THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF THE RANGERS

Lesson 1: Apprentices do not have the right to think. Ever.

"Hey, Halt? I have an idea for playing a prank on Crowley and Gilan!" Will gushed out the plan before Halt could get out a word. It left Halt with a raised eyebrow, obviously.

"Will. Boy. Listen to me. No. Just… no." Halt ordered. Seeing his apprentice about to reply with that positively desperate look on his face, the Ranger added, "They'd surely make our lives terrible if we actually did carry out that nonsensical thought of yours."

"But Halt-"

"We need to work a little more on your speed when it comes to archery anyways. Go outside, I'll be there in a moment." Completely ignoring the fact he'd interrupted Will, Halt finished going over the document he'd acquired. God, he hated paperwork.

LATER THAT SAME DAY

Sighing, he reclined back in the wooden chair, his boot-clad feet resting on the table and a mug of coffee in his hands. It had been a relatively, long, boring, usual, all-too-normal day.

And now Gilan was bored. *

He'd come to Redmont, temporarily, at the request of Crowley. All that paperwork he'd had was finished, he'd practiced with his bow and his sword- heck, he'd had so much free time he'd been able to make the room he was staying in sparkle. Last time he'd checked, stone walls and floors did, in fact, notcome even remotely close to sparkling.

I'm stuck here, supposedly on a mission, while Halt and Will could take care of it? What is this world coming to when- A knock interrupted his inward ranting. Getting up and moving towards the door, he reached out to open it and-

"GILAN! Gilan we have a plan!" Will barreled into him, nearly crushing him with the surprise embrace. What in God's name was he talking about?

When Crowley walked in-no, more strutted in semi-innocently- he was reduced to merely looking at him, eyebrow raised.

"It's just a small plan for revenge on Halt. But I figured since nothing is really going on in the kingdom requiring our attention; why not pester him a little? You know, to get him back for all the times he's made us look like fools." He added the last part as a small half-lie to convince the young man further.

As he looked at his two friends, a large, mischievous grin took the place of his formerly blank expression.

"Then why don't we get the details figured out before he catches on?"

THE NEXT MORNING

Halt woke up early. Blearily looking around the simple room, he wondered why. Nothing seemed out of place, no strange home invasion, Will hadn't snuck in. Then he heard laughing from the main room. Now who could that possibly be at this hour?

Pulling on his everyday outfit, he hurried into the room only to find Crowley, Gilan, and Will staring at him with blank expressions.

Silence. Until Halt decided to break it.

"…What are you doing here? Much before the very crack of dawn?" Suddenly Gilan and Will were attempting not to break out into laughter. Crowley had himself under much better control, but couldn't hold back a sly smile.

"Good morning, Halt. Isn't it just a day of… colorful variety?" His friend spoke. What does he mean by "colorful variety?" Shrugging it off he poured himself a cup of coffee. After dealing with the humorous glances and evil smirks, Halt decided he'd had enough.

"I'll just… go get some things from the market… Just don't burn the house down."

"We won't, Halt." Gilan answered."We have our own plans for today. You know, blending in and all that." Casting a final suspicious stare at his former apprentice, the confused Ranger left the cabin. The remaining three had completely emotionless faces as they listened to him saddle up Abelard, mutter a few words to his horse about "the world is full of idiots", and ride away. Then he was out of earshot; everyone cracked up laughing in the small wooden structure.

"O-Oh my… my God!"

"He-didn't-even-notice!"

"When he does… he'll kill us!"

"Yeah! I know!"

Of course, Halt the Ranger had no idea that his apprentices and friend were talking-much less what about-, and by the time he reached town, half the population had already heard of the "strange choice" Halt had taken. Word spread faster than a wildfire, and by the time he reached the gates of Castle Redmont, Halt was outright laughed at by one of the newer guards on duty.

Halt clenched his teeth and growled, "Can I help you?"

"N-No i-it's nothing! Nothing… Nothing at all!" The guard kept on snickering to himself as Halt passed grumpily. What the devil is going on with these people? They act as though I've done something along the lines of wearing a dress! When the stable boy took Abelard from Halt, he looked at him for a second before shaking his head and shuffling off.
By the time Halt had reached Baron Arald's office, the latter had heard of Halt's new look and was in denial the stoic, grim, ever-serious man would do such a thing to his hair and beard. Unfortunately, when said man walked in, he was proven wrong.

"Halt! What have you done to your hair! You look like a damn fairy!" Raising an eyebrow Halt asked for a small mirror. His jaw dropped when he saw what his closest friends had done to his hair.

"WHY is my hair a rainbow!" Halt all but screeched it out.

THREE HOURS LATER

AFTER A LONG TALK WITH THE BARON AND HALT

"…Will?"

"Yes, Crowley?"

"We are never taking your advice, or any apprentice's for that matter, for anything again."

"…Normally I'd argue. But I think you're right this time."

"I can't feel my feet." Gilan moaned as his poor legs began to experience the same treatment as his feet. "When I get free, I'm taking a nice long walk for the sake of them."

Crowley thought a moment then sighed. "What if you can't use your feet?"

"…No idea."

Meanwhile, inside the cabin, Halt was unhappily attempting to cover up the dye with ink. And it was painstaking work. At least he wasn't hanging upside down at the moment. The thought almost made Halt smile.

Almost.

Should I write more of these little lessons things? Reviews are appreciated, but not necessary.

*Gilan being bored is a bad thing. A very very bad thing. Almost as bad as depriving a Ranger of their coffee. It's that bad.

And Will thinking up ideas of how to prank people is worse than stealing a Ranger or coffee addict's coffee. Really. Although his idea was pretty darn creative.