Summary: AU in which Gilan meets Will during his apprenticeship and ends up becoming an awesome older brother figure to him. Life can be difficult for both orphans and Rangers. Perhaps together, along with Halt, they'll all make it out alright though.

A/N: I'm a sucker for h/c, angsty family fics so this is where imma dump all that into one fic focused on my favorite Ranger bros, Will and Gilan. This is honestly just extreme self indulgence, but maybe y'all will be able to get some enjoyment out of it too!

Also just for reference Gilan is fifteen here and Will is five. The canon timeline and ages for the characters are kind of confusing, so this is just my best guess for it. Also also, this is purely a family/gen fic, so no pairings for the most part. Particularly, no Gilan/Jenny because while they're cute and fine in canon, here Gilan technically meets all the wards when they're like kids and idk, something about that makes things weird for me, so imma just pretend that there's no romance going on at all.

Last note, I'd originally intended for this to be a fic of small, loosely connected moments throughout Will and Gilan's childhood, eventually blending into canon moments, but uh... Let's just say in this AU, Will gets a significantly less chill childhood… And there's like a TON of chapters before this ever intersects with book 1… What I'm trying to say is things kind of got out of hand lol, so buckle up ig :D

Chapter 1: Found

Gilan was two months into his apprenticeship with Halt, and things have been going well for him so far. He was progressing steadily with his Ranger training and was greatly enjoying his freedom from the more constricting routine of Battleschool. With every new skill he learned, he was becoming more and more excited about being a Ranger. Truly, he believed that he's finally found his calling in life.

Now that the sense of adventure and excitement had faded, however, he was also starting to see the downsides of life as a Ranger, things he hadn't taken into account when he'd first accepted Halt's offer to train him.

For one, he's quickly realized that Rangers don't tend to socialize with other people very much. Halt was, in Gilan's young eyes, just about the coolest person around, but even he could admit that sometimes the man came off as a bit of a hermit. The Ranger spent most of his time in the woods, either working in his cabin or patrolling the fief for any suspicious activity, all things he did completely alone. While Gilan has heard about how a Ranger's life was a lonely one, it was a completely different matter for him to witness the solitary lifestyle for himself, and yet another completely different matter for him to now live it.

Even after two months of technically living there, he still felt like a bit of a stranger to Redmont. He hasn't had many opportunities to go into town beyond running some errands for Halt, and as a result, he still hasn't gotten to meet any new friends or even acquaintances yet either. This was rather disheartening considering how this was supposed to be his new home for the next few years.

So when the time came for him to go to Redmont's Battleschool to keep up with his sword training, as Halt had promised he'd be able to do, he'd actually been pretty excited. Ranger training was fun, and Halt was great and all, but it had been far too long since he'd last gotten to hang out with somebody else other than his mentor. He even missed practicing with his blade a bit after so many weeks of immersing himself into Ranger life.

Approaching Castle Redmont, he was looking forward to having some fun meeting new people, especially after his sword training, as Halt had given him permission to have the rest of the day off whenever he was done. He had no way of knowing what, or rather who, was waiting for him at the castle, however, and how much it would change his life from then on.

Redmont was one of the biggest and most unique fiefs in all of Araluen. One thing that people rarely noticed, which helped set it apart from the rest of the kingdom, was its Ward system.

Following the first war with Morgarath, Baron Arald had carved out a space in his own castle and created a system to care for the orphaned children of the men and women who'd died in his service. The Ward, as it was called, has given the kids in its care a chance at a future beyond that of a farm laborer, and has allowed Redmont fief to reap the full potential of its population in a way that no other fief has been able to do. Losing one's parents was, of course, a terrible tragedy for any child, but there was truly no better place to be an orphan than Redmont.

With all this in mind, Gilan had inevitably been curious when he first came across the Ward area of the castle. He'd just finished his first sword training session and had been heading towards the Castle's dining area for a quick drink and snack along with two of the battleschool cadets he'd been practicing with.

After practicing and sparring since the break of dawn, training was finally over for the day and they'd gotten to know each other a bit. The two cadets seemed like nice enough people, though more than anything, Gilan was honestly just glad to be talking with some people who weren't Halt for a change.

He'd been laughing and enjoying a bit of small talk with the other two boys when they passed by a certain room. Even through the thick walls and heavy wooden door, a cacophony of high pitched laughter and screaming could be heard permeating through it, and Gilan couldn't help but pause to stare at it.

"Gilan? What's wrong?" one of the cadets asked when he realized Gilan had stopped walking. In the back of his mind, Gilan struggled to remember his name. Darren perhaps?

"Nothing. Just curious about all the noise going on in there," he said, gesturing absently at the door and straining to make out what was going on inside.

"Oh, that's just the Castle Ward's playroom. It's always loud in there," Darren said dismissively. "You know how Ward brats can be. They love making a nuisance of themselves." Gilan frowned at the cadet's tone. Something about it rubbed him the wrong way.

"Well, actually, I don't know. Back in my fief we didn't have a Ward at all."

"Want to go in and check it out then?" The other cadet- Holten?- suggested with a mischievous grin. "The kids in there will practically worship the ground we walk on since over half of them want to become knights and all." Gilan thought about it for a moment.

Halt did say that it was part of a Ranger's job to gather intelligence and understand what was going on around them… And more importantly, he wanted to satisfy his curiosity.

"Sure," he said and promptly opened the door to step inside. Instantly, he and the two cadets were met with a scene of pure chaos.

The room looked like a war zone. Nearly every inch of the floor was littered with worn out toys, children's drawings, and around thirty wards of various ages. A few of the older children were screaming at each other over a toy, while at the back of the room, a couple of toddlers were busy tearing apart various pieces of paper, giggling as they made the room even messier than it already was. A few of the kids had also apparently decided to have a game of tag and were chasing each other around, screaming and laughing while they narrowly avoided tripping over their own feet and running face first into a wall.

There were only a couple of exhausted Ward caretakers present, desperately trying to oversee everything while also both dealing with an armful of crying infants. They might've had more luck keeping all the chaos under control if it weren't for the two small children tugging at their dresses, whining incessantly about something.

Gilan almost slammed the door back shut on the spot, but one of the wards playing tag had already bumped into his legs. She was a little girl, perhaps seven or eight years old. As she glanced up and saw the cadets (plus Gilan) standing above her, her eyes widened comically.

"Woah, are you guys knights?" She squealed excitedly. Before he could respond, the girl was already announcing their presence to the rest of the room. "Guys look! Some knights have come to visit us!"

Instantly, the noise level of the room dipped for a moment as they caught the attention of almost all the children in the room as well as the two Ward caretakers. Mere seconds later, they were being swarmed by the kids, who all began babbling questions at them, not seeming to care whether or not said questions would get answered in the chaos.

"Well we're not quite knights yet!" Cadet Holten yelled over the clamoring voices of the wards. "For now, we're just battleschool cadets, but we're each training hard to become knights one day!" That earned a wave of ooh's and aah's from the kids, whose stream of questions were finally halted for a moment. "My name's Holten and these two are my friends, Gilan and Darren."

"Have you guys gone on any adventures before for your training?" the girl that had bumped into Gilan blurted out, eyes sparkling with admiration.

"We certainly have. How about I tell you kids about the time that I…" And with that, Holten began spinning up a grand story for the wards, who'd all decided to be quiet for just a bit to listen attentively to the cadet. For his part, the cadet seemed to be enjoying being the center of attention, while Darren silently stood aside, looking like he wanted to be anywhere but there at the moment.

Gilan silently let himself fade into the background as only a Ranger could, letting the two cadets increasingly become the main focus of the room. Nobody noticed as he began inching away from his Battleschool companions and towards the two Ward caretakers at the back of the crowd.

From the corner of his eyes, Gilan had noticed that the two children who'd been tugging at the caretakers' dresses were still by their side, not at all interested in the Battleschool cadets like all the other children were. The apprentice Ranger had entered this playroom purely to satisfy his curiosity with the Ward, and now he let it guide him towards these strange kids as well. What was bothering them so much that they had no interest in the cadets? He had to know.

"Mistress Aggie, can you please just go find Will real quick? Please?" A little blond girl, perhaps around five years old, was asking as he came within earshot of them. Her voice was pitiful as she looked up at the caretaker with puppy-dog eyes. "He's been gone for over four hours now…"

"I'm sorry Alyss, but as you can see, both Mistress Joan and I literally have our hands full at the moment," Mistress Aggie fretted, pointedly rocking the infant in her arms. "Besides, Will runs off all the time. I promise you, he'll be fine. If he isn't back by sundown, we'll go out and look for him then."

"But he's missed lunch by this point, and we really miss him!" a little boy clinging to the other caretaker insisted. "I think he was really sad when he ran off this time. Horace said something really mean to him during breakfast today. Wouldn't it make sense for you guys to find him right now to make sure he's feeling better?"

"We'll be sure to sit down and talk to Horace about his behavior later, George. For now, though, there's nothing we can do other than wait for Will to come back to us himself."

"What's going on here? Is there anything I can help with?" Gilan asked quietly, so as to not draw too much attention to himself and the small group.

Both of the caretakers and the little boy jerked away from him for a second, clearly startled as they had not noticed his presence until just then. Curiously enough, the little girl didn't seem all too surprised, only looking up at him with solemn gray eyes.

"Our friend Will has been missing since this morning and we're getting worried about him," she explained, glancing accusingly at the caretaker she was clinging to. "Nobody wants to go and find him though, and George and I aren't allowed to go off by ourselves."

"Alyss, it's not that we don't want to go find him. We have the rest of you kids to look after as well, and going out to search for Will would take too long for us to risk doing," Mistress Aggie sighed, voice brittle with stress and barely concealed irritation. She then turned to study Gilan more closely, squinting her eyes at him. "As for you, you're the Ranger Halt's new apprentice, are you not?" Gilan nodded.

"My name's Gilan," he said with a friendly grin, hoping to put both the caretakers and children at ease. He knew all too well how Rangers had a fearsome reputation among the common people. "I was just passing through and wanted to see what Redmont's infamous Ward was like."

"Well, I'm sorry you have to witness this mess in here. We're usually a lot more organized than this," Mistress Joan said, looking a little embarrassed. "There's been a bug going around the Ward caretakers recently and a lot of them are staying home to make sure they don't spread it to the children. Unfortunately, that means that we're a little understaffed here at the moment." Gilan nodded in understanding.

"I see. Well as I was just asking, is there anything I can perhaps help with then? Maybe I can go look for the kid these two are asking about," he said, gesturing at the two wards. "I am a Ranger in training, after all. I'm sure I can track him down." The two caretakers shared a quick look with each other.

"If your mentor wouldn't mind you taking the time to help us, then that would be great," Mistress Aggie then said. "Honestly, Will is still quite young, just like his two wardmates here. He's only five years old..."

"Today's kind of like a day off for me, so it'd be no trouble at all," Gilan reassured them. He then smiled at the two children who were staring at him with wide, hopeful eyes. "I can go search for him right away and hopefully get this Will kid back here before sunset. If you wouldn't mind, could you please give me a quick description of him?"

By the time the caretakers finished giving him all the information he'd need to help him find Will, Holten was done with his story and the kids had begun scattering across the room again. Thankfully, they all seemed to be slightly more calm after being entertained by the two cadets.

"Gilan, let's get out of here," Darren hissed tugging at his arm. He frowned at the other boy as he felt another flash of irritation.

"I'd like to thank you three for all your help with the children just now." Mistress Aggie gave them all a tired but warm smile. "I wouldn't have expected boys like you to be so good with children, but you've certainly proven me wrong. The future of Redmont will be bright with people like you."

"It was no big deal," Holten said with an awkward laugh. "We had fun with the kids ourselves, though we really should get going now." The two caretakers nodded in understanding, and with that Gilan and the two cadets left the room.

"That was horrible," Darren said, shuddering.

"Don't be dramatic. It wasn't that bad. In fact, it was kind of cool seeing their reactions to us. It was like having our own little fan club," Holten said lightly. "What did you think of the Ward, Gilan?"

"It seems like a nice place, if a little noisy and messy, and the kids are cute," he said, before abruptly stopping and turning to face the two cadets. "Apparently one of the wards ran off this morning though, and I just promised those two caretakers back there that I'd go and find him. I'm actually going to go do that right now. You guys want to join me?" Holten and Darren glanced at each other, looking a little taken aback by his sudden change of plans.

"Honestly, I'm kind of exhausted from training all morning and really want to grab something to eat," Holten said apologetically. "Sorry, Gilan, we'll see you later then, I guess."

"It's no problem. I'll see you two around," he said, not bothering to see what Darren had to say about it as he turned away from them. Without glancing back, he raised a hand in farewell, and they all parted ways.

Finding the missing ward turned out to be a lot trickier than he'd thought it would be. Will was supposedly only five years old, but one would think he was a fully fledged Ranger by how he managed to slip away without anyone noticing. Or at least, that's how Gilan felt as he asked nearly every castle resident and servant he came across if they'd seen the kid, only to find that none of them had so much as caught a glimpse of him.

Eventually the apprentice Ranger arrived at the conclusion that Will likely wasn't anywhere inside the castle itself. There were only so many places a child could be hiding, and after two exhausting hours, Gilan was sure he'd checked every one of those places.

Feeling defeated and rather concerned over the fact that there was apparently a child missing, he decided to go to the castle's garden grounds to get a breath of fresh air and clear his head for a bit.

Where could that kid be hiding? The apprentice Ranger wondered as he went to sit on a bench at the edge of the garden. It was positioned so that it provided a view of all the lush green bushes, flower patches, and trees that decorated the area. It shouldn't be this hard to find a five year old. Could he have actually left the castle itself? Has something happened to him? Or am I just overreacting? Maybe I should go get Halt for help just in case…

With a heavy sigh, he tilted his head up and glared at the tree hanging above him in frustration, only to abruptly flinch away from it when he suddenly found a pair of wide, brown eyes staring back at him from within the branches. He squinted to make sure he wasn't seeing things, and sure enough, he could then make out the figure of a small boy perched above him

"Hello," a tiny, young voice called from atop the tree. "You're new here." Gilan blinked, unsure of how to respond to the statement.

"I am," he eventually stammered out. "And who might you be?" He knew that this was almost certainly the boy whom he'd been searching for, but it still seemed polite to ask for him to introduce himself. The ward shrugged apathetically at his question.

"Nobody important," he said, sounding like he truly believed those words.

Gilan frowned sympathetically. One of the kids- George- had mentioned that Will had been sad when he'd run off that morning. He'd assumed that this meant that the kid had thrown a temper tantrum and ran off impulsively. This seemed like something deeper though, and he had to wonder what could be weighing so heavily on the mind of a child so young.

"I'm not sure I believe that," he said, offering a gentle smile up at the boy. In the shade, so far above him, it was hard to make out Will's form beyond that of a shadowy figure, but he thought he could see the boy look down at him intently. "Surely you must have a name? I'd like to be able to call you something other than 'kid' or 'shrimp.'"

"I'm not a shrimp!" the boy protested. "I'm only a bit smaller than average and I'm a lot stronger than I look. Besides, I haven't had my growth spurt yet. I'll be big one day, even bigger than you! You'll see."

"Maybe," Gilan chuckled. "But if you don't want me to call you that, then you really will have to give me a name." The kid considered this for a second before finally relenting.

"My name's Will," he said, sounding oddly defensive and guarded about it.

"Well would you like to come down here to talk, Will? My neck is starting to hurt from having to look up for so long."

There was a pause before he heard the rustling of leaves and branches as Will made his way down the tree. Gilan watched him climb down, fully prepared to catch him should he slip, but it honestly wasn't necessary and he ended up being rather impressed. For a five year old, the kid was a rather skilled climber.

"So what are you doing out here in the gardens? Nobody comes out here during this time of the day," Will said, plopping down on the bench next to him. Gilan raised an eyebrow at him, trying to mimic the expression Halt has given him countless times already during his two months here so far.

"I could ask the same to you," he said, keeping his tone light. "But since you asked first, I'll tell you. My name's Gilan. I came to the castle today for some training and was passing by the Ward when I heard about how a certain boy had gone missing. I volunteered to go find him, but after scouring the castle for two hours, I still had no clue where he went and was feeling rather frustrated. So, I then decided to come outside to get some fresh air, which is how I ended up here."

Gilan always preferred to be honest with people, which was why he'd decided to tell the boy the full truth behind his actions and intentions upfront. He was a little worried that he might've given the impression that he was mad at the kid though, as Will looked at him with a mixture of fear and wariness after his explanation.

"Oh," the boy mumbled, shrinking in on himself a bit. "I'm sorry to put you through all that trouble. But you really didn't have to come looking for me, you know?" Gilan tilted his head at him.

"Why not? You're a kid who's been missing for several hours now, and no one had any idea where you were. If nothing else, someone had to make sure you were okay, and that someone happened to be me today."

"But why?" Will still sounded totally confused, and the simple question stumps Gilan.

"Why does someone need to make sure you're okay?" He asked incredulously, and he hoped that he misinterpreted the question somehow, because surely Will wasn't going to tell him that-

"Yeah. I mean, nobody's ever bothered to come check on me before."

There was a hollow pause as Gilan took a long moment to process this revelation.

"Well they should've," he eventually said disapprovingly into the quiet.

Even as he said the words, however, his brows furrowed as he thought back to the playroom he'd visited earlier. Everything he'd heard about the Ward had led him to believe that it was a haven of some sort that properly looked after all of the children in its care. Now, he was starting to realize that even with the full staff, they likely just didn't have the time or resources to dedicate towards finding a single child like Will if he ran off by himself often. It was simply an inevitable consequence of the limited staff and the type of system the Ward was.

"The Ward probably doesn't have the resources to look for you usually," he admitted reluctantly, more to himself than to the child next to him. "But still, there should always be someone around to make sure that you're okay. That's how things should work. You're just a kid, and you need looking after." Will looked unconvinced.

"Well it doesn't work that way here, and I've been doing just fine on my own. If that's all you came here for, you can go now. I can look after myself."

Gilan wanted to argue with the boy, convince him of the fact that, as a child, he shouldn't have to look after himself in the first place. But Will was right, that just wasn't how the world worked, at least not for wards like him. Gilan had been naive to believe for even a second that it did, and it was rather sad that he had to be reminded of that fact by a five year old. With that in mind, despite knowing how it was going to eat away at him in the back of his mind, the apprentice Ranger decided to let the subject drop for the moment.

"Actually, I'd like to stay around for now if you don't mind," he casually said instead. "I have nowhere I need to be at the moment anyway. And since we're both choosing to stay here, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?" Will frowned suspiciously at him.

"What do you want to know?"

"How you knew to come here to not be found, for one," Gilan said with genuine interest. "You said earlier that nobody comes out here during this time of the day. How'd you figure that out? Do you come here often?" There was a pause as Will studied Gilan for a moment, as if searching for something. He must've found whatever it was he'd been looking for, as he relaxed noticeably a moment later.

"Not too often," the boy said. "I've only started coming here a couple months ago. A lot of people around the castle have complained about how hot and sunny it is out here during the day, so I'd thought it'd be a good hiding spot, which it has been."

"What have you been hiding from?" Gilan asked, holding back another concerned frown. It was honestly amazing how much this single child has managed to worry him in the span of just a few minutes. Will blinked and seemed to seriously consider the question for a second, as if he himself wasn't quite sure what he's been hiding from.

"The noise," he eventually said slowly. "The Ward can be really loud sometimes and it hurts my head. Here, it's quiet since there's usually nobody around. Sometimes I really just need somewhere like this for myself."

That evidently wasn't the full truth of the matter- Gilan could tell by how Will was staring at his feet rather guiltily- but he had no intention of prying any further. Whatever Will wasn't telling him was clearly something he didn't want to think about, much less discuss with a near-stranger.

"I can understand that. The Ward was rather chaotic when I dropped by for a visit today. A couple of your friends were really worried about you though. They were the ones who'd sent me here, actually." Will looked confused for a second, before realization dawned on him.

"Was it George and Alyss?"

"I believe those were their names, yes." The boy grinned ruefully at that.

"They're just my wardmates. We happen to be the same age and share a room and dining area, so we're usually grouped together."

"And they care about you a lot," Gilan insisted. "They kept asking for someone to come find you and refused to stop until I volunteered to do it. I'm certain that they really, really miss you."

"Yeah, I know, I know," Will looked even more guiltily at his feet. "But I just don't want to go back there right now. Not yet, I'm not ready for it. Please don't make me go back, sir." A pair of wide, brown eyes stared pleadingly at him, and even if Gilan had been planning to drag Will back (which he hadn't been), he couldn't have found the strength to say no to that.

"I never said I would," he quickly reassured him. "And there's no need to call me 'sir', I'm not that old yet. In fact, I'm only fifteen, so I'm not even that much older than you. Feel free to just call me Gilan."

"Okay, thanks Gilan," Will said, looking relieved. His eyes then shifted curiously over to spot Gilan's sword, which he still had hanging by his side. "Who are you anyway? I've never seen you around before, and I know almost everybody who's regularly here at the castle. Are you a new Battleschool trainee? Is that why you have a sword at your side? You know, my father was a knight, a real hero! Have you ever fought-"

"Woah, slow down there, Will," Gilan laughed, holding up a hand as he cut Will off from his ramblings. He felt like he was going to get whiplash from how quickly the kid's mood seemed to change. "Give me a chance to actually answer some of those questions of yours if you're going to ask them." Will nodded sheepishly at that, immediately quieting down before looking up at him expectantly, waiting for him to explain himself. "Alright, to begin with, I'm not quite a Battleschool trainee, though I used to be a cadet and had been for years. In fact, I've actually trained with the great Swordmaster, MacNeil, before I quit Battleschool." Will's eyes widened in awe.

"You quit Battleschool? Why? And who's this Neil person?"

"Didn't I tell you to slow down with the questions?" He scolded lightly, flashing a quick smile to assure the kid that he wasn't actually upset in any way. "But to explain, MacNeil of Bannock is one of the most legendary Swordmasters in the kingdom. He's old and mostly retired now, but back in his day, he was said to be the best around. No one has ever beaten him before in a duel."

"And you've trained under him?" Will exclaimed.

"I have. Still am, actually. You see, to answer your other question, I did indeed quit Battleschool a little while ago to become an apprentice to Halt, the local Ranger here. It would've been a shame for all my training with MacNeil to go to waste, however, so I'm also continuing to train under him every once in a while as well. I actually came to the castle today to get in some sword practice at the Battleschool here in preparation for an upcoming training session with him."

"So you're actually an apprentice Ranger?" Will looked at him skeptically. "You don't look like a Ranger. Aren't you guys supposed to be… I dunno, more mysterious?" The apprentice Ranger frowned at the strange question for a moment, before realization dawned on him.

"I assume you're asking me that because of how the people of the village say we're dark warlocks of some sort, right?" he said knowingly. Will nodded sheepishly in confirmation. "Well I can assure you that I am indeed an apprentice Ranger, albeit a very new one, and that us Rangers are, in fact, not magicians of any sort. We're just really good at the art of unseen movement is all."

"Of course, I knew that," Will declared boldly even as relief visibly washed over his face at Gilan's words. "Magic isn't real anyway. It's all just superstitions." He then looked at Gilan curiously. "What is it that Rangers do exactly though?"

And they continued on like that for a while, with Will asking a seemingly endless stream of questions and the apprentice Ranger patiently answering each one of them. It was nice, being able to just sit and talk with someone. Gilan hadn't had the chance to relax like this for months now. Will was an enthusiastic and curious child, and it greatly lifted his spirit to see him perk up as they talked.

At some point, Gilan lost track of time until he noticed how much closer the sun had moved to the horizon.

"Are you feeling ready to go back to the Ward now?" he asked carefully, not wanting the boy to feel as if he was going to forcefully drag him back or anything. "I did promise your friends I'd bring you back a few hours ago by this point." Will pouted at that.

"Not really. I'd rather stay here until dinner if you don't mind." He shifted nervously. "Sorry."

"That's fine, no need to apologize," Gilan assured, waving his hands in a calming gesture. "Are you sure you're doing alright though? You've been out here for quite a while now, and from what I've gathered, you haven't even had lunch yet today. You're going to need to get some food in your stomach if you plan on ever getting that growth spurt you've been talking about." As if on cue, the boy's stomach grumbled at the mention of food. Will only scowled.

"I'm okay," he said, a stubborn glint in his eyes. "Like I said, I'll go back at dinner time, so I can just eat then."

"Alright, if you insist… But then if you don't mind me asking, why do you want to stay away from the Ward so badly? Did something happen?"

Gilan hadn't wanted to push the kid on anything earlier, seeing how upset he'd been, but now he felt like had to pry at least a little. Whatever had happened was evidently still bothering him, and he clearly needed to work it out before he could return to the Ward in peace.

Will fidgeted with the sleeves of his shirt for a long moment, avoiding Gilan's gaze as he thought over how to answer the questions he'd just been asked. The apprentice Ranger waited patiently for his response.

"Yea, it's pretty dumb, really," he finally mumbled, breaking the silence. "Horace, one of my wardmates, said something mean to me this morning and I got upset and ran away."

"What did he say?"

The boy looked up at Gilan warily, seeming afraid of what his reaction would be. Then a bitter but determined expression set over his face, and he practically spat his next words out.

"He called me 'Will No-Name' and said that nobody would ever want a nobody like me around. It's dumb, he's dumb. Who even cares about a stupid surname? My father was a great knight, a warrior, a hero, and that's all that really matters. Besides, I don't need a family name to be a knight, so I don't care." Will huffed angrily, hugging his knees to his chest as he glared dully at a distant bush.

"You don't have a family name?" Gilan asked softly. He felt a pang in his chest as Will looked up at him with watery eyes.

"No, I don't." The kid's gaze quickly slid back to the bush, as if he couldn't bring himself to maintain eye contact with him. "Weird, right? Everybody else has one… But when I was a baby, someone left me at the doorsteps of the Ward with nothing but a note saying that my mother died in childbirth and my father died a hero. They must've been in a rush though, because they forgot to write down my family name."

A wave of sadness and pity for the boy swept over Gilan. He very much doubted that. That kind of information wasn't the type of thing that one would just forget when abandoning a whole baby at the Ward. In fact, it was rather suspicious that Will had been left there like that at all. If his father had truly died in the service of Redmont, whoever had him should've been able to directly give him to the Ward and tell them what had happened, no abandonment on doorsteps or note required. His parents wouldn't be a mystery at all. Something was off about the whole thing.

He had a feeling Will knew this too, however, at least to a certain extent. After all, despite how young he was, he's had his whole life to think over the situation.

"I'm sorry to hear that," The words felt hideously empty and inadequate, yet Gilan couldn't think of anything else to say. "For what it's worth, I feel like you're thinking about it the right way, though. You don't need a family to make something of yourself, and if you ask me, it doesn't make you different from everybody else in any meaningful way."

"Yeah, exactly. Like I said, I don't really care." Will sighed, his dejected expression clashing with his words. "But everybody likes to talk about it when they think I'm not listening. Most of them say that the note lied, that my parents didn't want me and just wanted to abandon me without dealing with the consequences or something horrible like that. But they're wrong, I would know if the note lied." His voice was tight and desperate, and Gilan found himself wanting to believe that Will would know too. It was rather unlikely, but if there was any justice in the world, he would.

A little white lie never hurt anybody. Maybe it wasn't even a lie at all, if he wanted to be optimistic about it, so the apprentice Ranger said, "I think you would know too. People can be insensitive at times, and those rumors they spread were cruel. You'll be alright though, Will. It's okay and understandable for you to be upset at such words. They sound like a hard thing to face." Will sniffled a bit and looked at him doubtfully.

"You really think so? The mistresses say that I actually need to learn to be stronger, to not let the words of others hurt me so much. Don't you think I'm being a crybaby about this whole thing?" Will was now staring at Gilan like his answer would determine whether or not he was going to burst into tears, and in that moment Gilan thought that the weight of the world had fallen upon his shoulders.

What could he say? He didn't want the kid to cry, he'd been trying to cheer him up! Yet at the same time, as much as he didn't like it, maybe...

"No, Will, I don't think you're being a crybaby. I've yet to see you shed a single tear today, so of course you aren't. But even if you were to cry, I wouldn't judge you for it. It's okay for you to feel sad or hurt by what your wardmate said to you. His words were unkind and meant to make you feel bad. It makes sense that you do, and it's not like you can control how you feel." Gilan had been tense after hearing about all that this child has had to deal with, but his expression softened as he reached out to place a heavy hand on Will's shoulder. "Crying is just a way for us to express our emotions. There's no shame in it, and it's certainly better than bottling up all your sadness. It's okay to cry, kid."

There was a pause as Will took a long moment to process his words, staring at him with wide eyes. In the silence that ensued, it felt like they were both approaching the edge of a waterfall that they hadn't even known was ahead of them. Gilan just calmly sat there and waited for them to fall, knowing that they were going to be fine.

His hand was steady on Will's shoulder, and he watched as the kid's face began to crumble. Then, the tears that the child had been holding back for the past several minutes finally fell, rolling down his cheeks as he sniffled loudly.

"Okay, yeah, that makes sense," he said hoarsely. "Then, Gilan… I've been feeling pretty sad lately." A small sob tore its way up his throat. "I've been feeling really, really sad."

And with that, the kid began to cry in earnest. He cried like he'd been holding back tears for all his life, like he wasn't sure how to cry. Harsh, choked sobs shook his entire body. Gilan lightly tried to help wipe the tears and snot away with his shirt sleeves, not at all bothered by the mess it was making. He then buried his fingers into the kid's brown hair, unsure of how to comfort him, but determined to give it his best shot.

"You'll be alright Will," he said softly. "I promise you will be. Is there anything I could do to help? Do you want a hug maybe?"

Will was sobbing so hard by this point that he was unable to string together a coherent sentence. Even so, he hesitantly raised two small arms towards Gilan, clearly wanting the comfort he'd been offered even as he still seemed a little too scared to take it. Gilan reached back and wrapped his arms around him.

He felt so small in his arms, and he was reminded of the fact that Will was only five years old as the child buried his face against his shoulder, his tears dampening his shirt. There was a flare of emotion in his chest, a feeling he couldn't quite name. Gilan tightened his arms around the kid and kept holding him as he let him continue to cry.

Eventually, after a few minutes, the tears slowed and the sobbing subsided, leaving behind small hiccups and an exhausted child. Will kept his face buried in Gilan's shoulder as his breathing slowly calmed.

"Feeling better?"

"Yeah," Will said, so quietly it was almost a whisper. "Thanks Gilan."

"No problem, kid." Gilan pulled back to smile brightly at the boy. "It can be good to cry sometimes when you're really feeling upset."

"I'll keep that in mind," Will said, grinning back tiredly. He then looked towards the sun, which was perhaps only an hour away from setting. At the other side of the garden, some nobles and other residents of the castle could be seen slowly filtering in. "I think I'm ready to go back now. People are going to start coming here soon anyway. Sorry for keeping you here so long." Gilan shook his head.

"It's fine, don't worry about it." He stood and held out his hand. "How about we go by the kitchen to get some food first? You still haven't eaten and crying tends to sap a lot of energy out of a person." Will thought about it for a second before reaching out to grasp his outstretched hand.

"Yeah, okay. That sounds good."

Will couldn't help but study his strange, new friend as they made their way down the corridors of the castle. The older boy was holding one of his hands, guiding him down the hall, while his other hand was preoccupied by a cookie Gilan had somehow managed to convince Master Chubbs himself to give him. That by itself was a rather impressive feat, but Will wasn't all too surprised that he'd managed it. After spending an entire afternoon with him (he'd wasted so much of his time-), Will has found the apprentice Ranger to be a walking contradiction to many things he'd once thought to be facts.

For one, Gilan was an apprentice Ranger, but he wasn't scary in the slightest, despite all the whispers he's heard of Rangers being evil, dark magicians of some sort. In fact, he was actually really nice, nicer than most other people Will has come across at least.

Gilan had also insisted multiple times that Will couldn't take care of himself, or rather that he shouldn't have to, when that was all he'd been doing for most of his life. It seemed like the apprentice Ranger had initially thought that the caretakers were supposed to take care of him like parents of non-ward children would. That was a laughably wrong assumption though, and he wondered where Gilan had even gotten it from. Maybe it was just because the Ward from whatever fief he'd moved from did things that way?

He'd told Will it was okay to cry. And when he couldn't hold his tears back any longer, he didn't make fun of him for being a crybaby, tell him to stop being annoying, insist that he was being too sensitive, or teach him that he needed to toughen up. Instead, he'd let him cry. He'd even helped wipe his tears away, held him close, and let him cry against his shoulders. He told him things would be okay.

And things were okay now. Will felt oddly drained, but in a good way, after crying. A knot that had been stuck in his chest had been untangled, and he felt like he could breathe easier somehow. Maybe it was just because he'd made himself hold his tears in for so long, but it had felt good to just let himself be upset for a while. The hug Gilan had given him might also be playing a role in the emotional relief he felt now.

He couldn't remember if he'd ever been held like that before in his entire life.

"We're here," Gilan said softly, interrupting his thoughts as they stopped before the door to the Ward. "Is there something you wanted to ask? You were kind of staring at me the whole way here." Will blushed, looking down at his feet.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"No, no, it's fine. I wasn't uncomfortable at all. It's just you seemed like you had something on your mind, and I was wondering if there was something you wanted to say."

There were a lot of things he wanted to say, actually. Countless questions and thoughts swirled about in his mind.

Why do you care? Why did you help me? Why did you waste an entire afternoon on me? Will I ever see you again? Please don't go.

"You're weird." Gilan blinked.

"Uh… I'm sorry, I guess?"

"No, it's not a bad thing. You're a good type of weird." Will shifted on his feet uncertainty. "It's just that there aren't a lot of people who would take so much time helping someone like me, but you did. I just wanted to say thanks again for everything today."

"Oh, it's no problem kid, anytime." Gilan's hands quickly ruffled his hair for a brief moment. "I also enjoyed spending the afternoon hanging out with you." He smiled a bit at that and a little bubble of hope rose in Will's chest. It gave him the push he needed to ask what was on his mind, especially as he sensed that they would be parting ways soon.

"Are we friends now? Am I going to see you again?"

"Well, we've gotten to know each other quite a bit after today, so I'd certainly like to imagine that we're friends." The apprentice Ranger gave him a warm smile. "As for your other question, I do live here at Redmont now, so we're certainly going to be seeing each other around. And while my apprenticeship keeps me really busy, I'll definitely drop by whenever I can to visit you if that's what you'd like. That's what a friend would do, after all."

The words were as kind of a response as he could hope for, and he desperately wanted to believe them, but Will just couldn't bring himself to. The bubble of hope popped and he felt a heavy weight suddenly upon his chest. Maybe it was because Gilan sounded far too much like the countless visitors, ranging from nobles to laborers, who've passed by the Ward and given out empty promises of affection to the children there like free candy.

He's probably just trying to be nice, just as he's been all afternoon.

Will's learned how to hide his emotions well throughout his short life, so none of his aching disappointment or doubts shows through as he gives Gilan a happy smile. He was genuinely happy and grateful for what time he had managed to spend with his new friend for a day.

"Okay, then. I guess it's time for me to get back to the Ward for now then," he said and promptly knocked on the door to the Ward.

After a few seconds, the door opened to reveal Mistress Aggie, who happily greeted them and profusely thanked Gilan for tracking Will down. They exchanged pleasantries for a bit before Gilan said something about having to go back to the Ranger cabin in the woods.

"Good night, Will," the older boy said softly, waving his hand before leaving, melting into the shadows of the late afternoon.

After Gilan left, Mistress Aggie proceeded to give him a long lecture (again) for going off on his own. During dinner, he also got another earful from a worried Alyss and George, while Horace was as insufferable as ever. Things went more or less back to normal, as they had been before he'd run to the garden that morning, yet it still felt different somehow. He himself felt lighter and more prepared to deal with all the good and bad things in his life alike.

That evening, as he settled into his tiny bed to sleep, he drifted off with a smile.

"You were certainly gone for a long while today. Surely they didn't make you train for that long."

"No, but you did say I could have the rest of the day off whenever I finished, remember Halt?"

"Even so, what did you spend all day doing then?"

"I met a new friend. Actually, I was hoping to be able to keep in touch with them. I might start dropping by the castle to visit them on my days off, if that would be okay with you."

"I don't see why not. Who's your friend? One of the cadets from Battleschool?"

"Nah. He's actually just a little kid, a really curious and talkative one. See, after training today, I visited the Ward out of curiosity. I then volunteered to the caretakers there to find a boy who'd run off on his own this morning. It took a while, but I eventually found him in the castle garden. He seemed really sad, so I decided to cheer him up by spending some time with him for the afternoon. I think he's really lonely, abnormally so for a little kid, and a little lost as well. From what I could tell, it might really help for him to have some guidance and company outside of the Ward every once in a while."

"What's his name?"

"Will. No last name though, poor kid. Apparently, he'd been abandoned at the Ward's front door as an infant with nothing but a cryptic note that didn't even give him a family name."

"... I see."

…

"Halt? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Actually, I usually need to go to the castle post office at least once a week to check for mail. You can start doing that for me from now on and also check in with the kid for a bit afterwards while you're at it."

"Wait really?"

"Yeah, I think you can really help him. He sounds like he's gone through a lot of hardships, and it's literally our job to look after the people of this kingdom anyway. Why wouldn't I let you keep in touch with him?"

"Aw, Halt, you really are a big softie after all!"

"Go clean up this table and wash the dishes before I change my mind about all this."

A/N: This ended up being like four times longer than I had intended it to be… Oops… Well, anyway, the Ward isn't a bad place here, but it does have the limitations of many other orphanage-like institutions (based on what I've found via research) such as kids lacking proper substitute familial relationships in their life. This is because caretakers can't bond very closely with every single one of the many children there. Things start out relatively light for these next few chapters, but no worries, the angst will definitely be coming in later :)