TURIEN: Alrighty. Now, I need someone to do the disclaimer. Any volunteers?... no?... Okay. I'll have to pick one of you. Halt!

HALT: No.

TURIEN: Awww... come on, be nice!

HALT: No.

TURIEN: I will steal your coffee and hide it.

HALT: You'd better not. You'll be staring cross-eyed at an arrow if you do.

TURIEN: Please?

HALT: *rolls eyes* Fine. She does not and never will own Ranger's Apprentice. She doesn't own me, even though she tries to pretend she does. Don't trust her. Ever.

TURIEN: Hey! Well, what he said. Except for the last two sentences. I'm perfectly trustworthy! *shifty eyes*

Chapter Two

Ranger Halt O'Carrick sat in his old cabin outside of Wensley village in Redmont Fief. The late autumn sky had darkened quickly, bringing with it a chill in the air.

Halt shook his head. He was getting old. There was no denying the fact. He felt everything more easily now; the cold, the heat, cramping muscles from sleeping on the ground.

With a sigh, he remembered the old days, when he could traipse through the woods for hours without tiring, out on missions or training his apprentices; Gilan, and then, later, Will. Now, so many years later, he had to rest much more often.

He ran his whetstone across the edge of his saxe knife and snorted derisively, scolding himself. What was he even thinking? He could still shoot as well as he could then, and ride too, and could move through the woods undetected even by many of the Rangers.

No, he still had plenty of time.

He turned his attention to the pot of coffee that boiled steadily on the fire. He gave it an approving look before turning back to honing his knife.

He'd made extra coffee that evening. Today was when his former apprentice was expected to return. So far, though, there was no sign of Will.

Halt shrugged it off, knowing that, oftentimes, you couldn't rely on Rangers to be where they were supposed to be when they were supposed to be.

It was a sort of trademark of the Ranger Corps, he guessed. They were there if they could be there, came when duty did not keep them. They were not enslaved to a tight schedule like many other people.

It was one of the things Halt liked, this lack of formality. He'd never enjoyed it, and preferred to take care of things his own way. Always had, always would.

Abelard's nicker of greeting came from outside, and Halt smiled; a rare thing for him, usually reserved only for his former apprentices. And, of course, Pauline.

Will was here.

He took the younger Ranger's mug from its place and poured it full of coffee. After all, why not surprise Will by being generous for once?

The sound of soft hoof beats could be heard outside, then they stopped, and there was a light thud as Will dismounted.

The porch step creaked, and the door squealed on its hinges as the cloaked figure pushed it open.

"Good evening, Halt!" Will cried cheerfully.

Halt covered his face in a mask of indifference as his former apprentice plopped down in a chair across from him. Halt snorted.

"About time," he said, gruffly, but Will could easily see the slight twinkle in the older Ranger's eye; the only thing that betrayed the truth; that Halt truly was glad to see him.

Of course, Will could have known that even without the twinkle, for he knew that Halt was immensely fond of him.

And the feeling was mutual; Will was equally fond of Halt.

"Oh, Halt," he complained, "It has only been a few hours since sundown. And, if I do recall, I specified only the date, not the time. Therefore, there is nothing absurd about the hour," he stated, matter-of-factly. Halt looked up.

"Well, if you want to put it that way, it is nearly midnight, so you almost missed the day itself on top of it all," he said, raising an eyebrow. Will's grin broadened.

"And you're always on time, I presume? You're never hours, even days late?" Halt rolled his eyes slightly at the comment.

"Enough of this banter," he said, "The coffee's getting cold." Will nodded.

"Wouldn't want that," he agreed, spooning a generous amount of honey into his mug and downing it in what seemed like one monstrous gulp. Halt shook his head.

"You'll give yourself indigestion if you don't slow down," he scolded. Will wiped his mouth on his sleeve, looking up at him.

"I suppose. But, truly, Halt, no one makes coffee like you do. I'm quite sure of it; I've been all over the world and there's no coffee I've ever liked better."

Halt raised an eyebrow. "Well, I haven't been making it all these years for nothing."

Will just grinned at him, already pouring his second cup.

"So, if I might ask, how did it go in Meric fief?" Halt asked after Will had set his mug down. Will shrugged.

"Well enough. Not much action; a bit boring, actually. It was mostly just tracking them down and figuring out where they would go and what they would do next. The actual arrest wasn't difficult at all, once I knew more about them. Though, I must admit, they'd nearly caught me a few times," he finished. Halt cocked his head.

"Sounds like plenty action to me," he said, with his usual disregard for grammar. Will raised an eyebrow, a gesture he'd subconsciously picked up from his mentor.

"Well, it can't really be counted as such after Mackindaw, Clonmel, and Nihon-Ja, can it?" Will pointed out.

"You have a point," Halt stirred his second mug of coffee absently and, to anyone who didn't know him, disinterestedly.

Will leaned back in his chair, and silence fell on the little cabin. Halt glanced at Will briefly as his former apprentice shifted. There was an odd hitching sound in his breath, like he was in pain.

"What's wrong?" he asked, frankly. Will turned to him.

"I don't know. What do you mean?" Halt gave him a pointed look.

"You know what," he said, reproachfully. Will sighed.

"It's nothing, Halt," he said, "I strained my back when I twisted out of reach of a bandit's dagger. He nearly got me, and the jerk made me stumble, so I fell. It's a little stiff." Halt nodded.

"Even something that simple could be debilitating for a Ranger," he stood, circling around to Will's back, probing the muscles with his fingers, expertly working out the kinks. Will shuddered.

"I know that," he said, "But really, I thought it was something that would work itself out." Halt snorted.

"And just when I thought I was getting old and decrepit, it turns out that my apprentice is just as bad," he muttered, and then added, "Remember that whenever you feel like commenting on my age." Will smiled, but the smile turned into a grimace as Halt touched a particularly sore spot.

"That hurt," he said, a note of accusation in his voice. Halt grunted irritably.

"It's supposed to hurt," he said, "I should think that you of all people would know that by now." Will rolled his eyes and mimicked him, confident that Halt couldn't see him.

"I can sense what you're doing," Halt said at that moment, reproachfully. Will started just the slightest bit.

"Wait—what—how-?" he asked, incredulous. Halt did not reply for a minute, leaving the younger Ranger to wonder when he managed to get himself telepathic abilities.

Then, at last, he said, "I know you too well, Will." Will chuckled at this, his surprise gone like a puff of breath on a cold day.

"Ah, of course," he teased, "But that doesn't mean I can't sneak up on you at the Gatherings."

It was stuff of legends; the famous Halt caught off guard. Last Ranger Gathering, Will had finally managed to outfox his former mentor, disappearing the day before and then trailing him the entire way, effectively finding Halt's hiding place and catching him right there.

Unfortunately, it had just so happened that Gilan had passed by at that moment and seen what was going on. It wasn't long before the gossip had begun to circulate among the Rangers that Halt had been outmaneuvered by his own apprentice.

Halt had known, of course, who it had been, for he'd seen Gilan a few seconds before Will had attacked him, and knew that his other former apprentice would not waste a minute in spreading the news.

He'd given Gilan death glares that the younger Ranger would never forget that whole Gathering, and Gilan always turned away, obviously pretended to be innocent.

As it was, the incident caused ceaseless amusement at Halt's expense, and the senior Ranger had vowed to get revenge on his two apprentices, which he got by means of stealing Gilan's coffee beans the day that the Gathering ended, before he could return home.

As for Will, he'd hidden theirs in the woods, making his own way out there and not sharing with Will for a week, when the younger Ranger finally broke down and ran into town to buy some more beans.

At that point, Halt revealed his stash, and a very disgruntled Will had his first coffee in a week, while Halt admonished him about teasing him whenever other Rangers were involved.

Halt gave Will his all too well known death glare.

"Don't mention that if you like your coffee," he warned, and Will backed off. He would have liked to keep going on the subject, but the warning note in Halt's voice told him that his former mentor was serious.

When Will had rode up to the cabin, he'd planned to tell Halt about what he'd found; but during their casual talk he'd completely forgotten about it.

It would be more than a week later that he remembered. And, by then, it would be too late.

To Be Continued...

A/N: How was that? I don't know about you, but I can't get enough of those two.

It'll probably be about two more chapters until the action starts, so sorry for the boring parts. They've gotta be done, though.

REVIEW RESPONSES:

WayTooHappy—Thanks for your review. I write a little choppily, I think, because I'm juggling details and action. My first chapters are always a bit choppy, and, frankly, I can never seem to make them work. But thanks.

BlackShaftedArrow- *chuckles self-consciously* I don't think I'm that good. I mean, they're the real masters. I guess I just write the characters more the way their authors write them. It just seems more natural. I am, sadly, almost finished with the series. When I read book 12, then I'm going back to 1 and reading it again! I have that song memorized, by the way, and I drive my family crazy singing it all the time. It's so catchy!

Elvishrangerwolf—Thanks for the suggestions! I'll consider them.

Wolfkin1—Hahaha! That would be the ultimate compliment from Halt. You've just gotta love him. Honestly, I don't see how anyone couldn't. Thank you so much :)

Wildwolf13—Thank you! I'm looking over them, trying to figure out one that fits. It would be easier if I knew the plot. Quite frankly, I don't really have a plot figured out for this one. I guess it's cause the Rangers live in my head. If I did have a plot, they'd end up changing it, so I'm just letting it play out.

)(

Wow! Five reviews! The best I've had in... well, period. I don't think I've ever had so many for one chapter in any of my stories.

Also, for everyone who sticks through this, I'm making coffee at the end for anyone who sticks around. And, yes, Halt, Will, Gilan, and Horace will be at the coffee party.

See you!

~Turien