Betrayal of the Heart

Chapter 7 Travelling into the Depths

Arne walked to the closest town, armor dented and covered in blood. His head hung low, ashamed at what had happened. The first place he went to was a blacksmith, he needed his armor repaired. Sitting outside on a bench he watched as the happy townsfolk go about their day with not a care in the world. Arne smiled as he saw children run and parents run after them, he often wished him and his dad were like that. Thoughts of his father made his smile falter as he watched.  Getting up he decided to take a walk around, without his armor there wasn't much he could do.
"My purse!" A woman screamed as a man took off with a woman's coin purse. Instinct kicked in and Arne immediately took off after him. The man ran as fast as he could, tipping over stalls and pushing past people to try get away but Arne was to quick. He talked the burglar to the ground and snatched the purse out of the man's hand.
"Guards!" Arne yelled as he waited for the town guard to get to him.
"Well well well, we've been looking for you" the guard said as he grabbed the burglar and tied his hands with rope. The woman ran to Arne who held out her purse to her.
"Thank you kind sir" she said as she happily got her purse back.
"All in a days work" Arne said nodding his head towards her. The woman fanned herself as she blushed and smiled at him before leaving. 'Finally! A heroic act!' Arne thought as he slowly made his way back to the blacksmith. He had one set back but this small victory made his day better. After a few hours his armor had been repaired, he felt complete having it back on. Running his hands down his chest plate his fingers ran over a small bump in it.
"Sorry I couldn't make it as good as new" the blacksmith said scratching the back of his head.
"It's alright, I like it better this way" Arne said handing the blacksmith some coins. The dent would serve as a permanent reminder to his first failure, may another one never occur.

Arne went to town after town, all was quite except for a few small run ins but nothing that Arne couldn't accomplish with ease. It helped build his confidence up but he craved something more. A dragon terrorizing a town, a huge bank robbery, a damsel in distress kidnapped by an evil villan. As he travelled he noticed that the lush towns he recently went to started getting dirtier and dingier, he felt like he was on the right track to something. Eventually he got to a dark town, not a noblemen or good standing citizen anywhere. As he walked down the streets prostitutes would try and wave him over. Men were laying on the streets, strung out on something strong. Even the town guards were lazily sitting around, drinking and not giving anyone the time of day. Arne watched as a small child tried to steal a piece of bread, the baler caught him instantly and started beating the poor kid.
"Hey!" Arne said stopping the baker.
"What do you want" the baker growled, stopping his assault.
"Please here" Arne said handing him a coin, "let this poor child have the bread".
The baker took the coin and bit into it to make sure the coin was real before he finally let the child go.
"T..thank you sire" the child said, bowing to Arne before running off. Arne smiled, as he watched the child run off. Being a hero wasn't just about fighting monsters but helping people in a y way shape or form.
"Excuse me" Arne said to a random person on the street but the person he tried to talk to averted his eyes and fled. Every person after that did the exact same thing. 'What is going on?' He thought. Finally one person was brave enough to talk to him.
"What do you want?" The man mumbled, he looked like he was out of his mind, dirt covered him and his clothes were ripped.
"I am wondering about this town, looks like it needs a hero" Arne laughed.
"No! We don't want your kind here! Leave now!" The man yelled at him before running off. Arne couldn't help but wondered what plagued this town. How did it get like this? Surely there was someone in charge.

"And stay out you drunk!" A barkeep threw an older man out on the ground, he couldn't be more then 40 years old. Arne rushed to his side, "are you okay?" He asked trying to help him up.
"Get away from me!" He yelled pushing Arne away from him, "I am just the towns crazy drunk! Why would you want to talk to me?" The man mumbled as he stumbled up on his feet.
"There seem to be a lot of you around here" Arne mumbled as he scratched his head."what do you want? Armor that shiny, you don't belong in a town like this" the man grumbled.
"I have come to help, to slay monster and save people. It is my duty" Arne said bowing to the man, his statement seemed to have an effect on him.
"Is that.. is that true?" The man asked in shock.
"Why yes, I am a hero in training. I hope one day I can be a legend so I am travelling these lands in hopes to help as many people as I can" Arne said humbly.
"Then boy do I have a monster for you to slay"