the castle, into the sudden light of day, Elroy tugged his tattered cloak even closer around bent shoulders, his thin lips twisting into a grimace.
The guard motioned him to move on, his duty accomplished and wanting nothing more than to be rid of this ex-convict so he could join his mates back at the hall.

"Move along there, grandfather, you can find a place to sit in the sun elsewhere than the castle. Like as not you're sick of the sight of it anyways." The words were spoke with a disinterested tone.

Elroy bobbed his head, "you're quite right, young man. I have indeed a better place than that stinking cell. Pagh!" He spat into the dirt and shuffled off, muttering all the while.

"Ten years of it. Well, I have laid my plans and made good use of the time." A queer light lit his eyes, and he chuckled, a rasping sound in his throat; like a gate that had rusted from long disuse.
"Halt O'Carrick, I hope you're ready!"

Part One

Will rested his axe on the block and inhaled deeply the morning air, a blending of pine, wood smoke, and ...breakfast. his stomach growled, and almost as if he had heard it, Halt stepped out of the doorway and waved his arm that the meal was ready.

Retrieving an armload of wood, hefting the axe in the other hand, Will strolled back toward the small cabin. Being back..he couldn't find words to describe it.

Things had finally began settling down after their rather grand return from Skandia in a raiders ship, with the lost Princess Cassandra. The daily routine had been a little hard to adjust to, but Will hoped he never again complained about things being quiet.

Dropping the wood into a box outside the door, a simple task, also reminded him how good it was to have most of his strength back after the addiction with Warmweed. Tendrils of memory from that still haunted him at nights. He hated to confess to Halt that nightmares plagued him, and kept it to himself, feeling weak for even having them. In a way, he felt that the older ranger knew.

Halt was sitting at the table already, sipping coffee and reading a message from Crowley. He didn't raise his gaze as Will sat down, just grunted. Smiling to himself, Will refrained from the question that had almost popped out of his mouth at the sight of the paper.

"Well." Halt was watching him, one eyebrow raised.

"Well, what?" The senior ranger grunted.

"Are you going to ask me what it says?"

Around a moutful of food, Will mumbled, "I know better."

Halt's eyes narrowed. "You're self control has improved, but you seem to have traded table manners for it."
When his apprentice just smirked, he shook his head. "Well you would have wasted your time anyways. Crowly wants me to fill out a detailed report of our last trek, for the twentieth time."
He mumbled into his beard, then as he sipped his coffee again, a thought struck him and he set the mug down. "That means you'll need to go into town for the supplies. We're running low on flour and coffee."

Noticing suddenly that he hadn't had a cup yet, a suspicion dawned on Will. "I suppose that was the last of it, wasn't it." He guested toward Halt's mug and the ranger gave him a level gaze.
"You're catching on."

*******

Riding Tug into the town for the first time since the ceremony brought back memories, fresh and vivid as if they were from yesterday. Horace was installed at the castle, and Evelynn-Cassandra, he mentally corrected himself, was settled with her parents, the King and Queen. After her reaction when he had turned down the offer King Duncan had bestowed upon him, to become a knight, Will knew a larger wall had risen between them besides the castle's.
He sighed inwardly. Leaving Tug in front of a shop to be stared at by curious children, he hefted off the saddle packs and went inside.
Spices he couldn't name, and a tinge of sawdust scented the air; the shadows making it hard for his eyes to adjust as quickly. The few customers that inhabited it, suddenly broke off in whatever they were saying at the sight of a ranger, watching him with either curiosity or concern in their faces.Making his way to the shopkeeper as if he didn't know they did, Will noted with some surprise that the clerk was new. Greeting Orbin, the proprietor, a stout man with a silver beard, he nodded his head toward the figure in the corner currently weighing beans.

"What happened to Gus?" He asked, laying the saddlebag down.

Orbin spread his beefy hands wide, palms out
"Sick. One minute he was fine, the next he be laid out sweating like a stuck boar. This is his cousin, from the fief over. He had come to visit and offered to help. Now, what can I do for you, Ranger? More coffee for Halt?" He  stroked his beard as he waited.

The man at the corner turned their way slightly as Will looked over toward him, and inclined his head slightly. Strange blue orbs peered back over a hooked nose. Something about him seemed wrong, but Will was pulled back to face Orbin by the man's question.

"Yes, please. He drinks it like it's water, you know. I also need flour."

The man in the corner got the beans weighed and wrapped, bringing them over as Will waited on Orbin to get the flour. He handed the sack over, looking Will over interestedly.

"Apprentice?" His voice rasped like a flint on a rock. At Will's cautious nod he smiled. Or tried to.
"A great man, O'Carrick; many say he must be immortal, to have survived so long. A man to be esteemed in battle. " The tone belied the words, and Will waited to see where this man was leading the topic to. Instead of speaking further, he turned and shuffled away, leaving Will with that strange feeling he couldn't explain. Orbin returned and paying him, he returned to Tug and headed back.
Behind the counter, Elroy smiled.

I hardly thought it would come so soon, he thought gleefully.