Chapter 4
Disclaimer- I do not own any of the Ranger's Apprentice characters, I am only a huge fan! Plus, this is my first Fanfiction ever, so it might not be great. But if you start reading, please read the entire thing. Thanks!
Will was anxious to tell Horace about the remainder of the night with Alyss.
Will swung himself onto Tug, after saying a happy farewell to Alyss, and rode swiftly to the inn.
He tied Tug to a fencepost, then went inside. The inn was full of merry laughter and drunken men, because everyone knows that drunken men can practically only laugh. But he wasn't expecting what he saw when he arrived inside.
Horace was at the bar, surrounded by a group of large men. "It's empty again!" Horace demanded, with the slur of words showing drunkenness, while slamming his tankard against the counter.
Will knew Horace, and he could tell this wasn't him. He must've had three, four tankards? "Horace wouldn't drink that much, would he?" Will said to himself.
As the bartender came up to Horace and began to pour Horace's drink in the mug, Will swung his longbow off of his shoulder, loaded an arrow, and shot the tankard out of Horace's hand. The tankard clattered to the ground with a seemingly deafening clang.
Horace slowly turned around, a grim and drunken expression on his face, and asked, "Who was that?" His eyes fell on Will. "Was it you, you scrawny, little-"
"I wouldn't go there, if I were you," Will interrupted, another arrow aimed directly at Horace.
Horace stormed towards him, as well as a drunken man could, knocking over two tables on the way. "You wanna go?!" Horace demanded. The hiss of metal resounded through the room as Horace unsheathed his sword.
Will swung his bow back over his shoulder, then whipped out his knives. "Horace, I don't wanna fight, but if it's the only way to stop you… then bring it."
Horace swung his sword down in an angry arc at Will, and Will blocked it with his double knife defense move. He kneed Horace in the stomach, then pulled the sword out of his grasp as he crumpled to the ground, clenching his stomach.
Horace growled angrily, and stood back up to his feet, now unarmed. Will felt an oncoming blow on its way, so he slapped Horace across the face.
Horace then looked at Will, made a confused expression, then said, "Hey, Will. What… happened in here?" Horace looked around at the mess he had made. The drunken, glazed look was gone from his eyes, though Will knew that Horace would have a horrible headache in the morning.
Will saw the men that had been surrounding Horace quickly file out the door. Will didn't bother going after them. No permanent harm done, he thought to himself.
He straightened up the tables, then apologized to the innkeeper. "Sorry, sir. My friend here never had much of a gut for strong drinks," Will said.
"Not much of a gut?" The innkeeper asked with a laugh. "Why, he was the first person ever to be able to handle the Drunken Dragon! Why, four tankards of it, in fact!"
Will was shocked. Horace had had four tankards of Redmont's strongest drink, and he hadn't gone completely insane? Will decided that he really needed to go lie down.
He asked the innkeeper, Gerald apparently, if he could stay with Horace in his room, and Gerald agreed happily.
"Any friend of the Drunken Dragon Tamer is a friend of mine!" Gerald said. The Drunken Dragon Tamer was apparently Horace's new title in the inn.
After that night, Will was ready to go to bed. He turned around and saw that Horace had become quite popular. Sitting in a the middle of a booth, Horace was surrounded by extremely attractive drunken girls, all stroking his muscles and giggling gaily.
"Why does Horace get everything?" Will whined aloud, and Gerald laughed beside him.
"I know how you feel. Sir David of Caraway and I were childhood buddies, but as we grew up, we grew apart. He got the swordsmanship lessons from the great MacNeil of Bannock, the fair maidens, the fame, and the fortune. And all I have is this crummy inn," Gerald said, gesturing to the room around him.
"It's not crummy," Will said. He fairly liked the inn. Will was also slightly shocked. This old innkeeper was friends with Gilan's father? Small world, Will thought.
"Have you seen Castle Caraway? This place is a dump compared to where David works!" Gerald exclaimed.
Will and Gerald talked for a few more moments, until Will decided it was time to retire to bed. Will called Horace over.
Horace stumbled over to him, somehow getting out of the hands of the girls. Horace's face and neck were covered in red marks, which Will assumed were from kisses. "Those girls are animals. Really attractive animals," Horace stated. He tiredly laid a hand on Will's shoulder. "I am SO ready to go pass out."
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WillTreaty618