An Act Of Unkindness

"For absolute clarity, in a fit of boredom and insolence, you decided to venture to the nest of the spiders." Cypius said slowly, enunciating each word carefully.

Both Plono and Cypius were looking at 6 as if he were a fool.

6 nodded with his best dainty smile on his face, trying to look innocent while ignoring the atmosphere in the room.

"Idiot." Plono spat out.

"Hush, dear. You can insult him later. Following leaving Folrost and going to the nest, you approached an area of the webbed ground and found a very low number of spiders, by the grace of your own luck?" Cypius continued, directly telling his daughter that it was okay to insult 6.

6 nodded once again, maintaining his innocent look while he stood in the dining room, barred from sitting on any of the chairs with his disgustingly dirty clothes.

"And prior to this, did you at all, even faintly, consider anything about what you were doing?" Cyipus asked.

"Mhmm!" 6 said. "If you're worried about me getting followed or the spiders bothering Folrost, its okay. I walked around so they wouldn't know where I came from, even when I left!" 6 said like a child looking for praise.

6 saw Cypius' hands begin to turn white, and shivered slightly as goosebumps rose on his skin.

"I assure you, Folrost is not yours to worry about. You did not protect us, don't let some absurd sense of heroics get to your head." Cypius said. "You got lucky in finding an area that wasn't densely populated, and that is all. All you did was risk your own life."

6's innocent smile failing to do its job, he began lower the corners of his lips as awkwardness set in.

"And what did you gain from that? Did you put one single dent in the number of spider's? Did you adventure matter in the least?" Cypius said.

"Well, technically...but not yet exactly."

"Boy, do not act pure. If I were not pleased by your safe return right now, you would be rejected from Folrost in less than the flutter of a heartbeat." Cypius said as stood up from his chair.

6 had half of a mind to ask what the hell a flutter of a heartbeat was, but ultimately decided now was not the best time.

"Cypius, its not like I could just not do my mission. I need to make money and get stronger, I'm not gonna be able to do that just staying safe in a village." 6 said, explaining himself to ease Cypius' anger.

"So go make money and get stronger! No part of that has you running into suicidal situations."

"It wasn't suicidal, see!"

A shiver shot down 6's spine as he yelled.

"You got lucky! You are a child out of his league, you are fragile and weak! So you killed a few spiders on their own, you think we didn't? You don't even know of Alkore, you've no strength in your soul and your blood can only run hot, do you even expect to be able to reach the nest itself as you are?" Cypius said, even his face turning white as the temperature in the room dropped instantly.

Frost began condensing upon the windows of the house as the morning dew froze over.

"I could already reach the nest. Besides, I'm not a helpless child. I know when to fight and when to run away." 6 said as he shook his head.

"Then run away!" Plono shouted, tired of remaining silent as her father and 6 argued.

Both men turned their heads to look at her, surprised by the interruption.

Tears began forming in her eyes before she blinked them away, putting a strong look on her face.

"Why try to die here when you can just leave? Plono said, stepping back slightly as she spoke. Her voice remained steady as she spoke, but her face showed the emotions she didn't want heard.

She didn't care who it was, she hated the idea of anyone else dying.

"Well, I just don't think it would be very fun." 6 said matter of factly.

Cypius sighed as he sat down. He understood that 6 would have his own reasons for remaining here, as all adventurers are said to have a goal in mind that they were extremely focuses on completing, but he felt helpless as he knew that whatever 6's goal was would be nearly impossible to complete.

He also didn't expect that 6 would be stubborn for such a silly reason.

Hearing 6' word's upset Plono even more. Her face directly turned red as she stormed toward her room, slamming the door behind her without another room.

"Sorry, Cy-" 6 began saying before being interrupted by a muffled scream of frustration from Plono's room.

6 was slightly stunned that either of them cared about him risking his life enough to argue with him about this like they were.

He wasn't used to having to put any though into what other people would think of the things he did. That was partly the reason he was okay with doing basically anything people paid him to, because for him personally there were next to no consequences.

Sure, he might be wanted by governmental agencies, or people may try to kill him in retaliation, but he could just respond in kind to whatever measures those people took.

The last response he expected was for them to be upset because he risked his life when he was trying to help them, even if it was true that ultimately the spiders he killed today didn't even scratch the surface of their total numbers.

"Uh...Should I just sleep in the forest tonight?" 6 said, breaking the silence that had fallen.

"No, I'll grab a blanket for you. You can sleep on the ground here tonight, but you're cleaning the mess you leave in the morning. And you'll be bathing right after." Cypius said as the blood slowly returned to his face and hands while he rubbed his temples.

6 smiled at Cypius' words, happy that he wouldn't have to sleep outdoors tonight.

"Go outside and wipe as much muck and grime off of you as you can. I don't think I've ever seen someone get as dirty from a fight as you are right now." Cypius said with a grimace on his aged face.

Like a schoolboy, 6 eagerly nodded and began following Cypius' directions, running to the door to wipe more goo off of him.

He laughed internally as he though of what Cypius said. If Cypius knew he had already wiped off a significant amount of the goo and spider bits caked on his clothes and skin when he was bored while walking back to Folrost, he would surely be even more disgusted.

6 even had to pick bits of spider out of his hair, making him consider just cutting the mid length hair off to make his life easier.

When he opened the door he was greeted by neatly folded clothes laying on the ground right outside of the house.

6 innocently tilted his head to the side while looking down at it.

Watching curiously at what 6 was doing, Cypius leaned to the side to try to see around his body to whatever 6 was looking at.

On top of the pile of clothes was a small note on a piece of paper. There was neat writing that had been hastily scribbled across the note.

6 bent down to pick up the note, reading it as he stood back up.

'Wear these clothes for the night. They're itchy and uncomfortable, but they're also free. Clean your disgusting body as much as you can before putting them on, as that's the only free pair you'll be getting. The towel underneath is slightly damp, and if you look to your side you'll find a bucket of water. That's the best treatment you'll be getting tonight.'

Though the note was harshly phrased, the actions of whoever wrote were contradictory, showing a kind amount of care.

6 looked to the side of the house, finding a bucket of water laying in the grass just a small ways away from him.

"What is it?" Cypius asked, unable to see around 6.

"A grumpy stranger seems to have left some clothes for me to change into and some water to wipe myself off with. Wonder who that could be, and if they happen to be the same person who locked me out of my room tonight." 6 chuckled.

He couldn't let on the fact that he knew Karkum wasn't the grumpy man he argued with this morning, and even if that Karkum was just a faked personality, it still felt nice to be thought of. Besides, he expected to be reprimanded by Karkum when he returned since he left without apologizing again after lunch.

"No surprise that he dumped you onto me. That's quite like him, quite like him indeed."

6 bobbed his head up and down to show he agreed as he picked up the clothes and began walking toward the water bucket, excited to be clean from the gross dried goo all over him.

"I'll come back in once I'm done cleaning up. Thanks again, Cypius." 6 called out behind him as he walked out the door.

Cypius grumbled in response, annoyed by the antics of the two adults who acted like children.

"Tsk. My own teenage daughter is more mature than the two of you half the time." He mumbled.

6 pulled his clothes off, shedding the several layers he'd had on for several days.

The smell of his own body hit him once he did, assaulting his nose and stunning him for a moment.

He lifted his arm and smelled, then gagged slightly.

"Gods, I do need a bath. Should've bought new clothes before I left Trivrium, even if they were a big hit to my wallet." He said, thankful to Karkum for being so kind to him.

With his hands he began wiping off all the chunks of dried goo that were easily removed, getting himself as clean as he could before use the towel to get the rest.

Once he was done it felt as if he had shed at least a pound just from removing the built up goo on him.

Dipping the edge of the towel into the bucket of water, he brought it to his chest to begin cleaning himself with the water.

As soon as the water touched his chest, he let out a short yelp before he clamped his hand over his mouth.

In his head, he promised himself he would never be fooled by Karkum's false kindness again, before continuing to clean himself with the water that was just shy of turning into a solid block of ice, shivering as the wind brushed across his skin.