One Step At A Time

A Ranger's Apprentice FanFiction

By Rangermaid

"One step at a time, one hope then another, who knows where this road may go?" –Journey to the Past

Prologue: One month before 'The Ruins of Gorlan'

Meric Fife was quiet as a calm noonday sun beat down on the lush green forest. Birdsong and the noises of small beasts echoed softly through the light speckled clearings and the sun warmed dirt path simmered slightly as the remains of a heavy rain evaporated under the heavy glare of the summer sun. The birdsong abruptly ended and the animals moved further into the shadows of the heavy green trees. The animals watched silently as a young man, not even really out of boyhood, made his way down the path; mottled cloak billowing behind him. His footfalls were light and his presence barely noticeable to anyone but the small woodland creatures. He jogged out of sight but the animals stayed hidden; soon their caution was rewarded as another figure made its way through their territory. He stumbled and tripped around, breathing heavily and loudly and not bothering to mask his steps. The small animals were curious, what was this strange little human doing with The Silent One?

The 'little human' in question had had enough. "P-p…please! C-c-can we stop?" The strong looking boy staggered against a tree trying to stay upright, his breath came out in ragged gasps as he continued after the young man, cursing the cloaked man's long legs.

Gilan glanced over his shoulder to watch the boy's progress. He was pleased; the kid had lasted longer than the young Ranger had thought he would. He looked about to faint but was still on his feet, which was pretty good. He calmly jogged back to where the boy had stumbled to his knees and crouched in front of the heaving excuse for a warrior.

Hauling himself up by grasping Gilan's arm, the young man blinked through beads of sweat and gave a weak smile. "H-hey. I caught up… to you… heh."

Gilan smiled back, his face like the sun breaking through clouds. "Good for you."

With that he set off again at a slow jog. The boy gave a groan, tried to take a step and collapsed. Opening his eyes after a moment, his cheek pressed against the cool ground, he glared at the face that had appeared a mere inch from his. "I think… I might hate… you… sir."

Straightening into a kneeling position Gilan tried to hide his amusement.

The boy's name was Erik, a second year student in Battleschool. Earlier that day the boy had initiated a fight amongst some other students and, when the Ranger had stepped in, had tried to argue with Gilan. After getting approval from a slightly amused Battlemaster, the young man had kidnapped Erik for the day and given him an impromptu lesson in the ways of tracking. Any irritation that Gilan had felt toward this boy had evaporated quickly and finally he decided to put him out his misery. "I think that it's time for a break. I've had enough for now."

"I've had enough for a month!" Erik griped. He lay back on the damp grass gratefully and tried to calm his breathing.

Gilan laughed and dug through his satchel for the flasks of water. As he rummaged, Erik watched the Ranger with some fascination. He wasn't sure what he had expected; when he had started the fight, he'd felt condescending. After all, Rangers were just weird Battleschool rejects hiding in the woods and spying on people. After the rash words had slipped from his mouth he'd been a little -no, a lot- afraid. Had he really disrespected a RANGER? Sure they were strange, but that just made them all the more terrifying. After all, some people thought they were sorcerers. But the more time Erik spent with the young man, the more he found himself liking him. Gilan was kind, very intelligent and possessed a great sense of humor. Now, Erik found himself cracking jokes and teasing the man back and it left him wondering about how rapidly your opinion of someone could change.

After almost an hour of just resting and eating a light lunch, Gilan finally spoke. "How are you after our little run?"

"Go to hell."

Smiling thinly, he folded his arms. "Well?"

"Well what?" Erik's fierce temper began to take over; he was still sore and tired and really didn't want to exchange mind games with the older man.

"What have you learned today?"

"That you are impossible to keep up with."

"Anything else?"

"…No." Erik deflated slightly, upset that he had let the Ranger down. How could he learn something from running for hours?

Gilan leaned forward and said quietly, "If you had been running from an army you wouldn't pace yourself. You'd run like hell, as fast as possible, as we did today. Any idea where we are?"

Erik looked around. He realized suddenly that he was completely lost; the trees around him all looked the same and the castle was nowhere in sight.

"If this happened you'd be separated from your unit, unable to pass on information. What good would that be?" Gilan looked him in the eye. "You must learn to take in your surroundings while you run. It could save your life."

Erik stared at the ranger and slowly he nodded. The young man continued. "Glad I could teach you at least one lesson. The reason I wanted to show you this is because I feel that your temper is going to get you in trouble some day. You were angry with me this morning and just plunged into our run without thought, much like the way you engaged your peers earlier and then me. I don't want a promising soldier with a bright future to be cut down because of hot-headedness."

Erik was stunned. He'd just been complimented by a ranger. Gilan was worried about him. He tried to hide his flushed face by standing up quickly and blustering.

"Alright, alright! Look at my surroundings. Think before I act. Don't allow my temper to get the better of me. Got it, lesson learned."

Standing the young man stretched and grinned dryly. "Good, because you're leading us home."

Erik thought about the miles of forest they had trekked over and felt like screaming.

It was late when Gilan made it back to his cottage. Even for a Ranger, his day had been a long one. The last several had all been actually very busy and had kept the Ranger on his feet. So all the young man wanted was sleep and then to wake up and have a nice big cup of coffee.

Unfortunately, it would seem life had a different idea.

Nathan was standing by the fire, stirring a stew and asked "Hungry?" cheerfully, as the Ranger stumbled through the door of his home.

Gilan didn't even answer; he just stalked into his room and slammed the door shut. Nathan hid a smile-yes, his friend couldn't see him but sometimes he wondered if Gilan could sense these things-and pressed his mouth to the door. "Gil? You wouldn't be ignoring me would you?"

Something that sounded suspiciously like a boot thudded against the door along with a tirade of cursing.

Nathan grinned and went back to the food as Gilan slipped out and sat next to him at the table, tucking into the rabbit stew hungrily. He eyed his friend then shrugged. "Kid's good. I like him. Just work with him a little more on tactics and keeping his temper in check and he'll be knight material."

The older man nodded. At only thirty-three years of age, Nathan was rather young to be a Battlemaster but no one could argue his abilities or his dedication to his students and he'd asked Gilan for aid on several occasions prior to this. When he had met Gilan years earlier he had laughed in the younger man's face. The idea of their deceased Ranger being replaced with a boy of only eighteen who didn't even seem capable of growing a beard was ridiculous. But after the very exciting first few months of Gilan's post the two had begun a close friendship that breached the normal chasm that separated Rangers from their fellow men. Nathan knew this helped Gilan feel more at home and was more than happy to continue to be his friend's confident.

"I'm glad; Erik is the son of a friend. I'd hoped he took after his father a bit. Speaking of which, have you heard from your father lately?"

"No…why?" Gilan looked a little nervous but Nathan smiled calmingly as he poured himself some more coffee.

"I've heard that Sir David's caught the King's eye… There may be a promotion in his future."

Gilan's eyes widened and then he smiled. "That's wonderful!"

Nathan nodded and sipped at his coffee, letting silence fall before asking slyly. "Oh, and have you heard from your other father?"

"Quiet you!" Gilan laughed.

"What? I like Halt. He's…"

The two men grinned at each other.

"Grumpy."

They both dissolved into laughter and Nathan smiled good-naturedly. "So, tell on. You've been gone for a while now; where'd old pointy nose have you trotting off to this time?"

The ranger cocked an eyebrow. "You really think you should be calling your superior such a disrespectful name?"

"What are you going to do, tell on me?"

"I am the man's spy after all." Gilan said with a straight face.

Nathan chuckled. "You're the king's spy, not that pompous fool's."

"Thanks for the reminder." He shrugged. "Just some minor disputes and such. Nothing much on their own but after three days of it, it becomes a little too much to handle."

Taking the hint, the older man began gathering his cloak and weapons. "Don't worry, Gil. Something exciting will come your way."

"All I want to come my way right now is some sleep."

Gilan watched his friend's departure and thought about how much he appreciated having someone to talk to without censure or awkwardness.

Rubbing at his eyes, the young man chuckled and went to his room. Peeling of his shirt Gilan stopped to look at himself in a burnished mirror; gazing at the small silver oak leaf hanging from the chain about his neck. He fingered it as he crawled into bed and lay clutching it; staring at his cloak slung over a chair. He smiled as he drifted to sleep, unaware that his life was going to get a lot more complicated, very fast.

I have edited this story multiple times, completely changing it over and over again but now I think I have a final idea of what it's going to be about. This is going to be a drabble set; so I can write without getting weighed down with a long plotline. It'll span between the beginning of Gilan's apprenticeship to the events of The Royal Ranger and maybe a little further. I will always welcome plot ideas although the posting for this will be a little erratic and I don't use this account much anymore.

Please give me feedback, I live off of it.