I was gonna do a drawing but guess who completely forgot to start it Can we just sit here and think about all the ways that the Rangers and their apprentices have met? And I don’t mean like the exact first time they met but like the moment they became apprentices. Gilan was thrown into a creek. Will was scared half to death. Will and Maddie’s meeting as Ranger and apprentice was a bit of a mess. And I’m willing to bet that both Crowley and Halt had some bizarre encounter with Pritchard (like being caught stealing and having to fight off bandits in a town but that’s just my personal headcanons). And I don’t know why I think that’s so funny but it is. Like, do any of the Rangers have normal meetings with their apprentices, or is it just a regular thing to be as dramatic as possible?
Going back to the cabin in the trees Going back to the creek beneath the hill There’s a girl who used to live there when I left But I doubt she’ll be waiting for me still Never thought I’d be gone so many years When I left, always planned that I’d return But time slips away before we know That’s just one more lesson that we learn
A lot of people have said it and so will I. Give me one full novel on just the Ranger Corps and their traditions and their Gatherings and I would die a happy person.
When Halt had first heard the news, it was as though a cold void had surrounded him. Suddenly, everything was just…surreal. In between. Unfeeling. He was unfeeling.
Not a single tear had escaped him at Crowley’s funeral, not as the others had looked upon him with sympathy and pity. His speech had been quiet and simple, without a hint of emotion in his voice.
But as he sat on the verandah a week later, staring down at the last letter he’d received from his best friend, he noticed his hands was shaking. His eyes were burning, and then suddenly that void burst into a storm he couldn’t contain.
Never again would he berate Crowley for his awful whistling—although it wasn’t terrible, even if he would never admit it aloud. Never again would he fume when the man got the better of him, and never again would he be able to see that goofy smile crossing his face.
It was worse than Pritchard’s demise. The old Ranger had been the only one who cared about him, apart from his sister—the one he abandoned. Pritchard had died. Caitlyn had died. So had his parents, and eventually Ferris.
But Crowley? Crowley had stayed there through it all, offering support whenever he needed it, or the occasional terrible pun. And now?
Crowley turned around in the chair, resting his head on the back, now facing the grizzled Ranger. Halt was currently flicking through files, and for a few moments, the shuffling of papers were the only noise in his office.
