Post by yosefu on Oct 13, 2019 12:25:54 GMT -5
This is the main thread for the AU fanfiction "Silent Ranger". I decided to make it a separate thread because the former was for the contest only, therefore it was written like a one-shot.
Story #1: Silent Ranger - Assailants in Purple
About The Characters:
Bryce: The kind hearted ranger of the Greenfield Fief. Pretty tall for a ranger and often ties his hair in a ponytail.
Clyde: A young boy from unknown origins. Has curly ginger hair, a pair blue eyes and freckles. Also has a natural talent in making medicine.
Merlin: A snarky, somewhat cold friend of Bryce who is also a ranger. Exceptionally talented at fighting and has a sharp mind.
Jacob: A hot headed ranger who is old friends with Bryce. Dependable, yet fearsome when people misbehave.
Glade: Jacob's apprentice. Has an odd personality and acts in unexpected ways. Apparently kind of lonely.
Gordon: The Head Ranger. Kind of old and dislikes unruly apprentices, but great at handling paperwork.
Feder: Bryce's horse. Rather melancholic and elderly, but keeps up with the others regardless.
Gale: Clyde's horse. Energetic, talented and trusty.
Pegasus: Glade's horse. Flashy and can jump for great lengths.
Genovesans: Assassins hired from a faraway country. The cruel hitmen wear their trademark purple cloaks everywhere they go.
Part 1: Peculiar Remedy
It was a silent evening where only the ominous hooting of the owls could be heard around the thick, mossy trees of the forest. However, little did the owls know, this tranquility was about to meet a quick end soon. As a young, beautiful maiden wearing a dress white as snow dashed through the forest with her steed, she took a concerned glance at her back before riding even faster than before, having seen her pursuers still haven't let go of her trail. Two men wearing purple capes and flashy caps looked at her threateningly as they readied their crossbows. The woman recognized the Genovesan assassins gaining on her, but she couldn't force her horse to ride faster, for that would bring with it the disasterous conclusion of being left without a steed in the middle of peril. As she held onto the letter she was supposed to deliver, she felt not the fear of death, but the fear of failure crawling on her body. But there was no time to idle, as the Genovesans both shot their crossbows at the messenger. Making a quick turn, she could barely avoid the first bolt, but she was not so lucky with the second, getting shot in the arm as she lets out a shriek of pain. Struggling to keep on her horse, she could only pray to make it out alive to the Redmont Fief, the place she was supposed to deliver the important news. However, the numbing pain from the poisonous bolt had already started to cover her entire arm. The assasins likely wanted the job done as quick as possible, and they would likely succeed, as she felt her eyes go dark by the moment.
Suddenly, a metal object came flying onto one of the assassins and threw him off of his horse with a loud noise. The other assassin, who was surprised by the sudden development, quickly got shot on the heart by a long, brown arrow, and fell off his horse as well. The young woman looked around, startled, as she saw her pursuers being silently taken out. She couldn't take any more stress, and gave in to the poison, collapsing onto the soft soil of the forest filled with grass.
"I was late, weren't I?" the towering figure uttered in shame. He was none other than the shaggy bearded Ranger of Greenfield Fief, Bryce. Taking the maiden with him, he collected his striker and his arrow, and quickly rode off after tying up the captive assassin, leaving the guards he brought with him to deal with the cold blooded Genovesan.
Taking out his warmweed salve, Bryce tried to clean the wound and treated it with his best, but he knew that it would not be enough. Genovesan poison was often made from rare herbs and would take rarer herbs to cure, leaving the patient completely desperate. The pure white dress was already soiled by bright red blood, and knowing he didn't have much time, Bryce hurried to his own Fief to have the brave messenger treated.
"I'm sorry Bryce, but this is simply impossible." said the Head Healer. The strained and hopeless voice echoed in Bryce's mind, until he could shake it off and reply:
"There should be something we can do, Mark. I can interrogate the Genovesan, an-" his words were cut off by the persistent healer.
"I already know what kind of poison it is, However, we can't harvest the flowers in this season, and they only take effect when fresh, so I'm afraid... I'm afraid..." the healer, Mark, was clearly at a loss for words. It would be out of place for the Head Healer to not know what to do, however, being appointed right after the death of his mentor, he was both shaken and afraid of failure. Still doubting himself, he came to his sense with the long haired ranger's voice, and felt his hand on his shoulder.
"You can do this, Mark. You know that I'll be on your side."
"I know, but... We are literally talking about doing the impossible right here. Can you really find these winter flowers in the middle of spring?"
"I won't forgive myself if I don't try. Now, can you keep her alive as I find it?"
Mark looked at Bryce with a determined face.
"I won't forgive myself if I don't try."
"That's what I wanted to hear. Good to have you back, Mark." Bryce gave the healer a small smile.
He got out of the lightly decorated, humble castle of Greenfield and rode on his horse, Feder.
"I was worried you would never return..." said the eyes of the gloomy horse.
"Hush you," said Bryce, "We have no time to play. This one is an emergency."
From the window of the castle, Mark watched the shadow of the mounted ranger go smaller and smaller, until he couldn't see it anymore, like he was supposed to.
Taking out one of his maps, Bryce marked down the nearby forests that could have the flowers in it. Greenfield, despite being a minor Fief, had its benefits. Rare herbs could be found lying deep in the forest, if only searched with expertise. However, the seasoned ranger had doubts about finding a flower that hasn't wilted yet. He rode on Feder through the thick woods, careful to avoid making noise, until the forest was too dense to proceed with a steed. He left Feder on a secure spot where his trusty horse could alert him of any suspicious activity, then went deeper inside the sea of green, and disappeared from view.
The forest was brimming with grass, trees and moss. The soft, brown soil beneath made it harder to tread without leaving any footprints, and the long, intertwining branches of the tall mossy trees blocked out most of the sunlight, leaving a dim, yet strangely peaceful labyrinth underneath. Searching for a lead, Bryce closed his eyes for a second and listened to his surroundings. Birds chirping, rivers flowing, squirrels wandering around, bushes rustling... Suddenly, he noticed he didn't feel any wind, which meant the bushes were suspiciously noisy. He turned around to take a look, but couldn't see anything out of place. Better safe than sorry, he thought, and cautiously approached the bushes. Lying beneath the leaves was a short, adolescent boy dressed in filthy rags.
The boy instinctually tried to run away, but Bryce grabbed his arm and held tightly. From the frightened face of the child, he could see that he meant no harm, but he wanted to be absolutely sure. After all, nobody had any reason to delve deep inside the forest in this season, let alone hiding in a bush.
"Who are you?" Bryce asked with a threatening voice. The boy didn't speak a word.
"Do you live around here?" He hesitated for a moment, but nodded afterwards.
"You were watching me. Don't think I didn't see." He avoided the ranger's glare and struggled to talk, but he couldn't.
Bryce sighed and kept dragging the boy with him as he kept searching around.
"Regardless, you are coming with me now, whether you are guilty or not." Bryce had a very important mission, and couldn't halt the process for minor things. He could deal with the child later, but the cure couldn't wait any longer. The patient was struggling to survive, and he couldn't possibly leave her to die.
However, his efforts were futile. He couldn't find any herbs or flowers, not even traces of other animals that might help him find the rare flowers. Despite this, he kept searching and searching until he could find a small, wilted white flower that matched the description perfectly. Sadly, the dry flower would be of no use, and there wasn't any of its kind around the place, either.
"I was so close... But I guess I have to keep searching around." He held a petal in his hands, sighing loudly. Time was running out. Suddenly, he felt something tugging at his clothes. That something was the young boy he took with him. Getting a closer look at him, he saw how malnourished the kid was. His curly, ginger hair were messed up, and his freckles barely showed from the layers of dirt on his face. Despite this, the boy kept his face straight. He was trying to tell the tall ranger something.
"What do you want?" asked Bryce. He was surprised at how silent and obedient his little captive was. The young boy pointed at the petals in his hands, and proceeded to make many hand gestures that made no sense at all. But Bryce caught up to his idea.
"You mean... There is a substitute for the flower?" He nodded and kept tugging the ranger's cape, pointing at somewhere deeper in the forest. Bryce didn't want to believe a young boy he barely knew about, but he didn't have any options left. Desperate for a solution, he made sure he was ready for a potential ambush, and followed after the kid.
With every step, the forest was getting thicker and thicker, and the little bit of sunshine passing through got drowned by the branches, leaving a dark area that blinded Bryce's eyes for a while, until he got used to it, and could notice that the boy had taken him into this damp, dark place for a reason. There were mushrooms growing from everywhere, in various patterns and lengths. Bryce watched the child look around the place, and as soon as he found what he was looking for, he signaled Bryce to come closer. The mushroom the boy picked was the same white color as the flowers.
"So this will work just as well as the flowers I was looking for, is that what you are saying?" said the ranger. The kid nodded silently. Bryce was not convinced yet, but couldn't risk losing a chance.
"Alright, then we are going back to Greenfield." Hearing this, the boy had a shocked expression printed on his face.
"I don't intend to let you go, you know. You should have thought this through before getting too nosy." He once again grabbed the child by his arm, and traced the path back to Feder, ignoring the frightened, blue eyes of the kid looking at him.
"B-but how!? How could anyone find such an unique alternative in that kind of place?" said Mark, questioning the ranger who came back with a handful of mushrooms in place of flowers.
"Is it any good?" asked Bryce.
"These mushrooms are indeed a rare alternative to the flowers I sent you after. I didn't bother telling you about it, because it is impossible to grow in these lands, but..."
"Well, thankfully, it was possible. Now, you can prepare an antidote with these, right?" Bryce tried to cut in politely.
"Yes, I believe we can. Leave the rest to me, Bryce. Thanks for everything." said Mark with a gentle smile on his face. Nothing could make him more anxious than being trusted with a life, yet nothing could make him happier than saving one.
"Hey, that's my line!" replied Bryce cheerfully.
"Please help her however you can. I'll be leaving now."
Getting one thing off of his chest, Bryce proceeded to another problem in his hands. He still hadn't decided what to do with the kid, but he could easily say he was warmed up to him after what happened.
"Okay, now we are back to you." Bryce approached the child.
"I will begin questioning you now, and you will answer correctly to every question, understood?" He asked calmly. The kid was still anxious but forced himself to nod regardless.
"What is your name?"
"C-clyde." He uttered in a whispery voice.
"I see. Do you have a family, Clyde?" He looked at Bryce's eyes for a split second, then took a big breathe.
"I don't."
"Where do you live?"
"I-um... I live..." He kept stuttering and couldn't answer.
"You don't mean you..." Suddenly, Bryce came to the realization that the child in front of him was not just wandering around in the forest, but trying to survive in it. That would explain the attire, and all the wounds and small bruises over his body. Feeling a little ashamed for misjudging Clyde, he tried to soften his voice.
"It's okay. You don't need to answer that last one. So, you haven't got anyone we could contact with?" Clyde shook his head.
"I see... I see." Bryce tilted his head forward and went deep in thought for a moment. Then, he just had an instinctual thought, maybe out of pity, or out of curiousity, or perhaps because he was impressed.
"Clyde," as he heard him, the young boy held his breath.
"Would you like to be my apprentice?"
Part 2: Ranger's New Apprentice
The night had already fallen by the time they started riding to Bryce's hut. Greenfield was greeting Clyde with a taste of fresh air and the big town square drawing a lively portrait. Feder's hooves made clunky sounds as they went past the cobblestone roads and the small bridge that was built over the river that flows through the fief. Past the river, more and more trees started to appear, finally leading them to a moderately sized hut made from oak. A bit away from the hut was a humble yet sturdy looking stable, and towards the back of the hut laid the woods. Jumping off Feder, Bryce helped Clyde down.
"Alright, here we are. Did you like Greenfield?" Clyde kept silent, as usual. However, the adept ranger could read from his face that he was indeed pleased to be there.
"I see. Not very chatty, are we? That's fine. I'll be going to the stable to take care of Feder." He pet the chestnut coloured mane of the ranger horse.
"You can go inside the hut. Try to get used to the place, okay?" He went on his way.
After handling the stable work, Bryce approached his home and went inside. He was greeted by Clyde, who was sitting on the wooden chair that was clearly too tall for him. Bryce was not used to having other people with him in the hut, and hasn't had any apprentices before, either. He felt excited at this new opportunity to try all the interesting ways a mentor could interact with his apprentice, being reminded of his own experience.
"So, how did you find the place?" he said. Clyde didn't give a response aside from a short nod, leaving Bryce disappointed.
"You don't like it that much, do you? Well, it is true that I haven't taken care of the place for a while... If you don't like it this way, how abou-" he stopped talking, examining the room, the clean curtains, the dining table with not even a speck of dust on it, and the freshly dusted rug... The room was looking clean... Too clean.
"Did you clean this place while I was gone?" Clyde nodded to his surprised mentor's question.
"You don't talk, you do chores before being told... Aren't you the apprentice all rangers dream to have?" He smiled at Clyde, who looked away.
"Still, it is okay to ask questions once in a while." He added. "Aren't you curious? I thought you wanted to be a ranger."
Clyde got off the chair and looked through the big window with empty pots lined up in front of it. Was he even listening to Bryce? The shaggy bearded ranger wondered.
"Well, in any case, just clean up and sleep for now. You must be tired from doing all those chores." said Bryce, and he yawned loudly before taking out several files from his bag.
"I'll be reading these files- Oh, don't worry, you don't have to do these, not yet."
Exhausted, Clyde went to soak in warm water, and only after wearing the new clothes he got from his mentor he realized that he didn't know where he was suppsed to sleep.
"What's the matter, Clyde, need any help?" said the tired voice of Bryce. After looking at the confused face of his apprentice, he also realized that he hadn't shown Clyde his room, so he walked over to the door with the curtain, which was right next to the bathroom Clyde walked out of.
"Open the curtain. This is your room, see?" Clyde went in and found himself in a small room with a comfy looking bed, a wardrobe and a tiny window of its own. There was even a green rug covering part of the wooden floorboards. Looking at the excited face of the young boy, Bryce cheerfully pat his back.
"You liked it, didn't you? I'm glad. There are some friends of mine that suggested I should lock you in a dark room for discipline or something, but I couldn't bear to do it. Unless..." Clyde suddenly got white as a sheet and shook his head from side to side, almost tearfully.
"Relax, relax! I was just messing with you. It is nice to see you can do more than nod, though." Bryce smiled at his apprentice's glaring face, then got out of the room telling him good night.
Clyde climbed up to his bed and gave himself to the soft embrace of the fluffy blanket. With the light breeze from the window hitting his face, he soon fell asleep.
As the golden strands of sunlight started flowing through the big window, Bryce tied his hair up, got out of his room and decided to wake Clyde up, but he was nowhere to be seen. Returning to the living room, he noticed that not only had the big mahogany table been already set, the bowls were filled with some sort of mushroom soup, with warm bread and fresh cheese next to them. Clyde was waiting for his mentor on the tall chair.
"Are you serious?" A surprised Bryce exclaimed. "How did I not hear you preparing all these?" Clyde looked away and started eating the hot soup after blowing on it.
"Well, I must admit that I'm impressed. But don't yoy think something is missing?" Clyde's face went white after hearing him, and as he rushed to get off the chair, he was stopped by his mentor.
"I'll handle this one. You've done enough."
Bryce took out the coffee beans and grounded them, releasing the wonderful smell all around the room. Then he started brewing the coffee, and poured it in two small cups with flowers delicately painted on them. Then he added a bit of milk in one of the cups and put them on the table.
"I don't like to put sugar in my coffee, but you look like you'd enjoy it with milk, am I mistaken?" he asked joyfully. Clyde looked at him in disbelief.
"How did I guess?" Bryce laughed. "Well, let's say that you show more on your face than you think." Clyde looked down and took a sip from the coffee. The freshly grounded liquid filled him with energy as he kept drinking. Little did he know, he had already taken a big step towards being a ranger.
As they kept eating, Bryce broke the silence once again.
"Say, Clyde, you aren't... Afraid of me, are you?" asked Bryce.
If this was the first time Clyde had met a ranger, it would be reasonable to feel scared, not to mention his first impression on his apprentice was dragging him around. The young apprentice shook his head, but then he avoided Bryce's eyes once again.
"I see. That's reassuring." said the mentor, completely unassured.
"Okay, we're done eating, right? Then it is time for our daily exercise. Follow me, Clyde." said Bryce, rising up from the chair and signaling Clyde to do the same.
The forest that faced the back of the hut was a tranquil place that was perfect for a ranger's training. Having made an obstacle course for a warm-up, Bryce showed his apprentice how the course works and the basics of warming up.
"If you don't warm up before training, your muscles won't be able to stretch. We don't want to injure ourselves, do we?" said Bryce. To encourage Clyde, he continued his exercise routine next to him. Clyde looked like a sickly child, but he still went through the exercises and the obstacle course in one piece. He fell into a puddle of water after failing to grab onto a rope after jumping around, but Bryce was satisfied with the result.
"Whew... Okay, the easy part is done now." said the energetic mentor. Clyde already felt tired, but didn't object or respond to Bryce.
As they went further into the woods, Bryce took out several weapons from his belt and put them on a large tree stump.
"Now, which one are you curious about the most?" he said with glee. His own mentor hadn't given him a choice on that matter, but the soft hearted mentor wanted to befriend his apprentice, or at least get them to talk, no matter how good he was at reading his face.
"Um..." Clyde meekly pointed at the large dagger with the leather sheath.
"Ah, a classic, that one. This is called a saxe blade. In case you are curious, it comes from 'sea axe'." said Bryce, and went on to explain the unique, durable smithy of the blade and how versatile the weapon was, from a basic camping utensil to a melee or ranged weapon. He sheathed the knife and took the throwing knife.
"This one has a heavier hilt, see?" he handed the knife to his apprentice, to get another nodding response. "That's because it needs to be stable when thrown, so that it will hit the target with the sharp side." He threw the knife to a large tree he had marked with paint beforehand and scored an easy bullseye. "Here, you try it now." He removed the knife from the body of the tree and gsve it to Clyde. The boy focused his blue eyes onto the target and threw the knife like he saw Bryce doing it. The knife flew too high and hit a branch with the hilt instead of the body.
"It is okay, I don't expect you to best it on your first try. Try to control how much force you put into it." said the focused mentor. The knife training kept going for a while until Clyde needed a small rest.
"Next up is the recurve bow. Have you ever used one?" asked Bryce, but Clyde hasn't even seen a bow this close before. The bow was curved on the sides to allow the apprentices, who were much weaker than the mentors, to shoot more accurately and comfortably. Bryce showed the confused boy how to put the bowstring on, holding arrows and pulling the string. He then threw a gauntlet at Clyde.
"Now wear this for protection, and let's see you try by yourself." He was sure Clyde would skin his arm with the bow had he not told him about the gauntlet. He couldn't be that cruel to his apprentice, he thought, but perhaps he would have thought otherwise if his apprentice was an unruly person.
Clyde shot arrow after arrow, but missed all of his shots. He gave a half scared, half embarassed look at Bryce, who was not mad at all.
"Keep trying. Don't forget my pointers, and try to not hold the bow that stiff."
Clyde kept trying and finally scored some hits on the tree mark. Expectingly looking at Bryce, he wondered if he did a good job.
"Well done! You are getting better. But remember, we will keep training until -and even after- you stop missing altogether." Could he ever reach such heights at archery? Clyde thought as he stood on the damp grass.
"...I am not picking up those arrows though, God knows where they are." said Bryce, chuckling. Clyde stared at the ground again, only to be poked by his mentor.
"Hey, cheer up, will you? You really will get better, I am not kidding." He walked back towards the hut. Looking at the target mark on the tree one last time, Clyde followed him through the forest path.
Returning home to a quick shower and a dinner made by group effort, Clyde went to bed and once again fell asleep looking at the stars through the window.
However, in the middle of the night, he woke up shrieking tearfully and drenched in sweat. He had seen that dream again. The one he thought he wouldn't anymore. Breathing heavily, he hardly noticed that Bryce was by his side, on his knees with a cup of water in his hands. The concerned mentor gave the cup to Clyde and let him drink, take deep breaths, and drink again.
"Who was it?" asked Bryce. He spoke with a serious yet calm voice, calming Clyde down a little. Surprised to be read like a book again, the tired boy couldn't even change his expression, looking at his mentor blankly.
"I... It's my..." He took another deep breath. "It's my uncle." He hoped that Bryce understood, just like he seemed to understand everything about him.
"I see. Your uncle..." Bryce looked at the floor blankly, then turned his face towards Clyde again. "I had someone like that too, someone dear to me... It has been years since, but I still hold it in my heart." He took out a dried white lily from his pocket. "Here, I used to hold onto this to keep myself calm, just like my memories, my feelings... I held onto it to remind me that she was by my side even then." Clyde took the flower with shaking hands and put it back on Bryce's pocket.
"You... you still need it." he uttered with a shy determination. Bryce first gave Clyde a warm smile, then a hug.
"I'm here, it is okay." said the tired mentor.
"I-I'm here... too." said back the tired apprentice. Somehow, somewhere inside, both of them could feel a deeper bond than they thought they could ever have.
Part 3: Trusty Steed
It was a few days after Clyde started his ranger training, and he was definitely improving with time. He could use the knives and the bow better, but the fact that he was bored of geography and politics lessons didn't escape his mentor's eye. Despite that, Clyde was striving to get better at his job each and everyday, and Bryce was silently admiring his determination.
"Well, that went better than last time." said Bryce, looking at the painted tree bark filled with arrows. Some of them were out of focus, but comparing to his first time, Clyde was glad with the result.
"No slacking, though. You still have a long way to go until your accuracy hits the limit." said Bryce. Clyde looked into Bryce's eyes with a questioning face. He had started to be more expressive, showing his curiousity more and more by each day.
"Well, you know the point, right? You need to make every hit a perfect one. Acceptable shots in training mean a lot less in an actual battlefield. Any mistake will likely prove fatal. You understand?" Bryce was a lot more serious when it came to life threatening situations, especially in a lesson. Clyde nodded in agreement. He could see how important it actually was to master accurate shots.
After being done with the training, Bryce went back to the hut to prepare a light lunch, while Clyde followed right after him, but he was stopped by his mentor.
"The training is done for now. I know, I know," he said to a persistent looking Clyde, "You still want to train, but we have an important thing to do today."
Not mentioning that particular thing was a big mistake for a mentor, because the curious apprentice would bug them until they finally revealed the secret. But Clyde wasn't exactly the most standard apprentice, and Bryce wasn't the most strict mentor.
"I'll prepare the lunch this time. You can rest and spend your free time, but be back in an hour or so. This is an opportunity you rarely get in a lifetime." Bryce was trying to poke Clyde's innate curiousity, but the silent apprentice had already left to the forest to collect herbs. "Sure, go pick your mushrooms, I guess." Bryce sighed loudly.
Clyde returned right before the meeting time, with a fresh batch of different salves. The young apprentice loved picking herbs and making medicine, and had even bought an encyclopedia of forest plants recently. Bryce didn't understand this peculiar interest at first, but then he recalled the profession of his uncle. After the curly haired apprentice put his products away, he excitedly approached Bryce. The tall ranger had been waiting for this moment.
"So... Are you curious about where we are going?" Clyde nodded.
"Well then... You missed your chance last time. Keep wondering as we walk there." He let out a laugh. Clyde pouted and glared at his cruel mentor, and followed right after him as he walked towards the bridge that stood over the small river of Greenfield.
The road was a short one, but for Clyde's short legs, it was a painful walk regardless. At last, the apprentice could see a large stable in the clearing they reached just a while ago, after taking several shortcuts through small forests.
Inside the stable was an old man, feeding the horses some apples.
"How are you doing, Poe? I hope the horses aren't giving you a hard time." Bryce greeted the man with a smile on his face.
"Oh, look who came for a visit!" said Poe with a cheerful voice. He walked over to the ranger after feeding the last apple to the horse.
"You grew a few meters since the last time I saw you, boy!" He added, in a sarcastic manner. Bryce let out a laugh, but as his last visit was a long time ago, the old man could very well be telling the truth.
"You probably know why I came. This is Clyde." Bryce pointed at his apprentice.
"Um... Hi." said Clyde shyly. He could have leapt a mile in conversations when with Bryce, but for everyone else, it was the same.
"Now this is interesting. Decided to find yourself a kid after all these years, my boy?" said Poe. As he kept talking, he walked over to take one of the horses out and walked it out of the stable and into the large field. Bryce and Clyde followed right after him.
"Now, Clyde, have you understood why we are here?" Asked Bryce. Clyde shook his head sideways, being more confused than ever.
"Well, you will understand now." He continued. Poe had already saddled the horse.
"This one is called Gale, kid." said the old man. "Why don't you try to ride him?" Clyde refused, having never ridden a horse on his own before, he felt insecure. Bryce coughed loudly.
"Are we perhaps forgetting some procedure, Poe?" He really didn't want Clyde losing his trust to his mentor, and once again sighed at the missing opportunities he had to give up for a healthier relationship.
"Ah, couldn't bear to see the kid flying off, could we? You were always soft like this, boy." Poe shook his head as if he was disappointed.
"Okay, okay. The password is 'Trust me.' now let's see the kid ride!" He smiled.
Clyde was even more confused. He turned to Bryce begging for an explanation.
"Clyde, remember Feder? You see, we rangers have horses trained specifically for the job. They won't let anyone ride them unless you give them the password. We'll teach the commands you can give by time." Explained Bryce shortly. Clyde meekly approached Gale. The light brown horse was really beautiful with his long beige mane and radiated a loyal aura to the young apprentice. Taking a deep breath, Clyde said the password.
"Tr-trust... Trust me!" Gale's ears twitched and he allowed the shy ranger to pet his head. Clyde stretched his hands up and held onto the saddle, climbing over the horse. The field's view was much better on top of the ranger horse.
The lessons on riding and commanding the horse begun shortly after, and Bryce and Poe teached all the tricks a horse could have to Clyde. Riding on Gale, the wind swept the ginger hair of the young boy aside, letting him feel the wind as he carefully rode his new friend.
They bid farewell to a smiling Poe, and started walking the way back home with Gale on their side.
"How was Gale, did he meet your expectations?" asked Bryce. Clyde gave him a dull look, as he couldn't have an expectation as he wasn't told about anything until then. Then he looked at Gale, and felt something inside, like someone was speaking to him from inside of his mind.
"You're new to this, aren't you? Don't worry, just trust me." the voice belonged to Gale, Clyde was sure of that. But he didn't know how to explain this to his mentor. As he tried to talk, Bryce was once again steps ahead of him.
"Your first talk with the horse, am I right?" He smiled at the inexperienced boy. "You'll get used to it." They kept walking, as Clyde wondered what else could be waiting in this new path he had taken. A new friend wouldn't hurt, he thought. It wouldn't hurt at all.
Part 4: New Friends
(Chronologically, this part is right after the fanfic competition submission)
It was getting darker by the minute and the curly haired apprentice was grooming his horse after the long day. He didn't ride on Gale a lot, but he just wanted an excuse to spend time with his steed. After finishing the grooming, he fed the chestnut colored horse an apple. As Gale chewed on his treat, Clyde watched with glee. He hadn't noticed his mentor was watching him from behind.
"You got used to Gale quickly, huh?" He said. Clyde turned back and smiled at Bryce.
"Good, good. Taking care of your horse is really important. I just finished taking care of Feder." continued the long haired ranger.
"Come now, let's sleep and get ready for tomorrow. You still have a few trials to go through." Clyde gave Bryce a small nod and followed him to the campsite the rangers had set beforehand. Along many other things, Clyde had learned how to control sleeping time and preserving energy in the last few weeks. It has been more than a month since he met his mentor, but he felt his life gaining more of a purpose and he realized it was getting better and better by each day.
Thinking about how much things had changed, he quickly gave in to the light breeze of autumn coupled with the tweets of the forest birds and fell asleep.
The next day started roughly for Clyde, with a diplomacy, war strategy and a practical geography exam, latter of which required good map reading skills. The silent kid tried his best in the diplomacy and war strategy exams, and could pass after spending a lot of effort on both. For the geography exam, he gathered around the instructor with other apprentices. Being asked to find the place marked on the map he was given, he could find his way through the woods scattered around the plains, but he got confused by the repeating patterns inside the forest and ended up half a mile away from the target spot.
Disappointedly meeting Bryce, Clyde let out a small sigh. But his mentor was not mad or nearly as dissapointed as he was with himself.
"That's a nice improvement Clyde, don't you remember when you couldn't tell between east and west? Keep your head up!" He lifted the face of his apprentice, who was staring at the ground in shame. When his eyes met with Bryce's, he turned his head away.
"You are spoiling him rotten again, Bry." chimed in Merlin from nowhere. Slightly startled, Clyde thought that he had a long way to go for using his camouflage effectively, as well.
"I believe it's called being encouraging, Merlin. Not everyone has to be as inconsiderate as you are." replied Bryce, glaring at him. Sensing another storm of bickering coming, Clyde silently left the pair of old friends and decided to take a stroll on his own. Since the practical exam was the last trial he had to go through, the tired apprentice thought he needed some well deserved rest. The golden rays of the afternoon sun shined through the trees, painting everything in its way into a sweet, light yellow. Clyde sat down near a tree trunk and tried to rest, until an unknown figure came and sat next to him. Turning his head to the stranger, Clyde noticed that the person in front of him was also an apprentice. The
boy had slightly long blond hair that was so fair it could barely count as white. He was slightly taller than Clyde, and had brown eyes that sparkled in the sunlight. After examining the stranger's looks, Clyde wondered what exactly this person wanted from him, but before he could muster the strength to ask, the blond boy started talking.
"Hey, you are the apprentice of ranger Bryce, right?" He asked, getting nothing more than a nod for an answer.
"I'm glad to meet you. My name is Glade and I am the apprentice of ranger Jacob. Our mentors know each other, I think?" He said with a curious tone. Clyde suddenly felt overwhelmed by this talkative person, so he kept his silence.
"Hey, I know this is sudden, but... What do you think being a ranger means?" said Glade with a sparkle in his eyes.
"Um... it's..." Clyde had never thought of something like that before, but thinking about the best thing about being a ranger, the warm companionship came to his mind.
"You don't have an answer? That's fine." Glade smirked to a confused Clyde.
"For me, being a Ranger means to sacrifice." He said with excitement. "For another ranger's sake, I would give anything, even my life. To me, being a ranger is a privilige. You can see that too, right?" Clyde had no idea what this stranger was talking about, but despite feeling creeped out, he couldn't lie about his life starting to improve right after he agreed to be an apprentice.
"Haha, you are a really good listener. People usually leave after my first sentence." said the creepy apprentice. "Your name is Clyde, right? I promise I won't forget that." Glade stood up and greeted his mentor, who had just arrived.
"Glade, you weren't supposed to sneak away like that. Don't make things difficult for us." said the annoyed mentor. He must be that Jacob, Clyde thought.
"My apologies, Sir! I'll pay for this mistake!" Glade gave his mentor a bow. Jacob let out a big sigh.
"What am I going to do with you... First of all, drop the 'Sir' already. We've talked about it. Also, I don't want you to pay with your blood or anything. How hard is it to make a simple apology?" bursted the mentor. Then he turned to Clyde and eyed the ginger haired apprentice for a moment.
"You must be Bryce's. Send my regards to him, won't you? Also, I apologize on behalf of Glade. He really is not a bad kid." He concluded the argument and took Glade with him. Clyde felt confused, but it felt good to interact with a new person in his ages for a change. He returned to Bryce, who had been waiting for him.
"Ah, There you are. You ran away, didn't you? It's fine." He said before Clyde could apologize. "I know Merlin and I can get a bit annoying when around each other. Just don't get out of the settlement."
As they took a stroll together, Clyde decided to talk about Jacob and his apprentice, Glade.
"You met Jacob? He was a friend of mine from my days of being an apprentice. What's his apprentice like?" asked the curious mentor. Clyde couldn't tell much about that part, for he didn't exactly know, either.
Watching the sun slowly start fading, Bryce looked around and turned to Clyde.
"It is about time for the meeting. There isn't anything you can do there, so why don't you talk to other apprentices? We need to know each other better as rangers, right?" He said, patting Clyde on the head and leaving for the meeting.
Now that he was alone, Clyde didn't have much to do besides wandering around the campsite. That was until he heard a familiar voice from behind.
"Hey, Clyde! Come with me for a second." It was none other than Glade.
Part 5: Getting in Trouble
"This is important, nobody batted an eye when I told them, but I know you will!" the excited apprentice approached Clyde.
"The rangers found a Genovesan camp nearby while they were scouting! But they said the Genovesans couldn't find the settlement and that we would end the gathering soon anyway. But isn't that a mistake? We could be missing a big chance here!" he continued on speaking, taking and giving breaths quickly. Clyde couldn't understand what was the missed chance and didn't know much about Genovesans either, but before he could react, he got hit by another series of comments from the blond ranger.
"You know that messenger that was barely saved in your Fief, right? Her message was meant for my mentor Jacob. It was a serious warning I can't tell anyone about, but the point here is..." He took another deep breath. "The point here is that I think us two should scout the area and report their plans!"
Clyde was startled by the sudden request. Not only this person he barely met was inviting him to some sort of mission, Clyde was sure it would be rejected by the mentors.
"B-but..." He could only say one word before Glade started speaking again.
"I know, I know! We shouldn't act by ourselves, but nobody cared when I asked them for help. They all think we should be hiding until the gathering ends. Well, what if we miss them?" Clyde couldn't object to his reasoning, nor did he think he could change Glade's mind. He was just concerned about doing something without Bryce's knowledge, but he knew Glade would get in trouble if he told anyone, and he didn't want the person who might be his new friend to be hurt either. Stuck in a dilemma, he ended up following Glade through the path that goes out of the campsite and rode on Gale.
"You look pretty tense. Are you afraid I might throw you off? I won't do that." said the trusty ranger horse.
"Come on Pegasus, let's go." said Glade. The white ranger horse he just jumped on started to head towards a road Clyde was not familiar with. Feeling more anxious by the minute, Clyde rode on Gale and followed the stubborn apprentice through the plains that followed after the woods that hid the rangers.
"Wh-where are we... going?" said Clyde, forcing himself to talk. He had realized that Glade wouldn't know where to go even if he knew about the campsite.
"It is marked on my map. I copied it from the map on the desk while everyone was away at the meeting." Clyde didn't even know if what the blond apprentice said was possible, but he had already went with him, and he felt like it was too late to object.
As they kept riding, Clyde started to feel thirsty. The journey to the camp was taking far too long for the two young apprentices to avoid being noticed, and he grew more restless as he watched Glade carefully peek at the map he supposedly copied and look into another forest that was larger than the one they left from. Finally, Glade lightly pulled the reins of his horse and upon seeing that they had arrived to their target, so did Clyde.
"This place is just the spot to hide the horses. They can alert us if someone comes by." said Glade, then he walked over to a nearby bush and peeked through the dense forest to find a trace of the campsite to follow. Clyde looked around himself. The forest was eerily silent, and with the last traces of the sun disappearing, the towering trees that surround the pair of apprentices had produced shades that blocked their view.
Clyde felt shivers coming up his spine. It was getting cold and the creepy feeling of the dark forest didn't help at all. Watching Glade, he noticed that he had already started to move. Scared to be alone, Clyde walked right after him.
"We won't be noticed in the shades. Tread carefully." Glade warned Clyde. Thankfully, Bryce had taught him well when it came to the arts of staying hidden. The thick forest slowly opened up in the middle, and revealed the hidden Genovesan camp to the boys.
Glade moved towards the camp and signaled Clyde to stand there. Clyde felt even more anxious, seeing him slowly approach the tents. Glade crawled through the tents and looked around. There was a big central tent that was likely where the leader of the camp was staying. Continuing his path, Glade reached the central tent with ease, avoiding the glance of the Genovesans patrolling the camp. Suddenly, he stopped and wrapped his cloak around him, disappearing from sight. However, Clyde could still see him, and was sure he was eavesdropping on a conversation. Suddenly, some people rose up and rushed to the back of the tent and Clyde's heart skipped a beat. Luckily, Glade has already been gone. Looking around, Clyde almost screamed when Glade touched his shoulder from behind.
"Come on Clyde, you ought to be more observant. It's not like a ranger to miss another ranger's movements." Clyde turned his back to find Glade smiling at him.
"You!.." said Clyde, with a mixture of annoyance and relief, and sighed deeply.
"You won't believe what I just heard. I knew it! I knew visiting here was worth it. My mentor Jacob will be glad to hear the news. And I'll mention you, too! Thanks for having my back." He kept talking with excitement. Clyde didn't really like being excessively praised, and was more interested in the information Glade had just received. But as he was albout to talk, he felt the presence of something... something dangerous. Reflexively, he shoved the talkative apprentice in the middle of his words, and a sharp arrow stabbed the ground where he stood a second ago.
Looking at the arrow in horror, Glade had noticed that not only they were noticed, but they were probably surrounded. Looking around, he noticed three men with purple clothes hidden inside the bushes. He took his bow and arrow in a flash and shot an arrow towards the Genovesans. The arrow hit the assassin in the thigh, and as he screamed in pain, Glade held the hand of a startled Clyde and yelled "Let's bolt!". Clyde didn't make him repeat, and the apprentices ran right back towards their horses. However the path to the horses was suddenly blocked by the men in purple as well.
Clyde and Glade both shot their arrows, but they missed, and their targets were too close to shoot anymore. Drawing their throwing knives, they resorted to fight back with them, but the cruel truth was the nimbleness of the professional assassins were too much compared to the small amount of training they had. Cornered by six Genovesans, Clyde and Glade stood there, breathing heavily. The one they presumed was the leader stepped forward.
"You nosy children have a lot of nerve, crawling around our tents. I would ask you to explain yourselves, but I'm afraid I eavesdropped to your little chit chat and decided you were not mere trespassers." seeing the dark smile on the face of the leader with a five o'clock shadow, Clyde didn't think they would survive even as mere trespassers.
"Now, you would have died more than thrice by the time we took to corner you, but as you can understand... We value information as much as you do." He took out a coin and placed it in Clyde's hand. Clyde noticed that he was shaking violently. Memories of the past filled his mind, and his legs felt weak. Glade was glaring to the men in purple, but he also felt scared. The cruel leader continued talking.
"Now. You flip the coin, if it hits heads, you die. If it hits tails, I'm afraid your little friend has to die instead. And the other one shall give us all the information we need." he let out a small laugh. Clyde's hand was still shaking. Glade fearfully looked at him. Feeling the weight of both of their lives, the ginger haired apprentice finally fell on his knees from the intense feeling.
"FLIP IT!" The leader screamed. Clyde backed away, but there was no room to back away into. The cruel man grabbed him by his collar and lifted him up.
"Fine. If you don't want to play, then you lose." He took out his knife, and as soon as he did, an big arrow hit him right in the chest with a loud noise, poking out from his back, killing him before he could even make a noise. Clyde fell onto the ground, and ran back to Glade in terror. More and more arrows appeared and rained down on the Genovesans, until every person in the area except Glade and Clyde was shot with so many that they looked like pin cushions. Suddenly, a tall figure came out of the bushes. It's Bryce, Clyde thought, and he immediately felt relieved. But he didn't notice the tears falling from his eyes, and Glade who stood right next to him, breathing heavily.
Bryce wrapped his arms around his shocked apprentice, and stroked his back as he kept crying. Jacob also came and started looking through Glade's body for any wounds, then hugged him fiercely and let him go just as quickly. Merlin walked over to them and shook his head, failing to understand the panic.
"Come on, let's go, Bryce. You too, Jacob. We need to tell everyone what happened." Said Merlin, with an annoyed tone.
"You can move, right, Clyde?" Bryce asked to Clyde, who nodded and stood up. Glade and Jacob also rose up and they started walking back to the horses.
"This is a disgrace. What are we even going to tell them? What will Gordon say?" Merlin started ranting. Gordon, the head ranger, was adamant about the rules of the rangers, and also disliked disobedient apprentices.
"We will talk this through once we get back. Gordon can wait." said Jacob. Still startled, Clyde and Glade kept silent. Bryce also kept silent, and they headed back to the gathering after riding on their horses.
Part 6: Proof
"What were you thinking!? I knew you were a bit adventurous, but how will you explain yourself this time?" yelled Jacob at Glade. Glade bowed down and spoke in a monotone voice.
"I'm sorry, Jacob. It was all my fault. A-and please keep Clyde out of this. I swayed him into doing this. I am the one who needs the punishment." He talked while breathing quickly.
"Clearly." said Jacob shortly, trying to contain his temper.
"What do you mean, keep him out of it? He agreed and went with you. When it comes to blame, he takes as much as you do!" said Merlin in a harsh tone. Glade went silent and so did Jacob. The short tempered ranger was still breathing heavily. Bryce looked at Clyde, but he avoided his stare. He was already ashamed, and didn't want to see the disappointment in his mentor's eyes. He could go through whatever punishment they give, but not the disappointment.
"We should go see Gordon now. You wait here until we return, we can go back to our Fiefs after that." Bryce said calmly. Glade and Clyde waited for the three seasoned rangers to come back. Glade looked at Clyde with an apologetic stare, but Clyde didn't want to see that, either. After a few uncomfortable minutes, Bryce and Jacob came back. With no apprentice to take care of, Merlin had already been gone. Jacob silently took Glade and left after waving Bryce goodbye apathetically. Bryce waved back, and took Clyde's hand, walking towards their horses to return home.
After they arrived, it was almost morning. Barely even getting any rest, the tired ranger and his apprentice entered the hut and placed their belongings. Bryce shut the door and grabbed a broom leaning onto the oak wall. Seeing him, Clyde's freckled face went white, then into a bluish color. He suddenly fell on his knees and backed away into a corner, shaking.
"Clyde, are you alright?" Bryce couldn't understand what was going on. Clyde looked at the broom in Bryce's hand. Upon realizing that, Bryce put the broom back. "I was just going to sweep the floor. I thought you'd be too tired." The look on Clyde face didn't change. Bryce slowly approached Clyde, but as soon as he touched him, he entered into a state od panic.
"G-gah! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" He started shouting.
"Clyde, it's okay, I'm not mad. We can talk about it calmly." said Bryce, trying to calm him down, but he soon noticed that it was not something related to yesterday's events.
"P-please don't hit me! I'll do what you say! I-I just..." Clyde kept going on. Bryce slowly stroked Clyde's head and held his hand.
"It's okay, Clyde. I'm here. I won't hurt you. I won't let them hurt you. It's okay, it's okay..." Clyde started to breathe at a slower rate, and stopped mumbling afterwards. He closed his eyes and unconciously leaned onto Bryce.
"Are you okay now?" said Bryce, standing up. Taking his hand, Clyde slowly rose up and nodded, staring at the ground. He felt more ashamed than before, and didn't want to say a word.
"Go sleep now. We'll talk later, you and I both lack the energy." said Bryce, and walked Clyde over to his bedroom. As he was about to leave, Clyde tugged his clothes. "A-am I still... your apprentice?" He said, looking at Bryce with gloomy eyes.
"Of course you are." He gently patted Clyde's back and the young apprentice went inside his room. Making sure he is asleep, Bryce went back to the living room and sat on the chair he pulled in front of the small chimney facing to the front of the window, taking a note out of his pocket.
"Bryce, this sort of behaviour is unacceptable for an apprentice. As he is yours, I don't have a say in the matter directly, but know that he failed the exams and lost his chance to get the bronze leaf. I advise you leave him to do a more suitable job." As he read the note from the Head Ranger again, he sighed deeply, tore it apart until the note became a pile of trash, and threw it all into the chimney, to fuel the coffee pot's heat.
After Clyde woke up, he changed his clothes and took a shower before walking into the living room that smelled like fresh coffee and toast. Bryce had prepared an early lunch for him. He did not know for how long he had slept, but he felt horrible regardless. He sat in front of Bryce and started nibbling on his toasted bread after putting some jam on it, but stopped eating after a few minutes and sighed, looking at the half eaten toast. The mentor, whose plate was untouched, looked at Clyde, and started speaking.
"Clyde, I was worried." He took a breath and continued. "What did you think would happen if we didn't notice you were missing? You're still too young! The only reason we were upset was because we care about you. It is not because of some silly rule or a military discipline. I..." He stopped talking and looked at a sobbing Clyde.
"I'm sorry... I wanted to... I just wanted to help." He said, while sniffing.
"I know. Just... let us know first. Don't be afraid of me. I know I tell you time and again but still-"
"I'm not afraid..." Clyde interrupted. "I... After Uncle... only you want me around."
Bryce was piecing things together, but he didn't feel like digging through the boy's past. "Your uncle..." As he started to talk, the gloomy apprentice looked away. "You don't need to talk about it. Just know that I'll be by your side. You can trust me, you can talk to me. I promise to do my best for you, Clyde." Bryce said reassuringly. After a few days, perhaps that was the first time Clyde, in the full meaning of the word, smiled.
"Now, don't think a bit of early sleep will save you from today's training! Are you going to finish that toast or not?" Bryce returned to more routine, more relaxed topics, bringing the calm feeling over to his apprentice too.
"I'll... I'll do my best!"
After a long day of riding, hiding and shooting training, Clyde and Bryce returned to the hut, ready to relax over a cup of coffee. Bryce watched Clyde place the coffee pot over the charred twigs in the chimney, and took out the messages he received from the pigeons earlier that day. One was adressed for himself, the other one was for Clyde.
Clyde took the letter Bryce handed to him after preparing the coffee.
"Dear Clyde, please forgive me for yesterday, it was entirely my fault. I failed as a ranger and deserve to feel horrible. But you don't, so feel good for me too! Also, you really are the only person who listens to me, so please keep being a friend. Best regards, Glade." Reading the letter, Clyde felt a strange, but happy feeling. Could it be friendship? He wondered. Then he looked over to Bryce, who had finished to read his letter. He turned to Clyde with a serious look on his face.
"Clyde, this is urgent. There are news about the Genovesans and I need to go investigate around Redmont with Jacob." He said. Excited, Clyde was about to ask for more details, but Bryce continued on.
"You can't come, Clyde. I'm sorry, but it is far too dangerous. You saw the assassins yourself, I can't let you in a mission like this for your first." He concluded. But Clyde was looking at Bryce with a determined face.
"My decision won't change, so don't look at me with those eyes." He reacted to Clyde's stare changing to a begging look.
"Only after you strike a tree a hundred times consecutively can you prove that you are skilled enough for this mission." said Bryce. Clyde knew that meant it was impossible for him to go. Bryce sighed and started gathering his items.
"I'll be going to patrol the town now. Then I'll return to take Feder and I'll meet with Jacob. Don't leave the town, alright?" He left the hut. Clyde went to the training spot and sat on a tree stump, not feeling good enough to try foraging or making any medicine. Looking around, his eyes locked onto the target mark on the nearby tree.
It was nearly midnight when Bryce finally returned, and when he opened the wooden door of the hut, he saw nobody in it. Looking for Clyde, he went over to the training spot, and saw the apprentice shooting arrows, one after another, and scoring a bullseye each time. From the heavy arrow marks on the slightly bent tree and the batch of arrows on the floor, Bryce understood that none of them missed. Not noticing his mentor, Clyde kept shooting and shooting, while sweat constantly dripped from his face. Getting closer, Bryce heard the young apprentice's mumbling.
"Ninety eight... ninety... nine..." He started panting heavily. But he shook his head, took his aim and hit another bullseye.
"One.. hundred..." He dropped on his knees and started laughing. "I did it! One hundred! I didn't... miss..." He almost fainted, but kept awake, struggling to walk over to the tree stump to get a quick rest. Watching him, Bryce almost felt a tear come trickling down his face. He walked over to his apprentice and sat next to him on the grass.
"You actually did that? Why did you do it?" Bryce asked.
"Bryce..." Clyde finally noticed his mentor.
"If I make it to hundred, I can go..."
"But you know I said it because-"
"I can go... You said that!" Clyde interrupted. Looking at his apprentice's begging eyes, Bryce let out a big sigh.
"Okay, you win. Now come."
"T-thank you!" Clyde happily started running towards the hut, but his mentor pulled him close and put his arm on his shoulder.
"I'm proud of you." said Bryce.
"Hehe... I'm... really glad." Clyde smiled at Bryce. Watching him gleefully run to the hut, with no trace of weariness, the mentor once again felt surprised at how fast the kid in front of him grew up mentally, how he opened up to people by time and...
"Heh." Bryce chuckled.
And of course, how to emotionally manipulate him.
Part 7: Interruption
The sun had already risen up, and under the bright, clear fields several miles away from Greenfield, Bryce and Clyde were riding their horses towards their mission. His hair scattering off his face from a mild breeze, the tall ranger mumbled to himself.
"From the moment I met those Genovesans, I should have known..." He looked at the wide open plains that would soon leave itself to a rough terrain filled with small hills according to the map in his hands. The path that went inside the cluster of hills were the shortest route from Greenfield to Redmont.
Seeing his mentor deep in thought, Clyde couldn't help but feel curious about his thoughts.
"Bryce?" He uttered hesitantly.
"Hm, what is it, Clyde?" replied the mentor, snapped out of his deep thoughts.
"Genovesans..." Clyde once again started speaking after taking a deep breath.
"Genovesans? Those are the assassins we faced last time. I had encountered a couple before. I should have guessed about their plan." Bryce once again eyed the map in his hands.
"The plan?" Clyde tilted his head curiously. He had thought that the so called assassins were just street thugs of some sort. However, considering Bryce's words, he was apparently mistaken.
"Well, the plan is... Those kind of assassins don't actually make plans, they just follow their client's and take their payment afterwards. That's why a big group of Genovesans just camping over that place is abnormal." Bryce tried to explain. But Clyde was sensing he was avoiding a subject on purpose.
"The plan is?" He once again asked.
Bryce sighed deeply. "You won't give up, will you? Well, at least I can tell that you are more curious than usual."
"Their plan is to assassinate the king."
Clyde went silent, even more so than usual.
"I'm sure he gets targeted once a week." Gale chimed in. Clyde didn't respond, but a chat between the ranger horses had already begun.
"Poor King, doesn't even get to rest like Bryce." Feder said.
"Hush, both of you!" Bryce silenced both horses. "There is no time for jokes."
"No time to play, no time for jokes... What a killjoy." Gale flipped his mane over.
"Such is the life of a ranger horse..." Feder replied with a sorrowful look. Bryce, once again, sighed deeply.
"This will be a long journey, Clyde. I hope you don't mind the horse chatter."
Clyde smiled at Bryce, then looked at the distance searching for hills. With no sight of any, the journey was definitely going to be a long one.
"Don't move, or we're done for." Jacob whispered to his apprentice, covering behind a large mossy tree that had its bark cracked. The Genovesan camp was nearby, and one faulty move could cost the mentor and the apprentice their life.
Glade wrapped his cloak around his body and stood still like Jacob had teached him. He could hear the footsteps of a patrol group almost next to them. Struggling to not breathe quickly, he suppressed his emotions and looked at Jacob for a lead. His mentor had a habit of scratching his hay colored beard whenever he thought of something, but he couldn't afford to move, so Glade couldn't understand if he was thinking of a plan or not. Looking around him, there were patrol groups behind them as well, completely surrounding the duo.
Still leaning his back towards the tree, Jacob signaled Glade to quickly advance to the other side of the path while avoiding the sight of the patrollers, who were currently out of sight. Glade moved silently and managed to cross the grass path that lead to the other half of the small woods around the assassin camp. He's safe now, thought Jacob. The horses were waiting in that half of the woods, so his apprentice could save his own life should they need to flee. As their objective was to keep the assassins on check, Jacob couldn't leave his spot. Should any of them leave the camp and ride to Redmont, he needed to prevent their exit by all means necessary. A group that large could pose a serious threat to the King.
Suddenly, one of the assassins approached the concealed apprentice slowly, having thought that he saw a movement inside the woods. Even if the assassin had one step between him and the blond kid, Glade tried to keep silent and to stand still. Looking closer, the patroller shrugged and turned his back. Glade got relaxed and almost let a big sigh out, but that was a big mistake. The Genovesan suddenly turned around, having caught the apprentice unprepared. Jacob saw the situation unfold and silently grabbed his bow. The patrol group from before was returning to the camp using the same exit, and hearing their footsteps, Jacob felt uneasy. The Genovesan that noticed Glade's movements slowly walked over and hovered his hands over Glade's short body, barely hearing the boy's racing heartbeats ringing through his ears. Suddenly, his hands touched the green fabric of the cloak, and Glade's disguise was no more. Jacob took a deep breath.
I knew I should have said no to him, he thought, as he raised his bow and took aim. The skirmish that he had foreseen was about to start.
It has been around a couple of days since the mentor-apprentice duo had embarked on their journey from Greenfield to Redmont. Feeling well rested from the camp they set up last night, the ginger haired apprentice was in a good mood. The same could be said for Bryce, but the shaggy bearded mentor was still tense deep inside. He was feeling like something was off, but couldn't put his finger on it.
"Um... Redmont..." Clyde mumbled. He was obviously curious about the Fief. Bryce had much to tell about it, but the tense feeling didn't let him speak for too long.
"Redmont is Jacob's Fief. It has a beautiful view, especially the castle. You should see those three towers forming it, quite the architecture." Said Bryce, then he awkwardly went silent.
"I-is Glade?.." Clyde kept on asking questions.
"Yes, he probably lives here with Jacob. Just like how you live in Greenfield with me." Bryce replied while scratching his head, taking another peek at the map in his hands. That something that made him feel worried...
"Ugh, of course! I should have thought of that, too!" He sparked up, startling Clyde. The tall ranger had suddenly realized that the abnormality was the marked place of the Genovesan camp.
"Bryce?.." Clyde uttered with a concerned voice.
"I'm sorry, Clyde. I was deep in thought." Bryce apologised. "While we secured the festival area as the King came to visit, Jacob was supposed to be stalking the Genovesan camps to prevent them from advancing. But I noticed that the camp was placed in a really weird position, directly on a path surrounded with woods everywhere but in the middle."
Listening to his mentor's explanation, Clyde didn't understand his point. Where was the abnormality?
"What's... weird?" He shyly asked.
"Well, for starters, they have patrol groups, but none of them go inside the woods while patrolling. Also, the camp is set in a noticable path, not very careful for assassins like them. I think they keep their main forces in the woods."
"That's... Is it?.." Clyde asked with a whitened face. He hoped that he had guessed it wrong but sadly, the mentor's answer was exactly what he thought of.
"It's a trap set for Jacob. I should have noticed..." Bryce set his eyes on the ground. He was ashamed he couldn't perform his duty in the fullest way, and he was really concerned for his friend. An uncomfortable silence filled the air for the next few minutes. Even Gale and Feder were not disturbing it.
"I... I trust them." Clyde said with a shaking voice. If Bryce could think of it, so should Jacob, he thought. He didn't want to believe otherwise.
"Yeah, I do too." Bryce looked at Clyde, and finally teared his eyes away from the map.
"We'll have to do our duty now. Ever seen a festival?" The mentor returned to his upbeat personality.
Clyde shook his head, as he had only heard of them before.
"You'll be surprised to see how crowded a town square can truly get. That's why our primary objective is to find a good spot to observe the event." Bryce explained. Clyde nodded and with his mentor's signal, they started going faster on their horses. The apprentice lifted his freckled face up and saw Redmont appear on the horizon. They were almost there.
Upon arrival, Clyde really understood what his mentor said: The town square was brimming with people and stands, so much that he couldn't figure out where to step. With his tall and imposing figure, Bryce was able to easily carve through the crowds. Clyde held onto his mentor's cloak and went through the town square with him.
"The King..." He mumbled.
"He surely will arrive soon, with Gordon on his side." Bryce replied.
"Gordon?"
"Don't you recall? He is the Head Ranger. The king must have invited him." He replied again.
"This festival is when the nobles and peasants find common ground. In the town square, as you talk to each other and listen to bards' songs, seeing the King from up close, it unites these people, no matter who they are." Bryce felt nostalgic as his apprentice days with Jacob came to mind. Despite being older than him and techically being in charge, he had never left Jacob's side in festivals, because his friend always knew where to have fun. Looking into Clyde's eyes, he hoped that one day, his apprentice would get to enjoy such small yet memorable moments with his friends.
Finally making it out of the crowd, Bryce and Clyde both used their cloaks to stay hidden. Scanning the crowds and everywhere around, they searched for traces of the assassins, but they apparently haven't arrived yet. Good, thought Bryce. Their appearance would guarantee Jacob's failure.
Finally, appearing on the big wooden stage set directly to the front of the crowd was the King and the Head Ranger, greeting the crowd and looking around. The King's simple clothing made him look more like a peasant than a king, excluding the silver crown sitting on top of his head. Perhaps this was the point, thought Clyde. It made the King look more sympathetic to the common folk. As they went on a long speech about unity of people and the importance of the festival, Bryce and Clyde looked around the stage and the crowds, but there was still no Genovesans. The Head Ranger, Gordon, was also searching through the place from where he stood, yet he also failed to see anything. As the speech neared its end, Bryce whispered to his apprentice.
"Okay, we don't have much time left. Either they didn't come, or we need to check deeper."
Better safe than sorry, thought Bryce, and they snuck behind the stage to take a different look.
The speech finally ended, and the villagers started scattering to their own jobs, while the nobles formed groups of several people and each group walked down the alley, returning home. It was over without an attempt, the duo thought as they waited on the back stage. Bryce was relaxed to see nothing happened, but was still on guard regardless. Clyde took a deep breath and stretched. Finally, the King came down the stage with his guards and got ready to leave the Fief. After that, The Head Ranger started climbing down the stage. As soon as he took his first step, Clyde felt something inside, just like that painful, tense feeling Bryce went through. His body moved without thinking, and Clyde jumped over the stage.
"C-careful!" He tackled Gordon, and before he was stabbed by the arrow that would strike the Head Ranger had he not intervened, Bryce pulled him off the stage and the arrow barely missed the surface of his skin. Through the coordinated reflexes of the apprentice and the mentor, the assassination attempt was foiled.
"Found you." Suddenly, a threatening voice rose up from outside the stage. A sharp arrow flew and struck a Genovesan right in the chest, and the assassin, who hid above the rooftop of an inn, rolled down the roof and hit the floor.
"I told you Bryce, you forget to look up." The familiar voice echoed through the alley.
"Jacob!" Bryce ran towards the slim ranger and embraced him.
"I should have thought of the obvious trap. I'm so sorry." said the tall ranger.
"It's fine, I had already sorted that out. You tend to be a bit airheaded at times, Bryce." Jacob lightly poked his friend in the chest.
"What in the name of..." Just coming to his senses, Gordon walked over to the trio of rangers.
"Ah, now that I think of it..." Bryce paused for a moment. "Clyde, how did you know they would shoot Gordon first?"
The ginger haired apprentice shrugged and replied quickly.
"I felt it."
Gordon turned over to the young apprentice and put his hand over his shoulder.
"Young man... No, Clyde." He corrected himself. "I surely have underestimated you." He said, then he turned to Bryce and whispered: "You did the right choice."
"I know." said Bryce, smiling.
The King had already left, and so did Gordon, right after the assassination attempt. As that just meant more paperwork for him.
"He has left, hasn't he?" asked Jacob.
"Yes, he did." Bryce replied. "Why?"
"There was something I had to announce in private."
"I-is it bad?" Clyde stuttered.
Jacob sighed deeply.
"They caught Glade."
Part 8: Chase
"They took him!?" The tall ranger was caught in surprise. Glade, despite being a little strange, was actually a competent apprentice.
"It's... Nevermind. We need to search for him and the campsite he is taken to. We can't afford to lose even a second." Jacob was saying one sentence after another, strangely reminding Clyde of his friend.
"Are you sure he is taken to a campsite? Perhaps they..." Bryce stopped in the middle of speaking, refusing to consider the alternative to taking Glade hostage. Clyde caught onto his idea too, and started breathing heavily. There really was no time to talk.
"Get the horses. I'll explain on the road." Jacob cut the conversation short.
The trio barely had any rest that day, and it seemed like they were far, far away from a night's rest. Riding on Gale, Clyde forced his eyelids to stay open.
"If you are tired, just leave the travel to me. Take a nap on the saddle." Gale was either poking fun to Clyde, or seriously presenting a suggestion. Clyde decided on the former and made a small noise akin to a sigh.
Bryce was constantly shifting his eyes over to the tired apprentice as he looked towards their path with his blue eyes, thinking he wouldn't notice, but Clyde was aware of it and was grateful for his mentor's concern. Still, at this tense moment, he could only think of Glade's situation. It wasn't like he was acquainted with him for long, yet still, he felt a connection between him and the energetic apprentice. Perhaps it was because of how lonely he had felt before meeting Bryce, that everyone he met afterwards felt closer to him than usual.
"So, will you explain, Jacob? Why is he taken to the camp?"
Hearing Bryce's deep voice ring in his ears, Clyde's train of thought disappeared.
"These assassins aren't your usual Genovesans." replied the blond ranger.
"They are out for blood, but also for information. An apprentice like Glade would be a big chance for them." He continued.
"Glade... would talk?" Clyde couldn't believe the headstrong boy would give out valuable information to a pack of murderers.
"He won't. That's why I'm..." Jacob exhaled loudly and slightly tilted his head down.
"Curse the mentor who agreed to take him to the damned mission!" He said in a stern voice.
"If it's going to make you feel better, I did the same mistake as you." Bryce forced a smile to his old friend.
"M-mistake?" Clyde whispered, offended.
"Apprentices, am I right?" Jacob blurted out in an annoyed tone and went silent, turning his head around and checking a map he took out from his bag.
"Where... are we going?" Clyde said curiously.
"We are going to the last camp we saw. They should have moved away by now, but if we can see a trace of Glade, that would suffice." Bryce shortly explained to his apprentice.
As the horses' hooves made noises only the rangers could hear, they kept riding through the path moving away from Redmont and into the campsite between the woods. But it was getting late, as they left Redmont almost in the evening. The moon slowly rose up in the dark skies and shone a sweet light on the land. Clyde was at his limit, and felt his eyes close against his will.
"You can rest on your horse, Clyde." Said his mentor, looking at the tired apprentice with concern. Clyde was taught by him on sleeping on demand, and knew he needed rest, so the young apprentice tried to put his worries away and get a short rest. Before he knew it, he had given himself to the clutches of sleep.
"Talk, you rascal! Nobody will come for you, so if you don't spill it, you're dead meat!" a figure clad in purple yelled at Glade, cracking the whip in his hands.
"I..." the fair skinned apprentice coughed and wheezed, desperate for clean air, water, food and anything he could think of at the moment.
"I'm a ranger! I won't say a thing to a pathetic peacock like you!" He screamed with the last of his energy. A whistling whip hit him and blood trickled down from the new cut on his face.
"If you didn't have any knowledge, I would love to kill you as a whimpering pile of flesh. So don't tempt me, runt." The cruel assassin kicked Glade in his gut and walked away.
The young apprentice took deep breaths and thought about washing his face with the cup of water he was provided, but he felt too thirsty to waste his water on cleaning. Drinking all of the water, he gave a deep breath and looked at the starry skies above him.
"I'm waiting for you, my mentor... I'll never say a word, even if they kill me!" The blond apprentice closed his eyes and decided to take a nap to preserve his energy. The leather shackles on his hands and feet were disturbing him, but he could forced himself to crawl to the empty sacks they have given him. Using the sacks as a blanket, he closed his eyes and instantly went to sleep.
Clyde woke up with a warning from Gale, and looked around him in panic. He saw Bryce and Jacob beside him and sighed in relief.
"We're being followed." The mentor spoke in a whispery voice. Understanding the warning he got from the ranger horse, Clyde stroked Gale's mane and looked straight forward, as if he was unaware of their pursuers. As Bryce taught him, if he were to turn around and look for them, the hidden aggressor would understand they were noticed. However, even without the sight, the young apprentice could hear an unfamiliar sound around him, like hooves hitting the soil beneath, harder than a ranger horse would. He knew that to their right, behind the bushes of the forest, there was an assassin following them, looking for the perfect moment to strike.
However, the first strike had come from the rangers. Bryce suddenly threw the strikers he had prepared in his hands to the ominous figure, and the sound of cold, hard metal was heard soon after. Coming out of the bushes beside them, the Genovesan that just had his crossbow fly away from his hands took another loaded crossbow in his hands and aimed at Bryce. However, he was too late. A throwing knife thrown by Jacob distracted the purple clothed assassin, and he could not shoot the tall mentor.
Clyde didn't know what to do, not being taught to fight on horseback, he couldn't di anything, but he wanted to help his allies. Suddenly, looking at his salve bag, he had an idea.
The assassin changed his speed constantly, as to throw off the horseback rangers, distrupting their accuracy. Little did he know, the problem was not him being hard to shoot, but that the seasoned rangers wanted to interrogate the assassin.
Quickly, Clyde placed one of his arrows in Bryce's hands.
"Please, use this!" He looked at Bryce with a determined face, and pointed at the thigh of the assassin's horse.
Thinking the apprentice idea was to cripple the horse, Bryce was not sure whether to trust his apprentice with the plan or not, but after looking at his begging face, Bryce sighed.
"Alright." The mentor took the arrow and shot it with precision. As the Genovesan was shifting his speed, the horse was suddenly struck on its thigh by the arrow and it panicked, running away from the rangers against its master's orders, into the bushes.
"Bryce, what are you thinking!?" Jacob yelled. "We lost him!"
Chasing the assassin, who could bring others with him or lead them into a trap or lure them away from Glade, would be risky at this point. It would also make them spend precious time.
"Well, Clyde, I hope your plan was a good one." Said Bryce. He made the choice of trusting his apprentice, and thought he wouldn't hand him his own arrow without any point to it.
"Plan? What plan? We just missed an opportunity." Jacob glared at the ginger haired apprentice.
"B-but..." Clyde was afraid of getting scolded again, but got courage from his mentor and continued speaking.
"The arrow... was coated." He explained shortly.
"Coated with what, exactly?" Jacob said, in a tense mood.
Clyde took out a small bottle filled with some sort of cloudy, white liquid.
"Um, this makes... It makes manure white." Said the apprentice, stuttering.
"I see, I see!" Bryce caught onto the idea.
"If that's so, should we follow the white manure, it will lead us right to the camp that assassin resides at." He concluded.
"What in the..." Jacob was left speechless.
"Where did you even learn this?"
"Um..." Clyde looked down.
"My Uncle."
Part 9: Memories
The glourious sunlight shone on the Redmont Castle's triple towers, slowly turning the skies into a calm, familiar purple color. As people slowly walked back towards their houses, the crowd filling the town center was scattering by the second, and everyone longed to take a break in their cozy beds with their family. The sun went down, once again, and now the only thing lighting up the once lively alleys was the light of the tavern coming out of the windows.
In the silence of the night, nobody could hear the tiny footsteps of the small figure swiftly going through the streets, mixing into shadows, out of sight. Running out of the town, into the woods, through the fresh smell of the night life and the bush covered paths, the young boy leaned onto a tree and took a few breaths. He turned his head over to check if the guards heard him, but as he expected, there was no one. Releasing a sigh of relief, the blond haired kid walked down the remaining path and welcomed himself to a small spot that was not overridden by trees, because it was housing someone else. Someone much more important. Scanning the field in front of him, the brown eyes of the kid located the hut of the person he was looking for. He walked towards the oak door of the hut, took one last, deep breath and knocked on the wooden surface of the door.
Not even a second later, a blond man with a green cape opened the door and eyed the child in front of him. He sighed deeply and removed his hood from his head.
"How many years has it been?"
"Five!" The fair skinned boy said with pride. "A-and counting, if this is... No, I am certain now! It has to be today!" He added, uncertain.
The ranger eyed the boy once more, and made a weird noise between choking and coughing.
"Five years... Even since that time, you've kept coming? When will you give up?" He asked, looking annoyed, yet intrigued.
"I won't... You have to do it this time! Y-you..." the kid stopped for a second and rebuilt his words.
"Please, sir... You have to."
"And what if I don't?" the ranger raised an eyebrow.
"But... but..." He shifted his weight from one leg to another, looking at the ranger beggingly.
"Hey, how about next time? Next year. You will come again anyway." He was about to shut the door, but he was faced with a new resistance. The boy pulled the door tightly and squeezed his face inside.
"You can't do this to me! It's been years! Ever since I turned 10, I have been following you around, desperate to pay my debt!" He screamed his true feelings.
"Shush! Okay. Before you get us killed, come inside." The annoyed ranger pulled the kid in and closed the door.
"Look, I know who you are. I know what you are trying to do, but you are not rea-"
"I'm ready!" He cut off the ranger's words.
"I'm ready because I have been training for every single day since 5 years! I'm ready, because..." He took a deep breath.
"Because... this is my last chance." the boy finished with a shaky voice.
"Last? What do you mean, last!? What's stopping you from waiting one more year?" the ranger exploded.
"The Choosing Day..." He said in a quiet voice, reduced to whispers.
"I don't want to end up as a simple farmer." He collapsed to one knee.
"I'll do anything to be a ranger! Anything! I'll give up my eyes, my arms, legs, even my life!"
The tired ranger sighed once more, shaking his head. He lent his hand to the boy and helped him up.
"There's nothing I can do about it..." The face of the fair skinned boy went to a bright blue after hearing those words.
"I don't think I can take one more year of this. Go get your luggage. I'll clear up some room for you."
The blond haired boy stopped for a second, then smiled, still not believing what just happened. He ran out of the hut as fast as he could. Suddenly, he heard a voice behind him.
"Don't think we're done here! If you mess up, I'll make life hell for you!" The ranger told him from the distance.
After seeing the new apprentice disappear into the night, the ranger closed the door and sat on the wooden chair in front of the fireplace. It was about time, Jacob thought to himself.
Opening his eyes, Glade saw the birds fly in the bright blue skies, merely visible as small dots. He must have seen a memory in his dreams. After feeling the scars on his body, he wished for a second that the dream lasted forever.
"No, no... I need to... need to shake myself awake!" He splashed his head on what little amount of water was left for him and crawled back to search for any food. Usually, there would be leftovers or a small bowl of soup around the captive apprentice, but this time, he could only see the cruel face of the Genovesan assassin looking at him.
The man walked over to Glade and lifted his face up.
"Well, well, well... Look who woke up. Did you dream of your friends saving you?" He laughed at his cruel, yet equally unfunny joke. Glade glared fiercely at the man in purple clothes.
"I see that you really won't talk. In that case... I might have to cut open a second mouth for you to spill the beans." He unsheated his knife and pushed it close to the apprentice's throat. Glade knew he shouldn't even swallow, so he kept glaring at his captor.
"I recall you saying 'Even if I die' while boasting about your loyalty. Where's all that now? Are you ready?" He smiled devilishly. Glade looked deep into his eyes, with his own brown eyes flashing threateningly under the bright sun.
"All that loyalty... It's right here." He felt the sharp side of the knife hurting his neck as he spoke, but he kept talking until he was done.
"You rascal..." The assassin crudely shoved the kid to the ground. Then he waved his knife threateningly.
"If you say one more word, I'll use your eye as a new sheath for this knife!"
"Hey! We need some logs for the fire!" a distant voice rung in the Genovesan's ears.
"Darn it!" He stabbed the knife to the ground. "What is it now!?" He walked away from Glade, to the camper that obviously was his higher-up, awaiting service.
"Idiot peacock." Glade's face lightened up with a clever smirk. He crawled towards the sharp knife and took his leather shackles, starting to cut it to reach his freedom. He took one last look at the assassin, but his face was turned away from him. Cutting faster, he finally got his shackles off from his hands and feet. Grabbing the knife stuck to the ground, he noticed in the last second that the assassin was running towards him.
"That threat you told me..." He told his captor mockingly.
"I'll make it a reality!" He threw the knife with accuracy and saw it stab the cruel face of the assassin in the left eye. Satisfied, He ran out from the campsite, through the shocked guards and the crossbow bolts firing everywhere around. However, there was nowhere to run because the forest and the path was filled with Genovesans and to their back was a river that was between two hills: The small, green one with no trees on it, and the one that the camp sat on the skirts of. Glade took a deep breath as he saw the assassins gather, then he swiftly rolled off the hill. The spotless hill's soil was soft, albeit filled with tangling vines. The assassins could only look after the kid rolling down the hill, miraculously surviving. But with nobody to save him, the cruel assassins were sure he would perish in the river. Thus, nobody bothered to take him out of the small hill valley. Trying to swim through the river, Glade felt like he was fainting, and he couldn't take a breath. Struggling to live, he holded on a small branch tightly and tried to pull himself up. But with what little strength he had, it was impossible. Seeing his surroundings go fuzzy, the tired apprentice felt his world fall apart.
Part 10: The Will of The Apprentice
"Okay, I spotted another one." Bryce said as he detected another whitened manure in the woods the Genovesan assassin went in.
"So, how long does that medicine last?" Asked Jacob, still unsure of the peculiar method of the apprentice.
"About... A day?" The young apprentice was not very sure himself, but it seemed like they were making progress, as further they followed the traces, the trees started to lessen and lessen until they exited the woods from a narrow spot and found themselves in a large grass field that was almost empty besides some curvy, mountain like shapes over the horizon. There were several trees here and there, but it felt cleaner compared to the dim forest.
"That's enough for now. We skipped camping when we first set out, but we can't keep going without rest." Bryce tried to convince a tired, yet concerned Jacob to rest for his wellbeing.
"I see. There's no helping, then." Replied the blond ranger with an apathetic voice.
Clyde didn't think he could help ease Jacob's mind with what little knowledge he had of him, so he decided to help by starting the campfire, but Bryce stopped him.
"If they set up camp nearby, we'll be noticed. Some dry fruit and jerky will have to do for now."
Noticing the apprentice, Jacob turned to him and threw a foldable bucket in his hands.
"If you really want to help, bring us some water."
"F-from where?" Clyde couldn't see any water source around. Jacob pointed at a far away point, where Clyde could now see a small movement, comparable to a river.
"Be careful, Clyde." Bryce didn't forget to warn his apprentice. Thinking about it, he realized the advice he had just given was not really useful, but a good way to express concern, regardless.
"Okay!" Clyde ran towards the river with small steps, carrying the bucket with him. He stopped for a moment, considering riding Gale to there, but he changed his mind because they had ridden the horses all day long.
Watching the young ranger become a small dot on the horizon, Bryce started taking the sleeping bags out while Jacob took care of the horses. Pegasus, Glade's horse, was restless to meet his owner again, so the blond ranger had to calm her down as much as he could.
"Such a quiet kid, that Clyde." Jacob forcefully tried to start a conversation.
"You aren't the first one to say that." Replied Bryce, as he sat down and laid his back to a rock.
"Still, he has come a long way, I think." He continued, as Jacob looked at him, finding it hard to understand.
"Well, at least he knows when to shut up, unlike mine." Jacob put on a gloomy smile.
"Damn it, I give up. I miss the impish brat." He sighed.
"Took you a while, didn't it?" Replied Bryce.
"You know that I'm not a soft, teddy bear kind of guy like you. It's hard to say stuff like these." The tired ranger spoke back.
"Teddy bear? That's a new one." Bryce laughed, as he took his hairtie off his head. The tie was holding his hair up just right, but the scalp of the ranger hurt from all the travel without rest.
"Are you going to sleep before your apprentice returns? Some mentor you are." Jacob jokingly insulted the long haired ranger.
"Well, if he doesn't keep quick, I might give in eventually." Bryce exaggaratedly yawned.
"What's holding him so long, anyway?" Jacob questioned, but the mentor didn't know the answer either.
Finally reaching the river, the curly haired apprentice took a minute to catch his breath. He held the folded bucket and opened it up, then took out three water bottles as well. Going out to bring water was Clyde's favourite chore after foraging, because he liked to listen to the sounds of the water and the forest animals, being soothed by a few minutes of alone time. After filling the last of the bottles, he took the bucket and started to head back, before he noticed a dark figure inside the water.
Startled, the child dropped the bucket and reached into the almost clear water of the river. Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped around his own and started to pull him in. Struggling to stay on ground, Clyde pulled the dark figure above the ground and couldn't believe himself over what he saw. The scarred, bloody person in front of him was none other than Glade.
"Ah... Clyde, is that you?" The ruined apprentice spoke, breathing heavily.
"It's... it's embarassing to be seen like this." Even at the verge of death, Glade was capable of talking more than his friend. Clyde responded with nothing but tears on his eyes. He rummaged through his salve bag, thinking of different solutions for many different wounds on the poor kid's body. He panicked and dropped a few of the packs onto the ground, and looking through them, he finally decided to use one.
"Don't bother... Just bring me to him... To Jacob." Glade was still breathing slowly.
Clyde applied some salve onto the wounds and tried to carry Glade to the open field, but he didn't have the strength to. Not knowing what to do, the stressed child sat next to his patient and waited for help to appear. He couldn't risk harming Glade or abandoning him, so he hadn't got anything more to do.
As time passed, Clyde felt more anxious. Despite the salves, Glade's body was getting cold and the damp clothes were not helping. As a breeze swept through the field, He took off his cape and laid it over the wounded apprentice.
"I-I'm sorry... I failed." He stuttered.
"Failed... what?" replied Glade.
"I can't do anything... at all. It's useless..." Clyde paused for a second.
"I'm useless..." He tilted his head down and the memories and regrets flowed into his mind and out of his eyes.
"Don't cry... Rangers don't cry." said Glade.
"Yes, they do!" Bursted Glade with teary eyes. "When they are desperate... Everyone cries." He buried his head on his arms.
Suddenly, the apprentices heard the noise of the ranger horses stomping the ground, and their mentors jumped down from their steeds.
"Clyde, what's wrong?" Bryce rushed towards his apprentice. "Is that..."
Jacob bolted before he could finish his sentence. Glade looked at his mentor and gave a sorrowful smile.
"I'm sorry, I was careless." The wounded apprentice apologized while panting.
"You fool! Who cares about that anymore?" Jacob embraced Glade and let out a single tear. Then he picked him up and rushed back to the horses.
"What are you waiting for, an invitation?" The hot headed ranger scolded Bryce and Clyde, back to his usual self.
"Well, you've heard him. Let us go." Bryce smiled gently at Clyde. The teary eyed apprentice wiped his face and followed his mentor to their horses.
"...I think they are going to go for another assassination, but that's just a hunch." Glade, wrapped in a blanket with his wounds treated, had just ended a long report of what he saw as a captive and what he thought about tbe situation. Astounded by his bravery and dedication, the other rangers felt proud, yet also concerned for him.
"If I see that purple peacock, he's mine." Commented Jacob, feeling intense rage at his apprentice's captor. Seeing the scary face he made, nobody could object.
"Now that we are set, I think we need to plan out next steps for the mission." Bryce returned to their main topic.
"So, we just need to seize the central camp, right?" said Glade.
"It's not simple like that." replied his mentor.
"First, we need to get more information about their target, and of course, their client."
"But isn't the target obviously the king?" Glade chimed in again.
"Well, the client is the more important piece here. This is most likely an attack from outside countries." Bryce explained.
"So, what do we..." asked Clyde with a quiet voice.
"I suggest we part ways here." said Bryce.
"What? Why?" questioned Jacob.
"Is there any reason to?"
"I think so. If Clyde and I work on distracting them, you and Glade can blend in and get some info. Then we can strike after we have weakened them." The long haired ranger explained his plan.
"That sounds like a good plan, Bryce!" Glade felt excited again.
"I'm still not sure... What do you mean by 'weakening' them?"
"Well, about that..." Bryce scratched his head, half smiling.
"Clyde, any ideas?"
"Er..." Clyde thought for a while.
"Sleeping... sleeping drugs?" He concluded.
"That's it! Glade, you said in your report that there was a well in the camp area, isn't that true?" asked Bryce.
"Yes, that is correct! The river is too impractical to get water from." replied Glade.
"Then it's simple: we drug the well, you mix into them and we take their leader."
"They have a leader, huh... Weird thing for Genovesans." Jacob felt confused by the abnormal movements of the assassins.
"Well, that only makes things easier for us." Bryce concluded the brain storming.
"Well then, are we going to go with this?" He asked for the agreement of the other rangers and got pleased to hear nobody objecting.
"It's decided, then. Let's start!"
The final movement against the Genovesans had begun.
Part 11: Battle of The Twin Hills
Climbing the green hill facing the central camp, The young apprentice and his mentor stopped to take a break.
"I have to admit." said Bryce while panting. "I didn't think it would take this long."
Clyde kept his silence and took his time to catch his breath. Looking down the spot, he could see the small figures of Jacob and Glade slowly leveling the other hill. The blond apprentice noticed a faraway Clyde staring at him and waved at him. Then he got pulled away by his hot headed mentor, likely whispering him to stay put.
"Let's finish this, shall we?" Bryce kept climbing after drinking a little out of his water bottle. The curly haired apprentice followed him to the top of the hill.
After they made it to the top, Clyde couldn't help but look at the view from up the hill. The river they passed through was now barely thicker than his thumb. Along the empty plains, the only other thing that could be noticed was the other hill, in which Clyde couldn't see their allies anymore. Surrounded by two forests divided by a small pathway, the hill looked really strange to the blue eyes of the apprentice.
"Get a good look, Clyde. Burn it to your memory, if you can. We need to memorise the camp's layout, or we can't make a successful shot." Bryce was unsure of the tactic he devised with his apprentice. While it made sense, shooting from one hill to another was somewhat challenging to Bryce, and downright impossible to Clyde. Regardless, the long haired ranger took out his arrow and tightly tied the sack his apprentice gave to him to the head of it.
"Watch and learn, Clyde." He smiled at his apprentice. "The sack drags down the angle a bit, so you need to do your calculations carefully." He got ready to shoot the arrow from his longbow and pulled on the string.
However, suddenly feeling a presence, he dropped the bow to the ground and drew his saxe knife so fast, Clyde thought it appeared out of thin air for a second.
Right from their backs lunged an assassin in purple clothes, with a sharp knife in his hands. Being prepared, Bryce countered the attack easily with his own knife and threw the Genovesan back.
"Clyde, you do it," He said in a heartbeat, as he eyed his opponent fiercely. "Now!"
The nimble assassin was switching hands while swinging his knife, making unexpected counterattacks. Bryce has an advantage because of his height, but having to face against an opponent almost as fast as him, that didn't seem to matter much. The assassin in purple once again lunged at his neck with the knife in his hands, and this time, the seasoned ranger grabbed the arm of his opponent and attacked with his knife, only to be countered in the same way. Being locked in a position, the fight was now purely physical. Clyde was standing there, unsure of whether he should help his mentor or shoot the arrow. His bow shaking in his hands, he didn't feel like he could do any, and his doubts started crawling on his back again.
"Clyde, our last chance!"
"B-but I..."
"You have to try!" The tall ranger screamed in desperation, and he started pushing the assassin harder, preventing him from escaping the lock.
Clyde got reminded of an old memory, and suddenly returned to reality. He had to do as his mentor said, because they believed in each other, and because he had trained for this moment. The ginger haired apprentice grabbed his bow, swiftly picked the arrow binded with the sack of drugs, and pulled on the string, fully concentrating on the stone well right in front of the camp. Releasing the string, he saw the arrow fly off, piercing the skies. Then he saw it go towards the well and hit the edge, rolling in the hole afterwards. He had done it. He had tried and succeeded, just like he did before.
Turning behind, Clyde saw Bryce laying on the ground, struggling to pin down the assassin. Seeing more purple silhouettes down the skirts of the hill, Clyde took a deep breath and signalled their ranger horses to come for their aid. Then he took his own knife, and feeling his heartbeats in his mouth, tried to stabilize his feelings.
Bryce stood up painted in bright red, having to cut the throat of the assassin open to survive.
"Keep alerted, Clyde." said the panting mentor. Clyde nodded and looked down at the skirts again. The assassins were getting closer, but Gale and Feder were faster. Coming from their behind, the horses rammed into the group of Genovesans with all their might. Shocked and scattered, the assassins couldn't notice the duo of rangers aiming right at them. With two shots from Bryce and a shot from Clyde, the group was fully neutralized. Quickly scaling down the hill, Clyde and Bryce went to check their horses' condition. Relieved to see them uninjured, they could finally be relaxed.
"You were so loud back then, what a shocker!" Gale poked fun at his owner.
"We did everything we could." Stated Feder humbly.
"Well, thanks for having our backs, I guess." Bryce smiled. Clyde stared at his mentor, still stained with crimson blood. He was not bothered fighting bad people with arrows, but seeing one slaughtered like an animal was something else. Being reminded of the sight, Clyde felt queasy.
"Are you scared?" Asked Bryce. Clyde shook his head as to say no, but his mentor could read through his heart.
"You'll get used to it. I wish you didn't, but it's a part of the job." He started to climb back up the hill. The young apprentice followed after, and took a quick look at the other hill. Taking the signal Bryce gave out, Jacob and Glade had started their own mission.
From then on, they needed to keep an eye on both their allies and the camp.
"It's up to them now." said the mentor with a determined voice.
"Do you have the clothes ready?" asked Jacob.
"Here, it's ready!" Glade responded with his usual excitement. The purple cloth and feathered purple hat he took out of his bag were no different than their cunning foes' attire.
"Good. Now, we wait for them to draw water from their well. We'll have to stay hidden."
Capturing the sight of the camp from two different sides, the rangers silently waited for their prey to catch the bait. As the last strands of sunlight slowly disappeared, the hill forest went dark and gloomy by minute. Struggling to keep his curiousity suppressed, Glade started bugging his mentor.
"Are you sure you will be fine on your own? Are you?"
"Yes, I am. You'll just get in the way." His mentor answered, annoyed. In reality, he was worried for his apprentice's wellbeing and didn't want him to be hurt. He also knew he would object if he had told the truth.
"Okay then..." Glade paused for a second.
"How will we get information as they sleep?" He asked curiously.
"The drug takes time to show its effect, or so that friend of yours said." replied the mentor, out of focus as he delved into other thoughts, scratching his goatee. "That's enough questions." He quickly added as his persistent apprentice looked at him with an endless queue of questions sparkling in his eyes.
It was nearing midnight as the silver moon rose up and showed itself over the cloudy, dark sky.
"I'm out. Watch my back." said Jacob quietly, and donned the purple cloak and the feathered hat, slowly walking towards the camp, leaving his apprentice behind.
Under the dim light of the moon, the Genovesan assassins were mostly in their tents, off to a deep sleep after drinking from the drugged water. The campfire had already charred away, leaving a small cloud of smoke behind. The tents were located close to each other except for the larger central tent, which was the one that housed the leader, the blond ranger thought. Under the soft, grassy soil of the hill, he treaded the ground carefully, making his way to a convenient spot covered with the shadows from the tents and sat there, closing his eyes as if he had fallen to sleep. However, the truth was that the cunning ranger could see everything from the hidden spot. Keeping a watch on the campsite, Jacob waited for someone to pass by, preferably higher on the hierarchy of the assassins.
Suddenly, a couple of sluggish men in purple walked right past him, barely conscious enough to walk. The skilled ranger shifted his attention to the sleepy mumbles of the small group of assassins.
"Darn it... I feel drained for some reason." Said the short, grumpy one. He wasn't capable of walking in a straight line, constantly bumping into the other assassin beside him.
"Don't we all? Might be the weather." Said the taller, thin faced assassin, vibrating in the cold weather as a light breeze went around his hair from underneath his hat. His friend beside him scowled furiously, but the drug had taken away the fierceness of his movements. "Who's idea was it to set the damn camp on a hill, anyway?"
"Mine." Someone suddenly appeared behind the short assassin, and glared at him with his cruel, dark eyes. Looking at the fear in the grumpy man's face, Jacob understood that it was most likely the leader himself.
"O-oh, Giovanni! I didn't me-"
"Silence." the scared assassin's sentence was cut by the leader.
"Why are you loitering here, you have the guard shift, you imbecile!" He followed with fierce words, and kicked the assassin in the gut, watching him hurry to his position. The tall assassin beside him was standing still.
"And you," Giovanni poked him in the chest. "You let the kid run away and are not done with cutting the logs, either!" He said threateningly.
"Don't force your luck." He walked away to his tent. Jacob carved it in his mind to take revenge from his apprentice's captor later, then tried to move towards the central camp.
"And what are you doing?" He was caught just before moving, so he froze still.
"Come here, get up!" The leader rose and Jacob did as he said.
"Why are you lying around?" He said.
"Answer me!" He added furiously after Jacob mumbled like he was sleeping earlier.
"Why aren't you sleeping like everyone, boss?" Jacob asked back in an uninterested tone.
"Well, I've drunk from my own bottle of water, unlike you rascals." Giovanni replied, surprisingly calm. Jacob sensed an unnatural feeling, and paused for a few seconds.
"Do you know who did this?" He said.
"Well, let's say... I do now." Giovanni replied, swiftly throwing a knife at Jacob. Instinctively, he leapt aside and dodged the knife barely, his arm cut lightly.
"Don't be an idiot. Who would be able to question me in a sober state, other than a nosy ranger?" The cruel leader unsheated another knife from his belt and swiftly attacked the blond haired ranger. Dodging the Genovesan's tricky slashes with precision was no problem for the seasoned ranger, but to strike an opponent that can use both hands, he'd leave an opening for each attempt at attacking. As he kept dodging, he felt he was running out of space. His opponent was forcing him to the edge of the hill. Finally finding a spot to retreat, Jacob leapt backwards and drew his own knife out. The sound of leather rubbing against metal made the cruel assassin's blood boil. He resumed his continous attacks, but was countered with surprising force from the ranger in front of him. Each strike being deflected, their duel entered a state of balance. However, this wouldn't last long. Half awake assassins had already started to rise from their tents, regaining their consciousness after hearing the familiar sound of clashing metal. Seeing the tables turn, Jacob started to feel desperate. The other assassins were drawing their knives, raring to join the fight, even in their drunken state.
The blond ranger refused to lose his cool and continued the knife duel, aware of his surroundings being filled with that disgusting shade of purple that he quickly came to hate.
"Well," he thought to himself. "at least Glade is safe."
Suddenly, he heard a loud voice coming from the entrance of the camp.
"March, Pegasus, march!" The apprentice, with a dedicated look in his sparkling brown eyes, rode his white horse full force into the horde of Genovesans and tackled them, scattering and destroying their formation instantly.
"What in the world-" Giovanni got distracted by the ruckus that happened, and made his first mistake in the duel, paying for it with a sharp pain in his stomach. Before he could see it, the large knife was removed from the spot, leaving blood to spill everywhere around the assassin leader.
Leaving his horse to fight for her own, Glade joined in the fight with his recurve bow, striking the stunned Genovesans one at a time. Seeing his apprentice in a vulnerable state, Jacob arrived to his help with his knife still in his hand. Struggling to stay focused, the mentor-apprentice duo went through the horde of half awake Genovesans, covering for each other. As they felt overwhelmed, they heard the hissing sound of arrows travelling the skies. Knowing what was about to happen, Jacob smiled devilishly. Lots of arrows, long and short, rained onto the Genovesans scattered onto the hill, yet Glade and Jacob were unharmed. The few amounts of Genovesans left were knocked out by a hit from Pegasus, and now the mentor and the apprentice were standing amidst a sea of purple, feeling lost as to where to begin handling the situation.
Going through the camp, Jacob searched for any leads to the client of all these assassins, while Glade signalled Clyde and Bryce to come over.
"So, is the leader really dead?" Asked Glade.
"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Answered the mentor sarcastically. However, he was mad at himself for actually killing the person they could benefit the most from. Wondering if it was alright to let it pass as a self defense, he continued rummaging through each and every tent.
"Good work out there." Bryce came in with his usual cheery voice.
"Yeah, you almost killed us, though. Careful where you aim that thing." Jacob poked fun at his friend.
Seeing them spend time searching for evidence together, Clyde approached Glade, who was petting his snow white horse on her nose.
"You did good, just like a ranger's horse, Pegasus!" He smiled.
"Um... Hi." Clyde greeted him shyly.
"Ah, Clyde!" Glade's smile grew as he saw Clyde move towards him. "We were great, weren't we? I think we'll be excused for that time!"
"Y-yeah... I hope so." Clyde couldn't think of anything to say, so the pair of apprentices just enjoyed a moment's silence together.
"Hey, you kids come here!" Jacob's voice rung out of a tent. Turning their heads towards the direction the sound came from, the apprentices proceeded to the central tent.
Inside the central tent was a rather plain spot, with a few cushions and scattered files on the floor. The slowly fading moonlight could barely leak inside. Jacob had a parchment in his hands, reading it with Bryce, who sat next to him. Clyde went to Bryce's side and took a look at the note on the parchment, and so did Glade.
"To the Genovesan Assassin Guild
I need the person with the title 'Head Ranger' of Araluen dead. I have gold to offer, as much as..." Glade's face went more disturbed the more he looked at the outrageous number written on the agreement.
"Genovesan Assassin Guild... Does thar even exist?" Glade asked again.
"Likely didn't exist prior to this request." Answered Jacob. The mentors both donned serious faces.
"The target was... Gordon?" Clyde spoke quietly, but surely surprised.
"Apparently so. This explains why they specifically aimed for him back then, doesn't it?" Bryce felt like he was piecing things together.
"It's a shame we don't have anyone left to question." He spoke again.
"Like they would speak a word for us." Jacob laughed in a pessimistic tone.
The mentors collected what they needed from the tent, then went out with their apprentices.
"Now then, where is the leader?" Bryce asked.
"Wasn't he dead already?" Asked Glade.
"He should be. Nobody can spill that much blood and still be okay." Jacob replied.
However, when they returned to the spot the assassin leader once laid, they noticed that a trail of blood went off the hill and into the river.
"Just like I did..." Glade looked down the hill with a disturbed look on his face. Jacob's face went red and his veins showed up over his hands.
"Curse you, that cunning little peacock!" He shouted fiercely. Bryce tried to calm him down as he kept mumbling angrily.
"He can't be too far. We'll catch up with him." Bryce said.
"No, Bryce. This is my responsibility." Jacob refused his friend's offer for help.
"Yours is to deliver those papers to the castle as soon as possible." He added.
Bryce looked at the blond ranger's eyes with concern.
"He couldn't have ran too far, it's just like you said." Jacob tried to reassure Bryce once again and then went to get his own horse. Knowing it was pointless to argue further, Bryce turned to the apprentices.
"Come on, we're going back."
"We? I am coming with Jacob!" Glade objected.
"No, you are not. You have to watch the hut for me." Jacob was adamant on keeping his persistent apprentice away from danger this time.
"But-"
Before Glade could say anything, Jacob had already left on his horse.
"Glade, are you coming?" yelled Bryce from the back, having set the horses and the equipments. Clyde was already on his horse.
"I am!" The blond apprentice yelled back, running towards the group. Inside his heart, he wanted to go with his mentor, but knew that he was thinking the best for him. Just like a true ranger, thought Glade.
As the trio of mounted rangers went down the hill steadily, the first lights of morning were breaking out, shining a light on their path.
Part 12: The Bronze Leaf
A large crowd was waiting on the big, majestic hall of the Redmont Castle. Dressed for the occasion, many important people were seated on the chairs that filled the large room. Behind the elevated stage, a small ceremony for two people was about to start. Behind the stage, those two people, who were also two apprentices, stood beside their mentors.
"Um... Is this... Is this necessary?" Clyde was even more flustered than usual while talking. The curly haired boy's freckled face was tinted with a light shade of pink, his stares locked on the floor.
"Of course it is!" Bryce said merrily. "Now, don't be shy and walk in after your name is called. Everyone is waiting." He continued.
"C-can I go with you?" Clyde looked at his mentor desperately.
"No, I'm afraid I can't come when they only call your name. It is not how these things work, you know."
Across the room, Glade was confidently chatting with his own mentor.
"I'm glad we are accepted! After all we've done, I feel like a ranger already!" Glade excitedly said as he shifted his weight from one leg to another.
"Hold on, hold on. This is just the beginning. Let's see you say the same words after five more years of this." Jacob said, acting annoyed.
"I think it will be worth the effort with you!" Glade didn't understand a piece of Jacob's point.
"I didn't joke around saying I'd make life hell for you, just you see!" Jacob violently stroked Glade's hair as he laughed.
Looking at them, Clyde felt a bit calmer, yet still he didn't have a smile on his face.
"Come on, if you were to smile only once in a lifetime, this would be that moment. What are you pouting for?" Bryce gently poked Clyde's cheek. His apprentice turned to him and gave a small half-smile to him.
"Everyone, please welcome the two brave apprentices that saved His Majesty's life!" the voice of the Baron rung from the stage.
"Clyde and Glade!"
Clyde panicked for a second, but kept his cool and stepped forward, through the curtains that separated them from the crowd. Glade walked beside him and they both approached the Baron with uncertain steps.
"Revealing a hidden assassination plot, these two young rangers deserve to be called heroes!" a loud applause filled the room in the form of clapping.
"Now, before we reward these young men, I will invite one more person: The Head Ranger, Gordon!"
From the curtains, Gordon came out with a serious face fully visible as his hood was removed. His green eyes, almost shut tight by his eyelids, didn't reflect the light in the room, giving him a threatening look even on the stage.
"Clyde and Glade," He started talking. "Surely, by putting the camp situation aside, we had made a big mistake. However, we wish to avoid making a bigger mistake by not allowing you two to be rangers. As such, you two shall continue your training for the remainder of your time as apprentices."
Glade's face lighted up, and he looked at Clyde, smiling. Clyde forced himself to smile back and tried to withstand the pressure he felt from many unfamiliar eyes staring at him.
"Thank you, si... Gordon." Glade fixed his mistake before anybody heard him.
"Th-thank you." Clyde bowed forward instinctively.
Gordon nodded, then took his place among the people seated in the front of the stage.
"Then, now I invite their respective mentors to reward them. Bryce and Jacob, please!" Baron's voice echoed in the room again.
Bryce and Jacob came in, with some thread like object sparkling in their hands. Bryce faced Clyde and stood on his bent leg to match his height.
"Congratulations, Clyde. You didn't seize the day, but the whole year." He smiled and put what Clyde finally recognized as a chain pendant around his neck. The bronze chain had a small, oak leaf shaped piece on it, the symbol of rangers.
Jacob had given Glade his pendant as well. The blond apprentice was smiling at his mentor, his sparkling brown eyes showing his excitement.
Finally finished, the ceremony carried on as a small celebration in the local tavern. However, displeased with the crowds, Clyde went out early along with his mentor, bidding farewell to Glade and Jacob. After they were separated, it would be a long while for them to meet again, as Jacob failed to find Giovanni and another mission was initiated in order to catch the assassin. The ranger of the Redmont Fief had busy days approaching.
"I'll keep writing to you!" Glade yelled as they slowly rode away from the Fief, under the soft light of the evening.
Finally returning to their home, Bryce and Clyde released a big breath of relief.
The young apprentice, lying on the bed in his small room, looked at the silver moon through the window, and thought to himself how his life turned around in just one year.
He sighed deeply, and turned away from the window and wrapped his blanket around.
For once, the young boy thought to himself, perhaps the lie he had told was worth it.
Story #1: Silent Ranger - Assailants in Purple
About The Characters:
Bryce: The kind hearted ranger of the Greenfield Fief. Pretty tall for a ranger and often ties his hair in a ponytail.
Clyde: A young boy from unknown origins. Has curly ginger hair, a pair blue eyes and freckles. Also has a natural talent in making medicine.
Merlin: A snarky, somewhat cold friend of Bryce who is also a ranger. Exceptionally talented at fighting and has a sharp mind.
Jacob: A hot headed ranger who is old friends with Bryce. Dependable, yet fearsome when people misbehave.
Glade: Jacob's apprentice. Has an odd personality and acts in unexpected ways. Apparently kind of lonely.
Gordon: The Head Ranger. Kind of old and dislikes unruly apprentices, but great at handling paperwork.
Feder: Bryce's horse. Rather melancholic and elderly, but keeps up with the others regardless.
Gale: Clyde's horse. Energetic, talented and trusty.
Pegasus: Glade's horse. Flashy and can jump for great lengths.
Genovesans: Assassins hired from a faraway country. The cruel hitmen wear their trademark purple cloaks everywhere they go.
Part 1: Peculiar Remedy
It was a silent evening where only the ominous hooting of the owls could be heard around the thick, mossy trees of the forest. However, little did the owls know, this tranquility was about to meet a quick end soon. As a young, beautiful maiden wearing a dress white as snow dashed through the forest with her steed, she took a concerned glance at her back before riding even faster than before, having seen her pursuers still haven't let go of her trail. Two men wearing purple capes and flashy caps looked at her threateningly as they readied their crossbows. The woman recognized the Genovesan assassins gaining on her, but she couldn't force her horse to ride faster, for that would bring with it the disasterous conclusion of being left without a steed in the middle of peril. As she held onto the letter she was supposed to deliver, she felt not the fear of death, but the fear of failure crawling on her body. But there was no time to idle, as the Genovesans both shot their crossbows at the messenger. Making a quick turn, she could barely avoid the first bolt, but she was not so lucky with the second, getting shot in the arm as she lets out a shriek of pain. Struggling to keep on her horse, she could only pray to make it out alive to the Redmont Fief, the place she was supposed to deliver the important news. However, the numbing pain from the poisonous bolt had already started to cover her entire arm. The assasins likely wanted the job done as quick as possible, and they would likely succeed, as she felt her eyes go dark by the moment.
Suddenly, a metal object came flying onto one of the assassins and threw him off of his horse with a loud noise. The other assassin, who was surprised by the sudden development, quickly got shot on the heart by a long, brown arrow, and fell off his horse as well. The young woman looked around, startled, as she saw her pursuers being silently taken out. She couldn't take any more stress, and gave in to the poison, collapsing onto the soft soil of the forest filled with grass.
"I was late, weren't I?" the towering figure uttered in shame. He was none other than the shaggy bearded Ranger of Greenfield Fief, Bryce. Taking the maiden with him, he collected his striker and his arrow, and quickly rode off after tying up the captive assassin, leaving the guards he brought with him to deal with the cold blooded Genovesan.
Taking out his warmweed salve, Bryce tried to clean the wound and treated it with his best, but he knew that it would not be enough. Genovesan poison was often made from rare herbs and would take rarer herbs to cure, leaving the patient completely desperate. The pure white dress was already soiled by bright red blood, and knowing he didn't have much time, Bryce hurried to his own Fief to have the brave messenger treated.
"I'm sorry Bryce, but this is simply impossible." said the Head Healer. The strained and hopeless voice echoed in Bryce's mind, until he could shake it off and reply:
"There should be something we can do, Mark. I can interrogate the Genovesan, an-" his words were cut off by the persistent healer.
"I already know what kind of poison it is, However, we can't harvest the flowers in this season, and they only take effect when fresh, so I'm afraid... I'm afraid..." the healer, Mark, was clearly at a loss for words. It would be out of place for the Head Healer to not know what to do, however, being appointed right after the death of his mentor, he was both shaken and afraid of failure. Still doubting himself, he came to his sense with the long haired ranger's voice, and felt his hand on his shoulder.
"You can do this, Mark. You know that I'll be on your side."
"I know, but... We are literally talking about doing the impossible right here. Can you really find these winter flowers in the middle of spring?"
"I won't forgive myself if I don't try. Now, can you keep her alive as I find it?"
Mark looked at Bryce with a determined face.
"I won't forgive myself if I don't try."
"That's what I wanted to hear. Good to have you back, Mark." Bryce gave the healer a small smile.
He got out of the lightly decorated, humble castle of Greenfield and rode on his horse, Feder.
"I was worried you would never return..." said the eyes of the gloomy horse.
"Hush you," said Bryce, "We have no time to play. This one is an emergency."
From the window of the castle, Mark watched the shadow of the mounted ranger go smaller and smaller, until he couldn't see it anymore, like he was supposed to.
Taking out one of his maps, Bryce marked down the nearby forests that could have the flowers in it. Greenfield, despite being a minor Fief, had its benefits. Rare herbs could be found lying deep in the forest, if only searched with expertise. However, the seasoned ranger had doubts about finding a flower that hasn't wilted yet. He rode on Feder through the thick woods, careful to avoid making noise, until the forest was too dense to proceed with a steed. He left Feder on a secure spot where his trusty horse could alert him of any suspicious activity, then went deeper inside the sea of green, and disappeared from view.
The forest was brimming with grass, trees and moss. The soft, brown soil beneath made it harder to tread without leaving any footprints, and the long, intertwining branches of the tall mossy trees blocked out most of the sunlight, leaving a dim, yet strangely peaceful labyrinth underneath. Searching for a lead, Bryce closed his eyes for a second and listened to his surroundings. Birds chirping, rivers flowing, squirrels wandering around, bushes rustling... Suddenly, he noticed he didn't feel any wind, which meant the bushes were suspiciously noisy. He turned around to take a look, but couldn't see anything out of place. Better safe than sorry, he thought, and cautiously approached the bushes. Lying beneath the leaves was a short, adolescent boy dressed in filthy rags.
The boy instinctually tried to run away, but Bryce grabbed his arm and held tightly. From the frightened face of the child, he could see that he meant no harm, but he wanted to be absolutely sure. After all, nobody had any reason to delve deep inside the forest in this season, let alone hiding in a bush.
"Who are you?" Bryce asked with a threatening voice. The boy didn't speak a word.
"Do you live around here?" He hesitated for a moment, but nodded afterwards.
"You were watching me. Don't think I didn't see." He avoided the ranger's glare and struggled to talk, but he couldn't.
Bryce sighed and kept dragging the boy with him as he kept searching around.
"Regardless, you are coming with me now, whether you are guilty or not." Bryce had a very important mission, and couldn't halt the process for minor things. He could deal with the child later, but the cure couldn't wait any longer. The patient was struggling to survive, and he couldn't possibly leave her to die.
However, his efforts were futile. He couldn't find any herbs or flowers, not even traces of other animals that might help him find the rare flowers. Despite this, he kept searching and searching until he could find a small, wilted white flower that matched the description perfectly. Sadly, the dry flower would be of no use, and there wasn't any of its kind around the place, either.
"I was so close... But I guess I have to keep searching around." He held a petal in his hands, sighing loudly. Time was running out. Suddenly, he felt something tugging at his clothes. That something was the young boy he took with him. Getting a closer look at him, he saw how malnourished the kid was. His curly, ginger hair were messed up, and his freckles barely showed from the layers of dirt on his face. Despite this, the boy kept his face straight. He was trying to tell the tall ranger something.
"What do you want?" asked Bryce. He was surprised at how silent and obedient his little captive was. The young boy pointed at the petals in his hands, and proceeded to make many hand gestures that made no sense at all. But Bryce caught up to his idea.
"You mean... There is a substitute for the flower?" He nodded and kept tugging the ranger's cape, pointing at somewhere deeper in the forest. Bryce didn't want to believe a young boy he barely knew about, but he didn't have any options left. Desperate for a solution, he made sure he was ready for a potential ambush, and followed after the kid.
With every step, the forest was getting thicker and thicker, and the little bit of sunshine passing through got drowned by the branches, leaving a dark area that blinded Bryce's eyes for a while, until he got used to it, and could notice that the boy had taken him into this damp, dark place for a reason. There were mushrooms growing from everywhere, in various patterns and lengths. Bryce watched the child look around the place, and as soon as he found what he was looking for, he signaled Bryce to come closer. The mushroom the boy picked was the same white color as the flowers.
"So this will work just as well as the flowers I was looking for, is that what you are saying?" said the ranger. The kid nodded silently. Bryce was not convinced yet, but couldn't risk losing a chance.
"Alright, then we are going back to Greenfield." Hearing this, the boy had a shocked expression printed on his face.
"I don't intend to let you go, you know. You should have thought this through before getting too nosy." He once again grabbed the child by his arm, and traced the path back to Feder, ignoring the frightened, blue eyes of the kid looking at him.
"B-but how!? How could anyone find such an unique alternative in that kind of place?" said Mark, questioning the ranger who came back with a handful of mushrooms in place of flowers.
"Is it any good?" asked Bryce.
"These mushrooms are indeed a rare alternative to the flowers I sent you after. I didn't bother telling you about it, because it is impossible to grow in these lands, but..."
"Well, thankfully, it was possible. Now, you can prepare an antidote with these, right?" Bryce tried to cut in politely.
"Yes, I believe we can. Leave the rest to me, Bryce. Thanks for everything." said Mark with a gentle smile on his face. Nothing could make him more anxious than being trusted with a life, yet nothing could make him happier than saving one.
"Hey, that's my line!" replied Bryce cheerfully.
"Please help her however you can. I'll be leaving now."
Getting one thing off of his chest, Bryce proceeded to another problem in his hands. He still hadn't decided what to do with the kid, but he could easily say he was warmed up to him after what happened.
"Okay, now we are back to you." Bryce approached the child.
"I will begin questioning you now, and you will answer correctly to every question, understood?" He asked calmly. The kid was still anxious but forced himself to nod regardless.
"What is your name?"
"C-clyde." He uttered in a whispery voice.
"I see. Do you have a family, Clyde?" He looked at Bryce's eyes for a split second, then took a big breathe.
"I don't."
"Where do you live?"
"I-um... I live..." He kept stuttering and couldn't answer.
"You don't mean you..." Suddenly, Bryce came to the realization that the child in front of him was not just wandering around in the forest, but trying to survive in it. That would explain the attire, and all the wounds and small bruises over his body. Feeling a little ashamed for misjudging Clyde, he tried to soften his voice.
"It's okay. You don't need to answer that last one. So, you haven't got anyone we could contact with?" Clyde shook his head.
"I see... I see." Bryce tilted his head forward and went deep in thought for a moment. Then, he just had an instinctual thought, maybe out of pity, or out of curiousity, or perhaps because he was impressed.
"Clyde," as he heard him, the young boy held his breath.
"Would you like to be my apprentice?"
Part 2: Ranger's New Apprentice
The night had already fallen by the time they started riding to Bryce's hut. Greenfield was greeting Clyde with a taste of fresh air and the big town square drawing a lively portrait. Feder's hooves made clunky sounds as they went past the cobblestone roads and the small bridge that was built over the river that flows through the fief. Past the river, more and more trees started to appear, finally leading them to a moderately sized hut made from oak. A bit away from the hut was a humble yet sturdy looking stable, and towards the back of the hut laid the woods. Jumping off Feder, Bryce helped Clyde down.
"Alright, here we are. Did you like Greenfield?" Clyde kept silent, as usual. However, the adept ranger could read from his face that he was indeed pleased to be there.
"I see. Not very chatty, are we? That's fine. I'll be going to the stable to take care of Feder." He pet the chestnut coloured mane of the ranger horse.
"You can go inside the hut. Try to get used to the place, okay?" He went on his way.
After handling the stable work, Bryce approached his home and went inside. He was greeted by Clyde, who was sitting on the wooden chair that was clearly too tall for him. Bryce was not used to having other people with him in the hut, and hasn't had any apprentices before, either. He felt excited at this new opportunity to try all the interesting ways a mentor could interact with his apprentice, being reminded of his own experience.
"So, how did you find the place?" he said. Clyde didn't give a response aside from a short nod, leaving Bryce disappointed.
"You don't like it that much, do you? Well, it is true that I haven't taken care of the place for a while... If you don't like it this way, how abou-" he stopped talking, examining the room, the clean curtains, the dining table with not even a speck of dust on it, and the freshly dusted rug... The room was looking clean... Too clean.
"Did you clean this place while I was gone?" Clyde nodded to his surprised mentor's question.
"You don't talk, you do chores before being told... Aren't you the apprentice all rangers dream to have?" He smiled at Clyde, who looked away.
"Still, it is okay to ask questions once in a while." He added. "Aren't you curious? I thought you wanted to be a ranger."
Clyde got off the chair and looked through the big window with empty pots lined up in front of it. Was he even listening to Bryce? The shaggy bearded ranger wondered.
"Well, in any case, just clean up and sleep for now. You must be tired from doing all those chores." said Bryce, and he yawned loudly before taking out several files from his bag.
"I'll be reading these files- Oh, don't worry, you don't have to do these, not yet."
Exhausted, Clyde went to soak in warm water, and only after wearing the new clothes he got from his mentor he realized that he didn't know where he was suppsed to sleep.
"What's the matter, Clyde, need any help?" said the tired voice of Bryce. After looking at the confused face of his apprentice, he also realized that he hadn't shown Clyde his room, so he walked over to the door with the curtain, which was right next to the bathroom Clyde walked out of.
"Open the curtain. This is your room, see?" Clyde went in and found himself in a small room with a comfy looking bed, a wardrobe and a tiny window of its own. There was even a green rug covering part of the wooden floorboards. Looking at the excited face of the young boy, Bryce cheerfully pat his back.
"You liked it, didn't you? I'm glad. There are some friends of mine that suggested I should lock you in a dark room for discipline or something, but I couldn't bear to do it. Unless..." Clyde suddenly got white as a sheet and shook his head from side to side, almost tearfully.
"Relax, relax! I was just messing with you. It is nice to see you can do more than nod, though." Bryce smiled at his apprentice's glaring face, then got out of the room telling him good night.
Clyde climbed up to his bed and gave himself to the soft embrace of the fluffy blanket. With the light breeze from the window hitting his face, he soon fell asleep.
As the golden strands of sunlight started flowing through the big window, Bryce tied his hair up, got out of his room and decided to wake Clyde up, but he was nowhere to be seen. Returning to the living room, he noticed that not only had the big mahogany table been already set, the bowls were filled with some sort of mushroom soup, with warm bread and fresh cheese next to them. Clyde was waiting for his mentor on the tall chair.
"Are you serious?" A surprised Bryce exclaimed. "How did I not hear you preparing all these?" Clyde looked away and started eating the hot soup after blowing on it.
"Well, I must admit that I'm impressed. But don't yoy think something is missing?" Clyde's face went white after hearing him, and as he rushed to get off the chair, he was stopped by his mentor.
"I'll handle this one. You've done enough."
Bryce took out the coffee beans and grounded them, releasing the wonderful smell all around the room. Then he started brewing the coffee, and poured it in two small cups with flowers delicately painted on them. Then he added a bit of milk in one of the cups and put them on the table.
"I don't like to put sugar in my coffee, but you look like you'd enjoy it with milk, am I mistaken?" he asked joyfully. Clyde looked at him in disbelief.
"How did I guess?" Bryce laughed. "Well, let's say that you show more on your face than you think." Clyde looked down and took a sip from the coffee. The freshly grounded liquid filled him with energy as he kept drinking. Little did he know, he had already taken a big step towards being a ranger.
As they kept eating, Bryce broke the silence once again.
"Say, Clyde, you aren't... Afraid of me, are you?" asked Bryce.
If this was the first time Clyde had met a ranger, it would be reasonable to feel scared, not to mention his first impression on his apprentice was dragging him around. The young apprentice shook his head, but then he avoided Bryce's eyes once again.
"I see. That's reassuring." said the mentor, completely unassured.
"Okay, we're done eating, right? Then it is time for our daily exercise. Follow me, Clyde." said Bryce, rising up from the chair and signaling Clyde to do the same.
The forest that faced the back of the hut was a tranquil place that was perfect for a ranger's training. Having made an obstacle course for a warm-up, Bryce showed his apprentice how the course works and the basics of warming up.
"If you don't warm up before training, your muscles won't be able to stretch. We don't want to injure ourselves, do we?" said Bryce. To encourage Clyde, he continued his exercise routine next to him. Clyde looked like a sickly child, but he still went through the exercises and the obstacle course in one piece. He fell into a puddle of water after failing to grab onto a rope after jumping around, but Bryce was satisfied with the result.
"Whew... Okay, the easy part is done now." said the energetic mentor. Clyde already felt tired, but didn't object or respond to Bryce.
As they went further into the woods, Bryce took out several weapons from his belt and put them on a large tree stump.
"Now, which one are you curious about the most?" he said with glee. His own mentor hadn't given him a choice on that matter, but the soft hearted mentor wanted to befriend his apprentice, or at least get them to talk, no matter how good he was at reading his face.
"Um..." Clyde meekly pointed at the large dagger with the leather sheath.
"Ah, a classic, that one. This is called a saxe blade. In case you are curious, it comes from 'sea axe'." said Bryce, and went on to explain the unique, durable smithy of the blade and how versatile the weapon was, from a basic camping utensil to a melee or ranged weapon. He sheathed the knife and took the throwing knife.
"This one has a heavier hilt, see?" he handed the knife to his apprentice, to get another nodding response. "That's because it needs to be stable when thrown, so that it will hit the target with the sharp side." He threw the knife to a large tree he had marked with paint beforehand and scored an easy bullseye. "Here, you try it now." He removed the knife from the body of the tree and gsve it to Clyde. The boy focused his blue eyes onto the target and threw the knife like he saw Bryce doing it. The knife flew too high and hit a branch with the hilt instead of the body.
"It is okay, I don't expect you to best it on your first try. Try to control how much force you put into it." said the focused mentor. The knife training kept going for a while until Clyde needed a small rest.
"Next up is the recurve bow. Have you ever used one?" asked Bryce, but Clyde hasn't even seen a bow this close before. The bow was curved on the sides to allow the apprentices, who were much weaker than the mentors, to shoot more accurately and comfortably. Bryce showed the confused boy how to put the bowstring on, holding arrows and pulling the string. He then threw a gauntlet at Clyde.
"Now wear this for protection, and let's see you try by yourself." He was sure Clyde would skin his arm with the bow had he not told him about the gauntlet. He couldn't be that cruel to his apprentice, he thought, but perhaps he would have thought otherwise if his apprentice was an unruly person.
Clyde shot arrow after arrow, but missed all of his shots. He gave a half scared, half embarassed look at Bryce, who was not mad at all.
"Keep trying. Don't forget my pointers, and try to not hold the bow that stiff."
Clyde kept trying and finally scored some hits on the tree mark. Expectingly looking at Bryce, he wondered if he did a good job.
"Well done! You are getting better. But remember, we will keep training until -and even after- you stop missing altogether." Could he ever reach such heights at archery? Clyde thought as he stood on the damp grass.
"...I am not picking up those arrows though, God knows where they are." said Bryce, chuckling. Clyde stared at the ground again, only to be poked by his mentor.
"Hey, cheer up, will you? You really will get better, I am not kidding." He walked back towards the hut. Looking at the target mark on the tree one last time, Clyde followed him through the forest path.
Returning home to a quick shower and a dinner made by group effort, Clyde went to bed and once again fell asleep looking at the stars through the window.
However, in the middle of the night, he woke up shrieking tearfully and drenched in sweat. He had seen that dream again. The one he thought he wouldn't anymore. Breathing heavily, he hardly noticed that Bryce was by his side, on his knees with a cup of water in his hands. The concerned mentor gave the cup to Clyde and let him drink, take deep breaths, and drink again.
"Who was it?" asked Bryce. He spoke with a serious yet calm voice, calming Clyde down a little. Surprised to be read like a book again, the tired boy couldn't even change his expression, looking at his mentor blankly.
"I... It's my..." He took another deep breath. "It's my uncle." He hoped that Bryce understood, just like he seemed to understand everything about him.
"I see. Your uncle..." Bryce looked at the floor blankly, then turned his face towards Clyde again. "I had someone like that too, someone dear to me... It has been years since, but I still hold it in my heart." He took out a dried white lily from his pocket. "Here, I used to hold onto this to keep myself calm, just like my memories, my feelings... I held onto it to remind me that she was by my side even then." Clyde took the flower with shaking hands and put it back on Bryce's pocket.
"You... you still need it." he uttered with a shy determination. Bryce first gave Clyde a warm smile, then a hug.
"I'm here, it is okay." said the tired mentor.
"I-I'm here... too." said back the tired apprentice. Somehow, somewhere inside, both of them could feel a deeper bond than they thought they could ever have.
Part 3: Trusty Steed
It was a few days after Clyde started his ranger training, and he was definitely improving with time. He could use the knives and the bow better, but the fact that he was bored of geography and politics lessons didn't escape his mentor's eye. Despite that, Clyde was striving to get better at his job each and everyday, and Bryce was silently admiring his determination.
"Well, that went better than last time." said Bryce, looking at the painted tree bark filled with arrows. Some of them were out of focus, but comparing to his first time, Clyde was glad with the result.
"No slacking, though. You still have a long way to go until your accuracy hits the limit." said Bryce. Clyde looked into Bryce's eyes with a questioning face. He had started to be more expressive, showing his curiousity more and more by each day.
"Well, you know the point, right? You need to make every hit a perfect one. Acceptable shots in training mean a lot less in an actual battlefield. Any mistake will likely prove fatal. You understand?" Bryce was a lot more serious when it came to life threatening situations, especially in a lesson. Clyde nodded in agreement. He could see how important it actually was to master accurate shots.
After being done with the training, Bryce went back to the hut to prepare a light lunch, while Clyde followed right after him, but he was stopped by his mentor.
"The training is done for now. I know, I know," he said to a persistent looking Clyde, "You still want to train, but we have an important thing to do today."
Not mentioning that particular thing was a big mistake for a mentor, because the curious apprentice would bug them until they finally revealed the secret. But Clyde wasn't exactly the most standard apprentice, and Bryce wasn't the most strict mentor.
"I'll prepare the lunch this time. You can rest and spend your free time, but be back in an hour or so. This is an opportunity you rarely get in a lifetime." Bryce was trying to poke Clyde's innate curiousity, but the silent apprentice had already left to the forest to collect herbs. "Sure, go pick your mushrooms, I guess." Bryce sighed loudly.
Clyde returned right before the meeting time, with a fresh batch of different salves. The young apprentice loved picking herbs and making medicine, and had even bought an encyclopedia of forest plants recently. Bryce didn't understand this peculiar interest at first, but then he recalled the profession of his uncle. After the curly haired apprentice put his products away, he excitedly approached Bryce. The tall ranger had been waiting for this moment.
"So... Are you curious about where we are going?" Clyde nodded.
"Well then... You missed your chance last time. Keep wondering as we walk there." He let out a laugh. Clyde pouted and glared at his cruel mentor, and followed right after him as he walked towards the bridge that stood over the small river of Greenfield.
The road was a short one, but for Clyde's short legs, it was a painful walk regardless. At last, the apprentice could see a large stable in the clearing they reached just a while ago, after taking several shortcuts through small forests.
Inside the stable was an old man, feeding the horses some apples.
"How are you doing, Poe? I hope the horses aren't giving you a hard time." Bryce greeted the man with a smile on his face.
"Oh, look who came for a visit!" said Poe with a cheerful voice. He walked over to the ranger after feeding the last apple to the horse.
"You grew a few meters since the last time I saw you, boy!" He added, in a sarcastic manner. Bryce let out a laugh, but as his last visit was a long time ago, the old man could very well be telling the truth.
"You probably know why I came. This is Clyde." Bryce pointed at his apprentice.
"Um... Hi." said Clyde shyly. He could have leapt a mile in conversations when with Bryce, but for everyone else, it was the same.
"Now this is interesting. Decided to find yourself a kid after all these years, my boy?" said Poe. As he kept talking, he walked over to take one of the horses out and walked it out of the stable and into the large field. Bryce and Clyde followed right after him.
"Now, Clyde, have you understood why we are here?" Asked Bryce. Clyde shook his head sideways, being more confused than ever.
"Well, you will understand now." He continued. Poe had already saddled the horse.
"This one is called Gale, kid." said the old man. "Why don't you try to ride him?" Clyde refused, having never ridden a horse on his own before, he felt insecure. Bryce coughed loudly.
"Are we perhaps forgetting some procedure, Poe?" He really didn't want Clyde losing his trust to his mentor, and once again sighed at the missing opportunities he had to give up for a healthier relationship.
"Ah, couldn't bear to see the kid flying off, could we? You were always soft like this, boy." Poe shook his head as if he was disappointed.
"Okay, okay. The password is 'Trust me.' now let's see the kid ride!" He smiled.
Clyde was even more confused. He turned to Bryce begging for an explanation.
"Clyde, remember Feder? You see, we rangers have horses trained specifically for the job. They won't let anyone ride them unless you give them the password. We'll teach the commands you can give by time." Explained Bryce shortly. Clyde meekly approached Gale. The light brown horse was really beautiful with his long beige mane and radiated a loyal aura to the young apprentice. Taking a deep breath, Clyde said the password.
"Tr-trust... Trust me!" Gale's ears twitched and he allowed the shy ranger to pet his head. Clyde stretched his hands up and held onto the saddle, climbing over the horse. The field's view was much better on top of the ranger horse.
The lessons on riding and commanding the horse begun shortly after, and Bryce and Poe teached all the tricks a horse could have to Clyde. Riding on Gale, the wind swept the ginger hair of the young boy aside, letting him feel the wind as he carefully rode his new friend.
They bid farewell to a smiling Poe, and started walking the way back home with Gale on their side.
"How was Gale, did he meet your expectations?" asked Bryce. Clyde gave him a dull look, as he couldn't have an expectation as he wasn't told about anything until then. Then he looked at Gale, and felt something inside, like someone was speaking to him from inside of his mind.
"You're new to this, aren't you? Don't worry, just trust me." the voice belonged to Gale, Clyde was sure of that. But he didn't know how to explain this to his mentor. As he tried to talk, Bryce was once again steps ahead of him.
"Your first talk with the horse, am I right?" He smiled at the inexperienced boy. "You'll get used to it." They kept walking, as Clyde wondered what else could be waiting in this new path he had taken. A new friend wouldn't hurt, he thought. It wouldn't hurt at all.
Part 4: New Friends
(Chronologically, this part is right after the fanfic competition submission)
It was getting darker by the minute and the curly haired apprentice was grooming his horse after the long day. He didn't ride on Gale a lot, but he just wanted an excuse to spend time with his steed. After finishing the grooming, he fed the chestnut colored horse an apple. As Gale chewed on his treat, Clyde watched with glee. He hadn't noticed his mentor was watching him from behind.
"You got used to Gale quickly, huh?" He said. Clyde turned back and smiled at Bryce.
"Good, good. Taking care of your horse is really important. I just finished taking care of Feder." continued the long haired ranger.
"Come now, let's sleep and get ready for tomorrow. You still have a few trials to go through." Clyde gave Bryce a small nod and followed him to the campsite the rangers had set beforehand. Along many other things, Clyde had learned how to control sleeping time and preserving energy in the last few weeks. It has been more than a month since he met his mentor, but he felt his life gaining more of a purpose and he realized it was getting better and better by each day.
Thinking about how much things had changed, he quickly gave in to the light breeze of autumn coupled with the tweets of the forest birds and fell asleep.
The next day started roughly for Clyde, with a diplomacy, war strategy and a practical geography exam, latter of which required good map reading skills. The silent kid tried his best in the diplomacy and war strategy exams, and could pass after spending a lot of effort on both. For the geography exam, he gathered around the instructor with other apprentices. Being asked to find the place marked on the map he was given, he could find his way through the woods scattered around the plains, but he got confused by the repeating patterns inside the forest and ended up half a mile away from the target spot.
Disappointedly meeting Bryce, Clyde let out a small sigh. But his mentor was not mad or nearly as dissapointed as he was with himself.
"That's a nice improvement Clyde, don't you remember when you couldn't tell between east and west? Keep your head up!" He lifted the face of his apprentice, who was staring at the ground in shame. When his eyes met with Bryce's, he turned his head away.
"You are spoiling him rotten again, Bry." chimed in Merlin from nowhere. Slightly startled, Clyde thought that he had a long way to go for using his camouflage effectively, as well.
"I believe it's called being encouraging, Merlin. Not everyone has to be as inconsiderate as you are." replied Bryce, glaring at him. Sensing another storm of bickering coming, Clyde silently left the pair of old friends and decided to take a stroll on his own. Since the practical exam was the last trial he had to go through, the tired apprentice thought he needed some well deserved rest. The golden rays of the afternoon sun shined through the trees, painting everything in its way into a sweet, light yellow. Clyde sat down near a tree trunk and tried to rest, until an unknown figure came and sat next to him. Turning his head to the stranger, Clyde noticed that the person in front of him was also an apprentice. The
boy had slightly long blond hair that was so fair it could barely count as white. He was slightly taller than Clyde, and had brown eyes that sparkled in the sunlight. After examining the stranger's looks, Clyde wondered what exactly this person wanted from him, but before he could muster the strength to ask, the blond boy started talking.
"Hey, you are the apprentice of ranger Bryce, right?" He asked, getting nothing more than a nod for an answer.
"I'm glad to meet you. My name is Glade and I am the apprentice of ranger Jacob. Our mentors know each other, I think?" He said with a curious tone. Clyde suddenly felt overwhelmed by this talkative person, so he kept his silence.
"Hey, I know this is sudden, but... What do you think being a ranger means?" said Glade with a sparkle in his eyes.
"Um... it's..." Clyde had never thought of something like that before, but thinking about the best thing about being a ranger, the warm companionship came to his mind.
"You don't have an answer? That's fine." Glade smirked to a confused Clyde.
"For me, being a Ranger means to sacrifice." He said with excitement. "For another ranger's sake, I would give anything, even my life. To me, being a ranger is a privilige. You can see that too, right?" Clyde had no idea what this stranger was talking about, but despite feeling creeped out, he couldn't lie about his life starting to improve right after he agreed to be an apprentice.
"Haha, you are a really good listener. People usually leave after my first sentence." said the creepy apprentice. "Your name is Clyde, right? I promise I won't forget that." Glade stood up and greeted his mentor, who had just arrived.
"Glade, you weren't supposed to sneak away like that. Don't make things difficult for us." said the annoyed mentor. He must be that Jacob, Clyde thought.
"My apologies, Sir! I'll pay for this mistake!" Glade gave his mentor a bow. Jacob let out a big sigh.
"What am I going to do with you... First of all, drop the 'Sir' already. We've talked about it. Also, I don't want you to pay with your blood or anything. How hard is it to make a simple apology?" bursted the mentor. Then he turned to Clyde and eyed the ginger haired apprentice for a moment.
"You must be Bryce's. Send my regards to him, won't you? Also, I apologize on behalf of Glade. He really is not a bad kid." He concluded the argument and took Glade with him. Clyde felt confused, but it felt good to interact with a new person in his ages for a change. He returned to Bryce, who had been waiting for him.
"Ah, There you are. You ran away, didn't you? It's fine." He said before Clyde could apologize. "I know Merlin and I can get a bit annoying when around each other. Just don't get out of the settlement."
As they took a stroll together, Clyde decided to talk about Jacob and his apprentice, Glade.
"You met Jacob? He was a friend of mine from my days of being an apprentice. What's his apprentice like?" asked the curious mentor. Clyde couldn't tell much about that part, for he didn't exactly know, either.
Watching the sun slowly start fading, Bryce looked around and turned to Clyde.
"It is about time for the meeting. There isn't anything you can do there, so why don't you talk to other apprentices? We need to know each other better as rangers, right?" He said, patting Clyde on the head and leaving for the meeting.
Now that he was alone, Clyde didn't have much to do besides wandering around the campsite. That was until he heard a familiar voice from behind.
"Hey, Clyde! Come with me for a second." It was none other than Glade.
Part 5: Getting in Trouble
"This is important, nobody batted an eye when I told them, but I know you will!" the excited apprentice approached Clyde.
"The rangers found a Genovesan camp nearby while they were scouting! But they said the Genovesans couldn't find the settlement and that we would end the gathering soon anyway. But isn't that a mistake? We could be missing a big chance here!" he continued on speaking, taking and giving breaths quickly. Clyde couldn't understand what was the missed chance and didn't know much about Genovesans either, but before he could react, he got hit by another series of comments from the blond ranger.
"You know that messenger that was barely saved in your Fief, right? Her message was meant for my mentor Jacob. It was a serious warning I can't tell anyone about, but the point here is..." He took another deep breath. "The point here is that I think us two should scout the area and report their plans!"
Clyde was startled by the sudden request. Not only this person he barely met was inviting him to some sort of mission, Clyde was sure it would be rejected by the mentors.
"B-but..." He could only say one word before Glade started speaking again.
"I know, I know! We shouldn't act by ourselves, but nobody cared when I asked them for help. They all think we should be hiding until the gathering ends. Well, what if we miss them?" Clyde couldn't object to his reasoning, nor did he think he could change Glade's mind. He was just concerned about doing something without Bryce's knowledge, but he knew Glade would get in trouble if he told anyone, and he didn't want the person who might be his new friend to be hurt either. Stuck in a dilemma, he ended up following Glade through the path that goes out of the campsite and rode on Gale.
"You look pretty tense. Are you afraid I might throw you off? I won't do that." said the trusty ranger horse.
"Come on Pegasus, let's go." said Glade. The white ranger horse he just jumped on started to head towards a road Clyde was not familiar with. Feeling more anxious by the minute, Clyde rode on Gale and followed the stubborn apprentice through the plains that followed after the woods that hid the rangers.
"Wh-where are we... going?" said Clyde, forcing himself to talk. He had realized that Glade wouldn't know where to go even if he knew about the campsite.
"It is marked on my map. I copied it from the map on the desk while everyone was away at the meeting." Clyde didn't even know if what the blond apprentice said was possible, but he had already went with him, and he felt like it was too late to object.
As they kept riding, Clyde started to feel thirsty. The journey to the camp was taking far too long for the two young apprentices to avoid being noticed, and he grew more restless as he watched Glade carefully peek at the map he supposedly copied and look into another forest that was larger than the one they left from. Finally, Glade lightly pulled the reins of his horse and upon seeing that they had arrived to their target, so did Clyde.
"This place is just the spot to hide the horses. They can alert us if someone comes by." said Glade, then he walked over to a nearby bush and peeked through the dense forest to find a trace of the campsite to follow. Clyde looked around himself. The forest was eerily silent, and with the last traces of the sun disappearing, the towering trees that surround the pair of apprentices had produced shades that blocked their view.
Clyde felt shivers coming up his spine. It was getting cold and the creepy feeling of the dark forest didn't help at all. Watching Glade, he noticed that he had already started to move. Scared to be alone, Clyde walked right after him.
"We won't be noticed in the shades. Tread carefully." Glade warned Clyde. Thankfully, Bryce had taught him well when it came to the arts of staying hidden. The thick forest slowly opened up in the middle, and revealed the hidden Genovesan camp to the boys.
Glade moved towards the camp and signaled Clyde to stand there. Clyde felt even more anxious, seeing him slowly approach the tents. Glade crawled through the tents and looked around. There was a big central tent that was likely where the leader of the camp was staying. Continuing his path, Glade reached the central tent with ease, avoiding the glance of the Genovesans patrolling the camp. Suddenly, he stopped and wrapped his cloak around him, disappearing from sight. However, Clyde could still see him, and was sure he was eavesdropping on a conversation. Suddenly, some people rose up and rushed to the back of the tent and Clyde's heart skipped a beat. Luckily, Glade has already been gone. Looking around, Clyde almost screamed when Glade touched his shoulder from behind.
"Come on Clyde, you ought to be more observant. It's not like a ranger to miss another ranger's movements." Clyde turned his back to find Glade smiling at him.
"You!.." said Clyde, with a mixture of annoyance and relief, and sighed deeply.
"You won't believe what I just heard. I knew it! I knew visiting here was worth it. My mentor Jacob will be glad to hear the news. And I'll mention you, too! Thanks for having my back." He kept talking with excitement. Clyde didn't really like being excessively praised, and was more interested in the information Glade had just received. But as he was albout to talk, he felt the presence of something... something dangerous. Reflexively, he shoved the talkative apprentice in the middle of his words, and a sharp arrow stabbed the ground where he stood a second ago.
Looking at the arrow in horror, Glade had noticed that not only they were noticed, but they were probably surrounded. Looking around, he noticed three men with purple clothes hidden inside the bushes. He took his bow and arrow in a flash and shot an arrow towards the Genovesans. The arrow hit the assassin in the thigh, and as he screamed in pain, Glade held the hand of a startled Clyde and yelled "Let's bolt!". Clyde didn't make him repeat, and the apprentices ran right back towards their horses. However the path to the horses was suddenly blocked by the men in purple as well.
Clyde and Glade both shot their arrows, but they missed, and their targets were too close to shoot anymore. Drawing their throwing knives, they resorted to fight back with them, but the cruel truth was the nimbleness of the professional assassins were too much compared to the small amount of training they had. Cornered by six Genovesans, Clyde and Glade stood there, breathing heavily. The one they presumed was the leader stepped forward.
"You nosy children have a lot of nerve, crawling around our tents. I would ask you to explain yourselves, but I'm afraid I eavesdropped to your little chit chat and decided you were not mere trespassers." seeing the dark smile on the face of the leader with a five o'clock shadow, Clyde didn't think they would survive even as mere trespassers.
"Now, you would have died more than thrice by the time we took to corner you, but as you can understand... We value information as much as you do." He took out a coin and placed it in Clyde's hand. Clyde noticed that he was shaking violently. Memories of the past filled his mind, and his legs felt weak. Glade was glaring to the men in purple, but he also felt scared. The cruel leader continued talking.
"Now. You flip the coin, if it hits heads, you die. If it hits tails, I'm afraid your little friend has to die instead. And the other one shall give us all the information we need." he let out a small laugh. Clyde's hand was still shaking. Glade fearfully looked at him. Feeling the weight of both of their lives, the ginger haired apprentice finally fell on his knees from the intense feeling.
"FLIP IT!" The leader screamed. Clyde backed away, but there was no room to back away into. The cruel man grabbed him by his collar and lifted him up.
"Fine. If you don't want to play, then you lose." He took out his knife, and as soon as he did, an big arrow hit him right in the chest with a loud noise, poking out from his back, killing him before he could even make a noise. Clyde fell onto the ground, and ran back to Glade in terror. More and more arrows appeared and rained down on the Genovesans, until every person in the area except Glade and Clyde was shot with so many that they looked like pin cushions. Suddenly, a tall figure came out of the bushes. It's Bryce, Clyde thought, and he immediately felt relieved. But he didn't notice the tears falling from his eyes, and Glade who stood right next to him, breathing heavily.
Bryce wrapped his arms around his shocked apprentice, and stroked his back as he kept crying. Jacob also came and started looking through Glade's body for any wounds, then hugged him fiercely and let him go just as quickly. Merlin walked over to them and shook his head, failing to understand the panic.
"Come on, let's go, Bryce. You too, Jacob. We need to tell everyone what happened." Said Merlin, with an annoyed tone.
"You can move, right, Clyde?" Bryce asked to Clyde, who nodded and stood up. Glade and Jacob also rose up and they started walking back to the horses.
"This is a disgrace. What are we even going to tell them? What will Gordon say?" Merlin started ranting. Gordon, the head ranger, was adamant about the rules of the rangers, and also disliked disobedient apprentices.
"We will talk this through once we get back. Gordon can wait." said Jacob. Still startled, Clyde and Glade kept silent. Bryce also kept silent, and they headed back to the gathering after riding on their horses.
Part 6: Proof
"What were you thinking!? I knew you were a bit adventurous, but how will you explain yourself this time?" yelled Jacob at Glade. Glade bowed down and spoke in a monotone voice.
"I'm sorry, Jacob. It was all my fault. A-and please keep Clyde out of this. I swayed him into doing this. I am the one who needs the punishment." He talked while breathing quickly.
"Clearly." said Jacob shortly, trying to contain his temper.
"What do you mean, keep him out of it? He agreed and went with you. When it comes to blame, he takes as much as you do!" said Merlin in a harsh tone. Glade went silent and so did Jacob. The short tempered ranger was still breathing heavily. Bryce looked at Clyde, but he avoided his stare. He was already ashamed, and didn't want to see the disappointment in his mentor's eyes. He could go through whatever punishment they give, but not the disappointment.
"We should go see Gordon now. You wait here until we return, we can go back to our Fiefs after that." Bryce said calmly. Glade and Clyde waited for the three seasoned rangers to come back. Glade looked at Clyde with an apologetic stare, but Clyde didn't want to see that, either. After a few uncomfortable minutes, Bryce and Jacob came back. With no apprentice to take care of, Merlin had already been gone. Jacob silently took Glade and left after waving Bryce goodbye apathetically. Bryce waved back, and took Clyde's hand, walking towards their horses to return home.
After they arrived, it was almost morning. Barely even getting any rest, the tired ranger and his apprentice entered the hut and placed their belongings. Bryce shut the door and grabbed a broom leaning onto the oak wall. Seeing him, Clyde's freckled face went white, then into a bluish color. He suddenly fell on his knees and backed away into a corner, shaking.
"Clyde, are you alright?" Bryce couldn't understand what was going on. Clyde looked at the broom in Bryce's hand. Upon realizing that, Bryce put the broom back. "I was just going to sweep the floor. I thought you'd be too tired." The look on Clyde face didn't change. Bryce slowly approached Clyde, but as soon as he touched him, he entered into a state od panic.
"G-gah! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" He started shouting.
"Clyde, it's okay, I'm not mad. We can talk about it calmly." said Bryce, trying to calm him down, but he soon noticed that it was not something related to yesterday's events.
"P-please don't hit me! I'll do what you say! I-I just..." Clyde kept going on. Bryce slowly stroked Clyde's head and held his hand.
"It's okay, Clyde. I'm here. I won't hurt you. I won't let them hurt you. It's okay, it's okay..." Clyde started to breathe at a slower rate, and stopped mumbling afterwards. He closed his eyes and unconciously leaned onto Bryce.
"Are you okay now?" said Bryce, standing up. Taking his hand, Clyde slowly rose up and nodded, staring at the ground. He felt more ashamed than before, and didn't want to say a word.
"Go sleep now. We'll talk later, you and I both lack the energy." said Bryce, and walked Clyde over to his bedroom. As he was about to leave, Clyde tugged his clothes. "A-am I still... your apprentice?" He said, looking at Bryce with gloomy eyes.
"Of course you are." He gently patted Clyde's back and the young apprentice went inside his room. Making sure he is asleep, Bryce went back to the living room and sat on the chair he pulled in front of the small chimney facing to the front of the window, taking a note out of his pocket.
"Bryce, this sort of behaviour is unacceptable for an apprentice. As he is yours, I don't have a say in the matter directly, but know that he failed the exams and lost his chance to get the bronze leaf. I advise you leave him to do a more suitable job." As he read the note from the Head Ranger again, he sighed deeply, tore it apart until the note became a pile of trash, and threw it all into the chimney, to fuel the coffee pot's heat.
After Clyde woke up, he changed his clothes and took a shower before walking into the living room that smelled like fresh coffee and toast. Bryce had prepared an early lunch for him. He did not know for how long he had slept, but he felt horrible regardless. He sat in front of Bryce and started nibbling on his toasted bread after putting some jam on it, but stopped eating after a few minutes and sighed, looking at the half eaten toast. The mentor, whose plate was untouched, looked at Clyde, and started speaking.
"Clyde, I was worried." He took a breath and continued. "What did you think would happen if we didn't notice you were missing? You're still too young! The only reason we were upset was because we care about you. It is not because of some silly rule or a military discipline. I..." He stopped talking and looked at a sobbing Clyde.
"I'm sorry... I wanted to... I just wanted to help." He said, while sniffing.
"I know. Just... let us know first. Don't be afraid of me. I know I tell you time and again but still-"
"I'm not afraid..." Clyde interrupted. "I... After Uncle... only you want me around."
Bryce was piecing things together, but he didn't feel like digging through the boy's past. "Your uncle..." As he started to talk, the gloomy apprentice looked away. "You don't need to talk about it. Just know that I'll be by your side. You can trust me, you can talk to me. I promise to do my best for you, Clyde." Bryce said reassuringly. After a few days, perhaps that was the first time Clyde, in the full meaning of the word, smiled.
"Now, don't think a bit of early sleep will save you from today's training! Are you going to finish that toast or not?" Bryce returned to more routine, more relaxed topics, bringing the calm feeling over to his apprentice too.
"I'll... I'll do my best!"
After a long day of riding, hiding and shooting training, Clyde and Bryce returned to the hut, ready to relax over a cup of coffee. Bryce watched Clyde place the coffee pot over the charred twigs in the chimney, and took out the messages he received from the pigeons earlier that day. One was adressed for himself, the other one was for Clyde.
Clyde took the letter Bryce handed to him after preparing the coffee.
"Dear Clyde, please forgive me for yesterday, it was entirely my fault. I failed as a ranger and deserve to feel horrible. But you don't, so feel good for me too! Also, you really are the only person who listens to me, so please keep being a friend. Best regards, Glade." Reading the letter, Clyde felt a strange, but happy feeling. Could it be friendship? He wondered. Then he looked over to Bryce, who had finished to read his letter. He turned to Clyde with a serious look on his face.
"Clyde, this is urgent. There are news about the Genovesans and I need to go investigate around Redmont with Jacob." He said. Excited, Clyde was about to ask for more details, but Bryce continued on.
"You can't come, Clyde. I'm sorry, but it is far too dangerous. You saw the assassins yourself, I can't let you in a mission like this for your first." He concluded. But Clyde was looking at Bryce with a determined face.
"My decision won't change, so don't look at me with those eyes." He reacted to Clyde's stare changing to a begging look.
"Only after you strike a tree a hundred times consecutively can you prove that you are skilled enough for this mission." said Bryce. Clyde knew that meant it was impossible for him to go. Bryce sighed and started gathering his items.
"I'll be going to patrol the town now. Then I'll return to take Feder and I'll meet with Jacob. Don't leave the town, alright?" He left the hut. Clyde went to the training spot and sat on a tree stump, not feeling good enough to try foraging or making any medicine. Looking around, his eyes locked onto the target mark on the nearby tree.
It was nearly midnight when Bryce finally returned, and when he opened the wooden door of the hut, he saw nobody in it. Looking for Clyde, he went over to the training spot, and saw the apprentice shooting arrows, one after another, and scoring a bullseye each time. From the heavy arrow marks on the slightly bent tree and the batch of arrows on the floor, Bryce understood that none of them missed. Not noticing his mentor, Clyde kept shooting and shooting, while sweat constantly dripped from his face. Getting closer, Bryce heard the young apprentice's mumbling.
"Ninety eight... ninety... nine..." He started panting heavily. But he shook his head, took his aim and hit another bullseye.
"One.. hundred..." He dropped on his knees and started laughing. "I did it! One hundred! I didn't... miss..." He almost fainted, but kept awake, struggling to walk over to the tree stump to get a quick rest. Watching him, Bryce almost felt a tear come trickling down his face. He walked over to his apprentice and sat next to him on the grass.
"You actually did that? Why did you do it?" Bryce asked.
"Bryce..." Clyde finally noticed his mentor.
"If I make it to hundred, I can go..."
"But you know I said it because-"
"I can go... You said that!" Clyde interrupted. Looking at his apprentice's begging eyes, Bryce let out a big sigh.
"Okay, you win. Now come."
"T-thank you!" Clyde happily started running towards the hut, but his mentor pulled him close and put his arm on his shoulder.
"I'm proud of you." said Bryce.
"Hehe... I'm... really glad." Clyde smiled at Bryce. Watching him gleefully run to the hut, with no trace of weariness, the mentor once again felt surprised at how fast the kid in front of him grew up mentally, how he opened up to people by time and...
"Heh." Bryce chuckled.
And of course, how to emotionally manipulate him.
Part 7: Interruption
The sun had already risen up, and under the bright, clear fields several miles away from Greenfield, Bryce and Clyde were riding their horses towards their mission. His hair scattering off his face from a mild breeze, the tall ranger mumbled to himself.
"From the moment I met those Genovesans, I should have known..." He looked at the wide open plains that would soon leave itself to a rough terrain filled with small hills according to the map in his hands. The path that went inside the cluster of hills were the shortest route from Greenfield to Redmont.
Seeing his mentor deep in thought, Clyde couldn't help but feel curious about his thoughts.
"Bryce?" He uttered hesitantly.
"Hm, what is it, Clyde?" replied the mentor, snapped out of his deep thoughts.
"Genovesans..." Clyde once again started speaking after taking a deep breath.
"Genovesans? Those are the assassins we faced last time. I had encountered a couple before. I should have guessed about their plan." Bryce once again eyed the map in his hands.
"The plan?" Clyde tilted his head curiously. He had thought that the so called assassins were just street thugs of some sort. However, considering Bryce's words, he was apparently mistaken.
"Well, the plan is... Those kind of assassins don't actually make plans, they just follow their client's and take their payment afterwards. That's why a big group of Genovesans just camping over that place is abnormal." Bryce tried to explain. But Clyde was sensing he was avoiding a subject on purpose.
"The plan is?" He once again asked.
Bryce sighed deeply. "You won't give up, will you? Well, at least I can tell that you are more curious than usual."
"Their plan is to assassinate the king."
Clyde went silent, even more so than usual.
"I'm sure he gets targeted once a week." Gale chimed in. Clyde didn't respond, but a chat between the ranger horses had already begun.
"Poor King, doesn't even get to rest like Bryce." Feder said.
"Hush, both of you!" Bryce silenced both horses. "There is no time for jokes."
"No time to play, no time for jokes... What a killjoy." Gale flipped his mane over.
"Such is the life of a ranger horse..." Feder replied with a sorrowful look. Bryce, once again, sighed deeply.
"This will be a long journey, Clyde. I hope you don't mind the horse chatter."
Clyde smiled at Bryce, then looked at the distance searching for hills. With no sight of any, the journey was definitely going to be a long one.
"Don't move, or we're done for." Jacob whispered to his apprentice, covering behind a large mossy tree that had its bark cracked. The Genovesan camp was nearby, and one faulty move could cost the mentor and the apprentice their life.
Glade wrapped his cloak around his body and stood still like Jacob had teached him. He could hear the footsteps of a patrol group almost next to them. Struggling to not breathe quickly, he suppressed his emotions and looked at Jacob for a lead. His mentor had a habit of scratching his hay colored beard whenever he thought of something, but he couldn't afford to move, so Glade couldn't understand if he was thinking of a plan or not. Looking around him, there were patrol groups behind them as well, completely surrounding the duo.
Still leaning his back towards the tree, Jacob signaled Glade to quickly advance to the other side of the path while avoiding the sight of the patrollers, who were currently out of sight. Glade moved silently and managed to cross the grass path that lead to the other half of the small woods around the assassin camp. He's safe now, thought Jacob. The horses were waiting in that half of the woods, so his apprentice could save his own life should they need to flee. As their objective was to keep the assassins on check, Jacob couldn't leave his spot. Should any of them leave the camp and ride to Redmont, he needed to prevent their exit by all means necessary. A group that large could pose a serious threat to the King.
Suddenly, one of the assassins approached the concealed apprentice slowly, having thought that he saw a movement inside the woods. Even if the assassin had one step between him and the blond kid, Glade tried to keep silent and to stand still. Looking closer, the patroller shrugged and turned his back. Glade got relaxed and almost let a big sigh out, but that was a big mistake. The Genovesan suddenly turned around, having caught the apprentice unprepared. Jacob saw the situation unfold and silently grabbed his bow. The patrol group from before was returning to the camp using the same exit, and hearing their footsteps, Jacob felt uneasy. The Genovesan that noticed Glade's movements slowly walked over and hovered his hands over Glade's short body, barely hearing the boy's racing heartbeats ringing through his ears. Suddenly, his hands touched the green fabric of the cloak, and Glade's disguise was no more. Jacob took a deep breath.
I knew I should have said no to him, he thought, as he raised his bow and took aim. The skirmish that he had foreseen was about to start.
It has been around a couple of days since the mentor-apprentice duo had embarked on their journey from Greenfield to Redmont. Feeling well rested from the camp they set up last night, the ginger haired apprentice was in a good mood. The same could be said for Bryce, but the shaggy bearded mentor was still tense deep inside. He was feeling like something was off, but couldn't put his finger on it.
"Um... Redmont..." Clyde mumbled. He was obviously curious about the Fief. Bryce had much to tell about it, but the tense feeling didn't let him speak for too long.
"Redmont is Jacob's Fief. It has a beautiful view, especially the castle. You should see those three towers forming it, quite the architecture." Said Bryce, then he awkwardly went silent.
"I-is Glade?.." Clyde kept on asking questions.
"Yes, he probably lives here with Jacob. Just like how you live in Greenfield with me." Bryce replied while scratching his head, taking another peek at the map in his hands. That something that made him feel worried...
"Ugh, of course! I should have thought of that, too!" He sparked up, startling Clyde. The tall ranger had suddenly realized that the abnormality was the marked place of the Genovesan camp.
"Bryce?.." Clyde uttered with a concerned voice.
"I'm sorry, Clyde. I was deep in thought." Bryce apologised. "While we secured the festival area as the King came to visit, Jacob was supposed to be stalking the Genovesan camps to prevent them from advancing. But I noticed that the camp was placed in a really weird position, directly on a path surrounded with woods everywhere but in the middle."
Listening to his mentor's explanation, Clyde didn't understand his point. Where was the abnormality?
"What's... weird?" He shyly asked.
"Well, for starters, they have patrol groups, but none of them go inside the woods while patrolling. Also, the camp is set in a noticable path, not very careful for assassins like them. I think they keep their main forces in the woods."
"That's... Is it?.." Clyde asked with a whitened face. He hoped that he had guessed it wrong but sadly, the mentor's answer was exactly what he thought of.
"It's a trap set for Jacob. I should have noticed..." Bryce set his eyes on the ground. He was ashamed he couldn't perform his duty in the fullest way, and he was really concerned for his friend. An uncomfortable silence filled the air for the next few minutes. Even Gale and Feder were not disturbing it.
"I... I trust them." Clyde said with a shaking voice. If Bryce could think of it, so should Jacob, he thought. He didn't want to believe otherwise.
"Yeah, I do too." Bryce looked at Clyde, and finally teared his eyes away from the map.
"We'll have to do our duty now. Ever seen a festival?" The mentor returned to his upbeat personality.
Clyde shook his head, as he had only heard of them before.
"You'll be surprised to see how crowded a town square can truly get. That's why our primary objective is to find a good spot to observe the event." Bryce explained. Clyde nodded and with his mentor's signal, they started going faster on their horses. The apprentice lifted his freckled face up and saw Redmont appear on the horizon. They were almost there.
Upon arrival, Clyde really understood what his mentor said: The town square was brimming with people and stands, so much that he couldn't figure out where to step. With his tall and imposing figure, Bryce was able to easily carve through the crowds. Clyde held onto his mentor's cloak and went through the town square with him.
"The King..." He mumbled.
"He surely will arrive soon, with Gordon on his side." Bryce replied.
"Gordon?"
"Don't you recall? He is the Head Ranger. The king must have invited him." He replied again.
"This festival is when the nobles and peasants find common ground. In the town square, as you talk to each other and listen to bards' songs, seeing the King from up close, it unites these people, no matter who they are." Bryce felt nostalgic as his apprentice days with Jacob came to mind. Despite being older than him and techically being in charge, he had never left Jacob's side in festivals, because his friend always knew where to have fun. Looking into Clyde's eyes, he hoped that one day, his apprentice would get to enjoy such small yet memorable moments with his friends.
Finally making it out of the crowd, Bryce and Clyde both used their cloaks to stay hidden. Scanning the crowds and everywhere around, they searched for traces of the assassins, but they apparently haven't arrived yet. Good, thought Bryce. Their appearance would guarantee Jacob's failure.
Finally, appearing on the big wooden stage set directly to the front of the crowd was the King and the Head Ranger, greeting the crowd and looking around. The King's simple clothing made him look more like a peasant than a king, excluding the silver crown sitting on top of his head. Perhaps this was the point, thought Clyde. It made the King look more sympathetic to the common folk. As they went on a long speech about unity of people and the importance of the festival, Bryce and Clyde looked around the stage and the crowds, but there was still no Genovesans. The Head Ranger, Gordon, was also searching through the place from where he stood, yet he also failed to see anything. As the speech neared its end, Bryce whispered to his apprentice.
"Okay, we don't have much time left. Either they didn't come, or we need to check deeper."
Better safe than sorry, thought Bryce, and they snuck behind the stage to take a different look.
The speech finally ended, and the villagers started scattering to their own jobs, while the nobles formed groups of several people and each group walked down the alley, returning home. It was over without an attempt, the duo thought as they waited on the back stage. Bryce was relaxed to see nothing happened, but was still on guard regardless. Clyde took a deep breath and stretched. Finally, the King came down the stage with his guards and got ready to leave the Fief. After that, The Head Ranger started climbing down the stage. As soon as he took his first step, Clyde felt something inside, just like that painful, tense feeling Bryce went through. His body moved without thinking, and Clyde jumped over the stage.
"C-careful!" He tackled Gordon, and before he was stabbed by the arrow that would strike the Head Ranger had he not intervened, Bryce pulled him off the stage and the arrow barely missed the surface of his skin. Through the coordinated reflexes of the apprentice and the mentor, the assassination attempt was foiled.
"Found you." Suddenly, a threatening voice rose up from outside the stage. A sharp arrow flew and struck a Genovesan right in the chest, and the assassin, who hid above the rooftop of an inn, rolled down the roof and hit the floor.
"I told you Bryce, you forget to look up." The familiar voice echoed through the alley.
"Jacob!" Bryce ran towards the slim ranger and embraced him.
"I should have thought of the obvious trap. I'm so sorry." said the tall ranger.
"It's fine, I had already sorted that out. You tend to be a bit airheaded at times, Bryce." Jacob lightly poked his friend in the chest.
"What in the name of..." Just coming to his senses, Gordon walked over to the trio of rangers.
"Ah, now that I think of it..." Bryce paused for a moment. "Clyde, how did you know they would shoot Gordon first?"
The ginger haired apprentice shrugged and replied quickly.
"I felt it."
Gordon turned over to the young apprentice and put his hand over his shoulder.
"Young man... No, Clyde." He corrected himself. "I surely have underestimated you." He said, then he turned to Bryce and whispered: "You did the right choice."
"I know." said Bryce, smiling.
The King had already left, and so did Gordon, right after the assassination attempt. As that just meant more paperwork for him.
"He has left, hasn't he?" asked Jacob.
"Yes, he did." Bryce replied. "Why?"
"There was something I had to announce in private."
"I-is it bad?" Clyde stuttered.
Jacob sighed deeply.
"They caught Glade."
Part 8: Chase
"They took him!?" The tall ranger was caught in surprise. Glade, despite being a little strange, was actually a competent apprentice.
"It's... Nevermind. We need to search for him and the campsite he is taken to. We can't afford to lose even a second." Jacob was saying one sentence after another, strangely reminding Clyde of his friend.
"Are you sure he is taken to a campsite? Perhaps they..." Bryce stopped in the middle of speaking, refusing to consider the alternative to taking Glade hostage. Clyde caught onto his idea too, and started breathing heavily. There really was no time to talk.
"Get the horses. I'll explain on the road." Jacob cut the conversation short.
The trio barely had any rest that day, and it seemed like they were far, far away from a night's rest. Riding on Gale, Clyde forced his eyelids to stay open.
"If you are tired, just leave the travel to me. Take a nap on the saddle." Gale was either poking fun to Clyde, or seriously presenting a suggestion. Clyde decided on the former and made a small noise akin to a sigh.
Bryce was constantly shifting his eyes over to the tired apprentice as he looked towards their path with his blue eyes, thinking he wouldn't notice, but Clyde was aware of it and was grateful for his mentor's concern. Still, at this tense moment, he could only think of Glade's situation. It wasn't like he was acquainted with him for long, yet still, he felt a connection between him and the energetic apprentice. Perhaps it was because of how lonely he had felt before meeting Bryce, that everyone he met afterwards felt closer to him than usual.
"So, will you explain, Jacob? Why is he taken to the camp?"
Hearing Bryce's deep voice ring in his ears, Clyde's train of thought disappeared.
"These assassins aren't your usual Genovesans." replied the blond ranger.
"They are out for blood, but also for information. An apprentice like Glade would be a big chance for them." He continued.
"Glade... would talk?" Clyde couldn't believe the headstrong boy would give out valuable information to a pack of murderers.
"He won't. That's why I'm..." Jacob exhaled loudly and slightly tilted his head down.
"Curse the mentor who agreed to take him to the damned mission!" He said in a stern voice.
"If it's going to make you feel better, I did the same mistake as you." Bryce forced a smile to his old friend.
"M-mistake?" Clyde whispered, offended.
"Apprentices, am I right?" Jacob blurted out in an annoyed tone and went silent, turning his head around and checking a map he took out from his bag.
"Where... are we going?" Clyde said curiously.
"We are going to the last camp we saw. They should have moved away by now, but if we can see a trace of Glade, that would suffice." Bryce shortly explained to his apprentice.
As the horses' hooves made noises only the rangers could hear, they kept riding through the path moving away from Redmont and into the campsite between the woods. But it was getting late, as they left Redmont almost in the evening. The moon slowly rose up in the dark skies and shone a sweet light on the land. Clyde was at his limit, and felt his eyes close against his will.
"You can rest on your horse, Clyde." Said his mentor, looking at the tired apprentice with concern. Clyde was taught by him on sleeping on demand, and knew he needed rest, so the young apprentice tried to put his worries away and get a short rest. Before he knew it, he had given himself to the clutches of sleep.
"Talk, you rascal! Nobody will come for you, so if you don't spill it, you're dead meat!" a figure clad in purple yelled at Glade, cracking the whip in his hands.
"I..." the fair skinned apprentice coughed and wheezed, desperate for clean air, water, food and anything he could think of at the moment.
"I'm a ranger! I won't say a thing to a pathetic peacock like you!" He screamed with the last of his energy. A whistling whip hit him and blood trickled down from the new cut on his face.
"If you didn't have any knowledge, I would love to kill you as a whimpering pile of flesh. So don't tempt me, runt." The cruel assassin kicked Glade in his gut and walked away.
The young apprentice took deep breaths and thought about washing his face with the cup of water he was provided, but he felt too thirsty to waste his water on cleaning. Drinking all of the water, he gave a deep breath and looked at the starry skies above him.
"I'm waiting for you, my mentor... I'll never say a word, even if they kill me!" The blond apprentice closed his eyes and decided to take a nap to preserve his energy. The leather shackles on his hands and feet were disturbing him, but he could forced himself to crawl to the empty sacks they have given him. Using the sacks as a blanket, he closed his eyes and instantly went to sleep.
Clyde woke up with a warning from Gale, and looked around him in panic. He saw Bryce and Jacob beside him and sighed in relief.
"We're being followed." The mentor spoke in a whispery voice. Understanding the warning he got from the ranger horse, Clyde stroked Gale's mane and looked straight forward, as if he was unaware of their pursuers. As Bryce taught him, if he were to turn around and look for them, the hidden aggressor would understand they were noticed. However, even without the sight, the young apprentice could hear an unfamiliar sound around him, like hooves hitting the soil beneath, harder than a ranger horse would. He knew that to their right, behind the bushes of the forest, there was an assassin following them, looking for the perfect moment to strike.
However, the first strike had come from the rangers. Bryce suddenly threw the strikers he had prepared in his hands to the ominous figure, and the sound of cold, hard metal was heard soon after. Coming out of the bushes beside them, the Genovesan that just had his crossbow fly away from his hands took another loaded crossbow in his hands and aimed at Bryce. However, he was too late. A throwing knife thrown by Jacob distracted the purple clothed assassin, and he could not shoot the tall mentor.
Clyde didn't know what to do, not being taught to fight on horseback, he couldn't di anything, but he wanted to help his allies. Suddenly, looking at his salve bag, he had an idea.
The assassin changed his speed constantly, as to throw off the horseback rangers, distrupting their accuracy. Little did he know, the problem was not him being hard to shoot, but that the seasoned rangers wanted to interrogate the assassin.
Quickly, Clyde placed one of his arrows in Bryce's hands.
"Please, use this!" He looked at Bryce with a determined face, and pointed at the thigh of the assassin's horse.
Thinking the apprentice idea was to cripple the horse, Bryce was not sure whether to trust his apprentice with the plan or not, but after looking at his begging face, Bryce sighed.
"Alright." The mentor took the arrow and shot it with precision. As the Genovesan was shifting his speed, the horse was suddenly struck on its thigh by the arrow and it panicked, running away from the rangers against its master's orders, into the bushes.
"Bryce, what are you thinking!?" Jacob yelled. "We lost him!"
Chasing the assassin, who could bring others with him or lead them into a trap or lure them away from Glade, would be risky at this point. It would also make them spend precious time.
"Well, Clyde, I hope your plan was a good one." Said Bryce. He made the choice of trusting his apprentice, and thought he wouldn't hand him his own arrow without any point to it.
"Plan? What plan? We just missed an opportunity." Jacob glared at the ginger haired apprentice.
"B-but..." Clyde was afraid of getting scolded again, but got courage from his mentor and continued speaking.
"The arrow... was coated." He explained shortly.
"Coated with what, exactly?" Jacob said, in a tense mood.
Clyde took out a small bottle filled with some sort of cloudy, white liquid.
"Um, this makes... It makes manure white." Said the apprentice, stuttering.
"I see, I see!" Bryce caught onto the idea.
"If that's so, should we follow the white manure, it will lead us right to the camp that assassin resides at." He concluded.
"What in the..." Jacob was left speechless.
"Where did you even learn this?"
"Um..." Clyde looked down.
"My Uncle."
Part 9: Memories
The glourious sunlight shone on the Redmont Castle's triple towers, slowly turning the skies into a calm, familiar purple color. As people slowly walked back towards their houses, the crowd filling the town center was scattering by the second, and everyone longed to take a break in their cozy beds with their family. The sun went down, once again, and now the only thing lighting up the once lively alleys was the light of the tavern coming out of the windows.
In the silence of the night, nobody could hear the tiny footsteps of the small figure swiftly going through the streets, mixing into shadows, out of sight. Running out of the town, into the woods, through the fresh smell of the night life and the bush covered paths, the young boy leaned onto a tree and took a few breaths. He turned his head over to check if the guards heard him, but as he expected, there was no one. Releasing a sigh of relief, the blond haired kid walked down the remaining path and welcomed himself to a small spot that was not overridden by trees, because it was housing someone else. Someone much more important. Scanning the field in front of him, the brown eyes of the kid located the hut of the person he was looking for. He walked towards the oak door of the hut, took one last, deep breath and knocked on the wooden surface of the door.
Not even a second later, a blond man with a green cape opened the door and eyed the child in front of him. He sighed deeply and removed his hood from his head.
"How many years has it been?"
"Five!" The fair skinned boy said with pride. "A-and counting, if this is... No, I am certain now! It has to be today!" He added, uncertain.
The ranger eyed the boy once more, and made a weird noise between choking and coughing.
"Five years... Even since that time, you've kept coming? When will you give up?" He asked, looking annoyed, yet intrigued.
"I won't... You have to do it this time! Y-you..." the kid stopped for a second and rebuilt his words.
"Please, sir... You have to."
"And what if I don't?" the ranger raised an eyebrow.
"But... but..." He shifted his weight from one leg to another, looking at the ranger beggingly.
"Hey, how about next time? Next year. You will come again anyway." He was about to shut the door, but he was faced with a new resistance. The boy pulled the door tightly and squeezed his face inside.
"You can't do this to me! It's been years! Ever since I turned 10, I have been following you around, desperate to pay my debt!" He screamed his true feelings.
"Shush! Okay. Before you get us killed, come inside." The annoyed ranger pulled the kid in and closed the door.
"Look, I know who you are. I know what you are trying to do, but you are not rea-"
"I'm ready!" He cut off the ranger's words.
"I'm ready because I have been training for every single day since 5 years! I'm ready, because..." He took a deep breath.
"Because... this is my last chance." the boy finished with a shaky voice.
"Last? What do you mean, last!? What's stopping you from waiting one more year?" the ranger exploded.
"The Choosing Day..." He said in a quiet voice, reduced to whispers.
"I don't want to end up as a simple farmer." He collapsed to one knee.
"I'll do anything to be a ranger! Anything! I'll give up my eyes, my arms, legs, even my life!"
The tired ranger sighed once more, shaking his head. He lent his hand to the boy and helped him up.
"There's nothing I can do about it..." The face of the fair skinned boy went to a bright blue after hearing those words.
"I don't think I can take one more year of this. Go get your luggage. I'll clear up some room for you."
The blond haired boy stopped for a second, then smiled, still not believing what just happened. He ran out of the hut as fast as he could. Suddenly, he heard a voice behind him.
"Don't think we're done here! If you mess up, I'll make life hell for you!" The ranger told him from the distance.
After seeing the new apprentice disappear into the night, the ranger closed the door and sat on the wooden chair in front of the fireplace. It was about time, Jacob thought to himself.
Opening his eyes, Glade saw the birds fly in the bright blue skies, merely visible as small dots. He must have seen a memory in his dreams. After feeling the scars on his body, he wished for a second that the dream lasted forever.
"No, no... I need to... need to shake myself awake!" He splashed his head on what little amount of water was left for him and crawled back to search for any food. Usually, there would be leftovers or a small bowl of soup around the captive apprentice, but this time, he could only see the cruel face of the Genovesan assassin looking at him.
The man walked over to Glade and lifted his face up.
"Well, well, well... Look who woke up. Did you dream of your friends saving you?" He laughed at his cruel, yet equally unfunny joke. Glade glared fiercely at the man in purple clothes.
"I see that you really won't talk. In that case... I might have to cut open a second mouth for you to spill the beans." He unsheated his knife and pushed it close to the apprentice's throat. Glade knew he shouldn't even swallow, so he kept glaring at his captor.
"I recall you saying 'Even if I die' while boasting about your loyalty. Where's all that now? Are you ready?" He smiled devilishly. Glade looked deep into his eyes, with his own brown eyes flashing threateningly under the bright sun.
"All that loyalty... It's right here." He felt the sharp side of the knife hurting his neck as he spoke, but he kept talking until he was done.
"You rascal..." The assassin crudely shoved the kid to the ground. Then he waved his knife threateningly.
"If you say one more word, I'll use your eye as a new sheath for this knife!"
"Hey! We need some logs for the fire!" a distant voice rung in the Genovesan's ears.
"Darn it!" He stabbed the knife to the ground. "What is it now!?" He walked away from Glade, to the camper that obviously was his higher-up, awaiting service.
"Idiot peacock." Glade's face lightened up with a clever smirk. He crawled towards the sharp knife and took his leather shackles, starting to cut it to reach his freedom. He took one last look at the assassin, but his face was turned away from him. Cutting faster, he finally got his shackles off from his hands and feet. Grabbing the knife stuck to the ground, he noticed in the last second that the assassin was running towards him.
"That threat you told me..." He told his captor mockingly.
"I'll make it a reality!" He threw the knife with accuracy and saw it stab the cruel face of the assassin in the left eye. Satisfied, He ran out from the campsite, through the shocked guards and the crossbow bolts firing everywhere around. However, there was nowhere to run because the forest and the path was filled with Genovesans and to their back was a river that was between two hills: The small, green one with no trees on it, and the one that the camp sat on the skirts of. Glade took a deep breath as he saw the assassins gather, then he swiftly rolled off the hill. The spotless hill's soil was soft, albeit filled with tangling vines. The assassins could only look after the kid rolling down the hill, miraculously surviving. But with nobody to save him, the cruel assassins were sure he would perish in the river. Thus, nobody bothered to take him out of the small hill valley. Trying to swim through the river, Glade felt like he was fainting, and he couldn't take a breath. Struggling to live, he holded on a small branch tightly and tried to pull himself up. But with what little strength he had, it was impossible. Seeing his surroundings go fuzzy, the tired apprentice felt his world fall apart.
Part 10: The Will of The Apprentice
"Okay, I spotted another one." Bryce said as he detected another whitened manure in the woods the Genovesan assassin went in.
"So, how long does that medicine last?" Asked Jacob, still unsure of the peculiar method of the apprentice.
"About... A day?" The young apprentice was not very sure himself, but it seemed like they were making progress, as further they followed the traces, the trees started to lessen and lessen until they exited the woods from a narrow spot and found themselves in a large grass field that was almost empty besides some curvy, mountain like shapes over the horizon. There were several trees here and there, but it felt cleaner compared to the dim forest.
"That's enough for now. We skipped camping when we first set out, but we can't keep going without rest." Bryce tried to convince a tired, yet concerned Jacob to rest for his wellbeing.
"I see. There's no helping, then." Replied the blond ranger with an apathetic voice.
Clyde didn't think he could help ease Jacob's mind with what little knowledge he had of him, so he decided to help by starting the campfire, but Bryce stopped him.
"If they set up camp nearby, we'll be noticed. Some dry fruit and jerky will have to do for now."
Noticing the apprentice, Jacob turned to him and threw a foldable bucket in his hands.
"If you really want to help, bring us some water."
"F-from where?" Clyde couldn't see any water source around. Jacob pointed at a far away point, where Clyde could now see a small movement, comparable to a river.
"Be careful, Clyde." Bryce didn't forget to warn his apprentice. Thinking about it, he realized the advice he had just given was not really useful, but a good way to express concern, regardless.
"Okay!" Clyde ran towards the river with small steps, carrying the bucket with him. He stopped for a moment, considering riding Gale to there, but he changed his mind because they had ridden the horses all day long.
Watching the young ranger become a small dot on the horizon, Bryce started taking the sleeping bags out while Jacob took care of the horses. Pegasus, Glade's horse, was restless to meet his owner again, so the blond ranger had to calm her down as much as he could.
"Such a quiet kid, that Clyde." Jacob forcefully tried to start a conversation.
"You aren't the first one to say that." Replied Bryce, as he sat down and laid his back to a rock.
"Still, he has come a long way, I think." He continued, as Jacob looked at him, finding it hard to understand.
"Well, at least he knows when to shut up, unlike mine." Jacob put on a gloomy smile.
"Damn it, I give up. I miss the impish brat." He sighed.
"Took you a while, didn't it?" Replied Bryce.
"You know that I'm not a soft, teddy bear kind of guy like you. It's hard to say stuff like these." The tired ranger spoke back.
"Teddy bear? That's a new one." Bryce laughed, as he took his hairtie off his head. The tie was holding his hair up just right, but the scalp of the ranger hurt from all the travel without rest.
"Are you going to sleep before your apprentice returns? Some mentor you are." Jacob jokingly insulted the long haired ranger.
"Well, if he doesn't keep quick, I might give in eventually." Bryce exaggaratedly yawned.
"What's holding him so long, anyway?" Jacob questioned, but the mentor didn't know the answer either.
Finally reaching the river, the curly haired apprentice took a minute to catch his breath. He held the folded bucket and opened it up, then took out three water bottles as well. Going out to bring water was Clyde's favourite chore after foraging, because he liked to listen to the sounds of the water and the forest animals, being soothed by a few minutes of alone time. After filling the last of the bottles, he took the bucket and started to head back, before he noticed a dark figure inside the water.
Startled, the child dropped the bucket and reached into the almost clear water of the river. Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped around his own and started to pull him in. Struggling to stay on ground, Clyde pulled the dark figure above the ground and couldn't believe himself over what he saw. The scarred, bloody person in front of him was none other than Glade.
"Ah... Clyde, is that you?" The ruined apprentice spoke, breathing heavily.
"It's... it's embarassing to be seen like this." Even at the verge of death, Glade was capable of talking more than his friend. Clyde responded with nothing but tears on his eyes. He rummaged through his salve bag, thinking of different solutions for many different wounds on the poor kid's body. He panicked and dropped a few of the packs onto the ground, and looking through them, he finally decided to use one.
"Don't bother... Just bring me to him... To Jacob." Glade was still breathing slowly.
Clyde applied some salve onto the wounds and tried to carry Glade to the open field, but he didn't have the strength to. Not knowing what to do, the stressed child sat next to his patient and waited for help to appear. He couldn't risk harming Glade or abandoning him, so he hadn't got anything more to do.
As time passed, Clyde felt more anxious. Despite the salves, Glade's body was getting cold and the damp clothes were not helping. As a breeze swept through the field, He took off his cape and laid it over the wounded apprentice.
"I-I'm sorry... I failed." He stuttered.
"Failed... what?" replied Glade.
"I can't do anything... at all. It's useless..." Clyde paused for a second.
"I'm useless..." He tilted his head down and the memories and regrets flowed into his mind and out of his eyes.
"Don't cry... Rangers don't cry." said Glade.
"Yes, they do!" Bursted Glade with teary eyes. "When they are desperate... Everyone cries." He buried his head on his arms.
Suddenly, the apprentices heard the noise of the ranger horses stomping the ground, and their mentors jumped down from their steeds.
"Clyde, what's wrong?" Bryce rushed towards his apprentice. "Is that..."
Jacob bolted before he could finish his sentence. Glade looked at his mentor and gave a sorrowful smile.
"I'm sorry, I was careless." The wounded apprentice apologized while panting.
"You fool! Who cares about that anymore?" Jacob embraced Glade and let out a single tear. Then he picked him up and rushed back to the horses.
"What are you waiting for, an invitation?" The hot headed ranger scolded Bryce and Clyde, back to his usual self.
"Well, you've heard him. Let us go." Bryce smiled gently at Clyde. The teary eyed apprentice wiped his face and followed his mentor to their horses.
"...I think they are going to go for another assassination, but that's just a hunch." Glade, wrapped in a blanket with his wounds treated, had just ended a long report of what he saw as a captive and what he thought about tbe situation. Astounded by his bravery and dedication, the other rangers felt proud, yet also concerned for him.
"If I see that purple peacock, he's mine." Commented Jacob, feeling intense rage at his apprentice's captor. Seeing the scary face he made, nobody could object.
"Now that we are set, I think we need to plan out next steps for the mission." Bryce returned to their main topic.
"So, we just need to seize the central camp, right?" said Glade.
"It's not simple like that." replied his mentor.
"First, we need to get more information about their target, and of course, their client."
"But isn't the target obviously the king?" Glade chimed in again.
"Well, the client is the more important piece here. This is most likely an attack from outside countries." Bryce explained.
"So, what do we..." asked Clyde with a quiet voice.
"I suggest we part ways here." said Bryce.
"What? Why?" questioned Jacob.
"Is there any reason to?"
"I think so. If Clyde and I work on distracting them, you and Glade can blend in and get some info. Then we can strike after we have weakened them." The long haired ranger explained his plan.
"That sounds like a good plan, Bryce!" Glade felt excited again.
"I'm still not sure... What do you mean by 'weakening' them?"
"Well, about that..." Bryce scratched his head, half smiling.
"Clyde, any ideas?"
"Er..." Clyde thought for a while.
"Sleeping... sleeping drugs?" He concluded.
"That's it! Glade, you said in your report that there was a well in the camp area, isn't that true?" asked Bryce.
"Yes, that is correct! The river is too impractical to get water from." replied Glade.
"Then it's simple: we drug the well, you mix into them and we take their leader."
"They have a leader, huh... Weird thing for Genovesans." Jacob felt confused by the abnormal movements of the assassins.
"Well, that only makes things easier for us." Bryce concluded the brain storming.
"Well then, are we going to go with this?" He asked for the agreement of the other rangers and got pleased to hear nobody objecting.
"It's decided, then. Let's start!"
The final movement against the Genovesans had begun.
Part 11: Battle of The Twin Hills
Climbing the green hill facing the central camp, The young apprentice and his mentor stopped to take a break.
"I have to admit." said Bryce while panting. "I didn't think it would take this long."
Clyde kept his silence and took his time to catch his breath. Looking down the spot, he could see the small figures of Jacob and Glade slowly leveling the other hill. The blond apprentice noticed a faraway Clyde staring at him and waved at him. Then he got pulled away by his hot headed mentor, likely whispering him to stay put.
"Let's finish this, shall we?" Bryce kept climbing after drinking a little out of his water bottle. The curly haired apprentice followed him to the top of the hill.
After they made it to the top, Clyde couldn't help but look at the view from up the hill. The river they passed through was now barely thicker than his thumb. Along the empty plains, the only other thing that could be noticed was the other hill, in which Clyde couldn't see their allies anymore. Surrounded by two forests divided by a small pathway, the hill looked really strange to the blue eyes of the apprentice.
"Get a good look, Clyde. Burn it to your memory, if you can. We need to memorise the camp's layout, or we can't make a successful shot." Bryce was unsure of the tactic he devised with his apprentice. While it made sense, shooting from one hill to another was somewhat challenging to Bryce, and downright impossible to Clyde. Regardless, the long haired ranger took out his arrow and tightly tied the sack his apprentice gave to him to the head of it.
"Watch and learn, Clyde." He smiled at his apprentice. "The sack drags down the angle a bit, so you need to do your calculations carefully." He got ready to shoot the arrow from his longbow and pulled on the string.
However, suddenly feeling a presence, he dropped the bow to the ground and drew his saxe knife so fast, Clyde thought it appeared out of thin air for a second.
Right from their backs lunged an assassin in purple clothes, with a sharp knife in his hands. Being prepared, Bryce countered the attack easily with his own knife and threw the Genovesan back.
"Clyde, you do it," He said in a heartbeat, as he eyed his opponent fiercely. "Now!"
The nimble assassin was switching hands while swinging his knife, making unexpected counterattacks. Bryce has an advantage because of his height, but having to face against an opponent almost as fast as him, that didn't seem to matter much. The assassin in purple once again lunged at his neck with the knife in his hands, and this time, the seasoned ranger grabbed the arm of his opponent and attacked with his knife, only to be countered in the same way. Being locked in a position, the fight was now purely physical. Clyde was standing there, unsure of whether he should help his mentor or shoot the arrow. His bow shaking in his hands, he didn't feel like he could do any, and his doubts started crawling on his back again.
"Clyde, our last chance!"
"B-but I..."
"You have to try!" The tall ranger screamed in desperation, and he started pushing the assassin harder, preventing him from escaping the lock.
Clyde got reminded of an old memory, and suddenly returned to reality. He had to do as his mentor said, because they believed in each other, and because he had trained for this moment. The ginger haired apprentice grabbed his bow, swiftly picked the arrow binded with the sack of drugs, and pulled on the string, fully concentrating on the stone well right in front of the camp. Releasing the string, he saw the arrow fly off, piercing the skies. Then he saw it go towards the well and hit the edge, rolling in the hole afterwards. He had done it. He had tried and succeeded, just like he did before.
Turning behind, Clyde saw Bryce laying on the ground, struggling to pin down the assassin. Seeing more purple silhouettes down the skirts of the hill, Clyde took a deep breath and signalled their ranger horses to come for their aid. Then he took his own knife, and feeling his heartbeats in his mouth, tried to stabilize his feelings.
Bryce stood up painted in bright red, having to cut the throat of the assassin open to survive.
"Keep alerted, Clyde." said the panting mentor. Clyde nodded and looked down at the skirts again. The assassins were getting closer, but Gale and Feder were faster. Coming from their behind, the horses rammed into the group of Genovesans with all their might. Shocked and scattered, the assassins couldn't notice the duo of rangers aiming right at them. With two shots from Bryce and a shot from Clyde, the group was fully neutralized. Quickly scaling down the hill, Clyde and Bryce went to check their horses' condition. Relieved to see them uninjured, they could finally be relaxed.
"You were so loud back then, what a shocker!" Gale poked fun at his owner.
"We did everything we could." Stated Feder humbly.
"Well, thanks for having our backs, I guess." Bryce smiled. Clyde stared at his mentor, still stained with crimson blood. He was not bothered fighting bad people with arrows, but seeing one slaughtered like an animal was something else. Being reminded of the sight, Clyde felt queasy.
"Are you scared?" Asked Bryce. Clyde shook his head as to say no, but his mentor could read through his heart.
"You'll get used to it. I wish you didn't, but it's a part of the job." He started to climb back up the hill. The young apprentice followed after, and took a quick look at the other hill. Taking the signal Bryce gave out, Jacob and Glade had started their own mission.
From then on, they needed to keep an eye on both their allies and the camp.
"It's up to them now." said the mentor with a determined voice.
"Do you have the clothes ready?" asked Jacob.
"Here, it's ready!" Glade responded with his usual excitement. The purple cloth and feathered purple hat he took out of his bag were no different than their cunning foes' attire.
"Good. Now, we wait for them to draw water from their well. We'll have to stay hidden."
Capturing the sight of the camp from two different sides, the rangers silently waited for their prey to catch the bait. As the last strands of sunlight slowly disappeared, the hill forest went dark and gloomy by minute. Struggling to keep his curiousity suppressed, Glade started bugging his mentor.
"Are you sure you will be fine on your own? Are you?"
"Yes, I am. You'll just get in the way." His mentor answered, annoyed. In reality, he was worried for his apprentice's wellbeing and didn't want him to be hurt. He also knew he would object if he had told the truth.
"Okay then..." Glade paused for a second.
"How will we get information as they sleep?" He asked curiously.
"The drug takes time to show its effect, or so that friend of yours said." replied the mentor, out of focus as he delved into other thoughts, scratching his goatee. "That's enough questions." He quickly added as his persistent apprentice looked at him with an endless queue of questions sparkling in his eyes.
It was nearing midnight as the silver moon rose up and showed itself over the cloudy, dark sky.
"I'm out. Watch my back." said Jacob quietly, and donned the purple cloak and the feathered hat, slowly walking towards the camp, leaving his apprentice behind.
Under the dim light of the moon, the Genovesan assassins were mostly in their tents, off to a deep sleep after drinking from the drugged water. The campfire had already charred away, leaving a small cloud of smoke behind. The tents were located close to each other except for the larger central tent, which was the one that housed the leader, the blond ranger thought. Under the soft, grassy soil of the hill, he treaded the ground carefully, making his way to a convenient spot covered with the shadows from the tents and sat there, closing his eyes as if he had fallen to sleep. However, the truth was that the cunning ranger could see everything from the hidden spot. Keeping a watch on the campsite, Jacob waited for someone to pass by, preferably higher on the hierarchy of the assassins.
Suddenly, a couple of sluggish men in purple walked right past him, barely conscious enough to walk. The skilled ranger shifted his attention to the sleepy mumbles of the small group of assassins.
"Darn it... I feel drained for some reason." Said the short, grumpy one. He wasn't capable of walking in a straight line, constantly bumping into the other assassin beside him.
"Don't we all? Might be the weather." Said the taller, thin faced assassin, vibrating in the cold weather as a light breeze went around his hair from underneath his hat. His friend beside him scowled furiously, but the drug had taken away the fierceness of his movements. "Who's idea was it to set the damn camp on a hill, anyway?"
"Mine." Someone suddenly appeared behind the short assassin, and glared at him with his cruel, dark eyes. Looking at the fear in the grumpy man's face, Jacob understood that it was most likely the leader himself.
"O-oh, Giovanni! I didn't me-"
"Silence." the scared assassin's sentence was cut by the leader.
"Why are you loitering here, you have the guard shift, you imbecile!" He followed with fierce words, and kicked the assassin in the gut, watching him hurry to his position. The tall assassin beside him was standing still.
"And you," Giovanni poked him in the chest. "You let the kid run away and are not done with cutting the logs, either!" He said threateningly.
"Don't force your luck." He walked away to his tent. Jacob carved it in his mind to take revenge from his apprentice's captor later, then tried to move towards the central camp.
"And what are you doing?" He was caught just before moving, so he froze still.
"Come here, get up!" The leader rose and Jacob did as he said.
"Why are you lying around?" He said.
"Answer me!" He added furiously after Jacob mumbled like he was sleeping earlier.
"Why aren't you sleeping like everyone, boss?" Jacob asked back in an uninterested tone.
"Well, I've drunk from my own bottle of water, unlike you rascals." Giovanni replied, surprisingly calm. Jacob sensed an unnatural feeling, and paused for a few seconds.
"Do you know who did this?" He said.
"Well, let's say... I do now." Giovanni replied, swiftly throwing a knife at Jacob. Instinctively, he leapt aside and dodged the knife barely, his arm cut lightly.
"Don't be an idiot. Who would be able to question me in a sober state, other than a nosy ranger?" The cruel leader unsheated another knife from his belt and swiftly attacked the blond haired ranger. Dodging the Genovesan's tricky slashes with precision was no problem for the seasoned ranger, but to strike an opponent that can use both hands, he'd leave an opening for each attempt at attacking. As he kept dodging, he felt he was running out of space. His opponent was forcing him to the edge of the hill. Finally finding a spot to retreat, Jacob leapt backwards and drew his own knife out. The sound of leather rubbing against metal made the cruel assassin's blood boil. He resumed his continous attacks, but was countered with surprising force from the ranger in front of him. Each strike being deflected, their duel entered a state of balance. However, this wouldn't last long. Half awake assassins had already started to rise from their tents, regaining their consciousness after hearing the familiar sound of clashing metal. Seeing the tables turn, Jacob started to feel desperate. The other assassins were drawing their knives, raring to join the fight, even in their drunken state.
The blond ranger refused to lose his cool and continued the knife duel, aware of his surroundings being filled with that disgusting shade of purple that he quickly came to hate.
"Well," he thought to himself. "at least Glade is safe."
Suddenly, he heard a loud voice coming from the entrance of the camp.
"March, Pegasus, march!" The apprentice, with a dedicated look in his sparkling brown eyes, rode his white horse full force into the horde of Genovesans and tackled them, scattering and destroying their formation instantly.
"What in the world-" Giovanni got distracted by the ruckus that happened, and made his first mistake in the duel, paying for it with a sharp pain in his stomach. Before he could see it, the large knife was removed from the spot, leaving blood to spill everywhere around the assassin leader.
Leaving his horse to fight for her own, Glade joined in the fight with his recurve bow, striking the stunned Genovesans one at a time. Seeing his apprentice in a vulnerable state, Jacob arrived to his help with his knife still in his hand. Struggling to stay focused, the mentor-apprentice duo went through the horde of half awake Genovesans, covering for each other. As they felt overwhelmed, they heard the hissing sound of arrows travelling the skies. Knowing what was about to happen, Jacob smiled devilishly. Lots of arrows, long and short, rained onto the Genovesans scattered onto the hill, yet Glade and Jacob were unharmed. The few amounts of Genovesans left were knocked out by a hit from Pegasus, and now the mentor and the apprentice were standing amidst a sea of purple, feeling lost as to where to begin handling the situation.
Going through the camp, Jacob searched for any leads to the client of all these assassins, while Glade signalled Clyde and Bryce to come over.
"So, is the leader really dead?" Asked Glade.
"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Answered the mentor sarcastically. However, he was mad at himself for actually killing the person they could benefit the most from. Wondering if it was alright to let it pass as a self defense, he continued rummaging through each and every tent.
"Good work out there." Bryce came in with his usual cheery voice.
"Yeah, you almost killed us, though. Careful where you aim that thing." Jacob poked fun at his friend.
Seeing them spend time searching for evidence together, Clyde approached Glade, who was petting his snow white horse on her nose.
"You did good, just like a ranger's horse, Pegasus!" He smiled.
"Um... Hi." Clyde greeted him shyly.
"Ah, Clyde!" Glade's smile grew as he saw Clyde move towards him. "We were great, weren't we? I think we'll be excused for that time!"
"Y-yeah... I hope so." Clyde couldn't think of anything to say, so the pair of apprentices just enjoyed a moment's silence together.
"Hey, you kids come here!" Jacob's voice rung out of a tent. Turning their heads towards the direction the sound came from, the apprentices proceeded to the central tent.
Inside the central tent was a rather plain spot, with a few cushions and scattered files on the floor. The slowly fading moonlight could barely leak inside. Jacob had a parchment in his hands, reading it with Bryce, who sat next to him. Clyde went to Bryce's side and took a look at the note on the parchment, and so did Glade.
"To the Genovesan Assassin Guild
I need the person with the title 'Head Ranger' of Araluen dead. I have gold to offer, as much as..." Glade's face went more disturbed the more he looked at the outrageous number written on the agreement.
"Genovesan Assassin Guild... Does thar even exist?" Glade asked again.
"Likely didn't exist prior to this request." Answered Jacob. The mentors both donned serious faces.
"The target was... Gordon?" Clyde spoke quietly, but surely surprised.
"Apparently so. This explains why they specifically aimed for him back then, doesn't it?" Bryce felt like he was piecing things together.
"It's a shame we don't have anyone left to question." He spoke again.
"Like they would speak a word for us." Jacob laughed in a pessimistic tone.
The mentors collected what they needed from the tent, then went out with their apprentices.
"Now then, where is the leader?" Bryce asked.
"Wasn't he dead already?" Asked Glade.
"He should be. Nobody can spill that much blood and still be okay." Jacob replied.
However, when they returned to the spot the assassin leader once laid, they noticed that a trail of blood went off the hill and into the river.
"Just like I did..." Glade looked down the hill with a disturbed look on his face. Jacob's face went red and his veins showed up over his hands.
"Curse you, that cunning little peacock!" He shouted fiercely. Bryce tried to calm him down as he kept mumbling angrily.
"He can't be too far. We'll catch up with him." Bryce said.
"No, Bryce. This is my responsibility." Jacob refused his friend's offer for help.
"Yours is to deliver those papers to the castle as soon as possible." He added.
Bryce looked at the blond ranger's eyes with concern.
"He couldn't have ran too far, it's just like you said." Jacob tried to reassure Bryce once again and then went to get his own horse. Knowing it was pointless to argue further, Bryce turned to the apprentices.
"Come on, we're going back."
"We? I am coming with Jacob!" Glade objected.
"No, you are not. You have to watch the hut for me." Jacob was adamant on keeping his persistent apprentice away from danger this time.
"But-"
Before Glade could say anything, Jacob had already left on his horse.
"Glade, are you coming?" yelled Bryce from the back, having set the horses and the equipments. Clyde was already on his horse.
"I am!" The blond apprentice yelled back, running towards the group. Inside his heart, he wanted to go with his mentor, but knew that he was thinking the best for him. Just like a true ranger, thought Glade.
As the trio of mounted rangers went down the hill steadily, the first lights of morning were breaking out, shining a light on their path.
Part 12: The Bronze Leaf
A large crowd was waiting on the big, majestic hall of the Redmont Castle. Dressed for the occasion, many important people were seated on the chairs that filled the large room. Behind the elevated stage, a small ceremony for two people was about to start. Behind the stage, those two people, who were also two apprentices, stood beside their mentors.
"Um... Is this... Is this necessary?" Clyde was even more flustered than usual while talking. The curly haired boy's freckled face was tinted with a light shade of pink, his stares locked on the floor.
"Of course it is!" Bryce said merrily. "Now, don't be shy and walk in after your name is called. Everyone is waiting." He continued.
"C-can I go with you?" Clyde looked at his mentor desperately.
"No, I'm afraid I can't come when they only call your name. It is not how these things work, you know."
Across the room, Glade was confidently chatting with his own mentor.
"I'm glad we are accepted! After all we've done, I feel like a ranger already!" Glade excitedly said as he shifted his weight from one leg to another.
"Hold on, hold on. This is just the beginning. Let's see you say the same words after five more years of this." Jacob said, acting annoyed.
"I think it will be worth the effort with you!" Glade didn't understand a piece of Jacob's point.
"I didn't joke around saying I'd make life hell for you, just you see!" Jacob violently stroked Glade's hair as he laughed.
Looking at them, Clyde felt a bit calmer, yet still he didn't have a smile on his face.
"Come on, if you were to smile only once in a lifetime, this would be that moment. What are you pouting for?" Bryce gently poked Clyde's cheek. His apprentice turned to him and gave a small half-smile to him.
"Everyone, please welcome the two brave apprentices that saved His Majesty's life!" the voice of the Baron rung from the stage.
"Clyde and Glade!"
Clyde panicked for a second, but kept his cool and stepped forward, through the curtains that separated them from the crowd. Glade walked beside him and they both approached the Baron with uncertain steps.
"Revealing a hidden assassination plot, these two young rangers deserve to be called heroes!" a loud applause filled the room in the form of clapping.
"Now, before we reward these young men, I will invite one more person: The Head Ranger, Gordon!"
From the curtains, Gordon came out with a serious face fully visible as his hood was removed. His green eyes, almost shut tight by his eyelids, didn't reflect the light in the room, giving him a threatening look even on the stage.
"Clyde and Glade," He started talking. "Surely, by putting the camp situation aside, we had made a big mistake. However, we wish to avoid making a bigger mistake by not allowing you two to be rangers. As such, you two shall continue your training for the remainder of your time as apprentices."
Glade's face lighted up, and he looked at Clyde, smiling. Clyde forced himself to smile back and tried to withstand the pressure he felt from many unfamiliar eyes staring at him.
"Thank you, si... Gordon." Glade fixed his mistake before anybody heard him.
"Th-thank you." Clyde bowed forward instinctively.
Gordon nodded, then took his place among the people seated in the front of the stage.
"Then, now I invite their respective mentors to reward them. Bryce and Jacob, please!" Baron's voice echoed in the room again.
Bryce and Jacob came in, with some thread like object sparkling in their hands. Bryce faced Clyde and stood on his bent leg to match his height.
"Congratulations, Clyde. You didn't seize the day, but the whole year." He smiled and put what Clyde finally recognized as a chain pendant around his neck. The bronze chain had a small, oak leaf shaped piece on it, the symbol of rangers.
Jacob had given Glade his pendant as well. The blond apprentice was smiling at his mentor, his sparkling brown eyes showing his excitement.
Finally finished, the ceremony carried on as a small celebration in the local tavern. However, displeased with the crowds, Clyde went out early along with his mentor, bidding farewell to Glade and Jacob. After they were separated, it would be a long while for them to meet again, as Jacob failed to find Giovanni and another mission was initiated in order to catch the assassin. The ranger of the Redmont Fief had busy days approaching.
"I'll keep writing to you!" Glade yelled as they slowly rode away from the Fief, under the soft light of the evening.
Finally returning to their home, Bryce and Clyde released a big breath of relief.
The young apprentice, lying on the bed in his small room, looked at the silver moon through the window, and thought to himself how his life turned around in just one year.
He sighed deeply, and turned away from the window and wrapped his blanket around.
For once, the young boy thought to himself, perhaps the lie he had told was worth it.