The end...? (Ranger's apprentice/ Brotherband fan-fiction)

Chapter 2

Hi there, dear readers! As promised, here is chapter 2. Forgive me if I got some names wrong: I have read the books in Dutch... Anyways, I hope you like this :)

"Do you have enough victuals with you?" Karina asked Hal. Hal nodded, of course he had. He turned to Thorn, to ask if he had packed his fighting arm; you never knew when you're going to need that thing. "Do you have enough money with you?" Karina questioned, though, before Hal could speak. Hal turned back around and smiled.

"Yes, yes, that's all aboard already," he assured her. Karina smiled too. She knew Hal could take perfect care of himself and his crew, but she also knew he tended to forget little details. Hal noticed his mother's concern.

"Don't worry, mom," he said casually. "We're just going to check out Araluen." Hal had heard so many stories about that country that he had got curious about his mother's fatherland. Karina nodded and pulled him in a hug as to say goodbye.

"See you in a couple of months," she mumbled. Hal smiled encouragingly at her and then jumped aboard the Heron. The rest of the crew followed his example en without needing any further inducement they started to make the ship really to take off.

            Within a few minutes, the Heron was accelerating in the direction of open sea. Hal stood excitedly at the tiller. He felt extremely happy. They were finally making a longer journey again. Hal thought of all he wanted to see and do in Araluen. He wanted to meet one of those weird little rangers, see part of the country, but most of all he wanted to leave Hallasholm for a change: the Herons and he were much more respected since they'd made the journey to retrieve the Andomal, but after a while he got tired of just sitting at home. It only seemed logical to him to combine his curiosity and his longing to the see and go to Araluen. It therefore hadn't cost him much effort to convince the other Herons.

"Hey, Hal!" Stig called laughing, getting Hal out of his thoughts. "I'm talking to you!" Sheepishly, Hal looked at him.

"Sorry, what did you say?" he called back. Stig chuckled and came to stand next to him.

"I said: are we going to stop at Skorghijl, or are we going straight for Araluen?" Hal thought about it for a while. Then he shrugged.

"We'll go via Skorghijl," he said. "We're not in a hurry, after all." Stig nodded.

"Have you ever been to Araluen, Thorn?" Hal asked curiously, readjusting the tiller, as the older Skandian joined them. Thorn thought for a moment and nodded.

"Yes," he said slowly, clearly lost in thought. Hal and Stig gave him an expectant look.

"What?" Thorn asked. Hal rolled with his eyes.

"What was it like?" he asked nonetheless. Thorn frowned.

"It's a boring, green little country," he grumbled, before walking back to the bench he had been sitting on before.

"Well, that promises a lot," Stig said dryly. Hal sniggered.

"You know this is Thorn we're talking about, right?" he reminded him. Stig nodded and straightened his face.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," he said and they both laughed.

The night had fallen several hours previous en most of the Herons were lying asleep next to their benches. Hal listened as Stig woke up Edvin to take over the tiller. He was almost asleep, but he had been lying there like that for two hours. Every time he seemed to fall asleep, a random thought popped up in his head again, causing him to stay awake. After another hour, he decided to switch with Edvin a little earlier. He sat up, rubbed the sleep from his eyes and walked over to the tiller. Edvin sent him a questioning look and Hal shrugged.