The Worm of Doubt
1
Will pressed his heals into Tug's side; urging the horse to go a little faster. Before Will could take another breath, Tug, heeding his master s request, did just that. The terrain was thick with lush green grass, but under that the surface was far from smooth. It was rocky, with sudden dips and hills. But as Will sat in the saddle, the ride was smoother then any other horse would have made it - A Ranger's horse was specifically trained to be able to run smoothly and steadily in a terrain; the reason for this was because the Ranger need them to be steady in order to be able to get a clean shot off.
That was the exercise Will and Tug were doing; practice hitting target while Tug did a full on gallop. For Will, it was harder then having Tug stand still, a trot and even a canter. Though the ride was relatively smooth, Will noted, there was still the occasional lurch and jerk as Tug miss stepped. Will didn't blame the horse; if it was the other way around, Will would have been on his face a while ago.
"Ready," Will said to Tug as he took a deep breath, the small horse flicked his ears in acknowledgement. Slowly and with tense muscles of nerves, Will started to stand up in the stirrup, his thighs muscles tightening as he stood fully erect. He gripped his bow tightly as he notched a arrow ready, though he didn't draw yet. He would draw at the last second; there was no need to use un-necessary energy. His sharp brown eyes moved stealthily across the open wooded area, searching for any targets he knew were soon to come in sight.
Will knew that he had to get this right, that Halt would be watching him. This was a very important skill to have as a Ranger; if ever he was pursude by the enemy, Will would have to be able to pick them off while Tug keep a good distance between then.
The first target came in sight and Will drew back the string, the feather at the end of the arrow touched the corner of his mouth before he released it. The black shafted arrow could barely be seen as it flew through the are, but Will saw it as it missed the intended target and buried it's self two trees over. Will cursed, more loudly then he tended to. With the sudden venomnence in his master's voice, Tug froze, his muscles tenses. It may have been for less than a millisecond, but it was enough to screw up his gallop. Tug faltered, he misjudged his step; one leg went in a dip while the other landed on a hill. His legs twisted and tangled as he toppled to the ground with a very surprised neigh.
Will didn't stand a chance. He had no idea the effect he had on Tug and even when it did happen, he had no idea what had caused it. Because he was still standing when Tug toppled so suddenly, he flew into the air. His Ranger training should have kicked in and he should have rolled into a crouch, but instead Will flailed in the few precious seconds he was in the air. The arrows spilled from his quiver and he landed awkwardly on the longbow in which he still held. He heard a distinct snap followed by a crack, he knew one was his bow and by the pain he knew the other belonged to his arm. From the propel of the throw, he rolled a few feet on the grass covered rock bed and crashed into a thick tree trunk. His right shoulder popped painfully from his shoulder and he felt the tender skin of his cheek scrape against the rough bark.
Tears streamed down his face as he lay still, trying not to move an inch though that become hard when his breath started to hitch. He had no idea what he was supposed to do, he though he knew that he had to check on Tug. Will had never been hurt this badly before; not against the Wargal's, or the war with Morgorath, or when he was on (((Wolfwind))) with Erak or a slave in Skandia, not even in the was against the Temujai. In all of the action he had seen in the past years had he ever been hurt as mush as he had in this very moment.
There was a scuffling in the grass as Tug made his way over to his injured master, by the looks of him he wasn't injured and as Will twisted his head painfully to the side, noted that it was a good thing. A small whimpered escaped Will's lipps as Tug nudged him with his nose, but he backed away with a stressed neigh. Will ground his teeth together in order to stop the sob that wanted to escape.
Taking a shallow breath in order to move as less as he could, Will locked his brown hues with those of Tug's. "Tug," he said slowly making sure the horse paid attention. "Go . . . Get . . . Halt." he commanded. But the Ranger horse just snorted and dance on the spot; refusing to leave his injured master.
Will ground his teeth in frustration, if Tug wouldn't go and get Halt, than he was just going to have to do it himself. He knew that there was no way that he would be able shout loud enough for the Ranger to here, not with the space that he and Tug ate up when they were practicing. And he knew that Halt would have been there by now if he had seen the events that had taken place.
Painfully so, Will sat up, which in it's self was very difficult; having one broken arm and the other with a dislocated shoulder. Will kneeled, panting like crazy; just that amount of movement took allot of energy. His long bow was broken and it's string was snapped, his arrows were scattered and bent, his quiver was still strapped to his back and his unique Rangers cloak was dirty and tangled. He knew that Halt would be very angry, and disappointed. Will's heart sunk as he painfully stood up, both his arms useless; it was always his worst fear when Halt was disappointed in him, thought him just a nuisance and a mistake that he had taken Will as an apprentice.
He had always been self-conscious of his every move ever since he was free from the warmweed; thinking through every single move, no matter how insignificant it may seem through at least 10 times, how that single action would effect everything around him. The only reason he could come up with as to why the warmweed could take a hold of his mind and body so easily was that he was weak. He couldn't disappoint Halt like that ever again so he waited for Tug to lay on the ground before he sat in the saddle and put his feet in the stirrups. When Will kicked his heals into Tug's ribs, the horse stood and started a slow trot to where Halt would be situated.
Will bit his lips the whole way, to keep from screaming out. His couldn't move his right arm and the pinched nerves in his left made it impossible to move it either. But the time the cabin was in site, Will's clothes were soaked in sweat and his skin had lost all his color. With every step that Tug had taken, Will would bounce ever so slight but that was enough to shoot shots of pain up and down both of his arms. it felt like he was still moving even though Tug had stopped; his head was light and he felt slightly nauseous. He couldn't move and he couldn't speak as he just stared; the only thing that he was glad of at the moment was that the tears had stopped some time back - now Halt wouldn't think him a coward for cry like a baby.
Halt looked up from the porch where he was sharpening his saxe knife when Abelard neighed in warning of a new arrival. He saw Tug and Will sitting slack in the saddle, he couldn't make out any details at this distance but his brow drew together as replaced the saxe back in his belt and walked closer to the apprentice. Halt glance at the sky and noted that noon was still hours away; he wasn't expecting Will until them. But as he drew closer to the boy he noted the missing bow and empty quiver, dirty cape and the way both of his arms were slack and his hands free of the reins. But what made the anger's stomach feel hallow was the apprentices pale skin, and the way his half lidded brown eyes stared at him with a blankness that made the Ranger want to shake him.
Halt took a deep calming breath as he stopped in front of Tug, who let out a worried snort of breath. Halt patted the Ranger horse on the reassuringly before he trained his eyes on the small boy.
"Will," Halt said in a soft tone as if his apprentice were a frightened animal.
At the sound of his, Will blinked and his brown eyes cleared. And that was when they filled with pain. Because once they had drawn near the cabin, Will had gone numb, the only thing that kept him from falling out of the saddle was the fact that his leg muscled had locked. It had been like a dream as he watched Halt's slow approach, but when the full fledged Ranger said his name, it was like a slap to the face. He could feel everything now; his broken arm, dislocated shoulder, the bruises he knew that marred his body, even the shallow scrape on his face. Will's brain just couldn't take the pain. His eye lids fluttered before his eyes rolled into his head.
Halt watched as his body went slack and jerked forward as the apprentice slumped in the saddle a careened sideways. Halt gently set the boy on the ground and now that the Ranger was this close, he could see the scrape on Will's cheek, the swollenness of his shoulder and the awkward angel of his arm.
In that instant Halt knew that he had to get Will to Redmont and pronto.
note: I know pronto is a little weird for Halt, but I thought it suited the situation. I know that I did major Will whumpage, but it will tie in with the rest of the story . . . I think. Please review!