Surprise surprise! I finished up all my homework early so I was able to give you this short chap. Thank you for all your guys' encouragement! Honestly, the Ranger's Apprentice fanfiction forum has been my favourite since I was 12 (That was like, 5 years ago) because it was a tight knit group that always encouraged one another and still does. If you want to read some really cool Ra fics, check out Bralt (you can find them on my favourites list), s/he doesn't write anymore but damn that person's got talent! Bralt was, and is, my inspiration. People don't realise exactly how good fanfic authors can be, and Bralt was one of the best. Anyway, I got the sentimentality out so please go ahead and enjoy the chap! :)
Will walked into Larry's Diner for the second time that night, nearing eleven thirty. Larry's was open until two in the morning so they could serve some of the truck drivers that would stop in. Will easily spotted Alda, Brynn, and Jerome sitting in the back booth and cautiously made his way over to them.
"Ah, there's our Will," Alda said and grinned up at him with milkshake residue left at the corners of his mouth. Brynn sat next to Alda and nodded a greeting to Will. "Glad you decided to join us."
As if I had a choice, Will thought. "What do you want from me?"
"Relax, Will, take a seat next to Jerome and grab a milkshake, it's on me."
Will reluctantly slid into the booth next to Jerome who glared at him. The waiter came over and Will ordered a strawberry shake, which the waiter returned with.
"So, how's life here, Will?" Alda asked as Will took a sip of his shake.
"Better than it was in Meric," Will said, glaring at Alda across from him.
"Well, it's going to be even better now that we're here. And we've already started recruiting!" Alda smiled and laughed as though they were recruiting for a knitting club, not a criminal gang.
"Oh? Who's the unlucky bastard?"
"There he is now." Alda pointed to the door and Will choked on is drink. "Will, meet Horace."
Horace walked next to the table, his muscular arms crossed over his chest as he glared at Will. "I'm afraid we already know each other," Horace said.
"Really? Well perfect! At least now we won't have to do ice breakers."
Will groaned. "Do you guys seriously still play 'Would you Rather: Gang Style' with new recruits?"
"It's a tradition, Will, we can't just stop it. Although we'll make an exception for Horace since you two are already-shall we say friends?-plus we have a job to do tonight."
"Already?"
"Yes, Will, already." Alda leaned in and motioned for the others to do the same. "We're going after a convenience store, I got us the supplies." He grabbed two guns from his sweater pocket and handed slid one to Horace and the other to Will, making sure they weren't seen by the waiter nor the cameras.
Will stared at his gun with wide eyes. "Guns!?" he whisper-yelled. "We never worked with guns, we decided that was going too far."
Even Horace was having doubts. "I don't know, man," he said. "I'm not comfortable with this, you never said anything about guns, we could get caught."
"You two need to take a chill pill. If we're careful we won't get caught," Brynn stepped in.
"Besides, if you back out now, well, Will knows what'd happen," Alda said and Will shuddered as he had a flashback to the first time he saw a member threaten to betray the gang. Alda had listened to his threat calmly, then afterwards walked over to him and snapped his neck. "Anyone else?" he had asked casually, as if he was taking coffee orders.
"We won't back out," Will said quietly.
"Good." Alda smiled, showing his yellow teeth. "Because if either of you do, I'll snap both your necks. Now, we've wasted enough time here, let's go."
Everyone pocketed their guns and followed Alda out of the diner. Horace and Will walked behind the other three, and Will turned to him and said "What the hell were you thinking you big idiot?"
Horace shook his head and said, "To be honest, I'm not sure. I was wandering around one night and bumped into Jerome. We started talking then he introduced me to Alda, who said that I might come in handy."
Will was appalled. "So you just went along with it?"
"Well... kind of. They seemed to genuinely want me in their gang and well... I just couldn't say no. No one's ever seemed to want to get to know me much before."
"You joined the gang because you wanted to belong?" When Horace reluctantly nodded Will became more confused. "But you have a family, and friends."
Horace sighed. "Yes, I have a family, but my mom's in the military and just started another tour and dad's busy with his work. And our friends? Basically dropped me the moment they met you. Hell, if I knew you were in this gang I never would have joined."
Suddenly Will understood, and felt that he could relate to Horace way more than he originally thought. The big guy seemed kind of lonely and simply wanted to be with people who payed attention to him and appreciated him. "To be fair," Will said, "Alda isn't very fond of me at the moment. I kind of ditched them when I moved from Meric to here, they still seem to be bitter about it."
"Why did you ever join them?"
Will hesitated. "Basically the same reason you did, except I was living with a good for nothing foster family. Alda sensed that and said if I joined then we'd all be one big happy family. It was a dream come true, but I was a fucking idiot."
"Apparently we're both fucking idiots."
"Enough chit chat!" Alda called from a bit ahead of Will and Horace. "We've got stuff to do." Will and Horace jogged to catch up with the older boys, who stood in front of a convenience store. "You boys ready?"
"I'm ready," Brynn said and Jerome licked his lips in anticipation.
"Alright, here's the plan."
Getting a bit hot in here, eh? And yes, I know that it was Horace's father, not mother, who was a soldier but hey, this is fanfiction, an au, and it's bloody 2016 so I can do whatever I fucking want so I made his mother a soldier.
Leave a review? Yes? No? Maybe? Ok ok I'm going. Love you all!