Chapter 5: Riverwood Nights

Ahmes had woken up screaming with a bead of sweat running down his brow. He sighed in relief when he realized he was safe. The black knight had plagued his nightmares every night since his encounter with it. Its red eyes, black metal claws, and blade covered in the blood of hundreds. His heart spiked from the memory of it, even spiders didn't terrify him as much as the knight did. He remembered the events that occurred before he fell unconscious and got up from his bed. He slowly scanned the room for life, only to be greeted by the small candle flames and silence. He almost had forgotten what it was like to be in a room alone, missing the feeling of human life around him. He quickly realized no one was in the small house and that his body was no longer in enough pain to halt his movements like before as he got up and made a fast pace outside. He contemplated why his wounds didn't hurt as much anymore, growing up, his marks that he received from other boys in the village would hurt for what used to feel like weeks at a time. However, the pain in his back seemed to be almost as good as gone, even though he knew otherwise.

When he closed the door to the home behind him, the first thing that caught his attention was the sound of music and laughter in the inn nearby. Curiosity overtook him, and he made a quick walk over to the inn. As he opened the door, the thick scent of beer and sweet rolls invaded his nostrils as his stomach began to growl in response. The inn had almost everyone in the village inside, many of which were singing and dancing while getting plastered from the alcohol they were drinking. Their faces red and smiles wide. He could even spot Stump in the distance, lazily sitting there as he watched the villagers dance around drunkenly. Many of the villagers of Riverwood noticed Ahmes enter and raised their drinks while cheering of his arrival. Ahmes looked around through the crowd before someone rested their arm over Ahmes' shoulder. He turned his head and saw Dorthe with a drunken look on her face smile at him and laughed. Ahmes could smell the alcohol come out of her breathe when she laughed heartily.

"Hey Ahmes! Where've you been?" she asked in a slurred voice. Ahmes faintly smiled, "Remember? I have been sleeping ever since that incident with the troll," he said, laughing at the state of his friend. She looked up in thought, Ahmes could see the wheels in her head turn before she snapped her fingers when she could recall.

"Oh that's right! Ahmes, you were so cool when you attacked that troll head on. You were like 'Ahhhhhhhh' and the troll was all like, 'noooooooo'," she slurred while making exaggerated hand motions.

"What's the occasion? Everybody's celebrating," he asked before Dorthe laughed and slammed her hand into Ahmes' back. Ahmes had almost toppled over from the force of the friendly gesture of the young woman before regaining his bearings. Dorthe laughed heartily as she looked at her friend's lack of composure.

"Were celebrating you, dumbass! With that troll gone, nothing can get in the way of our hunting, and our crops will be safe! And it's all thanks to you!" she yelled as she took another gulp from her bottle of mead.

"Say…how about you and me, get to know each other a little better," she said in a sultry voice. Ahmes' mind had completely shut down from her suggestion and his face had gotten completely red. Dorthe had started to push her body against Ahmes' as she wrapped her arms around Ahmes' neck. Ahmes looked away from her in order to hide the embarrassment from his face.

"D-Dorthe, you're drunk. Y-You don't want to make any poor decisions right now," he stuttered. Dorthe's face broke into a sly smile,

"You don't know that, I have never felt better in my life," she slurred. She leaned into Ahmes' ear and whispered, "So how about we go and make a stupid decision together?" she asked seductively before biting his earlobe lightly. Ahmes had absolutely no idea what to do at the moment and in complete honesty, he wasn't completely opposed to the idea. But he made a promise to not only himself, but also to Frodnar that he wouldn't do anything, especially since she was under the influence of alcohol. Where is Frodnar anyway? Ahmes asked himself. He looked over to his right and in the far corner he could see Frodnar passed out with writing on him with Gods knows what. Well shit, Frodnar, Ahmes thought with a tired groan. He looked back to Dorthe and the look in her eyes screamed of lust and the desire to lay with him for the night. If she is going to look at me like that, it's gonna make it harder to deny her, he thought before shaking those thoughts out of his mind.

"I'm sorry Dorthe, but I can't," he said before a look of confusion and sadness etched itself on her face. In less than a moment, that look was replaced with frustration and anger.

"What, am I not good enough for you?" she asked in an angry slur. Ahmes put his hands up,

"No, that's not it. I-" Dorthe released herself from him and stormed out the inn before Ahmes could explain himself. He made another tired sigh, Well shit, now she hates me, he thought. He turned towards the door and followed her before she could do anything reckless, and to apologize. He had never seen Dorthe act like this before. He quickly assumed it was the alcohol confusing her thoughts, but why did she act like that towards him? Why not Frodnar? Wouldn't she be more inclined to try to seduce him? Ahmes knew Dorthe wasn't the type of person to throw herself at men at any chance she got. And he knew that she had gotten drunk plenty of times before. He shook all of his thoughts away, no, I have to take care of Dorthe, her emotional state is what is important right now, he thought.

When he opened the door he was met with the sight of a crying Dorthe sitting on the stairs of the inn. Ahmes sighed again, and sat down next to her. She didn't turn, and could already tell who it was that sat next to her.

"You know, when I was a kid, my mom used to say to act more lady-like, but I always said 'That's just stupid girl talk'," she said before laughing lightly.

"She said that I wouldn't get a man if I acted like a boy, and I never listened. Who would've known she was gonna be right," she said with melancholy in her voice. Ahmes looked at her sympathetically,

"No Dorthe, that isn't true. A lot of guys would be happy to be with you," Ahmes explained as Dorthe turned to him with a glare,

"Then why is it I never get anywhere with men!? Why is it the one time I actually try to be with someone, they reject me?" she asked with tears threatening to fall down her face. She paused and sniffled, "Why is it no one loves me?" Ahmes ran a hand through his hair, feeling terrible and guilty for making her feel this way. Ahmes had actually cared about Dorthe, she was the first real friend Ahmes ever had. In fact, she was his best friend, but he made a promise.

"Look, you aren't ugly and you are a great person. Don't ever let anyone make you think otherwise or make you think you have to be different from who you are. The reason I said no to you wasn't because you weren't attractive or you weren't girly enough. Trust me, you make it really hard to say no, but I promised someone that I wouldn't do anything with you. And I definitely won't take advantage of you," Ahmes said while rubbing Dorthe's back to comfort her. Dorthe looked up at Ahmes in confusion,

"Really? Who?," she asked. Ahmes shook his head, "I promised not to tell," he said defiantly. Dorthe started to pout,

"Then how can I tell if you're lying or not?" she asked, not believing in what Ahmes was saying. Ahmes rose his hands up in defense,

"No really! Do you really think I would lie to you?" he asked sincerely. Dorthe looked back down to the wooden stairs and shook her head with a small smile on her face.

"There's that smile. You look way better with a smile than with a frown," Ahmes said with a wide smile. Dorthe looked back up to Ahmes, looking back and forth between his smile and his eyes.

"Thanks Ahmes, you really know what to say," she said with a small blush. Ahmes smiled lightly, he never really thought he had the right things to say. He was always afraid that he would say the wrong thing, and was glad that his inner self was wrong for once.

Ahmes stood up from the stairs and placed his hand out for Dorthe to grab on to, "C'mon lets go back inside, you must be freezing out here," he said carefully leading Dorthe back inside. When they got back inside, most of the villagers were either knocked out or singing with plastered expressions on their faces. Dorthe and Ahmes laughed as they looked at all the people who had drunken themselves out cold and proceeded to draw on their faces and pull little pranks on them while they slept. For the first time in a long time, Ahmes was truly having fun and for Ahmes, it was one of the greatest nights of his life.

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