"COOKODOODLEDEEE!"
The rooster's squawking woke up the entire stable. Horses, of course, but a certain group of children had also found refuge in the warm hay.
"I swear to gaud I'm going to eat that idiot chicken..." Lori groaned, rolling over and tumbling down the tower of hay.
"Ow! Get off me! What're you doing!?" Andel cried out.
The two boys tussled around. It was a common occurrence in the mornings, though The Boy didn't even know. That's because he was still fast asleep.
"Someone wake him up. Soren! Kick him awake or something!"
"I don't wanna!" he said. "He's gonna pounce on me! I don't wanna get all scratched again."
"Just do it you wuss," Lori spat.
Soren crept over to The Boy as if he was approaching a wild animal.
He was the youngest of the group, only twelve. The Boy was the second youngest at thirteen, while Andel had just turned fourteen. Lori was the biggest, but no one knew his age, not even himself...
"Um, hey, it's time to... wake... up! YUEAH!" Soren leapt back in fear as The Boy rolled over.
"Oh, seriously. What're you so scared for? He's even smaller than you are."
"He's smaller than you too, Lori. And it's not like you've ever beat him!" Andel laughed.
"Right, right. He's your wild king, I get it. But he's not... mine!"
Lori jumped on top of The Boy and put him into a headlock, instantly waking him up. The Boy instantly slammed his head back into Lori's face, catching him off guard, and wrapped his legs around his neck.
"Why're you guys always waking me—YAAAWN—up like this?" The Boy growled.
"Ow! I'm done! Let me go! Eugh, how're you so slimy?"
"Wooow, nice job, Lori. I was really rooting for you this time," Andel clapped sarcastically.
"Soren, go get me some water, will you?" The Boy 'asked.'
It was more of an order. He was quite rude, see, but in all fairness, he never asked for the three others to follow him around. He decided he might as well use them.
"Y-yes!" he stammered, running off to the well.
"You know, isn't it about time you just choose a name?" Andel asked.
"Names are given by your parents. Why would you guys name me? That makes no sense..." The Boy scratched his head.
The Boy had lived his entire life without a name. Many had tried to name him, including the three boys, but he refused all of them. Whether it was because he didn't like them, or he truly thought only parents could name children... is unsure.
"The nun named me. Real shitty name, 'Lori.' Don't think I've ever heard of a man named Lori before."
"Didn't she think you were a girl...?" Andel asked.
"No! She was just stupid, that's all. Lucky she didn't name you," he said to The Boy.
"She wasn't stupid, I bet you just looked like a girl. I mean, you still do... kind of."
"You—!"
"Stop fighting and wash up already," Andel said. "Unless you guys wanna go hungry again."
"Oh, you wanna go out begging and slipping again? Ha, you three can do whatever you want, but I've got real men's business to attend to," Lori said with a puffed chest.
"Um, like what?" Andel asked.
"Crime. Real crime."
"What'd I tell you about messing with those guys? A new one of them ends up dead on the street like, every morning. Keep it up and you're next."
"How many times do I gotta tell you? I'm not a member! They just let me help out a little here and there."
"But you wanna become one. What's wrong with our gang?"
"Pfffft, 'our gang.' The most we do is petty theft. How many more loaves of bread do we gotta steal before we're a gang? None! The answer is none! Because it's impossible! You don't become notorious by stealing bread!" Lori said.
"Then leave. No one's asking you to stay," The Boy finally spoke. "It's clear you wanna be some gangster."
"I'm not gonna leave, damn! But what about you? You talked so big, saying you'd run the town before sixteen. What happened to that? You haven't even gone in the ring for over a month now!"
"He's already beaten everyone in our age group, Lori. Why would he keep fighting? No one messes with us now, isn't that enough?"
"Oh, whatever. You couldn't understand, Andel, all sweet and thoughtful all the time." He turned to The Boy. "I just expected more from you. As our leader, I mean..."
"I don't want to be a gangster. They don't write stories about gangsters," The Boy laughed. "I want to be the strongest! So go and play gangsters, but when I come for your boss's head, you better not regret it!"
"...You're insane. I'm leaving, have fun scavenging like rats."
Lori stormed out of the stable, slamming the doors open and knocking Soren, who had just returned with a bucket of water, onto the ground, causing the water to spill all over.
"Ow! Where's he off to so early? I thought we were all—"
"You guys wanna go mess around in the river?" The Boy asked.
"...Yeah!" the two others replied.
The three spent the morning humorously attempting to fish with their bare hands.
"I don't think this is working..." Soren huffed, tired. "And I'm starving!"
"Well we're getting food! Stop being a crybaby and catch some fish!" The Boy growled, fruitlessly splashing and scratching at the water. "And what're you doing!? Get in here!"
Andel was sitting atop a large rock, holding maybe the most useful tool for fishing. A fishing rod, obviously.
"I'm actually getting us food instead of playing around in the water like little kids. Look, I've already caught three!"
Next to the boulder was a meager pile of tiny goldfish.
"Wow, good job. That's unexpected."
"What do you mean 'unexpected'? I pretty much give you everything you eat!"
"...Wow, this is pretty good. They're kind of small, but—"
"Stop that... you can't eat those raw! Those can't even taste good either, I'm pretty sure those were Mrs. Rodham's kid's pets, too. They dumped them upstream yesterday, four of them," Soren said.
"So what? They're good. Here, I'll even share one with you. You two can split it!"
The Boy tossed one of the goldfish to Soren.
"This definitely isn't enough for breakfast..." Soren sighed.
"Stop being so whiny, the both of you! I'm catching more fish!"
"You're a lousy fisherman..." The Boy groaned, falling back into the grass. "Soren, get something big. Like, a salmon or something."
"I don't think there are salmon in this river..." he said.
"It doesn't have to be a salmon! Just something like it! I'm taking a nap..."
"We woke up less than two hours ago, though?" Andel said.
"Wake me up when you guys get some food."