This is actually my first fanfic about the series "The Ranger's Apprentice." I've only read the first book, sadly, but I'm making my way through. Already I am intrigued to make a fanfiction about Horace and his tormentors Alda, Bryn, and Jerome. Wish for me to continue anyone?
Horace couldn't take the torment the other older and more experienced Battle School trainees inflicted on him every day; sometimes more than once a day. Today, as the sunshine dipped down in the far off sky, blocked by tall and thick pine trees of the distant forest, the first year cadet snuck into his dorm. The shadows stretched along the empty dorm. Horace had yet to meet the gang of bullies, which was relief to him, but at the same time brought uneasiness into his nerves. They might wake him up in the hours of the night to perform humiliating and exhausting exercises for their amusement.
Horace slid onto his cot, burying his sweating face into the clean pillow. He breathed softly through his nose, trying to get the painful throbbing from his arms. Everyone else was still running the trail of the forest, but Horace being the top in his class, finished three minutes earlier than expected. Inside he felt proud of his will power to push forward and finish the last mile without giving out and having to start at the beginning of the trail, but he showed no such pride on his face when he crossed the line back into the gates of the kingdom.
He lay down in the ray of light that shone through the dorm's window, basking in the warmth it brought him. Although he didn't need the extra heat because of the long run he had to go through, and his heavy breathing and sweating showed clearly he was in no shape to get any warmer, he liked the steady heat it produced.
As he lay in the sunshine, he heard the dorm door open and close rather loudly. Horace snapped his head up from his pillow, his eyes blinking wearily in the sunlight. A figure moved into the shadows, barely catching the young Battle School cadet's eye. But Horace was on alert, and noticed the movement almost immediately.
"Hello?" Horace called out, sitting up completely on his cot. There was no such answer as the shadows rippled from the unknown intruder moving closer to the cadet. Horace, although his legs and arms were screaming with rest, tensed up. The form slinked along the wall, and Horace was unsure where the person was now. His eyes scanned the room for another moment before he stood up completely, clenching his fists. "If you don't tell me who you are them I'm attacking!" He shouted into the darkness.
He knew he couldn't stand a chance against the thing that had blended into the shadows so well. If he couldn't see his attacker, how could he know where to expect the attacker to pop up and strike? He took in a breath when he noticed a silhouette ripple from the shadow of the room. Horace felt his breath get caught in his throat at the familiarity of the shape.
It was Alda.
The older male formed from the shadows and gave Horace an evil sneer. "Oh, is Baby scared he might get his ass kicked?" Horace gulped, yet stood his ground against the dangerous man. To his surprise, the bully didn't have his other two friends with him. Horace looked around him, expecting the other two weasels to jump him from behind. Alda chuckled, holding up a hand as if to stop the younger man from becoming frantic. "No one else is here Baby so you don't need to freak out."
Horace relaxed, but not a lot. He wasn't about to let a weasel like Alda fool him in such a manner. "What do you want?" He asked, his voice quivering but just a tad. Alda's sneer only widened on his face. "I just want to see how Baby's doing right now. Baby tired from running three miles?" He chuckled darkly, letting his shoulders bounce to the laughs he let slip from his sneering lips.
Horace narrowed his eyes, letting his guard fall. "Are you only here to tease me?" Alda halted his laughter and eyed Horace with a cold stare that, for a reason Horace couldn't grasp, didn't make the first year trainee caution in any way.
Alda advanced on the younger man in one stride, making Horace take half a step back in caution. This idiot was acting differently then all those other times before. Alda scratched his chin for a second, looking Horace up and down. "I never noticed how much built you were than me."
Did Horace hear him right? "Why do you say that? What do you want?" He snapped, defensiveness edging back into his uncertain voice. Alda cocked an eyebrow as the kid took up a defensive posture, facing his right shoulder out to the older man as if to mock him into a duel. Alda only merely bit his lip in a moment of pausing before he began to talk once again.
"I mean, you and I both know you're one of the best swordsmen in the class. Hell, even Sir Rodney notices your potential." Horace had never heard of this wretched man before him actually complimenting him before. It came to him as utter shock. "Wh-what are you trying to say here?" Horace asked, exhaustion thick in his voice.
"Can you help me with my fighting skills?"